r.>?.\i 
 
HISTORY 
 
 O F 
 
 RICE COUNTY 
 
 INCLUDING 
 
 EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS of MINNESOTA, 
 
 OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA 
 
 By Rev. Edward D. Neill; 
 
 ALSO 
 
 SIOUX MASSACRE OF 1862, 
 
 AND 
 
 State EDU(3y\TiON, 
 
 BY CHARLES S. BRYANT. 
 
 MINNEAPOLIS: 
 
 MINNESOT.A. IIISTOKIC.\L COMPANV, 
 1SS2. 
 

 MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. 
 
 4/'-/ 
 
 ■0- 
 
 '/-^ 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In the conipibitioii of the IfisToRY of Rice (Bounty it h.'is been the aim of the 
 I'rm.isHERS to pvfscut ;i local liistorv, eoiiijirisiiio-, in a single volume of convenient 
 form, a varied fuml of information, not only of interest to the present, hut from wliich the 
 comiut^- searcher for historic data may draw without the tedium incurred in its preparation. 
 There is always more or less difficulty, even in a historical work, in selectin.^' tli<jse things 
 which will interest the greatest number of readers. Individual tastes differ so widely, that 
 wliat may be of aljsorbing interest to one, has no attractions for another. Some ai'e inter- 
 ested in that which concerns themselves, and do not care to read of even the most thrilling 
 adventures where they were not participants. Such persons are apt to conclude that what 
 they are not interested in is of no value, and its preservation in history a useless expense. 
 In the settlement of a new Count\' or a new Township, there is no one jierson entitled to all 
 tl>e credit for what has been accomplished. Every individual is a part of the great whole, 
 id this work is prepared for the })urpose of giving a general rcHiime of what has thus far 
 been thine to plant the civilization of the present century in Rice County. 
 
 That our work is wholly errorless, or that nothing of interest has been omitted, is more 
 than we dare hope, and more than is reasoaaldi' to e.Kpect. In closing our labors we have 
 the gratifying consciousness of having used our utmost endeavors in securing reliable data, 
 and feel no hesitancy in submitting the result to an intelligent public. The impartial 
 critic, to whom only we look for comment, will, in passing judgment upon its merits, be 
 governed by a knowledge of the manifold duties attending the jirosecution of the under- 
 taking. 
 
 We have been especially fortunate in enlisting the interest of Rev. Edward D. Neill 
 and Charles S. Bryant, whose able productions are herewith presented. We also desire to 
 e.xpress our sincere thanks to Prof. J. L. Noyes. who. assisted by Prof. J. J. Dow and Dr. CI. 
 H. Knight, furnished the able sketch of " The Minnesota f nstitute for the Education 
 of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind, and the School for Imlieciles and Idiots."' Oui- ac- 
 knowledgements are likewise tendered to the County, Town, and Village officials for their 
 nniform kindness to us in our tedious labors: and in general terms we express our indebted- 
 ness to the Press, the Pioneers, and the Citizens, who have extended universal encourage- 
 ment and endorsement. 
 
 That our efforts ma\' prove satisfactory, and this volume receive a welcome commensu- 
 rate with the care bestowed in its preparation, is the earnest desire of the publishers, 
 
 ELLIS C. TURNER. 
 F. W. HARRINGTON. 
 B. F. PINKNEY. 
 

CONTENTS, 
 
 I'lilfC. 
 
 Pbeface . - - . . 
 
 III 
 
 CHAPTER I-XXIII. 
 
 
 Explnrers and Pioueers uf Minnesota 
 
 1-128 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV-XXVII. 
 
 
 Oiitliue History of the State of Minnesot; 
 
 129-160 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII-XXIX. 
 
 
 State Education . . . . 
 
 161-176 
 
 CHAPTER XXX-XLIII. 
 
 
 History of the Sioux Massacre 
 
 177-256 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 
 Chronology . ■ _ _ . 
 
 257-262 
 
 CHAPTER XLV-XLIX. 
 
 
 Rice County - . . . . 
 
 263-817 
 
 CHAPTER L-LI. 
 
 
 City of Fariliault - . . . 
 
 318-396 
 
 CHAPTER LII-LIII. 
 
 
 City of Xorthfield - - - . 
 
 396-437 
 
 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 
 Bridgewater Township 
 
 437-453 
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 
 Wheeling Township 
 
 454-464 
 
 CHAPTER LVI. 
 
 
 Richland Township 
 
 464-470 
 
 I'lr;/!'. 
 CHAPTER LVII. 
 Walcott Township - - - 470-477 
 
 CHAPTER LVIII. 
 Forest Township - - - - 478-490 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 Wells Township . - . . 491-504 
 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 Warsaw Township - - - 505-517 
 
 CHAPTER LXI. 
 Cannon City Township - - - 518-534 
 
 CHAPTER LXII. 
 Webster Township - - - 534-544 
 
 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 Wheatland Township - - - 545-553 
 
 CHAPTER LXIY. 
 Erin Township - _ . . 554-564 
 
 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 Northfield Township - - - 564-574 
 
 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 Shieldsville Township - - - 575 -582 
 
 CHAPTER LXVII. 
 Morristown Township - - - 583-595 
 Index 596-603 
 
EXPLORERS 
 
 PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FOOTrKINTS OF CIVILIZATION TOWAUD THE EXTREMITY OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 
 
 Minne6otji*s Cenlriil Position.— D'AvaEour's Prediction.— Nicoiefs Visit to (!rcpn 
 Bay.— First White Men in Minnpsota. — Notices of Groselliers and Radisson.— 
 Uurons Flee to Minnesota. — Visited by Frenchmen. — Father Menard Disap- 
 pears. — Groselliers Visits Hudson's Bay, — Father Allouez Describes the Sioux 
 Mission at La Pointe.— Father Marquette.- Sioux at Sault St. Marie. — Jesuit 
 Missions Fiiil,— Groselliers Visits England.— Captain Gillani, ot Boston, at Hud- 
 son's Bay. — Letter of Mother Superior of Vrsulines., at Quebec.- Death oT 
 Groselliers. 
 
 The Dako talis, called by the Ojibways, Nado- 
 waysioux, or Sioux (Soos), as abbreviated by the 
 French, used to claim superiority over other peo- 
 ple, because, their sacred men asserted that the 
 mouth of the Minnesota River was immediately 
 over the centre of the earth, and below the centre 
 of the heavens. 
 
 While this teaching is very different from that 
 of the modem astronomer, it is certainly true, 
 that the region west of Lake Superior, extending 
 through the valley of the lilinnesota, to the Mis- 
 souri lliver, is one of the most healthful and fer- 
 tile regions beneath the skies, and may prove to 
 be the centre of the republic of the United States 
 of America. Baron D'Avagour, a brave officer, 
 who was killed in fighting the Turks, while he 
 was Governor of Canada, in a dispatch to the 
 French Government, dated August 14th, 1663, 
 after refei-ring to Lake Huron, wrote, that beyond 
 " is met another, called Lake Superior, the waters 
 of which, it is believed. How into Kew Spain, and 
 this, according to general opinion, ought to he the 
 centre of the country.''^ 
 
 As early as 1635, one of Champlain's interpre- 
 ters, Jean Nicolet (Nicolay), who came to Cana- 
 da in 1618, reached the western shores of Lake 
 Michigan. In the summer of 1634 he ascended 
 
 the St. Lawrence, witli a party of Ilurons, and 
 probably during the next winter was trading at 
 Green Bay, in Wisconsin. On the ninth of De- 
 cember, 1635, he had returned to Canada, and on 
 the 7th of October, 1637, was married at Quebec, 
 and the next month, went to Three Rivers, where 
 he lived until 1642, when he died. Of him it is 
 .said, in a letter written in 1640, tliat he had pen- 
 etrated farthest into those distant comitries, and 
 that if he had proceeded " three days more on a 
 great river which flows from that lake [Green 
 Bay] he would have found the sea." 
 
 The first white men in Minnesota, of whom we 
 have any record, were, according to Garneau, two 
 persons of Huguenot affinities, Medard Chouart, 
 known as Sieur Groselliers, and Pierre d'Esprit, 
 called Sieur Radisson. 
 
 Groselliers (pronoimced Gro-zay-yay) was born 
 near Ferte-sous-Jouarre, eleven miles east of 
 Meaux, in France, and when about sixteen years 
 of age, in the year 1641, came to Canada. The fur 
 trade was the great avenue to prosperity, and in 
 1646, he was among the Huron Indians, who then 
 dwelt upon the eastern shore of Lake Huron, 
 bartering for peltries. On the second of Septem- 
 ber, 1647, at Quebec, lie was married to Helen, 
 the widow of ('laude Etienne, who was the daugh- 
 ter of a pilot, Abraham Martin, whose baptismal 
 name is still attached to the suburbs of that city, 
 the " Plains of Abraham," made famous by the 
 death there, of General Wolfe, of the English 
 army, in 1759, and of General Montgomery, of 
 the Continental armv, In December, 1775; at the 
 
EXPLOBURS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 commencement of the " War for Independence." 
 His son, Medard, was bom in 1657, and the next 
 year his mother died. The second wife of Gro- 
 selliers was ilarguerite nayet(IIayay) Ratlisson, 
 tlie sister of his associate, m the exploration of 
 the region west of Lalie Superior. 
 
 Kadisson was born at St. Malo, and, while a 
 boy, went to Paris, and from thence to Canada, 
 and in 1()56, at Three Rivers, married Elizabeth, 
 the daughter of Madeleine Hainault, and, after 
 her death, the daugliter of Sir David Kirk or 
 Kerkt, a zealous Huguenot, became his wife. 
 
 The Iroquois of New York, about the year 1650, 
 drove the Hurons from their villages, and forced 
 them to take refuge with their friends the Tinon- 
 tates, called by the French, Petuns, because they 
 cultivated tobacco. In time the Iliuons and 
 their allies, the Ottawas (Ottaw-waws), were 
 again driven by the Iroquois, and after successive 
 wanderings, were found on the west side of Lake 
 Michigan. In time they reached the Mississippi, 
 and ascending above the Wisconsin, tliey found 
 the Iowa Kiver, on the west side, which they fol- 
 lowed, and dwelt for a time with the Ayoes 
 (loways) who were very friendly ; but l)eing ac- 
 customed to a country of lakes and forests, tliey 
 were not satisfied with the vast prairies. Return- 
 ing to the Mississippi, they ascended this river, 
 in search of a better land, and were met by some 
 of the Sioux or Dakotahs, and conducted to their 
 villages, where they were well received. The 
 Sioux, delighted with the axes, knives and awls 
 of European manufacture, which had been pre- 
 sented to them, allowed the refugees to settle 
 upon an island in the Itlississippi, below the 
 moutli of the St. Croix River, called Bald Island 
 from the absence of trees, about nine miles from 
 the site of the present city of Hastings. Possessed 
 of firearms, the Hurons and Ottawas asserted 
 their superiority, and determined to conquer the 
 country for themselves, and having incurred the 
 hostility of the Sioux, were obliged to flee from 
 the isle in the Mississippi, Descending below 
 Lake Pepin, they reached the Black River, and 
 ascending it, found an unoccupied country around 
 its sources and that of tlie Chippeway. In this 
 region the Hurons established themselves, while 
 their alhes, the Ottawas, moved eastward, till 
 they found the shores of Lake Superior, and set- 
 tled at Chagouamikon (Sha - gah - wah - mik - ong ) 
 
 near what is now Bayfield. In the year 1659, 
 GroselUers and Radisson arrived at Chagouamik- 
 on, and determined to visit the Hurons and Pe- 
 tuns, with whom the former had traded when 
 they resided east of Lake Huron. After a six 
 days' journey, in a southwesterly direction, they 
 reached their retreat toward the sources of the 
 Black, Chippewa, and AViseonsin Rivers. From 
 this point they journeyed north, and passed the 
 winter of 1659-60 among the "Nadouechiouec," 
 or Sioux villages in the ilille Lacs (Mil Lak) re- 
 gion. From the Hurons they learned of a beau- 
 tiful river, wide, large, deep, and comparalile with 
 the Saint Lawrence, the great JNIississippi, which 
 flows through the city of Mumeapolis, and whose 
 sources are in nortliern Minnesota. 
 
 jS'ortheast of Mille Lacs, toward the extremity 
 of Lake Superior, they met the " Poualak," or 
 Assiniboines of the prairie, a separated band of 
 the Sioux, who, as wood was scarce and small, 
 made fire with coal (eharbon de terre) and dwelt 
 in tents of skins ; although some of the more in- 
 dustrious built cabins of clay (terre grasse), like 
 the swallows liuild their nests. 
 
 The spring and summer of 1660, Groselliers and 
 Radisson passed in trading aroimd Lake Superior. 
 On the 19th of August they returned to Mon- 
 treal, with three hundred Indians and sixty ca- 
 noes loaded with " a wealth of skins." 
 
 " Furs of bison and of beaver, 
 Furs of sable and of ermine." 
 
 The citizens were deeply stirred by the travelers' 
 tales of the vastness and richness of the region 
 they had visited, and their many romantic adven- 
 tures. In a few days, they began their return to 
 the far West, accompanied by six Frenchmen and 
 two priests, one of whom was the Jesuit, Rene ile- 
 nard. His hair whitened by age, and his mind 
 ripened by long experience, he heemed the man 
 for the mission. Two hours after midnight, of the 
 day before departure, the venerable missionary 
 Ijenned at " Three Rivers," the following letter 
 to a friend : 
 
 'Reverend Father: 
 " Tlie peace of Christ be with you : I write to 
 you probably the last, which I hope will be the 
 seal of our friendship luilil eternity. Love whom 
 the Lord Jesus did not disdain to love, though 
 the greatest of sinners; for he loves whom he 
 
FATHER MENAUD LOST IN WISCONSIN. 
 
 loads with bis cross. Let your friendsliip, my 
 good Fatlier, be useful to me by the desii-able 
 fruits of your daily sacrifice. 
 
 " In three or foiu' mouths you may remember 
 me at the memento for the dead, on account of 
 my old age, my weak constitution and the hard- 
 ships I lay under amongst these ti'ibes. Never- 
 tlieless, I am in peace, for I liave not been led to 
 this mission by any temporal motive, but I think 
 it was by the voice of God. I was to resist tlie 
 grace of God by not coming. Eternal remorse 
 would have tormented me, had I not come when 
 1 had the opportunity. 
 
 " We have been a little surprized, not being 
 able to provide ourselves with vestments and oth- 
 er things, but he who feeds the little birds, and 
 clothes the lilies of the fields, will take care of 
 his servants; and though it should happen we 
 should die of want, we would esteem ourselves 
 happy. I am burdened with business. \Vliat I 
 can do is to recommend our journey to your daily 
 sacrifice, and to embrace you with the same sen- 
 timents of heart as I hope to do in eternity. 
 " My Eeverend Father, 
 
 Your most humble and affectionate 
 servant in Jesus Christ. 
 
 E. MENARD. 
 "From the Three Elvers, this 2tith August, 2 
 
 o'clock after midnight, 1660." 
 
 On the loth of October, the party with which 
 he journeyed reached a bay on Lake Superior, 
 where he foimd some of the Ottawas, who had 
 fled from the Iroquois of New York. For more 
 than eight months, surroimded by a few French 
 voyageurs, he lived, to use his words, " in a kind 
 of small hermitage, a cabin built of fir branches 
 piled one on another, not so much to shield us 
 from the rigor of the season as to correct my im- 
 agination, and persuade me I was sheltered." 
 
 During the summer of 1661, he resolved to visit 
 the Ilurons, who had fled eastward from the Sioux 
 of Minnesota, and encamped amid the marshes of 
 Northern Wisconsuj. Some Frenchmen, who had 
 been among the Ilurons, in vain attempted to dis- 
 suade him from the journey. To their entreaties 
 he replied, " I must go, if it cost me my life. I 
 can not suffer souls to perish on the ground of 
 saving the bodily Ufe of a miserable old man like 
 myself. What! Are we to serve (Jod only when 
 there is nothing to suffer, and no risk of Ufe?" 
 
 Upon De ITsle's map of Louisiana, published 
 nearly two centuries ago, there appears the Lake 
 of the Ottawas, and the Lake of the Old or De- 
 serted Settlement, west of (ireen J5ay, and south 
 of Lake Superior. The Lake of the Old Planta- 
 tion is supposed to ha\e been the spot occupied 
 by the Hurons at the time when Menard attempt- 
 ed to visit them. One way of access to this seclu- 
 ded spot was from Lake Superior to the head- 
 waters of the Ontanagon River, and then by a port>- 
 age, to the lake. It could also be reached from 
 the headwaters of the Wisconsin, Black and Cliip- 
 pewa Rivers, and some have said that Menard 
 descended the Wisconsm and ascended the Black 
 River. 
 
 Perrot, who lived at the same time, writes : 
 " Father Menard, who was sent as missionary 
 among the Outaouas [Utaw-waws] accompanied 
 by certain Frenchmen who were going to trade 
 with that people, was left by all who were with 
 him, except one, who rendered to him until death, 
 all of the sei-vices and help that he could have 
 hoped. The Father followed the Outaouas f Utaw- 
 waws] to the Lake of the Illinoets [Illino-ay, now 
 Michigan] and in theii' flight to the Louisianue, 
 [Mississippi] to above the Black River. There 
 this missionary had but one Frenchman for a 
 companion. This Frenchman carefully followed 
 the route, and made a portage at the same place 
 as the Outaouas. He found himself in a rapid, 
 one day, that was carrying him away in his canoe. 
 The Father, to assist, debarked from his ovra, but 
 did not find a good path to come to him. He en- 
 tered one that had been made by beasts, and de- 
 siring to return, became confused in a labyrmth 
 of trees, and was lost. The Frenchman, after 
 havmg ascended the rapids with great labor, 
 awaited the good Father, and, as he did not come, 
 resolved to search for him. AVith all his might, 
 for several days, he called his name in the woods, 
 hopmg to find him, but it was useless. He met, 
 however, a Sakis [Sauk] who was carrying the 
 camp-kettle of the missionary, and wlio gave him 
 some intelligence. He assured him that he had 
 found his foot -prints at some distance, but that 
 he had not seen the Father. He told him, also, 
 that he had found the tracks of several, who were 
 going towards the Scioux. He declared that he 
 stipposed that the Scioux might have killed or 
 captured him. Indeed, several years afterwards, 
 
EXPLOBEBS AND PIOKEEBS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 there were found among this tribe, his breviary 
 and cassock, which they exposed at their festivals, 
 making offerings to them of food." 
 
 In a journal of the Jesuits, Menard, about the 
 seventh oreightli of August, 1661, is said to have 
 been lost. 
 
 GroselUers (Gro-zay-yay), whUe Menaid was 
 endeavoring to reach the retreat of the Hnrons 
 which he had made known to tlie authorities of 
 Canada, was pushing through the country of the 
 Assineboines, on the northwest shore of Lake 
 Superior, and at length, probably by Lake Alem- 
 pigon, or Nepigon, reached Hudson's Bay, and 
 early in May, 1662, returned to Montreal, and 
 surprised its citizens vvdth his tale of new discov- 
 eries toward the Sea of the North. 
 
 The Hurons did not remain long toward the 
 sources of the Black Kiver, after Menard's disap- 
 pearance, and deserting their plantations, joined 
 their allies, the Ottawas, at La Pointe, now Bay- 
 field, on Lake Superior. While here, they deter- 
 mined to send a war party of one hundred against 
 the Sioux of MUle Lacs (Mil Lak) region. At 
 length they met their foes, who drove them into 
 one of the thousand marshes of the water-shed 
 between Lake Superior and the Mississippi, where 
 they hid themselves among the tall grasses. The 
 Sioux, suspecting that they miglit attempt to es- 
 cape in the night, cut up beaver skins into strips, 
 and hung thereon little bells, which they had ob- 
 tained from the French traders. The Hurons, 
 emerging from their watery hiding place, stumbled 
 over the unseen cords, ringing the bells, and the 
 Sioux instantly attacked, killing all but one. 
 
 About the year 1665, four Frenchmen visited 
 the Sioux of Minnesota, from the west end of 
 Lake Superior, accompanied by an Ottawa chief, 
 and in the summer of the same year, a flotilla of 
 canoes laden with peltries, came down to Mon- 
 treal. Upon their return, on the eighth of Au- 
 gust, the Jesuit Father, Allouez, accompanied the 
 traders, and, by the first of October, reached Che- 
 goimegon Bay, on or near the site of the modern 
 town of Bayfield, on Lake Superior, where he 
 found the refugee Hurons and Ottawas. While 
 on an excursion to Lake Alemplgon, now Ne- 
 pigon, this missionary saw, near the mouth of 
 Saint Louis River, in Minnesota, some of the 
 Sioux. He writes : " There is a tribe to the west 
 of this, toward the great river called Messipi. 
 
 They are forty or fifty leagues from here, in a 
 country of prairies, abounding in all kinds of 
 game. They have fields, in wliich they do not 
 sow Indian corn, but only tobacco. Providence 
 has provided them with a species of marsh rice, 
 which, toward the end of summer, they go to col- 
 lect in certain small lakes, that are covered with 
 it. They presented me with some when I was at 
 the extremity of Lake Tracy [Superior], where I 
 saw them. They do not use the gun, but only 
 the bow and arrow with great dexterity. Their 
 cabins are not covered with bark, but with deer- 
 skins well dried, and stitched together so that the 
 cold does not enter. These people are above aU 
 other savage and warUke. In our presence they 
 seem abashed, and were motionless as statues. 
 They speak a language entirely unknown to us, 
 and the savages about here do not understand 
 them." 
 
 The mission at La Pointe was not encouraging, 
 and Allouez, " weary of their obstinate unbelief," 
 departed, but Marquette succeeded him for a brief 
 period. 
 
 The ''Belations" of the Jesuits for 1670-71, 
 alkide to the Sioiix or Dakotahs, and their attack 
 upon the refugees at La Pointe : 
 
 " There are certain people called Nadoussi, 
 dreaded by their neighbors, and although they 
 only use the bow and arrow, they use it with so 
 much skill and dexterity, that in a moment they 
 fill the air. After the Parthian method, they 
 turn their iieads in flight, and discharge tlieir ar- 
 rows so rapidly that they are to be feared no less 
 in their retreat than in their attack. 
 
 " They dwell on the shores and around the 
 great river Messipi, of which we shall speak. 
 They niunber no less than fifteen populous towns, 
 and yet they know not how to cultivate the earth 
 by seeding it, contenting themselves with a sort 
 of marsh rye, which we call wild oats. 
 
 " For sixty leagues from the extremity of the 
 upper lakes, towards sunset, and, as it were, in 
 the centre of the western nations, they have all 
 united their force by a general league, which has 
 been made against them, as against a common 
 enemy. 
 
 " Tliey speak a peculiar language, entirely dis- 
 tinct from tliat of the Algonijuins and Hurons, 
 whom they generally surpass in generosity, .since 
 they often content themselves with the glory of 
 
GROSELLIERS AND RADISSON IN THE ENGLISH SER VICE. 
 
 5 
 
 having obtained the %'ictory, and release the pris- 
 oners they have taken in battle. 
 
 " Our Outoiiacs of the Point of the Holy ( iliost 
 [La PoLnte, now Bayfield] had to the present time 
 kept up a kind of peace with them, but affairs 
 havhig become embroiled durinij; last winter, and 
 some murders having been committed on both 
 sides, our savages had reason to apprehend that 
 the storm would soon biu'st upon them, and judged 
 that it was safer for them to leave the place, which 
 in fact they did in the spring." 
 
 Marquette, on the 13th of September, 1669, 
 writes : " The Xadouessi are the Iroquois of this 
 country. * * * they lie northwest of the Mission 
 of the Holy Ghost [La Pouite, the modern Bay- 
 field] and we have not yet visited them, having 
 confined ourselves to the conversion of the Otta- 
 was.'' 
 
 Soon after this, hostilities began between the 
 Sioux and the Hurons and Ottawas of La Pointe, 
 and the former compelled their foes to seek an- 
 other resting place, toward the eastern extremity 
 of Lake Superior, and at length they pitched 
 their tents at Mackinaw. 
 
 In 1674, some Sioux warriors came down to 
 Sault Saint Marie, to make a treaty of peace with 
 adjacent tribes. A friend of the Abbe de Galli- 
 nee wrote that a council was had at flie fort to 
 which " the Xadouessioux sent twelve deputies, 
 and the others forty. During the conference, 
 one of the latter, knife in hand, drew near the 
 breast of one of the Xadouessioux, who sliowed 
 siu-jirise at the movement ; when the Indian with 
 the knife reproached him for cowardice. The 
 Nadouessioux said he was not afraid, when the 
 other planted the knife in his heart, and killed 
 him. All the savages then engaged in conflict, 
 and the Xadouessioux bravely defended them- 
 selves, hut, overwhelmed by numbers, nine of 
 them were killed. The two who survived rushed 
 into the chapel, and closed the door. Here they 
 found munitions of war, and fired guns at their 
 enemies, who became anxious to bum do^vii the 
 chapel, but the .lesuits would not permit it, be- 
 cause they had their skins stored between its roof 
 and ceiling. In this extremity, a Jesuit, Louis 
 Le Boeme, advised that a cannon should be point- 
 ed at the door, which was discharged, and tiie two 
 brave Sioux were killed." 
 
 Governor Frontenac of Canada, was indignant 
 
 at the occurrence, and in a letter to Colbert, one 
 of the Ministers of Louis the Fourteenth, speaks 
 in condemnation of this discharge of a cannon by 
 a Brother attached to the Jesuit Mission. 
 
 From this period, the missions of the Church of 
 Rome, near Lake Superior, began to wane. Shea, 
 a devout liistorian of tluil church, writes: "In 
 1680, Father Enjalran was apparently alone at 
 Green Bay, and Pierson at Mackinaw ; the latter 
 mission still comprising the two villages, Huron 
 and Kiskakon. Of tlie other missions, neither 
 Le Clerq nor Ilemiepin, the Recollect, writers of 
 the West at this time, makes any mention, or in 
 any way alludes to their existence, and La lion- 
 tan mentions the Jesuit missions only to ridicule 
 them." 
 
 The Pigeon River, a part of the northern boun- 
 dary of Minnesota, was called on the French maps 
 Grosellier's River, after the first explorer of Min- 
 nesota, whose career, with his associate Radisson, 
 became quite prominent in connection with the 
 Hudson Bay region. 
 
 A disagreement occurring between Groselliers 
 a)id his partners in Quebec, he proceeded to Paris, 
 and from thence to London, where he was intro- 
 duced to the nephew of Charles I., who led the 
 cavalry charge against Fairfax and Cromwell at 
 Naseby, afterwards commander of the English 
 fleet.- The Prince listened witli pleasure to the 
 narrative of travel, and endorsed the plans for 
 prosecuting the fur trade and seeking a north- 
 west passage to Asia. The scientific men of Eng- 
 land were also full of the enterprise, in the hope 
 that it would increase a knowledge of uatm'e. 
 The Secretary of the Royal Society wrote to Rob- 
 ert Boyle, the distinguished philosopher, a too 
 sanguine letter. His words were : " Surely I need 
 not tell you from hence what is said here, with 
 great joy. of the discovery of a nortliwest passage; 
 and by two Englislimen and one Frenchman 
 represented to his Majesty at Oxford, and an- 
 swered by the grant of a vessel to sail into Hud- 
 son's Bay and channel into the South Sea." 
 
 The ship Nonsuch was fitted out, in charge of 
 Captain Zachary Gillam, a son of one of the early 
 settlers of Boston ; and in this vessel Groselliers 
 and Radisson left the Thames, in June, 1668, and 
 in September reached a tributary of Hudson's 
 Bay. The next year, by way of Boston, they re- 
 turned to England, and in 1670, a trading com- 
 
HXPLOBEIiS Alrv PIONEEBS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 pany was chartered, still known among venerable 
 English corporations as " The Hudson's Bay 
 Company." 
 
 The Reverend Mother of the Incarnation, Su- 
 perior of the Ursulines of Quebec, in a letter of 
 the 27th of August, 1670, wi-ites thus : 
 
 " It was about this time that a Frenchman of 
 our Tourame, named des Groselliers, married in 
 this coimtiy, and as he had not been successful 
 in making a fortune, was seized with a fancy to 
 go to New England to better his condition. He 
 excited a hope among the English that he had 
 found a passage to the Sea of the North. With 
 this expectation, he was sent as an envoy to Eng- 
 land, where there was given to him, a vessel, 
 with crew and every thmg necessary for the voy- 
 age. With these advantages, he put to sea, and 
 in place of the usual route, which others had ta- 
 ken in vain, he sailed in another direction, and 
 searched so wide, that he found the grand Bay of 
 the North. He foimd large population, and filled 
 his ship or ships with peltries of great value. * * * 
 
 He has taken possession of this great region for 
 the King of England, and for his personal benefit 
 A publication for the benefit of this French ad- 
 venturer, has been made in England. He was 
 a youth when he arrived here, and his wife and 
 children are yet here." 
 
 Talon, Intendent of Justice in Canada, in a dis- 
 patch to Colbert, Minister of the Colonial Depart- 
 ment of France, WTote on the 10th of November, 
 1670, that he has received intelligence that two 
 English vessels are approaching Hudson's Bay, 
 and adds : " After reflecting on all the nations 
 that might have penetrated as far north as that, 
 I can aUght on only the EngUsh, who, under the 
 guidance of a man named Des Grozellers, for- 
 merly an inhabitant of Canada, might possibly 
 have attempted tliat navigation." 
 
 After years of service on the shores of Hudson's 
 Bay, either with English or French trading com- 
 panies, the old explorer died in Canada, and it has 
 been said that his son went to England, where he 
 was livmg in 1696, in receipt of a pension. 
 
iJATlLV MENTION OF LAKE SUPERIOR COPPER. 
 
 CIIAPTKR ir. 
 
 EARLY JtKNTION OF LAKE SUPERIOK COrPER. 
 
 Sftgard, A. D. 1636, on Copper Mine?.— Boucher, A. D. 1R40, Describes Lake Siipo 
 rior Copper.— Jesuit Relations, A. D. lefirj-^i?.- Copper on Islo Roynls.— Hiilf- 
 Breed Voyageur Goes to France with T.ilon.— Jolliet and Perrot Scnrch for 
 Copper.— St. Lusson Plants the French Arms at Sault St. Marie.— Copper at 
 Outanogon and Head of Lake Superior. 
 
 Before white men had explored tlie shores of 
 Lake Superior, Indians had brouglit to the tra- 
 ding posts of the St. Lawrence Elver, specimens of 
 copper from that region. Sagard, in his History 
 of Canada, published in 1636, at Paris, writes : 
 "There are mines of copper whicli miglit be made 
 profitable, if there were inhabitants and worlv- 
 men who would labor faithfully. That would be 
 done if colonies were established. About eighty 
 or one hundred leagues from the Hurons, there 
 is a mine of copper, from which Truchemont 
 Brusle showed me an ingot, on his return from a 
 voyage which he made to the neighboring nation." 
 
 Pierre Boucher, grandfather of Sieur de la Ye- 
 rendrye, the explorer of the lakes of the northern 
 boundary of Minnesota, in a volume published 
 A. D. 1640, also at Paris, writes : "In Lake Su- 
 perior there is a great island, fifty oronehimdred 
 leagues in circumference, in which there is a very 
 beautiful mme of copper. There are other places 
 in those quarters, where there are similar mines ; 
 so I learned from four or five Frenchmen, who 
 lately returned. They were gone three years, 
 without finding an opportunity to return; they 
 told me that they had seen an ingnt nf copper all 
 refined which was on the coast, and \\'eighed more 
 than eight himdred poimds, according to their es- 
 timate. They said that the savages, on passing 
 it, made a fire on it, after which they cut off pie- 
 ces with their axes." 
 
 In tlie Jesuit Relations of 1666-67, there is this 
 description of Isle Royale : " Advancing to a 
 place called the Grand Anse. we meet with an 
 island, three leagues from land, which is cele- 
 brated for the metal which is found there, and 
 for the thunder which takes place there; for they 
 say it always thmiders there. 
 
 " But farther towards the west on the same 
 mirth shore, is the island most famous for copper, 
 Minong (Isle Royale). This island is twenty-five 
 leagues in length ; it is seven from the mainland, 
 and sixty from the head of the lake. Nearly all 
 aromid the island, on the waters edge, pieces of 
 copper are fomid mixed with pebbles, but espe- 
 cially on the side which is opposite the south, 
 and principally in a certain bay, which is near 
 the northeast exposure to the great lake. * * * 
 
 " Advancing to the head of the lake (Fon du 
 Lac) and returning one day's journey by the south 
 coast, there is seen on the edge of the water, a 
 rock of copper weighing seven or eight hundred 
 pounds, and is so hard that steel can hardly cut it, 
 but when it is heated it cuts as easily as lead. 
 Near Point Chagouamigong [Sha - gah - wah - mik- 
 ong, near Bayfield] where a mission was establish- 
 ed rocks of copper and plates of the same metal 
 were found. * * * Returning still toward the 
 mouth of the lake, following the coast on the .south 
 as twenty leagues from the place last mentioned, 
 we enter the river called Nantaouagan [Ontona- 
 gon] on which is a hill where stones and copper 
 fall into the water or upon the earth. They are 
 readily found. 
 
 "Tliree years snice we received a piece which 
 was brought from this place, which weighed a 
 hundred poiuids, and we sent it to (Quebec to Mr. 
 Talon. It is not certaui exactly wliere this was 
 broken from. We thuik it was from the forks of 
 the river ; others, that it was from near the lake, 
 and dug up." 
 
 Talon, Intendent of Justice in Canada, visited 
 France, taking a half-breed voyageur with him, 
 and while in Paris, wrote on the 26th of Febru- 
 ary, 1669, to Colbert, the Minister of the Marine 
 Department, "that this voyageur had penetrated 
 among the western nations fartlier than any other 
 Frenchman, and had .seen the copper mine on 
 Lake Huron. [Superior?] The man oflers to go 
 
8 
 
 EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOIA. 
 
 to that mine, and explore, either by sea, or by 
 lake and river, the communication supposed to 
 exist between Canada and the South Sea, or to 
 the regions of Hudson's Bay." 
 
 As soon as Talon returned to Canada he com- 
 missioned JoUiet and Pere [Perrot] to search for 
 the mines of copper on the upper Lakes. Jolliet 
 received an outfit of four himdred livTcs, and four 
 canoes, and Perrot one thousand Uvres. Muiis- 
 ister Colbert wrote from Paris to Talon, in Feb- 
 ruary, 1671, ajjprovmg of the search for copper, 
 in these words ; " The resolution you have taken 
 to send Sieur de La Salle toward the south, and 
 Sieur de St. Lusson to the north, to discover the 
 South Sea passage, is very good, but the principal 
 thing you ought to apply yourself in discoveries 
 of this nature, is to look for the copper mine. 
 
 " Were this mine discovered, and its utility 
 evident, it would be an assured means to attract 
 several Frenchmen from old, to New France." 
 
 On the 14th of June, 1671, SaintLusson at Sault 
 St. Marie, planted the ^rms of France, in the pres- 
 ence of Nicholas Perrot, who acted as interpreter 
 on the occasion ; the Sieur Jolliet ; Pierre Moreau 
 or Sieur de la Taupine ; a soldier of the garrison 
 of Quebec, and several other Frenchmen. 
 
 Talon, in announcing Saint Lusson's explora- 
 tions to Colbert, on the 2d of November, 1671, 
 wrote from Quebec : " The copper which I send 
 from Lake Superior and the river Nantaouagan 
 [Ontonagon] proves lliat there is a mine on tlie 
 border of some stream, wliich produces this ma- 
 terial as pure as one could wish. More than 
 twenty Frenchmen have seen one lump at the 
 lake, which they estimate weiglis more than eight 
 himdred pounds. The Jesuit Fathers among the 
 Outaouas [Ou-taw-waws] use an anvil of this ma- 
 terial, which weighs about one hundred pounds. 
 There will be no rest until the source from whence 
 these detached lumps come is discovered. 
 
 " The river Nantaouagan fOntonagonJ appears 
 
 between two high hills, the plain above which 
 feeds the lakes, and receives a great deal of snow, 
 which, in melting, forms torrents which wash the 
 borders of this river, composed of solid gravel, 
 which is rolled down by it. 
 
 " The gravel at the bottom of this, hardens it- 
 self, and assumes different shapes, such as those 
 pebbles which I send to Mr. Bellinzany. My 
 opinion is that these pebbles, rounded and carried 
 off by the rapid waters, then have a tendency to 
 become copper, by the influence of the sun's rays 
 which they absorb, and to form other nuggets of 
 metal similar to those which I send to Sieur de 
 Bellinzany, found by the Sieur de Saint Lusfon, 
 about fourhundred leagues, at some distance from 
 the mouth of the river. 
 
 " He hoped by the frequent journeys of the 
 savages, and French who are beginning to travel 
 by these routes, to discern the source of nroduc- 
 tion." 
 
 Governor Denonville, of Canada, sixteen years 
 after the above circumstances, wrote : " The cop- 
 per, a sample of which I sent M. Arnou, is found 
 at the head of Lake Superior. The body of the 
 mine has not yet been discovered. I have seen 
 one of our voyageurs who assures me that, some 
 fifteen months ago he saw a lump of two hundred 
 weight, as yellow as gold, in a river which falls 
 into Lake Superior. When heated, it could be 
 cut with an axe ; but the superstitious Indians, 
 regarding this boulder as a good spirit, would 
 never permit him to take any of it away. His 
 opinion is that the frost undermined this piece, 
 and that the mine Is in that river. He has prom- 
 ised to search for it on his way back." 
 
 In the year 1730, there was some correspond- 
 ence with the authorities in France relative to 
 the discovery of copper at La Pointe, but, practi- 
 cally, little was done by the French, in developing 
 the mineral wealth of Lake Superior. 
 
DV LUTH PLANTS THE FBENCTT ATIMS m MINNESOTA. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 DU LUTH PLANTS TnE FKENCII ARMS TN jmra^SOTA 
 
 l)ri Luth'a Relatives.— Randin Visits Extremity of Lake Saperior. ~ Du Luth 
 Plants Kings Arras.— Post at Kaministigoya.— Pierre MorcuF, alias LaTaupine. 
 - La Salle's Visit.— A Pilot Deserts to the Sioux Country.— uafTart. Du Luth's 
 Interpreter- — Descent of the River St. Croix.- Meets Father Hennepin. — Crit- 
 tcised hy Ijx S»lle.— Trades with New Kncland. —Visits Franee.— In Command 
 at Mivekinaw.— Frenchmen Murdered at Keweenaw.— Du Luth Arrests and 
 Shoots Miirderere.- Builds Fort above Detroit. — With Indian Allies in the 
 Seneca War.— Du Luth's Brother.— Cadillac Defends the Brandy Trade —Du 
 Luth Disapproves of Selling Brandy to the Indians.— In Command at Fort 
 Frontenac . — Death. 
 
 In the year 1678, se-weral prominent merchants 
 of Quebec and Montreal, with tlie support of 
 Governor Frontenac of Canada, formed a com- 
 pany to open trade with the Sioux of JMinnesota, 
 and a nepliew of Pati'on, one of tliese merchants, 
 a brother - in - law of Sieur de Lusigny, an officer 
 of the Governor's Guards, named Daniel Grey- 
 solon Du Luth [Doo-loo], a native of St. Germain 
 en Laye, a few miles from Paris, although Lalion- 
 tan speaks of him as from Lyons, was made the 
 leader of the expedition. At the battle of Seneffe 
 against the Prince of Orange, he was a gendarme, 
 and one of the King's guards. 
 
 Du Luth was also a cousin of Henry Tonty, who 
 had been in the revolution at Naples, to throw off 
 the Spanish dependence. Du Luth's name is va- 
 riously spelled in the documents of his day. Hen- 
 nepin writes, "Du Luth;" others, "Dulhut," 
 " Du Lhu," " Du Lut," " De Luth," " Du Lud." 
 
 The temptation to procure valuable furs from 
 the Lake Superior region, contrary to the letter 
 of the Canadian law, was very great ; and more 
 than one Governor -ninked at the contraband 
 trade. Randin, who visited the extremity of 
 Lake Superior, distributed presents to the Sioux 
 and Ottawas in the name of Governor Frontenac, 
 to secure the trade, and after his death, DuLuth 
 was sent to complete what he had begun. With 
 a party of twenty, seventeen Frenchmen and 
 three Indians, he left Quebec on the first of 
 September, 1678, and on the fifth of vVpril, 1679, 
 Du Luth writes to Governor Frontenac, that he 
 is in the woods, about nine miles from Sault St. 
 Marie, at the entrance of Lake Superior, and 
 
 adds that : he " will not stir from the Nadous- 
 sioux, until further orders, and, peace being con- 
 cluded, he will set up the King's Arms; lest the 
 English and other Europeans settled towards 
 California, take possession of the country." 
 
 On the second of July, 1679, he caused his 
 Majesty's Arms to be planted in the great village 
 of the Nadoussioux, called Kathio, where no 
 Frenchman had ever been, and at Songaskicons 
 and Houetbatons, one hundred and twenty leagues 
 distant from the former, where he also set up the 
 King's Arms. In a letter to Seignalay, published 
 for the first time by Harrisse, he writes that it 
 was in the village of Izatys [Issati]. Upon Fran- 
 quelin's map, the Mississippi branches into the 
 Tintonha [Teeton Sioux] country, and not far from 
 here, he alleges, was seen a tree upon which was 
 this legend: " Arms of the King cut on this tree 
 in the year 1679." 
 
 He established a post at Kamanistigoya, which 
 was distant fifteen leagues from the Grand Port- 
 age at the westei-n extremity of Lake Superior ; 
 and here, on the fifteenth of September, he held 
 a council with the Assenipoulaks [Assineboines] 
 and other tribes, and urged them to be at peace 
 with the Sioux. During tliis summer, he dis- 
 patched Pierre Moreau, a celebrated voyageur, 
 nicknamed LaTaupine, with letters to Governor 
 Frontenac, and valuable furs to the merchants. 
 His arrival at Quebec, created some excitement. 
 It was charged that the Governor corresponded 
 with Du Luth, and that he passed the beaver, 
 sent by him, in the name of merchants in his in- 
 terest. The Intendant of Justice, Du Cliesneau, 
 wrote to the ]\Iinister of the Colonial Department 
 of France, that " the man named La Taupine, a 
 famous coureur des bois, who set out in the month 
 of September of last year, 1678, to go to the Ou- 
 tawacs, with goods, and who has always been in- 
 terested with the Governor, hiiving returned this 
 year, and I, being ad\ased that he had traded in 
 
10 
 
 EXPLOREBS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 two days, one hundred and fifty beaver robes in 
 one village of this tribe, amounting to nearly nine 
 hundred beavers, which is a matter of public no- 
 toriety ; and that he left with Du Lut two men 
 whom he had with him, considered myself bound 
 to liave him arrested, and to inteiTogate him ; but 
 having presented me with a license from the Gov- 
 ernor, permitting him and his comrades, named 
 Lamonde and Dupuy, to repair to the Outawac, 
 to execute his secret orders. I had him set at 
 liberty : and immediately on his going out, Sieur 
 Prevost, Town Mayor of Quebec, came at the head 
 of some soldiers to force the prison, in case he 
 was still there, pursuant to his orders from the 
 Governor, in these terms : " Sieur Prevost, ^Mayor 
 of Quebec, is ordered, in case the Intendant arrest 
 Pierre jSIoreau alias La Taupine, whom we have 
 sent to Quebec as bearer of our dispatches, upon 
 pretext of his having been in the bush, to set him 
 fortln\ith at liberty, and to employ every means 
 for this purpose, at his peril. Bone at Montreal, 
 the 5th September, 1679." 
 
 La Tau]iine, in due time returned to» Lake Su- 
 perior with another consignment of merchandise. 
 The interpreter of Du Lutli, and trader with the 
 Sioux, was Faffart, who had been a soldier \mder 
 La Salle at Fort Frontenac, and bad deserted. 
 
 La Salle was commissioned in 1678, by the 
 King of France, to exijlore the West, and trade in 
 Cibola, or buffalo skins, and on condition that he 
 did not traffic with the Ottauwaws, who carried 
 their beaver to Montreal. 
 
 On the 27th of August, 1679, he arrived at 
 Mackinaw, in the " Griffin," the first saiUng ves- 
 sel on the great Lakes of the West, and from 
 thence went to Green ]5ay, where, in the face of 
 his commission, he traded for beaver. Loading 
 his vessel with peltries, he sent it back to Niag- 
 ara, while he, in canoes, proceeded with his ex- 
 pedition to the Illinois Eiver. The ship was 
 never heard of, and for a time supposed to be lost, 
 but La Salle afterward learned from a Pawnee 
 boy fourteen or fifteen years of age, who was 
 brought prisoner to his fort on the Illinois by some 
 Indians, that the pilot of the " Griffin " had been 
 among the tribes of the Upper Missouri. He had 
 ascended the Mississippi with four others in two 
 birch canoes with goods and some hand grenades, 
 taken from the ship, with the intention of join 
 big Du Luth, who had for months been trading 
 
 with the Sioux ; and if their efforts were unsuc- 
 cessful, thgy expected to push on to the English, 
 at Hudson's Bay. Wliile ascending the Missis- 
 sippi they were attacked by Indians, and the pilot 
 and one other only survived, and they were sold 
 to the Indians on the Missouri. 
 
 In the month of June, 1680. Du Luth, accom- 
 panied by Faffart, an interpreter, with four 
 Frenchmen, also a Chippeway and a Sioux, with 
 two canoes, entered a river, the mouth o'f which 
 is eight leagues from the head of Lake Superior 
 on the South side, named Nemitsakouat. Peach- 
 ing its head waters, by a short portage, of half a 
 league, he reached a lake which was the source 
 of the Saint Croix River, and by this, he and his 
 companions were the first Europeans to journey 
 in a canoe from Lake Superior to the Mississippi. 
 
 La Salle writes, that Du Luth, finding that 
 the Sioux were on a hunt in the Mississippi val- 
 ley, below the Saint Croix, and that Accault, Au- 
 gelle and Hennepin, who had come up from the 
 Illinois a few weeks before, were with them, de- 
 scended until he found them. In the same letter 
 he disregards the truth m order to disparage his 
 rival, and writes: 
 
 "Thirty-eight or forty leagues above the Chip- 
 peway they found the river by which the Sieur 
 Du Luth did descend to the Mississippi. He had 
 been three years, contrary to orders, with a com- 
 pany of twenty " coureurs du bois " on Lake Su- 
 perior; he had borne himself bravely, proclaiming 
 everywhere that at the head of his brave fellows 
 he did not fear the Grand Prevost, and that he 
 would compel an amnesty. 
 
 '' A\nule he was at Lake Superior, the Nadoue- 
 sioux, enticed by the presents that the late Sieur 
 RancUn had made on the part of Count Fronte- 
 nac, and the Sauteurs [Ojibways], who are the sav- 
 ages who carry the peltries to ilontreal, and who 
 dwell on Lake Superior, wishing to obey the re- 
 peated orders of the Comit, made a peace to 
 unite the Sauteurs and French, and to trade with 
 the Nadouesioux, situated about sixty leagues to 
 the west of Lake Superior. Du Luth, to disguise 
 liis desei-tion, seized the opportunity to make 
 some reputation for himself, sending two messen- 
 gers to the Count to negotiate a truce, during 
 \\nich period their comrades negotiated stUl bet- 
 ter for beaver. 
 
 Several conferences were held with the Nar 
 
FAFFART. DV LUTII'S INTFIlPIiETETi. 
 
 11 
 
 (louessioux, and as he needed an interpreter, he led 
 off one of mine, named Failart, formerly a sol- 
 dier at Fort Frontenap. During this iicriod there 
 were fre(iuent visits between the Sauteiirs [Ojib- 
 ways] and Xadouesioux, and suiiposiiii; that it 
 miRht increase the number of beaver skins, ho 
 sent Faifartby land, with the Nadoncsioiix and 
 Sauteurs [Ojibways]. The young man on his re- 
 turn, having given an account of the (juaiitity of 
 beaver in that region, he wished to proceed thither 
 himself, and, guided by a Sauteur and n Nadoue- 
 sioux, and four Frenchmen, he ascended the river 
 iNemitsakouat, where, by a short portage, he de- 
 scended that stream, whereon he passed through 
 forty leagues of rapids [Upper St. Croix River], 
 and finding that the Xadonesioux were below with 
 my men and the Father, who had come down 
 agaui from the village of the Xadouesioux, he 
 discovered them. They went up again to the 
 village, and from thence they all together came 
 do-mi. They returned by the river Ouisconsing, 
 and came back to Montreal, where I)u Lutli in- 
 sults the commissaries, and the deputy of the 
 'procureur general,' named d'Auteuil. Count 
 Frontenac had him arrested and imprisoned in 
 the castle of Quebec, with the iutentiou of return- 
 ing him to France for the amnesty accorded to 
 the coureurs des bois, did not release him." 
 
 At this very period, another party charges 
 Frontenac as being Du Luth"s particular friend. 
 
 Du Luth, during the fall of 16S1, was engaged 
 in the beaver trade at Montreal and Quebec. 
 Du Chesneau, the Intendant of .Justice for Can- 
 ada, on the 13th of November, IG.sl, wrote to the 
 Marquis de Siegnelay in Paris : " Xot content 
 with tlie profits to be derived from the countries 
 under the King's dominion, the desire of making 
 money everywhere, has led the Governor [Fron- 
 tenac], Boisseau, Du Lut and Patron, his luicle, 
 to send canoes loaded with peltries, to tlie En- 
 glish. It is said sixty thou.sand livres' worth has 
 been sent thither ;" and he further stated that 
 there was a very general report that within five 
 or six days, Frontenac and his associates had di- 
 vided the money received from the beavers sent 
 to New England. 
 
 At a conference in Quebec of some of the dis- 
 thiguished men in that city, relative to difficulties 
 with the Iroquois, held on the lOth of October, 
 1682, Du Luth was present. From thence he went 
 
 to France, and, early in 1683, consulted with the 
 Minister of Marine at Versailles relative to the 
 interests of trade in the Hudson's Bay and Lake 
 Superior region. ITpon his return to Canada, he 
 departed for jMatHvinaw. Governor De la Barre, 
 on the 9th of Novemlier, 16S3, wrote to the French 
 Government that the Indians west and north of 
 Lake Superior, " when they heard by expresses 
 sent them by Du Lhut, of his arrival at Missili- 
 makinak, that he was coming, sent him word to 
 come quickly an<l they would luiite with him to 
 prevent others going thither. If I stop that pass 
 as I hope, and as it is necessary to do, as the Eng- 
 lish of the Bay [Hudson's] excite against us the 
 savages, whom Sieur Du Lhut alone can quiet." 
 
 While stationed at Mackinaw he was a partici- 
 pant in a tragic occurrence. During the summer 
 of 1683 Jacques le Maire and Colin Berthot, while 
 on their way to trade at Keweenaw, on Lake Su- 
 perior, were suri)rised by three Indians, robbed, 
 and murdered. Du Luth was prompt to arrest 
 and punish the assassins. In a letf er from Mack- 
 inaw, dated April 12, 1684, to the Governor of 
 Canada, he writes: "Be pleased to know. Sir, 
 that on the 24th of October last, I was told that 
 Folle Avome, accomplice in the murder and rob- 
 bery of the two Frenchmen, had arrived at Sault 
 Ste. Marie with fifteen families of the Sauteurs 
 [Ojibways] who had fled from Chagoamigon [La 
 Pointe] on account of an attack wlucli they, to- 
 gether with the people of the land, made last 
 Spruig upon the Nadouecioux [Dakotahs.J 
 
 " He believed himself safe at the Sault, on <ic- 
 count of the number of allies and relatives he had 
 there. Rev. Father Albanel informed me that 
 the French at the Saut, being only twelve in num- 
 ber, had not arrested him, believing themselves 
 too weak to contend with such numbers, espe- 
 cially as the Sauteurs had declared that they 
 would not allow the French to redden the land 
 of their fathers with the blood of their brothers. 
 
 " On receivmg this information, I immediately 
 resolved to take with me six Frenchmen, and em- 
 bark at the da^^^l of the next day for Saidt Ste. 
 Marie, and if possible obtain possession of the 
 murderer. I made known my design to the Rev. 
 Father Engalran, and, at my request, iis he had 
 some business to ari'ange with Rev. Father Al- 
 banel, he placed himself in my canoe. 
 
 '• Having arrived within a league of the village 
 
12 
 
 EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 of the Saut, the Eev. Father, the Chevalier de 
 Fourcllle, Cardonnierre, and .1 disembarked. I 
 caused the canoe, in wliieh were Baril)aud, Le 
 Mere, La Fortune, and Macons, to proceed, while 
 we went across the wood to the honse of the Rev. 
 Father, fearing that the savages, seeing me, might 
 SHspect the object of my visit, and ca<ise Folle 
 Avoine to escape. Finally, to cut the matter 
 short, I arrested him, and cansed him to be 
 guarded day and night by six Frenchmen. 
 
 " I then called a council, at which I requested 
 all the savages of the place to be present, where 
 I repeated what I had often said to the Hurons 
 and Ottawas since the departure of M. Fere [Per- 
 rot], giving them the message you ordered me. 
 Sir, that in case there should be among them any 
 spirits so evil disposed as to follow tlie example 
 of those who have murdered the Fi'encli on Lake 
 Superior and Lake Micliigan, they must separate 
 the guilty from the innocent, as I did not wish 
 the whole nation to suffer, unless they protected 
 the guilty. * * * The savages held several 
 councils, to which I was invited, b:.t tlieir only 
 object seemed to be to exculpate the prisoner, in 
 order that I might release him. 
 
 " All united in accusing Achiganaga and his 
 children, assuring themselves with the beUef that 
 M. Pere, [Perrot] with his detachment would not 
 be able to arrest them, and wishing to persuade 
 me that they apprehended that all the Frenchmen 
 might be killed. 
 
 " I answered them, * * * ' As to the antici- 
 pated death of ^L Pere [Perrot]. as well as of the 
 otlier Frenchmen, that would not embarrass me, 
 smce I believed neither the allies nor the nation 
 of Achiganaga would wish to have a war witli ns 
 to sustain an action so dark as that of which we 
 were speaking. Having only to attack a few 
 murderers, or, at most, those of their own family, 
 I was certain tliat the French would have them 
 dead or alive.' 
 
 " This was the answer they had from me during 
 the three days that the councils lasted ; after 
 which I embarked, at ten o'clock in the morning, 
 sustained by only twelve Frenchmen, to show a 
 few unruly persons who boasted of taking the 
 prisoner away from me, that the French did not 
 fear them. 
 
 " Daily I received accounts of tlie number of 
 savages that Achiganaga drew from his nation to 
 
 Kiaonan [Keweenaw] under pretext of going to 
 war in the spring against the Nadouecioux, to 
 avenge the death of one of his relatives, son of Ou- 
 enaus, but really to protect himself against us, 
 in case we should become convinced that liis chil- 
 dren had killed the Frenchmen. This precaution 
 placed me between hope and fear respecting the 
 expedition which M. Pere [Perrot] had under- 
 taken. 
 
 "On the 24th of November, [1683], he came 
 across the wood at ten o'clock at night, to tell me 
 that he had arrested Achiganaga and four of his 
 children. He said they were not all guilty of the 
 murder, but had thought proper, in this affair, to 
 follow the custom of the savages, which is to seize 
 all the relatives. Folle Avoine, whom I had ar- 
 rested, he considered the most guilty, being with- 
 out doubt the originator of the mischief. 
 
 " I immediately gave orders that Folle Avoine 
 sliould be more closely confined, and not allowed 
 to speak to any one ; for I had also learned that 
 he had a brother, sister, and imcle in the village 
 of the Kiskakons. 
 
 " M. Pere informed me that he had released the 
 youngest son of Achiganaga, aged about thirteen 
 or fourteen years, that he might make known to 
 their nation and the Sauteurs [Ojibways], who are 
 at Nocke and in tlie neigliborhood, the reason 
 why the Frencli had arrested his father and bro- 
 thers. M. Pere bade him assure the savages that 
 if any one wished to complain of what he had 
 done, he would wait for them with a firm step ; for 
 he considered himself in a condition to set them 
 at defiance, having found at Kiaonan [Keweenaw] 
 eighteen Frenchmen who had wintered tliere. 
 
 " On the 2.5tli, at daybreak, M. Pere embarked 
 at the Sault, with four good men whom I gave 
 him, to go and meet tlie prisoners. He left them 
 four leagues from there, under a guard of twelve 
 Fren'chmen ; and at two o'clock in the afternoon, 
 they arrived. I had prepared a room in my house 
 for the prisoners, in wliich they were placed under 
 a strong guard, and were not allowed to converse 
 with any one. 
 
 " On the 26th, I commenced proceedings; and 
 tliis, sir, is tlie course I pursued. J gave notice 
 to all the chiefs and others, to appear at the 
 council which I had appointed, and gave to Folle 
 Avoine the privilege of selecting two of his tela 
 
IXDTANS CONDEMNED TO BE SHOT. 
 
 13 
 
 tives to support his interests ; aiid to tlie other 
 prisoners I made the same offer. 
 
 " The council being assembled, I sent lor ToUe 
 Avome to be interrogated, and caused Ids answers 
 to be written, and afterwards th(\v were read to 
 him, and inquiry made whether they were not, 
 word for word, what he had said. lie was then 
 removed under a safe guard. I used the same 
 form with tlie two eldest sons of Acliiganaga, and, 
 as i'oUe Avoiue liad indirectly charged the father 
 with being accessoiy to the murder, I sent for 
 him and also for Folle AvoLne, and bringing them 
 into the council, confronted the four. 
 
 " FoUe Avoiue and the two sons of Achiganaga 
 accused each other of committing the murder, 
 without denying that they were participators in 
 the crime. Achiganaga alone strongly maintained 
 that he knew nothing of the design of Folle 
 Avoine, nor of his children, and called on them 
 to .say if he had advised them to kill the French- 
 men. They answered, ' Xo.' 
 
 " This couf routatiou, which the savages did not 
 expect, surprised them; and, seeing the prisoners 
 had convicted themselves of the murder, the 
 Chiefs said: 'It is enough; you accuse your- 
 selves; the French are masters of your bodies.' 
 
 " The next day I held another council, in which 
 I said there could be no doubt that the French- 
 men had been murdered, that the murderers were 
 known, and that they knew what was the prac- 
 tice among themselves upon such occasions. To 
 all this they said nothing, which obliged us on 
 the following day to hold another council in the 
 cabin of Brochet, where, after having spoken, and 
 seeing that they w ould make no decision, and that 
 all my councils ended only in reducing tobacco to 
 ashes, I told them that, since they did not wish to 
 decide, I should take the responsibility, and that 
 the next day I woidd let them know the deter- 
 mination of the French and myself. 
 
 " It is proper. Sir, you should know that I ob- 
 served all these forms only to see if they would 
 feel it their duty to render to us the same justice 
 that lUey do to each other, having liad divers ex- 
 amples in which when the tribes of those who 
 liad <'ommitted the murder did not wish to go to 
 war with the tribe aggrieved, the nearest rela- 
 tions of the murderers killed them themselves; 
 that is to say, man for man. 
 
 " On the 29th of November. I gathered together 
 
 the French that were here, and, after the interro- 
 gations and answers of the accused had been read 
 to them, tlie guilt of tlie lhic(! appeared so evi- 
 dent, from their own (unifessions, that the vote 
 was unanimous that all should die. Ihit as the 
 French who remained at Kiaonan to pass the win- 
 ter had written to Father Engalran and to myself, 
 to beg us to treat the affair with all possible len- 
 iency, the savages declaring that if they made 
 the prisoners die they would avenge themselves, 
 I told the gentlemen who were with me in coun- 
 cil that, this being a case without a precedent, I 
 believed it was expedient for the ^safety of the 
 French who would pass the winter in the Lake 
 Superior country to put to death only two, as that 
 of the third might bring aljout grievous conse- 
 quences, while the putting to death, man for 
 man, could give the savages no complaint, since 
 this is their custom. M. de la Tour, chief of the 
 Fathers, who had served much, sustained my 
 oiiinions by strong reasoning, and all decided that 
 two should be shot, namely, Folle Avoine and 
 the older of the two brothers, while the younger 
 should be released, and hold his life. Sir, as a gift 
 from you. 
 
 " I tl;en returned to the cabin of Brochet with 
 Messrs. Boisguillot, Fere, De Repentigny, De 
 Maiitliet, De la Ferte, and ]Macons, where were 
 all the chiefs of the Outawas du Sable, Outawas 
 Sinagos, Kiskakons, Sauteurs, D'Achiliny, apart 
 of the Hurons, and Oumamens, the chief of the 
 Amikoys. I informed tliem of our decision * 
 
 * * that, the Freuclimen having been killed by 
 the different nations, one of each must die, and 
 that the same death they had caused tlie French 
 to suffer they must also suffer. * * * This 
 decision to put the murderers to death was a hard 
 stroke to them all, for none had believed that I 
 would dare to undertake it. * * * I then left 
 the council and asked the Rev. Fathers if they 
 wished to baptize the prisoners, which they did. 
 
 "An hour after, I put myself at the head of 
 forty-two Frenchmen, and, in sight of more than 
 four hundred savages, and within two hundred 
 paces of their fort, I c<iused tlie two murderers 
 to be shot. The impossibility of keeping them 
 until spring made me hasten their death. * * 
 
 * "WTien M. Pere made the anest, those who had 
 committed the murder confessed it; and when he 
 asked them what they Lad done with our good* 
 
14 
 
 EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 they answered that they were ahnost all con- 
 cealed. He proceeded to the place of conceal- 
 ment, and was very much surprised, as were also 
 the French with him, to find tliem, in fifteen or 
 twenty Uiilereut places. By the carelessness of 
 the savages, the tobacco and powder were entire- 
 ly destroyed, having been placed in the pinery, 
 under the roots of trees, and being soaked in the 
 water caused by ten or twelve days' continuous 
 Klin, which inundated all the lower country. 
 The season for snow and ice having come, they 
 had all the trouble in the world to get out the 
 bales of cloth. 
 
 " They then went to see the bodies, but could 
 not remove them, these miserable wretches hav- 
 ing thrown them into a marsh, and thrust them 
 down into holes which they had made. Not sat- 
 isfied with this, they bad also piled branches of 
 trees upon the bodies, to prevent them from float- 
 ing when the water should rise in the spring, 
 hoping by this precaution the French would find 
 no trace of those who were killed, but would think 
 tliem drowned; as they reported that they had 
 foiuid in the lake on the other side of the Portage, 
 a boat with the sides all broken in, which they 
 believed to be a French boat. 
 
 "Those goods which the French were able to 
 secure, they took to Kiaonau [Keweenaw], where 
 were a number of Frenchmen who had gone there 
 to pass the winter, wlio knew nothing of the death 
 of Colin Berthot and Jacques le Maire, vuitil il. 
 Pere arrived. 
 
 ''The ten who formed M. Pere's detachment 
 having conferred together concerning the means 
 they should take to prevent a total loss, decided 
 to sell the goods to the highest bidder. The sale 
 was made for 1100 livres, which was to be paid in 
 beavers, to M. de la Chesnaye, to whom I send 
 the names of the purchsers. 
 
 " The savages who were present when Achiga- 
 naga and his children were arrested wished to 
 pass the calumet to M. Pere, and give him cap- 
 tives to satisfy him for the murder committed on 
 the two Frenchmen ; but he knew their inten- 
 tion, and would not accept their offer. He told 
 them neither a hundred captives nor a hundred 
 packs of beaver woukl give back the blood of his 
 lii'others; that the murderers must be given np 
 to me, and I would see what I would do. 
 
 " I caused M. Pere to repeat these tilings in the 
 
 coimcU, that in future the savages need not think 
 by presents to save those who commit similar 
 deeds. Besides, sir, M. Pere showed plamly by 
 his conduct, that he is not strongly inclined to 
 favor the savages, as was reported. Indeed, I do 
 not know any one whom they fear more, yet who 
 flatters them less or knows them better. 
 
 " The criminals being in two different places, 
 M. Pere being obliged to keep four of them, sent 
 Messrs. de Repentigny, Manthet, and six other 
 Frenchmen, to arrest the two who were eight 
 leagues in the woods'. Among others, M. de Re- 
 pentigny and M. d(^ Manthet showed that they 
 feared nothing when their honor called them. 
 
 " M. de la Chevrotiere has also served well in 
 person, and by his advice, having pointed out 
 where the prisoners were. Achiganaga, who had 
 adopted him as a son, had told him where he 
 should hunt during the winter. ***** 
 It still remained for me to give to Acliiganaga and 
 his three childi-en the means to return to his 
 family. Their home from which they were taken 
 was nearly twenty-six leagues from here. Know- 
 ing their necessity, I told them you would not be 
 satisfied hi giving them life ; you wished to pre- 
 serve it, by giving them all that was necessary to 
 prevent them from dying with himger and cold 
 by the way, and that your gift was made by my 
 hands. I gave them blankets, tobacco, meat, 
 hatchets, knives, twine to make nets for beavers, 
 and two bags of com, to supply them till they 
 could kill game. 
 
 " They departed two days after, the most con- 
 tented creatm-es in the world, but God was not ; 
 for when ouly two days' journey from here, the 
 old Achiganaga fell sick of the quinsy, and died, 
 and his children returned. When the news of his 
 death arrived, the greater part of the savages of 
 this place [Mackinaw] attributed it to the French, 
 saying we had caused him to die. I let them 
 talk, and laughed at them. It is only about two 
 months since the children of Achiganaga retumei 
 to Kiaonan." 
 
 Some of those opposed to Du Luth and Fron- 
 tenac, prejudiced the King pf France relative to 
 the transaction we have described, and in a letter 
 to the Governor of Canada, the King writes : " It 
 appears to me that one of the princii^al causes of 
 the war arises from one I)u Luth having caused 
 two to be killed who had assassinated two French- 
 
ENGLISH TRADERS CAl'TUREl). 
 
 lo 
 
 men on Lake Superior; and you snlliciently see 
 now niiicli this man's voyage, wliich can not pro- 
 duce any advantage to the colony, and wliirh waa 
 permitted oidy in the interest of sonu' i)ri\ate 
 persons, lias contributed to distract llie peace of 
 the colony."' 
 
 Du Luth and his yoimg brother appear to have 
 traded at the western extremity of Lake Superior. 
 and on the north shore, to Lake Nipegon. 
 
 In June, 1(584, (iovernor l)e la Barre sent (iuil- 
 let and llebert from ^loutreal to request Du Liith 
 and I>urantaye to bring down voyageurs and In- 
 dians to assist in an expedition against the Iro- 
 quois of New Y(u-k. Early in September, they 
 reported on the St. Lawrence, with one hundred 
 and lifty coureurs des bois and three hundred and 
 lifty Indians ; but as a treaty liad just been made 
 with the Senecas, they returned. 
 
 De la Barre 's successor, Governor Denonville, 
 in a dispatch to the French Government, dated 
 November 12tli. I(i8.5, alludes to Du Luth being 
 in the far West, in these words : ■• I likewise sent 
 to M. De la Durantaye, who is at Lake Superior 
 imder orders from M. De la Barre, and to Sieur 
 Du Luth, who is also at a great distance in an- 
 other direction, and all so far beyond reach that 
 neither the one nor the other can hear news from 
 me this year ; so that, not being able to see them 
 at soonest, before next July, I considered it best 
 not to think of undertaking anything during the 
 whole of next year, especially as a great number 
 of our best men are among the Outaouacs. and 
 cannot return before the ensuing summer. * * * 
 In regard to Sieur Du Luth, 1 sent him orders to 
 repair here, so that I may learn the number of 
 savages on whom I may depend. He is accredit- 
 ed among them, and rendered great services to 
 M. De la Barre by a large nimiber of savages he 
 brought to Niagara, who would have attacked 
 tlie Senecas, was it not for an express order from 
 JI. De la Barre to the contrary." 
 
 In 1686, while at Mackinaw, he was ordered to 
 establish a post on the Detroit, near Lake Erie. 
 A portion of the order reads as follows : " After 
 having given all the orders that you may judge 
 necessary for the safety of this post, and having 
 well secured the obedience of the Indians, you 
 will return to Miehilimackinac, there to await 
 Rev. Father Engelran, by whom I will commu- 
 nicate what I wish of you, there." 
 
 Tlie design of this post was to block the pas- 
 sage of tlin lOnglisli to tlie upper lakes. Before 
 it was established, in the fall of 1686, Thomas 
 liosebodiu, a daring trader from Albany, on the 
 Hudson, hail found his way to the viciinty of 
 Mackinaw, and by the proffer of brandy, weak- 
 ened the allegiance of the tribes to the FifMuIi. 
 
 A canoe coming to Mackinaw with dispatches 
 for the French and their allies, to march to the 
 Seneca country, in New York, perceived tins New 
 York trader and associates, and, giving the alarm, 
 tlu'y were met by three hundred coureurs du 
 bois and captured. 
 
 In the spring of 1687 Du Lutli, Durantaye, 
 and T-)nty all left the vicinity of Detroit for Ni- 
 agara, and as they were coasthig along Lake Erie 
 they met another English trader, a Scotchman 
 by birth, and by name Major Patrick McGregor, 
 a person of some intluence, going with a number 
 of traders to ^Mackinaw. Having taken him ]ii'is- 
 oner, he was sent with Ilosebo<im to .Montreal. 
 
 Du Luth, Tonty, and Durantaye arrived at Ni- 
 agara on the :27tli of June, 1687, with one hun- 
 dred and seventy French voyageurs, besides In- 
 dians, and on the loth of July joined the army of 
 Denonville at the mouth of the (ieuesee Kiver, 
 and on the 13th Du Luth and his associates had 
 a skirmish near a Seneca village, now the site of 
 the town of Victor, twenty miles southeast of the 
 city of Rochester, New Y'ork. Governor Denon- 
 ville, in a report, writes: " On the 13th, about 4 
 o'clock in the afternoon, having pas.sed through 
 two dangerous detiles, we arrived at the third, 
 where we were vigorously attacked by eight hun- 
 dred Senecas, two hundred of whom tired, wish- 
 ing to attack our rear, wlule the rest would attack 
 our front, but the resistance, made produced 
 such a great consternation that they soon resolved 
 to fly. * * * We witnessed the p^iinful sight 
 of the usual cruelties of the savages, who cut the 
 dead into quarters, as is done in slaughter houses, 
 in order to put them into the kettle. The greater 
 numlier were opened while .still warm, that the 
 blood might be drunk. Our rascally Otaoas dis- 
 tinguished tliemselves particularly by these bar- 
 barities. * * * We had live or six men killed 
 on the spot, French and Indians, and aliout 
 twenty wounded, among the first of whom was the 
 Rev. Father Angelran, superior of all the Otaoan 
 Missions, by a very severe gun-shot. It is a great 
 
16 
 
 EXPLORERS A ND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 misfortune that this wound will prevent him go- 
 jng back again, for he is a man of capacity." 
 
 In the orcter to Du Luth assigning him to duty 
 at tho post on the site of the modern Fort Gra- 
 tiot, above the city of Detroit, the Governor of 
 Canada said: " If you can so arrange your affairs 
 that your brother can be near you in tlie Spring, 
 I shall be very glad. He is an intelligent lad, 
 and might be a great assistance to you; he might 
 also be very serviceable to us." 
 
 This lad, Greysolon de la Tourette, during the 
 winter of 1686-7 was trading among the Assina- 
 bouies and other tribes at the west end of Lake 
 Superior, but, upon receiving a dispatch, hastened 
 to his brother, journeying in a canoe without any 
 escort from Mackinaw. He did not arrive until 
 after the battle with the Senecas. Governor Den- 
 onville, on the 25th of August, 1687, wrote: 
 
 " Du Luth's brother, who has recently arrived 
 from the rivers above the Lake of the Allempi- 
 gons [Nipegon], assures me that he saw more than 
 fifteen hvmdred persons come to trade with him, 
 and they were very sorry he had not goods suffi- 
 cient to satisfy them. They are of the tribes ac- 
 customed to resort to the English at Port Nelson 
 and Kiver Bourbon, where, they say, they did not 
 go this year, through Sieur Du Lhu's influence." 
 
 After the battle in the vicinity of Rochester, 
 New York, Du Luth, with his celebrated cousin, 
 Henry Tonty, returned together as far as the post 
 above the present city of Detroit, Michigan, but 
 this point, after 1688, was not again occupied. 
 
 From this period Du Luth becomes less prom- 
 inent. At the time when the Jesuits attempted 
 to exclude brandy from the Indian country a bit- 
 ter controversy arose between them and the 
 traders. Cadillac, a Gascon by birth, command- 
 ing Fort Buade, at Mackiaiaw, on August 3, 1695, 
 wrote to Count Frontenac: "Now, what reason 
 can we assign that the savages should not drink 
 brandy bought with their own money as well as 
 we? Is it prohibited to prevent them from- be- 
 coming intoxicated? Or is it because the use of 
 brandy reduces them to extreme .misery, placing 
 it out of their power to make war by depriving 
 them of clothing and arms? If such representa- 
 tions in regard to the Indians have been made to 
 the Count, they are very false, as every one knows 
 who is ac(iuainted with the ways of the savages. 
 * * * It is bad faith to represent to the Count 
 
 that the sale of brandy reduces the savage to a 
 state of nudity, arfd by that means places it out 
 of his power to make war, since he never goes to 
 war in any other condition. * * » Perhaps it 
 will be said that the sale of brandy makes the 
 labors of the missionaries unfruitful. It is neces- 
 sary to examine this proposition. If the mission- 
 aries care for only the extension of commerce, 
 pursuing the course they have hitherto, I agree 
 to it; but if it is the use of brandy that hinders 
 the advancement of the cause of God, I deny it, 
 for it is a fact which no one can deny that there 
 are a great number of savages who never drink 
 brandy, yet who are not, for that, better Chris- 
 tians. 
 
 I "All the Sioux, the most numerous of all the 
 tribes, who inhabit the region along the shore of 
 Lake Superior, do not even like the smell of 
 brandy. Are they more advanced in religion for 
 that? They do not wish to have the subject men- 
 tioned, and when the missionaries address them 
 they only laugh at the foolishness of preiiching. 
 Yet these priests boldly fling before the eyes of 
 Europeans, whole volumes fdled with glowing 
 descriptions of the conversion of souls by thou- 
 sands in this country, causing the poor missiona- 
 ries from Europe, to run to martyrdom as flies to 
 sugar and honey." 
 
 Du Luth, or Du Lhut, as he wrote his name, 
 d>iring this discussion, was found upon the side 
 of order and good morals. His attestation is as 
 follows : " I certify that at different periods I 
 have lived about ten years among the Ottawa 
 nation, from the time that 1 made an exploration 
 to the Nadouecioux people until FoTt Saint Jo- 
 seph was estabUshed by order of the Monsieur 
 Marquis DenonvUle, Governor General, at the 
 head of the Detroit of Lake Erie, which is in the 
 Iroquois country, and which I had the honor to 
 command. During this period, I have seen that 
 the trade in eau-de-vie (brandy) produced great 
 disorder, the father kiUing the son, and the son 
 throwing his mother into the fire; and I mamtain 
 tliat, morally speaking, it is impossible to export 
 brandy to the woods and distant missions, with- 
 out danger of its leading to misery." 
 
 Governor Frontenac, in an expedition against 
 the Oneidas of New York, arrived at Fort Fron- 
 tenac, on the 19th of July, 1695, and Captain Du 
 Luth was left in command with forty soldiers, 
 
DU LIJTH AFFLICTED WITH GOUT. 
 
 17 
 
 ami masons and carpenters, with orders to erect 
 new buildings. In about foiir weeks lie erected 
 a building one hundred and twenty feet in leugtli, 
 containing officers' quarters, store-rooms, a bakery 
 and a chapel. Early in 1097 ho ■was still in com- 
 mand of the post, and in a report it is mentioned 
 that " everybody was then in good health, except 
 Captain Dnlliut the commander, who was unwell 
 of the gout." 
 
 It was just before this period, that as a member 
 of the Eoman Catholic Cluirch, he was firmly 
 impressed that he had been helped by prayers 
 which he addressed to a deceased Iroquois girl, 
 who had died in the odor of sanctity, and, as a 
 thank offering, signed the following certificate : 
 " I, the subscriber, certify to all whom it may 
 concern, that having been tormented by the gout, 
 for the space of twenty-three years, and with such 
 
 severe pains, that it gave me no rest for the spac 
 of three months at a time, I addressed myself to 
 Catherine Tegahkouita, an Inxpiois virghi de- 
 ceased at the Sault Saint Loins, in the reputation 
 of sanctity, and I promised her to visit her tomb, 
 if God should give me health, through her uiter- 
 cession. I have been as perfectly cured at the 
 end of one novena, which I made in her honor, 
 tliat after five months, I have not perceived the 
 slightest touch of my govit. Given at Fort Fron- 
 tenac, this ISth day of August, 1696." 
 
 As soon as cold weather returned, his old mal- 
 ady again appeared. He diedearly in A. D. 1710. 
 Marquis de Vaudreuil, Governor of Canada, im- 
 der date of first of ]SIay of that year, wrote to 
 Count Pontchartrain, Colonial Minister at I'aris, 
 " Captain Du Lud died this winter. lie was a 
 very honest man." 
 
18 
 
 EXl'LOliEliS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FIKST WHITE SIETST AT FALLS OF SAINT ANTHONT OF PADUA. 
 
 Falls of St. Anthony Visited by White Men.— La Salle Gives the Fiist Description 
 of Upper Mississippi Valley.— Accault, the Leader, Accompanied by Avipelle 
 and Hennepin, at Falls of Saint Anthony.— Hennepin Declared Unreliable by 
 La Salle.— His E.arly Life.—His First Book Criticised by Abbe Eernou and 
 Tronson- — Deceptive Map. — First Meeting with Sioux ;— Astonishment at 
 Reading His Breviary,— Sioux Name lor Guns. —Accault and Hennepin at 
 Lake Pepin.— Leave the River Below Saint Paul.— At Mille Lacs.— A Sweating 
 Cabin.— Sioux Wonder at Mariner's Compass.— Fears of an lion Pot.— Making 
 a Dictionary.- Infant Baptised.— Route to the Pacific— Hennepin Descends 
 RumRiver.— First Visitto Falls of Saint Anthony.— On a Buffalo Hnnt.-Meets 
 Du Luth.— Returns to Mille L.acs.- With Du Luth at Falls of S(. Anthony.— 
 Returns to France. — Subsequent Life.—His Books Examined.- Denies in First 
 Book His Descent to the Gulf of Mexico.— Dispute with Du Luth at Falls of St, 
 Anthony.— Patronage of Du Luth.— Tribute to Du Luth.- Heunepin's Answer 
 to {'riticisras.— Denounced by D'Iberville and Father Gravier.— Residence in 
 Rome. 
 
 In the summer of 1680, ISIicliael Accault (Ako), 
 Heiuiepiu, the Frauciscan missionary, Augelle, 
 Du Luth, and FafCart all visited the Falls of 
 Saint Anthony. 
 
 The fast description of the valley of the iipper 
 Jlississippi was written by La Salle, at Fort 
 Frontenac, on Lake Ontario, on the 22d of Au- 
 gust, 16S2, a month before Hennepin, in Paris, 
 obtained a license to print, and some time before 
 the Franciscan's first work, was issued from the 
 press. 
 
 La Salle's knowledge must have been received 
 from Alichael Accault, tlie leader of the expedi- 
 tion, Augelle, his comrade, or the clerical attache, 
 the Franciscan, Hennepin. 
 
 It differs from Hennepin's narrative in its free- 
 dom from bombast, and if its statements are to 
 be credited, tlie Franciscan must be looked on as 
 one given to exaggeration. The careful student, 
 however, soon learns to be cautious m receiving 
 the statement of any of the early explorers and 
 ecclesiastics of the Northwest. The Franciscan 
 depreciated the Jesuit missionary, and La Salle 
 did not hesitate to misrepresent l>u Luth and 
 others for his Gwn exaltation. La Salle makes 
 statements which we deem to be wide of the 
 truth when his prejudices are aroused. 
 
 At the very time that the Intendant of Justice 
 in Canada is complaining that Governor Fronte- 
 nac is a friend and correspondent of Du Luth, 
 
 La Salle writes to his friends in Paris, thatDii 
 Luth is looked upon as an outlaw by the governor. 
 
 AMiile official documents prove that Du Luth 
 was in Jliimesota a year before Accault and asso- 
 ciates, yet La SaUe wTites: " Moreover, the Na- 
 donesioux is not a region which he has discov- 
 ered. It is known that it was discovered a long 
 time before, and that the Eev. Father Hennepin 
 and Michael Accault were there before him." 
 
 La Salle in this communication describes Ac- 
 cault as one well acquamted with the language 
 and names of the Indians of the Illinois region, 
 and also " cool, brave, and prudent,'' and the head 
 of the party of exploration. 
 
 ■\\'e now proceed wfth the first description of 
 the country above the "Wisconsin, to which is 
 given, for the first and only time, by any writer, 
 the Sioux name, lileschetz Odeba, perhaps in- 
 tended for ^Meshdeke "Wakpa, River of the Foxes. 
 
 He describes the Upper Mississippi in these 
 words : " Followuig the windings of the Missis- 
 sippi, they found the river Ouisconsing, "Wiscon- 
 sing, or Meschetz Odeba, which flows between 
 Bay of Puaus and the Grand river. » * * About 
 twenty-three or twenty-four leagues to the north 
 or northwest of the mouth of the Oiiisconshig. 
 * * * they found the Black river, called by tlie 
 Nadouesioux, Chabadeba [Chapa "Wakpa, Beaver 
 i-iver] not very large, the mouth of which is bor- 
 dered on the two shores Viy alilers. 
 
 " Ascending about thixty leagues, almost at the 
 same point of the compass, is the Buffalo river 
 l^Chippewa], as large at its mouth as that of the 
 Illinois. They follow it ten or twelve leagues, 
 where it is deep, small and without rapids, bor- 
 dered by liiUs which widen out from time to time 
 to form prairies." 
 
 About three o'clock in the afternoon of tlie 1 Uh 
 of April, 1680, the travelers were iiet by a war 
 party of one hundred Sioux in thirty-three birch 
 bark canoes. "Michael Accault, who was the 
 
HE^'NE^IX CRITICISED BY LA SALLE. 
 
 19 
 
 leader," says La Salle, " presented the Calumet." 
 The Indians were presented by Accanlt with 
 twenty knives and a fathoni and a half of tobacco 
 and some goods, rrocceding with the Indians 
 ton days, on the 22d of April the isles in the ^lis- 
 sissippi were reached, where the Sioux had killed 
 some Maskoutens, and they halted to weep over 
 the death of two of their own number; and to 
 assuage their grief, Accanlt gave them in trade a 
 box of goods and twenty-four hatchets. 
 
 AVhen they were eight leagues below the Falls 
 of Saint Anthony, they resolved to go by land to 
 their village, sixty leagues distant. They were 
 well received ; the only strife among the villages 
 was that which resulted from the desire to have 
 a Frenchman in their midst. La Salle also states 
 that it was not correct to give the impression that 
 Du Lnth had rescued his men from captivity, for 
 they could not be properly called prisoners. 
 
 He continues: " In going up the Mississippi 
 again, twenty leagues above that river [Saint 
 CroixJ is found the falls, which those I sent, and 
 who passuig there first, named Saint Anthony. 
 It is thirty or forty feet high, and the river is nar- 
 rower here than elsewhere. There is a small 
 island m the midst of the chute, and the two 
 banks of the river are not bordered by high hills, 
 which gradually diminish at this point, but the 
 country on each side is covered with thin woods, 
 such as oaks and other hard woods, scattered wide 
 apart. 
 
 " The canoes were carried three or four hun- 
 dred steps, and eight leagues above was found 
 the west [east?] bank of the river of the Xailoue- 
 sioux, eniling in a lake named Issati, which ex- 
 pands into a great marsh, where the wild rice 
 grows toward the mouth." 
 
 In the latter part of his letter La Salle uses the 
 following language relative to his old chaplain: 
 
 " 1 believed that it was appropriate to make for 
 you the narrative of the adventures of this canoe, 
 because I doubt not that they will speak of it, and 
 if you wish to confer with the Father Louis Hen- 
 nepin, KecoUect, who has returned to France, you 
 must know him a little, because he will not fail 
 to exaggerate all things; it is his character, and 
 to me he has written as if he were about to be 
 burned when lie was not even in danger, but he 
 believes that it is honorable to act in this manner, 
 
 and he speaks more confornial)ly to that wliich 
 he wishes than to that which he knows." 
 
 Ilemiepin was born in Ath, an inland town of 
 the Nethei'lands. From boyhood he longed to 
 visit foreign lands, and it is not to be wondered 
 at that he assumed the priesfs garb, for ne^xt to 
 the soldier's life, it suited one of wandering pro- 
 pensities. 
 
 At one time he is on a begging expedition to 
 some of the towns on the sea coast. In a few 
 months he occupies the post of chaplain at an 
 hospital, where he shrives the dying and admin- 
 isters extreme unction. From the quiet of the 
 hospital he proceeds to the camp, and is present 
 at the battle of Seueffe, which occurred in the 
 year lfi74. 
 
 His whole mind, from the time that he became 
 a priest, appears to have been on " things seen 
 and temporal," rather than on those that are '• un- 
 seen and eternal." AVhile on duty at some of the 
 ports of the Straits of Dover, he exhibited the 
 characteristic of an ancient Athenian more than 
 that of a professed successor of the Apostles. 
 He sought out the society of strangi>;:"s " who 
 spent their time in nothing else bat either to tell 
 or to hear some new thing." "With perfect non- 
 chalance he confesses that notwithstanding the 
 nauseating fumes of toliacco, he used to slip be- 
 hind the doors of sailors" taverns, and spend days, 
 without regard to the loss of his meals, listening 
 to the adventures and hair-breadth escapes of the 
 mariners in lands beyond the sea. 
 
 In the year 1676, he received a welcome order 
 from his Superior, recpiiring him to embark for 
 Canada. Unaccustomed to the world, and arbi- 
 trary in his disposition, he rendered the cabin of 
 the ship in which he sailed any thing but heav- 
 enly. As in modern days, tlie passengers in a 
 vessel to the new world were composed of hete- 
 rogeneous materials. There ^\•ere young women 
 going out in search for brothers or husbands, ec- 
 clesiastics, and those engaged in the then new, 
 but profitable, commerce in furs. One of his 
 fellow passengers was the talented and enterpri- 
 prising, though unfortunate. La Salle, with whom 
 he was afterwards associated. If he is to be 
 credited, his intercourse with La Salle was not 
 very pleasant on ship-board. The young women, 
 tired of being cooped up in the narrow accommo- 
 dations of the ship, when the e\'eniug was fair 
 
20 
 
 EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOIA. 
 
 sought the deck, and engaged in the rude dances 
 of the French peasantry of that age. Hennepin, 
 feeling that it was improper, began to assume 
 the air of the priest, and forbade the sport. La 
 Salle, feeling that his inteirference was uncalled 
 for, called him a pedant, and took the side of the 
 girls, and during the voyage there were stormy 
 discussions. 
 
 Good humor appears to have been restored 
 when they left the ship, for Hennepin would oth- 
 erwise have not been the companion of La Salle 
 in his great western journey. 
 
 Sojourning for a short period at Quebec, the 
 adventure-loving Franciscan is permitted to go 
 to a mission station on or near the site of the 
 present town of Kingston, Canada West. 
 
 Here there was much to gratify his love of 
 novelty, and he passed considerable time in ram- 
 blhig among the Iroquois of XewYork. In 1678 
 he returned to Quebec, and was ordered to join 
 the exiiedition of Eobert La Salle. 
 
 On the 6th of December Father Hennepin and 
 a portion of the exploring party had entered the 
 Niagara river. In the vicinity of the Falls, the 
 winter was passed, and while the artisans were 
 preparing a ship above the Falls, to navigate the 
 great lakes, the Recollect wliiled away the hours, 
 in studying tlie manners and customs of the Sen- 
 eca Indians, and in athnirrng the sublimest han- 
 diwork of God on tlie globe. 
 
 On the 7th of August, 1679, the ship being 
 completely rigged, unfurled its sails to the breezes 
 of Lake Erie. The vessel was named the " Grif- 
 fin," hi honor of the anns of Frontenac, Governor 
 of Canada, the first ship of European construc- 
 tion tliat had ever ploughed the waters of the 
 great inland seas of Korth America. 
 
 After encounteruig a violent and dangerous 
 storm on one of the lakes, during which they had 
 given up all hope of escaping shipwreck, on the 
 27th of tbe month, they were safely moored in 
 the harbor of " MissiUmackinack." From thence 
 the party proceeded to Green Bay, where they 
 left the ship, procured canoes, and continue<l 
 along the coast of Lake Michigan. By the mid- 
 dle of January, 1680, La Salle had conducted his 
 expedition to the Illinois Kiver, and, on an emi- 
 nence near I^ake Peoria, he commenced, with 
 much heaviness of heart, the erection of a fort, 
 
 which he called Crevecoeur, on account of the 
 many disappointments he had experienced. 
 
 On the last of February, Accault, Augelle, and 
 Hennepin left to ascend the Mississippi. 
 
 The first work bearing the name of the Rev- 
 erend Father Louis Hennepin, Franciscan Mis- 
 sionary of the Recollect order, was entitled, "De- 
 scription de la Louisiane," and in 1683 published 
 in Paris. 
 
 As soon as the book appeared it was criticised. 
 Abbe Bernou, on the 29th of February, 1684, 
 writes from Rome about the "paltry book"' (mes- 
 hcant livre) of Father Hennepin. About a year 
 before the pious Tronson, imder date of ilarch 
 13, 1683, wrote to a friend: " I have interviewed 
 the P. Recollect, who pretends to have descended 
 the Mississippi river to the Gulf of Mexico. I do 
 not know that one leill helieve ivhat he speaks any 
 more than that whicli is in the printed relation of 
 P. Louis, which I send you that you may make 
 your own reflections." 
 
 On the map accompanymg his first book, he 
 boldly marks a Recollect Mission many miles 
 north of the point he had visited. In the Utrecht 
 edition of 1697 this deliberate fraud is erased. 
 
 Tlu'oughout the work he assumes, that he was 
 the leader of the expedition, and magnifies trifles 
 into tragedies. For uistance, Mr. La SaUe writes 
 that Michael Accault, also written Ako, who was 
 the leader, presented the Sioux with the calu- 
 met ;" but Hennepm makes the occurrence more 
 formidable. 
 
 He writes : " Oiu- prayers were heard, when on 
 the 11th of April, 1680, about two o'clock in the 
 afternoon, we suddenly perceived thirty -tliree 
 bark canoes manned by a hundred and twenty 
 Indians coming dowii with very great speed, on a 
 war party, against tlie JSIiamis, Illinois and Maro- 
 as. These Intlians surroimded us, and while at 
 a distance, discharged some arrows at us, but as 
 they approached our canoe, the old men seeing us 
 with the calumet of peace in oiu' hands, iirevent- 
 ed the young men from kilUng us. These sava- 
 ges leaping from their canoes, some on land, 
 others into the water, with frightful cries and 
 yells approached us, and as we madfe jio resist- 
 ance, being oidy three against so great a number, 
 one of them wrenched our caltimet from our 
 hands, while our canoe and theirs were tied to 
 the shore. We first presented to them a iiiece of 
 
IfEJ^Nl^PIN'S DIFFICULTY WITll I'llAYEli-BOOK. 
 
 21 
 
 rrencli tobacco, better for smoking tliau tlieirs' 
 ami the eldest among them uttered the words' 
 " Miamiha, Miamiha." 
 
 " As we did not nnderstand their language, we 
 took a little stick, and by signs which we made 
 on the sand, showed them that their enemies, the 
 Miamis, whom they sought, had fled across tlie 
 river Colbert [Mississippi] to join the Isliiiois; 
 when they saw themselves discovered and unable 
 to surprise their enemies, three or four old men 
 laying their hands on my head, wept in a mourn- 
 ful tone. 
 
 " With a spare handkerchief I had left I wiped 
 away their tears, but they woidd not smoke our 
 Calimiet. They made us cross tlie river with 
 great cries, while all shouted with tears in tlieir 
 eyes; they made us row l)efore them, and we 
 heard yells capable of striking tlie most resolute 
 with terror. After landing our canoe and goods, 
 part of which had already been taken, we made a 
 fire to boil our kettle, and we gave them two large 
 ■wild turkeys which we liad killed. These Indians 
 having called an assembly to deliberate what they 
 were to do with us, the two head chiefs of the 
 party approachmg, showed us by signs that the 
 warriors wished to tomahawk us. This com- 
 pelled me to go to the war cliiefs -nith one yoimg 
 man, leaving the other by our property, and 
 throw into theu- midst six axes, fifteen kiuves 
 and six fathom of our l)lack tobacco ; and then 
 brmging dowi my head, I showed them with an 
 axe tliat they might kill me, if they thought 
 proper. This present appeased many individual 
 members, who gave us some beaver to eat, put- 
 ting the three first morsels into our mouths, accor- 
 tling to the custom of the country, and blowing on 
 the meat, which was too hot, before puttuig the 
 bark dish before us to let us eat as we liked. We 
 spent the night in anxiety, because, before reti- 
 ring at night, they had returned us our peace 
 calumet. 
 
 " Our two boatmen were resolved to sell their 
 lives dearly, and to resist if attacked ; theii- arms 
 ami swords were reafly. As for my own part, I 
 determined to allow myself to be killed without 
 any resistance ; as I was going to amiounce to 
 them a God who had been foully accused, un- 
 justly condemned, and cruelly crucified, without 
 showmg the least aversion to those who put him 
 to death. We watched in turn, in oiu- anxiety, 
 
 so as not to be suqirised asleep. The n«xt morn- 
 ing, a chief named Narrhetoba asked for the 
 peace calumet, filled it with willow bark, and all 
 smoked. It was then signified that the white 
 men were to return with them to their villages." 
 
 In his narrative the Francdscan remarks, "I 
 foinid it difiicidt to say my ofllco before these 
 Indians. Many seeing me move my lips, said in 
 a fierce tone, ' Ouakanche.' Michael, all out of 
 countenance, told me, that if I continued to say 
 my breviary, we should all three be killed, and 
 the Pieard begged me at least to pray apart, so as 
 not to provoke them. I followed the latter 's 
 advice, but the nwu-e I concealed myself the more 
 I had the Indians at my heels ; for when I en- 
 tered the wood, they thought I was going to hide 
 some goods imder ground, so that I knew not on 
 what side to turn to pray, for they never let me 
 out of sight. This obliged me to beg pardon of 
 my canoe -men, ass\iring them I could not dis- 
 pense with saying my office. By the word, ' Ou- 
 akanche,' the Indians meant that the book I was 
 readhig was a spirit, but by their gesture they 
 nevertheless showed a kind of aversion, so that 
 to accustom them to it, I chanted the litany of 
 the Blessed Virgin in the canoe, with my book 
 opened. They thought that the breviary was a 
 spirit which taught me to sing for their diversion ; 
 for these people are naturally fond of singing." 
 
 This is the first mention of a Dahkotah word 
 m a European book. The savages were aimoyed 
 rather than enraged, at seeing the white man 
 reading a book, and exclaimed, " Wakan-de !" 
 this is wondei-ful or supernatural. The war 
 party was composed of several bauds of the M'de- 
 wahkantonwan Dahkotahs, and there was a di- 
 versity of opinion in relation to the disposition 
 that should be made of the white men. The 
 relatives of those who had been killed by the 
 Miamis, were in favor of tiikhig their scalps, but 
 others were anxious to retain the favor of the 
 French, and open a trading intercourse. 
 
 Perceiving one of the canoe-men shoot a wild 
 turkey, they called the gim, " Manza Ouackange," 
 iron that has miderstanding ; more coiTectly, 
 " iSIaza Wakande," this is the supernatiu'al metal. 
 
 Aqnipaguetui. one of the head men, resorted 
 to the following device to obtam merchandise. 
 Says the Father, " This M'ily savage had the 
 bones of some distinguished relative, which he 
 
22 
 
 EXPLOBEBS AND PIONEEBS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 preserved with great care in some skins dressed 
 and adorned witli several rows of black and red 
 porcupine qiulls. From time to time he assem- 
 bled his men to give it a smoke, and made us 
 fome several days to cover the bones with goods, 
 and by a present wipe away t!ie tears he had shed 
 for him, and for his own son killed by the Miamis. 
 To appease this captious man, we threw on the 
 bones several fatlioms of tobacco, axes, knives, 
 beads, and some black and white wampum brace- 
 lets. * * * We slept at the point of the Lake 
 of Tears [Lake Pepin], which we so called from 
 the tears which this chief shed all night long, or 
 by one of his sons whom he caused to weep when 
 he grew tired." 
 
 The next day, after four or five leagues' sail, a 
 chief came, and telling them to leave their canoes, 
 he pulled up three piles of grass for seats. Then 
 taking a piece of cedar full of little holes, he 
 placed a stick into one, which he revolved between 
 the palms of his hands, until lie kintlled a fire, 
 and informed the Frenchmen that they would be 
 at Mille Lac in six days. On the nmeteenth day 
 after their captivity, they arri\ed in the vicinity 
 of Saint I'aul, not fai", it is ])robable, from the 
 marshy ground on which the Kaposia band once 
 lived, and now called Pig's Eye. 
 
 The journal remaiks. '■ Having arrived on the 
 nineteenth day of our navigation, live leagues 
 below St. Anthony's Falls, these Indians landed 
 us in a bay, broke our canoe to nieces, ahd se- 
 creted their own in tlie reeds." 
 
 They then followed the traU to Mille Lac, sixty 
 leagues distant. As they approached their villa- 
 ges, tlie various bands began to show their spoils. 
 The tobacco was highly jirized, and led to some 
 contention. The chalice of the Father, which 
 glistened in the sun, they were afraid to touch, 
 supposing it was "wakan." After five days' 
 walk tliey reached the Issati [Dahkotali] settle- 
 ments in the valley of the Rum or Knife river. 
 The different bands each conducted a Frenchman 
 to their village, the cliief Aquipaguetin taking 
 charge of Hennepin. After marching through 
 the marshes towards the sources of I?um river, 
 five wives of the chief, m three bark canoes, met 
 tliem and took them a sliort league to an island 
 where tlieir cabins were. 
 
 An aged Indian kindly rubbed dovm the way- 
 worn Franciscan; placing him on a bear- skin 
 
 near the fire, he anointed his legs and the soles 
 of his feet with wildcat oil. 
 
 The son of the chief took great pleasure in car- 
 rying upon his bare back the priest's robe with 
 dead men's bones enveloped. It was called Pere 
 Louis Chiunen. In the Dahkotah language Shin- 
 na or Shinnan signifies a buffalo robe. 
 
 Hennepin's description of his life on the island 
 is m these words : 
 
 " The day after our arrival, Aquipaguetin, wlio 
 was the head of a large family, covered me with 
 a robe made of ten large dressed beaver skhis, 
 trimmed with porcupine qiulls. This Indian 
 showed me five or six of his wives, telling them, 
 as I afterwards learned, that they shoid-' in fu' 
 ture regard me as one of their children. 
 
 '•He set before me a bark dish full of fish, and 
 seeing that I could not rise from the ground, he 
 had a small sweatmg-cabiu made, in wloich he 
 made me enter with four Indians. Tliis cabin he 
 covered with Ijuffalo skins, and inside he put 
 stones red-hot. He made me a sign to do as the 
 others before beginning to sweat, but I merely 
 concealed my nakedness with a handkerchief. 
 As soon as these Indians had several times 
 breathed out quite violently, he began to sing vo- 
 ciferously, the others putting their hands on me 
 and rubbing me while they wept bitterly. I be- 
 gan to faint, but I came out and could scarcely 
 take my habit to put on. "When he made me 
 sweat thus three times a week. I felt as strong as 
 ever." 
 
 The marmer's compass was a constant source 
 of wonder and amazement. Aquipaguetin hav- 
 ing assembled the braves, would ask Hennepin 
 to show his compass. Perceiving that the needle 
 turned, the chief harangued his men, and told 
 them that the Europeans were spirits, capable of 
 doing any thing. 
 
 In the Franciscan's possession was an iron pot 
 with feet like lions', which the Indians would not 
 touch luiless tlieir hands were wrapped in buffalo 
 skins. The women looked upon it as "wakan," 
 and would not enter the cabm where it was. 
 ' " The chiefs of these savages, seeing that I was 
 desirous to learn, frequently made me write, 
 naming all the jiarts of the Innnan body ; and as 
 I would not put on paper certain indelicate words, 
 at ^\■hich they do not blush, they were heartily 
 amused." 
 
HENNHPIN'S VISIT TO FALLS OF SAINT ANTHONY. 
 
 23 
 
 They often asked the Franciscan questions, to. 
 answer wliich it was necessary to refer to his lex- 
 icon. This appeared very strange, and, as tliey 
 liad no word lor paper, they said, "Tliatwlute 
 tiling must be a spirit wliicli tells Pere Louis all 
 we say."' 
 
 Hennepin remarks: "Tliese Indians often 
 asked me how many wives and children I had, 
 and how old 1 was, tliat is, how many winters; 
 for so these natives always count. Never illu- 
 mined by the light of faith, they were surprised 
 at my answer. Pointing to oiu- two Frenchmen, 
 whom I was then visiting, at a point three leagues 
 from our village, I told them that a man among 
 us could only have one wife ; that as for me, I 
 had promised the Master of life to live as they 
 saw me, and to come and live with them to teach 
 them to be like the French. 
 
 " But that gross people, till then lawless and 
 faithless, turned all I said into ridicule. ' How,' 
 said they, ' would you have these two men with 
 thee have wives? Ours would not live with them, 
 for they have hair all over their face, and we have 
 none there or elsewhere.' In fact, they were 
 never better pleased with me than when I was 
 shaved, and from a complaisance, certainly not 
 criminal, I shaved every week. 
 
 '■ As often as I went to \asit the cabins, I found 
 a sick child, whose father's name was Mamenisi. 
 Michael Ako would not accompany me ; the 
 Picard du Gay alone followed me to act as spon- 
 sor, or, rather, to \\'itness the baptism. 
 
 " I christened the child Antoinette, in honor of 
 St. Anthony of Padua, as well as for the Picard's 
 name, which was Anthony Auguelle. He was a 
 native of Amiens, and nephew of the Prociu-ator- 
 General of the Premonstrateusians both now at 
 Paris. Having i)oin-ed natural water on the head 
 and uttered these words : ' Creature of God, I 
 baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of 
 the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,' I took half an 
 altar clotli which I had wrested from the hands 
 of an Indian who had stolen it from me, and put 
 it on the body of the baptized child; for as I 
 C(udd not say mass for want of wine and vest- 
 ments, this piece of linen could not be put to bet- 
 ter use than to enshroud the. first Chiistian child 
 among these tribes. I do not know whether the 
 softness of the linen had refreshed her. luit she 
 was the next day smiling in her mother's arms. 
 
 who believed that I bad cTired the child ; but she 
 died soon after, to my great consolation. 
 
 " During my stay among them, tliere arrived 
 fo\ir savages, who said they were come alone live 
 hundred leagues from tlie west, and bad been four 
 months upon tlie way. They assured us there 
 was no such place as the Straits of Anian, and 
 that they had traveled witliout resting, except to 
 sleep, and had not seen or passed ov.er any great 
 lake, by which phrase they always mean the sea. 
 
 " They further informed us that the nation of 
 the Assenipoulacs [Assiniboines] who lie north- 
 east of Issati, was not above six or seven days' 
 journey ; that none of the nations, within their 
 knowledge, who lie to the east or northwest, had 
 any great lake about their countries, which were 
 very large, but only rivers, which came from the 
 north. They further assured us that there were 
 very few forests in the coiuitries through which 
 they passed, insomuch that -now and then they 
 were forced to make fires of buffaloes' dung to 
 boil their food. All these circumstances make it 
 appear that there is no such jilace as the Straits 
 of Anian, as we usually see them set down on the 
 maps. And whatever efforts have been made for 
 many years past by the English and Dutch, to 
 find out a passage to the Frozen Sea, they have 
 not yet been able to effect it. But by the help of 
 my discovery and the assistance of God, I doubt 
 not but a passage may still be found, and that an 
 easy one too. 
 
 " 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, witho%d cross- 
 ing the. equinoctial line; and, in all prohahility, 
 Japan is on the same continent as America." 
 
 Hennepin in his first book, thus describes his 
 first visit to the Falls of St. Anthony : '• In the 
 beginning of July, 1680, we descended the [Rum] 
 River in a canoe southward, with the great chief 
 Ouasicoude [AVauzeekootay] that is to say Pierced 
 Pine, with about eighty cabins composed of more 
 than a hundred and thirty families and about 
 two hundretl and fifty warriors. Scarcely would 
 the Indians give me a place in their little flotilla, 
 for they had only old canoes. They went four 
 leagues lower down, to get birch bark to make 
 some more. Having made a hole in the ground, 
 to hide our silver chalice and our papers, till our 
 
24 
 
 EXPLOBEBS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 return from the liimt, and keeping only our bre- 
 viary, so as not to be loaded, I stood on the bank 
 of the lake formed by the river we had called St. 
 Francis [now Kum] and stretched out my hand 
 to the canoes as they rapidly passed in succession. 
 
 "Our Frenchmen also liad one for themselves, 
 which the Indians had given tliem. Tliey would 
 not take me in, IMichael Ako saying that he liad 
 taken me long enough to satisfy him. I was hurt 
 at tliis answer, seeing myself thus abandoned by 
 Christians, to whom I had always done good, as 
 they both often acknowledged; but God never 
 having abandoned me on tliat painful voyage, in- 
 spired two Indians to take me in their little 
 canoe, where I had no other employment than to 
 bale out with a little bark tray, the water which 
 entered by little holes. This 1 did not do with- 
 out getting all wet. This boat might, indeed, be 
 called a death box, for its lightness and fragility. 
 These canoes do not generally weigh over fifty 
 pounds, the least motion of the body upsets them, 
 unless you are long accustomed to that kind of 
 navigation. 
 
 " On disembarking in the evening, the Picard, 
 as an excuse, told me that their canoe was half- 
 rotten, and that had we been three in it, we 
 should have run a great risk of remaining on the 
 way. * * ■ * Four days after our departure for 
 the buffalo hunt, we halted eight leagues above 
 St. Anthony of Padua's Falls, on an emmence 
 opposite the mouth of the River St. Francis [Rum] 
 * * * The Picard and myself went to look for 
 liaws, gooseberries, and little wild fruit, which 
 often did us more harm than good. This obliged 
 us to go alone, as Michael Ako refused, in a 
 \\Tetched canoe, to Ouiscousin river, which was 
 more than a himdred leagues off, to see whether 
 the Sieur de la Salle had sent to that place a re- 
 inforcement of men, with powder, le;ul, and 
 other munitions, as he had promised us. 
 
 " Tlie Indians would not have suffered this 
 voyage had not one of the three remained witli 
 them. They wished me to stay, but JMiohael 
 Ako absolutely refused. As we were making the 
 portage of our canoe at St. Anthony of Padua"s 
 Falls, we perceived five or six of our Indians wlio 
 had taken the start •, one of them was up in an 
 oak opposite the great fall, weeping bitterly, with 
 a rich dressed beaver robe, whitened inside, and 
 trimmed with porcupine qmlls, which he was 
 
 offering as a sacrifice to the faUs; which is, in it- 
 self, admirable and frightful. I heard him while 
 shedding copious tears, say as he spoke to the 
 great cataract, ' Thou wlio art a spirit, grant lliat 
 our nation may pass here quietly, without acci- 
 dent ; may kill buffalo in abundance ; conquer 
 our enemies, and bring in slaves, some of wliom 
 we will put to death before thee. The Messenecqz 
 (so they call the tribe named by the French Outa- 
 gamis) have killed our kindred ; grant that we 
 may avenge them.' This robe offered in sacrifice, 
 served one of our Frenchmen, who took it as we 
 returned." 
 
 It is certainly wonderful, that Hennepin, who 
 knew nothing of the Sioux language a few weeks 
 before, should understand the prayer offered at 
 the Falls without the aid of an interpreter. 
 
 The narrator contmues : " A -league beyond 
 St. Anthony of Padua's Falls, the Picard was 
 obliged to land and get his powder horn, which he 
 had left at the Falls. * * * As we descended 
 the river Colbert [Mississippi] we found some of 
 our Indians on the islands loaded with buffalo 
 meat, some of which they gave us. Two hours 
 after landing, fifteen or sixteen warriors whom we 
 had left above St. Anthony of Padua's Falls, en- 
 tered, tomakawk in hand, upset the cabin of those 
 who had invited us, took all the meat and bear 
 oil they found, and greased themselves from head 
 to foot," 
 
 Tliis was done because the others had violated 
 the rules for the buffalo hunt. With the Indians 
 Hennepin went down the river sixty leagues, and 
 then went up the river again, and met buffalo. 
 He continues : 
 
 ""While seeking the Oulsconsin River, that 
 savage father, Aquipaguetin, whom I had left, 
 and who I believed more than two hinidred 
 leagues off, on the 11th of July, 1680, appeared 
 with the waiTiors." After this, Hennepin and 
 Picard continued to go up the river almost eighty 
 leagues. 
 
 There is great confusion here, as the reader 
 will see. "When at tlie mouth of the Rum River, 
 he speaks of the Wisconsin as more than a hun- 
 dred leagues off. He floats down the river sixty 
 leagues ; then he ascended, but does not state the 
 distance; then he ascends eighty leagues. 
 
 He continues : " The Indians whom he had left 
 with Michael Ako at Buffalo [Chippeway] Eiver, 
 
HENNEPIN MEETS SIEUR DU LUTIL 
 
 25 
 
 with the flotilla of canoes loaded with meat, came 
 down. * * * All tilt' Indian women had their 
 stock of meat at the mouth of Uuffalo Kiver and 
 on the islands, and atjain we went down the Col- 
 hert [JSIississippi] about eighty leagues. * * * 
 We liad another alarm in our camp : the old men 
 on duty on the top of the mountains announced 
 that they saw two warriors in the dislance; all 
 the bowmen hastened there witli speed, each try- 
 ing to outstrip the others; butthey bronght back 
 <iuly two of their enemies, who came to tell them 
 that a party of their people were hunting at the 
 extremity of Lake Conde [Superior] and had found 
 four Spirits (so they call the French) who, by 
 means of a slave, had expressed a wish to come 
 on, knowing ns to be among them. * * * On 
 the 25th of July, IbSO, as we were ascending the 
 river Colbert, after the buffalo hunt, to the In- 
 dian villages, we met Sieiu- du Luth, who came 
 to the Nadouessious with live French soldiers. 
 They joined us about two hundred and twenty 
 leagues distant from the country of the Indians 
 who had taken us. As we had some knowledge 
 of the language, they begged us to accompany 
 them to the villages of these tribes, to which I 
 readily agreed, knowing that these two French- 
 men had not approached the sacrament for two 
 years." 
 
 Ilere again the munber of leagues is confusing, 
 and it is impossilile to believe that I)u Luth and 
 his interpreter Faffart, who had been trading 
 with the Sioux for more than a year, needed the 
 help of Hennepin, who had been about three 
 months with these people. 
 
 We are not told by what route Hennepin and 
 Du Luth reached Lake Issati or Mille Lacs, but 
 Hennepm says they arrived there on the 11th of 
 August, 1680. and he adds, " Toward the end of 
 September, having no implements to begin an 
 establishment, we resolved to tell these people, 
 that for their benefit, we would have to return to 
 the French settlements. The giand Chief of the 
 Issati or Nadouessiouz consented, and traced in 
 pencil on paper I gave him, the route I should 
 take for four hundred leagues. AVith tins chart, 
 we set out, eight Frenchmen, in two canoes, and 
 descended the river St. Francis and Colbert [Rum 
 and Jilississippi]. Two of our men took two bea- 
 ver roljes at St. Anthony of Padua's Falls, which 
 the Indians had hung in sacrifice on the trees." 
 
 Tlie second work of Hennepin, an enlargement 
 of the first, appeared at Utrecht in the year 1697, 
 ten years after La Salle's death. During the in- 
 terval between the pvdjlication of the first and 
 second book, he had passed three years as Supin- 
 inf endent of the Ilecollects at Reny in the province 
 of A rtois, when Fiither Hyacinth Lefevre, a friend 
 of La Salle, and Connnissary Provincial of Ilecol- 
 lects at Paris, wished hi!u to return to Canada. 
 He refused, and was ordered to go to Rome, and 
 upon his coming back was sent to a convent at 
 St. Omer, and there received a dispatch from the 
 Minister of State in France to return to the coun- 
 tries of tlie King of Spain, of which he was a 
 subject. This order, he asserts, he afterwards 
 learned was forged. 
 
 In the preface to the English edition of the 
 New Discovery, published in 1698. in London, he 
 writes : 
 
 "The pretended reason of tliat violent order 
 was because I refused to return into America, 
 where I had been already eleven years ; though 
 the particular laws of our Order oblige none of us 
 to go beyond sea against his will. I would have, 
 however, returned very willingly liad I not known 
 the malice of M. La Salle, who woidd have ex- 
 posed me to perish, as he did one of the men w ho 
 accompanied me in my discovery. God knows 
 that I am sorry for his unfortunate death ; but 
 the judgments of the Almighty are always just, 
 for the gentleman was killed by one of his own 
 men, who were at last sensible that he exposed 
 them to visible dangers without any necessity and 
 for his private designs." 
 
 After this he was for about five years at Gosse- 
 lies, in Brabant, as Confessor in a convent, and 
 from thence removed to his native place, Ath, in 
 Belgium, where, according to his narrative in the 
 preface to the " Nonveau Decouverte," he was 
 again persecuted. Then Father Payez, Grand 
 Commissary of Recollect^i at Louvain, being in- 
 formed that the King of Spain and the Elector of 
 Bavaria recommended the step, consented that 
 he should enter the service of William the Third 
 of (ireat Britain, who had been very kind to the 
 Roman Catholics of Netherlands. By order of 
 Payez he was sent to Antwerp to take the lay 
 habit in the convent there, and subsequently 
 went to Utrecht, where lie finished his second 
 book known as the New Discovery. 
 
26 
 
 EXPLOBEBS AND PIONEEBS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 His first volume, printed in 1683, contains 312 
 pages, witli an appendix of 107 pages, on tlie 
 Customs of tlie Savages, wliile the Utrecht bools 
 of 1697 contains 509 pages -witliout an appendix. 
 
 On page 249 of the Kew Discovery, he begins 
 an account of a voyage alleged to have been made 
 to the mouth of the Mississippi, and occupies 
 over sixty pages in the narrative. Tlie opening 
 sentences give as a reason for concealing to this 
 time his discovery, that La Salle would have re- 
 ported him to his Superiors for presuming to go 
 down instead of ascending the stream toward the 
 north, as had been agreed ; and that the two with 
 him threatened that if he did not consent to de- 
 scend the river, tliey would leave him on shore 
 during tlie night, and pursue their own course. 
 
 He asserts that he left the Gulf of Jlexico, to 
 return, on the 1st of April, and on the 24th left 
 the Arkansas ; but a week after this, lie declares 
 he lauded with the Sioux at the marsh about two 
 miles below the city of Saint Paul. 
 
 The account has been and is still a puzzle to 
 the historical student. In our review of his first 
 book we have noticed that as early as 1683, he 
 claimed to have descended the Mississippi. In 
 the Utrecht publication he declares that wliile at 
 (Quebec, upon his retin-n to France, he gave to 
 Father Valentine Roux, Commissary of Recol- 
 lects, his journal, upon the promise tliat it would 
 be kept secret, and that tliis Father made a copy 
 of liis whole voyage, including the visit to the 
 Gulf of Mexico ; but m his Description of Louis- 
 iana, Hennepin wrote, " We had some design of 
 going to the mouth of the river Colbert, which 
 more probably empties into thei Gulf of Mexico 
 than into the Red Sea, but the trilies that seized 
 us gave us no time to sail up and down the river." 
 
 The additions in his Utrecht book to magnify 
 his importance and detract from others, are 
 many. As Sparks and Parkman have pointed 
 out the plagiarisms of this edition, a reference 
 here is unnecessary. 
 
 Du Luth, who left Quebec in 167S, and had 
 been in northern ^Minnesota, with an interpreter, 
 for a year, after he met Ako and Hennepin, be- 
 comes of secondary importance, in the eyes of 
 tlie Franciscan. 
 
 In the Description of Louisiana, on page 280, 
 Hennepin speaks of passing the Falls of Saint 
 Anthony, upon his return to Canada, in these 
 
 few words : " Two of our men seized two beaver 
 robes at the Falls of St. Anthony of Padua, 
 which the Indians had in sacrifice, fastened to 
 trees."' But in the Utrecht edition, commencing 
 on page 416, there is much added concerning Du 
 Lnth. After using the language of the edition 
 of 16S3, already quoted it adds: "Hereupon 
 there arose a dispute between Sieur du Luth and 
 myself. I commended what they had done, say- 
 ing, ' The savages might judge by it that they 
 disliked the superstition of these people.' Tlie 
 Sieur du Luth, on the contrary, said that they 
 ought to have left the robes where the savages 
 placed them, for they would not fail to avenge 
 the insult we had put upon them by this action, 
 and that it was feared that they would attack us 
 on this journey. I confessed he had some foun- 
 dation for wliat he said, and that he spoke accor- 
 ding to the rules of prudence. But one of the 
 two men flatly replied, the two robes suited them, 
 and they cared nothing for the savages and their 
 superstitions. The Sieur du Luth at these words 
 was so greatly enraged that he nearly struck the 
 one who uttered them, but I intervened and set- 
 tled the dispute. The Pieard and Michael Ako 
 ranged themselves on the side of those who liad 
 taken the robes in question, which might have 
 resulted badly. 
 
 " I argued with Sieur duLuth that the savages 
 would not attack us, because I was persuaded 
 that their great chief Ouasicoude would have our 
 interests at heart, and he had great credit with 
 his nation. The matter terminated pleasantly. 
 
 " When we arrived near tlie river Ouisconsin, 
 we halted to smoke the meat of the buffalo we 
 had killed on the journey. During our stay, three 
 savages of the nation we had left, came by the 
 side of our canoe to teU us that their great chief 
 Ouasicoude, having learned that another chief of 
 these people wished to pursue and kill us, and 
 that he entered the cabin where he was consult- 
 ing, and had struck liLm on the head with such 
 violence as to scatter his brains upon his associ- 
 ates ; thus preventing the executing of this inju- 
 rious project. 
 
 " We regaled the three savages, having a great 
 abundance of food at that time. The Sieur du 
 Luth, after the savages had left, was as enraged 
 as before, and feared that they would pursue and 
 attack us on oiu- voyage. He would have pushed 
 
TBIBUTE TO DAMEL GBETSOLON IJU LTJTIl. 
 
 27 
 
 tlie matter further, but seeing that one man would 
 resist , and was not in the humor to be imposed 
 uiion, lie moderat('<l. and I api)easecl lliem in the 
 end with the assuninec that God would notaljan- 
 don us in distress, anil, jirox ided avo cunlidcd in 
 Ilim, ho would deliver us from our foes, because 
 lie is the proteetor of men and angels." 
 
 After describing a conference with the Sioux. 
 he adds, " Thus the savages were very kind, 
 wilhdut mentioning the beaver robes. The chief 
 Ouasicoude told me to offer a fathom of ISIarti- 
 nico tobacco to the chief Aquipaguetin, who had 
 adopted me as a son. This had an admirable 
 effect upon the barbarians, who went off shouting 
 several times the word ' Louis.' [Ouis or We] 
 which, as he said, means the sun. AVithout van- 
 ity, I uuist say that my name will be for a long 
 time among these people. 
 
 "The savages having left us, to go to war 
 against the jNIessorites, the Maroha, the Illinois, 
 and other nations which live toward the lower 
 part of the ^Mississippi, and are irreconcilable foes 
 of the people of the North, the Sienr du Lutli, 
 who iqion many occasions gave me marks of his 
 friendship, could not forbear to tell our men that 
 I had all the reason in tlie world to believe that 
 the Viceroy of Canada would give me a favorable 
 reception, should we arrive before winter, and 
 that lie wished with all his heart that he had been 
 among as many natives as myself." 
 
 The style of Louis Hennepin is unmistakable 
 in this extract, and it is amusing to read his pa- 
 tronage of one of the fearless explorers of the 
 Northwest, a cousin of Tonty, favored by Fron- 
 tenac, and who was in Minnesota a year before 
 his arrival. 
 
 In 1691, six years before the Utrecht edition of 
 Ilemiepin, another Recollect Franciscan had pub- 
 lished a book at Paris, called " The First Estab- 
 lishment of the Faith in New France," in which 
 is the following tribute to Du Luth, whom Hen- 
 nepin strives to make a subordinate : " In the last 
 years of M. de Frontenac's administration, iSieur 
 DuLuth,a man of talent and experience, opened 
 a way to the missionary and the Gospel in many 
 different nations, turning toward the north of 
 that lake [Superior] where he even built a fort, 
 he advanced as far as the Lake of the Issati, 
 called Lake Buade, from the family name of M. 
 
 de Frontenac, plantmg the arms of his Majesty 
 in several nations on the right and left." 
 
 In the s(n-oud volume of his last book, which is 
 called "A Gonlinuanct^ of the JSlew Discovery of 
 a vast Country in America," etc., Ileiiucpiii no- 
 ticed some criticisms. 
 
 To the objection that his work was dedicated 
 to "William the Third of (Jreat Ihitain.he rei)lies : 
 " My King, his most Catholic Majesty, his Elec- 
 toral Iliglmess of Bavaria, the consent in writing 
 of the Superior of my order, the integrity of my 
 faith, and the regular observance of my vows, 
 which his Britannic Majesty allows me, are the 
 l)est warrants of the uprightness of my inten- 
 tions." 
 
 To the q<iery, how he could travel so far upon 
 the Mississippi in so little time, he answers with 
 a bold face, " That we may, with a canoe and a 
 pair of oars, go twenty, twenty-live, or thirty 
 leagues every day, and more too, if there be oc- 
 casion. And though we had gone but ten leagues 
 a day, yet in thirty days we might easily have 
 gone three hundred leagues. If during the time 
 we spent from the river of the Illinois to the 
 mouth of the Mescliasii]i. in the Gulf of ^Mexico, 
 we had used a little more baste, we might have 
 gone the same -twice over." 
 
 To the .objection, that he said, he nad passed 
 eleven years in America, when he had been there 
 but about four, he evasively replies, that '■ reck- 
 oning from the year 1074, when I first set out, to 
 the year 1688, when I printed the second edition 
 of my ' Louisiana,' it appears that I have spent 
 fifteen years either in travels or prmthig my 
 Discoveries." 
 
 To those who objected to the statement in his 
 first book, in the dedication to Louis the Four- 
 teenth, that the Sioux always call the sun Louis, 
 he writes : " I repeat what I have said before, 
 that being among the Issati and Nadouessans, Ijy 
 whom I was made a slave in America, I never 
 heard them call the smi any other than Louis. 
 It is true these savages call also the moon Louis, 
 but with this distinction, that they give the moon 
 the name of Louis Bastache, which in their lan- 
 guage signifies, the sun that shines in the night." 
 
 The Utrecht edition called forth much censure, 
 and no one in France doubted that Hennepin 
 was the author. DTberville, Governor of Lou- 
 isiana, while in Paris, wrote on July 3d 1699, to 
 
28 
 
 UXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 the Minister of Marine and Colonies of France, 
 in these words : " Very much vexed at the Rec- 
 ollect, whose false narratives had deceived every 
 one, and cansed our sufferinj^ and total failure of 
 our enterprise, by tlie time consimied in the 
 search of things which alone existed in his imag- 
 ination." 
 
 The Rev. Father .James Gravier, in a letter 
 from a fort on the Gulf of Mexico, near the Mis- 
 sissippi, dated February 16th, 1701, expressed the 
 sentiment of his times wlien lie speaks of Hen- 
 nepin '• who presented to King William, the Rela- 
 tion of the Mississippi, where he never was, and 
 after a tliousflud falsehoods and ridiculous boasts, 
 
 * * * he makes Mr. de la Salle appear in his 
 Relation, wounded with two balls in the head, 
 turn toward the Recollect Father Anastase, to 
 ask him for absolution, having been killed in- 
 stantly, without uttermg a word • and other like 
 false stories." 
 
 Hennepin gradually faded out of sight. Bru- 
 net mentions a letter written by J. B. Dubos, 
 from Rome, dated ISIarch 1st, 1701, which men- 
 tions that Ilennepui was Uving on the Capitoline 
 Hill, in the celebrated convent of Ara Coeli, and 
 was a favorite of Cardinal Spada. The time and 
 place of his death has not been ascertained. 
 
NICHOLAS PEBIiOT, FOUNDER OF FIRST POST ON LAKE PEPIN. 
 
 29 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 NICHOLAS PEEROT, FOUNDER OF FIRST POST ON LAKE I'EriN. 
 
 £&rly Life. — Searches for Copper.— Interpreter at Sault St. Marie, Employed by 
 La Salle. — Bmlds Stocltade at Lake Pepin. — Hostile Indians Reliulced. — A 
 Silver Ostensorium Given to a Jesuit Chapel. — Perrot in the Rattle against 
 Senecas, in New York. — Second Visit to Sioux Country. — Taking Possession by 
 "Proces Verbal." — Discovery of Lead Mines. — Attends Council at Montreal. — 
 Establishes a Post near Detroit, in Michigan.— Perrot's Death, and his Wife. 
 
 Nicholas Perrot, sometimes written Pere, was 
 one of the most energetic of the class in Canada 
 known as "coureurs des bois," or forest rangers. 
 Born in 1644, at an early age he was identified 
 with the f nr trade of the great inland lakes. As 
 early as 1665, he was among the Outagamies 
 [Foxes], and in 1667 was at Green Bay. In 1669, 
 he was appointed by Talon to go to the lake re- 
 gion in search of copper mines. At the formal 
 taking possession of that country in the name of 
 the King of Prance, at Sault St. Marie, on the 
 14th of May, 1671, he acted as interpreter. In 
 1677, he seems to have been employed at Port 
 Prontenac. La Salle was made very sick the 
 ne.xt year, from eating a salad, and one Nicholas 
 Perrot, called Joly Ca?ur (Jolly Soul) was sus- 
 pected of havuig mingled poison with the food. 
 After this he was associated with Du Lutli in 
 the execution of two Indians, as we have seen. 
 In 16X4, he was appointed by I)e la Barre, the 
 tJovernor of Canada, as Commandant fur the 
 West, and left Montreal with twenty men. Ar- 
 riving at (ireen Bay in AVisconsin, some Indians 
 told him that they had visited countries toward 
 the setting sim, where they obtained the blue 
 and green stones suspended from tlieir ears and 
 noses, and that they saw horses and men like 
 Frenchmen, probably the Spaniards of New Mex- 
 ico ; and others said that they had obtained hatch- 
 ets from persons who lived in a house that walked 
 on the water, near the uiouth of the river of the 
 Assiniboines, alluding to the English estabhshed 
 at Hudson's Bay. Proceeding to the portage be- 
 tween the Fox and Wisconsin, thirteen Ilurons 
 Wfrt^ met, who were bitterly opposed to the es- 
 tablishment of a post near the Sioux. After the 
 
 Mississippi was readied, a party of Winnebagoes 
 was employed to notify the tribes of Northern 
 Iowa that the French had ascended the river, 
 and wished to meet them. It was further agreed 
 that prairie fires would be kindled from time to 
 time, so that the Indians could follow the French. 
 
 After entering Lake Pepin, near its mouth, on 
 the east side, Perrot found a place suitable for a 
 post, where there was wood. Tlie stockade was 
 built at the foot of a bluff beyond which was a 
 large prairie. La Potherie makes this statement, 
 which is repeated by Penicaut, who writes of 
 Lake Pepin : " To the right and left of its shores 
 there are also prairies. In that on the right on 
 the bank of the lake, there is a fort, which was 
 built by Nicholas Pen'ot, whose nimieityet[1700] 
 bears." 
 
 Soon after he was established, it was announced 
 that a band of Aiouez [loways] was encamped 
 above, and on the way to visit the post. The 
 French ascended in canoes to meet them, but as 
 they drew nigh, the Indian women ran up the 
 bluffs, and hid in the woods ; but twenty of the 
 braves mustered courage to advance and greet 
 Perrot, and bore him to the chief's lodge. The 
 chief, bending over Perrot, began to weep, and 
 allowed the moisture to fall upon his visitor. 
 After he had exhausted himself, tlio principal 
 men of the party repeated the slabbering process. 
 Then buffalo tongues were boiled in an earthen 
 pot, and after being cut into small pieces, the 
 chief took a piece, aiul, as a mark of respect, 
 placed it in Perrot's mouth. 
 
 During the winter of 1684-85, the Frencli tra- 
 ded in Minnesota. 
 
 At the end of the beaver hunt, the Ayoes 
 [loways] came to the post, but Perrot was absent 
 ^^siting the Nadouaissioux. and they sent a chief 
 to notify him of their arrival. Four Illinois met 
 him on the way, and were anxious for the return 
 of foiu' children held by the French. When the 
 
30 
 
 JEXPLOBEBS AND PI0NEEB8 OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 Sioux, who were at war with the Illinois, per- 
 ceived them, they wished to seize their canoes, 
 but the Prench vo^'ageurs who were giiardins; 
 them, pushed into the middle of the river, and 
 the French at the post coming to their assistance, 
 a reconciliation was effected, and four of the 
 Sioux took the Illinois upon their shoulders, and 
 bore them to the shore. 
 
 An order having been received from Denon- 
 ville, Governor of Canada, to bring the Miami?, 
 and other tribes, to the rendezvous at Niagara, 
 to go on an expedition against the Senecas, Per- 
 rot entrusting the post at Lake Pepin to a few 
 Frenchmen, visited the Miamis, who were dwel- 
 ling below on the Mississippi, and with no guide 
 but Indian camp fires, went sixty miles into the 
 country beyond the river. 
 
 Upon his return, he perceivea a great smoke, 
 and at first thought that it was a war party pro- 
 ceeding to the Sioux country. Ft)rtunately he 
 met a Maskouten chief, who had been at the post 
 to sec him, and he gave the intelligence, that the 
 Outagamies [Foxes], Kikapous [Kickapoos], and 
 Mascoutechs [Maskoutens], and others, from the 
 region of Green Bay, had determined to pillage 
 the post, kill the French, and then go to war 
 against the Sioux. Hurrying on, he readied the 
 fort, and learned that on that very d;iy three 
 spies had been there and seen that there were 
 only SIX Frenchmen in charge. 
 
 The next day two more spies appeared, but 
 Perrot had taken the precaution to put loaded 
 guns at the door of each hut, and caused his men 
 frequently to change their clothes. To the query, 
 '• IIuw many French were thereV"' the reply was 
 given, " Forty, and that more were daily expected, 
 who had been on a builalo hunt, and that the 
 guns were well loaded and knives well sharpened." 
 They were then told to go back to their camp 
 and bring a chief of each nation represented, and 
 that if Indians, in large numbers, came near, they 
 would be lired at. In accordance with this mes- 
 sage six chiefs presented themselves. After their 
 bows and arrows were taken away they were in- 
 vited to Perrot 's cabin, who gave something to 
 eat and tobacco to smoke. Looking at Perrot "s 
 loaded guns they asked, '• If he was afraid of his 
 children?" He replied, he was not. They con- 
 tinued, "Yon are displeased." Tie answered, 
 " I have good reason to be. The Spirit has warned 
 
 me of your designs; you will take my things 
 away and put me in the kettle, and proceed 
 against the Nadouaissioux, The Spirit told me 
 to be on my guard, and he would help me." At 
 this they were astonished, and confessed that an 
 attack was meditated. That night the chiefs 
 slept in the stockade, and early the next morn- 
 ing a part of the hostile force was encamped in 
 the vicinity, and wished to trade. Perrot had 
 now only a force of fifteen men, and seizing the 
 chiefs, he told them he would break their heads 
 if they did not disperse the Indians. One of the 
 chiefs then stood up on the gate of the fort and 
 said to the warriors, " Do not advance, young 
 men, or you are dead. The Spirit has warned 
 ^letaminens [PerrotJ of your designs." They fol- 
 lowed the advice, and afterwards Perrot present- 
 ed them with two guns, two kettles, and some 
 tobacco, to close the door of war against the Na- 
 douaissioux, and the chiefs were all permitted to 
 make a brief visit to the post. 
 
 Returning to Green Bay in 1686, he passed much 
 time in collecting allies for the expedition against 
 the Iroquois in Kew York. During this year he 
 gave to the Jesuit chapel at Depere, five miles 
 above Green Bay, a church utensil of silver, fif- 
 teen inches high, still in existence. The stand- 
 ard, nine inches in height, supports a radiated 
 circlet closed with glass on both sides an<l sur- 
 mmnited with a cross. This vessel, weighuig 
 about twenty ounces, was intended to show the 
 consecrated wafer of the mass, and is called a 
 soleil, monstrance, or ostensoriimi. 
 
 Around the oval base of the rim is the follow- 
 ing inscription: 
 
 
 V 
 
 .^ 
 
 ■S^ 
 
 
 %. 
 
 4' 
 
 %. 
 
 
 c«^' 
 
 Si"' 
 
 ,^' 
 
 In 1802 some workmen in digging at Green 
 Bay, \\'isconsin, on the old Langlade estate dis- 
 
A err OF Jih'Ayj))- AM> wateh detects a riiiKF. 
 
 31 
 
 covered this relic, which is now kept in the vault 
 of the Konirtii Catholic bishop of that diocese. 
 
 During the spring of IBs; I'errot, with J)e Lii- 
 th and Tonty, was witli the Indian allies and tlie 
 Fren(;h in the expedition against the Senecas of 
 the (tenesseo Yalley in Xew York. 
 
 The next year Denonville, Governor of Canada, 
 again sent Terrot with forty rrcnchmen to tlie 
 Sionx who, says Potheric, " were very distant, 
 and wlio would not trade witli ns as easily as 
 the other tribes, the Outagamis [Foxes] having 
 boasted of having cut off the passage tliereto." 
 
 "Wlien Perrot arrived at ^lackinaw, tlie tribes 
 of that region were much excited at tlie hostility 
 of tlie Outagamis [Foxes] toward the Sautenrs 
 [Cliippeways]. As soon as Perrot and his party 
 readied Green Bay a deputation of the Foxes 
 sought an interview. He told them that he had 
 nothing to do with this quarrel with the t!hippe- 
 ways. In justification, they said that a party of 
 their young men, in going to war against the 
 Xadouaissioux, had found a young man and three 
 Chippeway gii'ls. 
 
 Perrot was silent, and continued his journey 
 towards the Nadouaissioux. Soon he was met by 
 live chiefs of the Foxes in a canoe, who begged 
 him to go to their village. Perrot consented, and 
 when he went into a chiefs lodge they placed be- 
 fore him broiled venison, and raw meat for the 
 rest of the French. He refused to eat because, 
 said he, "that meat did not give him any spirit, 
 but he would take some when the Outagamis 
 [Foxes] were moi'e reasonable." He then chided 
 them for not having gone, as requested by the 
 (iovernor of Canada, to the Detroit of Lake 
 Erie, and during the absence of the French tiglit- 
 ing witli the Chippeways. Having ordered tliem 
 to go on their beaver hunt and only light against 
 tlie Iroquois, he left a few Frenchmen to trade 
 and proceeded on his journey to the Sioux couii- 
 t ry . Arriving at the portage between the Fox and 
 Wisconsin lUvers they were impeded by ice, but 
 wiUi tlie aid of some Pottawattomies they trans- 
 ported tlieir goods to the "Wisconsin, which they 
 found no longer frozen. The Chippeways were 
 iufornied that their daughters had been taken 
 from tlie Foxes, and a deputation came to take 
 tlieni bac-k. but being attacked by the Foxes, wlio 
 did not know their errand, they fled without se- 
 curing the three girls. Perrot then ascended the 
 
 Mississippi to the pust which in l(;s4 lie liad 
 erected, just above the iiiiiuni, and on the east 
 side of Lake Pepin. 
 
 As soon as the rivers were navigable, tlie Na- 
 douaissioux came down and escorted Perrot to 
 one of their villages, where he was welcomed 
 with niiicli entliusiasm. He was carried upon a 
 lieaver robe, followed by a long line of warriors, 
 earh iieariiig a pipe, and singing. After taking 
 liinianiiuid the village, lie was borne to the chief's 
 lodge, when several came in to weep over 'lis head, 
 witli the same tenderness that tlie Ayoes ( loways) 
 did, when Perrot several years before arrived at 
 Lake Pepin. " These weepings," says an old 
 clironicler " do not weaken tlieir souls. They are 
 very good warrims, and reported the bravest in 
 that region. They are at war with all the tribes 
 at present except the Saulteurs [Cliippeways] aiiG 
 Ayoes [loways], and even with these they have 
 quarrels. At the break of day the Nadouaissioux 
 liatlie, even to the youngest. Tliey have very line 
 forms, but the women are not comely, and they 
 look upon them as slaves. They are jealous and 
 suspicious about them, and lliey are the cause 
 of quarrels and blood-shedding. 
 
 "The Sioux are very dextrous with their ca- 
 noes, and they fight unto deatli if surrounded, 
 Tlieir country is full of swamps, which shelter 
 them in summer from lieing molested. One must 
 be a Nadouaissioux, to find tlie way to tlieir vil- 
 lages." 
 
 While Perrot was absent in Xew York, fight- 
 ing the Seuecas, a Sioux chief knowing tliat few 
 Frenchmen were left at Lake I'epiu, came witli 
 one hundred warriors, and endeavored to jiillage 
 it. Of this complaint was made, and tlie guilty 
 leader was near being put to deatli by his associ- 
 ates. Amicable relations having been formed, 
 preparations were made by Perrot to return to 
 his post. As they were going away, one of tlie 
 Frenchmen complained tliat a box of his goods 
 had been stolen. Perrot ordered a voyageur to 
 bring a cup of water, and into it he poured some 
 brandy. He tlien addressed the Indians iuid told 
 them he would dry up their marshes if tlie goods 
 were not restored ; and then he set on fire the 
 liiaudy in tlie cup, Tlie savages were astonished 
 and terrified, and supposed that he possessed su- 
 pernatural powers ; and in a little "■'^'ie the goods 
 
32 
 
 HXPLOREBS AND PIONJEIJRS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 were found and restored to the owner, and the 
 French descended to their stockade. 
 
 The Toxes, wliile Perrot was in the Sioux 
 coinitry, changed their village, and settled on the 
 Mississippi. Coming up to visit Perrot, they 
 asked him to establish friendly relations between 
 them and the Sioux. At the time some Sioux 
 were at the post trading furs, and at first they 
 supposed the French were plotting with the 
 Foxes. Perrot, however, eased them by present- 
 ing the calumet and saying that the French con- 
 sidered the Outagamis [Foxes] as brothers, and 
 then adding: "Smoke in my pipe; this is the 
 manner with which Onontio [Governor of Can- 
 ada] feeds his children." The Sioux replied that 
 they wished the Foxes to smoke first. This was 
 reluctantly done, and the Sioux smoked, but 
 would not conclude a definite peace until they 
 consulted their chiefs. This was not concluded, 
 because Perrot, before the chiefs came down, 
 received orders to return to Canada. 
 
 About this time, in the presence of Father Jo- 
 seph James ^Slarest, a Jesuit missionary, 15oisguil- 
 lot, a trader on the Wisconsin and Mississippi, Le 
 Sueur, who afterward built a post below the Saint 
 Croix Itiver, about nine miles from Hastings, the 
 following document was prepared: 
 
 " Nicholas Perrot, commanding for the King at 
 the post of the Nadouessioux, commissioned by 
 the Alarqiiis Denonville, Go\'ernor and Lieuten- 
 ant Governor of all New France, to manage the 
 interests of commerce among all the Indian tribes 
 and people of the Bay des Puants [Green Bay], 
 Nadouessioux, Mascoutens, and other western na- 
 tions of the Upper Mississippi, and to take pos- 
 session in the King's name of all the places where 
 he has heretofore been and whither he will go: 
 
 " We this day, the eighth of ilay, one thousand 
 six hundred and eighty-nine, do, in tlie presence 
 of the Reverend Father Marest, of the- Society of 
 Jesus, Missionary among the Nadouessioux, of 
 Monsieur de Boisgiiillot, commanding the French 
 in the neighborliood of the Ouiskonche, on the 
 Mississippi, Augustin Legardeur, Esquire, Sieur 
 de Canmout, and of Messieurs Le Sueiu", Ilebert, 
 Lemire and Blein. 
 
 " Declare to all whom it may concern, that, be- 
 ing come from the Bay des Puants, and to the 
 Lake of the Ouiskonches, we did transport our- 
 selves to the country of the Nadouessioux, on the 
 
 border of the river St. Croix, and at the mouth 
 of the river St. Pierre, on the bank of which were 
 the Mantautans, and further up to the interior, 
 as far as the Menehokatonx [Med-ay-wah-kawn- 
 twawn], with whom dwell the majority of the 
 Songeskitons [Se-see-twawnsj and other Nadou- 
 essioux who are to the northwest of the lilissis- 
 sippi, to take possession, for and in the name of 
 the King, of the countries and rivers inhabited by 
 the said tribes, and of which they are proprietors. 
 The present act done in our presence, signed with 
 our hand, and subscribed." 
 
 The three Chippeway girls of whom mention 
 has been made were still with the Foxes, and 
 Perrot took them with him to ilackinaw, upon 
 his return to Canada. 
 
 While there, the Ottawas held some prisoners 
 upon an island not far from the mainland. The 
 Jesuit Fathers went over and tried to save the 
 captives from harsh treatment, but were unsuc- 
 cessful. The canoes appeared at length near each 
 other, one man paddling in each, while the war- 
 riors were answering the shouts of the prisoners, 
 who each held a white stick in his hand. As 
 they neared the shore the chief of the party made 
 a speech to the Indians who lived on the shore, 
 and givhig a history of the campaign, told them 
 that they were masters of the prisoners. The 
 warriors then came on land, and, according to 
 custom, abandoned the spoils. An old man then 
 ordered nine men to conduct the prisoners to a 
 separate place. The women and the young men 
 formed a line with big sticks. The young pris- 
 oners soon foiuid their feet, but the old men were 
 so badly used they spat blood, and they were con- 
 demned to be burned at the Mamilion. 
 
 The Jesuit Fathers and the French officers 
 were much embarrassed, and feared that the Iro- 
 (juois would complain of the little care which had 
 been used to prevent cruelty. 
 
 Perrot, in this emergency, walked to the place 
 where the prisoners were singing the death dirge, 
 in expectation of being burned, and told them to 
 sit down and be silent. A few Ottauwaws rudely 
 told them to sing on, but Perrot forbade. He 
 then went back to the Council, where the old men 
 bad rendered judgment, and ordered one prisoner 
 to be burned at Mackinaw, one at Sault St. Marie 
 and another at Green Bay. Undaunted he spoke 
 as follows : "I come to cut the strings of the 
 
PERh'or VISITS 'I'lll-J LKM) MIXES. 
 
 dogs. I will not sulftT llii'in to be eaten . I have 
 pity on them, since my Father, Onontio, has com- 
 numded me. You Oulaoiiaks [Oltawaws] are 
 like tame bears, who will not reco{,'iii/.e them who 
 hasliriiimiit tlicm up. Yon have forgotten Onon- 
 tio's in-otet-tion. When he iisks your obedience, 
 yon want to rule over hini, and eat the flesh of 
 those children he does not wish to give to you. 
 Take care, tliat, if oyu swallow them, Onontio 
 will tear them with violence from between your 
 teeth. I speak as a brother, and I think I am 
 showing pity to your children, by cutting the 
 bonds of your prisoners." 
 
 His bolihiess had the desired effect. The pris- 
 oners were released, and two of them were sent 
 with him to JNhintreal, to be returned to the Iro- 
 quois. 
 
 On tlie 22nd of May, 1600, with one liuudred 
 and forty-three voyageurs and si.x Indians, Per- 
 rot left Montreal as an escort of Sieur de Lou- 
 viguy La Porte, a half-pay captain, appointed to 
 succeed Durantaye at Mackinaw, by Frontenac, 
 the new Governor of Canada, who in October of 
 the previous year had arrived, to take the place 
 of Denonville. 
 
 Perrot, as he approached Mackinaw, went in 
 advance to notify the French of the coming of 
 the commander of the post. As he came in sight 
 of the settlement, he hoisted the white flag with 
 the lleur de lis and the voyageurs shouted, " Long 
 live the king! " Louvigny soon appeared and was 
 received by one huudi-ed '' coureur des bois "' 
 under arms. 
 
 From Mackinaw, Perrot proceeded to Green 
 Bay, and a party of Miamis there begged him to 
 make a trading establishment on the Mississippi 
 towards the Ouiskonsing (Wisconsin.) The chief 
 made him a present of a piece of lead from a 
 mine which he had found in a small stream ^\•hich 
 flows into the Mississippi. PeiTot promised to 
 visit him within twenty days, and the chief then 
 returned to his village below the d'Ouiskonche 
 (iAVsconsm) Eiver. 
 
 Having at length reached his post on Lake 
 Pepm, he was informed that the Sioux were 
 forming a large war party against the Outaga- 
 mis (Foxes) and other allies of the French. He 
 gave notice of his arrival to a party of about four 
 hundred Sioux who were on the Jlississippi. 
 
 They arrested the msssengers and came to the 
 post for the puri)ose of pimidcr. Perrot asked 
 them why tliey acted in lliis manner, and said 
 that the Foxes, Miamis, Kickapoos, Illinois, and 
 Maskoutens had united in a war party against 
 them, but tliat he had iiersuaded them to give it 
 up, and now he wished them to return to their 
 families and to their beaver. The Sioux declared 
 that they had started on the war-path, and that 
 they were ready to die. After they had traded 
 their furs, they sent for Perrot to come to their 
 camp, and begged that he would not hinder them 
 from searching for their foes. Perrot tried to dis- 
 suade them, but they insisted that the Spirit had 
 given them men to eat, at three days' journey 
 from the post Then more powerful influences 
 were used. After giving them two kettles and 
 some merchandise, Poerrt spoke thus: " I love 
 your life, and I am sure you will be defeated. 
 Your Evil Spirit has deceived you. If yon kill 
 the Outagamis, or their allies, you must strike me 
 first; if you kill them, you kill me just the same, 
 for I hold them under one wing and you under 
 the other." After this he extended the calumet, 
 which they at first refused; but at length a chief 
 said he was right, and, making invocations to the 
 sun, wished Perrot to take him back to liis arms. 
 This was granted, on condition that he would 
 give up his weapons of war. The chief tlien tied 
 them to a pole in the centre of the fort, turning 
 them toward the sun. He then persuaded the 
 other chiefs to give up the expedition, and, send- 
 ing for Perrot, he placed the calumet before him, 
 one end in the earth and the other on a small 
 forked twig to hold it firm. Then he took from 
 his own sack a ])air of his cleanest moccasins, and 
 taking off Perrofs shoes, put on these. After he 
 had made him eat, presenting the calumet, he 
 said: " AVe listen to you now. Do for us as you 
 do for our enemies, and prevent them from kill- 
 ing us, and we will separate for the beaver hunt. 
 The sun is the witness of our obedience." 
 
 After this, Perrot descended the Mississippi 
 and revealed to the Maskoutens, who had come to 
 meet him, how he had pacified the Sionx. He, 
 about this period, in accordance with his prom- 
 ise, visited the lead mines. He found the ore 
 almndant " but the lead hard to work because it 
 lay between rocks which required blowing up. 
 It had very Little dross and Avas easily melted." 
 
31 
 
 EXPLOREBS AND PIONEERS OF illNNESOTA. 
 
 Penicaut, who ascended the Mississippi in 1700, 
 wrote tliat twenty leagues below the Wisconsin, 
 on both sides of the Mississippi, were mines of 
 lead called " Nicolas Perrot's."' Early French 
 maps indicate as the locality of lead mines the 
 site of modern towns, Galena, in Illinois, and Du- 
 buque, in Iowa. 
 
 In August, U393, Jibout two hundred French- 
 men from ilackinaw, with delegates from the 
 tribes of the West, arrived at Montreal to at- 
 tend a grand council called by Governor Fronte- 
 nac, and among these was Perrot. 
 
 On the first Sunday in September the governor 
 
 gave the Indians a great feast, after which they 
 and the traders began to return to the wilder- 
 ness. Perrot was ordered by Frontenac to es- 
 tablish a new post for the Miamis in Michigan, 
 in the neighborhood of the Kalamazoo River. 
 
 Two years later he is present again, in xlugust, 
 at a council in Montreal, then returned to the 
 West, and in 1609 is recalled from Green Bay. 
 In 1701 he was at Montreal acting as interpreter, 
 and appears to have died before 1718: his wife 
 was Madeline Eaclos, and his residence was in 
 the Seigneury of Becancourt, not far from Three 
 Kivers, on the St. Lawrence. 
 
B.inU^ LA HO.XTAN'S FAIWLOVS VOYAdE. 
 
 ;!o 
 
 CIIArTEK VI. 
 
 HAUOX l.\ IIONTAN S FAliULOtS A'DVAfiH. 
 
 Lt lioiitan, a Gascon by Birth. — Early Life. — Description of Kux and Wisconsin 
 Rivers — IiH'.ian Kcast.— Alleged Ascent of Long River. — Bobc Kxposes tile 
 Deception. — Route to the Pacific. 
 
 The ■' Travels'" of Baron La Ildntuii appearetl 
 in ^V. I). 1703, both at London and at Ila.ane. and 
 were as saleable and readal lie as tliose of Hennepin, 
 which were on the counters of booksellers at the 
 same time. 
 
 La Hontan, a Gascon liy birth, and in style of 
 writing, when about seventeen years of age, ar- 
 rived in Canada, in 1683, as a private soldier, and 
 was with Gov. De la Barre in his expedition of 
 1684, toward Niagara, and was also in the Viattle 
 near Rochester, Xew York, in 1087, at which ])u 
 Luth and Perrot, explorers of Minnesota, were 
 present. 
 
 In 1688 lie appears to have been sent to Fort 
 St. Joseph, which was built by l)u Lutli, on the 
 St. Clare Elver, near the site of Fort (iratiot, 
 Michigan. It is possiljle that he may have accc mi- 
 panied Perrot to Lake Pepin, who came aliout 
 this time to reoccnpy his old post. 
 
 From the following extracts it will be seen that 
 his style is graphic, and that he probably had been 
 in 1688 in the valley of the Wisconsin, ^Vt Mack- 
 inaw, after his return from his pretended voyage 
 of the Long River, he writes: 
 
 " I left here on the 24th September, with my 
 men and five Outaouas, good hunters, whom I 
 have before mentioned to you as luuing been of 
 good service to me. All my brave men being 
 provided with good canoes, filled with provisions 
 and ammunition, to.getber with goods for the In- 
 dian trade, I took advantage of a north wind, and 
 in three days entered the Bay of tlie Pouleouata- 
 mis, distant from here about forty leagues. The 
 entrance to the bay is full of islands. It is ten 
 leagues wide and twenty-five in length. 
 
 " On the 29th we entered a river, which is (juite 
 deep, whose waters are so affected by the lake 
 that they often rise and fall three feet in twelve 
 
 Lours. Tills is an observation that I made dur- 
 ing these three or four days that I passed here. 
 The Sakis, the Poutonatamis, ami a few of the 
 Malominis have their villages on the border of this 
 river, and the Jesuits have a house there. In the 
 place there is carried on fpiite a commerce in furs 
 and Indian corn, which the Indians traflic with 
 the ' coiu'eurs des bois" that go and come, for it is 
 their nearest and most convenient passage to the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 '■ The lands here are very fertile, anil produce, 
 almost without culture, the wheat of our Europe, 
 peas, beans, and any (iiiaiitity of fruit imknown 
 in France. 
 
 " The moment I landed, the warriors of three 
 nations came by turns to my cabin to entertaui 
 me with the pipe and chief dance ; the first in 
 proof of peace and friendship, the second to indi- 
 cate their esteem and consideration for me. In 
 return. I gave them several yards of tobacco, and 
 beads, with which they trimmeil their capots. The 
 next morning, I was asked as a guest, to one of 
 the feasts of this nation, and after having sent my 
 dishes, which is the custom, I went towards noon. 
 They began to compliment me of my arrival, and 
 after hearing them, they all, one after the other, 
 i)egan to sing and dance, in a manner that I will 
 detail to you when I have more leisure. These 
 songs antl dances lasted two hours, and were sea- 
 soned with whoops of joy, and iiuiblilcs that they 
 have woven into their ridiculous niusiiiiie. Then 
 the captives waited upon us. The whole troop 
 were seated in the Oriental custom, Kach one 
 had his portion before him, like our monks in 
 their refectories. They commenced by placing 
 four dishes before me. The first consisted of two 
 white fish simply boiled in water. The second 
 was chopped meats with tlie boiled tongue of a 
 bear ; the third a beaver's tail, all roasted. They 
 made me drink also of a synip, mixed with water, 
 made out of the maple tree. The feast lasted two 
 
36 
 
 EXPLOBERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 hours, after which, I requested a chief of the 
 nation to sing for me ; for it is tlie custom, wlien 
 we have business with them, to employ an uiferior 
 for self in all the ceremonies they perform. I 
 gave him several pieces of tobacco, to oblige liim 
 to keep the party till dark. The next day and the 
 day following, I attended the feasts of the other 
 nations, where I observed the same formalities." 
 
 He alleges that, on the 23d of October, he 
 reached the Mississippi River, and, ascending, on 
 tho 3d of November he entered into a river, a 
 tributary from the west, that was almost without 
 a current, and at its mouth filled with rushes. 
 He then descrilies a journey of five hundred miles 
 up this stream. He declares he fomid upon its 
 banks three great nations, the Eokoros, Essa- 
 napes, and Gnacsitares, and because he ascended 
 it for sixty days, he named it Long River. 
 
 For years his wondrous story was believed, and 
 geographers hastened to trace it upon their maps. 
 But in time the voyage up the Long River was 
 discovered to be a fabrication. There is extant 
 a letter of Bobe, a Priest of the Congregation of 
 the Mission, dated Versailles, March 15, 1716, and 
 addressed to De L'Isle, the geographer of the 
 Academy of Sciences at Paris, which exposes the 
 deception. 
 
 He writes: " It seems to me that you might 
 give the name of Bourbonia to these vast coun- 
 tries wliich are between the Missouri, Mississippi, 
 and the "Western Ocean. "Would it not be well to 
 efface that great river which La Hontan says he 
 discovered^ 
 
 "All the Canadians, and even the Governor 
 General, have told me that tliis river is unknown. 
 If it existed, the French, wlio are on the Illinois, 
 and at Ouabache, would luiow of it. The last 
 volume of the ' Lettres Ediflantes' of the Jesuits, 
 in which there is a very fine relation of the IJlinois 
 Country, does not speak of it, any more than the 
 letters which I received this year, which tell won- 
 ders of the beauty and goodness of tlie country. 
 They send me some quite pretty work, made by 
 the wife of one of the principal chiefs. 
 
 " They tell nie, that among the Scioux, of the 
 Mlssissipi)i, there are always Frenchmen trading; 
 that the course of the Mississippi is from nortli 
 to west, and from west to south; that it is known 
 that toward the source of the Mississippi there is 
 a river ui the liighlands that leads to the western 
 
 ocean; that the Indians say that they have seen 
 bearded men with caps, who gatlier gold-dust on 
 the seashore, but that it is very far from this 
 coimtry, and that they pass through many nations 
 unknown to the French. 
 
 " I have a memoir of La ilotte Cadillac, form- 
 erly Governor of Missiliniackinack, who says that 
 if St. Peters [MiuuesotaJ Ri\'er is ascended to its 
 source they will, according to all appearance, find 
 in the highland another river leading to the "West- 
 ern Ocean. 
 
 "For the last two years I have tormented 
 exceedingly the Governor-General, M. Raudot, 
 and M. Duche, to move them to discover this 
 ocean. If I succeed, as I hope, we shall hear 
 tidings before three years, and I shall have the 
 pleasure and the consolation of having rendered 
 a good service to Geography, to Rehgion and to 
 the State." 
 
 Charlevoix, in Ms History of New France, al- 
 luding to La Ilontan's V(jyage, writes: " The 
 voyage up the Long River is as fabulous as the 
 Island of Barrataria, of which Sancho Panza was 
 governor. Nevertheless, in France and else- 
 where, most people have received these memoirs 
 as the fruits of the travels of a gentleman who 
 wrote bacUy, although quite lightly, and who had 
 no religion, but who described pretty sincerely 
 what he had seen. The consequence is that the 
 compilers of historical and geographical diction- 
 aries have almost always followed and cited them 
 in preference to more faithful records." 
 
 Even in modern times, Nicollet, employed by 
 the United States to explore the Upper Mississ- 
 ippi, has the followng in his report: 
 
 "Having procured a copy of La Ilontan's 
 book, in which there is a roughly made map of 
 his Long River, I was struck with the resem- 
 blance of its coiu'se as laid dovni wth that of 
 Cannon River, which I had previously sketched 
 in my owai field-book. I soon convinced myself 
 that the principal statements of the Baron m ref- 
 erence to the coimtry and the few details he gives 
 of the physical character of the the river, coin- 
 cide remarkably with what I had laid down as 
 belonging to Cannon River. Then the lakes and 
 swamps corresponded; traces of Indian villages 
 mentioned by him might be foimd by a growtli 
 of wild grass that propagates itself around all old 
 Indian settlernents." 
 
LE SVEVn, EXPLORER OF TUK .VJXXESijT.l UIVEH. 
 
 37 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 LE STJEtm, EXPLOKEli OF THE MINNESOTA KIVER. 
 
 Le Sueur Visits Lafce Pepm. — Stationed at La Pomte. — Establishes a Post on an 
 Island Al'ove Lake Pepin.— Island Described by Pcnicant.— Kirst S-oux Chief 
 at Montreal.— Ojibw-ay Chiefs' Speeches, — Speech of Sioux Chief. — Teeoskah- 
 tay's Death. — he Sueur Goes to France. — Posts Kest of Mackinaw Abandoned 
 — Le Sueur's License Revoked.— Second Visit to France. — Arrives in Gulf of 
 Mexico with D'Iberville. — Ascends the Mississippi. — Lead Mines. — Canadians 
 Fleeing from the Sioux. — At the Mouth of the Wisconsin.— Sioux Robbers, — Elk 
 Hunting. — Lake Pepin Described. — Rattlesnakes. — La Place Killad. — St. Croix 
 Biver Named After a Frenchman. — Le Sueur Reaches St. Pierre, now Minne* 
 sota River.— Enters Mankalito, or Blue Earth, River.- Sioux of the Plains.— 
 Fort L'Huillier Completed. — Conferences with Sioux Bands — Assinaboincs a 
 Separated Sioux Band. — An Indian Feast. — Names of the Sioux Bands. — Char- 
 levoix's Account. — Le Sueur Goes with D'Iberville to France. — D'Iberville's 
 Memorial.- Early Census of Indian Tribes.— Penic.aut's Account of Fort L'Huil 
 lier. — Le Sueur's Departure fioiii the Fort. — D'Evaqe Left in Charge. — Return' 
 to Mobile.— Juehereau at Mouth of Wisconsin.- Bondora Montreal Merchant. — 
 Sioux Attack Miainis.— Boudor Robbed by the Sioux. 
 
 Le Sueur was a native of Canada, and a rela- 
 tive of D"lber\ille, the early Governor of Louis- 
 iana. He came to Lake Pepin in 1683, -with 
 Nicholas Perrot, and liis name also appears at- 
 tached to the document prepared in !May, 16S9, 
 after Perrot had re-occupied his post just above 
 the entrance of the lake, on the east side. 
 
 In 1692, he was sent by Governor Frontenac of 
 Canada, to La Pouite, on Lake Superior, and m a 
 dispatch of 1693, to the French Government, is 
 the following : '• Le Sueur, another voyageiu-, is 
 to remain at Chagmiamagon [La Poiiite] to en- 
 deavor to maintain the peace lately concluded be- 
 tvs'een tlie Saulteurs [Chippeways] and Sioux. 
 This is of the greatest consequence, as it is now 
 the sole pass by which access can be had to the 
 latter nation, whose trade is very profitable ; the 
 comitry to the south being occupied by the Foxes 
 and ilaskoutens, who several times plundered the 
 French, ou the ground they were carrying ammu- 
 nition to the Sioux, their ancient enemies." 
 
 Entering the Sioux country in 1694, he estab- 
 lislied a post upon a prairie island in the Missis- 
 sippi, about nine miles below the present towni of 
 Hastings, according to Bellin and others. Peni- 
 caut, who accompanied him hi the exploration of 
 the Minnesota, writes, " At the extremity of the 
 lake [PepinJ you come to the Isle Pelee, so called 
 because there are no trees ou it. It is on this island 
 
 that the French from Canada established their 
 fort and storehouse, and they also winter here, 
 because game is very .ibundant. In the month of 
 September they bring their store of meat, obtained 
 by hunting, and after having skinned and cleaned 
 it, hang it upon a crib of raised scaffolding, in 
 order that the extreme cold, which lasts from 
 September to JIarcli, may preserve it from spoil- 
 ing. During the whole winter they do not go out 
 except ftu- water, when they have to break the ice 
 every day, and the oabin is generally built upon 
 the bank, so as not to have far to go. "When 
 spring arrives, the savages come to the island, 
 bringing their merchandize." 
 
 On the fifteenth of July, 169.5, Le Sueur arrived 
 at ilontreal with a party of Ojibways, and the 
 first JJakotah brave that had ever visited Canada. 
 
 The Indians were much impressed with the 
 power of France by the marching of a detach- 
 ment of seven hunilred picked men, under Chev- 
 alier Cresali, who' were on their way to La Chine. 
 
 On the eighteenth, Frontenac, in the presence 
 of CalUeres and other persons of distinction, gave 
 them an audience. 
 
 The first speaker w^as the chief of the Ojibway 
 band at La Pomte, Shmgowahbay, who said: 
 
 " That he was come to pay his respects to Onon- 
 tio [the title given the Ciovernor of Canada] in the 
 name of the young warriors of Point Chagouami- 
 gon, and to thank him for having given them 
 some Frenchmen to dwell with them; to testify 
 their sorrow for one Jobin, a Frenchman, who 
 was killed at a feast, accidentally, and not ma- 
 liciously. "We come to ask a favor of you, which 
 is to let us act. "We are allies of the Scion. Some 
 Out<agamies, or JMascouthis, have been killed. 
 The Sciou came to mourn with us. Let us act, 
 Father; let us take revenge. 
 
 " Le Sueur alone, who is acquamted -with the 
 language of the one and the other, can serve us. 
 "We ask that he return with us." 
 
38 
 
 EXPLOBEBS AND PIONEEBS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 Another speaker of the Ojibways was Le Bro- 
 chet. 
 
 Teeoskahtay, the Dahkotah chief, before he 
 spoke, spread out a beaver robe, and, laying an- 
 otlier with a tobacco pouch and ytter sldn, began 
 to weep bitterly. After dryiug his tears, he said: 
 
 " All of the nations had a father, who afforded 
 them protection; all of them have iron. B'lt he 
 was a bastard m quest of a father; he was come 
 to see him, and hopes that he will take pity on 
 him." 
 
 He then placed upon the beaver robe twenty- 
 two arrows, at each arrow naming a Dahkotah 
 village that desired Frontenac's protection. Re- 
 suming his speech, lie remarked: 
 
 " It is not on account of what I bring that I 
 hope him who rules the earth will have pity on 
 me. I learned from the Sauteurs that he wanted 
 nothing; that he was the Master of the Iron; that 
 he had a big heart, hito which he could receive 
 all the nations. This has induced me to abandon 
 my people and come to seek his protection, and 
 to beseech bim to receive me among the number 
 of his children. Take com'age, Great Captain, 
 and reject me not; despise me not, though I ap- 
 pear poor in yoiu' eyes. All the nations here 
 present know that I am rich, and the Uttle they 
 offer here is taken from my lands." 
 
 Count Frontenac in reply told the chief that he 
 would receive the Dahkotahs as his children, on 
 condition that they woidd be obedient, and that 
 he would send back Le Sueur with him. 
 
 Teeoskahtay, taking hold of the governor's 
 knees, wept, and said: " Take pity on us; we 
 are well aware that we are not able to speak, be- 
 ing children; but Le Sueur, who imderstands our 
 language, and has seen all oiu- villages, will next 
 year inform you what will have been achieved by 
 the Sioux nations represented by those arrows be- 
 fore you." 
 
 Having finished, a Dahkotah woman, the wife 
 of a great chief whom Le Sueur liad purchased 
 from captivity at Mackinaw, approached those in 
 authority, and, with downcast eyes, embraced 
 their knees, weeping and saying: 
 
 " I thank thee. Father; it is by thy means I 
 have been liberated, and am no longer captive." 
 
 Then Teeoskahtay resumed: 
 
 " I sjieak like a man penetrated with joy. The 
 Great Captain; he who is the Master of Iron, aif- 
 
 sures me of his protection, and I promise him that 
 if he condescends to restore my children, now 
 prisoners iimong the Foxes, Ottawas and IIiu'ous, 
 I will return hither, and bring with me the twen- 
 ty-two villages whom he has just restored to life 
 by promising to send them Iron." 
 
 On the 14th of August, two weeks after the 
 Ojibway chief left for his home on Lake Superior, 
 Nicholas Perrot arrived with a deputation of 
 Sauks, Foxes, Menomonees, Miamis of Maramek 
 and Pottowatomies. 
 
 Two days after, they had a councU wdth the 
 governor, who tlms spoke to a Fox brave: 
 
 " I see that you are a young man; your nation 
 has quite tiu'ned away from my wishes; it has 
 pillaged some of my yoiuig men, whom it has 
 treated as slaves. I know that your father, who 
 loved the French, had no hand in the indignity. 
 You only imitate the example of your father 
 who had sense, when you do not co-operate 
 with those of your tribe who are wishing to go 
 over to my enemies, after they grossly insulted 
 me and defeated the Sioux, whom I now consider 
 my son. I pity the Sioux; I pity the dead whose 
 loss I deplore. Perrot goes up there, and he will 
 speak to your nation from me for the release of 
 their prisoners; let tliem attend to liim." 
 
 Teeoshkahtay never returned to his native land. 
 While in Monti-eal he was taken sick, and in 
 thirty-three days he ceased to breathe; and, fol- 
 lowed by white men, his body was interred in the 
 white man's grave. 
 
 Le Sueur instead of going back to Minnesota 
 that year, as was expected, went to France and 
 received a license, in 1697, to open certain mines 
 supposed to exist in Minnesota. The ship in 
 which he was returning was captured by the Eng- 
 lish, and he was taken to England. After his 
 release he went back to France, and, in 1698, ob- 
 tained a new commission for mining. 
 
 AVhile Le Sueur was in Europe, the Dahkotas 
 waged war against the Foxes and Miamis. In 
 retaliation, the latter raised a war party and en- 
 tered the land of the Dahkotahs. Finding their 
 foes intrenched, and assisted l)y " coureurs des 
 bois," they were mdignant; and on their return 
 they had a skirmish with some Ficnchmen, who 
 were carrying goods to the Dahkotahs. 
 
 Shortly after, they met Perrot, and were about 
 to burn him to death, when prevented by some 
 
LE SUUUB ASCENDS THE MISSISIPPI lilVER. 
 
 39 
 
 friendly Foxes. Tlie Jliamis, after this, were 
 disposed to be friendly to the InKjuois. In 169(>, 
 the year ]irevious, the authorities at Quebec de- 
 cided that it was expedient to abandon all the 
 posts west of Mackinaw-, and withdraw the French 
 from Wiseonsin and ]Miiniesota. 
 
 Tlie voyageurs were not disjiosed to leave the 
 country, and the governor wrote to Pontcbar- 
 train for instructions, in October, 1608. In his 
 dispatch be remarks: 
 
 " III this conjunctiire, and nnder all these cir- 
 cumstances, we consider it our duty to posti)one, 
 imtil new instructions from the court, the execu- 
 tion of Sieur Le Sueur"s enterprise for the mines, 
 though the promise had already been given him 
 to send two canoes in advance to ilissilimackinac, 
 for the purpose of purchasing there some pro- 
 visions and other necessaries for his voyage, and 
 that he would be permitted to go and join them 
 early in the spring with the rest of his bands. 
 ■\\niat led ns to adopt this resolution has been. 
 that the French who remained to trade off with 
 the Five Xations the remainder of their merch- 
 andise, might, on seeing entirely new comers 
 arriving there, consider themselves entitled to 
 dispense with coming do'mi, and perhaps adopt 
 the resolution to settle there; whilst, seeing no 
 arrival there, with permission to do what is for- 
 bidden, the rellection they will be able to make 
 during the winter, and the apprehension of being 
 guilty of crime, may oblige them to return in the 
 spring. 
 
 " This would be very desirable, in consequence 
 of the great difficulty there will Ije in constraining 
 them to it. should they be inclined to lift the mask 
 altogether and become buccaneers; or should 
 Sieur Le Sueur, as he easily could do, furnish 
 them with goods for their beaver and smaller 
 peltry, which he might send down by tlie return of 
 other Frenchmen, whose sole desire is to obey, and 
 who have remained only because of the impossi- 
 bility of getting their effects down. This would 
 rather induce those who would continue to lead a 
 vagabond life to remain there, as tlie goods tliey 
 would receive from Le Sueur's people would afford 
 them the means of doing .so." 
 
 In reply to tliis communication, Louis XI \'. 
 answered that — 
 
 " Ills majesty has approved that the late Sieur 
 <ie Fronteuacand De Champigny suspended the 
 
 execution of the license granted to the man named 
 Le Sueur to proceed, with fifty men, to explore 
 some mines on the banks of the Mississi]ipi. He 
 has revoked said license, and desires that tlie said 
 Le Sueur, or any other person, be prevented from 
 leaving the colony on ]iretence of going in search 
 of mines, without his majesty's express permis- 
 sion." 
 
 Le Suenr, undaunted by these drawbacks to the 
 prosecution of a favorite project, again visited 
 France. 
 
 Fortimately for Le Suenr, D'Iberville, who was 
 a friend, and closely connected by marriage, was 
 appointed governor of the new territory of Louis- 
 iana. In the month of December be arrived from 
 France, v\dth thirty workmen, to proceed to the 
 supposed mines in Jlinnesota. 
 
 On the thirteenth of .July, 1700, with a felucca, 
 two canoes, and nineteen men, having ascended 
 the Mississippi, he had reached the mouth of the 
 Missouri, and six leagues above this he passed the 
 Illinois. He there met three Canadians, who 
 came to join him, with a letter from Father Mar- 
 est, who had once attempted a mission among the 
 Dahkotabs, dated .July 1.3, Mission Immaculate 
 (.'onception of the Holy Virgin, in Illinois. 
 
 " I have the honor to write, in order to inform 
 you that the Sangiestas have been defeated 1 ly the 
 .Scioux and Ayavois [lowas]. The people have 
 formed an alliance with the Qiiincapous [Kicka- 
 poos], some of the Mecoutins, Renards [Foxes], 
 and Iiletesigamias, and gone to revenge them- 
 selves, not on the Scioux, for they are too much 
 afraid of them, but perhaps on the Ayavois, or 
 very likely upon the Paoutees, or more probably 
 upon the Osages, for these suspect nothing, and 
 the others are on their guard. 
 
 "As you will probably meet these allied na- 
 tions, you ought to take precaution against their 
 plans, and not allow them to board yom- vessel, 
 since tlicij arc tmilnrs, and utterly faithless. I pray 
 (iod to accompany you in all your designs.'' 
 
 Twenty-two leagues above the Illinois, he passed 
 a small stream which he called the River of Oxen, 
 and nine leagues beyond this he passed a small 
 river on the west side, where he met four (,'ana- 
 dians descending the Mississipi)i. on their way to 
 the Illinois. On the 30th of -Inly, nine leagues 
 above the last-named river, he met seventeen 
 Scioux, in seven canoes, who were going to re- 
 
40 
 
 EXPLOREBS AND PIONEEBS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 venge the death of three Scioux, one of whom had 
 been burned, and the others killed, at Tamarois, 
 a few days before liis arrival in that village. As 
 he had promised the chief of the IlUnois to ap- 
 pease the Scioux who should go to war against 
 his nation, he made a present to the chief of the 
 party to engage him to turn back. He told them 
 the King of France did not msh them to make 
 this river more bloody, and that he was sent to tell 
 them that, if they obeyed the king's word, they 
 would receive in future all things necessary for 
 them. The chief answered that he accepted the 
 present, that is to say, that he would do as had 
 been told him. 
 
 From the 30th of July to the 25th of August, Le 
 Sueur advanced fifty-ttoee and one-fourth leagues 
 to a small river which he called the River of the 
 Mine. At the mouth it runs from the north, but 
 it turns to the northeast. On the right seven 
 leagues, there is a lead mine iu a prairie, one and 
 a half leagues. The river is only navigable in 
 high water, tliat is to say, from early spring tUl 
 the month of June. 
 
 From the 2.5tli to the 27th he made ten leagues, 
 passed two small rivers, and made himself ae- 
 quauited with a mine of lead, from wliich lie took 
 a supply. From the 27th to the 30th he made 
 eleven and a half leagues, and met five Canadians, 
 one of wliom had been dangerously wounded in 
 the head. They were naked, and had no ammu- 
 nition except a miserable gun, with five or six 
 loads of powder and balls. They said they were 
 descending from the Scioux to go to Tamarois, 
 and, when seventy leagues above, tliey perceived 
 nine canoes in the Mississippi, in which were 
 ninety savages, wlio rol)bed and cruelly beat tliem. 
 Tills party were going to war against the Scioux, 
 and were composed of. four different nations, the 
 Ontagamies [Foxes], Poutouwatamls [Pottowatta- 
 mies], and Puans [Winnebagoes], who dwell in a 
 connti'y eighty leagues east of the Mississippi 
 from where Le Sueur then was. 
 
 Tl le ( 'anadians determined to follow the detach- 
 ment, which was composed of twenty-eight men. 
 This (lay they made seven and a half leagues. 
 On the 1st of September he passed the Wisconsm 
 river. It runs into the Mississippi from the north- 
 east. It is nearly one and a half miles wide. At 
 about seventy-five leagues up this river, on the 
 right, ascenduig, there is a portage of more than 
 
 a league. The half of this portage is shaking 
 ground, and at the end of it is a small river which 
 descends into a bay called AVimiebago Bay. It is 
 inhabited by a great nmuber of nations who carry 
 their fiu-s to Canada. Monsieiu: Le Sueur came 
 by the Wisconsin river to the ^Mississippi, for the 
 first time, in 1683, on his \\ay to the Scioux coun- 
 try, where he had already passed seven years at 
 different periods. The Mississippi, opposite the 
 month of the Wisconsm, is less than half a mile 
 wide. From the 1st of September to the -ith, our 
 voyageur advanced fourteen leagues. He passed 
 the river " Aux Canots," which comes from the 
 northeast, and then the Quincapous, named from 
 a nation which once dwelt iipou its banks. 
 
 From the 5th to the 9th he made ten and a half 
 leagues, and passed the rivers Cachee and ^Vux 
 Ailes. The same day he perceived canoes, filled 
 with savages, descending the river, and the five 
 Canadians recognized them as the party who had 
 robbed them. They placed sentinels in the wood, 
 for fear of being surprised by land, and when 
 they had approached within hearing, they cried to 
 them that if they approached farther they would 
 fire. They then drew up by an island, at half the 
 distance of a gun shot. Siion, four of the princi- 
 pal men of the band approached in a canoe, and 
 asked if it was forgotten that they were our 
 brethren, and with what design we had taken 
 arms when we perceived them. Le Sueur replied 
 that he had cause to distrust them, since they had 
 robbed five of his party. Jfevertheless, for the 
 sm-ety of his trade, being forced to ))e at peace 
 with all the tribes, he demanded no redi'ess for 
 the robbery, but added merely that the king, their 
 master and his, wished that his sulijects should 
 na\'igate that river without insult, and that they 
 had better beware how they acted. 
 
 The Indian who had spoken was silent, but an- 
 other said they had been attacked by the Scioux, 
 and that if they did not have pity on them, and 
 give them a little jjowder, they should not be able 
 to reach their villages. The consideration of a 
 missionary, who was to go up among the Scioux, 
 and whom these savages might meet, mduced 
 them to give two pounds of powder. 
 
 M. Le Sueur made the same day three leagues; 
 passed a stream on the west, and afterward an- 
 other river on the east, which is navigable at aU 
 times, and which the Indians call Ked River. 
 
BATTLESNAKES ON SHOBES OF LAKE I'El'IX. 
 
 41 
 
 On the 10th, at daybreak, they heard an elk 
 whistle, on the other side of the river. A Cana- 
 dian crossed in a small Scioux canoe, which they 
 had found, and shortly retimied with the body of 
 the animal, which w'as very easily killed, '■ (juand 
 11 est en rut," that is, from the beginnhig of Sep- 
 tember nntil the end of October. The hunters at 
 this time made a whistle of a i)iece of wood, or 
 reed, and when they hear an elk whistle they an- 
 swer it. The animal, lielieviiiij; it to be another 
 elk, ajiproaclies, and is killed with ease. 
 
 From the 10th to the 14th, ]M. Le Sueur made 
 seventeen and a half leagues, passing the rivers 
 Eaisin and Paquilenettes (perhaps the Wazi O/.u 
 and Buffalo.) The same day he left, on the east 
 side of the ^lississippi, a beautiful and large river, 
 which descends from the very far north, and 
 called Bon Secours (Chippeway), on account of the 
 great quantity of buffalo, elk, bears and deers 
 which are found there. Three leagues up this 
 river there is a mine of lead, and seven leagues 
 above, on the same side, they found another long 
 river, in the vicinity of which there is a copjjer 
 mine, from A^hich he had taken a lump of sixty 
 pounds in a former voyage. In order to make 
 these mines of any account, peace must be ob- 
 tained between the Scioux and Ouatagamis (Fox- 
 es), because the latter, who dwell on the east side 
 of the Mississippi, pass this road continually when 
 going to war against the Sioux. 
 
 Penicaut, in his journal, gives a brief descrip- 
 tion of the ilississippi between the AMsconsin 
 and Lake Pepin. He writes: "Above the Wis- 
 consin, and ten leagues higher on the same side, 
 begins a great prairie extending for sixty leagues 
 along the bank; this prairie is called Aux Ailes. 
 Opposite to Aux Ailes, on the left, there is 
 another prairie facmg it called Paquilanet which 
 is not so long by a great deal. Twenty leagues 
 above these prairies is found Lake Bon Secours " 
 [Cood Help, now Pepin.] 
 
 In this region, at one and a half leagues on the 
 northwest side, commenced a lake, which is six 
 leagues long and more than one broad, called 
 Lake Pepin. It is bounded on the west by a 
 chain of mountains; on the east is seen a prame; 
 and on the northwest of the lake there is another 
 prairie two leagues long and one wide. In the 
 neighborhood is a chain of mountains quite two 
 hundred feet high, and more than one and a half 
 
 miles long. In these are found several caves, to 
 which the bears retire in winter. Most of the 
 caverns are more than seventy feet in extent, and 
 two hundred feet high. There are several of 
 which the entrance is very narrow, and qinte 
 closed up with saltpetre. It woidd be dangerous 
 to enter them in summer, for they are filled with 
 rattlesnakes, the liite of which is very dangerous. 
 Le Sueur saw some of these snakes which were 
 six feet in length, but generally they are about 
 four feet. They have teeth resembling those of 
 the pike, and their gums are full of small vessels, 
 in which their poison is placed. The Scioux say 
 they tqke it every mornin ;, and cast it away at 
 night. They have at the tail a kind of scale which 
 makes a noise, and this is called the rattle. 
 
 Le Sueur made on this day seven and a half 
 leagues, and passed another river, called Iliam- 
 bouxeeate Ouataba, or the Elver of Flat Rock. 
 [The Sioux call the ("aiuion river Inyanbosndata.] 
 
 On the loth he crossed a small river, and saw 
 in the neighborhood several canoes, fdled with 
 Indians, descending the ^lississippi. lie sup- 
 posed they were Scioux, because he could not dis- 
 tinguish whether the canoes were large or small. 
 The arms were placed in readiness, and soon they 
 heard the cry of the savages, which they are ac- 
 customed to raise when they rush upon their en- 
 emies. He caused them to be answered in the 
 same mamier; and after having placed all the 
 men behind the trees, he ordered them not to fire 
 until they were commanded. He remained on 
 shore to see what movement the savages woidd 
 make, and perceiving that they placed two on 
 shore, on the other side, where from an eminence 
 they could ascertain the strength of his forces, he 
 caused the men to pass and rejiass from the shore 
 to the wood, in order to make them believe that 
 they were numerous. Tliis ruse succeeded, for 
 as soon as the two descended from the eminence 
 the chief of the party came, bearing the calumet, 
 which is a signal of peace among the Indians. 
 They said that having never seen the French navi- 
 gate the river with boats like the felucca, they had 
 supposed them to be English, and for that reason 
 they had raised the war cry, and arranged them- 
 selves on the other side of the Mississippi; but 
 having recognized their flag, they had come with- 
 out fear to inform them, that one of their num- 
 ber, who was crazy, had accidentally killed a 
 
42 
 
 EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 Frenchman, and that they would go and brhig his 
 comrade, who would tell how the mischief had 
 happened. 
 
 The Frenclunan they brought was Denis, a Ca- 
 nadian, and he reported tliat his companion was 
 accidentally killed. His name was Laplace, a de- 
 serthig soldier from Canada, ^\■ho liad tahen ref- 
 uge in this country. 
 
 Le Sueur replied, that Onontio (the name they 
 give to all the governors of ('anada), being their 
 father and his, they ought not tt) seek justification 
 elsewhere than before him; and he advised them 
 to go and see him as soon as possible, and beg 
 him to wipe of£ the blood of tliis Frenchman from 
 their faces. 
 
 The party was composed of forty-seven men of 
 different nations, who dwell far to the east, about 
 the forty-fourth degree of latitude. Le Sueur, 
 discovering who tlie chiefs were, said the king 
 whom they had spoken of in Canada, had sent 
 him to take possession of the north of the river; 
 and that he wished the nations who dwell on it, 
 as well as those under his protection, to live in 
 peace. 
 
 He made this day three and tin-ee-fourtlis 
 leagues; and on the Kith of September, he left a 
 large river on tlie east side, named St. Croix, he- 
 cause n FnnrliDian (if tliat name icris nhipa-ricJced 
 at its mouth. It comes from the north-northwest. 
 Four leagues higher, in going up, is foinid a small 
 lake, at the mouth of which is a very large mass 
 of copper. It is on the edge of the water, in a 
 small ridge of sandy earth, on the west of this 
 lake. [One of La Salle's men was named St. 
 Croi.\.] 
 
 From the liitli to the 19th, he advanced thir- 
 teen and tliree-fourths leagues. After liaving 
 made from Taniarois two hundred and nine and a 
 half leagues, he left the navigation of the Missis- 
 sippi, to enter the river St. I'ierre, on the west 
 side. By the 1st of October, he had made in this 
 river forty-foui- and one-fourth leagues. After he 
 entered I'jlue river, thus named on account of the 
 mines of blue earth found at its mouth, he fomid- 
 ed his post, situated in forty-four degrees, thir- 
 teen minutes north latitude. He met at this 
 place nine Scioux, wlio tol<l liim tliat the river 
 belonged to the Seiotix of the west, the Ayavois 
 (lowas) and Otoctatas (Ottoes). who lived a little 
 farther off: that it was not their custom to hunt 
 
 on ground belonging to others, unless invited to 
 do so by the owners, and that when they would 
 come to the fort to obtain provisions, they would 
 be in danger of being killed in ascending or de- 
 scending the rivers, v.'hich were narrow, and that 
 if they woidd show their pity, he must establish 
 iiimsclf on the llississippi, near the mouth of the St. 
 Pierre, where the Ayavois, the Otoctatas, and the 
 other Scioux could go as well as they. 
 
 Having finished their speech, they leaned over 
 the head of Le Sueur, according to their custom, 
 crying out, "Onaechissou ouaepanimanabo," that 
 is to say, " Have pity upon us." Le Suenr had 
 foreseen that the establishment of Blue Earth 
 river would not please the Scioux of the East, 
 who were, so to speak, masters of the other Scioux 
 and of the nations wliich will 1)6 hereafter men- 
 tioned, hec(tuse they icere the first with whom trade 
 leas commenced, and in consequence of which they 
 had already quite a number of guns. 
 
 As he had commenced his operations not only 
 with a view to the trade of beaver but also to 
 gain a knowledge of the mines which he had pre- 
 viously discovered, he told them that he was sor- 
 ry that he had not known their intentions sooner, 
 and that it was .iust, since he came expressly for 
 them, that he sh(udd establish himself on their 
 land, liut tliat the season was too far advanced 
 for him to return. He then made them a present 
 of powder, balls and knives, and an armful of to- 
 bacco, to entice them to assemble, as soon as pos- 
 sible, near the fort he was about to construct, 
 that when they should be all assembled he might 
 tell them the intention of the king, their and his 
 sovereign. 
 
 The Scioux of the "West, according to the state- 
 ment of the Eastern Scioux, have more than a 
 thousanil lodges. They do not use canoes, nor 
 cultivate the earth, nor gather wild rice. They 
 remain generally on the prairies which are be- 
 tween the Upper Mississippi and jNIissouri rivers, 
 and live entirely by the chase. The Scioux gen- 
 erally say they have three souls, and that after 
 death, that which has done well goes to the warm 
 country, that which has done evil to the cold 
 regions, and the other guard.s the body. I'oly- 
 gamy is common among them. They are very 
 jealous, and sometimes fight in duel for their 
 wives. Tliey manage the bow admirably, and 
 have been seen several times to kill ducks on the 
 
BLrj!J EARTH ASSAYED BY VHVLLlEli IN I'AUIS. 
 
 4a 
 
 wmft. They make their lodges of a imnilier of 
 bulTalo skins interlaced and sewed, ami cany 
 them wlierever they go. They are all great smo- 
 kers, but their manner of smoking differs from 
 that of other Indians. There are some Sciou.x 
 who swallow all the smoke of the tobacco, and 
 others who, after having keiit it some time in 
 their mouth, cause it to issue from the nose. In 
 each lodge there are usually two or three men 
 witli their families. 
 
 On the third of October, they received at the 
 fort several Scioux, among whom was AVahkan- 
 lape, cliief of the village. Soon tu-o Canadians 
 arrived wlio liad been hunting, and who had been 
 robbed by the Scioux of the Kast. who had raised 
 their guns against the establishment which M. 
 Le Sueur had made on IJhie Karth river. 
 
 On the fourteenth the fort was linished and 
 named Fort L'lluillier. and on Die twenty-second 
 two Canadians were sent out to invite the Aya- 
 vois and Otoctatas to come and establish a vil- 
 lage near the fort, because tliese Indians are m- 
 dustrious and accustomed to cultivate the earth, 
 and they hoped to get provisions from them, and 
 to niake them work in the mines. 
 
 On the twenty-fourth, six Scioux Oujalespoi- 
 tons wished to go into tlie fort, but were told 
 that they did not receive men who had killed 
 Fi'enclmien. This is the term used when they 
 have instdted tliem. The next day Ihey came to 
 the lodge of Le Sueur to beg liim to have pity on 
 them. They wished, according to custom, to 
 weep over his head and make him a present of 
 packs of beavers, which he refused. He told 
 them he was surprised that people who had rol)- 
 bed should come to him ; to which they replied 
 that they liad heard it said that two Frenchmen 
 had been robbed, but none from their village had 
 l)eeu present at tliat wicked action. 
 
 Le Sueur answered, that he knew it was tlie 
 Mendeoncantons and not the Oujalespoitons : 
 " but." continued he, "yon are Scioux; it is the 
 Scioux who have robbed me. and if I were to fol- 
 low your manner of acting I should break yom- 
 heads; for is it not true, tiiat when a stranger 
 (it is thus they call the Indians wlio are not 
 Scioux) has insulted a Scioux, ilendeoucanton. 
 ( )ujale.spoitons. or others — all the villages revenge 
 upon the lirst one they meetV" 
 As they had nothing to answer to what he said 
 
 to them, they wept and rejieated, ac('oi'ding to 
 custom, " Ouaecliissou I ouaepanimaual)o !"' Le 
 Sueur told them to cease crying, and added that 
 the French had good liearts, and tliat they had 
 come into tlie country to have pity on tliem. At 
 the same time lie made them a present, saying to 
 them. ■• Carry liack your beavers and say to all 
 the Scioux. that tliey will have from me no more 
 powder or lead, and they will no longer smoke 
 any long pipe until they have made satisfaction 
 for robbing the Frenchman. 
 
 Tlie same day the Canadians, who had been 
 sent off on the 22d. arrived without liaving found 
 the road which led to the Ayavois and Otoctatas. 
 On the 26tli, Le Sueur went to the river with 
 three canoes, which he tilled with green and blue 
 earth. It is taken from the hills near which are 
 very abundant mhies of copper, some of which 
 was worked at Paris in IH'.id. liy I/IIuillier. one 
 of the chief collectors of the king. Stones were 
 also found there wliicli would be curious, if 
 worked. 
 
 On the ninth of Novemlier, eight iSIautanton 
 Scioux arrived, who had been sent li\- their chiefs 
 to say that the Mcndcoucantona wci-e still at their 
 hdr on tin east of tlie Mississiiqji- and they could 
 not come for a long time ; and that for a single 
 village wliich had no good sense, tlie otliers ought 
 not to bear the punishment ; and that they were 
 willing to make reparation if tliey knew how. 
 Le Sueur replied that he was glad that they had 
 a disposition to do so. 
 
 On the loth the two Mantanton Scioux. wlio 
 had been sent expiessly to say that all of the 
 Scioux of the east, and part of those of the west, 
 were joined together to come to the French, be- 
 cause they had heard that the Christiaiiaux and 
 the Assiniiioils were making war on them. 
 These two nations dwell aliove llie fort on the 
 east side, more than eiglity leagues on tlie Upper 
 Mississippi. 
 
 Tlie xVssinipoils speak Scioux, and are certainly 
 of that nation. It is only a few years since that 
 they became enemies. The enmity thus origi- 
 nated: The Cliristianaiix, having the use of arms 
 before the Scioux, through tlie English at Hud- 
 son's Bay, they constantly warred upon the As- 
 siuipoils, wlio were their nearest neighbors. 
 The latter, being weak, sued for peace, and to 
 render it more lasting, married the Christianaux 
 
44 
 
 EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 women. The other Scioux, who had not made 
 the compact, continued tliewar; and, seeing some 
 Christianaux with the Assinipoils, broke tlieir 
 heads. The Christianaux furnished the Assini- 
 poils with arms and merchandise. 
 
 On the l(5th the Scioux returned to their vil- 
 lage, and it was reported that tlie Ayavois and 
 Otoctatas were gone to establish themselves to- 
 wards the jNIissouri River, near the Maha, who 
 dwell in tliat region. On the 2{5th the Mantan- 
 tons and Oujalesi)oitons arrived at the fort; and, 
 after they had encamped in the woods, Wah 
 kantape came to beg Le Sueur to go to his 
 lodge. He there finuid sixteen men willi women 
 and children, with their faces daubed with black. 
 In the middle of the lodge were several buffalo 
 skins wliicli were sewed for a carpet. After mo- 
 tioning liim to sit down, they wept for the fourth 
 of an liour, and the chief gave him some wild 
 rice to eat (as was their custom), putting the 
 first three spoonsful to his mouth. After which, 
 he said all present were relatives of Tioscate, 
 whom Le Sueur took to Canada in 1695, and who 
 died there in 1696. 
 
 At the mention of Tioscate they began to weep 
 again, and wipe tlieir tears and heads upon the 
 shoulders of Le Sueur. Tlien AVabkantape again 
 spoke, and said tliat Tioscate liegged him to for- 
 get the insult done to the Frenchmen by the 
 Mendeoucantons, and take pity on his brethren 
 by giving them powder and balls whereby they 
 could defend tliemselves, and gain a living for 
 their wives and clnldren,who languish in a coun- 
 try fidl of game, because they had not the means 
 of killing them. " Look," added the chief, " Be- 
 hold tliy cliildreu, thy brethren, and thy sisters; 
 it is to thee to see wlietlier tliou wisliest them to 
 (lie. They will live if thou givest them powder 
 and Ijall; they will die if thou refusest." 
 
 Le Sueur granted them tlieir request, but as 
 the Scioux never answer on the spot, especially 
 in matters of importance, and as he had to speak 
 to them aliout his establishment he went out of 
 tlie lodge witliout saying a word. The chief and 
 all tliose witliiu followed liim as far as tlie door. 
 of the fort; and wlieu he had gone in. tliey went 
 around it tlirce times, crying with all their 
 strengtli, " Atlicouanaii! " that istosay, " Father, 
 have pity on us."' [Ate unyanpi, means Our 
 Father.] 
 
 The next day, he assembled in the fort the 
 principal men of both villages; and as it is not 
 possible to subdue the Scioux or to hinder them 
 from going to war, unless it be by inducing them 
 to cultivate the earth, he said to them that if 
 they wished to render themselves worthy of the 
 protection of the king, tliey must abandon tlieir 
 erring life, and form a village near his dwelling, 
 where they would be shielded from the insults of 
 of their enemies; and that they might be happy 
 and not hungry, he would give them all the corn 
 necessary to plant a large piece of ground; that 
 the king, their and his chief, in sending liim, had 
 forbidden bira to purchase beaver skins, knowing 
 that tliis kind of liunting separates tliem and ex- 
 poses tliem to their enemies; and that in conse- 
 quence of tliis he had come to establish himself 
 on Blue River and vicinity, where they had many 
 times assured him were many kinds of beasts, 
 for the skins of which he would give tlietn all 
 tilings necessary; that they ought to reflect that 
 they could not do without French goods, and that 
 tlie only way not to want them was, not to go to 
 war with our allied nations. 
 
 As it is customary with the Indians to accom- 
 pany their word with a present proportioned to 
 the affair treated of, he gave them fifty pounds of 
 jiowder, as many ball's, six guns, ten axes, twelve 
 armsful of tobacco, and a hatchet pipe. 
 
 On tlie first of December, the JIantantons in- 
 vited Le Sueur to a great feast. Of four of their 
 lodges they liad made one, in which were one 
 hundred men seated around, and every one his 
 dish before him. After the meal, Wahkantape, 
 llie chief, made them all smoke, one after another, 
 in the hatchet pipe which had been given them, 
 lie then made a present to Le Sueur of a slave 
 and a sack of wild rice, and said to him, showing 
 him his men: " Behold the remains of this great 
 village, which thou hast aforetimes seen so nu- 
 merous! All the others have been killed in war; 
 and the few men whom thou seest in this lodge, 
 accept the present thou hast made them, and are 
 resolved to oliey the great chief of all nations, of 
 whom tliou hast spoken to us. Thou ouglitest 
 not to regard us as Scioux, but as French, and in- 
 stead of saying tlie Scioux are miserable, and liave 
 no mind, and are fit for nothing but to rob and 
 steal from the French, thou shalt say my breth- 
 ren are miserable and have no mind, and we must 
 
D'IBEBVILLE'S MEMOITt ON THE MlSSISSIl'}' I 'I'IHHES. 
 
 45 
 
 try to procure some for tliem. They rob us, but 
 I will take care that they do not lack iron, that is 
 to say, all kinds of goods. If thou dost this, 1 as- 
 sure thee that in a little time the Mantantons will 
 become Frenchmen, and they will have none of 
 those vices, with which thou reiiroachest us." 
 
 Having finished his speech, he covered his lace 
 with his garment, and the others imitated him. 
 They wept over their companions who had died 
 in war, and chanted an adieu to their country in 
 a tone so gloomy, that one could not keep from 
 partaking of their sorrow. 
 
 Wahkantape then made them smoke again, and 
 distributed the presents, and said that he was go- 
 ing to the ^lendeoueantons, to inform them of the 
 resolution, and invite them to do the same. 
 
 On the twelfth, three Mendeoucauton chiefs, 
 and a large number of Indians of the same vil- 
 lage, arrived at the fort, and the next day gave 
 satisfaction for robbing the Frenchmen. They 
 brought four hundred pounds of beaver skins, and 
 promised that the summer following, after their 
 canoes were built and they had gathered their 
 wild rice, that they would come and establish 
 themselves near the French. The same day they 
 returned to their village east of the Mississippi. 
 
 NAMES OF TUE BANDS OF SCIOUX OF THE 
 EAST, WITH THEIK SICiNIFICATION. 
 
 Mantantons— That is to say, A'illage of the 
 Great Lake which empties into a small one. 
 
 Mendeouacantons— Village of Spirit Lake. 
 
 QuioPETONS — Village of the Lake with one 
 River. 
 
 PsiouMANiTONS— Village of "Wild Rice Gath- 
 erers. 
 
 OuADEBATONs— The River Village. 
 
 OuAETEMANETONS— Village of the Tribe who 
 dwell on the Point of tlie Lake. 
 
 SONUASQUITONS — The Brave Village, 
 
 THE SCIOUX OF THE WEST. 
 
 ToucHOUAESixTONs— The Village of the Pole. 
 
 PsiNCHATOXs— Milage of the Red Wild Rice. 
 
 OujALESPOiTOXS — Village divided into many 
 small Bands. 
 
 PsiNouTANHiNHixTONS — The Great AVild 
 Rice Village. 
 
 TiNTANGAOUGHiATONs — The Grand Lodge 
 Village. 
 
 OUAEPETONS — Village of the Leaf. 
 
 OUGHETGEODATONS— Dung Village. 
 
 OuAPEONTETONs — Village of those who shoot 
 in the Large Pine. 
 
 IIiNHANETONS — ^'illage of the Ri^d Stone 
 (Juarry. 
 
 The above catalogue of villages (^includes the 
 extract that La Ilarpe has made from Le Sueur's 
 journal. 
 
 In the narrative of Major Long's second expe- 
 dition, there are just as many villages of the Gens 
 du Lac, or M'dewakantimwan ScioiLX mentioned, 
 though the names are different. After leaving 
 the iliUe Lac region, the divisions evidently were 
 different, and the villages known by new names. 
 
 Charlevoix, who visited the valley of the Lower 
 Mississippi in 1722, says that Le Sueur spent a 
 winter in his fort on the banks of the Blue Earth, 
 and that in the following April he went up to the 
 mine, about a mile above. In twenty-two days 
 they obtained more than Uiirty thousand pounds 
 of the substance, four thousand of which were se- 
 lected and sent to France. 
 
 On the tenth of February, 1702, Le Sueur came 
 back to the post on the Gulf of Mexico, and fomid 
 DTben-ille absent, who, however, arrived on the 
 eighteenth of the next month, with a ship from 
 France , loaded with supplies. After a few weeks, 
 the Governor of Louisiana sailed again for the 
 old coiintry, Le Sueur being a fellow passenger. 
 
 On board of the ship, DTberville wrote a mem- 
 orial upon the Mississippi valley, with sugges- 
 tions for carrying on commerce therein, which 
 contains many facts furnished liy Le Sueur. A 
 copy of the manuscript A\ns in jiossession of the 
 Historical Society of Minnesota, from which are 
 the followmg extracts: 
 
 "If the Sioux remain in their own countiy, 
 they are useless to us, being too distant. We 
 could have no commerce with them except that 
 of the beaver. M. Le Sueur, tcho goes to France 
 to give an account of this country, is the proper per- 
 son to make these movements. He estimates the 
 Sioux at four thousand famiUes, who could settle 
 upon the ^Missouri. 
 
 "He has spoken to me of another which he 
 calls the Mahas, composed of more than twelve 
 hundred famiUes. The Ayoones (loways) and the 
 Octoctatas, their neighbors, are about three 
 hundred families. They occupy the lands be- 
 
46 
 
 EXPLOBEJRS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 tween the Mississippi and the Missouri, about 
 one hundred leagues from the lOinois. Tiiese 
 savages do not Isuow the use of arms, and a de- 
 scent might be made upon them in a river, Mhicli 
 is beyond ttie AVabash on the west. * * * 
 
 " The Assmibouel, Quenistinos, and people of 
 the north, who are upon the rivers which fall into 
 the Mississippi, and trade at Fort Kelson (Hud- 
 son Bay), are about four hundred. We could 
 prevent them from going there if we wish." 
 
 " In four or five years we can establish a com- 
 merce with these savages of sixty or eighty thou- 
 sand buffalo skins; more than one hundred deer 
 skins, AAliidi 'will produce, delivered in France, 
 more than two million four hundred thousand 
 livres yearly. One might obtain for a Iniffalo 
 skin four or five pounds of wool, which sells for 
 twenty sous, two potinds of coarse hair at ten 
 sous. 
 
 "Besides, from smaller peltries, two hundred 
 thousand livres can be made yearly.'' 
 
 In the third \-olume of the " History and Sta- 
 tistics of the Indian Tribes," prepared under the 
 direction of the Commissioner of Indian affairs, 
 by Mr. Schoolcraft, a manuscript, a copy of which 
 was in possession of General Cass, is referred to as 
 containing tlie first enumeration of the Indians of 
 the Mississippi A'alley. The following was made 
 thirty-fo>ir years earlier by DTberville: 
 
 "The Sioux, Families, 4,000 
 
 Mahas, 12,000 
 
 Octata and Ayoues, 300 
 
 Causes [Kansas], I,o00 
 
 Missouri, 1,500 
 
 Akansas, &c., 200 
 
 :Mant()n piandanj 100 
 
 Panis [Pawnee], 2.000 
 
 Illinois, of the great village and Cama- 
 
 roua [Tamaroa], soo 
 
 !Meosigamea [^Nletchigamias], .... 200 
 Kikapous and jNlascouteus, .... 4o0 
 
 Miamis, . , 500 
 
 Chaclas, 4,000 
 
 Chicaclias, 2,000 
 
 Mobiliens and Chohomes, 350 
 
 Concaques [Conchas], 2,000 
 
 Ouma [Iloumas], 150 
 
 Colapissa, 2-50 
 
 Bayogoula, 100 
 
 People of the Fork, 200 
 
 Counica, &c. [Tonicas], . . 
 
 Xadeclies, 
 
 Belochy, [Biloxi] Pascoboula, 
 
 300 
 
 1,500 
 
 100 
 
 Total, 23,850 
 
 " The savage tribes located in the places I have . 
 marked out, make it necessary to establish three 
 posts on the Mississippi, one at the Arkansas, 
 another at the AVabash (Ohio), and the third at 
 the ilissouri. At each post it would be proiJer 
 to have an officer with a detachment of ten sol- 
 diers with a sergeant and corporal. All French- 
 men should be allowed to settle there with their 
 families, and trade with the Indians, and they 
 might establish tanneries for properly dressmg 
 the buffalo and deer skins for transportation. 
 
 " Xo Frenclunan Khali be allnwcd to folloic the 
 Indians on their hunts, as it tends to keep tlumi 
 hunters, as is seen in Canada, and when they are 
 in the woods, they do not desire to become tilters 
 of the soil. ******* 
 
 " I have said nothing in this memoir of which 
 I have not personal knowledge or the most relia- 
 ble sources. The most of what I propose is 
 founded upon personal reflection in relation to 
 what might be done for the defence and advance- 
 ment of the colony. ***** 
 * * * It will be absolutely necessary 
 that the long should define the limits of this 
 country in relation to the government of Canada. 
 It is important that the commandant of the 
 Mississippi should have a report of those who 
 inhabit the rivers that fall into the Mississippi, 
 and principally those of the river Illinois. 
 
 " The Canadians intimate to the savages that 
 they ought not to listen to us but to the governor 
 of Canada, who always speaks to them with large 
 presents, that the governor of JSIississippi is mean 
 and never sends them any thing. This is true, 
 and what I cannot do. It is iinjirudent to accus- 
 tom the savages to be spoken to by presents, for, 
 with so many, it would cost the king more than 
 the revenue derived from the trade. AVhen they 
 come to us, it will be necessary to bring them in 
 subjection, make them no presents, and compel 
 them to do wliat we wish, ((.s if they were French- 
 men. 
 
 " The Spaniards have divided thb Indians into 
 parties on this point, and we can do tlie same. 
 AVlien one nation does wrong, we can cease to 
 
PENICAUT DEtiClUBES LIFE AT FORT L'lIUILLlER. 
 
 trade ■with them, and threaten to draw down tlic 
 hostility of otlier Indians. AVe rectify the diffi- 
 culty by h<iviiig missionaries, who will bring 
 them into obedience secretly. 
 
 " Tlie Illinois and JSIascoutens luivc detained 
 the French canoes they find iipouthe Mississippi, 
 saying that the governors of Canada have given 
 them permission. I do not know whether this is 
 so, but if true, it follows tliat we liave not the 
 liberty to send any one on the Mississijipi. 
 
 '■ M. Le Sueur would have been taken if he 
 had not been the strongest. Only one of the 
 canoes he sent to the Sioux wasphmdered." * * * 
 
 Penicaut'S account varies in some particulars 
 from that of La Ilarpe's. lie calls the JMahkalito 
 Green River instead of Blue and -writes: '■ ^\'e 
 took our route by its mouth and ascended it forty 
 leagues, when we found another river falling in- 
 to the Saint Pierre, which we entered. "We 
 Jailed this the Green Piver because it is of that 
 color by reason of a green earth which loosening 
 itself from from the copper mines, becomes dis- 
 solved and makes it green. 
 
 " A league up this river, we found a pomt 
 of land a quarter of a league distant from the 
 woods, and it was upon this point that M. Le 
 Sueur resolved to build his fort, because we coidd 
 not go any higher on account of the ice, it being 
 the last day of Septemlier. Half of our people 
 \vent hunting whilst the others worked on the 
 fort, "\^'e killed four himdred buffaloes, which 
 were our provisions for the winter, and which we 
 placed upon scaffolds in om- fort, after having 
 skinned and cleaned and quartered them. "We 
 also made cabins in the fort, and a magazine to 
 keep our goods. After having drawn up our 
 shallop within the inclosm-eof the fort, we spent 
 the winter m our cabins. 
 
 " When we were working in our fort in the 
 begimiing seven French traders from Canada 
 took refuge there. They had been pillaged and 
 •stripped naked by the Sioux, a wandering nation 
 living only Ity hunthig and plundering. Among 
 these seven persons there was a Canadian gen- 
 tleman of Le Sueur's acquamtance, whom he rec- 
 ognized at once, and gave him some clothes, as 
 he did also to all the rest, and whatever else was 
 necessary for them. They remained with us 
 during the entire winter at our fort, where we 
 had not food enough for all, except buffalo meat 
 
 which we had not even salt to eat with. AVe had 
 a good deal of trouble the fii'st two weeks in ac- 
 customing ourselves to it, having fever and di- 
 arrluea and becoming so tired of it as to hate the 
 smell. Put by degrees our bodies became adapt- 
 ed to it so well that at the end of six weeks tliere 
 was not one of us who could not eat six pounds 
 of meat a day, and drink four bowls of broth. 
 As soon as we were accustomeil to this kind of 
 living it made us very fat, and then there was no 
 more sickness. 
 
 " AMien spring arrived we went to work in the 
 copper mine. Tins was the beginning of Ajiril of 
 this year [1701.] "We took with us tweh-e labor- 
 ers and four hunters. This mine was situated 
 aljout three-quarters of a league from our post. 
 "We took from the mine in twenty days more than 
 twenty thousand pounds weight of ore, of which 
 we only selected four thousand pounds of the 
 ilnest, wliicli M. Le Sueur, who \\as a very good 
 judgaof it, had carried to the fort, and whicli has 
 since been sent to France, though I have not 
 learned the result. 
 
 '• This mine is situated at the beginning of a 
 very long mountain, which is uijon the bank of 
 the river, so that Itoats can go right to the mouth 
 of the mine itself. At this place is the green 
 earth, which is a foot and a half ui thickness, 
 and above it is a layer of earth as Arm and 
 hard as stone, and black and burnt like coal by 
 tlie exhalation from the mine. Tlie copjjcr is 
 scratched out with a knife. There are no trees 
 upon this moinitain. * * * ^Vf ter twenty-two 
 days' work, we returned to our fort. When the 
 Sioux, who belong to tlie nation of savages who 
 pillaged the Canadians, came they brought us 
 merchandize of furs. 
 
 " They had more than four hundred beaver 
 robes, each robe made of nine skins sewed to- 
 gether. M. Le Sueur purchased tliese and many 
 other skins which he bargained for, in the week 
 he traded with the savages. * * * * 
 We sell in return wares wliich come very dear to 
 tlie buyers, especially tobacco from Brazil, in the 
 jiropeniion of a hundred crowns tlie pound; two 
 little horn-handled knives, and four leaden liul- 
 lets are equal to ten crowns in exchange for 
 skins ; and so with the rest. 
 
 " In tlie beginning of May, we launched our 
 shallop ui the water, and loaded it with green 
 
48 
 
 EXPLOREBS AND nONEEBS OF MIXNESOTA. 
 
 earth that had been taken ont of the river, and 
 with tlie furs we luid traded for, of wliicli we liad 
 three canoes full. M. Le Sueur before gomg 
 held council with M. D'Eva(iue [or Eraque] the 
 Canadian gentleman, and the three great chiefs 
 of the Sioux, three brothers, and told them that 
 as he had to return to the sea, he desired them 
 to live in peace with M. D'Evaque, whom he left 
 in command at Fort L'lIuilUer, with twelve 
 Frenchmen. M. Le Sueur made a considerable 
 present to the three brothers, chiefs of the sava- 
 ges, desiring them to never abandon the Frencli. 
 Afterward we the twelve men whom he had chosen 
 to go down to the sea with him embarked. In set- 
 ting out, M. Le Sueur promised to M. D'Evaque 
 and tlie twelve Frenclimen who remained with 
 him fo guard the fort, to send up munitions of 
 war from the Illinois country as soon as he sliould 
 arrive there ; which he did, for on getting there 
 he sent off to him a canoe loaded with two thou- 
 sand pomids of lead and powder, \\itli three of 
 our pe()i)Ie in charge." 
 
 Le Sueur arrived at the French fort on the 
 Gulf of Mexico in safety, and in a few weeks, in 
 the spring of 1701, sailed for France, with his 
 kinsman, D'lberville, the tirst govei'uor of Lou- 
 isiana. 
 
 In the spring of the next year (1702) D'Evaque 
 came to Mobile and reported to D'Iberville, who 
 had come back from France, that lie had Ijeen 
 attacked by the Foxes and ^Nlaskoiitens, who killed 
 three Frenchmen who were workhig near Fort 
 L'lluillier, and that, being out of jiowder and 
 lead, he had been oV)liged to conceal the goods 
 wliicli were left and abandon tlie post. At the 
 Wisconsin Kiver he had met .Juchereau, formerly 
 criminal judge in Montreal, with thirty-flvo 
 men, on Ids way to establish a tannery for bulfalo 
 skins at the Wabash, and that at the Illinois he 
 met the canoe of supplies sent by Bienville, 
 DT)erville"s lirother. 
 
 La JNIotte Cadillac, in command at Detroit, in 
 a letter w^ritten on August 31st, 17o;i, alludes to 
 Le Sueur's expedition in these words: '■ Last 
 year they sent Mr. IJoudor, a Montreal merchant, 
 into till- country of the Sioux to join Le Su- 
 eur. He succeeded so well in that journey he 
 trans]iorted thither twenty-five or thirty thous- 
 and pounds of merchandize with which to trade 
 in all the country of the Outawas. This proved 
 
 to liim an imfortunate investment, as he has 
 been robbed of a part of the goods by the Outa- 
 gamies. The occasion of the robbery by one of 
 our own allies was as follows. I speak with a 
 full linowledgo of the facts as they occurred while 
 I was at Michillimackianc. From time immemo- 
 rial our allies have been at war with the Sioux, 
 and on my arrival there in conformity to the or- 
 der of ^1. Frontenac, the most able man who has 
 ever come into Canada, I attempted to negotiate 
 a truce between the Sioux and all our allies. 
 Succeeding in this negotiatiou I took the occa- 
 .sion to turn their arms against the Iroquois with 
 whom we were then at war, and soon after I ef- 
 fected a treaty of peace between the Sioux and 
 the French and theirallies which lasted two years. 
 
 "At the end of tha time the Sioux came, in 
 great numbers, to the villages of the Miamis, un- 
 der pretense of ratifying the treaty. They were 
 well re(;eived by tlie Miamis, and, after spending 
 several days in tlieir villages, departed, apparent- 
 ly perfectly satistied with their good reception, as 
 they certainly had every reason to be. 
 
 " The Miamis, believing them already far dis- 
 tant, slept quietly; but the Sioux, who had pre- 
 meditated the attack, returned the same night to 
 the i)riiicipal village of the Miamis, where most 
 of the tribe were congregated, and, taldng them 
 by surprise, slaughtered nearly three tliousaud('r') 
 and put the rest to (light.. 
 
 "This perfectly infuriated all tne nations. 
 They came with their complauits, begging me to 
 join with them and exterminate the Sioux. But 
 the war we then had on our hands did not permit 
 it, so it became necessary to play the orator in a 
 long harangue. In conclusion I advised them to 
 ' weep their dead, and wrap them up, and leave 
 them to sleep coldly till the day of vengeance 
 should come;' telling them we must sweep the 
 land on this side of the InKjuois, as it was neces- 
 sary to exlingiush even their memory, after which 
 the allied tribes could more easily avenge the 
 atrocious deed that the Sioux had just committed 
 upon them. In short, I managed them so well 
 that the aflfah' was settled in the manner that I 
 proposed. 
 
 •• But the twenty-live permits still existed, and 
 the cupidity of the French induced them to go 
 among the Sioux to trade for beaver. Our allies 
 cumplained bitterly of this, saying it was injust- 
 
TRADE FORBIDDEN WITH THE SIOUX. 
 
 49 
 
 ice to them, as they had taken up arms in our' 
 quarrel against the Iroquois, wliile tlu! French 
 traders were carrying munitions of war to tlie 
 Sioux to enahle them to kill the rest of our allies 
 as they had the Miamis. 
 
 '■ I immediately informed M. Frontenac, and M. 
 Champigny having read the communication, and 
 commanded that an ordinance be pnblished at iMon- 
 treal forl)id(ling the traders to go into the (.'ountry 
 of tlie Sionx for the purpose of trallic under penalty 
 of a thousand francs fine, the confiscation of the 
 goods, and other arbitrary penalties. The ordi- 
 nance was sent to me and faithfully executed. 
 The same year [1699] I descended to (Quebec, 
 having asked to be reUeved. Since that time, in 
 spite of tins prohibition, the French have con- 
 tmued to trade with the Sioux, but not without 
 being subject to affronts and indignities from our 
 allies themselves which bring dishonor on the 
 French name. * * * I do not consider it best 
 any longer to allow the traders to carry on com- 
 merce with the Sioux, mider any pretext what- 
 
 ever, especially as M. Boudor has just been 
 robbed by the Fox nation, and M. Jncheraux has 
 given a thou.sand crowns, in goods, for tlu^ right 
 of passage through the country of tlie allies Id 
 his habitation. 
 
 '• Tlie allies say that Le Sueur has gone to tlie 
 Sioux on the Mississippi; that they are resolved 
 to oppose him, and if he offers any resistance they 
 will not be answerable for the consequences. 
 It would be well, therefore, to give Le Sueur 
 warning by the Governor of Mississippi. 
 
 "The Sauteurs [(!hippeways] being friendly 
 with the Sioux wished to give passage through 
 their country to M. Boudor and others, permit- 
 ting tlieni to carry arras and other munitions of 
 war to this nation; but the other nations liemg 
 opposed to it, differences have arisen between 
 them which have resulted in the robbery of M. 
 Boudor. This has given occasion to the Sau- 
 teurs to make an outbreak upon the Sacs and 
 Foxes, killing thirty or forty of them. So thero 
 is war among the people." 
 
50 
 
 EXPLOBEBS AXD I'lOKEEBS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 EVENTS WHICU LED TO BUILDING FORT BEAtTHARNOIS ON LAKE PEPIN. 
 
 Be-EsUblishment of Mackinaw.— Sieur de Louvigny at Mackinaw.— De Lignerj- 
 at Mackinaw.^-Louvigny Attacks the Foxes.— Du Luth's Post Reoccupicd. — 
 Saint Pierre at La Pointe on Lake Superior,— Preparations for a Jesuit Mission 
 among the Sioux. — La Perriere Boucher's Expedition to Lake Pepin. — De 
 Conor and Guiguas, Jesuit Missionaries.— Visit to Foxes and Winnebagoes.— 
 Wisconsin River Described.— Fort Beauharnois Built.— Fireworks Displayed.— 
 High Water at Lake Pepin.— De Conor Visits Mackinaw.— Boucherville, Mont- 
 brun and Guiguas Captured by Indians.— Montbrun's Escape.— Boucher%-ilIe's 
 Presents to Indians. — Exaggerated Account of Father Cuignas' Capture. — Ijis- 
 patches Concerning Fort Beauharnois.— Sieur de la Jenieraye. — Saint Pierre at 
 Fort Beauharnois. — Trouble between Sioux and Foxes — Sioux Visit Quebec. — 
 De Lusignan Visits the Sioux Country.— Saint Pierre Noticed in the Travels 
 of Jonathan Carver and Lieutenant Pike. 
 
 After the Fox Imliaus drove away Le Sueur's 
 men, in 1702, from the ISIakahto, or Bhie Earth 
 river, the merchants of :SIoiitreal ;hrI Quebec did 
 not encourage trade with tlie tribes beyond JSIaek- 
 inaw. 
 
 D'Aigreult, a French oflicer, sent to inspect 
 that post, in tlie summer of 170S, reported that 
 he arrived there, on the 19th of August, and 
 found there but fourteen or fifteen Frenchmen. 
 He also wrote: " Since there are now only a few 
 wanderers at ]\Iichilimackinack, the greater part 
 of the furs of the savages of the north goes to the 
 English trading posts on Hudson's Bay. The 
 Outawas are unable to make this trade by them- 
 selves, because the northern savages are timid, 
 and will not come near them, as they have often 
 been plundered. It is, therefore, necessary that 
 the French Vie allowed to seek these northern 
 tribes at the mouth of their own river, which 
 empties into Lake Superior." 
 
 Louis de la Porte, the Sieur De Louvigny, in 
 1690, accompanied by Nicholas Perrot, with a de- 
 tachment of one hundred and seventy Canadians 
 and Indians, came to Mackinaw, and imtil 1(J9I 
 was in command, when he was recalled. 
 
 In 1712, Father Joseph J. Marest the Jesuit 
 missionary wrote, " If this country ever needs 
 M. Louvigny it is now ; the savages say it is ab- 
 solutely necessary that he should come for the 
 safety of the country, to unite the tribes and to 
 defend those whom tlie war has caused to return 
 to Michilinuiciiiac. ****** 
 
 I do not know what course the Pottawatomies 
 will take, nor even what course they will pursue 
 who are here, if M. Louvigny does not come, es- 
 pecially if the Foxes were to attiick them or us." 
 
 The next July, M. Lignery urged upon the au- 
 thorities the establishment of a garrison of trained 
 soldiers at Mackinaw, and the Intendant of Can- 
 ada wrote to the King of France : 
 
 " Michilimackinac might be re-established, 
 without expense to his Majestj', either by sur- 
 rendering the trade of the post to such individu- 
 als as will obligate themselves to pay all the ex- 
 penses of twenty-two soldiers and two officers; to 
 furnish munitions of war for the defense of the 
 fort, and to make presents to the savages. 
 
 " Or the expenses of the post might be paid by 
 the sale of permits, if the King should not think 
 proper to grant an exclusive commerce. It is ab- 
 solutely necessary to know the wishes of tlie Kmg 
 concerning these two propositions ; and as M. 
 Lignery is at Michilimackinac, it will not be any 
 greater injury to the colony to defer the re-estab- 
 ment of this post, than it has been for eight or 
 ten years past." 
 
 The war with England ensued, and In April, 
 1713, the treaty of Utrecht was ratified. France 
 had now more leisure to attend to the Indian 
 tribes of the AVest. 
 
 Early in 1714, ^Mackinaw was re-occupied, and 
 on the fourteenth of March, 1716, an expedition 
 under Lieuteuiint Louvigny, left Quebec. His 
 arrival at Mackinaw, where he had been long ex- 
 pected, gave confidence to the voyageurs, and 
 friendly Indians, and with a force of eight hun- 
 dred men, he proceeded agamst the Foxes in 
 AVisconsin. He brought with htm two pieces of 
 cannon and a grenade mortar, and besieged the 
 fort of the Foxes, which he stated contained five 
 hundred warriors, and three thousand men, a 
 declaration which can scarcely be credited. After 
 
BESIBE FOB A NOBIHERN ROUTE 10 THE FACIFIC. 
 
 01 
 
 three days of skirmishing, he prepared to mine 
 the fort, when the Foxes capitulated. 
 
 The paddles of the birch bark canoes and the 
 gay songs of the voyagenrs now began to bo heard 
 once more on the waters of Lake Superior and its 
 tributaries. In 1717, the post erected by Du 
 i.ulli. on I,al<t' Sujierior near the northern boun- 
 dary of ^Minnesota, was re-occupied by Lt. Ko- 
 bertcl de la Xone. 
 
 In view of tlic troubles among the tribes of the 
 nortliwest, in the month of September, 171S, Cap- 
 tain St. Pierre, who had great influence with the 
 Indians of Wisconsin and iSIinnesota, was sent 
 with Ensign Linctot and some soldiers to re-oc- 
 cupy La Pointe on Lake Superior, now Haylield, 
 in the northwestern part of Wisconsin. The 
 chiefs of the baud there, and at Keweenaw, 
 had threatened war against the Foxes, who had 
 killed some of their number. 
 
 Wlien the .Jesuit Charlevoix returned to France 
 after an examination of the resources of Canada 
 and Louisiana, he urged that an attempt should 
 be made to reach the Pacilio Ocean by an inland 
 route, and suggested that an expedition should 
 proceed from the mouth of the ilissouri and fol- 
 low that stream, or that a post should be estab- 
 lished among the Sioux which shoidd be the point 
 of departure. The latter was accepted, and in 
 1722 an allowance w^as made by the French Gov- 
 ernment, of twelve hundred livres, for two .Jes- 
 uit missionaries to accompany those who should 
 establish the new post. D'Avagour, Superin- 
 tendent of ilissions, in May, 1723, requested the 
 authorities to grant a separate canoe for the con- 
 veyance of the goods of the proposed mission, 
 and as it was necessary to send a commandant 
 to persuade the Indians to receive the mission- 
 aries, he recommended Sieur Pachot, an officer of 
 experience. 
 
 A dispatch from Canada to the French govern- 
 ment, dated October 14, 1723, announced that 
 Father de la Chasse, Superior of the Jesiuts, ex- 
 pected that, the next spring. Father Guymoneau, 
 and another missionary from Paris, woidd go to 
 tlie Sioux, l)ut that they had Ijeen hindered by the 
 Sioux a few months before killing seven French- 
 men, on their way to Louisiana. The aged 
 Jesuit, Joseph J. Marest, who had been on Lake 
 Pepin in 1689 with Perrot, and was now m ilon- 
 treal, said that it was the wandering Sioux who 
 
 had killed the French, but he thought the sta- 
 tionary Sioux would receive Christian instruction. 
 
 The hostility of the Foxes had also jircvcidcd 
 the establishment of a fort and mission among the 
 Sioux. 
 
 On the seventh of June. 172(;, peace was con- 
 cluded l)y De Ligncry w itli the Sauks, Foxes, and 
 Winnebagoes at Green Bay; and Linctot, who 
 liad succeeded Saint Pierre in coiuniaiid at La 
 Pointe. was ordered, by ])reseuts and the promise 
 of a missionary, to endeavor to detach the Dah- 
 kotahs from their alliance with the Foxes. At 
 this time Linctot made arrangements for peace 
 between the Ojibways and Dahkotas, and sent 
 two Frenchmen to dwell in the villages of the 
 latter, with a promise tliat. if they ceased to fight 
 the Ojibways, they should have regular trade, 
 and a "black robe" reside in their country. 
 
 Traders and missionaries now began to prepare 
 for visiting the Sioux, and in the sjiring of 1727 
 the (iovernor of Cana<la wrote that the fathers, 
 appointed forthe Sioux mission, desired a case of 
 mathematical instruments, a universal astro- 
 nomic dial, a spirit level, chain and stakes, and a 
 telescope of .six or seven feet tube. 
 
 On the sixteenth of June, 1727, the expedition 
 for the Sioux country left jMontreal in charge of 
 the Sieur de la Perriere who \\'as son of the dis- 
 tinguished and respected Canadian, Pierre Bou- 
 cher, the Governor of Three Rivers. 
 
 La I'erriere had served in Xe\\-fomKlland and 
 been associated \\ith Ilertel de Kouville in raids 
 into Xew England, and gained an unenviable no- 
 toriety as the leader of the savages, while Kou- 
 ville led the French in attacks upon towns like 
 Haverhill. Massachusetts, where the Indians ex- 
 ultingly killed the Puritan pastor, scalped liis 
 loving wife, and dashed out his infant's brains 
 against a rock. He was accompanied by his 
 brother and other relatives. Two Jesuit fathers, 
 De (ionor and Pierre Michel Guignas, were also 
 of the party. 
 
 In Shea's " Early French Voyages" there was 
 printed, for the first time, a letter from Father 
 Guignas, from the Brevoort manuscripts, written 
 on May 29, 1728, at Fort Beauharnois, on Lake 
 Pepin, which contains facts of much interest. 
 
 He writes: " The Scioux convoy left the end 
 of :Montreal' Island on the 16th of the month of 
 June last year, at 11 a. ii., and reached Michili- 
 
52 
 
 EXPLOREBS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 mackinac the 22d of the month of July. This 
 post is two luuulred and fifty-one leagues from 
 Montreal, almost due west, at 45 degrees 46 min- 
 utes north latitude. 
 
 " ^Ye spent the rest of the mouth at this post, 
 in the hope of receiving from day to day some 
 new.s from Montreal, and in the design of 
 strengthening ourselves against the alleged ex- 
 treme difficulties of getting a free passage through 
 the Foxes. . At last, seeing nothing, we set out 
 on our march, the first of the month of August, 
 and. after seventy-three leagues quite pleasant 
 sail along the northerly side of Lake Michigan, 
 running to the sotitheast, we reached the Bay 
 [Green] on the Sth of the same month, at 5:30 r. 
 M. This post is at 44 degrees 43 minutes north 
 latitude. 
 
 " We stopped there two days, and on the llth 
 in the morning, we embarked, in a very great 
 impatience to reach the Foxes. On the third day 
 after our departure from the bay, quite late in 
 the afternoon, in fact somewhat in the night, the 
 chiefs of the Puans [AVinuebagoes] came out tln'ee 
 leagues from their village to meet the French, 
 with their peace calumets and some bear meat as 
 a refreshment, and the next day we were received 
 by that small nation, amid several discharges of 
 a few guns, and with great demonstrations. 
 
 " They asked us with so good a grace to do 
 them the honor to stay some time with them that 
 we granted them the rest of the day from noon, 
 and the following day. There may be in all the 
 village, sixty to eighty men, l)ut all the men and 
 women of very tall stature, and well made. They 
 are on the bank of a very pretty little lake, in a 
 most agreeable spot for its situation and the 
 goodness of the soil, nineteen leagues from the 
 bay and eight leagues from the Foxes. 
 
 " Early the next morning, the 15th of the month 
 of August, the convoy preferred to continue its 
 route, with quite pleasant weather, but a storm 
 coming on in the afternoon, we arrived quite wet. 
 still in the rain,atthecabinsof the Foxes, a nation 
 so much dreaded, and really so little to be dreaded. 
 From all that we could see, it is composed of 
 two hundred men at most, but there is a perfect 
 hive of children, especially boys from ten to 
 fourteen years old, well formed. 
 
 '• They are cabined on a little eminence on the 
 bank of a small river that bears their name, ex- 
 
 tremely tortuous or winding, so that you are con- 
 stantly boxuig the compass. Yet it is apparently 
 quite wide, with a chain of hills on both sides, 
 but there is only one miserable little channel 
 amid this extent of apparent bed, which is a kind 
 of marsh full of rushes arid wild rice of almost 
 impenetrable thicluiess. They have nothing but 
 mere bark cabins, without any kind of palisade or 
 other fortification. As soon as the French ca- 
 noes touched their shore they ran doftii with- 
 their peace calumets, lighted in spite of the rain, 
 and all smoked. 
 
 "We stayed among them the rest of this day, 
 and all the next, to know what were their designs 
 and ideas as to the French post among the Sioux. 
 The Sieur Keaume, interpreter of Indian lan- 
 guages at the Bay, acted efficiently there, and 
 with devotion to the King's service. Even if my 
 testimony. Sir, should be deemed not impartial, I 
 must have the honor to tell you that Rev. Father 
 Cliardon, an old missionary, was of very great as- 
 sistance there, and the presence of three mission- 
 aries reassured these cut-throats and assassins of 
 the French more than all the speeches of the best 
 orators could have done. 
 
 " A general council was convened in one of the 
 cabins, they were addressed in decided friendly 
 terms, and they replied in the same way. A 
 small present was made to them. On their side 
 they gave some quite handsome dishes, lined with 
 dry meat. 
 
 On the followmg Smiday, 17th of the month 
 of August, very early in the morning. Father 
 Cliardon set out, with Sieur Reaume, to return 
 to the Bay, and the Sioux expedition, greatly re- 
 joiced to have so easily got over this difficulty, 
 which had everywhere been represented as so in- 
 surmountable, got under way to endeavor to 
 reach its journey's end. 
 
 " ^"ever was navigation more tedious than 
 what we subsequently made from uncertainty as 
 to our course. No one knew it, and we got 
 astray every moment on water and on land for 
 want of a guide and pilots. AV^e kept on, as it 
 were feeling our way for eight days, for it was 
 only on the ninth, abcnit three o'clock p. m., that 
 we arrived, by accident, believing ourselves still 
 far off, at the portage of the Ouisconsm, which is 
 forty-five leagues from the Foxes, counting all 
 the twists and turns of this abominable river. 
 
SITUATIOX AXn DESCEIPTIOX OF FOUT BEAVnARXOm. 
 
 53 
 
 This portage is lialf a league in leiigtli, and lialf 
 of tliat is a kind of marsli full of mud, 
 
 '• The Ouisconsin is quite a liandsome river, 
 but far below what we liad been told. aii|)arently, 
 as those who gave the description of it in Canada 
 saw it only in the high waters of spring. It is a 
 shallow river on a bed of iiuieksand, which forms 
 bars almost everywhere, and these often ehange 
 place. Its shores are either steep, bare mountains 
 or low points with sandy base. Its course is from 
 northeast to southwest. From the portage to its 
 mouth in the Jlississijipi, I estimated thirty-eight 
 leagues. The portage is at 43 deg. -\ min. north 
 latitude. 
 
 " The Mississippi from the mouth of tlie Ouis- 
 consin ascending, goes northwest. Tliis beauti- 
 fvd river extends between two chains of high, 
 bare and vei'y sterile mountains, constantly a 
 league, three-quarters of a league, or where it is 
 narrowest, half a league i.part. Its centre is oc- 
 cupied by a chain of well wooded islands, so that 
 regarding fi-om the lieights above, you would 
 think you saw an endless valley watered on the 
 right and left by two large rivers ; sometimes, too, 
 you could discern no river. These islands are 
 overflowed every year, and would be adapted to 
 raising rice. Fifty-eight leagues from the mouth 
 of the Ouisconsin, according to my calculation, 
 ascending the Mississippi, is Lake Pei>in. which 
 is nothing else but the river itself, destitute of 
 islands at that point, where it may be half a 
 league wide. This river, in what I traversed of 
 it, is shallow, and has shoals in several places, be- 
 cause its bed is moving sands, like that of the 
 Ouisconsui. 
 
 "On the 17tli of September, 1727, at noon, we 
 reached this lake, which had been chosen as the 
 bourne of our voyage. We planted ourselves on 
 the shore about the middle of the north side, on 
 a low point, where tlie soil is excellent. The 
 wood is very dense there, but is already thinned 
 in consequence of the rigor and length of the 
 whiter, which has been severe for the climate, 
 for we are here on the parallel of 43 deg. 41 min. 
 It is true that the difference of the winter is 
 great compared to that of Quebec and Montreal, 
 for all that some poor judges say. 
 
 " From the day after oui- lauding we put .our 
 axes to the wood: on the fourth day folli3wing 
 the fort v,i3 entirely linished. It is a square plat 
 
 of one hundred feet, surrounded by pickets twelve 
 feet long, with two good bastions. For so small 
 a space there are large buildings quite distinct and 
 not huddled together, each thirty, thirty-eight 
 and twenty-live feet long by sixteen feet wide. 
 
 " All would go well there if the spot were not 
 inundated, but this year [1728], on the loth of 
 the month of April, we \vere obliged to camp out^ 
 and the water ascended to the height of two feet 
 and eight indies in the houses, and it is idle to 
 say that it was the quantity of snow that fell 
 this year. Tlie snow in the vicinity had melted 
 long before, ami there was only a foot and a half 
 from the Sth of February to the loth of JSIarch; 
 you could not use snow-shoes. 
 
 " I have great reason to think tliat this spot is 
 inundated more or less every year; I have always 
 thought so. but they were not obliged to believe 
 me, as old people who said that they had lived iu 
 this region fifteen or twenty years declared that 
 it was never overflowed. "We could not enter 
 our much-devastated houses until the 30th of 
 April, and the disorder is even now scarcely re- 
 paired. 
 
 " Before the end of October [1 727] all the houses 
 were finished and furnished, and each one found 
 himself traiKpiilly lodged at home. They then 
 thought only of gohig out to explore the hills and 
 rivers and to see tliose herds of all kinds of deer 
 of which they tell such stories in Canada. They 
 must have retired, or diminished greatly, since 
 the time the old voyiiyeura left the comitry; they 
 are no longer in such great numbers, and are 
 killed with dilUculty. 
 
 "After beating the field, for some time, all re- 
 assembled at the fort, and thought of enjoybig a 
 little the fruit of their labors. ( )n the 4th of No- 
 vember we did not forget it was the General's 
 birthday. Mass was said for him [Beauharnois, 
 Governor-General of Canada] iu the morning, 
 and tliey were well disposed to celebrate the day 
 in the evening, but the tardiness of tlie pyro- 
 technists and the inconstancy of the weather 
 caused them to postpone the celebration to the 
 14th of the same month, when they set otf some 
 very flue rockets and made the air ring with an 
 hundred shouts of Vive le Boy! and Vive Charles 
 de Beauharnois! It was on this occasion that the 
 wine of the Sioux was broached; it was par ex- 
 
54 
 
 EXPLOBEBS AND PIONEEBS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 cellevce, although there are no miies here finer 
 than in Canada. 
 
 •' What contributed much to the amusement, 
 was the terror of some cabins of Indians, wlio 
 were at the time around the fort. When tliese 
 poor people saw the fireworks in the air, and the 
 stars fall from heaven, the women and children 
 began to take flight, and the most courageous of 
 the men to cry mercy, and implore us very earn- 
 estly to stop the surprising play of that wonder- 
 ful medicine. 
 
 " As soon as we arrived among them, they as- 
 sembled, in a few dayL<, around the French fort to 
 the number of ninety-flve cabins, which might 
 make in all one hundred and fifty men; for there 
 are at most two men in their portable cabins of 
 dressed skins, and in many there is only one. 
 This is all we have seen except a band of about 
 sixty men, who came on tlie 26th of the month of 
 Feliruary. who were of those nations called Sioux 
 of the Prairies. 
 
 " At the end of November, the Indians set out 
 for their winter q\iarters. They do not, indeed, 
 go far, and we saw some of them all through the 
 winter; but from the second of the month of 
 April last, when some cabins repassed here to go 
 in search of them, [he] sought them in vain, du- 
 ring a week, for more than sixty leagues of the 
 Mississippi. He [La Perriere V] arrived yesterday 
 without any tidings of them. 
 
 " Although I said above, that the Sioux were 
 alarmed at the rockets, which they took for new 
 phenomena, it must not be supposed from that 
 they were less intelligent than other Indians we 
 know. They seem to me more so ; at least they 
 are much gayer and open, apparently, and far 
 more dextrous thieves, great dancers, and great 
 medicine men. The men are almost all large and 
 well made, but the women are very ugly and dis- 
 gustuig, whicli does not, however, check debauch- 
 ery among them, and is perhaps an eifect of it." 
 
 In the summer of 1728 the Jesuit I)e Gonor 
 left the fort on Lake Pepin, and, by way of Mack- 
 inaw, returned to Canada. The Foxes had now 
 become very troublesome, and l)e Lignery and 
 Beaujeu marched against their stronghold, to find 
 they had retreated to the Mississippi Kiver. 
 
 On the 12tli of October i^niclierville. his bro- 
 ther ;Montbrun, a younj^ jadet of enterprising 
 spirit, the Jesuit Guiguas, and other Frenchmen, 
 
 eleven in all, left Fort Pepin to go to Canada, by 
 way of the Illinois River. They were captured 
 by the Mascoutens and Kickapoos, and detained 
 at the river " Au Boeuf ,'" which stream was prob- 
 ably the one mentioned by Le Sueur as twenty- 
 two leagues above the Illinois River, althougli the 
 same name was given liy Hennepin to the Chip- 
 pewa River, just below Lake Pepin. They were 
 held as prisoners, with the view of delivering 
 them to the Foxes. The night before the deliv- 
 ery tlie Sieur Montbrun and his brother and an- 
 other Frenchman escaped. ^lontbnm, leaving 
 his sick brother in tlie Illinois country, journeyed 
 to Canada and informed the authorities. 
 
 Boucherville and Guignas remained prisoners 
 for several months, and the former did not reach 
 Detroit until .Tune, 1729, The account of expen- 
 ditures made during his captivity is interesting as 
 showing the value of merchandize at that time. 
 It reads as follows: 
 
 " Memorandum of the goods that Monsieur de 
 Boucherville was obliged to furnisli in the ser- 
 vice of the King, from the time of his detention 
 among the Kickapoos, on the 12th of October, 
 1728. until his return to Detroit, in the year 1729, 
 in the month of June. On arriving at the Kick- 
 apoo village, he made a present to the young men 
 to secure their opposition to some evil minded 
 old warriors — 
 Two barrels of powder, each fifty pounds 
 
 at Montreal price, valued at the sum of l.jO liv. 
 One hundred pounds of lead and Ijalls 
 
 making the sum of 50 liv. 
 
 Four pounds of vennillion. at 12 francs 
 
 the pound -IS fr. 
 
 Four coats, braided, at twenty francs... 80 fr. 
 Six dozen knives at four francs the dozen 21 fr. 
 Four hundred flints, one hundred gun- 
 worms, two hundred rann-nds and one 
 hundred and fifty files, the total iit the 
 
 maker's prices 90 liv. 
 
 After the Kickapoos refused to deliver them to 
 the Renards [Foxes] they wished some favors, and 
 I was obliged to give them the following which 
 would allow them to weep over and cover their 
 dead: 
 i Two braided coats ((ji 20 fr. each... >. . 40fr. 
 
 Two woolen blankets @ 15 fr 30 
 
 One hundred pounds of powder @ 30 sons 75 
 One hundred pounds of lead @ 10 sous. . 25 
 
hOUVHERVILL£rS PBEtiENTS WHILE IN CAI'TIVITY. 
 
 65 
 
 Two pounds of Vermillion @ 12 fr 24fr. 
 
 Moreover, jjiven to the Keimrds to cover 
 their dead and i)reiiare them for peace, 
 
 fifty pounds of powder, making 7o 
 
 One hundred pounds of lead (A 10 sous. 50 
 
 Two pounds of Vermillion (a) 12 fr 24 
 
 During the winter a considerable party was 
 sent to strike hands with the Illinois. (Jiven at 
 that time : 
 
 Two blue blankets @ 15 fr .SO 
 
 Four men's shirts @ 6 f r 24 
 
 Four pairs of long-necked bottles @ 6 f r 24 
 
 Four dozen of knives (« 4 f r 16 
 
 Gun-worms, files, ramrods, and Hints, es- 
 timated 40 
 
 Given to engage the Kickapoos to establish 
 themselves upon a neighboring isle, to protect 
 from the treachery of the Eenards — 
 
 Fonr blankets, @ lof fiOf 
 
 Two pairs of bottles, 6f 24 
 
 Two poTuids of Vermillion, 12f 24 
 
 Four dozen butcher knives, Of 24 
 
 Two woolen blankets, @ 15f 30 
 
 Four pairs of bottles, @ 6f 24 
 
 Four shirts, @ 6f 24 
 
 Four dozen of knives, (o 4f 16 
 
 The Eenards having betrayed and killed their 
 brothers, the Kickapoos, I seized the favorable 
 opportimity, and to encourage the latter to avenge 
 themselves, I gave — 
 Twenty-five poundsof powder, («: 80sous oTf.lOs. 
 
 Twenty-five pounds of lead, (aj 10s I2f.lOs. 
 
 Two guns at 30 livres each 60f 
 
 One half poiuid of vermillion 6f 
 
 Flints, guns, worms and knives 20f 
 
 The Illinois coming to the Kikapoos vil- 
 lage. I supported them at my ex])ense, 
 and gave them jiowder. bails and shirts 
 
 valued at oOf 
 
 In departing from the Kikapoos village. I 
 gave them the rest of the goods for 
 their good treatment, estimated at ... . SOf 
 In a letter, written by a priest, at Xew Orleans, 
 on July 12. 1730. is tlie following exaggerated ac- 
 count of the capture of Father Guignas: " We 
 always felt a distrust of the Fox Indians, although 
 they did not longer dare to midertake anything, 
 since Father Guignas has detached from their al- 
 liance the tribes of the Kika|>ous and IMaskoutins. 
 You know, my Reverend Father, that, being in 
 
 Canada, he had the courage to penetrate even to 
 the Sioux near the sources of the IMississippi, at 
 the distance of eight hundred leagues from Xew 
 t)rleans and livi^ hundred from Quebec. Obliged 
 to abandon this important mission by the unfor- 
 tunate result of the enterprise against the Foxes, 
 he descended the river to repair to the Illiiuiis. 
 On the loth of October in the year 172.S he was 
 arrested when half way by the Kickapous and 
 .Maskoutins. For four months he was a captive 
 among the Indians, where he had much to suffer 
 and everything to fear. The time at last came 
 when he was to be burned alive, when he was 
 adopted Ijy an old man whose family saved his 
 life and procured his liljerty. 
 
 " Our missionaries who are among the Illinois 
 were no sooner acquainted with the situation 
 than tliey procured him all the alleviation they 
 were able. Everything which he received he em- 
 ployed to conciliate the Indians, and succeeded 
 to the extent of engaging them to conduct him to 
 the Illinois to make peace with the French and 
 Indians of this region. Seven or eight months 
 after this peace was concluded, the Maskoutins 
 and Kikapous returned again to the Illinois coun- 
 try, and took back Father Guignas to spend the 
 winter, from wlience, in all probability, he will 
 return to Canada." 
 
 In dispatches sent to France, in October, 1729, 
 by the Canadian government, the following refer- 
 ence is made to Fort Beauharnois : " They agree 
 that the fort built among the Scioux, on the bor- 
 der of Lake Pepin, appears to be badly situated 
 on account of the freshets, but the Indians assure 
 that the waters rose higher in 1728 than it ever 
 (lid before. When Sieur de Laperriere located it 
 at that place it was on the assurance of the In- 
 dians that the waters did not rise so high." In 
 reference to the absence of Indians, is the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 '■ It is very true that these Indians did leave 
 shortly after on a hunting excursion, as they are 
 in the habit of doing, for their own support and 
 that of their families, who have only that means 
 of liveUhood, as they do not cultivate the soil at 
 all. M. de iieaidiarnois has just lieen informed 
 that their al)sence was occasioned only by having 
 fallen in wliile hunting with a number of prairie 
 Si-ioux, by whom they were invited to occompany 
 them on a war expedition against the ^Iahas> 
 
66 
 
 EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 whicli invitation they accepted, and returned 
 only in the month of July following. 
 
 " The interests of religion, of the service, and 
 of the colony, are involved in the maintenance of 
 this establishment, whicli has been the more nec- 
 essary as there is no doubt but the Foxes, when 
 routed, would have found an asylum among the 
 Scioux had not the French been settled there, 
 and the docility and submission manifested by 
 the Foxes can not be attributed to any cause ex- 
 cept the attention entertained by the Scioux for 
 the French, and the offers which the former 
 made the latter, of which the Foxes were fully 
 cognisant. 
 
 " It is necessary to retain the Scioux in these 
 favorable dispositions, in order to keep the Foxes 
 in check and coxmteract the measures they might 
 adopt to gain over the Scioux, who will invaria- 
 bly reject their propositions so long as the French 
 remain in the coimtry, and their trading post 
 shall continue there. But, despite all these ad- 
 vantages and the importance of preserving that 
 establishment, M. de Beanharnois cannot take 
 any steps until he has news of the French who 
 asked his permission this summer to go up there 
 with a canoe load of goods, and until assured that 
 those who wintered there have not dismantled 
 the fort, and that the Scioux continue in the same 
 sentiments. Besides, it does not seem very easy, 
 in the present conjuncture, to maintain that post 
 unless there is a solid peace with the Foxes; on 
 the other hand, tlie greatest portion of the tra- 
 ders, who applied in 1727 for the establishment 
 of that post, have withdrawn, and will not send 
 thither any more, as the rupture with the Foxes, 
 through whose country it is necessary to pass in 
 order to reach the Scioux in canoe, has led them 
 to abandon the idea. But the one and the oilier 
 case might be remedied. The Foxes will, in all 
 probabiUty, come or send next year to sue for 
 peace; therefore, if it be granted to them on ad- 
 vantageous conditions, tliere need be no aiii>re- 
 hension when going to the Sioux, and another 
 company could be formed, less numerous than 
 the first, through whom, or some responsible mer- 
 chants able to afford the outfit, a new treaty 
 could be made, whereby these difBculties would 
 be soon obviated. One only trouble remains, and 
 that is, to send a commanding and sub-officer, 
 and some soldiers, up there, whicli are absolutely 
 
 necessary for the maintenance of good order at 
 that post; the missionaries would not go there 
 without a commandant. This article, which re- 
 gards the service, and the expense of which must 
 be on his majesty's account, obliges them to ap- 
 ply for orders. They will, as far as lies in their 
 power, induce the traders to meet that expense, 
 which will possibly amount to 1000 livres or 
 1500 livres a year for the commandant, and in 
 proportion for the officer under him; but, as in 
 the begimdng of an establishment the expenses 
 exceed the profits, it is improbable tliat any com- 
 pany of merchants will assume the outlay, and 
 in this case they demand orders on this point, as 
 well as his majesty's opinion as to the necessity 
 of preserving so useful a post, and a nation which 
 has already afforded proofs of its fidelity and at- 
 tachment. 
 
 " These orders could be sent them by the way 
 of He Royale, or by the first merchantmen that 
 will sail for Quebec. The time required to re- 
 ceive intelligence of the occurrences in the Scioux 
 country, will admit of their waiting for these 
 oi'ders before doing anything." 
 
 Sieur ds la Jemeraye, a relative of Sieur de la 
 Perriere Boucher, with a few French, during the 
 troubles remained in the Sioux country. After 
 peace was estalilished vrtth the Foxes, Legardeur 
 Saint Pierre was in command at Fort Beanhar- 
 nois, and Father Guignas again attempted to es- 
 tablish a Sioux mission. In a communication 
 dated 12th of October, 1736, by the Canadian au- 
 thorities is the following : "In regard to the 
 Scioux, Saint Pierre, who commanded at that 
 post, and Father Guignas, the missionary, have 
 written to Sieur de Beanharnois on the tenth and 
 eleventh of last April, that these Indians ap- 
 peared well intentioned toward the French, and 
 had no other fear than that of being abandoned 
 by them. Sieur de Beanharnois annexes an ex- 
 tract of these letters, and although the Scioux 
 seemveryfriendly, the result only can tell whether 
 this fidelity is to be absolutely depended upon, 
 for the imrestrained andinconsistent spirit which 
 composes the Indian character may easily change 
 it. They have not come over this summer as yet, 
 but M. de la St. Pierre is to get them to do so 
 next year, and to have an eye on their proceed- 
 ings." 
 
 Tlic reply to this commiuiication from Louis 
 
BE LUSIGNAN VISITS THE SIOUX COVNTKY. 
 
 X^'. dated ^'ersailles, Alay 10th, 1737, was in 
 these words : ■' As respects the Scioiix. accordiiiii' 
 to what the commandant and missicinary at that 
 post have written to Sienr (U' lieaiiliarnois rela- 
 tive to tlie disposition of tliese Indians, nothin,;;' 
 appears to be wanting on that iioint. 
 
 '• But their delay in coming down to Montreal 
 since tlie time they have promised to do so. must 
 render their sentiments somewhat suspected, and 
 nothing but facts can determine whetlK-r their 
 fidelity can be absolutely relied on. iiut what 
 must still further increase the imeasiness to he 
 entertained in tlieir regard is the attack on the 
 convoy of M. de Yerandrie. espei-ially if this ofllccr 
 has adopted the course he had informed the 
 Marquis de Beauharnois he should take to have 
 revenge therefor." 
 
 The particulars of the attack alluded to will lie 
 found in the next chapter. Soon after this the 
 Foxes again became troublesome, and the post on 
 Lake Pepin was for a time abandoned by the 
 French. A dispatch in 1741 uses this language : 
 " The Marquis de Beauharnois' opinion respect- 
 ing the war against the Foxes, has been the more 
 readily approved by the Baron de Longeuil, 
 Messieurs De la Chassaigne, La Corne, de Lig- 
 nery, LaXoue. and l)uplessis-Fabert. whom he 
 had assembled at his house, as it apjiears from 
 all the lettersthat the Count has writ n for sev- 
 eral years, that he has nothing so much at heart as 
 the destruction of that Indian nation, which ca]i 
 not be prevailed on by the presents and the good 
 treatment of the French, to live in peace, not- 
 withstanding all its promises. 
 
 " Besides, it is notorious that the Foxes have a 
 secret understanding with the Iroquois, to secure 
 a retreat among the latter, in case they be obliged 
 to abandon their villages. Tliey have one already 
 seciu'ed among the Sioux of the prairies, with 
 Vv-hom they are allied ; so that, should they be 
 
 advised beforehand of the design of the French 
 to wage war against tliem, it would be easy for 
 thcin to rclii.' to the one or the other before their 
 passage could l)e intersected or themselves at- 
 tacked in their villages." 
 
 In the summer of 17tH, a deputation of the 
 Sioux came down to tiuebec. to ask that trade 
 might be resumed. Three years after this, four 
 Sioux chiefs came to Quebec, and asked that a 
 commandant might be sent to Fort Beauharnois ; 
 which was not granted. 
 
 During the winter of 1745-6, De Lusignan vis- 
 ited the Sioux country, ordered l)y the govern- 
 ment to hunt up the ••(•oiueurs des bois,"" and 
 withdraw them from the country. They started 
 to return with him, but learning that they would 
 be arrested at JMackinaw, for violation of law, 
 they ran aw'ay. While at the villages of the Sioux 
 of the lakes and plains, the chiefs brought to 
 this officer nineteen of their young men, bound 
 with cords, who had killed three Frenchmen, at 
 the Illinois. Wlxile he remained with them, they 
 made peace with the Ojibways of La Pointe, 
 with whom they had been at war for some time. 
 On his return, foiu- chiefs accompanied him to 
 Montreal, to solicit pardon for their >oung Ijraves. 
 
 Tlie lessees of the trading-post lost many of 
 their peltries that vsinter in consequence of a tire. 
 
 Keminiscences of St. Pierre's residence at Lake 
 Pepin were long preserved. Carver, in 1766, "ob- 
 served the ruins of a French factory, where, it 
 is said. Captain St. Pierre resided, and carried on 
 a great trade with the Nadouessies before the re- 
 duction of Canada." 
 
 Pike, in iso.j, wrote in his joui-nal: '■ Just be- 
 low Pt. Le Sable, the French, who had driven the 
 Penards [Foxes] from Wisconsin, and chased 
 them up the Mississippi, built a stockade on this 
 lake, as a barrier against the savages. It became 
 a ntited factory for the Sioux." 
 
58 
 
 EXPLOBEIiS Ay I) PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 CHAPTEK IX. 
 
 VEllENDKYE, THE EXPLORER OE NORTHERN 5IIXNESOTA, AND DISCOVERER OF THE ROCKY 
 
 3IOUNTAINS. 
 
 Conversation of Verendrye with Father De Conor.— Parentage and Early Life — 
 Old Indian Map Preserved. — Vtrendrye's Son and Nephew Explore Pigeon 
 River and Reach Rainy I.ake. — Father Messayer a Companion. — Fort St. Pierre 
 Established.— Lake of the Woods Reached and Fort St. Charles Built.— De la 
 Jeiueraye's Map. — Fort on the Assinaboine River.— Verendrye's Son, Fntlier 
 Oiineau and .Associates Killed hy Sioux, on Massacre Isle, in Liike of the Woods 
 —Fort La Reine.— Verendrye's Eldest Son, with Others, Reaches tile Missouri 
 River. — Discovers the Rocky Mountains. — Returns to Lake of the Woods. — 
 Exploration of Saskatchewan River.— Sieur de la Verendrye Jr. — Verendrye 
 the Father, made CapUin of the Order of St. Louis.— His Death.- The Swedish 
 Traveler, Kalin, Notices Verendrye.— Bougainville Descrilies Verendrye's Ex- 
 plorations. — Legardeur de St. Pierre at Fort La Reine. — Fort .lonquiere Est.'ih- 
 lished. — De la Corne Succeeds St, Pierre. — St. Pii^re Meets Washington at 
 French Creek, in Pennsylvania.— Killed in Battle, near Lake George. 
 
 Early in the year 1728, t'wo travelers met at 
 the secluded post of Mackinaw, one was named 
 De Gonor, a Jesuit Father, who with Guignas, 
 had gone vith the expedition, that the September 
 before had built Fort Beauharnois on the shores 
 of Lake Pepin, the other was Pierre Gualtier Va- 
 rennes, the Sieur de la Yerendrj'e the commander 
 of the post on Lake Nepigoii of the north shore 
 of Lake Superior, and a relative of the Sieur de 
 la Perriere, the commander at Lake Pepin. 
 
 Verendrye was the son of Rene Gualtier Va- 
 rennes who for tAventy-two years was the chief 
 magistrate at Three Piivers, whose wife was Ma- 
 rie Boucher, the daughter of his predecessor 
 whom he had married when she was twelve years 
 of age. lie became a cadet in H)l)7, and in 1704 
 accompanied an expedition to New England. 
 The next year he was in Newfoundland and the 
 year follo'v\dng he went to France, joined a regi- 
 ment of Brittany and was in the conflict at ilal- 
 plaquet when the French troops were defeated 
 by the Duke of Marlborough. Waen he returned 
 to Canada he was obU.ged to accept the position 
 of ensign notwithstanding the gallant manner in 
 which he had behaved. In time he became iden- 
 tified with the Lake Superior region. Wliile at 
 Lake Nepigouthe Indians assured him that there 
 was a communication largely by water to the 
 Pacific Ocean. One, named Ocliagachs, drew a 
 rude map of the country, which is still preserved 
 among the French archives. Pigeon lliver is 
 
 marked thereon Mantohavagane, and the River 
 St. Louis is marked R. fond du L. Superior, and 
 the Indians appear to have passed from its head- 
 waters to Rainy Lake. Upon the western ex-« 
 tremity is marked the River of the West. 
 
 De Gonor conversed much upon the route to 
 the Pacific with Verendrye, and promised to use 
 his influence with the Canadian authorities to 
 advance the project of exploriitiou. 
 
 Charles De Beauhfirnois, the Governor of Can- 
 ada, gave Verendrye a respectful hearing, and 
 carefully examined the map of the region west of 
 the great lakes, which had been drawn by Ocha- 
 gachs (Otchaga), the IniUan guide. Orders were 
 soon given to tit out an expedition of fifty men. 
 It left Montreal in 1731, under the conduct of his 
 sons and nephew De la Jemeraye, he not joining 
 the party till 1733, La conseq-uence of the deten- 
 tions of business. 
 
 In the autumn of 1731, the party reached Rainy 
 Lake, by the Nantouagan, or Groselliers river, 
 now called Pigeon. Father Messayer, who had 
 been stationed on Lake Superior, at the Grosel- 
 liers river, was taken as a spiritual guide. At 
 the foot of Rainy Lake a post was erected and 
 called Fort St. Pierre, and the next year, having 
 crossed Minittie, or Lake of the Woods, they es- 
 tablished Fort St. Charles on its southwestern 
 l)ank. Five leagues from Lake Winnipeg they 
 established a post on the Assinaboine. An un- 
 published miip of these discoveries by De la Jem- 
 eraye still exists at Paris. The river Winnipeg, 
 called by them Maiirepas, in honor of the minis- 
 ter of France in 1734, was protected by a fort of 
 the same name. 
 
 About this time their advance was stopped by 
 the exhaustion of supplies, but on the 12th of 
 April, 1735, an arrangement was made for a sec- 
 ond equipment, and a fourth son jomed the expe- 
 dition. 
 
 In June. 173G, while twenty-one of the expedi- 
 
mscovEur of nib; uocky Mjlwtaia.s. 
 
 59 
 
 tiou were camped upon an isle in the Lake of the 
 NVooils, they were siniirised hy a hand of Sioux 
 hostile 1(1 the French allies, the Cristinaux. ami 
 all killed. The island, upon tliis account, is 
 called Massacre Island. A few da.\s after, a 
 jiarty of Ave Canadian voyageurs discovered their 
 ilcad bodies and scalped heads. Father Ouncau, 
 tlie missionary, was found upon one knee, an ar- 
 row in his head, his breast bare, his left hand 
 louchmg the ground, and the right hand raised. 
 
 Among the slaughtered was also a son of A'cr- 
 endrye, wlio had a tomahawk in his back, and his 
 body adorned with garters and In-acelets of porcu- 
 pine. The father was at tlie foot of the Lake of 
 the Woods when he received the news of his son's 
 murder, and about the same time heard of the 
 death of his enterprising nephew, Dufrost de la 
 Jemeraye, the son of his sister ilarie Keine de 
 Varennes, and brother of Madame Youville, the 
 foundress of the Hospitallers at jNIontreal. 
 
 It was under the guidance of the latter that 
 the party had, in 1731, mastered the ditlicullies 
 of the Xantaouagon, or Groselliers river. 
 
 On the 3d of October, 1738, they built an ad- 
 vanced post. Fort La Reine, on the river Assini- 
 boels, now Assiual)oine, which tliey called 81 
 Charles, and beyond was a branch called 8t. 
 Pierre. These two rivers received the baptismal 
 name of A'erendrye. which was Pierre, and gov- 
 ernor neauharuois. which was Charles. The post 
 became the centre of trade and point of departure 
 for explorations, either ncn'tli or south. 
 
 It was by ascending the Assinaboine, and by 
 tbe present trail from its tributary. Mouse river, 
 they reached tlie country of the Mantanes, and in 
 1741, came to the upper Missouri, jiassed the Yel- 
 low Stone, and at length arrived at the llocky 
 Mountains. The party was led by the eldest son 
 and his lirother, the chevalier. They left the 
 Lake of the "Woods on the 29th of April, 1742, 
 came in sight of the Kocky Mountains on the 1st 
 of January, 1743, and on the 12th ascended them. 
 On the route they fell in witli the beaux Iloni- 
 mes, Pioya, T'etits Renards. and ^Vrc tribes, and 
 stopped among the Snake tribe, but covdd go no 
 farther in a southerly direction, owing to a war 
 between the Arcs and Snakes. 
 
 On the 19th of May, 1744, tliey had relumed to 
 the upper Missouri, and. in the country of the 
 Petite Cerise tribe, they planted on an enunence 
 
 a leaden plate of the arms of France, and raised 
 a monument of stones, which they called ]5eau- 
 harnois. They retui-ned to the Lake of the Woods 
 on the 2d of .July. 
 
 Xoilh of the Assiniboine they ])rocceded to 
 Lake Dauphin, Swan's Lak<', explored the riv- 
 er "Des Biches," and ascended even to the 
 fork of the Saskatchewan, which Ihey called Pos- 
 koiac. Two forts were subsei|uenlly established, 
 one near Lake Danplnn and the other on the 
 liver " des Biches," called F(}rt Bourbon. The 
 northern route, by the Saskatchewan, was thought 
 to have some advantage over the ]\Iissouri, be- 
 cause there was no danger of meeting with the 
 Spaniards. 
 
 Governor Beauharnois having been prejudiced 
 against Verendrye by envioiis persons, De Noy- 
 elles was appointed to take command of the 
 posts. During these difflculties, we find Sieur de 
 la Verendrye, Jr., engaged in other duties. In 
 August, 1747, he arrives from Mackinaw at Mon- 
 treal, and in the autumn of that year he accom- 
 panies St. Pierre to Mackhiaw, and brings back 
 the convoy to ilontreal. In February, 1748, with 
 live Canadians, five Cristenaux, two Ottawas, and 
 one Sauteur, he attacked the Mohawks near 
 Sclienectady. and returned to Montreal with two 
 scalps, one that of a chief. On June 20tli. 1748, 
 it is recorded that Chev;ilier de la A'erendrye de- 
 parted from Montreal for tlie head of Lake Supe- 
 rior. iSIargry states that he perislied at sea in 
 Xovember, 1764, by the wrec'k of the " Auguste." 
 
 Fortunately, Galissioniere the successor of 
 Beiluharnois, although deformed and insignifl- 
 cant in appearance, was fair minded, a lover of 
 science, especially liotany, and anxious to push 
 discoveries toward the I'acific. Verendrye the 
 father was restored to fa^'(lr, and made Captain 
 of the Order of St. Louis, and ordered to resume 
 explorations, but he died on Decemlier (ith, 1749, 
 while planning a tour up the Saskatchewan. 
 
 The Swedish Professor, Kalni. met him in Can- 
 ada, not long before his decease, anil had inter- 
 esting conversations with him about tlie furrows 
 on the plains of the Missouri, which he errone- 
 ously conjectured indicated tlie former abode of 
 an agricultural peo]ile. These ruts are familiar 
 to moih'rn travelers, and may be only buffalo 
 trails. 
 
 I'atlicr ('(xpiard, wno had been associated with 
 
60 
 
 EXPLOBERS AXD PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 Veremlrye. says that they first met the ilantanes, 
 and next the Brochets. After these -were the 
 Gros Ventres, the Crows, the Flat Heads, the 
 Black Feet, and Dog Feet, who were established 
 on the Missouri, even np to the falls, and that 
 about thirty leagues beyond they found a narrow 
 pass in the mountains. 
 
 Bougainville gives a more full account: he says; 
 'He who most advanced this discovery was 
 the Sieiu- de la Veranderie. He went from Fort 
 la Reine to the JVlissouri. He met on the banks 
 of this river the JNlandans, or "White Beards, who 
 had seven villages with pine stockades, strength- 
 ened by a ditch. Next to these were the Kinon- 
 gewiniris. or the Brochets, in three villages, and 
 toward the upper part of the river were three 
 villages of the Mahantas. All along the mouth 
 of the Wabeik, or Shell River, were situated 
 twenty-three villages of the Panis. To the south- 
 west of this river, on the banks of the Ouanarade- 
 ba, or La Graisse, are the Hectanes or Snake 
 tribe. They extend to the base of 'a chain of 
 mountains which runs north northeast. South 
 of tills is the river Karoskiou, or Cerise Pelee. 
 which is supposed to flow to California. 
 
 " He found in the immense region watered by 
 the jNIissouri, and in tlie vicinity of forty leagues, 
 the Mahantas, the Owiliniock, or Beaux Hom- 
 mes, four villages; opposite the Brochets the P^lack 
 Feet, three villages of a hundred lodges each; op_ 
 posite the Mandansare the Ospekakaerenousques. 
 or Hat Heals, foui- villages: opposite the Panis 
 are the Arcs of Cristinaux, and Utasibaontchatas 
 of Assiniboel, three villages; following these the 
 Makesch, or Little Foxes, two villages; the Pi- 
 wassa, or great talkers, three villages; the Ka- 
 kokoschena, or (iens de la Pie, five villages: the 
 Kiskipisounoium,, or the Garter tiibe, seven vil- 
 lages." 
 
 Galassoiiiere was succeeded l)y Jonquiere in 
 the governorshii> of Canada, who proved to lie a 
 grasjiing, peevish, and very miserly person. For 
 the sons of Verendrye he had no sympathy, and 
 forming a clique to prolit by their father's toils, 
 
 he determined to send two expeditions to'vard 
 the Pacific Ocean, one by the Missouri and the 
 other by the Saskatchewan. 
 
 Father Coquard, one of the companions of Ve- 
 rendrye, was consulted as to the probability of 
 finding a pass in the Rocky Mountains, through 
 i,\hich they might, in canoes, reach the great 
 lake of salt water, perhaps Puget's Somid. 
 
 The enterprise was at length confided to two 
 experienced oflicers, Laraarque de JSIarin and 
 Jacques Legardeur de Saint Pierre. The former 
 was assigned the way, by the Missouri, and to 
 the latter was given the more northern route; 
 but Saint Pierre in some way excited the hostil- 
 ity of the Cristinaux, who attempted to kill him, 
 and burned Fort la Reine. His lieutenant, Bou- 
 cher de Niverville, who had been sent to establish 
 a post toward the source of the Saskatchewan, 
 failed on account of sickness. Some of his men, 
 however, pushed on to the Rocky Mountains, 
 and in 1753 established Fort Jonquiere. Henry 
 says St. Pierre established Fort Bourbon. 
 
 In 17-53, Saint Pierre was succeeded in the 
 command of the posts of the "West, by de la 
 Corne, and sent to French Creek, in Pennsylva- 
 nia. He had been but a few days there when he 
 received a visit from "Washington, just entering 
 upon manhood, bearing a letter from Governor 
 Dinwiddle of Virginia, complaining of the en 
 croachments of the French. 
 
 Soon the clash of arms between France and 
 England began, and Saint Pierre, at the head of 
 the Indian allies, fell near Lake George, in Sep- 
 tember, 1755, in a battle with the English. After 
 the seven years' war was concluded, by the treaty 
 of Paris, the French relinquished all their posts 
 in the Northwest, and the work begun by Veren- 
 drye, was, in 1805, completed by Lewis and 
 Clarke ; and the Northern Pacific Railway is fast 
 approaching the passes of the Rocky Mountains, 
 through the valley of the Yellow Stone, and from 
 thence to the great land-locked bay of the ocean, 
 Puget's Sound. 
 
EFFECT OF THE EX(ILI,S1I AM) Fh'EXCIl WAU. 
 
 61 
 
 CTTATTri; X. 
 
 EFFECT OF TIIK ENGLISU AND FUENCn WAR. 
 
 English Influence Increasinfr.— Lp Due Robbed at Uko Superior.— St. Pierre ;il 
 Mackaiaw.— Kscape of Indian Prisoners.— U Ronde and Verendrye.— Influenee 
 of Sieur Marin.— St. Pierre Recalled from Winnipeg Region.— Interview witli 
 Washington.— Langlade Urges Attack Upon Troops of Braddock.— Saint Pierre 
 Killed in Battle.— Marin's Boldne.-^s.- Rogers, a Partis.an Ranger. Commands at 
 Mackinaw.— At Ticonderoga,— French Deliver up the Posts in Canada. -('apt. 
 Balfour Takes Possession of Mackinaw and Green Bay.— Lieut. Gorrcll in.Coin, 
 raand at Green Biiy.- Sionx Visit Green Bay.— Penncnsha a French Trader 
 Among the Sious. — Treaty of Paris. 
 
 Euglish mfluence produced increasing dissatis- 
 faction among tlie Indians that were beyond 
 ]Mackina\v. Not only were tlie viiyageurs rolilied 
 and maltreated at Sault St. Marie and other points 
 on Lake .Superior, but even the commandant at 
 Mackiuciw was exposed to insolence, and there 
 was no security anywhere. 
 
 On the twenty-third of August. 1747, Philip Le 
 Due arrived at Mackinaw from Lake Superior, 
 stating that he bad been robbed of his goods at 
 Kamanistigoya, and that the Ojibways of the 
 lake were favorably disposed toward the English. 
 The Dahkotahs were also becoming unruly in the 
 absence of French officers. 
 
 In a few weeks after Le Due's robbery, St. 
 Pierre left Montreal to become commandant at 
 Mackinaw, and Vercheres was appointed for the 
 post at Green Bay. In the language of a docu- 
 ment of the day, St. Pierre was " a very good 
 officer, much esteemed among all the nations of 
 those parts ; none more loved and feared." On 
 his arrival, the savages were so cross, that he ad- 
 vised that no Frenchman should come to trade. 
 
 By promptness and boldness, he secured the 
 Indians who had murdered some Frenchmen, 
 and obtained the respect of the tribes. "While 
 the three murderers were being conveyed in a 
 canoe down the St. Lawrence to Quebec, in charge 
 of a sergeant and seven soldiers, the savages, with 
 characteristic cunning, thou.gh manacled, suc- 
 ceeded in killing or dro\\niing the guard. Cutting 
 their irons with an axe, they sought the woods, 
 and escaped to their own country. "Thus," 
 vTites Galassoniere, in 1748, to Count Maurepas, 
 
 was lost in a great measure the fruit of Sieur St. 
 Pierre's good management, and of all tlii' fatigue 
 I endured to get the nations who surrendered 
 these rascals to listen to reason." 
 
 .On the twenty-first of June of the next year, 
 La Konde started to La Poinle, and A'erendrye 
 for West Sea, or Fon du Lac, Minnesota. 
 
 Under the influence of Sieur Marin, who was 
 in command at Green Bay in 1753, peaceful re- 
 lations were in a measure restored between the 
 French and Indians. 
 
 As the war between England and France deep- 
 ened, the officers of tiie distant French posts 
 were called in and stationed nearer tlie enemy. 
 Legardeur St. Pierre, was brought from the Lake 
 "Winnipeg region, and, in December, 17o3, was in 
 command of a rude post near lOric. I'enusylvania. 
 Langlade, of Green Bay, ^^'is(•(lllsin. arrived early 
 in July, 17o5, at Fort Duquesne. With Beauyeu 
 and De Lignery. who had been engaged in light- 
 ing the Fox Indians, he left that fort, at nine 
 o'clock of the morinng of the 9th of July, and, a 
 little after noon, came near the English, who had 
 halted on the south shore of the Monougahela, 
 and were at dinner, with their arms stacked. By 
 the rn-gent entreaty of Langlade, the western 
 half-breed, Beauyeu. the oflii-er in command or- 
 dered an attack, and Braddock was overwhelmed, 
 and Washington was obliged to say, " We have 
 lieen beaten, shamefully beaten, by a handful of 
 Frenchmen." 
 
 Under Baron Dieskau, St. Pierre commanded 
 the Indians, in September. 17.55. during the cam- 
 paign near Lake George, where he fell gallantly 
 fighting the English, as did his commander. 
 The Rev. Claude Coquard, alluding to the French 
 defeat, in a letter to his brother, remarks: 
 
 " We lost, on that occasion, a brave officer. M. 
 de St. Pierre, and had his advice, as well as that 
 of several other Canadian officers, been followed, 
 Jonckson [Johnson] was irretrievably destroyed. 
 
Gli 
 
 EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA: 
 
 and we should have been spared the trouble we 
 
 have had this year." 
 
 Other officers who had been stationed on the 
 borders of Minnesota .also distmguished them- 
 selves during the French war. The ilarquis 
 Montcalm, in camp at Ticonderoga, on the twen- 
 ty-seventh of .July, 1757, writes to Vaudreuil, 
 Governor of Canada: 
 
 " Lieutenant Marin, of the Colonial troops, who 
 has exliiliited a rare audacity, did not consider 
 iiimself bound to lialt, although his detachment 
 of about four hundred men was reduced to about 
 two hundred, the balance having been sent back 
 on account of inability to follow. He carried off 
 a patrol of ten men, and swept away an ordinary 
 guard of fifty lilie a wafer; went up to the en- 
 emy's camp, under Fort Lydias (Edward), where 
 he was exposed to a severe fire, and retreated like 
 a warrior. He \Aas luiwilllng to amuse Iiimself 
 maliing prisoners; he brought in only one, and 
 thirty-two scalps, and must have killed many men 
 of the enemy, in the midst of whose ranks it was 
 neither wise nor prudent to go in search of scalps. 
 Tlie Indians generally all behaved well. * * * 
 The Outaouais, wlio arrived with me, anil -wlioni 
 I designed to go on a scouting party towards tlie 
 lake, liad conceived a project of administering a 
 corrective to the English barges. * * * On 
 tlie day before yesterday, your brother formed a 
 detacliment to accompany tliem. I arrived at Iris 
 camp on the evening of the same day. Lieuten- 
 ant de Corbiere, of the Colonial troops, was re- 
 turning, in consequence of a misunderstanding, 
 and as I knew the zeal and intelligence of that 
 ofticer, I made him set out with a new instruc- 
 tion to join Messrs de Langlade and Hertel de 
 Cliantly. They remained in ambush all day and 
 night yestei'day; at break of day the English ap- 
 peared on Lake St. Sacrament, to the number of 
 twenty-two barges, under the commanl of Sieur 
 Parker. The whoops of our Indians impressed 
 them with such terror that they made but feeble 
 resistance, and only two barges escaped." 
 
 After De Corbiere's victory on Lake Cham- 
 jilain, a large French army was collected at. Ti- 
 conderoga, with which there were many Indians 
 from the tribes of the Northwest, and the loways 
 ajipeared for the first tiiiK^ in the e;ist. 
 
 It is an interesting fact that the English offi- 
 cers who were iii frequent engagements -with St. 
 
 Pierre, Lusignan, Marin, Langlade, and others, 
 became the pioneers of the British, a few years 
 afterwards, in the occupation of the outposts of 
 the lakes, and in the exploration of Alinnesota. 
 
 Kogers, the celebrated captain of rangers, sub- 
 sequently commander of Mackinaw, and Jona- 
 than Carver, the first British explorer of Minne- 
 sota, were both on duty near Lake Champlain, the 
 latter narrowly escaping at the battle of Fort 
 Gieorge. 
 
 On Christmas eve, 1757, Rogers approached 
 Fort Ticonderoga, to fire the outhouses, but was 
 prevented by discharge of the cannons of the 
 Fren h. 
 
 He contented himself with killing fifteen beeves, 
 on the horns of one of which he left this laconic 
 and amusing note, addressed to the commander 
 of the post: 
 
 '• I am obliged to you. Sir, for the repose you 
 have allowed me to take; I thank you for the fresh 
 meat you have sent me, I i-fequest you to present 
 my compliments to the Marquis du Montcalm." 
 
 On the thirteenth of March, 1758, Durantaye, 
 formerly at Mackinaw, had a skirmish with Rog- 
 ers. Both had been trained on the frontier, and 
 they met '' as Greek met Greek." The coiifiict 
 was fierce, and the French victorious. The In- 
 dian allies, finding a scalp of a chief underneath 
 an officer's jacket, we'-e furious, and took one 
 hundred and fourteen scalps in return. "Wlien 
 the French retiu-ned, they supposed that Captain 
 Kogers was among the killed. 
 
 At Quebec, when Montcalm and A\^olfe feU, 
 there were Ojibways present assisting the French 
 
 The Inilians, returning from the expeditions 
 against the English, were attacked with small- 
 pox, and many died at Mackinaw. 
 
 On the eighth of September, 1700, the French 
 delivered up all their posts in Canada. A few 
 days after the capitulation at jSIontreal, Major 
 Rogers was sent with I^nglish troops, to garrison 
 the posts of the distant Northwest. 
 
 On the eighth of September, 1761, a year after 
 the surrender. Captain Balfour, of the eightieth 
 regiment of the British army, left Detroit, with 
 a detachment to lake possession of the French 
 forts at Mackinaw and Green Bay. Twenty-five 
 soldiers were left at ^lackinaw, in command of 
 Lieutenant Leslie, and the rest sailed to Grc-en 
 Bay, under Lieutenant Gorrell of the Royal 
 
PENNENSHA WUITES A LETrER FOR THE SIOUX. 
 
 R3 
 
 Americans, where tlie>' arrived on the twelfth of 
 October. Tlie fort liad been abaiuhmed for sev- 
 eral years, and was in a dilapidated condition. 
 In charge of it there was left a lieutenant, a cor- 
 poral, and fifteen soldiers. Two English traders 
 arrived at the same time, McKay from Albany, 
 and Goddard from ^lontreal. 
 
 (lorrell in his journal alludes to the Mimiesota 
 Sioux. He writes— 
 
 " On Itlarch 1, 1703, twelve warriors of the Sous 
 came here. It is certainly the greatest nation of 
 Indians ever yet found. IN'ot above two thousand 
 of them were ever armed witli tirearms ; the rest 
 depending entirely on bows and arrows, which 
 they use with more skill than any other Indian 
 nation in America. They can shoot the wildest 
 and largest beasts in the woods at seventy or one 
 hundred yards distant. They are remarkable for 
 their dancing, and the other nations take the 
 faslnons from them. ***** This nation 
 is always at war with the Chippewas, those who 
 destroyed Mishamakinak. They told me with 
 warmth that if ever the Chippewas or any other 
 Indians wished to obstruct the passage of the 
 traders coming up. to send them word, and they 
 would come and cut them olf from the face of 
 the earth ; as all Indians were their slaves or dogs. 
 I told them I was glad to see them, and hoped to 
 have a lasting peace with them. They then gave 
 me a letter wrote in French, and two belts of 
 wampmn from their king, in wiiich he expressed 
 great joy on hearing of there being English at 
 his post. The letter was written by a French 
 trader whom I had allowed to go among them 
 last fall, with a promise of his behaving well ; 
 which he did, better than any Canadian I ever 
 knew. ***** With regard to traders, I 
 would not allow M\y to go amongst them, as I 
 
 then understood they lay out of the govcrnmenL 
 of Canada. ))ut made no tloubt they would liave 
 Iradi'i's fioin llic Mississippi in the spring. They 
 went away extremely well pleased. June Mlh, 
 17()3, the traders came down from the Sack coun- 
 try, and conlirmed the news of Laudsiiig and his 
 son being killed by the French. There came with 
 the ti'aders some Puans, and four young men w itji 
 one chief of the Avoy [loway] nation, to demand 
 traders. ***** 
 
 " On the nineteenth, a deputation of Winneba- 
 goes. Sacs, Foxes and Meuomiuees ai'rived with 
 a Frenchman named Pemiensha. This rennen- 
 slia is the same man who wrote the letter the 
 Sous brought with them in French, and at the 
 same time held council with that great nation in 
 favour of the English, by which he much promo- 
 ted the interest of the latter, as appeared liy the 
 behaviour of the Sous. He brouglit with him a 
 jiipe from the Sous, desiring that as the road is 
 now clear, they would by no means allow the 
 Chippewas to obstruct it. or give the English any 
 disturbance, or pi'event the traders from coming 
 up to them. If they did so they woiUd send all 
 their warriors and cut them off." 
 
 In July, 1763, there arrived at Green Bay. 
 Bruce, Fisher; and Roseboom of Albany, to en- 
 gage in the Indian trade. 
 
 By the treaty of Paris of 1703, France ceded to 
 (;reat Britain all of the country east of the Mis- 
 sissippi, and to Spain the whole of Louisiana, so 
 that the latter power for a time held the whole 
 region between the Mississippi River and the Pa- 
 cilic Ocean, and that portion of the city of JSIin- 
 neapolis known as the East Division was then 
 governed by the British, while the West Division 
 was subject to the Spanish code. 
 
64 
 
 EXPLORERS AKD PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 JONATHAN CAKVEK, TILE FIRST BKITISH TRAVELER AT FALLS OF SAINT ANTHONY. 
 
 Carver's Etu-ly Life.— In the Battle near Lake Geovge.— Arrives at Mackinaw.— 
 010 Fort at Green Bay.— Winnebago Village.— Description of Prairie du Chien. 
 Earthworks on Banks of Lake Pepin.— Sioux Bands Described.— Cave and 
 Burial Place ui Suburbs of St. Paul.— The Palls of Saint Anthony.— Burial 
 Rites of tLe Sioux.— Speech of a Sioux Chief.— Schiller's Poem of fhe Death 
 Song.— Sir John Herschel's Translation. --.Sir E. Balwer Lytton's Version.-.. 
 Correspondence of Sir William Johnson.— Carver's Pr«yect for Opening a Route 
 to the Pacific— Supposed Origin of the Sioux.— Carver's Claim to Lands Ex- 
 amined. .-..\lleged Deed.— Testimony of Rev. Samuel Peters. ---Communication 
 from Gen. Leavenworth. .--Report of U. S- Senate Committee. 
 
 Jonathan Carver was a native of Connecticut 
 His grantlfatlier, AVilliam Carver, was a native of 
 "VVigan, Lancasliire, England, and a captain in 
 Kin.? William's army during the campaign in 
 Ireland, and for meritorious services received an 
 appointment as au officer of the colony of Con- 
 necticut. 
 
 His father was a justice of the peace in the 
 new world, and in 1732, the subject of this sketch 
 was born. At the early age of fifteen he was 
 called to mourn the death of his father. He then 
 commenced the'study of medicine, but his roving 
 disposition could not bear the confines of a doc- 
 tor's office, and feeling, perhaps, that his genius 
 would be cramped by pestle and mortar, at the 
 age of eighteen he purchased an ensign's commis- 
 sion in one of the regiments raised during the 
 French war. He was of medium stature, and of 
 strong mind and quick perceptions. 
 
 Jn the year 1757, he was captain luider Colonel 
 Williams in the battle near Lake (ieorge, where 
 Saint Pierre was killed, and narrowly escaped 
 with his life. 
 
 After the peace of 1763, between France and 
 P^ngland was declared. Carver conceived the pro- 
 ject of exploring the Northwest. Leaving Boston 
 in the month of June, 1766, he arrived at Macki- 
 naw, then the most distant Urilish jiost, in the 
 mouth of August. Having obtained a credit on 
 some French and English traders from Major 
 Rogers, tlie officer in command, he started with 
 them on the third day of September. Pursuing 
 the usual route to tireen Bay, they arrived there 
 on the eighteenth. 
 
 The French fort at that time was standing, 
 though much decayed. It was, some years pre- 
 vious to his arrival, garrisoned for a short time 
 by an officer and thirty English soldiers, but they 
 having lieen captured by the Menominees, it was 
 abandoned. 
 
 In company with the traders, he left Green 
 Bay on the twentieth, and ascending Fox river, 
 arrived on the twenty-fifth at an island at the 
 east end of Lake Winnebago, containing about 
 fifty acres. 
 
 Here he foimd a Winnebago village of fifty 
 houses. He asserts that a woman was in author- 
 ity. In the month of October tlie party was at 
 tlie portage of the Wisconsin, and descending 
 that stream, they arrived, on the ninth at a town 
 of the Sauks. While here he visited some lead 
 mines about fifteen miles distant. An abundance 
 of lead was also seen in the village, that had been 
 brought from the mines. 
 
 On the tenth they arrived at the first village of 
 the " Ottigaumies" [Foxes] about five miles be- 
 fore the Wisconsin joins the Mississippi, he per- 
 ceived the remnants of another village, and 
 learned that it had been deserted about thirty 
 years before, and that the inhabitants soon after 
 their removal, built a town on the Mississippi, 
 near the mouth of the " Ouisconsin," at a jilace 
 called by the French La Prairie les Chiens, which 
 signified the Dog Plains. It was a large town, 
 and contained about three hundred families. 
 The houses were built after the Indian manner, 
 and pleasantly situated on a dry rich soil. 
 
 He saw here many houses of a good size and 
 shape. Tl'is town was the great mart ^^■here all 
 the adjacent tribes, and where those who inhabit 
 the most remote Inanches of the Mississippi, an- 
 nually assemble al)out the latter end of May, 
 bringing with them their furs to dispose of to the 
 traders. But it is not always that they conclude 
 Iheir sale here. Tliis was determined by a gen 
 
SUPPOSED FORTIFICATIONS XEAIi LAKE I'KI'IS. 
 
 65 
 
 era! council of the chiefs, who consulted whether 
 it would be more conducive to their interest to 
 sell their goods at this place, or to carry them 
 on to Louisiana or ^lackinaw. 
 
 At a small stream called Yellow River, oppo- 
 site Prairie du Chieu, the traders who had tlnis 
 far accompanied Carver tooli up tlieir residence 
 for the winter. 
 
 From this point he pn)ceeded in a canoe, willi 
 a Canadian voyageur and a Mohawk Indian as 
 companions. Just before reaching Lake Pepin, 
 vvliile his attendants were one day preparing din- 
 ner, he walked out and was struck with the pecu- 
 liar appearance of the surface of the country, and 
 thought it was the site of some vast artilieial 
 earth-work. It is a fact worthy of remembrance, 
 that he was the first to call the attention of the 
 civilized world to the existence of ancient monu- 
 ments in the Mississippi valley. We give his own 
 description : 
 
 " On the first of Ifovemlier I reached Lake 
 Pepin, a few' miles below which I landed, and, 
 whilst the servants were preparing my dinner, I 
 ascended the bank to view the country. I liad 
 not proceeded far before I came to a fine, level, 
 open plain, on wlncli I perceived, at a little dis- 
 tance, a partial elevation that had the appearance 
 of entrenchment. On a nearer inspection I had 
 greater reason to suppose tliat it had really been 
 intended for this many centuries ago. Notwith- 
 standing it was now covered with grass, I could 
 plainly see that it had once been a breastwork of 
 about four feet in height, extending the best part 
 of a mile, and sufliciently capacious to cover five 
 thousand men. Its form was somewhat circular 
 and its flaidis reached to the river. 
 
 " Tliough much defaced by time, every angle 
 was distinguishable, and appeared as regular and 
 fashioned with as mucli military skill as if planned 
 by Vauban himself. The ditch was not visible, 
 but I thought, on examining more curiously, that 
 I coidd perceive there certainly had been one. 
 From its situation, also, t am convinced that it 
 must have been designed for that purpose. It 
 fronted the country, and the rear was covered by 
 the river, nor was there any rising ground for a 
 considerable way that commanded it; a few 
 straggling lakes were alone to be seen near it. 
 In many places small ti-acks were worn across it 
 by the feet of the elks or deer, and from the depth 
 
 of the bed of earth by which it was covered, I was 
 able to draw certain conclusions of its great anti- 
 (piity. I examined all the angU's, and every paxt 
 with great attention, and have often blamed my- 
 self since, for not encamping on the spot, and 
 drawing an exact plan of it. To show that this 
 description is not the offsin-ing of a lieated imag- 
 ination, or the chimeri('al tale of a mistaken trav- 
 eler, I find, on inquiry since my return, that 
 Mons. St. Pierre, and several traders have at dif- 
 ferent times, taken notice of similar appearances, 
 upon which tliey have formed tlie same conjec- 
 tures, but without examining them so minutely 
 as I did. How a work of this kind could exist in 
 a country that has liitherto (according to the gen- 
 erally received opinion) been the seat of war to 
 untutored Indians alone, whose whole stock of 
 military knowledge has only, till within two cen- 
 turies, amounted to drawing the bow, and whose 
 only breastwork even at present is the thicket, I 
 know not. I liave given as exact an account as 
 possible of this singular appearance, and leave to 
 future explorers (jf tliose distant regions, to dis- 
 cover whether it is a production of nature or art. 
 Perhaps the hints I have here given might lead 
 to a more perfect investigation of it, and give us 
 very different ideas of the ancient state of realms 
 that we at present believe to have been, from the 
 earliest period, only the habitations of savages." 
 
 Lake Pepin excited his admiration, as it has 
 that of every traveler since his day, and here he 
 remarks: " I observed the ruins of a French fac- 
 tory, where it is said Captain St. Pierre resided, 
 and carried on a very great trade with tlie Xau- 
 dowessies, before the reduction of Canada." 
 
 Carver's first acquaintance with the Dahkotahs 
 commenced near the river St. Croix. It would 
 seem that the erection of trading posts on Lake 
 Pepin had enticed them from their old residence 
 on Rum river and Mille Lacs. 
 
 He says: "Near the river St. Croix reside 
 bands of the Naudovvessie Indians, called the 
 River Bands. Tliis nation is composed at pres- 
 ent of' eleven bands. They were origmally 
 twelve, but tlie Assinipods, some years ago, re- 
 volting and separating themselves from the oth- 
 ers, there remain at this time eleven. Those I 
 met here are termed the River Bands, because 
 they chiefly dwell near the banks of tins river, 
 the other eight are generally distinguislied by the 
 
66 
 
 EXPLORHES AND PIONEERS OF M1NNE801A. 
 
 title of Nadowessies of the Plains, and inhabit a 
 country more to the westward. The names of 
 the former are Nehogatawonahs, the Mawtaw- 
 bauntowahs, and Shashweentowahs. 
 
 Arriving at what is now a suburb of the cap- 
 ital of Miimesota, he continues: "AV)out thir- 
 teen miles below the Falls of St. Anthony, at 
 which I arrived the tenth day after I left Lake 
 Pepin, is a remarkable cave, of an amazing deptli. 
 The Indians term it Wakon-teebe [Wakan-tipi]. 
 The entrance into it is about ten feet wide, the 
 height of it live feet. The arch within is fifteen 
 feet high and about thirty feet broad; the bottom 
 consists of fine, clear sand. About thirty feet 
 from the entrance begins a lake, the water of 
 which is transparent, and extends to an unsearch- 
 able distance, for the darkness of the cave pre- 
 ents all attempts to acquire a knowledge of it.] 
 I threw a small pebble towards the nterior part 
 of it witli my utmost strength. I could hear that 
 it fell mto the water, and, notwithstanding it was 
 of a small size, it caused an astonishing and ter- 
 rible noise, that reverlierated througli all those 
 gloomy regions. I found in this cave many In- 
 dian hieroglyphics, which appeared very ancient, 
 for time had nearly covered them witli moss, so 
 that it was with difficulty I could trace them. 
 They were cut ui a rude mamier upon the inside 
 of the wall, which was composed of a stone so ex- 
 tremely soft that it might be easily penetrated 
 with a luufe; a stone everywhere to be foimd 
 near the Mississippi. 
 
 " At a little distance from this dreary cavern, 
 is the burying-place of several bands of tlie Nau- 
 dowessie Indians. Though these people have no 
 fixed residence, being in tents, and seldom but a 
 few months in one spot, yet they always bring 
 the bones of the dead to this place. 
 
 "Ten miles below the Falls of St. Anthony, 
 the river St. Pierre, called by the natives Wada 
 paw Menesotor, falls into the Mississippi f roni the 
 west. It is not mentioned by Father Hennepin, 
 though a large, fair river. This omission, I con- 
 sider, must have proceeded from a small island 
 [Pike's] that is situated exactly in its enti"ance." 
 
 AVlien he reached the Minnesota river, the ice 
 became so troublesome that he left his canoe in 
 the neighborhood of what is now St. Anthony, 
 and walked to St. Anthony, in company with a 
 yomig Winnebago chief, who had never seen the 
 
 curling waters. The chief, on reaching the emi- 
 nence some distance below Cheever"s, began to 
 invoke his gods, and offer oblations to the spirit 
 in the waters. 
 
 " In the middle of the Falls stands a small 
 island, about forty feet broad and somewhat lon- 
 ger, on which grow a few cragged hemlock and 
 spruce trees, and about half way between this 
 island and the eastern shore is a rock, lying al 
 the very edge of the Falls, in an oblique position 
 that appeared to be about five or six feet broad, 
 and thirty or forty long. At a little distance be- 
 low the Falls stands a small island of about an 
 acre and a half, on which grow a great number of 
 oak trees." 
 
 From this description, it would appear that the 
 little island, now some distance below the Falls, 
 was once in the very midst, and shows that a con- 
 stant recession lias been going on, and that in 
 ages long past they were not far from the Minne- 
 sota river. 
 
 No description is more glowing than Carver's 
 of the country adjacent: 
 
 " The country around them is extremely beau- 
 tiful. It is not an uninterrupted plam, where the 
 eye finds no relief, but composed of many gentle 
 ascents, wliicli in tlie summer are covered with 
 tlie finest verdure, and interspersed with Uttle 
 groves that give a pleasing variety to the pros- 
 pect. On the whole, when the Falls are inclu- 
 ded, which may be seen at a distance of four 
 miles, a more pleasing and pictiu'esque view, I 
 believe, cannot be formd throughout the uni- 
 verse." 
 
 " He arrived at the Falls on the seventeenth of 
 jSTovember, 1766, and appears to have ascended as 
 far as Elk river. 
 
 On the twenty-fifth of November, he had re- 
 turned to the place opposite the Minnesota, where 
 he had left his canoe, and this stream as yet not 
 being obstructed with ice, he commenced its as- 
 cent, with the colors of Great Britain flying at 
 the stem of his canoe. There is no doubt that 
 he entered this river, but how far he explored it 
 cannot be ascertained. He speaks of the Rapids 
 near Shakopay, and asserts that he went as far as 
 two himdred miles beyond Mendota. He re- 
 marks: 
 
 " On the seventh of December, I arrived at the 
 utmost of my travels towards the West, where I 
 
SIOUX BVIUAL ORATION VERSIFIED BY SCHILLER. 
 
 (SI 
 
 met a large party of the ^s'audowessie Indians, 
 among wiiom I resided some indnllis." 
 
 After speaking of the upper liamls of the I)ah- 
 kotalis and tlieir allies, lie adds tliat he, " left the 
 habitations of the hospitable Indians the latter 
 end of April, lT(i7,bntdid ncl jiart, from them 
 for several days, as I was acconii>anied on my 
 jonruey by near three hmidred of them to the 
 mouth of the river St. Pierre. At this season 
 these bands aimually go to the great cave (Day- 
 ton's Blnff ) before mentioned. 
 
 AVlien he arrived at the great cave, and the In- 
 dians had deposited the remains of their deceased 
 friends in the burial-place that stands adjacent 
 to it, they held their great council to which he 
 was admitted. 
 
 'When the Xaudowessies brought their dead for 
 interment to the great cave (St. Paul), I attempted 
 to get an insight into the remaining burial rites, 
 but whether it was on account of the stench 
 which arose from so many dead bodies, or ■\\'hether 
 they chose to keep this part of their custom secret 
 from me, I could not discover. I found, however, 
 that they considered my curiosity as ill-timed, 
 and therefore I withdrew. * * 
 
 One formality among the Xaudowessies in 
 mourning for the dead is veiy different from any 
 mode I observed in the other nations tlirough 
 which I passed. The men, to show how great 
 their sorrow is, pierce the flesh of their arms 
 above the elbows with arrows, and the womt n 
 cut and gash their legs with broken flints till the 
 blood flows very plentifully. * * 
 
 After the breath is departed, the body is 
 dressed in the same attire it usually wore, his 
 face is pamted, and he is seated in an erect pos- 
 ture on a mat or skin, placed in the middle of the 
 hut, with his weapons by his side. Ills relati^•es 
 seated aromid, each in turn harangues the de- 
 ceased; and if lie has been a great warrior, re- 
 counts his heroic actions, nearly to the following 
 jiurport, which in the Indian language is extreme- 
 ly poetical and pleasing 
 
 •• You still sit among us, brother, yonr person 
 retains its usual resemlilance, and continues sim- 
 ilar to ours, without any visible deljciency, ex- 
 cept it has lost the power of action! But whither 
 is that In-eath flown, which a few hours ago sent 
 up smoke to the Great Spirit'? Whj- are those 
 lips silent, that lately delivered to us expressions 
 
 and pleasing language'i' Why are those feet mo- 
 tiiinless, that a few hours ago were fleeter than 
 the deer on yonder mountainsV "Why useless 
 liang tliose arms, that could climb the tallest tree 
 (ir draw tlie toughest bow'? Alas, every jiart of 
 that frame which A\e lately beheld willi admira- 
 tion and wonder has now become as inanimate as 
 it was three hundred years ago! We will not, 
 h(3wever, bemoan thee as if thou wast forever 
 lost to us, or that thy name would he 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 
 peiTJetuate thy fame, we will one day join thee. 
 
 " Actuated by the respect we bore thee whilst 
 livhig, 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 liecome a prey to 
 the beasts of the field or fowls of the air, and we 
 will take care to lay it with those of thy predeces- 
 sors that 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 great country of souls." 
 
 For this speech Carver is principally indebted 
 to his imagination, but it is well conceived, and 
 suggested one of Schiller's poems, which fJivthe 
 considered one of his best, and wished ■■ lie had 
 made a dozen such." 
 
 Sir E. Lytton Bulwerthe distinguished novelist, 
 and Sir John Ilerschel the eminent astronomer, 
 have each given a translation of Scliiller's •• Song 
 of the Nadowessee Chief." 
 
 sii: E. L. bulwek's translation. 
 
 See on his mat — as if of yore. 
 
 All life-like sits he here I 
 With that same aspect which he wore 
 
 When light to him was dear 
 
 But where the right hand's strength '? and where 
 
 The breath that loved to breathe 
 To the Great Spirit, aloft in air. 
 
 The peace pipe's lusty wreath ? 
 
 And where the hawk-like eye, alas ! 
 
 That wont the deer pursue. 
 Along the waves of rippling grass, 
 
 Or fields that shone with dew 'i* 
 
68 
 
 HXPLORERS AND nOWEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 Are these the limber, bounding feet 
 Tliat swept the ■winter's suows ? 
 
 What stateliest stag so fast and fleet ? 
 Their speed outstripped the roe's ! 
 
 These arms, that then the steady bow 
 
 Could supple from it's pride, 
 How stark and helpless hang they now 
 
 Adown the stiffened side ! 
 
 Yet weal to liini — at peace he stays 
 
 Wherever fall the snows ; 
 AVliere o'er the meadows springs the maize 
 
 That mortal never sows. 
 
 AVLere birds are blithe on every brake — 
 Where orests teem with deer— 
 
 Where glide the fish through every lake — 
 One chase from year to year ! 
 
 With spirits now lie feasts above ; 
 
 All left us to revere 
 The deeds we honor witli our lo^e, 
 
 The dust we biuy here. 
 
 Here bring the last gift ; loud and shrill 
 Wail death dirge for tlie brave ; 
 
 What pleased him most in life, may still 
 Grive pleasure in the grave. 
 
 We 1 ly the axe beneath his head 
 
 He swnilig when strength was strong — 
 
 The bear on wliich his banquets fed. 
 The way from earth is long. 
 
 And here, new sharpened, place the knife 
 
 Tliat severed from the clay. 
 From which the axe had spoiled tlie life. 
 
 The conquered scalp away. 
 
 The paints that deck the dead, bestow ; 
 
 Yes, place them in his hand, 
 That red the kingly shade may glow 
 
 Amid the spirit laud. 
 
 SIK JOHN HEKSCnEL'S TUAXSLATION. 
 
 See, where upon the mat he sits 
 
 Erect, before Ids door, 
 With just the same majestic air 
 
 That ouce in life he wore. 
 
 But where is lied his strength of limb. 
 
 The whirlwind of his breath, 
 To the Great Spirit, when he sent 
 
 The peace pipe's mounting wreatli? 
 
 "Where are those falcon eyes, which late 
 
 Along the plain could trace. 
 Along the grass's dewy waves 
 
 The reindeer's printed pace? 
 
 Those legs, which once with matchless speed, 
 
 Flew through the drifted snow. 
 Surpassed the stag's unwearied course, 
 
 Outran the mountain roeV 
 
 Those arms, once used with might and main. 
 
 The stubborn bow to twang? 
 See, see, their nerves are slack at last. 
 
 All motionless they hang. 
 
 'Tis well with him, for he is gone 
 
 Where snow no more is found, 
 "Wliere the gay thorn's perpetual bloom 
 
 Decks all the field around. 
 
 Where wild birds sing from every spray. 
 
 Where deer come sweeping by. 
 Where fish from every lake afford 
 
 A jilentiful supply. 
 
 With spirits now he feasts above, 
 
 And leaves us here alone. 
 To celebrate his valiant deeds. 
 
 And round his grave to moan. 
 
 Sound the death song, bring forth the gifts, 
 
 The last gifts of the dead,— 
 Let all which yet may yield him joy 
 
 Within his grave be laid. 
 
 The hatchet place beneath his brad 
 
 Still red with hostile blood; 
 And add, because the way is long. 
 
 The bear's fat limbs for food. 
 
 Tlie scalping-knife beside him lay, 
 
 A\nth paints of gorgeous dye. 
 That in the land of souls his form 
 
 May shine triumphantly. 
 
 It appears from other sources that Carver's 
 visit to the Dahkotahs was of some effect in bring- 
 ing about friendly intercourse between them and 
 the commander of the English force at Mackinaw. 
 
CARVER'S PROJECT FOR A ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC. 
 
 69 
 
 The earliest mention of the Dahkotahs, in any 
 public British documents that we know of, is in 
 the correspondence between Sir William Johnson, 
 Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Colony 
 of New York, and General Gage, in command of 
 tilt' forces. 
 
 On the eleventh of September, less than sis 
 months after Carver's speech at Dayton's Bluff, 
 and the departure of a number of chiefs to the 
 English fort at Mackinaw, Johnson writes to 
 General Gage: "Though I wrote to you some 
 days ago, yet I would not mind saying something 
 again on the score of the vast expenses incurred, 
 and, as I imderstand, still incurring at Michili- 
 mackinac, chiefly on pretense of making a peace 
 between the Sioux and Chippeweighs, with which 
 I think we have very little to do, in good policy 
 or otherwise." 
 
 Sir WilUam Johnson, in a letter to Lord Hills- 
 borough, one of his Majesty's ministers, dated 
 August seventeenth, 1768, again refers to the 
 subject : 
 
 "Much greater part of those who go a trading 
 are men of such circumstances and disposition as 
 to venture their persons everywhere for extrava- 
 gant gains, yet the consequences to the public 
 are not to be shghted, as we may be led into a 
 general quarrel through their means. The In- 
 dians in the part adjacent to MichiUmackinac 
 have been treated with at a very great expense 
 for some time previous. 
 
 "Major Rodgers brings a considerable charge 
 against the former for mediating a peace between 
 some tribes of the Sioux and some of the Chippe- 
 weighs, which, had it been attended with success, 
 would only have been interesting to a very few 
 French, and others that had goods in that part 
 of the Indian country, but the contrary has hap- 
 pened, and they are now more violent, and war 
 against one another." 
 
 Though a wilderness of over one thousand 
 miles intervened between the Falls of St. An- 
 thony and the white settlements of the English, 
 Carver was fully impressed with the idea that the 
 State now organized under the name of Minne- 
 sota, on account of its beauty and fertility, would 
 attract settlers. 
 
 Speaking of the advantages of the country, he 
 says that the future population vriU be "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 beuig ex- 
 tremely favorable for doing this in small craft. 
 'Ihis might also in time he facilitated by canal- (rr 
 shorter cuts, and a communication opened by water 
 with New York by way of the Lakes." 
 
 The subject of this sketch was also confident 
 that a route would be discovered by way of the 
 Minnesota river, which would open a passage 
 to China and the English settlements in the East 
 Indies." 
 
 Carver having returned to England, interested 
 Whitworth, a member of parliament, in the 
 northern route. Had not the American Revolu- 
 tion commenced, they proposed to have built a 
 fort at Lake Pepin, to have proceeded up the 
 Minnesota until they found, as they supposed 
 they could, a branch of the Missouri, and from 
 thence, journeying over the summit of lands un- 
 til they came to a river which they called Ore- 
 gon, they expected to descend to the Pacific. 
 
 Carver, in common with other travelers, had 
 his theory in relation to the origin of the Dahko- 
 tahs. He supposed that they came from Asia. 
 He remarks: "But this might have been at dif- 
 ferent times and from various parts— from Tar- 
 tary, China, Japan, for the inhabitajits of these 
 places resemble each other. * * * 
 
 "It is very evident that some of the names and 
 customs of the American Indians resemble those 
 of the Tartars, and I make no doubt but that in 
 some futiu-e era, and this not far distant, it vrill 
 be reduced to certainty that during some of the 
 wars between the Tartars and Chinese a part of 
 the inhabitants of the northern provinces were 
 driven from their native countiy, and took refuge 
 in some of the isles before mentioned, and from 
 thence found their way into America. » • * 
 
 "Many words are used both by the Chinese and 
 the Indians which have a resemblance to each 
 other, not only in their sound, but in their signi- 
 fication. The Chinese call a slave Shungo; and 
 the Noudowessie Indians, whose language, from 
 their little Intercourse with the Europeans, is 
 least corrupted, term a dog Shungush [Shoan- 
 kah.J The former denominate one species of their 
 tea Shoushong; the latter call their tobacco Shou- 
 sas-sau [Chanshasha.] Many other of the words 
 used by the Indians contain the syllables che, 
 chaw, and chu, after the dialect of the Chinese." 
 
70 
 
 explobi:rs and pioneers of Minnesota. 
 
 The comparison of languages lias become a rich 
 som'ce of historical knowledge, yet many of the 
 analogies traced are fanciful. The remark of 
 Hiimbolt in " C osmos" is worthy of remembrance. 
 "As the structure of American idioms appears 
 remarkably strange to nations speaking the mod- 
 ern languages of Western Europe, and who readily 
 suffer themselves to be led away by some acci- 
 dental analogies of sound, theologians have gen- 
 erally believed that they could trace an affinity 
 with the Hebrew, Spanish colonists with the 
 Basque and the English, or French settlers with 
 Gaelic, Erse, or the Bas Breton. I one day met 
 on the coast of Peru, a Spanish naval officer and 
 an Englisli whaling captain, the foritier of whom 
 declared tliathe had heard Basque spoken at Ta- 
 hiti; the other, Gaelic or Erse at the Saudwich 
 Islands." 
 
 Carver became very poor wliile in England, 
 and was a clerk in a lottery-office. He died in 
 1780, and left a widow, two sons, and five daught- 
 ers, in New England, and also a cliild by another 
 wife tliat he had married in (ireat Britain 
 
 After liis death a claim was urged for the land 
 upon which the capital of Minnesota now stands' 
 and for many miles adjacent. As there are still 
 many i)ersons who believe that they have some 
 right through certain deeds purporting to be from 
 the heirs of Carver, it is a matter worthy of an 
 investigation. 
 
 Carver says nothing in his Ijook of travels in re- 
 lation to a grant from the Dahkotahs, but after 
 he w-as buried, it was asserted that there was a 
 deed belonging to him in existence, conveying 
 valuable lands, and that said deed was executed 
 at the cave now in the eastern suburbs of Saint 
 Paul. 
 
 DEED PURPORTINt^ TO HAVE BEEN GIVEN AT 
 THE CAVE IN THE BLUFF BELOW' ST. PaUL. 
 
 " To Jonathan Carver, c chief under the most 
 mighty and potent George the Third, King of the 
 English and other nr,tions, the fame of wiiose 
 warriors has reached our ears, and has now been 
 fully told us by our good brother Jonatliun. afore- 
 said, whom we rejoice to have come among us, 
 and bring us good news from his country. 
 
 "We, chiefs of the Naudowessies, wiio have 
 hereunto set our seals, do by these presents, for 
 ourselves and heirs forever, in return for tlie aid 
 and oilier good services done by the said Jona- 
 
 than to ourselves and allies, give grant and con- 
 vey to him, the said Jonathan, and to his heirs 
 and assigns forever, the wiiole of a certain tract 
 or territory of land, bounded as follows, ^iz: from 
 the Falls of St. Anthony, running on the 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, accoimting 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 the said Jo- 
 nathan, his heirs and assigns, with all the trees, 
 rocks, and rivers therein, reserving the sole lib- 
 erty of hunting and fisliing on land not planted 
 or improved by the said Jonathan, his heirs and 
 assigns, to wiiich we have affixed our respective 
 seals. 
 
 " At the Great Cave, May 1st. 1767, 
 
 "Signed, HAWXOPAWJATm. 
 
 OTOHTGXGOOMLISHEAW. " 
 
 The original deed was never exhibited by the 
 assignees of the heirs. By his English wife Car- 
 ver had one child, a daughter Jilartha, who was 
 cared for by Sir Richard and Lady Pearson, In 
 time she eloped and married a sailor, A mercan- 
 tile firm in London, thinking that money could 
 be made, induced the new ly married couple, the 
 day after the wedding, to convey the grant to 
 them, with the understanding that they were to 
 have a tenth of the profits. 
 
 The merchants despatched an agent by the 
 name of Clarke to go to the Dahkotahs, and ob- 
 tain a new deed; but on his way he was murdered 
 in the state of New York, 
 
 In the year 1794, the liehs of Carver's Ameri- 
 "can wife, in consideration of fifty thousand pounds 
 sterling, conveyed their interest in the Carver 
 grant to Edward Houghton of Vermont. In the 
 year 180(5, Sanmel Peters, who had been a tory 
 and an Episcopal minister during the Revolu- 
 tionary Avar, alleges, in a petition to Congress, 
 tliat he had also piurchased of the heii's of Carver 
 their rights to the grant. 
 
 Before the Senate committee, tlie same year, 
 he testified as follows: 
 
 "In the year ]774,Iamved theio (London), 
 and met Captain Carver. In 177"), Carver had a 
 hearing before the king, praying his majesty's 
 approval of a deed of laud dated ^lay first, 17(J7, 
 
VyiTKl) bTATEti B EJECT CAHVEirS i'l.AIM. 
 
 71 
 
 and sold and jjianted to liini by the Naudowissies. 
 The lesulL was his majesty approved of the exer- 
 tions and bravery of Captain ("arver among the 
 Indian nations, near the Falls of St. Anthony, in 
 the Mississippi, gave to said Carver 1371?. 13«. Sd. 
 sterling, and ordered a frigate to be prepared, 
 and a transport ship to carry one hundred and 
 fifty men, nnder command of Captain Carver, \\'M\ 
 four others as a committee, to sail the next June 
 to New Orleans, and then to ascend the ilissis- 
 sippi. to takepossessionof said territory conveyed 
 to Captain Carver ; but the battle of Bunker Hill 
 prevented." 
 
 In 1S21, General Leavenworth, having made 
 intjuiries of the Dahkotahs, in relation to the 
 alleged claim, addressed the following to the 
 commissioner of the land office : 
 
 " Sir: — Agreeably to your request, I have the 
 honour to inform you wliat I have understood 
 from the Indians of the Sioux Nation, as well as 
 some facts within my own knowledge, as to what 
 is commonly termed Carver's Grant. The grant 
 purports til be made by the chiefs of the Sioux 
 of the Plains, and one of the chiefs uses the sign 
 of a serpent, and the other of a turtle, purport- 
 ing that their names are derived from those ani- 
 mals. 
 
 ''The land lies on the east side of the Mississ- 
 ippi. The Indians do not recognize or acknowl 
 edge the grant to be valid, and they among others 
 assign the following reasons: 
 
 "1. The Sioux of the Plains never owned a 
 foot of land on the east side of the Mississippi. 
 The Sioux Nation is divided into two grand di- 
 visions, \iz: The Sioux of the Lake; or perhaps 
 more literally Sioux of the River, and Sioux of 
 the Plain. The former subsists by hunting and 
 fishing, and usually move from place to place by 
 water, in canoes, during the summer season, and 
 travel on the ice in the winter, when not on 
 their hunting excursions. The latter subsist en- 
 tirely by hunting, and have no canoes, nor do 
 they know but little about the use of them. They 
 reside in the large prairies west of theMississipiii, 
 and follow the buffalo, iiiion which they entirely 
 subsist; these are called Sioux of tlie Plain, and 
 never owned land east of the Mississippi. 
 
 "2. The Indians say they have no knowledge 
 of any such chiefs as those who have signed the 
 grant to Carver, eitlier amongst the Sioux of tlie 
 
 River or the Sioux of the Plain. They say that 
 if Captain (!arver did ever obtain a deed or 
 grant, it was signed by some foolish young men 
 who were not cliiefs and who were not author- 
 ized to make a grant. Among the Sioux of the 
 Hiver there are no such names. 
 
 "3. They say the Indians never received any- 
 lliing for the land, and they have no intention to 
 part with it without a consideration. From my 
 knowledge of tlie Indians. I am induced to tliink 
 tliey would not make so considerable a grant, and 
 liave it to go into full effect without receiving a 
 substantial consi<leration. 
 
 '• 4. They have, and ever have had, the pos- 
 session of the land, and intend to keep it. I 
 know that they are very particular in making 
 every person who wislies to cut timber on that 
 tract obtain their iiermission to do so, and to ob- 
 tain payment for it. In the month of May last, 
 some Frenchmen brouglitalarge raft of red cedar 
 timber out of the Chippewa River, which timber 
 was cut on the tract before mentioned. The In- 
 dians at one of the villages on the Mississippi, 
 where the principal chief resided, compelled the 
 Frenchmen to land the raft, and would not per- 
 mit them to pass until they had received pay for 
 the timber, and the Frenchmen were compelled 
 to leave their raft with the Indians imtil they 
 went to Prairie du Cliien, and obtained the nec- 
 essary articles, and made the payment required." 
 
 On the twenty-third of January, 1823, the Com- 
 mittee of Public Lands made a report on the 
 claim to the Senate, wliich, to every disinterested 
 person, is enth'ely satisfactory. After stating 
 the facts of tlie petition, the report continues: 
 
 " The Rev. Samuel Peters, in his petition, fur- 
 ther states that Lefei, the present Emperor of 
 the Sioux and Naudowessies, and Red AVing, a 
 sachem, the heirs and successors of the two grand 
 chiefs who signed the said deed to Captain Car- 
 ver, have given satisfactory and positive proof 
 that they allowed tlieir ancestors" deed to bo gen- 
 uine, good, and valid, and that Captain Carver's 
 heirs and assigns are the owners of said territory, 
 and may occupy it free of all molestation. 
 
 The committee have examined and considered 
 the claims thus exhiliited by the petitioners, and 
 remark that the original deed is not produced, nor 
 any competent legal evidence offered of its execu- 
 tion : nor is there any proof that the persons, who 
 
72 
 
 EXPLOBEBS AND PI0NEEB8 OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 it is alleged made the deed, were the chiefs of 
 said tribe, nor that {if chiefs) they had authority 
 to grant and give away the land belonging to their 
 tribe. The paper annexed to the petition, as a 
 copy of said deed, has no subscribing witnesses ; 
 and it would seem impossible, at this remote pe- 
 riod, to ascertain the important fact, that the per- 
 sons who signed the deed comprehended and 
 understood the meaning and effect of their act. 
 
 "The want of proof as to these facts, would 
 interpose in the way of the claimants insuperable 
 difficulties. But, in the opinion of the committee, 
 the claim is not such as the United States are 
 mider any obligation to allow, even if the deed 
 were proved in legal form. 
 
 " The British govenmient, before the time when 
 the alleged deed bears date, had deemed it pru- 
 dent and necessary for the preservation of peace 
 with the Indian tribes under their sovereignty, 
 protection and dominion, to prevent British sub- 
 jects from purchasing lands from the Indians, 
 and this rule of policy was made known and en- 
 forced by the proclamation of the kmg of Great 
 Britain, of seventh October, 1763, which contains 
 an express prohibition. 
 
 " Captain Carver, aware of the law, and know- 
 ing that such a contract could not vest the legal 
 title in him, applied to the British government to 
 ratify and conlirm the Indian grant, and, though 
 it was competent for that government then to 
 confirm the grant, and vest the title of said land 
 
 in him, yet. from some cause, that government 
 did not think proper to do it. 
 
 " The territory has since become the property 
 of the United States, and an Indian grant not 
 good against the British government, would ap- 
 pear to be not binding unon the United States 
 government. 
 
 " What benefit the British government derived 
 from the services of Captain Carver, by his trav- 
 els and residence among the Indians, that gov- 
 ernment alone could determine, and alone could 
 judge what remuneration those services deserved. 
 
 " One fact appears from the declaration of Mr. 
 Peters, in liis statement in writing, among the 
 papers exhibited, namely, that the British gov- 
 ernment did give Captain Carver the sum of one 
 thousand three hundred and seventy-five pomids 
 six shillings and eight pence sterling. To the 
 United States, however. Captain Carver rendered 
 no services which could be assumed as any equit- 
 able ground for the support of the petitioners' 
 claim. 
 
 " The committee being of opinion that the 
 United States are not bound in law and equity to 
 confirm the said alleged Indian grant, recom- 
 mend tlie adoption of tlie resolution: 
 
 "' Besolved, That the prayer of the petitioners 
 ought not to be granted."" ' 
 
 Lord Palmerston stated in 1839, that no trace 
 could be foinid in the records of the British 
 office of state papers, showing any ratification of 
 the Carver grant. 
 
EXl'LORATloys JlV LIEUTEyAX r z. u. rii<h\ 
 
 73 
 
 CIIAI'TKK XTI. 
 
 EXPLORATION I5Y THE FIRST UNITIID STATES AKJIY OFFICKU, LrETTTENANT 7.. 31. I'lK'K. 
 
 "TiatCB Posts at the hc^inning of Nineteenth Century.— Sandy Lake Fort.— 
 I.ceot. Lake Furt, — Willinm Morrison, before Schoolcraft at Itasca Lake.— Divi- 
 sion or Northwest Territory.- Organization of Indiiina, Michigan and Upper 
 Louisiana.— Notices of Wo-'d, Frazer, Fisher, Cameron, Faribault.— Early 
 Tradem.— Pike's Council at Mouth of Minnesota River.— Grant for Militarj- 
 Posts. — tMcauipment at Falls of St. Anthony.— Block House near Sw.an River. 
 —Visit to Sandy and Leech Lakes.— British Flag Shot at and Lowered.— 
 Thonip»on, Topographer ol Northwest Company, — Pike at Dickson's Trading 
 Post —Returns to Mendota. — Fails to find Carver's Cave.— Conference with 
 Little Crow. —Cameron sells Liijuor to Indians. 
 
 At the beginning of tlie present centnry, the 
 region now luiown as iliimesota, contiuiit'tl no 
 wiiite men, except a few engaged in the fur trade. 
 In the treaty effected by Hon. Jolm Jay, Great 
 Britain agreed to withdraw her troops from all 
 posts and places witliLu certain boundary lines, 
 on or before the first of June, 1796. liut all Brit- 
 ish settlers and traders might remain for one 
 year, and enjoy all their former privileges, with- 
 out being obliged to be citizens of the United 
 States of America. 
 
 In the year 1800, the trading posts of Minnesota 
 were chiefly held by the Xorthwest Company, 
 and their chief traders resided at Sandy Lake, 
 Leech Lake, and Fon du Lac, on St. Louis Kiver. 
 In the year 1794, this company binlt a stockade 
 one hundred feet square, on the southeast end of 
 Sandy Lake. Tlitn'e were bastions pierced for 
 small arms, in the southeast and in the northwest 
 comer. The pickets which surrounded the post 
 were thirteen feet high. On the north side there 
 was a gate ten by nine feet ; on the west side, one 
 six by five feet, and ou the east side a third gate 
 six by five feet. Travelers entering the main 
 gate, saw on the left a one story Imilding twenty 
 feet square, the residence of the supeiintendent, 
 and on the left of the east gate, a building twenty- 
 live by fifteen, the quarters of tlie voyagetiis. 
 Entering tlie western gate, on the left was a stone 
 liouse, twenty by tliirty feet, and a house twenty 
 by forty feet, used as a store, and a workshop, 
 and a residence for clerks. On the soutl;^ sliore 
 of Leech Lake there was another establishment, 
 i little larger. The stocksule was one liundred 
 
 and fifty feet square. The main building was 
 sixty by twenty-five feet, and one and a half stcuy 
 In height, where resided the Director of the fur 
 trade of tlie Fond du Lac department of the ^S^ortli- 
 west Company. In the centre was a small store, 
 twelve and a half feet si]uaie, and near the main 
 gate was flagstaff fifty feet in height, from 
 which used to float the flag of Great Britain. 
 
 William Morrison was, in 1S02, the trader at 
 Leech Lake, and in 1804 he was at Elk Lake, the 
 source of the Mississippi, thirty-two years after- 
 wards named by Schoolcraft, Lake Itasca. 
 
 The entire force of the Northwest Company, 
 west of Lake Superior, in 180-5, consisted of three 
 accountants, nineteen clerks, t^vo interpreters, 
 eighty-five canoe men, and with them were 
 twenty-nine Indian or half-breed women, and 
 about fifty children. 
 
 On the seventh of May, 1800, the Northwest 
 Territory, which included all of the western 
 country east of the Mississippi, was divided. 
 The portion not designated as Ohio, was organ- 
 ized as the TeiTitory of Indiana. 
 
 On the twentieth of December, 1803, tlie 
 province of Louisiana, of which that portion of 
 Minnesota west of the ilississippi was a part, 
 was officially delivered up by the French, wlio 
 liad just obtained it from the Spaniards, accord- 
 ing to treaty stipulations. 
 
 To the transfer of Louisiana by France, after 
 twenty days' possession. Spain at first objected; 
 but in 1.S04 withdrew all opposition. 
 
 President Jefferson now deemed it an object 
 of paramount importance for the United States 
 to explore the country so recently acquired, and 
 make the acquaintance of the tribes residing 
 therein; and steps were taken for an expedition 
 to the upper Mississippi. 
 
 Early in :March, 1804. Captain Stoddard, of the 
 L'nited States army, arrived at St. Louis, the 
 agent of the J'^rench Republic, to receive fnim 
 
74 
 
 EXPLOBEBS AND PIONEmiS OF MIJ^JSlJ<]iiOTA. 
 
 the Spanish authorities tlie possession of the 
 country, which he immediately transfen'ed to tlie 
 United States. 
 
 As tlie old settlers, on the tenth of March, saw 
 the ancient flag of Spain displaced by that of the 
 United States, the tears coursed down their 
 cheeks. 
 
 On the twentieth of the same month, the terri- 
 tory of Upper Louisiana was constituted, com- 
 prising tlie present states of Arkansas, Missouri, 
 Iowa, and a large portion of Minnesota. 
 
 On the eleventh of January. 1805, the terri- 
 tory of Michigan was organized. 
 
 The first American officer who visited Minne- 
 sota, on business of a public nature, was one who 
 was an ornament to his profession, and in energy 
 and endurance a true representative of the citi- 
 zens of the United States. We refer to the 
 gallant Zebulon Montgomery Pike, a native of 
 New Jersey, who afterwards fell in battle at 
 York, Upper Canada, and whose loss was justly 
 mourned by the whole nation. 
 
 When a young lieutenant, he was ordered by 
 General Wilkinsjpn to visit the region now known 
 as Minnesota, and expel the British traders who 
 were found violating the laws of the United 
 States, and form alliances with the Indians. 
 With only a few common soldiers, he was obliged 
 to do the work of several men. At times ho 
 would precede his party for miles to reconnoitre, 
 and then he would do the duty of hunter. 
 
 During the day he would perform the part of 
 surveyor, geologist, and astronomer, and at night, 
 though hungry and fatigued, his lofty enthu- 
 siasm kept him awake until he copied the notes, 
 and plotted the courses of the day. 
 
 On the 4th day of September, 1805, Pike ar- 
 rived at Prairie du Chien, from. St. Louis, and 
 was jiolitely treated by three traders, all born un- 
 der the flag of the United Stales. One was named 
 Wood, anotlier Fiazer, a nati\e of Vermont, 
 wlio, when a young man became a clerk of one 
 r.lakely, of ^Montreal, and thus became a fur 
 trader. The third was Henry Fisher, a captain 
 of tlie Militia, and Justice of the Peace, whose 
 wife was a daughter of Goutier de Verville. 
 Fisher was said to have been a nephew of Pres- 
 (lent Momoe, and later in life traded at the 
 sources of the Minnesota. One of his daughters 
 was the mother of Joseph Rolette, Jr., a mem- 
 
 ber of the early Minnesota Legislative assem- 
 blies. Ou the eighth of the month Lieutenant 
 Pike left Prairie du Chien, in two batteaux, with 
 Sergeant Henry Kennerman, Corporals William 
 E. Mack and Samuel Bradley, and ten privates. 
 
 At La Crosse, Frazer, of Prairie du Chien, 
 overtook him, and at Sandy point of Lake Pepin 
 he found a trader, a Scotchman by the name of 
 Murdoch Cameron, with his son, and a young 
 man named John Rudsdell. On the twonty- 
 first he breakfasted with the Kaposia band of 
 Sioux, who then dwelt at the marsh below Day- 
 ton's Bluff, a few miles below St. Paul. The 
 same day he passed three miles from Mendota 
 the encampment of J. B. Faribault, a trader and 
 native of Lower Canada, then about thirty years 
 of age, in which vicinity he continued for more 
 than fifty years. He married Pelagie the daugh- 
 ter of Francis Kinnie by an Indian woman, 
 and his eldest son. Alexander, bom soon after 
 Pike's visit, was the foimder of the town of 
 Faribault. 
 
 Arriving at the confluence of the Minnesota 
 and the Mississippi Rivers, Pike and his soldiers 
 encamped on the Kortheast point of the island 
 which still bears his name. The next day was 
 Sunday, and he visited Cameron, at his trading 
 post on the Minnesota River, a short distance 
 above Mendota. 
 
 On Monday, the 23d of September, at noon, 
 he held a Council with the Sioux, under a cover- 
 ing made by suspending sails, and gave an ad- 
 mirable talk, a portion of wMch was as follows : 
 
 " Brothers, I am happy to meet you here, at 
 this council fire which your fatlier has sent me to 
 kindle, and to take you by the hands, as our chil- 
 dren. We having but lately acquired from the 
 Spanish, the extensive territory of Louisiana, our 
 general has thought proper to send out a number 
 of his warriors to visitall his red children ; to tell 
 them his will, and to hear what request they may 
 have to make of their father. I am happy the 
 choice fell on me to come this road, as I find 
 my brothers, the Sioux, ready to listen to my 
 words. 
 
 " Brothers, it is the wish of our government to 
 establish military jto.sts on the Upper Mississippi, 
 at such places as might be thought expedient. I 
 have, therefore, examined the country, and have 
 liilched on the mouth of the river St. Croix, this 
 
Clh'AyT OF LAMJ FROM THE HJOIX. 
 
 place, <aiul the tails of St. Anthony ; I therefore 
 wish jou to grant to the United States, nine 
 miles square, at St. Croix, and at this place, from 
 a league below the conlluence of the St. Peter's 
 anil Mississippi, to a league above St. Anthony, 
 extending three leagues on each side of the river ; 
 and as we are a people who are accnstouied to 
 have all our acts written down, hi order to have 
 them handed to our cliildren, I have drawn up a 
 form of an agreement, winch we will both sign, 
 in the presence of tlie traders now present. After 
 we know the terms, we will till it up, and have it 
 read and interpreted to you. 
 
 '■ Brothers, those posts are intended as a bene- 
 fit to you. The old chiefs now jtrcsent must see 
 that their situation improves by a coninuinieation 
 with the whites. It is the intention of the United 
 States to establish at those posts factories, in 
 which the Indians may procure all their things 
 at a cheaper and better rate than tliey do now, or 
 than your traders can affoi'd to sell them to you, 
 as they are single men, who come from far in 
 small boats; but your fathers are many and 
 strong, and will come with a strong arm, in large 
 boats. There will also be chiefs here, -who can 
 attend to the wants of their brothei's, without 
 their sending or goLiig all the way to St. Loins, 
 and will see the traders that go up j'our rivers, 
 and know that they are good men. * * * * 
 
 " Brothers, I now present you with some of 
 your father's tobacco, and some other trifling 
 thhigs, as a memorandum of my good will, and 
 before my departure I will give yo>i some liipior 
 to clear your throats." 
 
 The traders, Cameron and Frazer, sat witli 
 Pike. His interpr«ter was I'ierre Rosseau. 
 jlmong the Chiefs present were Le Petit Cor- 
 beau (Little Crow), and Way-ago Enagee, and 
 L'Orignal Leve or Eising Moose. It was with 
 difficidty that the chiefs signe<l the following 
 agreement ; not that they objected to the lan- 
 guage, but because they thought tlieir word 
 should be taken, witliout any mark ; but Pike 
 overcame their objection, liy saying that he wished 
 them to sign it on his account. 
 
 " Wliereas, at a conference held between the 
 United States of America and the Sioux na- 
 tion of Indians, Lieutenant Z. M. Pike, of the 
 army of the United States, and the chiefs and 
 warriors of said tribe, have ao'reed to the follow- 
 
 ing articles, which, when ratilitd and approved of 
 by the proper authority, shall be binding on both 
 part ies : 
 
 Art. 1. That the Sioux nation grant unto the 
 United States, for the purpose of estabUshment 
 of military posts, nine miles square, at the mouth 
 of tlieSt. Croix, also from below the continence 
 of the ^Mississippi and St. Peter's, up tlie Missis- 
 sijipi to include the Falls of St. Anthony, extend- 
 ing nine miles on each side of the river ; that tlie 
 Sioux Nation grants to the United States the full 
 sovereignty and power over said district forever. 
 Art. 2. That in consideration of the above 
 grants, the United States shall pay [niled ii]i by 
 the Senate with 2,000 dollarsj. 
 
 Art. 3. The United States promise, on their 
 part, to permit the Sioux to pass and repass, hunt, 
 or make other use of the said districts, as they 
 have formerly done, without any other exception 
 than those specified in ai'ticle first. 
 
 In testimony whereof, we, the undersigned, 
 have hereunto set our hands and seals, at the 
 month of the river St. Peter's, on the 2od day of 
 September, 1805. 
 
 Z. M. PIKE, [L. S.] 
 1st Lieutenant and agent at tlie aliove conference. 
 
 his 
 
 LE PETIT COKBEAU. y, [L. S.J 
 
 mark 
 
 his 
 
 WAY-AGO ENAGEE. X [L. S.] 
 
 mark " 
 
 The following entries from Pike's .biurnal, des- 
 criptive of the region around the city of Minne- 
 apolis, seventy-five years ago, are wortliy of jires- 
 ervation: 
 
 '•Sept. 26th. 77/ Kcsdw/.— Embarked at the usual 
 hour, and after much labor in passing through 
 the rapids, arrived at the foot of the Falls about 
 three or four o'clock; unloaded my boat, and had 
 the principal part of her cargo carried over the 
 portage. With the other boat, however, full 
 loaded, they were not able to get over the last 
 shoot, and encamped about six yards below. I 
 pitched my tent and encamped above the shoot. 
 Tlie rapids mentioned in this day's march, might 
 properly be called a continuation of the Falls of 
 St. Anthony, for they are eipially entitled to this 
 awiellation. with the Falls of the Delawwe and 
 
76 
 
 EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 Susquehanna. Killed one deer. Distance nine 
 miles, 
 
 Sept. 27th, Friday. Brought over the residue 
 of my loading this morning. Two men arrived 
 from Mr. Frazer, on St. Peters, for my dispatches. 
 This business, closing and sealing, appeared like 
 a last adieu to the civilized world. Sent a large 
 packet to the General, and a letter to Mrs. Pike, 
 with a short note to Mr. Frazer. Two young 
 Indians brought my flag across by land, who ar- 
 rived yesterday, just as we came in sight of the 
 Fall. I made them a present for their punctual- 
 ity and expedition, and the danger they were ex- 
 posed to from the journey. Carried our boats out 
 of the river, as far as the bottom of the hill. 
 
 Ski't. 28th, Saturday. — Brought my barge over, 
 and put her in the river above the Falls. While 
 we were engaged with her three-fourths miles 
 from camp, seven Indians painted black, appeared 
 on the lieights. We had left our guns at the 
 camp and were entirely defenceless. It occurred 
 to me that they were the small party of Sioux who 
 were obstinate, and would go to war, when the 
 other part of the bands came in ; these they 
 proved to be ; they were better armed than any I 
 had ever seen ; having guns, bows, arrows, clubs, 
 spears, and some of them even a case of pistols. 
 I was at that. time giving my men a dram; and 
 giving the cup of liquor to the first, he di-ank it 
 off ; but I was more cautious with the remainder. 
 I sent my interpreter to camp with them, to wait 
 my coming ; wisliing to purchase one oi their war 
 clubs, it being made of elk horn, and decorated 
 with inlaid work. This and a set of bows and 
 arrows I wished to get as a curiosity. But the 
 liquor I had given him began to operate, he came 
 back for me, but refusing to go till I brought my 
 boat, he retiu-ned, and (I suppose being offended) 
 borrowed a canoe and crossed the river. In the 
 afternoon got the other boat near the top of the 
 hill, when the props gave way, and she slid all the 
 way dovn\ to the bottom, but fortiuiately without 
 injuring any person. It raining very hard, W'e 
 left her. Killed one goose and a racoon. 
 
 SiSPT. 29th, Si(nday.—l killed a remarka'-ily 
 large racoon. Got our large boat over the port- 
 age, and put her in the river, at the upper land- 
 ing; this night the men gave sufficient proof of 
 their fatigue, by all throwing thenisclvcs down to 
 sleep, preferring rest to supper. This day I had 
 
 but fifteen men out of twenty-two ; the others 
 were sick. This voyage could have been per- 
 formed with great convenience, if we had taken 
 our departure in June. But the proper time 
 would be to leave the lUinois as soon as the ice 
 would permit, when the river would be of a good 
 height. 
 
 Sept. 30th, Monday. — Loaded my boat, moved 
 over and encamped on the Island. The large boats 
 loading likewise, we went over and put on board. 
 In the mean time, I took a survey of the Falls, 
 Portage, etc. If it be possible to pass the Falls 
 in high water, of which I am doubtful, it must 
 be on the East side, about thirty yards from 
 shore ; as there are three layers of rocks, one be- 
 low the other. The pitch off of either, is not 
 more than five feet ; but of this I can say more 
 on my return. 
 
 On the tenth of October, the expedition 
 reached some large island below Sauk Rapids, 
 where in 1797, Porlier and Joseph Renville had 
 wmtered. Six days after this, he reached the 
 Rapids in Morrison coimty, which stiU bears his 
 name, and he writes: "When we arose in the 
 morning, foimd that snow had fallen during the 
 night, the ground was covered and it continued 
 to snow. This, indeed, was but poor encourage- 
 ment for attacking the Rapids, in which we were 
 certain to wade to our necks. I was determined, 
 however, if possible to make la riviere de Cor- 
 bean, [Crow Wing River], the highest point was 
 made by traders in their bark canoes. We em- 
 barked, and after four hours work, became so 
 benumbed with cold that our limbs were perfectly 
 useless. We put to shore on the opposite side of 
 the river, about two-thirds of the way up the 
 rapids. Built a large fire ; and then discovered 
 that our boats were nearly half full of water; 
 both having sprung large leaks so as to oblige me 
 to keep three hands bailing. My sergeant (Ken- 
 nerman) one of the stoutest men I ever knew, 
 broke a blood-vessel and vomited nearly two 
 quarts of blood. One of my corporals (Bradley) 
 also evacuated nearly a pint of blood, when he 
 attempted to void his urine. These unhappy 
 circumstances, in addition to the inability of 
 four other men wliom we were obliged to leave 
 on shore, convinced me, that if I had no regard 
 for my own health and constitution, I should 
 ha\e some for those poor fellows, who were kiU- 
 
PIKES BLOCK HOUSE NEAR SWA\ UnKli. 
 
 injr themselves to obey my orders. ^Vfter we had 
 breakfast and refreshed ourselves, we w^eiit down 
 to our boats on the rocks, where I was obliged to 
 leave them. I then informed my men that we 
 would retimi to the camp and there leave some 
 of the party and our large boats. This informa- 
 tion was pleasing, and the attempt to reach the 
 camp soon accomplished. Jly reasons for this 
 step have partly been already stated. The nec- 
 essity of imloading and refitting my buats, tlie 
 beauty and convenience of the spot for building 
 huts, the fine pine trees for peroques, and the 
 quantity of game, were additional inducements. 
 Vi'e immediately miloaded our boats and secured 
 their cargoes. In the evening I went out upon a 
 small, but beautiful creek, which emptied into 
 the Falls, for the piu-pose of selecting pine trees 
 to make canoes. Saw five deer, and killed one 
 buck weighing one hundred and thirty-seven 
 pounds. By my leaving men at tliis place, and 
 from the great quantities of game in its vicinity, 
 I was ensured plenty of provision for my return 
 voyage. In the party left behuid was one hunter, 
 to be contmually employed, who woidd keep o>ir 
 stock of salt provisions good. Distance two 
 hundred and thirty-three and a half miles above 
 the FaUs of St. Anthony. 
 
 Having left his large boats and some soldiers 
 at this point, he proceeded to the vicinity of 
 Swan iliver where he erected a block house, and 
 on the thirty-first of October he writes: '-En- 
 closed my little work completely with pickets. 
 Hauled up my two boats and turned them over 
 on each side of the gateways ; by which means 
 a defence was made to the river, and had it not 
 been for various political reasons, I W'ould have 
 laughed at the attack of eight hundred or a 
 thousand savages, if all my party were within. 
 For. excejit accidents, it would only have afford- 
 ed amusement, the Indians having no idea of 
 taking a place by storm. Found myself power- 
 fully attacked with the fantastics of the brain, 
 called ennui, at the mention of which I had 
 hitherto scoffed ; but my books being packed up, 
 I was like a person entranced, and could easily 
 conceive why so many persons who have been 
 confined to remote places, acquire the habit of 
 drinking to excess, and many other vicious prac- 
 tices, which have been adopted merely to j^ass 
 time. 
 
 During the next month he himted the buffalo 
 which were then in that vicinity. On the third 
 of December he received a visit from Kobert 
 Dickson, afterwards noted in the history of the 
 country, who was then trading about sixty miles- 
 below, on the Mississipiii. 
 
 On the tenth of December with some sleds he 
 continued his journey northward, and on the last 
 day of the year passed I'uie Kiver. On tlie third 
 of January, 1806, he reached the trading jjost at 
 Red Cedar, now Cass Lake, and was quite indig- 
 nant at finding tlie British fiag fioating from the 
 staff. The niglit after this his tent caught on 
 fire, and he lost some valuable and necessary 
 cl( thing. On the evening of the eighth he reach- 
 ed .Sandy Lake and was hospitably received by 
 (irant, the trader in cliarge. He writes . 
 
 " Jan. 9th, Thurttday. — Marched the corjioral 
 early, in order that our men should receive 
 assurance of our safety and success. He carried 
 with him a small keg of spirits, a present from 
 JSIr. Grant. The establishment of this place was 
 formed twelve years since, by the North-west 
 Company, and was formerly under the charge of 
 a Mr. Charles Brusky. It has attained at present 
 such regularity, as to permit the superintendent 
 to live tolerably comfortable. They liave horses 
 they procured from Red Kiver, of t!ie Indians; 
 raise plenty of Irish potatoes, catch pike, suckers, 
 pickerel, and white fish in abundance. Tliey 
 have also beaver, deer, and moose ; but the pro- 
 vision they chiefly depend upon is wild oats, of 
 which they purchase great quantities from tlie 
 savages, giving at the rate of about one dollar 
 and a half per bushel. But flour, pork, and salt, 
 are almost interdicted to persons not principals 
 in the trade. Flour sells at half a dollar; salt a 
 dollar; pork eigiity cents; sugar half a dollar; 
 antl tea four dollars and fifty cents per pound. 
 The sugar is obtained from the Indians, and is 
 made from the maple tree." 
 
 He remained at Sandy Lake ten days, and on 
 the last day two men of the Northwest Company 
 arrived with letters from Fon du Lac Suiierior, 
 one of which was from .Vtliapuscow, and had 
 been since May on the route. 
 
 On the twentieth of January began his journey 
 to Leech Lake, which he reached on the first of 
 February, and was hospitably received by Hugh 
 
78 
 
 EXPLOBEBS AND PIO^'EEBS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 JilcGillis, the head of the Korthwest Company at 
 this post. 
 
 A Mr. ^Viiilerson, in the employ of Kobert 
 Dickson, was residing at the west end of thelalve. 
 "While here he hoisted the American flag in the 
 fort. The English yacht still flying at the top of 
 the flagstaff, he directed the Indians and his sol- 
 diers to shoot at it. They soon broke the iron 
 pin to which it was fastened, and it fell to the 
 ground. He was informed by a venerable old 
 Ojibway chief, called Sweet, that the Sioux dwelt 
 there when he was a youth. On the tenth of 
 February, at ten o'clock, he left Leech Lake with 
 Corporal Bradley, the trader !McGillis and two of 
 his men. and at sunset arrived at Ked Cedar, now 
 Cass Lake. At this i)Iace, in 1798, Thompson, 
 employed by the Northwest Company for three 
 years, in topographical surveys, made some ob- 
 servations. He believed that a line from the 
 Lake of the Woods would touch the sources of 
 the Mississippi. Pike, at this point, was very 
 kindly treated by a Canadian named Roy, and his 
 Ojibway squaw. On his retiu'ii home, he reached 
 Clear Kiver on the seventh of April, where he 
 found his canoe and men. and at night was at 
 Grand Rapids, Dickson's trading post. He talked 
 until foiu- o'clock the next morning with this 
 person and another trader named PorUer. He 
 forbade while there, the traders Greignor [Grig- 
 non] and La Jennesse, to sell any more liquor to 
 Indians, who had become very drunken and un- 
 ruly. On the tenth he again reached the Falls 
 of Saint Anthony. He writes in his journal as 
 follows : 
 
 April 11th, Fridny. — Although it snowed very 
 hard we brought over both boats, and descended 
 the river to the island at the entrance of the St. 
 Peter's. I sent to the chiefs and informed them 
 I had something to communicate to them. The 
 Fils de Piucho immediately waited on me, and 
 informed me that he would provide a place for 
 tlie purpose. Aliout sundown I was sent for and 
 introduced into the council-house, where I fomid 
 a great many chiefs of the Sussitongs, Gens de 
 Feuilles, and the (Jens du Lac. The Yanctongs 
 had not yet come down. They were all awaiting 
 for my arrival. There were about one hundred 
 lodges, or six hundred people; we were saluted 
 on our crossing tlie river with ball as usual. The 
 council-house was two large lodges, capable of 
 
 containing three hundred men. In the upper 
 were forty chiefs, and as many pipes set against 
 the poles, alongside of which I had the Santeur's 
 pipes arranged. I then informed them in short 
 detail, of my transactions with the Santeure; but 
 my interpreters were not capable of making them- 
 selves underetood. I was therefore obhged to 
 omit mentioning every particular relative to the 
 rascal wlio fired on my sentinel, and of the scoun- 
 drel who broke the Fols Avoins' canoes, and 
 threatened my life; the interpreters, however, in- 
 formed them that I wanted some of their princi- 
 pal chiefs to go to St. Louis; and that those who 
 thought proper might descend to the prairie, 
 where we would give them more explicit infor- 
 mation. They all smoked out of the Santeur's 
 pipe, excepting three, who were pamted black, 
 and were some of those who lost their relations 
 last whiter. I invited the Fils de Pinchow, and 
 the son of the Killeur Rouge, to come over and 
 sup with me; when ilr. Dickson and myself en- 
 deavored to explam what I intended to have said 
 to them, could I have made myself imderstood; 
 that at the prairie we would have all things ex- 
 plained; that I was desh-ous of making a better 
 report of them than Captain Lewis could do from 
 their treatment of him. The former of those 
 savages was the person who remained around my 
 post all last winter, and treated my men so well; 
 they endeavored to excuse their people. 
 
 "AritiL 12th, Satitrday. — Embarked early. Al- 
 though my interpreter had been frequently up the 
 river, he could not tell me where the cave (spoken 
 of by Carver) could be fomid ; we carefully 
 sought for it, but in vain. At the Indian ^•illage, 
 a few miles below St. Peter's, we were about to 
 pass a few lodges, but on receiving a very partic- 
 ular invitation to come on shore, we landed, and 
 were received in a lodge kindly; they presented 
 us sugar. I gave the proprietor a dram, and was 
 about to depart when he demanded a kettle of 
 liipior; on being refused, and after I had left the 
 sliore, he told me he did not like the arrange- 
 ments, and that he would go to war this summer. 
 I directed tlie interpreter to tell him that if I 
 returned to St. Peter's with the troops, I would 
 settle that affair with him. On our arrival at the 
 St. Croix, I found the Pettit Corboau with his 
 people, and Messrs. Frazer and "Wood. We had 
 a conference, when the Pettit Corbeau made 
 
CAMERON SELLS LlqlOll TO IShlANS. 
 
 7!) 
 
 many apologies for the miscoiuluct of his people; 
 lie represented to ns llie dilTcrent manners in 
 wliicli the yonng warriors liail lieen imhicing liini 
 to goto war; tliat lie liad lieeii niueli l)lanied for 
 dismissing liis party last fall; hut that he was de- 
 termined to adhere as f;ir as lay in liis power to 
 oiir instrnetions; that lie thonght it most prudent 
 to remain here and restrain the warriors. lie 
 then presented me with a beaver robe and pipe, 
 and his message to the general. That he was 
 determined to preserve peace, and make tlie road 
 clear; also a remembrance of his promised medal. 
 I made a reply, calculated to confirm him in his 
 guild intentions, and assured him that he should 
 not be the less remembered by his father, although 
 not present. I was informed that, notwithstand- 
 ing the instruction of his license, and my par- 
 ticular request, ^lurdoch Cameron had taken 
 liquor and sold it to the Indians on the river St. 
 I^eter's, and that his partner below had been 
 
 equally imprudent. I pledged myself to prose- 
 cute them according to law; for they have been 
 the occasion of great confusion, and of much 
 injury to the other traders. This day met a 
 canoe of Mr. Dickson's loaded with jirovisions, 
 under the charge of Mr. Anderson, brother of 
 the -Mr. Anderson at Leech Lake. lie politely 
 oft'ered me any provisinii he had on board {for 
 which ilr. Dickson had given me an order), but 
 not now being in want, I did not accept of any. 
 This day. i'or the lirst time, I observed the trees 
 beginning to bud, and indeed the climate seemed 
 to have changed very materially since we passed 
 the Falls of St. Anthony."" 
 
 The strife of political jiarties growing out of 
 the French Revolution, and the declaration of 
 war against Great Britain in the year 1S]:2, post- 
 poned the military occupation of the I'jiper 
 Mississippi by the United States of America, for 
 several vears. 
 
so 
 
 EXPLORERS AXD PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 CHAPTER Xin. 
 
 THE YALLliY OF THK UrPER JUSSISSIFI'I DUillNG SECOND "WAIl AVITH CHIKAT BEITAIN. 
 
 Dickson and other traders liosUlc — American stockade at rrairio du Chicn — F'>rt 
 Shelby smrenders to Lt. Col. William McKay— L.iyal traders Frovencalle and 
 Faribault— Rising Moose or One-eyed Sioux — Capt. Bulger evacuates Fort 
 McKay — latcUii^'RUce of Peace. 
 
 Not^Nithstanrliiig the professions of f riendsliip 
 made to Pike, iii the second war with Great Brit- 
 am, Dickson and others were foimd hearing arms 
 against the Republic. 
 
 A year after Pike left Prahie du Chien, it was 
 evident, that under some secret influence, the 
 Inilian trilies were combining agamst the United 
 States. In the year 1809 , Nicholas Jarrot declared 
 that the ISritisli traders were furnishing the sav- 
 ages with guns for hostile purposes. On the first 
 of May, 1812, two Indians were apprehended at 
 Cliicago, who were on tlieir way to meet Dickson 
 at Green Bay. They liad taken the precaution 
 to hide letters in their moccasins, and bury them 
 in the ground, and were allowed to proceed after 
 a brief detention. Frazer, of Prairie du Chien, 
 ■who had been with Pike at the Council at the 
 mouth of the Minnesota River, was at the port- 
 age of the Wisconsin when the Indians delivered 
 these letters, which stated that the British flag 
 would soon be flying again at ISIackinaw. At 
 Green Bay, the celebrated warrior. Black Hawk, 
 was placed m charge of the Indians wlio were to 
 aid the British. Tlie American troops at Macki- 
 naw were obliged, on the seventeenth of July, 
 1812, to capitulate -without firing a single gun. 
 One who was made prisoner, writes from Detroit 
 to the Secretary of War : 
 
 " The persons who commanded the Indians are 
 Robert Dickson, Indian trader, and John Askui, 
 Jr., Indian agent, and his son. The latter two 
 were painted and dressed after the maimer 
 of the Indians. Tliose wlio commanded the 
 Canadians are John Jobnson, Crawford, Pothier, 
 Armitinger, La Croix, Rolette, Franks, Living- 
 ston, and other traders, some of whom were lately 
 concerned in smuggling British goods into the 
 
 Indian comitry, and, in conjunction with others, 
 have been using their utmost efforts, several 
 months before the declaration of war, to excite 
 the Indians to take up arms. The least resist- 
 ance from the fort would have been attended 
 with the desti'uction of all the persons who fell 
 into the hands of the British, as I have been as- 
 sured by some of the British traders." 
 
 On the first of May, 1814, Governor Clark, 
 ■with two hundred men, left St. Louis, to build a 
 fort at the junction of the Wisconsin and Missis- 
 sippi. Twenty days before he arrived at Prah'ie 
 du Chien, Dickson had started for Mackinaw 
 with a band of Dahkotahs and Winuebagoes. 
 The place was left in command of Captain Deace 
 and tlie Mackinaw Fencibles. The Dahkotahs 
 refusing to co-operate, when the Americans made 
 their appearance they fled. The Americans took 
 possession of the old ilackinaw house, in which 
 they foiuid nine or ten trunks of papers belong- 
 ing to Dickson. From one they took the foUow- 
 ing extract : 
 
 " ' Arrived, from below, a few Wiimebagoes 
 with scalps. Gave them tobacco, six pomids 
 powder and six pounds ball.' " 
 
 A fort was immediately commenced on the 
 site of the old residence of the late H. L. Dous- 
 man, which was composed of two block-houses 
 in the angles, and another on the bank of the 
 river, with a subterranean communication. In 
 honor of the governor of Kentucky it was named 
 "Shelby." 
 
 The fort was in charge of Lieutenant Perkins, 
 and sixty rank and tile, and two gunboats, each 
 of which carried a six-poimder; and se\eral 
 howitzers were commanded by Captains Yeiser, 
 Sullivan, and Aid-de-camp Kennedy. 
 
 The traders at JIackinaw, learning that the 
 Americans had built a fort at the Prairie, and 
 knowing that as long as they held possession 
 tlu\\ would be cut oft from the trade with the 
 
LOYALTY OF FAUlIiAVLT AND THE ONE-EYFI) SIOl'X. 
 
 81 
 
 Dahkotahs, iniiuediately raised an expeditiou to 
 capture the garrison. 
 
 The captain was an old trailer by the name of 
 JleKay, and under him was a sergeant of ar- 
 tillery, with a brass six-pounder, and three or 
 four volunteer companies of Canadian voyageurs, 
 otlieered by Captains Griguon, Rolette and An- 
 derson, with Lieutenants Brisbois and Dunean 
 Graham, all dressed hi red coats, with a number 
 of Iniliaus. 
 
 The Americans had scarcely completed their 
 rude fortitication, before the IJritish force, guid- 
 ed by Joseph Kolette, Sr., descended in canoes 
 to a point on the V.'isconsm, several miles from 
 the Prairie, to which they marched in battle 
 array. JIcKay sent a flag to the Fort demanding 
 a surrender. Lieutenant Perkins replied that he 
 would defend it to tlie last. 
 
 A fierce encounter took place, in which the 
 Americans were worsted. The otiicer was 
 wounded, several men were killed and one of 
 their boats captured, so that it became necessary 
 to retreat to St. Louis. Port Shelby after its 
 capture, was called Port ilcKay. 
 
 xVmong the traders a few remained loyal, es- 
 pecially Provencalle and J. B. Faribault, traders 
 among the Sioux. Faribault was a prisoner | 
 among the British at the time Lieut. Col. Wm. 
 McKay was preparing to attack Por<- Shellty, and 
 he refused to perform any service, Faribaulfs 
 wife, who was at Prairie du Chien, not knowing 
 that her husband was a prisoner in the hands of 
 the advancing foe, fled with others to the Sioux 
 village, where is now the city of Winona. Fari- 
 bault was at length released on parole and re- 
 timied to his trading post. 
 
 Pike writes of his flag, that "being in doubt 
 
 whether it had been stolen by tlie Indians, or had 
 
 fallen overboaid and floated away, I sent for my 
 
 friend the Orignal Leve.'' lie also call" the 
 
 Chief, Rising ^Moose, and gives his Sioux name 
 
 Tahamie. He was one of those, who in 1805, 
 
 signed the agreement, to siuTender land at the 
 
 jimction of the Muinesota and Mississippi Rivers 
 
 to the United States. He had but one eye, 
 
 having lost the other when a boy, belonged to 
 
 the Wapasha band of the Sioux, and proved 
 
 true to the flag which had waved on the day he 
 
 sat in council with Pike. 
 
 In the fall of 1814, with another of the same 
 6 
 
 nation, he ascended the Missouri under the pro- 
 tection of the (Ustinguished trader. Manual Lisa, 
 as far as the An Jacques or James River, and 
 from thenc'j struck across the country, enlisting 
 the Sioux in favour of the I'niti'il States, and at 
 length arrived at Prairie du Chien. On his arri- 
 val, Dickson accosted him, and inquired from 
 whence he came, and what was his business ; at 
 the same time rudely snatching his bimdle from 
 his shoulder, and searching for letters, The 
 "one-eyed warrior" told him that he was from 
 St. Louis, and that he had iiromised the wliite 
 chiefs there that he would go to I'rairie du Chien, 
 and that he had kept his promise 
 
 Dickson then placed him in conlinement in 
 Fort McKay, as the garrison was called by the 
 British, and ordered him to divulge what mfor- 
 mation he possessed, or he wo dd put him to 
 death. But the faithful fellow said he would 
 impart nothing, and that he was ready for death 
 if he wished to kill him. Finduig that confine- 
 ment had no effect, Dickson at last liberated him. 
 He then left, and visited the bands of Sioux on 
 the Upper Mississippi, with which he passed the 
 winter. When he returned in the spring, Dick- 
 son had gone to ilackinaw, and Cayit. A. Bidger, 
 of the Royal Xew Foundland Regiment, was in 
 command of the fort. 
 
 On the twenty-third ot jNIay, 181.5, Capt. Bul- 
 ger, wrote from Fort McKay to Gov. Clark at St. 
 Louis : " Official intelligence of peace reached 
 me yesterday. I propose evacuating the fort, 
 taking with me the guns captm-ed in the fort. * 
 * * * I have not the smallest hesitation in 
 declaring ray decided opinion, that the presence 
 of a detachment of British and United States 
 troops at the same time, would be the means of 
 embroiling one parly or the other in a fresh rup- 
 ture with the Indians, which I presume it is the 
 wish of both governments to avoid." 
 
 The next month the " One-Eyed Sioux," with 
 three other Indians and a sipiaw, visited St. Louis, 
 and he mformed Gov. Clark, that the British 
 commander left the caiuions in the fort when he 
 evacuated, but in a day or two came back, took 
 the cannons, and fired the fort with the American 
 flag flying, but that he rushed in and saved it 
 from being burned. From this time, the British 
 flag ceased to float in the Valley of the Missis- 
 sippi. 
 
82 
 
 EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 CIIAPTEE XIV. 
 
 long's expedition, a. D. i817, IK A SIX-OARED SKIFF, TO THE FALLS OF SAINT ANTHONY. 
 
 Carvers Grandsons.— Roque, Sioux iDtorpreter.— Wapashaw's Village and Its 
 Vicinity.— A Sacred Dance.— Indian Villas" Below Daytim's Bluff.— Carver's 
 Cave.— Fountain Cave.— F.aJls of St. Anthony Described.— Site or a Fort. 
 
 Major Stephen II. Long, of the Engineer Corps 
 of the United States Army, learning that there 
 was little or no danger to be apprehended from 
 the Indians, determined to ascend to the Falls of 
 Saint Anthony, in a sLx-oared skiff presented to 
 him by Governor Clark, of Saint Louis. Ilis 
 party consisted of a Mr. Hempstead, a native of 
 New London, Connecticut, who had been living 
 at Prairie du Cliien, seven soldiers, and a half- 
 breed interpreter, named lloque. A bark canoe 
 accompanied them, containing Messrs. Gun and 
 King, grandsons of the celebrated traveler, Jona- 
 than Carver. 
 
 On the ninth ot July, 1817, the expedition left 
 Prairie du Chien, and on the twelfth arrived at 
 " Trempe a I'eau." He writes : 
 
 " AVhen we stopped for breakfast, Mr. Hemp- 
 stead and myself ascended a high peak to take a 
 view of the country. It is kno-mi by the name 
 of the Kettle Hill, having obtained this appella- 
 tion from the circumstance of its having numer- 
 ous piles of stone on its top, most of them 
 ■fragments of the rocky stratifications which 
 constitute the principal part of the lull, but some 
 of them small piles made by the Indians. These 
 at a distance have some similitude of kettlec 
 arranged along upon the ridge and sides of the 
 hill. From this, or almost any other eminence in 
 its neighborhood, the beauty and grandeur of the 
 prospect would baffle the skill of the most inge- 
 nious pencil to depict, and that of the most ac- 
 complished pen to describe. Hills marshaled 
 into a variety of agreeable shapes, some of them 
 towering into lofty peaks, wlnle others present 
 broad summits embellished with contours and 
 slopes in tlie most pleasing manner ; champaigns 
 and waving valleys; forests, lawns, and parks 
 alternating with each other; the humble Missis- 
 
 sippi meandering far below, and occasionally 
 losing itself in numberless islands, give variety 
 and beauty to the picture, while rugged cliffs and 
 stupendous precipices here and there present 
 themselves as if to add boldness and majesty to 
 the scene. In the midst of this beautiful scenery 
 is situated a village of the Sioux Indians, on an 
 extensive lavra called the Aux Aisle Prairie ; at 
 which we lay by for a short time. On our arrival 
 the Indians hoisted two American (lags, and we 
 returned the comtliment by discharging our 
 blunderbuss and pistols. They then fired several 
 guns ahead of us by way of a salute, after which 
 we landed and were received with mucli friend- 
 ship. The name of their chief is Wauppaushaw, 
 or the Leaf, commonly called by a name of the 
 same import in French, La Feuille, or La Fye, 
 as it is pronoimced in English. He is considered 
 one of the most honest and honorable of any of 
 the Indians, and endeavors to inculcate into the 
 minds of his people the sentiments and principles 
 adopted by himself. He was not at home at the 
 time I called, and I had no opportunity of seeing 
 him. The Indians, as I suppose, with the ex- 
 pectation that I had something to communiccate 
 to them, assembled themselves at the place 
 where I landed and seated themselves upon the 
 grass. I inquired if their chief was at home, 
 and was answered in the negative. I then told 
 tliem I should be very glad to see him, but as he 
 W".s absent I would call on luni again in a few 
 days when I should return. I further told them 
 that cur father, the new President, wished to ob- 
 tain some more information relative to his red 
 children, and that I was on a tour to acquire any 
 intelligence he might stand in need of. With 
 this they appeared weU satisfied, and permitted 
 Mr. Hempstead and myself to go rhrough their 
 village. "Wliile I was in the wigwam, one of tlie 
 subordinate chiefs, whose name was Wazzecoota, 
 or Shooter from the Pine Tree, vohniteered to 
 
INITIATION OF A WAUUIOli B7 A SACRED DANCE. 
 
 83 
 
 Bcoompany me np the river. I accepted of his 
 services, and be was ready to attend me on the 
 tour in a very short time. Wlien we hove in 
 sight the Indians were engaged in a ceremony 
 called the Bear Dance; a ceremony which they 
 are in the habit of performing when any young 
 man is desirous of bringing himself into partic- 
 ular notice, and is considered a kind of iuitiatiou 
 into the state of manhood. I went on to the 
 ground where they had their performances, 
 which were ended sooner than usual on account 
 of our arrival. There was a kind of a flag made 
 of fawn skin dressed with the hair on. suspended 
 on a pole. Upon the flesh side of it were drawn 
 certain rude figures indicative of the dream 
 which it is necessary the young man should have 
 dreamed, before he can be considered a ])roper 
 candidate for this kind of initiation; with this a 
 pipe was suspended by way of sacrifice. Two 
 arrows were stuck up at the foot of the pole, 
 and fr^igments of painted feathers, etc., were 
 strewed about the ground near to it. These per- 
 tained to the religious rites attending the cere- 
 mony, which consists iu bewailing and self-mor- 
 tification, that the Good Spirit may be induced 
 to pity them and succor their undertaking. 
 
 "At the distance of two or three hundred 
 yards from the flag, is an excavation which they 
 call the bear's hole, prepared for the occasion. 
 It is about two feet deep, and has two ditches, 
 about one foot deep, leading across it at right an- 
 gles. The young hero of the farce places himself 
 in this hole, to be hunted by the rest of the young 
 men, all of whom on this occasion are dressed iu 
 their best attire and painted in their neatest style. 
 The. hunters approach the hole in the direction of 
 one of the ditches, and discharge their guns, 
 which were previously loaded for the purpose 
 with blank cartridges, at the one who acts the 
 part of the bear; whereupon he leaps from his 
 den, having a hoop in each hand, and a wooden 
 lance; the hoops serving as forefeet to aid him 
 in characterizing his part, and his lance to defend 
 him from his assailants. Thus accoutred he 
 dances round the place, exhibiting various feats 
 of activity, while the other Indians pursue him 
 and endeavor to trap him as he attempts to re- 
 turn to his den, to effect which he is privileged to 
 use any violence he pleases with impunity against 
 
 his assailants, even to taking the life of auy of 
 them. 
 
 " This part of the ceremony is performed throe 
 times, that the bear may escape from his den 
 and return to it again through three of the ave- 
 nues communicating with it. On being hunted 
 from the fourth or last avenue, the bear must 
 make his esca])e through all his pursuers, if pos- 
 .sible, and flee to the woods, where he is to remain 
 through the day. This, however, is seldom or 
 never accomplished, as all the young men exert 
 themselves to the utmost in order to trap him. 
 When caught, he must retire to a lodge erected for 
 his reception in the field, where he is to be se- 
 cluded from all society through the day, except 
 one of his particular friends whom he is allowed 
 to take with him as an attendant. Here he 
 smokes and performs varicuis other rites which 
 superstition has led the Indians to believe are sa- 
 cred. After this ceremony is ended, the ycung 
 Indian is considered qualified to act any part as 
 an efficient member of their community. The 
 Indian, who has the good fortune to catch the 
 bear and overcome him when endeavoring to 
 make his escape to the wood, is considered a 
 candidate for preferment, and is, on the first suit- 
 able occasion, appointed the leader of a small war 
 party, in order that he may further have an op- 
 portunity to test his prowess and perform more 
 essential service in behalf of his nation. It is 
 accordingly expected that he will kill some of 
 their enemies and return with their scalps. I re- 
 gretted very much that I had missed the oppor- 
 tunity of witnessing this ceremony, which is 
 never performed except when prompted by the 
 particular dreams of one or other of the young 
 men, who is never complimented twice in the 
 same manner on account of his dreams." 
 
 On the sixteenth he approached the vicinity of 
 where is now the capital of Minnesota, and 
 writes: "Set sail "at half past four this morning 
 with a favorable breeze. Pascd an Indian bury- 
 ing ground on our left, the first that I have seen 
 surrounded by a fence. In the center a pole is 
 erected, at the foot of which religious rites are 
 performed at the burial of an Indian, by the 
 particular friends and relatives of the deceased. 
 Upon the pole a flag is suspended when any per- 
 son of extraordinary merit, or one who is very 
 much beloved, ia buried. In the inclosure were 
 
B4 
 
 EXPLOBERS AND PIONEEBS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 two scaffolds erected also, about six feet high 
 and six feet square. Upon one of them were two 
 coffins containing dead bodies. Passed a Sioux 
 village on our rigVit containing fourteen cal>ins. 
 The name of tlie chief is the Petit Corbeau, or 
 Little Raven. The Indians were all absent on a 
 hunting party up t!ie River St. Croix, which 
 is but a little distance across the country from 
 the village. Of this we were very glad, as this 
 band are said to be the most notorious beggars 
 of all the Sioux on the ilississippi. One of their 
 cabins is furnished with loop holes, and is sit- 
 uated so near the water that the opposite side 
 of the river is within musket-shot range from 
 the building. By this means the Petit Corbeau 
 is enabled to exercise a command over the pass- 
 age of the river and has in some mstances com- 
 pelled traders to land with their goods, and in- 
 duced them, probably through fear of offending 
 him, to bestow presents to a considerable amount, 
 before he would suffer them to pass. Tlie cabins 
 are a kind of stockade buildings, and of a better 
 appearance than any Indian dwellings I have 
 before met with. 
 
 " Two miles above the village, on the same 
 side of the river, is Carver's Cave, at which we 
 stopped to breakfast. However interesting it 
 may have been, it does not possess that character 
 in a very high degree at present. We descend- 
 ed it witli lighted candles to its lower extremity. 
 The entrance is very low and about eight feet 
 broad, so that a man in order to enter it must be 
 completely prostrate. The angle of descent 
 within the cave is about 2.5 deg. The flooring 
 is an inclined plane of quicksand, formed of the 
 rock in whicli the cavern is formed. Tlie dist- 
 ance from its entrance to its inner extremity is 
 twenty-four paces, and the widtli in the broadest 
 part about nuie, and its greatest height about 
 seven feet. In shape it resembles a bakers's oven. 
 Tlie cavern was once probaljly much more ex- 
 tensive. My interpreter informed me tliat, since 
 his remembrance, the entrance was not less 
 than ten feet high and its length far greater than 
 at present. The rock in wliicli it is formed is 
 a very white sandsUme, so friable tliat the frag- 
 ments of it ^\ ill almost crumble to sand wlien 
 taken into the hand. A few yards below the 
 mouth of the <'avern is a very copious spring of 
 Due water issuing from the bottom of the cliff. 
 
 "Five miles above this is the Fountain Cave, 
 on tlie same side of the river, formed in the same 
 kind of sandstone but of a more pure and fine 
 quality. It is far more curious and interesting 
 than the former. The entrance of the cave is a 
 large winding haU about one hundred and fifty 
 feet in length, fifteen feet in wdth, and from 
 eight to sixteen feet in height, finely arched 
 overhead, and nearly perpendicular. Next suc- 
 ceeds a narrow passage and ditlicult of entrance, 
 which opens into a most beautiful circular room, 
 finely arched above, and about forty feet in di- 
 ameter. The cavern then contuiues a meander- 
 uig course, expanding occasionally into small 
 rooms of a circular form. We penetrated aliout 
 one hundred and fifty yards, till our candles 
 began to fail us, when we retiu-ned. To beauti- 
 fy and embellish the scene, a fine crystal stream 
 flows tliroiigli the cavern, and cheers the lone- 
 some dark retreat with its enlivening murmurs. 
 The temperature of the water in the cave was 
 46 deg., and that of the air 60 deg. Entermg 
 this cold retreat from an atmosphere of 89 deg., 
 I thought it not prudent to remain in it long 
 enough to take its several dimensions and me- 
 ander its courses ; particularly as we had to wade 
 in water to our knees in many places in order to 
 penetrate as far as we went. The fountain sup- 
 plies an abundance of water as fine as I ever 
 drank. This cavern I was informed by my 
 interpreter, has been discovered but a few years. 
 That the Indians formerly living ui its neighbor- 
 hood knew nothing of it till within six years 
 past. That it is not the same as that described 
 by Carver is evident, not only from this circiun- 
 stance, but also from the circumstance that in- 
 stead of a stagnant pool, and only one accessible 
 room of a very different form, this cavern has 
 a brook running through it, and at least four 
 rooms in succession, one after the other. Car- 
 ver's Cave is fast filling up with sand, so that 
 no water is now foimd in it, whereas this, from 
 the very nature of the place, must be enlarging, 
 as the fountain will carry along with its current 
 all the sand that falls into it from the roof and 
 sides of the caN ern." 
 
 On the night of the sixteenth, he ai rived at the 
 Falls of Saint .Viithony and encamped on the east 
 shore just below the cataract. He writes in h.ie 
 journal : 
 
BESCRIPTION OF FALLS OF SAINT ANTHONY. 
 
 85 
 
 "The place where -we encamped last iii.u'ht need- 
 ed no embellishment to render it romantic in the 
 liighest degree. The banks on both sides of llic 
 river are about one hundred feet higli. decorated 
 with trees and shrubliery of various kinds. The 
 post oak, Inckory, walnut, linden, sugar tree, 
 wliite birch, and the American box ; also various 
 evergreens, such as the pine, cedar, juniper, 
 etc., added their embellishmenls to the scene. 
 Amongst the sbrnbery were the prickly ash, 
 lilnm. and cherry tree, the gooseberry, the black 
 and red raspberry, the chokeberry. grape vine, 
 etc. There were also various kinds of herbage 
 and llowers, among which were the wild parsley, 
 rue, spikenard, etc.. red and white roses, morning 
 glory and various other handsome flowers. A 
 few yards below us was a beautiful cascade of 
 fine spring water, pouring down from a pi'oject- 
 ing precipice about one hundred feet bight. On 
 our left was the Mississippi hurrying through its 
 channel with great velocity, and about three 
 quarters of a mile above us, in plain view, was 
 the majestic ci.taract of the Falls of St. Anthony. 
 The murmuring of the cascade, the roaring of the 
 river, and the thunder of the cataract, all contrib- 
 uted to render the scene the most interestingand 
 maguilicient of any I ever before witnessed."' 
 
 '■The perpendicular fall of the water at the 
 cataract, was stated by Pike in his journal, as six- 
 teen and a half feet, which I found to be true by 
 actual measurement. To this heiglit. however, 
 four or five feet may be added for the rajiid des- 
 cent which immediately succeeds to the jierpen- 
 dicular fall witliin a few yards below. Innnedi- 
 ately at the cataract the river is divided into two 
 parts by an island which extends considerably 
 above and below the cataract, and is aljout live 
 Innulred yards long. The channel on the right 
 side of the Island is about three times tlie width 
 of that on the left. The qnauity of water pass- 
 ins through them is not, however, in the same 
 proportion, as about one-third part of the whole 
 passes through the left chamiel. In the broadest 
 channel, just below^ the cataract, is a small island 
 also, about fifty yards in length and thirty in 
 breadth. Both of these islands contain the same 
 kind of rocky formation as the banks of the liver. 
 and are nearly as liigh. Besides these, there are 
 immediately at the foot of the cataract, two 
 islands of very inconsiderable size, situated in 
 
 Ihe right channel also. The rapids commence 
 several hmi<lred yards aliove the cataract and 
 continue about eight miles lielow. Tlie fall of 
 the water, beginning at llie head of the rapids, 
 and extending two hundred and sixty rods down 
 the rivei' lo wlierc the portage road commences, 
 below the (•ataract is, a<'cordiug to Pike, fifty- 
 eight feet. If this estimate be correct the whole 
 fall from the head to tlie foot of tlic rapids, is not ' 
 imAiably luucli less tlian one hundred feet. But 
 as I had 1111 i[istrument sufficiently accurate to 
 level, where the view nuist necessarily be ])retty 
 extensive, I took no jiaius to ascertain the extent 
 of tlie fall. Tlie mode I adopted to ascertain 
 the height of a cataract, was to suspend a line 
 and iilummet from the table rock on the south 
 side of the river, which at the same time liail 
 very little water passing over it as the river was 
 unusually low. The rocky formations at this 
 place were arranged in the following order, from 
 the surface downward. A coarse kind of lime- 
 stone in thin strata containing considerable silex; 
 a kind of soft friable stone of a greenish color 
 and slaty fracture, probal)ly containing lime, 
 aluminum and silex ; a very beautifid satratiflca- 
 tion of shell limestone, in thin plates, extremely 
 regular in its formation and containing a vast 
 number of shells, all apparently of the same 
 kind. This formation constitutes the Table Rock 
 of the cataract. The next in order is a white or 
 yellowish sandstone, so easily crumljled that it 
 deserves the name of a sandbank ratliertlian that 
 of a rock. It is of various deiitlis, from ten to 
 fifty or seventy-five feet, and is of the same char- 
 acter with that found at the caves before des- 
 cribed. The next in order is a soft friable sand- 
 stone, of a greenish coloi'. similar to that resting 
 upon the shell limestone. These stratifications 
 occupied the wliole space from the low water 
 mark nearly to tlie top of the bluffs. ( )u the east, 
 or rather north side of the river, at the Falls, are 
 high grouuils. at tlie distance of half a mile from 
 the river, considerably more elevated than the 
 bluffs, and of a hilly aspect. 
 
 Speaking of tlie bluff at the confluence o. Jie 
 Mississippi and Minnesota, he writes: "A military 
 \v<irk of considerable magnitude might lie con- 
 structed on the point, and might be rendered 
 sufficiently secure by occupying the commanding 
 heiulit in the rear in a suitable manner, as the 
 
86 
 
 BXPLOBEBS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 latter would control not only the point, but all 
 the neighboring heights, to the full extent of a 
 twelve pounder's range. The work on the point 
 would be necessary to control the na\'igation of 
 the two rivers. But without the commanding 
 work in the rear, would be liable to be greatly 
 annoyed from a height situated directly opposite 
 
 on the other side of the Mississippi, whicli is 
 here no more than about two hundred and fifty 
 yards wide. This latter height, however, would 
 not be eligible for a permanent post, on account 
 of the numerous ridges and ravines situated im- 
 mediately in its rear.'' 
 
EABLY JIISTOin' OF liKI) lilVEli VALLEY. 
 
 87 
 
 CriAPTER XV. 
 
 THO^rAS DOrfil.AS, KAliT, OF SKLKIUK, AND THE KED RIVER VALLEY. 
 
 Ettrly travi-Iers to Lalie Winni[ eg— Earliest Map liy Mn- In.lian Otcliafii— U'-llin's 
 allusion to it — Verendrye's Map— De la Jemoraye's Map — Fort La Roiiio— Fort 
 on Ucd River abandoned— Origin of name Red Lake— Earl of Selkirk— Ossini- 
 boia described— Scotcli immigrants at Pembina— Strife of trading companies- 
 Earl of Selkirk \-isits America— Governor Semple Killed— Romantic life of Jcbii 
 Tanner, and his son James— Letter relative to Selkirk's tour ttirougb Hiiine- 
 
 The valley of the Red River of the Xorth is 
 not only an important portion of jSIinnesota, but 
 has a most interesting history. 
 
 "While there is no evidence that Groselliers, tlit^ 
 first white man who exi)lore(l Minnesota, ever 
 visited Lake "Winnipeg and the Reel River, yet he 
 met the Assineboines at the head of Lake Supe- 
 rior and at Lake Nepigon, while on his way by a 
 northeasterly trail to Hudson's 15ay, and learned 
 something of this region from them. 
 
 The first person, of whom we have an account, 
 who visited the region, was an Englishman, who 
 came in 1692, by way of York River, to "Winni- 
 peg. 
 
 Ocliagachs, or Otchaga, an intelligent Indian, in 
 1728, assured Pierre Gualtierde Varenne, known 
 in history as the Sieur Verendrye, while he was 
 stationed at Lake iNepigon, that there was a 
 communication, largely by water, west of Lake 
 Superior, to the Great Sea or Pacific Ocean. The 
 rude map, drawn by this Indian, was sent to 
 France, and is still preserved.' Upon it is marked 
 Kamanistigouia, the fort first established by I)u 
 Luth. Pigeon River is calleil Mautiihavagane. 
 Lac Sasakanaga is marked, and Rainy Lake is 
 named Teeamemiouen. The river St. Louis, of 
 Minnesota, is R. fond du L. Superior. The 
 French geographer, Bellin, in his " Remarks 
 upon the map of North iVmerica," published m 
 175.J, at Paris, alludes to this sketch of Ochagachs, 
 and says it is the earliest drawing of the region 
 west of Lake Superior, in the Depot de la Marine. 
 
 After this "\^erendrye, in 1737, drew a map, 
 which remains unpublished, which shows Red 
 Lake in Northern Minnesota, and the point of 
 the Big AV'oods in the Red River Valley. There 
 
 is another sketch in th(^ arcliivcs of France, 
 drawn by Dc la Jemeraye. He was a nephew of 
 Verendrye, and, under his uncle's orders, he was 
 ill 1731, the first to advance from the Grand 
 Portage of Lake Siipcrinr, by way of tlie Nalao- 
 iiMgan or Groselliers. now Pigeon River, to Rainy 
 Lake. On this appears Fort Rouge, on the south 
 bank of the AssLneboine at its junction with the 
 Red River, and on the Assineboine, a post estab- 
 lished on October 3, 1738, and called Fort La 
 Reine. Bellin describes the fort on Red River, 
 but asserts that it was aliandoiied because of its 
 vicinity to Fort La Reine, on the north side of 
 the Assinneboine, and only about nine miles by 
 a ptn-tage, from Swan Lake. Red Lake and Red 
 River were so called by the early French explo- 
 rers, on account of the reddish tint of the waters 
 after a stm-m. 
 
 Thomas Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, a wealthy, 
 kind-hearted but visionary Scotch nobleman, at 
 tlie commencement of the present century formed 
 the design of planting a colony of agriculturists 
 west of Lake Superior. In the year 1811 he 
 obtained a grant of land from the Hudson Bay 
 Company called Ossiniboia, which it seems 
 strange has lieen given up l)y the people of Man- 
 itoba. In the autumn of 1812 a few Scotchmen 
 with their families arrived at Pembina, in the 
 Red River Valley, by way of Hudson Bay, where 
 they passed the winter. In tlic winter of 1813-14 
 they were again at Fort Daer or Pembina. The 
 colonists of Red River were rendered very un- 
 happy by the strife of riv;il trading companies. 
 
 In the spring of 1815, McKenzie and Morrison, 
 traders of the Northwest company, at Sandy 
 Lake, told the Ojibway chief there, that they 
 would give him and his band all the goods and 
 nun at Leech or Sandy Lakes, if they would an- 
 no\ the Red River settlers. 
 
 Tlie Earl of Selkirk hearing of the distressed 
 condition of his colony, sailed for America, and 
 
8S 
 
 EXPLOBEIiS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 in the fall of 1815, airived at New York City. 
 Proceeding to Monti-eal he found a messenger 
 who had traveled on foot ui mid-winter from the 
 Bed Eiver by way of Ked Lake and Fou du Lac, 
 of Lake Superior. He sent back by this man, 
 kind messages to the dispirited settlers, bnt one 
 night he was way-laid near Ton du Lac, and 
 robbed of his canoe and dispatches. An O jib- 
 way chief at Sandy Lake, aftei-wards testified 
 that a trader named Grant offered him rum and 
 tobacco, to send persons to intercept a bearer of 
 dispatches to Eed Kiver, and soon the messenger 
 was brought in by a negro and some Indians. 
 
 Failing to obtain military aid from the 
 British authorities in Canada, Selkirk made an 
 engagement with foiu- officers and eighty privates, 
 of the discharged Meuron regiment, twenty of 
 the De AV^atteville, and a few of the CUengary 
 Fencibles, which had served in the late war with 
 the United States, to accompany him to Red 
 River. They were to receive monthly wages for 
 navigating the boats to Red River, to have lands 
 assigned them, and a free passage if they wished 
 to return. 
 
 AVlien he reached Sault St. INIarie, he received 
 the uitelligence that the colony had again been 
 destroyed, and that Semple, a mild, amiable, but 
 not altogether judicious man, the chief governor 
 of the factories and territories of the Hudson 
 Bay company, residing at Red River, had been 
 kiUed. 
 
 Schoolcraft, m 1832, says he saw at Leech 
 Lake, ilajegabowi, the man who had killed Gov. 
 Semple, after he fell wounded from his horse. 
 
 Before he heard of the death of Semple, the 
 Earl of Selkirk had made arrangements to visit 
 his colony by way of Fon du Lae, on the St. Louis 
 River, and Red Lake of ilinnesota, but he now 
 changed his mind, and proceeded with his force 
 to Fort "NVilUuni, the chief trading post of the 
 Northwest Company on Lake Superior ; and ap- 
 prehending the piincii)al partners, warrants of 
 comnut incut W(!re issued, and they were forward- 
 ed to the Attorney-General of Upper Canada. 
 
 AVhile Selkirk was engaged at Fort William, 
 a party of ('iii grants in charge of Miles McDon- 
 nel, Governor, and Captain D"Orsomen, Avent 
 forward to reinforce the colony. At Rainy 
 Lake they obtained the guidance of a man who 
 had r.ll the characteristics of an Indian, and yet 
 
 had a bearing which suggested a different origui. 
 By his efficiency and temperate habits, he had se- 
 cirred the respect of his employers, and on the Earl 
 of Selkirk's anival at Red River, his attention was 
 called to him, and in his welfare he became 
 deeply interested. By repeated conversations 
 witli him, memories of a different kind of exist- 
 ence were aroused, and the light of other days 
 began to brighten. Though he had forgotten his 
 father's name, lie furnished sufficient data for 
 Selkirk to proceed with a search for his relatives. 
 Visiting the United States in 1817, he published 
 a clfcnlar in the papers of the Western States, 
 which led to the identification of the man. 
 
 It appeared from his own statement, and 
 those of his friends, that his name was John 
 Tamier, the son of a minister of the gospel, who, 
 about the year ITiH), lived on tlie Ohio river, near 
 the Miami. Shoi-tly after his location there, a 
 baud of roving Indians passed near the house, 
 and found Jolm Tanner, then a little boy, filling 
 his hat with walnuts from under a tree. They 
 seized him and fled. The party was led by an 
 Ottawa whose wife had lost a sou. To compen- 
 sate for his death, the mother begged that a boy 
 of the same age might.be captured. 
 
 Adopted by the band, Tanner grew up an 
 Indian in his tastes and habits, and was noted 
 for bravery. Selkirk was successful in finding 
 his relatives. After twenty-eight years of sepa- 
 ration, John Tanner in 1S18, met his brother 
 Edward near Detroit, and went with him to his 
 home in Missomi. He soon left his brother, and 
 went back to the Indians. For a time he was 
 mterpreter for Henry R. Schoolcraft, but became 
 lazy and ill-natured, and in 1836, skulking behind 
 some buslies, he shot and killed Schoolcraft's 
 brother, and fled to the wilderness, where, in 
 1847, he died. His son, James, was kindly treatr 
 ed by the missionaries to the Ojibways of Minne- 
 sota; but he walked in the footsteps of his father. 
 In the year 185], he attempted to impose upon 
 the Presbyterian muiister in Saint Paul, and, 
 when detected, called upon the Baptist minister, 
 who, believuig him a penitent, cut a hole in the 
 ice, and received liim into the church by inuner- 
 sion. In time, the Baptists found hl:n out, when 
 he became an Unitarian missionary, and, at last, 
 it is said, met a death by violence. 
 
 Lord Selkirk was in the Red River "\'alley 
 
KAHL OF sKLKlIiK VISITS SAINT Lor IS. 
 
 during the siiinmor of 1817, and on the eighteenth 
 of July concluded a treaty witli the Crees and 
 Saulteaux, i\n- a trad of land beginning at the 
 inontli of the Red Hiver, and extending along 
 the same as far as the Great Forks (now Grand 
 Forks) at the mouth of Red Lake River, and 
 along the Assinniboine Riveras far as JMusk Rat 
 River, and extending to the distance of six miles 
 from Fort IJonglas on every side, and likewise 
 from Fort Daer (Pembina) and also from the 
 Great Forks, iuid in other parts extending to the 
 distance of two miles from the banks of the said 
 rivers. 
 
 Having restored order and confidence, attend- 
 ed by three or four jiersons he crossed the plains 
 to the jMiunesota River, and from thence pro- 
 ceeded to St. Louis. The Indian agent at 
 Prairie du Chien was not pleased with Selkirk's 
 trip through Minnesota; and on the sixth of 
 February, 1818, wrote the (4overnor of Illinois 
 imder excitement, some groundless suspicions : 
 
 •' ^Miat do you suppose, sir, has been the re- 
 sult of the passage through my agency of this 
 British nobleman? Two entire bands, and part 
 of a third, all Sioux, have deserted us and joined 
 Dickson, who has distributed to them large quan- 
 tities of Indian presents, together with flags, 
 medals, etc. Knowing this, what must have been 
 my feelings on hearing that his lordship had met 
 with a favourable reception at St. Louis. The 
 newspapers announcing his nmval, unci general 
 Scotti!<Ii ajijiearance, all tend to diseomiiose me ; 
 believuig as I do, that he is plotting with his 
 friend Dickson our destruction — sharpening the 
 savage scalping knife, and colonizing a tract of 
 country, so'remote as that of the Red River, for 
 the purpose, no doubt, of monopolizing the fur 
 and peltry trade of this river, the JNIissonri and 
 their waters; a trade of the first importance to 
 our ^^■estern States and Territories. A courier 
 who had arrived a few days since, confirms the 
 belief that Dickson is endeavouring to undo what 
 I have done, and secure to the British govern- 
 ment the affections of the Sioux, and stxbject the 
 Xorthwest Company to his lordship. * * * 
 
 Dickson, as I have before observed, is situated 
 near the head of the St. Peter's, to which place 
 he trans]iorls his goods from Selkirk's Red River 
 establishment, in carts nuiile for the purpose. 
 The trip is performed in live days, sometimes 
 less. Tie is directed to build a fort on the high- 
 est land between Lac du Traverse and Red River, 
 which he supiHises will lie tlie established lines. 
 This fort will be defended by twenty men, with 
 two small pieces of artillery." 
 
 In the year 1820, at Berne, Switzerland, a cir- 
 cular was issued, signed, R. May D'Uzistorf, 
 Captain, in his Britannic Majesty's service, and 
 agent Plenipotentiary to Lord Selkirk. Like 
 m;.iiy documents to induce emigration, it was so 
 highly colored as to prove a delusion ami a 
 snare. The climate was represented as '• mild 
 and healthy." " "Wood either for building or 
 fuel in the greatest plenty,'' and llie coiuitiy 
 supplying "in profusion, whatever can be re- 
 quired for the convenience, pleasuii' or comfort 
 of life." Remarkalile statements considering 
 that every green thing had been devoured the 
 year before by grasshoppers. 
 
 Under the influence of these statements, a num- 
 ber were induced to embark. In tlie si>ring of 
 18121, about two Innidred jicrsons assembled on 
 the banks of the Rhine to jiroceed to the region 
 west of Lake Superior. Having descended tlie 
 Rhine to the vicinity of liotterdam, tliey went 
 aboard the ship "Lord Wellington,"" and after a 
 voyage across the Atlantic, and amid the ice- 
 floes of Hudson's Bay, they reached York Fort. 
 Here they debarked, an<! entering batteaux, as- 
 cended Nelson River for twenty days, when they 
 came to Lake "Winnipeg, and coasting along the 
 west shore they reached the Red River i>f the 
 ]S,'ortli, to feel that they had been deluded, and 
 to long for a milder clime. If they did not sing 
 the Switzer"s Song of Ili)nie, they apiireciatcd its 
 sentiments, and gradually these imnugrants re- 
 moved to the banks of the ^lississippi River. 
 Some settled in Minnesota, and were the first to 
 raise cattle, and till the soil. 
 
90 
 
 EXPLOREBS AND FIOXEEBS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 FOET SNELLrNG DTTirNO ITS OCCTTPANCT IJY COjrP ANTES OF TITE FIFTH REGIMENT TJ. S. nsTFANTK Y. 
 
 A. D. 1819, TO A. D. 1827. 
 
 Orders for military occapatioa of Upper Mississippi — Leavenworth and Forsytli 
 at Prajrie du Cliien— Birtli in Camp — Troops arrive at Mendota — Cantonment 
 Estaltlislied— Wln-at carried to roiiibina— Notice of Devotion, Prescott, and 
 Majur T.diaferro— Camp Cold Water Establislied— Col. Snelling takes command 
 — Iiiil)ressive Scene— Officers in 1820— Condition of tlie Fort in 1S21— Saint 
 Anthony Mill- Alexis Bailly takes cattle to Pembina— Notice of Beltrami— 
 Arrival of lirst Steamboat — Ka.ior Long's Expedition to Nortliern Boundarj*- 
 Beltrami visits tile northern sources of the Mississippi — First flour mill— First 
 Sunday School— Great flood in 1S2G. African slaves at the Fort — Steamboat 
 Arrivals — Duels — Notice of William Joseph Snelling — Indian fight at the Fort — 
 AtUck upon keel boats — General tiaines' report — Removal of Fifth Regiment — 
 Death of Colonel Snelling. 
 
 The rumor that Lord Selkirk was foimding a 
 colony on the borders of the United States, and 
 that the Britisli tradhig companies within the 
 boundaries of what lieeame tlie territory of Min- 
 nesota, coiivinfed the authorities at Washmgton 
 of the impiirtance of a military occupation of the 
 valley of the Upper Alississippi. 
 
 By direction of Major General Brown, the fol- 
 lowing order, on the tenth of February, 1819, was 
 issued : 
 
 " ^lajor General JNlacomb, commander of the 
 Fifth Military department, will without delay, 
 concentrate at Detroit the Fifth Regiment of In- 
 fantry, excepting the recruits otlierwisu directed 
 by the general order herewith transmitted. As 
 soon as the navigation of the lakes will admit, he 
 will cause the regiment to be transported to Fort 
 Howard; from thence, by the way of the Fox 
 and "Wisconsin Rivers, to Prairie du-Chien, and, 
 after detachuig a sufficient number of companies 
 to garrison Forts Crawford and Armstrong, the 
 remainder will proceed to the moutli of the River 
 St. Peter's, where they will establish a post, at 
 which the headquarters of the regiment will be 
 located. The regiment, previous to its depar- 
 ture, will receive the necessary supplies of cloth- 
 ing, provisions, arms, and ammunition. Imme- 
 iliate application will lie made to Brigadier Gen- 
 eral Jes<ip, (Juartermaster General, for fimds 
 necessary to execute the movements required by 
 this order." 
 
 On the thirteenth of April, this additional order 
 was issued, at Detroit : 
 
 "Tlie season having now anived when the 
 lakes may be navigated with safety, a detach- 
 ment of the Fifth Regiment, to consist of Major 
 Marston's and Captain Fowle's companies, imder 
 the command of Major Muhlenburg, will proceed 
 to Cireen Bay. Surgeon's Mate, R. M. Byrne, of 
 the Fifth Regiment, will accompany the detach- 
 ment. The Assistant Deputy Quartermaster 
 General will furnish the necessary transport, and 
 will send by the same opportunity two hundred 
 barrels of provisions, wliich he will draw from the 
 contractor at this post. The provisions must be 
 examined and inspected, and properly put up for 
 transportation. Colonel Leavenworth will, with- 
 out delay, prepare his regiment to move to the 
 post on the Mississippi, agreeable to the Divi- 
 sion order of the tenth of February. The Assist- 
 ant Deputy (Quartermaster Cieuer;il will furnish 
 the necessary transportation, to be ready by the 
 first of May next. The Colonel ■will make requi- 
 sition for such stores, ammunition, tools and 
 iniplements as may be required, and he be able to 
 take with him on the expedition. Particular in- 
 stractions will be given to the Colonel, explaining 
 the objects of his expedition." 
 
 EVKNTS OF THE TEAR 1819. 
 
 On Wednesday, the last day of June, Col. Leav- 
 enworth and troops arrived from Green Bay, at 
 Prairie du Chien. Scarcely had they reached 
 this point when Charlotte Seymour, the wife of 
 Lt. Nathan Clark, a native of Hartford, Ct., 
 gave buth to a daugliter, whose first baptismal 
 name was Charlotte, after her mother, and the 
 second Ouisconsin, given by the officers in view 
 of the fact that she was born at the junction of 
 that stream with the ^Mississippi. 
 
 In time Charlotte Ouisconsin marr'ed a young 
 Lieutenant, a native of Princeton, Xew Jersey, 
 and a graduate of West Point, and still resides 
 witli her husband, General II. P, Van Cleve, in 
 
COL. LEAVENWORTIL jUiBIVES AT MKXDO'IA 
 
 01 
 
 the city of iMiiii ">apolis, living to do good .is she 
 has opportunity. 
 
 In June, imiler instructions from the AVar 
 Department, il.ajor Thomas Forsytli, connected 
 with the ollice of Indian affairs, left St. Louis 
 with two thousand dollars worth of goods to he 
 distributed among the Sioux Indums, in iiccor- 
 daiice with the agreement of 1S05, already re- 
 ferred to, hy the late General Pike. 
 
 ^Vbout uine o'clock of the morning of the fifth 
 of July, he joined Leavenworth and his couiinand 
 at Prairie da Chien. Some time was occupied hy 
 Leavenwortli awaiting the arrival of ordnance, 
 provisions and recruits, but on Sunday morning, 
 the eighth of August, about eight o'clock, the 
 expedition set out for the point now known as 
 Mendota. The llotilla was qiute imposing ; there 
 were the C'olouers barge, fomleen batteaux witli 
 ninety-eight soldiers and oflicers, two large canal 
 or JNIackiuaw boats, filled with various stores, and 
 Forsyth'n keel boat, contaiiiing gomls and pres- 
 ents fov the Indians. On the twenty-third of 
 Angus*", Forsyth reached the mouth of the Jlin- 
 nesota 'with his boat, and the next morning Col. 
 Leava'aworth arrived, and selecting a place ;il 
 Mendota, near the present railroad bridge, lie 
 ordered the soldiers to cut down trees and make 
 a clearing. On the next Saturday Col. Leaven- 
 worth, ilajor Vose, Surgeon Purcell, Lieutenant 
 Clark and the wife of Captain Gooding ivited 
 the Falls of Saint Anthony with Forsyth, in 
 his keel boat. 
 
 Early in September two more boats and a bat- 
 teaux, ■^vith otticeiK and one hundred and twenty 
 recruits, arrived. 
 
 During the winter of 18:20, Laidlow and others, 
 in behalf of Lord Selkirk's Scotch settlers at 
 Pembina, whose crops had been destroyed by 
 grasshoppers, passed the Cantonment, on their 
 w-ay to Prairie du Chien, to purchase wheat. 
 Upon the fifteenth of April they began their 
 return with their ^Mackinaw boats, each loaded 
 with two lumdred bushels of wheat, one Inmdred 
 of oats, and thu-ty of peas, and reached the mouth 
 of the !MinneSota early in ihiy. Ascendmg this 
 stream to Big Stone Lake, the boats were drawn 
 on rollers a mile and a half to Lake Traverse, 
 and on the third of June arrived at Pembina and 
 cheered the desponding and needy settlers of the 
 Selkirk colony. 
 
 The first sutU'r of the post was a Mr. l)e\iition. 
 He brought with him a young man iianied Phi- 
 lander Prescott, who was born in istil ,at Phelps- 
 town, Ontario county, New Yorl-c. At first they 
 stopped at Ahul Hen Island, in the Mississippi 
 below the mouth of the St. Croix Kiver. Coming 
 up late in the year ISIS), at the site of the jires- 
 ent town of Hastings they found a keel-boat 
 loaded with sujijilies for the cantonment, in charge 
 of Lieut. Oliver, detained by the i<'e. 
 
 .Vmid all tlic cliangcs of the Imops, Mr. Pres- 
 cott remained nearly all his life in tlu; vicinity of 
 the post, to wliich he came when a mere lad, and 
 was at length killed in tlie Sicnix Massacre. 
 
 EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1820 
 
 In the spring of 1820. Jean Haptiste Faribaidt 
 brought up Leavenworth's horses from Prairie 
 dii Cliien. 
 
 The first Indian Ageiit at the post was a former 
 army officer, Lawrence Taliaferro, pronounced 
 Toliver. As he had the confidence of the Gov- 
 ernment for twenty-one successive years, he is 
 deserving of notice. 
 
 His family was of Italian origin, aiid among 
 the early settlers of Virginia. He was born in 
 1794, in King William county in that State, and 
 when, in 1812, war was declared against Great 
 Ih'itain, with four brothers, he entered the army, 
 and was commissioned as Lieutenant of the 
 Thirty-fifth Infantry. He behaved gallantly at 
 Fort Erie and Sackett's IIarl)or, and after peace 
 was declared, he was retained as a First Lieuten- 
 ant of the Third Infantry. In 181(5 he was sta- 
 tioned at Fort Dearborn, now the site of Cldcago. 
 While on a furlough, he called one day upon 
 President Monroe, who told him that a fort would 
 be built near the Falls of Saint Anthony, and an 
 Indian Agency established, to which he offered 
 to appoint him. His commission was dated 
 Mai-ch 27th, 1819, and he proceeded in due time 
 to his post. 
 
 On the fifth day of May, 1820, Leavenworth 
 left his \\1nter quarters at JMendota, crossed the 
 stream and made a sununer camp near the 
 present military grave yard, which in conse(|uence 
 of a fine spring has been called " Camp Cold 
 Water." The Indian agency, imder Taliaferro, 
 remained for a time at the old cantonment. 
 
 The cdnnnanding ofiicer established a fine 
 
»2 
 
 EXPL0BER8 AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 garden in the bottom lands of the Minnesota, 
 and on the fifteenth of Jime the earliest garden 
 peas were eaten. The first distinguished visitors 
 at tlie new encampment were Governor Lewis 
 Cass, of Michigan, and Henry Schoolcraft, who 
 arrived in July, by way of Lake Superior and 
 Sandy Tjake. 
 
 The relations between Col. Leavenworth and 
 Lidian Agent Taliaferro were not entirely har- 
 monioiis. growing out of a disagreement of views 
 relative to the treatment of the Indians, and on 
 the day of the arrival of Governor Cass, Tel- 
 iaferro writes to Leavenworth : 
 
 " As it is now imderstood that I am agent for 
 Indian affairs in this comitry, and you are about 
 to leave the upper Mississippi, in all probability 
 in the coiu'se of a month or two, I beg leave to 
 suggest, for the sake of a general understanding 
 with the Indian tribes in this country, that any 
 medals, you may possess, would by bemg turned 
 over to me, cease to be a topic of remark among 
 the different Indian tribes under my direction. 
 I will pass to you any vonchei' that may be re- 
 quired, and I beg leave to observe that any pro- 
 gress in influence is much impeded in conse- 
 quence of this frequent iutercoiu'se with the gar- 
 rison." 
 
 In a few days, the disastrous effect of Indians 
 mingling viith the soldiers was exhibited. On 
 the third of August, the agent wrote to Leaven- 
 worth: 
 
 " His Excellency Governor Cass during his 
 visit to this post remarke<l to me that the Indians 
 jU this quarter were spoiled, and at the same 
 time said they should not be permitted to enter 
 the camp. An unpleasant affair has lately taken 
 place ; I mean the stabbing of the old chief 
 Mahgossau by his comrade. This was caused, 
 doubtless, by an anxiety to obtain the chief's 
 whiskey. I beg, therefore, that no whiskey 
 wliatever l)e given to any Indians, imless it be 
 throtigli their proper agent. While an oveii^lus 
 of whiskey thwarts the benificent and humane 
 policy of the government, it entaUs misery upon 
 the Indians, and endangers their lives." 
 
 A few days after this note was v.ritten Josiah 
 Snelling, who had been recently promoted to the 
 Colonelcy of the Fiftli Regiment, arrived with 
 his family, relieved Leavenworth, and infused 
 new life and energy. A little while before his 
 
 arrival, the daughter of Captain Gooding was 
 married to Lieutenant Green, the Adjutant of 
 the regiment, the first mamage of white persons 
 in Mumesota. Mrs. SnelUng, a few days after 
 her arrival, gave birth to a daughter, the first 
 white child born in Minnesota, and after a brief 
 existence of tliirteen months, she died and was 
 the first mterred in the military grave yard, and 
 for years the stone which marked its resting 
 place, was visiljle. 
 
 The earliest manuscript in Minnesota, written 
 at the Cantonment, is dated October 4, 1820, and 
 is in the hand\rating of Colonel Snelling. It 
 reads : "In justice to Lawrence Taliaferro, Esq., 
 Indian Agent at this post, we, tlie undersigned, 
 officers of the Fifth Kegiment here stationed, 
 have presented him this paper, as a token, not 
 only of our individual respect and esteem, but as 
 an entire approval of his conduct and deportment 
 as a pulilic agent in this quarter. Given at St. 
 Peter, this 4th day of October, 1820. 
 
 J. Snelling, if. Claek, 
 
 Col. 5th Iirf. Lieutenant. 
 
 S. BuKisANK, Jos. Hake, 
 
 Br. Major. Lieutenant. 
 
 David Perry, Ed. Pubcell, 
 
 Captain. Surgeon, 
 
 D. Gooding, P. R. Green, 
 
 Brevet Captain. Lieut, and Adjt. 
 
 J. Plympton, W. G. Camp, 
 
 Lieutenant. Lt. and Q. M. 
 
 R. A. McCABE, II. "WlLKINS, 
 
 Lieutenant. Lieutenant." 
 
 During the summer of 1820, a party of the 
 Sissetou Sioux killed on the ISIissouri, Isadore 
 Poupon, a half-breed, and Joseph Andrews, a 
 Canadian engaged in the fur trade. The Indian 
 Agent, tlu'ough CoUu Campbell, as interpreter, 
 notified the Sissetons that trade would cease 
 with tliem, until the murderers were dehvered. 
 At a council held at Big Stone Lake, one of the 
 murderers, and the aged father of another, agreed 
 to surrender themselves to the commanding 
 officer. 
 
 On tlie twelfth of November, accompanied by 
 their friends, they approached tlie encampment 
 in solemn procession, and marched to the centre 
 of the parade. First appeared a Sisseton bear- 
 ing a British flag; then the murderer and the de- 
 voted father of another, tlieir arms pinioned, and 
 
ARRIVAL OF TllK FlRtiT STEAMBOAT. 
 
 \<Z 
 
 large wooden splinters thrust tlnough the flesli 
 above the elbows indicating their contempt for 
 pain and denth ; in tlie rear followed friends and 
 relatives, with them chanting the death dirge. 
 Having arrived in front of the guard, lire was 
 kindled, and the ]?ritish llag burned; tlien the 
 murderer delivered up his medal, and both prisou- 
 ers were surrounded. Col. Snelling detained t:.e 
 old chief, while the murderer was sent to St. 
 Louis for trial. 
 
 EVENTS OF THE VEAK ISlJl. 
 
 Col. Snelling built the fort in the shape of a 
 lozenge, in view of the projection between the 
 two ri\'ers. The first row of barracks was of 
 licwu logs, obtained from the pine forests of Rum 
 Jtiver, but the other buildings were of stone. 
 Mrs. Van Cleve, the daughter of Lieutenant, 
 afterwards Captain Clark, writes : 
 
 ■■ In 1821 the fort, although not complete, was 
 lit for occupancy. My father had assigned to 
 him the quarters next beyond the steps leading 
 to the Commissary's stores, and during the year 
 my little sister Jidiet was born there. ^Vt a later 
 period my father and jSIajor (iai'Iand obtained 
 permission to buikl more commodious quarters 
 outside the walls, and the result «as the two 
 stone houses afterwards occupied by the Indian 
 Agent and interpreter, lately destroyed." 
 
 Early in August, a young and intelligent mixed 
 bl<iod, Alexis Bailly, in after years a member of 
 the legislature of Minnesota, left the cantonment 
 with the first drove of cattle for the Selkirk Set- 
 tlement, and the next winter returned with Col. 
 Robert Dickson and Messrs. Laidlow and ilac- 
 kenzie. 
 
 The next month, a party of Sissetons visited 
 the Indian Agent, and told him that they had 
 started with another of the murderers, to which 
 reference has been made, but that f)n the way he 
 had, through fear of being hung, killed himself. 
 
 This fall, a mill was constructed for the use of 
 the garrison, on the west side of St. Anthony 
 Falls, under the supervision of Lieutenant McCabe. 
 During the fall, George Gooding, Captain by 
 brevet, resigned, and became Sutler at I'rairie dii 
 Chien. He was a native of ilassachusetts, and 
 entered the army as ensign in isos. In isio he 
 became a Second Lieutenant, and the next year 
 was wounded at Tippecanoe. 
 
 In the middle of October, there embarked on 
 the keel-boat " Saucy Jack," for Prairie du Cliien, 
 Col. Snelling, Lieut. liaxley. Major Taliaferro, 
 and Mrs. (rooding, 
 
 EVENTS ov ^x■l■l .w'l) isi;:!. 
 
 Karly iu January, l.si!!', there canu' to \\w Fort 
 Ironi the Red River of tlie Xorlh. Cul. l!ol)ert 
 Dickson, Laidlow, a Scotch farmer, tlie superin- 
 tendent of Lord Selkirk's experimental farm, and 
 one Mackenzie, on their w^ay to Prairie du Chien. 
 Dickson returned with a drove of cattle, but 
 owing to the hostility of the Sioux his cattle were 
 scattered, and never reached Pembina. 
 
 During the winter of l.S2;i, Agent Taliaferr<i 
 was in Washington. While returning iu Marcli, 
 iie was at a hotel in Pittsburg, when he received 
 a note signed G. C. Beltrami, who was an Italian 
 exile, asking permission to arcimiiiany him to tlie 
 Indian territory. He was tall ami i-omniamling 
 in appearance, and gentlemanly in bearing, and 
 Taliaferro was .so forciVily impressed as toacced:' 
 to the request. After reaching St. Louis they 
 embarked on the first steamboat for the I'pjier 
 Mississijipi. 
 
 It was named the Mrgiuia. and was built iu 
 Pittsburg, twenty-two feet in widtli, and one 
 hundred and eighteen feet in length, in charge of 
 a Captain ('rawford. It reached the Fort on the 
 tenth of ^lay, and was saluted by the discliaige 
 of caniKUi. Among tlie passengers, besiiles tlie 
 Agent and the Italian, were Major Riddle, Lieut. 
 Russell, and others. 
 
 The arrival of the Virginia is an era in the 
 history of the Dahkotah nation, and will proba- 
 lily be transmitted to their posterity as long as 
 they exist as a people. Tliey say their sacred 
 men, the night before, dreamed of seeing some 
 monster of the waters, whicli frightened them 
 \ery much. 
 
 As the boat neared the shore, men, women, 
 and children beheld with silent astonishment, 
 supposing that it was some enormous water-spirit, 
 coughing, pulling out hot breath, and splashing 
 water in every direction. A\'hen it touched the 
 landing their fears prevailed, and they retreated 
 some distance; but when the blowing off of 
 steam commenced they were coiiqiletely un- » 
 nerved: mothers forgetting tlieir childreu. willi 
 streaming hair, sought hiding-places; chiefs, re- 
 
94 
 
 BXPLOBEBS AND PIONSEBS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 noimcing their stoicism, scampered away like 
 aftriglited auimals. 
 
 The peace agreement beteen the Ojibways and 
 Dahkotahs, made througli tlie iiiHuence of Gov- 
 ernor Cass, was of brief duration, tlie latter be- 
 ing the first to violate the provisions. 
 
 On the fourtli of June, Taliaferro, the Indian 
 agent among tlie Dalikotahs, took advantage of 
 the presence of a large number of Ojilnva>« to 
 renew the agreement for the cessation of hostili- 
 ties. Tlie council hall of the agent was a large 
 room of logs, in wliich waved conspicuously the 
 flag of the United States, surrounded by British 
 colors and medals that had been delivered up 
 from time to time by Indian chiefs. 
 
 Among the Dahkotah chiefs present were 
 Wapashaw, Little Crow, and Penneshaw; of the 
 Ojibways there were Kendous\\a. JMoshomene, 
 and Pasheskonoepe. After mutual accusations 
 and excuses concerning the infraction of the pre- 
 vious treaty, tlie Dalikotahs lighted the calumet, 
 they having been tlie first to infringe upon tlie 
 agreement of 1820. After smoking and passing 
 the pipe of peace to the Ojibways, who passed 
 througli the same formalities, they all shook 
 hands as a pledge of renewed amity. 
 
 The morning after the council. Flat ilouth, 
 the distinguished Ojibway chief, arrived, who 
 had left his lodge vowing tliat he would never be 
 at peace with the Dahkotahs. As he stepped from 
 his canoe, Penneshaw held out his hand, but was 
 repulsed with scorn. The Dahkotah warrior 
 immediately gave the alarm, and in a moment 
 runners Avere on their way to the neighboring 
 villages to raise a war party. 
 
 On the sixth of June, the Dahkotahs had assem- 
 bled, stripped for a fight, and surromided the 
 Ojibways. The latter, fearing the wt)rst, con- 
 cealed their women and children beliind the old 
 barracks which had been used by tlie troojis while 
 the fort was being erected. At the solicitation of 
 the agent and commander of the fort, the Dahko- 
 tahs desisted trom an attacli and retired. 
 
 On the seventh, the Ojibways left for their 
 homes; but, in a few hours, while they were 
 making a portage at Falls of St. Anthony, they 
 were again approached by the Dahkotahs, who 
 would have attacked them, if a detachment of 
 troops had not arrived from the fort. 
 
 A rumor reaching Pennesliaw's village that he 
 
 had been killed at the falls, his mother seized an 
 Ojibway maiden, wlio had been a captive from 
 infancy, and, with a tomahawk, cut her in two. 
 Upon t"he return of the son in safety he was much 
 gratified at what he considered the prowess of 
 Ills parent. 
 
 On the third of July, 1823, Major Long, of the 
 engineers, arrived at the fort in command of an 
 expedition to explore the Minnesota Biver, and 
 tlie region along the northern boundary line of 
 the United States. Beltrami, at the request of 
 Col. Snelling, was permitted to be of the party, 
 and Alajor Taliaferro kindly gave liim a horse 
 and equipments. 
 
 The relations of the Italian to Major Long were 
 not pleasant, and at Pembina Beltrami left the 
 expedition, and with a " bois brule "', and two 
 Ojibways proceeded and discovered the northern 
 sources of the Mississippi, and suggested where 
 the western sources would be found ; which was 
 verified by Schoolcraft nine years later. About 
 the second week in September Beltrami returned 
 to the fort by wa}' of the ilississippi, escorted by 
 forty or fifty Ojibways, and on the 25th departed 
 for New Orleans, where he published his discov- 
 eries in the French language. 
 
 The mill which was constructed in 1821, for 
 sawing lumber, at the Falls of St. Anthony, stood 
 upon the site of the Holmes and Sidle Mill, in 
 MinneapoUs, and in 1823 was fitted up for grind- 
 ing flour. The following extracts from corres- 
 pondence addressed to Lieut. Clark, Commissary 
 at Fort Snelling, will be read ^Yiih interest. 
 
 Under the date of August oth, 1823, General 
 Gibson writes : '■ From a letter addressed by 
 Col. Snelling to the Quartermaster General, 
 dated the 2d of April, I learn that a large quan- 
 tity of wheat would be raised this summer. Tlie 
 assistant Commissary of Subsistence at St. Louis 
 has been instructed to forward sickles and a pair 
 of millstones to St. Peters. If any flour is manu- 
 factured from the wheat raised, be pleased to let 
 me know as early as practicable, that I may deduct 
 tlie quantity manufactured at the post from the 
 quantity advertised to be contracted for." 
 
 In another letter, General Gibson writes : 
 " Below you will find the amount charged on the 
 books against the garrison at Ft. St. Anthony, 
 for certain articles, and forwarded for the use of 
 the troops at that post, which you will deduct 
 
FIBST FLOUE MILL IN MINNESOTA. 
 
 il.5 
 
 from ihe payments to be made for Hour raised 
 and turned over to you for issue : 
 
 One pair buhr niillstoiies g2o0 11 
 
 337 pounds plaster of Paris 'M) 22 
 
 Two dozen sickles. is 00 
 
 Total $288 33 
 
 Upon the 19th of January, 1824, tlie (ieneral 
 WTites: "The mode suggested l>y Col. Snelling, 
 of fixing the price to be paid to the troops for the 
 flour furnished Ijy them is deemed equitable and 
 just. You will accordingly pay for the flour 
 $3.33 per ban-el." 
 
 Charlotte Ouisconsiii '\''an Cleve. now the oldest 
 person living who was connected with the can- 
 tonment in 1819. in a paper read liefore the De- 
 partment of American History of the Minnesota 
 Historical Society in January, 1880, wrote : 
 
 " In 1823, Mrs. Snelling and my mother estab- 
 lished the first Sunday School in the Northwest. 
 It was held in the basement of the commanding 
 oflBcer's quarters, and was productive of much 
 good. Many of the soldiers, with their families, 
 attended. Joe. Brown, since so well know in 
 this country, then a drummer boy, was one of 
 the pupils. A Bible class, for the officers and 
 their wives, was formed, and all became so inter- 
 ested in the history of the patriarchs, that it fur- 
 nished topics of conversation for the week. One 
 day after the Sunday School lesson on thedeathof 
 Moses, a member of the class meeting my mother 
 on the parade, after exchanging the usual greet- 
 ings, said, in saddened tones, ' But don't you feel 
 son-y that Moses is dead ? ' 
 
 Early in the spring of 1824, the Tully Ijoys 
 were rescued from the Sioux and brought to the 
 fort. They were children of one of the settlers 
 of Lord Selkirk's colony, and with their parents 
 and others, were on their way from Red Eiver 
 ^'alley to settle near Fort Snelling. 
 
 The party was attacked by Indians, and the 
 parents of these children murdered, and the boys 
 captured. Through the influence of Col. Snell- 
 ing t!ie children were ransomed and brought 
 to the fort. Col. Snelling took John and 
 my father Andrew, tlie younger of the two. 
 Everyone became interested in the oi-phans, and 
 we loved Andrew as if he had been our own lit- 
 tle brother. John died some two years after his 
 arrival at the fort, and Mrs. Snelling asked me 
 
 when I last saw her if a tomb stone had been 
 placed at his grave, she as requested, during a 
 visit to the old home some years ago. She said 
 she received a promise that it should lie done, 
 and seemed quite disappointed when I told her it 
 had not been attended to." 
 
 Andrew Tully, after lieing (-(luratcd at an 
 Orphan Asylum in New York City, became a 
 carriage maker, and died a few years ago in that 
 vicinity. 
 
 EVENTS (IF THE VEAK A. I). 1824. 
 
 In the year 1824 tlie Fort was visited by Gen. 
 [ Scott, on a tour of inspection, and at his sug- 
 gestion, its name was changed from Fort St. 
 Anthony to Fort Snelling. The following is an 
 extract from his report to the "War Deiiartment : 
 
 " This work, of which the AVar Department is 
 in possession of a plan, reflects the highest credit 
 on Col. Snelling, his officers and men. The de- 
 fenses, and for the most part, the public store- 
 houses, shojis and quarters being constructed of 
 stone, the whole is likely to endure as long as the 
 post shall remain a frontier one. The cost of 
 erection to the government has been the amount 
 paid for tools and iron, and the per diem \n\u\ 
 to soldiers employed as mechanics. I wish to 
 suggest to the General in Chief, and through him 
 to the War Department, the proiiriety of calling 
 this work Fort Snelling, as a just cdniplinient 
 to the meritorious officer under whom it has 
 been erected. Tlie present name, (Fort St. An- 
 thony), is foreign to all our associations, and is. 
 besides, geographically incorrect, as the work 
 stands at the junction of the Mississippi and 
 St. Peter's [Minnesota] Rivers, eight miles be- 
 low the great falls of the JMississippi, called 
 after St. Anthony." 
 
 In 1824, iSIajor Taliaferni proceeded to AVasli- 
 ington with a delegation of Chippewaysand Dah- 
 kotahs, headed by Little Crow, the grand fatliei- 
 of the chief of the same name, wlio was engaged 
 in the late horrible massacre of defenceless 
 women and children. The object of the visit, ^\•as 
 to secure a convocation of all the tribes of the 
 Upper ilississippi, at Prairie du Cliein, to deUne 
 their boundary lines and establish friendly rela- 
 tions. "When they reached Prairie du Cheiii, 
 AVahnatah, a Yankton chief, and also Wapashaw, 
 by the whispenngs of mean traders, became dis- 
 
96 
 
 EXPLOBERS ASn PIONEERS OF JflNNESOTA. 
 
 affected, and wished to turn back. Little Crow, 
 perceiving this, stopped all hesitancy by tlie fol- 
 lowing speech: "My friends, you can do as you 
 please. I am no coward, nor can my ears be 
 pulled about by evil counsels. We are here and 
 should go on, and do some good for our nation. 
 I have taken our Father here (Taliaferro) by the 
 coat tail, and will follow him vuitil I take by the 
 hand, our great American Father." 
 
 While on board of a steamer on the Ohio 
 Elver, Marcpee or the Cloud, in consequence of a 
 bad dream, jumped from the stern of the boat, 
 and was supposed to be drowned, but he swam 
 ashore and iflade his way to St. Charles, Mo. . 
 there to be murdered liy some Sacs. The re- 
 mainder safely arrived in AVashington and ac- 
 complished the object of the visit. The Dahko- 
 tahs returned by way of New York, and while 
 there were anxious to pay a ^'isit to certain par- 
 ties with "W^m. Dickson, a half-breed son of Col 
 Robert Dickson, the trader, who in the war of 
 1812-15 led the Indians of the Northwest against 
 the Ignited States. 
 
 After this visit Little Crow carried a new 
 double-barreled gun, and said that a medicine 
 man by the name of Peters gave it to him for 
 signing a certain paper, and that he also prom- 
 ised he woidd send a keel-boat full of goods to 
 them. The medicine man referred to was the 
 Kev. Samuel Peters, an Episcopal clergyman, 
 who had made himself obnoxious duriut; the 
 Revolution by his tory sentiments, arid was sub- 
 sequently nomuiated as Bishop of A'ermont. 
 
 Peters asserted that in 1806 he liad purchased 
 of the lieirs of .Jonathan Carver the right to a 
 tract of land on the upper Mississippi, embracing 
 St. Paul, alleged to have been given to Carver by 
 the Dahkotahs, in 1767. 
 
 The next year there arrived, in one of the keel- 
 boats from Prairie du Chieu, at Fort Snelling a 
 box marked Col. Robert Dickson. On opening, it 
 was found lo contain a few presents from Peters 
 to Dickson's Indian wife, a long letter, and a 
 copy of Carver's alleged grant, written on parch- 
 ment. 
 
 KVKNTS OF THE YEARS 1825 AND 1826. 
 
 On the .'iOth of October, 1825, seven Indian 
 women in canoes, were drawn into the rapids 
 above the Falls of St. Anthony. All were saved 
 
 l)ut a lame girl, who was dashed over the cata- 
 ract, and a month later her body was found at 
 Pike's Island in front of the fort. 
 
 Forty years ago, the means of communication 
 betTveen Fort Snelling and the civilized world 
 were very limited. The mail in winter was usu- 
 ally carried by soldiers to Prairie du Chien. On 
 the 26th of January, 1826, there was great joy in 
 the fort, caused by the return from furlough of 
 Lieutenants Baxley and Russell, who brought 
 with them the first mail received for five months. 
 About tills period there was also another excite- 
 ment, cause by the seizure of liquors in the trad" 
 ing house of Alexis Bailey, at Xew Hope, now 
 Mendota. 
 
 During the months of February and ilarcli, in 
 this year, snow f eU to the depth of two or three 
 feet, and there was great suffering among the 
 Indians. On one occasion, thii'ty lodges of Sisse- 
 ton and other Sioux w^ere overtaken by a snow 
 storm on a large prairie. The storm continued 
 for three days, aud pro\'isions grew scarce, for 
 the party were seventy in number. At last, the 
 stronger men, with the few pairs of snow-shoes 
 in their possession, started for a trading post one 
 hundred miles distant. They reached their des- 
 tuiation half aliv(% and the traders sympathizing 
 sent foiu" Canadians with supplies for those left 
 behind. After great toil they reached the scene 
 of distress, and found many dead, and, what was 
 more horrible, the living feeding on the corpses 
 of their relatives. A mother had eaten her dead 
 child and a jmrtion of her own father's arms. 
 Tlie shock to her nervous system was so great 
 that she lost her reason. Iler name was Pash- 
 nno-ta, and she was both young and good look- 
 ing. One day in September, while at Fort Snell- 
 ing, she asked Captain Jouett if he knew which 
 was the best jiortion of a man to eat, at the same 
 time taking him by the collar of his coat. He 
 replied with great astonishment, "No !" and she 
 then said, "The arms." She then asked for a 
 piece of his servant to eat, as she was nice and 
 fat. A few days after this she dashed herself 
 from the bluffs near Fort Snelling, into the river. 
 Her body ■was found just above the mouth of the 
 Minnesota, and decently Interred by ihe agent. 
 
 The spring of 1826 was very backw'ard. On 
 the 20th of March snow fell to the depth of one 
 or one and a half feet on a level, and drifted in 
 
]VEOBO SLAVEIS AT FOUT aSELLlNQ. 
 
 97 
 
 heaps from six to fifteen feet in heiglit. On tlie 
 5t!i of April, eurly in the day, tliere was a violent 
 storm, anil the ire was still tliirk in tlio river. 
 Diuiui,' the storm llaslies of Ii8iitnint>- were seen 
 and thnnder heard. On the 10th, the thermome- 
 ter was fom- degrees aliove zero. On tlio 1 1th 
 there was rain, and on the next day the St. Peter 
 river liroke up, hut the ice on the Jilississippi re- 
 mained lirm. On the lilst, at noon, the ice began 
 to move, and carried away Mr. Fariljault's houses 
 on llu> east side of tlie river, for se\eral days 
 the river was twenty feet above low water mark, 
 and all the houses on low lands were swept off. 
 On the second of Itlay, the steamboat T.awreuce, 
 Captain Reeder, arrived. 
 
 Major Taliaferro hail inherited several slaves, 
 which he used to hire to officer's of the garrison. 
 On the 31st of March, his negro boy, Wilham, 
 was employed by Col. Snelling, the latter agree- 
 ing to clothe him. About this time, AVilliani at- 
 tempted to shoot a hawk, but instead shot a small 
 boy, named Henry Cullum, and nearly killed him. 
 In May, Captain Pl\'mpton, of the Fifth Infantry, 
 wished to yiurchase his negro woman, Eliza, biit 
 he refused, as it was his intention, ultimately, to 
 fi'ee his slaves. Another of his negro girls, Har- 
 riet, was married at the fort, the ilajor perform- 
 ing the ceremony, to the now historic Dred Scott, 
 who was then a slave of Surgeon Emerson. Tlie 
 only person that ever purchased a slave, to retain 
 in slavery, was Alexis Bailly, who bought a man 
 of Major Garland. The Sioux, at first, had no 
 prejudices against negroes. They called them 
 " Black Frenchmen," and placing their hands on 
 their woolly heads would laugh heartily. 
 
 The following is a list of the steamboats that 
 had arrived at Fort SnelUng, up to May 26, 1826 : 
 
 1 Vu-ginia, May 10, 1823 ; 2 Neville ; 3 Put- 
 nam, April 2, 182.5 ; 3 Jlandan ; o Indiana ; 6 Law- 
 rence, May 2, 1826; 7Sciota;8 Eclipse; 9 Jo- 
 sephine; 10 Fulton; 11 Red Rover; 12 Black 
 Rover; 13 Warrior; 14 Enterprise; lo Volant. 
 
 Life within the walls of a fort is sometimes the 
 exact contrast of a paradise. In the year 1826 a 
 Pandora box was opened, among the officers, and 
 dissensions began to prevail. One young officer, 
 a graduate of ^V'est Point, whose father had been 
 a professor in Princeton College, fought a duel 
 with, and slightly wounded, AVilliam Joseph, the 
 talented son of Colonel SneUiug, who was then 
 
 twenty-two years of age, and had been three years 
 at West I'oint. At a Coint Jlarlial convened to 
 try the officer for violating the Articles of AVar, 
 the accused objected to the testimony of Lieut. 
 William Alexander, a Tennesseean, not a gradu- 
 ate of the ^Military Academy, on the ground that 
 he was an infidel. Alexander, hurt by this allu- 
 sion, challenged the objector, and aimlhcr duel 
 was fought, rcsuUing oidy In sliglit injuries to 
 tlie clothing of the comliatants. Inspector (ien- 
 eral 10. P. Gaines, after this, visited the fort, and 
 in his I'eport of the inspection he wrote: ''A 
 defei^t hi the discipline of this regiment has ap- 
 Bcared in the character of certain personal con- 
 troversies, between the Colonel and several of his 
 young officers, the iiarticulars of which I forbear 
 to enter into, assured as I am that they will be 
 developed in the proceedings of a general court 
 martial ordered for the trial of Lieutenant Hun- 
 ter and other officers at Jefferson BaiTacks. 
 
 " From a conversation with the Colonel I can 
 have no doiilit that he has erred in the course 
 pursued by him in reference to some of the con- 
 troversies, inasmuch as he has intimated to his 
 officers his willingness to sanction in certain cases, 
 and even to participate in personal conflicts, con- 
 trary to the twenty-fifth. Article of War." 
 
 The Colonel's son, AVilliam Joseph, after this 
 passed several years among traders and Indians, 
 and became distinguished as a poet and briUiant 
 author. 
 
 His " Tales of the Xorthwest," published in 
 Boston ill 1.S20, by llilliard. Gray, Little & AVil- 
 kins, is a work of great literary ability, and Catliu 
 thought the book was the most faithful pictured 
 Indian life he had read. Some of his poems were 
 also of a high order. One of his pieces, deficient 
 in dignity, was a caustic satire upon modern 
 American poets, and was pulilished under the 
 title of '■ Truth, a (;ift for Scribblers." 
 
 Nathaniel P. AVillis, who had winced imder 
 the last, wrote the following lampoon : 
 " Oh, smelling Joseph ! Thou art like a cur. 
 
 I'm told thou once did live by hunting fur : 
 
 Of bigger dogs thou smellest, and, in .sooth, 
 
 Of one extreme, perhaiis, can tell the truth. 
 
 "Tis a wise shift, and sliows thou know'st thy 
 jiowers. 
 
 To leav(^ the ■ Xortli West tales,' and take to 
 smelling ours.'' 
 
98 
 
 EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 In 1832 a second edition of " Truth " appeared 
 ■with additions and emendations. In this ap- 
 peared the following pasquinade upon Willis : 
 "I live by Imnting fur, thou say"st, so let it be, 
 But tell me. Natty ! Had I hunted thee, 
 Had not my time been thrown away, young sir. 
 And eke my powder V Puppies have no fur. 
 
 Our tails ? Thou ownest thee to a tail, 
 I've scanned thee o'er and o'er 
 But, though I guessed the species right, 
 I was not sure before. 
 
 Our savages, authentic travelers say, 
 To natural fools, religious homage pay, 
 Eadst thou been born in wigwam's smoke, and 
 
 died in, 
 Nat ! thine apotheosis had been certain." 
 
 Snelling died at Chelsea, Mass., December six- 
 teenth, 1848, a victim to the appetite which en- 
 enslaved Robert Burns. 
 
 In the year 1826, a small party of Ojibwayfi 
 (Chippeways) came to see tlie Indian Agent, 
 and three of them ventured to visit the Colum- 
 bia Fur Company's trading house, two miles 
 from the Fort. While there, they became 
 aware of their danger, and desired two of the 
 wliite men attached to the establishment to 
 accompany tliem back, thinking that their pres- 
 ence might be some protection. They were in 
 error. As they passed a little copse, three Dali- 
 kotahs sprang from behind a log with the speed of 
 light, fired their pieces into the face of the fore- 
 most, and then fled. The guns must have been 
 double loaded, for the man's liead was literally 
 blown from his shoulders, and his wliite com- 
 panions were spattered witli brains and blood. 
 Tlie survivors gained the Fort without further 
 molestation. Their comrade was buried on the 
 spot where he fell. A stafE w-as set up on his 
 grave, which became a landmark, and received 
 the name of The Murder Pole. The murderers 
 boasted of their achievement and with impunity. 
 They and their tribe thought that they had struck 
 a fair blow on their ancient enemies, in a becom- 
 ing manner. It was only said, '..hat Toopunkah 
 Zeze of the village of the Butlure aux Fievrex, 
 and two others, had each acquired a right to 
 •wear skunk skins on their heels and war-eagles' 
 feathers on their lieads. 
 
 EVKNTS OF A. D. 1827. 
 
 On the tu'enty-eighth of May, 1827, tlie Ojib- 
 way chief at Sandy Lake, Kee-wee-zais-hish 
 called by the English, Flat Mouth with seven 
 warriors and some women and children, in all 
 amountnig to twenty-four, arrived about sunrise 
 at Fort Snelling. Walking to the gates of the 
 gaiTison, they asked the protection of Colonel 
 Snelling and Taliaferro, the Indian agent. They 
 were told, that as long as they remained inider 
 the United States flag, they were secure, and 
 were ordered to encamp within musket shot of 
 the high stone walls of the fort. 
 
 During the afternoon, a Dahkotah, Toopunkah 
 Zeze, from a village near the first rapids of the 
 Minnesota, visited the Ojibway camp. They 
 were cordially received, and a feast of meat and 
 corn and sugar, was soon made ready. The 
 wooden plates emptied of their contents, they 
 engaged in conversation, and whiffed the peace 
 pipe. 
 
 That night, some oflicers and their friends were 
 spending a pleasant evening at the head-quarters 
 of Captain Clark, wliich was in one of the stone 
 houses which used to stand outside of the walls 
 of the fort. As Captain Cruger was walking on 
 the porch, a bullet whizzed by, and rapid firing 
 w^as heard. 
 
 As the Dahkotahs, or Sioux, left the Ojibway 
 camp, notwithstanding their friendly talk, they 
 tur-ned and discharged their guns with deadly aim 
 upon their entertainers, and ran off with a sliout 
 of satisfaction. The report was heard liy the 
 sentinel of the fort, and he cried, repeatedly^ 
 " Corporal of the guard !"' and soon at the gates, 
 were the Ojibways, witli their women and the 
 wounded, telling their tale of woe in wild and in- 
 coherent language. Two had been killed and six 
 woinided. Among others, was a little girl about 
 seven years old, who was pierced through both 
 thighs with z bullet. Surgeon McJIahon made 
 every effort to save her life, but wdthout avail. 
 
 Flat ilouth, the chief, reminded Colonel Snel- 
 ling that he had been attacked while inider tlie 
 protection of the United States flag, and early the 
 next morning. Captain Clark, witli one hundred 
 soldier. , proceeded towards LaiuTs End, a tra- 
 ding-post of the Columbia Fur Company, on the 
 Minnesota, a mile above the former residence of 
 
TRAGIC SCENE UNDEli THE ]VALL::i OF THE FoUT. 
 
 yj 
 
 Franklin Steele, where tlie Dalikolalis were sup- 
 posed to be. The soldiers had just li'l't the lari;e 
 gate of the fort, when a partx of Dahkotahs, in 
 battle array, appeared on one of the prairit* 
 hills. After some parleying they turned their 
 baeks, and being pnrsned, thirly-two were cap- 
 tured near the trading-post. 
 
 Colonel Snelling ordered the prisoners to lie 
 brouglit before the Ojibways. and two being 
 pointed out as participants in tlie slaughter of the 
 pi'eceding uight, they were delivered to tlu^ 
 aggrieved party to deal with in accordance with 
 their customs. They were led out to the plain 
 in front of the gate of the foil, anil when placed 
 nearly without the range of tlie Ojibway guns, 
 they were told to run for their lives. AVitli the 
 rapidity of deer they bounded away, but the Ojib- 
 way bidlet Hew faster, and after a few steps, they 
 fell gasping on the groimd, and were soon lifeless. 
 Tlien the savage nature displayed itself in all its 
 hideousness. Women and children danced for 
 joy, and plachig their fingers in llic bullet holes. 
 from which the blood oozed, tliey licked tliein 
 with delight. The men tore the scalps fnnn the 
 dead, and seemed to luxuriate in the privilege of 
 plunging their Isnives through the corpses. After 
 the execution, the Ojibways returned to the fort, 
 and were met by the Colonel. He had prevented 
 all over whom his authority extended from wit- 
 nessing the scene, and had done his best to con- 
 fine the excitement to the Indians. The same 
 day a deputation of Uahkotah warriors received 
 audience, regretting the violence that liad lieen 
 done by their young men, and agreemg to deliver 
 uji the ringleaders. 
 
 At the time appointed, a son of Flat JNIonth, 
 with those of the Ojibwa party that were not 
 wounded, escorted by United States troops, 
 marched forth to meet the Dahkotah deputation, 
 on the prame just beyond the olil residence of 
 tlie Indian agent. AVith much solemnity two 
 more of the guilty were lianded over to the 
 assaulted. One was fearless, and with firmness 
 stripped himself of his clothing and ornaments, 
 and distributed them. The other could not face 
 death with composure, lie was iiotf d for a hid- 
 eous hare-lip, and had a bad reputation among 
 liis fellows. In the spirit of a coward he prayed 
 for life, to the mortification of iiis tribe. The 
 same opportunity was presented to them as to the 
 
 first, of running for their lives. At the first fire 
 the coward fell a corpse; but his brav(> compan- 
 ion, tliiiuijli wounded, ran on. and had iiearlv 
 reached the goal of safety, when a second bullet 
 killed him. Tht; body of the coward now became 
 a common object of loathing for both Dahkotahs 
 and Ojibways. 
 
 ("olonel Snelling told th(! Ojibways that tlie 
 bodies must \n\ removed, and then they took Ih.e 
 scalped Dahkotahs. and dragging them by the 
 hffls. tliirw tliciii oil' lli(^ blulf iiilo the river, a 
 hundred and fifty feet beneath. The dreadful 
 scene was now over ; and a detaclmient of troops 
 was sent with the old chief Flat Mouth, to escort 
 him out of the reach of Dahkotah vengeance. 
 
 An eyewitness wrote : " After this catastroiihe, 
 all the Dahkotahs (piit ted the vicinity of Fort Snel- 
 ling, and did not return to it for some months. 
 It w-as said that they formed a consiiiracy to de- 
 mand a council, and kill the Indian Agent and 
 the commanding olllcer. If this was a fact, they 
 had no opportunity, or wanted the spirit, to exe- 
 cute their purpose. 
 
 " The Flat Mouth's band lingered in the fort 
 till their woiuided comrade died. lie was sensi- 
 ble of his condition, and bore his iiains with great 
 fortitude. When he felt his end ajiproach, he 
 desh'ed that his horse might be gaily caparisoned, 
 and brought to the hospital window, so that he 
 might touch the animal. He then took from his 
 medicine bag a large cake of maple sugar, and held 
 it forth. It may seem strange, but it is true, that 
 the beast ate it from his hand, liis features 
 were radiant with delight as he fell back on the 
 pillow exhausted. His horse had eaten the sugar, 
 he said, and he was sure of a favorable reception 
 and comfortable quarters in the other world. 
 Half an hour after, he breathed his last. A\'e 
 tried to discover the details of his superstition, 
 but could not succeed. It is a subject on which 
 Indians unwillingly discourse." 
 
 In the fall of l.s^B, all the troops at Prairie du 
 Cliien had been removed to Fort Snelling, the 
 commander taking with him two 'Winnebagoes 
 that had been confined in Fort Crawford. After 
 the soldiers left the I'rairie, the Indians in the 
 vicinity w'ere quite insoleiu. 
 
 In .June, 1827, two keel-boats passed Prairie du 
 Chien on the way to Fort Snelling with provis- 
 ions. When they reached Wapashaw village, on 
 
100 
 
 EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA.. 
 
 the site of the present town of Winona, the crew 
 were ordered to come ashore by the Dahkotahs. 
 Complying, they found themselves surrounded by 
 Indians with hostile intentions. The boatmen 
 had no fire-arms, but assuming a bold mien and a 
 defiant voice, the captain of the keel-boats ordered 
 the savages to leave the decks ; which was suc- 
 cessful, The boats pushed on, and at Red Wing 
 and Kaposia the Indians showed that they were 
 not friendly, though tliey did not molest the 
 boats. Before they started on their return from 
 Fort Snelltng, the men on board, amounting to 
 thirty-two, were all provided with muskets and a 
 barrel of ball cartridges. 
 
 When the descending keel-boats passed Wapa- 
 shaw, the Dahkotas were engaged in the war 
 dance, and menaced them, but made no attack. 
 Below this point one of the boats moved in ad- 
 vance of the other, and when near the mouth of 
 the Bad Axe, the half-breeds on board descried 
 hostile Indians on the banks. As the channel 
 neared the shore, the sixteen men on the first 
 boat were greeted with the war whoop and a vol- 
 ley of rifle balls from the excited Wimiebagoes, 
 killing two of the crew. Bushing into their ca- 
 noes, the Indians made the attempt to board the 
 boat, and two were successful. One of these 
 stationed himself at the bow of the boat, and 
 fired with killing effect on the men below deck. 
 An old soldier of the last war with Great Britain, 
 called Saucy Jack, at last despatched him, and 
 began to rally the fainting spirits on board. Du- 
 ring the fight the boat had stuck on a sand-bar. 
 With four companions, amid a shower of balls 
 from the savages, he phniged into the water and 
 pushed ofE the boat, and thus moved out of reach 
 of the galling shots of the Winnebagoes. As 
 they floated down the river during the night, 
 they heard a wail in a canoe behind them, the 
 voice of a father mourning the death of the son 
 who had scaled the deck, and was now a corpse 
 in possession of the white men. The rear boat 
 passed the Bad Axe river late in the night, and 
 escaped an attack. 
 
 The first keel-boat arrived at Prairie du Ohein, 
 with two of their crew dead, four wounded, and 
 the Indian that had been killed on the boat. The 
 two dead men had been residents of the Prairie, 
 and now the panic was increased. On the morn- 
 ing of the twenty-eighth of June the second 
 
 keel -boat appeared, and among her passengers 
 was Joseph Snelling, the talented son of the 
 colonel, who wrote a story of deep interest, based 
 on the facts narrated. 
 
 At a meeting of the citizens it was resolved to 
 repair old Fort Crawford, and Thomas McNair 
 was appointed captain. Dirt was thrown aromid 
 the bottem logs of the fortification to prevent its 
 being fired, and young Snelling was put in com- 
 mand of one of the block-houses. On the next 
 day a voyageur named Loyer, and the well-known 
 trader Duncan Graham, started through the in- 
 terior, west of the Mississippi, with intelligence 
 of the murders, to Fort Snelling. Intelligence 
 of this attack was received at the fort, on the 
 evening of the ninth of July, and Col. Snelling 
 started in keel boats with four companies to Fort 
 Crawford, and on the seventeenth four more 
 companies left under Major Fowle. After an 
 absence of six weeks, the soldiers, without firing 
 a gim at the enemy, returned. 
 
 A few weeks after the attack upon the keel 
 boats General Gaines inspected the Fort, and, 
 subsequently in a communication to the War 
 Department wrote as follows ; 
 
 " The main points of defence against an enemy 
 appear to have been in some respects sacrificed, 
 in the effort to secure the comfort and conven- 
 ience of troops in peace. These are important 
 considerations, but on an exposed frontier the 
 primary object ought to be security against the 
 attack of an enemy. 
 
 " The buildings are too laige, too numerous, 
 and extending over a space entirely too great, 
 enclosing a large parade, five times greater than 
 is at all desireable in that climate. The build- 
 ings for the most part seem well constructed, of 
 good stone and other materials, and they contain 
 every desirable convenience, comfort and securi- 
 ty as barracks and store houses. 
 
 " The work may be rendered very strong and 
 adapted to a garrison of two hundred men by re- 
 moving one-half the buildings, and with the ma- 
 terials of which they are constructed, building a 
 tower sufficiently high to command the hill be- 
 tween the ^Mississippi and St. Peter's [Minnesota], 
 and by a block house on the extreije pohit, or 
 brow of the cliff, near the commandant's quarters, 
 to secure most effectually the banks of the river, 
 and the boats at the landing. 
 
DEATH OF COL. JOSIAII SNELLING. 
 
 101 
 
 ''Mufli crei.it i- due to Colonel Siu'Uiiii;, his 
 officers and men, for their immense labors and 
 excellent workmanship exhibited in the constnic- 
 tion of these barracks and store houses, but this 
 has been effected too mui-h at the expense of the 
 discipline of the regiment." 
 
 From reports made from 1823 to 1826. the health 
 of the troops was good. In the year ending .Sep- 
 tember thirty, 1823, there were but two deaths; 
 m 1S24 only six, and in 1825 but seven. 
 
 In lS2/i there were three desertions, in 1824 
 twenty-two, and in 1825 twenty-nine. JNIost of 
 the deserters ^\■ere fresh recruits and natives of 
 America, Ten of the deserters were foreigners, 
 and five of these were born in Ireland. In ls2(i 
 there were eight companies numbering two luui- 
 
 dreil and fourteen soldiers <piartered in Ihe Fort" 
 During tlu^ fall of l.s27 the Fitlh Regiment was 
 relieved by a part of llie First, and the next year 
 (.'olonelSnelling proceeded to Washington on bus- 
 iness, wliere he, died with inllaiunialion of the 
 lirain. Major (ieucral Macoiuli announcing his 
 death in an order, wrote : 
 
 '■(-olonel Snelling joined the army in early 
 youth. In the battle of Tippecanoe, he was 
 distinguish(>d for gallantry and good conduct. 
 Subsequently and during the whole late war with 
 Great P.ritain, from the battle of Brownstown to 
 the termination of the contest, lie was actively 
 employed in the field, with credit to himself, and 
 honor to his country.'' 
 
102 
 
 EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 OCCUERENCES IX THE VICIIsriTT OF FOKT SNELLTTSTG, CONTINTTED. 
 
 Arrival of J. N. Nicollel— Marriage of James Wells— NicoUet's letter from Falls- 
 of St. AntholiJ'— Perils of Mal-tin McLeod^-Cliippeway treachery— Sioux Re 
 veiige— Rum River and Stilhvater hattles— Grog shops near the Fort. 
 
 Oil the second of July 1S36, the steamboat 
 Saint Peter landed siiiiplics, and among its 
 passengers was the distinguished French as- 
 tronomer. Jean N. Nicollet (Nicokiy). I^Iajor 
 Taliaferro on the twelfth of Jidy, wrote; 
 " Mr. Nicollet, on a visit to the post for scientific 
 research, and at present in my family, has showii 
 me the late work of Henry R. Schoolcraft on the 
 discovery of the source of the Mississippi ; which 
 claim is ridiculous in the extreme." On the 
 twenty-seventh, Nicollet ascended the JNIississippi 
 on a tour of observation. 
 
 James AVells, a trader, wlio afterwards was a 
 member of the legislature, at the house of Oliver 
 Cratte, near the fort, was married on the tw elfth 
 of September, by Agent Taliaferro, to Jane, a 
 daughter of Duncan Graham. Wells was killed 
 in 1862, by the Sioux, at the time of the massacre 
 in the Minnesota Valley. 
 
 Nicollet in September returned from his trip 
 to Leech Lake, and on the twenty-seventh wTote 
 the following to JMajor Taliaferro the Indian 
 Agent at the fort, which is supposed to be the 
 earliest letter extant written from the site of the 
 city of Minneapolis. As the principal hotel and 
 one of the finest avenues of that city bears his 
 name it is worthy of preservation. He speUed 
 his name sometimes Nicoley, and the pronuncia- 
 tion in English, would be Nicolay, the same as 
 if written Nicollet in French. The letter shows 
 that he had not mastered the English language : 
 " St. Anthony's Falls, 27th September, lS3fi, 
 
 Deak Friend :— I arrived last evening about 
 dark; all well, nothing lost, nothuig broken, 
 happy and a very successful journey. But I 
 done exhausted, and nothing can reUeve me, but 
 the pleasure of meeting you again under your 
 hospitable roof, and to see all the friends of th" 
 garrisou who have been so kind to me. 
 
 " This letter is more particularly to give you 
 a very extraordinary tide. Flat Mouth, the chief 
 of Leech Lake and suite, ten in number are with 
 me. The day before yesterday I met them again 
 at Swan river where they detained me one day. 
 I had to bear a new^ harangue and gave answer. 
 All terminated by their own resolution that they 
 ought to give you the hand, as well as to the 
 Guinas of the Fort (Colonel Davenport.) 1 
 thought it my duty to acquaint you with it be- 
 forehand. Peace or war are at stake of the visit 
 they pay you. Please give them a good welcome 
 until I have reported to you and Colonel Daven- 
 port all that has taken place diu'ing my stay 
 among the Pillagers. But be assured I have not 
 trespassed and that I liave behaved as would 
 have done a good citizen of the U. S. As to 
 Schoolcraft's statement alluding to you, you will 
 have full and complete satisfaction from Flat 
 Mouth himself. In haste, your friend, J. N. 
 Nicoley." 
 
 events of a. d. 1837. 
 
 On the seventeenth of March, 1837, there ar- 
 rived Martin ilcLeod, who became a prominent 
 citizen of Minnesota, and the legislature has 
 given his name to a county. 
 
 He left the Red River country on snow shoes, 
 with two companions, one a Polander and the 
 other an Irishman named Hays, and Pierre Bot- 
 tineau as interpreter. Being lost in a violent 
 snow storm the Pole and Irishman perished. lie 
 and his guide, Bottmeau, lived for a time on the 
 flesh of one of their dogs. After being twenty- 
 six days without seeing any one. the survivors 
 reached the traduig post of Joseph R. Brown, at 
 Lake Traverse, and from thence they came to 
 the fort. 
 
 EVENTS OF A. D. 1838. 
 
 In tlic nuiiitli of April, eleven Sioux were slain 
 in a dastardly manner, by a i)arfy of Ojibways, 
 
IXDIAI^ BATTLES AT RVM lilVEH AND STILLWATER. 
 
 103 
 
 imder the noted and elder Hole-in-the-Day. The 
 Chippeways feigned the wannest friendship, and 
 at dark lay do\ni in the tents by the side of the 
 Sionx, and in tlie night silently arose and lulled 
 them. Tlie occurrence took place at the Chippe- 
 way Kiver, abouttliirty miles from Lac qui Parle, 
 and tlie next day the Hev. G.II. Pond, the Indian 
 missionary, accompanied by a ,Sionx, \.ent out 
 and buried the mutikited and scalpless bodies. 
 
 On the second of August old IIole-in-the-I)ay, 
 and some Ojibways, came to the fort. They 
 stopped first at the cabin of Peter Quiini, whose 
 wife was a half-breed Chippeway, about a mile 
 from the fort. 
 
 The missionary, Samuel AV. Pond, told the 
 agent that the Hioux, of Lake Calhoun were 
 aroused, and on their way to attack the Chippe- 
 ways. The agent quieted them for a time, but 
 two of the relatives of those slain at Lac qui Parle 
 in ^Vpril, hid themselves near Quimi's house, and 
 as IIole-iu-the-Day and hi.s associates were pass- 
 ing, they -fired and killed one Chippeway and 
 wounded another. Obpquette. a Chippeway from 
 Ked Lake, succeded, however, in shooting a 
 Sioux while he was in the act of scalpmg his 
 comrade. The Chippeways were brought within 
 the fort as soon as possible, and at nine o'clock 
 a Sioux was confined in the guard-house as a 
 hostage. 
 
 Notwithstanding the murdered Chippeway had 
 been buried in the graveyard of the fort for safety, 
 an attempt was made on the part of some of the 
 Sioux, to dig it up. On the evening of the sixth, 
 Major Plympton sent the Chippeways across the 
 river to the east side, and ordered them to go 
 home as soon as possible. 
 
 EVENTS OF A. D. 1839. 
 
 On the twentieth day of June the elder Ilole- 
 m-the-Day arrived from the Upper ^Mississippi 
 with several Innidreil Chippeways. Upon tlieir 
 return homeward the Mississippi and Mille Lacs 
 band encampei^ the first night at the Falls of ><amt 
 ^Vnthony, and some of the Sioux visited them and 
 smoked the pipe of peace. 
 
 On the second of July, about sunrise, a son-in- 
 law of the chief of tlie Sioux band, at Lake Cal- 
 houn, named Meekaw or Badger, was killed and 
 scalped by two Chippeways of the Pillager band, 
 relatives of him who lost his b'fp near Patrick 
 
 Quinn's the year before. The excitement was 
 intense among the Sioux, and innnediately war 
 parties started in pursuit. iloIe-in-the-Uay's 
 band was not sought, but the JNlille Lacs and 
 Saint Croix Chippeways. The Lake Calhoun 
 Sioux, with those from the villages on the 
 ^Minnesota, assembled at the i'alls of Saint 
 Anthony, and on the morning of the fourth 
 of .July, came up with the Mille Lacs 
 Chippeways on Rum River, before sunrise. Xot 
 long after the war whoop was raised and the 
 Sioux attacked, killing and wounding ninety. 
 
 The Kajiosia band of Sioux pursued the Saint 
 Croix Chippeways, and on the third of July found 
 them in the Penitentiary ravine at Stillwater, 
 under the influence of wiiisky. Aitkin, the old 
 trader, was with them. The sight of the 
 Sioux tended to make them sober, but in the fight 
 twentj'-one were killed and twenty-nine were 
 wounded. 
 
 AVliisky, during the year 1839, was freely in- 
 troduced, in the face of the law prohibiting it. 
 The first boat of the season, the Ariel, came to 
 tlie fort on the fomteenth of April, and brouglit 
 twenty barrels of whisky for Joseph R. Brown, 
 and on the twenty-first of May, the Glaucus 
 brought six barrels of liquor for David Faribault. 
 On the thirtieth of June, some soldiers went to 
 Joseph R. Brown's groggery on the opposite side 
 of the Mississippi, and that night forty -seven 
 were in the guard-house for dj:unkenness. The 
 demoralization then existing, led to a letter by 
 Sm'geon Emerson on duty at the fort, to the Sur- 
 geon General of the United States army, in which 
 he writes : 
 
 " The whisky is brought here by citizens who 
 are pouring in upon us and .settling themselves 
 on the opposite shore of the Mississippi river, 
 in defiance of our wortliy commanding officer, 
 ^lajor .1. Plympton. whose authority they set 
 at naught. At this moment there is a 
 citizen named Browni, once a sohlier in 
 the Fifth Infantry, who was discharged at 
 this post, while Colonel Snelling commanded, 
 and who has been since employed by the Ameri- 
 can Fur Company, actually building on the land 
 marked out by the land officers as the reserve, 
 and withui gunshot distance of the fort, a very 
 expensive whisky shop." 
 
104 
 
 EXPLOBEIiS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVIII. 
 
 INDIAN TRIBES IN MINNESOTA AT THE TI3IE OF ITS ORGANIZATION. 
 
 Sioux or 0alikotah people— MeanitiRof words Sioux and Dalikotah— liarly villages 
 — Hesi'lence of Sioux in 1S49— Ttie Winiieliapoe^i— Tiie Ojibways or Chippeways. 
 
 Tlie three Iiidiiin nations who dwelt in tliis 
 region after the organization of JSIinnesota, were 
 the Sioux or Dahkotahs ; the Ojibways or Chip- 
 peways ; and the Ilo-tcliun-graws or Winneba- 
 goes. 
 
 SIOUX OR DAHKOTAHS. 
 
 They are an entirely different group from the 
 
 Algonquin and Iroquois, who were found by tlie 
 early settlers of the Atlantic States, on the banks 
 of the Connecticut, Mohawk, and Susquehanna 
 Elvers. 
 
 When the Dahkotahs were first noticed by the 
 European adventurers, large numbers were occu- 
 pying the Mille Lacs region of country, and appro- 
 priately called by the voyageur, "People of the 
 Lake," "Gens du Lac." And tradition asserts that 
 here was the ancient centre of this tribe. Though 
 we have traces of their warring and hunting on the 
 shores of Lake Superior, there is no siitisfaetory 
 evidence of their residence, east of the Mille Lacs 
 region, as they have no name for Lake Superior. 
 
 The word Dahkotah, by which they love to be 
 designated, signifies allied or joined together in 
 friendly compact, aiid is equivalent to " E pluri- 
 bus unum," the motto on the seal of the United 
 States. 
 
 In the history of the mission at La Pointe, 
 Wisconsin, published nearly two centuries ago, a 
 a writer, referring to the Dahkotahs, remarks : 
 
 " For sixty leagues from the extremity of the 
 Upper Lake, toward sunset; and, as it were in 
 the centre of the western nations, they have all 
 unUed their force by a general league." 
 
 The Dahkotahs in the earliest documents, and 
 even until the present day , are called Sioux, Scioux, 
 or Soos. The name originated mtli the early voy- 
 ageurs. For centuries the Ojibways of Lake 
 Superior waged war against the Dahkotahs; and. 
 
 whenever they spoke of them, called them Xado- 
 waysioux, which signifies enemies. 
 
 The French traders, to avoid exciting the atten- 
 tion of Indians, while conversing in their pres- 
 ence, were accustomed to designate them by 
 names, which would not be recognized. 
 
 The Dahkotahs were nicknamed Sioux, a word 
 composed of the two last syllables of the Ojibway 
 word for foes 
 
 Under the influence of the French traders, the 
 eastern Sioux began to wander from the Mille 
 Lacs region. A trading post at 0-ton-we-kpa- 
 dan, or Rice Creek, above the Falls of Saint 
 Anthony, induced some to erect their summer 
 dwellings and plant corn there, which took the 
 place of wild rice. Those who dwelt here were 
 called Wa-kpa-a-ton-we-dan Those v,ho dwell on 
 the creek. Another division was known as the 
 ila-tan-ton-wan. 
 
 Less than a hundred years ago, it is said that 
 the eastern Sioux, pressed by the Chippeways, 
 and influenced by traders, moved seven miles 
 above Fort Snelling on the Minnesota River. 
 
 MED-DAY-WAH-KAWN-TWAWNS. 
 
 In 1849 there were seven villages of Med-day- 
 wah-kawn-twawn Sioux. (1) Below Lakp Pepin, 
 where the city of Winona is, was the village of 
 Wapashaw. This band was called Kee-yu-ksa, 
 because with them blood relations intermarried. 
 Bounding or Whipping Wind was the chief. (2) 
 At the head of Lake Pepin, under a lofty bluff, 
 was the Red ^Ving village, called Ghay-nini-chan 
 Hill, wood and water. Shooter was the name 
 of the chief. (3) Opposite, and a little below the 
 Pig"s Eye IMarsh, was the Kaposia band. The 
 word, Kapoja means light, given because these 
 people are quick travelers. His Scailet People, 
 better kno^\^^ as Little Crow, was the chief, and 
 is notorious as the leader in the massacre of 1862. 
 
 On the Minnesota River, on the south side 
 
SOTICE OF THE llOTCIirXGRAWS, 01! ^n X .\ K/:.\(;nE.<i. 
 
 111.1 
 
 a lew miles above Fort Snelling, was Black Dog 
 village. The inhabitants were called, Ma-ga-yu- 
 tay-shnee. People who do not a geese, be- 
 cause they found itpiolitable to sell game at Fort 
 Snelliug. Grey Iron was the chief, also known 
 as Fa-ma-ya-vaw, jNIy head aches. 
 
 At Oak (irove, on the north side of the river, 
 eight miles above the fort, was (5) 1 lay-ya-ta-o- 
 ton-wan, or Inland A'illage, so called because 
 they formerly lived at Lake Calkoun. Contigu- 
 ous was (G) 0-ya-tay-shee-ka, or Bad People, 
 Known as Good Roads Band and (7) the largest 
 village was Tin-ta-ton-wan. Prairie Village ; 
 Shokpay, or Six, was the chief, and is now the 
 site of the town of Shakopee. 
 West of this di\ision of the Sioux were— 
 
 WAR-PAY-KIT-TAY. 
 
 The War-pay-ku-tay, or leaf shooters, who 
 occupied the country south of the Minnesota 
 around the sources of the Cannon and Blue Earth 
 Rivers. 
 
 "WAK-PAY-TWAWNS. 
 
 North and west of the last were the War-pay- 
 twawns, or People of the Leaf, and their princi- 
 pal village was Lac qui Parle. They numbered 
 about fifteen hundred. 
 
 SE-SEE-TWAWNS. 
 
 To the west and southwest of these bands of 
 SioiLx were the Se-see-twawns (Sissetoans), or 
 Swamp Dwellers. This band claimed the land 
 west of the Blue Earth to the James River, and 
 the guardianship of the Sacred Red Pipestone 
 Quarry. Their principal village was at Traverse, 
 and the number of the band was estimated at 
 thirty-eight hundred. 
 
 HO-TCHUN-GRAWS, OK WINNEBAC40ES. 
 
 The llo-tchun-graws, or Winnebagoes, belong 
 to the Dahkotah family of aborigines. Cham- 
 plain, although he never visited tliem, mentions 
 them. Xicollet, wlio had been in his employ, 
 visited Green Bay about the year 1635. and an 
 early Relation mentions tliat he saw the Ouini- 
 pegous, a people called so, because they came 
 from a distant sea, whicli some French erron- 
 eously called Puants. Another writer speak- 
 
 ing of these people says : ■' This people are 
 called ' Les Puants ' not because of any bad odor 
 peculiar to them, but because they claim to have 
 come from the shores of a far distant lake, 
 towards the north, whose waters are salt. They 
 call themselves the people ' de I'eau puants,' of 
 the putrid or bad water." 
 
 By the treaty of 1837 they were removed to 
 Iowa, and by another treaty in October, 1846, 
 they came to Minnesota in the spring of 1848, 
 to the coimtry between the Long Prairie, 
 and Crow Wing Rivers. The agency was located 
 on Long Prairie River, forty miles from the 
 Mississippi, and in 1841) the tribe numbered 
 about twenty-tive htmdred souls. 
 
 In February 1855, another treaty was made 
 with them, and that spring they removed to lands 
 on the Blue Earth River. Owing to the panic 
 caused by the outbreak of the Sioux in 1S62, Con 
 gress, by a special act, without consulting them, 
 in 1863, removed them from their fields in Min- 
 nesota to the Missouri River, and in the words 
 of a missionary, "they were, like the Sioux, 
 dumped in the desert, one hundred miles above 
 Fort Randall" 
 
 O.JIBWAY OR CHIPPEWAY NATION. 
 
 The Ojibways or Leapers, when the French 
 came to Lake Superior, had their chief settlement 
 at Sault St. ]\Iarie, and were called by the French 
 Saulteurs, and by the Sioux, Ilah-ha-tonwan, 
 Dwellers at the Falls or Leaping Waters. 
 
 When Du Luth erected his trading post at the 
 western extremity of Lake Superior, they liad not 
 obtained any foothold in Minnesota, and were 
 constantly at war with their hereditary enemes, 
 the Nadouaysioux. By the middle of the 
 eighteenth century, they had pushed in and occu- 
 pied Sandy, Leech, Mille Lacs and other points 
 between Lake Superior and the Mississippi, which 
 had been dwelling places of the Sioux. In 1820 
 the principal villages of Ojibways in Minnesota 
 were at Fond du Lac, Leech Lake and Sandy 
 Lake. In 1837 they ceded most of their lands. 
 Since then, other treaties have been made, until 
 in the year 1881, they are confined to a few res- 
 ervations, in northern Minnesota and vicinity. 
 
106 
 
 EXPLOBSRS AND PIONEEES OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 EARLY JIISSIONS A3IONG THE OJIBWAYS AND DAHKOTAHS OF MnSniTESOTA. 
 
 Jesuit Missions not permanpnt— Pipsliytr-ri.-in Mission at Mackinaw — Visit of Uev 
 A. Coe an<! J D. Stevens to Foil Suellmg— JJotice of Ayers, Hall, antl Boutwell 
 —formation of the word Itasca — The Brothers Pond— Arrival of Dr. William- 
 son -Presbj-terian Church at Fort Snelling — Mission at Lake Harriet— Mourn- 
 ins for the Dead— Church at Lac-qui parle- Father Ravoux — Mission at Lake 
 Pokeginna— Attack by the Sioux — Chippeway attack at Pig's Eye— De.ith of 
 Rev. Sherman Hall — Methodist Missions Rev. S. W. Pond prepares a Sioux 
 Grammar and Dictionary Swiss Presbyterian Mission- 
 
 Bancroft the distinguished historian, catching 
 the enthusiasm of tlie narratives of tlie early 
 Jesuits, depicts, in language which glows, tlieir 
 missions to the Northwest ; yet it is erroneous 
 to suppose that the Jesuits exercised any perma- 
 nent influeuce on the Ahorigines. 
 
 Shea, a devoted member of the Koman Catho- 
 hc Church, in his History of American Cathohc 
 -Missions writes : " In KiSO Father Eugalran was 
 apparently alone at Green Bay, and Pierson at 
 Mackinaw. Of the other missions neither Le- 
 Clerq nor Hennepin, the Recollect writers of the 
 AVest at tliis time, make any mention, or m any 
 way allude to their existence." He also says 
 that "Father Menard had projected a Sioux 
 mission ; Martjuette, Allouez, Druilletes, all en- 
 tertained hopes of realizing it, and had some 
 intercourse wdth that nation, but none of them 
 ever succeeded in establishing a mission." 
 
 Father Hennepin wrote: '• Can it he possible, 
 that, that pretended prodigious amoimt of savage 
 converts could escape the sight of a midtitnde 
 of French Canadians who travel every year? 
 i. * * * How comes it to pass that these 
 churches so devout and so numerous, should be 
 invisible, when I passed through so many 
 countries and nations V " 
 
 After the American Fur Company was formed. 
 the island of Mackmaw became the residence of 
 the principal agent for the Nin'thwest, Robert 
 Stuart a Scotchman, and devoted Presbyterian. 
 
 In the mouth of June, 1820, the Rev. Dr. 
 JSIorse, father of the distinguislied inventor of 
 the telegraph, visited and preached at Mackuiaw, 
 and in consequence of statements published by 
 
 him, upon his return, a Presbyterian Missionary 
 Society in the state of New York sent a graduate 
 of Union College, the Rev. W. M. Ferry, father 
 of the present United States Senator from Michi- 
 gan, to explore the field. In 1823 he had estab- 
 lished a large boarding school composed of 
 children of various tribes, and here some were 
 educated who became waves of men of intelli- 
 gence and influence at the capital of Minnesota. 
 After a few years, it was determined by the 
 Mission Board to modify its plans, and in the 
 place of a great central station, to send mission- 
 aries among the several tribes to teach and to 
 preach. 
 
 In pursuance of this policy, the Rev. Alvan 
 Coe, and J. D. Stevens, then a licentiate who 
 had been engaged in the Mackinaw Mission, 
 made a tour of exploration, and arrived on 
 September 1, 1829, at Fort Snelling. In the 
 journal of Major LawTcnce Taliaferro, which 
 is in possession of the Minnesota Historical 
 Society, is the following entry : " The Rev. 
 Mr. Coe and Stevens reported to be on their w^ay 
 to this post, members of the Presbyterian church 
 looking out for suitable places to make mission- 
 ary establishment for the Sioux and Chippeways, 
 found schools, and instruct in the arts and agri- 
 culture.'' 
 
 The agent, althou.gh not at that time a commu- 
 nicant of the Cluu-ch, welcomed these visitors, 
 and afforded them every facility in visiting the 
 Indians. On Sunday, the 6th of September, the 
 Rev. Iilr. Coe jireached twice in the fort, and the 
 next night held a prayer meeting at the quarters 
 of the commanding officer. On the next Sunday 
 he preaciied again, and on the 14th, with Mr. 
 Stevens and ;i hired guide, returned to Mackinaw 
 by way of the St. Croix river. During this visit 
 the agent offered fur a Presliyterian mission the 
 mill which then stood on the site of ^liiuieapolis, 
 and had been erected by the govenunent, as well as 
 
FORMATION OF THE WOIU) ITASKA. 
 
 107 
 
 the farm at Lake Calhoun, which was begiui to 
 teach the Sionx agriculture. 
 
 CHIPPEWAY MISSIONS. 
 
 In 1830, F. Ayer. one of the teachers at .Mack- 
 inaw, made an expkmilion as far as La I'oiute, 
 and returned. 
 
 Upon the ;U)th day of August, 1831, a Macki- 
 naw boat about forty feet lung arrived at La 
 Pointe, bringing from :Mackinaw the principal 
 trader, Mr. Warren, Rev.Shernian Hall and wife, 
 and Mr. Frederick Ayer, a, catechist and teacher. 
 Mrs. Hall attracted great attention, as she was 
 the first white woman who had visited that 
 region. Sherman Hall was born on April 30. 
 ISOl, at "Wetliersfield, "Vermont, and in 1S2S 
 graduated at Dartmouth College, and completed 
 his theological studies at Andover. Massacliu- 
 setts, a few weeks before he journeyed to the 
 Indian country. 
 
 His classmate at Dartmouth and Aiidover, tlie 
 Rev W. T. Boutwell still living near Stillwater. 
 became his yoke-fellow, but remained for a time 
 at jMackinaw, which they reached about the mid- 
 dle <.f July. In .June, 1832, Henry R. School- 
 craft, the head of an exploring expedition, invited 
 Mr. Boutwell to accompany him to the sources of 
 the Mississippi. 
 
 "When tlie expedition reached Lac la Biche or 
 Elk Lake, on July 13, l«32, Mr. Schoolcraft, who 
 was not a Latin scholar, asked the Latin word for 
 tnith, and was told "veritas." He then wanted 
 ..ij word which signified head, and was tokl 
 '■caput." To the astonishment of many, School- 
 craft struck off the first sylable, of the word 
 ver-i-tas and the last sylable of ca-put, and thus 
 coined the word Itasca, which he gave to the 
 lake, and which some modern writers, with all 
 gravity, tell us was the name of a maiden who 
 once dwelt on its banks. Upon Mr. Boutwelfs 
 return from this expedition he was at fust asso- 
 ciated with Mr. Hall in the mission at La Pointe. 
 In 1833 the mission band which had centered 
 at La Pointe diffused their inlluence. In Octo- 
 ber Rev. Mr. Boutwell went to Leech Lake, Mr. 
 Ayer opened a school at Yellow Lake, Wiscon- 
 sin, and Mr. E. F. Ely, now in California, became 
 a teacher at Aitkin's trading post at Sandy Lake. 
 
 siorx MISSIONAKIES. 
 
 Mr. lioutwfll, of Leech I^ake Stntiim. on (li.- 
 
 sixth of May, 1834, happened to be on a visit to 
 Fort Snclling. 'While there a steamboat arrived, 
 and among the passengers w^ere U\o young men, 
 brothers, natives of Washington, Connecticut, 
 Sanniel W. and (iideon H. Pond, who had come, 
 constrained liy th(^ love of Christ, and without con- 
 ferring with llcsh and blood, to try to imiirove 
 the Sioux. 
 
 Sanuiel, the older ))rother, the year before, had 
 talked with a liqunr seller in (iaiena. Illinois, who 
 had come from the Red River country, and the 
 desire was awakened to help the Sioux; and he 
 wrote t(i liis brother to go with him. 
 
 The l!cv. Samuel \\ . Pond still lives at Shako- 
 pee, Lu the old mission house, the lirst buihling of 
 sawed lumber erecteil in the valley of the 2ilinne- 
 sota, above Fort Snelling. 
 
 JIISSIONS AMONCJ THE SIOUX A. D. 183o. 
 
 About tliis jieriod, a native of South Carolina, 
 a graduate of Jelferson College, Pennsylvania, 
 the Rev. T. S. Williamson, M. D., who previous 
 to Ins ordination had Ijcen a respectable jihysi- 
 cian in Ohio, was appointed by the American 
 Board of Foreign Alissions to visit the Dahkotahs 
 with the view of ascertaining what coidd be done 
 to introduce Christian instruction. Having made 
 inquiries at Prairie du Chieu and Fort Snelling, 
 he reported the lield was favorable. 
 
 The Presbyterian and Congregational Churches, 
 through their joint Missionary Society, appointed 
 the following persons to labor in JNIinnesota : 
 Rev. Thomas S. Williamson, yi. I)., missionary 
 and physician; Rev. J. I). Stevens, missionary; 
 Alexander Iluggins, farmer; and their wives; 
 Miss Sarah Poage, and Lucy Stevens, teachers; 
 who \\eie prevented during the year 1834, by the 
 state of navigation, from entering upon their 
 work. 
 
 During the winter of 1834-35, a pious officer 
 of the array exercised a good inlluence on his 
 fellow oflicers and soldiers mider his command. 
 In the alisence of a chaplain of ordained minis- 
 ter, he, like General Ilavelock, of the British 
 army in India, was accustomed not only to drill 
 the soldiers, but to meet them in bis own i\\iv.\- 
 ters, and reason with them " of righteousness, 
 temperance, and judgment to come." 
 
 In the mouth of Jlay, 183.5, Dr. AVilliamson 
 and mission band arrived at Foil Suellim,'. and 
 
108 
 
 IIXPLOBERS AKD PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 were hospitably received by the otfieers of the 
 garrison, the Indian Agent, and JNIr. Sibley, Agent 
 of the Company at Mendota, who had been in 
 the country a few months. 
 
 On the twenty-seventh of this month the Rev. 
 Dr. Williamson united in marriage at the Fort 
 Lieutenant Edward A. Ogden to Eliza Edna, the 
 daughter of Captain G. A. Loomis, the first 
 marriage service in which a clergyman officiated 
 in the present State of ^Minnesota. 
 
 On tlie eleventh of June a meeting was held 
 at the Fort to organize a Presbyterian Church, 
 sixteen persons who had been communicants, 
 and six who made a profession of faith, one of 
 whom was Lieutenant Ogden, were enrolled as 
 members. 
 
 Four elders were elected, among whom were 
 Capt. Gustavus Loomis and Samuel W. Pond. 
 The next day a lecture prejiaratory to administer- 
 ing the communion, was delivered, and on Smi- 
 day, the 1-tth, the first organized church in the 
 Valley of the Upper Mississippi asi^embled for 
 the first time in one of the Company rooms of the 
 Fort. The services in the morning were conducted 
 by Dr. AMlliamson. Tlie afternoon service com- 
 menced at 2 o'clock. The sermon of Mr. Stevens 
 was upon a most appropriate text, 1st Peter, ii:25 ; 
 " For ye were as sheep going astray, but are now 
 returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your 
 souls." After the discourse, the sacrament of the 
 Lord's supper was administered. 
 
 At a meeting of the Session on the thirty-first 
 of July, Rev. J. D. Stevens, missionary, was in- 
 vited to preach to the church, " so long as the 
 duties of his mission will permit, and also to pre- 
 side at all the meetings of the Session." Captain 
 Gustavus Loomis was elected Stated Clerk of the 
 Session, and they resolved to observe the monthly 
 concert of prayer on the first Monday of each 
 month, for the conversion of the world. 
 
 Two pohits were selected by the missionaries 
 as proper spheres of labor. Mr. Stevens and 
 family proceeded to Lake Harriet, and Dr. Wil- 
 liamson and family, in Jime, proceeded to Lac 
 qui Parle. 
 
 As there liad never been a chaplain at Fort 
 Snelling, the Rev. J. D. Stevens, the missionary 
 at Lake Harriet, preached on Sundays to the 
 Presbyterian chiu'cli, there, recently organizetl. 
 
 Writing on January twenty-seventh, 1836. he 
 says, in relation to his field of labor : 
 
 " Yesterday a portion of this band of Indians, 
 who had been some time absent from this village, 
 returned. One of the number (a woman) was 
 informed that a brother of hers had died during 
 her absence. He was not at this village, but 
 with another band, and the information had just 
 reached here. In the evening they set up a most 
 piteous crying, or rather wailing, w^hich con- 
 tinued, with some little cessations, during the 
 night. The sister of the deceased brotherwould 
 repeat, times Vv'ithout number, words which may 
 be thus translated into English : ' Come, my 
 brother, I shall see you no more for ever.' The 
 night was extremely cold, the thermometer 
 standing from ten to twenty below zero. About 
 sunrise, next morning, preparation was made for 
 performing the ceremony of cutting their flesh, 
 in order to give relief to their grief of mind. 
 The snow was removed from the frozen ground 
 over about as large a space as would be required 
 to place a small Indian lodge or wigwam. In the 
 centre a very small fire was kindled up, not to 
 give warmth, apparently, but to cause a smoke. 
 The sister of the deceased, who was the chief 
 mourner, came out of her lodge followed by 
 three other women, who repaired to the place 
 prepared. They were all barefooted, and nearly 
 naked. Here they set up a most bitter lamenta- 
 tion and crying, mingling their wailings with the 
 words before mentioned. The principal mourner 
 commenced gashing or ciitting her ankles and 
 legs up to the knees with a sharp stone, until her 
 legs were covered with gore and Jlowing blood ; 
 then in like manner her arms, shoulders, and 
 breast. The others cut themselves in the same 
 way, but not so severely. On this poor infatuated 
 woman I presume there were more than a hun- 
 dred long deep gashes in the flesh. I saw the 
 operation, and the blood instantly followed the 
 instrument, and flowed down upon the flesh. She 
 ayipeared frantic with grief. Through the pain 
 of her wounds, the loss of blood, exhaustion of 
 strength by fasting, loud and long-tontinue<l and 
 bitter groans, or the extreme cold upon her al- 
 most naked and lacerated body, she soon sunk 
 upon the frozen ground, shaking as with a violent 
 fit of the ague, and writhing in apparent agony. 
 'Surely,' I exclaimed, as I beheld the bloody 
 
.1 ROMAy CATHOLIC Vy.ssiOA.I /.' )'. 
 
 ion 
 
 scene, 'the tender mercies of the heathen are 
 cnielty!' 
 
 '' The Uttle church at the fort beguis to mani- 
 fest something of a missionary spirit Their con- 
 tributions are considerable for so small a nmnlier. 
 I hope they will not only be willing to contrilnite 
 liberally of their substance, but will give them- 
 selves, at least some of them, to the missionary 
 work. 
 
 " The surgeon of the military post, IJr. Jarvis, 
 has been very assiduous in his attentions to us in 
 our sickness, and has very generousl\- made a do- 
 nation to our board of twenly-tive dollars, being 
 the amount of his medical services in our family. 
 
 " On the nineteenth instant we commenced a 
 school with six full Indian children, at least so in 
 all their habits, dress, etc.; not one could speak a 
 word of any language but Sioux. The school has 
 since increased to the number of twenty-five. I 
 am now collecting and arranging words for a dic- 
 tionary. Mr. Pond is assiduously employed in 
 preparing a small spelling-book, which we may 
 forward next mail for printing. 
 
 On the fifteenth of September, 1.S3G, a Presby- 
 terian church was organized at Lac-qui-Parle, a 
 branch of that in and near Fort Snelling, and 
 Joseph Renville, a mixed blood of great influ- 
 ence, became a communicant. He had been 
 trained in Canada by a Poman Catholic priest, 
 but claimed the right of private judgment. ]SIr. 
 Renville's wife was the first pure Dahkotah of 
 whom we have any record that ever joined the 
 Church of Christ. This church has never become 
 extinct, although its members have been neces- 
 sarily nomadic. After the treaty of Traverse des 
 Sioux, it was removed to Hazlewood. Driven 
 from thence by the outbreak of lS(i2, it has be- 
 came the p.irent of other churches, in the valley 
 of the upper Missouri, over one of which John 
 Renville, a descendant of the elder at Lac-qul- 
 Parle, is the pastor. 
 
 ROMAN CATHOLIC SnSSION ATTEMPTED. 
 
 Father Ravoux, recently from France, a sin- 
 cere and earnest priest of the Cluu'cli of Rome, 
 came to Mendota in the autumn of 1841, and 
 after a brief sojoiun with the Rev. L. Galtier, 
 who had erected Saint Paul's chapel, which has 
 given the name of Saint Paul to the capital of 
 Minnesota, he ascended the ^linnesota River 
 and visited Lac-qui-Parle. 
 
 IJisho]) Loras, of Dubuque, w rote the next year 
 of his visit as follows : " Our young missionary, 
 M. Ravoux, passed the winter on the banks of 
 Lac-qui-Parle, without any other sup])ort than 
 Providence, without any other means of eonver- 
 sion than a birming zeal, he has wrought in the 
 space of six months, a hayipy revolution among 
 the Sioux. From the time of his arrival he has 
 been occupied night and day in the study of their 
 language. * * * * * "When he mstnu'ts 
 the savages, he speaks to them with so much lire 
 widlst showing them a large copper crucifix wiiich 
 he carries on his breast, that he makes the strong- 
 est impression upon them." 
 
 The impression, however was evanescent, and 
 he .soon retired from the held, and no more efforts 
 were made in this direction by the Church of 
 Rome. This young Mr. Ravoux is now the highly 
 respected vicar of the Roman Catholic diocese of 
 JSIinnesota, and justly esteemed for his simpUcity 
 and iniobtrusiveness. 
 
 CIIII'PEW^VY MISSIONS AT I'OKEOITMA. 
 
 Pokegmna is one of the " Mille Lacs," or thou- 
 sand beautiful lakes for wiiich Minnesota is re- 
 markable. It is about four or five miles in extent , 
 and a mile or more in width. 
 
 This lake is .situated on Snake River, about 
 twenty miles above the junction of that stream 
 with the St. Croix. 
 
 In the year 1836, missionaries came to reside 
 among the Ojibways and Pokeguma, to promote 
 their temporal and spiritual welfare. Their mis- 
 sion house was built on the east side of the lake ; 
 but the Indian village w^as on an island not far 
 from the .shore. 
 
 In a letter written in 1837, we find the fol- 
 lowing: "The young women and girls now 
 make, mend, wash, and iron after our man- 
 ner. The men have learned to build log houses, 
 drive team, plough, hoe, and handle an American 
 axe witii some skill m cutting large trees, the 
 size of wiiich, two years ago, would have afforded 
 them a sufficient reason wiiy they should not med- 
 dle with them." 
 
 In May, 1841, .leremiali Russell, who was In- 
 dian farmer, sent two Chippeways, accompanied 
 by Elam Greeley, of Stillwater, to the Falls of 
 Saint Croix foi- .supplies. On Saturday, the 
 fifteenth of the month they arrived there, and 
 
no 
 
 ElXPLOllEliS AND PIONEEBS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 the next day a steamboat came up with the 
 goods. The captam said a war party of Sioux, 
 headed by Little Crow, was advancing, and tlie 
 two Cliippeways prepared to go bacli and were 
 their friends. 
 
 They had hardly left the Falls, on their re- 
 turn, lief ore they saw a party of Dahkotahs. The 
 sentinel of the enemy had not noticed the ap- 
 proach of the young men. In the twinkling of 
 an eye, these two young Ojibways raised their 
 guns, fired, and killed two of Little Crow's sons. 
 The discharge of the guns revealed to a sentinel, 
 that an enemy was near, and as the Ojibways 
 were retreating, he fired, and mortally wounded 
 one of the two. 
 
 According to custom, the corpses of the chief's 
 sons were dressed, and then set np with their 
 faces towards the country of their ancient ene- 
 mies. The wounded Ojibway was liorribly 
 mangled by the uifuriated party, and his limbs 
 strewn about in every direction. His scalped 
 head was i)laced in a kettle, and suspended in 
 front of the two Dahkotah corpses. 
 
 Little Crow, disheartened by the loss of his two 
 boys, returned with his party to Kaposia. But 
 other parties were in the field. 
 
 It was not till Friday, tlie twentj'-flrst of May, 
 that the death of one of the young Ojibways 
 sent by Jlr. Kussell, to the Falls or Saint Croix, 
 was known at Pokeguma. 
 
 Mr. llusi-ell on the next Simday, accompanied 
 by Captain AVilliam Ilolconib and a half-breed, 
 went to tlie mission station to attend a religious 
 service, and while crossing the lake in returning, 
 the half-breed said that it ^mis rumored that the 
 • Sioux were approaching. On Monday, the twen- 
 ty-fourth, three young men left in a canoe to go 
 to the west shore of the lake, and from thence to 
 Mille Lacs, to give intelligence to the Ojibways 
 there, of the skirmish that had already occurred. 
 They took witli them two Indian girls, about 
 twelve years of age, who were pupils of the mis- 
 sion school, for the purpose of bringing the canoe 
 back to the island. Just as the three were land- 
 ing, twenty or thirty Dahkotah warriors, with a 
 war whoop emerged from their concealment be- 
 hind the trees, and fired into the canoe. The 
 young men instantly spranginto the water, which 
 
 was shallow, returned the fire, and ran into the 
 woods, escapuig without material injury. 
 
 The little girls, in their fright, waded into the 
 lake ; but were pursued. Their parents upon 
 the island, heard the death cries of their children. 
 Some of the Indians around the mission-house 
 jumped into their canoes and gained the island. 
 Others went into some f(n-tified log huts. The 
 attack upon the canoe, it was afterwards learned, 
 was premature. The party upon that side of the 
 lake were ordered not to fire, imtil the party 
 stationed in the Avoods near the mission began. 
 
 There were in all one hundred and eleven 
 Dahkotah warriors, and all the fight was in the 
 vicinity of the mission-house, and the Ojibways 
 mostly engaged in it were those who had been 
 under religious instruction. The rest were upon 
 the island. 
 
 The fathers of the murdered girls, burning for 
 revenge, left the island in a canoe, and drawing 
 it up on the !;hore, hid behind it, and fired upon 
 the Dahkotahs and killed one. The Dahkotahs 
 advancing upon them, they were obliged to 
 escape. The canoe was now launched. One lay 
 on his back in the bottom ; the other plunged 
 into the water, and, holding the canoe with one 
 hand, and swimming with the other, he towed 
 his friend out of danger. The Dahkotahs, in- 
 furiated at their escape, fired volley after volley 
 at the swimmer, but he escaped the balls by 
 putting his head luider water whenever he saw 
 them take aim, and waiting till he heard the 
 discharge, he woidd then look up and breathe. 
 
 After a fight of two hcmrs, the Dahkotahs re- 
 treated, with a loss of two men. At the request 
 of the parents, Jlr. E. F. Ely, from whose 
 notes the writer has obtained these facts, be- 
 ing at that time a teacher at the mission, 
 went across the lake, with two of his friends, to 
 gather the remains of his murdered pupils. He 
 foiuid the corpses on the shore. The heads cut 
 off and scalped, with a tomahawk buried in the 
 brains of each, were set up in the sand near the 
 bodies. The bodies were pierced in the lireast, 
 and the right arm of one was taken a\\'ay. Re- 
 moving the tomahawks, the bodies were brought 
 back to the island, and ui the afteoioon were 
 buried in accordance with the simple but solemn 
 rites of the Chm'ch of Christ, by members of the 
 mission. 
 
SIOUX MISSIONARIES BEFOBE TEE TBEATLKS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 The sequel to this story is soou told. The In- 
 dians of I'okeguma, after the light, deserted their 
 village, and went to reside with their couutrymen 
 near Lake Superior. 
 
 In July of the following year, 1842. a war party 
 n'as formed at Fond dii Lac, al)iint lorty in ninu- 
 ber, and proceeded towards the Dalikotah country. 
 Sneaking, as none but Indians can, they arrived 
 unnoticed at the little settlement below Saint 
 Paul, commonly called "Pig's Eye," which is 
 opposite to what Tvas Kaposia, or Little Crow's 
 village. Finding an Indian woman at work in 
 the garden of her husband, a Canadian, by the 
 name of Gamelle, they killed lier; also another 
 woman, with her infant, whose head was oit off. 
 The Dahkotahs, on the opposite side, were mostly 
 intoxicated ; and, living across in their canoes but 
 half prepared, they were worsted in the en- 
 counter. They lost thu-teen warriors, and one of 
 their number, knowii as the Dancer, the Ojib- 
 ways are said to have skinneil. 
 
 Soon after this the Chippeway missions of the 
 St. CroLx Valley were abandoned. 
 
 In a little while Rev. Mr. Bontwell removed to 
 the vicinity of Stillwater, and the missionaries, 
 Ayer and Spencer, went to Red Lake and other 
 points in Minnesota. 
 
 In 1853 the Rev. Sherman Hall left the Indians 
 and became pastor of a Congregational chiuch at 
 Sauk Eapids, where he recently died. 
 
 METHODIST MISSIONS. 
 
 la 1S37 the Rev. A. Bnmson commenced a 
 Methodist mission at Kaposia, about four miles 
 below, and opposite Samt Paul. It was afterwards 
 removed across the river to Red Rock. He was 
 assisted by the Rev. Thomas W. Pope, aud the 
 latter was succeeded by the Rev. J. Holton. 
 
 Tlie Rev. Mr. Spates and others also labored 
 for a brief period among the Ojibways. 
 
 PEESBTTERIAN MISSIONS CONTINTTED. 
 
 At the stations the Dahkotah language was dil- 
 igently studied. Rev. S. W. I'ond had prepared 
 a dictionary of three thousand words, and also a 
 small grammar. The Rev. S. R. Riggs, who 
 joined the mission m 1837, in a letter dated 
 February 24, 1841, wiites : "Last summer^ 
 after returning from Fort SneUiiig. I spent live 
 weeks in copying again the Sioux vocabulary 
 which we had collected and arranged at this sta- 
 
 tion. It contamed then about 5500 words, not 
 inclmling the various forms of the verbs. Since 
 that time, the words collected by Dr. Williamson 
 and myself, have, I presume, increasci! the num- 
 ber to sis thousand. ***** In this con- 
 nection, I m.ay mention thatdiuing the winter of 
 1839-40, Mrs. Riggs, with some assistance, wrote 
 an English aud Sioux vocabulary containing 
 about three thousand words. One ol .Mr. Ren- 
 ville's .sons and three of his daughters are en- 
 gaged in copying. In committing the grammati- 
 cal principles of the language to WTiting, we have 
 done something at this station, but more has been 
 done by Mr. S. W. Pond." 
 
 Steadily the numl)er of Indian missionaries 
 increased, and in 1851, before the lands of the 
 Dahkotahs west of the Mississippi were ceded to 
 the whites, they were disposed as follows by the 
 Dahkotah Presbytery. 
 
 Lac-qui-parle, Rev. S. R. Riggs, Rev. M. N. 
 Adams, Missionaries, Jonas Pcttijohn, Mrs. 
 Fanny Pettijohn, Jlrs. JNIary Ann Riggs, Mrs. 
 ]Mary A. M. Adams, Miss Sarah Rankin. As- 
 sisldnts. 
 
 Tirtrerse des Sioitx, Rev. Robert Hopkins, Mis- 
 sioniiry; Mrs. Agnes Hopkins, Alexander G. 
 Hoggins, Mrs. Lydia P. lliiggins. Assistants. 
 
 Shakpfiii, or Sholpay, Rev. Samuel ^^'. I'ond, 
 Missionary; JNIrs. Sarah P. Pond, Assistant. 
 
 Oak Grove, Rev. Gideon II. Pond and wife. 
 
 Kaposia, Rev. Thomas AVilliamson, M. D., 
 3Iissionary and Physician ; Mrs. Margaret P. 
 Williamson, Miss Jane S. "WilUamson, Assistants. 
 
 Bed Winy, Rev. John F. Alton, Rev. Joseph 
 W. Hancock, Missionaries; Mrs. Nancy II. Alton, 
 jMrs. Hancock, Assistants. 
 
 The Rev. Daniel Gavin, the Swiss Presbyte- 
 rian Missionary, spent the winter of 1839 in Lac- 
 qui-Parle and was afterwards married to a niece 
 of the Rev. J. D. Stevens, of the Lake Harriet 
 Mission. ]Mr. Stevens became the farmer and 
 teacher of the Wapashaw baud, and the first 
 white man who lived where the city of Winona 
 has been built. Another missionary from Switz- 
 erland, the Rev. Mr. Denton, married a iliss 
 Skinner, formerly of the Mackinaw mission. 
 During a portion of the year 1839 these Swiss 
 missionaries lived with the American mission- 
 aries at camp Cold "Water near Fort SnelUug, 
 but their chief field of labor was at Red Wing. 
 
11:3 
 
 EXPLOBERIS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA.. 
 
 CIIAPTEB, XX. 
 
 TREAD OF PIONEERS IN THE SAINT CROIX VALLEY AND ELSEWHERE. 
 
 Origin of the name Saint Croix— Dii Lnth, first Explorer — Fri'ncli I'ost on the St. 
 Croix — Pitt, an early pioneer — Early settlers at Saint Croix Falls — First women 
 there — Marine Settlement — Joseph R. Brown's town site — Saint Croix County 
 organized— Pinprieturs of Stillwater — A dead Negro woman — Pig's Eye, origin 
 of name — Rise of Saint Paul — Pr. Williamson secures first school teacher for 
 Saint Paul — Description of first school room — Saint Croix County reK}rganized 
 — Rev. W. T. lioutwell, pioneer clergyman. 
 
 The Saint Croix river, acconliiig to Le Sueur, 
 named after a Prencliman who was drowned at 
 its mouth, was one of tlie earliest througlifares 
 from Lake Superior to tlie Mississippi. The first 
 white man who directed canoes upon its waters 
 was Du Luth, wlio had in 1()79 explored ilinue- 
 sota. He thus describes liis tour in a letter, first 
 pnblislied by Harrisse : " In June^ 1680, not be- 
 ing satisfied, with having made my discovery by 
 land, I took two canoes, with an Indian wlio was 
 my interiireter, and four Frenchmen, to seek 
 means to make it by water. With tliis view I 
 entered a river which empties eight leagues from 
 the extremity of Lake Superior, on the south 
 side, where, after having cut some trees and 
 broken about a hundred beaver dams, I reached 
 the upper waters of the said river, rind then I 
 made a portage of half a league to reach a lake, 
 tho outlet which fell into a very fine river, 
 which took i. e down into the Mississippi. There 
 I learned from eight cabins of Nadouecioux that 
 the Hev. Father Louis Henne]iin, Itecollect, now 
 at the convent of Saint (iermain, with two oUier 
 Frenchmen had been robbed, and carried oil as 
 slaves for more than three hundred leagues by 
 the Nadouecioux themselves." 
 
 He then relates how h^ left two Frenchmen 
 with his goods, and went with his interpreter and 
 two Frenchmen in a canoe down the Mississiiipi, 
 and after two days and two nights, found ncniie- 
 pin, Accault and Augelle. He told Hennepin 
 that he must return with him through the country 
 of the Fox tribe, and writes : " I preferred to re- 
 trace my stejis, manifesting to them [the Sioux] 
 tlio just indignation I felt agfiinst them, rather 
 than to remain after the violence tliey had done 
 
 to the Rev. Father and tlie other two Frenchmen 
 with liim, whom 1 put in my canoes and brought 
 them to Michilimackinack." 
 
 After this, the Saint Croix river became a chan 
 nel for commerce, and Bellin writes, that before 
 1755, the French had erected a fort forty leagues 
 from its mouth and twenty from Lake Superior. 
 
 The pine forests between the Saint Croix and 
 Minnesota had been for several years a tempta- 
 tion to energetic men. As early as November, 
 1836, a Mr. Pitt went with a boat and a party of 
 men to the Falls of Saint Croix to cut pine tim- 
 ber, with the consent of the Chippeways bvit the 
 dissent of the United States authorities. 
 
 In 1837 while the treaty was being made by Com- 
 missioners Dodge and Smith at Fort Snelling, on 
 one Sunday Franklin Steele, Dr. Fitch, .Jeremiah 
 Russell, and a Mr. Maginnis left Fort Snelling 
 for the Falls of Saint Croix in a birch bark canoe 
 paddled by eight men, and re.iched that point 
 about noon on Monday and corijnienced a log 
 cabin. Steele and Maginnis remained here, 
 while the others, dividing into two parties, one 
 luider Fitcli. and the other under Russell, search- 
 ed for pine land. The first stopped at Sun Rise, 
 while Russel went on to the Snake River. About 
 the same time Robbinet and Jesse B. Taylor 
 came to the Falls in the mterest of B. F. Baker 
 who had a stone trading house near Fort Snelling, 
 since destroyed by fire. On the fifteenth of July, 
 1S38, the Palmyra, Capt. Holland, arrived at 
 the Fort, with the oflicial notice of the ratifica- 
 tion of the treaties ceding the Lands between the 
 Saint Croix and Mississippi. 
 
 She had on board C. A. Tuttle, L. W. Stratton 
 and others, with the machinery for the projected 
 mills of the Northwest Lumber Compciny at the 
 Falls of Saint Croix, and reached thcit point on 
 the se\'entpeiith, the first steamVioat to disturb the 
 waters aliove Lake Saint Croix. The steamer 
 Gypsy came to the fort on the twenty-first of 
 
WOMHN IN THE VALLEY OF THE HAIMT VltOlX. 
 
 113 
 
 October, with goods for the Chippeways, and was 
 chai-tered for foui' lumdred and fifty dollars, to 
 carry them up to the Falls of Saint CroLx. In 
 passing through the lake, the boat grounded near 
 a projected to^\■n called Stambaughville, after S. 
 C. Stambaugh, the sutler at the fort. On the 
 afternoon of the 26th, the goods were landed, as 
 stipulated. 
 
 The agent of the Improvement Company at the 
 falls was Washington Libbey, who left in the fall 
 of IS.SS, and was succeeded by Jeremiah Eussell, 
 Stratton acting as millwright in place of Calvin 
 Tuttle. On the twelfth of December, Kussell and 
 Stratton walked down the river, ciit the first tree 
 and built a cabin at Marine, and sold their claim. 
 
 The first women at the Falls of Saint Croix were 
 a Mrs. Orr, Mrs. Sackett, and the daughter of a 
 Mr. Young. During the winter of lSoS-0, Jere- 
 miah Russell married a daughter of a respectable 
 and gentlemanly trader, Charles H. Oakes. 
 
 Among the first preachers were the Eev. W. T. 
 Boutwell and Mr. Seymour, of the Chippeway 
 Mission at Pokeguma. The Rev. A. Bnuison, of 
 Prairie du Cliien, who visited this region in 1838, 
 wrote that at the mouth of Snake River he found 
 Franklin Steele, with twenty-five or thirty men, 
 cutting timber for a mill, and when lie offered to 
 preach Mr. Steele gave a cordial assent. 
 
 On the sixteenth of August, JNIr. Steele, Living- 
 ston, and others, left the Falls of Saint Croix in a 
 barge, and went around to Fort Snelling. 
 
 The steamboat Fayette about the middle of 
 May, 1839, lauded sutlers' stores at Fort Snell- 
 ing and then proceeded with several persons of 
 intelligence to the Saint Croix river, who s tiled 
 at Marine. 
 
 The place was called after Marine in Madison 
 county, Illinois, where the company, consisting 
 of Judd, Hone and others, was formed to build 
 A saw mill in the Saint Croix Valley. The mOl 
 at Marine commenced to saw lumber, on August 
 24, 1839, the first in Minnesota. 
 
 Joseph E. Brown, who since 1838, had lived at 
 Chan AVakan, on the west side of Grey Cloud 
 Island, this year made a claim near the upper 
 end of the city of Stillwater, which he called 
 Dahkotah, and was the first to raft lumber down 
 the Sauit Croix, as well as the first to represent 
 the citizens of the valley in the legislature of 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 Until the year 1841, the jurisdiction of Craw- 
 ford county, Wisconsin, extended over the delta 
 of country between the Saint Croix iind jMissis- 
 sippi. Joseph R. BrowTi having been elected as 
 representative of the county, in the territorial 
 legislature of Wisconsin, succeeded in obtaining 
 tlie passage of an act on November twentieth, 
 1841, organizing the county of Saint Croix, with 
 Dahkotah designated as the county seat. 
 
 At the time V)rescnl)ed for holding a court in 
 the new county, it is said that the judge of the 
 district arrived, and to his surprise, found a 
 claim cabin occupied by a Frenchman. Speedily 
 retreating, lie never came again, and judicial 
 proceedings for Saint Croix county ended for 
 several years. Pliineas Lawrence was the first 
 sheriff of this county. 
 
 On the tenth of October, 1S43. was commenced 
 a settlement which has become the town of Still- 
 water. The names of the iiroiiri^tors were John 
 McKusick from Maine, Calvin Leach from Ver- 
 mont, Elam Greeley from Maine, and Elias 
 McKean from Pennsylvania. Tliey immediately 
 commenced the erection of a sawmill. 
 
 John II. Fonda, elected on the twenty-second 
 of September, as coroner of Crawford county, 
 Wisconsin, asserts that he was once notified that 
 a dead body was lying in the water opposite Pig's 
 Eye slough, and immediately proceeded to the 
 spot, and on taking it out, recognized it as the 
 body of a negro woman belonging to a certain 
 captain of the United States army tlien at. Fort 
 Crafli'ord. The body was cruelly cut and bruised, 
 but no one appearing to recognise it, a verdict of 
 " Foimd dead," was rendered, and the corpse was 
 buried. Soon after, it came to light that the 
 woman was wliiiiped to death, and thrown into 
 the river during the night. 
 
 The year that the Dahkotahs ceded their lands 
 east of the ^Mississippi, a Canadian Frenchman 
 by the name of Parraut, the ideal of an Indian 
 whisky seller, erected a shanty in what is now 
 the city of Saint Paul. Ignorant and overbear- 
 ing he loved money more than his own soul. 
 Destitute of one eye, and the other resembling 
 that of a pig, he was a good representative of 
 Caliban. Some one writing from his groggery 
 designated it as " Pig's Eye." The reply to the 
 letter was directed in good faith to "Pig's Eye" 
 
114 
 
 EXPLOBERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 Some years ago the editor of the Saint Paul 
 Press described the occasion in these words : 
 
 " Edmiuid Brisette, a clerldy Frenchman for 
 tliose days, who lives, or did live a little while 
 ago, on Lake Harriet, was one day seated at a 
 table in Parrant's cabin, with pen and paper 
 abont to write a letter for Parrant (for Parrant, 
 like Charlemagre, could not write) to a friend 
 of the latter in Canada. The question of geog- 
 raphy puzzled Brissette at the outset of the 
 epistle ; wliere should he date a letter from a 
 place without a name ? He looked up inquir- 
 ingly to Parrant, and met the dead, cold glare of 
 the Pig's Eye fixed upon htui, with an irresist- 
 ible suggestiveness that was inspiration to 
 Brisette." 
 
 In 1842, the late Henry Jackson, of Mahkahto, 
 settled at the same spot, and erected the first 
 store on the height just above the lower landing, 
 Eoberts and Simpson followed, and opened 
 small Indian titiding shops. In 1846, the site of 
 Saint Paul was chiefly occupied by a few shanties 
 owned by " certain lewd fellows of the baser 
 sort," who sold rum to the soldier and Indian. 
 It was despised Viy all decent white men, and 
 linown to the Dahkotahs by an expression in 
 their tongue which means, the place where they 
 sell minne-wakan [supernatural water]. 
 
 The chief of t!ie Kaposiaband in 1846, was shot 
 by his own brother in a drunken revel, but sur- 
 viving the woimd, and apparently al.armed at the 
 deterioration under the influence of the modern 
 harpies at Saint Paul, went to Mr. Bruce, Indian 
 Agent, at Fort Snelling, and requested a mis- 
 sionary. The Indian Agent in his report to gov- 
 ernment, says : 
 
 " The chief of the Little Crow's band, who re- 
 sides below this place (Fort Snelling) about nine 
 miles, in the immediate neighbourhood of the 
 whiskey dealers, has requested to have a school 
 established at his village. He says they are de- 
 termined to reform, and for the future, will try 
 to do better. I wrote to Doctor WilUamson soon 
 after the request was made, desiring him to take 
 charge of the school. He has had charge of the 
 mission school at Lac qui Parle for some years; 
 is well qualified, and is an excellent physician." 
 
 In November, 1846, Dr. Williamson came from 
 Lac qui Parle, as requested, and became a resi- 
 dent of Kaposia. While disapproving of their 
 
 practices, he felt a kindly interest in the whites 
 of Pig's Eye, which place was now beginning to 
 be called, after a little log chapel which had been 
 erected at the suggestion of Rev. L. Galtier, and 
 called Saint Paul's. Though a missionary among 
 the Dahkotahs, he was the first to take steps to 
 promote the education of the whites and half- 
 breeds of Minnesota. In the year 1847, he wrote 
 to ex-Governor Slade, President of the National 
 Popular Education Society, in relation to the 
 condition of what has subsequently become the 
 capital of the state. 
 
 In accordance with his request. Miss H. E. 
 Bishop came to his mission-house at Kaposia, 
 and, after a short time, was introduced by him 
 to the citizens of Saint Paul. The first school- 
 house in Minnesota besides those connected with 
 the Indian missions, stood near the site of the 
 old Brick Presliyterian church, corner of Sauit 
 Peter and Third street, and is thus described by 
 the teacher : 
 
 •' The school was commenced in a little log 
 hovel, covered with bark, and chinked with mud, 
 previously used as a blacksmith shop. On three 
 sides of the interior of this humble log cabin, 
 pegs were driven into the logs, upon which boards 
 were laid for seats. Another seat was made by 
 placing one end of a plank between the cracks 
 of the logs, and the other upon a chair. This 
 was for visitors. A rickety cross-legged table in 
 the centre, and a hen's nest in one corner, com- 
 pleted the furniture." 
 
 Saint Croix comity, in the year 1847, was de- 
 tached from Crawford coimly, Wisconsin, and 
 reorganized for judicial purposes, and Stillwater 
 made the county seat. In the month of June 
 the United States District Court held its session 
 in the store-room of ilr. John McKusick ; Judge 
 Charles Dnmi presiding. A large number of 
 lumbermen had been attracted by the pineries 
 in the upper portion of the valley of Saint Croix, 
 and Stillwater was looked upon as the center of 
 the lumbering interest. 
 
 Tlie Rev. Mr. Boutwell, feeling that he could 
 be more useful, left the Ojibways, and took up 
 his residence near Stillwater, preaching to the 
 lumbermen at the Falls of Saint Croix, Marine 
 Mills, Stillwater, and Cottage Grove. In a letter 
 spealdng of Stillwater, he says, " Here is a little 
 village sprung up like a gourd, but whether it is 
 to perish as soon, God only knows." 
 
NA3IES FIlOPOfiEl) FOR MINNESOTA TERRITORY. 
 
 11.5 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 EVENTS PRELIMINARY TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE 3I1N.NKS0TA TERRITORY, 
 
 ffliconsin State Bouml;iries— First Bill for ttie Ori;;iiiization of Minnesota T.rri- 
 tory, A. D. 1840 — Chaiise of Wisconsin Bouiulaiy — Memorial of Saint Croix 
 Valley citizens — Various names proposed for the New Territory — Convention at 
 
 Stillwater— H. H. Sibley electeil Delegate to Congress— n.>riv;i ,,r word 
 
 Minnesota. 
 
 Three years elapsed from the time that the 
 territory of Minnesota was proposed iu Congress, 
 to the final passage of the organic act. On the 
 sixth of August, 1846, an act was passed by Con- 
 gress authorizing the citizens of Wisconsin Ter- 
 ritory to frame a constitution and form a state 
 government. The act fixed the Saint Louis river 
 to the rapids, from thence south to the Samt 
 Croix, and thence down that river to its junction 
 with the Mississippi, as the western boundary. 
 
 On the twenty - tliird of Decembei', 1846, the 
 delegate from Wisconsin. Morgan L. Martin, in- 
 troduced a bill in Congress for the organization 
 of a territory of Muuiesota. This bill made its 
 western boundary the Sioux and Eed Eiver of 
 the North. On the third of March, 1847, per- 
 mission was granted to Wisconsm to change her 
 boimdary, so that the western limit would pro- 
 ceed due south from the first rapids of the Saint 
 Louis river, and fifteen miles east of the most 
 easterly point of Lake Saint Croix, thence to the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 A number in the constitutional convention of 
 Wisconsin, were anxious that Rum river should 
 be a part of her western boundary, while citizens 
 of the valley of the Saint Croix were desirous 
 that the Chippeway river should be the limit of 
 Wisconsin. The citizens of Wisconsin Territory, 
 hi the valley of the Samt Croix, and about Fort 
 Snelling, wished to be included in the projected 
 new territory, and on the twenty-eighth of March, 
 1848, a memorial signed by H. H. Sibley, Henry 
 M. Rice, Franklin Steele, WilUam R. Marshall, 
 and others, was presented to Congress, remon- 
 strating against the proposition before the con- 
 vention to make Rum river a part of the bound- 
 ary line of the contemplated state of Wisconsin. 
 
 On tlie twenty-ninth of May, 1<S48, thi3 act to 
 admit Wisconsin changed the boiuuhiry line to 
 the present, and as first defined in the enabling 
 act of 1846. After the bill of Mr. Martin was 
 introduced into the House of Representatives iu 
 1846 it was referred to the Committee on Terri- 
 tories, of which JNIr. Douglas was chairman. On 
 the twentieth of January, 1847, he reported iu 
 favor of the proposed territory with the name 
 of Itasca. On the seventeenth of February, be- 
 fore the bill passed the House, a discussion arose 
 in relation to the proposed name. Mr. Win- 
 throp of Massachusetts proposed Chippewa as a 
 substitute, alleging that this tribe was the prui- 
 cipal in the proposed territory, which was not 
 correct. Mr. J. Thompson of Mississippi disliked 
 all Indian names, and hoped the tenitory would 
 be called Jackson. Mr. Houston of Delaware 
 thought that there ought to be one territory 
 named after the •■ Father of Ids country," and 
 proposed Washington. All of the names pro- 
 posed were rejected, and the name in the origmal 
 bill inserted. On the last day of the session, 
 Jlarch third, the bill was called up in the Senate 
 and laid on the table. 
 
 When Wisconsin became a state the query 
 arose whether the old territorial government did 
 not continue in force west of the Saint Croix 
 river. The first meeting on the subject of claim- 
 ing territorial privileges was held in the building 
 at Saint Paul, known as Jackson's store, near the 
 corner of Bench and Jackson streets, on the 
 l)luff. This meeting was held in July, and a 
 convention was proposed to consider their posi- 
 tion. The first public meeting w-as held at Still- 
 water on August fourth, and Jilessrs. Steele and 
 Bibley were the only persons present from the 
 west side of the Mississippi. This meeting is- 
 sued a call foi a general convention to take steps 
 to secure an early territorial organization, to 
 assemble on the twenty-sixth of the month at 
 
IK) 
 
 EXPLORMBS AKl) PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 the same place. Sixty-two delegates answered 
 the call, and among those present, were W. D. 
 Phillips, J. W. Bass, A. Laipenteur, J. M. Boal, 
 and others from Saint Paul. To the convention 
 a letter was presented from Mr C'atlin, who 
 claimed to be acting governor, giving his opinion 
 that tlie '\\'!seonsin territorial organization was 
 still in force. Tlie meeting also appointed Mr. 
 Sibley to visit Washington and represent their 
 views ; but the Hon. John H. Tweedy having 
 resigned his office of delegate to Congress on 
 September eighteenth-, 1848, Mr. Catlin, who had 
 made Stillwater a temporary residence, on the 
 ninth of October issued a proclamation ordering 
 a special election at Stillwater on the thirtieth, 
 to fill a vacancy occasioned by the resignation. 
 At this election Henry II. Sibley was elected as 
 delegate of the citizens of the remaining portion 
 of Wisconsin Territory. His credentials were 
 presented to the House of Representatives, and 
 the committee to whom the matter was referred 
 presented a majority and minority report; but 
 the resolution inti-oduced by the majority passed 
 and Mr. Sibley took his seat as a delegate from 
 -Wisconsin Tei'ritory on the hfteenth of January, 
 184i). 
 
 iMr. II. M. Rice, and other gentlemen, visited 
 Washington during tlie winter, and, uniting with 
 Mr. Sibley, used all their energies to obtain the 
 organization of a new territory. 
 
 Mr. Sibley, in an interesting commmiication to 
 the Miimesota 1 1 istorical Society, wi-ites : " Wheii 
 my credentials as Delegate, were presented by 
 Hon. James Wilson, of New Ilampshii'e, to the 
 
 House of Representatives, there was some curi- 
 osity manifested among the members, to see what 
 kind of a person had been elected to represent the 
 distant and wild territory claiming representation 
 in Congress. I was told by a New England mem- 
 ber with whom I became subsequently quite inti- 
 mate, that there was some disappointment when 
 I made my appearance, for it was expected that 
 the delegate from this remote region woidd make 
 liis debut, if not in full Indian costume, at least, 
 with some peculiarities of dress and manners, 
 characteristic of the rude and semi-civiUzed peo- 
 ple who had sent him to the Capitol." 
 
 The territory of JliuHiesota was named after 
 the largest tributary of the Mississippi within its 
 limits. The Sioux call the Missouri Minnesho- 
 shay, muddy water, l)ut the stream after which 
 this region is named, Minne-sota. Some say that 
 Sota means clear ; others, turbid ; Schoolcraft, 
 l.)luish green. Nicollet wrote. " The adjective 
 Sotah is of diflicidt translation. The Canadians 
 translated it by a pretty equivalent word, brouille, 
 perhaps more properly rendered into English by 
 blear. I have entered upon this explanation be 
 cause the word really means neither clear nor 
 turbid, as some authors have asserted, its true 
 meaning being found in the Sioux e^.pression 
 Ishtali-sotah, blear-eyed." From the fact that the 
 word signifies neither blue nor white, but the 
 peculiar appearance of the sky at certain times, 
 by some, jMiunesota has been defined to mean the 
 sky tinted water, which is certainly poetic, and the 
 late Eev. Gideon II. Pond thought quite correct. 
 
Miy?:SSOTA liX tile UEGINyiNG. 
 
 117 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 SmraESOTA FROM ITS OltCiAXrZATK.X AS A TERRITORY, A. D. 1S40, TO A. D. 1854. 
 
 Appearance of the Country, A. D. lS-19 — Avrivul of liist liiUtor — (iovernur 
 Ramsey arrives — Gufst nf H. H. Sibli-y -- Proclamation issued — Governor 
 Ramsey and H. M, Bice move to Saint Paul — Fourth of July Cel«?hr.it ion — 
 First election — Early Bowspapers — First Courts— First Legislature — Pioneer 
 News CaiTicr"s Addi-ess— Wedding at Fort Snellini,'— Tcrritori;il Seal— Sc;ilp 
 Dance at Stillwatrr— First Stcamlioat at Falls of Saint Anthony— Pr05l.yti.-nan 
 Chapel burned — Indian count-il .it Fort Snetling — First Steainlioat above Saint 
 Anthony — First boat at the Blue Earth River— Congressional election — Visit.of 
 Fredrika Bremer — Indian newspaper — Otlusr newspapers — Second Legislature 
 — ^University of Minnesota — Teamster killed by Indians — Sioux Treaties — Third 
 Legislature— Land slide at Stillwat'^r — Death of first Editor— Fourth Legislature 
 Baldwin School, now Mat^alester College — Indian fislit in Saint Paul. 
 
 On the third of March, 1S40, the bill was passed 
 by Congress for orgciniziiis,' the teri'itory of 
 Mmnesota, whose bonudary on the west, extended 
 to the Jlissoiiri River. At this time, the region was 
 little more than a wilderness. Tire west bank of 
 the jMississippi, from the Iowa line to Lake 
 Itasca, was iniceded by the Indians. 
 
 At A\^apasliaw, was a trading post in charge of 
 Alexis liailly, and here also resided the ancient 
 voyageur, of fonrscore years, A. Rocqne. 
 
 At the foot of Lake Pepin was a store honse 
 kept by JNtr. F. S. Richards. On the west shore of 
 the lake lived the eccentric Wells, whose wife 
 was a bois brule, a daughter of the deceased 
 trader, Duncan Graham. 
 
 Tlie two imfiiiished buildings of stone, on 
 the beautifid bank opposite the renowned 
 Maiden's Rock, and tlie siuTounding skin lodges 
 of his wife's relatives and friends, presented a 
 nide but pictiu-esque scene. Above the lake was 
 a cluster of bark wigwams, the Dahkotah village 
 of Raymneeclia, now Red Wing, at wliich was a 
 Presbyterian mission house. 
 
 Tlie next settlement was Kaposia, also an In- 
 dian village, and the residence of a Presl)yteriau 
 missionary, the Rev. T. S, Williamson, M. D. 
 On the east side of the ilississippi, the first set- 
 tlement, at the mouth of the St. Croix, was Point 
 Douglas, then as now, a small hamlet. 
 
 At Red Rock, the site of a former Methodist 
 mission station, there were a few farmers. Saint 
 Paul was just emerging from a collection of In- 
 dian whisky shops and bircli roofed cabins of 
 
 half-breed voyageurs. Here and tliere a frame 
 tenement was erected, and, under the auspices of 
 the Hon. II. M. Rice, who had obtained an inter- 
 est in the towii, some ^^■arf■honses were con- 
 structed, and the foundations of the American 
 House, a frame hold, which stood at Third and 
 Exchange street, were laid. In 1849, the jiopu- 
 latiou had increased to two hundred and lifty 
 or three hundred inhabitants, for rumors had 
 gone abroad that it might be mentioned in the 
 act, creating the territory, as tlie capital 
 of ^Minnesota. ]More than a month after 
 the adjoununent of Congress, just at eve, 
 on the ninth of ^\pril, amid territic peals of 
 thunder and torrents of rain, the weekly steam 
 packet, the first to force its way through the icy 
 barrier of Lake Pepin, rounded the rocky point 
 whistling k)ud and long, as if the bearer of glad 
 tidings. Refore siie was safely moored to the 
 landing, the shouts of the excited villagers were 
 lieard announcing that there was a territory of 
 :Miuiiesota, and that Saint Paul \\as the seat of 
 government. 
 
 Every successive steamboat arrival poured out 
 on the landing men big with hope, and anxious 
 to do something to mould the future of the new 
 stale. 
 
 Nine days after the news of the existence of the 
 territory of Mimiesota was received, there arrived 
 James M. Goodhue with press, type, and printing 
 apparatus. A grachiate of Amherst college, and 
 a lawyer by profession, he wielded a sharp pen 
 and wrote ecUtorials, which, more than anything 
 else, perhaps, induced immigration. Though a 
 man of some faults, one of the counties properly 
 bears his name. On the twenty-eighth of April, 
 he issued from his press the first number of the 
 Pioneer. 
 
 On the twenty - seventh of ^lay, Alexander 
 Ramsey, the CJovernor, anil family, arrived at 
 Saint Paul, butowing to thecrowdcd state of pub- 
 
118 
 
 JSXPLCItEBS AND PICNiSJiliS OF MlNIS'Es'O'i-A. 
 
 lie houses, immediately proceeded in the steamer 
 to the estahlislimeiit of the Fiir Company, known 
 as Ivleudotii, at the junction of the ]\Iinuesota and 
 ilississippi, and became the guest of the Hon. H. 
 H. Sibley. 
 
 On the first of June, Governor Ramsey, by pro- 
 clamation, declared the territory duly organized, 
 Willi the follo\Ying officers: Alexander llamsey, 
 of Pennsylvania, Governor ; C. K. Smith, of Ohio, 
 Secretary ; A. Goodrich, of Tennessee, Cliief 
 Justice ; D. Cooper, of Pennsylvania, and J>. B. 
 Meeker, of Kentucky, Associate Judges; Joshua 
 L. Taylor, Marshal ; II. L. iloss, attorney of the 
 United States. 
 
 On the eleventh of June, a second proclama- 
 tion was issued, dividing the territory into three 
 temporary judicial districts. The first comprised 
 the county of St. Croix ; tlie county of La Pointe 
 and the region north and west of tlie Mississippi, 
 and north of the Mimiesota and of a line runnmg 
 due west from the headwaters of the Minnesota 
 to the Missouri river, constituted the second ; 
 and the country west of tlie Mississippi and south 
 of the Mmnesota, formed the third district. 
 Judge Goodrich was assigned to the first. Meeker 
 to the second, and Cooper to the third. A court 
 was ordered to beheld at Stillwater on the second 
 Monday, at the Falls of St. Anthony on the third, 
 and at Mendota on the fourth Monday of August. 
 
 Until the twenty -sixth of June, Governor 
 Ramsey and family had been guests of Hon. H. 
 II. Sibley, at Mendota. On the afternoon of 
 that day they arrived at St. Paul, in a birch-bark 
 canoe, and became permanent residents at the 
 capital. The house first occupied as a guber- 
 natorial mansion, was a small frame building tliat 
 stood on Tliird, between Robert and Jackson 
 streets, formerly kno\«i as the New England 
 House. 
 
 A few days after, the Hon. H. M. Rice and 
 family moved from Mendota to St. Paid, and oc- 
 cupied the house he had erected on St. Anthony 
 street, near the corner of ^larket. 
 
 On the first of July, a land office was estab- 
 hshed at Stillwater, and A. "\^an Vorhes, after a 
 few weeks, became the register. 
 
 The anniversary of oiir .National Indepenaence 
 was celebrated in a becoming manner at the cap- 
 ital. The place selected for the address, was a 
 grove that stood on the sites of the City Hall and 
 
 the Baldwm School buildmg, and the late Frank- 
 lin Steele was the marshal of the day. 
 
 On the seventh of Jrdy, a proclamation was is- 
 sued, dividing the territory into seven council 
 districts, and ordering an election to be held on 
 the first day of August, for one delegate to rep- 
 resent the people in the House of Representatives ■ 
 of the United States, for nine councillors and 
 eighteen representatives, to constitute the Legis- 
 lative Assembly of Minnesota. 
 
 In this month, the Hon. II. M. Rice despatch- 
 ed a boat laded with Indian goods from the 
 the Falls of St. Anthony to Crow Wing, which 
 was towed by horses after the maimer of a canal 
 boat. 
 
 The election on the first of August, passed off 
 with Uttle excitement, lion. H, II. Sibley bemg 
 elected delegate to Congress without opposition. 
 David Lambert, on what might, perhaps, be 
 termed the old settlers' ticket, was defeated in 
 St. Paul, by James M. Boal. The latter, on the 
 night of the election, was honored with a ride 
 through to^^^l on the axle and fore-wheels of an 
 old wagon, which was drawn by his admiring 
 but somewhat undisciplined friends. 
 
 J. L. Taylor ha\'ing declined the office of 
 United States Marshal; A. il. :Mitchell, of Ohio, 
 a giaduate of West Pouit, and colonel of a regi- 
 ment of Ohio volunteers in the Mexican war, was 
 appomted and arrived at the capital early in 
 August. 
 
 There were three papers published in the ter- 
 ritory soon after its organization. The first was 
 the Pioneer, issued on April twenty-eighth, 1S49, 
 imder most discouraging circumstances. It Vi'as 
 at first tlie intention of the ^rttty and reckless 
 editor to have called his paper " The Epistle of 
 St. Paul." About the same time there was issued 
 in Cuicinnati, under the auspices of the late Dr. 
 A. Randall, of California, the first number of 
 the Register. The second number of the paper 
 was printed at St. Paul, in .July, and the office 
 was on St. Anthony, between AV^ashington and 
 Market Streets, About the first of June, James 
 Hughes, afterward of Hudson, Wisconsin, arrived 
 with a press and materials, and established the 
 Minnesota Chronicle. After an existence of s. 
 few weeks two papers were discontinued ; and, 
 iu their place, was issued the " Chronicle and 
 
DESCIilPTIOX OF THE TEMPORARY c 
 
 rio;^istcr," edited by Nathaiel McLean and Jotiii 
 W Owens. 
 
 The lirst conrls, pursuant to proclamation of, 
 tbe governor, were held In the month of August. 
 At Slilhvater, the co\irt was organized ou the 
 thirteentli of the month, Judge Goodrich pre- 
 siding, and Judge Cooper by coui-tesy, sitting on 
 the bench. On tlie twentieth-, t!vc second judi- 
 ciiil district hehl a court. The room useil was 
 the old govenmient mill at JMinneapolis. The 
 presiding judge was B. M. Meeker; the foreman 
 of the grand jiu-y, Franklin Steele. On the hist 
 Monday t>f the montli, tlie court for the third 
 judicial district was organized in the large stone 
 v."arehouse of the fur company at ilendota. The 
 presiding judge was David Cooper. Governor 
 Ramsey sat on tlie right, and Judge Goodrich on 
 tiie left. Hon. II. II. Sibley was the foreman of 
 the grand jury. As some of the jurors could not 
 speak the English language, W. H. Forbes acted 
 as interpreter. The cliarge of Judge Cooper was 
 lucid, scho'arly, and dignified. At the request 
 of the grand jury it was afterwards publislied. 
 
 On ^londay, the thii'd of September, the first 
 Legisl^itive Assembly convened m the " Central 
 House,'"in Saint Paul, a building at the corner 
 of ilinnesota and Bench streets, facing the 
 Mississippi river which answered the double 
 purpose of eapitol and hotel. On the first 
 floor of the main building was the Secreta- 
 ry's office and Tlepresentative eliamber, and in 
 the second story was the library and Council 
 chamber. As the flag was rui\ up the staff in 
 fi'ont of tlie house, a number of Indians sat on a 
 rocky bluff in the vicinity, and gazed at what to 
 them was a novel and perhaps saddenuig scene ; 
 for if the tide of immigration sweeps in fi-om t!ie 
 Pacific as it has from the Atlantic coast, they 
 must soon dwindle. 
 
 The legislature having organized, elected the 
 follo-niug permanent ofiicers: Da^id Olmsted, 
 President of Council ; Joseph K. Brown, Secre- 
 ary ; II. A. Lambert, Assistant. In the House 
 of Kepresentatives, Joseph W. Furber was elect- 
 ed Speaker: ^\'. I). PhiUiits, Clerk: L. B. Vfait, 
 Assistant. 
 
 On Tuesday afternoon, both houses assembled 
 in the dining hall of the hotel, and after prayer 
 was offered by Eev. E. D. Xeill, Governor Ram- 
 sey delivered his message. The message was ablv 
 
 written, and its perusal ah'urded satisfaction at 
 home and aljroad. 
 
 The first session of tlie legislatui'i? adjomncd on 
 the first of November. Among other proceed- 
 ings of interest, was the creation of the following 
 counties: Itasca, Wapashaw, Dahkotah, "\Vah- 
 nahtah. Mahkahto, Pembina AVashington, Eam- 
 sev and Benton. The tb^ree latter counties com- 
 prised the country that up to that time had been 
 ceded by the Indians on the east side of the Ms- 
 sissippi, Stil." water was deiligfcl the county .seat 
 of Waslungtou, Saint Paul, of IJamsey, and '■ the 
 seat of justice of the comity of Benton was to be 
 witlun one-quarter of a mile of a point on the east 
 side of the Mississippi, directly opposite the moutb 
 of Sauk river." 
 
 EVENTS OF A. D 1850. 
 
 By the active exertions of the secretary of the> 
 territory, C. K. Smith, Esq., the Historical 
 Society of Minnesota was incorporated at tlie 
 first session of the legislature. The opening an- 
 nual addi-ess was delivered in the tiien Methodist 
 (now Swedenborgi'iii) church at Saint Paul, on 
 the first of January, 1830. 
 
 Tlie following account of the proceedings is 
 from the Clironicle and Register. "The first 
 public exercises of tlie ^linncsota Historical 
 Society, took place at the Jlethodist church. Saint 
 I'aul, on the first inst., and passed off liiglily 
 creditable to all concerned. The day was pleasant 
 and the attendance large. At the appointed 
 hour, the President and both Vice-Presidents of 
 the society being absent ; on motion of Hon. C. 
 K. Smith, Hon. Cliief Justice Goodrich was 
 called to the chair. The same gentleman then 
 moved that a committee, consisting of ilessrs. 
 Pai-sous K. Jolinson, John A. 'Wakefield, and B. 
 W. Branson, be appointed to wait upon tlie 
 Orator of the day, Rev. Jlr. Xeill, and infonn 
 him that the audience was waiting to hear his 
 addr(!,ss. 
 
 " Mr. A'fill was shorily conducted to the pulpit; 
 and after an eloquent and approriate prayer by 
 the Rev. Mr. Pai-sons, and music by the band, he 
 liroceeded to deliver his discourse upon the early 
 French missionaries and Voyageurs into ilinne- 
 sota. We hope the society will provide for its 
 publication at an early day. 
 
 ••After some brief remarks by Rev. Jlr 
 
120 
 
 EXi'LUHJ'JMti AND F10^EK1{S OF MINNl^SOTA. 
 
 Hobart, upon the objects and ends of Mstory, the 
 ceremonies were conchided with a prayer by 
 that gentleman. The audience dispersed liighly 
 deUghted with all that oeciured.' 
 
 At this early period the Minnesota Pioneer 
 issued a Gamer's New Year's Address, which 
 was amusing doggerel. The reference to the 
 future greatness and ignoble origin of the capital 
 of Minnesota was as follows : — 
 
 The cities on this river must be three, 
 Two that are built and one that is to be. 
 One, is the mart of all the tropics yield, 
 The cane, the orange, and the cotton-field, 
 And sends her ships abroad and boasts 
 Her trade extended to a thousand coasts ; 
 The other, central for the temperate zone. 
 Gamers the stores that on the plains are gro'rni, 
 A place where steamboats from all quarters. 
 
 range, 
 To meet and speculate, as 'twere on 'change. 
 The third loill he, where rivers confluent flow 
 From the wide spreading north through plauis 
 
 of snow ; 
 The mart of all that boundless forests give 
 To make mankind more comfortably Uve, 
 The land of manufacturing industry, 
 The workshop of the nation it shall be. 
 Propelled by this wide sti'eam, you'll see 
 A thousand factories at Saint Anthony : 
 And the Saint Croix a hundred mills shall drive. 
 And all its smiling villages shall thrive ; 
 But then 7ny town— remember that high bench 
 "With cabins scattered over it, of French ? 
 A man named Hem-y Jackson's livmg there. 
 Also a man — why every one knows L. liobair, 
 Below Fort Snelling, seven miles or so. 
 And three above the village of Old Crow ? 
 Pig's Eye ? Yes ; Pig's Eye ! That's the spot 1 
 A very funny name ; is't not "i' 
 Pig's Eye's the spot, to plant my city on. 
 To be remembered by, when I am gone. 
 Pig's Eye converted thou shall be, like Saul : 
 Thy name henceforth shall be Siiint Paul. 
 
 On the evenhig of New Year's day, at Fort 
 SneUtng, there was an assemblage which is only 
 seen on the outposts of civiUzation. In one of 
 the stone edifices, outside of the wall, belonguig 
 to the United States, there resided a gentleman 
 who had dwelt in Mumcsota since the year lyPJ, 
 
 and for many years had been in the employ of 
 the govermneut, as Indian interpreter. In youth 
 he had been a member of the Columbia Fur Com- 
 pany, and conforming to the habits of traders, 
 had purchased a Dahkotah wife who was wholly 
 ignorant of the English language. As a family 
 of children gathered around him he recognised 
 the relation of husband and father, and consci- 
 entiously discharged his duties as a parent. His 
 daughter at a proper age was sent to a boarding 
 school of some celebrity, and on the night re- 
 ferred to was married to an intelligent young 
 American farmer. Among the guests present 
 were the officers of the garrison m full uniform, 
 with their \\-ives, the United States Agent for 
 the Dalikotahs, and family, the bois brules of 
 the neighborhood, and the Indian relatives of the 
 mother. The mother did not make lier appear- 
 ance, but, as the muiister proceeded v.'ith the 
 ceremony, the Dahkotah relatives, wrapped in 
 their blankets, gathered in the hall and looked 
 in throngh the door. 
 
 The marriage feast was worthy of the occa- 
 sion. In consequence of the numbers, the 
 ofhcers and those of European extraction partook 
 first ; then the bois brules of Ojibway and Dah- 
 kotah descent; and, finally, the native Ameri- 
 cans, who did ample justice to the pleutifid sup- 
 ply spread before them. 
 
 Governor Ramsey, Hon. H. H. Sibley, and the 
 delegate to Congress devised at Washington, this 
 winter, the territorial seal. The design was Falls 
 of St. Anthony in the distance. An immigrant 
 ploughing the land on the borders of the Indian 
 country, full of hope, and looking forn'ard to the 
 possession of the hunting grounds beyond. An 
 Indian, amazed at the sight of the plough, and 
 fleeing on horseback towards the setting sun. 
 
 Tlie -motto of the Earl of Dnnraven, "Quae 
 sursuni volo videre" (I wish to see what is above) 
 was most appropriately selected by IMr. Sibley, 
 but by the blunder of an engraver it appeared on 
 the territorial seal, "Quo sursum velo videre," 
 which no scholar could tianslate. At length was 
 substituted, "L' Etoile du Nord," "Star of the 
 North," while the device of the setting sun 
 remained, and this is objectionable, a.: the State 
 of Maine had already placed the North Star on 
 her escutcheon, with the motto "Dirigo," "I 
 !;uide." Perhaps some future legislature may 
 
SCALP DANCE IN STlLLWATKIi. 
 
 121 
 
 direct the tirst motto to be restored and correctly 
 engraved. 
 
 In the mourn of April, there was a renewal of 
 hostilities hetween the Dalikotahs and (Jjiljwuys, 
 on lands that had 1 leen ceded to the ITnited States. 
 A war prophet at Red Wing, dreamed that he 
 ought to raise a war party. Announcing the fact, 
 a number expressed their willingness to go on such 
 an expedition. Several from the Kaposia village 
 also joined the party, under the leadership of a 
 worthless Indian, who had been confined in the 
 guard-house at Fort Snelling, the year pre\'ious, 
 for scalping his wife. 
 
 Passing up the valley of the St. Croix, a Tew 
 miles above Stillwater the party discovered on the 
 snow the marks of a keg and footprints. These 
 told them that a man and woman of the Ojibways 
 had been to some whisky dealer's, and were re- 
 turning. Following their trail, tliey found on 
 Apple river, about twenty miles from Stillwater, 
 a band of Ojibways encamped in one lodge. Wait- 
 ing till daybreak of Wednesday, April second, the 
 Dahkotahs commenced firing on the unsuspecting 
 inmates, some of whom were drinking from the 
 contents of the whisky keg. The camp was com- 
 posed of fifteen, and all were murdered and scalp- 
 ed, with the exception of a lad, who was made a 
 captive. 
 
 On Thursday, the victors came to Stillwater, 
 and danced the scalp dance around the captive 
 l)oy, in the heat of excitement, striking him in the 
 face with the scarcely cold and bloody scalps of 
 liis relatives. The child was then taken to Ka- 
 posia. and adopted b>' the chief. Governor Ram- 
 sey immediately took measures to send the boy to 
 his friends. At a conference held at the Gov- 
 ernor's mansion, the boy was delivered up, and, 
 on being led out to the kitchen by a Utile son of 
 the Governor, since deceased, to receive refresh- 
 ments, he cried bitterly, seemingly more alarmed 
 at being left with the whites than he had been 
 while a captive at Kaposia. 
 
 From the first of April the waters of the Mis- 
 sissippi began to rise, and on the thirteenth, the 
 lower floor of the warehouse, then occupied by 
 AMlliam Constans, at the foot of Jackson street, 
 St. Paul, was submerged. Taking advantage of 
 the freshet, the steamboat Anthony Wayne, for a 
 purse of two hundred doUar.s, ventured through 
 the swift current above i^'ort Snelling, and readied 
 
 the Falls of St. Anthony. The boat loft the fort 
 after dinner, with Governor Ramsey and other 
 guests, also the band of tlie Sixtli Regiment on 
 board, and reached the falls between three and 
 four o'clock in the afternoon. The whole town, 
 men, women and children, lined the shore as the 
 boat approached, and welcomed this first aiTival, 
 with shouts and waving handkerchiefs. 
 
 On the afternoon of May fifteenth, there might 
 have lieen seen, hurrying through the streets of 
 Saint Paul, a number of naked and pauited braves 
 of the Kajiosia band of Dahkotahs, ornamented 
 with all the attire of war, and panting for the 
 scalps of their enemies. A few hours before, the 
 warlike head chief of the Ojibways. young IIolc- 
 in-the-Day , having secreted his eaiioe in the retired 
 gorge which leads to the cave in the upper sub- 
 urbs, with two or three associates had crossed the 
 river, and, almost in sight of the citizens of tli,> 
 town, had attacked a small party of Dahkotahs. 
 and murdered and scalped one man. On receipt 
 of the news. Governor Ramsey granted a parole 
 to the thirteen Dahkotahs contiued in Fort Snell- 
 ing, for participating in the Apple river massacre. 
 
 On the morning of the sixteenth of May, the 
 fii'st Protestant church edifice coniijleted in the 
 white settlements, a small frame building, built 
 for the Presbyterian clmrch, at Saiut Paul, was 
 destroyed by fire, it being the first conflagration 
 tliat had occurred since the organization of the 
 territory. 
 
 One of the most interesting events of the year 
 IS.jO, was the Indian council, at Fort Snelling. 
 (iovernor Ramsey had sent ruiniers to the differ- 
 ent bands of the Ojibways and Dahkotahs, to 
 meet him at the fort, for the piu'pose of en- 
 deavouring to adjust their difficulties. 
 
 On Wednesday, the twelfth of June, after 
 much talking, as is customary at Indian councils, 
 the two tribes agreed as they had frequently done 
 before, to be friendly, anil (iovernor Ramsey 
 presenting to each party an ox. the cotnicil was 
 dissolved. 
 
 On Thursday, the Ojibways visited St. Paul 
 for the first time, youn.g IIole-in-the-Day being 
 dressed in a coat of a captain of United States 
 infantry, which lia<l been presented to him at tlie 
 foi-t. On Friday, they left in the steamer Gov- 
 ernor Ramsey, which had been built at St. An- 
 thony, and ji'st commenced running between 
 
]-22 
 
 EXPLORERS AND l'IO.\EERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 that poiut and Sauk Rapids, for their homes in 
 the wilderness of the Upper Mississippi. 
 
 The summer of 1850 was the commencement 
 of the navigation of tlie Minnesota River by 
 steamboats. With the exception of a steamer 
 tliat made a pleasure excursion as far as Shokpay, 
 In 1841, no large vessels had ever disturbed the 
 waters of this stream. In June, the " Anthony 
 Wayne," v/hich a few weeks before had ascended 
 to the Falls of St. Anthony, made a trip. On 
 tlie eighteenth of July she made a second trip, 
 going almost to Mabkahto. The " Nominee " 
 also navigated the stream for some distance. 
 
 Ou the twenty-second of July the officers of 
 llie "Yankee," taking advantage of the high 
 water, determined to navigate the stream as far 
 ;'.s possible. The boat ascended to near the Cot- 
 louwood river. 
 
 As the time for the general election in Septem- 
 ber approached, considerable excitement was 
 manifested. As there were no political issues 
 before the people, parties Vv'ere formed based on 
 p&rsonal preferences. Among those nominated 
 for delegate to Congress, by various meetings, 
 \, ere 11. II. Sibley, the former delegate to Con- 
 gress, David Olmsted, at that time engaged in | 
 the Indian trade, ami A.-M. Mitchell, the United 
 States marshal. ilr. Olmsted withdrew his 
 name before election day, and the contest was 
 between those interested in Sibley and Jlitchell. 
 The friends of each betrayed the greatest zeal, 
 and neither pains nor money were spared to in- 
 sure success. Mr. Sibley was elected by a small 
 majority. For the first time in the territory, 
 soldiers at the garrisons voted at !liis election, 
 and there was considerable discussion as to the 
 propriety of such a course. 
 
 Miss Fredrika Bremer, the well known Swedish 
 novelist, visited Minnesota in the month of 
 October, and was the guest of Governor Ramsey. 
 
 During November, the Dahkotah Tawaxitku 
 Kin, or the Dahkotah Friend, a monthly paper, 
 was commenced, one-half in the Dahkotah and 
 one-half in the English language. Its editor was 
 tlie Rev. Gideon 11. Pond, a Presbyterian mis- 
 sionary, and its place of publication at Saint Paul. 
 It was published for nearly two years, and, though 
 it failed to attract the attention of the Indian 
 mind, it conveyed to the English reader much 
 
 correct information in relation to the habits, the 
 belief, and superstitions, of the Dahkotahs. 
 
 On the tenth of December, anew paper, owned 
 and edited by Daniel A. Robertson, late United 
 States marshal, of Ohio, and called the Minne- 
 sota Democrat, made its appearance. 
 
 Dm^mg the summer there had been changes in 
 ihe editorial supervision of the " Chronicle and 
 Register." For a brief period it was edited by 
 L. A. Babcock, Esq., who was succeeded by \V. 
 G. Le Due. 
 
 About the time of the issuhig of the Demo- 
 crat, C. J. Hemiiss, formerly reporter for the 
 United States Gazette, Philadelpliia, became the 
 editor of tiie Chronicle. 
 
 Tlie first proclamation for a thanksgiving day 
 was issued in 1850 by the governor, and the 
 twenty-sixth of December was the time appomted 
 and it was generally observed. 
 
 EVENTS OF A. D. 1851. 
 
 On Wednesday, January first, 1851, the second 
 Legislative Assembly assembled in a three-story 
 lirick building, since destroyed by fire, that stood 
 on St. Anthony street, between Washington and 
 FrankUn. D. B. Loomis was chosen Speaker of 
 the Council, and M. E. Ames Speaker of the 
 House. This assembly was characterized by 
 more bitterness of feeling than any that has 
 since convened. The precedhig delegate election 
 liad been based- on personal preferences, and 
 cliques and factions manifested themselves at an 
 early period of the session. 
 
 The locating of the penitentiary at Stillwater, 
 and the capitol building at St. Paul gave some 
 dissatisfaction. By the efforts of J. W. North, 
 Esq., a bill creating the University of Mimiesota 
 at or near the Falls of St. Anthony, was passed, 
 and signed by the Governor. This institution, 
 by the State Constitution, is now the State Uni- 
 versity. 
 
 During the session of this Legislature, the pub- 
 lication of the " Chronicle and Register" ceased. 
 
 About the middle of ]May,a war i)arty of Dah- 
 kotahs disi'overed near Swan River, an Ojibway 
 with a keg of wliisky. The latter escaped, with 
 the loss of his keg. The war party, dtinking the 
 contents, became intoxicated, and, firing upon 
 some teamrters they met driving their wagons 
 with goods to the Indian Agency, killed one of 
 
LA.yps ir/'.-s'/' OF Tin- nis^issii'i'r gkvkd. 
 
 3 23 
 
 them, Andrew Swiirtz, a rcsidt'iit of St. I'.-iul. 
 Tlio uews waa conveyed to Fort Ripley, and a 
 party of soldiers, with Hole-in-the-day as a guide, 
 started in piirsiiit of the murderers, but did not 
 succeed in capturing theni. Through the inilu- i 
 ence of Little Six, the Daiikotah chief, whose vil- 
 lage was at (and named after him) Shok- j 
 pay, five of the offenders were arrested and 
 placed in the guard house at Fort Suelluig. On 
 Monday, June ninth, they left the fort iti a wagon, 
 guarded by twenty-five dragoons, destined for 
 Hauk Bapids for trial. As they dejjarted they all 
 sang their death song, and the coarse soldiers 
 amused ■ themselves by making signs that they 
 v.ere going to be hung. On the first evening of 
 the journey the five culprits encamped with the 
 twenty-five dragoons. Handcutl'ed, they were 
 placed in the tent, and yet at midnight they all 
 escaped, only one being wounded by tlie guaril- 
 What was more remarkable, the wounded man 
 was the first to bring the news to St. Paul. Pro- 
 ceeding to Koposia, his wound was examined by 
 the missionary and physician, Dr. Williamson; 
 and then, fearing an arrest, he took a canoe and 
 paddled np the Minnesota. The excuses offered 
 by the dragoons was, that all the guard but one 
 fell asleep. 
 
 The first paper published in Minnesota, bevoud 
 the capital, was the St. Anthony Express, which 
 made its appearance during the last week of 
 April or May. 
 
 The most important event of the year 18.51 
 was the treaty with the Dahkotahs, by which the 
 west side of the Mississippi and the valley of tlie 
 Miuunesota Eiver were opened to the hardy immi- 
 grant. The commissioners on the part of the 
 United States were Luke Lea, Commissioner of 
 Indian Affairs, and Governor Eamsey. The 
 place of meeting for the upper bands was Trav- 
 erse des Sioux. The commission arrived there 
 on the last of June, but were obliged to wait 
 many days for the assembling of the various 
 bands of Dahkotahs. 
 
 On the eighteenth of July, ail those expected 
 having arrived, the Sissetons and Wahpaytou 
 Dahkotahs assembled in grand council with the 
 United States commissioners. After the usual 
 feastings and speeches, a treaty was concluded 
 on Wednesday, July twenty-third. The pipe 
 having been smoked by the commissioners, Lea 
 
 and Eamsey, it was pas^ed to the chiefs. T!io 
 paper containing the treaty was then read in 
 I'jUglish and translated into the Daiikotah by the 
 Kev. S. R. Eiggs, Presbyterian Missionary among 
 this people. This finished, the cliiefs came np 
 to the secretary's table and touched the ])en; the 
 white men present then witnessed the doeunient 
 and nothing remained but tlie ratification of the 
 United" States Senate to open that vast country 
 fv)r the residence of the hardy immigrant. 
 
 During the first weok in August, a treaty was 
 also concluded beneath an oak bower, on Pilot 
 Knol), Meudota, with the M'dewakaiitonwan and 
 \\"a'ipaykoi)tay bands of Dahkotahs. About sixty 
 of the chiefs and principal men touched the pen, 
 and Jjittle Crow, who had beceu in tlie niiss.siou- 
 seliool at Lac qui Parle, signed his own name. 
 Before they separated Colonel Lea and Governor 
 Ivimsey gave them a few words of advice on 
 various subjects connected with tlicir future well- 
 b.'iug, but particularly on the suliject of eibica- 
 tiou and temperance. The treaty was interpret- 
 ed to them by the Rev. G. H. Pond, a geutleniau 
 who was conceded to be a most ccrrect speaker 
 of the Dahkotah tongue. 
 
 The day after the treaty these lower lands 
 received thirty thousand dollars, which, by the 
 treaty of 1837, was set apart for education; but, 
 by the misrepresentations of interested half- 
 breeils, the Indians were made to believe that 
 it ought to be given to them to be employed as 
 they pleased. 
 
 The next week, with their sacks filled with 
 money, they thronged the str.-;ets of St. Paul, 
 purchasing whatever jjleas-ed thei;- fancy. 
 
 On the seventeenth of Se|)t,cmlier, a new j^aper 
 was commenced in St. Paul, under the ausjjices 
 of the "Whigs," and John P. Owens became 
 editor, which relation he sustained until the fall 
 of 18.57. 
 
 The election for memliers of the Legishiture 
 and county officers occurred on the fourteenth of 
 Oct'iber; and, for the first time, a regular Demo- 
 cratic ticket was jjlaced before the people. The 
 parties called themselves Democratic and Anti- 
 organization, or Coalition, 
 
 In the mouth of November Jerome Fuller ar- 
 rived, an 1 took the place of Judge Goodrich as 
 Chief Justice of Minnesota, who was removed; 
 and, about the same time, Alexander Wilkin was 
 
124 
 
 EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 appointed secretary of the territory in place of 
 C. K. Smilli. 
 
 The eigliteeutli of December, pnrsiiant to 
 proclamation, was observed as a day of Thauks- 
 giviag. 
 
 EVENTS OF A. D. 1S52. 
 
 The third Legislative Asseml:)ly ccimmencsd its 
 sessions in one of the -^tiitjeefs on Tliird below 
 Jackson street, which became a portion of the 
 Merchants' Hotel, on the seventh of January, 
 1852. 
 
 This session, compared witli the previous, 
 formed a contrast as great as tliat between a 
 boisterous day in Marcli and a calm June morn- 
 ing. The minds of the population were more 
 deeply interested in the ratilication of the treaties 
 made with the Dahkotiilis, than in political dis- 
 cussions. Among other lejiislatloii of interest 
 was the creation of Ile-nepin county. 
 
 On Saturday, the fc-irteeuth of February, a 
 dog-traiu arrived at S' Paul from the north, 
 with the distinguished Arctic explorer. Dr. Kae. 
 He had been in search of the long-missing Sir 
 John Franklin, by way of the ^Mackenzie river, 
 and Mas now on his way to Europe. 
 
 On the fourteenth of May, an interesting lusus 
 naturse occurred at Stillwater. On the prairies, 
 beyond the elevated bluffs v\hich encircle tlie 
 busuiess portion of the town, there is a lake which 
 discharges its waters through a ravine, and sup- 
 pli(Kl ilcKusick's mill. Owing to heavy rains, 
 the hills became saturated with water, and the 
 lake very full. Before daylight the citizens heard 
 the " voice of many waters," and looking out, saw 
 rushing down through the ravine, trees, gravel 
 and diluvium. Nothing impeded its course, and 
 as it issued from the ravine it spread over the 
 town site, covering up barns and small tenements, 
 and, continuing to the lake shore, it materially 
 improved the lauding, by a deposit of many tons 
 of earth. One of the editors of the day, alluding 
 to the fact, quamtly remarked, that "it was a 
 very extraordinary movement fif real estate." 
 
 During the sununer, Elijah Terry, a young 
 man who had left St. Paul the previous March, 
 and went to Pembina, to act as teacher to the 
 mixed bloods in that vicinity, was murdered un- 
 der disti'essing circumstances. With a bois brule 
 he had started to the woods on the morning of 
 
 his death, to hew timber. ^V^lile there he was 
 fired upon by a small party of Dahkotahs ; a ball 
 broke his arm, and he was pierced vnXh an-ows. 
 His scalp was wrenched from his head, and was 
 afterwards seen among Sisseton Dahkotahs, near 
 Big Stone Lake. 
 
 jVbout tlie last of August, the pioneer editor 
 of jMinnesota, James M. Goodhue, died. 
 
 At the November Term of the United States 
 District Court, of Ramsey county, a Dahkotali, 
 named Yu-ha-zee, was tried for tlie murder of a 
 German woman. "With others she was travel- 
 ing above Shokpay, when a party of Indians, of 
 whom the prisoner was one, met them ; and, 
 gathering about the wagon, were much excited. 
 The prisoner punched the woman first with iiis 
 gun, and, being threatened by one of the party, 
 loaded and fired, killing the woman and wound- 
 ing one of the men. 
 
 On the day of his trial he was escorted from 
 Fort Snelling by a company of mounted dragoons 
 in full dress. It was an impressive scene to 
 witness the poor Indian half bid in his blanket, 
 in a buggy with the civil otlicer, surrounded with 
 all the pom)) and circumstance of war. The jury 
 found him guilty. On being asked if he had 
 anything to say why sentence of death should 
 not be passed, he replied, through the interpreter, 
 that the band to which he belonged would remit 
 their annuities if he could be released. To this 
 Judge Hayner, the successor of Judge Fuller, 
 replied, that he had no authority to release 
 him ; and, ordering him to rise, after some 
 appropriate and impressive remarks, he pro- 
 nounced the first sentence of death ever pro- 
 noimced by a judicial officer in Minnesota. The 
 prisoner trembled while the judge spoke, and 
 was a piteous spectacle. By the statute of Min- 
 nesota, then, one convicted of murder could not 
 be executed until twelve months hadelaiisi'<l,and 
 he was confined until the governor of the ter- 
 orrity should by warrant order his execution. 
 
 EVENTS OF A. D. 1S53. 
 
 The fourth Legislative Assembly convened on 
 the fifth of January, 18.53, in the two "story brick 
 edifice at the corner of Third and JMinnesota 
 streets. The Council chose Martin McLeod as 
 presiding oflicer, and the House Dr. David Day, 
 
INDIAN f'lGUT IN STItEEIS OF tiT. PAUL. 
 
 Vir, 
 
 Speaker. Governor Ramsey's message was aii 
 interesting document. 
 
 The Baldwin school, now known asMacalester 
 f'o!Ipg(\ was incorporated at this session of tlie 
 legislatnre, and was opened the folk)wing June. 
 
 On tlie ninth of April, a party of Ojibways 
 killed a Dahkofah. at the village of Shokpay. A 
 war party, from Kaposia, then proceeded up the 
 valley of the St. Croix, and killed an Ojibway. 
 On the morning of the twenty-seventh, a band 
 of Ojibway warriors, naked, decked, and fiercely 
 gestienlating, might have been seen in the busiest 
 street of the capital, in search of their enemies. 
 Just at that time a small party of women, and 
 one man, who liad lost a leg in the battle of Still- 
 water, arrived in a canoe from Kaposia, at the 
 Jackson sti-eet landing. Perceiving the Ojib- 
 ways, they retreated to the building then known 
 as the " Pioneer " oftice, and the Ojibways dis- 
 charging a volley through the windows, wounded 
 a l)ahkotah woman who soon died. Fora short 
 time, the infant capital presented a sight 
 similar to that witnessed in ancient days in 
 Hadley or Deerlield, the tlien frontier towns of 
 Massachusetts, ilessengers were despatched to 
 Fort Snelling for the dragoons, and a party of 
 citizens mounted on horseback, ^^■ere quickly in 
 pursuit of those wlio with so much bolcbiess had 
 sought the streets of St. Paul, as a place to 
 avenge their wrongs. The dragoons soon fol- 
 lowed, with Indi;in guides scenting the track of 
 the Ojibways, like bloodliomids. The next day 
 they discovered the transgressors, near the Falls 
 of St. Croix. The Ojibways mauifestmg what 
 was supposed to be an insolent si>irit, the order 
 was given by the lieutenant in command, to fire, 
 and he whose scalp was afterwards daguerreo 
 
 typed, and which was engiaved for Graham's 
 ilagazine, wallowed in gore. 
 
 During tlie summer, the passenger, as he stood 
 on the hurricane deck of any of the steamboals, 
 might have seen, on a scaffold on the bluffs in 
 the rear of Kaposia, a scpiare box covered with a 
 coarsely fiinged red cloth. Above it was sus- 
 pended a piece of the Ojibway's scalp, whose 
 death had caused the affray in the streets of St. 
 Paul. Within, was the body of the woman who 
 had been shot in the " Pioneer " building, while 
 seeking refiige. A scalji suspended over the 
 corpse is supposed to be a consulation to the soul, 
 and a great protection in the journey to the spirit 
 land. 
 
 On the accession of Pierce to the presidency of 
 the United States, the officers appointed under 
 the Taylor and Fillmore administrations were 
 removed, and the following gentlemen substitu- 
 ted : Governor, W. A. Gorman, of Indiana; Sec- 
 retary, J. T. Kosser, of A'irginia; Chief Justice, 
 W. H. Welch, of ilinnesota ; Associates, Moses 
 Sherburne, of Maine, and A. G. Chatfield, of 
 AVisconsin. One of the first official acts of the 
 second Governor, was the making of a treaty 
 with the Wumebago Indians at Watal), lientuu 
 county, for an exchange of coinitry. 
 
 On the twenty-nintli of June, I). A. Robertson, 
 who by his enthusiasm and earnest advocacy of 
 its principles had done nnich to organize the 
 Democratic party of Minnesota, retired from the 
 eilitorial chair and was succeeded by David Olm- 
 sted. 
 
 At the election held in October, Henry JM. 
 Rice and Alexander Willvin were candidates 
 for deligate to Congress. The former was elect- 
 ed by a decisive majority. 
 
126 
 
 EXPLOEEBS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIII. 
 
 EVEInTS FKOjt A. D. 1854 TO TELE ADMISSION OF MmilESOTA TO TIIE UXTON. 
 
 Fifth Legislature— Execution of Yiihnzce— Sixth Legislature— First bridge over the 
 Mississippi— Arctic E.ipliiriT — ?evflnth Legislature — Indian girl killed near 
 Blosmington Kerry — Eii^hth Letjislatlire — Attempt to Remove the Capital — 
 Special Session of the Legislature — Convention to frame a State Constitution- 
 Admission of Mimiesota to the Union, 
 
 The fifth session of the legislature was com- 
 menced iu the building just completed as the 
 Cai)itol, on Januarj' fourth, 1854. The President 
 of the Council was S. B. Olmstead, and the Speak- 
 er of the House of Representatives was N. C. D. 
 Taylor. 
 
 Governor Gorman delivered his first annual 
 message on the tenth, and as his predecessor, 
 urged the importance of railwaj- communicatior.s, 
 and dwelt upon the necessity of fostering the in- 
 terests of education, and of the lumbermen. 
 
 The exciting bill of the session was the act in- 
 corporating the Minnesota and Northwestern 
 Railroad Company, introduced by Joseph R. 
 Brown. It was passed after the hour of midnight 
 on the last day of the session. Contrary to the 
 expectation of bis fi-iends, the Governor signed 
 the biU. 
 
 On the afternoon of December twenty-seventh, 
 the first public execution in ;Minnesota, in accord- 
 ance with the forms of law, took place. Yu-lia- 
 zee, the Dahkotah who had been convicted in 
 November, 1852, for the miu'der of a German 
 woman, above Shokpay, was the individual. 
 The scaffold was erected on the open space be- 
 tn'een an inn called the rrankUn House and the 
 rear of the late Mr. J. W. Selby's enclosure 
 in St, Paul. About two o'clock, the prisoner, 
 dressed in a white shroud, left the old log pris- 
 on, near the court house, and entered a carriage 
 v.ith the officers of the law. Being assisted up 
 the steps that led to the scaffold, he made a fe-n 
 remarks in his o\^ti language, and was then exe- 
 cuted. Numerous ladies sent in a petition to 
 the governor, asking the pardon of the Indian, 
 to which that officer in declining made an appro- 
 priate reply. 
 
 EVENTS OF A. D. 1855. 
 
 The sixth session of the legislature convened 
 on the third of January, 1855. W. P. Murray 
 was elected President of the Council, and James 
 S. Nonis Speaker of the House. 
 
 About the last of January, the two houses ad- 
 journed one day, to attend the exercises occa- 
 sioned by the opening of the first bridge of 
 any kind, over the mighty Mississippi, from 
 Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. It was at 
 Falls of Saint Anthony, and made of wire, and 
 at the time of its opening, the patent for the 
 land on which the west piers were built, had not 
 been issued from the Land Office, a striking evi- 
 dence of the rapidity with which the city of 
 Minneapolis, which now surroimds the Falls, has 
 developed. 
 
 On the twenty-ninth of March, a convention 
 was held at Saint Anthony, which led to the 
 formation of the Republican party of Minnesota. 
 Tliis body took measures for the holding of a 
 territorial convention at St. Paul, which con- 
 vened on the twenty-fifth of July, and William 
 R, Marshall was nominated as delegate to Con- 
 gress. Shortly after the friends of Mr. Sibley 
 nominated David Olmsted and Henry M. Rice, 
 the former delegate was also a candidate. The 
 contest was animated, and resulted in the elec- 
 tion of Mr. Rice. 
 
 Aliout noon of December twelfth, 1855, a four- 
 horse vehicle was seen driving rapidly through 
 St. Paul, and deep was the interest when it was 
 announced that one of the Aictic exploring party, 
 Jlr. James Stewart, was on his way to Canada 
 with relics of the world - reno^vned and world- 
 mounied Sir John Franklin. Gathering together 
 the precious fragments found on Monb-eal Island 
 and vicinity, the party had left the region of ice- 
 bergs on the ninth of August, and after a con- 
 tinued land journey from that time, had reached 
 
FltO^OaKl) liEMOVAL OF THE ,SJb'AT OF GOVFll \MFyT. 
 
 12V 
 
 Saiiit Paul on that day, en route to the lIuUswi 
 Bay Company's quarters iii Canada. 
 
 KVKKTS OF A. D. lSo6. 
 
 Tlie seventh session of the Legislative Assem- 
 bly was begun on the second of January, ISoti, 
 and again the exciting question was the Minne- 
 sota and Xortliwesteni Railroad Company. 
 
 John B. Brisbiu was elected President of the 
 Council, and Charles Gardner, Speaker of the 
 Hojise. 
 
 Tliis j'ear was comparatively devoid of interest. 
 Tlie citizens of the territory were busily engaged 
 in making claims in newly organized comities, 
 and in enlarging the area of civilization. 
 
 On the trsvelfth of Jime, several Ojibways 
 entered the farm house of JMr. "Whallon, wlio re- 
 sided ill Hennepin county, on the banks of the 
 Minnesota, a mile below the Bloomiugton ferry. 
 The wife of the farmer, a friend, and tliree child- 
 ren, besides a little Dahkotah girl, who had been 
 brought up in the mission-house at Kaposia, and 
 so changed in mamiers that her origin was 
 scarcely perceptible, were sitting in the room 
 when the Indians came in. Instantly seizing 
 the little Indian maiden, they threw her out of 
 the door, lolled and scalped her, and fled before 
 the men who were near by, in the field, could 
 reach the house. 
 
 EVENTS OF A. D. IS-J". 
 
 The procurement of a state organization, and 
 a grant of lands for railroad purposes, were the 
 topics of poUtical interest diu'mg the year 1857. 
 
 The eighth Legislative Assembly convened at 
 the capitol on the seventh of January, and J. B. 
 Brisbiu was elected President of the Council, and 
 J. W. Fiuber, Speaker of the House. 
 
 A bUl changing the seat of government to 
 Saint Peter, on the Jliimesota River, caused 
 much discussion. 
 
 On Satvu-day, February twenty -eighth, Mr. 
 Balcombe offered a resolution to report the bill 
 for the removal of the seat of government, and 
 should ^Ir. Rolette, chairman of the committee, 
 fail, that W. AV. Wales, of said committee, report 
 a copy of said bUl. 
 
 ilr. Setzer. after the reading of the resolution, 
 moved a call of the CouncO, and :Mr. Rolette was 
 found to be absent. The chair ordered the ser- 
 geant at aims to report Mr Rolette in his seat. 
 
 Mr. ]?alconibo moved tiiat further proceedings 
 under the call be dispensed with; which did not 
 prevail. Prom that time until the next Thursday 
 afternoon, March the fifth, a period of one hun- 
 dred and t\venty-tln-ee hours, the Council re- 
 mained in their chamber witliout recess. At that 
 tiuK! a motion to adjourn prevailed. On Friday 
 auollier motion was made to dispense with the 
 call of tlie Council, wldch did not prevail. On 
 Saturday, the Council met, tlie president dec'lared 
 the call still pending. At seven and a half p. m., 
 a committee of the House was announced. The 
 chair ruled, that no commmiicatidu from the 
 House could be received while a call of the Coun- 
 cil was pending, and the committee withdrew. 
 A motion was again made during the last night 
 of the session, to dispense with all further pro- 
 ceedings under the call, whicli prevailed, with 
 one vote onlj' in the negative. 
 
 ilr. Ludden then moved that a committee be 
 appointed to wait on tlie (_io\ernor, and inquire if 
 he had any further communication to make to 
 the Council. 
 
 ^Ir. Lowry moved a call of the Council, which 
 \^■as ordered, and the roll being called, ^Messrs. 
 Rolette, Thompson and Tiilotson were absent. 
 
 At twelve o'clock at night the president re- 
 sumed the chau', and announced that tlie time 
 limited by law tor tlie continuation of tlie session 
 of the territorial legislature had expu'ed, and he 
 therefore declared the Coiuuil adjourned and the 
 seat of government remained at Saint I'aul. 
 
 The excitement on the capital question was in- 
 tense, and it was a strange scene to see members 
 of the CouncU, eating and sleeping in the hall of 
 legislation for days, waiting for the sergeant-at- 
 arms to report an absent member hi liis seat. 
 
 On the twenty-third of February, 18.57, an act 
 passed the United States Senate, to authorize 
 the people of Minnesota to form a constitution, 
 preparatory to their a(huission into the Union 
 on an equal footing with the origuial states. 
 
 Governor Gorman called a special session 
 of the legislatiu'e, to take into consideration 
 measures that would give efticiency to the act. 
 The extra session convened on April tweiity- 
 sevenlli, and a message was transmitted by Sam- 
 uel JNIedary, who liad been appointed governor 
 in place of W . A. (Jormau, whose term of office 
 
]-2S 
 
 EXPLOBERS AXD FlOyEEUH OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 had expired. The extra session adjourned on 
 the twenty-third of ^lay ; and in accordance 
 witli tiie provisions of tlie enabling act of Con- 
 gress, an election was held on the first Monday 
 in June, for delegates to a convention which was 
 to assemble at the capitol on the second Monday 
 in July. The clertion resulted, as was thought, 
 in giving a majority of delegates to the Eepubli- 
 can party. 
 
 At midiugiit previous to the day fixed for the 
 meeting of tlio convention, the Republicans pro- 
 ceeded to the capitol, because the enabling act 
 had not fixed at what hour on the second ilon- 
 day the convention should assemble, and fear- 
 ing that the Democratic delegates might antici- 
 pate them, and elect the officers of the body. 
 ^V little before twelve, a. ji., on Monday, the 
 secretary of the territory entered the speaker's 
 rostrum, and l)egan to call the body to order; 
 and at the same tune a delegate, J. AV. North, 
 who had in his i>ossession a written rp(iuest from 
 the majority of the delegates pr.-;:.cnt, proceeded 
 to do the same tiling. The secretary of the ter- 
 ritory put a motion to adjourn, and the Demo- 
 cratic members present voting in the afBrmative, 
 they left the hall. The Kepublicans. feeling that 
 they were in tlie majority, remained, and in due 
 time organized, and proceeded witli the business 
 specified in the enalding act, to form a constitu- 
 tion, and- take all necessary steps for the estab- 
 lishment of a state government, in conformity 
 with the Federal Constitution, subject to the 
 approval and ratification of the people of the 
 proposed state. 
 
 After several days the Democratic wing also 
 orgaiuzed in the Senate chamber at the caiiitol, 
 and, claiming to be the true body, also proceeded 
 to form a constitution. Both parties were re- 
 markably orderly and intelligent, and everything 
 was marked by perfect decorum. After they had 
 been in session some weeks, moderate counsels 
 
 prevailed, and a committee of conference was 
 appointed from each body, which resulted in 
 both adopting the constitution framed by the 
 Democratic wing, on the twenty-ninth of Aug- 
 gust. According to the provision of the consti- 
 tution, an election was held for state officers 
 and the adoption of the constitution, on tlie 
 second Tuesday, the thirteenth of October. The 
 constitution was adopted by almost a unanimous 
 vote. It provided that the territorial officers 
 should retain their oftices until the state was ad- 
 mitted into the Union, not anticipating the 
 long delay which was experienced. 
 
 The first session of the state legislatiu'e com- 
 menced on the first "Wednesday of December, at 
 tiie capitol, in the city of Saint Paul; and during 
 the month elected Henry M. Eice a]id James 
 Shields as their Kepreseutatives in the United 
 States Senate. 
 
 EVENTS OF A. D. 18.38. 
 
 On the twenty-ninth of Jaiuiary, 1S>58, Mr. 
 Douglas submitted a bill to the United States 
 Senate, for the admission of Minnesota into the 
 Union. On the first of February, a discussion 
 arose on the bill, in which Senators Douglas, 
 Wilson, Gwin, Hale, Mason, Green, Brown, and 
 Crittenden participated. Brown, of Mississippi, 
 was opposed to the admission of Minnesota, un- 
 til the Kansas question was settled. Mr. Crit- 
 tenden, as a Southern man, coidd not endorse i;ll 
 that was said by the Senator from !Mississipri; 
 and his words of wisdom and moderation during 
 this day's discussion, were worthy of remejn- 
 brance. On April the seventh, the bill passed 
 the Senate with only three dissenting votes ; and 
 in a short time the House of Representatives 
 concurred, and on May tlie eleventh, the Presi- 
 dent ajiproved, and Minnesota was fully rec- 
 ognized as one of the United States of America. 
 
FIBST STATE LEGISLATURE. 
 
 1'20 
 
 OUTLINE HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 STATE OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXIV. 
 
 PIEST STATE LEGISLATDKE STATE RAILWAY BONDS 
 
 MIN-NESOTA DDRINQ THE CIVIL WAB-EEGIMENTS 
 
 — THE SIOUX OnTBREAK. 
 
 The transition of Minnesota from a territorial 
 to a state organization occurred at the period when 
 the whole republic was sutTering from financial em- 
 barrassments. 
 
 By an act of congress approved by the president 
 on the 5th of March, 1857, lands had been granted 
 to Minnesota to aid in the construction of railways. 
 During an extra session of the legislature of Min- 
 nesota, an act was passed in May, 1857, giving 
 the congressional grant to certain corporations to 
 build railroads. 
 
 A few months after, it was discovered that the 
 corporators had neither the money nor the credit 
 to begin and complete these internal improve- 
 ments. In the winter of 1858 the legislature again 
 listened to the siren voices of the railway corpora- 
 tions, until their words to some members seemed 
 like "apples of gold in pictures of silver," and an 
 additional act was passed submitting to the people 
 an amendment to the constitution which jsrovided 
 for the loan of the public credit to the land grant 
 railroad companies to the amount of $5,000,000, 
 upon condition that a certain amount of labor on 
 the roads was performed. 
 
 Some of the citizens saw in the proposed meas- 
 ure -'a cloud no larger than a man's hand," which 
 would lead to a terrific storm, and a large public 
 meeting was convened at the capitol in St. Paul, 
 and addressed by ex-Governor Gorman, D. A. 
 Robertson, William K. Marshall and others depre- 
 
 9 
 
 ciating the engrafting of such a peculiar amend- 
 ment into the constitution; but the people were 
 poor and needy and deluded and would not lis- 
 ten; their hopes and happiness seemed to depend 
 upon the plighted faith of railway corporators, and 
 on April the 15th, the appointed election day, 
 25,023 votes were deposited for, while only 6,733 
 votes were cast against the amendment. 
 
 FIRST STATE LEQISLATUBE. 
 
 The election of October, 1857, was carried on 
 with much partisan feeling by democrats and re- 
 publicans. The returns from wUdemess precincts 
 were unusually large, and in the countiflg of votes 
 for governor, Alexander Ramsey appeared to have 
 received 17,550, and Henry H. Sibley 17,796 bal- 
 lots. Governor Sibley was declared elected by a 
 majority of 246, and duly recognized. The first 
 legislature assembled on the 2d of December, 
 1857, before the formal admission of Blinnesota 
 into the Union, and on the 25th of March, 1858, 
 adjourned until June the 2d, when it again met. 
 The next day Governor Sibley delivered his mes- 
 sage. His term of office was arduous. On the 
 4th of August, 1858, he expressed his determina- 
 tion not to deliver any state bonds to the railway 
 companies unless they would give first mortgages, 
 with priority of lien, upon their lands, roads and 
 franchises, in favor of the state. One of the com- 
 panies applied for a mandamus fi-om the supreme 
 court of the state, to compel the issue of the 
 bonds without the restrictions demanded by the 
 governor. 
 
 In November the court. Judge Flandrau dis- 
 senting, directed the governor to issue state bonds 
 as soon as a railway company delivered their first 
 
130 
 
 OUTLINE iiisronr of the state of Minnesota. 
 
 mortgage bonds, as provided by the amendment 
 to the constitution. But, as was to be expected, 
 bonds sent out under such peculiar circumstances 
 were not sought after by capitalists. Moreover, 
 after over two million dollars in bonds had been 
 issued, not an iron rail had been laid, and only 
 about two hundred and fifty miles of grading had 
 been completed. 
 
 In his last message Governor Sibley in refer- 
 ence to the law in regard to state credit to railways, 
 says: "I regret to be obliged to state that the 
 measure has proved a failure, and has by no means 
 accomphshed what was hoped from it, either in 
 providing means for the issue of a safe currency 
 or of aiding the companies in the completion of 
 the work upon the roads." 
 
 ACT FOB NOKMAIi SCHOOLS. 
 
 Notwithstanding the pecuniary complications of 
 the state, during Governor Sibley's administra- 
 tion, the legislature did not entirely forget that 
 there were some interests of more importance than 
 railway construction, and on the 2d of August, 
 1858, largely through the influence of the late 
 John D. Ford, M. D., a public spirited citizen of 
 Winona, an act was passed for the establishment 
 of three training schools for teachers. 
 
 FIRST STEAMBOAT ON THE BED BIVEE OP THE 
 NORTH. 
 
 In the month of June, 1859 an important route 
 was opened between the Mississippi and the Red 
 River of the North. The then enterprising firm 
 of J. C. Burbank & Co., of St. Paul, having se- 
 cured from the Hudson Bay Company the trans- 
 jjortation of their supplies by way of the Missis- 
 sippi, in place of the tedious and treacherous routes 
 through Hudson's Bay or Lake Superior, they 
 purchased a little steamboat on the Ked River of 
 the North which had been built by Anson North- 
 rup, and cjjmmenced the carrying of freight and 
 passengers by land to Breckeuridge and by water 
 to Pembina. 
 
 This boat had been the first steamboat which 
 moved on the Mississippi above the falls of St. 
 Anthony, to which there is a reference made upon 
 the 121.st page. 
 
 Mr. Northriip, after he purchased the boat, with 
 a large number of wagons carried the boat and 
 machinery from Crow Wing on the Mississippi 
 and on the 8th of April, 1859, reached the Red 
 River not far from the site of Fargo. 
 
 SECOND STATE LEaiSLATCKB. 
 
 At an election held in October, 21,335 votes were 
 
 deposited for Alexander Ramsey as governor, and 
 17,532 for George L. Becker. Governor Ramsey, 
 in an inaugural delivered on the second of Jan- 
 uary, 1860, devoted a large space to the discus- 
 sion of the difficulties arising from the issue of 
 theraUroad bonds. He said: "It is extremely 
 desirable to remove as speedUy as possible so vex- 
 ing a question from our state politics, and not al- 
 low it to remain for years to disturb our elections, 
 possibly to divide our people into bond and anti- 
 bond parties, and introduce, annually, into our 
 legislative halls an element of discord and possi- 
 bly of corruption, all to end just as similar compli- 
 cations in other states have ended. The men who 
 will have gradually engrossed the posession of all 
 the bonds, at the cost of a few cents on the dollar, 
 will knock year after year at the door of the legisla- 
 ture for their payment in full, the press will be 
 subsidized; the cry of repudiation will be raised; 
 all the ordinary and extraordinary means of pro- 
 curing legislation in doubtful cases will be freely 
 resorted to, until finally the bondholders will pOe 
 lip almost fabulous fortunes. * * * * It is 
 assuredly true that t^je present time is, of aU 
 others, alike for the present bondholder and the 
 {icople of the state, the very time to arrange, ad- 
 just and settle these unfortunate and deplorable 
 railroad and loan comjjlications." 
 
 The legislature of this year passed a law sub- 
 mitting an amendment to the constitution which 
 would prevent the issue of any more railroad bonds. 
 At an election in November, 1860, it was voted on, 
 and reads as follows: "The credit of the state 
 shall never be given on bonds in aid of any in- 
 dividual, association or corporation ; nor shall there 
 be any further issue of bonds denominated Min- 
 nesota state railroad bonds, under what purports 
 to be an amendment to section ten, of article nine, 
 of the constitution, adopted April 14, 1858, which 
 is hereby expunged from the constitution, saving, 
 excepting, and reserving to the state, nevertheless, 
 all rights, remedies and forfeitures accruing under 
 said amendment." 
 
 FIRST WHITE PERSON EXECUTED. 
 
 On page 126 there is a notice of the first In- 
 dian hung under the laws of Minnesota. On 
 March 23, 1860 the first white person was executed 
 and attracted considerable attention from the fact, 
 the one who sufifered the penalty of ti^a law was a 
 wt>man. 
 
 Michael Bilausky died on the 11th of March, 
 1859, and upon examination, he was found to have 
 
THE FIliST BEOIMENT INFANTRY. 
 
 131 
 
 been poisoned. Anna, bis fourtli wife, was tried 
 for tlie oH'ence, foimd guilty, and on tlie 3d of De- 
 cember, 1859, sentenced to be hung. Tlae ojipo- 
 nents to capital punishment secured the passage of 
 an act, by the legislature, to meet her case, but it 
 was vetoed by the governor, as unconstitutional. 
 Two days before the execution, the unhappy wo- 
 man asked her spiritual adviser to wi'ite to her 
 parents in North Carolina, but not to state the 
 cause of her death. Her scaffold was erected 
 within the square of the Kamsey county jail. 
 
 THIKD STATE LEGISLATCBE. 
 
 The third state legislature assembled on the 8th of 
 January, 1861, and adjourned on the 8th of March. 
 As Minnesota was the first state which, received 
 1,280 acres of land in each township, for school 
 purposes. Governor Kamsey in his annual message 
 occupied several pages, in an able and elaborate 
 argument as to the best methods of guarding and 
 selling the school lands, and of protecting the 
 school fund. 
 
 His predecessor in ofEoe, while a member of the 
 convention to frame the constitution, had spoken 
 in favor of dividing the school funds among the 
 townships of the state, subject to the control of 
 the local oflScers. 
 
 MINNESOTA DUKING THE CIVIL WAR. 
 
 The people of Minnesota had not been as excited 
 as the citizens of the Atlantic states on the ques- 
 tion which was discussed before the presidential 
 election of November, 1860, and a majority had 
 calmly declared their preference for Abraham Lin- 
 coln, as president of the republic. 
 
 But the blood of her quiet and intelhgent popu- 
 lation was stirred on the morning of April 14, 
 1861, by the intelligence in the daily newspapers 
 that the day before, the insurgents of South Caro- 
 lina had bombarded Fort Sumter, and that after a 
 gallant resistance of thirty-four hours General 
 Bobert Anderson and the few soldiers of his com- 
 mand had evacuated the fort. 
 
 Governor Eamsey was in Washington at this 
 period, and called upon the president of the repub- 
 lic with two other citizens from Minnesota, and 
 was the first of the state governors to tender the 
 services of his fellow citizens. The offer of a regi- 
 ment was accepted. The first comjiany raised un- 
 der the call of Blinnesota was composed of ener- 
 getic young men of St. Paul, and its cajstain was 
 the esteemed William H. Acker, who afterwards 
 fell in battle. 
 
 On the last Monday of April a camp for the 
 
 First regiment was opened at Port Snelling. 
 More companies having offered than were necessary 
 on the 30th of May Goverpor Kamsey sent a tele- 
 gram to the secretary of war, ofl'ering another 
 regiment. 
 
 THE FIRST REGIMENT. 
 
 On the 14th of Jime the First regiment' was or- 
 dered to Washington, and on the 21st it embarked 
 at St. Paul on the steamboats War Eagle and 
 Northern Belle, with the following officers: 
 
 Willis A. Gorman, Colonel — Promoted to be 
 brigadier general October 7, 1861, by the advice 
 of Major General Winfleld Scott. 
 
 Stephen Miller, Lt. Cvloiid — Made colonel of 7th 
 regiment August, 18(52. 
 
 William H. Dike, Major — Resigned October 22, 
 1861. 
 
 WiUiam B. Leach, Adpttant — Made captain and 
 A. A. G. February 23, 1862. 
 
 Mark W. Downie, Qmtiicrmaster — Captain 
 Company B, July 16, 1861. 
 
 Jacob H. Stewart, Surgeon — Prisoner at Bull 
 Run, July 21, 1861. Paroled at Richmond, Vir- 
 ginia. 
 
 Charles W. Le Boutillier, Assisttiid Surgeon — 
 Prisoner at Bull Run. Siu'geon 9th regiment. 
 Died April, 1863. 
 
 Edward D. NeiU, Chaplain — Commissioned July 
 13, 1862, hospital chaplain U. S. A., resigned in 
 1864, and ajipointed by President Lincoln, one 
 of his secretaries. 
 
 After a few days in Washington, the regi- 
 iment was sent to Alexandria, Virginia, where 
 until the 16th of July it remained. On the 
 mornmg of that day it began with other 
 troops of Franklin's brigade to muvetoward 
 the enemy, and that night encampetl in the val- 
 ley of Pohick creek, and the nest day marched 
 to Sangster's station on the Orange & Alexandria 
 railroad. The third day Centreville was reached. 
 Before daylight on Sunday, the 21st of July, the 
 soldiers of the First regiment rose for a march to 
 battle. About three o'clock in the morning they 
 left camp, and after passing through the hamlet of 
 Centreville, halted tor General Hunter's column to 
 pass. At daylight the regiment again began to 
 move, and after crossing a bridge on the Warren- 
 ton turnpike, turned into the woods, from which at 
 about ten o'clock it emerge{| into an open coun- 
 try, from which could be seen an artillery engage- 
 ment on the left between the Union troops imder 
 Hunter, and the insurgents commanded bv Evans. 
 
132 
 
 OUTLINE HISTORY OF TUB STATE OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 An hour after this the regiment reached a branch 
 of Bull Run, and, as the men were thirsty, began 
 to fill their empty caijteens. While thus occu- 
 pied, and as the St. Paul company under Captain 
 Wilkins was crossing the creek, an order came 
 for Colonel Gorman to hurry up the regiment. 
 
 The men now moved rapidly through the wood- 
 land of a hillside, stepping over some of the dead 
 of Burnside's command, and hearing the cheers 
 of victory caused by the pressing back of the in- 
 surgent troops. At length the regiment, passing 
 Sudley church, reached a clearing in the woods, 
 and halted, while other troops of Franklin's brig- 
 ade passed up the Sudley church road. Next 
 they passed through a narrow strip of woods and 
 occupied the cultivated field from which Evans and 
 Bee of the rebel army had been driven by the 
 troops of Bumside, Sykes and others of Himter's 
 division. 
 
 Crossing the Sudley road, Eickett's battery un- 
 limbered and began to fii'e at the enemy, whose 
 batteries were between the Eobinson and Henry 
 house on the south side of the Warrenton turn- 
 pike, while the First Minnesota passed to the right. 
 After firing about twenty minutes the battery was 
 ordered to go down the Sudley road nearer the 
 enemy, where it was soon disabled. The First 
 Minnesota was soon met by rebel troops advancing 
 under cover of the woods, who supposed the reg- 
 iment was a part of the confederate army. 
 
 Javan' B. Irvine, then a private citizen af St. 
 Paul, on a visit to the regiment, now a cajitain in 
 the United States army, wrote to his wife: "We 
 liad just formed when we were ordered to kneel 
 and fire upon the rebels who were advancing under 
 the cover of the woods. We fired two volleys 
 through the woods, when we were ordered to rally 
 in the woods in our rear, which all did except the 
 first platoon of our own company, which did not 
 hear the order and stood their ground. The 
 rebels soon came out from their shelter between 
 us and their battery. Colonel Gorman mistook 
 them for friends and told the men to cease firing 
 upon them, although they had three secession 
 Hags directly in front of their advancing columns. 
 This threw our men into confusion, some declaring 
 they are friends; others that they are enemies. I 
 called to our boys to give it to them, and fired 
 away myself as rapidly as possible. The rebels 
 themselves mistook us for Georgia troojjs, and 
 waved their hands at us to cease firing. I had 
 just loaded to give them another charge, when a 
 
 lieutenant-colonel of a Mississippi regiment rode 
 out between us, waving his hand for us to stop 
 firing. I rushed up to him and asked 'If he was a 
 secessionist?' He said 'He was a Mississippian.' 
 I presented my bayonet to his breast and com- 
 manded him to surrender, which he did after some 
 hesitation. I ordered him to dismount, and led 
 him and his horse from the field, in the meantime 
 disarming him of his sword and pistols. I led him 
 off about two miles and placed him in charge of 
 a lieutenant with an escort of cavalry, to be taken 
 to General McDowell. He requested the officer to 
 allow me to accompany him, as he desired my pro- 
 tection. The officer assured him that he would 
 be safe in their hands, and he rode off. I retained 
 his pistol, but sent his sword with him." In an- 
 other letter, dated the 25th of July, Mr. Irvine 
 writes from Washington: "I have just returned 
 from a visit to Lieutenant-Colonel Boone, who is 
 confined in the old Capitol. I found him in a 
 pleasant room on the third story, surrounded by 
 several southern gentlemen, among whom was 
 Senator Breckenridge. He was glad to see me, 
 and ajspeared quite well after the fatigue of the 
 battle of Sunday. There were with me Chaplain 
 NeQl, Captains Wilkin and Colville, and Lieuten- 
 ant Coates, who were introduced." 
 
 The mistake of several regiments of the Union 
 troops in supj^osing that the rebels were friendly 
 regiments led to confusion and disaster, which was 
 followed by panic. 
 
 SECOND REGIMENT. 
 
 The Second Minnesota Regiment which had 
 been organized in July, 1861, left Fort Snelling 
 on the eleventh of October, and proceeding to 
 Louisville, was incorijorated with the Army of the 
 Ohio. Its officers were: Horatio P. Van Cleve, 
 Colonel. Promoted Brigader General March 21, 
 1862. James George, Lt. Colonel. Promoted 
 Colonel; resigned June 29, 1864. Simeon Smith, 
 Major. Appointed Paymaster U. S. A., Septem- 
 ber, 1861. Alexander Wilkin, Major. Colonel 
 9th Minnesota, August, 1862. Reginald Bingham, 
 Surgeon. Dismissed May 27, 1862. M. C. Toll- 
 man, AssH Surgeon. Promoted Surgeon. Timothy 
 Cressey, Chaplain. Resigned October, 10, 1863. 
 Daniel D. Heaney, Adjutant. Promoted Cai^tam 
 Company C. William S. Grow, Quarter Master, 
 Resigned, January, 1863. 
 
 SHARP SHOOTERS. 
 
 A company of Sharp Shooters under Captain 
 F. Peteler, proceeding to Washington, on the 11th. 
 
MINNESOTA DURING THE REBELLION. 
 
 133 
 
 of October was assigned as Co., A, '2J Regiment 
 U. S. Sharp Shooters. 
 
 THIKD BEOIMENT. 
 
 On the 16th of November, 1861, the Third Eeg- 
 iment left the State and went to Tennessee. Its 
 officers were : Heni'y C. Lester, Colonel. Dismissed 
 Decmber 1, 18G2. Benjamin F. Smith, Lt. Colonel. 
 Resigned May 9, 1862. John A. Hadley, Major. 
 Resigned May 1, 1862. R. C Olin, Adjutant.— 
 Resigned. O. H, Blakely, Adjutant. Levi Butler. 
 Surgeon. — Resigned September 30, 1863. Francis 
 Millipan, AssH Surgeon. — Resigned April 8, 1862. 
 Channcey Hobart, Chaplain. — Resigned June 2, 
 1863. 
 
 AETIIiLEBY. 
 
 In December, the First Battery of Light Artil- 
 lery left the State, and reported for duty at St. 
 Louis, Missouri 
 
 CAVALRY. 
 
 During the fall, three companies of cavalry 
 were organized, and proceeded to Benton Barracks, 
 Missouri. Ultimately they were incorporated 
 with the Fifth Iowa Cavalry. 
 
 MOVEMENTS OF MINNESOTA TROOPS IN 1862. 
 
 On Sunday the 19th of January, 1862, not far 
 from Somerset and about forty miles from DanviUe, 
 Kontnoky, about 7 o'clock in the morning. Col. 
 Van Cleve was ordered to meet the enemy. In 
 ten minutes the Second Minnesota regiment was 
 in line of battle. After supporting a battery for 
 some time it continued the march, and pro- 
 ceeding half a mile found the enemy behind the 
 fences, and a hand to hand fight of thirty minutes 
 ensued, resulting in the flight of the rebels. Gen. 
 Zollicoffer and Lieut. Peyton, of the insurgents 
 were of the killed. 
 
 BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING. 
 
 On Sunday, the 6th of Ajsril occurred the battle 
 of Pittsburg Landing, in Tennessee. Minnesota 
 was there represented by the First Minnesota bat- 
 tery, Captain Emil Munch, which was attached to 
 the division of General Prentiss. Captain Munch 
 was severely wounded. One of the soldiers of his 
 command wrote as follows: "Sunday morning, 
 just after Tjreakfast, an officer rode up to ourCais- 
 tain's tent and told him to prepare for action. * 
 * * * * ■^e wheeled into battery and opened 
 ujDon them. * * * The first time we wheeled 
 one of our drivers was killed; his name was Colby 
 Stinson. Haywood's horse was shot at almost the 
 same time. The second time we came into bat- 
 tery, the captain was wounded in the leg, and his 
 
 hor.se shot under him. They charged on our guns 
 and on the sixth platoon howitzer, but they got 
 hold of the wrong end of the gun. We then lim- 
 bered up and retreated within the line of battle. 
 While we were retreating they shot one of our 
 horses, when we had to stop and take him out, 
 which let the rebels come up rather close. When 
 within about six rods they fired and wounded 
 Corporal Davis, breaking his leg above the ankle." 
 As the artillery driver was picked up, after be- 
 ing fatally wounded, at the beginning of the fight 
 he said, 'Don't stop with me. Stand to your guns 
 like men,' and expired. 
 
 FIRST REGIMENT AT YORKTOWN SIEGE. 
 
 Early in April the First regiment as a 
 part of Sedgwick's division of the Army 
 of the Potomac arrived near Torktown, 
 Virginia, and was stationed between the 
 Warwick and York rivers, near Wynnes' mill. Dur- 
 ing the night of the 30th of May, there was a con- 
 tinual discharge of cannon by the enemy, but just 
 before daylight the next day, which was Sunday, 
 it ceased and the pickets cautiously apj)roaching 
 discovered that the rebels had abandoned their 
 works. The next day the regiment was encamped 
 on the field where ComwalUs surrendered to Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 BATTLE OF FAIR OAKS. 
 
 While Gorman's brigade was encamped at 
 Goodly Hole oreek, Hanover county, Virginia, an 
 order came about three o'clock of the afternoon of 
 Saturday, the thirty-first day of May to 
 to cross the Chicahominy and engage in 
 the battle which had been going on for a few 
 hours. In a few minutes the First Minnesota was 
 on the march, by a road which had been cut 
 through the swamp, and crossed the Chicahominy 
 by a rude bridge of logs, with both ends com- 
 pletely submerged by the stream swollen by re- 
 cent rains, and rising every hour. 
 
 About 5 o'clock in the afternoon the First Min- 
 nesota as the advance of Gorman's brigade reached 
 the scene of action, and soon the whole brigade 
 with Kirby's battery held the enemy in check at 
 that point. 
 
 The next day they were in line of battle but not 
 attacked. Upon the field ajound a country farm 
 house they encamjjed. 
 
 BATTLE OP SAVAGE STATION. 
 
 Just' before daylight on Sunday, June the 29th, 
 Sedgwick's, to which the First Minnesota belonged, 
 left the position that had been held since the bat- 
 
134 
 
 OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 tie of Fair Oaks, and had not proceeded more than 
 two miles before they met the enemy in a peach 
 orchard, and after a sharp conflict compelled 
 them to retire. At about 5 o'clock the afternoon 
 of the same day they again met the enemy at 
 Savage Station, and a battle lasted till dark. Bur- 
 gess, the color sergeant who brought ofl" the flag 
 from the Bull Kuu battle, a man much respected, 
 was killed instantly. 
 
 On Monday, between White Oak swamp and 
 Willis' church, the regiment had a skirmish, and 
 Captain Colville was sligJitly wounded. Tuesday 
 was the 1st of July, and the regiment was drawn 
 up at the dividing line of Henrico and Charles 
 City county, in sight of James river, and although 
 much exposed to the enemy's batteries, was not 
 actually engaged. At midnight the order was 
 given to move, and on the morning of the 2d of 
 July they tramped upon the wheat fields at Har- 
 rison's Landing, and in a violent rain encamped. 
 
 MOVEMENTS OP OTHER TROOPS. 
 
 The Fourth regiment left Fort Snelling for Ben- 
 ton barracks, Missouri, on the 21st of April, 1862, 
 with the following officers: 
 
 John B. Sanborn, Coloiid — Promoted brigadier 
 general. 
 
 Minor T. Thomas, Lt. Colonel — Made colonel of 
 8th regiment August 24, 1862. 
 
 A. Edward Welch, Major — Died at Nashville 
 February 1, 1861. 
 
 John M. Thompson, AdjutanX — Captain Com- 
 pany E, November 20, 1862. 
 
 Thomas B. Hunt, Qaartermaster — Made captain 
 and A. Q. M. April 9, 1863. 
 
 John H. Murphy, Surgeon — Resigned July 9, 
 1863. 
 
 Elisha W. Cross, Assistant Surgeon — Promoted 
 July 9, 1863. 
 
 Asa S. Fiske, Ohaplain — Eesigned Oct. 3, 1864. 
 
 FIFTH REGIMENT. 
 
 The Second Miuuesota Battery, Cajitain W. A. 
 Hotchkiss, left the same day as the Fourth regi- 
 ment. On the 13th of May the Fifth regiment 
 departed from Fort Snelling with the following 
 officers: Eudolph Borgesrode, colonel, resigned 
 August 31, 1862; Lucius F. Hubbard, lieutenant- 
 colonel, promoted colonel August 31, 1862, elected 
 governor of Minnesota 1881; WiUiam B. Gere, 
 major, promoted lieutenant-colonel; Alpheus E. 
 French, adjutant, resigned March 19, 1883; W. 
 B. McGrorty, quartermaster, resigned September 
 15, 1864; F. B. Etheridge, surgeon, resigned Sep- 
 
 tember 3, 1862 ; V. B. Kennedy, assistant surgeon, 
 promoted surgeon; J. F. Chaffee, chaplain, re- 
 signed June 23, 1862; John Ireland, chaplain, re- 
 signed April, 1863. 
 
 Before the close of May the Second, Fourth and 
 Fifth regiments were in conflict with the insur- 
 gents, near Corinth, Mississippi. 
 
 BATTLE OF lUKA. 
 
 On the 18th of Sej^tember, Colonel Sanborn, 
 acting as brigade commander in the Third divis- 
 ion of the Army of the Mississippi, moved his 
 troops, including the Fourth Minnesota regiment, 
 to a position on the Tuscumbia road, and formed 
 a line of battle. 
 
 BATTLE OP CORINTH. 
 
 In a few days the contest began at luka, culmi- 
 nated at Corinth, and the Fourth and Fifth regi- 
 ments and First Minnesota battery were engaged. 
 
 On the 3d of October, about five o'clock. Colo- 
 nel Sanborn advanced his troops and received a 
 severe fire from the enemy. Captain Mowers 
 beckoned with his sword during the firing, as it 
 he wished to make an important communication, 
 but before Colonel Sanborn reached his side he 
 tell, having been shot through the head. Before 
 daylight on the 4th of October the Fifth regiment, 
 under command of Colonel L. F. Hubbard, was 
 aroused by the discharge of artillery. Later in 
 the day it became engaged with the enemy, and 
 drove the rebels out of the streets of Corinth. A 
 private writes: "When we charged on the enemy 
 General Bosecrans asked what little regiment that 
 was, and on being told said 'The Fifth Minnesota 
 had saved the town.' Major Coleman, General 
 Stanley's assistant adjutant-general, was with us 
 when he received his bullet-wound, and his last 
 words were, "Tell the general that the Fifth Min- 
 nesota fought nobly. God bless the Fifth.' " 
 
 OTHER MOVEMENTS. 
 
 A few days after the fight at Corinth the Sec- 
 ond Minnesota battery. Captain Hotchkiss, did 
 good service with Buell's army at Perryville, Ky. 
 
 In the battle of Fredericksburg, Va., on the 
 13th of December, the Fkst Minnesota regiment 
 supported Kirbey's battery as it had done at Fair 
 Oaks. 
 
 THIRD REGIMENT HUMILIATED. 
 
 On the morning of the 13th of July, near Mur- 
 freesboro, Ky., the Third regiment was in thejjres- 
 ence of the enemy. The colonel called a council 
 of officers to decide whether they should fight, 
 and the first vote was in the affirmative, but an- 
 
TUB SIOUX OUTBHEAK. 
 
 135 
 
 other vote being taken it was decided tosurreuder. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel C. W. Griggs, Captains An- 
 drews and Hoyt voted each time to fight. In 
 September the regiment returned to Blinnosota, 
 humiliated by the want of good judgment upou 
 the part of their colonel, and was assigned to duty 
 in the Indian country. 
 
 THE SIODX OUTBEEAK. 
 
 The year 18G2 will always be remembered as the 
 period of the uprising of the Sioux, and the 
 slaughter of the unsuspecting inhabitants of the 
 scattered settlements in the Minnesota valley. 
 Elsewhere in this work will be found a detailed ac- 
 count of the savage cruelties. In this place we 
 only give the narrative of the events as related by 
 Alexander Kamsey, then the governor of Min- 
 nesota. 
 
 "My surprise may therefore be judged, when, on 
 August 19th, while busy in my office, Mr. Wm. H. 
 Shelley, one of our citizens who had been at the 
 agency just before the outbreak, came in, dusty 
 and exhausted with a fifteen hours' ride on horse- 
 back, bearing dispatches to me of the most start- 
 ling character from Agent Galbraith, dated Au- 
 gust 18th, stating that the same day the Sious at 
 the lower agency had risen, murdered the settlers, 
 and were plundering and burning all the build- 
 ings in that vicinity. As I believe no particulars 
 regarding the manner in which the news were first 
 conveyed to me has been pubUshed, it might be 
 mentioned here. Mr. Shelley had been at Ked- 
 wood agency, and other places in that vicinity, 
 with the concurrence of the agent, recruiting men 
 for a company, which was afterwards mustered into 
 the Tenth regiment under Captain James O'Gor- 
 man, formerly a clerk of Nathan Myrick, Esq., a 
 trader at Redwood, and known as the Eenville 
 Rangers. He (Shelley) left Redwood, he states, 
 on Saturday, August 16th, with forty-five men, 
 bound for Fort Snelling. Everything was quiet 
 there then. It may be well to note here that one 
 of the supposed causes of the outbreak was the 
 fact that the Indians had been told that the gov- 
 ernment needed soldiers very badly, that many 
 white men had been killed, and that all those in 
 that locality were to be marched south, leaving 
 the state unprotected. Seeing the men leave on 
 Saturday may have strengthened this belief. Stop- 
 ping at Fort Ridgely that night, the EenviUe 
 Rangers the next day continued their march, and 
 on Monday afternoon arrived at St. Peter. Gal- 
 braith was with them. Here he was overtaken by 
 
 a messenger who had ridden down from Red- 
 wood that day, hearing the news of the terrible 
 occurrences of that morhiug. This messenger was 
 Mr. — ■ Dickinson, who formerly kept a hotel at 
 Henderson, but was living on the reservation at 
 that time. He was in great distress about the 
 safety of his family, and returning at once was 
 killed by the Indians. 
 
 "When Agent Galbraith received the news, Mr. 
 Shelley states, no one would at first believe it, 
 as suoh rumors are frequent in the Indian country. 
 Mr. Dickinson assured him cjf the truth with such 
 earnestness, however, that his accoimt was finally 
 credited and the Renville Rangers were at once 
 armed and sent back to Fort Ridgely, where they 
 did good service in protecting the post. 
 
 "Agent Galbraith at once prepared the dispatches 
 to me, giving the terrible news and calling for aid. 
 No one coidd be found who would volunteer to 
 cari'y the message, and Mr. Shelley offered to 
 come himself. He had great difficulty in getting 
 a horse; but finally secured one, and started for 
 St. Paul, a distance of about ninety miles, about 
 dark. He had not ridden a horse for some years, 
 and as may be well supposed by those who have 
 had experience in amateur horseback-riding, suf- 
 fered very much from soreness; but rode all night 
 at as fast a gate as his horse could carry him, 
 sjDreading the startling news as he went down the 
 Minnesota valley. Reaching St. Paul about 9 A. 
 M., much exhausted he made his way to the capitol, 
 and laid before me his massage. The news soon 
 sjjread through the city and created intense ex- 
 citement. 
 
 "At that time, of course, the full extent and 
 threatening nature of the outbreak could not be 
 determined. It seemed serious, it is true, but in 
 view of the riotous conduct of the Indiana at 
 Yellow Medicine a few days before, was deemed a 
 repetition of the emeute, which would be simply 
 local ih its character, and easily quelled by a small 
 force and good management on the part of the 
 authorities at the agency. 
 
 "But these hopes, (that the outbreak was a local 
 one) were soon rudely dispelled by the arrival, an 
 hour or two later, of another courier, Cieorge C. 
 Whitcomb, of Forest City, bearing the news of 
 the murders at Acton. Mr, Whitcomb had ridden 
 to Ohaska or Carver on Monday, and came down 
 from there on the small steamer i\iitelo23e, reaching 
 the city an hour or two after Mi\ SheUey. 
 
 "It now became evident that the outbreak was 
 
136 
 
 OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 more general than had at first been credited, and 
 that prompt and vigorous measures would be re- 
 quired for its suppression and the protection of 
 the inhabitants on the frontier. I at once pro- 
 ceeded to Fort Snelling and consulted with the 
 authorities there (who had already received dis- 
 patches from Fort Ridgely) regarding the out- 
 break and the best means to be used to meet the 
 danger. 
 
 "A serious difficulty met us at the outstart. The 
 only troops at Fort Snelling were the raw recruits 
 who had been hastUy gathered for the five regi- 
 ments. Most of them were without arms or suit- 
 able clothing as yet; some not mustered in or 
 properly officered, and those who had arms had 
 no fised ammunition of the proper calibre. We 
 were without transportation, quartermaster's or 
 commissary stores, ;ind, in fact, devoid of anything 
 with which to commence a campaign against two 
 or three thousand Indians, well mounted and 
 armed, with an abundance of ammunition and 
 provisions captured at the agency, and flushed 
 with the easy victories they had just won over the 
 unarmed settlers. Finally four companies were 
 fully organized, armed and uniformed, and late at 
 night were got off on two small steamers, the An- 
 telope and Pomeroy, for Shakopee, from which 
 poiat they would proceed overland. It was ar- 
 ranged that others should foUow as fast as they 
 could be got ready. 
 
 "This expedition was placed under the manage- 
 ment of H. H. Sibley, whose long residence in the 
 country of the Sioux had given him great influ' 
 ence with that people, and it was hoped that the 
 chiefs and older men were stiU sensible to reason, 
 and that with his diplomatic abiUty he could bring 
 the powers of these to check the mad and reck- 
 less disposition of the "young men," and that if 
 an opportunity for this failed that his knowledge 
 of Indian war and tactics would enable him to 
 overcome them in battle. And I think the' result 
 indicated the wisdom of my choice. 
 
 •'I at once telegraphed all the facts to President 
 Lincoln, and also telegraphed to Governor Solo- 
 mon, of Wisconsin, for one hundi'ed thousand cart- 
 ridges, of a calibre to fit our rifles, and the requi- 
 sition was kindly honored by that patriotic officer, 
 and the ammunition was on its way next day. 
 The governors of Iowa, Illinois and Michigan were 
 also asked for arms and ammunition. 
 
 During the day other messengers arrived from 
 Fort Kidgely, St. Peter and other points on 
 
 the upper Minnesota, with intelhgence of the 
 most painful character, regarding the extent and 
 ferocity of the massacre. The messages all pleaded 
 earnestly for aid, and intimated that without 
 speedy reinforcements or a supply of arms. Fort 
 Eidgely, New Ulm, St. Peter and other points 
 would undoubtedly fall into the hands of the 
 savages, and thousands of peraons be butchered 
 The principal danger seemed to be to the settle- 
 ments in that region, as they were in the vicinity 
 of the main body of Indians congregated to await 
 the payments. Comers arrived from various 
 points every few hours, and I spent the whole 
 night answering their calls as I could. 
 
 "Late that night, probably after midnight, Mr. 
 J. Y. Branham, Sr., arrived from Forest City, after 
 a forced ride on horseback of 100 miles, bearing 
 the following message: 
 
 ***** **♦ 
 
 "FoKEST CiTT, Aug. 20, 1862, 6 o'clock a. m. 
 
 His Excellency, Alexander Ramsey, Governor, 
 etc. — Sir: In advance of the news from the Min- 
 nesota river, the Indians have opened on us in 
 Meeker. It is warl A few propose to make a 
 stand here. Send us, forthwith, some good guns 
 and ammunition to match. Yours truly, 
 
 A. C. Smith. 
 
 Seventy-five stands of Springfield rifles and sev- 
 eral thousand roimds of ball cartridges were at 
 once issued to George C. Whitcomb, to be used in 
 arming a company which I directed to be raised 
 and enrolled to use these arms; and Gen. Sibley 
 gave Mr. Whitcomb a captain's commission for 
 the company. Transportation was furnished him, 
 and the rifles were in Forest City by the morning 
 of the 23d, a portion having been issued to a 
 company at Hutchinson on the way up. A com- 
 pany was organized and the arms placed in their 
 hands, and I am glad to say they did good service 
 in defending the towns of Forest City and Hutch- 
 inson on more than one occasion, and many of the 
 Indians are known to have been killed with them. 
 The conduct and bravery of the courageous men 
 who guarded those towns, and resisted the assaults 
 of the red savages, are worthy of being commemo- 
 rated on the pages of our state history." 
 
 MOVEMENT OF MINNESOTA REGIMENTS 1863. 
 
 On the 3d of April, 1863, the Fourth regiment 
 was opposite Grand Gulf, Mississippi, and in a 
 few days they entered Port Gibson, and here Col. 
 Sanborn resumed the command of a brigade. On 
 the llth of May the regiment was at the battle 
 
BATTLE OF GETTTSBURO. 
 
 137 
 
 of Raymond, and on the 14th participated in the 
 battle of Jackson. A newspaper corrc»])ondent 
 writes: "Captain L. B. Martin, of the Fonrth 
 IMinnesota, A. A. G. to Colonel Sanborn, seized the 
 tlag of the 59th Indiana infantry, rode rapidly be- 
 yond the skirmishers, (Co. H, Fourth Minnesota, 
 Lt. Geo. A. Clark) and raised it over the dome of 
 tJie capitol" of Mississippi. On the 16th the regi- 
 ment was in the battle of Champion Hill, and four 
 days later in the siege of Vicksburg. 
 
 FIFTH RE3IMENT. 
 
 The Fifth regiment reached Grand Gulf on the 
 7th of May and was in the battles of Raymond 
 and Jackson, and at the rear of Vicksburg. 
 
 BATTLE OF GETTrSBURG. 
 
 The First regiment reached Gettysburg, Pa., 
 on the 1st of Julyj and the next morning Han- 
 cock's corps, to which it was attached, moved to a 
 ridge, the right resting on Cemetery Hill, the left 
 near Sugar Loaf Mountain. The line of battle 
 was a semi-ellipae, and Gibbon's division, to 
 which the regiment belonged occupied the 
 center of the curve nearest the enemy. On the 
 2d of July, about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, Gen- 
 eral Hancock rode up to Colonel Colvill*, and 
 ordered him to charge upon the advancing foe. 
 The muzzles of the opposing muskets were not far 
 distant and the conflict w'as terrific. When the 
 sun set Captain IMuller and Lieutenant Farrer were 
 killed; Captain Periam mortally wounded; Colonel 
 Colville, Lieut-Colonel Adams, Major Downie, 
 Adjutant Peller, Lieutenants Sinclair, Demerest, 
 DeGray and Boyd, severely wounded. 
 
 On the 3d of July, about 10 o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, the rebels opened a terrible artillery fire, 
 which lasted until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and 
 then the infantry was suddenly advanced, and 
 there was a fearful contUct, resulting in the defe;it 
 of the enemy. The loss on this day was also very 
 severe. Captain Messick, in command of the 
 First regiment, after the wounding of Colville, 
 and Adams and Downie, was killed. Captain FarreU 
 was mortally wounded, and Lieutenants Harmon, 
 Heffelfinger, and May were wounded. Color-Ser- 
 geant E. P. Perkins was wounded on the 2d of 
 July. On the 3d of July Corporal Dehn, of the 
 color guard was shot through the hand and the 
 flag stafi' cut in two. Corporal H. D. O'Brien 
 seized the flag with the broken staff and waving 
 it over his head rushed up to the muzzles of the 
 enemy's muskets and was wounded in the hand, 
 but Corporal W. N. Irvine instantly grasped the 
 
 flag and hold it up. Marshall Sherman of com- 
 pany E, captured the flag of the 28th Virginia 
 regiment. 
 
 THE SECOND EEGIMENT. 
 
 The Second regiment, under Colonel George, 
 on the 19tli of September fought at Chicamauga, 
 and in the first day's fight, eight were killed and 
 forty-one wovmded. On the 25th of November, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Bishop in command, it moved 
 against the enemy at Mission Ridge, and of the 
 seven non-commissioned officers in the color guard, 
 sis were killed or wounded. 
 
 The Fourth regiment was also in the vicinity of 
 Chattanooga, but did not suffer any loss. 
 
 EVENTS OF 1864. 
 The Third regiment, which after the Indian ex- 
 pedition had been ordered to Little Rock, Arkan- 
 sas, on the 30th of March, 1864, had an engage- 
 ment near Augusta, at Fitzhugh's Woods. Seven 
 men were killed and sixteen wounded. General 
 C. C. Andrews, in command of the force, had his 
 horse killed by a bullet. 
 
 FIEST KEGIMENT. 
 
 The First regiment after three year's service 
 was mustered out at Fort Snelling, and on the 
 28th of April, 1864, held its last dress jjarade, iu 
 the presence of Governor Miller, who had once 
 been their lieutenant-colonel and commander. In 
 May some of its members re-enlisted as a battal- 
 ion, and again joined the Army of the Potomac. 
 
 SIXTH, SEVENTH, NINTH AND TENTH REGIMENTS. 
 
 The Sixth regir^^nt, which had been in the ex- 
 pedition against the Sioux, in Jiuie, 1864, was as- 
 signed to the 16th army corj)s, as was the Seventh, 
 Ninth and Tenth, and on the 13th of July, near 
 Tupelo, Mississippi, the Seventh, Ninth and Tenth, 
 with portions of the Fifth, were in battle. Dur- 
 ing the first day's fight Surgeon Smith, of the 
 Seventh, was fatally wounded through the neck. 
 On the morning of the 14th the battle began in 
 earnest, and the Seventh, under Colonel W. R. 
 Marshall, made a successful charge. Colonel Al- 
 exander Wilkin, of the Ninth, was shot, and fell 
 dead from his horse. 
 
 THE FOUKTH KEGIMENT. 
 
 On the 15th of October the Fourth regiment 
 were engaged near Altoona, Georgia. 
 
 THE EIGHTH KEGIMENT. 
 
 On the 7th of December the Eighth was in bat- 
 tle near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and fourteen 
 were killed and seventy-six wounded. 
 
138 
 
 OUTLINE HISTORY OF TBE STATE OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 BATTLE OF NASHVILLE. 
 
 During the mouth of December the Fifth, 
 Seventh, Ninth and Tenth regiments did good ser- 
 vice before Nashville. Colonel L. F. Hubbard, of 
 the Fifth, commanding a brigade, after he had 
 been knocked off his horse by a ball, rose, and on 
 foot led his command over the enemy's works. 
 Colonel W. B. Marshall, of the Seventh, in com- 
 mand of a brigade, made a gallant charge, and 
 Lieutenant-colonel S. P. Jennison, of the Tenth, 
 one of the first on the enemy's parapet, received a 
 severe wound. 
 
 MINNESOTA TBOOPS IN 1865. 
 
 In the spring of 1865 the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, 
 Ninth and Tenth regiments were engaged in the 
 siege of Mobile. The Second and Fourth regi- 
 ments and First battery were with General Sher- 
 man in his wonderful campaign, and the Eighth 
 in the month of March was ordered to North Car- 
 olina. The battalion, the remnant of the First, 
 was with the Ai'my of the Potomac untU Lee's sur- 
 render. 
 
 Arrangements were soon perfected for disband- 
 ing the Union army, and before the close of the 
 summer all the Minnesota regiments that had been 
 on duty were discharged. 
 
 LiST OF MINNESOTA REGIMENTS AND TROOPS. 
 
 First, Organized April, ISfil, Discharged May 5, 1864. 
 
 Second " July " '" July 11. 1H05. 
 
 Third " Oct. " " Sept. 
 
 Fourth " Dec. " " Aug. " 
 
 Fifth " May, 1852, " Sept. 
 
 Sixth " Aug. " " Aug. 
 
 Seventh " " " 
 
 Eighth " " " " 
 
 Ninth " 
 
 Tenth 
 
 Eleventh " " 1361 
 
 ARTIXIiERY. 
 
 First Kegiment, Heavy, May, 1861. Discharged Sept. 1865. 
 
 BATTERIES. 
 
 First, October, 1831. Discharged June, 1885. 
 Second, Dec. " " July " 
 
 Third, Feb. 1863 " Feb. 1860. 
 
 CAVALRY. 
 
 Rangers, March, 1863. Discharged Deo. 1863. 
 Brackett's, Oct. 1801. " June 1866. 
 
 2dKeg't, July, W)3. " " 
 
 SHARPSUOOTEBS, 
 
 Company A, organized in 1861. 
 B, •' " 1862. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 STATE AFFAIRS FROM A. D. 18G2 to A. D. 1882. 
 
 In consequence of the Sioux outbreak, Gov- 
 ernor Ramsey called an extra session of the legis- 
 lature, which on the 9th of September, 1862, as- 
 sembled. 
 
 As long as Indian hostilities continued, the flow 
 of immigration was checked, and the agricultural 
 interests suffered; but notwithstanding the dis- 
 turbed condition of affairs, the St. Paul & Pacifio 
 Railroad Company laid ten miles of rail, to the 
 Falls of St. Anthony. 
 
 FIFTH STATE LEGISLATURE. 
 
 During the fall of 1862 Alexander Ramsey had 
 again been elected governor, and on the 7th of 
 January, 1863, delivered the annual message before 
 the Fifth state legislature. During this session he 
 was elected to fill the vacancy that would take 
 place in the United States senate by the expira- 
 tion of the term of Henry M. Rice, who had been 
 a senator from the time that Minnesota was organ- 
 ized as a state. After Alexander Ramsey became a 
 senator, the lieutenant-governor, Henry A. Swift, 
 becamp governor by constitutional provision. 
 
 GOVERNOR STEPHEN A. MILLER 
 
 At the election during the fall of 1863, Stephen 
 A. Miller, colonel of the Seventh regiment, was 
 elected governor by a majority of about seven 
 thousand votes, Henry T. Welles being his com- 
 petitor, and representative of the democratic party. 
 During Governor Miller's administration, on the 
 10th of November, 1865, two Sioux chiefs, Little 
 Six and Medicine Bottle, were himg at Fort Snel- 
 ling, for participation in the 1862 massacra 
 
 GOVERNOR W. E. MARSHALL. 
 
 In the fall of 1865 William R. Marshall, who 
 had succeeded his predecessor as colonel of the 
 Seventh regiment, was nominated by the republi- 
 can party for governor, and Henry M. Rice by the 
 democratic party. The former was elected by 
 about five thousand majority. In 1867 Governor 
 Marshall was again nominated for the ofEce, and 
 Charles E. Flandrau was the democratic candidate, 
 and he was again elected by about the same major- 
 ity as before. 
 
 GOVERNOR HOEAOB AtJSTIN. 
 
 Horace Austin, the judge of the Sixth judicial 
 district, was in 1869 the republican candidate for 
 governor, and received 27,238 votes, and George 
 L. Otis, the democratic candidate, 25,401 votes. 
 In 1871 Governor Austin was again nominated, 
 
nOCKT MOUNTAIN LOCUST. 
 
 139 
 
 and received 45,883 votes, while 30,092 ballots 
 were cast, for Winthrop Young, the democratic 
 candidate. The impoitant event of his adminis- 
 tration was tho veto of an act of the legislature 
 giving the internal improvement lands to certain 
 railway corporations. 
 
 Toward the close of Governor Austin's adminis- 
 tration, WiUiam Seeger, the state treasurer, was im- 
 jjeached for a wrong use of public funds. He 
 plead guilty and was disqualified from holding 
 any office of honor, trust or profit in the state. 
 
 GOVERNOR OnSHMAN K. D.WIS. 
 
 The republicans in the fall of 1873 nominated 
 Cushman K. Davis for governor, who received 
 40,7il votes, while 3.5,245 ballots were thrown for 
 the democratic candidate, Ara Barton. 
 
 The summer that he was elected the locust 
 made its appearance in the land, and in certain 
 regions devoured every green thing. One of the 
 first acts of Governor Davis was to relieve the 
 farmers who had suffered from the visitation of 
 locusts. The legislature of 1874 voted relief, and 
 the people of the state voluntarily contributed 
 clothing and provisions. 
 
 During the administration of Governor Davis the 
 principle was settled that there was nothing in the 
 charter of a railroad comj)any limiting the power 
 of Minnesota to regulate the charges for freight 
 and travel. 
 
 WOMEN ALLOWED TO VOTE FOR SCHOOL OFFICERS. 
 
 At the election in November, 1875, the people 
 sanctioned the following amendment to the con- 
 stitution: "The legislature may, notwithstanding 
 anything in this article, [Article 7, section 8] pro- 
 vide by law that any woman at the age of 
 twenty-one years and upwards, may vote at any 
 election held for the purpose of chosingany officer 
 of schools, or upon any measure relating to schools, 
 and may also provide that any such woman shall 
 be eligible to hold any office solely pertaining to 
 the management of schools." 
 
 GOVERNOR J. S. PILLSBDKX. 
 
 John S. Pillsbury, the republican nominee, at 
 the election of November, 1875,. received 47,073 
 for governor while his democratic competitor, D. 
 L. Buell obtained 35,275 votes. Governor Pillsbury 
 in his inaugural message, delivered on the 7th of 
 January, 1876, urged upon the legislature, as his 
 predecessors had done, the importance of provid- 
 ing for the payment of the state raOroad bonds. 
 
 RAID ON NORTHFIBLD BANK. 
 
 On the 0th of September, 187G, the quiet citi- 
 
 zens of Minnesota were excited by a telegrapliio 
 announcement that a band of outlaws from Mis- 
 souri, had, at mid-day, ridden into the town of 
 Northfiefd, recklessly discharging firearms, and 
 proceeding to the bank, killed the acting cashier 
 in an attempt to secure its funds. Two of the 
 desperadoes were shot in the streets, by firm resi- 
 dents, and in a brief period, parties from the 
 neighboring towns were in pursuit of tho assassins. 
 After a long and weary search four were sur- 
 rounded in a swamp in Watonwan county, and one 
 was killed, and the others cajstured. 
 
 At the November term of the fifth district court 
 held at Faribault, the criminals were arraigned, 
 and under an objebtionable statute, by pleading 
 guilty, received an imjirisonment for lite, instead 
 of the merrited death of the gallows. 
 
 THE BOCKY MOUNTAIN LOODST. 
 
 As early as 1874 in some of the counties of 
 Minnesota, the Kocky Mountain locust, of the 
 same genus, but a different species from the Eu- 
 rope and Arctic locust, driven eastward by the 
 failure of the succulent grasses of the upper Mis- 
 souri valleytappeared as a short, stout-legged, ds- 
 vouring army, and in 1875 the myriad of eggs 
 deposited were hatched out, and the insects born 
 within the state, flew to new camping grounds, to 
 begin their devastations. 
 
 In the spring the locust appeared in some coun- 
 ties, but by an ingenious contrivance of sheet 
 iron, covered with tar, their numbers were speedily 
 reduced. It was soon discovered that usually 
 but one hatching of eggs took place in the same 
 district, and it was evident that the crop of 1877 
 would be remunerative. When the national 
 Thanksgiving was observed on the 26th of No- 
 vember nearly 40,000,000 bushels of wheat had 
 been garnered, and many who had sown in tears, 
 devoutly thanked Him who had given plenty, and 
 meditated upon the words of the Hebrew Psalm- 
 ist, "He maketh peace within thy borders and 
 tilleth thee with the finest of the wheat." 
 
 GOVERNOR PILLSBURT's SECOND TERM. 
 
 At the election in November, 1877, Governor 
 Pillsbury was elected a second time, receiving 
 59,701, while 39,247 votes were cast forWilli.iTU L. 
 Banning, the nominee of the democratic party. 
 At this election the people voted to adopt two im- 
 portant amendments to the constitution. 
 
 BIENNIAL SESSION OF THE LEGISL.\TURE. 
 
 One provided for a biennial, in place of the an- 
 nual session of the legislature, in these words: 
 
140 
 
 OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 "The legislature of the state shall consist ot a 
 senate and house of representatives, who shall 
 meet biennially, at the seat of government of the 
 state, at such time as shall be prescribed by law, 
 but no session shall exceed the term of sixty 
 days." 
 
 CHItlSTIAN INSTKUCTION EXCLUDED FKOM SCHOOLS. 
 
 The other amendment excludes Christian and 
 other religious instructions from all of the edu- 
 cational institutions of Minnesota in these words: 
 "But in no case, shall the moneys derived as afore- 
 said, or any portion thereof, or any public moneys, 
 or property be appropriated or used for the sup- 
 port of schools wherein the distinctive doctrines, 
 or creeds or tenets of any particular Christian or 
 other religious sect, are promulgated or taught." 
 
 IMPEACHMENT OF JUDGE PAGE. 
 
 The personal unpopularity of Sherman Page, 
 judge of the Tenth judicial district, culminated by 
 the house of representatives of th§ legislature of 
 1878, presenting articles, impeaching him, for con- 
 duct unbecoming a judge : the senate sitting as a 
 court, examined the charges, and on the 22d of 
 June, he was ao quitted. 
 
 GOVEENOB PILLSBOBY's THIED TERM. 
 
 The republican party nominated John S. Pills- 
 bury for a third term as governor, and at the elec- 
 tion in November, 1879, he received 57,471 votes, 
 while 42,444 were given for Edmund Rice, the rep- 
 resentative of the democrats. 
 
 With a jjersistence which won the respect of tiio 
 opponents of the measure. Governor Pillsbury con- 
 tinued to advocate the payment of the state rail- 
 road bonds. The legislature of 1870 submitted an 
 amendment to the constitution, by which the "in- 
 ternal improvement lands" were to be sold and the 
 proceeds to be used in cancelling the bonds, by the 
 bondholders agreeing to purchase the lands at a 
 certain sum per acre. The amendment was 
 ado]ited by a vote of the people, but few of the 
 bondliolders accepted the )5rovisions, and it failed 
 to effect the proposed end. The legislature of 
 1871 passed an act for a commission to make an 
 equitable adjustment of the bonds, but at a special 
 election in May it was rejected. 
 
 The legislature of 1877 passed an act for calling 
 ui the railroad bonds, and issueiug new bonds, 
 which was submitted to the people at a special 
 election on the 12th of June, and not accepted. 
 
 The legislature of 1878 proposed a constitu- 
 tional amendment offering the internal imjirove- 
 ment lands in exchange for railroad bonds, and the 
 
 people at the November election disapproved of the 
 proposition. Against the proposed amendment 
 45,669 votes were given, apd only 26,311 in favor. 
 
 FIKST BIENNIAL SESSION. 
 
 The first biennial session of the legislature con- 
 vened in January, 1881, and Governor Pillsbury 
 again, in his message of the 6th of January, held 
 up to the view of the legislators the dishonored 
 railroad bonds, and the duty of providing for their 
 settlement. In his argument he said: 
 
 "The liability having been voluntarily incurred, 
 whether it was wisely created or not is foreign to 
 the present question. It is certain that the obli- 
 gations were fairly given for which consideration 
 was fairly received; and the state having chosen 
 foreclosure as her remedy, and disposed of the 
 property thus acquired unconditionally as her own, 
 the conclusion seems to me irresistible that she 
 assumed the payment of the debt resting upon 
 such property by every principle of law and 
 equity. And, moreover, as the state promptly 
 siezed the railroad property and franchises, ex- 
 pressly to indemnify her for payment of the bonds, 
 it is difficult to see what possible justification there 
 can be for her refusal to make that payment." 
 
 The legislature in March passed an act for the 
 adjustment of these bonds, which being brought 
 before the supreme court of the state was declared 
 void. The court at the same time declared the 
 amendment to the state constitution, which pro- 
 hibited the settlement of these bonds, without tlie 
 assent of a popular vote, to be a violation of the 
 clause in the constitution of the United States of 
 America proliibiting the impairment of the obliga- 
 tion of contracts. This decision cleared the way 
 for final action. Governor Pillsbury called an 
 extra session of the legislature in October, 1881, 
 which accepted the offer of the bondholders, to be 
 satisfied with a partial payment, and made provis- 
 ions for cancelling bonds, the existence of which 
 for more than twenty years had been a humiliation 
 to a large majority of the thoughtful and intelli- 
 gent citizens of Minnesota, and a blot upon the 
 otherwise fair name ot the commonwealth. 
 
 GOVEENOB HUBBAED. 
 
 Ijucius F. Hubbard, who had been colonel of 
 the Fifth Regiment, was nominated by the repub- 
 lican party, and elected in November, 1881, by a 
 large majority over the democratic nominee, E, 
 W. Johnson. He entered upon his duties in Jan- 
 uary, 1882, about the time of the present chapter 
 going to press. 
 
UlSTUUY Oi<' UTATK INSTlTiJ'noAti. 
 
 lil 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 OAPITOI/ PENITENTIARY UNIVERSITY — HEAP AND 
 
 DUMB INSTITUTION SCHOOL FOR BLIND AND 
 
 IMBEOHiES INSANE ASYLUMS STATE REFORM 
 
 SCHOOL NORMAL SCHOOLS. 
 
 Among the public buildiugs of Miiiuesota, the 
 capitol is entitled to priority of uutice. 
 
 TBMPORABY CAPITOLS. 
 
 Tu the absence of a capitol the first legislature 
 of the territory of Minnesota convened on Mon- 
 day, the 3d of September, 1819, at St. Paul, in 
 a log building covered with pine boards painted 
 white, two stories high, which was at the time a 
 public inn, afterward known as the Central Hous.-, 
 and kept by liobert Kennedy. It was situated on 
 the high bank of the river. The main portion of 
 the building was used for the library, secretary's 
 office, council chamber and home of representa- 
 tiyes' hall, while the annex wiis occupied as the 
 dining-room of the hotel, with rooms for travelers 
 in the story above. Both houses of the legisla- 
 ture met in the dining-haU to listen to the first 
 message of Governor Ramsey. 
 
 The permanent location of the capital was not 
 settled by the first legislature, and nothing could 
 be done toward the erection of a capitol with the 
 $20,000 appropriated by congress, as the perma- 
 nent seat of government had not been designated. 
 William E. Marshall, since governor, at that 
 time a member of the house of rejsresentatives 
 from St. Anthcmy, with others, -wished that jjoint 
 to be designated as the oaj)ital. 
 
 Twenty yeara after, in some remarks before thj 
 Old Settlers' Association of Hennepin county, Ex- 
 Governor Marshall alluded to this desire. He 
 said: "The original act [of congress] made 
 St. Paul the temporary capital, but provided that 
 the legislature might determine the permanent 
 capital. A bUl was introduced by the St. Paul 
 delegation to fix the permanent capital there. I 
 opposed it, endeavoring to have St. Anthony made 
 the seat of government. We succeeded in defeat- 
 ing the bill which sought to make St. Paul the 
 permanent capital, but we could not get througli 
 the bill fixing it at St. Anthony. So the question 
 remained open in regard to the permanent capital 
 until the next session in 1851, when a compromiio 
 was effected by which the capitol was to be at St. 
 Paul, the State University at St. Anthony, and 
 
 the Penitentiary at Stillwater. At an early day, 
 as well as now, caricatures and burlesques were 
 in vogue. Young William Randall, of St. Paul, 
 now deceased, who had some talent in the graphic 
 line, drew a picture of the efforts at capitol re- 
 moval. It was a building on wh(>pls, witli rojies 
 attached, at which I was pictured tugging, while 
 Brimson, Jackson, and the other St. Paul mem- 
 bers, were holding and checking the wheels, to 
 prevent my moving it, with humorous speeches 
 proceeding from the mouths of the parties to the 
 contest." 
 
 The second territorial legislature assembled on 
 the 2d of January, 1871, in a brick building three 
 stories in height, which stood on Third street in 
 St. Paul, on a portion of the site now occupied by 
 the Metropolitan Hotel, and before the session 
 closed it was enacted that St. Paul should be the 
 permanent capital, and commissioners were ap- 
 pointed to expend the congressional appropriation 
 for a capitol. 
 
 When the Third legislature assembled, in Jan- 
 uary, 1852, it was still necussary to occupy a 
 hired building known as Goodrich's block, which 
 stood on Third street just below the entrance of 
 the Merchants' Hotel. In 1853, the capitol not 
 being finished, the fourth legislature was obliged 
 to meet in a two-story brick building at the corner 
 of Third and Minnesota streets, aiid directly in the 
 rear of the wooden edifice where the first legisla- 
 ture in 1849 had met. 
 
 THE CAPITOL. 
 
 After it was decided, in 1851, that St. Paul was 
 to be the capital of the territory, Charles Bazille 
 gave the square bounded by Tenth, Eleventh, 
 Wabasha, and Cedar streets for the capitol. 
 A plan was adopted by the building commission- 
 ers, and the contract was taken by .Joseph Daniels, 
 a builder, who now resides in Washington as a 
 lawyer and claim agent. The building was of 
 brick, and at first had a front portico, supported 
 by four Ionic columns. It was two stories above 
 the basement, 139 feet long and nearly 54 feet in 
 width, with an extension in the rear 44x52 feet. 
 In July, 1853, it was so far completed as to allow 
 the governor to occupy the executive office. 
 
 SPEECHES OF EX-PEESIDENT FILLMOUE AND GEORGE 
 BANCROFT. 
 
 Before the war it was used not only by the legis- 
 lature, and for the offices of state, but was granted 
 
142 
 
 OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE tiTATE OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 for important meetings. On the 8th of June a 
 large excursion party, under the auspices of the 
 builders of the Chicago & Kook Island railway, 
 arrived at St. Paul from the latter point, in five 
 large steamboats, and among the passengers were 
 some of the most distinguished scholars, statesmen 
 and divines of the republic. At night the popu- 
 lation of St. Paul filled the capitol, and the more 
 sedate listened in the senate chamber to the stir- 
 ring speeches of Ex-President FiUmore, and the 
 historian, George Bancroft, who had been secre- 
 tary of the navy, and minister plenipotentiary to 
 Great Britain, while at a later period of the night 
 the youthful joortion of the throng danced in the 
 reom then used by the supi'eme court. 
 
 The "Pioneer" of the next day thus alludes to 
 the occasion : " The ball in honor of the guests 
 of the excursion came off, in fine style. At an 
 early hour, the assembly having been called to or- 
 der, by the Hon. H. H. Sibley, a welcoming speech 
 was delivered by Governor Gorman, and replies 
 were made by Ex-President Fillmore and the 
 learned historian Bancroft. ****** 
 The dancing then commenced and was kept up till 
 a late hour, when the party broke up, the guests 
 returning to the steamers, and our town's people 
 to their homes, all delighted with the rare enter- 
 tainment." 
 
 HON. W. H. SEWABD's SPEECH. 
 
 On the 8th of September, 18(j0, the capitol was 
 visited by Hon. William H. Seward. At mid-day 
 he met by invitation the members of the Histori- 
 cal Society in their rooms at the Capitol, and an 
 address of welcome was made by the Et. Bev. 
 Bishop Anderson, of Rupert's Land, to which he 
 made a brief response. 
 
 In the afternoon, crowds assembled in the 
 grounds to hsten to an expected speech, and every 
 window of the capitol was occupied with eager 
 faces. Standing upon the front steps, he ad- 
 dressed the audience in the language of a patriot 
 and a statesman, and among his eloquent utter- 
 ances, was the following prediction. 
 
 " Every step of my progress since I reached the 
 northern Misissippi has been attended by a groat 
 and agreeable surprise. I had, early, read the 
 works in which the geographers had described the 
 scenes upon which I was entering, and I liad 
 studied them in tlie finest productions of art, but 
 still the grandeur and hixiiriance of this region 
 
 had not been conceived. Those sentinel walls that 
 look down upon the Mississippi, seen as I beheld 
 them, in their abundant verdure, just when the 
 earhest tinge of the fall gave luxuriance to the 
 forests, made me think how much of taste and 
 genius had been wasted in celebrating the high- 
 lands of Scotland, before the civilized man had 
 reached the banks of the Mississijjpi; and the 
 beautiful Lake Pepin, seen at sunset, when the 
 autumnal green of the hills was lost in the deep 
 blue, and the genial atmosphere reflected the rays 
 of the sun, and the skies above seemed to move 
 down and spread their gorgeous drapery on the 
 scene, was a piece of upholstery, such as none 
 l)ut the hand of nature could have made, and it 
 was but the vestibule of the capitol of the state 
 of Minnesota. ***** ***** 
 * * * Here is the place, the central place 
 where the agriculture of the richest region of 
 North America must pour its tribute. On the 
 east, all along the shore of Lake Superior, and 
 west, stretching in one broad plain, in a belt quite 
 across the continent, is a country where State after 
 State is to arise, and where the productions for the 
 support of hunlanity, in old and crowded States, 
 must be brouglit forth. 
 
 "Tliis is then a commanding field, but it is as 
 commanding va. regard to the destiny of this coun- 
 try and of this continent, as it is, in regard to the 
 commercial future, for power is not permanently 
 to reside on the eastern slope of the Alleghany 
 Mountains, nor in the sea-ports. Sea-ports have 
 always been overrun and controlled by the people 
 of the interior, and the jiower that shall communi- 
 cate and express the will of men on this continent 
 is to be located in the Mississippi valley and at the 
 sources of the Mississippi and S;dnt Lawrence. 
 
 "In our day, studying, perhaps what might 
 seem to others trifling or visionary, I had cast 
 about for the future and ultimate central seat of 
 power of North American people. I had looked 
 at Quebec, New Orleans, Washington, Cincinnati, 
 St. Ijouis, and San Francisco, and it had been the 
 result of my last conjecture, that the seat of power 
 in North America could be found in the valley of 
 Mexico, and that the glories of the Aztec capital 
 would be surrendered, at its becoming at last the 
 capital of the United States of Ameri-a, but I 
 have corrected that view. I now believe that the 
 ultimate seat of government in this great Conti- 
 nent, will be found somewhere within the circle or 
 
EISTOliT OF STATE INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 143 
 
 radius uot very far from the spot where I now 
 stand." 
 
 FLAG PEESENTATION. 
 
 In a few montlis after tliis speech, Mr. Seward 
 was chosen by President Lincoln, inaugurated 
 March i, 1861, as secretary of state, and the nest 
 great crowd in front of the capitol was collected 
 by the presentation of a flag by the ladies of St. 
 Paul to the First Minnesota regiment which had 
 been raised for the suppression of the slave-holders 
 rebellion. On May the 25th, 1861, the regiment 
 came down from their rendezvous at Fort Snelling, 
 and marched to the capital grounds. The wife of 
 Governor Ramsey, with the Hag in hand, appeared 
 on the front steps, surrounded by a committee of 
 ladies, and presenting it to Colonel Gorman, made 
 a brief address in which she said : " From this 
 capitol, to the most remote frontier cottage, no 
 heart but shall send up a prayer for your safety; 
 no eye but shall follow with affection the flutter- 
 ings' of your banner, and no one but shall feel 
 pride, when you crown the banner as you will 
 crown it, with glory." 
 
 As the State increased in population it was nec- 
 essary to alter and enlarge the building, and in 
 1873, a wing was added fronting on Exchange 
 street, and the cupola was improved. The legis- ,- 
 lature of 1878 provided for the erection of another 
 wing, at an expense of .$14,000, fronting on Waba- 
 sha street. The building, by successive additions, 
 wiis in length 204 feet, and in width 150 feet, and 
 the top of the dome was more than 100 feet from 
 the ground. 
 
 THE OAriTOL IN FLAMES. 
 
 On the morning of the 1st of March, 1881, it 
 was destroyed by fire. About 9 o'clock in the 
 the evening two gentlemen, who lived opposite, 
 discovered the capitol was on fire, and immedia- 
 tely, by the telegraph, an alarm notified the firemen 
 of the city, and the occupants of the capitol. 
 
 The flames rapidly covered the cupola and licked 
 the flag flying from the staff on top. One of the 
 reporters of the Pioneer Press, who was in the 
 senate chamber at the time, graphically describes 
 the scene within. 
 
 He writes: "The senate was at work on third 
 reading of house bills; Lieutenant Governor Gil- 
 man in his seat, and Secretary Jennison reading 
 something about restraining cattle in Rice county ; 
 Uie senators were lying back listening carelessly, 
 
 when the door opened and Hon. Michael Doran 
 announced that the building was on fire. All eyes 
 wore at once turned in that dii'cction, and the 
 flash of the flames was visible from the top of the 
 gallery, as well as from the hall, which 
 is on a level with the floor of the senate. The panic 
 that ensued had a different effect upon the differ- 
 ent persons, and those occupying places nearest the 
 entrance, pushing open the door, and rushing pell 
 mell through the blinding smoke. Two or three 
 ladies happened to be in the vicinity of the doors, 
 and happily escaped uninjured. But the oiJenmg 
 ■of the door produced a draft which drew into the 
 senate chamber clouds of smoke, the fire in the 
 meantime having made its appearance over the 
 center and rear of the gallery. All this occurred 
 so suddenly that senators standing near the re- 
 porter's table and the secretary's desk, which were 
 on the opposite side of the chamber from the en- 
 trance, stood as if paralyzed, gazing in mute as- 
 tonishment at the smoke that passed in through 
 the open doors, at the flames over the gallery, and 
 the rushing crowd that blocked the door-ways. 
 The senate suddenly and formally adjourned. 
 President Oilman, however stood in his place, 
 gavel in hand, and as he rapped his desk, loud and 
 often he yelled: "Shut that door! Shut that 
 door!" 
 
 "The cry was taken up by Colonel Crooks and 
 other senators, and the order was finally obeyed, 
 after which, the smoke clearing away, the senators 
 were enabled to collect their senses and decide 
 what was best to be done. President Oilman, 
 still standing up in his place, calm and collected 
 as if nothing unusual had happened, was encour- 
 aging the senators to keep cool. Colonel Crooks 
 was giving orders as if a battle was raging around 
 him. 
 
 "Other senators were giving such advice as oc- 
 curred to them, but unfortunately no advice was 
 pertinent except to keep cool and that was all. 
 Some were importuning the secretary and his as- 
 sistants .to save the records, and General Jeunis<in, 
 his hands full of papers, was waiting a chance to 
 walk out with them. But that chance looked re- 
 mote, indeed, for there, locked in the senate cham- 
 ber, were at least fifty men walking around, some 
 looking at each other in a dazed sort of a way; 
 others at the windows looking out at the snow-cov- 
 ered yard, now Ulumiaated from the flames, that 
 were heard roaring and crackling overhead. 
 
lU 
 
 OUTLINE HIST0B7 OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 From some windows men were yelling to the lim- 
 ited crowd below: "Get some ladders! Send for 
 ladders!" Other windows were occupied. About 
 this time terror actually siezed the members, when 
 Senator Buck remarked that the fire was raging 
 overhead, and at the same moment burning brands 
 began to drop through the large ventilators upon 
 the desks and floor beneath. 
 
 "Then, for a moment, it seemed as if all hopes of 
 escape were cut off. ****;(! 
 But happily the flames having made their way 
 through the dome, a draught was created strong 
 enough to clear the halls of smoke. The dome< 
 was almost directly over the entrance of the senate 
 chamber, and burning brands and timbers had 
 fallen down through the glass ceiUng in front of 
 the door, rendering escape in that dii'ector im- 
 possible. 
 
 ''But a small window leading from the cloak room 
 of the senate chamber to the first landing of the 
 main stairway furnished an avenue of escape, and 
 through this little opening every man in the sen- 
 ate chamber managed to get out. 
 
 "The windows were about ten feet high, but Mr. 
 Michael Doran and several other gentlemen stood 
 at the bottom, and nobly rendered assistance to 
 those who came tumbling out, some headlong, 
 some sideways and some feet foremost. 
 
 " As the rej^orter of the Pioneer-Press came out 
 and landed ou his feet, he paused for a moment to 
 survey the scene overhead, where the flames were 
 lashing themselves into fury as they played under- 
 neath the dome; and saw the flag-staff burning, 
 and coals dropping down like fiery hail. 
 
 "It took but a few minutes for the senators to get 
 out, after which they assembled on the outside, 
 and they had no sooner gained the street than the 
 ceiling of the senate cliamber fell in, and in ten 
 minutes that whole wing was a mass of flames." 
 
 Similar scenes took place in the hall of the 
 house of representatives. A young lawyer, v/\i\\ 
 a friend, as soon as the fire was noticed, ran into 
 the law library and began to throw books out of 
 the windows, but in a few minutes the density of 
 the smoke and the approach of the flames com- 
 pelled them to desist, and a large portion of the 
 library was burned. The portraits of Generals 
 Sherman and Thomas which were hung over the 
 stairway were saved. The books of the Histori- 
 cal Society, in the basement, were removed, but 
 were considerably damaged. In three hours the 
 
 bare walls alone remained of the capitol which 
 for nearly thirty years had been familiar to the 
 law-makers and public men of Minnesota. 
 
 Steps were immediately taken to remove the 
 debris end build a new capitol, upon the old site. 
 The foundation walls have been laid, and in the 
 course of a year the superstructure will be com- 
 pleted. 
 
 THE PENITENTIAET. 
 
 Before the penitentiary was built, those charged 
 or convicted of crime were placed in charge of the 
 commandants of Fort Snelling or Eipley, and kept 
 at useful employment under military supervision.^ 
 At the same time it was decided to erect a capitol 
 at St. Paul.it was also determined that the territorial 
 prison should be built at or within half a mile of 
 Stillwater. A small lot was secured in 1851 in 
 what was called the Battle ravine, in consequence of 
 the conflict between the Sioux and Chippeways de- 
 scribed on the 103d page. Within a stone wall was 
 erected offices of the prison, with an annex con- 
 taining six cells. A warden's house was built 
 on the outside of the wall. In 1853, an addition 
 of six cells was made and on the 5th of March, 
 1853, F. R. Delano entered upon his duties as 
 warden. His reports to the legislature show that 
 for several years there was little use for the cells. 
 The prison was opened for criminals on the 1st of 
 September,1853,aud until January, 1858 there had 
 been received only five convicts, and forty-one 
 county and thirty city prisoners awaiting trial. 
 The use of the prison by the counties and city as 
 a temporary place of confinement led to some 
 misunderstanding between the warden and Wash- 
 ington county, and the grand jury of that county 
 in November, 1857, complained that the warden 
 was careless in discharge of his duties. The jury, 
 among other complaints sent the following ironi- 
 cal statement: "It was also found in such exami- 
 nation that one Maria Roffiu, committed on charge 
 of selling spirituous hquors to the Indians within 
 the territory of the United States escaped in the 
 words of the record, 'by leaving the prison' and it 
 is a matter of astonishment to this grand jury 
 that she so magnanimously consented to leave the 
 penitentiary behind her." 
 
 Francis O. J. Smith acted as warden for a brief 
 jieriod after Delano, and then H. N. Setzer. In 
 1859, the number of cells had increased to sixteen, 
 and among the inmates was a hitherto respectable 
 
UISTORY OF STATE INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 U5 
 
 citizen sentenced for fifteen years for rol.ibing a 
 post-office. 
 
 In 1860 John S. Proctor became warden, and 
 after eight years of efficient service, was succooded 
 by Joshua L. Taylor. By successive additions 
 in 1869 nearly ten acres were enclosed by prison 
 walls, and during this year extensive shops were 
 built. The State iu 1870 erected a costly prison 
 at an expense of about $80,000, which, besides a 
 chapel and necessary offices, contained two hun- 
 dred and ninety-nine cells. 
 
 A. 0. Webljer succeeded Taylor as Warden in 
 March, 1870, and the following Octobnr, Henry 
 A. Jackman took his place, and continued in office 
 until August, 1871, when the present incumbent, 
 J. A. Reed, was appointed. 
 
 It has been the policy of the State to hire the 
 convicts to labor for contractors, in workshops 
 within the walls. At present the inmates are 
 largely engaged in the making of agricultural 
 machines for the firm of Seymour, Sabin k Co. 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OP MINNESOTA. 
 
 The Territorial Legislature of 18.51, passed an 
 act establishing the University of IMinnesota at or 
 near the Falls of St. Antliouy, and memorialized 
 Congress for a grant of lands for the Institution. 
 Soon after, Congress ordered seventy-two sections 
 of laud to be selected and reserved for the use of 
 said University. 
 
 As the Regents Iiad no funds, Franklin Steele 
 gave the site now the public square, on Second 
 Street in the East Division, opposite the Minnesota 
 Medical College. Mr. Steele and others at their 
 own expense erected a wooden building thereon, 
 for a Preparatory Department, and the Rev. E. W. 
 Merrill was engaged as Principal. At the close 
 of the year 1853, the Regents reported that there 
 was ninety- four students in attendance, but that 
 the site selected being too near the Falls, they had 
 purchased of Joshua L. Taylor and Paul B. George 
 about twenty-five acres, a mile eastward, on 
 the heigth overlooking the Falls of St. Anthony. 
 
 Governor Gorman, in his message in 185i to 
 the Legislature said : "The University of Minne- 
 sota exists as yet only in name, but the time has 
 come when a substantial reality may and should 
 be created." But the Regents ccuild not find any 
 patent which would compress a myth into reality, 
 for not an acre of the land grant of Congress was 
 available. The Governor iu his message therefore 
 added: "It would not embarrass our resources, 
 10 
 
 in my jtulgment, if a small loan was ellectcil to 
 erect a buililing, and cstablisli one or two profi^s- 
 sorships, and a preparatory department, sucli loan 
 to be based upon the townships of land appropri- 
 ated for the sole use of the University." 
 
 While it was pleasing to loc: 1 pride to have p 
 building in prospect which could be seen fro;;i 
 afar, the friends of education shook their heads, 
 and declared the prospect of borrowing money to 
 build a University building before the common 
 school system was organized was visionary, and 
 would be unsuccessful. The idea, however, con- 
 tinued to be agitated, and the Regents at length 
 were authorized by the Legislature of 1856, to 
 issue lionds in the name of the Univer.sity, under 
 its corporate seal, for fifteen thousand dollars, to 
 be secured by the mortgage of the University 
 building which had been erected on the new site, 
 and forty thousand dollars more were authorized 
 to be issued by the Legislature of 1858, to be 
 secured by a lien on the lands devoted for a Ter- 
 ritorial University. With the aid of these loans a 
 costly and inconvenient stone edifice was con- 
 structed, but when finished there was no demand 
 for it, and no means for the payment of interest or 
 professors. 
 
 In the fall of 1858, in the hope that the Uni- 
 versity might be saved from its desj^erate condi- 
 tion, the Regents elected the Rev. Edward D. 
 Neill as Chancellor. He accepted the position 
 without any salary being j^ledged, and insisted 
 that a University must necessarily be of slow de- 
 velopment, and must succeed, not precede, the 
 common schools, and contended that five years 
 might elapse before anything could be done for a 
 University which would be tangible and visible. 
 He also expressed the belief that in time, with 
 strict watchfulness, the heavy load of debt could 
 be hfted. 
 
 The Legislature of 1860 abolished the old board 
 of Regents of the Territorial University by pass- 
 ing an act for a Stat-e University, which had been 
 prepared V)y the Chancellor, and met the approval 
 of Chancellor Tappan, of Michigan University. 
 Its first section declared "that the object of the 
 State University established by the Constitution of 
 the State, at or near the Falls of St. Anthony, 
 shall bo to provide the best and most efficient 
 means of imparting to the youth of the State an 
 education more advanced than that given in the 
 public schools, and a thorough knowledge of the 
 
146 
 
 OUTLINE HISTORY OP TEE STATE OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 branches of literature, the arts and sciences, with 
 their various applications." 
 
 This charter also provided for the appointment 
 of five Begents, to be appointed by the Governor, 
 and confirmed by the Senate, in place of the 
 twelve who had before been elected by the Legis- 
 lature. The Legislature of 1860 also enacted that 
 the Chancellor shoijld be ex-officio State Superin- 
 tendent of Public Instruction. 
 
 The fijst meeting of the Regents of the State 
 University was held on the fifth of April, 1860, 
 and stejjs were taken to secure the then useless edi- 
 fice from further dilapidation. The Chancellor 
 urged at this meeting that a large portion of the 
 territorial land grant would be absorbed in pay- 
 ment of the moneys used in the erection of 
 a building in advance of the times, and that 
 the only way to secure the existence of a State 
 University was by asking Congress for an addi- 
 tional two townships, or seventy-two sections of 
 land, which he contended could be done under the 
 phraseology of the enabling act, which said: "That 
 seventy-two sections of land shall be set apart and 
 reserved for the use and support of a State Univer- 
 sity to be selected by the Governor of said State,^' 
 etc. 
 
 The Regents requested the Governor to suggest 
 to the authorities that it was not the intention of 
 Congress to turn over the debts and prospectively 
 encumbered lands of an old and badly managed 
 Territorial institution, but to give the State that 
 was to be, a grant for a State University, free 
 from all connection with the Territorial organiza- 
 tion. The Governor communicated these views 
 to the authorities at Washington, but it was not 
 till after years of patient waiting that the land was 
 obtained by an act of Congress. 
 
 At the breaking out of the civil war in 18G1, 
 the Chancellor became Chaplain of the First Regi- 
 ment of Blinnesota Volunteers, and went to the 
 seat of war, and the University affairs continued to 
 grow worse, and the University building was a 
 by-word and hissing among the passers by. Din- 
 ing the year 1863, some of the citizens of St. An- 
 thony determined to make another effort to extri- 
 cate the institution from its difficulties, and the 
 legislature of 1861 passed an act abolishing the 
 board of Regents, and creating three persons sole 
 regents, with power to liquidate the debts of the 
 institution. The Regents under this law were 
 John S. Pillsbury and O. C. Merriman, of St. An- 
 thony, and John Nicols, of St. Paul. 
 
 The increased demand for jiine lands, of which 
 the University owned many acres, and the sound 
 discretion of these gentlemen co-operated in pro- 
 curing happy results. In two years Governor 
 Marshall, in his message to the legislature, was 
 able to say: "The very able and successful man- 
 agement of the affairs of the institution, under the 
 pieseut board of Regents, relieving it of over one 
 hundred thousand dollars of debt, and saving over 
 thirty thousand acres of land that was at one time 
 supposed to be lost, entitles Messrs. Pillsbury, 
 Merriman, and Nicols to the lasting gratitude of 
 the State." 
 
 The legislature of 1867 appropriated $5,000 for 
 a preparatory and Normal department, and the 
 Regents this year chose as principal of the school, 
 the Rev. W. W. Washburn, a graduate of the Uni- 
 versity of Michigan, and Gabriel Campbell, of the 
 same institution, and Ira Moore as assistants. The 
 legislature of 1868 passed an act to reorganize the 
 University, and to establish an Agricultural Col- 
 lege therein. 
 
 Departing from the policy of the University of 
 Michigan, it established what the Regents wished,a 
 department of Elementary instruction. It also pro- 
 vided for a College of Science, Literature and the 
 Arts; a CoUege of Agriculture and Meclianids with 
 Military Tactics; a college of Law, and a College 
 of Medicine. 
 
 The provision of the act of 1860, for the appoint- 
 ment of Regents was retained, and the number to 
 be confirmed by the Senate, was increased from 
 five to seven. 
 
 The new board of Regents was organized in 
 March, 1868. John S. Pillsbury, of St. Anthony, 
 President; O. C. Merriman, of St. Anthony, Sec- 
 retary, and John Nicols, of St. Paul, Treasurer. 
 
 At a meeting of the Regents in August, 1869, 
 arrangements were made for collegiate work by 
 electing as President and Professor of mathematics 
 William W. Folwell. 
 
 President FolweU was bom in 18.35, in Seneca 
 county. New York, and graduated with distinction 
 in 1827, at Hobart College in Geneva, New York. 
 For two years he was a tutor at Hobart, and then 
 went to Europe. Upon his return the civil war was 
 raging, and he entered the 50th New York Volun- 
 teers. After the army was disbanded he engaged 
 in business in Ohio, but at the time of his election 
 to the presidency of the University, was Professor 
 of mathematics, astronomy, and German at Ken- 
 yon College. 
 
n I STORY OF STATE INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 147 
 
 THK FACDLTr. 
 
 The present faculty of the institution is as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 William W. Folwell, instructor, political science. 
 
 Jabez Brooks, D. D., professor, Gi'eek, and in 
 charge of Latin. 
 
 Newton H. Wiuchell, professor, State geologist, 
 0. N. Hewitt, M. D., professor. Public Health. 
 
 John G. Moore, jJrofessor, German. 
 
 Moses Marstou, Ph. D., professor, English lit- 
 erature. 
 
 C. W. Hall, professor, geology and biology. 
 
 John G. Hutchinson, assistant professor, Greek 
 and mathematics. 
 
 John S. Clark, assistant professor, Latin. 
 
 Matilda J. Campbell, instructor, German and 
 English. 
 
 Maria L. Sanford, professor, rhetoric, and elocu- 
 tion. 
 
 William A. Pike, 0. E., professor, engineering 
 and physics. 
 
 John F. Downey, professor, mathematics and 
 astronomy. 
 
 James A. Dodge, Ph. D., professor, chemistry. 
 
 Alexander T. Ormimd, professor, mental and 
 moral philosophy and history. 
 
 Charles W. Benton, professor, French. 
 
 Edward D. Porter, professor, agriculture. 
 
 William H. Leib, instructor, vocal music. 
 
 William F. Decker, instructor, shop work and 
 drawing. 
 
 Edgar C. Brown, U. S. A., professor, military 
 science. 
 
 James Bowen, instructor, practical horticulture. 
 
 THE CAMPUS AND BriLDINGS. 
 
 The campus of the university since it was orig- 
 inally acquired, has been somewhat enlarged, and 
 now consists of about fifty acres in extent, undu- 
 lating in surface, and well wooded with native 
 trees. The buildings are thus far but two in 
 number, the jolan of the original building, which 
 in outline was not imlike the insane asylum build- 
 ing at St. Peter, having been changed by the 
 erection in 1876, of a large four-story structure 
 built of stone and surmounted by a tower. This 
 building is 18G feet in length and ninety in 
 breadth, exclusive of porches, having three stories 
 above the basement in the old part- The walls 
 are of blue limestone and the roof of tin. The 
 rooms, fifty-tliree in number, as well as all the 
 corridors are heated by an eilicient steam appara- I 
 
 tus, and are tlioroughly ventilated. Water is sup- 
 plied from the city mains, and there is a stand- 
 pipe running from tlie basement through the roof 
 with hose attached on all tlie floors for protection 
 against fire. The assembly hall, in the third 
 story, is 87x55 feet, 24 feet high, and will seat 
 with comfort 700 people, and 1,200 can be accom- 
 modated. 
 
 THE AGRIOULTUUAL BUILDING 
 
 is the first of the special buildings for the separ- 
 ate colleges, and was built in 1876. It is of 
 brick, on a basement of blue stone, 146x54 feet. 
 The central portion is two stories in height. The 
 south wing, 46x25 feet, is a plant house of double 
 sash and glass. The north wing contains the 
 chemical laboratory. There are class rooms for 
 chemistry, physics and agriculture, and private 
 laboratories for the professors. A large room in 
 the second story is occupied by the museum of 
 technology and agriculture, and the basement is 
 filled up with a carpenter shop, a room with vises 
 and tools at which eight can work, and another 
 room fitted with eight forges and a blower — the 
 commencement of the facilities for practical in- 
 struction. 
 
 DEAF AND DUMB IN.STITUTION. 
 
 Of all the public institutions of Minnesota, no 
 one has had a more pleasing history, and more 
 symmetrical development tlum the Institution for 
 the education of the deaf and dumb and the blind 
 at Faribault. 
 
 The legislatur-e of 1858, passed an act for the 
 establishment of "The Minnesota State Institute 
 for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb," within 
 two miles of Faribault, in Rice county, upon con- 
 dition that the town or county, should within one 
 year from the passage of the law give forty acres 
 of land for its use. The condition was comjilied 
 with, but the financial condition of the country 
 and the breaking out of the civil war, with other 
 causes retarded the progress of the Institution for 
 five years. 
 
 The legislature of 1863 made the first appro- 
 priation of fifteen hundred doUars for the opening 
 of the Institution. Mr. R. A. Mott, of Faribault, 
 who has to this time been an elScient director, at 
 the request of the other two directors, visited the 
 East for teachers, and secured Prof. Eanney and 
 wife of Columbus, Ohio. A store on Fiont Street 
 was then rented, and adapted for the temporary 
 
148 
 
 OUTLINE BISTORT OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 use of the Institution, which opened on the 9th of 
 September, 1863, with five pupils, which soon in- 
 creased to ten. 
 
 On February 13th, 1864, the State appropriated 
 about four thousand dollars for the suppert of the 
 Institution, and the directors expended about one 
 thousand dollars in the erection of small additional 
 building, eighteen by twenty feet in dimensions, 
 as a boys' dormitory. 
 
 After laboring faithfully for three years and se- 
 curing the respect of his associates, on July 1st, 
 1866, Prof. Kinney resigned on account of iU health. 
 
 The directors the next month elected as Super- 
 intendent Jonathan L. Noyes, A. M. On the 7th 
 of September Professor Noyes arrived at Faribault 
 with Miss A. L. Steele as an assistant teacher and 
 Henrietta Watson as matron. 
 
 NOETH WING OF EDIFICE COMPLETED. 
 
 Upon the 17th of March, 1868, the Institution 
 was removed to a wing of the new building upon 
 a site of fifty-two acres beautifully situated upon 
 the brow of the hills east of Faribault. The edi- 
 fice of tlie French louvre style, and was designed 
 by Monroe Sheire, a St. Paul architect, and cost 
 about fifty-three thousand dollars, and water was 
 introduced from springs in the vicinity. 
 
 WOEK SHOPS. 
 
 In 1869, the Superintendent was cheered by the 
 completion of the first work shop, and soon eight 
 mutes under the direction of a mute foreman be- 
 gan to make flour barrels, and in less than a year 
 had sent out more than one thousand, and in 1873 
 4,054 barrels were made. 
 
 SOUTH WINO BEGAN. 
 
 The completed wing was not intended to accom- 
 modate more than sixty pupils and soon there was 
 a demand for more room. During the year 1869 
 the foundation of the south wing was completed, 
 and on the 10th of Sejotember 1873 the building 
 was occu]iied by boys, the other wing being used 
 for the girls. By the time the building was ready 
 students were waiting to occupy. 
 
 MAIN BUILDING COMPLETED. 
 
 In 1879 the design was completed by the finith- 
 ing of the centre building. The whole edifice is 
 thus described by the architect, Monroe Sheire: 
 "The plan of the building is rectangular, and con- 
 sists of a central portion one hundred feet north 
 
 and south, and one hundred and eight feet east 
 and west, exclusive of piazzas, and two wings, one 
 on the north, and the other on the south side, 
 each of these being eighty by forty-five. This 
 makes the extreme length two hundred and sixty 
 feet, and the width one hundred and eight feet. 
 The entire building is four stories above the base- 
 ment." 
 
 The exterior walls are built of blue Hme stone 
 from this vicinity, and the style Franco Koman- 
 esque. Over the center is a graceful cupola, and 
 the top of the same is one hundred and fifty feet 
 above the ground. 
 
 The entire cost to the State of all the improve- 
 ments was about $175,000, and the building wiU 
 accommodate about two hundred pupils. The 
 rooms are lighted by gas from the Faribault Gas 
 Works. 
 
 INDDSTEIAL SCHOOLS. 
 
 The first shop opened was for making barrels. 
 To this cooper shop has been added a shoe shop, a 
 tailor shop and a printing ofiice. 
 
 MAGAZINE. 
 
 The pupils established in March, 1876, a little 
 paper called the Gopher. It was printed on a 
 small press, and second-hand type was used. 
 
 In June, 1877, it was more than doubled in 
 size, and changed its name to "The Mutes' Com- 
 panion." Printed with good type, and filled with 
 pleasant articles it still exists, and adds to the in- 
 terest in the institution. 
 
 EDUCATION OP THE BLIND. 
 
 In 1863 a law was passed by the legislature re- 
 quiring blind children to be educated under the su". 
 pervision of the Deaf and Dumb Institution. 
 Early in July, 1866, a school for the blind was 
 opened in a separate building, rented for the pur- 
 1)030, under the care of Miss H. N. Tucker. Dur- 
 ing the first term there were three pupils. In May, 
 ISGS, the bUnd pupils were brought into the deal 
 and dumb institution, but the experiment of in ■ 
 struoting these two classes together was not satis- 
 factory, and in 1874 the blind were removed to 
 the old Faribault House, half a mile south of 
 the Deaf and Dumb Institution, which had been 
 fitted up for their accommodation, and where 
 a large new brick building, for the use of the 
 blind, has since been erected. In 1875, Profes- 
 sor James J. Dow was made principal of the 
 school. 
 
HISTORY OF STATE INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 149 
 
 SCHOOL FOR THE FEEBLE MINDED. 
 
 From time to time, iu his report to tlio Logiala- 
 ture, Superiutendeut Noyes alluded to the faet that 
 some children appeared deaf and dumb beeanso of 
 their feeble mental development, and in 1879, tlie 
 state appropriated $5,000 for a school for imbecile 
 children. 
 
 The institution was started in July of that year 
 by Dr. Henry M. Knight, now deceased, then 
 Superintendent and founder of the Connecticut 
 school of the same description, who was on a visit 
 to Faribault. He superintended the school until 
 the arrival, in September, of his son, Dr. George 
 H. Knight, who had been trained under his father. 
 
 For the use of the school the Fairview House was 
 rented, and fourteen feeble children were sent 
 from the Insane Asylum at St. Peter. In eigh- 
 teen months the number had increased to twenty - 
 five. 
 
 The site of the new building for the school is 
 about forty rods south of the BHnd School. Tlie 
 dimensions are 41x80 feet, with a tower projection 
 20x18 feet. It is ,of limestone, and three stories 
 above the basement, covered with an iron hip-roof, 
 and cost about S2.5,000. 
 
 SUPEBINTENDENT J. L. NOYES. 
 
 The growth of the Minnesota institution for the 
 education of the deaf and dumb and the blind, 
 has been so symmetrical, and indicative of one 
 moulding mind, that a sketch of the institution 
 would be incomplete without some notice of the 
 Superintendent, who has guided it for the last 
 sixteen years. 
 
 Onthel3th(.f June, 1827, Jonathan Lovejoy 
 Noyes was born in Windham, Rockingham county, 
 New Hampshire. At the age of fourteen years he 
 was sent to Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachu- 
 setts, not only one of the oldest, but among 
 tlie best schools in the United States. At Andover 
 he had the advantage of the instruction of the 
 thorough Greek scholar, Dr. Samuel H. Taylor, 
 the eminent author, Lyman H. Coleman, D. D., 
 afterwards Professor of Latin in Lafayette Col- 
 lege, Pennsylvania, and William H. Wells, whose 
 English grammar has been used in many insti- 
 tutions. 
 
 After completing his preparatory stiidies, in 
 1848, he entered Yale College, and in four years 
 received the diploma of Bachelor of Arts. j\.fter 
 graduation he received an apijointment in the 
 
 Pennsylvania Institution of the Deaf and Dumb, on 
 BroadStreet, l'hilad(>lphia, and found instructing 
 deaf mutes was a pleasant occupation. After six 
 years of important work in Philadelphia, he was 
 employed two years iu a similar institution at 
 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and then received an ap- 
 pointment in the well known American Asylum so 
 long presided over by Thomas H. Gallandet, at 
 Hartford, Connecticut. While laboring here he 
 was invited to take charge of the "Minnesota In- 
 stitution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb 
 and the ]Slind," and in September, 1866, he ar- 
 rived at Faribault. With wisdom and patience, 
 gentleness and energy, and an unfaltering trust in 
 a superintending Providence, he has there contin- 
 ued his work with the approbation of his fellow 
 citizens, and the affection of tlie pupils of the 
 institution. 
 
 At the time that he was relieved of the care of 
 the blind and imbecile, the directors entered upon 
 their minutes the following testimonial: 
 
 '^Resolved, That upon the retirement of Prof. J. 
 L. Noyes from the suporiutendency of the depart- 
 ments of the blind and imbecile, the board of 
 Directors, of the Minnesota Institution for the 
 Deaf and Dumb, and Blind and Idiots, and Imbe- 
 ciles, desire to testify to his deep interest in these 
 several departments; his efficient and timely ser- 
 vices in their establishment; and his\vise direction 
 of their early progress, until they have become 
 full-fledged and independent departments of our 
 noble State charitable institutions. 
 
 "For his cordial and courteous co-operation with 
 the directors in their work, and for his timely 
 counsel and advice, never withheld when needed, 
 the board by this testimonial, render to him their 
 hearty recognition and warm acknowledgement." 
 
 On the 21st of July, 1862, Professor Noyes mar- 
 ried Eliza H. Wadsworth, of Hartford, Connecti- 
 cut, a descendent of the Colonel Wadsworth, who 
 in the old colony time, hid the charter of Connecti- 
 cut in an oak, which for generations has been 
 known in history as the "Charter Oak." They 
 have biit one child, a daughter. 
 
 INSANE HOSPITAL AT ST. PETEB. 
 
 Until the year 1866, the insane of Minnesota 
 were sent to the Iowa Asylum for treatment, but 
 in January of that year the Legislature passed an 
 act appointing Wm. R. Marshall, John M. Berry, 
 Thomas Wilson, Charles Mclli ath, and S. J. R. 
 l\Icr\Iillan to select a proper place for the IMinne- 
 
150 
 
 OUTLINE EISTOMT OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 sota Hospital for the Insane. The vicinity of St. 
 Peter was chosen, the citizens presenting to the 
 State two hundred and ten acres one mile south of 
 the city, and on the Minnesota Kiver, directly op- 
 posite to Kasota. 
 
 In October, 1866, temporary buildings were 
 erected, and the Trustees elected Samuel E. 
 Shantz, of Utica, N. Y., as the Superintendent. 
 A plan submitted by Samuel Sloan, a Philadelphia 
 architect, consisting of a central building, with 
 sections and wings for the accommodation of at 
 least five hundred jiatients, in 1867, was adopted, 
 and in 1876 the great structure was comj^leted. 
 
 It is built of Kasota limestone, the walls lined 
 with brick, and the roof covered with slates. The 
 central building is four stories in height, sur- 
 mounted with a fine cupola, and therein are the 
 chapel and oifioes. Each wing is three stories 
 high, with nine separate lialls. 
 
 The exjjenses of construction of the Asylum, 
 with the outbuildings, has been more than half a 
 million of dollars. Dr. Shantz having died, Cyrus 
 K. Bartlett, M. D., of Northampton, Massachu- 
 setts, was appointed Sujierintedeut. 
 
 In January, 1880, in the old temporary build- 
 ings and in the Asylum jiroj^er there were six hun- 
 dred and sixty patients. On the 15th of Novem- 
 ber, 1880, about half past eight in the evening, 
 the Superintendent and assistants were shocked by 
 the announcement that the north wing was on 
 fire. It began in the nortjiwest corner of the 
 basement, and is supposed to have been kindled by 
 a patient employed about the kitchen who was not 
 violent. The flames raj^idly ascended to the dif- 
 ferent stories, through the holes for the hot air 
 pipes, and the oijenings for the dumb waiters. 
 
 The wing at the time contained two hundred 
 and seventy patients, and as they were liberated 
 by their nurses and told to make their escape, ex- 
 hibited various emotions. Some clapjjed their 
 bauds with glee, others trembled with fear. 
 Many, barefooted and with bare heads, rushed for 
 the neighboring hiUs and sat on the cold snow. 
 A few remained inside. One patient was noticed 
 in a window of the third story, with his knees 
 drawn up to his chin, and his face in liis hands, a 
 cool and interested looker on, and with an exjjres- 
 sion of cynical contempt tor the flames as they ap- 
 proached his seat. When a tongue of fire would 
 shoot toward him, he would lower his head, and 
 after it jiassed would resume his position with more 
 than the indifference of a stoic. At last the brick 
 
 work beneath him gave way with a loud crash, 
 and as he was jJrecipitated into the cauldron of fire 
 soon to be burned to ashes, his maniacal laugh was 
 heard above the roar of the flames. 
 
 The remains of eighteen patients were found in 
 the ruins, and seven died in a few days after the 
 flrer in consequence of injiu'ies and exposure. 
 
 Immediate steps were taken by the Governor to 
 repair the damages by the fire. 
 
 INSANE HOSPITAL AT ROCHESTER. 
 
 In 1878, the Legislature enacted a law by 
 which an inebriate asylum commenced at Boches- 
 ter could be used for an Insane Asylum. With the 
 appropriation, alterations and additions were 
 made, Dr. J. E. Bowers elected Superintendent, 
 and on the 1st of January, 1879, it was opened for 
 patients. 
 
 Twenty thonsaud dollars have since been appro- 
 priated for a wing for female patients. 
 
 STATE EEFORM SOHOOL, 
 
 During the year 1865, I. V. D. Heard, Esq., a 
 lawyer of Saint Paul, and at that time City At- 
 torney sent a communication to one of the daily 
 papers urging the importance of separating child 
 ren arrested for petty crimes, from the depraved 
 adults found in the station house or county jail, 
 and also called the attention of the City Council 
 to the need for a Reform School. 
 
 The next Legislature, in 1866, under the influ- 
 ence created by the discussion passed a law creat- 
 ing a House of Refuge, and appropriated |5,000 for 
 its use on condition that the city of Saint Paul 
 would give the same amount. 
 
 In November, 1867, the managers purchased 
 thirty acres with a stone farm house and barn 
 thereon, for §10,000, situated in Rose townshijj, in 
 Saint Anthony near Sueiliug Avenue, in the west- 
 ern suburbs of Saint Paul. 
 
 In 1868 the House of Refuge was ready to re- 
 ceive wayward youths, and this year the Legis- 
 lature changed the name to the Minnesota State 
 Reform School, and accepted it as a state institu- 
 tion. The Rev. J. G. Eiheldaffer D. D., who had 
 for years been pastor of one of the Saint Paul 
 Presbyterian churches was elected superintendent 
 
 In 1869 the main building of light colored 
 brick, 40x60 feet was erected, and ocouj^ied in 
 December. 
 
 In February, 1879, the laundry, a separate 
 building was burned, and an appropriation of the 
 
SKETCHES OF PUBLIC MEN. 
 
 151 
 
 Legislature was made soon after of lirj.OOO for 
 the rebuilding of the laundry and the erection of 
 a work shop. This shop is 50x100 and three 
 stories high. The boys besides receiving a good 
 English fdueafion, are taught to be tailors, tinners, 
 carpenters and gardeners. Tlic sale of bouijuets 
 from the green house, of sleds and toys, and of 
 tin ware has been one of the sources of revenue. 
 
 Doctor Hiheldaflfer continues as superintendent 
 and by his judicious management has prepared 
 many of the inmates to lead useful and honorable 
 lives, after their discharge from the Institution. 
 
 STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 
 
 By the influence of Lieut. Gov. Holcomb and 
 others the first State Legislature in 1858 passed 
 an Act by which three Normal schools might be 
 erected, but made no proper provision for their 
 support. 
 
 WINONA NORMAL SCHOOL. 
 
 Dr. Ford, a graduate of Dartmouth college, 
 and a respectable physician in Winona, with sev- 
 eral residents of the same place secured to the 
 amount of f;5,512 sub.scriptions for the estalilish- 
 ment of a Normal School at that point, and a 
 small apjiropriatiou was secured in 1880 from the 
 Legislature. 
 
 John Ogden, af Ohio, was elected Principal, and 
 in September, 1860, the school was opened in a 
 temporary building. Soon after the civil war be- 
 gan the school was susjDended, and Mr. Ogden 
 entered tlie army. 
 
 In 1864 the Legislature made an appropriation 
 of $3,000, and and WiUiam F. Phelps, who had 
 been in charge of the New Jersey Normal School 
 at Trenton, was chosen principal. In 1865 the 
 State appropriated S5,000 annually for the school 
 and the citizens of Winona gave over $20,000 to- 
 ward the securing of a site and the erection of a 
 permanent edifice. 
 
 One of the best and most ornamental education- 
 al buOdings in the Northwest was commenced and 
 in September, 1869, was so far finished as to ac- 
 commodate pupils. To complete it nearly $150,- 
 000 was given by the State. 
 
 In 1876 Prof. W. F. Phelps resigned and was 
 Bxicceeded by Charles A. Morey who in May, 
 1879 retired. The present princijjal is Irwin 
 Shepard. 
 
 MANKATO NORMAL SCHOOL. 
 
 In 1806, lyiankato having offered a site for a 
 
 second Normal School, the Legislature give. "^5,000 
 for its support. George M. Gage was elected 
 Principal and on the Ist of September, 18G8 the 
 school was opeiied, It occupied the basement of 
 the Methodist church for a few weeks, and then 
 moved into a room over a store at the corner of 
 Front and Main streets. In April 1870, the State 
 building was first occupied. 
 
 Prof. Gage resgncd in June, 1872, and his suc- 
 cessor was Miss J. A. Seais who remained one year. 
 In July 1873, the Kev. D. 0. John was elected 
 principal, and in the spring of 1880, he retired. 
 
 The present Principal is Professor Edward Sear- 
 ing, formerly State Superintendent of Pul)Iic In- 
 struction in Wisconsin, a line Latin scholar, and 
 editor of an edition of Virgil. 
 
 ST. CLOUD NORMAL SCHOOL. 
 
 In 1869, the citizens of St. Cloud gave $5,000 
 for the establishment in that city of the third 
 Normal School, and a building was fitted up for 
 its use. The legislature in 1869, appropriated 
 •33,000 for current expenses. In 1870, a new build- 
 ing was begun, the legislature having appi'opriated 
 .•J10,000, and in 1873, $30,000; this building in 
 1875 was first occupied. In 1875, the Rev. D. L. 
 Kiehle was elected Principal, Prof. Ira Moore, the 
 first Principal having resigned. In 1881, Prof. 
 Kielile was appointed State Superintendent of 
 Public Instruction, and Jerome AUen, late of New 
 York, was elected his successor. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIL 
 
 MENNESOTA GOVERNORS UNITED STATES SENATORS 
 
 MEMBERS 01? UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRE- 
 SENTATIVES. 
 
 GOVERNOR RAMSEV A. D. 1849 TO A. D. 1853. 
 
 Alexander Ramsey, the first Governor of the 
 Territory of Minnesota, was born on the 8th of 
 September, 1815, near Harrisburg, in Dauphin 
 county, Pennsylvania. His grandfather was a 
 descendent of one of the many colonists who came 
 from the north of Ireland before the war of the 
 Revolution, and his father about the time of the 
 first treaty of peace with Great Britain, was born in 
 York county, Pennsylvania. His mother Elizabeth 
 Kelkcr, was of German descent, a woman of en- 
 ergy, industry and religious principle. 
 
 His father dying, when the subject of this sketch 
 
152 
 
 OUTLINE HISTORT OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 was ten years of age, he went into the store of his 
 maternal unole in Harrisburg, and remained two 
 years. Then he was employed as a copyist in tlie 
 office of Register of Deeds. For several years he 
 was engaged in such business as would give su]> 
 port. Thoughtful, persevering and studious, at 
 the age of eighteen he was able to enter Lafayette 
 College, at Easton, Pennsylvania. After he left 
 College he entered a lawyer's office in Harrisburg, 
 and subsequently attended lectures at the Law 
 Sohool at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. 
 
 At the age of twenty-four, in 1839, he was ad- 
 mitted to the bar of Dauphin county. His execu- 
 tive ability was immediately noticed, and the next 
 year he took an active part in the political cam- 
 paign, advocating the claims of William H. Harri- 
 son, and he was complimented by being made 
 Secretary of the Pennsylvania Presidential Elec- 
 tors. After the electoral vote was delivered in 
 Washington, in a few weeks, in January 1841, he 
 was elected chief clerk of the House of Represen- 
 tatives of Pennsylvania. Here his ability in dis- 
 patching business, and his great discretion made 
 a most favorable impression, and in 1843, the 
 Whigs of Dauphin, Lebanon and Schuylkill 
 counties nominated him, as their candidate for 
 Congress. Pojjular among the young men of 
 Harrisburg, that city which had hitherto given a 
 democratic majority, voted for the Whig ticket 
 which he represented, and the whole district gave 
 him a majority of votes. At the expiration of his 
 term, in 1845 he was again elected to Congress. 
 
 Strong in his political preferences, without man- 
 ifesting political rancor, and of large perceptive 
 power, he was in 1848 chosen by the Whig party 
 Pensylvania, as the secretary of the Central Com- 
 mittee, and he directed the movements in his na- 
 tive State, which led to the electoral votes being 
 thrown for General Zachary Taylor for President. 
 
 On the 4th of Blarch, 1849, President Taylor 
 took the oath of office, and in less than a month he 
 signed the commission of Alexander Ramsey as 
 Governor of the Territory of Minnesota, which 
 had been created by a law ajiproved the day before 
 his inauguration. 
 
 By the way of Butfalo, and from thence by 
 lake to Chicago, and from thence to Galena, where 
 betook a steanilioat. he traveled to Minnesota and 
 arrived at St. Paul early in the morning of the 
 27th of ]\Iay, with his wife, children and nurse, 
 Init went with the boat up to Mendota, where lie 
 ■v;is cordially met hy tlie Territorial delegate, 
 
 Hon. H. H. Sibley, and with his family was his 
 guest for several weeks. He then came to St, 
 Paul, occupied a small housj on Tnird street near 
 the corner of Robert. 
 
 On the 1st of June he issued his first proclama- 
 mation declaring the organization of the Territorial 
 government, and on the 11th, he issued another 
 creating judicial districts and providing for the 
 election of {nembers of a legislature to assemble 
 in September. To his duties as Governor was 
 added the superintendency of Indian affairs and 
 during the first summer he held frequent confer- 
 ences with the Indians, and his first report to the 
 Commissioner of Indian Aifairs is still valuable 
 for its information relative to the Indian tribes at 
 that time hunting in the valleys of the Minnesota 
 and the Mississippi. 
 
 During the Governor's term of office he visited 
 the Indians at their villages, and made himself 
 famiUar. with their needs, and in the summer of 
 1851, made treaties with the Sioux by which the 
 country between the Mississippi Rivers, north of the 
 State of Iowa, was opened for occupation by the 
 whites. His term of office as Governor expired in 
 April, 1853, and in 1855 his fellow townsmen 
 elected him Mayor of St. Paul. In 1857, after 
 Minnesota had adopted a State Constitution, the 
 Republican party nominated Alexander Ramsey 
 for Governor, and the Democrats nominated Henry 
 II. Sibley. The election in October was close 
 and exciting, and Mr. Sibley was at length de- 
 clared Governor by a majority of about two hun- 
 dred votes. The Republicans were dissatisfied 
 with the result, and contended that more Demo- 
 cratic votes were thrown in the Otter Tail Lake 
 region than there were citizens residing in the 
 northern district. 
 
 In 1859, Mr. Ramsey was again nominated by 
 the Republicans for Governor, and elected by four 
 thousand majority. Before the expiration of his 
 term of office, the RepubUc was darkened by civil 
 war. Governor Ramsey haiDpened to be in Wash- 
 ington when the news of the firing upon Fort 
 Sumter was received, and was among the fii'st of 
 the State Governors to call upon the President 
 and tender a regiment of volunteers in defense of 
 the Republic. Returning to the State, he dis- 
 plaved energy and wisdom in the organization of 
 regiments. 
 
 In the fall of 1861, he was again nominated and 
 elected as Governor, but before the expiration of 
 this term, on July 10th, 1863, he was elected by 
 
SKETCIIKS OF PUISLIC MEN. 
 
 153 
 
 the Legislature, United States Senator. Upon en- 
 tering the Semite, he was placed on the Commit- 
 tees on Naval Aflairs, Post-offices, Patents, Pacific 
 Kailroad, and Chairman of the Committee on Kev- 
 olutiouary Pensions and Eevolutionary Claims. 
 He was also one of the Committee appointed by 
 Congress to accompany the remains of President 
 Lincoln to Springfield Cemetery, Illinois. 
 
 The Legislature of 1869 re-elected him for the 
 term ending in March, 1875. In 1880, he was a])- 
 pointed Secretary of War by President Hayes, and 
 tor a time also acted as Secretary of the Navy. 
 
 He was married iu 1815 to Anna Earl, daughter 
 of Michael H. Jenks, a member of Congress from 
 Bucks county. He lias bad three children; his 
 two sons died in early youth; his daughter 
 Marion, the wife of Charles Eliot Furness, resides 
 with her family, with her jjarents in St. Paid. 
 
 GOVEKNOR GOKMAN A. D. 1853 TO A. D. 1857. 
 
 At the expiration of Governor Ramsey's term 
 of office. President Pierce appointed Willis Arnold 
 Gorman as his successor. Gevernor Gorman was 
 the only son of David L. Gorman and born in 
 January, 1866 near Flemingsburgh, Kentucky- 
 After receiving a good academic education he went 
 to Bloomington, Indiana, and in 1836 graduated 
 in the law department of the State University. 
 He imediately entered upon the practice of law 
 with few friends and no money, in Bloomington, 
 and in a year was called upon to defend a man 
 charged with murder, and obtained his acquittal. 
 
 That one so young should have engaged in 
 such a case excited the attention of the public, and 
 tw ) years afterwards was elected a member of the 
 Indiana legislature. His pojmlarity was so great 
 that he was re-elected a number of times. When 
 war was declared against Mexico he enlisted as a 
 private in a company of volunteers, which with 
 others at New Albany was mustered into the ser- 
 vice for one year, as the Third Regiment of 
 Indiana Volunteers, with James H. Lane, after- 
 w ards U. S. Senator for Kansas, as Colonel, while 
 he was commissioned as Major. It is said that 
 under the orders of General Taylor with a de- 
 tachment of riflemen he opened the battle of 
 Buena Vista. In this engagement his horse was 
 shot and fell into a deep ravine carrying the 
 Major with, him and severely bruising him. 
 
 In August, 1817, he returned to Indiana and by 
 his enthusiasm helped to raise the Fourth Regi- 
 ment and was elected its Colonel, and went bads 
 
 to tlie seat of war, and was present in several bat- 
 tles, and when peace was declared returned with 
 the reputation of being a dashing officer. 
 
 Resuming the practice of law, in the fall of 1848 
 he was elected to Congress and served two terms, 
 his last expiring on the 4th of March, 1853, the 
 day when his fellow officer in the Mexican War, 
 Gen. Franklin Pierce took the oath of office as 
 President of the United States. With a commis- 
 sion bearing the signature of President Pierce he 
 arrived in Saint Paul, in May, 1853, as the second 
 Territorial Governor of Minnesota. 
 
 His term of Governor expired in the spring of 
 1857, and he was elected a member of the Com- 
 mittee to frame a State Constitution, which on the 
 second Monday in July of that year, convened at 
 the Capitol. After the committee adjourned he 
 again entered ujson the practice of law but when 
 the news of the firing of Fort Sumter reached 
 Splint Paul he realized that the nation's hfe 
 was endangered, and that there w(5uld be a civU 
 war. He offered his services to Governor Ram- 
 soy and when the First Regiment of Minnesota 
 volunteers was organized he was commissioned as 
 Colonel. He entered with ardor upon his work of 
 drilling the raw troops in camp at Fort Snelling, 
 and the privates soon caught his enthusiasm. 
 
 No officer ever had more pride in his regiment 
 and his soldiers were faithful to his orders. His 
 regiment was the advance regiment of Franklin's 
 Brigade, iu Heintzelnian's Division at the first Bat- 
 tle of Bull Run, and there made a reputation 
 which it increased at every battle, especially at 
 Gettysburg. Upon the recommendation of Gen- 
 eral Wiufield Scott who had known him in Mex- 
 ico after the battle of Bull Run he was appointed 
 Brigadier General by President Lincoln, 
 
 After three years of service as Brigadier General 
 he was mustered out and returning to St. Paid 
 resumed his profession. From that time he held 
 several positions under the city government. He 
 died on the afternoon of the 25th of May, 1876. 
 
 GOVERNOK SIBLEY, A. D. 1858 tO A. D. 1860. 
 
 No one is more intimately asssociated with the 
 development of the Northwest than Henry Hast- 
 ings Sibley, the first Governor of Minnesota under 
 the State constitution. 
 
 By the treaty of Peace of 1783, Great Britain 
 recognizjd the independence of the United States 
 of America, and the land east of the Mississippi, 
 
154 
 
 OUTLINE BISTORT OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 and northwest of the Ohio river was open to set- 
 tlement by American citizens. 
 
 In 1786, while Congress was in session in New 
 York City, Dr. Manasseh Cutler, a graduate of 
 Yale, a Puritan divine of a considerable scientific 
 attainments, visited that place, and had frequent 
 conferences with Dane of Blassachusetts, and Jef- 
 ferson, of Virginia, relative to the colonization of 
 the Oliio valley, and he secured certain provisions 
 in the celebrated "ordinance of 1787," among 
 others, the grant of land in each township for the 
 support of common schools, and also two 
 townships for the use of a University. 
 
 Under the auspices of Dr. Cutler, and a few 
 others, the first colony, in December, 1787, left 
 Massachusetts, and after a wearisome journey, on 
 April 7, 1788, reached Marietta, at the mouth of 
 the Muskingum River. 
 
 Among the families of this settlement was the 
 maternal grandfatlier of Governor Sibley, Colonel 
 Ebenezer Sproat, a gallant officer of Rhode Island, 
 in the war of the Rebellion, and a friend of Kos- 
 ciusko. • 
 
 Governor Sibley's mother, Sarah Sproat, was 
 sent to school to the then celebrated Moravian 
 Seminary at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and subse- 
 quently finished her education at Philadelphia. 
 In 1797 she returned to her wilderness home and 
 her father pui-chased for her pleasure a piano, said 
 to have been the first transported over the Alle- 
 ghany Mountains. Soon after this Solomon Sibley, 
 a young lawyer, a native of Sutton, Massachusetts, 
 visited Marietta, and become acquainted and at- 
 tached to Sarah Sproat, and in 1802, they were 
 married. The next year Mrs. Sibley went to De- 
 troit where her husband had settled, and she com- 
 menced housekeeping opposite where the Biddle 
 House is situated in that city. In 1799, Gover- 
 nor Sibley's father was a representative from the 
 region now known as Michigan, in the first Ter- 
 ritorial Legislature of Northwest, which met at 
 Cincinnati. From 1820 to 1823 he was delegate 
 to Congress from Michigan, and in 1824 he became 
 judge of the supreme court, and in 1836 resigned. 
 Respected by all, on the 4th of April he died. 
 
 His son, Henry Hastings Sibley, was born in 
 February, 1811, in the city of Detroit. At the age 
 of seventeen, relinquishing the study of law, he 
 became a clerk at Sault St. Marie and then was 
 employed by Robert Stuart, of the American Fur 
 Company at Mackinaw. In 1834 he was placed in 
 charge of the Indian trade above Lake Pepin with 
 
 his new quarters at the mouth of the Minnesota 
 River. 
 
 In 1836, he built the first stone residence ia 
 Minnesota, without the military reservation, at 
 Mendota, and here he was given to hospitality. 
 The missionary of the cross, and the man of sci- 
 ence, the officer of the army, and the tourist from 
 a foreign land, were received with a friendliness 
 that caused them to forget while under his roof 
 that they were strangers in a strange land. 
 
 In 1843, he was married to Sarah J. Steele, the 
 sister of Franklin Steele, at Fort Snelling. 
 
 On August 6th, 1846, Congress authorized the 
 people of Wisconsin to organize a State govern- 
 ment with the St. Croix River as a part of its west- 
 em boundary, thus leaving that portion of Wis- 
 consin territory between the St. Croix and Missis- 
 sippi Rivers st 11 under the direct supervison of 
 Congress, and the Hon. M. L. Martin, the dele- 
 gate of Wisconsin territory in Congress, intro- 
 duced a bill to organize the territory of Minnesota 
 including portions of Wisconsin and Iowa. 
 
 It was not until the 29th of May, 1848, how- 
 ever, that Wisconsin territory east of the Saint 
 Croix, was reorganized as a State. On the 30th 
 of October, Mr. Sibley, who was a resident of Iowa 
 territory, was elected delegate to Congress, and 
 after encountering many difficulties, was at length 
 admitted to a seat. 
 
 On the 3d of March, 1849, a law was approved 
 by the President for the organization of Minne- 
 sota, teritory, and in the faU of that year he was 
 elected the first delegate of the new Territory, as 
 his father had been at an early period elected a 
 delegate from the then new Michigan territory. In 
 1851, he was elected for another term of two 
 years. 
 
 In 1857, he was a member of the convention to 
 frame a State constitution for Minnesota, and was 
 elected presiding officer by the democrats. By 
 the same party he was nominated for Governor and 
 eleetel by a sm ill majority over the republican 
 candidate, Alexander Rm sey. 
 
 Minnesota was admitted as a State on the 11th 
 of May, 1858, and on the 28th Governor Sibley 
 deUvered his inaugural message. 
 
 After a residence of twenty-eight years at Men- 
 dota, in 1862, he became a resident of Saint Paul. 
 At the beginning of the Sioux outbreak, C-ivemor 
 Ramsey appointed him Colonel, and placed him 
 at the head of the forces employed against the In- 
 dians. On the 23d of September, 1862, he fought 
 
SKlcrvJIES OF PUBLIC MEN. 
 
 155 
 
 the severe and decisive battle of Wood Lake. In 
 March, 1863, he was confirmed by the senate as 
 Brigadier General, and on the 29th of November, 
 1865, he was appointed Brevet Major General for 
 efficient and meritorious services. 
 
 Since the war he has taken an active interest in 
 every enterprise formed for the advancement of 
 Minnesota, and for the benefit of St. Paul, the city 
 of his residence. His sympathetic nature leads 
 him to open his ear, and also his purse to those in 
 distress, and among his chief mourners when he 
 leaves this world will be the many poor he has be- 
 friended, and the faint-hearted who took courage 
 from his words of kindness. His beloved wife, in 
 May, 1869, departed this life, leaving four chil- 
 dren, two daughters and two sons. 
 
 GOVEBXOR EAMSET, JAIfUARY 1860 TO APRIL 1863. 
 
 Alexander Ramsey, the first Territorial Gov- 
 ernor, was elected the second State Governor, as 
 has already been mentioned on another page. Be- 
 fore his last term of office exjjired he was elected 
 United States Senator by the Legislature, and 
 Lieutenant Governor Swift became Governor, for 
 the unexpired term. 
 
 GOVEBNOB SWIFT, APRIL, 18G3 TO JANUARY, 1864. 
 
 Henry A. Swift was the son of a physician. Dr. 
 .John Swift, and on the 23d of March, 1823, was 
 born at Kavenna, Ohio. In 1842, he graduated at 
 Western Reserve College, at Hudson, in the same 
 State, and in 1815 was admitted to the practice of 
 tlie law. During the winter of 1846-7, he was an 
 assistant clerk of the lower house of the Ohio 
 Legislature, and his quiet manner and methodic 
 method of business made a favorable imjjression. 
 The next year he was elected the Chief Clerk, and 
 continued in office for two years. For two or 
 three years he was Secretary of the Portage Farm- 
 ers' Insurance Company. In April, 1853, he 
 came to St. Paul, and engaged in merchandise and 
 other occupations, and in 1856, became one of the 
 founders of St. Peter. At the election of 1861, he 
 was elected a State Senator for two years. In 
 March, 1863, by the resignation of Lieutenant 
 Governor Donnelly, who had been elected to the 
 United States House of Representatives, he was 
 chosen temporary President of the Senate, and 
 when Governor Ramsey, in April, 1863, left the 
 gubernatorial chair, for a seat in the United States 
 Senate he became the acting Governor. When he 
 ceased to act as Governor, he was again elected to 
 
 the State Senate, and served during the years 
 1864 and 1865, and was then appointed by the 
 President, Register of the Land Office at St. Peter. 
 On the 25th of February, 1869 he died. 
 
 GOVEENOR MILLER — A. D. 18(34 TO A. D. 1866. 
 
 Stephen A. Miller was the grandson of a Ger- 
 man immigrant who about the year 1785 settled 
 in Pennsylvania. His parents were David and 
 Rosanna MUler, and on the 7th of J.anuary, 1816, 
 he was born in what is now Perry county in that 
 State. 
 
 He was like many of our best citizens, obliged 
 to bear the yoke in his yonth. At one time he 
 was a canal boy and when quite a youth was in 
 charge of a canal boat. Fond of reading he ac- 
 quired much information, and of pleasing address 
 he made friends, so that in 1837 he became a for- 
 warding and commission merchant in Harrisburg. 
 He always felt an interest in public affairs, and 
 was an efficient speaker at political meetings. In 
 1849 he was elected Prothonatary of Dauphin 
 county. Pa., and from 1853 to 1855 was editor of 
 the Harrisburg Telegraph; then Governor Pol- 
 lock, of Pennsylvania, ajjpointed him Flour In- 
 spector for PhOadelpbia, which office he held until 
 1858, when he removed to Minnesota on account of 
 his health, and opened a store at Saint Cloud. 
 
 In 1861, Governor Ramsey who had known him 
 in Pennsylvania, appointed him Lieutenant Colo 
 nel of the First Regiment of Minnesota Volunteers, 
 and was jsresent with his regiment on July 21st of 
 that year in the eventful battle of Bull Run. 
 Gorman in his report of the return of the First 
 Minnesota Piegiment on that occasion wrote: "Be- 
 fore leaving the field, a portion of the right wing, 
 owing to the configuration of the ground and in- 
 tervening woods, became detached, under the com- 
 mand of Lt. Col. Miller whose gallantry was con- 
 spicuiHis throughout the entire battle, and who 
 contended every inch of the ground with his for- 
 ces thrown out as sldrmishers in the woods, and 
 succeeded in occupying the original ground on 
 the right, after the repulse of a body of cavalry." 
 
 After this engagement, his friend Simon Cam- 
 eron, the Secretary of War, tendered him a posi- 
 tion in the regular army which he declined. 
 
 Although in ill health he continued with the 
 regiment, and was present at Fair Oaks and Mal- 
 vern Hill. 
 
 In September, 1862, he was made Colonel of the 
 Seventh Regiment, and proceeded against the 
 
15G 
 
 OUTLINE niSTORT OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 Sioux Indians who had massacred so many set- 
 tlers in the Upper Minnesota Valley, and in De- 
 cember he was the Colonel commanding at Man- 
 kato, and under his supervision, thirty -eight 
 Siox, condemned for participation in the killing 
 of white persons, on the 26th of February, 1863, 
 were executed by hanging from gallows, upon one 
 scaffold, at the same time. This year he was made 
 Brigadier General, and also nominated by the re- 
 pubUcans for Governor, to which oflBce he was 
 elected for two years, and in January, 1864, en- 
 entered upon its duties. 
 
 In 1873, he was elected to the Legislature for 
 a district in the southwestern portion of the State, 
 and in 1876, was a Presidential elector, and bore 
 the electoral vote to Washington. 
 
 During the latter years of his life he was em- 
 ployed as a land agent by the St. Paul & Sioux 
 City Kailroad Company. In 1881 he died. He 
 was married in 1839 to Margaret Funk, and they 
 had three sons, and a daughter who died in early 
 childhood. His son Wesley, a Lieutenant in the 
 United States Army, fell in battle at Gettysburg; 
 his second son was a Commissary of Subsistence, 
 but is now a private; and his youngest son is in 
 the service of a Pennsylvania railroad. 
 
 GOVEENOB MAKSHAI;, A. D. 1866 to A. D. 1870. 
 
 William Kainey Marshall is the son of Joseph 
 Marshall, a farmer and native of Bourbon county, 
 Kentucky, whose wife was Abigail Shaw, of Penn- 
 sylvania. He was born on the 17th of October, 
 182.5, in Boone county, Missouri. His boyhood 
 was passed in Quincy, Illinois, and before he at- 
 tained to manhood he went to the lead mine dis- 
 trict of Wisconsin, and engaged in mining and 
 surveying. 
 
 In Sejjtember, 1847, when twenty-two years of 
 age, he came to the Falls of St. Croix, and in a 
 few months visited the Falls of St. Anthony, staked 
 out a claim and returned. In the spring of 1848, 
 he was elected to the Wisconpin legislature, but 
 his seat was contested on the ground that he 
 lived beyond the boundaries of the state of Wis- 
 consin. In 1849, he again visited the Falls of St. 
 Anthony, perfected his claim, opened a store, and 
 represented that district in the lower house of the 
 first Territorial legislature. In 1851, he came to 
 St. Paul and established an iron and heavy hard- 
 ware business. 
 
 In 1852, he hold the office of County Surveyor, 
 and the next year, with his brother Joseph and 
 
 N. P. Langford, he went into the banking busi- 
 ness. In January, 1861, he became the editor of 
 the Daily Press, which succeeded the Daily Times. 
 
 In August, 1862, he was commissioned Lieut. 
 Colonel of the Seventh Minnesota Regiment of In- 
 fantry and proceeded to meet the Sioux who had 
 been engaged in the massacre of the settlers of 
 the Minnesota valley. In a few weeks, on the 23d 
 of Seistember, 1862, he was in the battle of Wood 
 Lake, and led a charge of five companies of his 
 own regiment, and two of the Sixth, which routed 
 the Sioux, sheltered in a ravine. 
 
 In November, 1863, he became Colonel of the 
 Seventh Regiment. After the campaign in the 
 Indian country the regiment was ordered south, 
 and he gallantly led his command, on the 14th of 
 July, 1864, at the battle near Tupelo, Mississippi. 
 In the conflict before Nashville, in December, he 
 acted as a Brigade commander, and in April, 1865, 
 he was present at the surrender of Mobile. 
 
 In 1865, he was nominated by the Republican 
 party, and elected Governor of Minnesota, and in 
 1867, he was again nominated and elected. He 
 entered upon his duties as Governor, in January, 
 1866, and retired in 1870, after four years of 
 service. 
 
 In 1870, he became vice-president of the bank 
 which was known as the Marine National, which 
 has ceased to exist, and was engaged in other en- 
 terprises. 
 
 In 1874, he was appointed one of the board of 
 Railroad Commissioners, and in 1875, by a change 
 of the law, he was elected Railroad Commissioner, 
 anduntd January, 1882, discharged its duties. 
 
 He has always been ready to help in any move- 
 ment which would tend to promote the happiness 
 and intelHgence of humanity. 
 
 On the 22d of March, 1854, he was married to 
 Abby Langford, of Utioa, and has had one child, 
 a son. 
 
 GOVERNOR AUSTIN A. D. 1870 TO A. D. 1874. 
 
 Horace Austin, about the year 1831, was bom 
 in Connecticut. His father was a blacksmith, and 
 for a time he was engaged in the same occupation. 
 Determined to be something in the world, for sev- 
 eral years, during the winter, he taught school. 
 He then entered the oflBce of a well known law 
 firm at Augusta, Maine, and in 1854 came west. 
 For a brief period he had charge of a school at 
 the Falls of Saint Anthony. 
 
 In 1856, he became a resident of St. Peter, on 
 
SKETCHES OF PUBLIC MEN. 
 
 157 
 
 the Minnesota Kiver. In 1863, in the expedition 
 against the Sioux Indians, he served as captain in 
 the volunteer cavalry. In 1869, he was elected 
 Governor, and in 1871 he was re-elected. Soon 
 after the termination of his second gubernatorial 
 term, he was appointed Auditor of the United 
 States Treasury at Washington. He has since 
 been a United States Laud Officer in Dakota ter- 
 ritory, but at present is residing at Fergus Falls, 
 Minnesota. 
 
 GOVERNOR DAVIS A. D. 1874 TO A. D. 1876. 
 
 Cushman Kellog Davis, the son of Horatio M. 
 and Clarissa F. Davis, on the ICth of June, 1838, 
 was born at Henderson, .Jefferson county. New 
 York. When he was a babe biit a few months old, 
 his father moved to Waukesha, Wisconsin, and 
 opened a farm. At Waukesha, Carroll College 
 had been commenced, and in this institution Gov- 
 ernor Davis was partly educated, but in 18.57 grad- 
 uated at the University of Michigan. 
 
 He read law at Waukesha with Alexander Ran- 
 dall, who was Governor of Wisconsin, and at a 
 later period Postmaster General of the United 
 States, and in 1859 was admitted to the bar. 
 
 In 1862, he was commissioned as first lieuten- 
 ant of the 28th Wisconsin Infantry, and in time 
 became the adjutant general of Brigadier General 
 Willis A. Gorman, ex-Governor of Minnesota, but 
 in 1864, owing to ill health he left the army. 
 
 Coming to Saint Paul in August, 1864, he en- 
 tered upon the practice of his profession, and 
 formed a partnership with ex-Governor Gorman. 
 Gifted with a vigorous mind, a fine voice, and an 
 impressive sj^eaker, he soon took high rank in his 
 profession. 
 
 In 1867, he was elected to the lower house of 
 the legislatirre, and the next year was commisioned 
 United States District Attorney, which position 
 he occupied for five years. 
 
 In 1863, he was nominated by the republicans, 
 and elected Governor. Entering upon the duties 
 of the office in 1874, he served two years. 
 
 Since his retirement he has had a large legal 
 practice, and is frequently asked to lecture u{)on 
 literary subjects, always interesting the audience. 
 
 GOVERNOR PILLSBURY — A. D. 1876 TO 1882. 
 
 John Sargent Pillsbury is of Puritan ancestry. 
 He IS the son of John and Susan Pillsbury, and 
 on the 29th of July, 1828, was bom at Sutton, 
 
 New Hampshire, where his father and grandfather 
 lived. 
 
 Like the sons of many Now Hampshire farmers, 
 he was obliged, at an early age, to work for a sup- 
 port. He commenced to learn house painting, but 
 at the age of sixteen was a boy in a country store. 
 When he was twenty-oue years of age, ho formed 
 a partnership with Walter Harriman, subsi'quoutly 
 Governor of New HamiJshire. After two years he 
 removed to Concord, and for four ye:irs was a tailor 
 and dealer in cloths. In 1853, he came to Michigan, 
 and in 1855, visited Minnesota, and was so pleased 
 that lie settled at St. Anthony, now the East Divi- 
 sion of the city of Minneapolis, and ojjened a 
 hardware store. Soon a fire destroyed his store 
 and stock upon which there was no insurance, but 
 by perseverance and hopefulness, he in time re- 
 covered from the loss, with the increased con (idenct 
 of his fellow men. For six years he was an efficient 
 member of the St. Anthony council. 
 
 In 1863, he was one of three appointed sole Re- 
 gents of the University of Minnesota, with powei 
 to liquidate a large indebtedness which had been 
 unwisely created in Territorial days. By his 
 carefulness, after two or three years the debt was 
 canceleil, and a large partion of the land granted 
 to the University saved. 
 
 In 1863, he was elected a State Senator, and 
 served for seven terms. In 1875, lie was nomi- 
 nated by the republicans and elected Governor; 
 in 1877, he was again elected, and in 1879 for the 
 third time he was chosen, the only person who has 
 served three successive terms as the Governor of 
 Minnesota. 
 
 By his courage and persistence he succeeded in 
 obtaining the settlement of the railroad bonds 
 which had been issued under the seal of the State, 
 and had for years been ignored, and thus injured 
 the credit of the State. 
 
 In 1872, with his nephew he engaged in the 
 manufacture of flour, and the firm owns several 
 mills. Lately they have erected a mill in the 
 East Division, one of the best and largest in the 
 world. 
 
 GOVERNOR HUBBARD, A. D. 1882. 
 
 Lucius Frederick Hubbard was born on the 26th 
 of January, 1836, at Troy, New York. His father, 
 Charles Frederick, at the time of his death was 
 Sheriff of Rensselaer county. At the age of six- 
 teen. Governor Hubbard left the North GranviUe 
 Academy, New York, and went to Poultney, Ver- 
 
158 
 
 OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 mont, to learn the tinner's trade, and after a short 
 period ha moved to Chicago, where he worked for 
 four years. 
 
 In 1857, he came to Minnesota, and established 
 a paper called the "Republican," which he con- 
 ducted until 186], when in December of that year 
 he enlisted as a private in the Fifth Minnesota 
 Regiment, and by his efficiency so commended 
 himself that in less than one year he became its 
 Colonel. At the battle of Nashville, after he had 
 been knocked oflf his horse by a ball, he rose, and 
 on foot led his command over the enemy's works. 
 "For gallant and meritorious service in the battle 
 of NashviUe, Tennessee, on the 15th and 16th of 
 December, 1861," he received the brevet rank of 
 Brigadier General. 
 
 After the war he returned to Red Wing, and has 
 been engaged in the grain and flour business. He 
 was State Senator ft-om 1871 to 1875, and in 1881 
 was elected Governor. He married in May, 1868, 
 Amelia Thomas, of Red Wing, and has three 
 children. 
 
 mibnbsota's kepkbsentatives in congkess of the 
 united states of america. 
 
 From March, 1819, to May, 1858, Minnesota 
 was a Territory, and entitled to send to the con- 
 gress of the United States, one delegate, with the 
 privilege of representing the interests of his con- 
 stituents, but not allowed to vote. 
 
 TEKBITOEIAI, DELEGATES. 
 
 Before the recognition of Minnesota as a sepa- 
 rate Ten-itory, Henry H. Sibley sat in Congress, 
 from January, 1819, as a delegate of the portion 
 Wisconsin territory which was beyond the boun- 
 daries of the state of Wisconsin, in 1848 admit- 
 ted to the Union. In September, 1850 he was 
 elected delegate by the citizens of Minnesota ter- 
 ritory, to Congress. 
 
 Henry M. Rice succeeded Mr. Sibley as delegate, 
 and took his seat in the thirty -third congress, which 
 convened on December 5th 1853, at Washington. He 
 was re-elected to the thirty-fourth Congress, which 
 as^;embled on the 3d of March, 1857. During his 
 term of office Congress passed an act extending 
 the pre-emption laws over the unsurveyed lands of 
 Minnesota, and Mr. Rice obtained valuable land 
 grants for the construction of railroads. 
 
 William W. Kingsbury was the last Territorial 
 delegate. He took his seat in the thirty-fifth con- 
 gress, which convened on the 7th of ] )ecember. 
 
 1857, and the next May his seat was vacated by 
 Minnesota becoming a State. 
 
 UNITED STATES SENATOES. 
 
 Henry M. Rice, who had been for four years 
 delegate to the House of Representatives, was on 
 the 19th of December, 1857, elected one of two 
 United States Senators. During his term the civil 
 war began, and he rendered efficient service to the 
 Union and the State he represented. He is still 
 living, an honored citizen in St. Paul. 
 
 James Shields, elected at the same time as Mr. 
 Rice, to the United States Senate, drew the short 
 term of two years. 
 
 Morton S. Wilkinson was chosen by a joint con- 
 vention of the Legislature, on December 15th, 
 1359, to succed General Shields. During the re- 
 bellion of the Slave States he was a firm supporter 
 of the Union. 
 
 Alexander Ramsey was elected by the Legisla- 
 ture, on the 14th of January, 1863, as the suc- 
 cessor of Henry M. Rice. The Legislature of 
 1869 re elected Mr. Ramsey for a second term of 
 six years, ending March 1875. For a full notice 
 see the 138th page. 
 
 Daniel S. Norton was, on January 10th, 1865, 
 elected to the United States Senate as the suc- 
 cessor of Mr. Wilkinson. Mr. Norton, who had 
 been in feeble health for years, died in June, 1870. 
 
 O. P. Stearns was elected on January 17th, 1871, 
 for the few weeks of the unexpired term of Mr. 
 Norton. 
 
 William Windom, so long a member of the 
 United States House of Representatives, was 
 elected United States Senator for a term of six 
 years, ending March Ith, 1877, and was re-elected 
 for a second term ending March 4th, 1883, but re- 
 signed, having been appointed Secretary of the 
 Treasury by President Garfield. 
 
 A. J. Edgerton, of Kasson, was appointed by 
 the Governor to fill the vacancy. President Gar- 
 field having been assassinated, and Mr. Edgerton 
 having been appointed Chief Justice of Dakota 
 territory, Mr. Windom, at a special session of the 
 Legislature in October, 1881, was re-elected 
 United States Senator. 
 
 S. J. R. MoTMiUan, of St. Paul, on the 19th of 
 February, 1875, was elected United States Sen- 
 ator for the term expiring March 4th, 1881, _nnd 
 has since been re-elected for a second term, which, 
 in JIarch. 1887, will expire. 
 
SKETCHES OF PUBLIC MEN. 
 
 159 
 
 REPRESENTATIVES IN THE U. S. HOUSE OF KEPUE- 
 
 SENTATIVES. 
 
 William W. Phelps was one of the first mem- 
 bers of the UuiteJ States House of Representatives 
 from Minnesota. Born in Michigan in 1826, he 
 graduated in 1846, at its State University. lu 
 1854, he came to Minnesota as Register of the 
 Land Office at Red Wing, and in 1857, was elected 
 a representative to Congress. 
 
 James M. Cavanaugh was of Irish parentage, 
 and came from Massachusetts. He was elected to 
 the same Congress as Mr. Phelps, and subsequently 
 removed to Colorado, where he died. 
 
 William Windom was born on May 10th, 1827,in 
 Belmont,county,Ohio. He was admitted to the bar 
 in 1850, and was, in 1853, elected Prosecuting At- 
 torney for Knox county, Ohio. The next year he 
 came to Minnesota, and has represented the State 
 in Congress ever since. 
 
 Cyrus Aldrich,of Minneapolis, Hennepin county, 
 was elected a member of the Thirty-sixth Con- 
 gress, which convened December 5th, 1859, and 
 was re-elected to the Thirty-seventh Congress. 
 
 Ignatius Donnelly was born in Philadelpliia in 
 1831. Graduated at the High School of that city, 
 and in 1853 was admitted to the bar. In 1857, 
 he came to Minnesota, and in 1859 was elected 
 Lt. Governor, and re-elected in 1861. He be- 
 came a representative of Minnesota in the United 
 States Congress which convened on December 7th, 
 1863, and was re-elected to the Thirty-ninth Con- 
 gress which convened on December -Ith, 1865. He 
 was also elected to the Fortieth congress, which 
 convened in December, 1867. Since 1873 he has 
 been an active State Senator from Dakota county, 
 in which he has been a resident, and Harper 
 Brothers have recently published a book f-rom his 
 pen of wide research called "Atlantis." 
 
 Eugene M. Wilson, of Minneap>olis, was elected 
 to the the Forty-first Congress, which assembled 
 in December, 1869. He was born December 25th, 
 1833, at Morgantown, Virginia, and graduated at 
 Jefferson College, Pennsylvania. From 1857 to 
 1861, he was United States District Attorney 
 for Minnesota. During the civil war he was cap- 
 tain in the First Blinnesota Cavalry. 
 
 Mr. Wilson's father, grandfather, and maternal 
 grandfather were members of Congress. 
 
 M. S. Wilkinson, of whom mention has been 
 made as U. S. Senator, was elected in 1868 a rep- 
 
 resentative to the congress which convened in De- 
 cember, 1869, and served one term. 
 
 !Mark H. Dunnell of Owatonna, in the fall of 
 1870, was elected from the First District to fill 
 the seat in the House of Representatives so long 
 occupied by Wm. Windom. 
 
 Mr. Dunnell, in July, 1823, was born at Bux- 
 ton, Maine. Ho graduated at the college estab- 
 lished at WaterviUe, in that State, in 1849. From 
 1855 to 1859 he was State Superintendent of 
 schools, and in 1860 commenced the practice of 
 law. For a short period he was Colonel of the 
 5th Maine regiment but resigned in 1862, and 
 was appointed U. S. Consul at Vera Cruz, Mexi- 
 co. In 1805, ho came to Minnesota, and was 
 State Superintendent of Pal)lio Instruction from 
 April, 1867 to August, 1870. Mr. Dunnell still 
 represents his district. 
 
 John T. Averill was elected in November, 1870, 
 from the Second District, to succeed Eugene M. 
 Wilson. 
 
 Mr. Averill was born at Alma, Maine, and com- 
 pleted his studies at the Maine Wesleyan Univer- 
 sity. He was a member of the Minnesota Senate 
 in 1858 and 1859, and during the rebellion was 
 Lieut. Colonel of the 6th Minnesota regiment. 
 He is a member of the enterprising firm of paper 
 manufacturers, Averill, Russell and Carpenter. 
 In the fall of 1872 he was re-elected as a member 
 of the Forty-second Congress, which convened in 
 December, 1873. 
 
 Horace B. Strait was elected to Forty-third and 
 Forty-fourth Congress, and is stUl a representative. 
 
 William S. King, of Minneapolis, was bom De- 
 cember 16, 1828, at Malone, New York. He has 
 been one of the most active citizens of Minnesota 
 in developing its commercial and agriculutral in- 
 terests. For several years he was Postmaster of 
 the United States House of Representatives, and 
 was elected to the Forty-fourth Congress, which 
 convened in 1875. 
 
 Jacob H. Stewart, M. D., was elected to the 
 Forty-fifth Congress, which convened in Decem- 
 ber, 1877. He was born January 15th, 1829, in 
 Columbia county, New York, and in 1851, grad- 
 uated at the University of New York. For sev- 
 eral years he practiced medicine at PeekskiU, New 
 York, and in 1S55, removed to St. Paul. In 1859, 
 he was elected to the State Senate, and was Chair- 
 man of the Railroad Committee. In 1864, he was 
 Mayor of St. Paul. He was Surgeon of the First 
 
160 
 
 OUTLINE HISTORY OF TEE STATE OF MINNESOTA 
 
 Jlinuesota, and taken prisoner at the first battle of 
 Bull Euu. From 1809 to 1873, he was again 
 Blayor of St. Paul, and is at the present titae 
 United States Surveyor General of the Minnesota 
 laud office. 
 
 Henry Poehler was the successor of Horace B. 
 Strait for the term ending March 4, 1881, when 
 Mr. Strait was again e'ccLed. 
 
 William Drew Washburn on the 14th of Jan- 
 uary, 1831, was born at Livermore, Maine, and in 
 1854, graduated at Bowdoin College. In 1857, he 
 came to Minnesota, and in 1861, was appointed by 
 the President, Surveyor General of U. S. Lands, 
 for this region. He has been one of the most 
 active among the business men of Minneapolis. 
 In November, 1878, he wa? elected to represent 
 the 3d district in the U. S. House of Eepresenta- 
 tives, and in 1880, re-elected. He is a brother of 
 C. C, late Governor of Wisconsin, and of E. B., 
 the Minister Plenipotentiiry of U. S. of America, 
 to Fiance, and resident in Paris during the late 
 Franco-German war. 
 
 RECAPITULATION TERRITORIAL GOVERNORS OF 
 
 MINNESOTA. 
 
 Alexander Earn <py 1SW^1S53 
 
 Willis A. Gormnii 1853-1857 
 
 Samuel Medary 1857 
 
 STATE GOVEUNORS. 
 
 Henry H. Sibley 1858-1860 
 
 Alexander Eams^-y 1860-1863 
 
 H. A. Swift, Acting Gov 1863-1864 
 
 Stephen Miller 1864-1866 
 
 W.E. Marshall 1866-1870 
 
 Horace Austin 1870-1874 
 
 C. K. Davis 1874-1876 
 
 John S. Pillsbury 1876-1882 
 
 L. F. Hubbard 1882 
 
 TERRITORIAL DELEQ VTE.i TO CONGRESS. 
 
 Henry H. Sibley 1849-1853 
 
 Henry M. Eice 1853-1857 
 
 W. W. Kingsbury 1857-1858 
 
 UNITED STATES SENATORS. 
 
 Henry M. Eice 1857-1863 
 
 James Shields 1857-1859 
 
 M. S. Wilkinson 1859-1865 
 
 Alexander Eamsey 1863-1875 
 
 Daniel S. Norton 1865-1870 
 
 O. P. Stearns 1871 
 
 Wilham Windom 1871 
 
 A. J. Edgertou 1881 
 
 S. J. E. McMillan 1875 
 
 MEMBERS UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTA- 
 TIVES. 
 
 W. W. Phelps 1857-1859 
 
 J. M. Cavanaugh 1857-1859 
 
 William Windom 1859-1871 
 
 Cyrus Aldrich 1859-1863 
 
 Ignatius Donnelly 1863-1869 
 
 Eugene M. Wilson 1869-1871 
 
 M. S. Wilkinson 1869-1771 
 
 M. H. Dunnell 1871 
 
 J. T. Averill 1871-1875 
 
 H. B. Strait , . 1875-1879 
 
 1881 
 
 Henry Poehler 1879-1S81 
 
 W.8. King 1875-1877 
 
 J. H. Stewart 1877-1879 
 
 W. D. Washburn 1879 
 
STATE KnUCATIOX. 
 
 Ifil 
 
 STATE EDUCATION. 
 
 BY CUAULE8 8. BHVANT. A. M. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIIT. 
 
 EDDCATION — DEFINITION OF THE WOBD -CHURCH 
 
 AND STATE SEPAKATED COLONIAL PERIOD 
 
 HOWAKD COLLEOE — WILLIAM PENn's GKK\T LAW 
 WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEUE STATE EDUCA- 
 TION UNDER THE CONFEDERATION — AID GIVEN TO 
 STATES IN THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 As a word, education is of wide a|)plication and 
 may convey hut an indefinite idea. Broadly, it 
 means to draw out, to lead forth, to train np, to 
 foster, to enable the individual to properly use the 
 faculties, mental or corporal, with which he is en- 
 dowed; and to use them iu a way that will accom- 
 plish the desired result in all relations and in any 
 department of industry, whether in the domain of 
 intellectual research, or confined to the fields of 
 physical labor. 
 
 State Education points at once to a definite field 
 of investigation; an organization which is to have 
 extensive direction and control of the subject matter 
 embraced in the terms chosen. It at once excludes 
 the conclusion that any other species of education 
 than secular education is intended. It excludes all 
 other kinds of education not included in this term, 
 without the slightest reflection upon parochial, sec- 
 tarian, denominational or individual schools; inde- 
 pendent or corporate educational organizations. 
 State Education, then, may embrace whatever is 
 required by the State, in the due execution of its 
 mission in the protection of indi^^dual rights and 
 the proper advancement of the citizen in material 
 prosperity; in short whatever may contribute in 
 ;my way to the honor, dignity, and fair fame of a 
 State; whose sovereign will directs, and, to a very 
 great extent, controls the destiny of its subjects. 
 
 11 
 
 A reason may be given for this special depart- 
 ment of education, without ignoring any others 
 arising from the necessity of civil government, and 
 its necessary separation from ecclesiastical control. 
 It must be oljserved by every reasoning mind, that 
 iu the advancement and growth of social elements 
 from savagery through families and tribes to civil- 
 ization, and the better forms of government, that 
 in the increasing growth multiplied industries 
 continually lead to a resistless demand for devision 
 of labor, both intellectual and physical. This 
 division must eventually lead, in every form of 
 government, to a separation of what may be termed 
 Church and State; and, of course, in such division 
 every separate organization must control the ele- 
 ments necessary to sustain its own perpetuity; foi- 
 otherwise its identity would be lost, and it woulil 
 cease to have any recognized existence. 
 
 In these divisions of labor, severally organized 
 for different and entirely distinct objects, mutual 
 benefits must result, not from any invasion of the 
 separate rights of the one or the other, by hostile 
 aggression, but by reason of the greatest harmony 
 of elements, and hence greater perfection iu the 
 labors of each, when limited to the promotion of 
 each separate and peculiar work. In the division, 
 one would be directed towards the temporal, the 
 other toward the spiritual advancement of man, in 
 any and all relations which he sustains, not only 
 to his fellow men, but to the material or immaterial 
 universe. These departments of labor are suffic- 
 iently broad, although intimately related, to requke 
 the best directed energies of each, to properly cul- 
 tivate their separate fields. And an evidence of 
 the real harmony existing between these orgauiza- 
 
162 
 
 STATE EDUCATION. 
 
 tions, the Church and State, relative to the present 
 investigation, is found in the admitted fact that 
 education, both temporal and spiritual, secular and 
 sectarian, was a principal of the original organiza- 
 tion, and not in conflict with its highest duty, or its 
 most vigorous growth. In the division of the 
 original organization, that department of educa- 
 tion, which was only spiritual, was retained with 
 its necessary adjuncts, while that which was only 
 temporal was relegated to a new organization, the 
 temporal organization, the State. The separate 
 elements are still of the same quality, although 
 wielded by two instead of one organization. In 
 this respect educaticm may be compared to the 
 diamond, which when broken and subdivided into 
 most minute particles, each separate particle re- 
 tains not only the form and number of facets, but 
 the brilliaucy of the original diamond. So in the 
 case before us, though education has suffered 
 division, and has been appropriated by different 
 organisms, it is nevertheless the same in nature, 
 and retains the same quahty and luster of the 
 parent original. 
 
 The laws of growth in these separate organiza- 
 tions, the Church composed of every creed, and 
 the State in every form of government, must de- 
 termine the extent to which their special educa- 
 tion shall be carried. If it shall be determined 
 by the chiirch, that her teachers, leaders, and fol- 
 lowers in any stage of its growth, shall )je limited 
 iu their acquisitions to the simple elements of 
 knowledge, reading, writing, and arithmetic, it may 
 be determined that the State should limit educa- 
 tion to the same simple elements. But as the 
 Church, conscious of its immature growth, has 
 never restricted her leaders, teachers, or followers, 
 to these simple elements of knowledge; neither 
 has the State seen fit to limit, nor can it ever limit 
 education to any standard short of the extreme 
 limits of its growth, the fullest development of 
 its resources, and the demands of its citizens. 
 State Education and Church Education are alike 
 in their infancy, and no one is able to prescribe 
 limits to tlie one or the other. The separation of 
 Church and State, in matters of government only, 
 is yet of very narrow limits, and is of very recent 
 origin. And the separation of Church and State, 
 in matters of educati(jn, has not yet clearly dawneil 
 upon the minds of the accredited leaders of these! 
 clearly distinct organizations. 
 
 It is rational, however, to conclude, that among 
 
 reasonable men, it would be quite as easy to de- 
 termine the final triumph of State Education, as 
 to determine the fmal success of the Christian 
 faith over Buddhism, or the final triumph of man 
 in the subjugation of the earth to his control. 
 The decree has gone forth, that man shall subdue 
 the earth; so that, guided by the higher law, Ed- 
 ucation, under the direction or protection of the 
 State, must prove a final success, for only by 
 organic, scientific, and human instrumentality can 
 the purpose of the Creator be jxissibly accom- 
 plished on earth. 
 
 If we have found greater perfection in quality, 
 and better adaptation of methods in the work done 
 by these organizations since the separation, we 
 must conclude that the triumphs of each will be 
 in proportion to the completeness of the separa- 
 tion; and that the countries the least shackled by 
 entangling alliances in this regard, must, other 
 things being equal, lead the ■ van, both in the ad- 
 vancement of science and in the triumphs of an 
 enlightened faith. And we can, by a very slight 
 comparison of the present with the past, deter- 
 mine for oiu'selves, that the scientific curriculum of 
 State schools has been greatly widened and en- 
 riched, and its methods better adapted to proposed 
 ends. We can as easily ascertain the important 
 fact that those countries are in advance, where the 
 two great organizations. Church and State, are 
 least in conflict. We know also, that from the 
 nature of the human movement westward, that 
 the best defined conditions of these organizations 
 shoidd be found in the van of this movement. On 
 this continent, then, the highest development of 
 these organizations should be found, at least, when 
 time shall have matured its natural results in the 
 growth and polish of our institutions. Even now, 
 iu our infancy, what country on earth can show 
 ecpial results in either the growth of general 
 knowledge, the advance of education, or the tri- 
 umphs of Christian labor at home and abroad ? 
 These are the legitimate fruits of the wonderful 
 energy given to the mind of man in the separate 
 labors of these organizations, on the principle of 
 the division of labor, and consequently better di- 
 rected energies in every department of industry. 
 This movement is onward, across the continent, 
 and thence around the globe. Its force is irrosist- 
 able, and all efforts to reunite these happily di- 
 \ided powers, aud to return to the culture of past 
 times, aud the governments aud laws of past ages, 
 
COLONIAL PERIOD. 
 
 1(53 
 
 must be as unavailing as an attempt to reverse 
 tlie laws of nature. In their separation and 
 friendly rivalry, exists the hope of man's temporal 
 and sjjiritual elt>vation. 
 
 State Education is natural in its application. 
 In the begidning God created the heavens and the 
 earth, and every organism after its own kind. 
 Now, in pursuance of this well known law of na- 
 ture, that everything created is made after its own 
 order and its own likeness, it follows that the new 
 comers on this continent brought with them the 
 germ of national and spiritual life. If we are 
 right in this interpretation of the laws of life re- 
 lating to living organisms, we shall expect to find 
 its proper manifestation in the early institutions 
 they created for their own sjiecial purposes imme- 
 diately after their arrival here. We look into 
 their history, and we find that by authority of the 
 General Court of Massachusetts, in 1636, sixteen 
 years after the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, 
 Harvard College was established, as an existing 
 identity, that in 1638, it was endowed by John 
 Harvard, and named after him. But the Common 
 School was not overlooked. At a public meeting 
 in Boston, April 13th lG3(i, it was "generally 
 agreed that one Philemon Pormout be entreated 
 to become schoolmaster tor teaching and nourter- 
 ing children." 
 
 After the date above, matters of education ran 
 through the civil auth(irity, and is forcibly ex- 
 pressed in the acts of 1642 and 1647, jiassed by 
 the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Col- 
 ony. By the act of 1642, the select men of every 
 town are required to have vigilant eye over their 
 brothers and neighbors, to see, first, that none of 
 them shall suffer so much barbarism in any of 
 their families, as not to endeavor to teach, by them- 
 selves or others, their children and apprentices so 
 much learning as shall enable them i^ertectly to 
 read the English tongue, and knowledge of the 
 Capital laws, under penalty of twenty shillings 
 lor each offence. By the act of 1647, support of 
 schools was made compulsory, and their blessings 
 universal. By this law "every town containing 
 fifty house-holders was required to appoint a 
 teacher, to teach all children as shall resort to him 
 to write and read;" and every town containing one 
 hivndred families or house-holders was required to 
 "set up grammar schools, the master thereof being 
 able to instruct youths so far as they may be fitted 
 for the Dniversitv." 
 
 In New Amsterdam, among the Reformed Prot- 
 estant Butch, the conception of a school system 
 guaranteed aud protected by the State, seems to 
 have been entertained by the colonists from Hoi- 
 laud, although cu'cumstances hindered its practi- 
 cal development. The same general statement is 
 true of the mixed settlements along the Delaware; 
 Menonites, Catholics, Dutch, and Swedes, in con- 
 nection with their churches, established little 
 schools in their early settlements. In 1G82, the 
 legislative assembly met at Chester. William 
 Penn made provision for the education of youth 
 of ihe province, and enacted, that the Governor 
 and provincial Council should erect and order all 
 public schools. One section of Penn's "Great 
 law" is in the woi'ds following: 
 
 "Be it enacted by authority aforesaid, that all 
 jjersons within the province and territories thereof, 
 having children, and all the guardians and trus- 
 tees of orphans, shall cause such to be instructed 
 in reading and writing, so that they may be able 
 to read the scriptures aud to write by tlie time that 
 they attain the age of 12 years, aud that they then 
 be taught some usefiil trade or skill, that the poor 
 may work to live, and the rich, if they become 
 poor, may not want; of which every county shall 
 take care. And in case such parents, guardians, 
 or overseers shall be found deficient in this respect, 
 every such parent, guardian, or overseer, shall pay 
 for every such child five pounds, except there 
 should appear incapacity of body or understanding 
 to hinder it." 
 
 And this "Great law" of WiUiam Penn, of 1682, 
 will not sutler in comparison with the English 
 statute on State Education, passed in 1870, and 
 amended in 1877, one hundi'ed and ninety-five 
 years later. In this respect, America is two hun- 
 dred years in advance of Great Britain in State 
 education. But our present limits will not allow 
 us to compare American and English State school 
 systems. 
 
 In 1693, the assembly of Pennsylvania passed a 
 second school law providing for the education of 
 youth in every county . These elementary 
 schools were free for boys and girls. In 1755, 
 Pennsylvania College was endowed, and became a 
 University in 1779. 
 
 In Virginia, William and Mary College was 
 famous even in colonial times. It was supported 
 by direct State aid. In 1726, a tax was levied on 
 liquors for its benefit by the House of Burgesses; 
 
164 
 
 STATE hiDUCATION. 
 
 in 1759, a tax on peJdIew was given this college 
 by law, and from various revenues it was, in 1776, 
 tlie richest college in North America. 
 
 These extracts from the early history of State 
 Education in pre-Colonial and Colonial times give 
 abundant evidence of the nature of the organisms 
 planted in American soil by the Pilgrim Fathers 
 and their successors, as well as other early settlers 
 ou our Atlantic coast. The inner life has kept 
 pace with the re(|uirements of the external organ- 
 izations, as the body assumes still greater and 
 more national proportions. The inner life grew 
 with the exterior demands. 
 
 On the 9th of July, 1787, it was proclaimed to 
 the world, that ou the 15th of November, 1778, in 
 the second year of the independence of America, 
 the several colonies of New Hampshire, Massa- 
 chusetts Bay, Bhode Island, Providence Planta- 
 tions, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Penn- 
 sylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North 
 Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia had entered 
 into a Confederate Union. 
 
 This Confederate Union, thus organized as a 
 Government, was able to receive grants of land 
 and to hold the same for such purposes as it saw 
 proper. To the new government cessions were 
 made by several of the States, from 1781 to 1802, 
 of which the Virginia grant was the most im- 
 portant. 
 
 The Confederate Government, on the 13th of 
 ■luly, 1787, and within less than four years after 
 the reception of the Virginia Laud Grant, known 
 as the Northwest Territory, passed the ever memo- 
 rable ordinance of 1787. Tliis was the first real 
 estate to which the Confederation had acquired 
 the absolute title in its own right. The legal 
 government had its origin September 17th, 1787, 
 while the ordinance for the government of the 
 Northwest Territory was passed two months and 
 four days before. Article Third of the renowned 
 ordinance reads as follows: 
 
 "Religion, morality, and knowledge being nec- 
 essary to good government and the happiness ol 
 mankind, schools and the means of education shall 
 forever be encouraged." 
 
 What is the territory embraced by this authori- 
 tative enunciation of the Confederate Government? 
 The extent of the land embraced is almost if not 
 quite ecpial to the area of the original thirteen colo- 
 nies. Out of this munificent possession added to the 
 infant American Union, have since been carved, by 
 
 the authority of the United States government, the 
 princely states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michi- 
 gan, Wisconsin, and in part Minnesota. In this 
 vast region at least, the Government has said that 
 education "shall be forever encouraged." En- 
 couraged how and by whom? Encouraged by 
 the Government, by the legal State, by the su- 
 preme power of the land. This announcement of 
 governmental aid to State schools was no idle 
 boast, made for the encouragement of a delusive 
 hope, but the enunciation of a great truth, in- 
 spired by the spirit of a higher life, now kindled 
 in this new American temple, in which the Creator 
 intended man should worship him according to the 
 dictates of an enlightened conscience, "where none 
 should molest or make him afraid." 
 
 The early Confederation passed away, but the 
 spirit that animated the organism was immortal, 
 and immediately manifested itself iu the new. Gov- 
 ernment, under our present constitution. On the 
 17th of September, 1787, two months and four 
 days from the date of the ordinance erecting the 
 Northwest Territory was adopted, the new Con- 
 stitution was inaugurated. The first State gov- 
 ernment erected in the new territory was the state 
 of Ohio, in 1802. The enabling act, passed by 
 Congress on this accession of the first new State, 
 a part of the new acquisition, contains this sub- 
 stantial evidence that State aid was faithfully 
 remembered and readily offered to the cause of 
 education : 
 
 Sec. 3: "That the following proposition be and 
 the same is hereby oilered to the convention of the 
 eastern States of said territory, when formed, for 
 their free acce])tance or rejection, which it accejjted 
 by tlie convention shall be obligatory upon the 
 United States: 
 
 " That section number sixteen in every town- 
 ship, and where such section has been scjld, granted 
 or dis2)oned of, olhei' lauds equivalent thereto, and 
 most contiguous to the same, shall be granted to 
 the inhabitants of such township for the use of 
 schools." 
 
 The proposition of course was duly accepted by 
 the vote of the people in the adoiotion of theii 
 constitution prior to their admission to the Union, 
 and on March 3d, 1803, Congress granted to Ohio^ 
 in addition to section sixteen, an additional grant 
 of one complete townshij) for the purpose of estab- 
 lishing any higher institutions of learning. This 
 was the beginning of substantial national recngni- 
 
AID TO STATES IN THE NOIiTUWEST TEIiRlTOIlY. 
 
 1C5 
 
 tion of St;ite aid to schools by grants of land out of 
 the uatioiuil domaiu, but the government aid di<l 
 not end in this first effort. The next State, Indi- 
 ana, admitted in 1816, was granted the same sec- 
 tion, number sixteen in eaeh townsliip; and in 
 addition thereto, two townships of land wore ex- 
 pressly granted for a seminary of learning. In the 
 admission of Illinois, in 1818, the section numbered 
 sixteen in each township, and two entire townships 
 in addition thereto, for a seminary of learning and 
 the title thereto vested in the legislature. In the 
 admission of Michigan in 18.3G, the same section 
 sixteen, and seventy-two sections in addition there- 
 to, were set apart to said State for the purpose of 
 a State University. In the admission of Wis- 
 consin, in 1818, the same provision was made as 
 was made to the other States previously formed 
 out of the new territory. This was the com- 
 mencement. 
 
 These five States completed the list of States 
 which could exist in the territory northwest of the 
 Ohio Eiver. Minnesota, the next State, in part 
 lying east of the Mississippi, and in part west, 
 takes its territory from two different sources; that 
 east of the Father of Waters, from Virginia, which 
 was embraced in the Northwest Territory, and that 
 lying west of the same from the " Louisiana Pur- 
 chase," bought of France by treaty of April 30, 
 1803, including also the territory west of the Mis- 
 sippi, which Napoleon had previously acquired 
 from Spain. The greater portion of Minnesota, 
 therefore lies outside the first territorial acquisi- 
 tion of the Government of the United States; and 
 yet the living spirit that inspired tlie early grants 
 out of the first acquisition, had lost nothing of its 
 fervor in the grant made to the New Northwest. 
 When the Territory of Minnesota was organized, 
 Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, then a Senator in Con- 
 gress from the state of Illinois, noI:)ly advocated 
 the claims of Minnesota to an increased amount of 
 Government aid for the support of schools, extend- 
 ing from the Coinmon school to the University. 
 By Mr. Douglas' very able, disinterested and gen- 
 erous assistance and support in Congress, aided by 
 Hon. H. M. Rice, then Delegate from Minnesota, 
 
 our enabling act was made still more liberal in 
 relation to State Education, than that of any State 
 or Territory yet admitted or organized in the 
 amount of lauds granted to schools generally. 
 
 Section eighteen of the enabling act, passed on 
 the 3d of March, 1849, is as follows: 
 
 "And be it further enacted, That when the lands 
 in said Territory shall be surveyed under the direc- 
 tion of the Government of the United States, pre- 
 paratory to bringing the same into market, sec- 
 tions numbered sixteen and thirty-six in each town- 
 ship in said Territory, shall be, and the same are 
 hereby reserved for the purpose of being ajiplied 
 to schools in said Territory, and in the States and 
 Territories hereafter to be created out of the same." 
 
 As the additions to the family of States increase 
 westward, the national domain is still more freely 
 contributed to the use of schools; and the charac- 
 ter of the education demanded by the people 
 made more and more definite. In 18.51, while 
 Oregon and Minnesota were yet territories of the 
 United States, Congress passed the following act: 
 
 " Be it enacted by the Senate and House of 
 Representatives of America, in Congress assembled : 
 That the Governors and legislative assemblies of 
 the territories of Oregon and Blinnesota, be, and 
 they are hereby aiithorized to make such laws and 
 needful regulations as they shall deem most expe- 
 dient to protect from injury and waste, sections 
 numbered sixteen and thirty-six in said Territories 
 reserved in each township for the supjiortof schools 
 therein. 
 
 (2.) "And be it further enacted, That the Secre- 
 tary of the Interior be, and he is hereliy authorized 
 and directed to set apart and reserve from sale, out 
 of any of the public lands within the territory of 
 Minnesota, to which the Indian title has been or 
 may be extinguished, and not otherwise appropri- 
 ated, a quantity of land not exceeding two entire 
 townships, for the use and support of a University 
 in said Territory, and for no other purpose what- 
 ever, to be located by legal suliUivisious of not 
 loss than one entire section." 
 
 [Approved February 19, 18.51. J 
 
166 
 
 STATE EDUCATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 STATE EDUOATTON IN MINNESOTA BOARD OF RE- 
 GENTS — UNIVERSITY GitANT — AID OP CONGRESS IN 
 1862 VALUE OF SOHOOLHOUSES — LOCAL TAXA- 
 TION IN DIFFERENT STATES — STATE SCHOOL SYS- 
 TEM KNOWS NO SECT IGNORANCE INHERITED, 
 
 THE COMMON FOE OF MARKIND — CONCLUSION. 
 
 When Minnesota was prepared by her popula- 
 tion for application to Congress for admission as 
 a State, Congress, in an act authorizing her to 
 form a State government, makes the following 
 provision for schools : 
 
 ( 1 ) "That sections numbered sixteen and thirty- 
 six in every township of public lands in said State, 
 and where either of said sections, or any part 
 thereof, has been sold or otherwise disposed of, 
 other lands e(juivaleut thereto, and as contiguous 
 as may be, shall be granted to said State for the 
 use of schools. 
 
 (2) "That seventy-two sections of land shall 
 be set apart and reserved for the use and support 
 of a State University to be selected by the Gov- 
 ernor of said State, subject to the approval of the 
 commissioner at the general land office, and be 
 appropriated and applied in such manner as the 
 legislature of said State may prescribe for the 
 purposes aforesaid, but for no other purpose." 
 [Passed February 26, 1857.] 
 
 But that there might be no misapprehension 
 that the American Government not only had the 
 inclination to aid in the proper education of the 
 citizen, but that in cases requiring direct control, 
 the government would not hesitate to exercise its 
 authority, in matters of education as well as in 
 any and all other questions affecting its sover- 
 eignty. To this end, on the second of July, 1862, 
 Congress passed the "act donating public lands to 
 the several States and Territories which may pro- 
 vide colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the 
 mechanic arts." 
 
 "Be it enacted, &c., that there be granted to the 
 several States for the purposes hereinafter men- 
 tioned, an amount of public land to be appor- 
 tioned to eacli State (except States in rebellion), a 
 quantity equal to thirty thousand acres for each 
 senator and representative in Congress to which 
 the States are respectively entitled by the appor- 
 tionment under the census of 1860." 
 
 Section four of said act is in substance as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 "That all monc-ys derived from the sale of these 
 
 lauds, directly or indirectly, shall be invested in 
 stocks yielding not less than five per cent, upon 
 the par value of such stocks. That the money so 
 invested shall constitute a perpetual fund, the cap- 
 ital of which shall remain forever undiminished, 
 and the interest thereof shall be inviolably appro- 
 priated by each State which may claim the benefit 
 of the act to the endowment, support, and main- 
 tenance of at least one college, where the leading 
 object shall be, without excluding other scientific 
 and classical studies, and including military tac- 
 tics, to teach such branches of learning as are re- 
 lated to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in 
 such manner as the legislatures of the States may 
 respectively ]5rescribe, in order to promote the 
 liberal and practical education of the industrial 
 classes in the several pursuits and jirofessions of 
 life. 
 
 Section five, second clause of said act, provides 
 "That no portion of said fund, nor the interest 
 thereon, shall be applied, directly or indirectly, 
 under any pretence whatever, to the purchase, 
 erection, preservation, or repair of any building or 
 buUdings." 
 
 Section five, third clause, "That any State 
 which may take and claim the benefit of the pro- 
 visions of this act shall provide, within five years, 
 at least not less than one college, as described iu 
 the fourth section of this act, or the grant to such 
 State shall cease; and the said State shall be 
 bound to pay the United States the amount re- 
 ceived of any lands previously sold." 
 
 Section five, fourth clause, "An annual report 
 shall be made regarding the progress of eadh col- 
 lege, recording any improvements and experi- 
 ments made, with their costs and results, and such 
 other matters, including State industrial and eco- 
 nomical statistics, aa may be supposed useful; one 
 copy of which shall be transmitted by mail free, 
 by each, to all the other colleges which may be 
 endowed under the provisions of this act, and also 
 one copy to the Secretary of the Interior." 
 
 Under this act Minnesota is entitled to select 
 150,000 acres to aid in teaching the branches in 
 the act named in the State University, making tlie 
 endowment fund of the Government to the state 
 of Minnesota for edtKjational purposes as follows: 
 
 1. For common schools, in acres > 3,000,000 
 
 2. For State University, four townships 208,360 
 
 Tot.il apportionment 3,208,300 
 
AID OF CONGRESS IN 1862. 
 
 107 
 
 All th(-so lands have not been selcctod. Unilor 
 the agricidturiil collogo grant, only 91,4.'5'.) .icres 
 have been selected, and only 72,708 acriw under 
 the two University grants, leaving only 1()7,14:7 
 acres realized for University pnrposes, ont oE the 
 208,360, a possible loss of 41,203 acres. 
 
 The pennnnont school fund derived from the 
 national domain by the state of Minnesota, at a 
 reasonable estimate of the value of the lands se- 
 cured out of those granted to her, cannot vary 
 far from the results below, considering the prices 
 already obtained: 
 
 1. Common school lands in acres, 
 3,000,000, vahied at $18,000,000 
 
 2. University grants, in all, in acres, 
 
 223,000, valued at 1,115,000 
 
 Amount in acres, 3,223,000 $19,115,000 
 
 Out of this permanent school fund may be real- 
 ized an annual fund, when lands are all sold: 
 
 1. For common schools .?1,000,000 
 
 2. University instruction 60,000 
 
 These several grants, ample as they seem to be, 
 are, however, not a tithe of the means required 
 from the State itself for the free education of the 
 children of the State. We shall see further on 
 what the State has already done in her free school 
 system. 
 
 Minnesota, a State 'first distinguished by an 
 extra grant of government land, has something to 
 unite it to great national iuterest. Its position in 
 the sisterhood of States gives it a i)romineuce that 
 none other can occuj^y. A State lying on both 
 sides of the great Father of waters, in a conti- 
 nental valley midway between two vast oceans, 
 encircling the Western Hemisphere, with a soil of 
 superior fertility, a climate unequalled for health, 
 and bright with skies the most inspiring, such a 
 State, it may be said, must ever hold a prominent 
 position in the Great American Union. 
 
 In the acts of the early settlements on the At- 
 lantic coast, in the Colonial Government, and the 
 National Congress, we have the evidence of a 
 determined intention "that schools and the means 
 of education shall forever be encouraged" by the 
 people who have the destinies of the Western 
 Hemisphere in their hands. That the external 
 organism of the system capable of accomplishing 
 this heavy task, and of carrying forward this re- 
 sponsible duty, rests with the people themselves. 
 
 and is as extensive as the government they have 
 established for the protection of their rights and 
 the growth of their physical industries, and the 
 free development of their intellectual powers. 
 The people, <irganized as a Nation, in assuming 
 this duty, have in advance proclaimed to the 
 world that "Keligion, Morality, and Knowledge" 
 are alike essential "to good government." And in 
 organizing a government free from sectarian con- 
 trol or alliance, America made an advance hitherto 
 unknown, both in its temporal and spiritual power; 
 for hitherto the work of the one had hindered the 
 others, and the labors and unities of the two were 
 inconsistent with the proper functions of either. 
 The triumjjh, tlierefore, of either, for the control 
 of both, was certain ruin, while separation of each, 
 the one from the other, was the true life of both. 
 Such a victory, therefore, was never before known 
 on earth, as the entire separation, and yet the 
 friendly rivalry of Church and.State, fii'st inaugu- 
 rated in the free States of America. This idea was 
 crystalized and at once stamped on the fore-front 
 of the Nation's life in the aphorism, "Keligion, 
 morality, and knowledge are alike essential to 
 good government." And the deduction from this 
 national aphorism necessarily follows: "That 
 schools and the means of education should forever 
 be encouraged." We assume, then, without fur- 
 ther illustration drawn from the acts of the Nation, 
 that the means of education have not and will not 
 be withheld. We have seen two great acquisitions, 
 the Northwest Territory, and the Louisiana Pur- 
 chase, parceled out in greater and greater pro- 
 fusion for educational uses, till the climax is 
 reached in the Mississippi Valley, the future great 
 center of national power. At the head of this 
 valley sits as regnant queen the state of Minne- 
 sota, endowed with the means of education unsur- 
 passed by any of her compeers in the sisterhood 
 of States. Let us now inquire, as pertinent to 
 this discussion, 
 
 WHAT H.\S MINNESOTA DONE FOE STATE EDUCATION ? 
 
 The answer is in part made up from her con- 
 stitution and the laws enacted in pursuance 
 thereof: First, then, article VIII. of her consti- 
 tution reads thus: 
 
 Section 1. The stability of a republican form of 
 government depending mainly upon the intelli- 
 gence of the people, it shall be the duty of the 
 Legislature to establish a general and unifoim 
 system of public schools. 
 
168 
 
 STATE EDUCATION. 
 
 Section 2. The proceeds of such lands as are, 
 or hereafter may be granted by the United States, 
 for the use of schools in each township in this 
 State, shall remain a perj)etual school fund to the 
 State. =s * * * The principal of all funds 
 arising from sales or otlier disposition of lands or 
 other property, granted or entrusted to this State, 
 shall forever be preserved inviolate and undimin- 
 ished ; and the income arising from the lease or sale 
 of said school land shall be distriluited to the dif- 
 ferent townships throughout the State in propor- 
 tion to the number of scholars in each township, 
 between the ages of five and twenty-one years; 
 and shall be faitlifully applied to the specific object 
 of the original grant or appropriation." 
 
 Section 3. The legislature shall make such pro- 
 vision by taxation or otherwise, as, with the in- 
 come arising from the school fund, will secure a 
 thorough and efficient system of public schools in 
 each townshijJ in the State. 
 
 But in no case shall the moneys derived as afore- 
 said, or any portion thereof, or any jjublic moneys 
 or property, be ajipropriated or used for the sup- 
 port of schools wherein the destinctive doctrines, 
 creeds, or tenets of any particular Christian or 
 other religious sect are promulgated or taught." 
 
 THE DNIVEESITY. 
 
 "Section 4. The location of the University of 
 Minnesota, as istablishrd by existing laws, [Sept. 
 1851] is hereby contiruied, and said institution is 
 hereby declared to be tie University of Minnesota. 
 All the rights, inmaunitios, franchises, and endow- 
 ments heretofore granted or conferred, are hereby 
 perpetuated unto the f aid University, and all lands 
 which may be granted hereafter by Congress, or 
 other donations for said University purposes, shall 
 rest in the institution referred to in this section. 
 
 The State constitution is in full harmony with 
 the National government in the distinctive outlines 
 laid down in the extracts above made. And the 
 Territorial and State governments, within these 
 limits, have consecutively appropriated by legis- 
 lation, sufficient to carry forward the State school 
 system. In the Territorial act, establishing the 
 University, the people of the State announced in 
 advance of the establishment of a State govern- 
 ment, " that the proceeds of the laud that may 
 hereafter be granted by the United States to the 
 Territory for the support of the University, shall 
 bo and remain a perpetual fund, to be called "the 
 
 University Fund," the interest of which shall be 
 appropriated to the support of a University, and 
 no sectarian instruction shall be allowed in such 
 University! " This organization of the University 
 was confirmed by the State constitution, and the 
 congressional laud grants severally passed to that 
 corporation, and the use of the funds arising there- 
 from were subjected to the restrictions named. So 
 that both the common school and University were 
 dedicated to State school purposes, and expressly 
 excluded from sectarian control or sectarian in- 
 struction. 
 
 In this respect the State organization corres- 
 ponds with the demands oC the general govern- 
 ment; and has organized the school system reach- 
 ing from the common school to the university, so 
 that it may be said, the State student may, if he 
 choose, in the state of Minnesota pass from grade 
 to grade, through common school, high school, and 
 State University free of charge for tuition. With- 
 out referring specially to the progressive legisla- 
 tive enactments, the united system may be referred 
 to as made up of units of different orders, and suc- 
 cessively in its ascending grades, governed by 
 separate boards, rising in the scale of importance 
 from the local trustee, directors, and treasurer, in 
 common school, to the higher board of education, 
 of six members io the independent school district, 
 and more or less than that number in districts and 
 large cities under special charter, until we reach 
 the climax in the dignified Board of Regents; a 
 board created by law and known as the Begents of 
 the State University. This honorable body con- 
 sists of seven men nominated by the Governor and 
 confirmed by the senate of the State legislature, 
 each holding his office for three years; and besides 
 these there are three ex-officio members, consisting 
 of the President of the State University, the 
 Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Gov- 
 ernor of the State. This body of ton men are in 
 reality the legal head of the State University, and 
 indirectly the effective head of the State school 
 system of Minnesota, and are themselves subject 
 only to the control of the State Legislature. 
 These various officers, throughout this series, are 
 severally trustees of legal duties which cannot be 
 delegated. They fall under the legal maxim 
 "that a trustee cannot make a trustor." These 
 are the legal bodies to whom the several series of 
 employes and servitors owe obedience. Tliese 
 various trustees determine the course of study 
 
MINNESOTA STATE SYSTEM. 
 
 169 
 
 and tlie rules of transfer from grade to jrrade until 
 the last grade is reached at the head of the State 
 system, or the scholar has perhaps completed a 
 post-graduate course in a polytechnic school, in- 
 augurated by the State for greater perfection, it 
 may be in chemistry, agriculture, the mechanic 
 arts, or other specialty, required by the State or 
 national government. 
 
 This system, let it be imderstood, differs from 
 all private, parochial, denominational, or sectarian 
 schools. The State organism and all the sectarian 
 elements of the church are, in this department of 
 labor, entirely distinct. The State protects and 
 encourages, but does not control either the schools 
 or the faith of the church. The church supports 
 and approves, but does not yield its tenets or its 
 creed to the curriculum of the schools of the State. 
 The State and the Church are in this respect en- 
 tirely distinct and different organizations. State 
 education, however, and the education of the ad- 
 herents of the church are in harmony throughout 
 a great portion of the State curriculum. Indeed, 
 there seems to be no reason why the greater por- 
 tion of denominational teaching, so far as the same 
 is in harmony with the schools of the State, should 
 not be relegated to the State, that the church 
 throughout all its sectarian element might be the 
 better able to direct its energiefa and economize 
 its benevolence in the cultivation of its own fields 
 of chosen labor. But, however this may be, and 
 wherever these two organizations choose to divide 
 their labors, they are still harmonious even in their 
 rivalry. 
 
 The organism as a State system has, in Minne- 
 sota, so matured that through all the grades to the 
 University, the steps are defined and the gradients 
 passed without any conflict of authority. The 
 only check to the regiilar order of ascend- 
 ing grades was first met in the State Uni- 
 versity. These schools, in older countries, had at 
 one time an independent position, and in their 
 origin had their own scholars of all grades, from 
 the prejiaratory department to the Seuior Class in 
 the finished course; but in our State system, when 
 the common schools became graded, and the High 
 School had grown up as a part of the organism of 
 a completed system, the University naturally took 
 its place at the head of the State system, having 
 the same relation to the High School as the High 
 School has to the Common School. There was no 
 longer any reason why the same rule should not 
 
 apply in the transfer from the High School to the 
 University, that applied in the transfer from the 
 Common School to the High School, and to this 
 conclusion the people of the State have already 
 fully arrived. The rules of the board of Regents 
 of the State University now allow students, with 
 tlie Principal's certificate of qualification, to enter 
 the Freshman class, on examination in sub-Fresh- 
 man studies only. But even this is not satisfac- 
 tory to the friends of the State school system. 
 They deiuand for High School graduates an en- 
 trance into the University, when the grade below 
 is passed, on the examination of the school below 
 for graduation therein. If, on the one hand, the 
 High schools of the State, under the law for the 
 encouragement of higher education, are required 
 to prepare students so that they shall be qualified 
 to enter some one of the classes of the University, 
 on the other hand the University should be re- 
 quired to admit the students thus qualified with- 
 out further examination. The rule should work 
 in either direction. The rights of students under 
 the law are as sacred, and should be as inalienable, 
 as the rights of teachers or faculties in State in- 
 stitutions. The day of unlimited, irresponsible 
 discretion, a relic of absolute autocracy, a des- 
 potic jjower, has no place iu systems of free 
 schools under constitutional and statutory limita- 
 tions, and these presidents and faculties who con- 
 tinue to exercise this power in the absence of 
 right, should be reminded by Boards of Regents 
 at the head of American State systems that their 
 resignation would be acceptable. They belong to 
 an antiquated system, outgrown by the age iu 
 which we live. 
 
 The spirit of the people of our State was fully 
 intimated in the legislature of 1881, in the House 
 bill introduced as an amendment to the law of 
 1878-79, for the encouragement of higher educa- 
 tion, but finally laid aside for the law then in 
 force, slightly amended, and quite in harminjy 
 with the H( iu.se bill. Sections two and five 
 .^lluded to read as follows: 
 
 "Any public, graded or high school in any city 
 or incorporated village or township organized into 
 a district under the S(.-called township system, 
 which shall have regular classes and courses of 
 study, articulating with some course of study, op- 
 tional or required, in the State University, and 
 shall raise annually for the expense of said school 
 double the amount of State aid allowed by this 
 
170 
 
 STATE EDUCATION. 
 
 act. and shall admit students of either sex into the 
 higher classes thereof from any part of the State, 
 witliout charge for tuition, shall receive State aid, 
 as specified in section four of this act. Provided, 
 that non-resident pupils shall in all cases be qual- 
 ified to enter the highest department of said 
 schodl at the entrance examination for resident 
 pupils." 
 
 "The High School Board shall have power, and 
 it is hereby made their duty to provide uniform 
 questions to test the qualifications of the scholars 
 of said graded or high schools for entrance and 
 graduation, and especially conduct the examina- 
 tions of scholars in said schools, when desired and 
 notified, and award diplomas to graduates who 
 shall ui^on examination be found to have completed 
 any course of study, either optional or re([uired, 
 entitling the holder to enter any class in the Uni- 
 versity of Minnesota named therein, any time 
 within one year from the date thereof, without 
 further examination; said diploma to be executed 
 by the several members of the High School 
 Board." 
 
 THE RELATED SYSTEM. 
 
 We have now seen the position of the University 
 in our system of public schools. In its position 
 only at the head of the series it differs from the 
 grades below. The rights of the scholar follow 
 him throughout the series. When he has com- 
 pleted and received the certificate or diploma in 
 tlie prescribed course in the High School, articu- 
 lating with any course, optional or required, in the 
 University, he has the same right, unconditioned, 
 to pass to the higher class in that course, as he 
 had to pass on examination, from one class to the 
 other in any of the grades beiow. So it follows, 
 that the University faculty or teacher who as- 
 sumes the right to reject, condition, or re-examine 
 such student, would exercise an abuse of power, 
 unwarranted in law, arbitrary in spirit, and not 
 republican in character. This rule is better and 
 better understood in all State Universities, as free 
 State educational organisms are more crystalizod 
 into forms, analogous to our State and national 
 governments. The arbitrary will of the interme- 
 diate, or head master, no longer prevails. His will 
 niust yield to more certain legal rights, as the 
 learner passes on, under prescribed rules, from in- 
 fancy to manhood through all the grades of school 
 life. And no legislation framed on any other 
 
 theory of educational promotion in republican 
 States can stand against this American conscious- 
 ness of equality existing between all the members 
 of the body politic. In this consciousness is em- 
 braced the inalienable rights of the child or the 
 youth to an education free in all our public 
 schools. In Minnesota it is guaranteed in the 
 constitution that the legislature shall make such 
 provisions, by taxation or otherwise, as, with the 
 income arising from the school fund, will secure a 
 thorough and efficient system of public schools in 
 each township in the State. Who shall say that 
 the peojjle have no right to secure such thorough 
 and efficient system, even should that "thorough 
 and efficient system" extend to direct taxation for 
 a course extending to graduation from a Univer- 
 sity':' Should such a course exceed the constitu- 
 tional limitation of a thorough and efficient sys- 
 tem of public schools? 
 
 INTERPEETATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 The people, through the medium of the law- 
 making power, have given on three several occa- 
 sions, in 1878, 1879, and 1881, an intimation of 
 the scope and measuring of our State constitutitm 
 on educational extension to higher education than 
 the common school. In the first section of the act 
 of 1881, the legislature created a High School 
 Board, consisting of the Governor of the State, 
 Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the 
 President of the University of Minnesota, who are 
 charged with certain duties and granted certain 
 powers contained in the act. And this High 
 School Board are recjuired to grant State aid to 
 the amount of $400 during the school year to any 
 public graded school, in any city or incorporated 
 village, or township organized into a district, 
 which shall give preparatory instruction, extend- 
 ing to and articulating with the University course 
 in some one of its classes, and shall admit stu- 
 dents of either sex, from any part of the State, 
 without charge for tuition. Provided only tliat 
 non-resident pupils shall be qualified to enter 
 some one of the organized classes of such graded 
 or high school. To carry out this act, giving 
 State aid directly out of the State treasury to a 
 course of education reaching upward from the 
 common school, through the high sch<i'>l to the 
 University, the legislatiu-e appropriated the entire 
 sum of .'520,000. In this manner we have the in- 
 terpretation of the people of Minnesota as to the 
 
RESULTS OF THE liELATET) SYSTEM. 
 
 171 
 
 lueaniiig of "a thorough and effioieiit systeiu of 
 public schools, operative alike iu each township in 
 the State." And this interpretation of our legis- 
 latui'e is iu harmony with the several acts of Con- 
 gress, and particularly the act of July the second, 
 1SC2, granting lands to the several States of the 
 Union, known as the Agricultural College Graiil. 
 The States receiving said lands are rcq\iircd, in 
 their colleges or universities, to -teach such 
 branches of learning as are related to Agriculture 
 and the Mechanic arts, without excluding other 
 scientific and classical studies, and including mil- 
 itary tactics, in such manner as the legislatures of 
 the States may respectively prescribe, in order to 
 promote the liberal and practical education of the 
 industrial classes in the several pursuits and pro- 
 fessions of life." 
 
 And the Legislature of Minnesota has already 
 established in its University, optional or required 
 courses of study fully meeting the limitations in 
 the congressional act of 1862. In its elementary 
 department it has three courses, known as classi- 
 cal, scientific, and modern. In the College of 
 Science, Literature, and the Arts, the courses of 
 study are an extension of those of the elementary 
 departments, and lead directly to the degrees of 
 Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and Bach- 
 elor of Literature. In the College of Jlechanic 
 Arts the several courses of studies are principally 
 limited to Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engi- 
 neering, and Architecture. In the College of Ag- 
 riculture are: (1) The regular University course, 
 leading to the degree of Bachelor of AgrieiUturc. 
 (2) The elementary course, in part coinciding with 
 the Scientific course of the Elementary Depart- 
 ment. (3) A Farmers' Lecture course. (4) Three 
 special courses for the year 1880-81. Law and 
 Medicine have not yet been opened iu the State 
 University for want of means to carry forward 
 these departments, now so much needed. 
 
 Our State constitution has therefore been prac- 
 tically interpreted by the people, by a test that 
 cannot be misconstrued. They have fortified 
 their opinion by the payment of the necessary tax 
 to insure the success of a thorough and efficieijt 
 system of public schools throughout the State. 
 This proof of the people's interest in these schools 
 ajjpears in the amounts paid for expenses and in- 
 struction. From the school fund the State of 
 Minnesota received, in 1879, tlie full sum of 
 §232,187.43 The State paid out the same yerir. 
 
 the snm of .1394,737.71. The dilTerence is .fl()2,- 
 5.50.28, which was paid out by the State more than 
 was derived from tlie government endowment fund. 
 And it is not at all likely that the endowment fund, 
 generous as it is, will ever produce an amount 
 o'cjual t<i the cost of instrucliou. The ratio of the 
 increase of scholars it is believed vi'ill always be in 
 advance of the endowment fund. The cost of in- 
 structiou cannot fall much I)elov/ an average, for 
 all grades of scholars, of eight dollars per annum 
 to each pupil. Our pi-o.ii^nt 180,000 scholars en- 
 rolled would, at this rate require .'|fl,440,000, and 
 in ten years and long before the sale of the school 
 lands- of the State shall have been made, this 180,- 
 000 will have increased a hundred per cent., 
 amounting to 3()0,000 scholars. These, at .S8.00 
 per scholar for tuition, would equal $2,880,000 
 per annum, while the interest from the school 
 fund in the same time cannot exceed .$2,000,000, 
 even should the land average the price of ^(i.OO 
 per acre, and the interest realized be always equal 
 to "6 per cent. 
 
 SOME OF THE HESULTS 
 
 In these infant steps taken by our State, we can 
 discern the tendency of our organism towards a 
 completed State system, as an element of a still 
 wider union embracing the nation. To know 
 what is yet to be done in this direction we must 
 know what has already been done. We have, in 
 the twenty years of our State history, built 3,693 
 sclioolhouses, varying in cost from $400 to $90,- 
 000; total value of all, .$3,156,210; three Normal 
 school buildings at a cost of (1872) §215,231.52; 
 a State University at an expenditure for buildings 
 alone of $70,000, and an allowance by a late act 
 of the legislature of an additional $100,000, in 
 three yearly appropriations, for additional build- 
 ings to be erected, iu all $170,000, allowed by the 
 State for the University. Add these to the cost of 
 common school structures, and we have already 
 expended in school buildings over $4,800,000 for 
 the simjjle purpose of housing the infant organ- 
 ism, our common school system here planted. 
 We have seen a movement in cities like St. Paul, 
 Minneajiolis, Stillwater, and Winona, towards the 
 local organization of a completed system of home 
 schools, carrying instruction free to the University 
 course, with a total enrollment of 13,500 scholars 
 and 265 teachers, daily seated in buOdiugs, all in 
 the modem style of school architecture and school 
 
na 
 
 STATE EDUCATION. 
 
 furniture, costing to these cities the sum o£ S850,- 
 000 for buildings, and for instruction the sum of 
 $118,000 annually. 
 
 We have, in addition to these schools in the 
 cities named, other home and fitting schools, to 
 whom have been paid $100 each, under the law 
 for the "Encouragement of Higher Education," 
 passed in 1878, and amended in 1879, as follows: 
 Anoka, Austin, Blue Earth City, Chatfield, Cannon 
 Palls, Crookston, Duluth, Detroit, Eyota, Fari- 
 bault, Garden City, Gleucoe, Howard Lake, Hast- 
 ings, Henderson, Kasson, Litchfield, Lane&boro, 
 Le Sueur, Lake City, Monticello, Moorhead, Man- 
 kato, Northfield, Owatnnna, Osseo, Plainview, Eed 
 Wing, Eushford, Rochester, St. Cloud, St. Peter, 
 Sauk Centre, Spring Valley, Wells, Waterville, 
 Waseca, Wabasha. Wilmar, Winnebago City, Zum- 
 brota, and Mantorville. 
 
 These forty-two State aid schools have paid in 
 all tor buildings and furniture the gross sum of 
 $042,700; some of these buildings are superior in 
 all that constitutes superiority in school architect- 
 ure. The Kochester buildings and grounds cost 
 the sum of $90,000. Several others, such as the 
 Au.stin, Owatonna, Faribault, Hastings, Ked Wing, 
 Eushford, St. Cloud, and St. Peter schoolhouses, 
 exceed in value the sum of .'J'iS.OOO; and others of 
 these buildings are estimated at SG,000, S8,000, 
 $10,000, and $15,000. In all they have an enroll- 
 ment of scholars in attendance on classes graded up 
 to the University course, numbering 13,000, under 
 301 teachers, at an annual salary amounting in all 
 to $123,569, and having in their A, B, C, I) classes 
 1704 scholars, of whom 126 were prepared to 
 enter the sub-freshman class of the State Univer- 
 sity in 1880, and the number entering these grades 
 in the year 1879-80 was 934, of whom 400 were 
 non-residents of the districts. And in all these 
 forty-two home schools of the people, the fitting 
 schools of the State University, one uniform course 
 of study, articulating with some course in the 
 University, was observed. As many other courses 
 as the local boards desired were also carried on in 
 'these schools. This, in short, is a part of what 
 we have done. 
 
 The organic elements that regularly combine to 
 form governments, are similar to those organic ele- 
 ments that combine to form systems of mental 
 culture. The jjrimitivc type of government is the 
 family. This is tlie lowest organic form. If no 
 improvement is ever made upou tliis primitive ele- 
 
 ment, by other combinations of an artificial na- 
 ture, human governments would never rise higher 
 than the family. If society is to advance, this 
 organism widens into the clan, and in like manner 
 the clan into the village, and the village into the 
 more dignified province, and the province into the 
 State. All these artificial conditions above tha 
 family are the evidences of growth in pursuance 
 of the laws of artificial life. In like manner the 
 growth of intellectual organisms proceeds from 
 the family instruction to the commoa school. 
 Here the artificial organism would cease to ad- 
 vance, and would remain stationary, as the clan in 
 the organism of government, unless the common 
 school should pass on to the wider and still higher 
 unit of a graded system reaching upward to the 
 high school. Now this was the condition of the 
 common school in America during the Colonial 
 state, and even down to the national organization. 
 Soon after this period, the iutellectual life of the 
 nation began to be aroused, and within the last 
 fifty years the State common school has culmi- 
 nated iathe higher organism of the high school, 
 and it is of very recent date that the high school 
 has reached up to and articuLitod in any State 
 with the State University. On this continent, both 
 government and State schools started into life, 
 freed from the domination of institutions grown 
 effete from age and loss of vital energy. Here, 
 both entered into wider combinations, reaching 
 higher results than the ages of the past. And 
 yet, in educational organization we are far below 
 the st.andard of perfection we shall attain in the 
 rapidly advancing future. Not until our eystem 
 of education has attained a national character as 
 complete in its related articulation as the civil or- 
 ganization of towns, counties, and States in the 
 national Union, can our educational institutions do 
 the work required of this age. And in Minnesota, 
 one of the leading States in connected school or- 
 ganic relations, we have, as yet, some 4,000 com- 
 mon school districts, with an enrollment of some 
 100,000 scholars of differeYit ages, from five to 
 twenty -one years; no higher in the scale than the 
 common school, prior to the first high school on 
 the American continent. These chaotic elements, 
 outside of the system of graded schools now aided 
 by the State, must be reduced to the same organ- 
 ized graded system as those that now articulate in 
 - their course with the State University. 
 
 Our complete organization as a State svsteni for 
 
1)1 VISION OF LABOR A CAUSE OF GUOM'TU. 
 
 173 
 
 cJiiOiitional purposes, eijual tii tlio deraamls of the 
 State, and required by the spirit of the age, will 
 not be consummnted uutil our four thousand 
 school districts shall reap the full benefits of a 
 graded system reaching to the high school course^ 
 articulating with some course in the State Uni- 
 versity and a course in commen with every other 
 high school in the State. The system thus or- 
 ganized might be required to report to the Board 
 of Regents, as the legal head of the organization 
 of the State Scliool system, not only the numerical 
 statistics, but the number and standing of the 
 classes in each of the high schools in the several 
 studies of the uniform course, established by the 
 Board of Eegents, under the direction of the State 
 Legislature. To this system must finally belong 
 the certificate of stamling and graduation, en- 
 titling the holder to enter the designated class in 
 any grade of the State schools named therein, 
 whether High School or University. But this 
 system is not and can never be a skeleton merely, 
 made up of lifeless materials, as au anatomical 
 specimen in the oflice of the student of the 
 practice of the healing art. Within this organism 
 there must preside the living teacher, bringing 
 into this organic structure, not the debris of the 
 effete systems of the past, not the mental exuvia 
 of dwarfed intellectual powers of this or any for- 
 mer age, but the teacher inspired by nature to 
 feel and aj^preciate her methods, and ever moved 
 by her divine afflatus. 
 
 Every living organism has its own laws of 
 growth; and the one we have under consideration 
 may, in its most important feature, be compared to 
 the growth of the forest tree. In its earlier years 
 the forest tree strikes its roots deep into the earth 
 and matures its growing rootlets, the sujjport of 
 its future trunk, to stand against the storms and 
 winds to which it is at all times exposed. When 
 fully rooted in the groimd, with a trunk matured 
 by the growth of years, it puts forth its infant 
 branches and leaflets, suited to its immature but 
 maturing nature; finally it gives evidence of stal- 
 wart powers, and now its widespreading top tow- 
 ers aloft among its compeers rearing its head high 
 among the loftiest denizens of the woods. In like 
 manner is the growth of the maturing State school 
 organism. In the common school, the foundation 
 is laid f(jr the rising structure, but here are no 
 branches, no fruitage. It seems in its earliest in- 
 fancy to put forth no branches, but is 8imi)ly tak- 
 
 ing hold of the elements below on which its inner 
 life and growth depend. As the system rises, the 
 underlaying laws of life come forth in the princi- 
 ples of invention, manufacituring, engraving, and 
 designing, enriching every branch of intellectual 
 and professional industry, and beautifying every 
 field of human culture. These varied results are 
 all in the law of growth in the organism of State 
 schools carried on above the common schools to 
 the University course. The higher the course the 
 more beneficial the results to the industries of the 
 world, whether those industries are intellectual or 
 purely physical, cater only to the demands of 
 wealth, or tend to subserve the modi st demands of 
 the humblest citizen. 
 
 The only criticism that can reach the question 
 now under consideration, is whether the graded 
 organization tends to produce the results to which 
 we have referred. The law relating to the division 
 of labor has especially operated in the graded sys- 
 tem of State schools. Under its operation, it is 
 claimed, by good judges, that eight years of 
 school life, from five to twenty-one, has been saved 
 to the pupils of the present generation, over those 
 of the ungraded schools ante- dating the last fifty 
 years. By the operation of this law, in one gen- 
 eration, the saving of time, on the enrollments of 
 State schools in the graded systems of the north- 
 ern States of the American Union, would be 
 enormous. For the State of Minnesota alone, on 
 the enrollment of 180,000, the aggregate years of 
 time saved would exceed a million! The time 
 saved on the enrollment of the schools of the dif- 
 ferent States, under the operation of this law 
 would exceed over twenty million years! 
 
 To the division of labor is due the wonderful 
 facility with which modern business associations 
 have laid their hands upon every branch of indus- 
 trial pursuits, and bestowed upon the world the 
 comforts of life. Introduced into our system of 
 education it produces results as astonishing as the 
 advent of the Spinning Jenny in the manufacture of 
 cloth. As the raw material from the cotton field 
 of the planter, passing, by gradation, through the 
 unskilled hands of the ordinary laborer to the 
 more perfect process of improved machinery, se- 
 cure additional value in a constantly increasing 
 ratio; so the graded system of intellectual culture, 
 from the Primary to the High school, and thence 
 to the University, adds increased lustre and value 
 to the mental development in a ratio commen- 
 
17i 
 
 STATE EDUCATION. 
 
 surate with the increased skill of the meutal ope- 
 rator. 
 
 The law of growth in State schools was clearly 
 anuoiinceJ by Horace Mauu, when he applied to 
 this system the law governing hydraulics, that no 
 stream could rise above its fountain. The com- 
 mon school could not produce a scholarship above 
 its own curriculum. The high school was a grade 
 above, and as important in the State system as 
 the elevated fountain head of the living stream. 
 This law of growth makes the system at once the 
 moat natural, the most economical, and certainly 
 the most popular. These several elements might 
 be illustrated, but the reader can easily imagine 
 them at his leisure. As to the last, however, suffer 
 an illustration. In Minnesota, for the school year 
 ending August 21st, 1880, according to the report 
 of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, there 
 were enrolled, one hundred and eighty thousand, 
 two hundred and lifty-eight scholars in the State 
 schools, while all others, embracing kindergartens, 
 private schools, parochial schools, of all sects and 
 all denominations, had an attendance at the same 
 time of only two thousanil four hundred and 
 twcuty-eight; and to meet all possible omissions, 
 if we allow double this number, there is Ijss than 
 three per cent, of the enrollment in the State 
 school. This ratio will be found to hold good, at 
 least throughout all the Northern States of the 
 American Union. These State schools, then, are 
 not unpojralar in comparison with the schools of a 
 private and opposite character. Nor is it owing 
 altogether to the important fact, that State schools 
 are free, that they are more poj^ul.ar than schools 
 of au opposite character; for these State schools 
 are a tax upon the property of the people, and yet 
 a tax most cheerfully borne, in consequence of 
 their superior excellence and importance. 
 
 The State school, if not already, can be so 
 graded that each scholar can have the advantage 
 of superior special instruction far better adapted 
 to the studies through which he desires to jiass, 
 than similar instruction can be had in ungraded 
 schools of any character whatever. In this re- 
 spect the State system is without a rival. It has 
 the power to introduce such changes as may meet 
 all the demands of the State and ail the claims of 
 the learner. 
 
 The State school knows no sect, no party, no 
 privileged class, and no special favorites; the high, 
 the low, the rich, and the poor, the home and for- 
 
 eign-born, black or white, are all equal at this 
 altar. The child of the ruler and the ruled are 
 here equal. The son of the Governor, the wood- 
 sawyer, and the hod-carrier, here meet on one 
 level, and alike contend for ranks, and alike expect 
 the honors due to superior merit, the reward of 
 intellectual culture. But, aside from the republi- 
 can character of the State school system, the sys- 
 tem is a State necessity. Without the required 
 State culture under its control, the State must 
 cease to exist as an organism for the promotion of 
 human happiness or the protection of human 
 rights, and its people, though once cultured and 
 refmed, must certainly return to barbarism and 
 savage life. There can be no compromise in the 
 warfare against inherited ignorance. Under all 
 governments the statute of limitations closes over 
 the subject at twenty-one years; so that during 
 the minority of the race must this warfare be 
 waged by the government without truce. No 
 peace can ever be proclaimed in this war, until the 
 child shall inherit the matured wisdom, instead of 
 the primal ignorance of the ancestor. 
 
 The State school system, in our government, is 
 from the necessity of the case, national. No 
 State can enforce its system beyond the limits of 
 its own territory. And unless the nation enforce 
 its own uniform system, the conflict between juris- 
 dictions could never be determined. J^o homo- 
 geneous system could ever be enforced. As the 
 graded system of State schools has now reached 
 the period in its history which corresponds to the 
 colonial history of the national organization, it 
 must here fail, as did the colonial system of gov- 
 ernment, to fully meet the demands of the people. 
 And what was it, let us consider, that led the peo- 
 ple in the organization of the national government 
 "to form a more perfect union?" Had it then be- 
 come necessaj-y to take this step, that "justice" 
 might be established, domestic tranqudity insured, 
 the common defense made more efficient, the gen- 
 eral welfare promoted, and the blessings of liberty 
 better secured to themselves and their posterity, 
 that the fathers of the government should think it 
 necessary to form a more perfeet union?" Why 
 the nacessity of a more jjerfect union ? Were our 
 fathers in fear of a domestic or foreign foe, that 
 had manifested his power in their immediate pres- 
 ence, threatening to jeopardize or destroy their do- 
 mestic tranquility? Was this foe an hereditary 
 enemy, who might at long intervals of time invade 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 175 
 
 thc'ii- territory, and entlauger the liberties of this 
 people? And for this reason did they demand a 
 more perfect iiniou? And does not this reason 
 now exist in still greater foree for the formation of 
 a still more perfect vinion in our system of State 
 schools? Our fathers were moved by the most 
 natural of all reasons, by this law of self-defense. 
 They were attacked by a power too great to be 
 successfully resisted in their colonial or unorgan- 
 ized state. The fear of a destruction of the sev- 
 eral colonies without a more perfect union drove 
 them to this alternative. It was imion and the 
 hope of freedom, against disunion and the fear of 
 death, that cemented the national government. 
 And this was an external organism, the temple in 
 which the spirit of freedom should preside, and in 
 which her worshippers should enjoy not only do- 
 mestic but national tranquility. Now, should it bo 
 manifested to the world that the soul and spirit, 
 the very life of this temple, erected to freedom, is 
 similarly threatened, should not bo the same cause 
 that operated in the erection of the temple itself, 
 operate in the protection of its sacred fires, its soul 
 and spirit? It would seem to require no admoni- 
 tion to move a nation in the direction of its highest 
 hopes, the protection of its inner Ufe. 
 
 And what is this enemy, and where is the power 
 able to destroy both the temple and the spirit of 
 freedom? And why should State Educati<.)n take 
 upon itself any advanced position other than its 
 present independent organic elements? In the 
 face of what enemy should it now be claimed we 
 should attempt to change front, and "form a more 
 perfect luiion to insure domestic tranquility, and 
 jiromote the ;,eneral welfare," to the end that we 
 may the better secure the blessings of liberty to 
 ourselves and our posterity? That jiotent foe to 
 our free institutions, to which we are now brought 
 face to face, is human ignornnce, the natural hered- 
 itary foe to every form of enlightened free gov- 
 ernment. This hereditary enemy is now home- 
 steaded upon our soO. This enemy, in the lan- 
 guage of the declaration made liy the colonies 
 against their hereditary foe, this enemy to our 
 government, has kept among us a standuig army 
 of illiterates, who can neither read nor write, but 
 are armed with the ballot, more powerful than the 
 sword, ready to strike the most deadly blow at 
 human freedom; he has cut off and almost en- 
 tirely destroyed our trade between States of the 
 same government; has imposed a tax ujion us 
 
 without our consent, most grievous to be borae; 
 he has quite abolished the free system of United 
 States laws in several of our States; he has estab- 
 lished, in many sections, arbitrary tribunals, ex- 
 cluding the subject from the right of trial by jury, 
 and enlarged the jjowers of his despotic rule, en- 
 dangered the lives of peaceable citizens; he has 
 alienated government of one section, by declaring 
 the inhabitants aliens and enemies to his supposed 
 hereditary right; he has excited domestic insur- 
 rectitms amongst us; he has endeavored to destroy 
 the peace and harmony of our people by bringing 
 his despotic ignorance of our institutions into con- 
 flict with the freedom and purity of our elections; 
 he has raised up advocates to his cause who have 
 openly declared that our system of State Educa- 
 tion, on which our government rests, is a failure;* 
 he has sjiared no age, no sex, no portion of our 
 country, but has, with his ignominious minions, 
 afflicted the North and the South, the East and the 
 West, the rich and the poor, the black and the 
 white; an enemy alike to the people of every sec- 
 tion of the government, from Maine to California, 
 from Minnesota to Louisiana. Such an inexora- 
 ble enemy to government and the domestic tran- 
 quility of all good citizens deserves the oppro- 
 brium due only to the Prince of Darkness, against 
 whom eternal war should be waged ; and for the 
 snppiu'tof this declaration, with a firm reliance on 
 the protection of Divine Providence, we should, as 
 did our fathers, mutually pledge to each other, 
 as citizens of the free States of America, our lives, 
 our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 
 
 We have thus far considered the State school 
 system in some of its organic elements, and the 
 nature, tendency, and neceseary union of these 
 elements; first in States, audfiually for the forma- 
 tion of a more perfect union, that they may be 
 united ia one national orgauiziition under the con- 
 trol of one sovereign will. The mode in which 
 these unorganized elements shall come into uniim 
 and harmony with themselves, and constitute the 
 true inner life and soul of the American Union, is 
 left for the consideration of those whose special 
 duty it is to devote their best energies to the pro- 
 motion of the welfare of the Nation, and by 
 statesman-like forethought provide for the domes- 
 tic, social, civil, intellectual, and industrial pro- 
 gre.ss of the rapidly accumulating millions who 
 
 •Richard Grant Whito in North .\mericau Keview 
 
176 
 
 8TATE EDUCATION. 
 
 are soon to swarm upon tlie American coutment. 
 We see truly tliat 
 
 "The rudiments of empire here 
 Are plastic yet and warm; 
 The chaos of a mighty world 
 Is rounding into form! 
 
 *'Each rude and jostling fragment si>on 
 Its fitting place shall find — 
 The raw material of a State, 
 Its muscle and its mind." 
 
 But we must be allowed, in a word, to state the 
 results which we hope to see accomplished, before 
 the jostling fragments which are yet plastic and 
 warm, shall have attained a temperament not 
 easily fused and "rounded" into one homogenous 
 national system, rising in the several States from 
 the kindergarten to the University, and from the 
 State Universities through all orders of specialties 
 demanded by the widening industries and growing 
 demands of a progressive age. And in this direc- 
 
 tion we cannot fail to see that the national govern- 
 ment must so mould its iutellectual systems that 
 the State and national curricula shall be uniform 
 throughout the States and territories, so that a 
 class standing of every pupil, properly certified, 
 shall be equally good for a like class standing in 
 every portion of the government to which he may 
 desire to remove. America will then be ready to 
 celebrate her final independence, the inalienable 
 right of American youth, as having a standing 
 limited by law in her State and national systems 
 of education, entitling them to rank everywhere 
 with associates and compeers on the same plain; 
 when in no case, shall these rights be denied or 
 abridged by the United States, or by any State 
 or authority thereof, on account of race, color, 
 or previous condition of scholarship, secular or 
 sectarian, till the same shall forever find the most 
 ample protection under the broad banner of 
 N.^TioNAL and NATURAL rights, common alike to 
 all in the ever widening uia-UBLic of i.etteks. 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SIOUX MASSACRE OF 18G2. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 LODIS HEN - TPIN'S VISIT TO THE DPPEIt MISSISSIPPI 
 IN 1680 --CAPTAIN JONATHAN CAKVER VISITS THE 
 COUNTR7 IN 1766 — THE NAMES OF THE TKIBES — 
 TREATIES WITH SIOUX INDIANS FROM 1812 TO 
 1859 THEIR RESERVATIONS CIVILIZATION EF- 
 FORTS — SETTLEMENTS OF THE WHITES CONTIGU- 
 OUS TO THE RESERVATIONS. 
 
 The first authentic knowledge of the country 
 upon the waters of the Upper Mississippi and its 
 tributaries, was given to the world by Louis Hen- 
 nej)in, a native ot France. In 1680 he visited the 
 Falls of St. Anthony, and gave them the name of 
 his patron saint, the name they still bear. 
 
 Hennepin found the country occupied by wild 
 tribes of Indians, by whom he and his compan- 
 ions were detained as prisoners, but kindly treated, 
 and finally released. 
 
 In 1766, this same country was again visited by 
 a white man, this time by Jonathan Carver, a 
 British subject, and an officer in the British army. 
 Jonathan Carver spent some three years among 
 different tribes of Indians in the TJiJiDer Missis- 
 sippi country. He knew the Sioux or Dakota 
 Indians as the Naudowessies, who were then occu- 
 pying tlie country along the Mississippi, from 
 Iowa to the Falls of St. Anthony, and alimg the 
 Minnesota river, then called St. Peter's, from its 
 source to its mouth at Mendota. To the north of 
 these tribes the country was then occuj)ied by the 
 Ojibwas, commonly called Chippewas, the heredi- 
 tary enemies of the Sioux. 
 
 Carver found these Indian nations at war, and 
 by his commanding influence finally succeeded in 
 making peace between them. As a reward for his 
 good offices in this regard, it is claimed that two 
 chiefs of the Naudowessies, acting for their nation, 
 at a council held with Carver, at the great cave, 
 
 12 
 
 now in the corporate limits of St. Paul, deeded to 
 Carver a vast tract of land on the Mississippi 
 river, extending from the Falls of St. Anthony to 
 the foot of Lake Pepin, on the Mississippi; thence 
 east one hundred English miles; thence north one 
 hundred and twenty miles; thence west to the 
 place of beginning. But this pretended grant has 
 been examined by our government and entirely 
 ignored as a pure invention of parties in interest, 
 after Carver's death, to profit by his Indian ser- 
 vice in Minnesota. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the.se same Indians, 
 known to Captain Carver as the Naudowessies, in 
 1767, were the same who inhabited the country 
 upon the Upper Mississipjji and its tributaries 
 when the ti-eaty of Traverse des Sioux was made, 
 in 1851, between the United States and the Sisse- 
 ton and Wapaton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indi- 
 ans. The name Sioux is said to have been bestowed 
 upon these tribes by the French; and that it is a 
 corruption of the last syllable of their more an- 
 cient name, which in the peculiar guttural of the 
 Dakota tongue, has the sound of the last syllable 
 of the old name NaudowessiVs, Sioux. 
 
 The tribes inhabiting the Territory of Minne- 
 sota at the date of the massacre, 1862, were the 
 following: Medawakontons (or Village of the 
 Sjiirit Lake); Wapatons (or Village of the 
 Leaves); Sissetons (or Village of the Marsh); 
 and Wai^akutas (or Leaf Shooters). All these 
 were Sioux Indians, connected intimately with 
 other wild bands scattered over a vast region of 
 country, including Dakota Territory, and the 
 country west of the Missouri, even to the base of 
 the Eocky Mountains. Over all this vast region 
 roamed these wild bands of Dakotas, a powerful 
 and warlike nation, holding by their tenure the 
 country north to the British Possessions. 
 
 (177) 
 
178 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SIOUX M^lSSACliE. 
 
 The Sissetons had a hereditary chief, Ta-tauka 
 Maziu, or Standing Buffalo; and at the date of 
 the massacre his father, "Star Face," or the "Or- 
 phan," was yet alive, bnt superannuated, and all 
 the duties of the chief were vested in the son. 
 Standing Buffalo, who remained friendly to the 
 whites and took no part in the terrible massacre 
 on our border in 1862. 
 
 The four tribes named, the Medawakontons, Wa- 
 patons, Sissetons and Wapukutas, comprised the 
 entire "annuity Sioux" of Minnesota; and in 18C2 
 these tribes numbered about six thousand and two 
 hundred persons. All these Indians bad from 
 time to time, from the 19th day of July, 1815, to 
 the date of the' massacre of 1862, received pres- 
 ents from the Government, by virtue of various 
 treaties of amity and friendship between us and 
 their accredited chiefs and heads of tribes. 
 
 Soon after the close of the last war with Great 
 Britain, on the first day of June, 1816, a treaty 
 was concluded at St. Louis between the United 
 States and the chiefs and warriors representing 
 eight bands of the Sious, composing the three 
 tribes then called the "Sioux of the Leaf," the 
 "Sioux of the Broad Leaf," and the "Sioux who 
 Shoot in the Pino Tops," by the terms of which 
 these tribes confirmed to the United States all 
 cessions or grants of lands prev-iously made by 
 them to the British, French, or Spanish govern- 
 ments, within the limits of the United States or 
 its Territories. For these cessions no annmties 
 were paid, for the reason that they were mere con- 
 firmations of grants made by them to powers 
 from whom we liad acquired the territory. 
 
 From the treaty of St. Louis, in 1816, to the 
 treaty ratified by the United States Senate in 1859, 
 these trilics had remained friendly to the whites, 
 and had by treaty stipulations parted with all the 
 lands to which tliey claimed title in Iowa; all on 
 the east side of the Mississippi river, and all on 
 the Minnesota river, in Minnesota Territory, ex- 
 cept certain reservations. One of these reserva- 
 tions lay upon both sides of the Minnesota, ten 
 miles on either side of that stream, from Hawk 
 river on the north, and Yellow Medicine river on 
 the south side, thence westerly to the head of Big 
 Stone Lake and Ijake Tiaverse, a distance of 
 about one hundred miles. Another of these reser- 
 vations commenced at Little Rock river on the 
 east, and a line running due south from opposite 
 its mouth, and extending up the river westerly to 
 r.ie easterly line of the first-named reservation, at 
 
 the Hawk and Yellow Medicine rivers. This last 
 reservation had also a width of ten miles on each 
 side of the Minnesota river. 
 
 The Indians west of the Missouri, in referring 
 to those of their nation east of the river, called 
 them Isanties, which seems to have been applied 
 to them from the fact that, at some remote period, 
 they had lived at Isantamde, or "Knife Lake," 
 one of the Mille Lacs, in Minnesota. 
 
 These Indian treaties inaugurated and contrib- 
 uted greatly to strengthen a custom of granting, 
 to the pretended owners of lands occupied for 
 purposes of hunting the wild game thereon, and 
 living upon the natural products thereof, a con- 
 sideration for the cession of their lands to the 
 Government of the Uuited States. This custom 
 culminated in a vast anauity fund, in the aggre- 
 gate to over three million dollars, owing to these 
 tribes, before named, in Minnesota. This annuity 
 system was one of the causes of the massacre of 
 1862. 
 
 Indian Lifb. — Before the whites came in con- 
 tact with the natives, they dressed in the skins o' 
 animals which they killed for food, such as the 
 buffalo, wolf, elk, deer, beaver, otter, as well as the 
 small fur-bearing animals, which they trapjicd on 
 lakes and streams. In later years, as the settle- 
 ments of the white race approached their borders, 
 they exchanged these peltries and furs for blankets, 
 cloths, and other articles of necessity or ornament. 
 The Sioux of the plains, those who inhabited the 
 Coteau and beyond, and, indeed, some of the 
 Sis^cton tribes, dress in skins to this day. Even 
 among those who are now called "civilized," the 
 style of costume is often unique. It is no picture 
 of the imagination to portray to the reader a "stal- 
 WAKT Indian" m breech-cloth and leggins, with 
 a calico shirt, all "fluttering in the wind," and his 
 head surmounted with a stove-pipe hat of most 
 surprising altitude, carrying in his hand a pipe of 
 exquisite workmanshija, on a stem not unlike a 
 cane, sported as an ornament by some city dandy. 
 His appearance is somewhat varied, as the seascms 
 come and go. He may be seen in summer or in 
 winter dressed in a heavy cloth coat of coarse fab- 
 ric, often turned inside out with all his civiUzed 
 and savage toggery, from head to foot, in the most 
 bewildering juxtaposition. On behoHing him, 
 the duUest imagination cannot refrain from the 
 poetic exclamtion of Alexander Pope, 
 
 "Lo! the poor Indian, whose untutored miud'" 
 
EFFOllTS OF CIVrLTZATION. 
 
 179 
 
 Efforts to Civilize these An-nijity Ixdian.s. 
 — The treaty of 1858, made at Wasliington, clabo- 
 ratetl a sohenio for the civilization of these annuity 
 ludiaus. A civilization fund was provided, to be 
 taken from their annuities, and expended in ira- 
 provomeuts on the lands of such of ihem as should 
 abandon their tribal relations, and ;,dopt the habits 
 and modes of life of the white race. To all sucli, 
 lands were to be assigned in severalty, eighty 
 acres to each head of a family. On these farms 
 were to be erected the necessary farm-buildings, 
 and farming implements and cattle were to be 
 furnished them. 
 
 In addition to these favors the government 
 oil'ered them j)ay for such labors of value as were 
 performed, in addition to the crops they raised. 
 Indian farmers now augmented rapidily, until the 
 appalling outbreak in 18G2, at which time about 
 one hundred and sixty had taken advantage of the 
 numificent provisions of the treaty. A number of 
 farms, some 160, had good, sung brick houses 
 erected upon them. Among these civilised s&xagea 
 was Little Crow, and many of these farmer-Indians 
 belonged to his own baud. 
 
 The Indians disliked the idea of taking any por- 
 tion of the general fund belonging to the tribe for 
 the purpose of carrying out the civilization scheme- 
 Those Indians who retained the "blanket," and 
 hence called "blanket Indians," denounced the 
 measure as a fraud upon then- rights. The chase 
 was then a God-given right ; this scheme forfeited 
 that ancient natural right, as it pointed unmistaka- 
 bly to the destruction of the chase. 
 
 But to the friends of Indian races, the course 
 inaugurated seemed to be, step by step, lifting 
 these rude children of the plains to a higher level. 
 This scheme, however, was to a great degree 
 thwarted by the helpless condition of the "blanket 
 Indians" during a great portion of tLie year, and 
 their persistent determination to remain followers 
 of the chase, imd a desire to continue on the war- 
 path. 
 
 When the chase fails, the "blauiet Indians" re- 
 sort to their relatives, the farmers, pitch their 
 tepees aroimd their houses, and then commence 
 the process of eating them out of house and home. 
 When the ruin is complete, the farmer Indians, 
 driven by the law of self-preservation, with their 
 wives and children, leave their homes to seek such 
 subsistence as the uncertain fortunes of the chase 
 may yield. 
 
 In (he absence of the family from the house and 
 fields, thu5 deserted, tlio wandering "blanket In- 
 dians" ctmimit %rhatever destruction of fences or 
 tenemenfs their desires or necessities may suggest. 
 This perennial process goas on; so that in the 
 spring wlion the disheartened farmer Indian re- 
 turns tf) his desolate home, to prc)iare again for 
 another crop, lie looks forward with no diflerent 
 results for the coming winter. 
 
 It will be seen, from this one illustration, drawn 
 from the actual results of the civilizing process, 
 how hopeless was the prospect of elevating one 
 class of r(>lated savages without at the same time 
 protecting them from the incursions of their own 
 relatives, against whom the class attempted to be 
 favored, had no redress. In tliis attempt to civil- 
 ize these Dakota Indians the forty years, less or 
 more, of missionary and other eflforts have been 
 measurably lost, and the money spent in that di- 
 rection, if not wasted, sadly misapplied. 
 
 The treaty of 18.58 h..d opened for settlement a 
 vast frontier country of the most attractive char- 
 acter, in the VaUey of the Minnesota, and the 
 streams putting into the IMinnesota, on either side, 
 such as Beaver creek. Sacred Heart, Hawk and 
 Chippewa rivers and some other small streams, 
 were flourishing settlements of white families. 
 Within this ceded tract, ten miles wide, were the 
 scattered settlements of Birch Coolie, Patterson 
 Rapids, on the Sacred Heart, and others as far up 
 as the tJpiJer Agency at Yellow Medicine, in Een- 
 ville county. The county of Brown adjoined the 
 reservation, and was, at the time of which we are 
 now writing, settled mostly by Germans. In this 
 county was the flourishing town of New Ulm, and 
 a thriving settlement on the Big Cottonwood and 
 Watonwan, consisting of German and American 
 pioneers, who had selected this lovely and fertile 
 valley for their future homes. 
 
 Other counties, Blue Earth, Nicollet, Sibley, 
 Meeker, McLeod, Kandiyohi, Monongalia and 
 jNIurray, were all situated in the finest portions of 
 the state. Some of the valleys along the streams, 
 such as Butternut valley and others of similar 
 character, were lovely as Wyoming and as fertile 
 as the Gardan of Elen. These counties, with 
 others somewhat removed from the direct attack of 
 the Indians in the massacre, as Wright, Stearns 
 and .Tackson, and even reaching on the north to 
 Fort Abercrombie, thus extending from Iowa to 
 the Valley of the Ited River of the North, were 
 severally involved in the ccmsecjuences of the war- 
 
180 
 
 EI8T0RT OF TEE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 fare of 1862. This extended area bad at the time 
 a population of over fifty thousand people, princi- 
 pally in the pursuit of agriculture; and although 
 the settlements were in their infancy, the people 
 were happy and contented, and as prosperous as 
 anv similar community in any new country on the 
 American continent, since the landing of the Pil- 
 grim Fathers. 
 
 We have in short, traced the Dakota tribes of 
 Minnesota from an early day, when the white man 
 first visited and explored these then unknown re- 
 gions, to the time of the massacre. We have also 
 given a synopsis of all the most important treaties 
 between them and the government, with an allu- 
 sion to the country adjacent to the reservations, 
 and the probable number of people residing in the 
 portions of the state ravaged by the savages. 
 
 CHAPTEB XXXI. 
 
 COMPLAINTS OP THE INDIANS — TREATIES OP TBA- 
 
 VEKSE DBS SIOUX AND MENDOTA OBJECTIONS TO 
 
 THE MODE OF PAYMENT INKPADDTA MASSACRE 
 
 AT SPIRIT LAKE PROOP OP CONSPIRAOr IN- 
 DIAN COUNCILS. 
 
 In a former chapter the reader has had some 
 account of the location of the several bands of 
 
 Sioux Indians in Minnesota, and their relation 
 to the white settlements on the western border of 
 the state. It is now proposed to state in brief 
 some of the antecedents of the massacre. 
 
 PROMINENT CAUSES. 
 
 1. By the treaty of Traverse des Sioux, dated 
 July 23, 1851, between the United States and the 
 Sissetons and Wapatons, $275,000 were to be paid 
 their chiefs, and a further sum of $30,000 was to 
 be expended for their benefit in Indian improve- 
 ments. By the treaty of Mendota, dated August 
 5, 1851, the Medawakantous and Wapakutas were 
 to receive the sum of |200,000, to be paid to their 
 chief, and for an improvement ftmd the further 
 sum of $30,000. These several sums, amounting 
 in the aggregate to .$555,000, these Indians, to 
 whom they were payable, claim they were never 
 paid, except, perhaps, a small portion expended in 
 improvements on the reservations. Thej became 
 dissatisfied, and expressed then- views in council 
 freely with the agent of the government. 
 
 In 1857, the Indian department at Washington 
 sent out Major Kintzing Prichctte, a man of great 
 experience, to inquire into the cause of this disaf- 
 
 fection towards the government. In his report of 
 that year, made to the Indian department. Major 
 Prichette says: 
 
 "The complaint which runs through all their coun- 
 cils points to the imperfect performance, ornon-ful 
 fillment of treaty stipulations. Whether these 
 were well or ill founded, it is not my promise tc 
 discuss. That such a belief prevails among them, 
 impairing their confidence and good faith in the 
 government, cannot be questioned." 
 
 In one of these covmcils Jagmani said: "The 
 Indians sold their lands at Traverse des Sioux. I 
 say what we were told. For fifty years they were 
 to be paid .$50,000 per annum. We were also 
 promised $300,000, and tliat we have not seen." 
 
 Mapipa Wicasta (Cloud Man), second chief of 
 Jagmani's band, said: 
 
 "At the treaty of Traverse des Sioux, $275,000 
 were to be paid them when they came upon their 
 reservation; they desired to know what had be- 
 come of it. Every white man knows that they 
 have been five years upon their reservation, and 
 have yet heard nothing of it." 
 
 In this abridged form we can only refer in britf 
 to these complaints; but the history wouid seem 
 to lack completeness without the presentation of 
 this feature. As the fact of the dissatisfaction ex- 
 isted, the government thought it worth while to 
 appoint Judge Young to investigate the charges 
 made against the governor, of the then Minnesota 
 territory, then acting, ex-ojicio, as superintendent 
 of Indian affairs for that locahty. Some short 
 extracts from Judge Young's report are here pre- 
 sented : 
 
 "The governor is next charged with having paid 
 over the greater part of the money, appropriated 
 under the fourth article of the treaty of July 23 
 and August 5, 1851, to one Hugh Tyler, for pay- 
 ment or distribution to the 'traders' and 'half- 
 breeds,' contrary to the wishes and remonstrances 
 of the Indians, and in violation of law and the 
 stipulations contained in said treaties; and also 
 in violation of his own solemn pledges, personally 
 made to them, in regard to said payments. 
 
 "Of $275,000 stipulated to be paid under the 
 first clause of the fourth article of the treaty of 
 Traverse des Sioux, of July 21, 1851, the sum of 
 $250,000, was deUvered over to Hugh Tyler, by 
 .the governor, for distribution omong the 'traders' 
 and 'half-breeds,' according to the arrangement 
 made by the schedule of the Traders' Papn\ dated 
 at Traverse des Sioux, July 23, 1851." 
 
CAUSES OF UiUrrATION. 
 
 181 
 
 "For this large sum of money, Hngh Tylor ex- 
 ecuted two receipts to the Governor, as the attor- 
 ney for the 'trailers' and 'half breeds;' the one for 
 $210,000 on account of the 'traders,' and the other 
 for $40,000 on account of the 'half-breeds;' the 
 first dated at St. Paul, December 8, 1852, and the 
 second at Mendota, December 11, 1852." 
 
 "And of the sum of .S110,000, stipulated to be 
 paid to the Medawakantons, under the fourth ar- 
 ticle of the treaty of August 5, 1851, the sum of 
 S70,000 was in like manner paid over to the snid 
 Tyler, on a power of attorney executed to him by 
 the traders and claimants, under the said treaty, 
 on December 11, 1852. The receipts of the said 
 Tyler to the Governor for this money, $70,000, is 
 dated at St. Paul, December 13, 1852, makmg to- 
 gether the sum of .'5320,000. This has been shown 
 to have been contrary to the wishes and remon- 
 strances of a large majority of the Indians." And 
 Judge Young adds: "It is also believed to be in 
 violation of the treaty stipulations, as well as the 
 law making the ajjpropriations under them." 
 
 These several sums of money were to be paid to 
 these Indians in ojien council, and soon after they 
 were on their reservations provided for them by 
 the treaties. In these matters the rejjort shows 
 they were not consulted at all, in open council; 
 but on the contrary, that arbitrary divisions and 
 distributions were made of the entire fund, and 
 their right denied to direct the manner in which 
 they should be appropriated. See Ads of Con- 
 gress^ August 30, 1852. 
 
 The Indians claimed, also, that the third section 
 of the act was violated, as by that section the ap- 
 propriations therein referred to, should, in every 
 instance, be paid directly to the Indians them- 
 selves, to whom it should be due, or to the tribe, 
 or part of the tribe, per capita, " unless otherwise 
 the imperious interest of the Indians or some 
 treaty stipulation should require the payment to 
 be made otherwise, under the direction of the 
 president." This money was never so paid. The 
 report further states that a large sum, " $55,000, 
 was deducted by Hugh Tyler by way of discount 
 and percentage on gross amount of payments, 
 and that these exactions were made both from tra- 
 ders and half-breeds, without any previous agree- 
 ment, in many instances, and in such a way, in 
 some, as to make the impression that unless they 
 were submitted to, no payments would be made to 
 such claimants at all." 
 
 And, finally the report says, that fi'om the testi- 
 
 mony it was evident that the money -nas not paid 
 to the chiefs, either to the Sisseton, Wapaton, or 
 Bledawakanton bands, as they in open council re- 
 quested; but that they were compelled to submit 
 to this mode of payment to the traders, otherwise 
 no payment would be made, and the money would 
 be returned to Washington; so that in violation of 
 law they were compelled to comply with the Gov- 
 ernor's terms of payment, according to Hugh Ty- 
 ler's power of attorney. 
 
 The examination of this complaint, on the part 
 of the Indians, by the Senate of the United States, 
 resulted in exculpating the Governor of Minnesota 
 (Governor Eamsey) from any censure, yet the In- 
 dians were not satisfied with the treatment they 
 had received in this matter by the accredited agents 
 of the Government. 
 
 2. Another cause of irritation among these In- 
 dians arose out of the massacre of 1857, at Spirit 
 Lake, known as the Inkpaduta massacre. Inkpa- 
 tluta was an outlaw of the Wapakuta band of 
 Sioux Indians, and his acts in the murders at 
 Spirit Lake were entirely disclaimed by the "annu- 
 ity Sioux." He had slain Tasagi, a Wapakuta 
 chief, and several of his relatives, some twenty 
 years previous?, and had thereafter led a wandering 
 and marauding life about the head waters of the 
 Des Moines river. 
 
 Inkpaduta was connected with several of the 
 bands of annuity Sioux Indians, and simOar rela- 
 tions with other bands existed among his followers. 
 These ties extended even to the Yanktons west of 
 the James river, and even over the Missouri. He 
 was himself an outlaw for the murder of Tasagi 
 and others as stated, and followed a predatory and 
 lawless life in the neighborhood of his related 
 tribes, for which the Sioux were themselves blamed. 
 
 The depredations of these Indians becoming in- 
 sufferable, and the settlers finding themselves suf- 
 ficiently strong, deprived them of their gims and 
 drove them fi-om the neighborhood. Recovering 
 some of their guns, or, by other accounts, digging 
 up a few old ones which they had buried, they 
 proceeded to the settlement of Spirit Lake and 
 demanded food. This appears to have been given 
 to a jjortion of the band which had first arrived, 
 to the extent of the means of those apphed to. 
 Soon after, Inkpaduta, with the remainder of his 
 followers, who, in all, numbered twelve men and 
 two boys, with some women who had hngered be- 
 hind, came in and demanded food also. The set- 
 tlor gave him to rmderstand that he had no more 
 
182 
 
 niSTORT OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 to give; whereupon Inkpadiita spoke to his eldest 
 son to the effect that it was disgraoetul to ask 
 these people for food which they ought to take 
 themselves, and not to have it thrown to them like 
 dogs. Thus assured, the son immediately shot the 
 man, and the murder of the whole family fol- 
 lowed. Prom theace they proceeded from house 
 to house, until every family in the settlement, 
 without warning of those previously slain, were 
 all massacred, except four women, whom they bore 
 away prisoners, and afterward violated, with cir- 
 cumstances of brutality so abhorrent as to find no 
 parallel in the annals of savage barbarity, unless 
 we excejH the m:issacre of 18G2, which occurred a 
 few years later. 
 
 From Spirit Lake the murderers proceeded to 
 Springfield, at the outlet of Shetek, or Pelican 
 lake, near the head waters of the Das Moines 
 river; where they remained encamped for some 
 days, trading with ]\Ir. William Wood from Man- 
 kato, and his brothers. Here they succeeded in 
 killing seventeen, including the Woods, making, 
 in all, forty-seven persons, when the men rallied, 
 and firing upon them, they retreated and deserted 
 that part of the country. Of the four women 
 taken captives b.y Inkpaduta, Mrs. Stevens and 
 Mrs. Noble were killed by tlie Indians, and Mrs. 
 Marble and Miss Gardner were rescued by the 
 Wapaton Sioux, under a promise of reward from 
 the Government, and for which the three Indians 
 who brought in these captives received each one - 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 The Government had required of the Sioux the 
 delivery of Inkj^aduta and his band as the condi- 
 tion for the payment of their annuities. This was 
 regarded by certain of the bands as a great wrong 
 visited upon the innocent for the crimes of the 
 guilty. One of their speakers (Mazakuti Mani), 
 in a council held with the Sissetons and Wapatons, 
 August 10, 1857, at Yellow Medicine, said: 
 
 '•The soldiers have appointed me to speak for 
 them. The men who killed the white people did 
 not belong to us, and we did not expect to be called 
 upon to account for the deeds of another band. 
 We have always tried to do as our Great Father 
 tells us. One of our young men brought in a 
 captive woman. I wont out and brought in the 
 other. The Koldicrs came up hero and our men 
 assisted to kill one of Inkpaduta's sons at this 
 place. The lower Indians did not get up the war- 
 party for you; it was our Indians, the Wapatons 
 and Sissetons. The soldiers here say that they 
 
 were told by you that a thousand dollars would 
 be paid for killing each of the murderers. We^ 
 with the men who went out, want to be paid for 
 what we have done. Three men were killed, as 
 we know. ***** AH of us want our 
 money very much. A man of another band has 
 done wrong, and we are to suffer for it. Our old 
 women and children are hungry for this. I have 
 seen $10,000 sent here to pay for our going out. 
 I wish our soldiers were paid for it. I suppose 
 our Great Father has more money than this." 
 
 Major PritcViette, the special government agent, 
 thought it necessary to answer some points made 
 by Mazakuti Mani, and spoke, in council, as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 "Your Great Father has sent me to .see Super- 
 intendent C'ullen, and to say to him he was well 
 satisfied with his conduct, because he had acted ac- 
 cording to his instructions. Y'our Great Father 
 had heard that some of his white children had been 
 cruelly and brutally murdered by some of the 
 Sioux nation. The news was sent on the wings of 
 the lightning, fi'om the extreme north to the laud 
 of eternal summer, throughout which his children 
 dwell. His young men wished to make war on 
 the whole Si mux nation, and revenge the deaths of 
 their brethren. But your Great Father is a just 
 father and wishes to treat all his children alike 
 with justice. He wants no innocent man pimished 
 for the guilty. He punishes the guilty alone. He 
 expects that those missionaries w.ho have been here 
 tcacling you the laws of the Groat Spirit Lad 
 tanghtyou this. Whenever a Sioux is injured by 
 a white man your Great Father will punish him, 
 and expects from the chiels and warriors of the 
 great Sioux nation that they will punish those In- 
 dians who injure the whites. He considers the 
 Si lux as a part of his family; and as friends and 
 brothers he expects them to do as the whites do to 
 them. He knows that the Sioux nation is divided 
 into bands; but he knows also how they can all 
 baud together for common protection. He expects 
 the nation to punish these mtirdcrers, or to deliver 
 them up. He expects this because they are his 
 friends. As long as these murderers remain un- 
 punished or not delivered up, they are not acting 
 as friends of their Great Father. It is for this 
 reason that he has witheld the airauit^. Your 
 Great Father will have his white children pro- 
 tected; and all who have told you that your Great 
 Father is not able to punish those who injure them 
 will find themselves bitterly mistaken. Your 
 
REPOUV OF til'EClAL AGENT. 
 
 183 
 
 Great Father desires to do good to all his cliildrcn 
 and will do all iu his power to accomplish it; but 
 he is firmly resolved topuuish all who do wrong." 
 
 After this, another similar council, September 1, 
 1857, was held with the Sissetoa and Wapaton 
 baud of Upper Sioux at Yellow Medicine. Agent 
 Flandrau, iu the meantime, had siicceeded in or- 
 ganizing a band of warriors, made up of all the 
 "annuity" bands, under Little Crow. This oxpo- 
 dition numl)ered altogether one hundred and six, 
 besides tour half-breeds. This party went ont al- 
 ter Inkpaduta on the 22d of July, 18.57, starting 
 from Yellow Medicine. 
 
 Ou the 5th of August Major Pritehette reported 
 to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, "That the 
 ))arty of Indians, rejsresenting the entire Sioux na- 
 tion, imder the nominal head of Little Crow, re- 
 turned yesterday from the expedition in search of 
 Inkpaduta and his bund," after an absence of thir- 
 teen days. 
 
 As this outlaw, Inkpaduta, has achieved an im- 
 mortality of infamy, it may be allowable in the 
 historian to record the names of his followers. In- 
 kpaduta (Scarlet Point) heads the list, and the 
 names of the eleven men are given by the wife of 
 Tateyahe, who was killed by the party of Sioux 
 under Little Crow, thus: Tateyahe (Shifting 
 Wind); Makpeahoteman (Itoaring Cloud), son of 
 Inkpaduta, killed at Yellow Medicine; Makpiope- 
 ta (Fire Cloiid), twin brother of Makpeohotoman; 
 Tawachshawakan (His Mysterious Feather), kilkd 
 in the late expedition; Bahata (Old Man); Kech- 
 omon (Putting on as He Walks); Huhsan (One 
 Leg); Kahadai (Eattling), son-in-law of Inkpa- 
 duta; Fetoa-tanka (Big Face); Tatelidashiuksha- 
 mani (One who Makes Crooked Wind as He 
 Walks); Tachanchegahota (His Great Gun), and 
 the two boys, children of Inkjiaduta, not named. 
 
 After the band had been pursued by Little 
 Crow into Lake Chouptijatanka (Big Dry Wood), 
 distant twenty miles iu a northwestern direction 
 from Skunk Lake, and three of them killed out- 
 right, wounding one, taking two women and a 
 little child prisoners, the Indians argued that they 
 had done sufficient to merit the payment of their 
 annuities; and on the 18th of August, 1834, Maj. 
 Cullen telegraphed the following to the Hon. J. 
 W. Denver, commissioner of Indian affairs : 
 
 "If the department concurs, I am of the opinion 
 that the Sioux of the Mississippi, having done all 
 in their power to punish or surrender Inkpaduta 
 and bis band, their annuities may with propriety 
 
 be paid, as a signal to the military movements 
 from FcrU Hidgely and Baudall. The special 
 agent from tlie department wait.? an answer to 
 this dis])atch at Duuleith, and for instructions in 
 the premises." 
 
 In this opinion Major Pritehette, in a letter of 
 the same date, concurred, for reasons therein 
 stated, and transmitted to the department. In 
 this letter, among other things, the writer says: 
 
 "No encouragement was given to them that 
 sueli a request would be granted. It is the 
 opinion, however, of Superintendent Cullen, the 
 late agent. Judge Flaudrau, Governor Medary, 
 and the general intelligent sentiment, that the an- 
 nuities may now witk propriety, be paid, without 
 a violation of the spirit of the expressed deter- 
 mination of the department to withhold them until 
 the murderers of Spirit Lake should be surren- 
 dered or punished. It is argued that the present 
 friendly disposition of the Indians is manifest, and 
 should not be endangered by subjecting them to 
 the wants incident to their condition during the 
 coming winter, and the consequent temptation to 
 depredation, to which the withholding their 
 money would leave them exposed." 
 
 The major yielded this 23oint for the reasons 
 stated, yet he coutmued: 
 
 "If not improper for me to exjiress an opinion, I 
 am satisfied that, without chastising the whole 
 Sioux nation, it is impossible to enforce the sur- 
 render of Inkpaduta and the remainder of his 
 band." * * * "Nothing less than the entire 
 extirpation of Inkpaduta's miu-derous outlaws will 
 satisfy the justice and dignity of the government, 
 and vindicate outraged humanity." 
 
 We here leave the Inkpaduta massacre, remark- 
 ing only that the government paid the Indians 
 their annuities, and ma<le no further effort to bring 
 to condign punisliment the remnant who had 
 escajied alive from the pur.suit of Little Crow and 
 his soldiers. This was a great err.ir on the part 
 of our government. The Indians construed it 
 either as an evidence of weakness, or that tl e 
 whites were afraid to pursue the matter furtliir, 
 lest it might terminate in still m<jre disastrous re- 
 sults to the infant settlement of the state border- 
 ing upon the Indian country. The residt was, 
 the Indians became more insolent than ever be- 
 fore. Little Crow and his adherents had found 
 capital out of which to foment future ditBoulties 
 in which the two races should become involved. 
 And it is now believed, and subsequent circum- 
 
184 
 
 BISTORT OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 stances have greatly strongtbened that belief, that 
 Little Crow, from the time the government ceased 
 its efforts to punish Inkpaduta, began to agitate 
 his great scheme of driving the whites from the 
 state of Minnesota; a scheme which finally cul- 
 minated in the ever-to-be- remembered massacre of 
 August, A. D. 1862. 
 
 The antecedent exciting causes of this massacre 
 ar« numerous. The displaced agents and traders 
 find the cause in the erroneous action of the Gov- 
 ernment, resulting in their removal from ofBce. 
 The statesman and the philosopher may unite in 
 tracing the cause to improper theories as to the 
 mode of acquiring the right to Indian lands. 
 The former may locate the evil in our system of 
 treaties, and the latter in our theories of govern- 
 ment. The philanthropist may find the cause in 
 the absence of justice which we exhibit in all our 
 intercourse with the Indian races. The poet and 
 the lovers of romance in human character find the 
 true cause, as they believe, in the total absence of 
 aU appreciation of the noble, generous, confiding 
 traits peculiar to the native Indian. The Chris- 
 tian teacher fijids apologies for acts of Indian 
 atrocities in the deficient systems of mental and 
 moral culture. Each of these different classes 
 are satisfied that the great massacre of August, 
 1862, had its origin in some way intimately con- 
 nected with his favorite theory. 
 
 Let us, for a moment, look at the facts, in rela- 
 tion to the two races who had come into close con- 
 tact with each other, and in the light of these 
 facts, judge of the probable cause of this fearful 
 collision. The white race, some two hundred 
 years ago, had entered upon the material conquest 
 of the American continent, armed with aU the ap- 
 pliances for its complete subjugation. On the 
 shores of this prolific continent these new ele- 
 ments came in contact with a race of savages with 
 many of the traits peculiar to a common human- 
 ity, yet, with these, exhibiting all, or nearly all, 
 the vices of the most barbarous of savage races. 
 The period of occupancy of this broad, fertile 
 land was lost in the depths of a remote antiquity. 
 The culture of the soil, if ever understood, had 
 been long neglected by this race, and the chase 
 was their principal mode of gaining a scanty sub- 
 sistence. It had lost all that ennobled man, and 
 was alive only to all his degradations. The white 
 man was at once acknowledged, the Indian being 
 judge, superior to the savage race with which he 
 Lad come in contact. 
 
 Here, then, is the first cause, in accordance with 
 a universal principle, in which the contliot of the 
 two races had its origin. It was a conflict of 
 knowledge with ignorance, of right with wrong. 
 If this conflict were only mental, and the weapons 
 of death had never been resorted to in a single 
 instance, the result would have been the same. 
 The inferior race must either recede before the su- 
 perior, or sink into the common mass, and, like the 
 raindrops falling upon the bosom of the ocean, 
 lose all traces of distinction. This warfare takes 
 place the world over, on the principle of mental 
 and material progress. The presence of the supe- 
 rior light eclipses the inferior, and causes it to 
 retire. Mind makes aggression upon mind, and 
 the superior, sooner or later, overwhelms the infe- 
 rior. This process may go on, with or without 
 the conflict of physical organisms. The final 
 result will be the same. 
 
 Again, we come to the great law of right. The 
 white race stood uj^on this undeveloped continent 
 ready and willing to execute the Divine injunc- 
 tion, to replenish the earth and subdue it. On the 
 one side stood the white race armed with his law; 
 on the other the savage, resisting the execution of 
 that law. The result could not be evaded by any 
 human device. In the case before us, the Indian 
 ra?es were in the wrongful possession of a conti- 
 nent required by the superior right of the white 
 man. This right, founded in the wisdom of God, 
 eliminated by the ever-operative laws of progress, 
 will contiuue to assert its dominion, with varying 
 success, contingent on the use of means employed, 
 until all opposition is hushed in the perfect reign 
 of the superior aggressive principle. 
 
 With these seemingly necessary reflections, we 
 introduce the remarks of the Sioux agent touching 
 the antecedents of the great massacre, unparalleled 
 in the history of the conflict of the races. The 
 agent gives his jjecuiiar views, and they are worthy 
 of careful consideration. 
 
 Major Thomas Galbraith, Sioux Agent, says: 
 
 " The radical, moving cause of the outbreak is, 
 I am satisfied, the ingrained and fixed hostility of 
 the savage barbarian to reform and civib'zation. 
 As in all barbarous communities, in the history of 
 the world, the same people have, for the most part, 
 resisted the encroachments of civilization upon 
 their ancient customs; so it is in the case before 
 us. Nor does it matter materially in wKat shape 
 civilization makes its attack. Hostile, opposing 
 forces meet in contUct, and a war of social elements 
 
VJKWS OF MAJOR OALBliAITII. 
 
 185 
 
 is the result — civilization is aggressive, and bar- 
 barism stubbornly resistant. Sometimes, indeed, 
 civilization has achieved a bloodless victory, l)ut 
 generally it has been otherwise. Christianity, it- 
 self, the true basis of civilization, has, in most in- 
 stances, waded to success through seas of blood. 
 * * * Having stated thus much, I state as a 
 settled fact in my mind, that the encroachments of 
 Christianity, and its handmaid, civilization, upon 
 the habits and customs of the Sioux Indians, is 
 the cause of the late terrible Sioux outbreak. There 
 were, it is true, many immediate inciting causes, 
 A^'hich will be alluded to and stated hereafter, but 
 they are subsidiary to, and developments of, or 
 incident to, the great cause set forth. * * * 
 But that the recent Sioux outbreak would have 
 happened at any rate, as a result, a fair conse- 
 quence of the cause here stated, I have no more 
 doubt than I doubt that the great rebellion to 
 overthi'ow oiur Government would have ocoui'red 
 had Mr. Lincoln never been elected President of 
 the United States. 
 
 " Now as to the existing or immediate causes of 
 the outbreak: By my predecessor a new and 
 radical system was inaugurated, practically, and, 
 in its inauguration, he was aided by the Christian 
 missionaries aud by the Government. The treaties 
 of 1858 were ostensibly made to carry this new 
 system into effect. The theory, in suljstance, \«8s 
 to break uj) the community-system which prevailed 
 among the Sioux; weaken and destroy their 
 tribal relations, and individualize them, by giving 
 them each a sej^arate home. * * * Ou the 
 1st day of June, A. D. 18G1, when I entered upon 
 the duties of my oiBce, I found that the system 
 had just been inaugurated. Some hundred fami- 
 lies of the Annuity Sioux had become novitiates, 
 and their relatives and friends seemed to be favfjr- 
 ably disposed to the new order of things. But I 
 also found that, against the-ie, were arrayed over 
 five thousand "Annuity Sioux," besides at least 
 three thousand Tanktonais, all inflamed by the 
 most bitter, relentless, and devilish hostility. 
 
 " I saw, to some extent, the difficulty of the 
 situation, but I determined to continue, if in my 
 power, the civilization system. To favor it, to aid 
 and build it ujs by every fair means, I advised, 
 encouraged, and assisted the farmer novitiates; in 
 short, I sustained the policy inaugurated by my 
 predecessor, and sustained and recommended by the 
 Government. I soon discovered that the system 
 could not be successful without a suificient force 
 
 to protect the "farmer" from the hostility of the 
 "blanket Indians." 
 
 "During my term, and up to the time of the out- 
 break, about one hundred and seventy-five liad 
 their hair cut and had adopted the habits and cus- 
 toms of white men. 
 
 " For a time, indeed, my hopes were strong that 
 civilization would soon be in the ascendant. But 
 the increase of the civilization party and their evi- 
 dent prosperity, only tended to exasperate the In- 
 dians of the 'ancient customs,' and to widen the 
 breach. But while these are to be enumerated, it 
 may be permitted me to hojDe that the radical 
 cause will not be forgotten or overlooked ; and I 
 am bold to exjjress this desire, because, ever since 
 the outbreak, the public journals of the country, 
 religious and .sjecular, have teemed with editorials 
 by and communications from 'reliable individuals,' 
 politicians, philanthropists, philosophers and hired 
 'penny-a-liners,' mostly mistaken and sometimes 
 willfully and grossly false, giving the cause of the 
 Indian raid." 
 
 Major Galbraith enumerates a variety of other 
 exciting causes of the massacre, which our limit 
 will not allow us to insert in this volume. Among 
 otiier causes, * * that the United States was 
 itself at war, and that Washington was taken by 
 the negroes. * * But none of these were, in 
 his opinion, the cause of the outbreak. 
 
 The Major then adds: 
 
 "Grievances such as have been related, and 
 numberless others akin to them, were spoken of, 
 recited, and chanted at their councils, dances, and 
 feasts, to such an extent that, in their excitement, 
 in June, 1862, a secret organization known as the 
 ' Soldier's Lodge,' was tV)unded by the young 
 men and soldiers of the Lower Sioux, with the 
 object, as far as I was able to learn through spies 
 and informers, of preventing tJie 'traders' from 
 going to the pay-tables, as had been their custom. 
 Since the outbreak I have become satisfied that 
 the real object of this 'Lodge' was to adopt 
 measures to 'clean out' all the white people at the 
 end of the payment." 
 
 Whatever may have been the cause of the fear- 
 fvd and bloody tragedy, it is certain that the man- 
 ner of the execution of the infernal deed was a 
 deep-laid conspiracy, long cherished by Little 
 Crow, taking form under the guise of the "Sol- 
 diers' Lodge," and matured in secret Indian coun- 
 cils. In all these secret movements Little Crow 
 was the moving spirit. 
 
180 
 
 uisTonr OP the sioux massacre. 
 
 Now the opportune moment seemed to have 
 come. Only thirty soldiers were stationed at Fort 
 Eidgely. Some thirty were all that Fort Bipley 
 could muster, and at Fort Aberorombie one com- 
 pany, under Captain Van Der Hork, was all the 
 whites could depend lapon to repel any attack in 
 that quarter. The whole effective force for the 
 defense of the entire frontier, from Pembina to the 
 Iowa line, did not exceed two hundred men. The 
 annuity money was daily esj^ected, and no troops 
 except about one hundred men at Yellow Medi- 
 cine, had been detailed, as usual, to attend the an- 
 ticipated payment. Here was a glittering prize to 
 be paraded before the minds of the excited sav- 
 ages. The whites were weak; they were engaged 
 in a terrible war among themselves; their atten- 
 tion was now directed toward the great struggle 
 in the South. At such a time, offering so many 
 chances for rapine and plunder, it would be easy 
 to unite, at least, all the annuity Indians in one 
 common movement. Little Crow knew full well 
 that the Indians could easily be made to believe 
 that now was a favorable time to make a grand 
 attack upon the Ijorder settlements. In view of all 
 the favorable auspices now concurring, a famous 
 Indian council was called, which was fully attended 
 by the " Soldier.s' Lodge." Rev. S. E. Kiggs, in 
 his late work, 1880, ("Mary and I"),, referring to 
 the outbreak, says: 
 
 "On 4ugust 17th, the outbreak was commenced 
 in the border whita settlements at Acton, Minne- 
 sota. That night the news was carried to the 
 Lower Sioux Agency, and a coimcil of war was 
 called." •* * * " Something of the kind had 
 been meditated and talked of, and prepared for 
 undoubtedly. Some time before this, they had 
 formed the Toe-yo-tee-pee, or Soldiers' Lodge." 
 
 A memorable council, convened at Little Crow's 
 village, near the Lower Agency, on Sunday night 
 ]irevious to the attack on Fort Bidgely, and pre- 
 cisely two weeks before the first massacres at Ac- 
 ton. Little Crow was at this coimcil, and he was 
 not wanting in ability to meet the greatne.ss of 
 the occasion. The proceedings of this council, of 
 course, were secret. Some of the results arrived 
 at, however, have since come to the writer of these 
 pages. The council matured the details of a con- 
 spiracy, which for atrocity has hitherto never 
 found a place in recorded history, not excepting 
 that of Cawnpore. 
 
 Tlie evidence of that conspiracy comes to us, in 
 part, from the relation of one who was present at 
 
 the infamous council. Comparing the statement 
 of the narrative with the known occurrences of 
 the times, that council preceded the attack on the 
 Government stores at the Upper Agency, and was 
 convened on Simday night; the attack on the 
 Upper Agency took place the next day, Monday, 
 the 4th of August; and on the same day, an at- 
 tempt was made to take Fort Eidgely by strategy. 
 Not the slightest danger was anticipated. Only 
 thirty soldiers occupied the post at Fort Eidgely 
 and this was deemed amply sufiieient in times of 
 peace. But we will not longer detain the reader 
 from the denouement of this horrible plot. 
 
 Our informant states the evidences of the de- 
 crees of the council of the 3d of August, thus: 
 
 "I was looking toward the Agency and saw a 
 large body of men coming toward the fort, and 
 supposed them soldiers returning from the pay- 
 ment at Yellow Medicine. On a seccmd look, I 
 observed they were mounted, and knowing, at this 
 time, that they must be ludi.ans, was surprised at 
 seeing so large a body, as they were not expected. 
 I resolved to go into the garrison to see what it 
 meant, having, at the time, not the least suspicicn 
 that the Indians intended any hostile demonstti- 
 tion. Wlien I arrived at the garrison, I fouLd 
 Sergeant Jones at the entrance with a mounted 
 howitzer, charged with shell and caaister-shot, 
 pointed towards the Indians, who were removed 
 but a short distance from the guard house. I 
 inquired of the sergeant what it meant? whether 
 any danger was apprehended? He replied indif- 
 ferently, "No, but that he thought it a good rule 
 to observe that a soldier should always be ready 
 for any emergency." 
 
 These Indians had requested the privilege to 
 dance in tlie inclosure surrounding the fort. On 
 this occasion that request was refused them. But 
 I saw that, about sixty yards west of the guard 
 house, the Indians were making the necessary 
 preparations lor a dance. I thought nothing of it 
 as they had frequently done the same thing, but a 
 little furtlier removed from the tort, under some- 
 what different circumstances. I considered it a 
 singular exliibition of Indian foolishness, ami, at 
 tlie solicitation of a few ladies, went out and wcs 
 myself a spectator of the dance. 
 
 "When the dance was concluded, the Indians 
 sought and obtained permission to encamp on 
 some rising ground about a quarter of a mile west 
 of the garrison. To this ground they soon re- 
 paired, and encamjied for the uight. The next 
 
EVIDENCE OF CONSl'lKACr. 
 
 187 
 
 mo-aiug, by 10 o'nlook, all li.id left tlie vicinity nf 
 the garrisou, ilejiartiug in the iliivotiim of (lio 
 Lower Agency. This whole matter of the daneo 
 was so conducted as to lead moat, if not all, the 
 residents of the garrison to believe that the In- 
 dians had paid them that visit for the purpose of 
 dancing and obtaining provisions for a feast. 
 
 "Some things were observable that were unu- 
 sual. The visitors were all warriors, niuety-six in 
 number, all in undress, except a very few who wore 
 calico shirts; and, iu addition to this, they all car- 
 ried arms, guns and tomahawks, with ammunition 
 pouches suspended around their shoulders. Pro- 
 \iou3 to the dance, the war implements were de- 
 posited some two hundred yards distant, where 
 they had left their ponies. But even this circum- 
 .s'ance, so far as it was then known, excited nT) 
 suspicion of danger or hostilities in the minds, of 
 the residents of the garrison. These residents 
 were thiity-iive men; thirty soldiers and five citi- 
 zens, with a few women and children. The guard 
 that day consisted of three soldiers; one waswalk- 
 uig leisurely to and fro in front of the guard- 
 house; the other two were off duty, passing aliout 
 an'' taking their rest; and all entirely without ap- 
 pichension of danger from Indians or any other 
 f .10. As the Indians left the garrison without do- 
 ing any mischief, most of us .supposed that no evil 
 was meditated by them. But there was one man 
 who acted on the supposition that thei-e was al- 
 ways danger sui-rounding a garrison when visited 
 l>y savages; that man was Sergeant Jones. From 
 t'je time he took his position at the gun he never 
 left it, but acted as he said he believed it best to 
 do, that was to be always ready. He not only re- 
 mained at the gun himself, but retained two other 
 men, whom he had previously trained as assistants 
 to work the i)iece. 
 
 '•Shortly before dark, without disclosing his in- 
 tentions. Sergeant Jones said to his wife: 'I have 
 a little business to attend to to-night; at bed-time 
 I wish you to retire, and not to wait for me.' As 
 he had frequently done this before, to discharge 
 some official duty at the quartermaster's office, she 
 thought it not singular, but did as he had re- 
 quested, andretired at the usual hour. On awak- 
 ening in the morning, liowever, she was surprised 
 at finding that he was not there, and had not been 
 in bed. In truth, this faithful soldier bad stood 
 by his gun througliout the entire night, ready to 
 fire, it occasion required, at any moment during 
 that time; nor could he be pa- uaded to leave that 
 
 gun until all this party of Indians had entirely 
 disapjicai'ed from the vieuiily of the garrison. 
 
 "Some two weeks after rids time, tliose same In- 
 dians, with others, attacked Fort l^idgejy and, af- 
 ter some tea days' siege, the g jrison was relieved 
 by the arrival of soldiers under Colonel H. H Sib- 
 ley. The second day after Colonel Sibley arrived, 
 a Fi-enchman of pure or mixed blood appeared 
 l-efore Sergeant Jones, in a very agitated manner, 
 and intimated that he had .some disclosures to 
 make to him; but no sooner had he made this in- 
 timation than he became extremely and violently 
 agitated, and seemed to be in a perfect agony of 
 n^iental perturbation. Sergeant Jones said to him, 
 'If you have anything to disclose, you ought, at 
 once, to make it known.' The man repealed that 
 he had disclosures to make, but that he did not 
 dare to make them; and although Sergeant Jones 
 urged him by every cousideiation in his power to 
 tell what he knew, the man seemed to be so com- 
 pl; tely under the dominion of terror, that he was 
 unable to divulge the great secret. 'Why,' said 
 he, 'they will kill me; they will kill my wife and 
 children.' Saying which he turned and walked 
 away. 
 
 "Shortly after the first interview, this man n 
 turned to Sergeant Jones, when again the Ser- 
 geant urged him to disclcse what he knew; ami 
 promised him that if he would do so, he would 
 Iceep his name o. profound secret forever; that if 
 the information which he should disclose should 
 lead to the detection and punishment of fhegndtv 
 the name of the informant should n. ver be made 
 known. Being thus assured, the Frenchman soon 
 became more calm. Hesitatmg a moment, he in- 
 quired of Sergeant Jones if he remembered that, 
 some two weeks ago, a party of Indians came 
 down to the fort to have a dance? Seigeant 
 Jones replied that he did. 'Why,' sai^l the French- 
 man, 'do you know that these Indians were all 
 warriors of Little Crow, or smue of the other lower 
 bands? Sir, these Indians had all been selected 
 for the purpose, and came down to Fort Eidgely 
 by the express command of Ijittle Crow and the 
 other chiefs, to get permission to dance; and when 
 all suspicion should be completely lulled, in the 
 midst of the dance, to seize their weapons, kill 
 every person in the fort, seize the big guns, open 
 the magazine, and secure the ammunition, when 
 they should be joined by all the remaining war- 
 riors of the lower bands. Thus armed, and in- 
 creased by numbers, tliey were to pi-occed together 
 
188 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 down the valley of the Minnesota. With this 
 force and these weapons they were assured they 
 could drive every white man beyond the Missis- 
 sippi.' 
 
 "AH this, the Frenchman informed Sergeant 
 Jones, he had learned by being present at a coun- 
 cil, and from conversations had with other Indians, 
 who had told him that they had gone to the gar- 
 rison for that very purpose. When he had con- 
 cluded this revelation, Sergeant Jones inquired, 
 'Why did they not execute their purpose ? Why 
 did they not take the fort?' The Frenchman re- 
 pbed: -Because they saw, during all their dance, 
 and then stay at the fort, that big gun constantly 
 pointed at them.' " 
 
 Interpreter Quinn, now dead, told the narrator 
 of the foregomg incidents that Little Crow had 
 said, repeatedly, in their councils, that the Indians 
 could kill all the white men in the Minnesota Val- 
 ley. In this way, he said, we can get all our lands 
 back; that the whites would again want these lands, 
 and that they could get double annuities. Some 
 of the councils at which these suggestions of Lit- 
 tle Crow were made, dated, he said, as far back as 
 the summer of 1857, immediately after the luk- 
 paduta war. 
 
 On the 17th day of August, 1862, Little Crow, 
 Inkpaduta, and Little Priest, the latter one of the 
 Winnebago chiefs, attended church at the Lower 
 Agency, and seemed to listen attentively to the 
 ser\'ices, conducted by the Kev. J. D. Hinman. 
 On the afternoon of that day Little Crow invited 
 these Indians to his house, a short distance above 
 the Agency. On the same day an Indian council 
 was held at Rice Creek, sixteen miles above the 
 Lower Agency, attended by the Soldiers' Lodge. 
 Inkpaduta, it is believed, and Little Priest, with 
 some thirteen Winnebago warriors, attended this 
 council. Why this council was held, and what 
 was its object, can easily be imagined. The de- 
 crees of the one held two weeks before had not been 
 executed. The reason w hy the fort was not taken 
 has been narrated. The other part of the same 
 scheme, the taking of the agency at the Yellow 
 Medicine, on the same day the fort was to have 
 fallen, will bo alluded to in another chapter. It 
 then became necessary for the conspirators to hold 
 another council, to devise new plans for the exe- 
 cution of their nefarious designs upon the whites. 
 The Acton tragedy, forty miles distant, had taken 
 place but a few hours before this council was con- 
 vened. On Monday, the 18th of August, these 
 
 Acton murderers were seen at the mill on Crow 
 river, six miles from Hutchinson, with the team 
 taken from Acton; so that these Indians did not 
 go to the Lower Agency, but remained in th( 
 country about Hutchinson. One of the number 
 only returned to the Agency by the next morning 
 after the council at Rice Creek had been held. 
 All that followed in the bloody drama, originated 
 at this council of Death, over which Little Crow 
 presided, on Sunday afternoon, the 17th day of 
 August, 1862, on the evening of the same day of 
 the Acton murders. The general massacre of all 
 white men was by order of this council, to com- 
 mence at the Agency, on the morning of the 18th, 
 and at as many other points, simultaneously, as 
 could be reached by the dawn of day, radiating 
 from that point as a center. The advantage 
 gained by the suddenness of the attack, and the 
 known panic that would result, was to be followed 
 up until every settlement was massacred, Foi't 
 Ridgely taken, both Agencies burned, New Ulm, 
 Mankato, St. Peter, and all the towns on the river 
 destroyed, the whole country plundered and devas- 
 tated, and as many of the inhabitants as were left 
 alive were to be driven beyond the Mississippi 
 river. The decree of this savage council, matured 
 on a Christian Sabbath, by Indians, who were sup- 
 posed to be civilized, so immediately after atten- 
 tively listening to the gospel of peace, filled the 
 measure of the long-cherished conspiracy matured 
 by Little Crow, until it was full of the most hope- 
 ful results to his polluted and brutal nature. 
 "Once an Indian, always an Indian," seems in this 
 instance to have been horribly demonstrated. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXn. 
 
 Change of indi.^k offioiai-s — payment of 1861 — 
 repobt of agent gaiibkaith — upper and 
 lower bands — supplies attack on the ware- 
 house renville rangers return to fort 
 
 BIDGELT. 
 
 The change in the administration of the Gov- 
 ernment in 1861, resulting, as it did, in a general 
 change in the minor offices throughout the coun- 
 try, carried into retii-enient Major William J. Cul- 
 len. Superintendent of Indian AiTairs for the 
 Northern Superintendency, and Major Joseph R. 
 Brown, Agent for the Sioux, whose places were 
 filled respectively by Colonel Clark W. Thomp- 
 son and Maior Thomas J. Galbraith. Colonel 
 
MAJOR GALBEMTWS REPORT. 
 
 189 
 
 Thompson entered upon tlie duties of bis office in 
 May of that year, and Major Galbraith on the 
 fii-st day of Jime. In that month the new agent 
 and many of the new employes, with their fami- 
 lies, took up their residence on the reservations. 
 
 These employes, save a few young men who 
 were employed as laborers, were, with two excep- 
 tions, men of families, it being the policy of the 
 agent to employ among the Indians as few un- 
 married men as possible. 
 
 During that year nothing occurred on the res- 
 ervations of an unusual character more than the 
 trouble with which the Agents had always to deal 
 at every semi-annual gathering at the Agencies. 
 We say "semi-annual," because they came in the 
 summer to draw their annuities, and again in the 
 autumn for their winter supply of goods. 
 
 It has been usual at the payment of annuities 
 to have a small force of troops to guard against 
 any untoward event which might otherwise occur. 
 The payment to the lower bands, in 1861, was 
 made in the latter part of June, and to the upper 
 bands about the middle of July. These pay- 
 ments were made by Superintendent Thompson 
 in person. 
 
 The Sisseton bands came down to the Agency 
 at a very early day, as had always been their 
 habit, long before the arrival of the money, 
 bringing with them a large body of Yanktonais 
 (not annuity Sioux), who always came to the 
 payments, claiming a right to a share of the an 
 unities issued to the Indians. 
 
 These wild huntei's of the plains were an un- 
 faiUng element of trouble at the payments to the 
 upper liands. At this last payment they were in 
 force, and by their troublesome conduct, caused a 
 delay of some daysinthemakingof the payments. 
 Tills was, however, no unusual occurrence, as they 
 always came with a budget of grievances, ujaou 
 which they were wont to dilate in council. This 
 remark is equally true of the annuity Indians. 
 Indeed, it would be very strange if a payment 
 could be made without a demand, on the part of 
 the "young men," for three or four times the 
 amount of their annual dues. 
 
 These demands were usually accompanied by 
 overt acts of violence; yet the payment was made; 
 and this time, after the payment, all departed to 
 their village at Big Stone Laka They came 
 again in the fall, drew their supply of goods, and 
 went quietly away. 
 
 It so turned out, however, that the new agent, 
 
 Galbraith, came into office too late to iusiiro a large 
 crop that year. He says: 
 
 "The autumn of 18C1 cluscd upon us rather un- 
 favorably. Tlie crops were light; especially was 
 this the case with the Upper Sioux ; they had little 
 or nothing. As heretofore communicated to tiie 
 Department, the cut-worms destroyed all the 
 Sisetons, and greatly injured the crop of the 
 Wajiatons, Medawakantons, Wapakutas. For 
 these latter I purchased on credit, in anticipation 
 of the Agricultural and Civilization Funds, large 
 quantities of pork and flour, at current rates, to 
 .support them during the winter. 
 
 "Early in the autumn, in view of the necessitous 
 situation of the Sisetons, I made a requisition on 
 the department for the sum of )j!.5,0D0, out of the 
 special fund for the relief of 'poor and destitute 
 Indians;' and, in anticipation of receiving this 
 money, made arrangements to fe d the old and in- 
 firm men, and the women and cliildren of these 
 people. I directed the Rev. S. E. Kiggs to make 
 the selection, and furnish me a list. 
 
 "He carefully did this, and we fed, in an econ- 
 omical, yea, even parsimonious way, about 1,500 
 of these people from, the midille of December until 
 nearly the first of April. We had hoped to gut 
 them off on their spring hunt earlier, but a tre- 
 mendous and unprecedented snow-storm durin"- 
 the last days of February prevented. 
 
 "In response to my requisition, I received 
 §3,000, and expended very nearly -55,000, leaving 
 a deficiency not propei'ly chargable to the regular 
 funds, of about .$2,000. 
 
 "These people, it is believed, must have per- 
 ished had it not been for this scanty assistance. 
 In addition to this, the regular issues were made 
 to the farmer Indians m payment for their labor. 
 
 "In the month of August, 18C1, the superinten- 
 dents of farms were directed to have ploughed 'in 
 the fall,' in the old jjublic and neglected private 
 fields, a sufficient quantity of land to provide 
 'plantings' for such Indians as could not be pro- 
 vided with oxen and implements. In pmrsuance 
 of this direction, there were ploughed, at rates 
 ranging from l$1.50 to $2,00 per acre, ac- 
 cording to the nature of the work, by teams and 
 men hired for the purpose, for the Lower Sioux, 
 about 500 acres, and for the Upper Sioux, about 
 475 acres. There were, also, at the same time, 
 ploughed by the farmer Indians and the depart- 
 ment teams, about 250 acres for the Lower, and 
 
190 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SIOUX JI ASS ACME. 
 
 about 325 acres for the Upper Sioux. This fall 
 ploughing was continued until the frost prevented 
 its further prosecution. It was done to facilitate 
 the work of the agricultural department, and to 
 kill the worms which had proved so injurious the 
 previous year. * * * 
 
 "The carpenter-shops at both Agencies were 
 supplied with lumber for the manufacture and re- 
 pair of sleds, wagons, and other farming utensils. 
 Sheds were erected for the protection of the cattle 
 and utensils of the depertment, and the farmer 
 Indians, assisted by the department carpenters, 
 erected stables, pens, and out-houses for the pro- 
 tection of their eatt-.e, horses and utensils. * * 
 Hay, grain, and other supplies were provided, 
 and, in short, every thing was done which the 
 means at command of the agent would justify. 
 
 "The work of the autumn being thus closed, I 
 set about making preparations for the work of the 
 next spring and summer, and in du'ectiug the 
 work of the winter. I made calculations to erect, 
 during the summer and autumn of 18G2, at least 
 fifty dwelling-houses for Indian families, at an 
 estimated average cost of $300 each; and also to 
 aid the farmer Indians in erecting as many ad- 
 ditional dwellings as possible, not to exceed thirty 
 or forty; and to have planted for the Lower 
 Sioux, at least 1,200 acres, and for the Upper 
 Sioux, at least 1,300 acres of crops, and to have 
 all the land planted, except that at Big Stone 
 Lake, inclosed by a fence. 
 
 "To carry out these calculations, early in the 
 the winter the sui^erintendeuts of farms, the black- 
 smiths, the carpenters, and the superintendents of 
 schools were directed to furnish estimates for the 
 amount of agricultural implements, horses, oxen, 
 wagons, carts, building material, iron, steel, tools, 
 and supplies needed to carry on suc^essi'iilly their 
 several departments for one year from the open- 
 ing of navigation in the spring of 18G2. 
 
 "These estimates were prepared and furnished 
 me about the 1st of February. In accordance 
 with these estimates, I proceeded to purchase, in 
 open market, the articles and supplies recommend- 
 ed. 
 
 ■'I made the estimates for one year, and pur- 
 chases accordingly, in order to secure the benefit 
 of transportation by water in the spring, and thus 
 avoid the delays, vexations, and extra expense of 
 transportation by land in the fall. The bulk of 
 ))Urchascs were made with the distinct understaud- 
 inj; tliat payment would be made out of the fiin.ls 
 
 belonging to the quarter in which the goods, im- 
 plements, or supplies, were expended." 
 
 "Thus it will be seen that, in the spring of 1862, 
 there was on hand sujiplies and material sufficient 
 to carry us through the coming year. * * -* 
 Thus, to all appearance, the spring season opened 
 propitiously. * * * To carry out my original 
 design of having as much as possible planted for 
 the Indians at Big Stone Lake and Lac qui Parle 
 as early in the month of May, 1862, as the condi- 
 tion of the swollen streams would permit, I visited 
 Lac qui Parle and Big Stone Lake, going as far 
 as North Island, in Lake Traverse, having with 
 me Antoine Freniere, United States Interpreter, 
 Dr. .J. L. Wakefield, physician of the Upper Sioux, 
 and Nelson Givens, assistant A.geut. At Lac qui 
 Parle I found the Indians willing and anxious to 
 plant. I inquired into their condition and wants, 
 and made arrangements to have them supplied 
 with seeds and implements, and directed Amos W. 
 Huggins, the school teacher there, to aid and in- 
 struct them in their work, and to make proper 
 distrilnition of the seeds and implements furnished, 
 and placed at his disposal an ox-team and wagon 
 and two breaking-teams, with instructions to de- 
 vote his whole time and attention to the superin- 
 tendence and instruction of the resident Indians 
 during the planting season, and until the crops 
 were cultivated and safely harvested. 
 
 "I also found the Indians at Big Stone Lake and 
 Lake Traverse very anxious to plant, but without 
 any means whatever so to do. I looked over their 
 fields in order to see what could be done. After 
 having inquired into the whole matter, I instructed 
 Mr. Givens to remain at Big Stone Lake and su- 
 perintend and direct the agriciiltural operations 
 of the season, and to remain there until it was too 
 late to plant any rnore. I placed at his disposal 
 ten double plough teams, with men to operate 
 them, and ordered forward at once one hundred 
 bushels of seed corn and five hrmdred bushels of 
 seed potatoes, with pumpkin, squash, turnip, -and 
 other seeds, in reasonable proportion, together 
 with a sufficient supply of ploughs, hoes, and 
 other inqjlements for the Indians, and a black- 
 smith to repair breakages; and directed him to 
 see that every Indian, and every Indian horse or 
 ;iouy, did as much work as was possible. * * 
 
 "On my way down to the agency, i visited the 
 plantings of TahampihVla, (Battling Moccasin), 
 .Mazasha, (Bed Iron), Mahpiya Wicasta, (Cloud 
 Man), and Battling Cloud, and found that the 
 
MAJOn UALBUAlTira REPORT. 
 
 191 
 
 Supeimtpndent of Fiirms for tlie Upper Sioiix luid, 
 in accordance with my iustruetions, been faithfully 
 attending to the ■wants of these bands. He had 
 supplied them with implements and seeds, and I 
 left them at work. On my arrival at the Agency, 
 I found that the farmer Indians residing there- 
 abouts had, in my absence, been industriously at 
 work, and had not only completed their plowing, 
 but had planted very extensively. The next day 
 after my arrival at the Agency, I visited each 
 farmer Indian at the Yellow Medicine, and con- 
 gratulated him on his prospect for a good erojj. 
 and spoke to him such words of encouragement 
 "IS occurred to me. 
 
 '•The nest day I proceeded to the Lower Agency, 
 and then taking with me Mr. A. H. Wagner, the 
 Sujieriutendent of Farms for the Lower Sioux, I 
 went around each planting, and, for the second 
 time, visited each farmer Indian, and found that, 
 in general, my instructions had been carried out. 
 The plowing was generally completed in good 
 •order, and the jjlanting nearly all done, and many 
 of the farmer Indians were engaged in repairing 
 old and making new fences. I was j^leased and 
 gratified, and so told the Indians — the prospect 
 was so encouraging. 
 
 "About the tirst of July I visited all the plant- 
 ings of both the Upper and Lower Sioux, except 
 those at Big Stone Lake, and found, in nearly 
 every instance, the prospects for good crops very 
 hopeful indeed. The superintendents of farms, 
 the male school teachers, and all the employes 
 assisting them, had done their duty. About this 
 time Mr. Givens returned from Big Stone Lake, 
 and reporte 1 to me his success there. . Prom all I 
 knew and all I thus learned, I was led to believe 
 that we would have no 'starving Indians' to feed 
 the next winter, and little did I dream of the un- 
 forlunate and terrible outbreak which, m a short 
 time, burst upon us, * * * 
 
 •'In the fall of 1861, a good and substantial 
 school-room and dwelling, a store-house and black- 
 smith-shop, were completed at Lac qui Parle, and, 
 about the first of November, Mr. Amos W. Ilug- 
 gius and his family occupied the dwelling, and, 
 assisted by Miss Julia LaFrambois, prepared the 
 school-room, and devoted their whole time to 
 ' teaching such Indian children as they could in- 
 duce to attend the school. 
 
 "The storehouse was supplied with provisions, 
 which Mr. Huggins was instructed to issue to the 
 children and their parents at his discretion. Here 
 
 it may be permitted me to remark to Mr. Hug- 
 gins, who was born and raised among the Sioux, 
 and Miss LaFrambois, who was a Sioux mixed- 
 blood, were two peraons entirely capable and in 
 every respect qualified for the discharge of the 
 duties of their situation, than whom the Indians 
 had no more devoted filends. They livctl amoijg 
 the Indians of choice, because they thought they 
 could be beneficial to them. Mr. Huggins exer- 
 cised nothing but kindness toward them. He fed 
 them when hungry, clothed them when naked, 
 attended them when sick, and advised and cheered 
 them in all their difficulties. He was intelligent, 
 entrgetic, industrious, and good, and yet he was 
 one of the first victims of the outbreak, shot down 
 like a dog by the very Indians whom he had so 
 long and so well served. •■■•■ -**■•;:*** 
 "In the month of June, 18(52, being well aware 
 of the influence exerted by Little Ci-ow over the 
 blanket Indians, and, by his plausibility, led to 
 believe that he intended to act in good faith, I 
 promised to build him a good brick house pro- 
 vided that he would agree to aid me in bringing 
 around the idle young men to habits of industry 
 and civilization, and that he would abandon the 
 leader-hip of the blanket Indians and become a 
 'white man.' 
 
 "This being well understood, as I thought, I 
 directed Mr. Nairn, the carpenter of the Lower 
 Sioux, to make out the plan and estimates for 
 Crow's house, and to jjroceed at 07ice to make the 
 window and door frames, and to prepare the lum- 
 ber necessary for the building, and ordered the 
 teamsters to deliver the necessary amoimt of brick 
 as soon ;.s possible. Little Crow agreed to dig 
 the cellar and haul the necessary lumber, both of 
 which he had commenced. The carpenter had 
 nearly comjjleied his part of the work, and the 
 brick was being promptly delivered at the time 
 of the outbreak. 
 
 "On the 15th of August, only fluve days pre- 
 vious to the outbreak, I had an interview with 
 Little Crow, and he seemed to be well pleased and 
 satisfied. Little indeed did I suspect, at that 
 time, Ihot he would be the leader in the terrible 
 outbreak of the 18th." 
 
 There were planted, acct)rding to the statement 
 of Agent Galbraith in his report, on the lower 
 reservation, one thousand and twenty-five acres of 
 corn, two hundred and sixty acres of potatoes, 
 sixty acres of turnips and ruta-bagas, and twelve 
 acres of wheat, besides a large quantity of field 
 
192 
 
 niSTORT OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 and garden vegetables. These crops, at a low 
 estimate, would have harvested, in the fall, 74,865 
 bushels. There were, on the lower reservation, 
 less than three thousand Indians, all told. This 
 croj), therefore, would have yielded full twenty- 
 tive bushels to each man, woman and child, in- 
 cluding the blanket as well as the farmer Indians 
 
 There were, also, of growing crops, in fine con- 
 dition, on the upjjer reservation, one thousand one 
 hundred and ten acres of corn, three hundred 
 acres of potatoes, ninety acres of turnips and 
 ruta-bagas, and twelve acres of wheat, and field 
 and garden vegetables in due proportion. These, 
 at a low estimate, would have harvested 85,740 
 liushels. There were, on the upper reservation, a 
 little over four thousand annuity Sioux. This 
 crop, therefore, would have harvested them about 
 twenty-one bushels for each man, woman and 
 chOd, including, also, the blanket Indians. 
 
 Thus, under the beneficent workings of the hu- 
 mane policy of the Government inaugurated in 
 1858, they were fast becoming an independent 
 people. Let it be borne in mmd, however, that 
 these results, so beneficial to the Indian, were ac- 
 complished only through the sleepless vigilance 
 and untiring energy of those who had the welfare 
 of these rude, savage beings in their care. 
 
 Major Galbraith, after giving these statistics of 
 the crops on the reservations, and the arrange- 
 ments made for gathering, hay, by the Indians, 
 for their winter's use, says: 
 
 "I need hardly say that our hojjGs were high at 
 the prospects before us, nor need I relate my 
 chagrin and mortification when, in a moment, I 
 found these high hopes blasted forever." 
 
 Such, then, was the condition, present and pros- 
 pective, of the "Annuity Sioux Indians," in the 
 summer of 1862. No equal number of pioneer 
 settlers on the border could, at that time, make a 
 better showing than was exhibited on these reser- 
 vations. They had in fair prospect a surplus over 
 and above the wants of the entire tribes for the 
 coming year. This had never before occurred in 
 their history. 
 
 The sagacity and wise forethought of their 
 agent, and the uuusiuilly favorable season, had 
 amply provided against the possibility of recurring 
 want. The coming winter would have found their 
 granaries full to overflowing. Add to this the 
 fact that they had a large cash annuity coming to 
 them from the Govonmont, as well as large 
 amounts of goods, consisting of blankets, cloths. 
 
 groceries, flour and meats, powder, shot, lead, etc., 
 and we confidently submit to the enlightened 
 reader the whole question of their alleged griev- 
 ances, confident that there can be but one verdict 
 at their hands, and that the paternal care of the 
 Government over them was good and just; nay, 
 generous, and that those having the immediate su- 
 pervision of their interests were performing their 
 whole duty, honestly and nobly. 
 
 The hopes of the philanthrojjist and Christian 
 beat high. They believed the day was not far 
 distant when it could be said that the Sioux Indi- 
 ans, as a race, not only cmild be civilized, but that 
 here were whole tribes who were civilized, and had 
 abandoned the chase and the war-2)ath for the cul- 
 tivation of the soil and the arts of peace, and that 
 the juggleries and sorcery of the medicine-men 
 had been abandoned for the milder teachings of 
 the missionaries of the Cross. 
 
 How these high hopes were dashed to the earth, 
 extinguished in an ocean of blood, and their own 
 bright prospects utterly destroyed, by their horri- 
 ble and monstrous perfidy and unheard of atroci- 
 ties, it will be our work, in these pages, to show. 
 
 We are now rapidly approaching the fatal and 
 bloody denouement, the terrible 18th of August, 
 the memory of which will linger in the minds of 
 the survivors of its tragic scenes, and the succeed- 
 ing days and weeks of horror and blood, till rea- 
 son kindly ceases to perform its office, and blots 
 out the fearful record in the oblivion of the grave. 
 
 Again we quote from the able report of Major 
 Galbraith : 
 
 "About the 25th of June, 1862, a number of the 
 chiefs and head men of the Sissetons and Wapa- 
 tons visited the Agency and inquired about the 
 payments; whether they were going to get any 
 (as they had been told, as they alleged, that they 
 would not be paid,) and if so, how much, and 
 when? I answered them that they would cer- 
 tainly be paid; exactly how much I could not 
 say, but that it would be nearly, if not quite, a 
 full payment; that I did not know when the pay- 
 ment would be made, but that I felt sure it could 
 not be made before the 20th of July. I advised 
 them to go home, and admonished them not to come 
 back again QntU I sent for them. I issued pro- 
 visions, powder and shot and tobacco to them, and 
 they departed. 
 
 '• In a few days after I went to the Lower Agency, 
 and spoke to the lower Indians in regard to their 
 jxiynients. As thev aU Uved within a few luilcs of 
 
ATTACK Oy UPPER AGENOl'. 
 
 193 
 
 tlic Agency, littlo was said, as, whou tho money 
 camp, they could be called together in a day. I 
 remained about one week there, visiting the farms 
 and plantings, and issued to the Indians a good 
 supply of pork, flour, powder, shot, and tobacco, 
 and urged upon them the necessity of cutting and 
 securing hay for the winter, and. of watching and 
 keeping the birds from their corn. 
 
 " I left them apparently satisfied, and arrived at 
 Yellow Medicine on the 14th of July, aud found, 
 to my surprise, that nearly all the Upper Indians 
 had arrived, and were encamped about the Agency. 
 I inquired of them why they had come, and they 
 answered, that they were afraid something was 
 wrong; they feared they would not get their 
 money, because whUe vuii had been telling them so. 
 
 " Being in daUy expectation of tho ari'ival of 
 the money, I determined to make the best of it, 
 and notified the Superintendent of Indian Aflairs 
 accordingly. 
 
 "How were over 4,000 Annuity, and over 1,000 
 Tanktonais Sioux, with nothing to eat, and entirely 
 dependent on me for supplies, to be provided for? 
 I supplied them as best I could. Our stock was 
 nearly used up, and still, on the 1st day of Au- 
 gust, no money had come. 
 
 " The Indians complained of starvation. I held 
 back, in order to save the provisions to the last 
 moment. On the 4th of August, early in the 
 morning, the young men and soldiers, to the num- 
 ber of not less than four hundred mounted, and 
 one hundred and fifty on foot, surprised and de- 
 ceived the commander of the troops on guard, 
 and sirrrounded the camp, and proceeded to 
 the warehouse in a boisterous manner, and in 
 sight of, and within one hundred and fifty 
 yards of one hundred armed men, with two 
 twelve-pound mountain howitzers, cut down the 
 door of the warehouse, shot down the American 
 flag, and entered the building, and before they 
 could be stopped had carried over one hundred 
 sacks of flour from the warehouse, and were evi- 
 dently bent on a general 'clearing out.' 
 
 "The soldiers, now recovered from their panic, 
 came gallantly to our aid, entered the warehouse 
 and took possession. The Indians all stood around 
 with their guns loaded, cocked and leveled. I 
 spoke to them, and they consented to a talk. The 
 result was, that they agreed, if I would give them 
 plenty of pork and flour, and issue to them the 
 annuity rjoods the next day, they would go away. 
 I told them to go away with enough to eat for twv 
 
 13 
 
 datjs, and to send the chiefs and head men for a 
 council tlic next day, unarmed and peaceably and 
 I would answ'er them. They assented and went 
 to their camp. In the meantime I had sout for 
 Captain Mar.-fh, the commandant of Fort Ridgely, 
 who promptly arrived early in the morniug of the 
 next day. 
 
 "I laid the whole case before him, and stated 
 my plan. He agreed with me, and, in the after- 
 noon, the Indians, unarmed, and apparently 
 peaceably disposed, came in, and we had a 'talk,' 
 aud, in the presence of Captain Marsh, Kev. Mr. 
 Kiggs and others, I agreed to issue the annuity 
 goods and a fixed amount of provisions, provided 
 the Indians would go home and watch their corn, 
 and wait for the payment until they were sent for. 
 They assented. I made, on the 6th, 7th and 8th 
 of August the issues as agreed upon, assisted by 
 Captain Marsh, and, on the 9th of August tho In- 
 dians were all gone, and on tiie 12th I had defi- 
 nite information that the Sissetons, who had started 
 on the 7th, had all arrived at Big ^one Lake, and 
 that the men were preparing to go on a buffalo 
 hunt, and that the women and children were to 
 stay and guard the crops. Thus this threatening 
 and disagreeable event passed off, but, as usual, 
 without the punishment of a single Indian who 
 had. been engaged in the attack on the warehouse. 
 They should have been punished, but they were 
 not, and simply because we had not the power to 
 punish them. And hence we had to adopt the 
 same 'sugar-plum' policy which had been so often 
 adopted before with the Indians, and esj^ecially at 
 the time of the Spirit Lake massacre, in 1857." 
 
 On the 12th day of August, thirty men enlisted 
 at Yellow Medicine; and, on the 13th, accomi^a- 
 nied by the agent, proceeded to the Lower Agency, 
 where, on the 14th, they were joined by twenty 
 more, making about fifty in all. On the afternoon 
 of the 15th they proceeded to Fort Ridgely, where 
 they remained imtil the morning of the 17th, 
 when, having been furnished by Cajjtain Marsh 
 'with transportation, accompanied by Lieutenant 
 N. K. Culver, Sergeant McGrew, and four men of 
 Company B, Fifth Minnesota Volunteers, they 
 started for Fort Snelling by the way of New TUm 
 and St. Peter, little dreaming of the terrible mes- 
 sage, the news of which would reach them at the 
 latter place next day, and turn them back to the 
 defense of that post and the border. 
 
 On Monday morning, the 18th, at about 8 
 o'clock, they left New Ulm, and reached St. Peter 
 
194 
 
 niSTORT OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 at about 4 o'clock P. M. About 6 o'clock, Mr. J. 
 C. Dickinson arrived from the Lower Agency, 
 bringing the startling news that the Indians bad 
 broken out, and, before he left, had commenced 
 murdering the whites. 
 
 They at once set about making preparations to 
 return. There were in St. Peter some litty old 
 Harper's Ferry muskets; these they obtained, and, 
 procuring ammunition, set about preparing cart-^ 
 ridges, at which many of them worked all night, 
 and, at sunrise on Tuesday morning were on their 
 way back, with heavy hearts and dark forebodings, 
 toward the scene of trouble. 
 
 In the night Sergeant Sturgis, of Captain 
 Marsh's company, had arrived, on his way to St. 
 Paul, with dispatches to Governor Ramsey, from 
 Lieutenant Thomas Gere, then in command of 
 Fort Eidgely, bringing the sad news of the des- 
 truction of Captain Marsh and the most of his 
 command at the ferry, at the Lower Agency, on 
 Monday afternoon. They had but a slender 
 chance of rea<Aing the fort in safety, and still less 
 of saving it from destruction, for they knew that 
 there were not over twenty-five men left in it. 
 Lieutenant Sheehan, with his company, having 
 left for Fort Ripley on the 17th, at the same time 
 that the "Renville Rangers" (the company from 
 the Agencies) left for Fort SneUing. Their friends, 
 too, were in the very heart of the Indian country. 
 Some of them had left their«wives and little ones 
 at Yellow Medicine, midway between the Lower 
 Agency and the wild bands of the Sissetons and 
 Yanktonais, who made the attack upon the ware- 
 house at that Agency only two weeks before. 
 Their hearts almost died within them as they 
 thought of the dreadful fate awaiting them at the 
 hands of those savage and blood-thirsty monsters. 
 But they turned their faces toward the West, de- 
 tennined, if Fort Ridgely was yet untaken, to enter 
 it, or die in the attempt, and at about simdown 
 entered the fort, and found all within it as yet 
 safe. 
 
 A messenger had been sent to Lieutenant Shee- 
 han, who immediately turned back and had enter- 
 ed the fort a few hours before Dhem. There were 
 in the fort, on their arrival, over two hundred and 
 fifty refugees, principally women and children, 
 and they continued to come in, until there were 
 nearly three hundred. 
 
 Here they remained on duty, night and day, 
 until the morning of the '28th, when reinforce- 
 
 ments, imder Colonel McPhail and Captain Anson 
 Northrup and E. H. Chittenden arrived. 
 
 The annuity money by Superintendent Thomp- 
 son had been dispatched to the Agency in charge 
 of his clerk, accompanied by E. A. C. Hatch, J. 
 C. Ramsey, M. A. Daily, and two or three others. 
 On their arrival at the fort, on Tuesday night, 
 Major Galbraith foimd these gentlemen there, 
 they having arrived at the post Monday noon, the 
 very day of the outbreak. Had they been one day 
 sooner they would have been at the Lower Agency, 
 and their names would have been added, in all 
 probability, to the long roll of the victims, at that 
 devoted point of Indian barbarity, and about 
 $10,000 in gold would have fallen into the hands 
 of the savages. 
 
 These gentlemen were in the fort during the 
 siege which followed, and were among the bravest 
 of its brave defenders. Major Hatch, afterwards 
 of "Hatch's Battalion" (cavalry), was particu- 
 lary conspicuous for his cool corn-age and undaunt- 
 ed bravery. 
 
 Thus it will be seen how utterly false was the 
 information which the Indians said they had re- 
 ceived that they were to get no money. 
 
 And notwithstanding all that has been said as 
 to the cause of the outbreak, it may be remarked 
 that the removal of the agent from Yellow Medi- 
 cine, with the troops raised by him for the South- 
 ern Rebellion, at the critical period when the In- 
 dians were exasperated and excited, and ready at 
 any moment to arm for warfare upon the whites, 
 was one of the causes acting directly upon the In- 
 dians to precipitate the blow that afterwards fell 
 upon the border settlements of Minnesota on the 
 18th of August, 1862. Had he remained with his 
 family at Yellow Medicine, as did the Winnebago 
 agent, with his family, at the agency, the strong 
 probabihty is that the attack at Yellow Medicine 
 might have been delayed, if not entirely pre- 
 vented. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXm. 
 
 MURDER AT AOTON MASSACRE AT THE LOWER 
 
 AGENCY CAPTURE OP MATTIE WILLIAMS, MARY 
 
 ANDERSON AND MARY SCHWANDT MURDER OF 
 
 GEORGE GLEASON — -CAPTURE OF MRS. WAKEFIELD 
 AND CHILDREN. 
 
 We come now to the massacre itself, the terrible 
 blow which fell, like a thunderbolt from a clear 
 sky, with such ai^palling force and suddenness, 
 
MUHDKliS AT ACTON. 
 
 195 
 
 upon the unarmed and defenceless border, crim- 
 soning its fair fields with the blood of its murdered 
 people, and lighting up the midnight sky with 
 the hirid blaze of burning dwellings, by the light 
 of which the affrighted survivors tied from the 
 nameless terrors that beset their path, before the 
 advancing gleam of the uplifted tomahawk, many 
 of them only to fall victims to the Indian bullet, 
 while vainly seeking a place of security. 
 
 The first blow fell upon the town of Acton, 
 thirty-five miles north-east of the Lower Sioux 
 agency, in the county of Meeker. On Sunday, 
 August 17, 18G2, at 1 o'clock P. M., sis Sioux In- 
 dians, said to be of Shakopee's band of Lower An- 
 nuity Sioux, came to the house of Jones and de- 
 manded food. It was refused them, as Mrs. Jones 
 was away from home, at the house of Mr. Howard 
 Baker, a son-in-law, three fourths of a mile dis- 
 tant. They became angry and boisterous, and 
 fearing violence at their bands, Mr. Jones took 
 his children, a boy and a girl, and went himself to 
 Baker's, leaving at the house a girl from fourteen 
 to sixteen years of age, and a boy of twelve — 
 brother and sister — who lived with him. The In- 
 dians soon followed on to Baker's. At Howard 
 Baker's were a Mr. Webster and his wife. Baker 
 and wife and infant child, and Jones and his wife 
 and two children. 
 
 Soon aft«r reaching the house, the Indians pro- 
 posed to the three men to join them in target- 
 shooting. They consented, and all discharged 
 their guns at the target. Mr. Baker then traded 
 guns with an Indian, the savage giving him $3 
 as the difference in the value of the guns. Then 
 all commenced loading again. The Indians got 
 the charges into their guns first, and immediately 
 turned and shot Jones. Mrs. Jones and Mrs. 
 Baker were standing in the door. When one of 
 the savages leveled his gun at Mrs. Baker, her 
 husband saw the movement, and sprang between 
 them, receiving the bullet intended for his wife 
 in his own body. At the same time they shot 
 Webster and Mrs. Jones. Mrs. Baker, who had 
 her infant in her arms, seeing her husband fall, 
 fainted, and fell backward into the cellar (a trap- 
 door being open), and thus escaped. Mrs. Web- 
 ster was lying in their wagon, from which the 
 goods were not yet unloaded, and escaped unhurt. 
 The children of Mr. Jones were in the house, and 
 were not molested. They then returned to the 
 house of Mr. Jones, and killed and scalped the girl. 
 The boy was lying on the bed and was undiscov- 
 
 ered, but was a silent witness of the tragic fate of 
 his sister. 
 
 After killing the girl the savages left without 
 disturbing anything, and going directly to the 
 house of a settler, took from his stable a span of 
 horses already iu the harness, and while the fam- 
 ily was at dinner, hitched them to a wagon stand- 
 ing near, and without molesting any one, drove 
 off in the direction of Beaver Creek settlement and 
 the Lower Agency, leaving Acton at about 3 
 o'clock in the afternoon. This span of horses, har- 
 ness and wagon were the only property taken from 
 the neighborhood by them. 
 
 The boy at Jones's who escaped massacre at 
 their hands, and who was at the house during the 
 entire time that they were there, avers that they 
 obtained no liquor there that day, but even that 
 when they came back and murdered his sister, the 
 bottles upon the shelf were untouched by them. 
 They had obtained none on their first visit before 
 going over to Baker's. It would seem, therefore, 
 that the very general belief that these first mur- 
 ders at Acton, on the 17th, were the result of 
 drunkenness, is a mistake. 
 
 Mrs. Baker, who was unhurt by the fall, re- 
 mained in the cellar until after the Indians were 
 gone, when, taking the children, she started for a 
 neighboring settlement, to give the alarm. Before 
 she left, an Irishman, calling himself Cox, came 
 to the house, whom she asked to go with her, and 
 carry her child. Cox laughed, saying, "the men 
 were not dead, but drunk, and that, falling down, 
 they had hurt their noses and made them bleed," 
 and refusing to go with Mrs. Baker, went off in 
 the direction taken by the Indians. This man 
 Cox had frequently been seen at the Lower Agen- 
 cy, and was generally supposed fo be an insane 
 man, wandering friendless over the country. It 
 has been supjjosed by many that he was in league 
 with the Indians. We have only to say, if he was, 
 he counterfeited insanity remarkably well. 
 
 Mrs. Baker reached the settlement in safety, and 
 on the next day (Monday) a company of citizens 
 of Forest City, the county seat of Meeker county, 
 went out to Acton to bury the dead. Forest City 
 is twelve miles north of that place. The party 
 who went out on Monday saw Indians on horse- 
 back, and chased them, but faDed to get near 
 enough to get a shot, and they escaped. 
 
 As related in a preceding chapter, a council was 
 held at Rice Creek on Sunday, at which it was de- 
 cided that the fearful tragedy should commence 
 
196 
 
 U I STORY OF TEE SIOUX MASSAOBE. 
 
 on the next morning. It is doubtful whether the 
 Aoton murders were tlien known to these con- 
 spirators, as this council assembled in the after- 
 noon, and the savages who committed those mur- 
 ders had some forty miles to travel, after 3 o'clock 
 in the afternoon, to reach the place of tliis coun- 
 cil. It would seem, therefore, that those murders 
 could have had no influence in precipitating this 
 council, as they could not, at that time, have been 
 kuown to Little Crow and his conspirators. 
 
 The final decision of these fiends must have been 
 made as early as sundown; for by early dawn al- 
 most the entire force of warriors, of the Lower 
 tribes, were ready for the work of slaughter. They 
 were already armed and pamted, and dispersed 
 through the scattered settlements, over a region at 
 least forty miles in extent, and were rajjldly gath- 
 ering in the vicinity of the Lower Agency, until 
 some 250 were collected at that point, and sur- 
 rounded the houses and stores of the traders, 
 while yet the inmates were at their morning meal, 
 or asleep in their beds in fancied security, all un- 
 conscious of the dreadful fate that awaited them. 
 The action was concerted, and the time fixed. 
 The blow was unexpected, and unparalleled! In 
 the language af Adjutent-General Malmros: 
 
 "Since the formation of our general Govern- 
 ment, no State or Territory of the EepubUc has 
 received so severe a blow at the hands of the sav- 
 ages, or witnessed within its borders a parallel 
 scene of murder, butchery, and rapine." 
 
 Philander Prescott, the aged Government In- 
 terpreter at that Agency, who had resided among 
 the Sioux for forty-five years, having a wife and 
 children allied to them by ties of blood, and who 
 knew their language and spoke it better than any 
 man of their own race, aud who seemed to under- 
 stand every Indian impulse, had not the sUghtest 
 intimation or conception of such a catastrophe as 
 was about to fall upon the country. The Rev. S. 
 R. Riggs, in a letter to a St. Paul paper, imder 
 date of August 13, writes that "all is qaiet and 
 orderly at the place of the forthcoming payment." 
 This gentleman had been a missionary among 
 these people for over a (juarter of a century. His 
 ■ intimate acquaintance with their character and 
 language were of such a nature as to enable him 
 to know and detect the first symptoms of any in- 
 tention of committing any dejjredations upon the 
 whites, and had not the greatest secrecy been ob- 
 served by them, the knowledge of their designs 
 would undoubtedly have been communicated to 
 
 either Mr. Proscott, Mr. Riggs, or Dr. Williamson, 
 who had also been among them almost thirty 
 years. Such was the position of these gentlemen 
 that, had they discovered or suspected any lurking 
 signs of a conspiracy, such as after developments 
 satisfy us actually existed, and had failed to com- 
 municate it to the authorities and the people, they 
 would have laid themselves open to the horrible 
 charge of complicity with the murderers. But 
 whatever may be the jsubhc judgement upon the 
 course afterward pursued by the two last-named 
 gentlemen, in their efforts to shield the guilty 
 wretches from that punishment their awful crimes 
 so justly merited, no one who knows them would 
 for a moment harbor a belief that they had any 
 suspicion of the coming storm until it burst upon 
 them. 
 
 A still stronger proof of the feeling of security 
 of these uiDon the reservation, and the belief that 
 the recent demonstrations were only such as werii 
 of yearly occurrence, and that all danger wa& 
 passed, is to be found in the fact that, as late au, 
 the 15th of August, the substance of a dispatcl/. 
 was published in the daily papers of St. Pauly 
 from Majoi' Galbraith, agreeing fully with thu 
 views of Mr. Riggs, as to the quiet and orderly 
 conduct of the Indians. This opinion is accom- 
 panied by the very highest evidence of humau 
 sincerity. Under the belief of their peaceabla^ 
 disposition, he had, on the 16th day of August, 
 sent his wife and children from Fort Ridgely ti 
 Yellow Medicine, where they arrived on Sunday, 
 the 17th, the very day of the murda/o at Acton,, 
 and on the very day, also, that the tAuncil at Rico 
 Creek had decided that the white tbce in Minne^- 
 sota must either perish or be drivfcii back east oj" 
 the Mississippi. But early on tijs fatal Mondaj 
 morning Mr. Prescott and Re-/. J. D. Hiamaw 
 learned from Little Crow that the storm of s^vagti 
 wrath was gathering, and about to break upo^ 
 their devoted heads, and that Iheir only safety 
 was in instant flight. 
 
 The first crack of the India* guns that fell n/, 
 his ear, a moment afterward, found Prescott auii 
 Hinman, and his household iJeetng for their lives, 
 
 "While on the billowy bosom ai the air 
 I^oUed the dread notes of anguish and despair." 
 
 Mrs. Hinman was, fortunately, then at Fari- 
 bault. All the other members of the family es- 
 caped with Mr. Hinman (o Fort Ridgely. The 
 slaughter at the Agency now commenced. John 
 Lamb, a teamster, was shot down, near the house 
 
MASSACRE AT LOWER AGENCY. 
 
 197 
 
 of Mr. Hinman, just as that gentleman and liis 
 family were starting on their perilous journey of 
 escape. At the same time some Indians entered 
 the stable, and were taking therefrom the horses 
 belonging to the Government. Mr. A. H. Wag- 
 ner, Superintendent of Farms at that Agency, en- 
 tered the stable to prevent them, and was, by order 
 of Little Crow, instantly shot down. Mr. Hin- 
 man waited to see and hear no more, but fled 
 toward the ferry, anU soon put the Minnesota river 
 between himself and the terril>le tragedy enact- 
 ing behind him. 
 
 At about the same time, Mr. J. C. Dicliinson, 
 who kept the Government boarding-house, with 
 all his family, including several girls who were 
 working for him, also succeeded in crossing the 
 river with a span of horses and a wagon; these, 
 with some others, mostly women and children, who 
 had reached the ferry, escaped to the fort. 
 
 Very soon after. Dr. Philander P. Humphrey, 
 physician to the Lower Sioux, with his sick 
 wife, and three children, also siicceeded in 
 crossing the river, but never reached the fort. 
 All but one, the eldest, a boy of about twelve 
 years of age, were killed upon the road. They 
 had gone about four miles, when Mrs. Humphrey 
 became so much exhaiisted as to be unable to pro- 
 ceed further, and they went into tlje house of a 
 Mr. Magner, deserted by its inmates. Mrs. Hum- 
 phrey was placed on the bed; the son was sent to 
 the spring for water for his mother. * * The 
 boy heard the wild war-whovip of the savage 
 break upon the stillness of the air, and, in the 
 nest moment, the ominous crack of their guns, 
 which told the fate of his family, and left him its 
 sole survivor. Fleeing hastily toward Port Eidge- 
 ly, about eight miles distant, he met the com- 
 mand of Captain Marsh on their way toward the 
 Agency. The young hero turned back with them 
 to the ferry. As they passed Magner's house, 
 they saw the Doctor lying near the door, dead, 
 but the hou5e itself was a heap of smouldering 
 ruins; and this brave boy was thus compelled to 
 look Bpon the funeral pyre of his mother, and his 
 little brother and sister. A burial party afterward 
 found their charred remains amid the blackened 
 ruins, and gave them Christian sepulture. In the 
 charred hands of the little girl was found her china 
 doU, with which she refused to part even in death. 
 The boy went on to the ferry, and in that disas- 
 trous coullict escaped unharmed, and finally made 
 liis way into the fort 
 
 In the mean time the work of death went on. 
 The whites, taken by surprise, were utterly de- 
 fenseless, and so great had been the feeling of se- 
 curity, that many of them were actually unarmed, 
 although living in the very midst of the savages. 
 At the store of Nathan Myrick, Hon. James W. 
 Lynd, formerly a member of the State Senate, 
 Andrew J. Myrick, and G. W. Divoll were among 
 the first victims. * * * In the store of Wil- 
 liam H. Forbes were some five or six persons, 
 among them Mr. George H. Spencer, jr. Hearing 
 the yelling of the savages outside, these men ran 
 to the door to ascertain its cause, when they were 
 instantly fired upon, killing four of their number, 
 and severely wounding Mr. Spencer. Spencer and 
 his uninjured companion hastUy sought a tempo- 
 rary place of safety in the chamber of the build- 
 ing. 
 
 Mr. Spencer, in giving an account of this open- 
 ing scene of the awful tragedy, says: 
 
 " When I reached the foot of the stairs, I turned 
 and beheld the store filling with Indians. One 
 had followed me nearly to the stairs, when he took 
 deliberate aim at my body, but, providentially, 
 both barrels of his gun missed fire, and I succeeded 
 in getting above without further injury. Not ex- 
 pecting to live a great while, I threw myself upon 
 a bed, and, while lying there, could hear them 
 opening cases of goods, and carrying them out, 
 and threatening to burn the building. I did not 
 relish the idea of being burned to death very well, 
 so I arose very quietly, and taking a bed-cord, I 
 made fast one end to the bed-post, and carried the 
 other to a window, which I raised. I intended, in 
 case they fired the building, to let myself down 
 from the window, and take the chances of being 
 shot again, rather than to remain where I was and 
 bum. The man who went up-stairs with me, see- 
 ing f good opportunity to escape, rushed down 
 through the crowd and ran for life; he was fired 
 upon, and two charges of buckshot struck him, 
 but he succeeded in making his escape. I had 
 been up-stairs probably an hour, when I heard the 
 voice of an Inilian inquiring for me. I recognized 
 his voice, and feli that I was safe. Upon being 
 told that I was up-stairs, he rushed up, followed by 
 ten or a dozen others, and approaching my bed, 
 asked if I was mortally wounded. I told him that 
 I did not know, but that I was badly hurt. Some 
 of the others came up and took me by the hand, 
 and appeared to be sorry that I had been hurt. 
 Ti'ev then asked me where the guns were. I 
 
198 
 
 niSTORT OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 pointed to them, when my comrade assisted me in 
 getting down stairs. 
 
 " The name of this Indian is Wakinyatawa, or, 
 in English, 'His Thunder.' He was, up to the time 
 of the outbreak, the head soldier of Little Crow, 
 and, some foiu or five years ago, went to Wash- 
 ington with that chief to see their Great Father. 
 He is a fine-looking Indian, and has always been 
 noted for his bravery in fighting the Chippewas. 
 When we reached the foot of the stairs, some of 
 the Indians cried out, 'Kill him!' 'Spare no 
 Americans I' 'Show mercy to none!' My friend, 
 who was unarmed, seized a hatchet that was lying 
 near by, and declared that he would out down the 
 first one that should attempt to do me any further 
 harm. Said he, ' If you had killed him before I 
 saw him, it would have been all right; bu', we have 
 been friends and comrades for ten years, and now 
 that I have seen him, I will protect him or die with 
 him.' They then made way for us, and we passed 
 out; he procured a wagon, and gave me over to a 
 couple of squaws to take me to his lodge. On the 
 way we were stopped two or three times by armed 
 Indians on horseback, who inquired of the squaws 
 'What that meant?' Upon being answered that 
 ' This is Wakinyatawa's friend, and he has saved 
 his life,' they sutfered us to pass on. His lodge 
 was about four miles above the Agency, at Little 
 Crow's village. My friend soon came home and 
 washed me, and dressed my wounds with roots. 
 Some few white men succeeded in making their 
 escape to the fort. There were no other white 
 men taken prisoners." 
 
 The relation of "comrade," which existed be- 
 tween Mr. Spencer and this Indian, is a species 
 of Freemasonry which is in existence among the 
 Sioux, and is probably also common to other In- 
 dian tribes. 
 
 The store of Louis Robert was, in like manner, 
 attacked. Patrick McClellan, one of the clerks in 
 charge of the store, was killed. There were at the 
 store several other persons; some of them were 
 kLUed and some made their escape. Mr. John 
 Nairn, the Government carpenter at the Lower 
 Sioux Agency, seeing the attack upon the stores 
 and other places, seized his children, four in num- 
 ber, and, with his wife, started out on the prairie, 
 making their way toward the fort. They were 
 accompanied by Mr. Alexander Hunter, an at- 
 tached personal friend, and his young wife. Mr. 
 Nairn had been among them in the employ of the 
 Government, some eight years, and had, by his 
 
 urbane manners and strict attention to their in- 
 terests, secured the personal friendship of many 
 of the tribe. Mr. Nairn and his family reached 
 the fort in safety that afternoon. Mr. Hunter had, 
 some years before, frozen his feet so badly as to 
 lose the toes, and, being lame, walked with great 
 difficulty. When near an Indian village below the 
 Agency, they were met by an Indian, who urged 
 Hunter to go to the village, promising to get them 
 a horse and wagon with which to make their es- 
 cape. Mr. Hunter and his wife went to the Indian 
 village, believing their Indian friend would re- 
 deem his promises, but from inability, or some 
 other reason, he did not do so. They went to the 
 woods, where they remained all night, and in the 
 morning started for Fort Ridgely on foot. They 
 had gone but a short distance, however, when they 
 met an Indian, who, without a word of warning, 
 shot poor Hunter dead, and led his distracted 
 young wife away into captivity. 
 
 We now return once more to the scene of blood 
 and conflagration at the Agency. The white- 
 haired interpreter, Philander Prescott (now verg- 
 ing upon seventy years of age), hastily left his 
 house soon after his meeting with Little Crow, and 
 tied toward Fort Ridgely. The other members of 
 his family remaiaed behind, knowing that their 
 relation to the tribe would save them. Mr. Pres- 
 cott had gone several miles, when he was overtaken. 
 His murderers came and talked with him. He 
 reasoned with them, saying: "I am an old man: 
 I have lived with you now forty-five years, almost 
 half a century. My wife and children are among 
 you, of your own blood; I have never done you 
 any harm, and have been your true friend in all 
 your troubles; why should you wish to kill me?" 
 Their only reply was: "We would save your life 
 if we could, but the white man must die; we cannot 
 spare your life; our orders are to kill all white 
 men; we cannot spare you." 
 
 Seeing that all remonstrance was vain and hope- 
 less, and that his time had come, the aged man 
 with a firm step and noble bearing, sadly turned 
 away from the deaf ear and iron heart of the sav- 
 age, and with dignity and composure received the 
 fatal messenger. 
 
 Thus perished Philander Prescott, the true, tried, 
 and faithful friend of the Indian, by the hands of 
 that perfidious race, whom he had so Ion J and so 
 faithfully labored to benefit to so little purpose. 
 
 The number of persons who reached Fort Ridge- 
 ly from the agency was forty-one. Some are 
 
AT li ED WOOD niVER. 
 
 199 
 
 known to have reached other places of safety. All 
 siifTered incredible hardships; many hidiDg by day 
 in the tall prairie grass, in bogs and sloughs, or 
 under the trunks of prostrate trees, crawling 
 stealthily by night to avoid the lurking and wily 
 foe, who, with the keen scent of the blood-hound 
 and ferocity of the tiger, followed on their trail, 
 thirsting for blood. 
 
 Among those who escaped into the fort were 
 Mr. J. 0. Whipple, of Farib.ault; Mr. Charles B. 
 Hewitt, of New Jersey. The services of Mr. 
 Whipple were recognized and rewarded by the 
 Government with a first lieutenant's commis- 
 sion in the volunteer artiUory service. 
 
 James Powell, a young man residing at St. 
 Peter, was at the Agency herding cattle. He bad 
 just turned the cattle out of the yard, saddled and 
 mounted his mule, as the work of death com- 
 menced. Seeing Lamb and Wagner shot down 
 near him he turned to flee, when Lamb called to 
 him for help; but, at that moment two shots were 
 fired at him, and, putting spurs to his mule he 
 turned toward the ferry, passing close to an In- 
 dian who leveled his gun to fire at him; but the 
 caps exploded, when the savage, evidently sur- 
 prised that he had failed to kill him, waved his 
 hand toward the river, and exclaimed, "Puckachee! 
 Puckachee!" Pcwell did not wait for a second 
 warning, which might come in a more unwelcome 
 form, but slipped at once from the back of his an- 
 imal, dashed down the bluff through the brush, 
 and reached the ferry just as the boat was leaving 
 the shore. Looking over his shoulder as he ran, 
 he saw an Indian in full pursuit on the very mule 
 he had a moment before abandoned. 
 
 All that day the work of sack and plunder went 
 on; and when the stores and dwellings and the 
 warehouses of the Government had been emptied 
 of their contents, the torch was applied to the var^ 
 ious buildings, and the little village was soon a 
 heap of smouldering ruins. 
 
 The bodies of their slain victims were left to fes- 
 ter in the sun where they fell, or were consumed 
 in the bmldings from which they had been unable 
 to effect their escape. 
 
 So complete was the surprise, and so sudden 
 and unexpected the terril^le blow, that not a sin- 
 gle one of all that host of naked savages was slain. 
 In thirty minutes from the time the first gun was 
 fired, not a white person was left alive. All were 
 either weltering in their gore or had fled in fear 
 and terror from that place of death. 
 
 EEDWOOD RIVER. 
 
 At the Kedwood river, ten miles above the 
 Agency, on the road to Yellow Medicine, resided 
 Mr. Joseph B. Reynolds, in the employment of 
 tha Government as a teacher. His house was 
 within one mile of Shakopee's vUlage. His family 
 consisted of his wife, a niece — Miss Mattie Wil- 
 Uams, of Painesville, Ohio — Mary Anderson and 
 Mary Schwandt, hired girls. William Landmeicr, 
 a hired man, and Legrand Davis, a young man 
 from Shakopee, was also stopping with them tem- 
 porarily. 
 
 On the morning of the 18th of August, at about 
 6 o'clock, John Moore, a half-breed trader, resid- 
 ing near them, came to the house and informed 
 them that there was an outbreak among the In- 
 dians, and that they had better leave at once. Mr. 
 Reynolds immediately got out liis buggy, and, 
 taking his wife, started off across the prairie in 
 such a direction as to avoid the Agency. At the 
 same time Davis and the three girls got into the 
 wagon of a Mr. Patoile, a trader at Yellow Medi- 
 cine, who had just arrived there on his way to New 
 Ulm, and they also started out on the prairie. 
 WiUiam, the hired man, would not leave until he 
 had been twice warned by Moore that his life was 
 in danger. He then went down to the river bot- 
 tom, and following the Minnesota river, started for 
 the fort. When some distance on his way he 
 came upon some Indians who were gathering up 
 cattle. They saw him and there was no way of 
 escape. They came to him and told him that if 
 he would»assist them in driving the cattle they 
 would not kill him. Making a merit of necessity 
 he complied, and went on with them till they were 
 near the Lower Agency, when the Indians, hear- 
 ing the firing at the ferry, suddenly left him and 
 hastened on to take part in the battle then pro- 
 gressing between Captain Marsh and their friends. 
 WiUiam fled in an opjjosite direction, and that 
 night entered Fort Ridgely. 
 
 We return now to Patoile and his party. 
 After crossing the Redwood near its mouth, he 
 drove some distance up that stream, and, turnin" 
 to the left, struck across the prairie toward New 
 Ulm, keeping behind a sweU in the prairie which 
 ran parallel with the Minnesota, some three miles 
 south of that stream. 
 
 They had, unpursued, and apparently unob- 
 served, reached a point within about ten mdes of 
 New Ulm, and nearly opposite Fort Ridgely, when 
 they were suddenly assailed by Indians, who 
 
200 
 
 niSTORT OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 killed Patoile and Davis, and severely wounded 
 Mary Anderson. Miss WiUiams and Mary 
 Schwandt were captured unhurt, and were taken 
 back to Waucouta's village. 
 
 The jjoor, injured young woman survived her 
 wounds and the brutal and fiendish violation of 
 her person to which she was subjected by these 
 devils incarnate, but a few days, when death, in 
 mercy, came to her relief and ended her sufferings 
 in the quiet of the grave! 
 
 Mattie Williams and Mary Schwandt were af- 
 terwards restored to their friends by General Sib- 
 ley's expedition, at Camp Release. We say, res- 
 stored to their friends; this was hardly true of 
 Mary Schwandt, who, when release came, found 
 ahve, of all her father's family, only one, a little 
 brother; and he had witnessed the fiendish slaugh- 
 ter of aU the rest, accompanied by circumstances 
 of infernal barbarity, without a parallel in the his- 
 tory of savage brutality. 
 
 On Sund.iy, the 17th, George Gleason, Govern- 
 ment store-keeper at the Lower Agency, accompa- 
 nied by the family of Agent Galbraith, to Yellow 
 Medicine, and on Monday afternoon, ignorant of 
 the terrible tragedy enacted below, started to re- 
 turn. He had with him the wife and two children 
 of Dr. J. S. Wakefield, physician to the Upper 
 Sioux. When about two miles above the mouth 
 of the Redwood, they met two armed Indians on 
 the road. Gleason greeted them with the usual 
 salutation of "Ho!" accompanied with the inquiry, 
 in Sioux, as he passed, "Where are you going?" 
 They returned the salutation, but GlQpsou had 
 gone but a very short distance, when the sharjj 
 crack of a gun behind him bore to his ear the first 
 intimation of the death in store for him. The 
 buUet passed through his body and he fell to the 
 ground. At the same moment Ghaska, the Indian 
 who had not fired, sprang into the wagon, by the 
 side of Mrs. Wakefield, and driving a short dis- 
 tance, returned. Poor Gleason was lying upon 
 the groimd, still alive, writhing in mortal agony, 
 when the savage monster completed his heUish 
 work, by placing his gun at his breast, and shoot- 
 ing him again. Such was the sad end of the life 
 of George Gleason ; gay, jocund, genial and gen- 
 erous, he was the life of every circle. His pleas- 
 ant face was seen, and his mellow voice was heard 
 in song, at almost every social gathering on that 
 rude frontier. He bad a smile and pleasant word 
 for all; and yet he fell, in his manly strength, by 
 the hands of these bloody monsters, whom he had 
 
 never wronged in word or deed. Some weeks af- 
 terward, his mutil.ited remains were found by the 
 troops under Colonel Sibley, and buried where he 
 fell. They were subsequently removed by his 
 friends to Shakopee, where they received the rites 
 of Christian sepulture. 
 
 Mrs. Wakefield and children were held as pris- 
 oners, and were reclaimed with the other captives 
 at Camp Release. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 MASSACEE ON THE KOETH SIDE OF THE MINNESOTA 
 
 BDBNING OF MBS. HENDERSON AND TWO CHILDBEN 
 
 ESCAPE OF J. W. EARLE AND OTHEES — THE SET- 
 
 TLEES ENDEAVOB TO ESCAPE MUEDER OF THE 
 
 SCHWANDT FAMILY WHOLESALB MASSACEE UP- 
 
 PEE AGENCY THE PEOPLE WARNED BY JOSEPH 
 
 LAFEAMBOIS AND OTHER DAT ESCAPE OP THE 
 
 WHITES FROM YELLOW MEDICINE SETTLEMENT 
 
 ON THE CHIPPEWA MDEDEE OF JAMES W. LIND- 
 SAY AND HIS COMRADE. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 18th, the settlers 
 on the north side of the Minnesota river, adjoining 
 the reservation, were surprised to see a large num- 
 ber of Indians in their immediate neighborhood. 
 They were seen soon after the people arose, simul- 
 taneously, all along the river from Birch Coohe to 
 Beaver Creek, and beyond, on the west, aj^parent- 
 ly intent on gathering up the horses and cattle. 
 When interrogated, they said they were after 
 Chippewas. At about 6 or 7 o'clock they sudden- 
 ly began to repair to the various houses of the set- 
 tlers, and then the flight of the inhabitants and 
 the work of death began. 
 
 In the immediate vicinity of Beaver Creek, the 
 neighbors, to the number of about twenty-eight, 
 men, women, and children, assembled at the house 
 of Jonathan W. Earle, and, with several teams, 
 started for Fort Ridgely, having with them the 
 sick wife of S. R. Henderson, her children, and 
 the family of N. D. White, and the wife and two 
 children of James Carrothers. 
 
 There were, also, David Carrothers and family, 
 Earle and family, Henderson, and a German named 
 Wedge, besides four sons of White and Earle; the 
 rest were women and children. They had gone 
 but a short distance when they were surrounded 
 by Indians. When asked, by some of the party 
 who could speak their language, what they wanted, 
 the Indians answered, "We are going to kill you." 
 
MASSACRE AT GERMAN SETTLEMENT. 
 
 201 
 
 When asked why they were to be killed, the In- 
 dians consented to let them go, with one team and 
 the bnggy with Mrs. Henderson, on giving up the 
 rest. They had gone but a short distance when 
 they were again stopped by the savages, and the 
 remaining team taken. Again they moved on, 
 drawing the buggy and the sick woman by band 
 but had gone but a few rods further, when the In- 
 dians began to fire uj5on them. The men were 
 with the buggy ; the women and children had gone 
 on ahead, as well as the boys and Carrothers. 
 
 Mr. Earle, seeing the savages were determined 
 to kill them, and knowing that they could not now 
 save Mrs. Henderson, hastened on and came uj) 
 with the fleeing fugitives ahead. Mr. Henderson 
 waved a white cloth as a flag of truce, when they 
 shot off his fingers, and, at the same time, killed 
 Wedge. Henderson then ran, seeing that he could 
 not save his wife and children, and made his es- 
 cape. They came up with his buggy, and, taking 
 out the helpless woman and chUdren, threw them 
 on the prairie, and placing the bed over them, set 
 it on fire, and hastened on after the fleeing fugi- 
 tives. 
 
 The burned and blackened remains of both the 
 mother and her two children were afterward found 
 by a burial party, and interred. 
 
 Coming up with the escaping women and chil- 
 dren, they were all captured but two children of 
 David Carrothers. These they had shot in the 
 chase after Carrothers, Earle, and the sons of Earle 
 and White. They killed, also, during this chase 
 and running fight, Eugene White, a son of N. D. 
 White, and Eadner, son of Jonathan W. Earle. 
 
 Carrothers escaped to Crow Eiver, and thence to 
 St. Paul. Mr. Earle and two of his sons, and one 
 son of Mr. White, after incredible hardships, es- 
 caped to Cedar City, and subsequently made their 
 way back to St. Peter and Fort Eidgely. All the 
 captives taken at this time were carried to Crow's 
 village, and, with the exception of Mrs. James 
 Carrothers and her children, were recovered at 
 Camp Belease. 
 
 After they had captured the women and children, 
 they returned to the houses of the settlers, and 
 plundered them of their contents, carrying off 
 what they could, and breaking up and destroying 
 the balance. They then gathered up the stock 
 and drove it to their village, taking their captives 
 with them. 
 
 Some two or three miles above the neighborhood 
 of Earle and White was a settlement of German 
 
 emigrants, numbering some forty persons, quiet, 
 industrious, and enterprising. Early on the 
 morning of the 18th these bad all assembled at 
 the house of John Meyer. Very soon after they 
 had assembled here, some fifty Indians, led by 
 Shakopee, appeared in sight. The people all fled, 
 except Meyer and his family, going into the grass 
 and bushes. Peter Bjorkman ran toward his own 
 house. Shakopee, whom he knew, saw him, and 
 exclaimed, "There is Bjorkman; kill him!" but, 
 keeping the building between him and the sav- 
 ages, he plunged into a slough and concealed 
 himself, even removing his shirt, fearing it might 
 be the means of revealing his whereabouts to the 
 lurking savages. Here he lay from early morning 
 until the darkness of night enabled him to leave 
 with safety — suffering unutterable torments, mos- 
 quitoes literally swarming upon his naked f)ersou, 
 and the hot sun scorching him to the bone. 
 
 They immediately attacked the house of Meyer, 
 killing his mfe and aU his children. Seeing his 
 family butchered, and having no means of de- 
 fense, Meyer effected his escape, and reached Fort 
 Kidgely. In the meantime the affrighted people 
 had got together again at the house of a Mr. 
 Sitzton, near Bjorkman's, to the number of about 
 thirty, men, women, and children. In tlio after- 
 noon the savages returned to the house of Sitzton, 
 killing every person there but one woman, Mrs. 
 Wilbelmina Eindenfleld, and her child. These 
 ware captured, and afterward found at Camp Re- 
 lease, but the husband and father was among the 
 slain. Prom his place of concealment Mr. Bjork- 
 man witnessed this attack and wholesale massacre 
 of almost an entire neighborhood. After dark he 
 came out of the slough, -and, going to his house, 
 obtained some food and a bundle of clothing, as 
 his house was not yet plundered; fed his dog and 
 calf, and went over to the house of Meyer; here 
 he found the windows all broken in, but did not 
 enter the house. He then went to the house of 
 Sitzton; his nerves were not equal to the task of 
 entering that charnel-house of death. As he 
 passed the yard, he turned out some cattle that the 
 Indians had not taken away, and hastened toward 
 Fort Ridgely. On the road he overtook a woman 
 and two children, one an infant of six months, the 
 wife and children of John Sateau, who had 
 been kiUed. Taking one of the children in his 
 arms, these companions in misfortime and suffer- 
 ing hurried on together. Mrs. Sateau was nearly 
 i naked, and without either shoes or stockings. 
 
202 
 
 niSTORT OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 The rough prairie grass lacerated her naked feet 
 and limbs terribly, and she was about giving out 
 in despair. Bjorkman took from his bundle a 
 shirt, and tearing it in parts, she wound it about 
 her feet, and proceeded on. 
 
 At daylight they came in sight of the house of 
 Magner, eight miles above the fort. Here they 
 saw some eight or ten Indians, and, turning aside 
 from the road, dropped down into the grass, where 
 they remained imtil noon, when the Indians disap- 
 peared. They again moved toward the fort, but 
 slowly and cautiously, as they did not reach it 
 until about midnight. Upon reaching the fort 
 Mrs. Sateau foiind two sons, aged ten and twelve 
 years respectively, who had effected their escape 
 and reached there before her. 
 
 Mrs. Mary, widow of Patrick Hayden, who re- 
 sided about one and a half miles from the house 
 of J. W. Earle, near Beaver Creek, in Renville 
 coionty, says: 
 
 "On the morning of the 18th of August, Mr. 
 Hayden started to go over to the house of Mr. J. 
 B. Reynolds, at the Redwood river, on the reser- 
 vation, and met Thomas Robinson, a half-breed, 
 who told him to go home, get his family, and 
 leave as soon as possible, for the Indians were 
 coming over to kill all the whites. He came im- 
 mediately home, and we conunenced to make 
 preparations to leave, but in a few minutes we 
 saw some three or four Indians coming on horse- 
 back. We then went over to the house of a 
 neighbor, Benedict June, and found them all 
 ready to leave. I started off with June's people, 
 and my husband went back home, still thinking 
 the Indians would not kiU any one, and intending 
 to give them some provisions if they wanted them. 
 I never saw him again. 
 
 "We had gone about four miles, when we saw a 
 man lying dead in the road and his faithful dog 
 watching by his side. 
 
 "We drove on tiU we came to the house of David 
 Faribault, at the foot of the hUl, about one and a 
 half miles from the Agency ferry. When we got 
 here two Indians came out of Faribault's house, 
 and stopping the teams, shot Mr. Zimmerman, 
 who was driving, and histivo boys. I sprang out 
 of the wagon, and, with my child, one year old, in 
 my arms, ran into the bushes, and went up the 
 hill toward tlie fort. When I came near the house 
 of Mr. Magner, I saw Indians throwing furniture 
 out of the door, and I went down into the bushes 
 
 again, on the lower side of the road, and staid 
 there until sundown. 
 
 "While I lay here concealed, I saw the Indians 
 taking the roof off the warehouse, and saw the 
 buildings burning at the Agency. I also heard 
 the firing during the battle at the ferry, when 
 Marsh and his men were killed. 
 
 "I then went up near the fort road, and sitting 
 down under a tree, waited till dark, and then 
 started for Fort Ridgely, carrying my child all the 
 way. I arrived at the fort at about 1 o'clock A. 
 M. The distance from our place to Ridgley was 
 seventeen miles. 
 
 "On Tuesday morning I saw John Magner, who 
 told me that, when the soldiers went up to the Agen- 
 cy the day before, he saw my husband lying in the 
 road, near David Faribault's house, dead. John 
 Hayden, his brother, who lived with us, was found 
 dead near La Croix creek. They had got up the 
 oxen, and were bringing the family of Mr. Eisen- 
 lich to the fort, when they were overtaken by In- 
 dians. Eisenrich was killed and his wife and five 
 chOdren were taken prisoners. 
 
 "Mrs. Zimmerman, who was blind, and her re- 
 maining children, and Mrs. June and her children, 
 five in number, were captui-ed and taken to the 
 house of David Faribault, where they were kept 
 till night, the savages torturing them by teUiug 
 them that they were going to fasten them in the 
 house and bum them alive, but for some inexpli- 
 cable reason let them go, and they, too, reached 
 the fort in safety. Mr. Jime, who with one of his 
 boys, eleven years old, remained behind to drive 
 in his cattle, was met by them on the road and 
 killed. The boy was captured, and, with the other 
 prisoners, recovered at Camp Release." 
 
 The neighborhoods in the vicinity of La Croix 
 creek, and between that and Fort Ridgely, were 
 visited on Monday forenoon, and the people either 
 massacred, driven away or made prisoners. Ed- 
 ward Magner, living eight miles above the fort, 
 was killed. His wife and children had gone to 
 the fort. He had returned to look after his cat- 
 tle when he was shot. Patrick Kelley and David 
 O'Connor, both single men, were killed near Mag- 
 ner's. 
 
 Kearn Horan makes the following statement. 
 
 "I lived tour miles from the Lower Sioux 
 Agency, on the fort road. On the 18th of August 
 Patrick Huran, my brother, came early from the 
 Agency and told us that the Indians were murder- 
 ing the whites. He had escaped alone and crossed 
 
STATEMENT OF KEAHN HORAN. 
 
 203 
 
 tlie ferry, and with some Frenchmen was on his 
 way to the fort. My brothers and William and 
 Thomas Smith went with me. We saw Indians in 
 the road near Magner's. Thomas Smith went to 
 them, thinking they were white men, and I saw 
 them kill him. We then turned to flee, and saw 
 men escaping with teams along the road. All fled 
 towards the fort together, the Indians firing upon 
 us as we ran. The teams were oxen, and the In- 
 dians were gaining upon us, when one of men in 
 his excitement dropped his gun. The savages 
 came up to it and picked it up. All stopped to 
 examine it, and the men in the wagons whii^ped 
 the oxen into a run. This delay enabled us to 
 elude them. 
 
 "As we passed the house of Ole Sampson, Mrs. 
 Sampson was crying at the door for help. Her 
 three children were with her. We told her to go 
 into the bush and hide, for we could not help 
 her. We ran into a ravine and hid in the grass. 
 After the Indians had hunted some time for us, 
 they came along the side of the ravine, and called 
 to us in good English, saying, 'Come out, boys; 
 what are you afraid of? We don't want to hurt 
 you.' After they left us we crawled out and made 
 our way to the fort, where we amved at about 4 
 o'clock P. M. My family had gone there before 
 me. Mrs. Sampson did not go to the bush, but 
 hid in the wagon from which they had recently 
 come from Waseca county. It was what we call a 
 prairie schooner, covered with cloth, a genuine 
 emigrant wagon. They took her babe from her, 
 and throwing it down upon the grass, put hay im- 
 der the wagon, set fire to it and went away. Mrs. 
 Sampson got out of the wagon, badly burned, and 
 taking her infant from the ground made he w y 
 to the fort. Two of her children were burned to 
 death in the wagon. Mr. Sampson had been pre- 
 viously killed about eighty rods from the liouse. 
 
 In the neighborhood of La Croix creek, or Birch 
 
 Coohe, Peter Pereau, Frederick Closen, 
 
 Piguar, Andrew Bahlke, Henry Keartner, old Blr. 
 Closen and Mrs. William Vitt, and several others 
 were killed. Mrs. Maria Frorip, an aged Ger- 
 man woman, was wounded four different times 
 with small shot, but escaped to the fort. The wife 
 of Henry Keartner also escaped and reached the 
 fort. The wife and child of a Mr. Cardenelle 
 were taken prisoners, as were also the wife and 
 child of Frederick Closen. 
 
 William Vitt came into Fort Kidgely, but not 
 
 until he had, with his own hands, buried his mur- 
 dered wife and also a Mr. Piguar. 
 
 A flourisliing German settlement had sprung up 
 near Patterson's Eapids, on the Sacred Heart, 
 twelve miles below YeUow Medicine. 
 
 Word came to this neighborhood about sun- 
 down of the 18th, that the Indians were murder- 
 ing the whites. This news was brought to them 
 by two men who had started from the Lower 
 Agency, and had seen the lifeless and mutilated 
 remains of the murdered victims lying upon the 
 road and in their plundered dwellings towards 
 Beaver Creek. The whole neighborhood, with the 
 exception of one family, that of Mr. Schwandt, 
 soon assembled at the house of Paul Kitzman, with 
 their oxen and wagons, and prepared to start for 
 Fort Eidgely. 
 
 A messenger was sent to the house of Schwandt 
 but the Indian rifle and the tomahawk had done 
 their fearful work. Of aU that family but two 
 survived; one a boy, a witness of the awful scene 
 of butchery, and he then on his way, covered with 
 blood, towards Fort Ridgely. The other, a young 
 girl of about seventeen years of age, then residing 
 at Redwood, who was caj^tured as previously 
 stated. 
 
 This l)oy saw his sister, a young married wo- 
 man, ripped open, while ahve, and her imborn 
 babe taken, yet struggling, from her person and 
 nailed to a tree before the eves of the dyino- 
 mother. 
 
 This party started in the evening to make their 
 escape, going so as to avoid the settlements and 
 the traveled roads, striking across the country to- 
 ward the head of Beaver creek. 
 
 They traveled this way all night, and in the 
 morning changed their course towards Fort Ridge- 
 ly. They continued in this direction until the 
 sun was some two hours high, when they were met 
 by eight Sioux Indians, who told them that the 
 murders were committed by Chippewas, and th;it 
 they had come over to protect them and puuisli 
 the murderers; and thus induced them to turn 
 back toward their homes. One of the savage, 
 spoke EngUsh well. He was acquainted with some 
 of the company, having often hunted with Paul 
 Kitzman. He kissi'd Kitzman, telling him he was 
 a good man; and they shook hands with allot the 
 party. The simple hearted Germans beheved 
 them, gave them food, distributed money among 
 them, and, gratefully receiving their assurances of 
 friendship and protection, turned back. 
 
201 
 
 HISTOBT OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 They traveled on toward theii' deserted homes 
 till noon, when they again halted, and gave their 
 pretended protectors food. The Indians went 
 away by themselves to ent. The suspicions of the 
 fugitives were now somewhat aroused, but they 
 felt that they were, to a great extent, in the power 
 of the wretches. They soon came back, and or- 
 dered them to go on, taking their position on each 
 side of the train. Soon after tl ey went on and 
 disappeared. The train kept on toward home; 
 and when within a few rods of a house, where they 
 thought they could defend themselves, as they had 
 guns with them, they were suddenly surrounded 
 by fourteen Indians, who iustt ntly fired ujion them, 
 killing eight (all but three of the men) at the first 
 discharge. At the next fire they killed two of the 
 remaining men and six of the women, leaving only 
 one man, Fi'ederick Kreiger, alive. His wife was 
 also, as yet, unhurt. They soon dispatched Kreiger, 
 and, at the same time, began beating out the brains 
 of the screaming children with the butts of their 
 gims. Mrs. Kreiger was standing in the wagon, 
 and, when her husband fell, attempted to spring 
 from it to the ground, but was shot from behind, 
 and tell back in the wagon-box, although not dead, 
 or entirely unconscious. She was roughly seized 
 and dragged to the ground, and the teams were 
 driven off. She now became insensible. A few of 
 the children, during this awful scene, escaped to 
 the timber near by ; and a few also, maimed and 
 mangled by the.se horrible monsters, and left for 
 dead, survived, and, after enduring incredilile 
 hardships, got to Fort Kidgely. Mrs. Zable, and 
 five children, were horribly mangled, and almost 
 naked, entered the fort eleven days afterward- 
 Mrs. Kreiger also survived her imheard-of suffer- 
 ings. 
 
 Some forty odd bodies were afterward found and 
 buried on that fatal field of slaughter. Thus per- 
 ished, by the hands of these terrible scourges of 
 the border, almost an entire neighborhood. Quiet, 
 sober, and industrious, they had come hither from 
 the vine-clad hills of their fatherland, by the green 
 shores and gliding waters of the enchanting 
 Rhine, and had built tor themselves homes, where 
 they had fondly hoped, in peace and quiet, to 
 spend yet long years, under the fair, blue sky, and 
 in the suimy clime of Minnesota, when suddenly, 
 and in one short liour, by the hand of the savage, 
 they were doomed to one common annihilation. 
 
 During all the fatal 18th of August, the people 
 at the Upper Agency pursued their usual avoca- 
 
 tions. As night ai^proached, however, an imusual 
 gathering of Indians was observed on the hiU just 
 west of the Agency, and between it and the house 
 of John Other Day. Judge Givens and Charles 
 Crawford, then acting as interpreters in the ab- 
 sence of Freniere, went out to them, and sought 
 to learn why they were there in council, but could 
 get no satisfactory reply. Soon after this, Other 
 Day came to them with the news of the outbreak 
 below, as did also Joseph Laframbois, a half- 
 breed Sioux. The families there were soon all 
 gathered together in the warehouse and dwelHng 
 of the agent, who resided in the same building, 
 and with the guns they had, prejiared themselves 
 as best they could, and awaited the attack, deter- 
 mined to seU their lives as dearly as possible. 
 There were gathered here sixty-two persons, men, 
 women, and children. 
 
 Other Day, and several other Indians, who came 
 to them, told them they would stand by them to 
 the last. These men visited the council outside, 
 several times during the night; but when they 
 were most needed, one only, the noble and heroic 
 Other Day, remained faithful. All the others dis- 
 appeared, one after another, during the night. 
 About one or two o'clock in the morning, Stewart 
 B. Garvie, connected with the traders' store, known 
 as Myrick's, came to the warehouse, and was ad- 
 mitted, badly wounded, a charge of buckshot hav- 
 ing entered his bowels. Garvie was standing in 
 the door or his store when he was fired upon and 
 wounded. He ran up stairs, and jumjiing from 
 the window into the garden, craw-led away, and 
 reached the Agency without further molestation. 
 At about this time Joseph Laframbois went to the 
 store of Daily &, Pratt, and awakened the two men 
 in charge there, Dimcan R. Kennedy and J. D. 
 Boardman, and told them to fiee for their lives. 
 They hastily dressed and left the store, but had 
 not gone ten rods when they saw in the path be- 
 fore them three Indians. They stepped down 
 from the path, which ran along the edge of a rise 
 in the ground of some feet, and crouching in the 
 grass, the Indians passed within eight feet of 
 them. Kennedy went on toward Fort Eidgely, 
 detennined to reach that post if possible, and 
 Boardman went to the warehouse. At the store of 
 WiUiam H. Forbes, Constans, book-keeper, a na- 
 tive of France, was killed. At the store of Pa- 
 toile, Peter Patoile, clerk, and a nephew of the 
 proprietor, was shot just outside the store, the ball 
 entering at the back and coming ont near the nip- 
 
WHITES RESCUED Bl' OTHER DAY. 
 
 205 
 
 pie, passing through his lungs. An Indian came 
 to him after he fell, tvirued him over, and saying, 
 "He is dead," left him. 
 
 They then turned their attention to the stores. 
 The clerks in the store of Louis Robert had effect- 
 ed their escape, so that there were now no white 
 men left, and when they had become absorbed in 
 the work of plunder, Patoile crawled off into the 
 bushes on the banks of the Yellow Medicine, and 
 secreted himself. Here he remained all day. 
 After dark he got up and started for a \Ance of 
 safety; ascending the bluff, out of the Yellow Med- 
 icine bottom, he dragged himself a mile and a 
 haK further, to the Minnesota, at the mouth of 
 the Yellow Medicine. Wading the Minnesota, he 
 entered the house of Louis Labelle, on the oppo- 
 site side, at the ford. It was deserted. Finding a 
 bed in the house he lay down upon it and was soon 
 fast a!?leep, and did not awake until morning. 
 Joseph Laframbois and Narces Freniere, and an 
 Indian, Makacago, entered the house, and finding 
 him there, awoke him, telling him there were hos- 
 tile Indians about ; that he must hide. They gave 
 him a blanket to disguise himself, and going with 
 him to the ravine, concealed him in the grass and 
 left lum, promising to return, as soon as it was 
 safe to do so, to bring him food, and guide him 
 away to the prairie. He lay in this ravine until 
 toward night, when his friends, true to their 
 promise, returned, bringing some crackers, tripe, 
 and onions. They went with him some distance 
 out on the prairie, and enjoined upon him not to 
 attempt to go to Fort Kidgely, and giving him the 
 best directions they could as to the course he 
 should take, shook hands with him and left him. 
 Their names should be inscribed upon tablets more 
 enduring than brass. That night he slept on the 
 prairie, and the next day resumed his wanderings, 
 over an unknown region, without an inhabitant. 
 After wandering for days without food or drink, 
 his little stock of crackers and tripe being exhaust- 
 ed, he came to a deserted hoiise, which he did not 
 know. Here he remained all night, and obtained 
 two raw potatoes and three oars of green corn. 
 These he ate raw. It was all the food he had for 
 eight days. Wandering, and unknowing whither 
 to go, on the twelfth day out from Labelle's house, 
 he heard the barking of dogs, and creeping nearer 
 to them, still fearing there might be Indians about, 
 he was overjoyed at seeing white men. Soon 
 making himself and his condition known, he was 
 h'ken and kindly cared for by these men, who had 
 
 some days before deserted their farms, and had 
 now returned to look after their crops and cattle. 
 He now learned for the first time where he was. 
 He had struck a settlement far up the Sauk Val- 
 ley, some forty miles above St. Cloud. He must 
 have wandered, in these twelve days of sutl'ering, 
 not less than two hundred miles, including devia- 
 tions from a direct course. 
 
 He was taken by these men, in a wagon, to St. 
 Cloud, where his wound was dressed for the first 
 time. From St. Cloud the stage took him to St. 
 Anthony, where he took the cars to St. Paul. A 
 case of equal suffering and equal eudurance is 
 scarcely to be found on record. With a bullet 
 wound through the lungs, he walked twelve days, 
 not over a smooth and easy road, but across a 
 trackless prairie, covered with rank grass, wading 
 sloughs and streams on his way, almost without 
 food, and for days without water, before he saw the 
 face of a man; and traveled by wagon, stage, 
 and cars, over one hundred miles. 
 
 His recovery was rapid, and he soon enlisted in 
 the First Regiment Minnesota Mounted Rangers 
 under General Sil.iley, in the expedition against 
 the Sioux, Patoile was in the battles on the Blis- 
 souri in the summer of 18G3, where his company, 
 that of Captain J( seph Anderson, is mtotioned as 
 having fought with great bravery. 
 
 We now return to the warehouse at Yellow Med- 
 icine, which we left to follow the strange fortunes 
 of young Patoile. Matters began to wear a seri- 
 ous aspect, when Garvie came to them mortally- 
 wounded. Other Day was constantly on the watch 
 outside, and reported the progress of affairs to 
 those within. Toward daylight every friendly 
 Indian had deserted save Other Day; the yells of 
 the savages came distinctly to their ears from the 
 trading-jMst, half a mile distant. They were ab- 
 sorbed in the work of plunder. The chai;ces of 
 escape were sadly against them, yet they decided 
 to make the attempt. Other Day knew every foot 
 of the country over which they must pass, and 
 would be their guide. 
 
 The wagons were driven to the door. A bed 
 was placed in one of them; Garvie was laid upon 
 it. The women and children provided a few loaves 
 of bread, and just as day dawned, the cortege 
 started on its perilous way. This party consisted 
 of the family of Major Galbraith, wife and three 
 children; Nelson Givens, wife, and wife's mother, 
 and three children ; Noah Sinks, wife, and two chil- 
 dren ; Henry Eschelle, wife, and five children ; John 
 
206 
 
 BISTORT OF THE SIOUX MASSAGIiE. 
 
 FacWen, wife, and three children; Mr. German and 
 ■wife; Frederick Patoile, wife, and two children; 
 Mrs. Jane K. Muroh, Miss Mary Charles, Miss 
 Lizzie Sawyer, Miss Mary Daly, Miss Mary Hays, 
 Mrs. Eleanor Warner, Mrs. John Other Day and 
 one child, Mrs. Haxirahan, N. A. Miller, Edward 
 Cranisie, Z. Hawkins, Oscar Canfil, Mr. Hill, an 
 artist fr(^m St. Paul, J. D. Boardman, Parker 
 Pierce, Dr. J. L. Wakefield, and several others. 
 
 They crossed the Minnesota at Labelle's farm, 
 and soon turned into the timber on the Hawk 
 river, crossed that stream at some distance above 
 its mouth, and ascended from the narrow valley 
 through which it runs to the open prairie beyond, 
 and followed down the Minnesota, keeping back 
 on the prairie as far as the farm of Major J. R. 
 Brown, eight miles below the Yellow Medicine. 
 Mr. Fadden and Other Day visited the house and 
 found it deserted. A consultation then took place, 
 for the purpose of deciding where they should go. 
 Some of them wished to go to Fort Eidgely; oth- 
 ers to some town away from the frontier. Other 
 Day told them that it they attempted to go to the 
 fort they would all be killed, as the Indians would 
 either be lying in ambush on that road for them, 
 or would follow them, believing they would at- 
 tempt to go there. His counsel prevailed, and 
 they turned to the left, across the prairie, in the 
 direction of Kandiyohi Lakes and Glencoe. At 
 night one of the party mounted a horse and rode 
 forward, and found a house about a mile ahead. 
 They hastened forward and reached it in time to 
 escape a furious storm. They were kindly re- 
 ceived by the only person about the premises, a 
 man, whose family were away. The next morn- 
 ing, soon after crossing Hawk river, they were 
 joined by Louis Labelle and Gertong, his son-in- 
 law, who remained ^^ith them all that day. 
 
 On Wednesday morning they left the house of 
 the friendly settler, and that night reached Cedar 
 City, eleven miles from Hutchinson, in the county 
 of McLeod. The inhabitants had deserted the 
 town, and gone to an island, in Cedar Lake, and 
 had erected a rude shelter. From the main land 
 the island was reached through shallow water. 
 Through this water our escaping party drove, 
 guided by one of the citizens of Cedar City, and 
 were cordially welcomed by the people assembled 
 there. 
 
 That night it rained, and all were drenched to 
 the skin. Poor Garvie was laid under a rude 
 shed, upon his bed, and all was done for him tliat 
 
 man could do; but, in the mommg, it was evident 
 that he could go no further, and he was taken to 
 the house of a Mr. Peck, and left. He died there, 
 a day or two afterward. Some of the company, 
 who were so worn out as to be unable to go on be- 
 yond Hutchinson, returned to Cedar City and saw 
 that he was decently interred. 
 
 On Thursday they went on, by way of Hutchin- 
 son and Glencoe, to Carver, and thence to Shako- 
 pee and St. Paiil. Major Galbraith, in a report to 
 the department, says of this escape : 
 
 "Led by the Noble Other Day, they struck out 
 on the naked prairie, literally placing their lives 
 iu this faithful creature's hands, and guided by 
 him, and him alone. After intense suffering and 
 privation, they reached Shakopee, on Friday, the 
 22d of August, Other Day never leaving them for 
 an instant; and this Other Day is a pure, full- 
 blooded Indian, and was, not long since, one of the 
 wildest and fiercest of his race. Poor, noble fel- 
 low ! must he, too, be ostracized for the sins of his 
 nation ? I commend him to the care of a just God 
 and a liberal government ; and not only him, but 
 all others who did likewise." 
 
 [Government gave John Other Day a farm in 
 Minnesota. He died several years since univer- 
 sally esteemed by the white people.] 
 
 After a knowledge of the designs of the Indians 
 reached the people at the Agency, it was impossi- 
 ble for them to more than merely communicate 
 with the two families at the saw-mill, three miles 
 above, and with the families at the Mission. They 
 were, therefore, reluctantly left to their fate. 
 Early in the evening of Monday, two civilized In- 
 dians, Chaskada and Tankanxaceye, went to the 
 house of Dr. Williamson, and warned them of their 
 danger, informing them of what had occurred be- 
 low; and two halt-breeds, Michael and Gabriel 
 EenviUe, and two Christian Indians, Paul Maxa- 
 kuta Mani and Simon Anaga Mani, went to the 
 house of Mr. Kiggs, the missionary, at Hazel- 
 wood, and gave them warning of the danger im- 
 pending over them. 
 
 There were at this place, at that time, the family 
 of the Kev. Stephen B. Biggs, Mr. H. D. Cun- 
 ningham and family, Mr. D. W. Moore and his 
 wife (who reside in New Jersey), and Jonas Petti- 
 john and family. Mr. Pettijohn and wife were 
 in charge of the Government school at Bed Iron's 
 ■s-illage, and were now at Mr. Biggs'. They got 
 up a team, and these friendly Indians went with 
 them to an Island in the Minnesota, about tlu-ee 
 
ESCAPE OF HEV. S. It RIOGS jlND OTHMRS. 
 
 207 
 
 miles from the IVIission. Here they remained till 
 Tuesday evening. In the afternoon of Tuesday, 
 Andrew Hunter, a son-in-law of Dr. WiHiiuuson, 
 came to him with the information that tlic family 
 of himself aad the Doctor were secreted below. 
 The families at the saw-mill had been informed by 
 the Eenvilles, and were with the party of Dr. Wil- 
 liamson. At night they formed a junction on the 
 north side of the Minnesota, and commenced their 
 perilous journey. A thunder-storm effectually ol)- 
 literated their tracks, so that the savages could not 
 follow them. They started out on the prairie in a 
 northeasterly direction, and, on Wednesday morn- 
 ing, changed their course south-easterly, till they 
 struck the Lac qui Parle road, and then made di- 
 rectly for Fort Ridgely. On Wednesday they 
 were joined by three Germans, who had escaped 
 from Yellow Medicine. On Wednesday night they 
 found themselves in the vicinity of the Ujjper 
 Agency, and turned to the north again, keeping 
 out on the prairie. On Friday they were in the 
 neighborhood of Beaver Creek, when Dr. Wil- 
 liamson, who, with his wife and sister, had re- 
 mained behind, overtook them in an ox-cart, hav- 
 ing left about twenty -four hours later. They now 
 determined to go to Fort Ridgely. When within 
 a few miles of that post, just at night, they were 
 discovered by two Indians on horseback, who rode 
 along parallel with the train for awhile, and then 
 turned and galloped away, and the fugitives has- 
 tened on, momentarily expecting an attack. Near 
 the Three-Mile creek they passed a dead body 
 lying by the road-side. They drove on, passing 
 the creek, and, turning to the left, passed out on 
 to the prairie, and halted a mile anel a half from 
 the fort. It was now late at night; they had 
 heard firing, and had seen Indians in the vicinity. 
 They were in doubt what to do. It was at length 
 decided that Andrew Hunter should endeavor to 
 enter the fort and ascertain its condition, and 
 learn, it possible, whether they could get in. 
 Hunter went, and, although it was well-nigh sur- 
 rounded by savages (they had been besieging it 
 all the afternoon), succeeded in crawling by on bis 
 hands and kneSs. He was told that it would be 
 impossible for so large a party, forty-odd, to get 
 through the Indian lines, and that he had better 
 return and tell them to push on toward the to^^^2s 
 below. He left as he had entered, crawling out 
 into the prairie, and reached his friends in safety. 
 It seemed very hard, to be so near a place of fan- 
 cied security, and obliged to turn away from it, 
 
 and, weary and hungry, press on. Perils beset 
 their jjath on every hand; dangers, seen and im- 
 seen, were around them; but commending them- 
 selves to the care of Him who "sufi'ereth not a 
 sparrow to fall to the ground without His notice," 
 they resumed their weary march. They knew 
 that all around them the work of death and deso- 
 lation was going on, for the midnight sky, on 
 every side, was red with the Imid flame of burn- 
 ing habitations. They heard fi'om out the gloom 
 the tramp of horses' feet, hurrying past them in 
 the darkness; but they stDl pressed on. Soon 
 their wearied animals gave out, and again they 
 encamped for the night. With the early dawn 
 they were upon the move, some eight miles from 
 the fort, in the direction of Henderson. Here, 
 four men, the three Germans who had joined them 
 on Wednesday, and a young man named Gilligan, 
 left them, and went off in the direction of New 
 Ulm. The bodies of these unfortunate men were 
 afterward found, scarcely a mile from the place 
 where they had left the guidance of Other Day. 
 
 They traveled on in the direction of Henderson, 
 slowly and painfully, for their teams, as well as 
 themselves, were nearly exhausted. That day the 
 savages were beleaguering New Ulm, and the 
 sounds of the conflict were borne faintly to their 
 ears upon the breeze. They had flour with them, 
 but no means of cooking it, and were, consequently, 
 much of the time without proper food. On the 
 afternoon of this day they came to a deserted 
 house, on the road from Fort Ridgley to Hender- 
 son, the house of Jlichael Cummings, where they 
 found a stove, cooking utensils, and a jar of cream. 
 Obtaining some ears of corn from the field or gar- 
 den near by, and " confiscating" the cream, they 
 prepared themselves the first good meal they had 
 had since leaving their homes so hastily on Mon- 
 day night. 
 
 After refreshing themselves and their worn ani- 
 mals at this place for some hours, their journey 
 was again resumed. That night they slept in a 
 forsaken house on the prairie, and, on Sabbath 
 morning early, were again on their way. As thev 
 proceeded, they met some of the settlers returning 
 to their deserted farms, and calling a halt at a de- 
 serted house, where they found a large company of 
 people, they concluded to remain until Monday, 
 and recuperate themselves and teams, as well as to 
 observe in a proper manner the holy Sabbath. On 
 Monday morning they separated, part going to 
 Henderson and part to St. Peter, all feeling thai 
 
208 
 
 BISTORT OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 the All-seeing Eye that never slumbers or sleeps 
 had watched over them, and that the loving hand 
 of God had guided them safely through the dan- 
 gers, seen and unseen, that had beset their path. 
 
 In the region of the State above the Upper 
 Agency there were but few white inhabitants. Of 
 all those residkig on the Chippewa river, near its 
 mouth, we can hear of but one who escaped, and 
 he was wounded, while his comrade, who lived with 
 him was killed. This man joined the party of the 
 missionaries, and got away with them. 
 
 On the Yellow Medicine, above the Agency about 
 twelve miles, was a settler named James W. 
 Lindsay. He was unmarried, and another single 
 man was "baching it" with him. They were both 
 killed. Their nearest white neighbors were at 
 the Agency, and they could not be warned of their 
 danger, and knew nothing of it until the savages 
 were upon them. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 LEOPOLD WOHLER AND WIFE LBiVENWORTH 
 
 STATEMENT OP MRS. MARY J. COVILL STORY OP 
 
 MRS. LAURA WHTTON MILFORD — NICOLLET COUN- 
 TY WEST NEWTON — LAFAYETTE — COURTLAND 
 
 SWAN LAKE — PARTIAL LIST OP THE KILLED IN 
 NICOLLET COUNTY INDIANS SCOURING THE COUN- 
 TRY — A SCOUTING PARTY SEEN AT ST. PETER. 
 
 The news of the murders below reached Leo- 
 pold Wohler at the "lime-kiln," three miles be- 
 low Yellow Medicine, on Monday afternoon. 
 Taking his wife, he crossed the Minnesota river, 
 and went to the house of Major Joseph B. Brown. 
 
 Major Brown's family consisted of his wife and 
 nine children; Angus Brown and wife, and Charles 
 Blair, a sou-in-law, his wife, and two children. 
 The Major himself was away from home. Includ- 
 ing Wohler and his wife, there were then at their 
 house, on the evening of the 18th of August, 
 eighteen persons. 
 
 They started, early on the morning of the 19th, 
 to make their escape, with one or two others of 
 their neighbors, Charles Holmes, a single man, re- 
 siding on the claim above them, being of the party. 
 They were overtaken near Beaver Creek by Indi- 
 ans, and all of the Browns, Mr. Blair and family, 
 and Mrs. Wohler, were captured, and taken at 
 once to Little Crow's village. Messrs. Wohler and 
 Holmes escaped. M;ijor Brown's family were of 
 mixed Indian blood. This fact, probably, accounts 
 
 for their saving the life of Blair, who was a 
 white man. 
 
 Crow told him to go away, as his young men 
 were going to kill him; and he made bis escape to 
 Fort Kidgely, being out some five days and nights 
 without food. Mr. Blair was in poor health. The 
 hardships he endured were too much for his al- 
 ready shattered constitution; and although he es- 
 caped the tomahawk and scalping-knife, he was 
 soon numbered among the victims of the massacre. 
 
 J. H. Ingalls, a Scotchman, who resided in this 
 neighborhood, and his wife, were killed, and their 
 four children were taken into captivity. Two of 
 them, young girls, aged twelve and fourteen years, 
 were rescued at Camp Release, and the two httle 
 boys were taken away by Little Crow. Poor little 
 fellows! their fate is still shrouded in mystery. 
 A Mr. Frace, residing near Brown's place, was also 
 killed. His wife and two children were foimd at 
 Camp Release. 
 
 The town of Leavenworth was situated on the 
 Cottonwood, in the county of Brown. Word was 
 brought to some of the settlers in that town, on 
 Monday afternoon, that the Indians had broken 
 out and were killing the inhabitants on the Min- 
 nesota. They immediately began to make prepa- 
 rations to leave. Mr. William Carroll started at 
 once for New Ulm alone, to learn the facts of the 
 rumored outbreak. The most of the inhabitants, 
 alarmed by these rumors, fled that night toward 
 New Ulm. Some of them reached that town in 
 safety, and othera were waylaid and massa.'red 
 upon the road. 
 
 The family of a Mr. Blum, a worthy German 
 citizen, were all, except a small boy, killed while 
 endeavoring to escape. On Tuesday morning, 
 Mr. Philetus Jackson was killed, while on the way 
 to town with his wife and son. Mrs. Jackson and 
 the young man escaped. 
 
 We insert here the statements of two ladies, who 
 escaped from this neighborhood, as they detail 
 very fully the events of several days in that local- 
 ity. Mrs. Mary J. Covill, wife of George W. 
 Covin, says: 
 
 "On Monday, the 18th of August, messengers 
 came to the houue of Luther Whiton, from both 
 above and below, with a report of an outbreak of 
 the Indians. My husband was at Mr. Whiton's, 
 stacking grain. He came home about four o'clock 
 P. M., and told me about it, and then went back 
 to Whiton's, about half a mile away, to get a Mr. 
 Riant, who had recently come there from the State 
 
STATEMI-JNT OF MRS. COVTLL. 
 
 209 
 
 of Miiinp, to take liis team and cscap.'". I i)ackod 
 a trunk with clothing, and hid it in the grass, and 
 then went myself to Whiton's, as I was afraid to 
 remain at homo. Mr. Biaut got up his team, 
 and taking his two trunks — one of them 
 containing over two thousand dollars in gold 
 — took us all with him. There was a family at 
 Mr. Whiton's from Tennessee, and a young child 
 of theirs had died that day. The poor woman 
 took her dead ciiild in her arms, and we all started 
 across the 2:)rairie, avoiding the road, for Mankato. 
 We camped that night about three miles from 
 home, on the prairie; and seeing no fires, as of 
 burning buildings, returned to the house of our 
 neighbor, Van Guilder, and found that the settlers 
 had nearly all left. Mr. Van (iuilder and family, 
 Edward Allen and wife, Charles Smith and family 
 and Mrs. Carroll, were aU we knew of that re- 
 mained. 
 
 •• We started on, thinking that we would over- 
 take the Leavenworth party, who had been gone 
 about an hour. We had gone about two and a 
 half miles, when we saw, ahead of us, a team, with 
 two men in the wagon, who drove toward us until 
 they got into a hollow, and then got out and went 
 behind a knoll. We drove quite near them, when 
 Mr. Covin discovered them to be Indians. Riant 
 turned his horses round and fled, when they jumped 
 up out of the grass, whooped, and tired at us. 
 They then jumped into their wagon and followed. 
 Mr. Covin had the only gun in the party that 
 could be used, and kept it pointed at the Indians 
 as we retreated. They tired at us some halt- dozen 
 times, but, fortunately, without injuring any one. 
 "We drove hastily back to the house of Van 
 Guilder, and entered it as quickly as pj.Siible, the 
 savages firing upon us all the time. Mr. Van 
 Guilder had just started away, with his family, as 
 we came back, and returned to the house with us. 
 A shot fi-om the Indians broke the arm of his mo- 
 ther, an aged lady, soon after we got into the 
 house, as she was passing a window. In our haste, 
 we had not stoj^ped to hitch the horses, and they 
 soon started otf, and the Indians followed. As 
 they were going over a hill near the house, they 
 shook a white cloth at us, and, whoopuig, disap- 
 peared. There were in this company — after Riant 
 was gone, who left us, and hid in a slough — fifteen 
 persons. We immediately started out on the prai- 
 rie again. We had now only the ox-team of Van 
 Guilder, and the most of us were compelled to 
 walk. His mother, some small children, and some 
 
 trunks, made a wagon-load. The dead child, 
 which the mother had brought back to the house 
 with her, was left lying upon the table. It was 
 alterward found, tcith its head aemred frnm its hudy 
 by the fiends. B. L. Wait and Luther Whitou, 
 who had concealed themselves in the grass when 
 they saw the Indians coming, joined us. Jlrs. A. 
 B. Hough and infant child were with the family of 
 Van Guilder. These made our numljer up to fif- 
 teen. We traveled across the prairie all day with- 
 out seeing any Indians, and, at night, camped im 
 the Little Cottonwood. We waded the stream, 
 and made our camp on the opposite side, in the 
 tall grass and reeds. We reached this sjjot on 
 Tuesday night, and remained there till Friday af- 
 ternoon, witliout food, save a little raw flour, which 
 we did not dare to cook, for fear the smoke would 
 reveal our whereabouts to the savages, when a 
 company from New Ulm rescued us. 
 
 "On Wednesday night, after dark, Covill and 
 Wait started for New Ulm, to get a party to come 
 out to our aid, saying they would be back the 
 next day. Tiiat night, and nearly all the next 
 day, it rained. At about daylight the next dav, 
 when just across the Big Cottonwood, five miles 
 from New Ulm, they heard an Indian whooping in 
 their rear, and turned aside into some hazel-bashes, 
 where they lay all day. At the place where they 
 crossed the river they found a fish-rack in the 
 water, and in it Caught a fish. Part of this they 
 ate raw that day. It was now Thursday, and 
 they had eaten nothing since Monday noon. They 
 started again at dark for New Ulm. When near 
 the graveyard, two miles from the town, an Indian, 
 \vith grass tied about his head, arose from the 
 ground and attempted to head them off. They 
 succeeded in evading him, and got in about ten 
 o'clock. When about entering the place, they 
 were fired upon by the pickets, which alarmed the 
 town, and when they got in, all was in commo- 
 tion, to meet an expected attack. 
 
 "The next morniag, one hundred and fifty men, 
 under Captain Tousley, of Le Sueur, and S. A. 
 Buell, of St. Peter, started to our relief, reaehm" 
 our place of concealmsut about two o'clock. They 
 brought us food, of which our famished party 
 eagerly partook. They were accompanied by Dr. 
 A. W. Daniels, of St. Peter, and Dr. Mayo, of 
 Le Sueur. They went on toward Leavenworth, 
 intending to remain there all night, bury 
 the dead, should any be found, the next 
 day, rescue any who might remain alive, 
 
 14 
 
210 
 
 HISTORY OP THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 and then return. They buried the Bkim fam- 
 ily of six persons that afternoon, and then con- 
 cluded to return that night. We reached New 
 Ulm before midnight. Mr. Van Guilder's mother 
 died soon after we got into town from the effects 
 of her wound and the exposure to which she had 
 been sulijected. 
 
 "At about the same time that we returned to the 
 house of Mr. Van Guilder, on Tuesday, Charles 
 Smith and family, Edward Allen and wife, and 
 Mrs. Carroll hud left it, and reached New Ulm 
 without seeing Indians, about half an hour before 
 the place was attacked. The same day, William 
 Carroll, ■with a party of men, came to the house 
 for us, found Mr. Eiant, who was concealed in a 
 slough, and started back toward New Ulm. But 
 few of them reached the town alive." 
 
 An account of the adventures of this company, 
 and its fate, will be found elsewhere, in the state- 
 ment of Ralph Thomas, one of the party. 
 
 On Monday, the 18th of August, two women, 
 Mrs. Harrington and Mrs. HUl, residing on the 
 Cottonwood, below Leavenworth, heard of the out- 
 break, and prevailed upon a Mr. Henshaw, a sin- 
 gle man, living near them, to harness up his team 
 and take them away, as their husbands were away 
 from home. Mrs. Harrington had two children ; 
 Mrs. Hill none. They had gone but a short dis- 
 tance when they were overtaken by Indians. Mr. 
 Henshaw was killed, and Mrs. Harrington was 
 badly wounded, the ball passing through her 
 shoulder. She had just sprung to the ground 
 with her youngest child in her arms; one of its 
 arms was thrown over her shoulder, and the ball 
 passed through its little hand, lacerating it dread- 
 fully. The Indians were intent upon securing the 
 team, and the women wore not followed, and es- 
 caped. Securing the horses, they drove away in 
 an opposite direction. 
 
 Mrs. Harrington soon became faint from the loss 
 of blood; and Mrs. Hill, conceahng her near a 
 slough, took the eldest cliild and started for New 
 Ulm. Before reaching that place she met John 
 Jackson and William Carroll, who resided on the 
 Cottonwood, above them; and, telling them what 
 had happened, they put her on one of their horses 
 and turned back with her to the town. 
 
 On the nest day, Tuesday, Mr. Jackson was one 
 of the party with Carrcll, heretofore mentioned, 
 that went out to Leavenworth, and visited the 
 house of Van Guilder, in search of their families. 
 When that party turned back to New Ulm, Jack- 
 
 son did not go with them, but went to hia own 
 house to look for his wife, who had already left. 
 He visited the houses of most of his neighbors, and 
 finding no one, started back alone. When near 
 the house of Mr. Hill, between Leavenworth and 
 New Uim, on the river, he saw what he supposed 
 were white men at the house, but when within a 
 few rods of them, discovered they were Indians. 
 The moment he made this discovery he turned to 
 flee to the woods near by. They fired upon him, 
 and gave chase, but he outran them, and reached 
 the timber unharmed. Here he remained concealed 
 until late at night, when he made his way back to 
 town, where he found his wife, who, with others of 
 their neighbors, had fled on the first alarm, and 
 rjached the village in safety. Mrs. Laura Whiten, 
 widow of Elijah Whiton, of Leavenworth, Brown 
 county,- makes the following statement: 
 
 "We had resided on our claim, at Leavenworth, 
 a little over four years. There were in our family, 
 on the 18th of August, 1862, four persons — Mr. 
 Whiton, myself, and two children — a son of sixteen 
 years, and a daughter nine years of age. On Mon- 
 day evening, the 18th of August, a neighbor, Mr. 
 Jackson, and his son, a young boy, who resided 
 three miles from our place, ccme to our house in 
 search of their horses, and told us that the Indians 
 had murdered a family on the Minnesota river, and 
 went away. We saw no one, and heard nothing 
 more until Thursday afternoon following, about 4 
 o'clock, when about a dozen Indians were seen 
 coming from the direction of the house of a neigh- 
 bor named Heydrick, whom they were chasing. 
 Hoydrick jumped off a bridge across a ravine, and, 
 riiuniug down the ravine, concealed himself under 
 a log, where he remained until 8 o'clock, when 
 he came out, and made his escape into New Ulm. 
 
 '•The savages had already slain all his family, 
 consisting of his wife and two children. Mr. 
 Whiton, who was at work near the door at the 
 time, came into the house, but even then did not 
 believe there was any thing serious, supposing 
 Heydrick was unnecessarily frightened. But when 
 he saw them leveling their guns at him, he came 
 to the conclusion that we had better leave. He 
 loaded his double-barreled gun, and we all started 
 for the timber. After reaching the woods, Mr. 
 Whiton left us to go to the house oi^his brother, 
 Luther, a single man, to see what had become of 
 him, telliug us to remain where we were until he 
 came back. We never saw liim again. After he 
 left us, not daring to remain where we were, wo 
 
STATEMENT OF MBS. WJIITON. 
 
 211 
 
 fcirdeil the river (Cottouwood), and bid in the tim- 
 ber, on the opposite side, where we remained 
 imtil about 8 o'clocli, when we started for New TJlm. 
 
 " While we lay concealed in the woods, we heard 
 the Indians driving up our oxen, and yoking them 
 up. They hitched them to our wagon, loaded it 
 up with our trunks, bedding, etc., and drove away, 
 we went out on the prairie, and walked all night 
 and all nest day, arriving at New Ulm at about 
 dark on Friday, the 22d. About midnight, on 
 Thursday night, as we were fleeing alimg the road, 
 we passed the bodies of the family of our neigh- 
 bor, Blum, lying dead by the road-side. They had 
 started to make their escape to to'mi, but were 
 overtaken by the savages upon the road, and all 
 but a little boy most brutally murdered. 
 
 " Mr. Whiton returned homo, from his visit to 
 the house of his brother, which he found deserted, 
 and found that our hoiise had already been plun- 
 dered. He then went to the woods to search for 
 us. He remained in the timber, prosecuting his 
 search, until Saturday, without food; and, failing 
 to find us, he came to the conclusion that we were 
 either dead or in captivity, and then himself start- 
 ed for New Ulm. On Saturday night, when trav- 
 eling across the prairie, he came suddenly upon a 
 camp of Indians, but they did not see him, and he 
 heat as hasty a retreat as possible from their vi- 
 cinity. 
 
 "When near the Lone Cottonwood Tree, on 
 Sunday morning, he fell in with William J. Duly, 
 who had made his escape from Lake Shetek. 
 They traveled along together till they came to the 
 house of Mr. Henry Thomas, six miles from our 
 farm, in the town of Milford. This house had evi- 
 dently been deserted by the family in great haste, 
 for the table was spread for a meal, and the food 
 remained iintouched upon it. Hei'e they sat do'svn 
 to eat, neither of them having had any food for a 
 long time. While seated at the table, two Indians 
 came to the house; and, as Mr. Whiton arose and 
 stepped to the stove for some water, they came into 
 the door, one of them saying, ^Da mca tepee.'' 
 [This is my house.] There was no way of escape, 
 and Mr. Whiton, thinking to propitiate him, said 
 'Come in' , Mr. Duly was sitting partly behind the 
 door, and was, probably, imol iserved. The savage 
 made no answer, but instantly raised his gun, and 
 shot bim through the heart, they then both went 
 into the corn. Duly was unarmed; and, when Mr. 
 Whiton was killed, took his gun and ran out of the 
 house, and concealed hiniself in the bushes near by. 
 
 " While lying here ho could hear the Indians 
 yelling and tiring their guns in close proximity to 
 his place of concealment. After awhile he ven- 
 tured out. Being too much exhausted to carry 
 it, he threw away the gun, and that night ar- 
 rived at New Ulm, without again encountering 
 Indians." 
 
 We now return to Mrs. Harrington, whom, the 
 reader will remember, wc left badly wounded, con- 
 cealed near a slough. We regret our inability to 
 obtain a full narrative of her wanderings during 
 the eight succeeding days and nights she spent 
 alone upon the jirairie, carrying her wounded 
 child. We can only state in general terms, that 
 after wandering for eight weary days and nights, 
 without food or shelter, unknowing whither, early 
 on the morning of Tuesday, the 26th, before day- 
 light, she found herself at Crisp's farm, midway 
 between New Ulm and Mankato. As she ap- 
 proached the pickets she mistook them for In- 
 dians, and, when hailed by them, was so fright- 
 ened as not to recognize the English language, 
 and intent only on saving her life, told them she 
 was a Sioux. Two guns were instantly leveled at 
 her, but, providentially, both missed fire, when an 
 exclamation from her led them to thmk she was 
 loliite, and a woman, and they went out to her. 
 She was taken into camp and all done for her by 
 Judge Flandrau and his men that could be done. 
 They took her to Mankato, and soon after she was 
 joined by her husband, who was below at the time 
 of the outbreak, and also found the child which 
 Mrs. HiU took with her to New Ulm. 
 
 Sis miles from New Ulm there lived, on the 
 Cottonwood, in the county of Brown, a Gorman 
 family of the name of Heyers, consisting of the 
 father, mother and two sons, both yoimg men. 
 A burial party that went out from New Ulm on 
 Friday, the 22d, formd them all murdered, and 
 buried them near where they were killed. 
 
 The toWTi of Milford, Brown county, adjoinino- 
 New Ulm on the west and contiguous to the res- 
 ervation, was a farming community, comjiosed en- 
 tirely of Germans. A quiet, sober, industrious, 
 and enterprising class of emigrants had here 
 made their homes, and the prairie wilderness 
 around them began to "bud and blossom like the 
 rose." Industry and thrift had brought their sure 
 reward, and peace, contentment and happiness 
 filled the hearts of this simj^le-hearted peojde. 
 The noble and classic Ehme and the vine-clad hills 
 of Fatherland were almost forgotten, or, if not 
 
212 
 
 HISTORY OF TUB SIOVX MASSACRE. 
 
 forgotten, were now remembered without regret, 
 in these fair prairie homes, beneath the glowing 
 and genial sky of Minnesota. 
 
 When the sun arose on the morning of the 18th 
 of August, 1862, it looked dowu upon this scene 
 in all its glowing beauty; but its declining rays 
 fell upon a field of carnage and horror too fearful 
 to describe. The council at Rice Creek, on Sun- 
 day night, had decided upon the details of the 
 work of death, and the warriors of the lower 
 bands were early on the trail, thirsting for blood. 
 Early in the forenoon of Monday they appeared 
 in large numbers in this neighborhood, and the 
 work of slaughter began. The first house visited 
 was that of Wilson Massipost, a prominent and 
 infliiential citizen, a widower. Mr. Massipost had 
 two daugliters, intelligent and accomplished. 
 These the savages murdered most brutally. The 
 head of one of them was afterward foimd, severed 
 from the body, attached to a fish-hook, and hung 
 upon a naU. His son, a young man of twenty- 
 four years, was also killed. Mr. Massijiost and a 
 son of eight years escaped to New Ulm. The 
 house of Anton Hanley was likewise visited. Mr. 
 Hanley was absent. The children, four in num- 
 ber, were beaten with tomahawks on the head and 
 person, inflicting fearful woimds. Two of them 
 were kiUed outright, and one, an infant, recovered; 
 the other, a young boy, was taken by the parents, 
 at night, to New Ulm, thence to St. Paul, where 
 he died of his wounds. After killing these child- 
 ren, they proceeded to the field near by, where 
 Mrs. Hanley, her father, Anton Mesmer, his wife, 
 son Joseph, and daughter, were at work harvesting 
 wheat. All these they instantly shot, except Mrs. 
 Hanley, who escaped to the woods and secreted 
 herself tiU night, when, her husband coming home, 
 they took their two wounded children and 
 made their escape. At the house of Agrenatz 
 Hanley all the children were killed. The jjarents 
 escaped. 
 
 Bastian Mey, wife, and two children M-ere mas- 
 sacred in their house, and three children were ter- 
 riVily mutilated, who afterward recovered. 
 
 Adolph Shilling and his daughter were killed; 
 his sou badly wounded, escaped with his mother. 
 Two families, those of a Mr. Zeller and a Mr. Zet- 
 tle, were completely annihilated; not a soul was 
 left to tell the tale of their sudden destruction. 
 Jacob Keck, Max Fink, and a Mr. Belzer were 
 also victims of savage barl)arity at th's place. Af- 
 ter kUling the inhabitants, they plundered and 
 
 sacked the houses, destroying all the proj^erty 
 they could not carry away, driving away all the 
 horses and cattle, and when night closed over the 
 dreadful scene, desolation and death reigned su- 
 preme. 
 
 There resided, on the Big Cottonwood, between 
 New Ulm and Lake Shetek, a German, named 
 Charles Zierke, familiarly known throughout all 
 that region as "Duteh Charley." On the same 
 road resided an old gentleman, and his son and 
 daughter, named Brown. These adventurous pio- 
 neers lived many miles from any other human 
 habitation, and kept housss of entertainment on 
 that lonely road. This last-named house was 
 known as "Brown's place." It is not known to us 
 when the savages came to those isolated dwell- 
 ings. We only know that the mutilated bodies of 
 all three of the Brown famUy were found, and 
 buried, some miles from their house. Zierke and 
 his family made their escape toward New Ulm, 
 and, when near the town, were pursued and over- 
 taken by the Indians on the prairie. By sharp 
 running, Zierke esca2Jed to the town, but Ids 'ftife 
 and children, together with his team, were taken 
 by them. Beturning afterward with a party of 
 men, the savages abandoned the captured team, 
 woman, and children, and they were recovered 
 and all taken into New Ulm in safety. 
 
 The frontier of Nicollet coimty contiguous to 
 the reserx'ation was not generally visited by the 
 savages until Tuesday, the 19th, and the succeed- 
 ing days of that week. The people had, generally 
 in the mcautime, sought safety in flight, and were 
 l^rincipally in the town of St. Peter. A few, how- 
 ever, remained at their homes, in isolated locali- 
 ties, where the news of the awful scenes enacting 
 around them did not reach them; or, who having 
 removed their families to places of safety, returned 
 to look after their property. These generally fell 
 victims to the rifle and tomahawk of the savages. 
 The destruction of life in this county, was, how- 
 ever, trifling, compared with her sister counties of 
 Brown and Renville; but the loss of property was 
 immense. The entire west half of the county was, 
 of necessity, abandoned and completely desolated. 
 The ripened grain crop was much of it imcut, and 
 wasted in the field, while horses and cattle and 
 shee]3 and hogs roamed rmrestraiaed^at wiU over 
 the unharvested fields. And, to render the ruin 
 complete the savage hordes swept over this por- 
 tion of the county, gathering up horses and cattle 
 shooting swine and sheep, and all other stock that 
 
DMV.ISTATJUM IN NICOLLET COUNTY. 
 
 213 
 
 theyo.iull ii'.>t e:itcli; ruiisliing the work of ruin 
 . by :ij)pl_ving the torch to tho stacks of hay and 
 grain, and in some instances to the dwellings of 
 the settlers. 
 
 William Mills kept a public house in tlie town 
 of West Newton, four miles from Fort Ridgely, on 
 the St. Peter road. Mr. Mills heard of the out- 
 break of the Sioux on Monday, and at once took 
 the necessary steps to secure tho safety of his fam- 
 ily, by sending them across the prairie to a se- 
 cluded spot, at a slough some three miles from the 
 house. Leaving a span of horses and a wagon 
 with them, he instructed them, if it should seom 
 necessary to their safety, to drive as rapidly as 
 possible to Henderson. He then went to Fort 
 Ridgely to possess himself, if possible, of the exact 
 state of affairs. At night he visiteil his house, to 
 obtain some articles of clothing for his family, and 
 carried them out to their place of concealment, and 
 went again to the fort, where he remained until 
 Tu-sday morning, when he started out to his fam- 
 ily, thinking he would send them to Henderson, 
 and return and assist in the defense of that po.st. 
 Soon after leaving the fort he met Lieutenant T. J. 
 Sheehan and his company, on their way back to 
 that post. Sheehan roughly demanded of him 
 where he was going. He replied he w'as going to 
 send his family to a place of safety, and return. 
 The heutenant, with an oath, wrested from hira his 
 gun, the only weapon of defense he had, thus leav- 
 ing him defenseless. Left thus unarmed and 
 powerless, he took his family and hastened to Hen- 
 derson, arriving there that day in safety. 
 
 A few Indians were seen in the neighborhood of 
 West Newton on Monday afternoon on horseback, 
 but at a distance, on the prairie. The most of the 
 inhabitants fled to the fort on that day : a few re ■ 
 mained at their homes and some fled to St. Peter 
 and Henderson. The town of Lafayette was, in 
 like manner, deserted on Monday and Monday 
 night, the inhabitants chiefly making for St. Peter. 
 Ccmrtland township, lying near New Ulm, caught 
 the contagion, and her people too fled — the women 
 and children going to St. Peter, while many of her 
 brave sons rushed to the defense of New Ulm, and 
 in that terrible siege bore a conspicuous and hon- 
 orable part. 
 
 As the cortege of panic stricken fugitives poured 
 along the various roads leading to the towns be- 
 low, or Monday night and Tuesday, indescribable 
 terror seized the inhabitants; and the rapidly ac- 
 cuujulating human tide, gathering force and hum- 
 
 bcrs as it moved across the prairie, lulled an 
 overwhelming Hood into tho towns along tlio 
 river. 
 
 The entire county of Nicollet, outside of St. 
 Peter, was d(^populated, and their crops and herds 
 left by tlie inhaljitants to destruction. 
 
 On the arrival of a force of mounted men, under 
 Captains Anson Northnip, of Minneapolis, and K. 
 H. Chittenden, of the First Wisconsin Cav.alry, at 
 Henderson, on the way to Fort Kidgely, they met 
 Charles Nelson, and, on consultation, decided to go 
 to St. Peter, where they wer-o to report to Colonel 
 Sibley, by way of Norwegian Grove. Securing 
 the services of Nelson, John Fadden, and one or 
 two others, familiar to the country, they set out 
 for the Grove. 
 
 Captr.in Chittenden, in a letter to the '-New 
 Haven Palladium," written soon after, says: 
 
 " The prairie was magnificent, but quite desert- 
 ed. Sometimes a dog stared at us as we passed; 
 but even the brutes seemed conscious of a terrible 
 calamity. At 2 o'clock wo reached the Grove, 
 which surrounded a lake. The farms were in a fine 
 state of cultivation; and, strange to say, although 
 the houses were in ruins, the grain stacks were un- 
 touched. Eeapers stood in the field as the men 
 had left them. Cows wandered over the prairies 
 in search of their masters. Nelson led the way to 
 th? spot where he had been overtaken in attempt- 
 ing to escape with his wife and children. We 
 found his wagon; the groimd was strewn with ar- 
 ticles of apparel, his wife's bonnet, boxes, yarn, in 
 fact everythmg they had hastily gathered up. But 
 the wife and boys were gone. Her he had seen 
 them miu-der, but the children had run into the 
 corn-field. He had also secreted a woman and 
 child undtr a hay -stack. We went and turned it 
 over; they were gone. I then so arranged the 
 troops that, by marching abreast, we made a 
 thorough search of the corn-field. No ehie to his 
 boys could be found. Passing the still burning 
 embers of his neighbor's dwellings, we came to 
 Nelson's own, the only one still standing. * * * 
 The heart-broken man closed the gate, and turned 
 away without a tear; then simply asked Sergeant 
 Thompson when he thought it would be safe to 
 return. I must confess that, accustomed as I am 
 to scenes of horror, the tears would come." 
 
 The troops, taking Nelson with them, proceeded 
 to St. Peter, where he found the dead body of his 
 wife, which had been carried there by some of his 
 neighbors, and his children, alive. They had fled 
 
214 
 
 n I STORY OF TEE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 through the corn, and escaped from their savage 
 pursuers. 
 
 Jacob Mauerle had taken his family down to 
 St. Peter, and returned on Friday to his house, 
 in West Newton. He had tied some clothing 
 in a bundle, and started for the fort, when he 
 was shot and scalped, some eighty rods from the 
 house. 
 
 The two Applebaum's were evidently fleeing to 
 St. Peter, when overtaken by the Indians and 
 kiUed. 
 
 Felix Smith had escaped to Fort Bidgely, and 
 on Wednesday forenoon went out to his house, 
 some three miles away. The. Indians attacked the 
 fort that afternoon, and he was killed in endeavor- 
 ing to get back into that post. 
 
 Small parties of Indians scoured the coimtry be- 
 tween Fort Kidgely, St. Peter, and Henderson, 
 during the first week of the massacre, driving away 
 cattle and burning buildings, within twelve miles 
 of the first-named place. The Swan Lake House 
 was laid in ashes. A scouting party of six savages 
 was seen by General M. B. Stone, upon the bluif, 
 in sight of the town of St. Peter, on Friday, the 
 22d day of August, the very day they were making 
 their most furious and determined assault upon 
 Fort Bidgely. 
 
 This scouting party had, doubtless, been de- 
 tached from the main force besieging that post, 
 and sent forward, under the delusion that the fort 
 must fall into their hands, to reoonnoiter, and re- 
 port to Little Crow the condition of the place, and 
 the abilitv of the people to defend themselves. 
 But they failed to take Fort Kidgely, and, on the 
 22d, their scouts saw a large body of troops, under 
 Colonel Sibley, enter St. Peter. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVL 
 
 BIG STONE LAKE WHITES KILLED LAKE 8HETEK — 
 
 NAMES OF SETTLERS MRS. ALOMINA HDBD ES- 
 CAPES VVITH HER TWO CHILDREN THE BATTLE OF 
 
 SPIRIT LAKE — -WARFARE IN JACKSON COUNir 
 
 DAKOTA TEBRITORr MURDERS AT SIOUX F.VLLS 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY — KILLING OF AMOS 
 HUGGINS. 
 
 At Big Stone Lake, in what is now Big Stone 
 coimty, were four trading houses, Wm. H. Forbes, 
 Daily, Pratt & Co., and Nathan Myriok. The habi- 
 tues of these Indian trading houses, as usual, were 
 mostly half-breeds, natives of the country. The 
 
 store of DaOy, Pratt & Co. was in charge of Mr. 
 Ryder of St. Paul. On the 21st of August, four 
 of these men at work cutting hay, unsuspicious of 
 danger, were suddenly attacked and all murdered, 
 except Anton Manderfield; while one half-breed, 
 at the store, Baptiste Gubeau, was taken prisoner, 
 and was informed that he would be killed that 
 night. But Gubeau succeeded in escaping from 
 their grasp, and making his way to the lake. His 
 escape was a wonderful feat, bound as he was, as 
 to his hands, pursued by yelling demons determ- 
 ined on his death. But, ahead of all his pursuers, he 
 reached the lake, and dashing into the reeds on the 
 margin, was hid from the sight of his disappointed 
 pursuers. Wading noiselessly into the water, until 
 his head alone was above the water, he remained 
 perfectly stiU for some time. The water soon 
 loosened the rawhide on his wrists, so that they 
 were easily removed. The Indians sought for him 
 in vain; and as the shades of night gathered around 
 him, he came out of his hiding place, crossed the 
 foot of the lake and struck out for the Ujjper 
 Mississippi. He finally reached St. Cloud. Here 
 he was mistaken for an Indian spy, and threatened 
 with death, but was finally saved by the interposi- 
 tion of a gentleman who knew him. 
 
 The other employes at the lake were all killed 
 except Manderfield, who secreted himself while his 
 comrades were being murdered. Manderfield, in 
 his escape, when near Lac qui Parle, was met by 
 Joseph Laframboise, who hud gone thither to ob- 
 tain his sister Julia, then a captive there. Man- 
 derfield received fi'om Laframboise proper direc- 
 tions, and finally reached Fort Bidgely in safety. 
 
 Lake Shetek. — This beautiful lake of quiet 
 water, some six mUes long and two broad, is situ- 
 ated about seventy rmles west of New TJlm, in the 
 county of Murray. Here a little community of 
 some fifty jiiersons were residing far out on our 
 frontier, the nearest settlement being the Big Cot- 
 tonwood. The families and persons located here 
 were: John Eastlick and wife, Charles Hatch, 
 Phineas B. Hurd and wife, John Wright, Wm. J, 
 Duly and wife, H. W. Smith, Aaron Myers, Mr. 
 Everett and wife, Thomas Ireland and wife, Koch 
 and wife; these with their several families, and six 
 single men, Wm. James, Edgar Bently, John 
 Voight, E. G. Cook, and John P. and Daniel 
 Burns, the latter residing alone on a claim at Wal- 
 nut Grove, some distance from the lake, consti- 
 tuted the entire population of Lake Shetek settle- 
 ment, in Murray coimty. 
 
L^U^E SIIETEK. 
 
 215 
 
 On the 20th of August some twenty Sioux In- 
 dians rode up to tlio house of Mr. Hurd. Mr. 
 Hurd himself liad left liome for the Missouri river 
 on the 2d day of Juuo previous. Ten of these In- 
 dians entered the house, Calked and smoked their 
 jjipes while Mrs. Hurd was getting breakfast. Mr. 
 Voight, tlie work-hand, wliile waiting for break- 
 fast, took i:p the babe, as it awoke and cried, and 
 walked with it out in the yard in front of the door. 
 No sooner had he left the house than an Indian 
 took his gun and deliberately shot him dead near 
 the door. Mrs. Hurd was Amazed at the infeinal 
 deed, as these Indians had always been kindly 
 treated, and often fed at her table. She ran to 
 the fallen man to raise bim up and look after the 
 safety of her child. To her utter horror, one of 
 the miscreants intercepted her, telling her to leave 
 at once and go to the settlements across the prairie. 
 She was refused the privilege of dressing her 
 naked children, and was comjielled to turn awaj 
 from her ruined home, to commence her wandering 
 over an almost trackless waste, without food, and 
 almost without raiment, for either herself or bttle 
 ones. I 
 
 These Indians proceeded from the house of Mr. 
 Hurd to that of Mr. Andrew Koch, whom they 
 shot, and plundered the house of its contents. 
 Mrs. Koch was compelled to get up the oxen and 
 hitch them to the wagon, and drive them, at the 
 direction of ber captors, into the Indian country. 
 In this way she traveled ten days. She was the 
 captive of White Lodge, an old and ugly chief of 
 one of the upper bands. As the course was tow- 
 ards the Missouri river, Mrs. Koch refused to go 
 farther in that direction. The old chief threatened 
 to shoot her if she did not drive on. Making a 
 virtue of necessity she reluctantly obeyed. Soon 
 after she was required to carry the vagabond's 
 gun. Watching her opportunity she destroyed 
 the explosive quality of the cap, and dampened 
 the powder in the tube, leaving the gim to appear- 
 ance all right. Soon afterward .she again refused 
 to go any farther in that direction. Again the 
 old scoundrel threatened her witli death. She in- 
 stantly bared her bosom and dared him to Are. 
 He aimed his gun at her breast and essayed to 
 fire, but the gun refused to take part in the work 
 of death. The superstitious savage, supposing 
 she bore a charmed life, lowered his gun, and 
 asked which way she wishsd to go. She jiointed 
 toward the settlements. In this direction the 
 teams were turned. They reached the neighbor- 
 
 hood of the Uj.iper Agency in ten days aft<ir leav- 
 ing Lake Shotek, about the time of the arrival of 
 the troops under Colonel Sibley in the vicinity of 
 Wood Lake and Yellow Medicine. White Lodge 
 did not like the looks of things around Wood 
 Lake, and left, moving off in an opposite direction 
 for greater safety. Mrs. Koch Avas finally rescued 
 at Camp Release, after wading or swimming the 
 Minnesota river ten times in company with a 
 fHendly squaw. 
 
 At Lake Shetek, the settlers were soon all gath- 
 ered at the house of John Wright, prepared for 
 defense. They were, however, induced by the ap- 
 parently friendly persuasion of the Indians to 
 abandon the house, and move towards the slongh 
 for better safety. The Indians commenced firing 
 upon the retreating party. The whites returned 
 the fire as they ran. Mrs. Eastlick was wounded 
 in the heel, Mr. Duly's oldest son and daughter 
 were shot through the shoulder, and Blrs. Ireland's 
 youngest child was shot through the leg, while 
 running to the slough. Mr. Hatch, Mr. Everett, 
 Mr. Eastlick, Mrs. Eastlick, Mrs. Everett, and sev- 
 eral children were shot. The Indians now told 
 the women t(^ come out of the slough, and they 
 would not kill them or the children, if they would 
 come out. They went out lo them with the children, 
 when they shot Mrs. Everett, Mrs. Smith, and Mrs. 
 Ireland dead, and killed some of the children. 
 Mrs. Eastlick was shot and left on the field, sup- 
 posed to be dead, but she finally escaped, and two 
 of her children, Merton and Johnny. Her inter- 
 esting narrative will be found in the large work, 
 from which this abridgment is made up. Mrs. 
 Julia A. Wright, and Mrs. Duly, and the two chU- 
 dreu of Mrs. Wright, and two of the children of 
 Mrs. Duly were taken captive. Some of these 
 were taken by the followers of Little Crow to the 
 Missouri river, and were subsequently ransomed 
 at Fort Pierre, by Major Galpin. All the men ex- 
 cej^t Mr. Eastlick, being only wounded, escaped 
 to the settlements. The brothers Burns remained 
 on their claim, and were not molested. One 
 sneaking Indian coming near them paid the for- 
 feit with his life. 
 
 Spirit Lake. — On or about the 25th day of 
 August, 1862, the "Annuity Sioux Indians" made 
 their appearance at Spirit Lake, the scene of the 
 terrible Inkpaduta massacre of 1857. The inhab- 
 itants rled in dismay from their homes; and the 
 savages, after plundering the dwellings of the set- 
 
216 
 
 niSTORY OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 tiers, completed their fiendish work by scttiug fire 
 to the country. 
 
 Dakota. Tbbbitoet. — Portions of Dakota Ter- 
 ritory -were visited by the Sioux in 18G2. At 
 Sioux Falls City the following murders were com- 
 mitted by the Sioux Indians on the 25th of Au- 
 gust: Mr. Joseph B. and Mr. M. Amidon, father 
 and son, were found dead in a corn-field, near 
 which they had been making hay. The son was 
 shot with both balls and arrows, the father with 
 balls only. Their bodies lay some ten rods apart. 
 On the morning of the 26th, about fifteen Indians, 
 suppt)sed to be Sioux, attacked the camp of sol- 
 diers at that j)lace. They were followed, but 
 eluded the vigilant pursuit of our soldiers and es- 
 cajDed. The families, some ten in number, were 
 removed to Yankton, the capital, sixty-five miles 
 distant. This removal took place before the mur- 
 ders at Lake Shetek were known at Sioux Falls 
 City. The mail carrier who carried the news from 
 New Ulm had not yet arrived at Sioux Falls, on 
 his return trip. He had, on his outward trip, 
 found Mrs. Eastlick on the prairie, near Shetek, 
 and carried her to the house of Mr. Brown, on the 
 Cottonwood. 
 
 In one week after the murders at the Falls, one- 
 half of the inhabitants of the Missouri slope had 
 fled to Sioux City, Iowa, six miles below the mouth 
 of the Big Sioux. 
 
 The Mukdee of Amos Huggins. — Amos Hug- 
 gins (in the language of Rev. S. K. Eiggs, in his 
 late work, 1880, entitled "Mary and I,") "was the 
 eldest child of Alexander G. Huggins, who bad 
 accompanied Dr. Williamson to the Sioux coun- 
 try in 1835. Amos was born in Ohio, and was at 
 this time (1862) over thirty years old. He was 
 married, and two children blessed their home,- 
 which for some time before the outbreak bad been 
 at Lac qui Parle, near where the town of that 
 name now stands. It was then an Indian village 
 and planting jjlace, the principal man being Wa- 
 kanmane — Spirit Walker, or Walking S23irit. If 
 the people of the village had been at home Mr. 
 Huggins and his family, which included Miss 
 JuHa Laframlioise, who was also a teacher in the 
 employ of the Government, would have been safe. 
 But in the al.).sence of Spirit Walker's people three 
 Indian men came — two of them fi-om the Lower 
 Sioux Agency — and killed Mr. Huggins, and took 
 from the house such thuigs as they wanted." pp. 
 169-170. 
 
 This apology for the conduct of Christian In- 
 
 dians towards the missionaries and their assistants, 
 who had labored among them since 1835 up to 
 1802, a period of twenty-seven years, shows a 
 truly Christian spirit on the part of the Rev. S. K.. 
 Riggs; but it is scarcely satisfactory to the general 
 reader that the Christian Indians were entirely in- 
 nocent of all blame in the great massacre of 1862. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 OcCUr.KENOES PEEVIOUe TO THE ATTACK ON THE 
 
 TOWN OF NEW TTLM — THE ATTACK BT INDIANS 
 
 JUDGE FLANDEATT ARRIVES WITH REINFORCEMENTS 
 EVACUATION OF NEW DLM. 
 
 On the ISth of August, the day of the outbreak, 
 a volunteer recruiting jjarty for the Union army 
 went out from New Ulm. Some eight miles west 
 of that place several dead bodies were found on 
 the road. The party turned back toward the town, 
 and, to the surprise of aU, were fired upon by In- 
 dians in ambush, kOling several of their party. 
 Another party leaving New Ulm for the Lower 
 Agency, when seven miles above the town some 
 fifty Indians near the road fired upon them, killing 
 three of these men. This party returned to town. 
 One of these parties had seen, near the Cotton- 
 wood, Indians kill a man on a stack of grain, and 
 some others in the field. The people of the sur- 
 rounding country fled for their lives into the town, 
 leaving, some of them, portions of their families 
 killed at their homes or on the way to some place 
 of safety. 
 
 During the 18th and 19th of August the In- 
 dians overran the country, burning buildings and 
 driving off the stock from the farms. 
 
 The people had no arms fit for use, and were 
 perfectly panic-gtricken and helpless. But the 
 news of the outbreak had reached St. Peter, and at 
 about one o'clock of August 19th, T. B. Thompson, 
 James Hughes, Charles Wetherell, Samuel Coffin, 
 IMerriok Dickinson, H. Cay wood, A. M. Bean, James 
 Parker, Andrew Friend, Henry and Frederick Otto, 
 C. A. Stein, E. G. Covey, Frank Kennedy, Thomas 
 and Griffin Williams, and the Hon. Henry A. Swift, 
 afterwards made Governor of Minnesota, by opera- 
 tion of the organic law, and William G. Hayden, 
 organized themselves into a comp.iny, by the elec- 
 tion of A. M. Bean, Captain, and Samuel Coffin, 
 Jjieutenant, and took up p3sition at New Ulm, in 
 the defense of that Ijeleaguered place. They at once 
 advanced upon the Indians, who were posted behind 
 
BATTLE OF AViMl' UJJ/. 
 
 Ill 
 
 the houses in the outer portions of the place. By 
 this opportime arrival the savage foe wore hold in 
 check. These were soon joineil by another arrival 
 from St. Peter: L. M. Bordman, J. B. Trogdon, J. 
 K. Moore, Horace Austin (since Governor), V. M. 
 Bean, James Homer, Japob and Philip Stotzer, 
 William Wilkinson, Lewis Patch. S. A. Bnoll, and 
 Henry Snyder, all mouuted, as well as a few from 
 tlio'surrounding country. 
 
 By the time these several parties had arrived, 
 the savages had retired, after burning five build- 
 ings on the outskirts of the town. In the first 
 battle several were killed, one Miss Paule of the 
 place, standing on the sidewalk opposite the Da- 
 • kota House. The enemy's loss is not known. 
 
 On the same evening Hon. Charles E. Flandrau, 
 at the head of about one hundred and twenty -five 
 men, volunteers from St. Peter and vicinity, en- 
 tered the town; and reinforcements continued to 
 arrive from Mankato, Le Sueur, and other points, 
 uutil Thursday, the 21st, when about three hun- 
 dred and twenty-five armed men were in Now Ulm, 
 under the command of Judge Flandrau. Cap- 
 tain Bierbauer, at the head of one hundred men, 
 from Mankato, arrived and participated in the de- 
 fense of the place. 
 
 Some rude barricades around a few of the 
 houses in the center of the village, fitted iip by 
 means of wagons, boxes and waste lumber, par- 
 tially protected the volunteer soldiery operating 
 now under a chosen leader. 
 
 On Saturday, the 22d, the commandant sent 
 across the river seventy-five of his men to dislodge 
 some Indians intent on burning buildings and 
 grain and hay stacks. First Lieutenant William 
 Huey, of Traverse des Sioux, commanded this 
 force. This officer, on reaching the opposite 
 shore, discovered a large body of Indians in ad- 
 vance of him; and in attempting to return was 
 completely intercepted by large bodies of Indians 
 on each side of the river. There was liut one way 
 of escape, and that was to retreat to tlie compimy 
 of E. St. Julien Cox, known to be approaching 
 from the direction of St. Peter. This force, thus 
 cut oiT, returned with the command of Captain E. 
 St. Julien Cox; and with this increased force of 
 one hundred and seventy-five, Captain Cox soon 
 after entered the town to the relief of both citizens 
 and soldiers. 
 
 The Indians at the siege of New Ulm, at the 
 time of the principal attack before the arrival of 
 Captain Cos, were estimated at about five hundred. 
 
 coming from the dirwtion of the Lower Agency. 
 The movement is thus described by Judge Flan- 
 drau: 
 
 "Their advance upon tlio slyjnng prairie in the 
 briglit sunlight was a very fine spectacle, and to 
 such inexperienced soldiers as we all were, intense- 
 ly exciting. When within about one mile of us 
 the mass began to expand like a fan, and increas- 
 ing in the velocity of its apjiroach, continued 
 this movement until within about double rifle-shot, 
 when it covered our entire front. Then the sav- 
 ages uttered a teriific yell and came down upon 
 us like the wind. I had stationed myself at a 
 point in the rear where communication could be 
 had with me easily, and awaited the fir.,t discharge 
 witli great anxiety, as it. seemed to me that to 
 yield was certain desi ruction, as the enemies would 
 rush into the town and drive all betoi-e them. The 
 yell unsettled the men a httle, and just before the 
 rifles began to crack they fell back along the whole 
 Ime, and committed the error of passing the outer 
 houses without taking possession of them, a mis- 
 take which the Indians immediately took advan- 
 tage of by themselves occupying them in squads 
 of two, three and up to ten. They poured into 
 us a sharp and rapid fii-e as we fell back, and 
 opened from the hi luses in every direction. Sev- 
 eral of lis rode up to the hill, endeavoring to rally 
 the men, and with good eflect, as they gave three 
 cheers and sallied out of the various houses they 
 had retreated to, and cheeked the advance effect- 
 ually. The firing from both sides then became 
 genera], sharp and rapid, and it got to be a regu- 
 lar Indian skirmish, in which every man did his 
 own work after his own fashion. The Indians had 
 now got into the rear of our men, and nearly on 
 all sides of them, and the tire of the enemy was 
 becoming very galling, as they had possession of 
 a large number of buildings." 
 
 Fight at the Wind-Mill.— Rev. B. G. Coff n, 
 of Mankato, George B. Stewart, of Le Sueur, and 
 J. B. Trogdon, of Nicollet, and thirteen others, 
 fought their way to the wind-mill. This they 
 held during the battle, their unerring shots tell- 
 ing fearfully upon the savages, and finally forcing 
 them to retire. At night these brave men set fire 
 to the budding, and then retreated within the bar- 
 ricades, m the vicinity of the Dakota House. 
 During the firing from this mill a most detei-mined 
 and obstinate fight was kept up from the brick 
 ])ost-office, where Governor Swift was stationed, 
 which told most fatally upon the foe, and from 
 
218 
 
 III8T0RT OF TUE SIOUX M^iSSACRE. 
 
 this point many an Indian fell before the deadly 
 aim of the true men stationed there. 
 
 Captain William B. Dodd. — When the attack 
 was made upon the place the Indians had suc- 
 ceeded in reaching the Lower Town. The wind 
 was favoring them, as the smoke of burning build- 
 ings was carried into the main portion of the town, 
 behind which they were advancing. "Captain 
 Wilbam B. Dodd, of St. Peter, seeing the move- 
 ment from that quarter, supposed the expected re- 
 inforcements were in from that direction. He 
 made at once a superhuman effort, almost, to en- 
 courage the coming troops to force the Indian 
 line and gain admittance into the town. He had 
 gone about seventy-five yards outside the lines, 
 when the Indians from buildings on either side of 
 the street poured a full volley into the horse and 
 rider. The Captain received three balls near his 
 heart, wheeled his horse, and riding within twenty- 
 five yards of our lines fell from his horse, and was 
 assisted to walk into a house, where in a few mo- 
 ments he died, 'the noblest Roman of them all.' 
 He dictated a short message to his wife, and re- 
 marked that he had discharged his duty and was 
 ready to die. No man fought more courageously, 
 or died more noblyr Let his virtues be forever re- 
 membered. He was a hero of the truest type!" 
 — St. Peter Statesman. 
 
 At the stage of the battle in which Captain 
 Dodd was killed, several others also were either 
 killed or wounded. Captain Saunders, a Baptist 
 minister of Le Sueur, was wounded, with many 
 others. Howell Houghton, an old settler, was 
 killed. The contest was continued until dark, 
 when the enemy began to carry off their dead and 
 wounded. In the morning of the nest day (Sun- 
 day) a feeble firing was kept up for several hours 
 by the sullen and retiring foe. The battle of New 
 Ulm had been fought, and the whites were masters 
 of the field; but at what a fearful price! The 
 dead and dying and woimded filled tlie buildings 
 left standing, and this beautiful and enterprising 
 German town, which on Monday morning con- 
 tained over two hundred buildings, had been laid 
 in ashes, only some twenty-five houses remaining 
 to mark the spot where Now Ulm once stood. 
 
 On Sunday afternoon. Captain Cox's command, 
 one hundred and fifty volunteers from Nicollet, 
 Sibley and Le Sueur, armed with Austrian rifles, 
 shot-guns and hunting rifles arrived. The Indians 
 retreated, and returned no more to make battle 
 with the forces at New Ulm. 
 
 But strange battle field. The Indians deserted 
 it on Sunday, and on Monday the successful de- 
 fenders also retire from a place they dare not at- 
 tempt to hold! The town was evacuated. All 
 the women and children, and wounded men, 
 making one hundred and fifty-three wagon loads, 
 while a considerable number composed the com- 
 pany on foot. All these moved with the command 
 of Judge riandrau towards Mankato. 
 
 The loss to our forces in this engagement was 
 ten killed, and about fifty wounded. The loss of the 
 enemy is unknown, but must have been heavy, as 
 ten of their dead were found on the field of battle, 
 which they had been unable to remove. 
 
 AVe might fill volumes with incidents, and mi- 
 raculous escapes from death, but our limits abso- 
 lutely forbid their introduction in this abridge- 
 ment. The reader must consult the larger work 
 for these details. The escape of Oovernor Swift, 
 Flandrau and Bird, and J. B. Trogdon and D. G. 
 Shellack and others fi'om perilous positions, are 
 among the many exciting incidents of the siege of 
 New Ulm. 
 
 Omitting the story of John W. Young, of won- 
 derful interest, we refer briefly to the weightier 
 matters of this sad chapter, and conclude the same 
 by the relation of one short chajiter. 
 
 THE EXPEDITION TO LEAVENWORTH. 
 
 During the siege of New Ulm, two expeditions 
 were sent out from that place toward the settle- 
 ments on the Big Cottonwood, and although not 
 really forming a part of the operations of a de- 
 fensive character at that place, are yet so connect- 
 ed with them that we give them here. 
 
 On Thursday morning, the 21st of August, a 
 party went out on the road to Leavenworth for the 
 purpose of burying the dead, aiding the wounded 
 and brmging them in, should they find any, and 
 to act as a scouting party. They went out some 
 eight miles, found and buried several bodies, and 
 returned to New Ulm, at night, without seeing 
 any Indians. 
 
 On Fiiday, the 22d, another party of one hun- 
 dred and forty men, under command of Captain 
 George M. Tousley, started for the purpose of res- 
 cuing a party of eleven persons, women and child- 
 ren, who, a refugee informed the commandant, 
 were hiding in a ravine out toward Leavenworth. 
 Accompanying this party were Drs. A. W. Daniels, 
 of St. Peter, and Ayer, of Le Sueur. 
 
 On the way out, the cannonailiug at Fort 
 ' Kidgely was distinctly heard by them, and then 
 
STATEMENT OF RALPH TUOMAS. 
 
 219 
 
 Dr. Daniels, who had resided among the Sioiis 
 several years as a physiciau to the lower bauds, 
 had, for the first time, some conceiition of the ex- 
 tent and magnitude of the outbreak. 
 
 As the main object of the expedition had alrea- 
 dy been accomplished- — i. e., the rescue of the wo- 
 men and children — Dr. Daniels urged a return to 
 New TJhn. The question was submitted to the 
 company, and they decided to go on, and proceed- 
 ed to within four miles of Leavenworth, the de- 
 sign being to go to that place, remain there all 
 night, bury the dead next day, and return. 
 
 It was now nearly night; the cannonading at 
 the fort could still be heard; Indian spies were, 
 undoubtedly, watching them; only about one 
 hundred armed men were left in the town, and 
 from his intimate knowledge of the Indian char- 
 acter. Dr. Daniels was convinced that the safety of 
 their force, as well as New Dim itself, required 
 their immediate return. 
 
 A halt was called, and this view of the case was 
 presented to the men by Drs. Daniels, Ayer, and 
 Mayo. A vote was again taken, and it was deci- 
 ded to return. The return march commenced at 
 about sundown, and at one o'clock a. m. they re- 
 entered the village. 
 
 Ralph Thomas, who resided on the Big Cotton- 
 wood, in the county of Brown, had gone with 
 many of his neighbors, on Monday, the 18th of 
 August, into New Ulm for safety, while William 
 Carroll and some others residing further up the 
 river, in Leavenworth, had gone to the same place 
 to ascertain whether the rumors they had heard 
 of an uprising among the Sioux were true. Mr. 
 Thomas makes the following statement of the do- 
 ings of this little party, and its subsequent fate: 
 
 "There were eight of us on horseback, and the 
 balance of the party were in three wagons. We 
 had gone about a mile when we met a German 
 going into New Ulm, who said he saw Indians at 
 my place skinning a heifer, and that they drove 
 him off, chasing him with spears. He had come 
 from near Leavenworth. We kept on to my place, 
 near which we met John Thomas and Almon Par- 
 ker, who had remained the niglit before in a grove 
 of timber, one and a half fniles from my place. 
 About eight o'clock the evening before, they had 
 seen a party o£ ten or twelve Indians, mounted on 
 ponies, coming toward them, who chased them into 
 the grove, the savages passing on to the right, 
 leaving them alone. They stated to us that they 
 had seen Indians that morning traveling over the 
 
 prairie southward. We stopped at my place and 
 fed our horses. While the horses were eating, I 
 called for three or four men to go with me to the 
 nearest houses, to see what had become of the peo- 
 ple. We went first to the house of Mr. Mey, where 
 we found him and his family lying around the 
 house, to all appearance dead. We also found 
 here Josejoh Emery and a Mr. Heuyer, also appa- 
 rently dead. We had been here some five minutes 
 viewing the scene, when one of the children, a girl 
 of seven years, rose up from the ground and com- 
 menced crying piteously. I took her in my arms, 
 and told the other men to examine the other bodies 
 and see if there were not more of them alive. 
 They found two others, a twin boy and girl about 
 two years old; all the rest were dead. 
 
 " We next proceeded to the house of Mr. George 
 Eaeser, and found the bodies of himself and wife 
 lying near the house by a stack of grain. We 
 went into the house and found their cliild, eighteen 
 months old, alive, trying to get water out of the 
 pail. We then went back to my place, and sent 
 .John Thomas and Mr. Parker with an ox-team to 
 New Ulm with these children. Mr. Mey's three 
 children were wounded with blows of a tomahawk 
 on the head; the other child was uninjured. We 
 then went on toward Leavenworth, seeing neither 
 Indians nor whites, until we arrived at the house 
 of Mr. Seaman, near which we found an old gen- 
 tleman named Riant concealed in a slough among 
 the tall grass. He stated to us that a party of 
 whites with him had been chased and fired upon 
 by a party of Indians. It consisted of himself, 
 Luther Whiton, George W. Co\'ill and wife, Mrs. 
 Covin's son, Mrs. Hough and child, Mr. Van Guil- 
 der and wife and two children, and Mr. Van Guil- 
 der's mother. AU these Mr. Riant said had scat- 
 tered over the ^jrairie. We remained about two 
 hours, hunting for the party, and not finding 
 them, turned back toward New Ulm, taking Mr. 
 Riant with us. We proceeded down opposite my 
 place, where we separated, eleven going down on 
 one side of the Big Cottonwood, to Mr. Tuttle's 
 place, and .seven of us proceeded down on the 
 other, or north side of the stream. The design 
 was to meet again at Mr. Tuttle's house, and all 
 go back to New Ulm together; but when we ar- 
 rived at Tuttle's, they had gone on to town with- 
 out waiting for us, and we followed. When near 
 Mr. flibbard's place we met Mr. .Takes going west. 
 He said that he had been within a mile of N6w 
 Ulm, anil saw the other men of our party. He 
 
220 
 
 UISrORT OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 farther iurormed us that he saw grain-stacks and 
 sh^ds ou fire at that distance from the place. 
 
 "When we came to the burning stacks we halted 
 to look for Indians. Our comrades were half an 
 hour ahead of lis. When they got in sight of the 
 town, one of them, Mr. Hinton, rode up on an ele- 
 vation, where he could overlook the place, and saw 
 Indians, and the town on fire in several places. He 
 went back and told them that the Indians had at- 
 tacked the' town, and that he did not consider it 
 safe for them to try to get in, and proposed cro.ss- 
 ing the Cottonwood, and goiug toward the Man- 
 kato road, and entering town on that side. His 
 proposition was opposed by several of the party, 
 who thought him frightened at the sight of half a 
 dozen Indians. They asked him how many he had 
 seen. He said some forty. They came up and 
 looked, but could see but three or four Indians. 
 Mr. Carroll told them they had better go on, and, 
 if opposed, out their way through. He told Hin- 
 ton to lead, and they -would follow. They passed 
 down the hill, and met with no opposition until 
 they came to a slongh, halt a mile from the town. 
 Here two Indians, standing on a large stone by the 
 side of the road, leveled their double-barreled 
 guns at Mr. Hinton. He, drew his revolver, placed 
 it between his horse's ears, and made for them. 
 The balance of the company followed. The Indi- 
 ans retired to cover without firing a shot, and the 
 company kept on until they had crossed the slough, 
 when the savages, who were lying in ambush, 
 arose from the grass, and filing upon them, killed 
 five of their number, viz. : William Carroll, Almond 
 Loomis, Mr. Lamb, Mr. Riant, and a Norwegian, 
 and chased the balance into the town. 
 
 "We came on about half an hour afterward, and 
 passing down the hill, crossed the same slough, 
 and unconscious of danger, appi'oached the fatal 
 spot, when about one hundred and fifty savs^ges 
 sprang up ont of the grass and fired upon us, 
 killing five horses and six men. My own horse 
 was shot through the body, close to my leg, killing 
 him instantly. My feet were out of the stirrups in 
 a moment, and I sprang to the ground, striking 
 on my hands and feet. I dropped my gun, jump- 
 ed up, and ran. An Indian, close behind, dis- 
 charged the contents of both barrels of a shot-gun 
 at me. The charge tore up the gi-ound at my feet, 
 throwing dirt all around me as I ran. I made my 
 way into town ou foot as fast as I could go. No 
 other of our party escaped; all the rest were 
 killed. Reinforcements fiom St. Peter came to 
 
 the relitf of the place in about half an hour after 
 I got in, and the Indians soon after retired." 
 
 CHAPTiin XXX\III. 
 
 BATTLE AT LOWER AGENCY FERET SIEGE OF FORT 
 
 RIDGBLT BATTLE OF WEDNESDAY JACK FRAZER 
 
 — BATTLE OF FRIDAY liEINFOKCEMENTS ARRIVE. 
 
 On Monday morning, the 18th of August, 1862, 
 at about 9 o'clock, a messenger arrived at Tort 
 Kidgely, from the Lower Sioux Agency, bringing 
 the startling news that the Indians were massacre- 
 ing the whites at that place. Captain John S. 
 Marsh, of Company B, Fifth Regiment Minnesota 
 Volunteer Infantry, then in command, immediately 
 dispatched me.-sengers after Lieutenant Sheehan, 
 of Company C, of the same regiment, who had left 
 that post on the morning before, with a detach- 
 ment of his company, for Fort Eipley, on the 
 Upper Mississipi, and Major T. J. Galbraith, Sioux 
 Agent, who had also left the fort at the same time 
 with fifty men, afterwards known as the Ren- 
 ville Rangers, for Fort Snelling, urging them to 
 return to Fort Ridgely with all possible dispatch, 
 as there were then in the fort only Company B, 
 numbering about seventy- five or eighty men. The 
 gallant captain then took a detachment of forty- 
 six men, and acccmpanied by Interpreter Quinn, 
 immediately started for the scene of blood, distant 
 twelve miles. They made a very rapid manh. 
 When within about four miles of the ferry, op- 
 posite the Agency, they met the ferryman, Mr. 
 Martolle, who informed Captain Marsh that the In- 
 dians were in considerable force, and were mur- 
 dering all the people, and advised him to return. 
 He replied that he was there to protect and defend 
 the frontier, and he should do so if it was in bis 
 power, and gave the order "Forward !" Between 
 this point and the river they passed nine dead 
 bodies on or near the road. Arriving near the 
 ferry the company was halted, and Corporal 
 Ezekiel Rose was sent forward to examine the ferry, 
 and see if all was right. The captain and inter- 
 preter were mounted on mules, the men were on 
 foot, and formed in two ranks in the road, near 
 the ferry-hou'.e, a few rods from the banks of the 
 river. The corporal had taken a pail with him to 
 the river, aiKl returned, reporting the ferry all 
 right, bringing with him water for the exhausted 
 and thiisty men. 
 
CM'TAiy MAUSJI KIJ.LED. 
 
 221 
 
 In the meantime an Indian Lad made his ap- 
 pearance on the opposite liank, and ealhng to 
 Quinn, nrged tlieni to come across, telling him all 
 Wixs right on that side. The suspicions of the cap- 
 tain were at once aroused, and he ordered the men 
 to remain in their places, and not to move on to 
 the boat until he could ascertain whether the In- 
 dians were in ambush in the ravines on the oppo- 
 site shore. The men were in the act of drinking, 
 when the savage on the opposite side, seeing they 
 were not going to cross at once, fired his gun, as a 
 signal, when instantly there arose out of the grass 
 and brush, all around them, some four or five hun- 
 dred warriors, who poured a terrific volley upon 
 the devoted band. The aged interpreter fell from 
 his mule, pierced by over twenty balls. The cap- 
 tain's mule fell dead, but he himself sprang to the 
 ground unhaimed. Several of the men fell at this 
 first fire. The testimony of the survivors of this 
 sanguinary engagement is, that their brave com- 
 mander W'as as cool and collected as if on dress pa- 
 rade. They retreated down the stream about a 
 mile and a half, fighting their way inch by inch, 
 when it was discovered that a body of Indians, 
 taking advantage of the fact that there was a benil- 
 in the river, had gone across and gained the bank 
 below them. 
 
 The heroic little band was ab-eady reduced to 
 about one-half its original number. To cut their 
 way through this large number of Indians was 
 impossible. Their only hope now was to cross the 
 river to the reservation, as there' ajipoared to be no 
 Indians on that shore, retreat down that side and 
 recross at the fort. The river was supposed to be 
 fordable where they were, and, accordingly, Capt. 
 Marsh gave the order to cross. Taking his sword 
 in one hand and his revolver in the other, accom- 
 panied by his men, he waded out into the stream. 
 It was very soon ascertained that they must swim, 
 when these who could not do so returned to the 
 shore and hid in the grass as best they could, 
 while those who could, dropped their arms and 
 struck out for the ojiposite side. Among these 
 latter was Capt. Marsh. When near the opposite 
 shore he was struck by a ball, and immediately 
 sank, but arose again to the surface, and grasped 
 the shoulder of a man at his side, but the garment 
 gave wav in his grasp, and he again sank, this 
 time to Hse no more. 
 
 Thirteen of the men reached the bank in safety. 
 a-1 returned to the fort that night. Those of 
 
 tl;em who wore unaliln to cross remained in the 
 
 grass and bushes mitil night, when they made 
 their way, alno, to flie fort or settlements. Some 
 of them were badly wounded, and were out two or 
 tlirce days befm-e they got in. Two weeks after- 
 ward, Josiah P. Marsh, brother of the cap- 
 tain, with a mounted escort of thirty men — his 
 old neighljors from Fillmore county — made search 
 for his body, but without success. On the day 
 before and the day after this search, as was sub- 
 sequently ascertaiued, two hundred Indians were 
 scouting along the river, upon the the very groimd 
 over which these thirty men passed, in their fruit- 
 less search for the remains of their dead brother 
 and friend. Tn-o weeks later anotlier search was 
 made with boats along the river, and this time the 
 search was successful. His body was discovered 
 a mile and a half bslow where he was killed, under 
 the roots of a tree standing at the water's edge. 
 His remains were borne by his sorrowing com- 
 panions to Fort Ridgdy, and deposited in the 
 military burial-ground at tliat place. 
 
 This gallant officer demands more than a pass- 
 ing notice. When the Southern rebellion broke 
 out, in 1861, .John S. Marsh was resiiliug in Fill- 
 more county, Minnesota. A company was re- 
 cruited in his neighborhood, designed for the gal- 
 lant 1st Minnesota, of which he was made first 
 lieutenant. Before, however, this conijjauy reach- 
 ed Fort Snelling, the place of rendez\ous, the reg- 
 iment N\as fuU, and it w^as disbanded. The patri- 
 otic fire still burned in the soul of young Marsh. 
 Going to La Crosse, he volunteered as a private in 
 the 2d Wisconsin regiment, and served some ten 
 months in the ranks. In the following winter his 
 brother, J. F. Marsh, assisted in raising a com- 
 pany in Fillmore county, of which John S. was 
 elected first lieutenant, and he was therefore trans- 
 ferred, by order of the Secretary of War, to his 
 company, and arrived at St. Paul about the 12th 
 of March, 18G2. In the meantime, Captain Gere 
 was promoted to majoi-, and on the 21th Lieuten- 
 ant Marsh was promoted to the captaincy of his 
 company, and ordered to report at Fort Ridn-ely 
 and take comnii^iid of that imjjortant frontier post. 
 Captain Marsh at once reixiired to his post of 
 duty, where he remained in command until the 
 fat;il encounter lu the ISth terminated both his 
 usefulness and life. He was a brave and accom- 
 ])Iishril soldier, and a noble man, 
 
 'None knew him but to love him, 
 Nr.ne named liim but to praise." 
 
222 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 SIEGE OF FORT KIDGELY. 
 
 Foiled in their attack on New Ulm by the 
 timely arrival of reinforeements under Flandraii, 
 the Indians turned their attention toward Fort 
 Kidgely, eighteen miles north-west. On Wednes- 
 day, at three o'clock P. M., the 20th of August, 
 they suddenly appeared in great force at that 
 post, and at once commenced a furious assault 
 upon it. The fort is situated on the edge of the 
 prairie, about half a mile from the Minnesota river, 
 a timbered bottom intervening, and a wooded ra- 
 vine running up out of the bottom around two 
 sides of the fort, and within about twenty rods of 
 the buildings, affording shelter for an enemy on 
 three sides, within easy rifle or musket range. 
 
 The first Itnowledge the garrison had of the 
 presence of the foe was given by a volley from the 
 ravine, which drove in the pickets. The men were 
 instantly formed, by order of Lieutenant Sheehan, 
 in line of battle, on the parade-ground inside the 
 works. Two men, Mark M. Grear, of Company 
 C, and "William Goode, of Company B, fell at the 
 first fire of the concealed foe, after the line was 
 formed; the former was instantly killed, the latter 
 badly woimded, both being shot in the head. 
 Robert Baker, a citizen, who had escajied from the 
 massacre at the Lower Agency, was shot through 
 the head and instantly killed, while standing at a 
 window in the barracks, at about the same time. 
 The men soon broke for shelter, and from behind 
 boxes, from windows, from the shelter of the 
 buildings, and from every spot where concealment 
 was possible, watched their opportunities, wasted 
 no ammunition, but poured their shots with deadly 
 effect upon the wily and savage foe whenever he 
 suffered himself to be seen. 
 
 The forces in the tort at this time were the rem- 
 nant of Company B, 5th Eegiment M. V., Lieu- 
 tenant Culver, thirty men; about fifty men of 
 Company C, same regiment. Lieutenant T. J. 
 Sheehan; the Renville Rangers, Lieutenant James 
 Gorman, numbering fifty men, all under command 
 of Lieutenant T. J. Sheehan. 
 
 Sergeant John Jones, of the regular army, a 
 brave and skillful man, was stationed at this fort 
 as post-sergeant, in charge of the ordnance, and 
 took immediate command of the artillery, of which 
 there were in the fort six pieces. Three only, how- 
 ever, were used — two six-pounder howitzers and 
 one twenty-four-poundcr iield-piece. A sidEcient 
 number of men had been detailed to work these 
 
 guns, and at the instant of the first alarm were 
 promptly at their posts. One of the guns was 
 placed in charge of a citizen named J. 0. Whipple, 
 an old artUlerist, who had seen service in the Mex- 
 ican war, and in the United States navy, and bad 
 made his escape from the massacre at the Lower 
 Agency, and one in charge of Sergeant McGrew, 
 of Company C; the other in charge of Sergeant 
 Jones in person. In this assault there were, prob- 
 al)ly, not less than five hundred warriors, led by 
 their renowned chief, Little Crow. 
 
 So sudden had been the outbreak, and so weak 
 was the garrison that there had been no time to 
 construct any defensive works whatever, or to re- 
 move or destroy the wooden structures and hay- 
 stacks, behind which the enemy could take position 
 and shelter. The magazine was situated some 
 twenty rods outside the main works on the open 
 prairie. Men were at once detailed to take the 
 ammunition into the fort. Theirs was the post of 
 danger; but they passed through the leaden storm 
 unscathed. 
 
 In the rear of the barracks was a ravine up which 
 the St. Peter road passed. The enemy had poses- 
 sion of this ra^'ine and road, while others were 
 posted in the buildings, at the windows, and in 
 sheltered portions in the sheds in the rear of the 
 officer's quarters. Here they fought from 3 o'clock 
 until dark, the artillery all the while shelling the 
 ravine at short range, and the rifles and muskets 
 of the men dropping the yelling demons like au- 
 tunm leaves. In the meantime the Indians had 
 got into some of the old out-buildings, and had 
 crawled up behind the hay-stacks, from which they 
 poiu-ed heavy volleys into the fort. A few well-di- 
 rected shells from the howitzers set them on fire, 
 and when night closed over the scene the lurid 
 light of the burnmg buildings shot up with a fit- 
 ful glare, and served the purpose of revealing to 
 the wary sentinel the lurking foe should he again 
 appear. 
 
 The Indians retired with the closing day, and 
 were seen in large numbers on their ponies, mak- 
 ing their way rapidly toward the Agency. The 
 great danger feared by all was, that, under cover 
 of the darkness, the savages might creep up to the 
 buildings and with fire-arrows ignite the dry roofs 
 of the wooden structures. But about ^midnight 
 the heavens opened and the earth was deluged 
 with rain, effectually preventing the constimma- 
 tion of such a design, if it was intended. As the 
 first great drops fcU on the faces upturned to the 
 
FOUT 111 DG ELY ATTACKED. 
 
 223 
 
 gathering beavous the glad shout ot "Rain! rain! 
 thauk God! thank God!" went round the boloag- 
 uered garrison. Stout-hearted, strong-armed men 
 brcatlied free again; and weary, frightened women 
 and ehildren slept once more in comparative safety. 
 
 In this engagement there were two men killed, 
 and nine wounded, and all the government mules 
 were stampeded by the Indians. Jack Prazer, an 
 old resident in the Indian country, volunteered as 
 a bearer of dispatches to Governor Ramsey, and 
 availing himself of the darkness and the furious 
 storm, made his way safely out of the fort, and 
 reached St. Peter, where he met Colonel Sibley and 
 his command on their way to the relief of the fort. 
 
 Rain continued to fall until nearly night of 
 Thursday, when it ceased, and that night the stars 
 looked down iipon the weary, but still wakeful and 
 vigilant watchers in FortKidgely. On that night 
 a large quantity of oats, in sacks, stored in the 
 granary near the stable, and a quantity of cord- 
 wood piled near the fort, were disposed about the 
 works in sueh a manner as to alford protectirm to 
 the men, in case of another attack. The roof of 
 the commissary building was covered with earth, as 
 a protection against fire-arrows. The water in the 
 fort had given out, and as there was neither well 
 nor cistern in the works, the garrison were depend- 
 ent upon a spring some sixty rods distant in the 
 ravine, for a supply of that indispensable element. 
 Their only resource now was to dig for water, 
 which they did at another and less exposed point, 
 and by noon had a supply sufficient for two or 
 three days secured inside the fort. 
 
 In the meantime the small arm's ammunition 
 haTang become nearly exhausted in the battle of 
 Wednesday, the l)alls were removed from some of 
 the spherical case-shot, and a party of men and 
 ivo^en made them up into cartridges, which were 
 jrr^atly needed. Small parties of Indians had 
 ty5en seen about the fort, out of range, during 
 Thursday and Friday forenoon, watching the fort, 
 to report if reinforcements had reached it. At 
 about 1 o'clock in the afternoon of Friday, the 22d, 
 they appeared again in force, their numbers greatly 
 augmented, and commenced a furious and most de- 
 termined assault. They came apparently from the 
 Lower Agency, passing down the Minnesota bot- 
 tom, and round into the ravine surrounding the 
 fort. As they passed near the beautiful residence 
 of K. H. Randall, post sutler, they applied the 
 torch and it was soon wrapj^ed in flames. On came 
 the painted savages yelling like so many demons 
 
 let loose from the bottomless pit; but the brave 
 men in that sore pn>ssed garrison, knowing full 
 well that to be taken alive was certain death to 
 themselves and all within the doomed fort, each 
 man was pi'omptly at his post. 
 
 The main attack was directed against that side 
 of the works next to the river, the buildings here 
 being frame structures, and the most vulnerable 
 jiart of the fort. This side was covered by the 
 stable, gi-anary, and one or two old buildings, 
 besides the sutler's store on the west side, yes 
 standing, as well as the buildings named above. 
 Made bold by their augmented number.s, and the 
 non-arrival of reinforcements to the garrison, tlie 
 Indians pressed on, seemingly determined to rush 
 at once into the works, but were met as they 
 reached the end of the timber, and swept round 
 up the ravine with such a deadly fire of musketry 
 poured upon them from behind the barracks and 
 the windows of the quarters, and of grape, canister 
 and shell fi'om the guns of the brave and heroic 
 Jones, AVhipple, and McGrew, that they beat a 
 hasty retreat to the friendly shelter of the bottom, 
 out of musket range. But the shells continued to 
 scream wildly through the air, and burst around 
 and among them. They soon rallied and took 
 possession of the stable and other 0Tit-buildin"-s 
 on the south side of the fort, from which they 
 poured terrific yoUeys upon the frail wooden 
 buildings on that side, the bullets actually 25assing 
 through their sides, and through the partitions 
 inside of them. Here .Josejih Vanosse, a citizen, 
 was shot through the body by a ball which came 
 through the side of the building. They were 
 soon driven from these buildings by the artillery, 
 which shelled them out, setting the buildings on 
 fire. The sutler's store was in like m.anner 
 shelled and set on fire. The scene now became 
 grand and terrific. The flames and smoke of the 
 burning buildings, the wild and demoniac yells of 
 »the savage besiegers, the roaring of cannon, the 
 screaming of sheUs as they hurtled through the 
 air, the sharp crack of the rifle, and the unceasing 
 rattle of musketry presented an exhibition never 
 to be forgotten by those who witnessed it. 
 
 The Indians retired hastily from the buruinr' 
 buildings, the men in the fort sending a shower of 
 bullets among them as they disappeared over the 
 bluffs toward the bottom. With wild yells they 
 now circled round into the ravine, and from the 
 tall grass, lying on their faces, and from the 
 shelter of the timber, continued the battle till 
 
2'Zi 
 
 UIsrORY OF THE SIOUX ilASSAGRE. 
 
 night, their leader, Little Crow, vainly ordering 
 them to charge on the guns. They formed once 
 for that purpose, about sundown, but a shell and 
 round of canister sent into their midst closed the 
 contest, when,with an unearthly yell of rage and dis- 
 appointment, they left. These shots, as was after- 
 wards ascertained, killed and wounded seventeen 
 of their number. Jones continued to shell the 
 ravine and timber around the fort until after dark, 
 when the firing ceased, and then, as had been 
 done on each night before, since the investment of 
 the fort, the men all went to their several posts to 
 wait and -watch for the coming of the wily foe. 
 The night waned slowly ; but they must not sleep; 
 their foe is sleepless, and that wide area of dry 
 shmgled roof must be closely scanned, and the 
 approaches be vigilantly guarded, by which he 
 may, under cover of the darkness, creep upon 
 them unawares. 
 
 Morning broke at last, the sun rode up a clear 
 and cloudless sky, but the foe came not. The day 
 passed away, and no attack; the night again, and 
 then another day ; and yet other days and nights 
 of weary, sleepless watching, but neither friend nor 
 foe api^roached the fort, until about daylight on 
 Wednesday morning, the 27th, when the cry was 
 heard from the look-out on the roof, "There are 
 horsemen coming on the St. Peter road, across the 
 ravine!" Are they friends oi- foes? was the ques- 
 tion on the tongues of all. By their cautious 
 movements they were evidently reconnoitering, 
 and it was yet too dark for those in the fort to be 
 able to tell, at that distance, friends from foes. 
 But as daylight advanced, one hundred and fifty 
 mounted men were seen dashing through the ra- 
 vine ; and amidst the wild hurras of the assembled 
 garrison. Colonel Samuel McPhail, at the head of 
 two companies of citizen-cavalry, rode into the 
 fort. In command of a company of these men 
 were Anson Northrup, from Minneapolis, an old 
 frontiers-man, and K. H. Chittenden, of the Fir,st 
 Wisconsin Cavalry. This force had ridden all 
 night, having left St. Peter, forty-five miles dis- 
 tant, at 6 o'clock the night before. From them 
 ■(he garrison learned that heavy reinforcements 
 were on their way to thjir relief, under Colonel 
 (now Brigadier-General) H. H.Sibley. The worn- 
 out and exhaust d garrison could now sleep with 
 a feeling of comparative security. The number 
 of killed and wounded of the enemy is not known, 
 Imt must have been considerable, as, at the close 
 I.: each battle, they were seen carrying away their 
 
 dead and wounded. Our own fallen heroes were 
 buried on the edge of the prairie near the fort; 
 and the injuries of the wounded men wei'e care- 
 fully attended to by the skillful and excellent posl- 
 surgeon, Dr. Alfred Muller. 
 
 We close our account of this protracted siege 
 by a slight tribute or behalf of the sick and 
 wounded in that garrisi^n, to one whose name wiU 
 ever be mentioned by them with love and respect. 
 The hospitals of Sebastopol had their Florence 
 Nightingale, and over every blood-stained field of 
 the South, in our own struggle for national hfe, 
 hovered angels of mercy, cheering and soothing 
 the sick and wounded, smoothing the pillows 
 and closing the eyes of our fallen braves. 
 And when, in after years, the brave men who fell, 
 sorely wounded, in the battles of Fort Kidgely, 
 Birch Coolie, and Wood Lake, fighting against 
 the savage hordes who overran the borders of our 
 beautiful State, in August and September, 1862, 
 carrying the flaming torch, the gleaming toma- 
 hawk, and bloody scalping-knife to hundreds of 
 peaceful homes, shall tell to their children and 
 cldldren's childi'en the story of the "dark and 
 bloody ground" of Minnesota, and shall exliibit to 
 them the scars those wounds have left; they will 
 tell, with moistened cheek and swelling hearts of 
 the noble, womanly deeds of Mrs. Eliza Muller, 
 the "Florence Nightingale" of Fort Eidgely. 
 [Mrs. Muller several years since died at the asylum 
 at St. Peter.] 
 
 SERGEANT JOHN JONES. 
 
 We feel that the truth of history will not be fully 
 vindicated should we fail to bestow upon a brave 
 and gallant officer that meed of praise so justly 
 due. The only officer of experience lelt in the fort 
 by the death of its brave commandant was Ser- 
 geant John Jones, of the regular artillery; and it 
 is but just to that gallant officer that we should 
 say that but for the cool courage and discretion of 
 Sergeant Jones, Fort Kidgely would, in the first 
 day's battle have become a funeral pyre for all 
 within its doomed walls. And it gives . us more 
 than ordinary pleasure to record the fact, that the 
 services he then rendered the Gavernment, in the 
 defense of the frontier wm'e fully recognized and 
 rewarded with the commission of Captain of the 
 Second Mkmesota Battery. ^ 
 
CAPrAiy winrcoMB at fuukst city. 
 
 225 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 CAPTAIN WniTCOMB's ARRIVAL AT ST. PAUL— PASSES 
 
 THROOGn MEEKER OOUNTV A FORT CONSTRUOTEU 
 
 — ENQAGEMENT WITU INDIANS ATTACK ON I'OREST 
 
 CITV CONDITION OP THE COUNTKY — C:APTAIN 
 
 STRODT AT GLENCOE — ATTACKED NEAR ACTON BY 
 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY INDIANS — ATTACK ON 
 HUTCHINSON. 
 
 This cLaptei- will be devoted to the iijiper por- 
 tion of the state, aud the movements of troops for 
 the relief of the frontier, not immediately con- 
 nected with the main expedition under Colonel 
 Sibley; and to avoid repetition, the prominent in- 
 cidents of the massacre in this portion of the state 
 ■will be given in connection witli the movements of 
 the troops. We quote from the Adjutant-Gen- 
 eral's Report: 
 
 The 19th day of August the first news of the 
 outbreak at Eedwotid was received at St. Paul. 
 On the same day a messenger arrived from Meeker 
 county, with news of murders committed in that 
 county by the Indians, and an earnest demand for 
 assistance. The murders were committed at Ac- 
 ton, about twelve miles from Forest City, on Sun- 
 day, the 17th day of the month. The circnm- 
 Btauces under which these murders were committed 
 are fully detailed in a previous chajjter. 
 
 George C. Whitcomb, commander of the state 
 forces raised in the county of Meeker, was sta- 
 tioned at Forest City. On the 19th of August, 
 Mr. Whitcomb arrived at St. Paul, and received 
 from the state seventy-five stand of arms and a 
 small quantity of ammunition, for the purpose of 
 enabling the settlers of Meeker county to stand on 
 the defensive, until other assistance could be sent 
 to their aid. With these in his possession, he 
 started on liis return, and, on the following day he 
 met Col. Sibley at Shakopee, by whom he was or- 
 dered to raise a company of troops and report with 
 command to the Colonel, at Fort Kidgely. On ar- 
 riving at Hutchinson, in McLeod county, he found 
 the whole country on a general stampede, and 
 small bands of Indians lurking in the border of 
 Meeker county. 
 
 Captain Richard Strout was ordered, under date 
 of August 2-4, to proceed with a company of men 
 to Forest City, in the county of Meeker, for the 
 protection of that locality. 
 
 In the meantime Captain Whitcomb arrived at 
 Forest City with the arms funiished him by the 
 
 15 
 
 state, with the excoplitm of those left by him at 
 Hutchinson. Upon his arrival he sjjeedily en- 
 listed, for temporary service, a company of fifty- 
 three men. twenty-five of whom were mounted, 
 and the remainder were to act as infantry. 
 
 Captain Whitcomb, with the mounted portion of 
 his company, made a rapid march into the county 
 of Monongalia, to a point about thirty miles from 
 Forest City, where he foiindtho bodies of two men 
 who had been shot by the Indians, who had muti 
 lated the corpses by cutting their throats and 
 scalping them. In the same vicinity he found the 
 ruins of three houses that had been burned, and 
 the carcasses of a large number of cattle that had 
 been wantonly killed and devoted to destruction. 
 
 Owing to rumors received at this point, he pro- 
 ceeded in a north-westerly direction, to the distance 
 of ten miles further, and found on the route the 
 remains of five more of the settlers, all of whom 
 had been shot and scalped, and some of them were 
 otherwise mutUated by having their hands cut ofi' 
 and gashes cut in their faces, done apparently with 
 hatchets. 
 
 On the return to camp at Forest City, when 
 within about four miles of Acton, he came to a 
 point on the road where a train of wagons had been 
 attacked on the 23d. He here found two more 
 dead bodies of white men, mutilated in a shocking 
 manner liy having their hands cut oiT, being dis- 
 emboweled and otherwise disfigured, having knives 
 still remaining in their abdomens, where they had 
 been left by the savages. The road at this place 
 was, for three miles, lined with the carcasses of 
 dead cattle, a great portion of which belonged to 
 the train upon which the attack had been made. 
 On this excursion the company were about foui' 
 days, during which time they traveled over- one 
 hundred miles, and buried the bodies of nine per- 
 sons who had been murdered. 
 
 On the next day after having returned to the 
 camp, being the 28th of the month, the same 
 party made a circuit through the western portion 
 of Meeker county, aud buried the bodies of three 
 more men that were found mutilated and disfigm-ed 
 in a similar manner to those previously mentioned. 
 In addition to the other services rendered by the 
 company thus far, they had discovered and re- 
 moved to the camp several persons found wounded 
 and disabled in the vicinity, and two, who had 
 been very severely woimded, had been sent by 
 them to St. Cloud for the purpose of receiving 
 surgical attention. 
 
226 
 
 BISTORT OF THE SIOUX MAS SAC HE. 
 
 The company, in addition to their other labors, 
 were employed in the construction of a stockade 
 fort, to be used if necessary for defensive purposes, 
 and for the protection of those who were not capa- 
 ble of bearing arms. It was formed by inserting 
 the ends of pieces of rough timber into the earth 
 to the depth of three feet, and leaviug them from 
 ten to twelve feet above the surface of the groimd. 
 In this way an area was inclosed of one hundred 
 and forty feet in length and one hundred and 
 thirty in width. Witliin the fortitication was in- 
 chided one frame dwelling-house and a well of 
 water. At diagonal comers of the inclosure were 
 erected two wings or bastions provided with port- 
 holes, from each of which two sides of the main 
 work could be guarded and raked by the rilles of 
 the company. 
 
 Information was received by Captain Whitcomb 
 that a family at Green Lake, in Monongalia county, 
 near the scenes visited by him in his expedition ti 
 til. t county, had made their e.-cape from the In- 
 dians, and taken refuge upon an island in the lake. 
 In attempting to rescue this family Captain Whit- 
 comb had a severe encounter with Indians found 
 in ambush near the line of Meeker county, and 
 after much skirmishing and a brisk engagement, 
 which proved very much to the disadvantage of 
 the Indians, they succeeded in effecting their es- 
 cape to the thickly -timbered region in the rear of 
 their first position. The members of the company 
 were nearly all experienced marksmen, and the 
 Springfield rifles in their hands proved very gall- 
 ing to the enemy. So anxious was the latter to 
 effect his retreat, that he left three of his dead 
 upon the ground. No loss was sustained on the 
 part of our troops, except a flesh-wound in the leg 
 received by one of the company. As it was 
 deemed uuadvisable to pursue the Indians into the 
 heavy timber with the small force at command, the 
 detachment fell back to their camp, arriving the 
 same evening. 
 
 On the following day, Captain Whitoomb, 
 taking with him twenty men from his company, 
 and twenty citizens who volunteered for the occa- 
 sion, proceeded on the same route taken the day 
 previous. With the increase in his forces he 
 expected to be able, without much difficulty, to 
 overcome the Indians previously encountered. 
 After proceeding about ten mUes from the camp, 
 their further progress was again disputed by the 
 Indians, who had likewise been reinforced since 
 their last encounter. Owing to the great superi- 
 
 ority of the enemy's forces, the Captain withdrew 
 his men. They tell gradually back, fighting 
 steadily on the retreat, and were pursued to within 
 four miles of the encampment. In this contest, 
 one Indian is known to have been killed. On the 
 part of the whites one horse and wagon got mired 
 in a slough, and had to be abandoned. No other 
 injury was suffered from the enemy; but two men 
 were wounded by the accidental discharge of a 
 gun in their own ranks. 
 
 A fortification was prepared, and the citizens, 
 with their families, were removed within the 
 inclosure. Captain Whitcomb quartered his com- 
 pany in the principal hotel of the place, and 
 guards were stationed for the night, while all the 
 men were directed to be prepared for any contin- 
 gency that might arise, and be in readiness for 
 usuig their arms at any moment. 
 
 Between 2 and 3 o'clock the following morning, 
 the guards discovered the appioach of Indians, 
 and gave the alarm. As soon as the savages per- 
 ceived that they were discovered, they uttered the 
 war-whoop, and poured a volley into the hotel 
 where the troops were quartered. The latter 
 iramediiitoly retired to the stockade, taking with 
 them all the ammunition and iquipments in their 
 possession. They had scarcely effected an en- 
 trance when fire was opened upon it from forty or 
 fifty Indian rifles. Owing to the darkness of the 
 morning, no distinct view could be obtained of the 
 enemy, and, in consequence, no very effective fire 
 could be opened upon him. 
 
 While one party of the Indians remained to keep 
 up a fire upon the fort and harass the gariison, 
 another portion was engaged in setting fire to 
 buildings and haystacks, while others, at the same 
 time, were engaged in collecting horses and cattle 
 found in the place, and driving them off. Occa- 
 sional glimpses could be obtained of those near 
 the fires, but as soon as a shot was fired at them 
 they would disappear in the darkness. Most of 
 the biiildings burned, however, were such a dis- 
 tance from the fort as to be out of range of the 
 guns of the garrison. The fire kept up from that 
 point prevented the near approach of the incen- 
 diary party, and by that means the principal part 
 of the town was saved from destruction. On one 
 occasion an effort was made to carry the flames 
 into a more central part of the town, and the 
 torches in the hands of the party were seen 
 approaching the office of A. C. Smith, Esq. 
 Directed by the light of the torches, a volley was 
 
CAPTAIN STllOUrS I'AUVY ATTAC Kh'J). 
 
 227 
 
 poured into their midst from the fort, whereupon 
 the braves hastily abandoned their incendiary 
 implements and retreated from that (juarter of the 
 village. From signs of blood afterward found 
 upon the ground, some of the Indians were sup- 
 posed to have met the fate intended for them, but 
 no dead were left behind. 
 
 The fight continued, without other decided re- 
 sults, until about daylight, at which time the prin- 
 cipal part of the forces retired. As the light in- 
 creased, so that objects became discernible, a small 
 party of savages were observed engaged in dri- 
 ving oif a number of cattle. A portion of the 
 garrison, volunteering for the purpose, sallied 
 out to recover the stock, which they accomplish- 
 ed, with the loss of two men wounded, one of them 
 severely. 
 
 Tliis company had no further encounters with 
 the Indians, but afterward engaged in securing 
 the grain and other- property belonging to the set- 
 tlers who had abandoned, or been driven from, their 
 farms and homes. Nearly every settlement be- 
 tween Forest City and the western frontier had, by 
 this time, been deserted, and the whole country 
 was in the hands of the savages. In speaking of 
 his endeavors to save a portion of the property 
 thus abandoned, Captain Whitcomb, on the 7th of 
 September, wrote as follows : 
 
 '•It is only in their property that the inhabitants 
 can now be injured; the people have all fled. 
 The country is totally abandoned. Not an inhab- 
 itant remains in Meeker county, west of this place. 
 No white person (unless a captive) is now living 
 in Kandiyohi or Monongalia county." 
 
 On the 1st of September, Captain Strout, who 
 had previously arrived at Glencoe, made prepara- 
 tions for a further advance. Owing to the vigor- 
 ous measures adopted by General John H. Stevens, 
 of the State militia, it was thought unnecessary 
 that any additional forces should be retained at 
 this point. Under his directions no able-bodied 
 man having deserted the country further to the 
 westward, had been permitted to leave the neigh- 
 borhood, or pass through. All such were re- 
 quired to desist from further flight, and assist 
 in making a stand, in order to check the further 
 advance of the destroyers of their homes. The 
 town of Glencoe had been fortified to a certain 
 extent, and a military company of seventy-three 
 members had been organized, and armed with such 
 guns as were in possession of the settlers. With 
 Glencoe thus provided for. General Stevens did 
 
 not hesitate to advise, nor Ca])tain Strout to at- 
 tempt a further advanco into the overrun and 
 threatened territory. 
 
 The company of the latter, by this time, had 
 been increased by persons, principally from Wright 
 county, who volunteered their services for the ex- 
 pedition, until it numbered about seventy-five men. 
 With this force he marched, as already stated, on 
 the 1st day of September. 
 
 Passing through Hutchinson on his way, no op- 
 position was encountered until the morning of the 
 3d of Septembei'. On the night previous, he had 
 arrived at and encamped near Acton, on the west- 
 ern border of Meeker county. 
 
 At about half-past five o'clock the next morning 
 his camp was attacked by a force comprising about 
 one hundred and fifty Indians. The onset was 
 made fi'om the direction of Hutchinson, with the 
 design, most probably, of cutting off the retreat 
 of the Company, and of precluding the jDossibility 
 of sending a messenger after reinforcements. They 
 fought with a spirit and zeal that seemed determ- 
 ined to annihilate our little force, at whatever cost 
 it might require. 
 
 For the first half hour Caj^tnin Strout formed 
 his company into four sections, in open order, and 
 pressed against them as skirmishers. Finding their 
 forces so much superior to his own, he concentra- 
 ted the force of his company, and hurled them 
 against the main body of the enemy. In this 
 manner the fight was kept up for another hour 
 and a half, the Indians falling slowly back as they 
 were pressed, in the direction of Hutchinson, but 
 maintaining all the while their order and line of 
 battle. At length the force in front of the compa- 
 ny gave way, and falling upon the rear, continued 
 to harrass it in its retreat. 
 
 About one-half of the savages were moimted, 
 partly on large, fine horses, of which they had 
 plundered the settlements, and partly on regular 
 Indian ponies. These latter were so well trained 
 for the business in which they were now engaged, 
 that their riders would drive them at a rapid rate 
 to within any desirable distance of our men, when 
 pony and rider would both instantly lie down in 
 the tall grass, and thus become concealed from the 
 aim of the sharp-shooters of the company. 
 
 With the intention, most likely, of creating a 
 panic in our ranks, and causing the force to scat- 
 ter, and become separately an easy prey to the 
 pursuers, the Indians would at times, uttering the 
 most terrific and unearthly yells of which their 
 
228 
 
 mSTORT OF THE SIOUX MASSAUUE. 
 
 lungs and skill were capable, charge in a mass 
 upon the little band. On none of these occasions, 
 however, did a single man falter or attempt a 
 flight; and, after approaching within one hundred 
 yards of the retreating force, and perceiving that 
 they still remained firm, the Indians would halt 
 the charge, and seek concealment in the grass or 
 elsewhere, from 'which places they would continue 
 their fire. 
 
 After having thus hung upon and harrasscd the 
 rear of the retreating force for about half an hour, 
 at the end of which time the column- had arrived 
 within a short distance of Cedar City, in the 
 extreme north-west corner of McLeod county, the 
 pursuit was given up, and the company continued 
 the retreat without fiu'ther opposition to Hutchin- 
 son, at which place it arrived at an early hour in 
 the same afternoon. 
 
 The loss of the company in the encounter was 
 three men killed and fifteen wounded, some of 
 them severely. AH were, however, brought from 
 the field. 
 
 In addition to this they lost most of their ra- 
 tions, cooking utensils, tents, and a portion of 
 their ammunition and arms. Some of their horses 
 became unmanageable and ran away. Some were 
 mired and abandoned, making, with those killed 
 by the enemy, an aggregate loss of nine. The 
 loss inflicted upon the enemy could not be de- 
 termined with any degree of certainty, but Cap- 
 tain Strout was of the opinion that their killed and 
 wounded were two or three times as great as ours. 
 
 At Hutcliiuson a military company, consisting of 
 about sixty members, had been organized for the 
 purpose of defending the place against any attacks 
 from the Indians. Of this company Lewis Har- 
 rington was elected captain. On the first appre- 
 hension of danger a house was barricaded as a 
 last retreat in case of necessity. The members of 
 the company, aided by the citizens, afterward con- 
 structed a small stockade fort of one hundred feet 
 square. It was built after the same style as that 
 at Forest City, with bastions in the same position, 
 and a wall composed of double timbers rising to 
 the height of eight feet above the ground. The 
 work was provided with loop-holes, from which a 
 musketry fire cotild be kept up, and was of suffi- 
 cient strength to resist any jjrojectiles that the sav- 
 ages had the means of throwing. At this place 
 Captain Strout halted his company, to await far- 
 ther develiipments. 
 
 At about nine o'clock on the next morning, the 
 
 4th of September, the Indians approached the 
 town thus, garrisoned and commenced the attaek. 
 They were replied to from the fortification; but. 
 as they were careful not to come within close 
 range, and used every means to conceal their per- 
 sons, but little punishment was inflicted upon 
 them. They bent their energies more in attempts 
 to burn the town than to inflict any serious injury 
 upon the military. In these endeavors they were 
 so far successful as to burn all the buildings sit- 
 uated on the blufl' in the rear of the town, includ- 
 ing the college building, which was here located. 
 They at one time succeeded in reaching almost the 
 heart of the village, and applying the incendiary 
 torch to two of the dwelling-houses there situated, 
 which were consumed. 
 
 Our forces marched out of the fort and engaged 
 them in the open field; but, owing to the superior 
 numbers of tlie enemy, and their scattered and 
 hidden positions, it was thought that no advantage 
 could be gained in this way, and, after driving 
 them out of the town, the soldiers were recalled to 
 the fort^ The day was "spent in this manner, the 
 Indians making a succession of skirmishes, but at 
 the same time endeavoring to maintain a sufficient 
 distance between them and the soldiers to insure 
 an almost certain impunity from the fire of their 
 muskets. At about five o'clock in the evening 
 their forces were withdrawn, and our troo23s rested 
 on their arms, in expectation of a renewal of the 
 fight in a more desperate form. 
 
 As soon as General Stevens was informed of the 
 attack made upon Captain Strout, near Acton, and 
 his being compelled to fall back to Hutchinson, 
 he directed Captain Davis to proceed to the com- 
 mand of Lieutenant Weinrhann, then stationed 
 near Lake Addie, in the same county, to form a 
 Junction of the two commands, and proceed to 
 Hutchinson and reinforce the command of Cajitain 
 Strout. 
 
 On the morning of the 4th of September the 
 pickets belonging to Lieutenant Weinmann's com- 
 mand reported having heard firing in the direction 
 of Hutchinson. The Lieutenant immediately as- 
 cended an eminence in the vicinity of his camp, 
 and from that point could dis'.inguish the smoke 
 from six different fires in tlic same direction. 
 Being satisfied from these indications that an at- 
 tack had been made upon Hutohinfa?n, he deter- 
 mined at once to march to the assistance of the 
 place. Leaving behind him six men to collect the 
 teams and follow with the wagons, he started with 
 
MORE SAVAGE BAHB.UtlTIES. 
 
 229 
 
 the romaiiiilor of his Toreo iiV the direction iuili- 
 e;iti'(i. 
 
 Some time aftci- lie had commenced his march 
 the company of Captain Davis arrived at the camp 
 he liad just left. 
 
 Upon learning the state of affairs, the mounted 
 company followed in the same direction, and, in a 
 ■j'lort time, came up with Lieutenant Weinmann. 
 A jiinction of their f(.)rces was immediately eflfect- 
 etl. and they proceeded in a body to Hutchinson, 
 at which pla(;e they arrived about 6 o'clock in the 
 trveuing. No Indians had been encountered on 
 the march, and the battle, so long and so diligently 
 kept up during most of the day, had just been 
 terminated, and the assailing forces withdrawn. 
 A. reconnoissanco, in the immediate vicinity, was 
 made from the fort on the same evening, but none 
 of the Indians, who, a few hours before, seemed to 
 be everywhere, could be seen; but the bodies of 
 three of tlieir victims, being those of one woman 
 and two cliildren, were found and brought to the 
 village. 
 
 On the following morning, six persons arrived 
 at the fortification, who had been in the midst of 
 and surrounded by the Indians during the greater 
 part of the day before, and had succeeded in con- 
 cealing themselves until they retired from before 
 the town, and finally effected their escape to 
 the place. 
 
 The companies of Captain Davis and Lieuten- 
 ant Weinmann made a tour of examination in the 
 direction that the Indians were supposed to have 
 taken. All signs discovered seemed to indicate 
 that they had left the vicinity. Their trail, indi- 
 cating that a large force had passed, and that a 
 number of horses and cattle had been taken 
 along, was discovered, leading in the direction of 
 Redwood. As the battle of Birch Coolie had been 
 fought two or three days previous, at which time 
 the Indians first learned the great strength of the 
 column threatening them in that quarter, it is 
 most likely that the party attacking Hutchinson 
 had been called in to assist in the endeavor to 
 repel the forces under Colonel Sibley. 
 
 On the 23d of September the Indians suddenly 
 reapi^eared in the neighborhood. About 3 o'clock 
 in the afternoon a messenger arrived, with dis- 
 patches from Lieutenant Weinmann, informing 
 Captain Strout that Samuel White and family, 
 residing at Lake Addie, had that day been brutally 
 murdered by savages. 
 
 At about 11 o'clock P. M., the scouts from the 
 
 direction of Cedar CUty came in, liaving been at- 
 tacked near Greenleaf, and one of their number, a 
 member of Captain Harringt<m's company, kille. i 
 and left upon the ground. They reported h.nint; 
 seen about twenty Indians, having killed one. ai 
 their belief that more were in the party, 
 scouts from nearly every direction reporteil h v 
 seen Indians, some of them in consider ' i- ii . 
 bers. and the country all around seemed ,.t lii.c 
 to have become infe.sted with them. 
 
 On the 5th of September, Lieutenant William 
 Byrnes, of the Tenth Regiment Minnesota Volun- 
 teers, with a command of forty-seven men, started 
 from Minneapolis, whore his men were recruited, 
 for service in Meeker and McLeod counties. Upon 
 his arrival in the couutiy designated, he was 
 finally stationed at Kingston, in the county of 
 Meeker, for the purpose of affording protection to 
 that place and vicinity. He quartered his men in 
 the storehouse of Hall & Co., which had been pre- 
 viously put in a state of defense by the citizens of 
 the place. He afterward strengthened the place 
 by means of earth-works, and made daily examina- 
 tions of the surrounding country by means of 
 scouts. 
 
 Capt. Pettit, of the Eighth Regiment Minnesota 
 Vohmteers, was, about the same time, sent to re- 
 inforce Captain Whitcomb, of Forest City, at which 
 place he was stationed at the time of the sudden 
 reappearance of the Indians in the country. On 
 the 22d of September word was brought to Forest 
 City that the Indians were committing depreda- 
 tions at Lake Ripley, a point some twelve miles to 
 the westward of that place. Captain Pettit there- 
 upon sent a messenger to Lieutenant Byrnes, re- 
 questing his co-operation, with as many of his 
 command as could lea%-e their post in safety, for 
 the purpose of marching into the invaded neigh- 
 borhood. 
 
 In pursuance of orders. Lieutenant Byrnes, with 
 thirty-sis men, joined the command of Capt Pettit 
 on the same evening. On the next morning, the 
 23d of September, the same day that Captain 
 Strout's scouting party was attacked at Greenleaf, 
 Captain Pettit, with the command of "Lieutenant 
 Byrnes and eighty-seven men, from the post at 
 Forest City, marched in the direction in which the 
 Indians had been reported as committing depre- 
 dations on the previous day. Four mounted men 
 of Captain Whitcomb's force accompanied the party 
 as guides. 
 
 On arriving at the locality of reported depreda- 
 
230 
 
 EISTOBT OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 tions, they found the mutilated corpse of a citizen 
 by the name of Oleson. He had received three 
 shots through the body and one through tlie 
 hand. Not even satisfied with the death thus in- 
 flicted, the savages had removed his scalp, beaten 
 out his brains, cut his throat from ear to ear, and 
 cut out his tongue by the roots. Leaving a de- 
 tachment to bury the dead, the main body of ex- 
 pedition continued the march by way of Long 
 Lake, and encamped near Acton, where Captain 
 Strout's command was first attacked, and at no 
 great distance from the place where his scouts were 
 attacked. 
 
 Scouts were sent out by Captain Pcttit, all of 
 whom returned without having seen any Indians. 
 Two dwelling-houses had been visited that had 
 been set on fire by the Indians, but the flames had 
 made so little progress as to be capable of being 
 extinguished by the scouts, which was done ac- 
 cordingly. Three other houses on the east side of 
 Long Lake had been fired and consumed daring 
 the same day. Three women were found, who had 
 been lying in the woods for a number of days, 
 seeking concealment from the savages. They were 
 sent to Forest City for safety. Darmg the early 
 part of the night, Indians were heard driving or 
 collecting cattle, on the opposite side of Long 
 Lake from the encampment. 
 
 During the 24th of September the march was 
 continued to Diamond Lake, in Monongalia county. 
 AU the houses on the route were found to be ten- 
 antless, all the farms were deserted, and every thing 
 of value, of a destructible nature, belonging to the 
 settlers, had been destroyed by the savages. Only 
 one Indian was seen during the day, and he being 
 mounted, soon made his escape into the big woods. 
 The carcasses of cattle, belonging to the citizens, 
 were found in aU directions ujJon the jirairie, where 
 they had been wantonly slaughtered and their 
 flesh abandoned to the natural process of decom- 
 position. 
 
 At break of day, on the morning of the 25th, 
 an Indian was seen by one of the sentinels to rise 
 from the grass and attempt to take a survey of 
 the encampment. He was immediately fired upon 
 when he uttered a yell and disappeared. Captain 
 Pettit thereupon formed his command in order of 
 battle and sent out skirmishers to reconnoiter; but 
 the Indians had decamped, and nothing further 
 could be ascertained concerning them. 
 
 At seven o'clock the return march to Forest City 
 was commenced, by a route different from that 
 
 followed in the outward march. About ten o'clock 
 the expedition came upon a herd, comprising sixty- 
 five head of cattle, which the Indians had collected, 
 and were in the act of driving off, when they were 
 surjjrised by the near approach of volunteers. As 
 the latter could be seen advancing at a distance 
 of three miles, the Indians had no difficulty in 
 making their escape to the timber, and in this way 
 eluding pursuit from the expedition by abandon- 
 ing their plunder. The cattle were driven by the 
 party to Forest City, where a great portion of the 
 herd was found to belong to persons who were 
 then doing military duty, or taking refuge from 
 their enemies. 
 
 At Rockford, on the Crow river, a considerable 
 force of citizens congregated for the purpose of 
 mutual protection, and making a stand against the 
 savages in case they should advance thus far. A 
 substantial fortification was erected at the place, 
 affording ample means of shelter and protection to 
 those there collected; but we are not aware that it 
 ever became necessary as a place of last resort to 
 the people, nor are we aware that the Indians 
 committed any act of hostilities within the county 
 of Wright. 
 
 On the 24th of August rumors reached St. 
 Cloud that murders and other depredations had 
 been commi'.ted by the Indians near PayuesviUe, 
 on the border of Stearns county, and near the di- 
 viding line between Meeker and Monongalia coun- 
 ties. A public meeting of the citizens was called 
 at four o'clock in the afternoon, at which, among 
 other measures adopted, a squad, well armed and 
 equipped, was instructed to proceed to Paynes- 
 ville, and ascertain whether danger was to be ap- 
 prehended in that direction. This party immedi- 
 ately entered upon the discharge of their duty, 
 and started to PayuesviUe the same evening. 
 
 On the evening of the following day they re- 
 turned, and reported that they met at PayuesviUe 
 the fugitives from Norway Lake, which latter 
 place is situated in Monongalia county, and about 
 seventeen miles in a south-west direction from the 
 former. That, on Wednesday, the 20th day of 
 August, as a family of Swedes, by the name of 
 Lomberg, were returning from church, they were 
 attacked by a party of Indians, and three brothers 
 killed, and another one, a boy, wcnnded. The 
 father had fourteen shots fired at him, but suc- 
 ceeded in making his escape. One of his sons, 
 John, succeeded in bearing off his wounded 
 brother, and making their escajie to PayuesviUe. 
 
COMPANY FORMED AT ST. CLOUD. 
 
 231 
 
 On the 24tli, a party went out from Pnyuesville 
 for the purpose of burying the dead at Norway 
 Lake, where they found, in addition to those of 
 the Lomberg family, two other entire families 
 murdered — not a member of either left to tell the 
 tale. The clothes had all been burned from tlieir 
 bodies, while from each had been cut either the 
 nose, an ear or a finger, or some other act of muti- 
 lation had been committed upon it. 
 
 The party, having buried the dead, thirteen in 
 number, were met by a little boy, who informed 
 them that bis father had that day been killed by 
 the savages while engaged in cutting hay in a 
 swamp. They proceeded with the intention of 
 burying the body, but discovered the Indians to 
 bo in considerable force arormd the marsh, and 
 they were compelled to abandon the design. 
 
 The party beheld the savages in the act of driv- 
 ing oflf forty-four head of cattle, a span of horses, 
 and two wagons; but the paucity of their num- 
 bers compelled them to refrain from any attempt 
 to recover the property, or to inflict any puniyh- 
 ment upon the robbers and murderers having it 
 in their possession. A scouting party had been 
 sent to Johanna Lake, about ten miles from Nor- 
 way Lake, where about twenty persons had been 
 living. Not a single person, dead or alive, could 
 there be found. Whether they had been killed, 
 escaped by hasty flight, or been carried off as 
 prisoners, could not be determined from the sur- 
 rounding circumstances. As the party were re- 
 turning, they observed a man making earnest en- 
 deavors to escape their notice, and avoid them by 
 flight, under the impression that they were Indi- 
 ans, refusing to be convinced to the contrary by 
 any demonstrations they could make. Upon their 
 attempting to overtake him, he plunged into a 
 lake and swam to an island, from which he could 
 not be induced to return. His family were dis- 
 covered and brought to PaynesvUle, but no infor- 
 mation could be derived from them respecting the 
 fate of their neighbors. 
 
 When this report had been made to the citizens 
 of St. Cloud by the returned party, a mounted 
 company, consisting of twenty-five members, was 
 immediately formed, for the purpose of co-oper- 
 ing with any forces from Paynesville in efforts to 
 recover and rescue any citizens of the ravaged 
 district. Of this company Ambrose Freeman was 
 elected captain, and they proceeded in the direc- 
 tion of Paynesville the next morning at 8 o'clock. 
 
 At Maine Prairie, a point to the south-west of 
 
 St. Cloud, and about fifteen miles distant from 
 tliat place, a determined band of farmers imited 
 together with a determination never to leave until 
 driven, and not to be driven by an inferior force. 
 Their locality was a small prairie, entirely sur- 
 rounded by timber and dense thickets, a circum- 
 stance that seemed to favor the near approach of 
 the stealthy savage. 
 
 By concerted action they soon erected a sub- 
 stantial fortification, constructed of a double row 
 of timbers, set vertically, and inserted firmly in 
 the ground. The budding was made two stories 
 in height. The upper story was fitted up for the 
 women and children, and the lower was intended 
 for purposes of a more strictly military character. 
 Some of their number were dispatched to the State 
 Capital to obtain such arms and supplies as cuuld 
 be furnished them. Provisions were laid in, and 
 they soon expressed their confidence to hold the 
 place against five hundred savages, and to stand 
 a siege, if necessary. Their determination was 
 not to be thus tested, however. The Indians 
 came into their neighborhood, and committed 
 some small depredations, but, so far as reported, 
 never exhibited themselves within gunshot of tie 
 tort. 
 
 At PaynesviUe, the citizens and such others as 
 sought refuge in the town constructed a fortiticH- 
 tion for the purpose of protecting themselves and 
 defending the village; but no description of the 
 work has ever been received at this office, and, I 
 believe, it was soon abandoned. 
 
 At St. Joseph, in the Watab Valley, the citizens 
 there collected erected three substantial fortifica- 
 tions. These block-houses were built of solid 
 green timber, of one foot in thickness. The 
 structure was a pentagon, and each side was fifty 
 feet in length. They were located at different 
 points of the town, and completely commanded 
 the entrance in all directions. In case the savages 
 had attacked the town, they must have sufl'ered a 
 very heavy loss before a passage could be effected, 
 and even after an entry had been made, they would 
 have become fair targets for the riflemen of the 
 forts. Beyond them, to the westward, every house 
 is said to have become deserted, and a great por- 
 tion of the country ravaged, thus placing them 
 upon the extreme frontier in that direction; but, 
 owing, no doubt, to their activity in preparing the 
 means for effective resistance, they were permitted 
 to remain almost undisturbed. 
 
 Sauk Center, near the north-western comer of 
 
232 
 
 EISTOBT OF TEE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 Uae couDt_y,and situated on the lieuJ-waters of the 
 Saiik river, is, perhajis, the most extreme point in 
 this direction at which a stand was made by the 
 settlers. Early measures were taken to perfect 
 a military organization, which was effected on the 
 25th of August, by the election of Sylvester 
 Kamsdell as captain. The company consisted of 
 over fifty members, and labored under discourag- 
 ing circumstances at the outset. The affrighted 
 and panic-stricken settlers, from all places located 
 stiU further to the north and west, came pouring 
 past the settlement, almost communicating the 
 same feeling to the inhabitants. From Holmes 
 City, Chippewa Lake, Alexandria, Osakis, and West 
 Union, the trains of settlers swept by, seeking 
 safety only in flight, and apparently willing to re- 
 ceive it in no other manner. 
 
 Assistance was received from the vaUey of the 
 Ashley river, from Grove Lake, and from West- 
 port, in Pope county. 
 
 A small stockade fort was constructed, and 
 within it were crowded the women and children. 
 The haste with which it was constructed, and the 
 necessity for its early completion, prevented its 
 either being so extensive or so strongly built as 
 the interest and comfort of the jjeople seemed to 
 require. 
 
 Upon being informed of the exposed situation 
 of the place, and the determination of the settlers 
 to make a imited effort to repel the destroyers from 
 their homes, orders were, on the 30th day of Au- 
 gust, issued to the commandant at Fort Snelling, 
 directing him, with aU due speed, to detail from 
 his command two companies of troops, with in- 
 structions to proceed to Sauk Center, for the pur- 
 pose of protecting the inhabitants of the Sauk 
 Valley from any attack of hostile Indians, and to 
 co-operate as far as possible with the troops sta- 
 tioned at Fcrt Abercrombie. 
 
 In obedience to these orders, the companies 
 under command respectively of Captains George 
 G. McCoy, of the Eighth Begiment Minnesota 
 Volunteers, and Theodore H. Barrett, of the Ninth 
 Begiment, were sent forward. Their arrival at the 
 stockade created a thrill of joy in the place, espe- 
 cially among the women and children, and all, even 
 the most timid, took courage and rejoiced in their 
 security. Captain Barrett was, shortly afterward, 
 sent with his conmiand in the expedition for the 
 relief of Fort Abercombie, and a short time after- 
 ward Captain McCoy, in obedience to orders from 
 General Pope, fell back to St. Cloud. 
 
 Upon the departure of these troojis, many of the 
 more timid were again almost on the verge of 
 despair, and would willingly have retreated from 
 the position they so long held. More courageous 
 councils prevailed, and the same spirit of firmness 
 that refused safety by flight in the first instance, 
 was stiU unbroken, and prompted the company to 
 further action, and to the performance of other 
 duties in behalf of themselves and those who had 
 accepted their proffers of protection. Disease was 
 beginning to make its appearance within the stock- 
 ade, where no other enemy had attempted to 
 penetrate, and this fact admonished the company 
 that more extensive and better quarters were 
 required in order to maintain the health of the 
 people. 
 
 Several plans were submitted for a new stock- 
 ado, from which one was selected, as calculated to 
 secure the best means of defense, and at the same 
 time, to afford the most ample and comfortable 
 quarters for the women, children, and invalids, 
 besides permitting the horses and cattle to b© 
 secured within the works. In a few days the new 
 fort was completed, inclosing an area of about one 
 acre in extent, the walls of which were constructed 
 of a double row of timbers, principally tamarack 
 jjoles, inserted firmly in the ground, and rising 
 eleven feet above tlie surface. These were prop- 
 erly prepared with loopholes and other means of 
 protection to those within, and for the repulsion 
 of an attacking party. 
 
 When the people had removed their stock and 
 other projjerty within the new fortification, and 
 had been assigned to their new quarters, they for 
 the first time felt really secure and at ease in 
 mind. Had any vigorous attack been made upon 
 the party in their old stockade, they might have 
 saved the lives of the peo23le, but their horses and 
 cattle would most certainly have been driven off 
 or destroyed. Now they felt that there was a 
 chance of safety for their property as well as 
 themselves. 
 
 A short time after this work had been completed 
 Captain McCoy, after having rendered services in 
 other parts of the country, was ordered back to 
 Sauk Center. A company from the Twenty- 
 fifth Wisconsin Eogiment was sent to the same 
 place upon its arrival in the state, and remained 
 there until about the first of December. 
 
 Two days after the citizens from Grove Lake — 
 a point some twelve miles to the south-west of 
 Sauk Center — had cast their lot with the people 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENSE. 
 
 233 
 
 of the latter place, the night sentinels of Captain 
 Ramsdell's company discovered fires to the south- 
 west. Fearing that all w;is not right in the 
 vicinity of Grove Lake, ;i party was sent out the 
 next morning to reconnoiter in that neighborhood. 
 They found one dwelling-house burned, and 
 others plundered of such things as had attracted 
 the fancy of the savages, while all furniture was 
 left broken and destroyed. A numlier of the 
 cattle which had not been taken with the settlers 
 when they left, were found killed. 
 
 A Mr. Van Eaton, who resided at that place, 
 about the same time, started from Sauk Center, 
 with the intention of revisiting his farm. He is 
 supposed to have fallen into the hands of the sav- 
 ages, as he never returned to the fort. Several 
 parties were sent in search of him, but no pasitive 
 trace could evt r be found. 
 
 At St. Cloud, in the upper part of the town, a 
 small but sulstautial fortification was erected, and 
 "Broker's Block" of buildings was surrounded 
 with a breastwork, to be used in case the citizens 
 should be compelled to seek safety in this manner. 
 In Lower Town a small work was constructed, 
 called Fort Holes. It was located iipon a ridge 
 overlooking the "flat" and the lower landing on 
 the river. It was circular in form, and was fortv- 
 five feet in diameter. The walls were formed by 
 two rows of posts, deeply and firmly set in the 
 ground, with a space of four feet between the 
 rows. Boards were then nailed ujx)n the sides of 
 the posts facing the opposite row, and the inter- 
 space filled and packed with earth, thus forming 
 an earthen wall of four feet in thickness. The 
 structure was then covered with two-inch plank, 
 supported by heavy timbers, and this again with 
 sods, in order to render it fire-proof. In the cen- 
 ter, and above all, was erected a bullet-proof tower, 
 of the "monitor" style, but without the means of 
 causing it to revolve, prepared with loop-holes for 
 twelve sharp-shooters. This entire structure was 
 inclosed with a breastwork or wall similar to that 
 of the main building, two feet in thickness and ten 
 in height, with a projection outward so as to ren- 
 der it ditficult to be scaled. It was pierced for 
 loop-holes at the distance of every five feet. 
 Within this fortification it was intended that the 
 inhabitants of Lower Town should take refuge in 
 case the Indians shouJd make an attack in any 
 considerable force, and where they expected to be 
 able to stand a siege iintil reinforcements would 
 be able to reach them. They were not put to 
 
 this test, however; but tlic construction of tlie 
 fort served to give conliilence to the citizens, 
 and prevented some from leaving the place that 
 otherwise would have gone, and were engaged in 
 the prepai'ation at the time the work was com- 
 menced. 
 
 On tlie 22d of September a messenger arrived 
 at St. t'l(jud from Richmond, m the same county, 
 who reported that, at four o'clock the same morn- 
 ing, the Indians had appeared within a mile of the 
 last-mentioned town, and had attacked the house 
 of one of the settlers, killing two children and 
 wounding one woman. Upon the receipt of this 
 intelligence Captain McCoy, who was then sta- 
 tioned at St. Cloud with forty men of his com- 
 mand, got under way for the reported scene of dis- 
 turbance at ten o'clock a. m., and was followed 
 early in the afternoon by a mounted company of 
 home-guards, under command of Captain Cramer. 
 Upon arriving at Richmond the troops took the 
 trail of the Indians in the direction of Paynes- 
 ville, and all along the road f<jund the dwellings 
 of the settlers in smouldering ruins, and the stock 
 of their farms, even to the poultry, kdled and 
 lying in all directions. Seven of the farm-hous s 
 between these two towns were entirely consumed, 
 and one or two others had been fired, but were 
 reached before the flames had made such progress 
 as to be incapable of being extinguished, and 
 these were saved, in a damaged condition, through 
 the exertions of the troops. On arriving at Paynes- 
 viUe they found eight dwelling-houses either con- 
 sumed or so far advanced in burning as to pre- 
 clude the hope of saving them, and all the out- 
 buildings of every description had been commit- 
 ted to the flames and reduced to ruins. Only two 
 dwelling-houses were left standing in the viUage. 
 
 At Clear Water, on the Mississippi river, beljw 
 St. Cloud, and in the county of Wriglit, the citizens 
 formed a home guard and built a fortification for 
 their own protection, which is said to have been a 
 good, substantial structure, but no report has been 
 received in regard either to their military force or 
 preparations for defense. 
 
 Morrison county, which occupies the extreme 
 frontier in this direction, there being no organized 
 county beyond it, we believe, was deserted by but 
 few of its inhabitants. They collected, however, 
 from the various portions of the county, and took 
 position in the town of Little Falls, its capital, 
 where they fortified the court-house, by strength- 
 ening its walls and digging entrenchments around 
 
234 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 it. During the uigbt the women and children 
 occupied the inside of the building, while 
 the men remained in quarters or on guard on the 
 outside. In the morning the citizens of the town 
 would return to their habitations, taking with them 
 such of their neighbors as they could accommo- 
 date, and detachments of the men would proceed 
 to the farms of some of the settlers and exert them- 
 selves in securing the produce of the soO. In- 
 dians were seen on several occasions, and some of 
 the people were fired upon by them, but so far as 
 information has been communicated, no lives were 
 lost among the settlers of the county. 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 HoSTILTTIES IN THE VALIiET OF THE BED EIVEB OF 
 THE NORTH CAPTAINS FKEBMAN AND DAVI8 OR- 
 DERED TO GO TO THE BELIEF OF ABEECROMBIE 
 
 INDIANS APPEAR NEAR THE FOET IN LABOB NUM- 
 
 BEES — THE ATTACK- -INDIANS EETIRE SECOND 
 
 ATTACK ON THE FORT — UNION OF FORCES AN- 
 OTHER ATTACK UPON THE FORT — EFFECT OF THE 
 
 HOWITZER RETURN OF CAPTAIN FREEMAN TO ST. 
 
 CLOUD. 
 
 On the 23d of August the Indians commenced 
 hostilities in the valley of the Red River of the 
 North. This region of country was protected by 
 the post of Fort Abercrombie, situated on the west 
 bank of the river, in Dakota Territory. The troops 
 that had formerly garrisoned the forts had been 
 removed, and sent to aid in suppressing the 
 Southern rebellion, and their place was supplied, 
 as were all the posts within our state, by a de- 
 tachment from the Fifth Regiment Minnesota Vol- 
 unteers. But one company had been assigned to 
 this point, which was under the command of Cap- 
 tain John Van der Horck. About one-lialt of the 
 company was stationed at Georgetown, some fifty 
 miles below, for the purpose of overawing the In- 
 dians in that vicinity, who had threatened some 
 opposition to the navigation of the river, and to de- 
 stroy the property of the Transportation Company. 
 The force was thus divided at the commencement 
 of the outbreak. 
 
 The interpreter at the post, who had gone to 
 Yellow Medicine for the purpose of attending the 
 Indian payment, returned about the 20th of Au- 
 gust, and reported that the Indians were becoming 
 exasperated and that he expected hostilities to be 
 
 immediately commenced. Upon the receipt of this 
 intelligence the guards were doubled, and every 
 method adopted that was likely to insure protec- 
 tion against surprises. 
 
 The Congress of the United States had author- 
 ized a treaty to be made with the Red Lake In- 
 dians, (Chippewas,) and the officers were already 
 on their way for the purpose of consummating such 
 treaty. A train of some thirty wagons, loaded 
 with goods, and a herd of some two hundred head 
 of cattle, to be used at the treaty by the United 
 States Agent, was likewise on the way, and was 
 then at no great distance from the fort. 
 
 Early in the morning of the 23d a messenger 
 arrived, and informed the commandant that a band 
 of nearly five hundred Indians had already crossed 
 the Otter Tail river, with the intention of cutting 
 off and capturing the train of goods and cattle in- 
 tended for the treaty. Word was immediately sent 
 to those having the goods in charge, and request- 
 ing them to take refuge in the fort, wliich was 
 speedily complied with. Messengers were like- 
 wise sent to Breckenridge, Old Crossing, Graham's 
 Point, and all the principal settlements, urging 
 the inhabitants to flee to the fort for safety, as 
 from the weakness of the gamson, it was not pos- 
 sible that protection could be afforded them else- 
 where. 
 
 The great majority of the people from the set- 
 tlements arrived in safety on the same day, and 
 were assigned to quarters within the fortification. 
 Three men, however, upon arriving at Brecken- 
 ridge, refused to go any further, and took posses- 
 sion of the hotel of the place, where they declared 
 they would defend thimselves and their property 
 without aid from any source. On the evening of 
 the same day a detachment of six men was sent 
 out in that direction, in order to learn, if possible, 
 the movements of the Indians. Upon their arriv- 
 ing in sight of Breckenridge they discovered the 
 place to be occupied by a large force of the sav- 
 ages. They were likewise seen by the latter, who 
 attempted to surround them, but being mounted, 
 and the Indians on toot, they were enabled to make 
 their escape, and returned to the fort. 
 
 The division of the company at Georgetown 
 was immediately ordered in; and, on the morning 
 of the 24th, a detachment was sent to Brecken- 
 ridge, when they found the place deserted by the 
 Indians, but discovered the bodies of the three 
 men who had there determined to brave the vio- 
 lence of the war party l)y themselves. They had 
 
FulW AUEliCUOMBIE. 
 
 235 
 
 l)een brutally miirderetl, and, wlien found, had 
 chains bound around their ankles, by which it ap- 
 peared, from signs upon the floor of the hotel, 
 their bodies at least had been dragged around in 
 the savage war-dance of their murderers, and, per- 
 liaps, in that very mode of torture they had suf- 
 fered a lingering death. The mail-coach for St. 
 Paul, which left the fort on the evening of the 
 22d, had fallen into the hands of the Indians, the 
 driver killed, and the contents of the mail scat- 
 tered over the prairie, as was discovered by the 
 detachment on the 24th. 
 
 Over fifty citizens capable of bearing arms had 
 taken refuge with the garrison, and willingly lie- 
 came soldiers for the time being; but many of 
 them were destitute of arms, and none could be 
 furnished them from the number in the possession 
 of the commandant. There was need, however, 
 to strengthen the position with outside intrench- 
 ments, and all that could be spared from other 
 duties were employed in labor of that character. 
 
 On the morning of the 25th of August, messen- 
 gers were dispatched from the post to head-quar- 
 ters, stating the circumstances under which the 
 garrison was placed, and the danger of a severe 
 attack; but, as all troops that could be raised, and 
 were not indispensable at other points, had been 
 sent to Colonel Sibley, then on the march for the 
 relief of Fort Kidgely, it was impossible at once to 
 reinforce Fort Abercrombie with any troops al- 
 ready reported ready for the field. Authority had 
 been given, and it was expected that a con.^idera- 
 ble force of mounted infantry for the State ser- 
 vice had been raised, or soon would be, at St. 
 Cloud. 
 
 As the place was directly upon the route to Ab- 
 ercrombie, it was deemed advisable to send any 
 troops that could be raised there to the assistance 
 ot Captain Van der Horck, relying upon our abil- 
 ity to have their places shortly filled with troops, 
 then being raised in other parts of the State. Ac- 
 cordingly, Captain Freeman, with his company, of 
 about sixty in number, started upon the march; 
 but upon arriving at Sauk Center, he became con- 
 vinced, from information there received, that it 
 would be extremely dangerous, if not utterly im- 
 possible, to make the march to the fort with so 
 small a number ot men. He then requested Cap- 
 tain Ramsdell, in command of the troops at Sauk 
 Center, to detail thirty men from his command, to 
 be united with his own company, and, with his 
 force so strengthened, he proposed to make the 
 
 attempt to reach the fort. Captain Ramsdell 
 thought that, by complying with this request, he 
 would so weaken his own force that he would be 
 imable to hold position at Sauk Center, and that 
 the region of country around would become over- 
 run by the enemy, and he refused his consent. 
 Captain Freeman then deemed it necessary to 
 await reinforcements before proceeding any further 
 on his perilous journey. 
 
 On the same day that orders were issued to the 
 mounted men then assembling at St. Cloud, simi- 
 lar orders were issued to those likewise assembling 
 in Goodhue county, under the command of Cap- 
 tain David L. Davis, directing them to complete 
 their organization with all speed, and then to pro- 
 ceed forthwith to the town of Carver, on the Min- 
 nesota river, and thence through the counties of 
 McLeod, Meeker, and Stearns, until an intersec- 
 tion was made with the stage-route from St. Cloud 
 to Fort Abercrombie, and thence along such stage- 
 route to the fort, unless the officers in command 
 became convinced that their services were more 
 greatly needed in some other quarter, in which 
 case they had authority to use discretionary pow- 
 ers. This company, likewise, marched pursn:ni 
 to orders; but, in consequence of the attack- i 
 being made upon Forest City, Actou, and Hut. 
 inson, they deemed it their duty to render 
 sistance to the forces then acting in that pait 
 the country. 
 
 The first efforts to reinforce the gan-ison on thi- 
 Eed River had failed. Upon the fact becommg 
 known at this office, there were strong hopes that 
 two more companies of infantry could be put into 
 the field in a very short time, and, therefore, on 
 the 30th day of August, orders were issued to the 
 commandant of Fort Snelling, directing him to 
 detail two companies, as soon as they could be 
 had, to proceed to S.uik Center, and thence to 
 proceed to Fort Abercrombie, in case their ser- 
 vices were not urgently demanded in the Sauk 
 Valley. These companies were, soon after, dis- 
 patched accordingly, and it was hoped that, bv 
 means of this increased force on the north-western 
 frontier, a sufficiently strong expedition might be 
 formed to effect the reinforcement of Abercrombie. 
 
 Upon the arrival of these troops at the rendez- 
 vous, however, they still considered the forces in 
 that vicinity inadequate to the execution of the 
 task proposed. Of this fact we first had notice on 
 the 6th day of September. Two days previously, 
 the effective forces of the state had been strength- 
 
236 
 
 niSTORV OP THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 eneil liy tlie :irriv:il of the Third Regiment Minne- 
 sota Volunteers, without any commissioned officers 
 and being but a wreck of that once noble regi- 
 ment. Three hundred of the men had already 
 been ordered to the field, under^he command of 
 Major Welch. It was now determined to send 
 forward the remaining available force of the regi- 
 ment, to endeavor to effect the project so long 
 delayed, of reinforcing the command of Captain 
 Van der Horck, on the Red River of the North. 
 Orders were accordingly issued to the commandant 
 at Port Snelling, on the 6th day of September, 
 directing him to fit out an expedition for that pur- 
 pose, to be composed, as far* as possible, of the 
 troops belonging to the Third Regiment; and 
 Colonel P nith, the commandant at the post, im- 
 mediately entered upon the discharge of the duties 
 assigned him in the order. 
 
 Daring the time that these efforts had been 
 making for their relief, the garrison at Fort Aber- 
 crombie was kept in a state of siege by the sav- 
 ages, who had taken possession of the surrounding 
 country in large numbers. On the 25th of August, 
 tho same day that the first messengers were sent 
 from that post. Captain Van der Horck detailed a 
 squad, composed of six men from his company and 
 six of the citizens then jn the fort, to proceed to 
 Breckenridge and recover the bodies of the men 
 who had there been murdered. They proceeded, 
 without rneeting with any opposition, to the point 
 designated, where they found the bodies, and con- 
 signed them to boxes or rough coffins, prepared 
 for the purpose, and were about starting on the 
 return, when they observed what they suj^posed to 
 be an Indian in the saw-mill, at that place. A 
 further examination revealed the fact that the 
 object mistaken for an Indian was an old lady by 
 the name of Scott, from Old Crossing, on the 
 Otter Tail, a point distant fifteen mile^ from 
 Breckenridge. 
 
 When discovered, she had throe wounds on the 
 breast, which she had received from the Indians, 
 at her residence, on the morning of the previous 
 day. Notwithstanding the severity of her wounds, 
 and the fact that she was sixty-five years of age, 
 she made her way on foot and alone, by walking 
 or crawling along the banks of the river, untU she 
 arrived, in a worn-out, exhausted, and almost dy- 
 ing condition, at the place where she was found. 
 She stated that, on the 2l:th of August, a party of 
 Indians came to her residence, where they were 
 met by her son, a young man, whom they instantly 
 
 shot dead, and immediately fired upon her, inflict- 
 ing the wounds upon her person which she still 
 bore. That then a teamster in the employment of 
 Burbank & Co. appeared in sight, driving a wagon 
 loaded with oats, and they went to attack him, 
 taking with them her grandchild, a boy about 
 eight years of age. That tliey fired upon the 
 teamster, wounding him in the arm, after which he 
 succeeded in making his escape for that time, and 
 they left her, no doixbt believing her to be dead, 
 or, at least, in a dying condition. She was con- 
 veyed to the fort, where her wounds were dressed, 
 after which she gradually recovered. A party was 
 sent out, on the 27th of August, to the Old Cross- 
 ing, for the purpose of burying the body of her 
 son, which was accomphshed, and on their way to 
 that point they discovered the body of another 
 man who had been murdered, as was supposed, on 
 the 24th. 
 
 On Saturday, the 33th of August, another 
 small party were sent out, with the intention of 
 going to the Old Crossing for reoonnoitering pur- 
 poses, and to collect and drive to the fort such 
 cattle and other live stock as could there be found. 
 They had proceeded ten miles on their way, when 
 they cane upon a party of Indians, in ambush, by 
 whom they were fired upon, and one of their party 
 killed. The remainder of the squad made their 
 escape unhurt, but with the loss of their baggage 
 wagon, five mules, and their camp equipage. 
 
 At about two o'clock in the afternoon of the 
 same day, the Indians appeared in large numbers 
 in sight of the fort. At this time nearly all the 
 live stock belonging to the jjost, as well as that 
 belonging to the citizens then quartered within 
 the work, together with the cattle that had been 
 intended for the treaty in contemplation with the 
 Red Lake Indians, were all grazing upon the 
 prairie in rear of the fort, over a range extending 
 from about one-half mile to three miles from it. 
 The Indians approached boldly within this dis- 
 tance, and drove off the entire herd, about fifty 
 head of which afterward escaped. They succeeded, 
 however, in taking between one hundred and sev- 
 enty and two hundred head of cattle, and about 
 one hundred horses and mules. They made no 
 demonstration against the fort, except their appa- 
 rently bold acts of defiance; but, from the weak- 
 ness of the garrison in men and arms, no force 
 was sent out to dispute with them the possession 
 of the property. It was mortifying in tho ex- 
 1 treme, especially to the citizens, to be compelled 
 
UNSUCCESSFUL ATTACK. 
 
 237 
 
 to look thus quietly on, while they were being 
 robbed of their property, and dare not attempt its 
 rescue, lest the fort should be filled with their ene- 
 mies in their absence. 
 
 On the 2d day of September, another reconnoi- 
 tering party of eight were sent out in the direction 
 of Breckenridge, who returned, at four o'clock r. M. 
 without having encountered any opposition from 
 the ludiaus, or 'without having even seen any; but 
 brought with them the cattle above spoken of as 
 having escaped fi'om their captors, which were 
 found running at large during their march. 
 
 At daybreak on the following morning, the 3d 
 of September, the garrison" was suddenly called to 
 arms by the report of alarm-shots fired by the sen- 
 tinels in the vicinity of the stock-yard belonging 
 to the post. The firing soon became sharp and 
 rapid in that direction, showing that the enemy 
 were advancing upon that point with considerable 
 force. The command was shortly after given for 
 all those stationed outside to fall back within the 
 fortification. About the same time, two of the 
 haystacks were discovered to be on fire, which 
 greatly emboldened and inflamed the spirits of the 
 citizens, whose remaining stock they considered to 
 be in extreme jeopardy. They rushed with great 
 eagerness and hardihood to the stables, and as the 
 first two of them entered on one side, two of the 
 savages had just entered from the other. The fore- 
 most of these men killed one of the Indians and 
 captured his gun. The other Indian fired upon 
 the second man, wounding him severely in the 
 shoulder, notwithstanding which, he afterward 
 shot the Indian and finished him with the bayonet. 
 By this time two of the horses had been taken 
 away and two killed. 
 
 The fight was kept up for about two hours and 
 a half, during which time three of the inmates of 
 the fort were seriously wounded (one of whom af- 
 terward died from the wound) by shots from the 
 enemy; and the commandant received a severe 
 wound in the right arm from an accidental shot, 
 fired by one of his o^vn men. The Indians then 
 retired without having been able to effect an en- 
 trance into the fort, and without having been able 
 to succeed in capturing the stock of horses and 
 cattle, which, most probably, had been the jirinei- 
 pal object of their attack. 
 
 Active measures were taken to strengthen the 
 outworks of the fort. The principal materials at 
 hand were cord-wood and hewn timber, but of 
 this there was a considerable abundance. By 
 
 moans of these the barracks were surrounded with 
 a breastwork of cord-wood, well filled in with 
 earth to the height of oigljt feet, and this capped 
 with hewn oak timbers, eight inches square, and 
 having port-holes between them, from which a fire 
 could be opened on the advancing foe. This was 
 designed both as a means of protection, in case of 
 attack, and a place of final retreat in case the 
 main fort should by any means be burned or de- 
 stroyed, or the garrison should iii any manner be 
 driven from it. 
 
 On Saturday, the Cth day of September, the 
 same day that an expedition to that point was or- 
 dered from the Third Regiment, the fort was a se- 
 cond time attacked. Immediately after daybreak 
 on that morning, the Indians, to the number of 
 about fifty, mounted on horseback, made their ap- 
 pearance on the open prairie in the rear of the 
 fort. Their intention evidently was, by this bold 
 and defiant challenge, with so small a force, to in- 
 duce the garrison to leave their fortifications and 
 advance against them, to punish their audacity. 
 
 In beco min g satisfied that our troops could not 
 be seduced from their intrenchmeuts, the Indians 
 soon displayed themselves in different directions, 
 and in large numbers. Their prmeipal object ol 
 attack in this instance, as on the former occasion, 
 seemed to be the Government stables, seeming de- 
 termined to get possession of the remaining honses 
 and cattle at almost any sacrifice, even if they 
 should^nake no other acquisition. 
 
 The stables were npon the edge of the prairie, 
 with a grove of heavy timber lying between them 
 and the river. The savages were not slow in per- 
 ceiving the advantage of making their approach 
 upon that point fi-om this latter direction. The 
 shores of the river, on both sides, M-ere lined with 
 Indians for a considerable distance, as their war- 
 whoops, when they concluded to commence the 
 onset, soon gave evidence. They seemed determ- 
 ined to frighten the garrison into a cowardly sub- 
 mission, or, at least, to drive them from the out- 
 posts, by the amount and uuearthhness of their 
 whoops and yells. They, in turn, however, were 
 saluted and partially quieted by the opening upon 
 them of a six-pounder, and the explosion of a shell 
 in the midst of their ranks. 
 
 A large force was led by one of their chiefs 
 from the river through the timber imtil they had 
 gained a close proximity to the stables, still under 
 cover of large trees in the grove. When no nearer 
 position could be gained without presenting them- 
 
238 
 
 HISTORT OP TEE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 selves in tbe open ground, they were urged by 
 their leader to make a charge upon the point thus 
 sought to be gained, and take the place by storm. 
 They appeared slow in rendering obedience to his 
 command, whereby they were to expose themselves 
 in an open space intervening between them and 
 the stables. When at length he succeeded in cre- 
 ating a stir among them (for it assuredly did not 
 approach the grandeur of a charge), they were 
 met by such a volley from the direction in which 
 they were desired to march that they suddenly re- 
 versed their advance, and each sought the body of 
 a tree, behind which to screen himself from the 
 threatened storm of flying bullets. 
 
 As an instance of the manner in which the fight 
 was now conducted, we would mention a part of 
 the personal adventures of Mr. Walter P. Hills, 
 a citizen, who three times came as a messenger 
 from the fort during the time it was in a state of 
 sie^e. He had just returned to the post with dis- 
 patches the evening before the attack was made. 
 He took part in the engagement, and killed his 
 Indian in the early portion of the fight before 
 the enemy was driven across the river. 
 
 He afterward took position at one of the port- 
 holes, where he paired oif with a particular Sioux 
 warrior, posted behind a tree of his own selection. 
 He, being acquainted with the language to a con- 
 siderable extent, saluted and conversed with his 
 antagonist, and as the opportunity was presented, 
 each would fii'e at the other. This was kept up 
 for about an hour without damage to either party, 
 when the Indian attempted to change his position, 
 so as to open fire from the opposite side of his tree 
 from that which he had been using hitherto. In 
 this maneuver he made an unfortunate exposure of 
 his person in the direction of the upper bastion of 
 the fort. The report of a rifle from that point was 
 heard, and the Indian was seen to make a sudden 
 start backward, when a second and third shot fol- 
 lowed in rapid succession, and Mr. Hills beheld his 
 polite opponent stretched a corpse upon the 
 ground. He expressed himself as experiencing a 
 feeling of dissatisfaction at beholding the death of 
 his enemy thus inflicted by other hands than his 
 jwn, after he had endeavored so long to accom- 
 plish the same object. 
 
 Several of the enemy at this point were killed 
 ■while in the act of skulking from one tree to an- 
 other. The artillery of the post was used with 
 considerable effect during the engagement. At 
 one time a number of the enemy's horsemen were 
 
 observed collecting upon a knoU on the prairie, at 
 the distance of about half a mile from the fort, 
 with the apparent intention of making a charge. 
 A howitzer was brought to bear ujjon them, and a 
 shell was planted in their midst, which immediately 
 afterward exploded, filling the air with dust, sand, 
 and other fragments. When this had sufficiently 
 cleared away to permit the knoll to be again seen, 
 the whole troop, horses and riders, had vanished, 
 and could nowhere be discovered. 
 
 The fight lasted until near noon, when the enemy 
 withdrew, taking with him nearly all his dead. 
 The loss which he sustained could not be fully as- 
 certained, but from the number killed in plain 
 view of the works, and the marks of blood, broken 
 guns, old rags, and other signs discovered where 
 the men had fallen or been dragged away by their 
 companions, it must have been very severe. Our 
 loss was one man killed and two wounded, one of 
 them mortally. 
 
 Mr. Hills left the fort the same evening as bearer 
 of di.spatches to headquarters at St. Paul, where 
 he arrived in safety on the evening of the 8th of 
 September. 
 
 Cajitaiu Emil A. Buerger was appointed, by 
 .sipecial order from headquarters, to take command 
 of the expedition for the relief of Fort Abercrom- 
 bie. He had served with some distinction in the 
 Prussian army for a period of ten years. He after- 
 ward emigrated to the United States, and be- 
 came a resident of the state of Minnesota, 
 taking the oath of allegiance to the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States, and making a 
 declaration of his intention to become a citizen. 
 He enlisted in the second company of Minnesota 
 Sharp-Shooters, and was with the company in the 
 battle of Fair Oaks, in Virginia, where he was 
 severely wounded and left upon the field. He was 
 there found by the enemy, and carried to Bich- 
 mond as a prisoner of war. After having in a 
 great measure recovered from his wounds, he was 
 paroled and sent to Benton Barracks, in the state 
 of Missouri, where he was sojourning at the time 
 the 3d Regiment was ordered to this state. As the 
 regiment at that time was utterly destitute of com- 
 missioned officers. Captain Buerger was designated 
 to take charge and command during the passage 
 from St. Louis, and to report the command at head- 
 quarters in this state. 
 
 From his known experience and bravery, he 
 was selected to lead the expedition to the Bed 
 Kiver of the North, for the relief of the garrison at 
 
REINFORCEMENTS. 
 
 239 
 
 Fort Abercrombie. On the 9th of September he 
 was inrormed, by the commandant at Fort Snell- 
 ing, that the companies commanded respectively 
 by Captains George Atkinson and I'lolla Banks, 
 together with about sixty men of the Third Kegi- 
 meut, under command of Sergeant Dearliorne, had 
 been assigned to his command, constituting an 
 aggregate force of about 250 men. 
 
 The next day (September 10 J arms and accou- 
 trements were issued to the men, and, before noon 
 of the 11th of September, Captam Atkinson's 
 company and the company formed from tlie mem- 
 bers of the Third Regiment were ready for the 
 m:irch. With these Captain Buerger at once set 
 out, leaving Captain Bank's company to receive 
 their clothing, but with orders to follow after and 
 overtake the others as soon as possible, which they 
 did, arriving at camp and reporting about 3 o'clock 
 the next morning. 
 
 It wr.-i also deemed expedient to send the only 
 r' maining field-piece belonging to the srat ' along 
 with the expedition, and Lieutenant Robert J. 
 McHenry was, accordingly, appointed to take 
 command of the piece, and was sent alter the 
 expedition, which he succeeded in overtaking, near 
 Clear Water, on the 13th of September, and niime- 
 diately repoi'ted for further orders to the cai^tain 
 commanding the expedition. 
 
 Being detained by heavy rains and muddy 
 roads, the expedition was considerably delayed 
 upon its march, but arrived at Richmond, in 
 Steams county, on the 16th of September, and 
 encamped in a fortification erected at that point by 
 the citizens of the place. Upon his arrival. Cap- 
 tain Buerger was informed that the night previous 
 an attack had been made upon the neighboring 
 village of Paynesville, and a church and school- 
 house had been burned, and that, on the day of 
 his arrival, a party of thirty Sioux warriors, well 
 mounted, had been seen by some of the Richmond 
 home-guards, about three miles beyond the Sauk 
 river at that point. 
 
 Captain Buerger thereupon detailed a party of 
 twenty men to proceed to Richmond, to patrol up 
 and down the bank of the river as far as the town 
 site extended, and, in case of an attack being 
 made, to render all possible or necessary assistance 
 and aid to the home militia; at the same time he 
 held the remainder of his command in readiness to 
 meet any emergency that might arise. No In- 
 dians appeared during the night, and, on the 
 morning following, the march was resumed. 
 
 On the 19th of September the expedition reached 
 Wyman's Station, at the point where the road 
 enters the "Alexandria Woods." At the setting 
 out of the expedition it was next to impossible to 
 obtain means of transportation for the baggage 
 and supplies necessary for the force. The fitting 
 out of so many other expeditions and detaclimeuts 
 about the same time had drawn so heavily ujjon 
 the resources of the country, that scarcely a horse 
 or wagon could be obtained, either by contract or 
 impressment. Altliough Jlr. Kimball, the quarter- 
 master of the expedition, had been assidu(uisly 
 engaged from the 8th of September in endeavor- 
 ing to obtain such transportation, yet, on the 11th, 
 he had but partially succeeded in liis endeavors. 
 
 Captain Buerger had refused longer to delay, 
 and started at once with the means then at hand, 
 leaving directions for others to be sent forward as 
 rapidly as circumstances would allow. The march 
 was much less rapid, for want of this part of the 
 train. These, fortunately, arrived while the com- 
 mand was encamped at Wy man's Station, jn.st 
 before the commencement of what was considered 
 the dangerous part of the march. 
 
 On the lith of September, Captains Barrett 
 and Freeman, having united their commands, de- 
 termined to make the attempt to relieve F(jrt 
 Abercrombie, in obedience to previous orders. 
 They broke up camp on the evening of that day, 
 and by evening of the 15th, had reached Lake 
 Amelia, near the old trail to Red River, where they 
 encamped. During the night a messenger arrived 
 at their camp, bearing dispatches from Cajitain 
 McCoy, advising them of the advance of the expe- 
 dition under command of Captain Buerger, by 
 whom they were directed to await further orders. 
 
 On the 18th they received orders directly from 
 Captain Buerger, directing them to proceed to 
 Wyman's Station, on the Alexandria road, and 
 join his command at that point on the 19tb 
 which was promptly executed. Captain Buerger 
 expressed himself as being highly pleased with 
 these companies, both officers and men. He had 
 been directed to assume command over these 
 companies, and believing the country in his rear 
 to be then sufficiently guarded, and being so well 
 pleased with both companies that he disliked to 
 part with either, he ordered them to join the ex- 
 pedition during the remainder of the march. 
 
 By the accession of these companies the strength 
 of the expedition was increased to something over 
 four hundred effective men. This whole force, 
 
240 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 with tbe entire train, marched on the 20th of Sep- 
 tember, and passed through the "Alexandria 
 Woods" without seeing any Indians. After pass- 
 ing Sauk Center, however, there was not an inhab- 
 itant to be seen, and the whole country had been 
 laid waste. The houses were generally burned, 
 and those that remained had been plundered of 
 their contents and broken up, until they were mere 
 wrecks, while the stock and produce of the farms 
 had been all carried off or destroyed. 
 
 On the 21st they passed the spot where a Mr. 
 Andrew Austin had been murdered by the Indiam 
 a short time previous. His body was found, terri- 
 ribly mutilated, the head having been severed from 
 the body, and lying about forty rods distant from 
 it. with the scalp torn off. It was buried by the 
 expedition in the best style that circumstances 
 would admit. Pomme de Terre river was reached 
 in the evening. 
 
 On the 22d they arrived at the Old Crossing, on 
 the Otter Tail river, between Dayton and Breck- 
 enridge, about fifteen miles from the latter place. 
 On the 23d the marcli was resumed, and nothing 
 woi'ihy of remark occurred until the expedition 
 h.id approached within about a mile of the P.eJ 
 ;,ver, and almost within sight of Fort Abercro:ii- 
 lie. At this point a dense smoke was observed in 
 the direction of the fort, and the impression cre- 
 ated among the troops was, that the post had al- 
 ready fallen, and was now being reduced to ashss 
 by the victorious savages, through the means of 
 their favorite element of war. 
 
 Upon ascending an eminence where a batter 
 view could be obtained, a much better state of af- 
 fairs was discovered to be e.fisting. There stood 
 tlie little fort, yet uK)narch of the prairie, and the 
 flag of the Union was still waving above its bat- 
 tlements. The fire from which the smoke was 
 arising was between the command and the post, 
 and was occasioned by the burning of the prairie, 
 which had been set on fire by the Indians, with the 
 evident design of cutting off the expedition from 
 the crossing of the river. After they had advanx'ed 
 a short distance further toward the river, a party 
 of thirteen Indians apjiearcd on the opposite bank, 
 rushing in wild haste from a piece of woods. 
 They hastily fired a few shots at our men from a 
 distance of about fifteen hundred yards, inflictirg 
 no injuries on any one of the command, after 
 which they disappeared in great trepidation, be- 
 hind some bushes on the river shore. 
 
 A detachment comprising twenty mounted men 
 
 of Captain Freeman's company, under command of 
 Lieutenant Taylor, and twenty from the members 
 of the Third Regiment, the latter to act as skir- 
 mishers in the woods, was directed to cross the 
 river with all jjossible celerity, and follow the re- 
 treating enemy. The men entered upon the duty 
 assigned them with the greatest zeal, crossed the 
 river, and follovred in the direction taken by the 
 Indians. 
 
 Captain Buerger took with him the remaining 
 force of the Third Kegiment and the field-piece, 
 and proceeded up the river to a point where he sus- 
 pected the Indians would pass in their retreat, and 
 where he was able to conceal his men from their 
 sight until within a very short distance. 
 
 He soon discovered, however, that the savag s 
 were retreating, under cover of the woods, across 
 the prairie, in the direction of the Wild Eice river. 
 The whole expedition was then ordered to cross the 
 river, which was effected in less than an hour, the 
 men not awaiting to be carried over in wagons, but 
 pliiugiug into the water, breast-deep, and wading 
 to the opposite shore. 
 
 By this time the savages had retreated some 
 three miles, and were about entering the heavy 
 timbei' beyond the prairie, and further pursuit was 
 considered useless. The mai-ch was continued to 
 the fort, at which place the expedition arrived 
 about 4 o'clock of the same day, to the great joy 
 of the imprisoned garrison and citizens, who wel- 
 comed their deliverers with unbounded cheers and 
 demonstrations of delight. 
 
 When the moving columns of the expedition 
 were first descried from the ramparts of the fort, 
 they were taken to be Indians advancing to an- 
 other attack. All was excitement and alarm. 
 The following description of the after-part of the 
 scene is from the pen of a lady who was an inmate 
 of the fort during the long weeks that they were 
 besieged, and could not dare to venture beyond 
 half cannon-shot from the post without being in 
 imminent peril of her life: 
 
 "About 5 o'clock the report came to quarters 
 t'lat the Indians were again coming from up to- 
 ward Bridges. With a telescope we soon discovered 
 four white men, our messengers, riding at full 
 speed, who, upon reaching here informed us that 
 in one half hour we would be reinforced by three 
 hundred and fifty men. Language can never ex- 
 press the delight of all. Some wept, some 
 laughed, others hallooed and cheered. The sol- 
 I dicrs and citizens here formed in a line and went 
 
BARDAUITIES. 
 
 241 
 
 out to meet them. It wiis quite dark before all got 
 iu. Wc all choercd so thiit the next day more than 
 half of us could hardly speak aloud. The ladies 
 all went out, and as they passed, cheered them. 
 They were so dusty I did not know one of them." 
 
 * ;{; ^ ;^ * * ;j: * 
 
 On the same day that the expedition reached 
 the fort, but at an early hour, it had been deter- 
 mined to dispatch a messenger to St. Paul, with re- 
 ports of the sanation of the garrison, and a leqiiest 
 for assistance. The messenger was escorted a con- 
 siderable distance by a force of twenty men, com- 
 posed of soldiers and partly of the citizens quar- 
 tered at the jicst. When returning, and within 
 about a mile of the fort, they were tired upon by 
 Indians in ambush, and two of the number, one 
 citizen and one soldier, were killed, and fell into 
 the hands of the enemy. The others, by extraor- 
 dinary exertions, succeeded in making their es- 
 cape, and returned to the garrison. 
 
 The next morning, about two-thirds of the 
 mounted company, under command of Captain 
 Freeman, escorted by a strong infantry force, west 
 out to search for the bodies of those slain on the 
 day before. After scouring the woods for a con- 
 siderable distance, the bodies were found upon the 
 prairie, some sixty or eighty rods apart, mangled 
 and mutilated to such a degree as to be almost de- 
 prived of human form. The body of the citizen 
 was found ripped open from the center of the ab- 
 domen to the throat. The heart and liver were en- 
 tirely removed, while the lungs were torn out and 
 left upon the outside of the chest. The head was 
 cut off, scalped, and thrust within the cavity of the 
 abdomen, with the face toward the feet. The hands 
 were cut off and laid side by side, with the palms 
 downward, a short distance from the main portion 
 of the body. The body of the soldier had been 
 pierced by two balls, one of which must have oc- 
 casioned almost instant death. When found, it 
 was lying upon the face, with the ujiper part of the 
 Lead completely smashed and beaten in with clubs 
 ■while the brains were scattered around upon the 
 grass. It exliibited eighteen bayonet wounds in 
 the back, and one of the legs had received a gash 
 almost, or quite, to the bone, extending from the 
 calf to the junction with the body. 
 
 The citizen had lived in the vicinity for years. 
 The Indians had been in the habit of visiting his 
 father's house, sharing the hospitalities of the 
 dwelling, and receiving alms of the family. He 
 must have been well known to the savages who in- 
 
 flicted such barbarities upon his lifeless form; 
 neither could they have had aught against him, 
 except his belonging to a different race, and his be- 
 ing found in a country over which they wished to 
 I'e-establish their supremacy. 
 
 That his body had been treated with still greater 
 indignity and cruelty than that of the soldier was 
 in accordance with feeUngs previously expressed to 
 some of the garrison. In conversation with some 
 of the Sioux, previous to the commencement of 
 hostilities, they declared a very strong hatred 
 against the settlers in the country, as they fright- 
 ened away the game, and thus interfered with 
 their hunting. They objected, in similar terms, to 
 having United States troops quartered so near 
 them, but said they did not blame the soldiers, as 
 they had to obey orders, and go wherever they 
 were directed, but the settlers had encroached upon 
 them, of their own free will, and as a matter of 
 choice; for this reason the citizens should be se- 
 verely dealt with. 
 
 No more Indians were seen around the fort until 
 the 26th of Septemlier. At about 7 o'clock of that 
 day, as Captain Freeman's comjsany were water- 
 ing their horses at the river, a volley was fired 
 upon them by a party of Sioux, who had placed 
 themselves in ambush for the purpose. One man, 
 who had gone as teamster with the expedition, 
 was mortally wounded, so that he died the suc- 
 ceeding night; the others were unarmed. From 
 behind the log-buildings and breastworks the tire 
 was soon returned with considerable effect, as a 
 number of the enemy were seen to fall and be car- 
 ried off by their comrades. At one time two In- 
 dians were observed skulking near the river. They 
 were fired upon by three men from the fortifica- 
 tion, and both fell, when they were dragged away 
 by their companions. 
 
 On another occasion, during the tight, one of 
 the enemy was discovered perched on a tree, where 
 he had stationed himself, either for the purpose of 
 obtaining a view of the movements inside of the 
 fort, or to gain a more favorable position for firing 
 upon our men. He was fired upon by a member 
 of Captain Barret's company, when he released 
 his hold upon the tree and fell heavily into a fork 
 near the ground, from which he was removed and' 
 borne off by his comrades. In a very short time 
 a howitzer was brought into position, and a few 
 shells (which the Indians designate as rotten bul- 
 lets) were thrown among them, silencing their fire- 
 and causing them to withdraw. 
 
 16 
 
242 
 
 niSTORT OF THE SIOUX MASSACliE. 
 
 A detachment, comprising Captain Freeman's 
 company, fifty men of the 3J Eegiment, and a 
 squad in charge of a howitzer, were ordered in 
 pursuit, and started over the prairie, up the river. 
 At the distance of about two miles they came upon 
 the Sioux camp, but the warriors fled in the great- 
 est haste and consternation upon their approach. 
 A few shots were fired at them in their flight, to 
 wliich they replied by yells, but were in too great 
 haste to return the fii-e. The howitzer was again 
 opened upon them, whereupon their yelling sud- 
 denly ceased, and they pished, if possible, with 
 still greater celerity through the brush and across 
 the river. 
 
 Their camp was taken possession of, and was 
 found to contain a considerable quantity of plun- 
 der, composed of a variety of articles, a stock of 
 hquors being part of the assortment. Everything 
 of value was carried to the fort, and the remainder 
 was burned upon the ground. 
 
 On the evening of September 29th a light skir- 
 mish was had with a small party of Sioux, who 
 attempted to gain an ambush in order to fire upon 
 the troops whfle watering their horses, as on a pre- 
 vious occcasion. Fire was first opened upon them, 
 which they returned, wounding one man. They 
 were immediately routed and driven off, but with 
 what loss, if any, was unkno^vn. 
 
 On the 30th of September Captain Freeman's 
 company and the members of the 3d Kegiment, 
 together with a number of citizens and families, 
 started on their return from Fort Aberorombie to 
 St. Cloud. They passed by where the town of 
 Dayton had formerly stood, scarcely a vestige of 
 which was then found remaining. The dead body 
 of one of the citizens, who had been murdered, 
 was there found, and liuried in the best manner 
 possible under the circumstances. The whole 
 train arrived in safety at St. Cloud, on tlie 5th of 
 October, without having experienced any consid- 
 erable adventui-es on the journey. 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 BOUTH-WESTEEN DEPARTMENT — HON. CH.^RLES E. 
 
 FLANDBAC FEARS OF WINNEBAGOES AND SIOUX 
 
 MANKATO RAISES A COMPANY FOR THE DEFENSE 
 
 OF NEW ULM HEADQUARTERS AT SOUTH BEND 
 
 WAKEFIELD SIOUX RAID IN WATONWAN COUNTS 
 
 PURSUIT OF INDIANS STATE TROOPS RE- 
 LIEVED FROM DDTT COLONEL SIBLEY ADVANCED 
 
 FROM ST. PETER CONCLUSION. 
 
 That portion of the State lying between the 
 
 Minnesota river and the Iowa line, supjjosed in 
 the early part of the military movement to occupy 
 a position of extreme danger, was placed under 
 the control of Hon. Charles E. Flandrau. In the 
 division was the Winnebago Reservation. And it 
 was reasonably supposed that the Winnebagoes 
 would more readily unite with the Sioux than with 
 the Ojibwas [Chippewas] in the northern part of 
 the State, the former tribe being on good terms 
 with the Sioux, while the latter held the Sioux as 
 hereditary enemies, with whom an alliance offen- 
 sive or defensive would hardly take place, unless 
 under extraordinary conditions, such as a general 
 war of the Indian tribes upon the white race. This 
 peculiar condition did not mark the present out- 
 break. 
 
 In this portion of the State were distributed the 
 following forces, subject to special duty as circum- 
 stances required: a company of sixty-three mem- 
 bers under the coromand of Captain Cornelius F. 
 Buck, marched from Winona, Sept.l, 1861; on the 
 26th of August, six days previous, Captain A. J. 
 Edgerton, of the 10th Eegiment, with one hun- 
 dred and nine men, arrived at the Winnebago 
 Agency, where the inhabitants were in great ter- 
 ror. After the evacuation of New Ulm, by Col- 
 onel Flandrau, he encamped at Crisp's farm, half 
 way between New Ulm and Mankato. On the 31st 
 of August, a comjoany of forty-four members, from 
 Mankato, took up position at South Bend, at 
 which place Colonel Flandrau had established his 
 headquarters. On the 23d of August a company 
 of fifty-eight members, from Winnebago City, 
 under command of Captain H. W. Holly, "was 
 raised for special services in the counties of Bine 
 Earth, Faribault, Martin, Watonwan, and Jackson. 
 Tliis command, on the 7th of September, was re- 
 lieved at Winnebago City by the Fillmore County 
 Rangers, under the command of Captain Colburn. 
 At Blue Earth City, a company of forty-two mem- 
 bers, under command of Captain J. B. Wakefield, 
 by order of Colonel Flandrau, remained at that 
 point and erected fortifications, and adopted means 
 for subsisting his men there during the term of 
 their service. Major Charles R. Read, of the State 
 militia, with a squad of men from south-eastern 
 Minnesota, also reported to Colonel Flandrau at 
 South Bend. Captain Dane, of the 9th Regi- 
 ment, was by order of the Colonel in command, 
 stationed at New Ulm. Captain Post, and Colonel 
 John R. Jones, of the State militia, reported a 
 company of mounted men from the county of Fill- 
 
FORT COX. 
 
 243 
 
 more, and were assignotl a position at Garden 
 City. Captain Aklrich, of the 8th Regiment, re- 
 ported his company at Soiith Bend, and was placed 
 in position at New Ulm. Captain Ambler, of the 
 10th Regiment, reported his company, and was 
 stationed at Mankato. Cajitain Sanders, of the 
 10th, also reported, and was stationed at Le Sueur. 
 Captain Meagher likewise was assigned a position 
 with his company at Mankato, where the company 
 was raised. Captain Cleary, with a company, was 
 stationed at Marysburg, near the Winnebago 
 Reserve, and a similar company, under Captain 
 Potter, was raised, and remained at camp near 
 home. Captain E. St. Jalien Cox, with a com- 
 mand composed of detachments from different 
 companies, was stationed at Madelia. He here 
 erected a fort commanding the country for some 
 twenty miles. It was octagonal in form, two 
 stories in height, with thirty feet between the walls. 
 This was inclosed by a breastwork and ditch six 
 feet deep, and four feet wide at the bottom, with 
 projecting squares of similar thickness on the cor- 
 ners, from which the ditch could be swept thi'ough 
 its entire length. This structure was named Fort 
 Cox, in honor of its i^rojector. 
 
 From this disposition of forces in the depart- 
 ment commanded by Colonel Flaudran, it will bo 
 seen that the south-western jjortion of the State 
 was provided with the most ample means of de- 
 fense against any attack from any open enemy in 
 any ordinary warfare; and yet on the 10th of Sep- 
 tember, the wily Indian made an attack upon But- 
 ternut Valley, near the line of Blue Earth an<l 
 Brown counties and fired upiin the wliites, wound- 
 ed a Mr. Lewis in the hand, killed James Edwards, 
 and still further on killed Thomas J. Davis, a Mr. 
 Mohr, and wounded Mr. John \V. Task and left 
 him for dead. Mr. Task, however, survived. And 
 again on the 21st of September, a party of Si(jux 
 came into Watonwan county, killed John Arm- 
 strong, two children of a Mr. Patterson, and a Mr. 
 Peterson. 
 
 The consequences of the massacre we have de- 
 tailed in these pages to some extent can be easily 
 imagined, and the task of the historian might here 
 be transferred to the reader. But even the reader 
 of fiction, much more the reader of history, re- 
 quires some aid to direct the imagination in arriv- 
 ing at proper conclusions. A few words in connec- 
 tion with the facts already presented will suffice to 
 exliibit this tragic epoch in our State's history in 
 its proper light. 
 
 MhnK'sota, the first State in the North-west, 
 bound ..\ I on the east by the Great Father of Wa- 
 ters, had taken her place in the fair sisterhood of 
 states with prospects as flattci'iag as any that ever 
 entered the American Union. The tide of hardy, 
 vigorous, intelligent emigrants had come hither 
 from the older states, as well as from England, 
 Ireland, and the different countries on the Euro- 
 pean continent, until a thri\'ing population of 
 200,000 had taken up their abode upon her virgin 
 soil, and were in the quiet and peaceable enjoy- 
 ment of her salubrious climate. Her crystal lakes, 
 her wooded streams, her bewitching water-falls, her 
 island groves, her lovely prairies, would have added 
 gems to an earthly paradise. Her Lake Superior, 
 her Mississippi, her Red River of the North, and 
 her Minnesota, were inviting adjun-ts to the com- 
 merce of the world. Her abundant harvests and 
 her fertile and enduring soil gave to the husband- 
 man the highest hopes of certain wealth. Her po- 
 sition in the track of the tidal human current 
 sweeping across the continent to the Pacifio coast, 
 and thence around the globe, placed her forever on 
 the highway of the nations. 
 
 Minnesota, thiis situated, thus lovely in her virgui 
 
 youth, had one dark spot resting on the horizon of 
 
 her otherwise cloudless sky. The dusky savage, 
 
 as we have seen, dwelt in the land. And, when all 
 
 was peace, without a note of warning, that one 
 
 dark spot, moved by the winds of savage hate, 
 
 suddenly obscured the whole sky, and poured out, 
 
 to the bitter dregs, the vials of its wrath, without 
 
 mixture of mercy. The blow fell like a storm of 
 
 thunderbolts from the clear, bright heavens. The 
 
 storm of fierce, savage murder, in its most horrid 
 
 and frightful forms, rolled on. Day passed and 
 
 night came; 
 
 "Down rank the sun, nor ceased the carnage there- 
 Tumultuous horrors rent the midnight air," 
 
 until the sad catalogue reached the fearful nunilier 
 of tioo thousand human victims, from the gray- 
 haired sire to the helpless infant of a day, who lay 
 mangled and dead on the ensanguined field! The 
 dead were left to bury the dead; for 
 "The dead reigned there alone." 
 In two days the whole work of murder was done, 
 with here and there exceptional cases in differ- 
 ent settlements. And during these two days a 
 population of thirty thousand, scattered over some 
 eighteen counties, on the western border of the 
 state, on foot, on horseback, with teams of oxen 
 and horses, under the momentum of the panic thus 
 
2i4 
 
 HISTOBT OP THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 created, were rushing wildly and frantically over 
 the prairies to places of safety, either to Fort 
 Eidgely or to the yet remaining towns on the Min- 
 nesota and Mississippi rivers. Flight from an in- 
 vading army of civilized foes is awful; but flight 
 from the uplifted tomahawk, in the hands of sav- 
 age fiends in pursuit of unarmed men, women and 
 children, is a scene too horrible for the stoutest 
 heart. The unarmed men of the settlements offer- 
 ed no defense, and could offer none, but fled before 
 the savage horde, each in his own way, to such 
 places as the dictates of self preservation gave the 
 slightest hope of safety. Some sought the protec- 
 tion of the nearest slough; others crawled into the 
 tall grass, hiding, in many instances, in sight of 
 the lurking foe. Children of tender years, hacked 
 and beaten and bleeding, fled from their natural 
 protectors, now dead or disabled, and, by the aid 
 of some trail of blood, or by the instincts of our 
 common nature, fled away from fields of slaughter, 
 cautiously crawling by night from the line of fire 
 and smoke in the rear, either toward Fort Ridgely 
 or to some distant town on the Minnesota or the 
 Mississippi. Over the entire border of the State, 
 and even near the populous towns on the river, an 
 eye looking down from above could have seen a 
 human avalanche of thirty thousand, of all ages, 
 and in all possible pUght, the rear ranks maimed 
 and bleeding, and faint from starvation and the 
 loss of blood, continually falling into the hands of 
 inhuman savages, keen and fierce, on the trail of 
 the white man. An eye thus situated, if human, 
 could not endure a scene so terrible. And angels 
 fi'om the realms of peace, if ever touched with 
 human woe, over such a scene might have shed 
 tears of blood ; and, passing the empyreal sphere 
 into the Eternal presence, we might see 
 , . » * * "God lament, 
 And draw a cloud of mourning round his throne." 
 
 Who will say, looking on tliis picture, that the 
 human imagination can color it at aU equal to the 
 sad reality? Eeality here has outdone the highest 
 flights to which fancy ever goes! The sober- 
 minded Governor Sibley, not unused to the most 
 horriV)le phases of savage life, seeing only a tithe 
 of the wide field of ruin, giving utterance to his 
 thoughts in official form, says: "Unless some 
 crushing blow can be dealt at once upon these too 
 successful murderers, the stat« is ruined, and some 
 of its fairest portions will revert, for years, into the 
 possession of these miserable wretches, who, of all 
 devils in human shape, are among the most cruel 
 
 and ferocious. To appreciate this, one must see, 
 as I have, the mutilated bodies of their victims. 
 My heart is steeled against them, and if I have 
 the means, and can catch them, I will sweep them 
 with the besom of death." Again, aUuding to the 
 narrations of those who have escaped from the 
 scenes of the brutal carnage, he says: "Don't 
 tliink there is an exaggeration in the horrible 
 pictures given by individuals — they fall far short 
 of the dreadful reality." 
 
 The Adjutant- General of the State, in an oflScial 
 document, has attempted, by words of carefully- 
 measured meaning, to draw a picture of the 
 scenes we are feebly attempting to present on 
 paper. But this picture is cold and stately com- 
 pared with the vivid coloring of living reality. 
 '■During the time thit this force was being mar- 
 shaled and engaged in the march to this point 
 (St. Peter), the greater portion of the country 
 above was being laid waste by murder, fire, and 
 robbery. The inhabitants that could make their 
 escape were fleeing like affrighted deer before the 
 advancing gleam of the tomahawk. Towns were 
 deserted by the residents, and their places gladly 
 taken by those who had fled from more sparsely- 
 settled portions of the regions. A stream of 
 fugitives, far outnumbering the army that was 
 marching to their relief, came pouring down the 
 valley. The arrivals from more distant points 
 communicated terror to the settlements, and the 
 inhabitants there fled to points still further in the 
 interior, to communicate in turn the alarm to 
 others stiU further removed from the scene of hos- 
 tilities. This rushing tide of humanity, on foot, 
 on horse, and in all manner of vehicles, came meet- 
 ing the advancing columns of our army. Even 
 this sign of protection failed to arrest their pro- 
 gress. On they came, spreading panic in their 
 course, and many never halted till they had 
 reached the capital city of the state; while others 
 again felt no security even here, and hurriedly 
 and rashly sacrificed their jjroperty, and fled from 
 the state of their adoption to seek an asylum of 
 safety in some of our sister states further removed 
 from the sound of the war-whoop." 
 
 Thirty thousand panic-stricken inhabitants at 
 once desert their homes in the midst of an indis- 
 criminate slaughter of men, women, and children. 
 All this distracted multitude, from the wide area 
 of eighteen counties, are on the highways and 
 byways, hiding now in the sloughs, and now in 
 the grass of the open rrairie; some famishing for 
 
THE COUyTRY DEl'OPUl.ATKD. 
 
 245 
 
 water, and some dying for want of food; some 
 barefooted, some in torn garments, and some en- 
 tirely denuded of clothing; some, by reason of 
 wounds, crawling on their hands, and dragging 
 their torn limbs after them, were all making their 
 way over a country in which no white man could 
 offer succor or administer consolation. The varied 
 emotions that struggled for utterance in that frag- 
 mentary mass of humanity cannot be even faintly 
 set forth in words. The imagination, faint and 
 aghast, turns from the picture in dismay and hor- 
 ror! What indelible images are burned in upon 
 the tablets of the souls of thousands of mothers 
 bereft of their children by savage barbarity! 
 What unavailing tears fall unseen to the ground 
 from the scattered army of almost helpless in- 
 fancy, now reduced by cruel hands to a life of 
 cheerless orphanage! How many yet linger 
 around the homes they loved, hiding from the 
 keen-eyed savage, awaiting the return of father, 
 mother, brother, or friend, who can never come 
 again to their relief I We leave the reader to his 
 own contemplations, standing in view of this 
 mournful picture, the narration of which the heart 
 sickens to pursue, and turns away with more be- 
 coming silence! 
 
 The scene of the panic extended to other coun- 
 ties and portions of the State remote from all ac- 
 tual danger. The Territory of Dakota was de- 
 populated, except in a few towns on the western 
 border. Eastward from the Minnesota river to the 
 Mississippi, the inhabitants fled from their homes 
 to the to\vns of Ked Wing, Hastings, Wabasha, 
 and Winona; and thousands again from these 
 places to Wisconsin, Dlinois, Indiana, Ohio, and 
 some to distant New England friends. 
 
 Thirty thousand human beings, suddenly forced 
 from their homes, destitute of all the necessaries 
 of life, coming suddenly upon the towns in the 
 Minnesota Valley, can easily be supposed to have 
 been a burden of onerous and crushing weight. 
 It came like an Alpine avalanche, sweeping down, 
 in the wildness of its fury, upon the plain. No 
 wisdom could direct it; no force could resist it. 
 No power of description is equal to the task of 
 presenting it in fitting words. It was horribly 
 "grand, gloomy, and peculiar." One faint picture 
 must here sufBce. 
 
 St. Peter, on the morning of the 19th of August, 
 1862, manifested some unwonted commotion. 
 Couriers arrived before the dawn of that day, an- 
 nouncing the alarming news that the neighboring 
 
 town of New Ulm was on fire, and its inhal)itants 
 were being massacred by the savages, led by Lit- 
 tle Crow. At the same time, or a little previous, 
 came the tidings that Fort Ridgely was in immi- 
 nent danger; tliat Captain Marsh had Ijeen killed, 
 and his command almost, if not entirely, cut off, 
 in attempting to give succor to the Lower Agency, 
 which had been attacked on the morning of the 
 ISth, the day previous, and was then in ashes. 
 By nine o'clock the news of tljese events began to 
 meet a response from the surrounding country. 
 Horsemen and footmen, from different parts of 
 Nicollet and Le Sueur counties, came hurrying 
 into town, some with guns and ammunition, but 
 more without arms. Men were hurrying through 
 the streets in search of guns and ammunition; 
 some were running bullets, while others were fit- 
 ting up teams, horses, and provisions. Busiest 
 among the agitated mass were Hon. Charles E. 
 Elandrau and Captain William B. Dodd, giving 
 directions for a hasty organization for the purpose 
 of defending New Ulm, or, if that was impossible, 
 to hoW the savages in check, outside of St. Peter, 
 sufBcieutly long to give the men, women, and 
 children some chance to save their lives by hasty 
 flight, if necessary. Every man, woman, and 
 eliild seemed to catch the spirit of the alarming 
 moment. Now, at about ten o'clock. Judge Flan- 
 drau", as' captain, with quick words of command, 
 aided by proper subalterns in rank, with one hun- 
 dred and thirty-five men, armed as best they could 
 be, with shot-guns, muskets, rifles, swords, and re 
 volvers, took up the line of march for New Ulm. 
 At an earlier hour, fifty volunteers, known as the 
 Reu-ville Kangers, on their way to Fort Snelling, 
 had turned their course toward Fort Ridgely, 
 taking with them all the Government arms at St. 
 Peter. 
 
 With the departure of these noble bands went 
 not only the wishes and prayers of wives, motherp, 
 brothers, sisters, and chOdren for success, but with 
 them all, or nearly all, the able-bodied citizens 
 capable of bearing arms, together with aU the 
 guns and ammunition St. Peter could muster. For 
 one moment we follow these little bands of soldiers, 
 the hope of the Minnesota Valley. Their march 
 is rapid. To one of these parties thirty weary 
 miles intervened between them and the burning 
 town of New Ulm. Expecting to meet the savage 
 foe on their route, flushed with their successful 
 massacre at New Ulm, the skirmishers — a few men 
 on horseback — were kept in advance of the hurry- 
 
246 
 
 HISTORY OF TUB SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 ing footmen. Before dark, the entire force des- 
 tined for New Ulm reached the crossing of the 
 Minnesota at the Eed Stone Ferry. Here, for a 
 moment, a halt was ordered; the field of ruin lay 
 in full view before them. The smoke of the burn- 
 ing buildings was seen ascending over the town. 
 No signs of life were visible. Some might yet be 
 alive. There was no wavering in that little army 
 of relief. The ferry was manned, the river was 
 crossed, and soon New Ulm was frantic with the 
 mingled shouts of the delivered and their deliv- 
 erers. An account of the hard-fought battle 
 which terminated the siege is to be found in 
 another chapter of this work. Such expedition 
 has seldom, if ever, been chronicled, as was exhib- 
 ited by the deliverers of New Ulm. Thirty miles 
 had been made in a little over half a day, travel- 
 ing all the time in the face of a motley crowd of 
 panic-stricken refugees, pouring in through every 
 avenue toward St. Peter. 
 
 The other party, by dusk, had reached Fort 
 Eidgely, traveling about forty-flve miles, crossing 
 the ravine near the fort at the precise point where 
 one hundred and fifty Indians had lain in ambush 
 awaiting their approach imtil a few moments be- 
 fore they came up, and had only retired for the 
 night; and, when too late to intercept them, the 
 disappointed savages saw the Eenville Rangers 
 enter the fort. 
 
 But let us now return to St. Peter. What a 
 night and a day have brought forth! Tlie quiet 
 village of a thousand inhabitants thus increased 
 by thousands, had become full to overflowing. 
 Every private house, every public house, every 
 church, school-house, warehouse, shed, or saloon, 
 and every vacant structure is full. The crowd 
 throng the public highways; a line of cooking- 
 stoves smoke along the streets; the vacant lots are 
 occupied, for there is no room in the houses. All 
 is clatter, rattle, and din. Wagons, ponies, mules, 
 oxen, cows and calves are promiscuously distrib- 
 uted among groups of men, women and children. 
 The live stock from thousands of deserted fanns 
 surround the outskirts of the town ; the lowing of 
 strange cattle, the neighing of restless horses, the 
 crying cf lost and hungry children, the tales of 
 horror, the tomahawk wounds undressed, the 
 bleeding feet, the cries for food, and the- loud 
 wailing for missing friends, all combine to bum 
 into the soul the dreadful reality that some ter- 
 rible calamity was upon the country. 
 
 But the news of the rapid approach of the 
 
 savages, the bodies of the recently-murdered, the 
 burning of houses, the admitted danger of a 
 sudden attack upon St. Peter, agitated and moved 
 that vast multitude as if some volcano was ready 
 to engulf them. The overflowing streets were 
 crowded into the already overflowing houses. The 
 stone buildings were barricaded, and the women 
 and children were huddled into every conceivable 
 place of safety. Between hope and fear, and 
 prayer for succor, several weary days and nights 
 passed away, when, on the 22d day of August, the 
 force under Colonel Sibley, fourteen hundred 
 sti'ong, arrived at St. Peter. 
 
 Now, as the dread of immediate massacre was 
 past, they were siezed with a fear of a character en- 
 tirely diiJerent. How shall this multitude be fed, 
 clothed and nursed? The grain was unthreshed 
 in the field, and tlie iloiu in the only mill left 
 standing on the Minnesota, above Belle Plaine, 
 was almost gone. The flouring mill at Mankato, 
 twelve miles above, in the midst of the panic, had 
 been burned, and fears were entertained that the 
 mill at St. Peter would share the same fate. Nor 
 had this multitude any means within themselves 
 to support life a single day. Every scheme known 
 to liuman ingenuity was canvassed. Every device 
 was suggested, and every expedient tried. The 
 multitude was fearfully clamoring for food, rai- 
 ment, and shelter. The sick and wounded were in 
 need of medicine and skillful attention. Between 
 six and seven thousand persons, besides the citi- 
 zens of the place, were already crowding the town ; 
 and some thousand or fifteen hundred more daily 
 expected, as a proper quota from the two thousand 
 now compelled to abandon New Ulm. The gath- 
 ering troops, regular and irregular, were moving, 
 in lai-ge numbers, upon St. Peter, now a frontier 
 town of the State, bordering on the country under 
 the full dominion of the Annuity Sioux Indians, 
 with torch and tomahawk, burning and murdering 
 in their train. 
 
 A committee, aided by exjiert clerks, opened 
 an office for the distribution of such articles 
 of food, clothing and medical stores as the 
 town could furnish, on their orders, trustin g to the 
 State or General Government for pay at some fu- 
 ture day. So great was the crowd pressing for 
 relief, that much of the exhausting labor was per- 
 formed while bayonets guarded the entrance to the 
 building in which the office of distribution was 
 held. A bakery was established, furnishing two 
 thousand loaves of bread per day, while many pri- 
 
REFUGEES AT ST. PETER. 
 
 217 
 
 vate houses were put under requisition for the 
 same purpose, and, aided by individual benevo- 
 lence throughout the town, the hungry began to 
 be scantily fed. A butcher-shop was pressed into 
 the needed service, capable of supplying ten thou- 
 sand rations a day over and above the citizens' 
 ordinary demand. Still, there was a vast moving 
 class, single persons, women, and children, not yet 
 reached by these well-directed efforts. The com- 
 mittee, feeling every impulse of the citizens, to 
 satisfy the demand for food fitted up a capacious 
 soup-house, where as high as twelve hundred 
 meals were supplied daily. This institution was 
 a great success, and met the entire approval of the 
 citizens, while it suited the conditions of the pe- 
 culiar population better than any other mode in 
 which relief could be administered. Soup was al- 
 ways ready; and its quality was superior. The 
 aged and the young could here find relief, singly 
 or in families; the well relished it, and the sick 
 found it a grateful beverage. In this way the 
 committee, aided by the extreme efforts of private 
 charity, ever active and vigilant, continued for 
 weeks to feed tlie refugees at St. Peter, taxing every 
 energy of body and mind from twelve to sixteen 
 hours per day. The census of the population was 
 never taken; but it is believed that, after the arri- 
 val of the refugees from New IJlm, and a portion 
 of the inhabitants from Le Sueur county, east of 
 the town, excluding the fourteen hundred troojJs 
 under Colonel H. H. Sibley, who were here a part 
 of the time, the population of St. Peter was at 
 least nine thousand. This was an estimate made 
 by the committee of supplies, who issued eight 
 thousand rations of beef each day to refugees 
 alone, estimating one ration to a person. The ra- 
 tion was from a half-pound to a pound, varied to 
 meet the condition of persons and families. 
 
 But the task of feeding the living did not stop 
 with the human element. The live stock, horses 
 and oxen, with an innumerable herd of cattle fi'om 
 a thousand prairies, ruly and unruly, furious from 
 fright, so determined on food that in a few days 
 not a green spot could be protected from their vo- 
 racious demands. Fences offered no obstruction. 
 Some bold leader laid waste the field or garden, 
 and total destruction followed, until St. Peter was 
 as barren of herbage, with scarce an exception, as 
 the Great American desert. The committee could 
 not meet successfully this new demand. The 
 sixty tons of hay cut by their order was only an 
 Bgfjravation to the teams of the Government and 
 
 the necessary demands of the gathering cavalry. 
 Some military power seemed needed to regulate 
 the collection and distribution of food in this de- 
 partment. This soon came in an official order 
 from Col. H. H. Sibley to a member of the com- 
 mittee, assigning him to the separate duty of col- 
 lecting food for Government use at St. I'ctcr. A 
 wider range of country was now brought under 
 contribution, and such of the live stock as was re- 
 quired for constant use was amply supplied. The 
 cattle not required by the butchers were forced to 
 a still wider extent of country. 
 
 Not only food, such as the mill, the bakery, the 
 butcher-shop, and the Boup-hou.se could furnish 
 was required among this heterogeneous multitude, 
 but the infirm, the aged and the sick needed other 
 articles, which the merchant and druggist alone 
 could furnish. Tea, coffee, sugar, salt, soap, can- 
 dles, wine, brandy, and apothecaries' drugs, as 
 well as shoes, boots, hats, and wear for men, 
 women and children, and articles of bedding and 
 hos])ital stores, were demanded as being abso- 
 lutely necessary. The merchants and druggists 
 of the town honored the orders of the committee, 
 and this demand was partially supphed. In all 
 these efforts of the town to meet the wants of the 
 refugees, it was discovered that the limit of sup- 
 ply would soon be reached. But the demand still 
 continued inexorable. The fearful crisis was ap- 
 proaching! PubHc exertion had found its limit; 
 private benevolence was exhausted; the requisite 
 stores of the merchant and the druggist were weU- 
 nigh expended. It was not yet safe to send the 
 multitude to their homes in the country. The 
 fierce savage was yet in the land, thirsting for 
 blood. What shall be done? Shall this vast 
 crowd be sent to other towns, to St. Paul, or stiU 
 further, to other States, to seek relief from pubhc 
 charity ? or shall they be suffered to perish here, 
 when all means of relief shall have failed ? 
 
 On the 13th of September, 1862, after a month 
 bad nearly expired, a relief committee, consisting 
 of Pev. A. H. Kerr and F. Lange, issued an ap- 
 peal, approved by M. B. Stone, Provost Marshal 
 of St. Peter, from which we make a few extracts, 
 showing the condition of things at the time it bears 
 date. Previous to this, however, a vast number 
 had left for other places, principally for St. Paul, 
 crowding the steamboats on the Minnesota river to 
 their utmost capacity. The appeal says: 
 
 "Friends! Brethren! In behalf of the suf- 
 fering, the destitute, and homeless— in behalf of 
 
248 
 
 BISTORT OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 the widow, the fatherless, and the houseless, we 
 make this appeal for help. A terrible blow has 
 fallen upon this frontier, by the uprising of the 
 Sioux or Dakota Indians. All the horrors of an 
 Indian war; the massacre of families, the aged and 
 the young; the burning of houses and the wanton 
 destruction of property, all, indeed that makes an 
 Indian war so fearful and terribly appalling, are 
 upon the settlements immediately west and north- 
 west of us. 
 
 "In some cases the whole family have been mur- 
 dered; in others the husband has fallen; in others 
 the wife and children have been taken captive; in 
 others only one child has escaped to tell the sad 
 story. Stealthily the Indians came upon the set- 
 tlements, or overtook families flying for refuge. 
 Unprotected, alarm and terror siezed the people, 
 and to escape with life was the great struggle. 
 Mothers clasped their little ones in their arms and 
 fled; if any lagged behind they were overtaken by 
 a shot or the hatchet. Many, many thus left their 
 homes, taking neither food nor clothing with them. 
 The Indians immediately commenced the work of 
 pillaging, taking clothing and bedding, and, in 
 many instances giving the house and all it con- 
 tained to the flames. Some have lost their all, 
 and many, from comparative comfort, are left ut- 
 terly destitute. A great number of cattle have 
 been driven back into the Indian country, and 
 where a few weeks ago plenty abounded, desolation 
 now reigns. ****** 
 
 "Friends of humanity — Christians, brethren, in 
 your homes of safety, can you do something for 
 the destitute and homeless? We ask for cast-off 
 clothing for men, women and children — for shoes 
 and stockings; caps for boys, anything for the lit- 
 tle girls and infants; woolen underclothing, 
 blankets, comfortables; anything, indeed, to alle- 
 viate their sufferings. Can not a church or town 
 collect such articles, fill a box and send it to the 
 committee? It should be done speedily." 
 
 Circulars, containing the appeal from which we 
 have made the above quotations, were sent to 
 churches in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 
 New York, and throughout the towns and cities of 
 New England. And similar appeals, from other 
 places, were made, and met with universal re- 
 sponse, worthy of men and women who honor the 
 Christian profession. By these efforts, the 
 refugees throughout the state were greatly 
 relieved. In reply to these circulars about $20,000 
 
 were received, to which was added $25,000 by the 
 state, for general distribution. 
 
 Other places on the frontier, such as Henderson, 
 Chaska, Carver, and even Belle Plaine, Shakopee, 
 and St. Paul, felt, more or less, the crushing 
 weight of the army of refugees, as they poured 
 across the coimtry and down the Minnesota Val- 
 ley; but no place felt this burden so heavily as 
 the frontier town of St. Peter. 
 
 One reflection should here be made. Had New 
 Ulm and Fort Kidgely fallen on the first attack, 
 Mankato and St. Peter would have been taken be- 
 fore the state troops could have offered the proper 
 assistance. Had New Ulm fallen on the 19th, 
 when it was attacked, and Fort Eidgely on the 
 20th, when the attack was made on that place, 
 Mankato and St. Peter could easily have been 
 reached by the 21st, when the state troops were 
 below, on their way to St. Peter. The successful 
 defense of these places, New Ulm and Fort Bidge- 
 ly, was accomjilished by the volunteer citizens of 
 Nicollet, Le Sueur, and Blue Earth counties, who 
 reached New Ulm by the 19th of August, and the 
 Eenville Bangers, who timely succored Fort Eidge- 
 ly, by a forced mirch of forty-five miles in one 
 day, reaching the fort previous to the attack or 
 that post. Whatever credit is due to the state 
 troops, for the successful defense of the frontiei 
 and the rescue of the white captives, should be 
 gratefully acknowledged by the citizens of Min 
 nesota. Such acts are worthy of lasting honor to 
 all who were participants in those glorious deeds. 
 But to the brave men who first advanced to the 
 defense of New Ulm and Fort Eidgely, higher 
 honor and a more lasting debt of gratitude are 
 due from the inhabitants of the valley of the Min- 
 nesota. Let their names be honored among men. 
 Let them stand side by side with the heroes of 
 other days. Let them rank with veteran brethren 
 who, on Southern battle-fields, have fought nobly 
 for constitutional freedom and the perpetuity of 
 the Union of these states. These are aU of them 
 worthy men, who like 
 
 "Patriots have toiled, and in their country'.s canse 
 Bled nobly, and their deeds, as they deserve. 
 Ueceive proud recompense. We give in charge 
 Their names to the sweet lyre. The Historic Muse. 
 Proud of her treasure, marches with it down 
 To latest times; and Sculpture, in her tuTi, 
 Gives bond, in stone and cver-during brass. 
 To guard them, and immortalize her trust." 
 
BATTLE OF JUJICII COOLIE. 
 
 249 
 
 CHAPTER XLn. 
 
 BATTLE OF BIRCH COOLIE BATTLE OF WOOD LAKE 
 
 —CAMP RELEASE — MILITAKT COMPANIES SUC- 
 
 flESS OF THE EXPEDITION UNDEK GENERAL SIBLEY. 
 
 The ninssaere being the main design of this his- 
 tory, the movement of the troops, in the pursuit 
 and pimishment of the Indians connected witli the 
 atrocious murders initiated on the 18th of August, 
 1862, must especially, in this abridgement, be ex- 
 oeedingl}' brief. 
 
 On the day after the outbreak, August 19th, 1862, 
 an order was issued by the comman^lpr-in-cliief to 
 Colonel H. H. Sibley, to proceed, with four cora- 
 pa,uies, then at Fort SneUing, and such other 
 forces as miglit join his command, to the protec- 
 tion of the frontier coimties of the State. The 
 entire force, increased by the separate commands 
 of Colonels Marshall and McPhail, reached 
 Fort Ridgeiy, August 28tb, 1862. A detachmcut 
 made up of Company A, 6th Regiment Minnesota 
 Volunteers, imder Captain H. P. Grant, some sev- 
 entj mounted men under Captain JosepTi Andei- 
 son, and a fatigue party, aggregating in all a 
 force of over one hundred and fifty men, were sent 
 in advance of the main army, to protect the set- 
 tlements from further devastation, and at the same 
 time collect and bury the dead yet lying on the 
 field of the recent slaughter. On the first of Sep- 
 tember, near the Beaver Creek, Captain Grant's 
 party found .Justina Krieger, who had escaped 
 alive from the murders committed near Sacred 
 Heart. Mrs Krieger had been shot and dread- 
 fvJly butchered. During this day this detachment 
 buried fifty-five victims of savage barbarity, and 
 in the evening went into camp at Birch Coolie. 
 The usual precautions were taken, and no imme- 
 diate fears of Indiaus were apprehended; yet at 
 half-past four o'clock on the morning of the sec- 
 ond of September, one of the guards shouted 
 "Indians!" Instantly thereafter a sh iwer of bul- 
 lets was poured into the encampment. A most 
 fearful and terrible battle ensued, and for the num- 
 bers engaged, the most bloody of any in which 
 our forces had been engaged during the war. The 
 loss of men, in proportion to those engaged, was 
 extremely large; twenty-three were killed out- 
 right, or mortally wounded, and forty-five so se- 
 verely wounded as to require surgical aid, while 
 scarce a man remained whose dress had not been 
 pierced by the enemies' bullets. On the evening 
 of the 3d of September the besieged camp was 
 
 I'elieved by an advance movement of Colonel Sib- 
 ley's forces at Fort Ridgeiy. 
 
 This battle, in all probability, saved the towns 
 of Mankato and St. Peter from the destruction in- 
 tended by the savages. They had left Yellow 
 Medicine with the avowed object of attacking 
 these towns on the Minnesota. The signal defeat 
 of the forces of Little Crow at Birch Coolie, not 
 only saved the towns of Mankato and St. Peter, 
 but in effect ended his efforts in subduing the 
 whites on the borders. 
 
 After the battle of Birch Coolie aU the maraud- 
 ing forces under the direction of Little Crow were 
 called in, and a retreat was ordered up the valley 
 of the Minnesota toward Yellow Medicine; and on 
 the 16th day of September Colonel Sibley ordered 
 an advance of his whole column in pursuit of the 
 fleeing foe; his forces now increased by the 3d 
 Minnesota Volunteers, paroled prisoners returned 
 from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, under command of 
 Major Abraham E. Welch. 
 
 On the evening of the 22d Colonel Sibley ar- 
 rived at Wood Lake. On the morning of the 23d, 
 at about seven o'clock, a force of three hundred 
 Indiaus suddenly appeared before his camp, yell- 
 ing as savages only can yell, and firing with great 
 rapidity. The troops under Colonel Sibley were 
 cool and determined, and the 3d Regiment needed 
 no urging by officers. All our forces engaged the 
 enemy with a will that betokened quick work with 
 savages who had outraged every sentiment of hu- 
 manity, and earned for themselves an immortality 
 of infamy never before achieved by the Dakota 
 nation. The fight lasted about two hours. 
 We lost in killed four, and about fifty wounded. 
 The enemy's loss was much larger; fourteen of 
 their dead were left on the field, and an unknown 
 number were carried off the field, as the Indiana 
 are accustomed to do. 
 
 The battle of Wood Lake put an end to all the 
 hopes of the renowned chief. His warriors were 
 in open rebellion against his schemes of warfare 
 against the whites. He had gained nothin"-. 
 Fort Ridgeiy was not taken. New Ulm was not 
 in his possession. St. Peter and IMankato were 
 intact, and at Birch Coolie and Wood Lake he had 
 suffered defeat. No warrior would longer follow 
 his fortunes in a war so disastroii;!. On the same 
 day of the buttle at Wood Lake a deputation from 
 the Wapeton band appeared under a flag of truce, 
 asking terras of peace. The response of Colonel 
 Sibley was a demand for the delivery of aU the 
 
250 
 
 BISTORT OP TEE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 white captives in the possession of these savages. 
 Wabasha, at the head of fifty lodges, immediately 
 parted company with Little Crow, and established 
 a camp near Lao qui Parle, with a view of sur- 
 rendering his men on the most favorable terms. 
 A flag of truce announced his action to Colonel 
 S'ibley, who soon after, imder proper military 
 guard, visited Wabasha's camp. After the formal- 
 ities of the occasion were over. Colonel Sibley I'e- 
 ceived the captives, in all, then and thereafter, to 
 the number of 107 pure whites, and about 162 
 half-breeds, and conducted them to his headquar- 
 ters. The dilTerent emotions of these captives at 
 their release can easily be imagined by the reader. 
 This place well deserved the name given it, "Camp 
 Release." 
 
 A MrwTARY Commission was soon after inau- 
 gurated to try the parties charged with the mur- 
 der of white persons. The labors of this commis- 
 sion continued until about the 5th of November, 
 1862. Three hundred and twenty-one of the sav- 
 ages and their allies had been found guilty of the 
 charges preferred against them; three hundred 
 and three of whom were recommended for capital 
 punishment, the others to suffer imprisonment. 
 These were immediately removed, under a guard 
 of 1,500 men, to South Bend, on the Minnesota 
 river, to await further order.i from the United 
 States Government. 
 
 PoRSDiT OF THj; Desertsrs. — After the disaster 
 met with at Wood Lake, Little Crow retreated, 
 with those who remained with him, in the direc- 
 tion of Big Stone Lake, some sixty miles to the 
 ■westward. On the 5th of October, Colonel Sibley 
 had sent a messenger to the principal camp of the 
 deserters, to inform them that he expected to be 
 able to pursue and overtake all who remained in 
 arms against the Government; and that the only 
 hope of mercy that they need expect, even for 
 their wives and children, would be their early re- 
 turn and surrender at discretitm. By the 8th of 
 October the prisoners who had come in and sur- 
 rendered amounted to upwards of 2,000. On the 
 14th of October, Lieutenant Colonel Marshall, 
 with 252 men, was ordered to go out upon the fron- 
 tier as a scouting party, to ascertain whether there 
 were any hostile camps of savages located within 
 probable striking distance, from which they might 
 be able, by sudden marches, to fall upon the set- 
 tlements before the opening of the campaign in 
 the coming sprLag. About this time. Colonel Sib- 
 ley, hitherto acting under State authority, received 
 
 the commission of Brigadier General of Volun- 
 teers from the United States. 
 
 The scouting party under Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Marshall followed up the line of retreat of the fugi- 
 tives, and near the edge of the Coteau de Prairie, 
 about forty-five miles from Camp Eelease, found 
 two lodges of straggling Indians. The males of 
 these camps, three young men, were made prison- 
 ers, and the women and children and an old man 
 were directed to deliver themselves ujj at Camp 
 Release. From these Indians here captured they 
 received information of twenty-seven lodges en- 
 camped near Chanopa (Two Wood) lakes. Al 
 these lakes they found no Indians; they had left, 
 but the trail was followed to the north-west, to- 
 wards the Big Sioux river. At noon of the 16th, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Marshall took with him fifty 
 mounted men and the howitzer and started in pur- 
 suit, without tents or supjjlies of any kind, but 
 leaving the infantry and supply wagons to follow 
 after. Tliey crossed the Big Sioux river, passing 
 near and on the north side of Lake Kamjieska. 
 
 By following closely the Indian trail, they ar- 
 rived at dark at the east end of a lake some six or 
 eight miles long, and about eight miles in a north- 
 westwardly direction from Lake Kampeska. Here 
 they halted, without tents, fire or food, until near 
 daylight, when reconnoitering commenced, and at 
 an early hour in the morning they succeeded in 
 surprising and capturing a camp composed of ten 
 lodges, and thirteen Indians and their families. 
 From those captured at this place information was 
 received of another camp of some twelve or fifteen 
 lodges, located at the distance of about one day's 
 march in the direction of James river. 
 
 Placing a guard over the captured camp, the re- 
 maining portion of the force pressed on in the di- 
 rection indicated, and at the distance of about ten 
 miles from the first camp, and about midway be 
 tween the Big Sioux and James rivers they came 
 in sight of the second party, just as they were 
 moving out of camp. The Indians attempted to 
 make their escape by flight, but after an exciting 
 chase for some distance they were overtaken and 
 captured, without any armed resistance. Twenty- 
 oue men were taken at this place. Some of them 
 had separated from the camp previous to the cap- 
 ture, and were engaged in hunting at the time. 
 On the return march, which was shortly after com- 
 menced, six of these foDowed the detachment, and, 
 after making ineffectual efforts to recover their 
 families, came forward and surrendered themselves 
 
INDIAN SYMPATHIZERS. 
 
 251 
 
 into oiu- hands The iufantry and wagons were 
 met by the returning party about ten miles west of 
 the Big Sioux. 
 
 The men of this detachment, officers and pri- 
 vates, evinced to a large degree the bravery and 
 endurance that characterizes the true soldier. 
 They willingly and cheerfully pressed on after the 
 savages, a part of them without food, fire or shel- 
 ter, and all of them knowing that they were 
 thereby prolonging the period of tlieir absence 
 beyond the estimated time, and subjecting them- 
 selves to the certain necessity of being at least one 
 or two days without r.'itions of any kind before the 
 return to Camp Release could be effected. 
 
 On the 7th of November, Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Marshall, with a guard of some fifteen hundred 
 men, started for Fort Snelling in charge of other 
 captured Indians, comprising the women and 
 children, and such of the men as were not found 
 guilty of any heinous crime by the Military Com- 
 mission, and arrived safely at their destination on 
 the 13th. 
 
 Prom the commencement of hostilities until the 
 16th day of September the war was carried on 
 almost entirely from the resources of the State 
 alone, and some little assistance from our sister 
 States in the way of arms and ammunition. On 
 this latter date Major-General John Pope, who had 
 been appointed by the President of the United 
 States to take command of the Dapartment of the 
 North-west, arrived and established his headquar- 
 ters in the city of St. Paul, in this state. The 
 principal part of the active service of the season's 
 campaign had previously been gone through with; 
 but the forces previously under the command of 
 of the State authorities were imnrediately turned 
 over to his command, and the after-movements 
 were entirely under his control and direction. 
 
 He brought to the aid of the troops raised in 
 the State the 25th Wisconsin and the 27th Iowa 
 Regiments, both infantry. These forces were 
 speedily distributed at different points along the 
 frontier, and assisted in guarding the settlements 
 during the autumn, but they were recalled and 
 sent out of the State before the closing in of the 
 winter. 
 
 It was contemplated to send the 6th and 7th 
 Regiments Minnesota Volunteers to take part in 
 the war against the rebels in the Southern States, 
 . and orders to this effect had already been issued, 
 but on the 6th of November, in obedience to the 
 expressed wish of a large portion of the inhab- 
 
 itants of the State, these orders v/ere counter- 
 manded. They were directed to remain in tha 
 state, and the 3d Regiment was ordered off instead. 
 
 All the forces then remaining in the state were 
 assigned to winter quarters at such p)int9 as it was 
 thought expedient to keep guarded during the 
 winter, and on the 2.'')th of November Major-Gen- 
 eral Pope removed his headquarters to Madison, in 
 the State of Wisconsin. Brigadier-General Sib- 
 ley then remained in the immediate command of 
 the troops retained in service against the Indians, 
 and established his headquarters in the city of 
 St. Paul. 
 
 On the 9th of October the "Mankato Record" 
 thus speaks of this expedition: 
 
 "Considering the many serious disadvantages 
 uniler which General Sibley has labored — a defi- 
 ciency of arms and ammunition, scarcity of jiro- 
 visious, and the total absence of cavalry at a time 
 when he could have successfully pursued and cap. 
 tnred Little Crow and his followers —the expedi- 
 tion has been successful beyond the most sanguine 
 anticipations. Of the three hundred white cap- 
 tives in the hands of the Indians at the commence- 
 ment of the war, all, or nearly all, have been 
 retaken and returned to their friends. Much pri- 
 vate property has been secured, and some fifteen 
 hundred Indians, engaged directly or indirectly in 
 the massacres, have been captured; and those who 
 have actually stained their hands in the blood of 
 our frontier settlers are condemned to suffer death. 
 Their sentence will be carried into execution, un- 
 less countermanded by authorities at Washington." 
 
 CH.\PTER XLIIL 
 
 INDIAN SYMPATHIZERS — MEMOBI.tl, TO THE PRESI- 
 DENT—THE HANGING OP THJRTV-EIQHT ANNUL- 
 LING THE TREATIES WITH CERT.AIN SIOUX RE- 
 MOVAL OF WINNEBAGOES AND SIOITSTOTHE UPPER 
 MISSOURI. 
 
 After the campaign of 1862, and the guilty par- 
 ties were confined at Camp Lincoln, near Mendota, 
 the idea of executing capitally, three hundred In- 
 dians, aroused the sympathy of those far removed 
 from the scenes of their inhuman butcheries. 
 President Lincoln was importuned, principally by 
 parties in the East, for the release of these sav- 
 ages. The voice of the blood of innocence crymg 
 from the ground, the wailings of mothers bereft of 
 their children was hushed in the tender cry of 
 
252 
 
 HISTORY OF THE tilOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 sympathy for the condemned. Even the Christian 
 ministers, stern in the belief that, "Whosoever 
 sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be 
 shed," seemed now the most zealous for the par- 
 don of these merciless outlaws, who, without cause 
 had shed the blood of innocent women and chil- 
 dren in a time of peace. 
 
 Senator M. S. Wilkinson and Congressmen C. Al- 
 drich and William Windom, made an urgent ap- 
 peal to the President for the proper execution of 
 the sentence in the case of these Indians. From 
 this appeal the following extract will be sufficient 
 to indicate its character: 
 
 "The people of Minnesota, Mr. President, have 
 stood firmly by you and your Administration. They 
 have given both you and it their cordial support. 
 They have not violated any law. They have borne 
 these sufferings with patience, such as few people 
 have ever exhibited under extreme trials. These 
 Indians now are at their mercy; but our people 
 have not risen to slaughter, because they believed 
 their President would deal with them jitstly. 
 
 "We are told, Mr. President, that the committee 
 from Pennsylvania, whose families are living hap- 
 pily in their pleasant homes in that state, have 
 called upon you to pardon these Indians. We 
 protest against the pardon of these Indians; be- 
 cause if it is done, the Indians w;U become more 
 insolent and cruel than they ever were before, be- 
 lieving, as they certainly will, that their Great 
 Father at Washington either justifies their acts or 
 B afi-aid to punish them for their crimes. 
 
 "We protest against it, because, if the President 
 does not permit the execution to take place under 
 the forms of law, the outraged people of Minne- 
 sota will dispose of these wretches without law. 
 These two people cannot live together. We do 
 not wish to see mob law inaugurated in Minne- 
 sota, as it certainly, will be, if you force the peo- 
 ple to it. We tremble at the approach of such 
 a condition of things in our state. 
 
 "You can give us peace, or you can give us law- 
 less violence. We pray you, as in view of all we 
 have suffered, and of the danger which still awaits 
 us, let the law be executed. Let justice be done to 
 our people." 
 
 The press of Minnesota, without a single excep- 
 tion, insisteil that the condemned Indians should 
 expiat« their dreadful crime upon the gallows, 
 while the Eastern press, with some few exceptions, 
 gave vent to the deep sympathy of the sentimen- 
 tal philosophers and the fanciful strains of the im- 
 
 aginative poets. It seemed to our Eastern neigh- 
 bors that Minnesotians, in their contact with sav- 
 age Ufe, had ceased to appreciate the 
 
 • • * "Poor Indian, whose untutored mind 
 Sees God in clouds, and hears Him in the wind;" 
 
 that they had looked upon the modem race of sav- 
 ages in their criminal degradation until they had 
 well-nigh forgotten the renoun of Massasoit, and 
 his noble sons Alexander and Philip. 
 
 But two hundred years never fails to change 
 somewhat the character and sentiments of a great 
 people, and blot from its memory something of 
 its accredited history. This may have happened 
 in the case of our fellow-kinsmen in the Eastern 
 and Middle States. They may not now fully enter 
 into the views and sentiments of those who witness- 
 ed the outrages of Philip and his cruel warriors 
 in their conspiracies against the infant colonies; 
 in their attacks upon Springfield, Hatfield, Lan- 
 caster, Medfield, Seekong, Groton, Warwick, Marl- 
 borough, Plymouth, Taunton, Scituate, Bridge- 
 water, and Northfield. They seem not fully now 
 to appreciate the atrocities of the savages 
 of these olden times. The historian of the 
 times of Philip was not so sentimental as some of 
 later days. 
 
 "The town of Springfield received great injury 
 from their attacks, more than thirty houses being 
 burned; among the rest one containing a 'brave 
 library,' the finest in that part of the country, 
 which belonged to the Rev. Pelatiah Glover." 
 
 " This," says Hubbard, "did, more than any 
 other, discover the said actors to be the children 
 of the devil, full of all subtilty and malice." And 
 we of the present can not perceive why the massacre 
 of innocent women and children should not as 
 readily discover these Minnesota savages, under 
 Little Crow, to be children of the devil as the 
 burning of a minister's library two hundred years 
 ago. Minnesotians lost by these Indians splen- 
 did, not to say hrave libraries; but of this minor 
 evil they did not complain, in their demand for the 
 execution of the condemned murderers. 
 
 Indians are the same in all times. Two hun- 
 dred years have wrought no change upon Indian 
 character. Had King Philip been powerful 
 enough, he would have killed all the white men 
 inhabiting the New England Colonies. "Once an 
 Indian, always an Indian," is fully borne out by 
 their history during two hundred years' contact 
 with the wliite race. 
 
 Eastern writers of the early history of the conn- 
 
MEMOlifALS To TlIK PmCHI DKNT. 
 
 253 
 
 try spoke and felt in regard to Indians very rnucli 
 us Minnesotians now speak and feel. Wlieu Wcet- 
 auiore, queen of Pocasset, and widow of Alexan- 
 der, Pbilii)'s eldest brother, in attempting to es- 
 cape from the pursuit of Captain Church, had lost 
 her life, her head was cut oil' by those who discov- 
 ered her, and fixed upon a pole at Taunton ! Here, 
 being discovered by some of her loving subjects, 
 then in captivity, their unrestrained grief at the 
 shocking sight is characterized by Mather as "n 
 most horrid and diabolical lamentation!" Have 
 Minnesotians exhibited a more unfeeling senti- 
 ment than this, even agamst condemned murder- 
 ers ? Mather lived, it is true, amid scenes of In- 
 dian barbarity. Had he lived in the present day 
 and witnessed these revolting cruelties, he would 
 have said with Colonel H. H. Sibley, "Bly heart 
 is steeled against them." But those who witness- 
 ed the late massacre could truly say, in the lan- 
 guage of an Eastern poet, 
 
 " All died — the wailing babe — the shrieking maid — 
 And in the flood of lire that scathed the glade, 
 The roofs went down!" 
 
 Early in December, 1862, while the final decis- 
 ion of the President was delayed, the valley towns 
 of Minnesota, led off by the city of St. Paul, held 
 primary meetings, addressed by the most intelli- 
 gent speakers of the different localities. An ex- 
 tract from a memorial of one of the assemblages 
 of the people is given as a sample of others of 
 similar import. The extract quoted is from the 
 Si. Paul meeting, drawn up by George A. Nourse, 
 United States District Attorney for the District 
 of Minnesota: 
 
 "To the President of the United States: We, 
 the citizens of St. Paul, in the State of Minnesota, 
 respectfully represent that we have heard, with 
 regret and alarm, through the public press, reports 
 of an intention on the part of the United States 
 Government to dismiss without punishment the 
 Sioux warriors captured by our soldiers; and fur- 
 ther, to allow the several tribes of Indians lately 
 located upon reservations within this State to re- 
 main upon the reservations. 
 
 "Against any such policy we respectfully but 
 firmly protest. The history of this continent pre- 
 sents no event that can compare with the late Sioux 
 outbreak in wanton, unprovoked, and fiendish 
 cruelty. All that we have heard of Indian warfare 
 in the early history of this country is tame in 
 contrast with the atrocities of this late massacre. 
 Without warning, in cold blood, beginning with ' 
 
 the murder of their best friends, the whole body 
 of the Annuity Sioux commenced a deliberate 
 scheme to exterminate every white person upon the 
 land once occupied by them, and by them long 
 since sold to the United States. In carrying out 
 I his bloody scheme they have spared neither ago 
 nor sex, only reserving, for the gratification of 
 tlieir brutal lust, the few white women whom the 
 rille, the tomahawk and thescalping-knife spared. 
 Nor did their fiendish barbarities cease with 
 d"ath, as the mutilated corpses of their victims, 
 disemboweled, cut limb from limb, or chopped 
 into fragments, will testify. These cruelties, too, 
 were in many cases preceded by a pretense of 
 frieudsliip; and in many instances the victims of 
 tliese more than murderers were shot down in cold 
 blood as soon as their backs were turned, after a 
 '•urdial shaking of the hand and loud professions 
 of friendship on the part of the murderers. 
 
 "We ask that the same judgment should be 
 passed and exei-uted upon these deliberate mur- 
 derers, these ravisliers, these mutilators of tlieir 
 murdered victims, that would be passed upon 
 white men guilty of the same offense. The blood 
 of hundreds of our murdered and mangled fellow- 
 citizens cries from the ground for vengeance. 
 'Veugeance is mine; I will rejiay, .saith the Lord;" 
 and the authorities of the United States are, we 
 believe, the cho.sen instruments to execute that 
 vengeance. Let them not neglect their plain duty. 
 
 "Nor do we ask alone for vengeance. We de- 
 mand security for the future. There can be no 
 safety for us or for our families unless an example 
 shall be made of those who have committed the 
 horrilile murders and barbarities we have recited. 
 Let it be once understood that these Indians can 
 commit such crimes, and be pardoned upon sur- 
 rendering themselves, and there is henceforth a 
 torch for every white man's dwelling, a knife for 
 every white man's heart upon our frontier. 
 
 "Nor will even the most rigorous punishment 
 give perfect security against these Indians so long 
 as any of them are left among, or in the vicinity 
 of our border settlements. The Indian's nature 
 can no more be trusted than the wolf's. Tame 
 him, cultivate him, strive to Christianize him as 
 you will, and the sight of blood will in an instant 
 call out the savage, wolfish, devili.sh instincts of 
 the race. It is notorious that among the earliest 
 and most murderous of the Sioux, in perpetrating 
 their late massacre, were many of the 'civiHzed 
 Indiana,' so called, with their hair cut sliort, wear- 
 
254 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 
 
 ing white men's clothes, and dwelling in brick 
 houses built for them by the Government. 
 
 "We respecthilly ask, we demand that the cap- 
 tive Indians now in the hands of our military 
 forces, proved before a military commission to be 
 guUty of murder, and even worse crimes, shall re- 
 ceive the punishment due those crimes. This, too, 
 not merely as a matter of vengeance, but much 
 more as a matter of future security for our bordej 
 settlers. 
 
 "We ask, further, that these savages, proved to 
 be treacherous, unreliable, and dangerous beyond 
 example, may be removed from close proximity to 
 our settlements, to sucli distance and such isola- 
 tion as shall make the people of this State safe 
 from their future attacks." 
 
 DJSAPPOIKTMENT OP THE PEOPLE IN MINNESOTA. 
 
 The final decision of the President, on the 1 7th 
 of December, 1862, ordering the execution of thir- 
 ty-nine of the three hundred condemned murderers, 
 disappointed the people of Mmnesota. These 
 thirty-nine were to be hung on Friday, the 26th 
 of December. 
 
 It was not strange that the people of Minnesota 
 were disappointed. How had New England looked 
 upon her Indian captives in her eaiiy history? 
 Her history says: 
 
 " King Philip was himted like a wild beast, his 
 body quartered and set on poles, his head exposed 
 as a trojDhy for twm'^y years on a gibbet, hi 
 Plymouth, and one of his hands sent to Boston; 
 then the ministers returned thanks, and one said 
 that they had prayed a bullet into Philip's heart. 
 In 1677, on a Simday, in Marblehead, the women, 
 as they came out of the meeting-house, fell upon 
 two Indians that bad been brought in as captives, 
 and, in a very tumultuous way, murdered them, in 
 revenge for the death of some fishermen." 
 
 These Paritan ideas have greatly relaxed in the 
 descendants of the primitive stock. But, as the 
 sepidchers of the fathers are garnished by their 
 children as an indorsement of theii' deeds, shall we 
 not hojje that those who ha e in this way given 
 vidence of their paternity will find some pallia- 
 tion for a people who have sinned in the similitude 
 of their fathers? 
 
 On the 2'ith of December, at the request of the 
 citizens of Mankato of a previous date. Colonel 
 Miller, (Ex Governor Stephen Miller, whose death 
 at Worthington, Minn., took place in August, 
 1881 ), in order to secure the public peace, declared 
 
 martial law over all the territory within a circle of 
 ten miles of the place of the intended execution. 
 
 On Monday, the 21st, the thirty-nine had been 
 removed to apartments separate and distinct from 
 the other Indians, and the death-warrant was made 
 known to them through an interpreter — the Kev. 
 Mr. Kiggs, one of the Sioux missionaries. Through 
 tlie interjjreter. Colonel Miller addressed the pris- 
 oners in substance, as follows: 
 
 " The commanding oiKcer at this place has called 
 to speak to you upon a very serious subject thit 
 afternoon. Tour Great Father at Washington, 
 after carefully reading what the witnesses have 
 testified in your several trial.?, has come to the con- 
 clusion that you have each been guilty of wantoulj 
 and wickedly murdering his white children; and, 
 for this reason, he has directed that you each be 
 hanged by the neck until you are dead, on next 
 Friday, and that order will be carried into effect on 
 that day at ton o'clock in the forenoon. 
 
 " Good ministers, both Catholic and Protestant, 
 are here, from among whom each of you can se- 
 lect your spiritual adviser, who will be permitted 
 to commune with you constantly during the few 
 days that you are yet to live." 
 
 Adjutant Arnold was then instructed to read to 
 them in English the letter of President Lincoln, 
 which, in substance, stated the number and names 
 of those condemned for execution, which letter 
 was also read by Rev. S. R. Riggs, in Dakota. 
 
 The Colonel further instructed Mr. Riggs to tell 
 them that they had so sinned again.st their fellow- 
 men that there is no hope of . clemency except in 
 the mercy of God through tlie merits of the 
 Blessed Redeemer, and that he earnestly exhorted 
 them to apply to Him as their only remaining 
 source of consolation. 
 
 The number condemned was forty, but one died 
 before the day fixed for the execution, and one, 
 Henry Milord, a half breed, had his sentence com- 
 muted to imprisonment for life in the penitentiary ; 
 so that thirty-eight only were hung. 
 
 On the 16th of February, 1863, the treaties be- 
 fore that time existing between the United States 
 and these annuity Indians were abrogated and an- 
 nulled, and all lands and rights of occupancy 
 within the state of Minnesota, and all annuities 
 and claims then existing in favor of ^said Indians 
 were declared forfeited to the United States. 
 
 These Indians, in the language of the act, had, 
 in the year 1862, "made unprovoked aggression 
 and most savage war upon the United States, and 
 
REMOVAL OF INDT.mS. 
 
 255 
 
 massacred a large number of men, women and 
 children within the state of Minnesota;" and as 
 in this war and massacre they had "destroyed and 
 damaged a hxrge amount of projierty, and thereby 
 forfeited all just claims" to their "monies and an- 
 nuities to the United Sfcites," the act provides that 
 "two-thirds of the balance remaining unexpended" 
 of their annuities for the fiscal year, not exceeding 
 one hundred thousand dollars, and the further sum 
 of one hundred thousand dollars, being two-thirds 
 of the annuities becoming due, and payable during 
 the next fiscal year, should be apjiropriated and 
 paid over to three commissioners appointed by the 
 President, to be by them apportioned among the 
 heads of families, or their survivors, who suffered 
 damage by the depredations of said Indians, or 
 the troops of the United States in the war against 
 them, not exceeding the sum of two hundred dol- 
 lars to any one family, nor more than actual dam- 
 age sustained. All claims for damages were re- 
 quired, by the act, to be presented at certain 
 times, and according to the rules prescribed by 
 the commissioners, who should hold their first ses- 
 sion at St. Peter, in the state of Minnesota, on or 
 before the first Monday of April, and make 
 and return their finding, and all the J3apers re- 
 lating thereto, on or before the first Monday in 
 December, 1863. 
 
 The President appointed tor this duty, and 
 with the advice and consent of the Senate, the 
 Hons. Albert S. White, of the state of Indiana, 
 Eli R. Chase, of Wisconsin, and Cyrus Aklrich, of 
 Minnesota. 
 
 The duties of this board were so vigorously 
 prosecuted, that, by the 1st of November following 
 their appointment, some twenty thousand sheets 
 of legal cap paper had been consumed in reducing 
 to writing the testimony under the law requiring 
 the commissioners to report the testimony in 
 writing, and proper decisions made requisite to the 
 payment of the two hundred dollars to that class 
 of sufferers designated by the act of Congress. 
 Such dispatch in Government agents gives abund- 
 ant evidence of national vigor and integrity. 
 
 It was, no doubt, the object of this act of Con- 
 gress to make such an appropriation as would re- 
 lieve the sufferings of those who had lost all pres- 
 ent means of supjiort, and for the further purpose 
 of ascertaining the whole amonut of claims for 
 damages as a necessary pre-requisite to future leg- 
 islation. Regarded in this light, the act is one of 
 wisdom and economy. 
 
 On the 21st of February following the annulling 
 of the treaty with the Sioux above named. Con- 
 gress passed "An act for the removal of the Win- 
 nebago Indians, and the sale of their reservation 
 in Minnesota for their benefit." The money aris- 
 ing from the sale of their lands, after paving 
 their uidobtedness, is to be paid into the treasury 
 of the United States, and expended, as the same is 
 received, under the direction of the Secretary of 
 the Interior, in necessary improvements upon their 
 new reservation. The lands in the new reservation 
 are to be allotted in severalty, not exceeding eighty 
 acres to each head of a family, except to the chiefs, 
 to whom larger allottments may be made, to be 
 vested by patent in the Indian and his heirs, with- 
 out the right of alienation. 
 
 These several acts of the General Government 
 moderated to some extent the demand of the peo- 
 ple for the execution of the condemned Sioux yet 
 in the mihtary prison at Mankato awaiting the 
 iinal decision of the President. The removal of 
 the Indians from tlie borders of Minnesota, and 
 the opening up for settlement of over a million 
 of acres of superior land, was a prospective ben- 
 efit to the State of immense value, both in its do- 
 mestic quiet and its rapid advancement in material 
 wealth. 
 
 In pursuance of the acts of Congress, on the 
 22d of April, and for the purpose of carrying 
 them into execution, the condemned Indians were 
 first taken from the State, on board the steamboat 
 Favorite, carried down the Mississippi, and con- 
 fined at Davenport, in the e tate of Iowa, where 
 they remained, with only such privileges as are 
 allowed to convicts in the penitentiary. 
 
 On the 4th of May, A. D. 18G3, at "six o'clock in 
 the afternoon, certain others of the Sioux Indians, 
 squaws and pappooses, in all about seventeen him- 
 dred, left Fort Snelling, on board the steamboat 
 Davenport, for their new reservation on the Upper 
 Missouri, above Fort Randall, accompanied by a 
 strong guard of soldiers, and attended by certain 
 of the missionaries and emiJoyes, the whole beino- 
 under the general direction of Supermtendent 
 Clark W. Thompson. By these two shipments, 
 some two thousand Sioux had been taken from the 
 State and removed far fi-om the borders of Minne- 
 sota. The expedition of 1863, fitted out against 
 the scattered bands of the Sioux yet remainino- on 
 the borders of the State, or still further removed 
 into the D.ikota Territory, gave to the border set- 
 tlements some assurance of protection and security 
 
25G 
 
 uisTonr OF the .houx massacre. 
 
 against any further disturbanes from these partic- 
 ular bands of Indians. 
 
 DEATH OF LITTLE CROW. 
 
 On Friday evening, July 3, 1863, Mr. Lampson 
 and his son Chauncey, while travehng along the 
 road, about sis miles north of Hutchinson, discov- 
 ered two Indians in a little prairie openmg in the 
 woods, interspersed with clumps of bushes and 
 vines and a few scattering poplars, picking berries. 
 These two Indians were Little Crow and his son 
 Wowinapa. 
 
 STATEMENT BY HIS SON. 
 
 "I am the son of Little Crow; my name is "Wo- 
 winapa; I am sixteen years old; my father had 
 two wives before he took my mother; the first one 
 had one son, the second one a son and daughter; 
 the third wife was my mother. After taking my 
 mother he put away the first two; he had seven 
 children by my mother — six are dead; I am the 
 only one living now; the fourth wife had four 
 children bom; do not know whether any died or 
 not; two were boys and three were girls; the fifth 
 wife had five children — three of them are dead, 
 two are living; the sixth wife had three children; 
 a'.l of them are dead; the oldest was a boy, the 
 olher two were girls; the last four wives were 
 sisters. 
 
 "Father went to St. Joseph last spring. When 
 we were coming back he said he could not fight 
 the white men, but would go below and steal horses 
 from them, and give them to his children, so that 
 they could be comfortable, and then he would go 
 away oif. 
 
 "Father also told me that he was getting old, 
 and wanted me to go with him to carry his bun- 
 dles. He left his wives and his other children be- 
 hind. There were sixteen men and one squaw in 
 the party that went below with us. We had no 
 horses, but walked all the way down to the settle- 
 ments. Father and I were picking red-berries, 
 near Scattered Lake, at the time he was shot. It 
 was near night. He was hit the first time in the 
 side, just above the hip. His gun and mine were 
 lying on the ground. He took up my gun and 
 fired it first, and then fired his own. He was shot 
 the second time when he was firing his own gun. 
 The ball struck the stock of his gun, and then hit 
 him in the sidi\ near the shoulder. This was the 
 shot that kiUed him. He told me that he was 
 killed, and asked me for water, which I gave him. 
 He died immediately after. When I heard the 
 
 first shot fired I laid down, and the man did not 
 see me before father was killed. 
 
 "A short time before father was killed an Indian 
 named Hiuka, who married the daughter of my 
 father's second wife, came to him. He had a 
 horse with him — also a gray-colored coat that he 
 had taken from a man that he had killed to. the 
 north of where father was killed. He gave the 
 coat to father, telling him he might need it when 
 it rained, as ho had no coat with him. Hiuka said 
 he had a horse now, and was going back to the 
 Indian country. 
 
 "The Indians that went down with us separated. 
 Eight of them and the squaw went north; the 
 other eight went further down. I have not seen 
 any of them since. After father was kiUed I took 
 botli guns and the ammunition and started to go 
 to Devil's Lake, where I expected to find some of 
 my friends. When I got to Beaver creek I saw 
 the tracks of two Indians, and at Standing 
 Buffalo's village saw where the eight Indians that 
 had gone north had crossed. 
 
 "I carried both guns as far as the Sheyenne 
 river, where I saw two men. I was scared, and 
 threw my gun and the ammunition down. After 
 that I traveled only in the night; and, as I had no 
 ammunition to kill anything to eat, I had not 
 strength enough to travel fast. I went on until I 
 arrived near Devil's Lake, when I staid in one place 
 three days, being so weak and hungry that I 
 - could go no further. I had picked up a cartridge 
 near Big Stone Lake, which I still had with me, 
 and loaded father's gun with it, cutting the ball 
 into slugs. With this charge I shot a wolf, ate 
 some of it, which gave me strength to travel, and 
 went on up the lake until the day I wa.s captured, 
 which was twenty-six days from the day my 
 father was killed." 
 
 Here ends this wonderful episode in our contact 
 with the Indian race in Minnesota. It commenced 
 with Little Crow, in this instance, and it is proper 
 that it should end with his inglorious life. With 
 the best moans for becoming an exponent of In- 
 dian civilization on this continent, he has driven 
 the missionaries from his people and become a 
 standing example of the assertion: "Once .an In- 
 dian always an Indi.an." 
 
 Little Crow has indeed given emphasis to the 
 aphorism of Ferdousi, "For that which is unclean 
 by nature, thou cans't entertain no hope; no wash- 
 I ing will make the gypsy white." 
 
CHRONOLOOY. 
 
 2 -.7 
 
 CHRONOLOGY 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 PRINCirAI. EVENTS OHKONOLOtilOAIiljT ARRANGED. 
 
 1659. Groselliers (Gro-zay-yay ) aud KaJisson 
 visit Minnesota. 
 
 1661. Menard, a Jesuit missionary, ascends 
 the Mississippi, acconliug to Herrot, twelve years 
 before Manpiette saw this river. 
 
 1665. Allouez, a Jesuit, visited the Minnesota 
 shore of Lake Superior. 
 
 1679. Du Luth planted the arms of France, 
 one hundred and twenty leagues beyond Mille 
 Lacs. 
 
 1680. Du Luth, the first to travel in a canoe 
 from Lake Superior, by way of the St. Croix river, 
 to the Mississippi. Descending the Mississippi, 
 he writes to Signelay, 1688: "I proceeded in a 
 canoe two days and two nights, and the next day, 
 at ten o'clock in the morning, found Accoult, 
 Augelle, and Father Hennepin, with a hunting 
 party of Sioux." He writes: "The want of respect 
 which they showed to the said Reverend Father 
 provoked me, and this I showed them, telling 
 them he was my brother, and I had placed him in 
 my canoe to come with me into the villages of said 
 Nadouecioux." In September, Du Luth and Hen- 
 nepin w«re at the Falls of St. Anthony on their 
 way to Mackinaw. 
 
 1683. Perrot and Le Sueur visit Lake Pepin. 
 Perrot, with twenty men, builds a stockade at the 
 base of a bluff, upon the east bank, just above the 
 entrance of Lake Pepin. 
 
 1688. Perrot re-occupies the post on Lake 
 Pepin. 
 
 1689. Perrot, at Green Bay, makes a formal 
 record of taking possession of the Sioux country 
 in the name ( f the king of France 
 
 17 
 
 1693. Le Sueur at the extremity of Lake Su- 
 perior. 
 
 169i. Le Sueur builds a post, on a prairie 
 island in the Mississippi, about nine miles below 
 Hastings. 
 
 169.5. Le Sueur brings the first Sioux chiefs 
 who visit Canada. 
 
 1700. Le Sueur ascends the Minnesota River. 
 Fort L'Huillier built on a tributary of the Blue 
 Earth River. 
 
 1702. Fort L'Huillier abandoned. 
 
 1727. Fort Beauharnois, in the fall of this 
 year, erected in sight of Blaiden's Rock, Lajie 
 Pejun, by La Perriere du Boucher. 
 
 1728. Verendrye stationed at Lake Nepigon. 
 
 1731. Verendrye's sons reach Rainy Lake. 
 Fort St. Pierre erected at Rainy Lake. 
 
 1732. Fort St. Charles erected at the south- 
 west corner of the Lake of the Woods. 
 
 1731. Fort Maurepas established on Winni|)eg 
 River. 
 
 1736. Verendrye's sons and others massacred 
 by the Sioux on an isle in the Lake of the Woods. 
 
 1738. Lort La Reine on the Red River estab- 
 lished. 
 
 1743. Verendrye's sons reach the Rocky Moun- 
 tains. 
 
 1766. Jonathan Carver, on November 17th, 
 rerohes the Falls of St. Anthony. 
 
 179i. Sandy Lake occupied by the Northwest 
 Company. 
 
 1802. William Morrison trades at Leach Lake. 
 
 1804. William Morrison trades at Elk Lake, 
 now Itasca. 
 
 1805. Lieutenant Z. M. Pike purchases the 
 site since occupied by Fort SnelUug. 
 
 1817. Earl of Selkirk jiasscs through Minne- 
 sota for Lake Winnipeg. 
 
258 
 
 CnRONOLOGY. 
 
 Major Stephen H. Long, U. S. A., visits Falls 
 of St. Anthony. 
 
 1818. Dakotah war party under Black Dog 
 attack Ojibways on the Pomme de Terre River. 
 
 1819. Col. Leavenworth arrives on the 2'lth of 
 Angnst, with troo))S at Mendota. 
 
 1820. J. B. Fnribanlt brings up to Mendota, 
 horses for Col. Leavenworth. 
 
 Laidlow, superintendent of farming tor Earl Sel- 
 kirk, passes from Pembina to Prairie du Chien to 
 purchase seed wheat. Upon the 15th of April, 
 left Prairie du Chien with Mackinaw boats and 
 ascended the Minnesota to Big Stone Lake, where 
 the boats were placed on rollers and dragged a 
 short distance to Lake Traverse, and on the 3d of 
 June reached Pembina. 
 
 On the 5th of May, Col. Leavenworth estab- 
 lished summer quarters at Camp Coldwater, Hen- 
 nepin county. 
 
 In July, Governor Cass, of Michigan, visits the 
 camp. 
 
 In August, Col. Suelling succeeds Leavenworth. 
 
 Sejjteraber 20th, corner-stone laid under com- 
 mand of Col. Snelling. 
 
 First white marriage in Minnesota, Lieutenant 
 Green to daughter of Captain Gooding. 
 
 Jj'irst white child born in Minnesota, daughter 
 to Col. Suelling; died following year. 
 
 1821. Fort St. Anthony was sufficiently com- 
 pleted to be occupied by troops. 
 
 Mill at St. Anthony Falls constructed for the 
 use of garrison, under the supervision of Lieuten- 
 ant McCabe. 
 
 1822. Col. Dickson attempted to take a drove 
 of cattle to Pembina. 
 
 1823. The first steamboat, the Virginia, on 
 May 10th, arrived at the mouth of the Minnesota 
 river. 
 
 Mill stones for grinding tiour sent to St. An- 
 thony Falls. 
 
 Major Long, U. S. A., visits the northern bound- 
 ary by way of the Minnesota and Ked River. 
 
 Beltrami, the Italian traveler, explores the 
 northernmost source of the Mississijipi. 
 
 1824. General Winfield Soott inspects Fort 
 St. Anthony, and at his suggestion the War De- 
 partment changed the name to Fort Snelling. 
 
 1825. April 5th, steamboat Rufus Putnam 
 reaches the Fort. May, steamboat Rufus Putnam 
 arrives again and delivers freight at Land's End 
 trading post on the Minnesota, about a mile above 
 the Fort. 
 
 1826. January 26th, first mail in five months 
 received at the Fort. 
 
 Deep snow during February and March. 
 
 March 20tb, snow from twelve to eighteen inches. 
 
 April 5th, snow-storm with flashes of lightning. 
 
 April 10th, thermometer four degrees above zero. 
 
 Ajjril 21st, ice began to move in the fiver at the 
 Fort, and with twenty feet above low water mark. 
 
 May 2d, first steamboat of the season, the Law- 
 rence, Captain Reeder, took a pleasure party to 
 within three' miles of the Falls of St. Anthony. 
 
 1826. Dakotahs kill an Ojibway near Fort 
 Snelling. 
 
 1827. Flat Mouth's party of Ojibways attacked 
 at Fort Snelling, and Sioux delivered by Colonel 
 Snelling to be killed by Ojibways, and their bodies 
 thrown over the bluff into the river. 
 
 General Gaines inspects Fort Snelling. 
 Troops of the Fifth'Regiment relieved by those 
 of the First. 
 
 1828. Colonel Snelling dies in Washington. 
 
 1829. Rev. Alvin Coe and J. D. Stevens, Pres- 
 byterian missionaries, visit the Indians around 
 Fort Suelling. 
 
 Major Taliaferro, Indian agent, establishes a 
 farm for the benefit of the Indians at Lake Cal- 
 houn, which he called Eatonville, after the Secre- 
 tary of War. 
 
 Winter, Spring and Summer very dry. One 
 inch was the average monthly fall of rain or snow 
 tor ten months. Vegetation more backward than 
 it had been for ten years. 
 
 1830. August 14th, a sentinel at Fort Snelling, 
 just before daylight, discovered the Indian council 
 house on fire. Wa-pa-sha's son-in-law was the 
 incendiary. 
 
 1831. August 17th, an old trader Rocque, and 
 his son arrived at Fort Suelling from Prairie du 
 Chien, having been twenty -six days on the journey. 
 Under the influence of wliisky or stupidity, they 
 ascended the St. Croix by mistake, and were lost 
 for fifteen days. 
 
 1832. May 12th, steamboat Versailles arrives 
 at Fort Snelhng. 
 
 June 16th, William Carr arrives from Missouri 
 at Fort Snelling, with a drove of cattle and horses. 
 
 Henry R. Schoolcraft explores the sources of 
 the Mississippi. 
 
 1833. Rev. W. T. Bout well establishes a mission 
 among the Ojibways at Leech Lake. 
 
 E. F. Ely opens a mission school for Ojibways 
 at Aitkin's trading post, Sandy Lake. 
 
VUUUNOLOGY. 
 
 259 
 
 1834. May. Samuel W. aud Gideon H. Pond 
 arrive at Lalto Calliouu as missiouaries among the 
 Sioux. 
 
 November. Henry H. Sibley arrives at Mciidota 
 as agent of Fur Company. 
 
 1835. May. Rev. T. S. Williamson and J. D. 
 Stevens arrive as Sioux missionaries, with Alex- 
 ander G. Huggius as lay-assistant. 
 
 June. Presbyterian Church at Fort Suelliug 
 organized. 
 
 July 31st. A Red River train arrives at Fort 
 Suelling with lifty or sixty head of cattle, and 
 about twenty-five horses. 
 
 Major J. L. Bean surveys the Sioux aud Cbip- 
 peway boundary line under treaty of 1825, as far 
 as Otter Tail Lake. 
 
 November. Col. S. C. Stambaugh arrives; is 
 sutler at Fort Snelling. 
 
 1836. May Gth. "Missouri Fulton," first steam- 
 boat, arrives at Fort Snelling. 
 
 May 29th. "Frontier," Capt. Harris, arrives. 
 
 June 1st. "Palmyra" arrives. 
 
 July 2d. "Saint Peters" arrives with J. N. 
 Nieollet as passenger. 
 
 July 30. Sacs and Foxes kill twenty-four 
 Wiunebagoes on Root River. 
 
 1837. Rev. Stephen R. Riggs and wife join 
 Lake Harriet Mission. 
 
 Rev. A. Brunsou and David King establish 
 Kaposia Mission. 
 
 Commissioners Dodge and Smith at Fort Snel- 
 ling make a treaty with tlie ChijJpeways to cede 
 lands east of the Mississippi. 
 
 Franklin Steele and others make claims at Falls 
 of St. Croix and St. Anthony. 
 
 Septemlier 29th. Sioux chiefs at Washington 
 sign a treaty. 
 
 November 10th. Steamboat Rolla arrives at 
 Fort Snelling with the Sioux on their return from 
 Washington. 
 
 December 12th. Jeremiah RusseD and L. W. 
 Stratton make the first claim at Marine, in St- 
 Croix valley. 
 
 1838. April, Hole-in-the-Day and party kill 
 thirteen of the Lac-cjui-parle Sioux. Blartin Mc- 
 Leod from Pembina, after twenty-eight days of 
 exposure to snow, reaches Lake Traverse. 
 
 May 25th, Steamboat Burlington arrives at Fort 
 Snelling with J. N. Nieollet and J. C. Fremont on 
 a scientific expediticm. 
 
 June Ilth, Marryat, the British novelist, Frank- 
 
 lin Steele and others rode from the Fort to view 
 Palls of St. Anthony. 
 
 July 12th, steamboat Palmyra arrives at Fort 
 Snelling with an official notice of the ratification 
 of treaty. Men arrived to develop the St. Croix 
 Valley. 
 
 August 2d, Hole-in the-Day encamped with a 
 party of Cbippeways near Fort Snelling, and was 
 attacked by Sioux from Mud Lake, and one killed 
 and another wounded. 
 
 August 27th, Steamboat Ariel arrives with com- 
 missioners Pease aud Ewing to examine half-breed 
 claims. 
 
 Sejjtember 30th, steamboat Ariel makes the first 
 trip ujj the St. Croix river. 
 
 October 26th, steamboat Gypsy first to arrive at 
 Falls of St. Croix with annuity goods for the 
 Cbippeways. In pa.ssing tlirougb Lake St. Croix 
 grounded near the townsite laid out by S. 0. 
 Stambaugh and called Stambaughville. 
 
 1839. April 14th, the first steamboat at Fort 
 Snelling, the Ariel, Capt. Lyon. 
 
 Henry M. Rice arriven at Fort Snelling. 
 
 May 2d, Rev. E. G. Gear, of the Protestant 
 Episcopal church, recently ai)poiuted chaplain, ar- 
 rived at Fort Suelling in thesteanilioat Gipsy. 
 
 May 12th, steamboat Fayette arrives on the Sf 
 Croix, having been at Fort Suelling, with members 
 of Marine Mill Company. 
 
 May 21st, the Glancus, Gapt. Atchiuson, arrives 
 at Fort Snelling. 
 
 June 1st, the Pennsylvania, Capt. Stone, arrives 
 at Fort Suelling. 
 
 .June 5th, the Glancus arrives again. 
 
 June Gth, the Ariel arrives. 
 
 June 12th, at Lake Harriet mission. Rev. D. 
 Gavin, Swiss missionary among the Sioux at Red 
 Wing, was married to Cordelia Stevens, teacher at 
 Lake Harriet mission. 
 
 June 25th, steamboat "Knickerbocker,'" arrived 
 at Fort Suelling. 
 
 .June 26th, steanilxiat Ariel, on third trip. 
 
 June 27th, a train of Rad River carts, under 
 Mr. Sinclair, with emigrants, who encamped near 
 the fort. 
 
 July 2d, Cbippeways killed a Sioux of Lake Cal- 
 houn band. 
 
 July 3d. Sioux attack Cbippeways in ravine 
 above Stillwater. 
 
 1840. April, Rev. Lucian Galtier, of the Roman 
 Catholic church, arrives at Meudola. 
 
260 
 
 CHRONOLOGY. 
 
 May 6th, squatters removed on military reser- 
 vation. 
 
 June 15th, Thomas Sim])son, Artie explorer, 
 shoots himself near Turtle River, under aberration 
 of the mind. 
 
 June 17th, four Chippeways kiU and scalp a 
 Sioux man and woman. 
 
 1841. March 6th, wild geese appeared at the 
 fort. 
 
 March 20th, Mississippi opened. 
 
 April 6th, steamboat Otter, Capt. Harris, arrived. 
 Kaboka, an old chief of Lake Calhoun band, killed 
 by Chippeways. 
 
 May 24th, Sioux attack Chippeways at Lake 
 Pokeguma, of Snake river. Methodist mission 
 moved from Kaposia to Ked Eock, Kev. B. F. 
 Kavenaugh, superintendent. 
 
 November 1st, Father Galtier completes the log 
 chapel of St. Paul, which gave the name to the 
 capital of Minnesota. Kev. Augustin Bavoux ar- 
 rives. 
 
 1842. July, the Chippeways attack the Kapo- 
 sia Sioux. 
 
 1843. Stillwater laid out. Ayer, Spencer and 
 Ely establish a Chippeway mission at Red lake. 
 
 July 15th, Thomas Longly, brother-in-law of 
 Rev. S. R. Riggs, drowned at Traverse des Sioux 
 mission station. 
 
 1844. August, Captain Allen with fifty dra- 
 goons marches from Fort Des Moines through 
 southwestern Minnesota, and on the 10th of Sep- 
 tember reaches the Big Sioux River. Sisseton war 
 party kill an .American named Watson, driving 
 cattle to Fort Snelling. 
 
 1845. June 25th, Captain Sumner reaches 
 Traverse des Sioux, and proceeding northward 
 arrested three of tlie murderers of Watson. 
 
 1846. Dr. Williamson, Sioux missionary, moves 
 from Lac-qui-parle to Kaposia. March 31st, 
 steamboat Lynx, Ca])t. Atchinson, arrives at Fort 
 Snelling. 
 
 1847. St. Croix county, Wisconsin, organized. 
 Stillwater the county seat. Harriet E. Bishop 
 establishes a school at St. Paul. Saw-miUs begun 
 at St. Anthony Falls. 
 
 August, Commissioner Verplanck and Henry M. 
 Rice make treaties with the Chippeways at Fond 
 du Lac and Leech Lake. The town of St. Paul 
 surveyed, jilatted, and recorded in the St. Croix 
 county Register of Deeds office. 
 
 1848. Henry H. Sibley Delegate to Congress 
 from Wisconsin territory. 
 
 May 29th, Wisconsin admitted, leaving Minne- 
 sota (with its present boundaries) without a gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 August 26th, "Stillwater convention" held to 
 take measures for a separate territorial organiza- 
 tion. 
 
 October 30tb, H. H, Sibley, elected Delegate to 
 Congress. 
 
 1849. March, act of Congress creating Minne- 
 sota Territory. 
 
 April 9th, Highhmd Mary, Capt. Atchinson, ar- 
 rives at St. Paul. 
 
 April 18th, James M. Goodhue arrives at St. 
 Paul with first newspaper press. 
 
 May 27th, Gov. Alexander Ramsey arrives at 
 Mendota. 
 
 June 1st, Gov. Ramsey issues proclamation de- 
 claring the territory duly organized. 
 
 August Ist, II. H. Sibley elected Delegate to 
 Congress from Minnesota. 
 
 September 3d, first Legislature convened. 
 
 November, First Presbyterian church, St. Paul, 
 organized. 
 
 December, first literary address at Falls of St. 
 Anthony. 
 
 1850. January Ist, Historical Society meeting. 
 June 11th, Lidian council at Fort Snelling. 
 June 14th, steamer Governor Ramsey makes 
 
 first trip above Falls of St. Anthony. 
 
 June 26th, the Anthony Wayne reaches the 
 Falls of St. Anthony. 
 
 July 18th, steamboat Anthony Wayne ascends 
 the Minnesota to the vicinity of Traverse des 
 Sioux. 
 
 July 25tli, steamboat Yankee goes beyond Blue 
 Earth River. 
 
 September, H. H. Sibley elected Delegate to 
 Congress. 
 
 October, Fredrika Bremer, Swedish novelist 
 visits Minnesota. 
 
 November, the Dakotah Friend, a monthly pa- 
 per appeared. 
 
 December, Colonel D. A. Robertson establishes 
 Minnesota Democrat. 
 
 December 26tli, first public Thanksgiving Day. 
 
 1851. May, St. Anthony Express newspaper 
 begins its career. 
 
 July, treaty concluded with the Sioux at Tra- 
 verse des Sioux. 
 
 July, Rev. Robert Hopkins, Sioux missionary 
 drowned. 
 
onRONOLoar. 
 
 261 
 
 August, treaty concluded with the Sioux at 
 
 Maukato. 
 
 September l9tb, the Mioiiesotian, of St. Paul, 
 edited by J. P. Owens, appeared. 
 
 November, .Terome Fuller, Chict' Justice in place 
 of Aaron Goodrich, arrives. 
 
 December 18th, Thanksgiving Day. 
 
 1852. Hennepin county created. 
 
 February 14th, Dr. Rae, Arctic explorer, anives 
 at St. Paul with dog train. 
 
 May 1-tth, laud slide at Stillwater. 
 
 August, James M. Goodhue, pioneer editor, dies. 
 
 November, Yuhazee, an Indian, convicted of 
 munler. 
 
 1853. April 27th, Chippewas and Sioux fight 
 in streets of St. Paul. Governor Willis A. Gor- 
 man succeeds Governor Kamsey. 
 
 October, Henry M. Rice elected ilelegate to con- 
 gress. Tlie Capitol building completed. 
 
 1854. March 3d, Presbyterian mission house 
 near Lac-c]Ui""-parle burned. 
 
 June 8tli, great excursion from Chicago to St. 
 Paul and St. Anthony Falls. 
 
 December 27th, Yuhazee, the Indian, hung at 
 St. Paul. 
 
 1855. January, first bridge over Mississippi 
 completed at Falls of St. Anthony. 
 
 October, H. M. Rice re-elected to Congress. 
 
 December 12, James Stewart arrives in St. Paul 
 direct from Arctic regions, with relics of Sir John 
 Franklin. 
 
 1856. Erection of State University Iniilding 
 was begun. 
 
 1857. Congress passes an act authorizing peo- 
 ple of Minnesota to vote for a constitution. 
 
 March. Inkpadootah slaughters settlers in 
 southwest Minnesota. 
 
 Governor Samuel Medary succeeds Governor W. 
 A. Gorman. 
 
 March 5th. Land-grant by congress for rail- 
 ways. 
 
 April 27th. Special session of legislature con- 
 venes. 
 
 July. On second Monday convention to form 
 a constitution assembles at Capitol. 
 
 October 13th. Election for State ollicers, and 
 ratifying of the constitution. 
 
 H. H. Sibley first governor under the State con- 
 stitutitm. 
 
 December. On first Wednesday, first State 
 legislature assembles. 
 
 December. Henry M. Rice and James Shields 
 elected United States senators. 
 
 1858, April 15tli. Peoi)lo approve act of legis- 
 lature loaning the public credit for five millions of 
 dollars to certain railway companies. 
 
 May 11th. Minnesota becomes one of the 
 United States of America. 
 
 June 2d. Adjourned meeting of legislature 
 held. 
 
 November. Supreme court of State orders Gov- 
 ernor Sibley to issue Railroad bonds. 
 
 1859. Normal school law passed. 
 
 June. Burbank and Comjiany place the first 
 steamboart on Red River of the North. 
 
 August. Bishop T. L. Grace arrived in St. 
 Paul. 
 
 1859. October lltb. State election, Alexander 
 Ramsey chosen governor. 
 
 18G0. March 23d, Anna Bilanski hung at St. 
 Paul for the murder of her husband, the first white 
 person executed in Minnesota. 
 
 1861. April 14th, Governor Ramsey calls upon 
 President in Washington and oilers a regiment of 
 volunteers. 
 
 June 21st, First Minnesota Regiment, Col. W. 
 A. Gorman, leaves for Washington. 
 
 .luly 2l8t, First Minnesota iu battle of Bull 
 Run. 
 
 October 13th, Second Minnesota Infantry, Col. 
 H. P. Van Cleve, leaves Fort Suelling. 
 
 November 16th, Third Minnesota Infantry, H. 
 C. Lester, go to seat of war. 
 
 1862. January 19tli, Second Minnesota in bat- 
 tle at Mill Spring, Kentucky. 
 
 April 6th. First Minnesota Battery, Captain 
 Munch, at Pittsburg Landing. 
 
 April 21st, Second Minnesota Battery goes to 
 seat of war. 
 
 April 21st, Fourth Blinnesota Infantry Volun- 
 teers. Col. J. B. Sanborn, leaves Fort Snelling. 
 
 May 13th, Fifth Regiment Volunteers, Col. Bor- 
 gensrode, leaves for the seat of war. 
 
 May 28th, Second, Fourth, and Fifth in battle 
 near Corinth, Mississippi. 
 
 May 31st, First Minnesota in battle at Fair 
 Oaks, Virginia. 
 
 June 29th, First Minnesota in battle at Savage 
 Station. 
 
 June 30th, First Minnesota in battle near Wil- 
 lis' Church. 
 
 Julv 1st, First Minnesota iu battle at Malvern 
 Hill. " 
 
262 
 
 OERONOLOOT. 
 
 August, Sixth Kcgiment, Col. Crooks, organized. 
 
 August, Seventh Keginient, Col. Miller, organ- 
 ized. 
 
 August, Eighth Regiment, Col, Thomas, organ- 
 ized. 
 
 August, Ninth Regiment, Col. Wilkin, organ- 
 ized. 
 
 August 18th, Sioux attack whites at lower 
 Sioux Agency. 
 
 September 23(1, Col. Sibley defeats Sioux at 
 Mud Lake. 
 
 December 2Gth, Thirty-eight Sioux executed on 
 the same scaffold at Mankato. 
 
 18G3. January, Alexander Ramsey elected 
 United States Senator. 
 
 May 14th, Fourth and Fifth Regiment in battle 
 near Jackson, Mississippi. 
 
 July 2d, First Minnesota Infantry in battle at 
 Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. 
 
 September 19 th, Second Minnesota Infantry en- 
 gaged at Chickamauga, Tennessee. 
 
 November 23d, Second Minnesota Infantry en- 
 gaged at Mission Ridge. 
 
 18G4. January, Col. Stephen MOler inaugur- 
 ated Governor of Minnesota. 
 
 March 30th; Third Minnesota Infantry engaged 
 at Fitzhugh's Wooods. 
 
 June 6th, Fifth Minnesota Infantry engaged at 
 Lake Chicot, Arkansas. 
 
 July 13th, Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth, with por- 
 tion of the Fifth Minnesota Infantry, engaged at 
 Tupelo, Mississippi. 
 
 July 14th, Col. Alex. Wilkin, of the Ninth, 
 killed. 
 
 October 15th, Fourth Regiment engaged near 
 Altoona, Georgia. 
 
 Decemlier 7th, Eighth Regiment engaged near 
 Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 
 
 Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Regiments at 
 Nashville, Tennessee. 
 
 1865. January 10th, Daniel S. Norton, elected 
 United States Senator. 
 
 April 9th, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, and 
 Tenth at the siege of Mobile. 
 
 November 10th, Shakpedan, Sioux chief, and 
 Medicine Bottle executed at Fort Snelling. 
 
 186G. January 8th, Col. William R. Marshall 
 inaugurated Governor of Minnesota. 
 
 18()7. Preparatory department of the State 
 University opened. 
 
 18G8. January, Governor Marshall enters upon 
 second term. 
 
 1869. Bill passed by legislature, removing sea 
 of Government to spot near Big Kandiyohi Lake 
 — vetoed by Governor Marshall. 
 
 1870. January 7th, Horace Austin inaugurated 
 as Governor. 
 
 1871. .January, Wm. Windom elected United 
 States Senator. In the fall destructive fires, oc- 
 casioned by high winds, swept over frontier coun- 
 ties. 
 
 1872. January, Governor Austin enters upon a 
 second term. 
 
 1873. January 7th, 8th, and 9th, polar wave 
 sweeps over the State, seventy persons perishing. 
 
 May 22d, the senate of Minnesota convicts State 
 Treasurer of corruption in ofBoe. 
 
 September, grasshopper raid began, and con- 
 tinued five seasons. Jay Cooke failure occasions a 
 financial panic. 
 
 1874. January 9th, Cushman K. Davis inaug- 
 urated Governor. William S. King elected to con- 
 gress. 
 
 1875. February 19th, S. J. R. McMillan elected 
 United States senator. 
 
 November, amendment to State constitution, al- 
 lowing any women twenty-one yeai'sof age to vote 
 for school officers, and to be eligible for school of- 
 fices. Rocky Mountain locusts destroy crops in 
 southwestern Minnesota. 
 
 187G. January 7th, John S. Pillsbury inaug- 
 urated Governor. 
 
 September, 6th, outlaws from Missouri kill the 
 cashier of the Northfield Bank. 
 
 1879. November, State constitution amended 
 forbidding public moneys to be used for the sup- 
 port of schools wherein the distinctive creeds or 
 tenets of any particular Christian or other religious 
 sect are taught. J. H. Stewart, M. D., elected to 
 congress. Biennial sessions of the legislature 
 adopted. 
 
 1878. January, Governor Pillsbury enters 
 upon a second term. 
 
 May 2d, explosion in the Washburn and other 
 (lour mills at Minneapolis. (_)ne hundred and fifty 
 thousand dollars appropriated to purchase seed 
 grain for destitute settlers. 
 
 1880. November 15tb, a portion of the Insane 
 Asylum at St. Peter was destroyed liy fire and 
 twenty-seven inmates lost their lives. 
 
 1881. March 1st, Capitol at St. i"aul destroyed 
 by fire. 
 
 November. Lucius F. Hul)bard elected Gov- 
 ernor. 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 BICE COUNTY 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 DESOBIPTIVE — SITUATION AND AHEA SURFAI'E FEA- 
 
 TUKES AND SOU, — TIMIiER GEOLOGICAL STUUC- 
 
 TURE — MATERIAL RESOURCES — QUARRIES — LIME 
 KILNS — BRICK. 
 
 Eice county is one of the earliest and best set- 
 tled counties in Minnesota, as well as one of the 
 most prominent. It is well situated, has an 
 abundance of wood and water, unexceptionally 
 good soil, and excellent market facilities. The 
 people are industrious and economical, and pro- 
 vided with good homes, the average farming facil- 
 ities being second to none in the State. 
 
 The most important villages are Fariliault, 
 Northfield, and Dundas, with several others of 
 less pretensions. The two first mentioned have 
 city charters, and each will be fully described 
 under tlieir respective names. 
 
 Numerous expeditions and reconnoisances had 
 been made through this romantic region long be- 
 fore and up to the time when the Sioux title to the 
 land was extinguished by treaty stipulation. 
 The point which became the nucleus for 
 the fuial permanent settlement, tlie conflu- 
 ence of the Straight with tlie Cannon Kiver, 
 had been \'isited, and glowing accounts given of 
 its natural advantages, its magnificent forest, its 
 undulating prairie, the verdure covered banks of 
 its rippling streams, its health giving climate, and 
 indeed, of nature's handiwork here in her hap- 
 piest moods, for the creation of all the conditions 
 required by man for tlie planting of his home, and 
 surrounding it with those institutions which dis- 
 tinguish it from the wretched abode of the untu- 
 tored savage. 
 
 When the land was opened up to settlement, 
 anil the vanguard of the pioneers began to arrive, 
 they remained right here; no representations 
 could lure them on in search of a better land, be- 
 cause it was really unattainable, and the reports 
 returned to the homes they had left were of such 
 a glowing character, that others rapidly followed, 
 and the whole country was soon taken up. Any 
 person visiting this county to-day, with its ad- 
 vanced civilization, and not knowing the facts, 
 could hardly l)e persuaded to believe that not 
 (piite a generation has passed since not a l)uilding 
 stood anywhere on its territory, except a rude 
 bark or skin shelter for the few scattered savages 
 who lingered here with the depressing feeling of 
 impending extermination. What has been accom- 
 ])lished is most wonderful, and the various steps 
 that have been taken in this remarkable develop- 
 ment will be seen as this work is perused. 
 
 The following geological extracts are taken 
 from the very able report by Mr. L. B. Sperry, 
 dated 1878: 
 
 The parallel of 44 degrees and 20 minutes north 
 latitude runs through the center of the county. 
 The surrounding counties are Scott and Dakota 
 on the north, Dakota and Goodhue on the east, 
 Steele and Waseca on the south, and Le Sueur on 
 the west. The east line of the county is twenty 
 miles from Hastings, on the Mississippi River; the 
 north line is thirty-four miles south of St. Paul, 
 and the south line is forty-eight miles from the 
 northern boundary of Iowa. It is four govern- 
 ment townships, or twenty-four miles in width, 
 east ami west. The western portion of the county 
 
 (263) 
 
264 
 
 niSTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 is of the same length — twenty-four miles north 
 and south — but the eastern two tiers of townships 
 are shorter by five miles. The county contains 
 fourteen townships, each of them, except two, 
 containing thirty-six square miles. Of these two 
 exceptions, one, Bridgewater, contains forty square 
 miles, and the other, Northfleld, forty-four square 
 miles. Its area, then, is .330,240 acres, of which 
 nearly one-half is timber land interspersed with 
 many lakes. 
 
 There is but very little laud in the county unfit 
 for tillage. That portion east of the Straight and 
 Cannon Elvers is the finest of prairie land, while 
 most of that west of these rivers is, or was orig- 
 inally, covered with valuable timber, which, on 
 being removed, leaves a strong and fertile soil. 
 
 NATURAL DH.VINAGE. 
 
 The drainage of the county is to the north and 
 east. Straight River enters the county two and one- 
 half miles east of the middle of the southern border, 
 and flowing northward about eight miles, forms 
 a junction (where the city of Faribault now stands) 
 with the Cannon River, which enters the county 
 about two miles north of its southeast corner. 
 From the junction of the Straight and Cannon 
 Rivers — taking the latter name — the waters flow 
 northward and leave the county four miles east of 
 the meridian line upon which the Straight River 
 enters its borders. The western half of the county 
 contains about a score of shallow but pretty lakes, 
 which receive the surface waters of their localities, 
 and empty for the most part by very circuitous 
 routes into the Cannon. The Straight and Cannon 
 also receive the drainage from the eastern portions 
 of the townships through which they flow; while 
 the eastern tier of townships, for the most part, 
 shed their waters through small streams into the 
 Little Cannon and Zumbro Rivers in Goodhue 
 county. The Straight River enters the county in 
 the Lower Trenton formation, and cuts through 
 into the St. Peter sandstone three miles north of 
 the county line, near Walcott's mill. 
 
 A short distance from Walcott's the river makes 
 an extensive bend toward the south, and on reach- 
 ing Faribault has cut eighty feet into the sand- 
 stone. 
 
 At a point near the line separating Bridgewater 
 and Cannon City townships the river has cut 
 through the St. Peter sandstone and begins its 
 flow over the Shakojiee Umestone. into whicli it 
 
 has cut about thirty feet when it leaves the north- 
 ern boundary of the county. 
 
 This descent of about 150 feet in crossing the 
 county furnishes at least eleven or more available 
 mill privileges which have been improved and are 
 in operation. 
 
 SURFACE FEATURES AND SOIL. 
 
 The eastern portion of the connty is, tor the 
 most part, a high and gently rolling prairie of 
 great beauty and fertility. 
 
 Skirting the small streams there is a little tim- 
 ber, and along the east bank of the Straight River 
 — and also of the Cannon, from its junction with 
 the Straight northerly .to Dundas — there is a belt 
 of timber averaging about three miles wide. The 
 soil bearing, this belt of timber is sandy with grave 
 subsoil, and is of comparatively little value for ag- 
 ricultural purposes. 
 
 The surface of the southwest part of the county 
 lies above the Trenton formation, and is gently 
 undulating. The surface of the northeast part is 
 more broken because the Trenton is largely car- 
 ried away, and the St. Peter sandstone is eroded 
 to quite variable depths. The western portion of 
 the county also is quite undulating — sometimes 
 rough and hilly — and over the greater part is cov- 
 ered with heavy timber, interspersed with many 
 beautiful but shallow lakes. The surface soil is 
 usually a dark loam, but is generally very thin. 
 A strong and productive yellow clay overlying 
 thick deposits of blue clay — which is frequently 
 exposed — characterize the soil of this region. 
 Maple, Elm, and Basswood characterize the timber. 
 
 There are about twenty beautiful lakes in the 
 western half of the county, ranging from one to 
 ten square miles in area, and varying from ten to 
 fifty feet in deptb. These lakes aljound in fish, 
 and are much frequented by sportsmen. The 
 southwestern 2Jart of the county, being lower and 
 more sandy, furnishes better beaches for its lakes 
 than are found further north whore clay deposits 
 overlie and conceal the sand. 
 
 I am under obligation to Surveyor Jewett, of 
 Faribault, tlirough whose kiiulness I secured the 
 following : 
 
 TOWNSHIP 109, RANGE 19.— RICHLAND. 
 
 Rolling prairie. Soil a black loam with clay 
 subsoil. The north liranch of the Zumbro River 
 flows easterly through the northern part, taking 
 the surface water of nearly the whole town. 
 
GEOLOGY. 
 
 265 
 
 TOWNSHIP 110, BANOE 19. WHEELING. 
 
 Surface rolling, becoming blufl'y along the 
 creek. The east branch of Prairie Creek heads 
 near the center of the town, where there is a l)'.)(ly 
 of about one section of timber. This creek Hows 
 northeasterly, and forms a valley froin one-eiglith 
 to one-fourth of a mile wide, about fifty feet lielow 
 the general level of the prairie. From the blulls 
 along this valley in the north part of the town, 
 limestone crops out with sandstone below. 
 
 TOWNSHIP 111, RANGE 19. — NdRTHFIKljD. 
 
 Surface mostly a high rolling prairie sloping 
 toward Prairie Creek, which runs northeasterly 
 through the township; a part of the town is 
 drained northwesterly toward Cannon River. Soil 
 a rich black loam ; clay suljsoil ; limestone in bluffs 
 along the creek; sandstone below. 
 
 TOWNSHIP 109, BANGE 20. WALCOTT. 
 
 Surface rolling to hilly ; slEipes toward Straight 
 River, which runs northerly through nearly the 
 center of the town; a body of timber three to four 
 miles wide lies on the east side of the river. Lime- 
 stone appears in the bed of the river as tar north 
 as section four. North of this point it appears 
 in the blulTs from twenty to fifty feet aliove tli(^ 
 river. Soil in the river valley light and sandy 
 with gravel subsoil; rest of town black loam over 
 clay. 
 
 TOWNSHIP 110, KANGli 20. — CANNON CITY AND FARI- 
 BAULT. 
 
 Surface ipiite rolling; bluffy along the east side 
 of river. The Straight River forms a junction with 
 the Cannon River in section thirty, from which 
 point the Cannon River runs northeasterly to the 
 ceiter of the north boundary. The two eastern 
 sections are prairie; the remainder of the town is 
 timber land; soil a rich loam with clay subsoil. 
 Limestone crops out of river bluffs with sandstone 
 below; a small lake in section fifteen, containing 
 forty-five acres. 
 
 TOWN.SHIP 111, RANGE 20. — BRIDGEWATER 
 
 Land rolUng; becomes bluffy along the river as 
 far north as .section ten. Cannon River flows 
 northeasterly through the eastern part of the 
 town. About six sections on east side of town are 
 prairie; rest of town timber land; soil black loam 
 with clay subsoil, excepting on river bottoms, 
 where the soil is light and sandy over a gravelly 
 subsoil; limestone in the bluffs along the river 
 
 south of section ten. In section one it appears in 
 
 the bed of river. 
 
 TOWNSHIP 109, RANGE 21. — WARS.\W. 
 
 Surface rolling; drains toward the north; Can- 
 non Lake, with an area of 1,475.28 acres, lies in 
 the northwestern ])art of the township; four sec- 
 tions of land northwest of lake are timber land; 
 rest of town is prairie and brush land; soil black 
 loam over clay subsoil. 
 
 TOWNSHIP 110, RANGE 21. WELLS. 
 
 All timber land excepting sections thirty -five and 
 thirty-six; surface rolling; soil black loam with 
 clay below; area of meandered lakes 2,114.44 
 acres; drains toward the south. 
 
 TOWNSHIP 111, RANGE 21. — FOREST. 
 
 All timber land; surface rolling; draining east- 
 ward; soil black loam, clay subsoil; area of lakes, 
 1,694.41 acres. 
 
 TOWNSHIP 112, RANGE 21. — WEBSTER. 
 
 Timber and l)rush land; surface rolling; drains 
 to the .south and east; .soil light-colored loam over 
 clay; area of meandered lakes, 208.81 acres. 
 
 TOWNSHIP 109, RANGE 22. MORIUSTOWN. 
 
 Nine sections in southeast part prairie land ; re- 
 mainder of town timber. Cannon River flows 
 easterly through the center of the townshiji; sur- 
 face rolling, slopes towards the river; soil a rich 
 black loam with clay subsoil. Area of meandered 
 waters, 935.70 acres. 
 
 TOWNSHIP 110, RANGE 22. — SHIELDSVILLE. 
 
 Surface rolling, becoming hilly in some parts of 
 the town; soil black loam over clay. Area of 
 lakes, 2,574.23 acres. The Cannon River heads in 
 Tuft's Lake, in section three. 
 
 TOWNSHIP 111, RANGE 22. — ERIN. 
 
 Surface rolling to hilly, timber and brush lands; 
 soil rich loam over clay. Area of lakes, 85(5.32 
 acres. 
 
 TOWNSHIP 112, RANGE 22.— WHEATLAND. 
 
 Surface rolling and hilly; soil black loam on 
 clay subsoil; timber and brush land. Area of 
 lakes, 307.27 acres. 
 
 TIMBER. 
 
 As before stated the eastern portion of the 
 county originally produced timber only along the 
 streams. Through cultivation for shade, hedges, 
 protcctit)n from winds, etc., timber is increasing 
 over this area. The western half of the county 
 
266 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE GOV NT Y. 
 
 was originally covered with heavy timber — except- 
 ing a few limited, enclosed spaces, which were 
 open prairie, or sparsely covered with Oak and 
 under-brush — and forms a part of what is de- 
 nominated the "Big Woods." This region is be- 
 ing cleared up rapidly and there are now many 
 line farms in every towuship of the timber regions 
 of this county. The following list embraces all 
 the native trees and shrubs that were noticed dur- 
 ing the survey. It is not believed, however, that 
 it includes all that grow naturally in the limits of 
 the county : 
 
 Baswood. Till Americana. L. 
 
 Smooth Sumach. Rhus glabra. L. 
 
 Jersey Tea. Ceanothus Americanus. Ij. 
 
 Sugar Maple. Acer saccharinum. Wnng. 
 
 Sivery Blaple. A. dasycarpun, E/ir. 
 
 Bed or Swamp Maple. Acer rubrum. L. 
 
 Box-Elder. Negundo aceroides. MmiieJi. 
 
 False Indigo. Amorpha fruticosa. L. 
 
 Locust. Robina P.sendacacia. L. Cultivated. 
 
 Cherry. Pruuns. 
 
 Red Raspberry. Rubus strigosus. .]f/f/i.r. 
 
 Blackberry. R. villosus. Ait. 
 
 Crab. Pyrus arbutifolia. L. 
 
 Dogwood. Coruus panieulata. IjIIii: 
 
 Wolfberry. Symphoricarpus occideutalis. //. Hy. 
 
 Ash. Fraxious. 
 
 Slippery Elm. Ulmus fulva. Mich.v. 
 
 Butternut. Juglaus cinerca. L. 
 
 Walnut. Jnglans nigra. L. 
 
 Hickory. Carya. 
 
 Burr Oak. Quercus macrocarpa. .Ifii-h.r. 
 
 Black Oak. Quercus coccinea. Wnng. Var 
 tiuctoria. Bartram. 
 
 Wild Hazle-nut. Corylus Americana. WhII. 
 
 Iron-wood. Ostrya Virginica. Willd. 
 
 American Aspen. Populus tremuloides. Mirli.r. 
 
 Cottonwood. P. monilifera. Ait. 
 
 Large-toothed Aspen. P. grandidentata. Micli.v. 
 
 Balm of Gilead. P. balsmifera. L. Var. can- 
 dicaus. Ait. 
 
 Red Oak. (^uerciis rubra. L. 
 
 White Oak. Quercus ;i!ba. I,. 
 
 Wild Plum. Prunus Americana. 
 
 American Elm. Ulmus .\mericana. ( Tl Cti/I. ) 
 Willd. 
 
 American Crab. Pyrus Coronaria. A. 
 
 Black Cherry. Prunus serotina. Ahr. 
 
 Bitternut. Carya aniara. NntL 
 
 Wild lied Cherry. Prunus Pennsylvanica. L. 
 
 Thorn Apple. Crataegus Crus-galli. L. 
 
 White Birch. Betula alba. Var. populifolia. 
 S2MIC/1. 
 
 Small Cedar. Juniperas Sabina. L. Var. pro- 
 cumbens. 
 
 White Pine. Pinus Strobus. L. 
 
 Water Beech. Carpinus Americana. Mieh.v. 
 
 Cornel. Cornus panieulata. VHer. 
 
 Cornel. Cornus circinata. VHer. 
 
 American Woodbine. Lonicera grata. Aii. 
 
 Juneberry. Amolanchier Canadensis. Torr & 
 Onti/. 
 
 Dwarf Wild Rose. Rosa lucida. 
 
 Pipe Vine. Aristolochia Sipho. 
 
 Grape. Vitis cordifolia. Miclw. 
 
 Virginia Creeper. Ampelopsis quinquefolia. 
 Mii-hx. 
 
 Nine Bark. Spiraea opulifolia. L. 
 
 Bittersweet. Celastrus scandens. /,. 
 
 Rose. Rosa blanda. Ait. 
 
 Lombardy Poplar. P. dilitata. Ait. 
 
 Speckled Alder. Almus incanar Willd. 
 
 GEOLOGICAL STRDCTnEE. 
 
 In general the drainage of Rice county is 
 toward the north and east, which fact indicates 
 the relative elevations. 
 
 The Chicago and Milwaukee railroad survey 
 (Minnesota Division) found the elevations of nat- 
 ural surface, where the railroad crosses the north- 
 ern line of the county, to be over 11150 feet above 
 the sea level. At Faribault dejjot it is 993 feet; 
 at Dundas depot, 94.5 feet; at Northfield depot, 
 90.5 feet. The entire western half, and the south- 
 eastern portions of the county, have a higher 
 elevation. I have no means of knowing positively 
 the relative elevations or the_highest point in tlie 
 county; but judging from appearances I conclude 
 that the rolling prairie, on which Cannon City is 
 located, is the highest by at least 10(1 feet. 
 
 The only geological formations that appear in 
 this county are the 
 
 Loam. 
 
 Drift. 
 
 Trenton Limestone. 
 
 St. Peter's Sandstone. 
 
 Shakopee Limestone. 
 
 In general appearance these formations are not 
 unlike the same formations as tliey are seen in 
 other portions of the State, and carefully described 
 by Professor Winchell in his reports made during 
 the past few years. Nor did I find in the county 
 
nEOLOOY. 
 
 2<;7 
 
 any remarkable special peculiarities in any of the 
 formations. 
 
 Tlie loam is deep, dark colored and fertile, over 
 nearly all tbe eastern portion of the county ; but 
 over the western portion as a rule it is thin. 
 
 Drift, consisting largely of blue clay overlain by 
 a yellow clay, characterizes the soil of the western 
 half of the county. Boulders of granite, gneiss 
 trap, and porplyry are c]nite abundant in some 
 places; but fine clay, with small quantities of 
 gravel, are the rule throughout this region. No 
 well yet dug in the western part of the county 
 has passed through the blue clay — though some 
 of the wells are over 100 feet deep. A hint as to 
 the depth of the clay is found in the fact that a 
 well dug last season south of Rice county, about 
 thirty miles west of Owatonna — near Janesville — 
 after passing through 200 feet of blue clay reached 
 a sandstone said to be identical with the St. Peter's 
 in appearance. An abundance of good water, 
 which rose to within thirty feet of the surface, was 
 found between the clay and the sandstone. This 
 fact should be considered by the residents of this 
 drift and timber region, as many of them have 
 failed to secure good and abundant water in the 
 clay. Indeed there is much uncertainty about 
 getting good well water in this region. Some 
 holes at 100 feet or over fail to bring enough 
 water for drinking and cooking purposes. Some 
 wells that furnish an abundance of water are so 
 strongly impregnated with mineral impurities as 
 to be nearly useless, while others are quite pure. 
 It is possible that good water that would rise 
 nearly to the surface might invariably be pro- 
 cured by boring through the clay to the under- 
 lying rooks. 
 
 Illustrations of the peculiarities of the deposits 
 in this region are seen in the following facts: 
 On the southeast side of Union Lr.ke (seven miles 
 west of Northfield) Mr. B. Benton dug forty feet 
 and secured an abundance of water, but is 
 strongly impregnated with some mineral impuri- 
 ties. About forty rods from here Mr. M. J. Punk 
 secured better water at sixteen feet; and abotit 
 forty rods further Mr. S. A. Amsden secured 
 nearly pure water at a depth of thirty-six feet. 
 
 It has been supposed by some tliat the forma- 
 tion underlying the drift throughout the timber 
 region is the Cretaceous, and I see that Prof. 
 Harrington^ in his report on Steele county, ex- 
 presses his belief in the existence of the Creta- 
 
 ceous along that belt. I am not satisfied that 
 such is the fact. To my mind there is but very 
 little evidence of it; but I do not care to discuss 
 the matter till I have procured more light on tbe 
 subject. At present my belief is that the drift 
 rests immediately upon a thin renmant of the St. 
 Peter sandstone. Perhaps in some places the St. 
 Peter is all eroded so that the drift rests imme- 
 diately upon the Shakopee. 
 
 The Trenton limestone is nearly removed from 
 the western part of the county, the bluffs along 
 the Straight River to a point a little so>ith of Far- 
 ibault, and a hill near Northfield, being the tmly 
 places where it occurs. East of the river, however 
 it is extensive, and furnishes abtindance of mater- 
 ial for building purposes, of which mention will 
 be made under the head "Material Resources." 
 
 In general character the Trenton resembles so 
 closely that found in other parts of the State, and 
 so carefully described in previous reports on the 
 survey of the State, that little need be said here. 
 
 For builduig purposes, the most of that found 
 in this county is superior to that quarried near St. 
 Paul, in that it contains less clay and does not 
 weather so easily. On the other hand tlie Rice 
 county limestone contains more concretionary iron 
 pyrites, and hence necessitates more care in its 
 selection for architectural purposes. 
 
 The Straight River cuts through the Trenton 
 and enters upon the St. Peter at Walcott's mill, 
 three miles south of Faribault. At a point eight 
 miles further north the river (having now become 
 the Cannon) has worked its way through the St. 
 Peter and enters upon the Shakopee. The thick- 
 ness of the St. Peter, in Rice county, is from 100 
 to 12.5 feet. It appears in the form of cliffs at 
 frequent points along both sides of the river from 
 the place where it is first reached by the Straight 
 to tlie northern limits of the county, and in the 
 northeastern part of the county it frequently ap- 
 pears in the hills — indeed it largely gives charac- 
 ter to the topography of this sectiim. 
 
 Judging from the topograj^hy also I am satis- 
 fied that many of the hills in the northwestern 
 part of the county — in Wheatland and Webster 
 townships — consist largely of the St. Peter; but 
 they are so heavily covered by drift and timber 
 that I could neither find nor learn of any exjios- 
 ures. In Cedar Lake there is an island, the top- 
 ography and flora of which indicate the St. 
 Peter, capped by Trenton. I was unable to verify 
 this by excavations. 
 
268 
 
 HISTORY OF BICE COUNTY. 
 
 There is no place in the county where the St. 
 Peter Siimlstone is sulKeieutly compact and firm 
 for bnOding stone. As along the Mississippi, it 
 may be removed by pick and shovel. In color it 
 is — as along the Mississippi River — white to red, 
 according to the percentage of iron, and its o.xida- 
 tion resulting from exposure. No fossils are 
 found in it here. 
 
 The Shakopee limestone is reached by the Can- 
 non River at a point about four miles south of 
 Dundas — six miles south of Nortlifield. 
 
 On leaving the county one-half mile north of 
 Northfield, the river has cut into the Shakopee 
 about thirty feet. The map shows approximately 
 the extent of this formation as exposed. The de- 
 scriptions of it in preceding reports will apply to 
 the formation as seen here. 
 
 MATEBI.\L IlESOUKOES. 
 
 Limestone — both for building-stone and quick- 
 lime — and sand for mortar, are abundant along 
 the valleys of the Cannon and Straight Rivers, and 
 througliout the western half of the county; while 
 in the western portion no limestone is found. 
 
 Good clay for the manufacture of brick is suf- 
 ttcienty abundant all over the county. 
 
 Stone Qdakuies are abundant throughout the 
 eastern half of the county. The bluffs through- 
 out this region are capped by a layer of the 
 Trenton varying from a tew inches to several feet 
 in thickness. The various neighborhoods of this 
 section have their quarry, or quarries, from which 
 all the building stone for general purposes is 
 easily obtained. 
 
 Prairie Creek valley has scores of quarries 
 opened along its bluffs; and the valley of the 
 Cannon looks up to as many more. Good cours- 
 ing stone is furnished at Northfield for about Sfi 
 per cord. 
 
 At Fall Creek, three miles east of Faribault, 
 tliere is a fine deposit which is being extensively 
 iiuarried by its owner, Mr. Philip Cromer. The 
 deposit of limestone here is about twelve feet 
 thick, and is covered by about four feet of drift 
 and loam. The strata in this quarry range from 
 three to twelve inches in thickness, and ai-e easily 
 quarried. The upper stratum, eight inches in 
 thickness, is quite light-colored and filled with 
 fossils which are so thoroughly cemented and 
 transformed as to render the stone compact, while 
 its fossiliferous nature is still clearly apparent. 
 But few specimens of fossils can be enucleated. 
 
 The rock is infiltrated by gypsum and Iron Pyrites 
 which often cement its seams quite firmly. Mr. 
 Cromer sells undressed stone for prices ranging 
 from $5 to $15 per cord. The greater part of his 
 business however is in the best varieties, which he 
 sells by the cubic foot, at prices ranging from 
 twenty-five cents to seventy-five cents. 
 
 Mr. N. Lord, two miles south of Faribault, on 
 the west side of the river, has two quarries opened, 
 from which he has sold as high as 300 cords in 
 one year. 
 
 In Richland township, bordering on Goodhue 
 county, Messrs. Halver Johnson and Peter Halver- 
 son have each a fine quarry at which I saw about 
 100 cords ready for market. 
 
 Messrs. I. Lenhart, A. Revere, C. Stetson, D. 
 Ferguson, and P. Oleson are the principal quarry- 
 men in the vicinity of Northfield; and on Prairie 
 Creek, in Wheeling township, Messrs. J. Thomp- 
 son, A. Knapf, and S. Aslagson do quite a busi- 
 ness in quarrying for their neighbors. 
 
 liiME Kilns. — The upper four strata of the 
 Lower Trenton formation, as exposed in this 
 county, furnish tolerably good material for quick- 
 lime, though in some places the deposit is too sili- 
 cious, and in no place is the lime obtained suf- 
 ficiently white for fine work. When fir^t burned 
 the lime is yellowish in color, but when slacked is 
 nearly white. It is excellent for stone work. 
 
 Though lime has been burned in every town- 
 ship of the county east of the Cannon Kiver, it 
 is not now made a regular and paying business, 
 except at Phillip Cromer's kiln, on Fall Creek, 
 near Faribault. Mr. Cromer u.ses a patent kiln 
 and burns from 3,000 to 3,.500 barrels a year, which 
 he sells at sixty-five cents per barrel. Three other 
 kilns near Faribault, owned respectively by Messrs. 
 Pond, Lee, and riord,burn in the aggregate about 
 1,000 barrels per year. There is a kiln one mile 
 from Northfield, in Dakota county, which supplies 
 Northfield and vicinity. This kilu burns its lime 
 from the best strata of the Shakopee formation. 
 In general character the lime is like that of the 
 Trenton. 
 
 Bkick. — Rice county contains an abundance of 
 clay for tlie manufacture of brick, but none has 
 been found sufficiently free from iron to make the 
 white or cream colored brick. At Taribault Mr. 
 J. G. McCarthy makes about 700,000 per year, 
 which he sella at S6 per thousand. One season 
 lie made one million. All the clav of this section 
 
EARLY SETTLEMENr. 
 
 26il 
 
 is so clear that to make good brick it is necessary 
 to add sand. 
 
 Henry Durham, of Faribault, burns about 
 , 300,001) per year and fluds lying immediately 
 under the elay a stratum of sand for mixture 
 with it. 
 
 Another brickyard lias been started at Faribault, 
 which has been a success. At Prairieville, Messrs_ 
 Meisner and Li'onard are making about 300,000 
 per year. Their brick are said to contain consid- 
 erable lime and to be very good. At Morristown, 
 Mr. Pettiel makes about 50,000 per year. Three 
 miles northeast of Faribault, Mr. Duugay is mak- 
 ing the best brick yet produced iu the county. 
 His product so far has been but about 100,000 
 per year, but these have been sold at from iJ7.50 
 to $8 per thousand. At HhieldsviUe one kiln is 
 burned each year for home supply, and at North- 
 field one or two small kilns are burned every 
 season. 
 
 In 1878, a bank of clay was opened about three 
 miles from Nortlitield, and brick for the new col- 
 lege buikling ( St. Olaf's ) have been burned. 
 They are jironounced of fine <|uality. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 EAKLY SETTLEMENT INCIDENTS — THE UBD MEN - 
 
 FAIilliAULT AND BICE COUNTY IN 18.58. 
 
 Alexander Faribault, the pioneer of the county, 
 a son of Jean B. Faribault, who had been for years 
 in the employ of the Fur Qompany, started from 
 Fort Snelling iu the fall of 1820, with Joseph 
 Dashner, who remained here until a few years 
 ago, when he went to Dakota, and afterwards 
 died. There were several others in the party; he 
 had a one-horse cart laden with goods, and after a 
 trip of ten days a trading post was established at 
 Te-ton-ka To-nah, or the "Lake of the Village," 
 which is three miles above Faribault. The In- 
 dians were got together, and the goods trusted out 
 to them, on their jiromise to pay in furs when tlie 
 party should return in the spring, about the first 
 of April, and to the credit of the red men it may 
 be said, that they, almost without exception, were 
 prompt in meeting their oljligations. 
 
 In relation to the prices paid for fu .s by the fur 
 companies, about which there might bj some curi- 
 osity, it may be said that there were certain tech- 
 
 nicalities eouueeted with the trade that was well 
 understood. A certain number of skins of a 
 smaller animal re])i('sented a certain fraction of a 
 larger one. Tbe ])rice of a bearskin, for instance, 
 woulil be a multiple of so many muskrat skinsi 
 and the prices paid were well up, if not equal to 
 the New York price. The object, of course, was 
 to monopolize the trade, the profit Ix'ing mad(! on 
 the goods paid in exchange, which were of two, 
 three, four or more prices. This post was kcjit u]j 
 until removed to the presenf site of Faribault, and 
 Mr. Faribault kept on collecting furs, and sui>i)ly- 
 ing goods up to the time of the settlement of the 
 j)lace, and the removal of the VVaupakutas, that 
 being the name of the baud of Sioux that occu- 
 pied this region. 
 
 The Indians removed from the lake where tlieir 
 village was, and built on the point which is n(.)W 
 occupied by Mr. Faribault's old residence. This 
 was in 1835, and at that time there were about 
 forty of their barl; covered abodes. Their burial 
 ground is enclosed by the dooryard of Mr. Fari- 
 bault's house. There rest the bones of Visiting 
 Eagle and his family, a prominent chief who was 
 killed at the iLstigatiou of .Jack Frazer, a half- 
 breed who had a rival trading post, because Visit- 
 ing Eagle's people traded with Faribault, and the 
 chief refused to restrain them and give him a mo- 
 nopoly. 
 
 After the village of Faribault began to be set- 
 tled, there was chief Rjd Leg, brother to Visiting 
 Eagle, who was a fine red man but very intem- 
 perate. A second chief at that time was Pah-pa, 
 or Prick Leg, as he was commonly called, but he 
 was a teetotaler, a sort nf .John B. Gough iu his 
 tribe. 
 
 Two log houses were built bv the agents of a 
 trading company, in 1845, and would be occupied 
 iu winter by the whites, and wheuthey left in the 
 spring the red men would take possession. These 
 buildings afterwards served as a residence and 
 hotel which was kept by Mr. Peters Buh and fam- 
 ilv, who came in 1853, which date must be set 
 down as the actual beginning of the settlement, 
 which has gone ou with no real interruption until 
 the present time. Mr. Bush afterwards became 
 the proprietor at Lake Te-ton-ka To-nah, 
 
 E. J. Crump with his wife crossed Straight 
 River on the 2d of May, 1853. Mr. Crump, in 
 company with Rev. Standish and .John (iekler, 
 under the direction of the Massachnseets Colony, 
 
270 
 
 nrSTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 had previously selected a claim here and erected a 
 cabin. 
 
 Mr. J. Wells was au early oue to establish a 
 home here, and he opened a farm on the Cannon 
 bottom just above town, which became one of the 
 finest in the vicinity. 
 
 Tljo next important arrivals were Lnke Hulett 
 and family, with Levi Nutting, Mark Wells, Mc- 
 Kiuzie, and Mr. Boyington, with others who will 
 be mentioned further on. 
 
 lu relation to the very earliest visits to this 
 region, Mr. Alexander Faribault, who is still alive 
 and most excellent authority, as all will admit who 
 have the honor of his acquaintance, gives the fol- 
 lowing account, and also furnishes incidents at and 
 subsequent to the actual occupation by the whites. 
 General H. H. Sihley, who knew him long years 
 ago when in the employ of the North American 
 Fur Company, pays an unqualified tribute to his 
 character, integrity, energy, and reliability, as 
 well as his high sense of honor and his unbounded 
 hospitality ; indeed, the exercise of this last quality, 
 more than all else, has left him pecuniarily 
 stranded. He was led into investments in the 
 milling and other interests to which he was not 
 adapted by nature or education, and not having 
 the "almighty dollar" before him as the chief end 
 of man, we find him to-day in his old age, de- 
 pendent upon his old friends whom, years ago, he 
 himself placed on the road to prosperity. The 
 house in which he lives was furnished by J. D. 
 Greene, and the citizens of the town who are so 
 largely indebted to him for having a city here at 
 all, will see that during his remaining years the 
 few requirements for his support are within easy 
 reach. But, to his relation; as already stated he 
 was an Indian trader who established a jiost near 
 here in 1826, at a time when the North American 
 Fur Company, under the management of John 
 Jacob Astor, was a mammoth institution, employ- 
 ing three thousand men, scattered all through the 
 Northwest. In 18:i5, the post was fixed here, at 
 what was then known as the junction of the 
 Straight with the Cannon Rivers. About the year 
 1844, he resolved to locate on the very site of the 
 present city of Faribault, and make it a permanent 
 residence, to await the oncoming tide of emigra- 
 tion which had halted at the Father of Waters, 
 but which was absolutely certain to resume its 
 march, not again to halt until the Pacific ocean, 
 with a mandate not to be disobeyed, should say. 
 
 "Thus far and no farther, and here shall thy 
 proud waves be stayed." 
 
 So that year Mr. Fariliault sent Joseph Dash- 
 ner and Hypolite Martin to open a farm and take 
 charge of it for him. Three years afterwards, Al- 
 exander Graham, Mr. Faribault's brother-in-law, 
 together with Mr. Brunei, his wife and one child, 
 all of whom were French Canadians, came on here, 
 as they had all been engaged to take care of the 
 farm. About this time JohnRix was employed to 
 cook and help care for the stock, and after a time 
 Peter St. Antoine and his wife came to relieve Mr. 
 Brunei. In 18.53, Peter Bush came out to do the 
 blacksmithing, and his family came along and oc- 
 cupied the Iniilding erected some years before by 
 Mr. Faribault for a trading post, which was near 
 where the mill built by Mr. Faribault now stands. 
 He also had a log house near the Travis place, 
 which he used as a sugar camp. Mr. Faribaidt 
 lived here at intervals every year, after first bring- 
 ing these people, spending usually several months 
 each summer. At such times he was visited by 
 Gen. Sibley, Major Forbes, and other aci|uain- 
 tances, who sometimes brought their families. 
 
 In the winter of 1827, Mr. Faribault spent some 
 time at Elysium with his wife. He claims to 
 have been the very first one to open a farm here, 
 and his land, which was broken and cultivated, 
 was on the flat south of the Faribault stone mill, 
 and here he raised wheat, barley, oats, and root 
 crops. On his farm ho had, as he declares, twenty 
 horses, forty head of cattle, three hundred chick- 
 ens, and fifty or more turkeys, and the Indians 
 never gave him any trouble. 
 
 Mr. Faribault was a member of the Territorial 
 Legislature for this county, and had the privilege 
 of naming it, so he selected the name of Rice, in 
 honor of his old friend, Senator Henry M. Rice. 
 When Mr. Hulett came there was (juite a well de- 
 fined track from St. Paul to this point, made by 
 teams hauling provisions, and at that time there 
 were actually here, Peter Bush and family, Ed- 
 ward Le May, Narcisse Arpan, Henry Millard, 
 Joseph Dashuer, Mr. E. J. Crump, and a Rev. Mr. 
 Standish, with five log shanties all told, such as 
 they were. 
 
 At the Old Settlers re-union in 1875, the Hon. 
 Henry M. Rice was present, and delivered an ad- 
 mirable address, full of historical anecdotes, and 
 what will be of especial interest to residents of this 
 county will be here condensed. In 1844, General 
 
KAUI.y SETTLEMENT. 
 
 271 
 
 Sumuer had command at Fort Atkiusoii, in Iowa, 
 which was theu Indian territory, and he got uj) 
 an expedition to Minnesota, and invited Mr. Hioe 
 to iioeompauy the (larty. They had no wagons 
 along, but only pack mules io carry provisions. 
 Arriving at the confluence of the Straight and 
 Cannon Kivers, they found Mr. A. Faribault, and 
 he was engaged as a guide. U)) to this point they 
 had not met a liuraan being, but they pushed on 
 and swung around to Fort Snelling, up the Min- 
 nesota valley to the Blue Earth, ami so west 
 toward the Des Moines, and thence to Shell Hock 
 and Cedar River. At Shakopee there was found a 
 brother of Mr. Faribault, and at St. Peter's there 
 was a polite old Frenchman, "Mons Provincial." 
 Not a soul was theu living at Maukato. 
 
 General Sumner kindly allowed Mr. Rice and 
 Mr. Faribault to leave the company and hunt 
 buffalo, and they soon spotted a fine animal and at 
 once gave chase. A shot wounded him, and he 
 became furious and at once reversed the order of 
 things, the pursuers becoming the pursued. Mr. 
 Rice was thrown from his horse, and he began to 
 realize how rapidly his earthly career was drawing 
 to a close, when Mr. Faribault, who was a most 
 admirable marksman, brought down the infuriated 
 brute. On this journey the men had to swim the 
 rivers holding on to the tails of their horses. 
 
 In 1817, Mr. Faribault went with Mr. Rice on a 
 trip up the U])])er Mississippi, and he never, as he 
 stated, saw him more than pleasurably excited, 
 under any circumstances. 
 
 At this same meeting Sheriir Barton made a few 
 remarks, relating how he came to St. Paul in 
 1850, when corner lots were selling at SIO. There 
 was a girl east that he thought a good deal of, and 
 he went back to find that some other fellow had 
 got her. He returned to St. Paul and found that 
 some other fellow hatl got that, and this exasper- 
 ating loss of two good things so discouraged him 
 that he sought the country air, which he has been 
 breathing ever since. 
 
 In the spring of 1852, Mr. Luke Hulett, who 
 had already had quite a frontier experience, was 
 living on his farm in Wisconsin, and he read in 
 the "New York Tribune" that the purchase of the 
 lands west of the Mississippi from the Sioux had 
 been effected. He then restilved to carry out his 
 purpose ft)rmed long before, to make his home in 
 Minnesota, and he accordingly started for St. 
 Paul, but on arriving there he saw a letter from 
 
 Hon. H. H. Sibley, the delegate in Congress, 
 stating that the treaty had lieen defeated in the 
 Senate, but he concluded not to allow a little cir- 
 cumstance like this to disarrange his plans. Low 
 water, however, in the Wisconsin River, prevented 
 him from getting his family and effects on the 
 rt)ad until the next spring. It seems that he had 
 read in the "Blilwaukee Sentinel" a truthful ac- 
 count of this region, from the pen of a gentleman 
 who had been one of a surveying party to lay out 
 a road from Lake Pepin to Mankato, the junction 
 of the Straight with the Cannon Rivers being a 
 point. The description filled his idea of a place 
 to locate, and he started up the Mississippi, and 
 arrived in St. Paul on Sunday, the 'Jth of May, 
 1853. He stopped at a tavern, and the landlord, 
 learning that he j)roposed to go to the Straight 
 and Cannon Rivers, advised him to stick to the 
 water communications, but if he must go back 
 into the country, that Maukato was the place. 
 But Blr. Hulett had his mind made up, after a 
 careful survey of the subject, to examine the loca- 
 tion of which he had received such glowing ac- 
 count, and while making arrangements he formed 
 the acquaintance of Levi Nutting, which resulted 
 in a lasting friendship. 
 
 Mr. Nutting, on learning that Mr. Hulett was 
 going to explore for a location, inquired as to his 
 plans, and informed him that himself and several 
 other young men had just arrived in St. Paul, and 
 desired to find a place to locate, and the result of 
 tlie interview was that a party of six was thus 
 formed, and with an emigrant team of two horses 
 they started from St. Paul, leaving the family 
 there, and made the first attempt to establish a 
 ])ermanent agricultural colony in Rice coimty. 
 On the 13th of May, 1853, the little party crossed 
 the Mississippi at St. Paul, to the bottom oppo- 
 site that little hamlet. Roads then were mere 
 trails, and whatever facilities for transportation 
 existed in the country anywhere, was due to nature 
 and not art. That spring was wet, and before 
 till y had got out of the bottom the wagon was 
 mired and the horses had to be detached, the 
 wa'gnu unloaded and hauled by luiman mu«cle, 
 assisted by human brain, to high ground. Dur- 
 ing the journey they saw no more of humanity 
 outside of their own party, except two settlers' 
 cabins near the river. The first night they en- 
 canqied in a grove fifteen miles from St. Paul, and 
 a uortheast storm which had been threatening 
 
2 72 
 
 BISTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 through the night broke upon them in the morn- 
 ing, and its copious stores continued to drench 
 them until they arrived at a slough within a few 
 miles of Cannon City, which seemed to interjjose 
 a'barrier against further progress, as there was ten 
 inches of water on a network of roots for a road 
 bed. The horses were unhitched and taken over, 
 and then the young men hauled the wagon 
 through. As they entered the woods between 
 Cannon City and Faribault, the rain ceased and 
 the clouds began to disperse, and the prospect 
 that opened up before them was most charming, 
 looked upon in a practical way; good timber and 
 good water laying contiguous to good cleared 
 land aggregated the very desideratum for a pio- 
 neer settler. Superadd to this a climate where 
 health holds the highest place, and what could be 
 found better after traveling the wide world over? 
 The varieties of timber were familiar, and to say 
 that Mr. Hulett was delighted would be expressing 
 it mildly, and as they reached the brow of the hill 
 opposite the site of the old Barron House, the sun, 
 as it was about to set, broke through the canopy of 
 the clouds, and casting a mellow golden light upon 
 the village of the Wau-pa-ku-ta band of Indians, 
 comprising s^me sixty wigwams, stretched along 
 where Main Street now is, the vision presented was 
 most enchanting, and the newcomers felt that they 
 had arrived in the promised land, which it was 
 ])rupoBed to occupy, whether they had a commis- 
 sion to drive out the aliorigines that inhabited it 
 or not. The view is well described in poetic 
 words : 
 
 ' Over the fields the daisies lie. 
 
 With the huttereups under the azure sky; 
 
 Shadtjw and sunshine side by side, 
 
 Are chasing e.ich i>ther o'er mead(»ws wide; 
 
 Wllile the warm, sweet breath of the summer air. 
 
 Is filled with the perfume of blossoms fair. 
 
 Ferns and grasses and wild vines grow 
 Close where the waters ripple and flow, 
 And the merry zephyrs the livelong day 
 With the nodding leaves are ever at play; 
 And the? birds are winging their happy Ilight 
 'Moiigst all things beautiful, free and bright. 
 With a hum of bees in the drowsy air. 
 And a glitter of butterflies everywhere." 
 
 c 
 
 The next morning, on the 15th of May, 18.53, 
 the sun rose clear and the air was balmy, and having 
 spaneeled the horses and set them out to feed 
 near where the stone mill now is, our adventurers 
 ascended the hill near the present site of the Cath- 
 olic Church, "and viewed the landscape o'er," and 
 as they faced to the north, the junction of the two 
 
 streams and their respective backgrounds were in 
 full view, and the panoroma was most enchanting 
 as there had been no marring of nature's handi- 
 work by the vandal hand of man. The thoughts 
 uppermost in the mind were that hero is a rich and 
 pleasant land, a fit abode for civilization, that has 
 been preserved for this purpose by the various 
 races that have occupied it, the last being the 
 "Ani-chin-a-bees," in tlie vernacular, or the Indian 
 with his animal neighbors. Unnumbered sum- 
 mers had annually renewed the rich vegetation of 
 these lovely valleys to be swept away by autumnal 
 tires. These two smiling rivers mingled their 
 waters unwitaessed by man, except in his hunter 
 state. Man is left to work out his own destiny, 
 and with such facilities there should be no uncer- 
 tainty as to the result. 
 
 '"Our lives through various scenes are drawn. 
 
 iVnd vexed with trifling cares, 
 While Thine eternal thoughts move (»n, 
 
 Their undisturbed affairs." 
 
 Mr. Hulett judged that this country, being 
 known, would be settled as fast as it would be de- 
 sirable, and here nature had certainly conspired to 
 produce a business center. He therefore came to 
 the conclusion that this should be his future home, 
 and he so informed the young men who were with 
 him, advising them to take a quarter section right 
 here, hold on to it, and go to work and secure, as 
 soon as possible, the two hundred dollars with 
 which to pay for it, for the slave power being 
 dominant then, there was no hope for a homestead 
 law, and that in a few years they would be worth 
 four or five thousand dollars each. Such modest 
 hopes and expectations did not meet the views of 
 a majority of these ambitious young men, and they 
 declared that in a few years they expected to be 
 worth ten or twelve thousand dollars. Mr. Hulett 
 asked them how much they had saved in the last 
 three years, they replied, not a "red cent;" well, 
 said he, "the experience of the past is the prophecy 
 as to the future," but they could not be prevailed 
 upon to embark with the colony here, and so only 
 Mark Wells remained to make a home, although 
 Levi Nutting returned the next year. 
 
 Five claims were found staked out in the inter- 
 est of Alexander Faribault, when Mr. Hulett ar- 
 rived, who up to this time had never heard of 
 him. While returning to St. Paul fcHiis family, 
 Mr. Hulett ami Mr. Faribault met and talked over 
 the whole business, and although Mr. Faribault 
 had resolved to have a settlement of French Cana- 
 
ICAIil. Y SKlTLICMKyr. 
 
 273 
 
 iliuns, he was so favorably impressed with the 
 new comer that he oorJiully invited him to come 
 and they would together work iu tlu; intorest of 
 building up a town. 
 
 Iu a few days Mr. Hnlett returned and found 
 Peter Bush, Kdward J. Crump, and James Wells 
 were with the party. Mr. Wells was one of the 
 first members of the Territorial Li'gislaturo. Ho 
 was an eccentric, but sincere and honest man in 
 all his dealings. 
 
 Here is a complete list of those who spent the 
 winter of 1853 in Faribault, who had responded 
 in a practicel way to the refraiu so pojjular at that 
 time: 
 
 "To the west, to the west, the land of the free, 
 Where the niisjhty JlisRouri rolls down to the sea, 
 Where a man is a man if he's willing to Unl 
 And the poorest may gather the fruits of the soil." 
 
 Alexander Faribault and family, Luke Hulett 
 and family, James Wells and family, Frederick 
 Faribault and family, Edward J. Crump and wife, 
 Peter Bush and family, Mr. Sprague and wife, 
 Mr. Springer and wife, and the following young 
 unmarried people, Norbert Paijuiu, Smith John- 
 son, Orlando Johnson, John Hulett, Hugh Mc- 
 Clelland, Mark Wells, A.McKenzie, Robert Smith, 
 and Theodore Smith. 
 
 The spring and summer of 1854 brought the 
 following accessions; John Morris, who subse- 
 quently laid out Morristowu, Major Babcock, 
 Truman Bass, Mr. Tripp, who was the first to 
 settle on East Prairie, Dennis O'Brien, Mr. Travis, 
 Mr. Parshall, and James and Henry Scott, 
 who built the first saw-mill in town. The Sears', 
 father and son, in the fall of 1854, located in 
 Cannon City and became formidable competitors 
 for the county seat. Judge Woodman came about 
 this time, and also Mr. William Dunn, who se- 
 cured a claim east of Cannon City. Mr. Drake 
 and others settled near Northfleld. This is sub- 
 stantially Mr. Hulett's statement as written out for 
 the "Republican"" a few years before his death, 
 tliere is a slight variation, in the personnel of the 
 j)ione',T.s, from other accounts. 
 
 General Levi Nutting's account of the first trij) 
 to Faribanlt from St. Paul, and his early exper- 
 ience here is well worthy of perusal. He came with 
 Mr. Hulett, Mark Wells, Mr. McKenzie and 
 others. The boat they got over the Mississip])i 
 on was a little larger than a hogshead ; their stock 
 of provisions consisted of flour, pork, ham, tea, 
 coffee, and a few other thing.s. The first night 
 18 
 
 they encamped one mile from Empire City. A 
 fire was built and they "turneil iu" with their feet 
 toward the embers, and during the night a coal of 
 tire dropped upon Mr. Nuttings blanket, and 
 burned tiirough to his boot and eat a hole tlirougli 
 that. After a while the (Jeneral smelled .some- 
 body's foot l)uruiug, and an investigation revealed 
 the uncomfortable fact that it was his own mem- 
 ber, so he proceeded to promptly suppress the 
 impending cremation, as that was before this 
 method of disposing of bodies had been seriously 
 agitated. In the morning the journey was re- 
 sumed, Castle Rock, in the distance, looked like 
 a meeting house. 
 
 At five o'clock in the evening of the 14th of 
 May, 1853, the party reached Faribault and found 
 Peter Bush and wife living near where Riedell A- 
 Turner's mill now is. This, with the cal)in of 
 Norbert Paquin, were the only white residents 
 here. He remained three weeks and had a good 
 ajipetite and enjoyed a varied liill of fare, "bread 
 and pork for breakfast, pork and bread for diuner> 
 and some of both for supper." 
 
 The stone i(uarry hill was an ludhtn burial 
 ground, if such a name can be given to a place 
 where the cadavers are hung upon trees, after being 
 tied up in blankets. There were from twenty to 
 thirty of these repulsive objects, swaying in the 
 breeze over there at that time. While Mr. Hulett 
 and one or two of the others remained at that time, 
 the General did not come back until April, 1855- 
 He declares the very earliest settlers are entitled 
 to the greatest credit for what they accomplished. 
 He once sold 100 bushels of wheat for .^25, and 
 jiaid it all to the hired man. A steer he had 
 raised was slaughtered, and he sold the fore quar- 
 ters toR. A. Mott for S4, and he then had so much 
 money in his pocket, more than any other man in 
 town, that he borrowed a musket from Mr. Mott 
 to protect himself on his way home! He says that 
 our dignified Postmaster usud to wear jeans .and 
 work at carpentering with a borrowei.1 hammer, or 
 in a saw-mill. 
 
 Four young men kept a boarding house, two of 
 them did the chamber work and waited upon the 
 table, and the other two did the cooking; one of 
 them is now on the supreme bench, another has 
 been a State Senator, a third has been a distin- 
 guished Euro|)eau traveler, and the other has been 
 State Senator and City Attorney. 
 
 At one of the old settlers" reunions, Hon. 
 
274 
 
 HTSTORY OF rJCE COVNTY. 
 
 George E. Skinner, who was present, in a Ijanter- 
 iug way asked General Nutting how it was that a 
 gentleman like him should go to bed with his 
 boots on? Tlie General at once promj)tl_v rejjlied 
 that it was because he did not come here bare- 
 footed as SIvinner did. 
 
 Gen. Nutting relates how the town was named. 
 It was soon after the arrival of Mr. Hulett, when a 
 meeting was called at -the Tlolel di: Bush, and as 
 Mr. Faribault was so well known, his name was 
 agreed ui^on and a petition drawn up and given 
 to Gen. Siblev for a Post-office and a post route, 
 with Alexander Faribault as Postmaster and Mr. 
 Davis as mail carrier. 
 
 Peter Bush made the following statement as to 
 his advent at this point: 
 
 In 1851, he started from Beloit, Wisconsin, to 
 St. Paul, with a load of wagon.s, and while there 
 met several Canadians and trapper.-* who were ac- 
 quainted with this part of the country, and they 
 told him. that a good place to settle with his fam- 
 ily would be at the junction of the Straight and 
 Cannon Rivers, as tLiere was water power, wooil, 
 and prairie there. In August, 18.52, he visited the 
 place and was pleased with it, and saw Mr. Fari- 
 bault, who was then stopping at Mendota; he told 
 Mr. Bush, however, that he did not intend to re- 
 main there long, but proposed to locate here where 
 he had already cultivated a farm, and an agree- 
 ment was made to come here in April, 1853, and 
 occupy the old trading post, which he did. He 
 was not in the exclusive employ of Mr. Faribault, 
 but did work for him, and also for Mr. Wells. 
 The first settlers after Mr. Bush, according to his 
 recollection, were Mr. Wright, Mr. Lull, E. J. 
 Crump, John Dutch, P. Standish, and ijuite a 
 number of men who had come to work for Mr. 
 Faribault. When Mr. Hulett came, there were 
 two cows here, and he wanted to get board at Mr. 
 Bush's, who had a log house and a blacksmith 
 shop opposite where St. Mary's Hall now is, with 
 some land staked off, but was told that his claim 
 would be jumped unless he Lad plenty of money 
 to defend it, and so he was induced to sell it for 
 $116, and removed to the lake where he lived 
 afterwards. 
 
 There were at first at least 100 Indian tee-pees 
 here. Mr. Bush is now unfortunately insane and 
 an inmate at St. Peter Asylum. 
 
 At the reunion of the old settlers in February, 
 1877, an interesting letter from Gen. H. H. Sibley 
 
 was read, and a brief resume of its contents will be 
 pi-eseuted : Mr. Alexander Faribault, who was the 
 founder of the city, was for years connected with 
 the American Fur Com25auy, of which the Genercd 
 was the managing partner in this region, and he 
 was always found to be a man of sterling worth 
 and integrity. Jean Baptiste Faribault, the father 
 of Alexander, came to this country when young, 
 and was a fur trader who in the war of 1812, when 
 the extreme Northwest was in the hands of the 
 British, remained true to the American cause; be 
 was of a highly respectable Canadian family. 
 Years ago Mr. Fariliault and Gen. Sibley used to 
 hunt together with Little Crow, and Mr. Fari- 
 bault pointed out this spot where he proposed to 
 settle as soon as the title of the Sioux was extin- 
 guished. Few men have responded as he has 
 done to the demands upon him, to support so 
 many of his wife's I'elations, but whatever his 
 financial condition may be, he will go down to 
 his grave honored and respected by all. 
 
 At the meeting of the old settlers in March, 
 1875, Hon. O. F. Perkins related his ex])erieuce, 
 an abstract of which is here given. He left Ver- 
 mont in 1854, fell in with the great western bound 
 llood tide of emigration, and traveled by rail to 
 the western terminus of the railroad, at Galena, 
 Illinois, and there took passage for St. Paul, on 
 the Alhambra, which was two weeks making the 
 trip. St. Paul then claimed «4,000 inhabitants. 
 He went to St. Anthony and Minneapolis, spend- 
 ing the winter there. He had no business, but 
 was invited to deliver an address on the Maine 
 liquor law, which he then thought would be most 
 admirable for this new country, which he did with 
 such success that he sujjposed the whole commu- 
 nity was converted to his views. About that time 
 the first suspension bridge across the Mississijipi, 
 at Minneapolis, was completed, at Mr. Perkins, at 
 the celebration and banquet which followed this 
 event, was called upon for a speech, and although 
 all the public men there were intensely democratic, 
 he introduced his anti-slavery views, which, had be 
 been a little older he might have been a littl.' 
 more cautious in doing in such a presence. This, 
 however, proved to be a turning point in bis 
 career, for the Hon. J. W. North, hearing of the 
 incident, invited him to go with him to Faribault, 
 whei'e just such daring men were wanted, and he 
 accepted tlio invitation and rode out in a sleigh 
 with him, being two days on thi- road. It was 
 
EMiL y sh ttli:ment. 
 
 '27!J 
 
 bitter cold, and airiving here the scene was in 
 striking contrast with what woiiM greet a visitor 
 now. He remained a few days in mortal fear of 
 having his scalp lifted, came back the following 
 spring and opened a law office and studied up the 
 claim business, boarded with Mr. Crump, and had 
 bis office up stairs. He afterwards moved into a 
 blacksmith shop, but as business did not open up, 
 he went to farming. He bought a bushel of pota- 
 toes forS2.50, and carried them to a spot of ground 
 he had procured north of D. W. Humphrey's 
 house, and i:ilanted them with an axe; did nothing 
 more with them until fall, when the crop was sold 
 to Dr. Charles Jewett for $35. He also planted 
 some corn on the liluff near the stone quarry; it 
 came up two or three times, by the aid of the 
 gophers, but finally got ready to grow, and in 
 due time it was harvested by the cattle, and he 
 concluded that raising com was not his fortf, that 
 potatoes were his "best holt." Law being at a 
 discount, he tried his hand at theology, and 
 preached the first sermon, as far as he knew, in 
 this region, from a book loaui^d him by Truman 
 Nutting, and it was pure, unadulterated Calvin- 
 ism, without any "sugar coating." He also as- 
 sisted in the formation of the first Bible S(jciety ; 
 he was the Secretary, and Frank Nutting local 
 agent. According to his recollection, E. J. 
 Crump, Esq., was the first Justice of the Peace, 
 and the first case before him was a replevin case 
 for a gun worth .S2.50. Mr. Perkins was the pros- 
 ecuting attorney, but the case was sworn out of 
 the jurisdiction of the court. When at work as a 
 horny-handed yeoman, carrying his potatoes to 
 plant, he met John M. Berry and G. W. Batchel- 
 der, and with his brother they all went to living 
 together in a little board shanty. 
 
 That 4th of July was duly celebrated in Fari- 
 bault; Dr. Charles Jewett delivered the oration, 
 and Frank Nutting sung one of Ossian E. Dodge's 
 songs, "The Unfortunate Man." 
 
 In (Xitober, 18.55, there was a severe snow- 
 storm, but it soon melted, and November was a 
 fine month. In the winter Berry, Batchelder, and 
 the Perkins brothers kept a bachelor's hall, divid- 
 ing the housework, and the devices r&sorted to, to 
 get rid of washing the dishes, were often original 
 and ingenious. Mr. Perkins went east and got 
 his wife, and returned to remain in the county 
 ever since. 
 
 G. W. Tower came from Chic-kasaw county, 
 
 Iowa, in 1854, with a team, in company with 
 Messrs Carter, Kobert Douglass, Sears, and two 
 others, and afttr visiting various other places they 
 finally struck Faribault, and Mr. Tower took a 
 farm where Petitt's place now is; he afterwards 
 built a store opposite the Barron House. 
 
 It should be remarked here, that the Old Set- 
 tlers' Association of Kice county has jjroved to be 
 (]uite a historical "bonanza," and, to add another 
 mining term, has "panned out" well in the interest 
 of preserved reminisoenses. 
 
 Hon. G. W. Batchelder arrived and planted him- 
 self here in the spring of 1855, coming (m foot 
 with Judge Berry, who was not a judge then, ex- 
 cept of a good thing w'hen he saw it. They had 
 traveled around prospecting, visiting St. Paul, 
 Shakopee, Mankato, Cannon Palls, Zumbrota, and 
 finally here, where, enchanted with the country, 
 they resolved to halt. John Cooper was 
 here at the time and there was talk about his 
 jumping the townsite, but his claim proved a good 
 one and became Cooper's addition. At first Berry 
 and Batchelder boarded with Truman Nutting at 
 $4 a week, and afterwards with Bloses Cole at the 
 "Ox Head Tavern." 
 
 Reuben Rundell, G. W. Bachelder, Judge Berry, 
 and O. F. and C. C. Perkins afterwards established a 
 hotel on the European plan, north of the meeting 
 house. The great event the next year was the ar- 
 rival of H. E. Barron, whose fame had preceded 
 him as a man of wealth. He built the hotel, and 
 at its opening there was a great celebration, a pro- 
 cession, dinner, a dance, and speeches. The ar- 
 rival of Maj. Dike created another sensation, his 
 hair was then black and he was a fine looking 
 young man, and when the people were told that 
 he was going to stay and open a bank they began 
 to feel the importance of the place and to contem- 
 plate metropolitan airs. The place above all 
 others at an early day, for generous hospitality, 
 was at the house of Col. J. C. Ide, on East Prairie, 
 whose gates were always ajar, and the constant 
 round of bountiful entertainment enjoyed there 
 was a'l oasis in the experience of those who were 
 fortunate enough to enjoy it, that comj)ensated for 
 the long journey through social deserts which so 
 many at that day were obliged to travel. 
 
 Cajitain K. H. L. Jewett relates his first expe- 
 rience coming herefrom Faribault on foot, in July, 
 1855, during a very hot day. 
 
 Captain E. H. Cutts came to the State in 185!!, 
 
276 
 
 UISrORY OF niCB COUNTY. 
 
 aiul stopped awhile in Ited Wing, aud when lie 
 cnme to Faribault, saw and heard a soalp dance 
 where Turner's mill now stands. The Dakotaa 
 had some Chippewa scalps and were skulking 
 through the monotonous contortions of this san- 
 guinary dance, accompanied with the most blood 
 curdling yells. He ])resided over the first delja- 
 ting club here, went back to Illinois, and secur- 
 ing a wife, returned. 
 
 In June, 1854, John 0. Cooper came from St. 
 Paul, in company with the mail carrier, who had 
 the whole mail for the week on his person ; it con- 
 sisted of one letter and Mr. Hulett's regular copy 
 of the Tribune. 
 
 Mr. P. W. Frink relates a story as to the late 
 Lieiit. John C. Whipple, who was commissioned 
 as a Justice of the Peace in and for Rice county, 
 and in a certain case, the first one he had brought 
 before him, he made a ruling to which exception 
 was taken on account of its being directly in con- 
 flict with the law, but the irate Justice brought 
 his fist down upon the table and emphatically de- 
 clared that he did not care a continental whether 
 it was law or not, that he proposed to administer 
 justice. An appeal was taken and sustained, aud 
 in disgust he resigned. 
 
 Hon. H. M. Matteson, one of the pioneers, 
 started for this section in February, 18.54, and 
 stopped with John Hojt, where Dundas now is, 
 made a claim of some land and began to improve 
 it by changing work with Mr. Hoyt, giving him 
 a day's work for a day's use of his oxen. He 
 caught a large cat fish that lasted him for meat 
 quit,' a long time. 
 
 In a late number of the "Kepublicau," Mr. F. 
 W. Prink related his experience as a pioneer news- 
 paper man, which may not be uninteresting read- 
 ing, now that such changes in transportation, and 
 in almost all else that pertains to human life, have 
 taken ])lace. An abstract of his story can only be 
 presented here. On the 6th of September, 1856, 
 he arrived at Hastings with a press and material 
 to print a newspaper, and paid $1 a hundred to 
 have it hauled to Faribault, and to save $5 stage 
 fare traveled the distance himself on foot. On un- 
 packing the type it was found to be all pied' 
 except two forms that were left locked up. They 
 had lota of trouble sorting "pi," and it was not 
 until the 22d of October tliat the "Rice County 
 Herald" hashed upon the benighted world. 
 Major Cook, who afterwards fell gallantly fighting 
 
 for his country, made most of the wooden furni- 
 ture for the office. Clark Turner, a brother of 
 J. O. Turner, made the iron work, and he also gave 
 his life to his country. Charley Decker paid the 
 first dollar for subscription, and George W. & J. 
 M. Tower paid the first advertising bills. The 
 foreman of the office was Cal. Johnson ; the com- 
 positors were Andrews and Cressey. One of them 
 is now a Baptist minister. A young Sioux used to 
 hang around the office, but he oared more for 
 "gosh-paps" — dimes — than for work, and he was 
 afterwards in the massacre business. The "Fari- 
 bault Republican," the outgrowth of this first at- 
 tempt at journalism, has for years been one of the 
 best printed and edited sheets in the State, and has 
 never missed a day in its jjublication. 
 
 A list of the old settlers with the date of their 
 coming, as recorded in the Old Settlers Associa- 
 tion: 
 
 1853 — Alexander Faribault, Mendota, February. 
 W. R. Faribault, 
 Peter Bush, Canada, April. 
 Luke Hulett, Vermont, May. 
 
 E. H. Cutts. 
 
 1854— H. M. Matteson, Herkimer, N. Y., August. 
 
 F. W. Prink, Vermont, October. 
 J. G. Scott, New Jersey, June.- 
 J. R. Parshall, Ohio, June. 
 
 S. Benhaus, New Jersey, October. 
 A. S. Cromwell, New York, November. 
 John Cooper, England, July. 
 1855 — Levi Nutting, Massachusetts, April. 
 James Shants, New York, May. 
 
 G. S. Woodruff, Connecticut. 
 
 S. Atherton, Vermont, September. 
 E. N. Leavens, Connecticut, October, 
 (xeorge G. Howe, New York, June. 
 S. Barnard, Vermont. 
 J. S. Closson, New York, May. 
 R. H. L. Jewett, Rhode Island, July. 
 G. W. Bachelder, Vermont, May. 
 James Colleyers, England, JMay. 
 1856 — E. E. Rogers, Massachusetts, October. 
 W. H. Stevens, New York, June. 
 John Mulliu, New York, May. 
 J. B. Wheeler, Massachusetts, May. 
 C. M. Millspaugh, August. 
 Lyman Tuttle, June. 
 William McGinnis, Ireland, June. 
 A. Mortensen, Sweden, June. 
 O. A. Bailor, Indiana, June. 
 
EARLY SETTLEMENT. 
 
 211 
 
 S. C. Dunham, Connopticut, May. 
 
 C. D. Horn. 
 
 E. W. Dike. 
 
 D. O'Brien. 
 
 John Close, Ohio, June. 
 J. L. Dunham, New ■Tersey, April. 
 W. J. Qoll, New Harapshiro, July. 
 G. E. Skinner, New York, November. 
 P. E. Brown, New York, October. 
 
 F. G. Stevens, Michigan, June. 
 John Jipson, New York, .Vugnst. 
 
 G. W. Newell. 
 T. H. Loyheil. 
 
 1857 — H. Milaon, Ohio, February. 
 
 N. S. Flint, Vermont, April. 
 
 S. A. Wiley, New York, June. 
 
 Thomas Mee, New York, April. 
 
 Gordon E. Cole, Massachusetts, Jannary. 
 
 W. H. Dike, Vernicmt, May. 
 
 W. A. Shaw, New York. 
 On the occasion of the centennial celebration of 
 the independence of the country in 187fi, the gov- 
 ernment requested every county in the country to 
 have a historical sketch prepared up to that date. 
 Kice county was particularly fortunate in this re- 
 spect, and the sketch of the county was prepared 
 and presented as an address on Independence Day, 
 by F. W. Frink. For the sake of preserving it in 
 this permanent form, and on account of its being 
 a ?•('««?«<' of what had occurred up to that time, and 
 of some facts not found elsewhere in this work, if, 
 is reproduced here entire. 
 
 Fellow -Citizens — For an artist who has all his 
 life confined his art to life-size painting to attempt 
 a reproduction of his principal work in miniature, 
 it must require all his skill to prevent his picture 
 from proving a failure. Yet such is the task I 
 attempt to-day. For twenty years, or ever since 
 Rice county first took shape as a separate oigan- 
 ization, it has been either my duty or my pleasure, 
 and sometimes both, to chronicle its progress and 
 put upon record every forward step it has taken 
 in the march of its destiny, and now I am to try 
 to condense the work of this score of years into 
 the space allotted tor our page of the centennial 
 history of the nation. Under the circumstances it 
 will be a wonder, not if I fail, but if I succeed in 
 reproducing from the abundant material at my 
 command anything which may not be without 
 form, and void. 
 
 Rice county, unlike many ambitious places in 
 
 the western world, is not called by the name of 
 some old hero renowned in song or story, nor lias 
 it assumed the name of anceint or modern place 
 of proportions va.st, or storied fame, lint the Hon. 
 Henry M. Rice, of St. Paul, an early settler in the 
 State, and a warm friend of him who gave to the 
 city of Faribault his local habitation and his 
 name, is the man from whom our county takes its 
 name, and the man who still feels a warm interest 
 in everything pertaining to its welfare. 
 
 Although it was not until October, 1.S5.5, that 
 Rice county held an election as a separate organ- 
 ization, electing then for the first time its county 
 officers, Mr. Alexander Faribault had established a 
 trading post at the toot of what is now known as 
 Cannon Lake, but then called by the Sioux, Te- 
 ton-ka Tonah, or Lake of the Village, as early as 
 1826. While he was doubtless the first settler of 
 Rice county, and according to the records of the 
 Old Settler's Asscjciation, Mr. Peter Bush the 
 next, it was not until May, 185.3, when the Hon 
 Luke Hulett, who still resides within the limits of 
 the city of Fariliault, removed here with his fam- 
 ily, that the history of Rice county properly be- 
 gins, for the first settlement of a farmer in an 
 agricultural region is the beginning of its his- 
 tory. Alexander Faribault, Luke Hulett, and 
 Peter Bush sliould be considered the founders of 
 the first settlement in Rice county. 
 
 The history of the towns and villagi s of this 
 county begins even earlier than that of the county 
 itself, that is to say, before the county existed as a 
 political organization with well defined boundary 
 lines, the towns of Faribault, Northfield, Morris- 
 town, and Cannon City were surveyed, platted and 
 recorded in the order named. Alex. Fariliault, F. 
 B. Sibley, John W. North, and Porter Nutting, as 
 proprietors, filed the plat of the town of Faribault 
 in the office of the Register of Deeds in Dakota 
 county, to which Rice county was then attached 
 for judicial purposes, on the 17th day of Feb- 
 ruary, 1855. Previous to this date, however, a 
 preliminary survey had been made, and Walter 
 Morris owned the share afterward represented by 
 John W. NorMi. 
 
 In August, 1855, Mr. North having dispo.sed of 
 his interest in Faribault, wliilc in search of fresh 
 fields and pastures new, selected the site of the 
 present city of Northfield, and on the 7th of 
 March, 1856, filed the plat in the office of the 
 Register of Deeds in Rice county, which was then 
 
278 
 
 nrsTORY OF RICE COUNT y. 
 
 an office a little over two months old. A plat of 
 Cannon Citj had been made almost as early as that 
 of Faribault, bnt owing to the fact that the plat 
 had been made without the usual formality of a 
 preceding survey, it was thought best by the pro- 
 prietors, after a vain attempt to harmonize con- 
 fiictiug interests caused by conflicting boundary 
 lines, to have a survey made, the plat of which 
 was not filed for record until the 11th day of 
 November, 185(5, but j)revious to that date it was a 
 town of sufficient force to give Faribault a lively 
 race in a contest for the location of the county 
 seat. 
 
 April 1st, 18.56, Mrs. Sarah Morris, mother of 
 Walter Morris, one of the first proprietors of the 
 town of Faribault, and widow of Jonathan Morris, 
 one of the first settlers of Morristown, filed and 
 recorded the plat of Morristown. These were the 
 first born towns of Kice county, but the times were 
 then prolific in the birth of towns and cities, and 
 the eye of the speculator saw lieside every crystal 
 lake or limpid stream a site for a city full of the 
 possibilities of future glory. Numerous additions 
 were surveyed and added to towns already re- 
 corded. The new towns of Wheatland, Wedge- 
 wood, Warsaw, Waloott, Shieldsville, Dundas, 
 Millersburg, EastPrairieville, and Lake City were 
 added to the list. Of these, some are dead and 
 some are dying, and nearly all remaining have 
 from time to time, by vacations obtained through 
 the courts, contracted their vast circumference in 
 conformity with the request made at an early day 
 to the Territorial Legislature to limit the area of 
 town sites, and reserve certain portions of the pub- 
 lic domain for agricultural purposes. 
 
 While, however, visionary speculators were 
 creating town sites and multiplying town lots with 
 almost as much facility as farmers increased the 
 number of their pigs or chickens, the agricultural 
 interest was also thriving until the year 1858, 
 when occurred the nearest to a failure of crops 
 that Rice county has ever experienced. The land 
 office had been located in Faribault the year pre- 
 vious, and the little store of money that most of 
 the settlers had brought with them IJ.ad been gen- 
 erally used in payment for their lands. The pros- 
 pect was gloomy, and many families anticipated 
 actual want before the coming of another harvest; 
 but the silver lining to the cloud was not long ob- 
 scured, and relief came from a ipiarter as little 
 looked for as was the manna in the wilderness by 
 
 the Israelites. By somebody the happy discovery 
 was made that our timbered lands were full of 
 ginseng, the sovereign balm for every ill that Chi- 
 nese flesh is heir to, and forthwith our population 
 was transferred into a community of diggers, and 
 many a man, and even woman, too, who had never 
 earned more than a dollar a day before, received 
 from two to four dollars for their day's labor in 
 the woods. Thus was Rice county's darkest hour 
 tided over, and from that day to this there has 
 never been a time when its citizens have had reason 
 to fear a lack of the necessaries of life. 
 
 The statistics of crops for 18(511, previous to 
 which no record is obtainable, show 18,000 acres 
 und&r cultivation in various fruits and grains, with 
 a product of 260,000 bushels of wheat. Five 
 years later the cultivated area had increased to 
 25,000 acres, with a product of 325,000 bushels of 
 wheat; in 1872, 56,672 acres were cultivated, and 
 548,000 bushels of wheat produced, while the wheat 
 crop alone, of Rice county, reached nearly 700,000 
 bushels in the year 1875. Yet, this county must 
 not be judged as an agricultural district by the 
 amount of wheat it raises, although that cereal is 
 still the one the most relied upon by our farmers 
 as a source of income; yet, as more than two-thirds 
 of its area is or has been timbered land, is not so 
 well adapted to growing wheat extensively as a 
 prairie country, its agricultural productions are 
 necessarily more diversified. 
 
 The p'ojiulation of the county, as indicated by 
 the number of votes cast at its first election, which, 
 being a county seat contest, j)robably brought out 
 as large a proportion of legal voters as could be 
 summoned on any occasion, was in 1855, between 
 1,500 and 2,000, the number of votes east being 
 .384. In 1860, the first census, it was 7,88G; in 
 1865,10,966; in 1870, 16,399, and the census of 
 last year makes the number 20,622. 
 
 While Rice county, more fortunately situated 
 than some of her western sisters, never experienced 
 any of the horrors of Indian warfare, yet her his- 
 tory would not be complete without mention of 
 its terrible fi-ight in the winter of 1857. There 
 are doubtless some of the present audience who 
 well remember how panic-stricken we were when 
 the news came through some mysterious channel 
 that the Indians had sacked and destroyed St. 
 Peter, only forty mdes away, and were in rapid 
 march for Faribault. Then "there was running to 
 and fro and gathering in pale distress, and cheeks 
 
EAUI.Y SETTLEMENT. 
 
 27! 
 
 iill pale that but an liour ago blushed at the tale 
 of tlioir own loveliness." Gen. Shields, by reason 
 of his military experience, was made coniuiander- 
 iu-ehief of all the forces in and aronnd Faribault, 
 with hcadcjuarters at the head of the stairs in tlie 
 old Faribault House, and all of our brave young 
 men who could be armed with shot-gnns, rusty 
 pistols, or anything having the appearan.io of fire- 
 arms, were posted on guard at all the prinei))al 
 thoroughfares leading into town, and in front of 
 the houses of the most timid and defenceless. 
 Tliis state of affaire lasted all of one night and 
 until time of changing guard the next, when the 
 relief, finding that the extreme cold had induced 
 the guards to seek the inside of the houses they 
 were defending, retreated in good order to more 
 comfortable quarters, and our first Indian war was 
 over. The cause of the panic was afterward ascer- 
 tained to be the Spirit Lake massacre, more than 
 a hTindred miles away, by Inkpadntah and his 
 band of outlawed Sioux. It should be here 
 chronicled, however, that when the war actually 
 came, although it came no nearer than Mason & 
 Dixon's line. Rice county bore its full share of its 
 responsibilities, losses, and calamities right man- 
 fully. The war of the Rebellion found us nurtui-ed 
 iu the arts of peace, a happy and home-loving peo- 
 ple, and yet, before its close more than a tlionsand 
 of its bravest and best had volunteered to defend 
 the flag they loved so well. How well they boro 
 themselves on the battle field, the nijmber of the 
 Tinreturning brave whose "graves are severed far 
 and wide by mountain, stream, and sea," too well 
 attests. The records show that more than one- 
 eighth of the number shown by the census of the 
 year before the breaking out of the great rebel- 
 lion as the entire population of the county, had 
 enlisted iu the Union army before its close, a 
 record of which our citizens may well be ]iroud. 
 
 If I were asked what, in my opinion, has been 
 the most notable events in the history of Rice 
 county, I should answer that first, in importance 
 was its settlement in the beginning by a class f>f 
 people who were intelligent tillers of the soil, men 
 who came here imbued with the idea that labor, 
 education, and religion are the true foundation 
 stones upon which to build a perfect and perma- 
 nent social faliric. In accordance with these ideas 
 we find that in three years after its first settlement, 
 and in a little more than one year after the rush 
 of immigration begun, while the grass on the 
 
 prairie sod had scarcely withered under the newly 
 turned furrow, schoolhouses, churches, and even a 
 printing press had taken their |)lacesas permanent 
 institutions of Rice county. In pursuance of this 
 same idea, in 1858, Rev. Dr. Breck founded the 
 mission schools of the Church of the (rood Shep- 
 herd, which were the germ from which has grown 
 Seabury Hall, Shattuck School, and St. Mary's. 
 
 In 1SG3, the exertions of its citizens, who 
 bought and paid for the land it occupies, secured 
 the location of the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb 
 and the Blind within the borders of Rice county. 
 
 In 18G8, was opened in Northfield the |)rei)ara- 
 tory department of what is now known asCarleton 
 College, and what iu the near future will be 
 known as the best college of its denomination in 
 the Northwest. The location, establishment, and 
 prosperity of Carleton College is due entirely to 
 the energy and liberality of the citizens of North- 
 field. While all the time from the establishment 
 of district No. 1, in 18.56, to that of No. 101, in 
 187G, the public schools have been nourished and 
 cherished to a degree equalled by few countries in 
 the ITnion. More than one-third of all taxes for 
 all purposes levied in the county being devoted to 
 the use of public education in the common schools. 
 
 From this brief sketch it will appear that the 
 history of our county has not been eventful iu the 
 light in which the historian usually regards events. 
 It has been the scene of no fierce cimflict of arms, 
 and within our borders no monumental marble 
 rises to commemorate bloody victories won, or the 
 heroic deeds of knightly chivalry, which contrib- 
 ute so largely to the romance of history. Never- 
 theless, is our history full of those "victories not 
 less renowned than war," victories which in less 
 than a quarter of a century after the extinguish- 
 ment of the Indians' title to these lands, witliout 
 blfMidshed, swept away every vestige of their bar- 
 barous life, and substituted the school, the church, 
 and on every hand, happy and contented homes; 
 victories which vanquished the hearts of our suf- 
 fering people on the frontier when Rice county 
 was the first to send relief after the devastation 
 from hail and fli'e in the memorable year 1871. 
 The suffering people of Chicago, northern Wis- 
 consin, and Michigan were subjugated by the 
 munificent donations sent to their relief in that 
 terrible year of fire, and of thf)se donations Rice 
 county gave with no sparing hand. These are the 
 victories not less renowned than war of which our 
 
280 
 
 HISTORY OF BICE COUNTY. 
 
 county can boast. Victories over a stubborn soil, 
 turning a wild waste into fruitful fields and hap2:)y 
 homes. Victories over ignorance and superstition 
 best shown by the maintenance and prosperity of 
 a free press and the public school. Victories over 
 the selfishness of human nature in devoting so 
 large a share of otir worldly goods in the relief of 
 suffering humanity at home and abroad, and 
 above all it was a grand and glorious victory when 
 the echoing of Sumter's guns found response in 
 a thousand brave hearts ready to give their lives 
 for their country. These are the victories which 
 give assurance that government of the people, by 
 the people, and for the people, can longest endure 
 supj)orted and defended by a peace-loving, gen- 
 erous, and intelligent people." 
 
 THE REB MEN. 
 
 Anything authentic in relation to the race that 
 occupied this laud only a generation ago, is of ab- 
 sorbing interest, especially to those who are now 
 making their entrance upon the stage of active life, 
 and this interest must continue to grow as time 
 recedes and the period of their existence as the 
 rude possessors of the land becomes more distant. 
 
 The question as to how these people lived, what 
 they ate, how they cooked their food, how they 
 made their clothes, how they fashioned their hunt- 
 ing weapons and their fishing tackle, how they 
 formed their residences, and in short, how they 
 kept themselves and their children from perishing 
 from ofT the face of the earth during those hard 
 Minnesota winters, with the thermometer thirty or 
 more degrees below zero, and blockading snows 
 all around, is indeed a conundrum difficult to 
 solve. 
 
 We do not forget their sparseness, and remi'mlier 
 the abundance of game in the forest and streams, 
 but to offset this advantage we reflect upon their 
 indolence and improvidence. After a careful con- 
 templation of the whole subject we are compelled 
 to the conclusion that they were a decaying race, 
 who had occupied this land, and, in a certain 
 sense, preserved it for the use of the present civil- 
 ization. The law of creation which begins with 
 the simplest forms of life, is that the inferior must 
 give place to the superior, as the conditions are 
 favorable for its existence, and that the Indian 
 race antedates the Caucasian in its origin, is evi- 
 dent, for while the one, viewed as a whole, is in 
 its senility, the other is just entering its teens, not 
 having yet reached its true manhood. 
 
 There were certain things that the red man 
 readily absorbed when coming in contact with the 
 white race. He seemed to take to the "firewater" 
 in a s}3ontaneous way, and very soon learned to 
 use fire arms and hunting traps, and how to make 
 maple sugar, and this seems to have been about 
 the limit of their educational capacity. As to 
 agriculture, the squaws, if the males could be 
 persuaded to stop long enough in a place, would 
 plant a little corn. 
 
 It is supposed that the French voyagcurs who 
 first encountered the Dakotas, which word is said 
 to signify the "nation of the seven council fires," 
 gave them the name of Sioux, so that in convers- 
 ing about them in their presence, tlieir suspicion 
 ■ would not be excited by hearing their name pro- 
 nounced. When the whites came here the Wau- 
 pakuta band of this tribe occupied the present site 
 of Main street. It is difficult to learn as to the 
 exact number, but that there were several hun- 
 dred there can be no doubt. The name of this 
 tribe has been variously spelled by different writers, 
 but there is no reason why there should be any 
 redundant letters, or why it should not be spelled 
 as near as it is pronounced as our imperfect alpha- 
 bet will admit. In this case the "a" has the 
 broad sound. This name should be preserved in 
 some local way, and it is respectfully suggested at 
 the risk of horrifying the whole community, that, 
 as there is a Faribault county, that the name of 
 "Waupakuta" be given to the city itself! As an 
 instance of the havoc made with Indian names, 
 there is the Chipjiewa, a tribe which must have 
 originated in northern New England and Canada, 
 or perhaps Nova Scotia, and pushing west, north 
 of the great lakes, finally encountered the 
 Dakotas near the Mississippi River. Now this 
 tribe called themselves the O jib way, or Ud-jib- 
 e-wa, which the English sj)eaking race at once 
 made into Chippewa. The Chippewas, who hardly 
 reached this point, except on a predatory expedi- 
 ti(m, had, among other things that the Dakotas 
 did not, birch bark canoes, and in form and buUd 
 they were exactly like those made in Old Town, 
 near Bangor, to-day, by the Penobscot Indians. 
 The Sioux had dugouts for canoes, and were 
 lighter colored than the Chip2)ewa8, besides other 
 striking differences. 
 
 To those who came from Wisconsin and had 
 been familiar with the Chi])pewas,the Winnebagoes 
 or the Menomonees, the Wau-pa-ku-tas seemed 
 
IHARLY SETTLEMENT. 
 
 281 
 
 more wild and less accustomed to tlie presence of 
 the whites, the young, particularly, looked with 
 stolen glances upon the new comers, with a cur- 
 iosity mingled with apprehension. The first 
 houses they would visit in sciuads, looking over 
 everything and keeping this up all day long, 
 seeming to be totally oblivious to the annoy- 
 ance and disgust they occasioned. Colonel For- 
 tier, an Indian trader who know the red men per- 
 fectly well, told the settlers to locate right in their 
 midst and they would be perfectly safe, so long 
 as they were not roughly treated, which j)roved to 
 be true. Mr.Hulett had a lot of oxen tliat got into the 
 corn that was jilanted by the Indians.and a party 
 of visitors from Efid Dog's band that were visiting 
 here, said that these people and their oxen were 
 trespassers, and should be shot, saying, that is the 
 way our folks do, and so one of the oxeu was laid 
 low. Mr. Hulett then started to lay the case be- 
 fore the Governor, and arriving there the Gover- 
 nor acknowledged that tlie whites were tres|.)assers, 
 and said that he had authority to puuish dep- 
 redations. As he was about leaving, the chief, 
 accompanied by Mr. Faribault, arrived, and the 
 matter was settled by the payment of |12.5, with 
 which he bought another yoke of oxen, and he 
 had beef and a spare ox as a compensation for this 
 outrage. This was the most serious, and in fact 
 the only thing of the kind that ever happened. 
 
 On the 4th of February, 1874, an "Old Settlers' 
 Association" was organized, several reunions were 
 held, and early incidents recited which were most 
 intere><ting and valuable in a historical point of 
 view, and from the publication of these statements 
 much reliable material fur this work has been ob- 
 tained; the statements of the pioneers are given 
 substantially as they fell from their lips, and it 
 is remarkable that the discrepancies which always 
 exist in such cases are so slight. 
 
 FARIBAULT AND KICE COUNTY AS IT WAS IN THE 
 
 EAiiLY srniNo OF 18.58. 
 
 To give a very full and comprehensive idea of 
 this region during the early years of its .settle- 
 ment, copious extracts from au article in the "Fari- 
 bault Herald," from tlie facUe pen of its editor, 
 R. A. Mott, are here reproduced : 
 
 "Earilidult — The VitUeys of the Gnnimn am! Straight 
 
 Rivers. 
 
 There are thousands of our eastern friends pro- 
 posing to come west this spring, and the great 
 question with them is, where shall we go? There 
 
 are many things desirable in seeking a new home: 
 to fin<l good land, gond water, good timber, good 
 healtli and to escajjc the privations of jiioueer 
 life, find good neighl)ors and get all these advan- 
 tages at comparatively small cost. From our own 
 observation in a number of the western sStates, 
 and knowledge of the advantages offered by other 
 .section.?, we are confident that no other part of the 
 (Country presents so many inducements to settlers 
 as Minnesota and our own Straight and Cannon 
 River valleys. Our soil is a rich sandy loam, 
 yielding the most abundant crops in turn for little 
 care. The county is well watered by streams 
 whose water is equal to the mountain brooks of 
 New England, and wells are easily dug which fur- 
 ni.sh an abnndaiK* of pure water at a depth of 
 from twelve to thirty feet. 
 
 The general surface of the country is rolling. 
 The depth of the soil varies from two to four feet, 
 and below that a yellowish loam, and at the depth 
 of from six to ten feet considerable clay is usually 
 found. Our river bottoms are not so fertile as the 
 high prairie; they are more sandy with a gravelly 
 subsoil. Beets, rutabagas, and onions sown 
 broadcast and harrowed in, yield enormously. We 
 have an abundance of excellent grass for hay. 
 
 Cattle and horses love it and do well on it. The 
 cattle that run on our prairies are fat enough for 
 excellent beef at any time during the summer. 
 
 Our county is, as they say of eastern advertised 
 farms, "suitably divided into pasturing, mowing, 
 tillage, and timber lots." We can safely chal- 
 lenge the West to furnish a like section of the 
 country where all these things are so abundant 
 and so equally distributed. We have the best of 
 timber for finishing houses, an abundance of but- 
 ternut and black walnut; burnishing shows their 
 beautiful, rich grain, which no painter can begin 
 to rival. Butternut can be bought for from $18 
 to .$20 per thousand, and black walnut from $20 
 to $30, and other lumber from $10 to $18. There 
 are at least twenty saw-mills in the county, and 
 a number of douring mills in operation, and others 
 lieing erected. Alnmdance of material for brick 
 is found here, and we have in this town two brick- 
 yards. There arc excellent stone quarries, and 
 abundance of lime. 
 
 We are not destitute of fruit. Cranberries are 
 "thick as blackberries on the plain;" plums of the 
 most delicious kinds are found in large groves 
 covering acres; strawberries grow wild, and can 
 
282 
 
 IITSTORT OP RICE COUNTY. 
 
 easily be cultivated. Let any one coining bring 
 a few vines in their trunk, and they soon can have 
 a plentiful supply. Crab-apples, which make ex- 
 cellent sauce and pies, are good baked, and make 
 the very best of jelly, supeiit)r to any other, are 
 to bs had by the bushel for the picking. Goose- 
 berries grow wild, and our streams are bordered 
 with fine grapes, and the Isabella and Catawba 
 are ripened fifty miles north of us. 
 
 The thousands of acres of maple forest furnish 
 us with sugar and syrup, e(|ual to the best. The 
 sugar cane was tried here last year, and succeeded 
 admirably. In fact, every needful thing will 
 grow here. Winter wheat succeeds well where 
 tried, and our spring wheat is unsurpassed by any. 
 
 Game is abundant enough to jiay for hunting. 
 Our sharp-shooters get deer, and any one that can 
 lire a gun can get prairie chickens enough with 
 very little trouble. They .are in large Jlocks 
 through the tall and winter. Fish are so plenty 
 and so large that the whole truth would sound like 
 a "fish story." All through the winter any one 
 could go up to our lakes, about foiir miles, and 
 get from forty to one hundred pounds in a day. 
 Pickerel are frecpiently caught weighing from six 
 to seventeen pounds each. There are a number of 
 lakes, and all well stocked with the best of fish. 
 In the spring and fall our lakes are covered with 
 ducks and geese, and our woods during the season 
 are alive with pigeons and partridges. Not much 
 danger of starving. 
 
 In regard to the healthfulness of the ci>untry it 
 might be enough to say the fever and ague, the 
 curse of the West, is never found here. Proliably 
 a case never originated here, and thousands are 
 cured by coming here. There is no State or Ter- 
 ritory south of here that this can be said tnith- 
 f ully of. The wonderful salubrity of the climate of 
 Kansas, where there are thousands of New England- 
 ers, with constitutions shattered by disease con- 
 tracted on its jirairies, pronounce it a humbug. 
 Our climate is very dry. The most reliable statis- 
 tics in regard to climate, health, or anything re- 
 quiring a long scries of accurate and impartial 
 observation and records, are always found in the 
 reports connected with the military service. From 
 these reports, even did not the experience of every 
 one here testify to it, abundant proof is furnished 
 that Miiniesota is the heiiUliUst climate in the 
 United States. The dryness of our a(moHj)here is 
 es])ecially favorable to persons inclined to lung 
 complaints. 
 
 The average depth of water (rain and melted 
 snow) for a year during the last twenty years has 
 been at Fort Snelling, forty miles from here, 25 J 
 inches; at Cambridge, Massachusetts, 44,V inches, 
 and Muscatine, Iowa, 44.V inches. Yet the char- 
 acter of our soil, our numerous lakes and heavy 
 dews, prevent our crops from drying up, and we 
 are not near so likely to sufl'er with drought as 
 Now England. The army register gives the force 
 of the wind during the year as considerably less 
 here than at any other station in the United States. 
 The average depth of snow is light. The two 
 winters previous to this last were severe, and the 
 amount of snow large, but there was not as much 
 snow, nor was the cold as unendurable, as in the 
 Enstern States. This past winter has been the 
 most delightful one it ever was our lot to ex- 
 perience. 
 
 One most blessed thing in regard to us here is 
 that we have good roads, and we are not forced to 
 do penance for pleasant winter weather by drag- 
 ging through mud three feet deep. Our transi- 
 tion from winter to spring does not include a 
 mouth or two months of mud so deep as to make 
 the roads impassable. While in the States south 
 of us, and in the East, they are waiting for the 
 ground to settle, we are sowing wheat and oats. 
 This spring we sowed wheat the 20th of March. 
 A great deal of land was sown the week commenc- 
 ing the 22d of March, and from that time farm 
 work has gone on raj^idly. A summer shower 
 does not render our roads and soil a mass of jelly 
 for some days, but they quickly dry. The tem- 
 perature of southern Minnesota, as given by the 
 army register, is the same as central New York. 
 
 Faribault, the county seat of Rico county, situ- 
 ated on the Straight Kiver half a mile from its 
 junction with the Cannon River, is a place that 
 has grown within three years from half a dozen 
 log huts to be a town of 2,500 inhabitants, and the 
 center of a large trade. There are twenty-five dry 
 goods and grocery stores, two drug stores, five 
 hardware stores, two meat markets, three bakeries, 
 a cracker factory, four large hotels, two steam 
 saw-mills, one (louring mill, and two large ones 
 being erected, three cabinet shops, a number of 
 joiner shops, a planing mill, two shingle mills, sev- 
 eral banks, and printing office, and <.ther things 
 too numerous to mention. 
 
 The Congregational Society have a good church 
 building, erected at a cost of iif2,l-5011. The Rev. 
 
EAlll. T SBTTLKMKNr. 
 
 2H;5 
 
 L. Armsby is the minister. The want of religious 
 and Sabbath privileges, so often roared by those 
 coming west, can hardly be felt, while under tlie 
 teachings of one combining the somewhat rare 
 (]nalities of good preaolier and good pastor. The 
 -Baptists and Methodists each have a church or- 
 ganization and a minister. The Baptists have a 
 building lot secured, and will probably proceed to 
 build before long. 
 
 We have a numlier of excellent schools. Wo 
 have during the winter a well sustained lyceura, 
 and a library association and a reading room 
 where all the leading papers and periodicals of 
 the day are taken, including four British quarter- 
 lys, Little's Living Age, &c. Institute lectures 
 are delivered every fortnight through the winter 
 by star lecturers found this side of the great river. 
 We have an excellent brass band which furnishes 
 fine music. 
 
 Many eastern persons think oar stores can be 
 only little shanties with a few hundred dollars 
 worth of goods in them. To correct that impres- 
 sion one would only need walk through our streets 
 and see the goods displayed in the glass fronts of 
 the stores. Two sales of entire hardware stocks 
 have recently been made here, and the inventory 
 of one footed up over .'ifl4,000. The other was 
 large, and in addition, the purchaser is bringing 
 in a new stock of .$8,000. The other hardware 
 stores are very large. The dry goods and grocer- 
 ies are in due proportion, we suppose. 
 
 Faribault is the natural center of trade for a 
 very large country. It is now the most important 
 inland place in southern Minnesota, and bids fair 
 to be without a rival. Some idea of our central 
 position may be gathered from the fact that there 
 are niue different mail routes centering in Fari- 
 bault. Another significant fact is that Congress, 
 in the land grant of 4,.'JOO,000 acres to Minnesota 
 railroads, made one condition of the grant that 
 Faribault should be made a point in the north 
 and south railroad, and our Legislature in a loan 
 of State credit, based on these lands, requires 
 that work shall be commenced here at tlie same 
 time as anywhere else on the road. We want the 
 road, and shall have it. 
 
 We are not alone in the belief that there is a 
 bright future before us; every impartial observer, 
 and even those prejudiced and interested against 
 us, can but admit it. With our railroad will 
 
 como other wants, and the supply will come too. 
 Let those who would reap come early. 
 
 We want now a plow factory and an e,st;iblish- 
 ment for the manufacture of general agricultur.il 
 implements. Our plows are wrought cast-stool. 
 The number sold is very large and price high, 
 and doubtless the making of them here would be 
 a {)roRtable business. A machine shop and small 
 foundry would do well here. Now all oiu' mills 
 must go from fifty to eighty miles to get the 
 smallest break repaired. If we had conveniences 
 here there are probably thirty or forty mills that 
 Would come here for such work. Power for such 
 a shop might be rented of one of ovir steam mills. 
 We want a cooper's shop; not one is in the 
 county. 
 
 Every year thousands of hides are sent off at 
 from two and a half to three cents per pound, and 
 the leather, at a high price, brought back, and 
 the same hair that was carried away on them, 
 comes back at eighty cents a bushel for plastering. 
 An abundance of bark for tanning is in our woods, 
 and no one who understands the business could 
 find a better place to go into it than here. 
 
 Of carpenter and j(jinera we have a fair supply, 
 biit blacksmith work is very high, and more good 
 blacksmiths might do well. 
 
 Every manufactured article is brought uj) from 
 below, and the large, amount of money carried 
 away for these things would largely pay for the 
 establishment of the shops above mentioned, and 
 the demand for all is constantly increasing. 
 
 This present time is the best there has ever 
 been, and is the best tliere will be, to come here. 
 Capitalists desirous of investing money can buy 
 property now tor one-half what they can when our 
 railroad is commenced. Many borrowed money, 
 to pre-empt their farms, and now are ready to sell 
 for the want of the means to pay. 
 
 The pioneering is over. We have good .schools, 
 good society, a county unsurpassed in healthful- 
 ness — yes, unequaled, a good soil, well timbered 
 and watered, and farms to be bought cheaper than 
 one could come here three years ago and pay gov- 
 ernment price and live until now, and {'"t the im- 
 provement on them. 
 
 Come, and we think y<mr own observatifm will 
 satisfy you that of all western States, Minnesota 
 is the one. 
 
 Leave the river at Hastings, and come to the 
 Cannon River valley, and see it it is not all it is 
 re])resented to be. and more too." 
 
284 
 
 BTSTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 CHAPTEK XLVII. 
 
 (X)DNTY ORGANIZATION TERKITORIAL POLITIOS 
 
 COUNTY GOVERMENT COUNTY rlNAN(^ES — RICE 
 
 COUNTY IN THE STATE GOVERNMENT-CENSUS AND 
 OTHER STATISTICS. 
 
 After the treaty of Marcli, 1853, by which the 
 Sioux vacated their lands for settlement, the Ter- 
 ritorial Legislature divided Dakota county and 
 made quite a number of new ones, including 
 Kice, but, as the United States surveyors had not 
 yet run the lines, the description of boundaries 
 could only be indicated by natural objects, and it 
 so liajipened that three counties cornered at the 
 junction of the Straight and Cannon Rivers. This 
 would indeed seem to be a discouraging circum- 
 stance in connection with the establishment of a 
 county seat here in Faril)ault, but our pioneers 
 liad views of their own, and while many would 
 have con.sidered tliat the obstacles in the way of se- 
 curing a readjustment of county lines were too for- 
 midable to be overcome, they never for a moment 
 abandoned their firm determination to make this the 
 capital of the county. Besides, it is a matter 
 of history that in the carving out of the State 
 lines, on the admission of the State into the Union, 
 a serious attempt was made to so arrange it as to 
 liring this point so near the center of the new 
 commonwealth as to make it available as the cap- 
 ital of the State itself. Thus it stood, with Rice, 
 Dakota, and Goodhue counties cornering here, 
 until the fall of 1H.')4, when, as the territory to 
 the south was rapidly tilling uj), it became cer- 
 tain that the next legislature would rearrange the 
 counties all through southern Minnesota. While 
 everything was being done to make this a business 
 center, the political aspect of affairs was carefully 
 scrutinized and it was at once determined that it 
 was imperative to have a good strong clear-headed 
 man who would be master of the situation as a 
 representative in the legislature from this district, 
 and Mr. Faribault, who was always quick to see 
 what should be done, and as prompt to act, opened 
 a correspondence with H. H. Sibley, urging him 
 to be a candidate ior the position, and insisting 
 that in the fight over the county's boundaries, 
 which was certain to be a bitter one and the con- 
 test for county seats most distressing —to the de- 
 feated ones — he was the man to represent the inter- 
 ests of tliis section. Mr. Sibley replied that he 
 would admit that his knowledge of the country 
 might lie of use to tlie .settlers if elected to the 
 
 position, and intimated that there would be oppo 
 sition to him in the Minnesota v.illey, but, if nom 
 inated in the convention to be held, he could be 
 elected. So the voters held a caucus at Mr. Fari- 
 bault's house and appointed Alexander Faribault, 
 N. Paquin, William Dunn, James Wells, Jonathan 
 Morris, E. J. Crump, and Walter Morris as dele- 
 gates to the convention soon to Ije held at Shak- 
 opee. Feeling that they might not all attend, Mr. 
 Hnlett wrote a resolution instructing the delegates 
 to vote for Mr. Sibley, and authorizing them to 
 cast the full vote of the delegation. Mr. Dunu, 
 of Cannon City, who with all the othern, was in 
 favor of Mr. Sibley, arose, and with imperial dig- 
 nity positively declined to be instructed, insisting 
 that be and the others knew enough to go to the 
 convention and do their duty. James Wells also 
 opposed the resolution, and notwithstanding Mr. 
 Hulett urged its necessity in case of a contingency, 
 which actually happened, and that its passage 
 implied no disrespect to the delegation, it was 
 voted down. In due time the convention met, 
 two of the delegates were not there, and the result 
 of the first ballot was a tie between Mr. Sibley and 
 a gentleman up the Minnesota River; so the dele- 
 gation then asked for the privilege of casting the 
 entire vote for Blr. Sibley, but to this objection 
 was successfully made, as they had not been so 
 instructed by their constituents. But Mr. Wells, 
 who was well up in party methods, was equal to 
 the emergency and retrieved his mistake in sec- 
 onding Mr. Dunn's objection to Mr. Hulett's res- 
 olution, by iinding a man in whose palm a ten 
 dollar gold piece exactly fitted, and the next bal- 
 lot placed Mr. Sibley in nomintion. 
 
 General Sibley was duly elected, and succeeded 
 in making the county lines conform to the wishes 
 f)f his Faribault friends, and the law, establishing 
 the county substantially as it is to-day, contained 
 a provision that the legal voters could at any gen- 
 eral election organize the county, provided that 
 there were at least fifty votes cast tor county com- 
 missioners, and empowering the first county board 
 to permanently establish the county seat. With 
 this condition of things the people of Faribault 
 were content, as the place was fast filling up. 
 
 During the summer of 1854, however, a town 
 had been laid out three miles northeast of the vil- 
 lage of Faribault by the Messrs. Sears, and given 
 the name of Cannon City, and town lots were rap- 
 idly selling at their office in the "City Hotel." 
 
COUNTY UO VKllNMKNT. 
 
 2Hr) 
 
 From representations made to Willis A. Gorman, 
 the county had bci'ii orn;anized by the apj)oint- 
 ment of ])rovi,sioual oonimissiouers, and the estab- 
 lishment t)f Cannon City as the county seat. The 
 citizens of Faribault, knowing it to be without the 
 warrant of authority, treated the whole thing as a 
 nullity, and at the next general election proceeded 
 to vindicate their rights by organizing the county 
 under the provisions of the territorial law. 
 
 There were three voting precincts, one at Fari- 
 bault, one at Cannon City, and the other at Mor- 
 ristown. Mr. Morris had first located at Fari- 
 bault, but not securing such an interest as he 
 desired, transferred himself and his retinue to 
 Morristown. He was a man of native ability who 
 had been a Campbcllite preacher, but wholly un- 
 educated as to letters, although he' would read 
 chapters from the New Testament, from memory 
 perhaps, holding the book upside down. He evi- 
 dently held the balance of power as between Fari- 
 bault and Cannon City, and it became imperative 
 in the interests of the future county seat, that a 
 compromise should be made with him, which was 
 effected by the preparation of a ticket for county 
 olHcers, with the lion's share of candidates from 
 Morristown. But the most difficult feat in this 
 arrangement was to suppress the aspirations or a 
 numerous horde in Faribault, who could not be 
 led to believe that they were not exactly adapted 
 for these opening positions. They were, however, 
 finally induced to forego the gratification of their 
 ambition to a more convenient sea.sou. The ticket 
 for this combination was headed by C. Ide for 
 Kepresentative in the Legislature; F. W. Frink, 
 Frank Pettitts, and Mr. Storer as the Board of 
 Supervisors; Charles Wood for Sheriff; Isaac Ham- 
 mond for Treasurer. 
 
 Mr. Hulett, who was very anxious, rode over to 
 Morristown, but Mr. Morris assured him that the 
 precinct was solid for Faribault, and as that in- 
 terested precinct was true to itself, the ticket was 
 successful. Mr. Morris showed his visitor his mill 
 dam, which he had just completed, and exijressed 
 the utmost confidence in its stability, asserting 
 that nothing but the finger of God could remove 
 it, but in a few weeks an inordinate volume of 
 water proved to be one of the agencies he had 
 overlooked, and it went <iut and the mill also was 
 much damaged. 
 
 To return from this brief digression, the board 
 thus elected proceeded to es-tablish the county 
 
 seat, and the various othej' ollici^'s assumed their 
 duties. 
 
 TllH COUNTY (lOVEKNMENT. 
 
 While Minnesota was still a Territory, in the 
 winter of 18.')5-'.'56, Rice couut\' was set apart 
 from D.dvota county, and the first comity eUiction 
 was held in the fall of 1855. Prior to thi.s. as 
 early as 1854, the county of Rice was made a 
 part, by common usage, of Dakota county, but this 
 was never accepted as legal by the citizens of 
 Rice, and they refused to recognize any proceed- 
 ing of the "consolidated" county as lawful. In 
 1855, a tax was levied upon personal property in 
 Dakota county, but the citizens of the territory, 
 now of Rice, rebelled and refused to pay the 
 same, and but few in the entire county paid it. 
 
 In the latter part of 1855, Dakota county was 
 divided, and Rice county formed. An elec^tion 
 was held in November, 1855, the following otlicers 
 being elected: Register of Deeds, Isaac HanV 
 mond; Sheriff, Charles Wood; Judge of Probate, 
 Isaac Woodman, and board of County Commis- 
 sioners, F. W. Frink, Andrew Storer, and Ge(jrge 
 F. Pettit. The government of the county was at 
 first vested in this board of County Commissioners, 
 a session of which august body was dignified by 
 the name of "court." 
 
 When the county governmental wheels were 
 actually set in motion, and the organization of 
 Rice county a matter of fact, steps were taken to 
 obtain the records when in ctmnection with Dakota 
 county, and the Deputy Register of Deeds, C. C. 
 Perkins, was directed to go to Mendota, which had 
 been the county seat of Dakota county, and copy 
 off all records of deeds, mortgages, and miscella- 
 neous records pertaining to Rice county, and 
 transport the same to the county seat of Rice, l' |)c m 
 this authority Mr. Perkins went to St. Paul and 
 purchased the necessary books, and thence to 
 Mendota, where he transcribed records as directed 
 and returned to Rice county, delivering them into 
 the hands of the Register, Isaac Hammond, in the 
 early part of December, 1855, and made Fariliault 
 the county seat in a practical sense. 
 
 On the 7th of January, 185(5, the first court of 
 County Commissioners convened at the office of 
 Berry .t Batchelder, in Faribault, and was com- 
 posed of the boj,id which had been elected the pre- 
 vious November; the clerk being the Register of 
 Deeds, Isaac Hammond. At this meeting nothing 
 was accomplished except the organiztition, whicli 
 
286 
 
 msrORY OF RICE GOUNTT. 
 
 was effected by the electiou of F. W. Frink, Chair- 
 man, for the ensuing year, and the board ad- 
 journed until the following day, the 8th of Jan- 
 uary, 1855. 
 
 Tlie Court convened as i)er adjournment, on the 
 morning of the 8th, and began disposing of such 
 business as should come before it. 
 
 The first business to be laid before the Court 
 was the organization of school district No 1, the 
 first organized in the county. The board declared 
 that it should consist of sections nineteen, thirty, 
 and thirty-one, in township 110, range 20, and sec- 
 tions twenty-four, twenty-live, thirty-six, and the 
 east half of section thirty-five, in township 110, 
 range 21. This embraces most of th'j incorpo- 
 rated limits of the city of Faribault. They also 
 granted a petition for school district No. 2, to em- 
 brace territory in township 111, ranges 19 and 
 20. School districts Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 
 10 were formed at this meeting, and their terri- 
 tory jjlaced upon record, and much of the time was 
 consumed by road petitions. The first road busi- 
 ness entered upon record was in the form of a 
 petition, and is as follows: 
 
 "A petition for a road by Luke Hulett, and 
 twenty-two others, beginning at the quarter post 
 on the north line of the town of Faribault, run- 
 ning thence due north to the center of section 
 nineteen, township 110, range 20, thence in a di- 
 rect line, as near as may be, toward St. Paul until 
 it shall intersect the Dodd road; and Charles 
 Wood, Levi Nutting, and A. H. Bullis are hereby 
 appointed examiners to view said road and report 
 to the board of Commissioners at their next regu- 
 lar session." Numerous roads were established by 
 the board. 
 
 On the 8th of July, 1856, the board, in sum- 
 ming up the assessment rolls from the three asses- 
 sors districts in the county, found the aggregate 
 assessed valuation $613,364.9.5. 
 
 The board met as required by law on the 5th of 
 Janu iry, 1857, the members comprising the body 
 being, Levi Nutting, Franklin Kelley, and Andrew 
 Storer. The board organized by electing Levi 
 Nutting as Chairman for the ensuing year, and 
 then eu^a,ged in routine business. 
 
 At the session of the court on the 17th of Feb- 
 riuiry, reports were received from the various 
 school districts in the county, showing the number 
 of scholars in attendance in each district. The 
 several reports arc given below: 
 
 N(t. of No. of 
 
 Dist. Clerk. • Scholars. 
 
 1. R. Thayer 268 
 
 2. Daniel Bowe 34 
 
 3. D. B. Turner 44 
 
 4. H. M. Mattesou 3(5 ' 
 
 0. T. H. Willis 41 
 
 8. James Anderson 30 
 
 11. T- B. Van Eaton 30 
 
 12. Ezra Carter 41 
 
 13. E. S. Drake ..'. 44 
 
 14. William Burbeck 74 
 
 16. Nathan Colestock 22 
 
 Total number of scholars in the county . . 664 
 
 The board then ordered that the sum of $2 be 
 appropriated from the county funds for each 
 scholar, and apportioned to the various school dis- 
 tricts for school purposes. The list of districts 
 was then made out, showing the amount due each 
 district, as follows: 
 
 Dist. No. Scholars. Am't due. 
 
 1 268 «536 
 
 2 34 68 
 
 3 44 88 
 
 4 36 72 
 
 6 41 82 
 
 8 30 60 
 
 11 30 60 
 
 12 41 82 
 
 13 44 88 
 
 14 74 148 
 
 16 22 44 
 
 654 $1,328 
 
 The board then took into consideration Asses- 
 sor's reports from the different districts, and 
 found the total assessed valuation $2,107,770. 
 District No. 1 reporting $722,865; district No. 2, 
 $1,143,353; and district No. 3, $241,552. The 
 total amount of tax raised for Territorial, County, 
 and School purposes, in 1857, was $15,810.42. 
 
 During the year 1858, in wliich the territory of 
 Minnesota was admitted as a State, nothing of 
 special interest or note was accomplished by the 
 board. They met on the 5th of January, and or- 
 ganized by electing Levi Nutting, Chairman, the 
 other members being Franklin Kelley and Andrew 
 Storer. Charles Wheeler, the Sheriff' elect, pre- 
 sented his official bond, and it was apjjroved. 
 John Hoover presented his bond as Assessor, and 
 other county officers presented bonds, _ which were 
 duly approved. 
 
 Reports were received from the various schools 
 in the county, and it was found that in the thirty 
 schools reported there was an attendance of 1,489 
 
COUNTY HO VKUNMKMT. 
 
 287 
 
 scholars. The apportioned school fund of this 
 year was sixty-five cents for every schohir filtered 
 n]3ou the rolls. 
 
 A new book in which ti> record the proceedings 
 of the County Commissioners was purchased. 
 
 In the summer of this year the government of 
 the county was subjected to a change by an act 
 of the Legishtture, and the management of county 
 alVairs was vested in a "Board of Supervisors," 
 consisting of the chairman of each board of town- 
 ship supervisors — one member from eacli town- 
 sliip. On tlie 14th of September, 18.58, the first 
 meeting of this board was held in the city of Fari- 
 bault, and was called to order by J. A. Starks. 
 The roll was called, and the followiiig gentlemen 
 representing the towns set opposite tlieir names, 
 answered to tbe roll: 
 
 G. L. Carpenter Webster 
 
 L. Barlow Richland 
 
 W. A. Py e Wheeling 
 
 Daniel Bowe Northfield 
 
 Isaac Woodman Walcott 
 
 J. A. Starks Cannon City 
 
 B. Lockerby Bridgewater 
 
 Miles Hollister Wheatland 
 
 Thos. Kirk Wells 
 
 E. F. Taylor Forest 
 
 Isaac Hammond Morristown 
 
 .T. Hagerty Shieldsville 
 
 John Oonniff Erin 
 
 G. W. Batchelder Warsaw 
 
 They then proceeded to ballot for Cbairman, 
 and the result was one vote for Isaac Woodman, 
 and eight for .1. A. Starks; the latter was there- 
 upim declared elected and took the chair. .John 
 
 C. Gilmore was appointed clerk of the board, and, 
 one of the dissatisfied proposing it, lie was re- 
 quired to give bonds to the amount of $500. The 
 board then proceeded to business by appointing 
 eight or nine committees to attend to the various 
 matters that should come before it. 
 
 On the 1.5th of September, the committee ap- 
 pointed to consider a petition tor assistance in 
 building a bridge at Dundas, reported tliat they 
 did not consider the county finances in shape, nor 
 able to assist in building the bridge. The peti- 
 tion was therefore tabled. At the same meeting a 
 note was presented by Nicholls k Buckley, which 
 had been given by the board, but could not be 
 paid. The interest on the same was 2.\ per cent. 
 per month. 
 
 .An ap))ortionmi'nt fund of ninety-five cents per 
 scholar was made from the county fund in favor 
 of the school districts Licenses were regulated 
 at S5() for "lii|uor" and !|i25 for "beer." On the 
 27th of September, the bo.ird appropriated .SlOO 
 for the upper, and SlU.) for the lower bridge at 
 Faribault, over Straight Uiver. 
 
 The year 1H.5!) dawned upon the county, and 
 the same board still held the reins of the county 
 government. On tlie 8th of January reports were 
 received frtmi thirty-seven of the school districts, 
 and showed au attendance of 1939 scholars. At a 
 session of the board on the 17th of February, the 
 first coroner was appointed in the person of .1. B. 
 Wheeler, who afterward resigned, and E. J. Crump 
 was appointed in his stead. 
 
 From the record of the proceedings it seems that 
 s imethin" was wrong with the management of 
 finances and county orders, for, at a session of the 
 hrdvA. on the 17th of February, it was declared by 
 a resolution that all county orders issued by tbe 
 former board of County Commissioners as void, 
 and repudiated and forbade the County Treasurer 
 paying any of the same. This resolution, how- 
 ever, after investigation of the matter, was re- 
 scinded, and the former chairman of the board, 
 Levi Nutting, was requested to deliver up all notes 
 and matters pertaining thereto into the hands of 
 the board. 
 
 At the annual election iu the fall of this year a 
 new board was elected, and the newly elected 
 Commissioners took their places and oath of office 
 at a meeting on the 13th of Sriitember, the follow- 
 ing being members: A. Anderson, J. D. Hoskins. 
 Isaac Woodman, L. Hulett, J. H. Winter, L N. 
 Safer, Benjamin Lockerby, E. Koberds, J. H. 
 Bartlett, James MeCabe, K. M. Norton, H. Conary, 
 and N. Paquin. 
 
 Keports to the board nf Supervisors from forty 
 of the fifty-four school districts in the county 
 showed a total of 2,01G S'bolars iu attendance. 
 
 Oo the 7th of January, ISGO, the laut meeting 
 of the board was held and adjourned sine (/«'»;, as 
 the governmental principles of the county reverted 
 to the former ra(!thod, that of Commissioners. 
 Thus was the new method inaugurated, and then 
 discarded, while a mile post in the history of the 
 county was auspiciously passed. 
 
 Rice county, iu January, 18G0, was divided into 
 five commissioner districts, each being entitled to 
 on-' representative iu the county board. District 
 
288 
 
 nrsTouY OF rice county. 
 
 No. 1 comprised the towns of Richland, Wheeling, 
 aud Cannon Citj; district No. 2, Northfleld and 
 Bridgewater; district No. 3, Faribault; district No. 
 4, Walcott, Sargent, Morristown, and Wells; dis- 
 trict No. 5, Shieldaville, Erin, Wheatland, Web- 
 ster and Forest. 
 
 The newly elected board met on the 15th of 
 May, 1860, the following gentlemen representing 
 the various districts: J. H. Parker, G. H. Batch- 
 elder, S. Webster, and William Thorp. They or- 
 ganized by electing J. H. Parker Chairman for the 
 ensiling year. The board then appointed G. F.Batch- 
 elder County Auditor to serve until the next elec- 
 tion, fixing his bond at S5,000. It also decided that 
 his salary should be 8400 per annum. Nothing 
 more of importance came before the board, and 
 the balance of time was spent among the road 
 and school districts, together with other routine 
 business. 
 
 In 1861, the board met as required by law, on 
 the .5th of January, with the following members 
 iu attendance: G. H. Batchelder, William Dunn, 
 W. M. Thorp, G. Woodruff, James McCalie, and 
 John Couniff. G. H. Batchelder was elected 
 Oliairman for the year, and the board proceeded 
 to business. They next raised the salary of the 
 County Auditor from $400 to .$600 per year. 
 
 Al a session on the 15th of January, from re- 
 ports sent in to the board from the clerks of school 
 districts it was found that there were 2,2S7 schol- 
 ars in Rice couuty entitled to apportionment. The 
 total apportionment fund for this year was 
 $3,458.46. 
 
 In 1862, the board consisted of the same gen- 
 tlemen as did the last, except J. B. Wheeler, who 
 was elected Chairman. They fixed the salary of 
 the County Auditor at $600 for the ensuing year, 
 and that of the County Attorney at $400 per 
 annum. The balance of the year was spent in 
 routine business. 
 
 At the beginning of the next year, 1863, the 
 board met as required by law, on the 6th of Jan- 
 uary, and the records state that the full board was 
 present, but as to the personnel of the body, the 
 records ilo not give any information. The Com- 
 missioners passed a resolution raising the Auditor's 
 salary from .$(500 to $800 per year. A considera- 
 ble portion of tlie Commissioners's time in this 
 year was devoted to issues arising from the war, 
 and making appropriations for filling the (juota. 
 An account of tlicir proceedings with regard to 
 
 this will be found in the ''War Record" of the 
 county. 
 
 In 1864, the County Commissioners met on the 
 5th of January for organization, and the record of 
 the meeting says Messrs. Jackson, Adams, Whea- 
 ton, and Wilson were in attendance. The board 
 organized by electing H. Wilson, Chairman. A 
 special meeting was held on the 16th of April, for 
 the purpose of taking into consideration the pro- 
 priety of appointing a County Superintendent of 
 Schools, under authority of an act of the Legisla- 
 ture to provide for a general system of schools. 
 After consideration they appointed Thomas S. 
 Buckham, and fixed his salary at .$500 a year. 
 
 Nothing of partigular importance transpired the 
 following year, 1865, the time being consumed by 
 routine business. The Commissioners met in the 
 early part of Januai-y, substantially the same 
 board being present. They organized by electing 
 Hudson Wilson to the chair. On the 5th of Jan- 
 uary, the board raised the salary of the County 
 Attorney from $450 to $500. On the Gth of Sep- 
 temljcr, $400 was appropriated to take care of the 
 county poor, that amount having been deficient in 
 the former year's report. The board closed the 
 year's labors by allowing bills of Commissioners 
 for services, mileage, etc. 
 
 In 1866, the newly elected board met on the 2d 
 of January, and was composed of the following 
 gentlemen : Joseph Hagerty, C. A. Wheaton, 
 Hudson Wilson, C. D. Adams, aud John Close. 
 The board organized by electing Hudson Wilson, 
 Chairman. At the January session the matter of 
 a county poor farm was before the board, aud the 
 following is entered upon the records: "The 
 board having in discussion the propriety of procur- 
 ing a farm in support of the county poor, and as 
 the demands upon the county treasury will not 
 leave sufficient funds to purchase such a farm, in 
 case we should deem it advisable to provide for the 
 poor iu that way at a subsequent session. The 
 County Attorney was requested to prepare a bill 
 to present to the Legislature at this session, au- 
 thorizing the board of Rice couuty to issue bonds 
 in their discretion to an amount ucjt exceeding 
 $15,000, for the purchase of a couuty poor farm 
 aud the erection of the necessary buildings 
 thereon." The County Superintendent of Schools, 
 Thomas S. Buckham, resigned his position as 
 such, and the board appointed Myron Wheaton to 
 fill the place. At the same meeting the salary of 
 
aouyry ao vkunuknt. 
 
 289 
 
 the Auditor was increased to $1,800 per year. At 
 u later sessiou of the Commissioners, in September, 
 18CG, the board issued bonds, under antht)rity of 
 an act approved by the Legishitiiie the 1st of 
 March, 1866, entitled "An act to authorize the 
 County Commissioners of Rice county to issue 
 bonds to provide for the purchase of a county 
 poor faiTU. ' Forty-three bonds, of dent)minations 
 varying from $50 to .^500, were issued, payable 
 within eight years, with interest at ten per cent. 
 
 In January, 1867, the board mot upon the 2d 
 of the month, and consisted of the following mem- 
 bers: Hudson Wilson, C. S. Hulbert, C. D. 
 Adams, John Close, and Joseph Hagerty. The 
 organization was effected by the election of H. 
 Wilson, Chairman. They then increased the sal- 
 ary of the Auditor to .'$2,000. At the September 
 session the following resolution was passed by the 
 board: ^-Reiolved, That three members of this 
 board be a committee to purchase, and are hereby 
 instructed to negotiate for and purchase lots 1, 2, 
 and 3, of block 43, town of Faribault, for Rice 
 county, as an addition for the site for county 
 buildings. The committee to consist of Hudson 
 Wilson, John Close, C. S. Hulbert, and the County 
 Auditor." The said committee were also author- 
 ized to draw orders on the county treasury in pay- 
 ment for the same. 
 
 At the next session of the board it was "Re- 
 xdlved. That the Chairman be instructed to pre- 
 sent to the next Legislature a bill authorizing the 
 Commissioners of Rice county to issue bonds to 
 an amount not exceeding S50,000 for the erection 
 of county buildings." 
 
 In 1868, the board met as usual, in the early 
 |)art of January, and organized by electing Hud- 
 son Wilson, Chairman. The members present 
 were: Hudson Wilson, John Close, C. S. Hul- 
 bert, and Richard Browne. This year was spent 
 entirely with routine Iiusiness; attending to school 
 districts, tax abatements, and allowing bills. 
 
 The year, 1869, was sjjent by tlie Commission- 
 ers in much the same manner as the previous year. 
 The board met on the 5th of January, as recjuired 
 by law, and organized by electing Hudson Wil- 
 son, Chairman. The members present were : P. 
 Filbert, Hudson Wilson, R. Browne, and Dr. Coe. 
 The regular business coming before the board 
 during the year was disposed of, and the Com- 
 missioners closed the year by allowing two pages 
 of bills. 
 19 
 
 The board elected for 1870, met on the 4th of 
 January, and organized by electing Hudson Wil- 
 son, Chairman, the members being E. Ijathrop, R. 
 Browne, P. Filljcrt, and Dr. S. B. Coe. Notliing 
 of importance transpired this year. 
 
 The members elected for 1871, as a board of 
 County Commissioners, were as follows: First 
 commissioner's district, Peter Filbert; second dis- 
 trict, E. Lathrop; third district, H.Wilson; fourth 
 district, C. 1). Adams; fifth district, Richard 
 Browne. The seat of Petrr Filbert was afterward 
 declared vacant by the board on the ground that 
 he was not a resident of the district at the time of 
 election, and Mr. O. Osmandson was made his suc- 
 cessor. 
 
 At a meeting of the board on the 2d of Jan- 
 uary, 1872, Hudson Wilson was re-elected Chair- 
 man. The members for the year being J. C. Clos- 
 sou, E. Lathrop, C. D. Adams, anil Richard 
 Browne. At this session the salary of the County 
 Attorney was fixed at S700 per year. It was also 
 decided that all the county buildings should be 
 insured. 
 
 The following year, 1873, the board met on the 
 7th of January, comjjosed of the same gentlemen 
 as was in the last board, with the exception that 
 Hudson Wilson was dropjied out and T. B. Clem- 
 ent appeared in his place, and the lioard was (or- 
 ganized by electing the latter gentleman Chair- 
 man. They then spent some time in burning re- 
 deemed county orders. The next matter taken 
 into consideration by the board was the erection 
 of a Court House and Jail, and a bill was drawn 
 up for presentation to the next Legislature, to 
 authorize the County Commissioners to issue bonds 
 for the erection of those buildings, not exceeding 
 $50,000 in amount, and the same to be submitted 
 to a vote of the people. This was the same, in sub- 
 stance, as the resolution passed in 1867. The sal- 
 arv of the County Superintendent of Schools was 
 fixed at .«1,000 per year. 
 
 At a session of the board in May, the building 
 committee was authorized to purchase lots six and 
 seven in block forty-four, of Patrick McGreevy, 
 at a cost not to exceed ifo.OOO; they were also di- 
 rected to advertise ior bids on the same. In 
 July, the contract of completing the stone work on 
 the basement of the Court House was let to 
 Pfieffer & Co., for the sum of S9,615. The bid of 
 Babeock A- Woodruff was accepted. They agreed 
 to do carpenter work in the basement, also to fnr- 
 
290 
 
 HISTORY OP r.ICE COUNTY. 
 
 nish everything and complete the building from 
 the water tables up, according to certain plans and 
 specifications, for the sum of $20,515. 
 
 At a session of the board in August of this year, 
 it was resolved as follows: "That the board of 
 County Commissioners of Rice county acknowl- 
 edge themselves and the citizens of Rice county 
 under gi'cat and lasting obligations to the Hon. 
 H. M. Rice, of St. Paul, from whom our county 
 takes its name, for a large and valuable collection 
 of books and documents, consisting of upwards of 
 200 volumes, recently jjresented by that gentle- 
 man, the same being the first contribution to our 
 county library." 
 
 At the August session of the board, the building 
 committee reported that they had advertised for 
 bids, and let the contract for building the addi- 
 tion to the Jail, according to plans and specifica- 
 tions made by C. N. Daniels, architect, to Me.ssrs. 
 Sibbald, Hatch, Johnson and McOall, to be com- 
 pleted on the 1st of October, 1873. A contract 
 was also made with Henry Peltier for brick at 
 $8.25 per thousand. Bradey & Greenslade con- 
 tracted to furnish iron work on the jail for $2,300. 
 
 On the 1st of July, 1873, the County Commis- 
 sioners issued fifty bonds of the denomination of 
 .$1,000 each, and payable from ten to twenty years 
 from date, with interest at 9 per cent, in payment 
 for county buildings. 
 
 In 1874, the Commissioners met on the 6th of 
 January, with the following in attendance; 
 T. B. Clement, H. H. White, J. (1. Scott, J. P. 
 Healey, and J. C. Closson. The board organized 
 by electing T. B. Clement, Chairman. At a ses- 
 sit)n in March, $400 was voted to improve the 
 buildings on the County Poor Farm. Considera- 
 ble time was sjjent discussing county buildings. 
 
 The board elected for 1875, were: T. C. Adanw, 
 H. H. White, T. B. Clement, J. F. Healey, and J. 
 (r. Scott, and they met on the 5th of January, and 
 organized by re-electing T. B. Clement to the 
 chair. Messrs. Scott and Adams were appointed 
 by the Commissioners as a committee to borrow 
 for the county the sum of $5,000, payable in one 
 year. 
 
 The following year, 187G, was spent by the 
 board without any important disclosures, nothing 
 of especial interest being transacted, and tax 
 matters consuming considerable time. The Com- 
 missioners for the year were : L. W. Denison, J. 
 G. Scott, T. C. Adams, II. H. Wliite, and M. Han- 
 
 ley. The board held their first meeting on the 
 4th of January, and organized by electing L. W, 
 Denison, Chairman. 
 
 The board in 1877 were: A. P. Morris, Charles 
 Sweetzer, T. C. Adams, M. Hanley, and L. W. 
 Denison, and they met for organization on the 2d 
 of January. L. W. Denison was elected Chair- 
 man. They spent some time in discussing and 
 attending to the bills from pursuers of the North- 
 field bank robbers. 
 
 In 1878, the board first met on the 2d of Jan- 
 uary, and was attended by Christian Deike, A. P- 
 Morris, L. W. Denison, Cliarles Sweetzer, and M. 
 Hanley. The Chairman elected was L. W. Den- 
 ison. At a subsequent meeting the board author- 
 ized the Chairman to provide a suitable book- 
 case for the library presented by the Hon. H. M. 
 Rice. 
 
 In 1879, the County Commissioners were D. 
 Cavauaugh, Mr. Morris, M. Hanley, Charles 
 Sweetzer, and Mr. Deike, and D. Cavanaugh was 
 elected Chairman. 
 
 In July a petition was received for aid in build- 
 ing a bridge across Straight River on the line be- 
 tween Steele and Rice counties. A committee 
 was appointed to meet the Commissioners of Steele 
 county, and get them to bear a share of the es- 
 j)en3e. Nothing of any importance to the general 
 reiider has transpired since. Below are given the 
 Commissioners who have served since the above: 
 
 Commissioners for 1880: D. Cavanaugh, Chair- 
 Tnan, John S. Way, Charles Sweetzer, M. Hanley, 
 and Mr. Deike. 
 
 Commissioners for 1881 : D. Cavanaugh, Chair- 
 man, John S. Way, Charles Sweetzer, M. Hanley, 
 and Mr. Deike. 
 
 Commissioners for 1882: Charles Sweetzer, 
 Chairman, T. O'Grady, E. J. Healey, Mr. Deike, 
 and JaUn S. Way. The last meeting was held by 
 the above board in May, 1882. 
 
 Reoistrv of Deeds. — This office was opened 
 in 1854, in Mendota, the county seat of what was 
 then known as Dakota county, the territory then 
 embracing the county of Rice. It was kept in 
 Mimdota until late in 1855, when Dakota was di- 
 vided and Rice county formed; the records j^er- 
 taining to Rice county were then transcribed and 
 moved to Faribault. Isaac HammouB was first 
 elected Register of Deeds of Rice county; C. C. 
 Perkins was appointed deputy, and did most of 
 the registering. 
 
COUNTY CO VKUNMMNT. 
 
 291 
 
 TuANSFER OF Land. — The earliest transfer of 
 land recorded is stated as being on the 5th of Oc- 
 tober, 1851. As it will be of interest, it is below 
 given in full: 
 
 "ir/zemis, J. G. and H. Y. Scott have this day 
 purchased of Alexander Faribault tlie following 
 property, cornering at a point 28 rods east and 
 14 rods north from the southeast corner of the 
 town of Faribault, and embracing two acres, with 
 the northwest corner at the above named point, 
 being 18x36 rods, tor the following consideration, 
 viz : The said J. G. and H. Y. Scott to build in a 
 proper manner a good steam saw-mill on said 
 land, and put the same in successful operation 
 within one year from this date. Now, know ye! 
 that if the said J. G. and H. Y. Scott shall build 
 or cause to be built the said steam saw-mill, in 
 time and place aforesaid, then we, Alexander Fari- 
 bault, Luke Hulett, and Walter Morris bind our- 
 selves in the penal sum of $6,000, which sum is 
 considered double the value of said mill, to make 
 the said J. G. and H. Y. Scott a good and suffi- 
 cient general warranty deed for and to the aforesaid 
 piece of land. 
 
 Given under our hands and seals this 5th day 
 of October, 1854. 
 
 (Signed) Alex. Fawhault, | Seal | 
 
 Luke Hulett, | Seal ] 
 
 (■ Witnesses ) Walter Morris. [ Seal ] 
 
 G. H. FARIBAn>T. 
 
 E. J. Crump. 
 
 Following the above is recorded a <[uit claim 
 deed conveying a piece of land from William Mor- 
 ris to JohTi W. North for the consideration of 
 S1,000. The document is dated the 29th of De- 
 cember, 1854, and is witnessed by J. J. Noah and 
 H. H. Sibley. 
 
 The first mortgage placed on record was made 
 on the 20th of October, 1855, in which Isaac H. 
 Presho, for the sum of .'ii!400, mortgages the south- 
 east quarter of section five, township 111, range 
 20, containing 160 acres, to F. Fuller. This doc- 
 ument was signed, sealed and delivered in the 
 presence of O. F. Smith and Tbomas F. Towne. 
 
 Immediately following the above document on 
 record is a mortgage dated the 11th of October, 
 1855, from Norbert Paquin to Alexander Fari- 
 bault in the sum of ^350. 
 
 The register's office, in 1882, contains thirty- 
 four large volumes of mortgage records, fifty 
 eight volumes of deed records, and three volumes 
 
 of miscellaneous records. Under these heads the 
 records of Wills, Estrays, Bonds for Deeds, Offi- 
 cial Bonds, Power of Attorney, etc., are not classed 
 but are kept in separate books. 
 
 The present officers in this department are 1. N. 
 Doualson and M. H. Cole, Kegister and Dejmty, 
 and the aiTairs of the office receive attention which 
 gives satisfaction to all conciernod. 
 
 Clerk of Court. — This office was established 
 in Rice county in the early part of 1856, and the 
 records extend l)ack to that date. J. J. Noah was 
 the first Clerk of Court, with the office first in 
 Mendota. Tlie earliest record is a marriage, 
 dated the 15th of January, 1856, in which E. .J. 
 Crump, a Justice of the Peace, testified that with 
 their mutual consent he had joined in holy wed- 
 lock Nathan A. Lease and Rachel Lightner, both 
 of Rice county. The witnesses to this interesting 
 event were John and Martha Morgan. 
 
 Henry C. Masters and Miss Anna Randle are 
 recorded as having been joined in the bonds of 
 matrimony on the 24th of February, 1856, by 
 Walter Morris, Esq., in the presence of Mr. Beach 
 and Mrs. M. M. Willis, at the residence of Russell 
 Randle. 
 
 The first minister who.se ordination was recorded 
 iuRice county, was Morgan A. Noble, who was or- 
 dained in 1845, at Peoria, Illinois, and it appears 
 as at first, transferred to Rice county books. The 
 first record of this kind that has a date attached 
 was made on the 11th of March, 1858, and li- 
 censed Rev. Henry C. Hazen. It is signed by H. 
 Ball. The present efficient ollicer in this depart- 
 ment is C. L. Palmer. 
 
 Financial. — Bel(jw is given the substance of 
 the financial reports of the Trc^asurers of Rice 
 county for the last few years, and a statement 
 showing the present condition yf the finances of 
 the county. From the report of Treasurer Straub 
 for the year ending the 1st of March, 1878, tlie 
 following is gleaned: 
 
 Cash balance on hand March 1, 1877 ■■? 24,375.29 
 Tt)tal receipts from all sources during 
 
 year 134,010.61 
 
 Total .S158,385.90 
 
 Total disbursements during year end- 
 ing March 1st, 1878 . .'. $125,378.13 
 
 Balance cash on hand and placed to 
 
 the credit of various funds $ 33,007.77 
 
 For the year ending March 1st, 1879, the total 
 
292 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 assets of tbe county, as shown by the Auditor's 
 statemeut, are as follows: 
 
 .©ourt House auil grounds $ 55,500.00 
 
 Jail, grounds, and improvements. . . . 10,000.00 
 
 Poor farm and improvements 7,G75.00 
 
 Personal property on poor farm 2,952.86 
 
 Cash credit to revenue, poor, and 
 
 bond funds 5,130.74 
 
 Unpaid county taxes 23,472.63 
 
 Total assets S104,731.23 
 
 The liabilities were shown as follows: 
 
 Court House bonds outstanding | 50,000.00 
 
 Poor farm bonds outstanding 4,700.00 
 
 Accrued interest on above bonds. . . . 3,254.59 
 
 County orders outstanding 1,625.67 
 
 Total liabilities $ 59,580.26 
 
 Assets in excess of liabihties $45,150.97 
 
 Total receipts for this year were . . . $187,352.98 
 Total disbursements 154,530.71 
 
 Balance on hand March 1st, 1879 $ 32,822.27 
 For the year ending March Ist, 1880: 
 
 Total assets $107,026.14 
 
 Total liabilities 59,428.24 
 
 Assets in excess of liabilities. . . $ 47,597.90 
 
 Total receipts during the year .$174,911.09 
 
 Total disbursements tor the year. . . . 147,032.76 
 
 Balance on hand $ 27,878.33 
 
 The salaries paid this year amounted S9,048.61. 
 The expense of the county poor was $7,360.18. 
 
 For the year ending March 1st, 1881 : 
 
 Total receipts during the year $138,878.79 
 
 Balance on hand at commencement of 
 
 year 27,878.33 
 
 Total 1:166,757.12 
 
 Total disbursements during the year $130,603.18 
 Balance on hand 36,153.94 
 
 Total 1166,757.12 
 
 For the year ending March 1st, 1882 : 
 
 ASSETS. 
 
 Court House grounds and improve- 
 ments $ 50,000.00 
 
 Jail grounds and improvements 10,000.00 
 
 Poor farm and iin])rovements 8,500.00 
 
 Personal property on poor farm per 
 
 inventory 2,141.25 
 
 Cash credit to county revenue and 
 
 bond funds ". 14,828,54 
 
 Unpaid county taxes 22,663.09 
 
 Total $108,132.88 
 
 LLYBIIilTIES. 
 
 Ct)urt house bonds $50,000.00 
 
 Accrued interest on above bonds 3,000.00 
 
 County orders outstanding 1,530.20 
 
 Total $54,530.20 
 
 Assets over liabilities 53,602.68 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 Balance on hand as per last year's 
 
 report $ 36,153.94 
 
 Total receipts during year ending 
 
 March, 1882 148,665.69 
 
 Total . $184,819.63 
 
 DISBURSEMENTS. 
 
 Total disbursements for the year . . $ 139,989.90 
 Balance on hand March Ist, 1882. . . 44,829.73 
 
 Total $184,819.63 
 
 RICE COUNTY IN THE STATE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 From the time of the organization of Dakota 
 county, in 1851, until 185-5, this district, the sixth, 
 was represented in the Council by Slartin McLeod 
 and Joseph R. Brown. In 1855, the district be- 
 came Dakota, Scott, and Rice counties, and in the 
 Council were H. G. Bailey and Samuel Dooley, 
 who served until the State was organized. In the 
 House from this district during the corresponding 
 time were, James McBoal, Benjamin H. Randall, 
 A. E. Ames, Hezekiah Fletcher, William H. No- 
 bles, H. H. Sibley, D. M. Hanson, M. T. Murphy, 
 O. C. Gibbs, John C. Ide, J. T. Galbraith, John 
 M. Holland, O. P. Adams, J. J. McVey, L. M. 
 Brown, F. J. Whitlock, Morgan L. Noble, and 
 Cliarles Jewett. 
 
 In the constitutional convention the representa- 
 tives, or delegates, from this district on the repub- 
 lican side were: John W. North, Thomas Bolles, 
 Oscar P. Perkins, Thomas Foster, Thomas J. Gal- 
 braith, and D. D. Dickinson; and on the demo- 
 cratic side: H. H. Sibley, Robert Kennedy, Dan- 
 iel -J. Burns, Frank Warner, William A. Davis» 
 Joseph BurweU, Henry G. Bailey, au^ Andrew 
 Keegan. 
 
 The senators from Rice county since the organ- 
 ization of the State have been as follows: Michael 
 
COUNTY (KJVKUNMEMT. 
 
 293 
 
 Cook, George E. Skinner, D. H, Frost, .Toll u M. 
 Berry, Levi Nutting, Gordon E. Cole, O. P. Per- 
 kins, George P. Bachelder, John IT. Case, Thomas 
 S. Buckliam, J. M. Archibald, and T. B. Clement. 
 The representatives in the House have been: 
 John L. Schofield, John H. Parker, Warren Ven- 
 tress, E. N. Leavens, Luke Hulett, Perris Webster, 
 J. D. Hoskins, Charles Wood, George H. Wood- 
 ruff, Caleb Clossen, Charles Taylor, A. N. Nourso, 
 A.H. Bullis, J. S. Archibald, Isaac Pope, Charles 
 
 A. Wheaton, Christian Erd, Jesse Ames, W. J. 
 Sibbison, E. Hollister, Henry Draught, William 
 Close, .\ra Barton, Henry Piatt, O. Osmundson, 
 John Hutchinson, H. M. Matteson, Elias Hobbs, 
 S. C. Dunham, J. B. Hopkins, Andrew Thompson, 
 
 B. M. James, H. E. Barron, J. H. Passon, H. B. 
 Martin, L. M. Healy, T. B. Clement, J. S. Allen, 
 Joseph Covert, F. A. Noble, C. H. Grant, G. W. 
 Walrath, P. Plaisance, J. H. Ptttys, Hiram 
 Scriver, A. W, McKinstry, C. B. Coe, E. C. 
 Knowles, J. W. Thompson, John Thompson, Stiles 
 M. West, L. W. Denison, J. S. Haselton, Seth H. 
 Kenuey, A. Thompson, W. P». Baldwin, P. Plais- 
 ance, S. P. Stewart, R. A. Mott, and John Thomp- 
 son. 
 
 Rice county has not been remarkably well rep- 
 resented in the State offices, but those who have 
 occupied the most prominent position will be men- 
 tioned : General James Shields was a resident of 
 Faribault, and was a United States Senator; John 
 M. Berry has been for seventeen years Associate 
 .lustice of the Supreme Court of the State; Ed- 
 ward W. Deike was State Treasurer; Charles Mc- 
 Hrath was State Auditor; Gordon E. Cole was At- 
 torney General for six years; Charles R. Lucas, 
 (). T). Brown, and W. P. Jewett were chief clerks 
 in the Auditors ofUce, and there may have been 
 others that have been overlooked. 
 
 CENSUS AKD OTHER STATISTICS. 
 
 The census of the State for the six census years 
 that have occurred since the first Territorial or- 
 ganization shows the following niunbtTS : 
 
 1850 fi,077 
 
 1860 172,023 
 
 1865 250,099 
 
 1870 439,706 
 
 1875 597,407 
 
 1880 780,773 
 
 This is certainly a healthy growth. As to the 
 ])opulation of the cities in the State, Faribault is 
 
 the seventh and Northfiold is tiie eighteenth, ac- 
 cording to the United States census of 1880. 
 
 The ceii.sus of Rice county by sex, nativity, and 
 color reads thus: 
 
 Males 11,673 
 
 Females 10,807 
 
 Natives 15,691 
 
 Foreign 6,789 
 
 White 22,383 
 
 Colored 97 
 
 This includes one Chinaman, one Japanese, and 
 fifty-three Indians and half-breeds. 
 
 The several subdivisions of the county are thus 
 peopled : 
 Bridgewater, including ])undas village. . . 1,683 
 
 Dundas Village 589 
 
 Cannon City 1,188 
 
 Erin 846 
 
 Faribault 5,415 
 
 Forest 853 
 
 Morristown 1,422 
 
 Northfield and city 3,150 
 
 Northfleld City 2,296 
 
 Richland 957 
 
 Shieldsville 781 
 
 Warsaw 1,018 
 
 Webster 872 
 
 Wells 1,100 
 
 Wheatland 1,464 
 
 Wheeling 917 
 
 Walcott 825 
 
 M.arriages in the county in 1881 208 
 
 Divorces during the year 14 
 
 Naturalization in 1881 122 
 
 Of these latter there were sixty-two Scandina- 
 vians, and twenty-seven (lermans, Prussian.s, Bohe- 
 mians, and Poles, no Irish, twenty-six English 
 and Scotch, and seven other nationalities. 
 
 Births in Rice county in 1880 772 
 
 Deaths 340 
 
 Natural increase 432 
 
 In point of population the county of Rice is 
 the seventh in the state of Minnesota. The num- 
 ber of inhabitants in the county for the several 
 census years since its organization were as follows: 
 
 1860 7,543 
 
 1865 10,977 
 
 1870 16,083 
 
 1875 20,622 
 
 1880 22,480 
 
294 
 
 nrSTOBT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 The western emigration within a tew years has 
 actually decreased the number of people within 
 some of the connties of the State, but Rice has 
 more than held its own. 
 
 Births in the conntv in 1881 703 
 
 Deaths " : 308 
 
 Of the latter the principal causes were: 
 
 Consumption 40 
 
 Diphtheria 29 
 
 Pneumouia 30 
 
 Brain diseases 17 
 
 Most of the last were children. The large per- 
 centage of pulmonary diseases, which is not ma- 
 terially unlike other parts of the country, is due, 
 it is claimed, to the fact of the large number seek- 
 ing this, in common with other parts of the State, 
 as a relief from these diseases when in an ad- 
 vanced stage and beyond the reach of local sani- 
 tary conditions. 
 
 In 1873, there were 168 weddings in the county, 
 528 births and 256 deaths. 
 
 Items like these are interpolated that a general 
 idea of the progress of the county may be gathered 
 without having to wade through so many statistics 
 as a yearly statement would involve. 
 
 Agricultubal Statistics. — While it seems de- 
 sirable in this work to avoid dry statistics, there 
 are certain facts involving figures which are 
 most valuable, particularly by way of comparison. 
 For instance: it is known in a general way, that 
 the wheat belt has been traveling westward ever 
 since it was first started at Plymouth, Massachu- 
 setts, when the pilgrim fathers landed there two 
 hundred and sixty years ago. At first it moved on 
 its westward march, not in a very rapid way, until 
 fifty years ago the valley of the Genesee in New 
 York was the great wheat raising region. But when 
 Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota were opened 
 up for cultivation, the wheat growing center be- 
 g!in its kangaroo jumps toward the setting sun, 
 and Minnesota is now its resting place, but how 
 soon a flying leap will land it in Dakota, time 
 alone can determine. Some of the figures here 
 presented may help to a prognosis in this regard. 
 The account begins with the cereals. 
 
 Acreage and crojis in Rice county of the tour 
 jjriucipal cereals, according to the United States 
 census of 1880 : 
 
 Acreage. BimhcU. 
 
 Wheat 74,873 907,514 
 
 Oats 12,726 507,522 
 
 Corn 11,524 405,990 
 
 Barley 890 22,789 
 
 The acreage of wheat in the State in 1881, has 
 simi^ly held its own, although twenty-three 
 counties have had a decrease, but Rice county is 
 not in the list. The acreage in sugar cane in 1880 
 was 312, the namber of gallons of syrup pro- 
 duced was 39,698, or 131.45 per acre. 
 
 The rye crop in 1880 was not large in Rice 
 county, only forty-eight acres, with a yield of 
 935 bushels, an average of 19.68. 
 
 Buckwheat had thirty-nine acres and 768 bush- 
 els — 19.69 as an average. 
 
 Potatoes, 947 acres, yielding 91,651 bushels — 
 90.79 as an average. 
 
 Bean crop, si-xteen acres, yelding 342 bushels, 
 an average of 21.37 per acre. 
 
 Cultivated hay, 4,732 acres, 7,046 tons. 
 
 Flax seed, 1,399 acres, 11,622 bushels. 
 
 Apple trees in bearing 0,937. Trees growing, 
 23,070. Bushels of apples raised, 2,406. 
 
 Tobacco cro}!, 945 pounds. 
 
 Bees and honey. Hives, 583; honey, 3,502 
 pounds. 
 
 Maple .sugar, 4,650 pounds. Syrup, 1,749 gallons. 
 
 Cows, 5.505, butter, 350,855 pounds. Cheese, 
 16,290 pounds. 
 
 Sheep, 7,278; wool, 30,605 pounds. 
 
 Horses in the county, 7,570. 
 
 The whole number of farms in the county in 
 1881, was 1,867. 
 
 The above crop statistics are taken from the 
 census reports of 1880. 
 
 FUO.ST. 
 
 As to the time when frost may be expected in 
 Rice county, the following table gives the history 
 of this uncertain event, as to its earliest appear- 
 ance for seventeen years: 
 
 1865— October 15. 
 
 1866— August 15. 
 
 1867~September 1. 
 
 1868— " 15. 
 
 1809— " 26. 
 
 1870— October 13. 
 
 1871— September 19. 
 
 1872— " 27. 
 
 1873— " 7. 
 
 1874— " 14. 
 1875— August 22. 
 1876— September 26. 
 
 1877— " 17. 
 
 1878— " 10. 
 
 1879— " 19. .> 
 
 1880— " 7. 
 
 1881— " 28. 
 
 The average time being about the middle of 
 September. 
 
ii'.iA' nEconi). 
 
 •295 
 
 CHAPTER XLYIII. 
 
 lilCE COUNTY IN THE WAR OF THE KErtEI.T,ION — 
 NAMES OF SOLDIERS WHO I'AKTICirATED. 
 
 Looking at Rico county to-day wo can hardly 
 realize that when the war broke upon the country, 
 in April, 1861, it had not been settled ten years, 
 and that Minnesota as a. State of the American 
 Union was hardly three years old, but, notwith- 
 standing its own soil bad not been fully sulijuga- 
 ted toman's use, very material aiil was promptly 
 furnished to assist in subjugating the rebellious 
 States. The feeling here prevailed among the 
 majority of the people that the Union must be 
 preserved. 
 
 The sights and the sounds that were visible and 
 audible iu every city, village, and hamlet north of 
 Mason's and Dixon's lino, were dui)licated here. 
 The celerity with which men abandoned the pur- 
 suits of peace to take up those of war, was most 
 marvelous, and in this sketch, in addition to the 
 names of the soldiers who were credited to this 
 county, various incidents will be alhuled to, that 
 the methods, and the character of the patriotism 
 which was so well nigh universal, may be remem- 
 bered by coming generations whose gratitude was 
 tluis merited. 
 
 ladies' soldiers aid SOCIETY. 
 
 Ou the 17th of October, when the idea of the 
 magnitude ot the struggle began to dawn upon 
 the average northern mind, and the notion that 
 the rebellion could be put down in three months 
 was thoroughly dissipated, the patriotic ladies of 
 Faribault met at Metropolitan Hall, and organ- 
 ized a society to assist in supplying the sick and 
 wounded soldiers with necessary articles for their 
 comfort. The membership was quite large, and 
 embraced the leading women ot the place, whose 
 services in the double cause of humanity and 
 patriotism were a new thing in warfare, and re- 
 vealed the true position to be occupied by the gen- 
 tler sex, while their husbands, sons, and fathers 
 were at the front forming walls of steel as a pro- 
 tection to the present and future firesides of this 
 great Republic. 
 
 The contrast between the wars of ages past, be- 
 fore there was any military surgery even, and this 
 ■war, with its medical corps, supplemented liy the 
 coUossal Sanitary and Christian commissions that 
 were kept supplied with material by just such 
 societies as this, was indeed most striking and re- 
 
 markable, revealing, in a clear light, the progress- 
 ive age of the world in which wo live, where the 
 actual brotherhood of man is practically exempli- 
 fied by such benefactions. 
 
 The first officers of this association woie : Presi- 
 dent, Mrs. Bemis; Vice-President, Mrs. S. B. 
 Rockaway; Secretary, Mrs. E. .7. Crump; Treas- 
 urer, Mrs. May Fisk; Committee, Mrs. J. H. Win- 
 ter, Mrs. A. J. Tanner, Mrs. W. fl. Stevens, Mrs. 
 S. P. Van Brunt, and Mrs. A. P. Tula. 
 
 To show the character of the contributions sent 
 to the sick and wounded soldiers, as well as to those 
 in camp, a list of articles furnished from North- 
 field as their second installment, and which was 
 forwarded on the 2d of June, 18(52, ia subjoined. 
 The invoice c<msisted of: Eight quilts, seventeen 
 pillows, two dozen woolen socks, six coarse combs, 
 ten fine combs, nine dressing gowns, one pair 
 slippers, nine new shirts, seven old shirts, eight 
 pair ot drawers, one dozen brown towels, nine cot- 
 ton sheets, ime linen sheet, twenty-one pillow- 
 cases, twenty-seven linen towels, forty cotton naj)- 
 kins, five dozen compresses — one of lint, four linen 
 handkerchiefs, fifty-four roUs of bandages, one 
 package of linen and cotton rags, eighteen palm- 
 leaf fans, one pair of shoes, throe hair brushes, five 
 quires of paper, twelve packages ot envelopes, 
 twelve drinking cups, nine cakes of toilet soap, 
 one package ot tea, one package of cloves, one 
 package of corn starch, one package of linen 
 thread, five papers of needles, three and one-half 
 dozen buttons, three and one-half dozen shirt but- 
 tons, one cake of beeswax, one package ot hooks 
 and eyes, steel pens, sponges, one pau- scissors, 
 two pounds of castUe soaj), five books, and two 
 Bibles. 
 
 Collections of a like character were made all 
 over the county, especially during the last three 
 years of the war, and it can readily be seen what an 
 enormous amount of sanitary stores were sent. 
 
 In July, 1802, G. F. Batcheldor otlered a private 
 bounty of .510 to any man who would enlist. At 
 this time the government was paying $25 in ad- 
 vance, S3 extra, and one month in advance to all 
 who enlisted. 
 
 Ou the 4th of July, 1802, the patriotism of the 
 town of Faribault was stimulated by a celebration, 
 with Dr. Charles Jewett as the orator. 
 
 On the 12th of August, 1802, there was a war 
 meeting at Metropolitan Hall in Faribault, at 
 which speeches were made in the interest of re- 
 
296 
 
 HISTORY OP mCB COUNTY'. 
 
 cruiting. Later in the history of the war more 
 substantial iuducements were offered in the shape 
 of large bounties, if money is really more sub- 
 stantial than patriotism. 
 
 In the summer of 1862, Hon. Mr. Magoon was 
 in Faribault recruiting for the Sixth Regiment. 
 Captain Parker was home in the summer on sick 
 and recruiting leave. 
 
 Up to August, 1862, under the calls the State 
 had to raise, 5,360 men, and the proportion for 
 Kice county was 336. Some of the residents went 
 to Canada to avoid the draft, as did men from 
 every State in the north. Levi Nutting was ap- 
 pointed Provost Marshal for the State. He is 
 still an honored resident of Faribault. The Can- 
 non River Guards, Capt. Pettit, recruited here, 
 marched on the 20th of August, 1862, with ninety- 
 four officers and men. Lieut. Cannough was com- 
 missioned to recruit for the Eighth Minnesota 
 Regiment. 
 
 The board of County Commissioners, on the 8th 
 of August, 1862, took up war matters, and ap- 
 propriated money from the county fund, and 
 provided that the sum of !$20 be paid to every vol- 
 unteer, the number not to exceed 200, who should 
 on or before the 15th of August, enlist in the 
 Rice County Guards, the Emmet Guards, or any 
 other company organizing in Rice county. On 
 the 2d of September another bounty of .#20 was 
 ippropriated to all who would volunteer to fill 
 the quota. After voting these bounties it was de- 
 clared as follows, by the board : 
 
 "To be the intent and meaning of this resolu- 
 tion, together with the appropriation, jjassed 
 August 8th, 1862, to provide for the payment 
 herein-above speciiied, to each and every person 
 who shall have voluntarily enlisted in the service 
 of the United States, as above mentioned. Pro- 
 viding, the number does not exceed tilling Rice 
 county's <juota." 
 
 On the 8th of January, 1863, the county board 
 Hesoln'.d — "That each town in the county con- 
 stitute a military district." This was done in 
 accordance with a law which had been passed by 
 the Legislature of the State to organize all the 
 available men, as to age and physical qualifica- 
 tions, into militia companies. In accordance with 
 the above law, whicli was jjassed on the 29th of 
 September, ] 862, the election in the various dis- 
 tricts for commissioned officers was held on the 
 7th of .Xjiril, 1863. Homo of the districts hav- 
 
 ing failed to elect, the officers were subsebuently 
 appointed by the board. The names of the officers 
 of these companies are not here given because 
 many of them never went to the front, and the 
 names of tho.se who actually served will appear 
 in the subjoined list. 
 
 In January, 1864, a resolution was adopted to 
 equalize the bounty by the payment of $20 to 
 certain soldiers who had enlisted previous to 
 August 21st, 1862. 
 
 In 1864, the question of voting relief by the 
 county to the families of soldiers widows and 
 families was discussed, and resolutions were 
 offered in the board, but opponents of the meas- 
 ure succeeded in defeating it, which may not, per- 
 haps, be an evidence of want of patriotism, but 
 the entertainment of a doubt as to whether this 
 was the proper method to extend relief to this most 
 deserving class, so many natural protectors of 
 whom had sacrificed their lives for the safety of 
 our common home. 
 
 The Rico County Guards, Capt. Cutter, was an- 
 other local company; also the McClellan Guards. 
 
 Up to August, 1862, Morristowu, with less than 
 100 legal voters, sent sixty men into the ranks. 
 At the time of the Sioux Massacre, in August, 
 1862, Rice county promptly sent a force of cavalry 
 to the front. Mr. Faribault had ninety men in 
 the saddle very promptly. The Rice County 
 Rangers was the first company to report at St. 
 Peter's. Maj. Dike was also authorized to raise a 
 company to operate on the frontier. Lieut. West 
 was likewise engaged in recruiting a cavalry com- 
 pany from the coimty. In October, 1862, the re- 
 cruiting was twenty-two ahead of the quota in 
 Rice county. 
 
 The Mounted Rangers, raised to operate against 
 the Sioux, and commanded by Col. Samuel Mc- 
 Phail, was partly recruited here by Lieut. O. D. 
 Brown. During that terrible time (juite large 
 numbers from Rice county had their first expe- 
 rience in camp life in that campaign. While the 
 troops were engaged with the Sioux the draft was 
 impending with its al;irming vmcertainty, and its 
 distressingly few blanks, which, unlike usual 
 rattles, all were anxious to draw, and so the Gover- 
 nor sent a telegram to the President asking that 
 the draft be postponed and the time for paying 
 bounties for enlistments extended, and here is a 
 copy of his cliaracteiistic reply: 
 
WAH RECORD. 
 
 297 
 
 "Washington, Aug. 27th, 1862. 
 
 To Governor Rfimsei/ — Yours received. Attend 
 to the Indians! If the draft oinnnt proceed of 
 course it trill not proceed. Necessity knows no 
 law. The government cannot extend the time. 
 
 A. Lincoln." 
 
 Several clergymen from Bice county were in the 
 ranks, among them Rev. D. B. Anderson, a Baptist; 
 Kev. L. Pease, a Methodist; Rev. Lauren Anushy, 
 pastor of the Congregational church in Faribault, 
 was the chaplain of the Eighth Minnesota; Rev. 
 E. R. Lathrop, of the Tenth; Rev. C. G. Bowdish 
 also enlisted. Rev. L. Webb was in an Illinois 
 regiment. 
 
 Charles E. Davidson was the interesting army 
 correspondent of the Republican at Farilianlt. 
 He was a member of Company O, First Regiment 
 Minnesota Volunteers. He died in November, 
 1802, at Bledsoes Island, New York harbor, where 
 he was carried after the "seven days tight." He 
 left a wife and many friends in Faribault. 
 
 The Ladies' Aid Society in Fariliault gave a 
 grand entertainment in the winter of 18(53, Mrs. 
 H. Wilson was President of the society at that 
 time. 
 
 In June, 1863, there were several Indians at 
 Mr. Alexander Faribault's, and a rumor was cir- 
 culated to the effect that some of them had been 
 connected with the New Ulm massacre, but Mr. 
 Faribault promptly set the matter right. Those 
 who were with him were Wacon, or Le Clan^ and 
 family, who came here when Faribault did, and 
 have been here ever since; Papa and family and a 
 widow and two children, the wife and mother of 
 Good Thunder, who assisted in saving captives 
 who were sent here for their safety. They were 
 all "good Injuns." 
 
 In the fall of 1863, Capt. E. A. Rice was at 
 home on recruiting service. 
 
 The Fourth Minnesota Regiment re-enlisted in 
 the winter of 1864, and came home on a veteran 
 furlough. 
 
 Company G, of the First Regiment, had a like 
 home run, and a reception. The co.nmittee of re- 
 ception on the part of the citizens consisted of 
 Maj. William H. Dike, H. Wilson, E. N. Leavens, 
 G. F. Batchelder, R. A. Mott, and a suitidjle 
 lionor was accorded them. 
 
 In February, 18(!4, a bounty of $\V) was voted 
 by Faribault, and sixteen or seventeen were en- 
 listed under the new call. 
 
 Charles Jewett, who had gone to Massachusetts, 
 was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Fifty- 
 fourth Regiment of that State. 
 
 Some of Conij)any I, of the Fourth Itegiment, 
 re-enhsted and visited home. Dr. Jewett had 
 three sons in the army; one of them, John, was 
 killed in battle. 
 
 In 1864, Rev. L. Webb was commissioned to 
 raise a company. 
 
 G. L. Porter was a recruiting officer for heavy 
 artillery in 1864. 
 
 Major Michael Cook, of the Tenth Regiment, 
 was killed at the battle of Nashville; his friends 
 and neighbors paid due respect to his memory on 
 the 27th of December, 1864. 
 
 In April, 186.5, nearly iSLOflO worth of sanitary 
 stores were sent south. 
 
 Early in the year 186.5, a Soldiers' Families Aid 
 Societv was in operation, and festivals were in 
 order to raise money. 
 
 It may be a matter of interest to see a state- 
 ment of the number of troops called for by the 
 President during the war. 
 
 (WLLS FOR TROOPS. 
 
 April 16, ISOl 75,000 
 
 May 4th, 1861 68,784 
 
 Julv to December, 1861 500,000 
 
 July 1st, 1862 300,000 
 
 August 4th. 1662 300,000 
 
 Draft, summer of 1863 300,000 
 
 Febniary 1, 1864 500,000 
 
 July 18, 1864 500,000 
 
 Total 2,543,784 
 
 As the different comprmies came home at the 
 expiratifm of their term of service, or at the close 
 of the war, they were handsomely received. On 
 the most important occasion of the kind General 
 Nutting made the welcome address, which was 
 responded to by Rev. Mr. Lathrop. Of course 
 there was the dinner and the usual concomitants. 
 The following is a list of soldiers from Rice 
 county, as prepared from the Adjutant General's 
 report. Great care has been taken to make this 
 list as nearly complete as possible, but it is not 
 unlikely that some defenders of their country, who 
 had a greater regard for their duty than for pre- 
 serving a record of their deeds, have been omitted : 
 
 FIRST REGIMENT INF.VNTY. 
 
 William H. Dike, Major. 
 
 COMPANY P. 
 
 William Colville, .Tr., Captain. 
 
298 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 COMPANY G. 
 
 Henry Clay Whitney. Richard M. Wattles. 
 
 Lewis McKune, Captain. 
 
 David Wood. Edward E. Verjjlank. 
 
 Nathan S. Messick, 
 
 First Lieutenant, promoted 
 
 KECBUITS. 
 
 Captain. 
 
 
 M. M. Curtis. William D. Bennett. 
 
 John J. McCoUum, 
 
 First Lieutenant. 
 
 William A. Brooks. S. J. Pearl. 
 
 William E. Smith, 
 
 Second Lieutenant. 
 
 Nathaniel Reed. Charles Taylor. 
 
 Joseph H. Spencer, 
 
 First Sergeant. 
 
 G. J. McCullough. J. W. Peasley. 
 
 Charles C. Parker, 
 
 Sergeant. 
 
 J. M. Babcock. S. S. Gifford". 
 
 George A. Williams 
 
 , " 
 
 M. HaskeU. 
 
 John J. McCollum, 
 
 ti 
 
 (lOMPANT n — PRIVATES. 
 
 James De Grey, 
 
 Corporal. 
 
 
 Edward Tnman, 
 
 a 
 
 Andrew J. Brock. Columbus Brock. 
 
 John Logan, 
 
 « 
 
 Newton BroAvn. Franklin Bauman. 
 
 Edward Hollister, 
 
 k( 
 
 Henry C. Cady. Mortimer Canfield. 
 
 Charles E. Hess, 
 
 « 
 
 .John Clausen. Dennis Crandall. 
 
 Philo Hall, 
 
 " 
 
 William Cagger. Samuel S. Cronkhite. 
 
 Frank Dickinson, 
 
 (( 
 
 SECOND EEGIMENT INFANTBT COMPANY A. 
 
 William H. Ramsey, 
 
 PBIVATB. 
 
 Louis E. Hanneman, Musician. 
 
 Appoles Owen. 
 
 John E. Strothman 
 
 a 
 
 COMPANY B PRIVATES. 
 
 Francis Gibson, Wagoner. 
 
 James Bradley. Stephen R. Cbilds. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 William McStotts. George Whitehouse. 
 
 Adams Areman. 
 
 Marvin D. Au dress. 
 
 COMPANY 0. PRIVATES. 
 
 Edward H. Basset. 
 
 Dennis L. Barton. 
 
 George B. Newell. Edwin H. Wood. 
 
 Henry Borchert. 
 
 Norman B. Barron. 
 
 
 Jefferson G. Baker. 
 
 Charles M. Benson. 
 
 COMPANY D. — PRIVATES. 
 
 George R. Buckmar, 
 
 Juseph G. Bemis. 
 
 Martin Kelcher. Joseph Kartack. 
 
 Fridelin Boll. 
 
 William G. Coeu. 
 
 William Mills. 
 
 Phineas L. Dunham. 
 
 Charles E. Davison. 
 
 COMPANY F — PRIVATE. 
 
 James L. Dubois. 
 
 Stephen E. Ferguson. 
 
 Gabriel Lachapell. 
 
 John Gatzke. 
 
 Robert Gregg. 
 
 COMPANY a. — PRIVATE. 
 
 Jonathan Goodrich. 
 
 Ezra D. Haskins. 
 
 Joseph Clute. 
 
 Jo.seph L. House. 
 
 George I. Hopkins. 
 
 COMPANY H. PRIVATES. 
 
 Martin Healy. 
 
 John Holther. 
 
 Joseph Caprou. Charles Hodgen. 
 
 Caleb B. Jackson. 
 
 Albert Johnson. 
 
 Benjiimin H. Jewett. 
 
 Anthony Jones. 
 
 COMPANY I. — PRIVATES. 
 
 George A. Kenney. 
 
 Samuel Lilly. 
 
 Ira Halladay. Edward Kellogg. 
 
 Samuel Laird. 
 
 George Magee. 
 
 Frank Snydor. Hiram Swain. 
 
 William Myers. 
 
 John McKinster. 
 
 COMPANY K. 
 
 Asa Miller. 
 
 Edward Z. Needham. 
 
 David S. Coverdale, Corporal; promoted to 
 
 James L. Nichols. 
 
 George W. Olmsted. 
 
 Sergeant, Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, 
 
 Edward Potter. 
 
 William Potter. 
 
 and Captain. 
 
 John M. Rhover. 
 
 Samuel Reynolds. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Lewis G. Reynolds. 
 
 James E. Russell. 
 
 Thomas Adams. John W. Gould. 
 
 Peter W. Ramsdell. 
 
 Benjamin Roberts. 
 
 Samuel Gould. Riley J. Phillbrook. 
 
 Walter S. Reed. 
 
 Neri Reed. 
 
 .Jonathan Poo. Cyrus S. Bondurant. 
 
 William A. Rooks. 
 
 Banteus Soule. 
 
 Andrew L. Emery. Francis Sohofield. 
 
 Julius Sciiultz. 
 
 George P. Sawyer. 
 
 " 
 
 Chauncey S(iuiror. 
 
 Almon C. Strickland. 
 
 THIED BEGIMENT INFANTRY. — COMPANY B. 
 
 James T. Sawyer. 
 
 Edgar Tiffany. 
 
 Olin C. Rollin, Second Lieutenant; promoted 
 
 Charles E. Webster. 
 
 Theodore Williiims. 
 
 to First Lieutenant and Captain, 
 
WAR RECORD. 
 
 '2!>0 
 
 John Dana. 
 
 Elius T. T.iylor. 
 Coleman M. Wood. 
 William H. Wood. 
 
 William L. Sloan. 
 Charles Wood. 
 Jacob liidyefc. 
 
 COJIP.tNY E. — PKIVATE. 
 
 Newton Vaugbau. 
 
 COMPANY F. — PRFVATES. 
 
 William A. Bowe. Ehen P. Jones. 
 
 Edward S. Kellogg. Charlos Russell. 
 
 Cicero T. Richmond. Stewart Richmond. 
 
 Francis J. Ridgeway. Eugene H. Stone. 
 
 Thomas Sandy. Johnson R. Tmax- 
 
 Alonzo Verrill. Edward A. Vaughn. 
 James H. Wright. 
 
 COMPANY n. 
 
 David Misner, First Lieutenant; promoted to 
 Captain, Company C, and Major, First Minnesota 
 Heavy Artillery. 
 
 ALmon C. Strickland, First Sergeant. 
 
 James M. Moran, Sergeant; promoted Second 
 Lieutenant. 
 
 Leonard K. Flamlers, Corporal; promoted 
 Sergeant. 
 
 John Cooper, Corporal. 
 
 WiUiam T. Alvey, " 
 
 Albert W. Stewart, Wagoner. 
 
 PUIVATE.S. 
 
 Isaac A. Barrick. George S. Bassett. 
 
 Thamas Bradshaw. Edwin A. Biggs. 
 
 Thoma.s Carney. George Erviu. 
 
 Donald Gray. Martin V. B. Hall. 
 
 James L. Haskett. Shefield S. Hay ward. 
 
 William A. Hussey. William A. Lamb. 
 
 Eliel W. Lawton. Albert H. Lewis. 
 
 Michael Logne. Robert Lnmsden. 
 
 Felix A. Myrick. William Owen. 
 
 Alexandria Reed. John Slater. 
 
 Allen B. Donaldson. Malon B. Eokhart. 
 
 Arthur H. Erwiu. Lovell Eattm. 
 
 William Foster. 3o\ni Gibson. 
 
 George W. Hall. Asa Howe. 
 
 Heber R. Hare. Benjamin B. Baker. 
 
 Solomon Crosby. Rees Evans. 
 
 Alvin Engle. Henry Taul. 
 
 John G. Conner. Lorenzo Dearborn. 
 
 Adam Eckhart. Gustaf Grandstrand. 
 
 William H. Jackson. Gottfried Huser. 
 David Lilly. 
 
 COMPANY I. — PI!r\'ATE. 
 
 Alexander Reed. 
 
 FOUBTH REGIMENT INFANTRY COMPANY li. 
 
 PRIVATES, 
 
 Alfe Olson. Nels Olcson. 
 
 Adam Pfieirer. Ole Hevorson. 
 
 Andrew Severson. Thomas Thom))Kon. 
 
 (U)MPANY <^ 
 
 James F. Dilley, Second Lieutenant. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Albert Drinkwine. Joseph Eroux. 
 
 Benjaroin Gypsin. Thomas R. Huggins. 
 
 William H. Hill. 
 Charles Loyd. 
 John Loyd. 
 William McCrary. 
 
 Moses Herman. 
 William H. Long. 
 Edward McGilli.s. 
 Joseph Newell. 
 
 COMPANY I). — PRIVATES. 
 
 George Anderson. Remi Crapeau. 
 
 Thomas Reilly. 
 
 CAMPANY E. — PRIVATES. 
 
 John Conrad. Daniel Nevin. 
 
 Stephen E. Birch. George H. Thurston. 
 
 Edwin Walter. George F. Birch. 
 
 COMPANY F. — PRIVATES. 
 
 Charles FiUar. Charles ScoUeld. 
 
 Charles F. Beytion. 
 
 COMPANY I. 
 
 John H. Parker, Captain; })romoted Major. 
 
 Henry Piatt, First Lieutenant; promoted Cai)- 
 taiu. 
 
 Edwin O. Chapman, First Sergeant; jiromotcd 
 Second Lieutenant. 
 
 Clark Turner, Sergeant; promot(Hl Second 
 Lieutenant and First Lieutenant. 
 
 Levi B. Aldrich, Sergeant, 
 
 Henry I. Davis, Coi-poral. 
 
 John D. Hunt, Corporal; jironiotcd First 
 Lieutenant. 
 
 David A. Temple, Corporal. 
 
 Joseph Williams, Corporal; promoted Sci-- 
 geant and First Lieutenant. 
 
 PRn'ATES. 
 
 Ira C. Aldrich. John Avery. 
 
 Balzer Bower. James H. Cronkhite. 
 
 John W. Davey. William W. Davis. 
 
 Thomas C. Ferguson. Edward A. Gouser. 
 
 William R. Gillman. Cornelius Hull. 
 
 Charles P. Hagstrom. Joseph Hershey. 
 
 Charles O. Healy. Stephen N. Johnson. 
 
 Simon Kreger. Hiram H. Marcyes. 
 
 Nels Nelson. SewaU G. Randall. 
 
 John G. Russell. George W. Reiuoehl. 
 
300 
 
 BISTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 Edward Reble. George Schranth. 
 
 August H. Trume. Mark Wells. 
 
 COMPANY K. — PBrV'ATE. 
 
 John Powers. 
 
 FIFTH REGIMENT INFANTRY — COMPANY A. — 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Jacob Haines. John Sickler. 
 
 David M. Strang. 
 
 COMPANY C. PRIVATES. 
 
 Edward Berg. Lyman H. Decker. 
 
 Halver Elefson. 
 Edward Roth. 
 
 Frederick Kuudsou. 
 
 COMPANY fl. — PRIVATE. 
 
 Jeremiah Ryan. 
 
 COMPANY I. 
 
 Michael Ooagrove, Corporal. 
 
 PRIVATE. 
 
 Melvin O. Diittim. 
 
 COMPANY K. 
 
 Thomas Tierney, Corporal; promoted Ser- 
 geant. 
 
 SIXTH MINNE.SOTA INFANTRY COMPANY 0. 
 
 C. T. W. Alexander, Second Lieutenant. 
 
 Robert R. Hutchinson, First Sergeant; pro- 
 moted Second Lieutenant, and First Lieutenant. 
 
 Alexander M. Portman, Sergeant. 
 
 Thomas Watts, Corporal; promoted Sergeant. 
 
 John W. Gould, Corporal. 
 
 Amasa Classon, " 
 
 John T. McClintock, " 
 
 John Hutchinson, Corporal; promoted Ser- 
 geant and Second Lieutenant. 
 
 Charles Hetherington, Corporal ; promoted Ser- 
 geant and Second Lieutenant. 
 
 Samuel T. Webster, Musician. 
 
 Alexander M. Thompson, Musician. 
 
 Aaron M. Comey, Wagoner. 
 
 Stephen Allen, Private; promoted Corporal. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Lewis Beerman. August Beerman. 
 
 George Beerman. James F. Boss. 
 
 Chester T. Boss. John D. Brown. 
 
 David E. Berdan. Johial W. Boyd. 
 
 Thomas Bame. Joseph Classon. 
 
 Schuyler Classon. Andrew O. Chapin. 
 
 William S. Curren. Leonidas H. Dunn. 
 
 John H. Dauer. Benjamin Davison. 
 Wellington H. Emery. James Emerson. 
 
 George Fogg. Sylvester S. Glidden. 
 
 William Goudy. 
 Joel M. Hart. 
 Elisha C. King. 
 John Plummer. 
 James R. Rice. 
 George W. Robinson. 
 Andrew R. Roberts. 
 Theodore H. Sanderson. 
 William V. Stone. 
 Chauncy Swarthout. 
 Richard Stopley. 
 Thomas F. Talbot. 
 Daniel B. Turner. 
 Thomas C. Brown. 
 William C. Haycock. 
 William Hubbard. 
 Charles Peterson. 
 Hiram M. Powers. 
 George W. Searle. 
 
 Frank T. Hutchinson. 
 Jeremiah B. Jones. 
 John Merkel. 
 William E. Poe. 
 Calvin Ripley. 
 John W. Richey. 
 William A. Shepard. 
 Hugh Smith. 
 Newel T. Sumner. 
 Joseph W. Sargent. 
 Horace C. Stranahan. 
 Alexander V. Thasp. 
 Benjamin W. Viles. 
 John Daly. 
 Daniel C. Fitsimmons. 
 Edward P. Kermott. 
 Cornelius D. Personius. 
 William F. Rice. 
 Joseph O. Sargent. 
 
 COMPANY D. PRIVATES. 
 
 John Huftclen. 
 William T. Kiekenapp. 
 Oliver T. Santord. 
 David C. Brown. 
 Charles A. Gates. 
 Nelson T. Derby. 
 Peter Filbert. 
 Samuel Layman. 
 William Layman. 
 John Roth. 
 Michael Wolf. 
 
 Wilbur B. Green. 
 Isaiah Judd. 
 Lewis Sanford. 
 William H. Bush. 
 John W. Brown. 
 John Boshardt. 
 Thomas A. Fisher. 
 Charles H. Jordan. 
 Charles H. Mulliner. 
 Josiah Richardson. 
 Ira Sanford. 
 
 COMPANY I. PRIVATE.S. 
 
 Rudolph Roseman. 
 
 .SEVENTH REGIMENT INFANTRY COMPANY A. 
 
 Chancellor Cutler, Captain. 
 
 Loel B. Hoag, First Lieutenant; promoted 
 Captain. 
 
 Alpheus C. Barrack, Second Lieutenant. 
 
 George W. Butterfield, First Sergeant. 
 
 William W. Willis, Sergeant; promoted Sec- 
 ond Lieutenant. 
 
 Daniel Goodhue, Sergeant; promoted First 
 Lieutenant. 
 
 Louis Hannomann, Sergeant; j)romoted Sec- 
 ond Lieutenant. 
 
 Charles T. Anderson, Sergeant. 
 
 Richard C. Ross, Corporal. 
 
 George L. Kendall, " 
 
 Edwin Gillett, 
 
 Daniel O. Searle, " 
 
 Lyman B. Snow, " 
 
Il'.l/i' UECOUD. 
 
 ••iui 
 
 Duncan F. Kelly, Corporal. 
 
 William Damon. 
 
 Hadley Oleson. 
 
 MadiBOU K. Ransom, 
 
 (I 
 
 Henry Pratt. 
 
 Charles M. Phipps. 
 
 Henry Marsb, 
 
 " 
 
 Calvin Rank. 
 
 George Robinson. 
 
 Michael Anderson, Musician. 
 
 Howard L. Swain. 
 
 Jacob Simons. 
 
 Osfar T. Webster, 
 
 " 
 
 Jacob Winter. 
 
 JohnW. Moore. 
 
 William N. Watson, Wagoner. 
 
 EIGHTH KEOtMENT INl'ANTUy. 
 
 Samuel F. Averill, Private; promoted Corporal 
 
 (xeorge W. Butterlield, Adjutant. 
 
 and Sergeant. 
 
 
 Lauren Armsby, Chaplain. 
 
 PltlVATES. 
 
 COMPANY B. • 
 
 Myron F. Austin. 
 
 Ira Alexander. 
 
 George F. Pettitt, Ca 
 
 itain. 
 
 Henry M. Barrett. 
 
 Alexander A. Bates. 
 
 Miles Hollister, First 
 
 Lieutenant. 
 
 Charles Bingham. 
 
 Hugh Boardman. 
 
 William Shaw, Soconi 
 
 I Lieutenat. 
 
 John Beardsley. 
 
 John A. Bond. 
 
 Pence Lampson, First 
 
 Sergeant. 
 
 Amos H. Bice. 
 
 Alexander Clark. 
 
 John H. Passou, Se 
 
 ■geaut. 
 
 Lemuel Cone. 
 
 Alvin A. Calkins. 
 
 Andrew King, 
 
 " 
 
 Michael Caffrey. 
 
 Elijah R. Carpenter. 
 
 William S. Sargeaut, 
 
 ,< 
 
 Peter Colburn. 
 
 George Deek. 
 
 Benjamin F. Pierce, 
 
 ^' 
 
 Frederic Deffenbeeker. 
 
 Calvin Daniels. 
 
 John Calvin, (!or 
 
 xiral. 
 
 Philo H. Engelsby. 
 
 Joseph Fredenburg. 
 
 John Gwathmy, 
 
 " 
 
 Michael Fitzgerald. 
 
 Joseph Ford. 
 
 Benjamin F. Buck, 
 
 " 
 
 Albert Fredenburg. 
 
 Charles E. Friuk. 
 
 William Chase, 
 
 ** 
 
 Henry Finley. 
 
 Daniel Goodsell. 
 
 Isaac W. Anderson, 
 
 " 
 
 William F. Gessuer. 
 
 Franklin Gowen. 
 
 James A. Morgan, 
 
 '' 
 
 Daniel T. Hukey. 
 
 Charles H. Holt. 
 
 Edward S. Kellogg, 
 
 •' 
 
 Albert T. Hanoke. 
 
 John R. Horner. 
 
 Andrew B. C(jwen, 
 
 " 
 
 Silas Judd. 
 
 Frank L. Kendall. 
 
 Harmon Shank, Musician. 
 
 Elliott A. Knowlton. 
 
 Mahalon Lockvvood. 
 
 Thomas G. Crump, 
 
 (4 
 
 Peter W. DeLaucey. 
 
 John Mullen. 
 
 Jonathan Morris, Wa 
 
 goner. 
 
 Peter Morgan. 
 
 Joseph Miner. 
 
 PKIVATES. 
 
 William H. McDonald. 
 
 Horatio P. Moore. 
 
 Dexter B. Anderson. 
 
 Joseph Anderson. 
 
 James H. Mountain. 
 
 William Marshall. 
 
 Henrei. h Atchterkisch. 
 
 Columbus Babcock. 
 
 Edward McKenzie. 
 
 Daniel A. Park. 
 
 Toussaiut Barra. 
 
 Eli A. Baily. 
 
 Moses C. Peasly. 
 
 Peter W. Ramsdale. 
 
 Benjamin A. demons. 
 
 Theodore Creach. 
 
 William D. Bounce. 
 
 Philip Rich. 
 
 Chaiuicey C. Coe. 
 
 Edward H. Cutts. 
 
 Andrew Robinson. 
 
 Eric H. Rinde. 
 
 Joseph Cluka. 
 
 Daniel L. Clemmcr. 
 
 William K. Ross. 
 
 William W. Sidevell. 
 
 Dewitt C. Coats. 
 
 Otis N. Castle. 
 
 Chauncey R. Sackett. 
 
 Amaziah Slocum. 
 
 Moses Click. 
 
 John M. Chapiu. 
 
 Adam Smith. 
 
 William L. Stevens. 
 
 William Deike. 
 
 William H. Davey. 
 
 David P. Strong. 
 
 Martin W. Slocum. 
 
 Henry A. Dorn. 
 
 Henry Dieskeu. 
 
 Peter Simon. 
 
 John W. Thompson. 
 
 Cornelius Denman. 
 
 Stephen G. Flanders. 
 
 George R. Terry. 
 
 Alvin B. Thorp. 
 
 Norman B. Flover. 
 
 William M. Green. 
 
 Albert Tripp. 
 
 John Van Buskirk. 
 
 Norris N. Graves. 
 
 John Gillon. 
 
 Charles Viercavant. 
 
 William J. WempU. 
 
 Henry Heiuneman. 
 
 Benjamin Hare. 
 
 Roland Weeks. 
 
 George Wells. 
 
 Isaac Hand. 
 
 John Hill. 
 
 Melvin Cushnian. 
 
 Edward F. ('osert. 
 
 William J. Hawkit s. 
 
 Ernst Heideman. 
 
 Ralph L. Dorrence. 
 
 Robert Dilley. 
 
 David M. Sows. 
 
 Milo F. Jacobs. 
 
 Christian Dolymer. 
 
 James H. Daly. 
 
 Andrew La Barge, Jr. 
 
 Charles R. Louck. 
 
 Edwin R. Hazelton. 
 
 Henry M. Hazelton. 
 
 Allen D. Morgan. 
 
 Richard J. Miller. 
 
 William Hunter. 
 
 Anthony Hanson. 
 
 Hanson Mills. 
 
 William L. T. Meyer. 
 
 Isaac Jolmson. 
 
 Franklin Groome. 
 
 Joseph Milliron. 
 
 Edward McCartney. 
 
 Knud Kundson. 
 
 Stewart M. Lamou. 
 
 Patrick Mathews. 
 
 George W. Marcyes. 
 
30-2 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNT r. 
 
 Ephriam 0. Moodey. 
 
 Joseph Mold. 
 
 Patrick Harris. 
 
 Micahel Hanley. 
 
 Ezra Nichols. 
 
 Charles Osterhort. 
 
 Hamilton Logue. 
 
 John Leo. 
 
 Watts A. Pye. 
 
 Orient Poud. 
 
 Antoine LaDuke. 
 
 Patrick McNulty. 
 
 Charles Powell. 
 
 Edward G. Patterson. 
 
 Thomas McManus. 
 
 Thomas McLaughlin. 
 
 George W. Peterson. 
 
 Anthony W. Pool. 
 
 Hugh BIcNeal. 
 
 John Mulgrew. 
 
 Henry Peipfso. 
 
 George G. Peck. 
 
 Thomas Powers. 
 
 Eneas S. Peat. 
 
 Newton 8. Parker. 
 
 Patrick Reardon. 
 
 Prudent Quenett. 
 
 Thomas Ryan. 
 
 Frederick Eoth. 
 
 Alex. H. Eidgeway. 
 
 Michael Roach. 
 
 Patrick O'Brien. 
 
 Reuben W. Russ. 
 
 Harvey T. Rawson. 
 
 Peter Robbeault. 
 
 Patrick J. Smith. 
 
 Joseph W. Richardson. 
 
 John H. Reamer. 
 
 David Tiemy. 
 
 Jacob Tope. 
 
 David Reed. 
 
 Winlield S. Snyder. 
 
 John Whalen. 
 
 John Bohau. 
 
 Frederick Schwake. 
 
 Wells Tuman. 
 
 James Bradley. 
 
 Thomas Connill'. 
 
 Adelbert Tenny. 
 
 Abraham Pope. 
 
 Lawrence Connor. 
 
 Alex. G. Caldwell. 
 
 Trnman P. Town. 
 
 Henry Thuden. 
 
 John Dixon. 
 
 Joseph A. Fraybold. 
 
 John J. Van Saun. 
 
 Edward Van Saun. 
 
 Michael Foy. 
 
 Henry Gorman. 
 
 Harrison WoUett. 
 
 William Woollett. 
 
 Dennis Gregg. 
 
 Thomas Hetherington. 
 
 Mark Wells. 
 
 Amplar G. Ward. 
 
 Anthony Jordan. 
 
 Patrick McGrath. 
 
 Warner Yonells. 
 
 Alonzo Burch. 
 
 Thomas Meagher. 
 
 Florence McCarthy. 
 
 Thouuis Carpenter. 
 
 James Edmonds. 
 
 Daniel McEntire. 
 
 Michael Nagle. 
 
 F. B. Hetherington. 
 
 Prentiss B. J<mes. 
 
 Samuel Radabaugh. 
 
 John Stokes. 
 
 John B. Millison. 
 
 George N. McKusick. 
 
 John Smith. 
 
 
 Michael B. Koberds. 
 Ichabod Tower. 
 John S. McCartney. 
 
 COMPANr 
 
 Segnious S. Sloan. 
 Timothy I. Van Saun. 
 
 F PRIVATES. 
 
 ELEVENTH REGIMENT INFANTRY. — COllPANY D. 
 
 Loren Webb, Captain. 
 
 C. C. P. McAlexander, First Lieutenant. 
 
 George W. Sackell. 
 
 Quiucy C. Warren. 
 
 FIRST BATTALION INFANTRY COMPANY A. 
 
 TENTH EEOIMENT INF.Us'TKV. 
 
 Charles C. Parker, Second Lieutenant. 
 
 Michael Cook, Major. 
 
 
 COMPMNY H. 
 
 Eden N. Leavens, (Quartermaster. 
 
 PhUander C. Seeley, 
 
 First Lieutent. 
 
 COMPANY c. 
 
 
 
 Dennis Cavanaugh, C 
 
 COMPANY 
 
 aptaiu. 
 
 0. PRIVATE. 
 
 FIRST REGIMENT HEAVY ARTILLERY. 
 
 Charles B. Jackson, Commodore Sergeant. 
 
 Stephen W. Carpenter. 
 
 COMPANY E. — PIUVATES. 
 
 COMPANY C. 
 
 George L. Porter, Captain. 
 
 John W. Holmes. 
 
 John W. Hoover. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Uriah Judd. 
 
 Ashley Forgelsou. 
 
 Thomas Devine. 
 
 Joseph Gilsoul. 
 
 COMPANY H. 
 
 Dennis Cavanaugh, First Lieutenant. 
 Dennis McCarthy, Second Lieutenant. 
 Michael Jeffers, First Sergeant. 
 Patrick Byrne, Sergeant. 
 Andrew Devereaux, " 
 
 Daniel Heffelson. 
 William Haney. 
 Thomas Hoj^e. 
 James H. Knights. 
 Cornelius Mahony. 
 Winfield J. Sargent. 
 
 Charles Hofler. 
 Holms B. Higgins. 
 Thomas Jeffers. 
 George W. Kenyon. 
 James H. Miller. 
 
 James O'Neill, Corporal. 
 
 COMPANY 
 
 II. — PRIVATES. 
 
 Robert Hunt, " 
 
 
 Martin Bandelin. 
 
 Edward Grulk. 
 
 Thomas Murphy, Wagoner. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Augustus Hull. 
 Gordon Smith. 
 
 Peter A. Johnson. 
 William H. Taylor. 
 
 John Buckley. 
 Patrick Cudmor. 
 
 Chri-stopher Byrne. 
 John Collins. 
 
 COMPANY L. 
 
 John 0. Turner, First Lieutenant. 
 
 Thomas P. Conaghty. 
 
 John Caliaghan. 
 
 SEC:OND COMPANY SHARP-SHOOTERS. 
 
 Christopher Derdis. 
 
 Edward Fox. 
 
 Charles L. Eldridge 
 
 Corporal. 
 
WAJi UKGOllli. 
 
 303 
 
 Tens. T. Dalile. 
 Author A. Flem. 
 Aujrew J. Lockieu 
 HalverH. Quil. 
 
 PEIVATES. 
 
 Fingor Fingalsou. 
 Christ HanBon. 
 Harry Magoou. 
 J nets FiuKalsou. 
 
 FIUST REGIMENT MOIINTED KANliERS — OOMl'ANY A. 
 
 John Wiggle, Sergeant. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 William Campbell. Edward Camjjbell. 
 
 George K. Page. Peter Stiren. 
 
 COlirANY F. — PRIVATE. 
 
 Appollo Owtu. 
 
 (JOMPANY H. 
 
 Charle.s W. Cromwell, First Lieutenant. 
 O. D. Brown, Second Lieutenant. 
 Enoch C. Cowan, First Sergeant. 
 Asa Smith, Second Sergeant. 
 John E. Tattle, Sergeant. 
 Arthur BlcMillan, " 
 Silas C. Olmsted, Corporal. 
 Charles H. Keuney, " 
 James L. Christie, " 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Josiah Bailey. William Beckley. 
 
 George H. Byfield. Carson C. Carr. 
 
 Vincent K. Carter. Leroy S. Clemens. 
 
 Timothy Collins. Antoine Fisher. 
 
 Leonard J. Flanders. Orlando G. Hatheway. 
 Francis B. Hetheriugton. Harrison Harlse. 
 
 Ira Hults. Osman B. Jacobs. 
 
 Kalph H. Kenuey. Edelljcrt Lovelaud. 
 
 Charles A. Manney. William P. Mauney. 
 
 Charles H. Martin. Charles W. Marks. 
 
 J. M. Mills. Charles Y. Moses. 
 
 James G. B. Moses. WiUiam S. Moses. 
 
 Charles H. Mulliner. John W. Murtagh. 
 
 John Oleson. Myron Page. 
 
 Prank G. Peace. William L. Sargent. 
 
 William D. Tucker. William J. Wilkius. 
 
 James W. Roberts. Samuel B. Walter. 
 
 BRACKETT'.S battalion CAVALRY — COMPANY A. 
 
 Herman Wedekuper, Corporal. 
 
 COMPANY B. — PRIVATE. 
 
 Joseph K. Donaldson. 
 
 COMPANY C — PRIVATE. 
 
 James Thompson. 
 
 SECOND REGIMENT CAVALRY. — COMPANY A. —PRI- 
 VATE. 
 
 Henry Hanson. 
 
 COMPANY B. — PRIVATE. 
 
 Robert S. Keene. 
 
 COMPANY D. — PRIVATE. 
 
 William J. Wilkius. 
 
 Albert F. Thielbar. 
 Peter F. Wise. 
 
 COMPANY E. PRIVATES. 
 
 Isaac M. Taylor. 
 
 COMPANY G. 
 
 Henry VV. Bingham, First Lieutenant; pro- 
 moted Captain. 
 
 Theron F. Carr, Sergeant. 
 Carsou C. Carr, Corj)oral. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Halver Blande. Byron F. Carr. 
 
 John Conley. William Dwyer. 
 
 William L. Hoover. John O'Neil. 
 
 George Shepard. Elijah B. Sl)erry. 
 
 COMPANY H. — PRIVATES. 
 
 Stanley Barlow. Alvah M. Oliu. 
 
 COMPANY K. — PRIVATE. 
 
 Solomau Bodle. 
 
 INDEPENDENT BATTALION CAVALRY L^OMPANY A. 
 
 John W. W. Poison, Corporal. 
 Seth C. Kelley, Blacksmith. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Charles M. Stowe. John Kelly. 
 
 COMPANY C. — PRIVATES. 
 
 Michael Cosgrove. James O'Neil. 
 
 COMPANY V. — PRIVATE. 
 
 William Dawuey. 
 
 FIRST BATTERY LIGHT AKTILLERy -I'RlVATliS. 
 
 Willard Sproul. Ambrose Krech. 
 
 SECOND BATTERY LK.iHT ARTILLERY — PRIVATES. 
 
 William Costello. 
 Ingrebeth Oleson. 
 Alfred Townson. 
 Lewis Y. Sareent. 
 
 .Joseph L. Sargent. 
 Edward W. Vaughan. 
 Lewis Y. Sarjrent. 
 
 TUIRD BATTERY LKiUT ARTILLERY. 
 
 John C. Whipple, First Lieutenant. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 George L. Keuyon. 
 Arthur McCarger. 
 
 William Finlaysou. 
 Hiram K. Wilder. 
 
304 
 
 HISTORY OF EWE COUNTY. 
 
 OHAPTEB XLIX. 
 
 PERIODICALS KAIIiliOADS EDtJCATIONAIj KELI- 
 
 (jlOUS — VARIOUS EVENTS — GENERAL REMARKS. 
 
 Faribault Bepublioan. — The first number of 
 tliis uewsiKipei was issued in Faribault on the 22d 
 of (October, 185G, under the caption of "The Rice 
 County Herald," as a neutral paper, by F. W. 
 Friuk, who threw off six numbers, and then it was 
 sold to I. L. Pond & Co., and the services of E. A. 
 Mott were secured as editor. No. 7 was printed 
 aa the first number under the new order, which 
 continued ten weeks, when Mr. Mott bought out 
 the whole establishment, from the shooting stick 
 to the Franklin press, and his first paper was in- 
 troduced on the 17th of December, 1856. The 
 name was changed to "The Faribault Herald," 
 which at once took a position on the questions of 
 the hour, holding that slavery was sectional and 
 local, and that it should not be extended into the 
 territories, and assuming a strong opposition to 
 the slave power. It was edited with great ability 
 while in Mr. Mott's hands. On the 2d of June' 
 1858, it was sold to Holley & Brown, who had 
 been publishing a paper in Chatfield, in Fillmore 
 county. Mr. C). Srown was the editor. In Sep- 
 tember, 1858, the paper, which up to this time 
 had been a six column folio, was changed to a 
 seven column paper. The name was also changed 
 to "Central l-lepublic.iu," and was conducted with 
 energy and spirit through the stormy period of 
 the war by Mr. Brown, who was always found on 
 the side of the Union, although at times he 
 severely criticised the methods of carrying on the 
 war, and the conduct of the campaign against the- 
 Sioux. In December, 1865, the paper passed 
 into the hands of A. W. McKinstry, who has man- 
 aged it for seventeen years with good judg- 
 ment, securing the confidence and respect of the 
 community. On the 25th of May, 1870, the name 
 was changed to "Faribault itepublican." It is on 
 a most substantial basis, and is issued from a first 
 class office, with steam power and facilities for 
 promptly turning off good work. 
 
 NoKTHFiELD JouuN.\L. — -In April, 1858, a jjaper 
 was started by Capt. Hoag and Brother. The 
 press and material were moved to the place from 
 Cannon Falls, Wisconsin, and it was regularly 
 published for about three years. The establish- 
 ment was then h^ased to otiier jjarties, and several 
 had a hand in its publication, until early in the 
 sixties, when it was moved to Kochester, and there 
 
 it was published for a time by the original pro- 
 ]jrietors. During this time, before the "Northfield 
 Standard" was commenced by Mr. Kimball, there 
 was no paper in Northfield. 
 
 The Siderial Messenoer is published m(mthly 
 by Professor William W. Payne, the Director of 
 the Observatory at Carleton College, Northfield. 
 It is the only periodical in the United States, de- 
 voted exclusively to popular astronomy, and it is 
 gratifying to. be able to state that students and 
 observers in this fascinating branch of study are 
 giving it a cheering support. It was started in 
 the winter of 1882, and is a thirty-two page mag- 
 azine, neatly printed and well edited; the price is 
 452 a year. 
 
 Northern Statesman and Western Farmer. — 
 A paper with the above appellation, to designate 
 its ambitious sphere, was established in 1861, at 
 Faribault, the first number bearing date of the 
 12th of November. The inaugural in the initial 
 number was an able, well written article, in which 
 the announcement is made that the good old 
 priiicij)le8 of democracy that had carried the coun- 
 try through so many storms, would control its ut- 
 ti'rances, saying that; "In politics, the Northern 
 Statesman will be democaatic, as expounded and 
 illustrated by Jefferson and Jackson." 
 
 The editor of the paper was Alexander John- 
 sou, who continued it until 1864, when its publica- 
 tion was suspended, and Mr. Johnson went to St. 
 Paul, where it is understood he is still connected 
 with the press of that city. While here it justly 
 earned the reputation of being one of the best 
 edited papers in the State. The material subse- 
 (jueutly went into the office of the Democrat. 
 
 The Faribault Leader. — This paper was 
 started in July, 1870, by S. H. Kelley and sons, 
 who issued it as a weekly until September, 1871, 
 when it was sold to A. E. Haven, and became 
 "The Faribault Democrat," which was first issued 
 on the 8th of September, 1871. It is an eight col- 
 umn folio, published weekly, at $2 a year, and is 
 a neatly printed and well edited paper. Each of 
 the offices in the county has a job office attached, 
 and do good work. 
 
 The Minnesota Missionary. — This is a denom- 
 inational monthly, originating in 1877, in Fari- 
 bault, and edited by Rev. George B. Whipple and 
 Rev. Edward C. Bill. A. E. Haven is the printer. 
 It is in the interest of the Episcopal Church, par- 
 ticularly in its missionary interests. 
 
I'ElilODICALs. 
 
 :!()5 
 
 EmicATioNAL MoNTiir.v. — Liitc ill the seventies 
 an cJncational junriinl wiis pulilislifil for a yeai'dr 
 two by William Ajjplcgatc, of Faribault. 
 
 Ru'E County Joi'Unal. — This is a leading 
 newspaper in the county, published in Ntnthfield. 
 It was first established iu 1872, by C. A. Wheaton. 
 It was at first independent, and claimed to be the 
 organ of no individual, clique, or riug, and was a 
 neatly printed eight column folio, ably edited and 
 well managed. Mr. Wheaton died in 1882. It is 
 now published by Wheaton k Pierce, Mr. Pierce, 
 being the editor-in-chief. The paper is now a 
 well ])rinted nine column folio. 
 
 DcNDAS News. — This was started on the -Ith of 
 November, 1876, by Henry E. Lawrence, the for- 
 mer puljlisher of the "Monday Morning News" in 
 Minneapolis. This was published for three years, 
 when it was removed and became "The North- 
 field News," the first number of which was is- 
 sued on the 1st of November, 187il; Henry E. Law- 
 rence, editor and proprietor. It is an eight column 
 folio, Well printed and well edited. 
 
 MoBRisTowN Entekpuisb. — (Ju the 27th of 
 July, 1307, the Morristown Enterprise Company 
 printed the first number of this paper. The gen- 
 tlemen interested in the publication were .1. N. 
 Powers, C. W. Howe, and H. L. Howe. J. N. 
 Powers was editor and publisher. It was issued 
 on Thursday of each week at $1.51) per- annum, 
 lu size it Was lO.xlS inches, with ten three-column 
 pages, and was stitched by a New American 
 machine. The company published but three 
 papers, when it was bought by J. N. Powers, and 
 he continued it until the winter of 1877, when he 
 went to Waterville. 
 
 Morristown Messenger. — In 1878, H. S. Bar- 
 low published a five column paper, 14x24 inches, 
 on a wooden press made by himself. This was 
 issued on Tuesdays. In a few months S. B. Co3 
 bought an interest in the establishment and Bar- 
 low left. In 1879, Mr. Coe sold to A. E. Verity, 
 having changed the name to the "Cann'On Valley 
 Mes.senger," which was published several months, 
 when it fell a victim to one of the fatal diseases 
 which afflict newspap.rdom. 
 
 As to one of the Morristown papers, we insert 
 the following extract from a ueighlioriug paper 
 which is its own explanation: 
 
 "A KI(!E county .IOUUNALIST. 
 
 A corresjiondent of a Missouri paper writing 
 fnmi Morristown, this county. s[>eaks as follows 
 20 
 
 concerning the oHici' and ))roprietor cjI' the .Mes- 
 senger, published at that place, and we I'hallcnge 
 the (entire State to produce another sncli instance 
 of grit, genius, and native abilty : 
 
 There is a small paper puljJished here, callcil 
 
 the messenger, 
 
 which has a good circulation, and is certainly 
 an illustration of success under dilliculties. F 
 sjient tills forenoon in tlie printing ollice, and the 
 sight of it is worth a visit to Minnesota, for it has 
 no eipial in the world. There is not more than 
 fifty dollars worth of material in the olfice, and its 
 two presses were made by its proprietor, Mr. J. L. 
 Barlow, whose only tools consisted of a hatchet, 
 hand-saw, and jack-plane. They are built en- 
 tirely of wood, with the exception of the levers 
 and two iron rods, and their apiJearanco is indis- 
 cribable, yet they do good work. The mantle of 
 Faust must certainly have fallen on Barlow. He 
 is not only a printer and mechanic, but a photo- 
 graphic artist as well, and Morristown may well 
 boast of a sort of universal genius." 
 
 other pdblication.s. 
 
 A little book entitled "A brief circular relating 
 to Kice county, Minnesota, showing its resource.s, 
 advantages, and the inducements it offers to those 
 seeking homes in the West," was published in 
 1800 by Holley & Brown, and edited by C. 
 Williams. It was a neat little pamphlet and well 
 calculated to serve the purpose for which it was 
 intended. 
 
 A county map was published in theearly winter 
 of 1873, by W. M. Lawrence, of Duudas. 
 
 In 1878, a large wall map, representing each 
 farm with the ownership, and being complete in 
 all respects, was iiublished by Warner & Foote, of 
 Red Wing. 
 
 In 1868, Mr. F. W. Frink published "A Record 
 of Bice county, Jlinnesota, being a review of the 
 settlement, growth and prosperity of the county, 
 and a brief descri|)tion of its towns and villages." 
 It was neatly printed at the "Central Republican" 
 office, and was a book of thirty-two pages. In 
 1871, an ap])endix was added and a new edition 
 published. It was a valuable little work, Mr. 
 Frink being one of the earliest settlers, and most 
 of the time in ])ublic life, intimately associated 
 with county afi'airs, was admirably (|ualitleil to 
 prep.U'e such a book. 
 
306 
 
 IIISTOHY OF BICE COUNTY. 
 
 EAILBOADS. 
 
 MiNNE.M'oLis & Cedab Valley Railroad. - 
 The seventh Territorial Legislature of Minnesota 
 granted a charter, which was approved on the 
 tirst of March, ISOO, for a railroad from the Iowa 
 State line, near where the Red Cedar crosses it, 
 and thence up the Cedar valley, along the Straight 
 River valley, and through the "big woods" to 
 Minneapolis, a distance of 100 miles. Gcu. H. 
 H. Sibley, of Mendota. Gen. James Shields, of 
 Faribault, Franklin Steele, of Port Snelling, F. 
 Pettitt, and Judge Alanson B. Vaughau were 
 named as commissioners to open subscrii5tion 
 books and to make arrangements for the perma 
 neut orgauizatiou of the company at Faribault, 
 This, according to the act, must be done previous 
 to the first of March, 1857. These gentlemen suc- 
 ceeded in securing stock STibscriptions to the 
 amount of $200,000, and a preliminary meeting 
 was held at the office of Shields & McCutchen on 
 Wednesday evening, the 28th of January, 1856 
 and a resolution was entertained to call a meeting 
 of citizens to see how materially they were inter, 
 ested in the project. In response to the invitation 
 the meeting took place in Crump's Hall, which 
 was crowded. Dr. Charles Jewett, who had been 
 a great apostle of temperance in New England for 
 years, but who now resided here, was called to 
 preside, and K. A. Mott was appointed seci'etary. 
 Stirring speeches were made by the President of 
 the meeting, by Hon. M. L. Noble, by Messrs. 
 Peat and Conover, from Iowa, agents of the Cedar 
 Valley Railroad, and others. A letter was read 
 from Gen. Shields, who was in Washington, with 
 gratifying assurances that a wealthy c. -mpany 
 stooil ready to to build the road, and that it would 
 Vie promptly built no one in town allowed himself 
 to doubt. 
 
 In 1862, an act of Congress was .'secnred to 
 facilitate the construction of the Minnesota & 
 Cedar Valley Railroad. In 18G4, the nearest place 
 to the cars was at Rochester, and a stage route 
 was arranged to connect there. 
 
 TIk^ railroad jiassed through various vicissitudes 
 which it seems uimccessary to recapitulate, aud it 
 finally he('amo the Minnesota Railway Company, 
 aud uiKler this namc^ reached Northfield in Sep- 
 tenib(M-, 18()5, and finally, Faribault, and so on to 
 its southern connections, and at last became ab- 
 sorbed in the great Chicago, Milwaukee & St. 
 Paul Railway Company. 
 
 It is now a part of that great railway system, 
 with its more than four thousand miles of track. 
 The service is regular, with morning, evening, and 
 mid-day trains in both directions, and ample 
 freight accommodations. 
 
 The railroad, as it is laid through the county, 
 is a north aud south line, having connections at 
 Owatonna and Ramsey, with east and west lines, 
 and also at Farmington, in Dakota county, and a 
 road is building from the west to intersect at 
 Faribault, and running near the present line to 
 Northfield, and thence east to Red Wing by the 
 way of Cannon Falls. From St. Paul and Minne- 
 apolis the road comes down to enter the county 
 near the northwest corner of the town of North- 
 field, where it strikes near the Cannon River which 
 it follows, not very faithfully however, as it i^ 
 sometimes three miles away, until reaching Fai'i- 
 bault, it crosses this stream west of the center of 
 the town, and then in a like manner takes ui> the 
 companionship of the Straight River to leave the 
 county east of the center of the southern boundary. 
 In its course it passes througli or touches the towns 
 of Bridgewater, Cannon City, Wells, Warsaw, and 
 Walcott, as well as Northfield, already mentioned. 
 The stations in the county are Northfield, Dundas, 
 and Faribault. 
 
 In 1871, there was considerable talk and pre- 
 liminary work on a railroad scheme called the 
 Green Bay, Wabashaw & Faribault Railroad Com- 
 pany. The idea was to connect this part of the 
 country with the Mississippi and great lakes 
 direct. The roiid got so far as to appear on some 
 of the maps, which is much further than many 
 another railroad scheme has progressed, where 
 there was quite as much noise. 
 
 Cannon V.UjLey Railroad Company. — This 
 company is really one of the oldest in the State, 
 as it in the same corporation that was chartered in 
 May, 1857, under the name of the Minnesota Cen- 
 tral Railroad. The route was to be from Red Wing 
 to the Missouri River. Additional acts and 
 amendments have been passed at various times al- 
 most every year since. lu 1867, it was arranged 
 that the road should go from Red Wing oia Can- 
 non Falls, Faribault, and Blue Earth, to the 
 southern boundary of the State. The capital was 
 at first fixed at $5,000,000. lu June, 1:872, Con- 
 gress passed an act to permit a railroad bridge 
 across the Mississippi at Red Wing, and the State 
 of Wisconsin had the necessary legislatiou for a 
 
HAII.ItOADS. 
 
 •MM 
 
 oonnection with roads in that State. This was a 
 land grant road, and the chartered rights iuchided 
 the improvement of the Cannon Biver. Various 
 contending interests and arrangements by old es- 
 tablished lines with each other conspired to pre- 
 vent the ct)nstruction of the line, the name of 
 which had been changed, as well as the plans, as 
 to the location. But a complete hist(_)ry of this 
 and other roads that have been projected would 
 make a large book, and we can only allude to what 
 has actually been done. At last the men who 
 were interested in this line were no longer to be 
 beguiled by promises and in the winter of 1881- 
 "82, tlie company was reorganized under the name 
 of the Cannon Valley Railroad. The capital was 
 fixed at «800,000 in shares of .IfSO each. The in- 
 corporators were A. B. Stickney, William Eli 
 Bramball. Conrad (rotzian, William B. Dean, R. 
 G. Deathe, .Toel May, and J. C. Pierce. It was re- 
 solved to build the road, and the Legislature in a 
 special act having authorized th_- tveral towns 
 and cities along tlie route to furnish aid, the fol- 
 lowing in tliis county voted the sums severally set 
 against their names: Morristown, $10,001); Fari- 
 bault, $50,000; Northfield, .«10,000; Cannon Falls 
 also voted .flO.OOO, and Red Wing iS50,00fl. 
 
 In May, 1882, grading was commenced at sev- 
 eral points, and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. 
 Paul Company, seeing that a rival line was l)uild- 
 iug, backed up by a powerful rival com])any with 
 Chicago and western connections, at once made a 
 survey practically over the same route, and put 
 on a large force of workmen to complete a line 
 before this new company could possibly do it. 
 The position occupied by this line is said to be 
 a sort of neutral ground by a common under- 
 standing between the "Northwestern" and the 
 Chicago. Milwaukee &■ St. Paul companies. As 
 this work goes to the printer, the following account 
 from the "papers" will reveal the status of the 
 case : 
 
 "Northfield, July 10. — The excitement over 
 the railroad war in this city reached a climax yes- 
 terday, when the Chicago, Milwaukee it St. Paul 
 road, in order to cross the Waterford wagon 
 n>ad, worked their tracklayers all day. The 
 officers of the company claim they did it be- 
 cause the travel is light on Sunday and the 
 public would be less inconvenienced. The sit- 
 uation now is about as follows: Both com- 
 panies have large criws of graders at work all 
 
 along the line between this jjlace and Red Wing. 
 Their lines cross each othci- in four dill'erent 
 places. Work is being pushed and it looks very 
 much as though both roads would be built, (ien. 
 Supt. Clark, Asst. Gen. Supl. C. IT. Prior, Attor- 
 neys Flandrcau, Wegg, and A. I). La Due came 
 to Northfield to-day for the j)ur[)ose of looking 
 over the situation of affairs and to incpure into 
 the legal asjieet of the case. They make the fol- 
 lowing statement: In no case has the Chicago, 
 Milwaukee * St. Paul road located a mile of track 
 on the located line of the Cannon Valley railroad. 
 They say the Cannon Valley made the first \i\c- 
 liminary survey, and the Chicago, Milwaukee & 
 St. Paul the first permanent location. After the 
 latter company located their line, the Cannon 
 Valley changed their preliminary survey in several 
 places and planted their stakes within a few feet of 
 the located lino of the other road. The Milwaukee 
 road claims that the law allows tlie riglit of way 
 to the first [termaneutly located line. Friday, an 
 injunction was served on the Chicago, Milwaukee 
 & St. Paul by the Cannon Valley railroad, and it 
 is understood from good authority that they will 
 make a motion to have it removed to the United 
 States court. It is reported that the Cannon Val- 
 ley company have changed their line in the city 
 limits and will run nearer the rivei than the new 
 track laid by the other road. 
 
 The Milwaukee road has either Ijiout^ht or 
 served notices of suits for condemnation of a rifj;lif 
 of way from Cannon Palls to Red Wing. 
 
 A survey is being made by the Chicago, Mil- 
 waukee & St. Paul road for a road between Fari- 
 b;uilt and Waterville, which survey will be con- 
 tinued in the towns on the Minnesota River. This 
 is to I'etaliate for the movements into their terri- 
 tory. 
 
 The Cannon Valley road have surveyed a line 
 from Red Wing to Cannon Falls on the south side 
 of the river, crossing the river half a mile below 
 the town, and crossing the other road just east of 
 the depot. 
 
 NEWS VIA MIIiW.MlKEE. 
 
 Milwaukee, July 10. — Engineer Slieldon, of 
 the Chicago, Milwaukee .t St. Paul road, left for 
 Cannon Falls, Minn., to-day, where he will take 
 charge of the surveyors at work on the liranch. 
 Reports from the latter place, as well as from differ- 
 ent points along the projected line, are to the 
 effect that l)oth the Canmra Valley and the Mil- 
 
.-JOcS 
 
 niHTOUT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 waiikee i-oada ;ue making stremious eflorts to 
 secure the right of way along their parallel routes. 
 The Cannon Valley oflicials, at last report, had 
 even gone so far as to institute an action against 
 the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul company. 
 Nevertheless the work near Northfield is being 
 pushed rapidly forward by both com]iauies. The 
 Chicago, Milwaukee * St. Paul has a large force 
 of men laying rails as rapidly as the grading will 
 permit. The Cannon Valley has already let con- 
 trac^ts tor the grading of its road from Northtield 
 to Dundas. The Milwaukee otHcials here claim 
 that the road to Red Wing will be in operation 
 January 1, 1883. 
 
 It is certain in any case that the Cannon Valley 
 com))any will build that road." 
 
 EDIU'ATIONAI,. 
 
 The first school opened in the county, as far as 
 we are able to learn, was kept by Edward J. 
 Crump. Mr. A. Faribault and Luke Hulett fur- 
 nished most if not all of the childi-en to attend. 
 This was in the winter of 1853. Accounts of the 
 early efforts to establish schools in several towns 
 are given here as a sample <jf the early methods, 
 anil how soon the teachers and scholars adapted 
 themselves to tlwir surroundings, and how faith- 
 fully they pursued the jjaths leading to knowledge. 
 No attempt is made to cover all that was done at 
 that time. 
 
 lu th(^ spring and summer of 18.57, there wei'e 
 three jirivate schools opened in Faribault, one 
 kept liy Mrs. Dunning and daughter in a room 
 west of the land office, one by Miss Tuttle in 
 Cniiup's Hall, and the other by Miss Haskins in 
 the house of Col. Stevens. This was just before 
 t\u: public school building was completed, which 
 tli(! citizens so commendably begau at such an 
 early day. 
 
 Miss H. G. Fisk, of Warner, Now Hampshire, 
 o]j('ued a select school in the room which had been 
 occupied by Miss Dunn. Miss Mary .'V. Fisk 
 tauGjht music in the summer of 1857. 
 
 Ill September, 1857, Miss Parisli, of Vermont, 
 opeiKMl a select school iu Faribault. 
 
 Scliool district No. (! had a schoolhou.se, 20x32 
 feet, and sixty sclmlars. Richard Hoodland was 
 teacher. 
 
 District No. 7 was set oil' from No. 1 iu thi> fall 
 of 1857. The scliool was kej)t in a house belong- 
 ing to G. B Dntton, about a mile from Faribault. 
 Miss Sarah Fisli was an earlv teacher. 
 
 About this time there was a log house iu dis- 
 trict No. 12 on East Prairie; it was ceiled and bat- 
 tened overhead, and there were thirty-one schol- 
 ars. E. Lyman Kendall was the teacher. 
 
 The following is taken from the local press, and 
 was published in the winter of 1857-58. 
 
 ".SCHOOLS IN EICE IIGUNTY. 
 
 No. 1, Fakibadlt. — Seldom has our pen been 
 exercised to make a more pleasant or satisfactory 
 report than that which comes under the above 
 head. The money panic pouncing upon us at a 
 time when the district was considerably involved 
 in conse(|uence of 'the purchase of a lot and the 
 l>uilding of a first class schoolhouse, etc., has 
 made the duties of the trustees arduous and 
 thankless. 
 
 Some time in November last, three teachers were 
 employed and a partial but imperfect system of 
 grading effected. Miss Mary Fisk taking charge 
 of the primary department in Crump's Hall, and 
 Mr. Fish aud Miss Parish, each occujiying a room 
 in the schoolhouse, superintending the higher de- 
 partments. These schools closed last week. We 
 ha^'e visited them from time to time, and now pro- 
 pi iss' to give others the benefit of our observa- 
 tion. 
 
 Miss Fisk has had under her tuition iu number 
 from forty to fifty scholars, generally of the 
 younger class. The feature in this school, most 
 striking to the casual observer, has been the 
 perfect system attending every exercise ; the 
 best of order uniformly jorevailed, and so perfect 
 was the teacher's self government that not a 
 word or gesture seemed to escape her without 
 b^ aring a significance which her pupils readily 
 understand. In fact we have no hesistation iu 
 jiionouncing it for system and good manners the 
 imnlel si'hocd. 
 
 Many of the scholiirs were backward for their 
 age; yet their reading, spelling, and mental aritli- 
 metic recitations were full of interest, especially 
 were we pleased with their j)rompt recitation of 
 passages of scripture, common tables, and their 
 vocal music. 
 
 Miss Parish came among us last fall a stranger, 
 but her reputation as a teacher, which she hud 
 established in Vermont, had jjreceded her. Of 
 superior education, clear and pointed in her ex- 
 planations, beloved of her school, were she but a 
 little more thorough in her government we could 
 find no point to criticise. Besides the tuition of 
 
K/irCATlONA/.. 
 
 ;i()9 
 
 about tlfty ])upiis, comprisiug her ilfpartmeut of 
 this school, Miss Parish has supofintondod a chiss 
 ill algebra and oue in astronomy from the otlier 
 department, both of which have made excellent 
 improvement, considering tlie number uf classes 
 she has heard, and the double amount of labor 
 performed, she has certainly achieved great suc- 
 cess. 
 
 The de|jartraent over which Mr. Fish has pre- 
 sided has beeu the largest and most difficult to man- 
 age. He made a general examination of his classes 
 last Saturday afternoon. The review was made with 
 a design to ascertain the real improvement made 
 and without any special preparation having been 
 made for the occasion. The questions were pro- 
 posed by the visitors as well as teacher. The per- 
 f(3rmance was really very creditable and far sur- 
 passed the general expectation. We think one 
 geography class, a large class in Weld's gram- 
 mar, the second class in spelling, and the entire 
 performance in arithmetic to be worthy of particular 
 notice, evincing such thorough mastery of ele- 
 mental principles as is seldom attained. 
 
 The general demeanor of the school gave evi- 
 dence that it had beeu under the tuition of a gen- 
 tleman. 
 
 We want to give no undue praise to these 
 teachers, and if we could not truthfully have 
 spoken well of them we should proliably have said 
 nothing. But it is apparent to thos<> who have 
 visited our schools that under many difficulties 
 these teachers have done for us this winter a noble 
 work, and we should not withold that reward so 
 dear to every teacher's heart, and yet the last to 
 be conferred, viz: uppreriiition. 
 
 Our schools should have continued at least an- 
 other month, but circumstances forbade it. We 
 hope (mr citizens will fill out by a select term the 
 time which to their children is so precious. 
 
 At some future time we will call up tlie subject 
 of books, the endless variety of whicli is the 
 source of the first great evil with which the 
 teacher is obliged to contend." 
 
 "No. 2, MoRKisTOWN. —By C. S. Craudall, teacher. 
 Mk. 1\Iott, Sir': — In compliance witli your re- 
 (piest, I report at the earliest opportunity. 
 
 The room I occupy is in a log building IGxl.S 
 in size. It is comfortbly warm, l)eing ceiled and 
 battened. 
 
 I have over fifty scholars in all and an averag(> at- 
 tendance of about forty. They are about eipially 
 
 divided into male and female and range in age 
 from fotrr to twenty. 
 
 I will attempt to give you a list of 
 books in use, which you will find rather of a 
 mixed account, the result I suppose of gathering 
 scholars from all parts of the Union. My reading 
 classes mostly use Sanders' series, I have fifteen 
 in Sanders' fifth, six in McGuffey's fourth, and 
 five in Sanders' second. In Sanders' pictorial 
 primer I have a class of eight little girls and the 
 smartest class you ever saw, tf)o. Besides these 
 classes there are several independent clas.ses of one 
 reading in his own book. In spelling, Sanders' 
 speller is used by five: the elementary by twenty. 
 In arithmetic I havi; a class of four young men 
 now working in proportion, another class is in 
 fractions; Ray's work part third is studied by 
 twelve, part second by five, Colburn's mental by 
 eight. In grammer I have five classes as follows: 
 two pupils in Browns' grammar, oue in Smith's, 
 one in Welds', one in Wells', and one in Hazen's. 
 In geography, I liave six in Mitchell's large edi- 
 tion, and two in the i)rimary. 
 
 These are all the important facets I have to com- 
 municate. C. S. Ckand/Vll." 
 
 "No. 3, Shiei.dsviTjI.e. — This district was organ- 
 ized just in time in the present winter to receive its 
 share of the pulilie money; as a matter of course 
 there was no schoolhouse till that time; a log 
 house was fitted up for the purpose, with tempo- 
 rary seats and desks, size II feet by 20; although 
 not very comely in apperrauce, yet it is quite com- 
 fortable. 
 
 The number of scholars in the district is eighty- 
 four; twenty-seven is the number of attendants, 
 the average about twenty-two. The books in use 
 are as follows, introduced by myself the present 
 winter: Thompson's arithmetic. Wells' grammar, 
 Mitchell's geography, Colburn's mental arithmetic 
 for small scholars, Sandeis' series of readers and 
 speller. With a few exceptions, these are the 
 books used. 
 
 There is to be a new si^hoolhou.se erected in the 
 spring. 
 
 The scholars, T think, are as far adv.aneed as they 
 will average in the otlier schools in the county. 
 
 The inhabitants are interested in improvement, 
 
 and though from a foreign soil, they are loyal to 
 
 Uncle Sam in the great principles of government 
 
 and schools. 
 
 W.u. ]5knti,f,v. Teacher.'' 
 
310 
 
 niSTORT OP RTCB COUNTF. 
 
 "No. 4, Waksaw. — The whole uiiinher of scholars 
 is seventy-three, average attendance about fifty. 
 The text books in use are Sanders" series of readers 
 and speller, Adams' and Thompson's arithmetics, 
 Colburn's mental arithmetic, Mitchell's school and 
 primary geography, and Wells' grammar. 
 
 Our school house, yon will remember, was de- 
 stroyed l>y fire in November last. We have since 
 occupied the building formerly used as a store by 
 Hollister, Frink & Co., dimensions, 16x32 feet. 
 It IS inconvenient, especially for so large a school, 
 yet under the circumstances a better one could not 
 be procured. 
 
 The scholars have been well disposed, and have 
 made good progress in their .studies; and I be- 
 lieve the school, as a whole, will compare favorably 
 with other schools in the county; at least I am 
 willing it should stand upon its own merits alone. 
 E. Darling, Teacher." 
 
 "No. 5, Cannon City. — I. N. Sater, teacher. 
 This school, under its excellent superintendance, 
 has made fine improvement this winter. The 
 average attendance has been fifty-seven. -With 
 the exception of an excellent class in natural phi- 
 losophy, only the common branches have been 
 taught. 
 
 To an advanced arithmetic class special notice 
 is due; the largo number of adults, including 
 eight over the age of twenty-one, has given this 
 school a close resemblance to our higher institu- 
 tions. 
 
 In size the schoolhou.se is 32x40 feet, with 14 
 feet posts. It occupies a picturesque site, and is 
 a thoroughly finished, imposing structure, doing 
 honer to the taste of its builders. It cost .'$1,400. 
 
 The apportionment of the county fund this year 
 gives this district ifll^)^' 
 
 The state of Minnesota has a law in relation to 
 text bofiks, which, under its provisions, are pro- 
 vided through the county officers, and, to reveal 
 the sentiment which usually prevailed in school 
 circles in relation to the law and its workings, an 
 extract from the County Superintendent's report 
 from Kice county for the year 1880, is here given: 
 
 "The school work of Rice county has not been 
 as satisfactory for the year just closed as in the 
 three jjrevious years, for two reasons. First, the 
 change in text books which has taken jilaco has 
 been slow and tedious. Hooks ordered early in the 
 spring did not arrive until alter the summer schools 
 liad been in session one and two months. The re- 
 
 sidt was a lack of books, as the impression pre- 
 vailed that no other books could be used. Sec- 
 ond, the so-called cheap text-book law has stimu- 
 lated the idea that cheap teachers should also be 
 procured, and the result has been the employment 
 of a larger' proportion of low grade, cheap 
 teachers, and many of the best teachers have 
 abandoned the profe.ssicm. 
 
 The use of cheap text books naturally leads to 
 the employment of cheap teachers, and the use of 
 cheap apparatus, and results in lowering the 
 standing and checking the progress of our schools. 
 
 The working of the textbook law is burdensome 
 not only to district officers, but to teachers t'lnd 
 superintendents, as it takes up much valuable 
 time that should be devoted to other work. 
 
 If the law is to remain in force, the Legislature 
 should modify it so that the contractor shall be 
 obliged to place the books within reach of the 
 pujiils without county or State assistance. If the 
 books are the best and cheapest, they will be used. 
 If they are not the best and cheapest, they should 
 not be forced upon the schools through pains and 
 penalties."' 
 
 Like all innovations this law had to run the 
 gauntlet. But it is believed to be working satis- 
 factorily now. 
 
 Some statisticts from the last annual school re- 
 ports are here given : 
 
 Scholars in attendance who are not of 
 school age, and those who arc non-resi- 
 dents 1.51 
 
 Mumber entitled to apportionment .'J,480 
 
 Total number enrolled in winter 4,7.')0 
 
 " " " in summer 3,004 
 
 Number of schools in all the districts 106 
 
 Average daily attendance in winter 3,013 
 
 " " " in summer 2,473 
 
 Number of teachers in winter — men 44 
 
 " • " " " women .... 06 
 
 " " " summer — men.... 15 
 
 " " " women . 99 
 
 Average monthly w.ages — men $31 69 
 
 ' " " women 25 87 
 
 Number of schoolhouses — 
 
 Frame 70 
 
 Brick 19 
 
 Stone 6 
 
 Log 9 
 
 Total 110 
 
RELIGIOUS. 
 
 :ill 
 
 Value oC all the schonlhnnses and sites. .'ifi;-i5,520 
 
 Numlior of common school districts 103 
 
 Independent 1 
 
 Si)eciid 2 
 
 Whole number KM! 
 
 Number of teachers, men 47 
 
 " " women 11!! 
 
 Total KiC 
 
 Number of certificates grauted during the year — 
 1st grade, men — 
 
 " women •') 
 
 '2d gr:id(% men 2fi 
 
 " women 04 
 
 Total Kr) 
 
 3d grad(>, men 10 
 
 " women 3!l 
 
 Total 49 
 
 Number of applications rejected 59 
 
 Number of pi'ivate schools in the county — 
 
 Catholic '2 
 
 Protestant 8 
 
 Total 10 
 
 Enrollment in the above schools — 
 
 Catholic 280 
 
 Protestant 079 
 
 Total 955 
 
 Eight of the teachers have attended a Normal 
 school and six are graduates. 
 
 Tlie total amoinit paid for teachers wages dur- 
 ing the year ending Augn.st 31, 1881, was $32,- 
 385.27. 
 
 The number of scholars in the eitiesand villages 
 below named is as follows - 
 
 Faribault 1,007 
 
 Northfield 544 
 
 Dun<las 197 
 
 Morristown 170 
 
 HbieldsviUe 81 
 
 East Prairieville 70 
 
 Brief items in relation to the several district 
 schools vv'ill be found in the sketches of the towns 
 in which they are located. The statistics here 
 given will be of value as a basis for comparison 
 at any future jieriod, and they show at the pres- 
 ent time that tlie school system of the State, in its 
 application to Rice county, is an object of especial 
 r('ga:d. 
 
 Ghaded Schools in the County. — There are 
 tlu'ee of these graded districts, one in each of the 
 following places: Faril)ault, Northfield, and Dun- 
 das, and a few pronn'nent points in the workings of 
 each are here given. Cost of buildings: Fariljault, 
 .'if45,0()0; Northfield, 530,000; Dunda.s, $5,000. 
 A])paratus: Faribault, .if500; Northfield, *75; 
 Dundas, $50. Salary of Su|)erintendent: Fari- 
 bault, $1,500. Average monthly salary of teach- 
 ers: Faribault, .$41.11; Northtield, .$40,50; Dun- 
 das, .$30.80. Number of scholars enrolled: Fari- 
 bault, 1,0H4; Nortlifield, 594; Dundas, 204. 
 Schools are kept from nine to nine anil one-lialf 
 months in each ynxr. 
 
 KRIJliloUS. 
 
 In regard to the churcli edifices and the denom- 
 inational scliools, of which the people are ju.stly so 
 proud, and which have been the objects of such 
 self-saciificing devotion, it is Imt a simple act of 
 justice to acknowledge the invaluable aid ftir- 
 nished by friends from tlie East. Large numbers 
 who settled here were no sooner comfortably set- 
 tled than they began to miss their accustomed 
 religious privileges, and reflecting upon the 
 admirable situation of those they left behind in 
 this respect, wouhl lose no time in writing to 
 those who would be likely to assist in a true mis- 
 sionary spirit, in building churches in tlie West, 
 reciting the needs of the new commimity, with 
 the imperative necessity (.)f prompt action to 
 save the new and fast swelling community in 
 the West from impending infidelity. And, to 
 the infinite credit of the East, it should be record- 
 ed that the responses to these calls were efficient, 
 and often sufficient to mi'ct the exigencies of the 
 occasion. 
 
 As a sample of what was actually done in the 
 direction just indicated, an extract from a letter 
 written Vty Dr. Chail(>s Jewett to Kev. Dr. Jacob 
 Ide, of West Medway, Massachusetts, will be re- 
 produced here. 
 
 "/?(■». itnd Dear Sir: Worn and wearied by 
 hard .service in the temperance cause, I thought to 
 secure a little release from responsibilities and some 
 i-elief from severe toil, by removing westward and 
 devoting myself to the ([uiet labor of cultivating 
 the soil. Well here 1 am, where the circumstances 
 that surround me call for as severe and continuous 
 labor as I liave ever been called upon to perform, 
 though I think the character of the service more 
 c<mducive to Ixxlilv health than that to which I 
 
312 
 
 HISTORY OF RfCE COUNTT. 
 
 have been accustomed. I .am as you see by the 
 post-mark, in the territory of Minnesota, sixty 
 miles south of St. Paul, forty west of the Missis- 
 si])pi, and in latitude forty-four, on the very out- 
 skirts of civilization, where the Indian chases the 
 Jeer and the farmer follows the plow over the same 
 acres, where heathenism and infidelity must be 
 met on their own ground and conquered by Chris- 
 tian faith and Christian love. * * * 
 Last summer, a few of us, feeling our responsi- 
 bilities and spiritual needs, sustained at the village, 
 two and one-half miles distant from my residence, 
 religious worship through a large portion of the 
 season, where only the summer previous had stood 
 more than a hundred lodges of the Sioux Indians. 
 
 * * * There are about twenty male 
 members of Congregational churche.s, and per- 
 haps as many females, who will unite in the for- 
 mation of a church; and the 7th of May is fixed 
 upon as the time for organization. "We have as 
 yet no place of worship, and hold our meetings 
 in private houses. We want to build a church as 
 early in the summer as possible, as there is no 
 house in the village or on the prairies large enough 
 to seat one- half the number who would attend on 
 our worship, if we shall be able to secure, as we 
 hope to, a faithful and able religious teacher. But 
 how we are to accomplish what we so ardently de- 
 sire puzzles our Ijump of calculation not a little, 
 and draws pretty heavily (m our bank of faith. * 
 
 * * Our old friends in the East must help 
 us a little until we can get fairly on our feet, and 
 then, with the blessing of God, we hope to be able 
 to stand and become in turn, helpers of others. 
 Minnesota is to be, I believe, the New England of 
 the West, and exert, when it shall take its place 
 among tlie States of the Union, a decided influ- 
 ence on the right side of those great questions 
 which are now agitating the country. -The fol- 
 lowers of His Holiness the Pope, ever ready to 
 seize on the best points, have contracted to have a 
 church built here early ui the summer. Oh ! shall 
 that be the fir,st church edifice in this lovely region ? 
 God. and his faithful, forbid." 
 
 The communication of which this is an extract 
 was publislioil l>y Dr. Ido in The Congregatiimal- 
 ist, of Boston, on the 9th of May, 1856, with the 
 following remarks by Dr. Ide: 
 
 " Tlie following letter from Dr. .Tewott is one of 
 great interest. Though the churches, in the pres 
 cut state of things, cannot respond to the call 
 
 which every individual church in the West may 
 be disjMsed to make, yet such are the circum- . 
 stances of the community in which Dr. Jewett is 
 located, and such are the feelings of the friends of 
 temperance and religi(m in the commonwealth to- 
 ward him for his long self denying and effective 
 labors in the cause, that they will, it is believed, 
 deem it a privilege to respond to the affecting ap- 
 peal which he now makes for a little assistance at 
 their hands. Medway will cheerfully pay the tax 
 which is laid upon her." 
 
 It is not strange that this appeal met a hearty 
 response among a people who had sent millions 
 for the purpose of Christianizing heathen savages, 
 where, in an economical view, the expense and the 
 return were woefully out of proportion. Dr. Ide's 
 church contributed -Si.S; Milbury, where the Doc- 
 tor had lived, gave S3.5; the Elliot church in New- 
 ton, gave a Sunday-school library of two hundred 
 volumes and more than one hundred dollars; the 
 church in Whitinsville gave a bell, which was 
 one of the first to ring out its peals in this region, 
 awakening the prairie echoes before one-half of 
 people had their houses properly covered and pro- 
 vided with comfoi-ts. It was such efforts as these, 
 supplemented by labor at home that transformed 
 "tlie wilderness and the solitary places to blossom 
 as the rose."' 
 
 It is very pleasing to be able to say in this 
 connection that while this work is writing, the im- 
 plied promise of Dr. Jewett that these benefac- 
 ticms should be repaid to other needy ones, when 
 the ability should be acquired, is being fulfilled, 
 as the Sunday-school is making arrangements to 
 help pay for an org;m for a Sunday-school out in 
 Dakota, one or more of the teachers in which 
 having gone from here. Indeed it is certain that 
 this obligation has been repaid in like manner ov(>r 
 and over again. This subject is introduced to 
 show the community of interest between the sev- 
 eral sections of the country. 
 
 Faribault and Northfield are noted for the num- 
 ber of their churches, and in the other villages and 
 throughiiut the county will be found a goodly 
 number of the various denominations. 
 
 SEVERAI, COUNTY ORG.\NIZATIONS. 
 
 An Old Settlers' Association. — This was or- 
 ganized on the 4th of February, 1874, at Faribault, 
 with Luke Hulett, as president, and F. W. Frink 
 as secretary. A constitution was adopted and the 
 above mentioned officers were made penuanent. 
 
socim'fKs. 
 
 313 
 
 with the addition of James Shants as treasurer, 
 aud the following vice-presidents: (j. L. Bush- 
 noU, Northfield; J. S. Archibald, ]5ridgew,iter; 
 Isaac Avery, Cannon City; Oliver Tripp, Walcott; 
 William Close, Richland; H. C. Rolling, Wheeling; 
 H. M. Matteson, Faribault ; J. Buck, Morristown ; 
 J. W. Cowau, Wells; Peter Busoh, Warsaw; Patrick 
 Murphy. Shieldsville; Charles McBride, Erin; P. 
 Cody, Wheatland; Ferris Welister, Webster; John 
 L. Dearborn, Forest. 
 
 They had a grand reunion on the 23d of Feb- 
 ruary, 1874, with speeches, songs, and a dance 
 with a supper. The roads were badly blocked with 
 snow, but about sixty turned out, and most of tliem 
 although early settlers, were in the prime of life. 
 
 Luke Hulett called the meetimg to order and 
 (piite a number of old settlers gave tlieir early ex- 
 perience, and from these speeches much of the 
 earl history in tliis volume, relating to the early 
 settlement of the county, was gathered, and so 
 their stories will not be rejieated in tliis sketch of 
 the association. 
 
 At one of these meetings Mr. F. W. Frink n'- 
 marked that, "While the men were relating their 
 exploits, too little was said of the noble women 
 who had torn themselves away from the endearing 
 ties of early association, and without whose aid 
 and a.ssistanee all efforts ti> establish civilization 
 here would have been futile," and he related inci- 
 dents illustrating the heroic courage, fortitude, and 
 hopefulness of the wives of the pioneers, who sub- 
 mitted to their hard surroundings in a manner be- 
 yond all praise. 
 
 At this meeting a committee was appointed to 
 collect early history. Charles Jewett, H. B. Whip- 
 ple, Dr. Schofield, J. C. Whipi)le, Mrs. J. C. Ide, 
 George W. Newell, and the editors of the county 
 papers, were made honorary members. 
 
 On the 4th of March, 1875, the annual reunion 
 took place in Faribault, and at this meeting Hon. 
 O. F. Perkins made one of the speeches, an a!)- 
 stract of which is given elsewhere. 
 
 Mr. Mott contrasted the generous hospitality of 
 the early times with the present, apparent paucity 
 in this respect. Then, if a claim shauty had two bea.5 
 there would be hardly a limit to the number that 
 could be taken in. This occasion was an enjoya- 
 ble one. with a supper, danc;', etc., at the Barron 
 House. 
 
 On the 13th of .January, 1876, the annual re- 
 luiion occurred. The Hon. TJenry M. Piice was 
 
 present by invitation, and delivered a most inter- 
 esting address, full of anecdote and liistorical rem- 
 inisceucas, a good part of which will be woven 
 into the early history of the county. Bishoj) 
 Whipple and others addressed the As.sociation, and 
 at their ccmclnsion the usual festivities were en- 
 joyed. 
 
 The Old Settlers" reunion for 1877, was lioldcn 
 on the 4tli of February. The address of the oc- 
 casion was by Gen. H. H.Sibley, who paid a trib- 
 ute to the character of Mr. Faribault, and ])resent- 
 ed, in a very pleasing way, various recollections of 
 pioneer life, among other things that sometime in 
 18.57, Charles E. Flandreau came down from Yel- 
 low Medicine and removed quite a number of the 
 Waupakuta band of Indians, who were living on 
 Mr. Faribault. The Rev. Dr. Neill was present 
 and related some good anecdotes. 
 
 On the anniversary of the battle of New Orleans, 
 in 1878, the Old Settlers' Association convened, 
 and the exercises were of the usual interesting 
 character. 
 
 At one of the meetings of the association. Cap- 
 tain E. H. L. Jewett moved that Blrs. Emma 
 Hulett Miller, of Hartford, Connecticut, tlie first 
 wliite child born in Faribault, be elected an hon- 
 orary member. 
 
 Rice County AoRictTLTnn.vi, and MKi'nA>'H'AL 
 AssocuTiON. — Pursuant to notice the citizens of 
 Rice county met in Crump's Hall on Monday the 
 22d of February, 1858, and effected a temporary 
 organization by the a])poiutment of H. Riedell, 
 Chairman and E. Thayer, Secretary. 
 
 iV cconmittee on constitution and by-laws was 
 then appointed, consisting of B. Stevens, A. B. 
 Davis, and C. E. Davison. A connnittee on })cr- 
 manent organization was also appointed, consist- 
 ing of A. J. Tanner, Chas. Wheeler, and Dr. Tiu'- 
 ner. These committees were instructed to report 
 at their earliest convenience in the afternoiui ses- 
 sion. 
 
 Meeting convened at 1:30 o'clock r. m.. pursu- 
 ant to adjournment, and received the report of the 
 committee on constitution, which was adopted. 
 
 The following officers were then duly elected for 
 the ensuing year, being with few exceptions the 
 names presenteij by the committee on permanent 
 organization: President, .1. W. Nortli, Northfield: 
 first vice-president, Levi Nutting, Faribault; sec- 
 ond vice-president, T. H. Olin, Northfield; third 
 vice-pr<'sident, T. N. Safer, Cannon City: rec'onl- 
 
314 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 ing secretary, L. A. Fish, Faribault; corresponding 
 secretary, R. A. Mott, Faribault; treasurer, J. B. 
 Cooper. Faribault; general committee, GL F. Pet- 
 titt, Faribault; N. A. Swarthout, Cannon City; \V. 
 E. Mansfield, East Prairie; John S. Way, North- 
 field; Ferris Webster, Minnemedah; Mr. Bunnel, 
 Wheatland; Allison Houck, Forest; Isaac Ham- 
 mond, Houston; John Tufts, Shieldsville. 
 
 This association was i-esuscituted on the 25th of 
 June, 1870, the last meeting having been held in 
 May, 1863. The officers elected were: president, 
 Charles Wood; vice-presidents, J. G. Scott, of 
 Morriston, Benjamin Ogdin, of Northfield and T. 
 C. Adam.s, of Wolcott; recording secretary, R. A. 
 Mott; corresponding secretary, H. C. Whitney; 
 lioard of directors, Levi Nutting, E. W. Dike, 
 George F. Batchelder, D. Stevens, and Mr. Hud- 
 son, with a general poniniittee. 
 
 In September of that year the third fair was held, 
 in Northfield. 
 
 C.\NNoN Valley AciiucrLTUBAi, and Mechani- 
 cal Association. — This institution which seems to 
 have supplanted all previous societies of a like 
 character in the county, except local town associa- 
 tions, wherever they exist, was organized in 1872, 
 and the first fair held in 1873, wliich was the only 
 one ever conducted by the association that was a 
 financial success, although a number were after- 
 wards held. The corporation was formed as a joint 
 stock company ; $15,000 was subscribed and si^lO,- 
 actually paid in, by about seventy members. The 
 first officers of the association were: President, 
 John Harding; treasurer, Z. S. Wilson: secretary, 
 Hudson Wilson. 
 
 The fair grounds were purchased of Randall 
 Fuller, and about .f.'jiOOO in improvements made. 
 The grounds embrace a half-mile track, stand, 
 covered seats, and conveniences for exhibitions. 
 The property finally reverted to Mr. Fuller in sat- 
 isfaction of a mortgage he held. The last fair 
 was given hi 1870, and the year following the as- 
 sociation formally disbanded. 
 
 The Rick County Ghanoe. — This was instituted 
 on the il\\ of March, 1874, with thirty members. 
 
 Rice County Anti-House Thief Society. — An 
 organization, tlie object of which is indicated by 
 the name, was cli'ected on the 1st of August, 1867, 
 which has been kejit in working order ever since, 
 and it is gratifying to be able to state that, al- 
 though horses have been stolen from various mem- 
 bers of the association, tliey liavo in every instance 
 
 been recovered, and tlie thief not unfrequently 
 caught and punished. The permanent officers of 
 the society were: President, William H. Dike; 
 vice-president, Luther Dearborn ; secretary, 
 Thomas Mee; treasurer, Hudson Wilson; executive 
 committee and other officers, G. M. Gillmore, 
 Tliomas Mee, D. M. West, Charles Shields, James 
 G. Scott, R. M. Norton, W. S. Leonard, H. A. 
 Swartliont, Thom-is Kirk, M. S. Seymour, Joseph 
 Covert, O. B. Hawley, H. C. Adams, Lyman H. 
 Henderson, H. E. Barron, P. E. Brown, Samuel 
 Dunham, C. Decker, T. H. Loyhed, J. C. Turner^ 
 S. P. Terryll, J. G. Clark, D. P. Smith, Samuel 
 Barnard, S. M. West, J. A. Winter, F. M. West, 
 C. A. Giddings. Charles Sweetzer, F. M. Baker, J. 
 G. Scott, R. M. Nortcm, Henry Hall, Andrew 
 Thompson, Oscar Decker. Over 100 memliers 
 were at once enrolled. The organization is still 
 kept up, and it is likely that the fact of such a 
 well appointed society being in existence in the 
 county has reduced the horse stealing business to 
 a niiuiranm here. The present officers are: Pres- 
 ident, G. M. Gillmau; vice-president, H. M. Mat- 
 teson; seci'etary, Thomas Mee; treasurer, Hudson 
 Wilson; with an executive committee and several 
 riders in each of the towns in the county. 
 
 A Medical, and also a Bar Association existed in 
 the county at one time, but very few traces of 
 their existence now appear. 
 
 vauious events. 
 
 In securing claims in this new county, as 
 everywhere along the constantly moving frontier, 
 there was, as there still is, opportunity for sharp 
 practices which were often put in requisition. The 
 land officers have simply to conform to the require- 
 ments of the law, and to accept the sworn state- 
 ments of the jire-emptor, and when he conies to 
 prove up his claim, sometimes swearing is required 
 by the exigencies of the case which would re- 
 ceive the designation of "tall," in the local ver- 
 njicular. The improvements which were some- 
 times declareil to have lieen made were often in 
 con.structive obedience to the law, not unlike that 
 of a southwestern frontiersman who cut tlie dates 
 of two dillerent years on a couple of trees, and 
 planting a hill of corn between them swore that 
 he had raised corn between those yeass on that 
 ground. By placing a whisky bottle in an aper- 
 ture in the side of a shanty, it was not considered 
 to be a very severe stretch of the conscience to 
 swear that there was erlass in the windows. It is 
 
VAliWUS EVIiNTS. 
 
 315 
 
 lint claimed that, these things were dniie hern in a 
 iiKirc aggravatiOJ way than olscwhf re. 
 
 As au actual instance of honorabli- alertness, a 
 case is stated where a man had <h'iven a stake 
 with his name; and the law allowed thirty days in 
 such a case for the man to occnpy it. As the 
 thirty days drew to a close that claim was closely 
 watched, and as the woiild-be proprietor failed to 
 apjiear, at midnight the new elaimant drove his 
 stake, and was at the laud office in Hastings 
 when it was opened the next morning. The claim 
 was secured, although, in the course of the lay, 
 another man came to get hold of it, but too late. 
 
 Among others who came here ou the represen- 
 tations of Dr. Jewett, was a man whose wife be- 
 c.ime homesick and dissatisfied with the country. 
 She was at the Doctor's house one Sunday morn- 
 ing when lie was preparing to officiate at religions 
 seiwice iu some private house, and being pressed for 
 timt^ he asked the lady to select an opening hymn 
 which she did by placing a mark on the page. Ou 
 opening it to give out the hymu he was taken 
 aback to find this selection; 
 
 ** Ch. what .1 \vret("heil l.anii is tliis, 
 That yioltls us no supply r" 
 
 Of course the Doctor regretted that they ever 
 came West. 
 
 In those pioneer times Dr. .Tewett bad a hand 
 mill in one corner of his house, to grind the meal 
 used by his family, and some one told a man who 
 lived miles away, that Dr. Jewett had a grist-mill, 
 and so the man drove over with a wagon load of 
 corn to be ground, rejoicing that civilization had 
 reached Minnesota with one of its useful inven- 
 tions. As he was introduced to the mill, his 
 countenance would have furnished a good sub- 
 ject for an artist's pencil. 
 
 The Doctor spent the winter of IS.'il in New 
 England, lecturing upon the agricultural resources 
 of the West. He had maps of Minnesota, Illi- 
 nois, and Iowa, with rivers, blufls, and prairie 
 land carefully prepared, and he also had bo^es three 
 feet long to show by vertical sections actual speci- 
 mens of the soil, so that people could see for them- 
 selves just what they would find on coming west. 
 
 Newspajier articles like the following had much 
 to do witli filling up this region: 
 
 "TEN GOOD REASONS FOli EMIGBATING TO MINNE- 
 SOTA FACTS FOR NEW ENGLANDEHS. 
 
 1st. Its land.s, corresponding with the l)etter 
 portiim of those drained by the Mississippi and 
 
 its tributaries, are unsurpassed in fertility by any 
 portion of our Union. 
 
 2d. N(* State or Territory, at present inviting 
 inimigration. is so well timbered, or comprises 
 such an excellent v;iriety of woodland as Minne- 
 sota. 
 
 ;id. Even New England the land of water- 
 falls can boast no superior manufacturing ad- 
 vantages upon a water-))ower basis. 
 
 4th. The climatology and meteorology of Min- 
 uesota are the wonder of tlu^ world. The disa- 
 greement of the isothermal and geographical 
 lines of latitude, brings the meau temperature of 
 our seasons into correspondence with northern 
 Ohio and southern New York, at the same time 
 the dry, elastic, stimulating nature of our atmos- 
 phere differs so vitally from the dam]), eousuiiip- 
 tion giving air of the Atlantic States, as to lead 
 us with perfect confidence to enunciate proposi- 
 tion. 
 
 .^th. No State east or south of us can compare 
 favorably with Minnesota in those causes which 
 produce health and vigor, and upon which, in a 
 great measure, the prosperity of a State deiiends. 
 We have never seen, since we made this Territory 
 our home, any person prepared to dispute this 
 lu-o))08ition, or even throw against it the weight 
 of his opinion, while hundreds giving their own 
 experience in evidence will attest its truth. 
 
 fith. Its geographical position as such as 
 ni.akes an carh/ and tlinronrjh development of our 
 mighty resources probable; commanding as we 
 do, the head waters of the largest lake and long- 
 est river in the world. 
 
 7th. So magnificent a system of trunk rail- 
 roads, based upon munificent land grants, has 
 never before fallen to the iulieritance of any Stat(>. 
 
 8th. Such provisions for educational interests 
 are without parallell in the history of the world. 
 We have already four State Universities charter- 
 ed. An immense University fund donated by the 
 federal government, and for the maintenance of 
 common schools, the magnificent be(piest of one 
 sixteenth of the area of the State, or about three 
 millions of acres, worth probably from twenty to 
 thirty millions of dollars. 
 
 9th. The character of the population of Min- 
 nesota presents au anomaly iu the history of west- 
 ern settlements, and no more refined, intelligent, 
 or moral peojile can be found in so large an ag- 
 gregate than are to be fonud in this new sov- 
 ereignty. 
 
316 
 
 HISTORY OF RICK COUNTY. 
 
 10th. And finally we have what all emigrants 
 want, seven millions of the best of soil yet un- 
 occupied. 
 
 We lack what emigrants can furnish ns, the 
 
 hf:s( of itien. 
 
 Let ua reciprocally satisfy these wants and 
 thus fulfil our destiny." 
 
 In May, 1871, the cjuestion as to the settlement 
 of the old railroad bonds by arbitration, which was 
 submitted to the people of the State, and defeated, 
 received the following vote in Rice county : For 
 the measure, 625; against it, .507, a majority of 
 118 in favor of the proposition. 
 
 Potato bugs first became plentiful in 1868. 
 
 The number of marriages in the county during 
 1868, was 118. 
 
 In 186i), quite a movement was made to get up 
 a new county with Northlield as the capital. 
 
 On the 7th of .January, 1873, a terrible cyclone 
 passed over the entire State and Eice county had 
 its full share of the borean excitement. 
 
 The flouring mills of Rice county, iu 1874, pro- 
 duced 208,000 barrels of flour. 
 
 Id 1878, there was a regularly organized wolf 
 hunt, which shows how hard the old occupants of 
 the country hokl on, and how difficult it is to 
 completely dislodge them. 
 
 On Thursday, the 4th of April, 186.5, the region 
 of Rice county was visited by a terrible blizzard, 
 which did an immense amount of injury to the 
 crops and buildings. 
 
 The total number of farms iu Rice county in 
 1866 was 1,200. 
 
 Gopher Hunt. — The amusements on the fron- 
 tier are peculiar, and sometimes combine the most 
 important utility with festive occasions. At this 
 day it is hardly possible to realize the number of 
 wild animals, including many whose habits were 
 inimical to agricultural interests, and whose pres- 
 enci! iu such infesting swarms it became necessary 
 to abbn^viate with as little delay as possible. To 
 illu.strate these several points, an account of a 
 gopher hunt instituted by the young men of East 
 Prairie, early in June, 1866, will be given. 
 
 The two towns, Walcott and Ricliland, entered 
 into the contest with a view to ascertaining which 
 could secure the largest amount of this precious 
 game in a given time, tlie defeated party to pay 
 for the suj)i)(n' ordcreil at the close of the hunt. 
 At the appointed time the two parties took the 
 I'lild under ('ii])tains W. Carter and Theodore 
 
 Close, respectively. On the 9th ot June the con- 
 testants and their friends met at a picnic, and 
 among the other delicacies served up on the occa- 
 siou was a gopher pie, with a huge pocket go- 
 pher crouched in the center, and rats with gray 
 and striped gophers around the margin, with their 
 heads peeping through holes in the crust; but 
 other viands prepared were so eagerly sought after 
 that this rare and appetizing dish was totally neg- 
 lected. The numlier of animals secured on both 
 sides footed up as follows: 
 
 Gray gophers 1,358 
 
 Striped gophers 1,083 
 
 Rats 1,168 
 
 Pocket gophers 464 
 
 Makiug the almost incredible number of 4,073 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS. 
 
 The pioneers of this whole region were partic- 
 ularly fortunate in their contact with the Indians; 
 the scenes of massacre which began with the 
 planting of the English colonies in Virginia and 
 Massachusetts, and moved with the advancing 
 civilization in a crimson line along the frontier, 
 with the most heart rending atrocities, seem to 
 have stopped at the Mississippi, leaving this sec- 
 tion in peace and quietness, to reappear, however, 
 in all its original fierceness to the west of us iu 
 that terrible Sious itiassacre, so truthfully depic- 
 ted in this work. 
 
 Although the tomahawk and scalping knife were 
 not a constant menace to the early comers, it 
 must not be imagined that there was not toil, 
 privation, cold, and hunger to undergo, for there 
 was nothing in these wilds of Minnesota, except 
 the intrinsic merit of the location, to attract peo- 
 ple from their more or less comfortable homes 
 in the East, or(m the other continent, from whence 
 so many of them came. Those who first came 
 were inspired with hope, which indeed "Springs 
 eternal in the human breast," but they were re- 
 garded by their friends who were left behind, as 
 adventurers, soldiers of fortune, who, if they got 
 through alive, would certainly never be able to 
 return, unless they were jiarticularly fortunate. 
 They were a sturdy race, who realized the inequal- 
 ity of the struggle in the old States or Countries, 
 where humanity on the one hand, claiming a 
 riglit to " life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
 ness," and the accumulations of labor in vast ag- 
 greg.ations in sordidly avaricious clutches ou the 
 (itlier. hedgcnl in with traditional i)ie<^edents and 
 
OENKll. 1 /. lih:^tA I! KS. 
 
 ■Ml 
 
 biirriors, with every facility for receiving, but with 
 few outlets for ilistribiition, and they resolved t<i 
 establish tlicmsolves where merit would not be su))- 
 planted by antiquated relics of feudalism, whii'h 
 alllii't all the old communities. 
 
 The men who came here to establish homes hir 
 themselves and their i)osterity. were, as a rule, 
 enterprising, open-hearted, clear headed and sym- 
 p;ithizing; they were good neighbors and so 
 good neighborhoods were created, and they made 
 a practical illustraticm of the great doctrine of the 
 " brotherhood of man," by example rather than by 
 ([noting creeds, or conforming to outward obser- 
 vances which may or may not spring from motives 
 of purity, with a bravery that never blanched in the 
 midst of misfortune or danger, however appalling, 
 they were nevertheless tender, kind, and consid- 
 erate in the presence of disaster and adversity, 
 and their deticiences in the outward manifesta- 
 tions of piety, were more than compensated by 
 their love and regard for the claims of humanitv. 
 
 We, who enjoy the blessings i-csnltiug from the 
 efforts of these men, many of whom are still in 
 active life, would be less than human if we were 
 not filled with gratitude to these early settlers 
 who paved the way and made the condition of 
 things we now find a reality. The value of what 
 they accomplished can not be overestimated, and it 
 should be constantly remembered that whatever 
 of romance adhered to the hardy colonists, was 
 more than compensated for by hard work. 
 
 If this meed of praise is justly due to the men, as 
 it certainly is, what shall be said in commenda- 
 tion of the heroic women who braved the vicissi- 
 tudes of frontier life, endured the absence from 
 home, frietds, and old associations, whose tender 
 ties must have wrung all hearts as they were 
 severed? The devotion which would lead to such 
 a breaking away, to follow a father, a husband, 
 or a s<m, into the trackless waste beyond the 
 Mississippi, where gloomy apprehensions must 
 have arisen in the mind, is above all praise. The 
 value of the part taken by the noble women who 
 first came to this uninhabited region cannot be 
 overestimated. Although by nature liberal, they 
 practiced the most rigid economy, and often at 
 critical times preserved order, reclaiming the men 
 from utter despair during gloomy periods; and 
 their example of frugal industry and cheerful- 
 ness, constantly admonished him to renewed ex- 
 ertions, the instincts of womanhood, constantly 
 encouraging integrity and manhood. 
 
 As to the cllei'ts of fnontior lif<', sixMally and 
 morally, uiion tlu'S(! who have secured homes west 
 of the Mississippi, a few ol)servati:_)ns may not be 
 inap])ri)priat(!. 
 
 During the last generation a noted divine in the 
 l'',ast, Uev. Dr. Bushnell, ])reached a seriiuiii on the 
 barliaioiis tendencies of ('ivilization in tlie W(«t, 
 and on this the Reverend gentleman predicated 
 an urgent appeal to Christianity to put forth re- 
 newed and strenuous ellbrts to save this region 
 from a relapse into barbarism. This tendency was 
 supjjosed to result from the disruption of social 
 and religious ties, the mingling of heterogeneous 
 elements, and the removal of the external re- 
 straints so commcm, and supposed to be so ])otent 
 in older communities. It is evident, however, 
 that Dr. Bushnell did not have a sufficiently ex- 
 tended view of the suljject, for the arbitrament of 
 time has shown that his apprehensions were 
 groundless, for if he had carefully surveyed the 
 history of the past, he would have found that in a 
 niunadic condition there is never any real j)ro- 
 gress in refinement. Institutions for the elevation 
 of the race must be planted deep in the soil, be- 
 fore they can raise their heads in beauty and 
 majesty toward heaven and bear fruit for the en- 
 iij;htenment of the nations. The evils that so 
 alarmed Dr. Bushnell were merely temporary in 
 their character, without a lasting impression. 
 The planting of a new colony where everything 
 has to be constructed, involves an obvious increase 
 of human freedom, the conveutionalities of society 
 are necessarily disregarded to a great extent, but 
 the elements of sincere regard for the feelings and 
 welfare of others, and of self government every- 
 where, largely predominates, and the fusion of 
 the races modifies the asperities and the idiosyu- 
 cracies of each, and certaiidy will in due time 
 create a composite nationality in which it isho))ed, 
 in conformity to the spirit of this remarkable age, 
 will produce a nationality or a race as unlike, as it 
 must be superior to those that have preceded it. 
 Even now, before the first generation has passed 
 away, society here has outgrown the irritation of 
 the transplanting, and there are no more vicious 
 elements in society, if as many, as there are 
 in the old communities, as the criminal statistics 
 abundantly show. 
 
 Besides the West is already ■• pointing with 
 pride," to her educational institutions, where the 
 teaching is of an elevating and ennobling charac- 
 ter. 
 
318 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE UOVNTY. 
 
 CITY OF FARIBAULT. 
 
 CHAPTEK L. 
 
 CENHUAL DESOlUrTION EAIiLY SETTLEMENT — 
 
 KAULY EVENTS — INDOSTEIAL ENTEUrEISES — STATE 
 INSTITUTIONS — SHATTUCK SCHOOI, — SEABUKY DI- 
 VINITY SCHOOL CHURCHES — PUBLIC SCHOOLS — 
 
 FKATEISNAL AND OTHER SOCIETIES. 
 
 This is an inJeiJenJent political subdivision of 
 the county of Rice, with a city government, and 
 embraces a fraction from Cannon City, from 
 Wells, from Walcott, and ivu\n Warsaw, the pro- 
 portionate quantity of territory being in the or- 
 der named, and three miles scpiare, which gives, of 
 course, nine square miles. 
 
 Its jjositiou brings the center of the city within 
 three milej of the geographical center of the 
 county of which it is the capital. It originally 
 possessed advantages of a high order, which have 
 been so well appreciated that it is one of the finest 
 and most prosperous cities in Minnesota. It is 
 situated with a prairie comiug uj) from tlic south 
 and leaving it in the concave of a lunette of tim- 
 ber called the "Big Woods," extending north and 
 west for a great distance. 
 
 It is on the Straight lliver, on the jieuiusula 
 formed by its continence with Cannon River. The 
 water-power is large and reliable, and its utiliza- 
 tion has been one of the important elements con- 
 tributing to its growth and prosperity. The ex- 
 tent of the timber above mentioned was at least 
 1,800 square miles, or 1,1.52,000 acres, consistiug 
 of oak, maple, bass, elm, poplar, and in some 
 places black walnut, butternut, cedar, and syca- 
 more; and immediately around Faribault it would 
 out a handsome amount of lumber to each acre, 
 and leave good material for fences and fuel. The 
 Straight River timber, which laid to the south and 
 east, running into Steele county, comprised an area 
 of from three to four thousand miles. The Can- 
 non River belt came in at an acute angle, so that 
 both bodies were ready to be drawn from, not with 
 that extreme economy which is |)racticed in com- 
 
 munities where, from its scarcity, timber is fully 
 appreciated, nor has it been wasted, as in the local- 
 ities where the getting rid of it is the problem 
 that exercises every new comer. The Cannon and 
 Straight Rivers run with strong currents, the 
 Straight being the smaller of the two, and this, it 
 is estimated, at the lowest stages passes 1,600 cubic 
 feet in a minute. 
 
 Three lime stone ([uarries were opened at an 
 early day, one by Mr. A. Faribault, operated by 
 Mr. Whipple, one by Charles Wood, and one i>y 
 M. N. Pond. 
 
 In 1856, two lime kilns were opened, Levi Nut- 
 ting had one, and Mr. Woodman the other. Take 
 these natural resources, associated with a county 
 having a rich and valuable soil which was rapidl.y 
 occupied with an industrious and intelligent popu- 
 lation, and you have the elements tor the growth 
 and prosperity of the city of Faribault. All this 
 being supplemented by the advent in the city of 
 an unusual pioportion of enterprising and puljlic 
 spirited men and women, and there is no wonder 
 at what has been accomplished toward bringing 
 the shire town of Rice county so far along in the 
 race for metropolitan distinction. 
 
 In preparing the history of a county in which 
 the city plays such a prominent part as does Fari- 
 bault in that of Rice county, the difficulty of 
 drawing lines of demarcation between what should 
 apjiertain to the one or the other, excepting in 
 mere political or governmental atfairs, can be 
 readily appreciated after a moment's thought, and 
 in this work it will be seen that a sketch of the 
 early settlei'S of the city would be a simple reca- 
 pitulation of the coanty article, which is so 'full 
 iu this regard. An attempt is made, howi^ver, to 
 group the items clearly belonging to the city in 
 this part of the book. 
 
 The first pi-oprietors of what was known as the 
 "Old Town," were Alexander Faribault, Luke 
 HuU'tt, W. Morris, H. H. Sibley; and afterwanls 
 
CITY OF h'AltllSAULT. 
 
 :!H) 
 
 came the names of J. W. North, Porter Nutting, 
 J. H. Mills, R. Sherwood, Sen., Samuel W;ileott; 
 and in the fall of 1855, (Sen. James Shields, of 
 Mexican war fame, who had been a United States 
 Si.'uator from Illinois, and was afterwards Senator 
 from Minnesota for the first short term after the 
 St.ite was admitted into the Union. He was sub- 
 se(inently a Senator from Missouri, the only iu- 
 stauoe in this country where a man has represent- 
 e 1 three diilerent States in the American Senate. 
 He purchased an interest in the town site, and be- 
 came the agent and attorney for tlie company, re- 
 ceiving his deed from Judge Chatfield, who form- 
 ally entered the town according to the act making 
 j)rovisions tlierefore, on the 'i'Jth of May, 18.55, 
 and for several years General Shields issued titles 
 to all the lots sold. 
 
 The oi'iginal town, as surveyed and platted by 
 B. Densmore, contained 280 acres, but additions 
 were soon made as follows: Paquiu's, surveyed 
 by G. C Perkins and recorded December 7th, 
 18.05, and April 16th, 18.50, eighty acres; Cooper's, 
 surveyed by A. H. BuUis, and recorded April 3d, 
 18.50, forty acres; McClelland's, surveyed by S. 
 Wade, and recorded April 30th, 185G, forty-two 
 acres; South Fariliault, surveyed by G. G. Perk- 
 ins, Shields and Fiiril)ault, proprietors, and re- 
 corded May 1st, 1850, fifty acres; North Fari- 
 bault, surveyed by A. H. Bullis, F. Faribault, pro- 
 prietor, forty acres, making in 1850, a total of 532 
 acres. All the lots were four by ten rod.s, making 
 one-fourth of an acre each, except the business 
 lots, which were two rods sliorter. 
 
 In the winter of 1857, the lots were selling at 
 from .ftSOO to $3,000, which ought to have biien a 
 satisfactory advance on thirty-one and one-quarter 
 cents, paid the government a year or two before. 
 
 The tidal wave, or avalanche, whichever is most 
 ai)propriate to designate an oncoming of human- 
 ity and wealth, was in the s])ring and summer of 
 ■ 1850, for at the beginning of that period there 
 was not a score of buildings in town, while 
 in the fall there were more than 250, and the 
 population had swelled up to lie 1,500 or more. 
 There were in the town early in 1857, twenty- 
 three stores, fimr good hotels, live wagon shop.s, 
 with blacksmith and shoemaker shops, two livt^rv 
 stables, two meat markets, and three steam mills, 
 and surrounded by a rich country, fast tilling n\\ 
 its growth and prosperity was an assurance which 
 has been well realized. 
 
 In the winter of 185G, Faribault had a lit(^rary 
 association, and |)ublislied a paper called "The 
 Pioneer." 
 
 Goods at first hail to be hauled from Hastings, 
 making ;i round trip of about 110 miles, although 
 in somi seasons of the year su])plies wen? landed 
 on the Mississippi at Iveed's landing, at the foot 
 of Lake Pepin. 
 
 The first frame buihlnig |mt up here was by 
 Mr. Faribault, cpiite a good one and in striking 
 contrast with the log cabin.s, hovels, and shanties 
 which wore extempoi'ized by the pioneers on thi'ir 
 first arrival, to meet the imperative demands for 
 shelter. The cost of this first building was SI, 000. 
 The lumber for its construction was brouglit from 
 St. Paul; a ])art of it was left on the road, as the 
 team was unable to get through with such a load, 
 and this was burned by a prairie tire. The next 
 frame was erected by the Messrs. Barnard, at a 
 cost of SI, 000, which was afterwards occupied by 
 J. H. Mills. This was in August, 1855, and 
 during that season (prite a number of others went 
 up. Faribault's house still stands, not far from 
 the Barron house. The Post-office, which was 
 ke[)t. by Mr. E. J. Crump, the deputy, was o])po- 
 site where the Arlington House stands. 
 
 At first there w,as a struggle between the two 
 ends of the village, the south and the north. Mr. 
 Faribault lived at the south, and the French (!a- 
 nadian settlement was at the north end, and in 
 any contest where there was a vote on the ipies- 
 tiou, the countrymen of Mr. Faribault would go 
 with him, apparently against their own interest. 
 
 Mr. Crump had a pre-emption claim which lie 
 was induced to waive in consideration of the 
 company's giving him the eutiie block upon 
 which the Arlington hou.se stands. 
 
 General Shields had several thousand dollars, 
 and procuring a pair of hor.ses and a carriagiN he 
 traveled all over this country finally bringing up 
 in Shieldsville, where lii^ was getting quite a 
 settlement wIk'm Mr. Faribault oll'ere<l him such 
 liberable induei'nieuts to act for the town site 
 company, that he at once came here. The trouble 
 as to the ownership, and the adjustment of the 
 rival pre-emption claims, was considerable, but 
 the General went to Washington where his ex- 
 perience in tlie lantl olliee enabled him to .secure 
 a clear title. It is supposed that the diaappoiut- 
 raeut attcuding his political aspirations led to the 
 sudden abandonment of his property here to his 
 nephew. 
 
320 
 
 HISTORY OF RIGE COUNTY. 
 
 One of the first meetings for religiotis instruc- 
 tion was in A])ril, 1854, in the grove near Luke 
 Hulett's, north of the bridge, on the Solomon 
 Atliertou place, by an itinerant evangelist. The 
 audience was made up mostly of the Wau-pa-ku- 
 ta-Dakotas who were here in considerable num- 
 bers. The first denominational service was by 
 Jonathan Morris, a follower of Alexander Camp- 
 bell. 
 
 The village lots were surveyed in April, 1854, 
 and there were five claims covering the town at 
 that time. Mr. A. Faribault had the upper 
 claim; J. B. Faribault, the father of Alexander, 
 had another; Mr. N. Paquin had the lower part 
 of the town; while H. H. Sibley held the central 
 part, which, at that early day, Mr. Faribault in- 
 formed his particular friends sub roxtt, was to 
 linally make a city with that as a center. 
 
 It was found that under the pre emjjtion law, 
 town sites could be laid out in advance of the 
 land sale, and so it was arranged to lay out the 
 town at once, and the west, or prairie half, was 
 surveyed and platted, and filed in the recorder's 
 office at Mendota, in the name of A. Faribault, 
 H. H. Sibley, Walter Morris, and Luke Hulett. 
 This survey was subsequently cancelled, and, 
 under the auspices of J. B. North, a re-.survey was 
 made in the spring of 1855. This became per- 
 manent. In the fullness of time. Judge Chat- 
 field was induced to become the trustee; the land 
 of Gen. Sibley was pre-empited, and through the 
 paramount iufiuence of Geu. James Shields, who, 
 as mentioned elsewhere, had dawned upon the 
 scene, the title was finally vtstedsoasto be lasting. 
 
 The city of Faribault proper is mostly in the 
 ciil lie .vac, formed by the coming together of the 
 Straight and the Cannon Rivers on the northern 
 boundary. A part of the platted city lays east of 
 the Straight River including the Shattuck School, 
 the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, St. Mary's New 
 Hall, the Divinity School, the Asylum for the 
 Blind, and the Institute for the Idiotic and 
 Feeble Minded, and <juite a number of residences. 
 These two parts of the city are connected by tour 
 bridges. The cast side is ou a bluff which rises 
 abruj)tly from the river and overlooks- the rest 
 of the city and country beyond, affording a fine 
 view from the jmblic institutions located there. 
 The direction of the streets are coincident with 
 the cardinal points of the comijass. The east and 
 west street crossing the river at the uppermost 
 
 jioint is Front street, and soiith of this, iu the 
 same direction are Hickory, Pine, and South 
 streets. North of Front, the streets are numbered 
 consecutively. First, Second, and so ou up to 
 Fifteenth, which is at the confluence of the two 
 rivers. The north and south streets are, Main, the 
 principal business street, which, commencing at the 
 south end, goes north to near the junction of the 
 two rivers. Willow is east of this, and next to 
 the river; next is Water, which, on account of a 
 curve in the river is on both sides of it, then 
 comes Oak, Walnnt, Vine, and Ash. On this side 
 the Hastings' road is a continuation of Second 
 street which deflects to the left. West of Main 
 street, and parallel with it, the streets are Elm, 
 Chestnut, Maple, Cherry, Cedar, Plum, Sycamore 
 and Buckeye, which is next east of the railroad. 
 West of the railroad are Ir\dug, Cross, and Lin- 
 coln streets. This rejjresents the street system of 
 Faribault, and there are several other short diag- 
 onal streets particularly at the south end of the 
 city. The streets are of good width and have 
 sidewalks, some of the outlying ones, however, 
 only on one side. They are usually of plank. 
 All the resident streets have shade trees which 
 are young and thrifty, and the common mistake 
 is made of allowing them to limb out too low 
 down, so that they obstruct the light and the 
 passage way, as in many streets an average man 
 cannot walk without getting his hat brushed, 
 which is anything but agreeable, especially in a 
 wet time, but this is evidently a result of a facetious 
 conspiracy against the glossy integrity of the few 
 remaining sill: /mis, or it may bo from simple 
 thoughtlessness, which attention to the subject 
 will correct without the interposition of a city 
 ordinance. The blocks are laid out without 
 alleys which will be missed more and more as the 
 city gets solidly built up. A few, however, have 
 been opened up. The city is admirably situated, 
 with good drainage facilities, and high and dry 
 above possible inundation by river floods. As to 
 healthfulness, there are seldom any prevailing 
 diseases. 
 
 In addition to the regular residents of the city; 
 there is a ti'ansitory population, brought hither 
 by the schools which have such a wide reputation' 
 and who remain for longer or shorter periods, 
 pending the education of their children. While 
 the city is metro]jolitan as far as churches, schools, 
 public halls, mercantile establishments, and the 
 
CITY Oh' h'AinHAULT. 
 
 321 
 
 various coucomitants of an advanced civilization are 
 concerned, it ia nevertheless a rural city, where 
 the advantages of urban and suburban lite can be 
 enjoyed together, without the annoyances inci- 
 dent to conditions where they have to bo sought 
 separately. 
 
 The business houses and manufacturing estab- 
 lishments are commodious and well adapted for 
 their several purposes. The residences are in ac- 
 cordance witli prevailing ideas as to what consti- 
 tutes a home, and there is a gratifying absence of 
 those extremes met with in older communities, 
 where the palaces with their columns, pilasters, 
 caryatides, entablatures, cornices, towers, and 
 minarets, in the midst of ornamented grounds, 
 with trees, flowers, fountains, and statuary en- 
 closed by lofty walls, and gates guarded by por- 
 ter's lodges, which suggest and point with un- 
 erring certainty to miserable hovels and abodes of 
 squalor and wretchedness, which are the counter- 
 part, or the other picture, upon which it is not so 
 pleasant to look. The luxuriance and ease on the 
 one hand being procured by the labor and depri- 
 vation on the other. These extremes are not met 
 with here, the pei)j)le are all well housed and com- 
 fortable, showing that our republican institutions 
 are not a failure, but that they have realized the 
 idea that all men are created free and equal, and 
 also established the possibility of their remaining 
 so after they are born. 
 
 VARIOUS EVENTS OF INTEREST CHRONOLOGIC.\I.LY 
 ARRANGED. 
 
 A ladies' benevolent association was formed in 
 1855, and the first annual meeting held on the 
 14th of January, 1856. Mrs. Charles Jewett was 
 the president, and the other oaioers were, Blrs. 
 Armsby, Mrs. Rising West, Mrs. Tower, Mrs. 
 Stevens, and Mrs. Edwin Armstrong. This sliows 
 that the noble women who first came here brouglit 
 with them a regard for humanity in its dependent 
 moods. 
 
 THE YEAB 1857. 
 
 On the 7th of January the Congregational 
 church was dedicated, and Rev. Lauren Armstrong 
 was installed as pastor of the church. Those as- 
 sisting were. Rev. Mr. Cressey, of Cannon City; 
 Rev. Mr. Barnes, of Cannon Falls ; and Rev. Mr. 
 Secombe. The people adhering to this faith ex- 
 hibited great energy in thus providing, at such an 
 early day, for their spiritual wants. 
 21 
 
 The laid office was removed here from Winona 
 some time toward tlio last of January. The teams 
 were eight days on the road with the documents. 
 
 On the 24th of February three young men 
 started to drive to the lake, and on tlieir way were 
 liailed by a young Indian with a gun, who asked 
 for a ride, and without slacking up they beckoned 
 him to " come on," which he did. As he reached 
 the carriage, and was about clambering in, his 
 musket was discharged, and the ball penetrated 
 tlie arm of one of the young men, Godfrey Xa- 
 vier, breaking the bone above the elbow, and sev- 
 ering an artery. The Indian was arrested, but on 
 an examination the accidental character of the 
 shooting was shown, and he was discharged. 
 
 On the 17th of February two children of Mr. 
 Frederick Faribault, residing in an addition to 
 the city, while he was away from home, were 
 burned to death in the house, which was con- 
 sumed, it having caught or been set on fire, the 
 other membtrs of the family escaping with great 
 difficulty, one or two of them being seriously 
 burned. 
 
 The lirst quarterly returns of the Fariljault 
 Post-office footed up .§'24(1 on letters alone. 
 
 At the election for delegates to the Constitu- 
 tional Convention, the whole number of votes cast 
 was 1,089. 
 
 Mr. Tillotson was appointed Receiver of the 
 land office in place of L. D. Smith, who had re- 
 signed. 
 
 Business at the land office for a single month, 
 ending on the 19th of June, 1857, was as follows: 
 Acres located, 118,178; with land warrants, 106,- 
 380; with cash, 11,798. 
 
 The taxable property In Faribault, returned on 
 the 1st of January, 1856, was $613,364, and the 
 tax assessed was .f613.36, or one per cent. 
 
 Mail matter received and sent at the Faribault 
 Post-office in 1857 averaged from 1,800 to 2,000 
 pieces a week, which was (|uite a jump from two 
 pieces, in 1853. 
 
 Judge H. C. Lowell was appointed register of 
 the land office in this year. 
 
 A surveying party on a projected line of rail- 
 road reached Faribault in June. 
 
 During the summer a jjlank road was built be- 
 tween Faribault and Cannon City. 
 
 In July McCarn & Co. put on a new stage 
 
322 
 
 UTSrOllT OF niOE COUNTY. 
 
 line to Hastings. The first line whs run by 
 White, and afterward by Walker, the great fron- 
 tier stage driver. 
 
 Clark and Weld got their saw mill rnuning *in 
 Faribault in July. 
 
 The first Saturday iu August the bell of the 
 Congregational church was hung in Faribault. It 
 weighed 1,000 pounds, and was claimed to be the 
 first bell, of which there is a large family, west of 
 the Mississippi. 
 
 In 1857, the grasshoppers came in the vicinity 
 of the county, and excited considerable curiosity, 
 not unmingled with alanu. 
 
 On the 15th of September a meeting was held 
 iu the city to organize a oemetery association. A. 
 J. Tanner was the Chairman; E. P. Mills, William 
 Thoter, Charles Wood, K. A. Mott, E. D. GilTord, 
 (i. W. Balch, Elder L. S. Pease, H. Kiedoll, Arch, 
 (iibsou, Charles Williams, Thomas 8. Buckham, 
 and others, were interested in the movement. 
 
 The first movement to establish an institution 
 of learning in Faribault was in September, by a 
 committee consisting of Rev. Solon 'W. Mauuey, 
 Rev. E. .Steele Peake, Messrs. Lloyd and Breck_ 
 At this meeting Messrs. Dike, Mott, Faribault, 
 Paquin, and Boardman were designated to receive 
 subscriptions of land or money. 
 
 There was a robbery of the land office in Sep- 
 tember of warrants to the amount of .'i!40,000. 
 They -Here, however, recovered, except four from 
 the abstractor. Mason B. Clark, a Postmaster, who 
 lived at Sacramento, a place sixty miles west of 
 Red Wing. 
 
 In the fall of 1H57, at the time of that financial 
 depression, Faribault had arrived at a condition of 
 prosperity which was most remarkable, and it is 
 certain that all who were here at that time should 
 be designated as old settlers, and so a sketch of 
 the city, written by Mr. Mott for his paper, is re- 
 jjroduoed. 
 
 "But one church now stands in this place, viz., 
 the Congregational. A fine church, built by the 
 Catholics, was liurned last fall. In addition, Bap- 
 tist, Methodist, Episcopal, and Lutheran organiza- 
 tions exist, stated preaching having been secured 
 to each. 
 
 One schoolliouse has been erected at a cost of 
 $2,000. It is now occupied by two teachers. An- 
 other school is sustained in a commodious hall. 
 These teachershave now under their tuition, about 
 125 pu])ils. 
 
 A brass band; a string band; a vocal club; a 
 singing school; a Mason's and Odd Fellow's lodge, 
 are all in successful existence. 
 
 Our mail service has been decreased since the 
 close of summer, but we still have fifteen arrivals 
 and eighteen departures weekly. 
 
 We have been unable to obtain the last census 
 re])ort, but tlie enumeration made by the assessor 
 last June gave this town a population of 1683. It 
 is now reported at over 2,000. By actual count 
 there were, some time since, over 250 buildings in 
 the place. Faribault has become the center of 
 trade for a large section of country, of the exten- 
 sion of which some idea can be formed from a list 
 of business establishments which we now proceed 
 to give: 
 
 There are eight establishments in the general 
 variety line, comprising dry goods, groceries' 
 hardware, farming tools, Arc. — The amount of busi- 
 ness transacted bj' these houses now during these 
 hard times would give them an annual trade of 
 over 8200,000. 
 
 There are four large houses dealing exclusively 
 in hardware. 
 
 Tliree heavy grocery stores. (These have no 
 connections with the Devil's recruiting stations, of 
 which there are six or eight. ) 
 
 Three clothing and furnishing stores. 
 
 Three meat and provision markets. 
 
 Two drug stores. 
 
 Two first-class restaurants. 
 
 Two furniture stores and cabinet shops. 
 
 Three livery stables. 
 
 Three blacksmith shops, which employ eight 
 hands. 
 
 One harness shop. 
 
 Two boot and shoe stores. 
 
 One wagon and sleigh shop. 
 
 One broom factory. 
 
 One grist-mill, with three more within three 
 miles. 
 
 Two saw-mills, with seven more witliin three 
 miles. 
 
 One planiug-mill. 
 
 One billiard saloon. 
 
 Two bowling alleys. 
 
 One race course. 
 
 So far as our memory serves, the following list 
 comprises the business men of the place: 
 
 Town Puopeietors — Shields k McCutchen, A. 
 Faribault, J. Cooper, H. McClelland, N. Pacpiiu, 
 A. Faribault, Turner & Batchelder. 
 
CITY OF l<'AI{lllAUi:r. 
 
 ;i'23 
 
 Cleuoymen — L. Armsby, T. K. Cressey, J. H. 
 White. 
 
 Physicians — Bemis, Leighton, Biirluiiis, Deni- 
 sou, Stevens, and Turner. 
 
 Dentistry — Dr. Stevens and Dr. Biggs. 
 
 Teacheks — L. A. Fish, Miss Parish, Bliss Sanih 
 Fisk. 
 
 Landlokds — Barron House, H E. Barron; 
 National, E. D. (Jifford; Faribault House^ T. 
 Nutting. 
 
 Bankees and Land Agents — Shields & Mc- 
 Cutcheu, G. W. Boardmau & Co., H. Wilson & Co., 
 Mcllrath, Cole & Co., L. S. Pease & Co. 
 
 Attorneys and Cottnsellors at Law — Batch- 
 elder k Buckham, Cole & Raymond, Davis & Tan- 
 ner, Berry A- Perkins, H. W. Lamberton, O. A. 
 Dalrymple, C. Williams, G. E. Skinner. 
 
 Surveyors — A. H. Bullis, R. H. L. Jewett, G. 
 F. Batchelder. 
 
 Merchants — General Variety — Tower <t 
 Brother, J. A. Moore, J. H. Mills & Son, Mr. 
 McGreavy, Van Brunt & Misener, Fuller & Smith, 
 J. H. Winter, D. Munch. 
 
 Hardware -C. T. Hinde & Co., Cottrell & 
 Brother, T. H. Loyhed, Cooper & Renwick. 
 
 Geocekies — Chaffee & Berry, F. B. Nason & 
 Co., Mr. Braley. 
 
 Clothinc; — W. S. Eastman, Raunecker & Hart- 
 man, P. B. Crosby & Co. 
 
 Provision Markets — M. Cole, C. T. Winans, 
 Nutting & Dickinson. 
 
 Restaurants— C. M. Milspaugh, J. & A. Man- 
 heim. 
 
 Drug Stores — Wheeler k Thayer, Stevens & 
 Thayer. 
 
 Fdrnitcre Stores — Hill i- Brockway, Wandell 
 & WorliH. 
 
 Millinery — Mrs. L. Clement, Mrs. O. M. Cran- 
 dall. 
 
 Liveries— D. Smith & Co,, T. Smith. 
 
 Jewelry — J. L. Wilcox & Co. 
 
 Harness Shop — E. C. Hinde. 
 
 Wagon Shop — J. D. Denison. 
 
 Architects and Builders — Hink & Newcomb, 
 Davison i: demons, R. W. Russ, A. A- J. Nutting. 
 
 Broom Factory — Misener & Brother. 
 
 Shingle-Mill — J. M. White. 
 
 Saw-Mills — Gibson & Co., H. Riedell. 
 
 Grist-Mill — Gibson & Co. 
 
 PL.4.NINO-M1LL— Clark i- Weld. 
 
 Shoe Shop— D. O'Brien. 
 
 Our merchants are all well stocked, and tlioy 
 are generally as fine dealers as ever stood l)el)iiid 
 the counter. Our landlords are all gentlemen, and 
 spare no pains to make travelers at home. Our 
 mechanics have increaK(Hl, greatly, their facilities 
 for doing good work. Our places of amusement 
 would lose their objectionable features if intoxi- 
 cating drinks could be banished from their jire- 
 cincts. 
 
 We would urge eastern mechanics and capital- 
 ists, who feel like hrcitking out into the frea North- 
 west, to grow up with it, to jiay us a visit next 
 spring. We want men with bronzed faces and 
 horney hands; men and women who can cheerfully 
 lock arms with toil. We promise you that toil 
 will here be richly remunerated. We are, now 
 especially, in need of plough, reaper, and mower 
 factories, and a pair of jolly coopers." 
 
 Those who are acquainted here now, will not fail 
 to notice the names of many Inisiness men who 
 are still here, some of them in the same business, 
 and some of them engaged in other occupations, 
 although in any case twenty -five years makes sad 
 havoc with mercantile firms and street signs. 
 
 The Catholic church at Faribault was burned on 
 the 8th of October. The structure had cost about 
 $1,000. 
 
 Early in the winter a literary association was 
 organized, Charles Williams was the president 
 and the other oflicers were, H. E. Barron, G. W. 
 Jacobs, G. E. Cole, H. Chaffer, T. S. Buckham. 
 The meetings served to make the residents 
 acquainted with each other, and, to a certain ex- 
 tent, to reveal the mental calibre of those who par- 
 ticipated in the exercises. 
 
 The estimated improvements of the city of Fari- 
 bault in 1857, amounted to .¥100,000. The fol- 
 lowing from the "Herald" will give an idea of the 
 improvements of this year : 
 
 It is truly gratifying to take a view of the im- 
 provements which have been effected in our place 
 during the past year. In nothing is this advance 
 more apparent than in the erection of new 
 buildings. 
 
 The building of the past year has been alto- 
 gether of a dillerent and superior character from 
 that which preceded it. In place of pre-emption 
 shanties which constituted many of those before 
 numbered, we have now the stately edifice from 
 two to four stories in height. The buildings 
 erected within the last year would probably reach 
 
324 
 
 IITsTOIiY OF RICE UOUNTY. 
 
 in nnmber one hiindrecl and fiffv, the most notice- 
 able of these are as follows: Residence of A. Fari- 
 bault on a sightly bluff over the river, costing 
 about .f4,000; the beautiful residence of James 
 Tower at a cost of $2,500; the residences of Gen. 
 Shields, J. Cooper, N. Paciuin, H. McClelland, F. 
 Faribault, Rev. L. Armshy, S. Barnard, Mr. 
 Humphrey, H. Riedell, J. Gibson, Messrs. Decker, 
 Alby, Lines, Whipple, Arc, at an average of about 
 $2,000 each. The followingare among the most 
 important business erections: Store by M. Cook, 
 24x40; Cottrell k Co., 24x50; A. Blodgett, hall 
 and billiard saloon at an average of $2,500; store 
 and hall by Faribault & Co. ; restaurant by Mills- 
 paugh; bank by J. A. Moore; store by J. H. 
 Mills; drug store by Stevens & Thayer; Receiver's 
 office by J. B. Cooper; store by Mr. Merrill; allot 
 these new buildings are two stories and cost about 
 •12,000 each. A number of creditable one-story 
 buildings for oflices, banks, stores &c., have been 
 erected. A number of fine buildings show them- 
 selves on Paquin"s addition, among which we 
 uotice one by I. H. Craig, 22x45, three stories 
 high, for store or hotel ; F.Craig has built two, 
 one lGs36, the other 19x36, both two stories; two 
 stores, one by Predette and one by Langeuin, both 
 20x40, two stories. 
 
 We cannot report in full, suffice is to say that 
 the amount expended in private building the past 
 year cannot fall short of !|!100,000. 
 
 In addition our commissioners have erected an 
 office and jail at an expense of about S5,000. The 
 school trustees have built a schoolhouse costing 
 about .$2,000. The Congregational church has 
 been enlarged and a bell procured. Three bridges 
 have been built across Straight River, and one 
 across the Cannon. A pleasant and commodious 
 cemetery has been laid out, and many other im- 
 provements which give great satisfaction to the 
 citizens of Faribault who love their homes." 
 
 TUE YEAE 1858. 
 
 The leading men early saw the necessity of en- 
 couraging the cultivation of the best in all de 
 partments of agriculture, and as early as the 22d. 
 of January, 1858, met for the purpose of organiz- 
 ing; and about the same time the young men 
 organized a students' literary association, which 
 served its purjjosc iu an admirable way. 
 
 Faribault Mills, Warner & Buckhout, were 
 burned on the 5th of February, and in March Mr. 
 
 Sentill's mill was also burned. Soon after an- 
 other mill burst a boiler. 
 
 Graham's mill was burned on the 22d of Feb- 
 ruary, aud also another on East Prairie, which 
 was a serious loss to the whole community, as well 
 as to the owners. 
 
 Dr. Charles Jewett, of Faribault really, al- 
 though his farm was in Warsaw, in the winter of 
 1858 went east and gave lyceum lectures on the 
 west, and Miimcsota in particular, and also wrote 
 numerous articles showing the especial advan- 
 tages of this location, which, without doubt, was 
 the direct means of keeping the stream of emigra- 
 tion flowing in this direction, with a good class of 
 citizens. 
 
 A Ladies' Literary Association was organized 
 on the 7th of February. The officers were: Presi- 
 dent, Mrs. H. A. Pratt; vice-president, Mrs. T. S. 
 Buckham; Recording Secretary, Miss Ada E. Hil- 
 ler ; Corresponding Secretary, Miss Nellie Mott; 
 Treasurer, Mrs. Hudson Wilson; Executive Com- 
 mittee, Miss E. Whitney, Mrs. George B. Whip- 
 ple, Mrs. A. E. Haven, and Mrs. J. H. Winter. 
 
 On the 15th of May, a meeting was held to see 
 about organizing an Epi.scopal University. 
 
 A Lodge of Gcod Templars was instituted on 
 the 13th of May, by Rev. Mr. Quigley, with 
 twenty -seven charter members. 
 
 Messrs. Judd & Dike put up a barrel factory. 
 
 THE TEAK 1862. 
 
 Leander Gague, while at work on the roof of a 
 church at Faribault, on the 18th of June, fell a 
 distance of thirty feet, and was instantly killed. 
 
 The Baptist church was built in this year. 
 
 The 4th of July was celebrated in Faribault 
 in the time-honored way, with Hon. James W. 
 Taylor as the orator of the day. 
 
 On the 7th of July there was a violent storm in 
 Faribault and vicinity, doing great damage in its 
 track. 
 
 A daily mail was put on between Owatonua 
 and St. Paul, via Faribault, iu the summer of this 
 year. 
 
 The saw and grist mill of Morris & ItTelhom, on 
 the Cannon River, was destroyed by fire on 
 Wednesday morning, November 26th. This was 
 the second mill burned there. 
 
CITT OF FARinAULT. 
 
 825 
 
 THE YEAR 1863. 
 
 Faribault had a taunery started by Mr. O'Brien. 
 A brewery also wont up that year. 
 
 The 4th of July was duly celebrated. 
 
 THE YEAR 1864. 
 
 The Congregational Church was commenced in 
 the summer of this year. 
 
 An Episcopal church was completed during the 
 year. 
 
 Early in the sixties, ginseng, an aromatic tonic 
 root, exported to China, and used by the Orientals 
 as a remedial or luxury preparation, began to be 
 extensively gathered, as it is found indigenous in 
 certain localities here. Ten dollars a day, or 
 more, was often made by a single individual. 
 
 On the 23d of February a terrible and fatal 
 accident happened to Charles Babcock, who was 
 caught in the mill of Dike & Co., and mangled in 
 such a fearful manner that he died a few days 
 afterwards. 
 
 The first national bank was started in Fari- 
 bault in May of 1864. 
 
 When the cars began running, in 1864, a new 
 stage route to connect with the trains was started 
 by Burbank & Co., which reduced the staging 
 considerably. 
 
 THE YEAR 1865. 
 
 The census of Faribault was 2,339. Of these 
 1,216 were males, and 1,123 females. There were 
 si.xty-nine soldiers in the service at that time. In 
 1860 the population was 1,520. 
 
 The Sisters of St. Clara Benton, five in num- 
 ber, arrived in Faribault in August to establish a 
 school. 
 
 The Central Minnesota railroad got in ojjeration 
 as far ar Northfield in September. 
 
 During the year 1865, sixty buildings went up 
 in Faribault. 
 
 THE YEAR 1866. 
 
 In the winter of this year the demand for more 
 and better buildings was <|uite urgent. 
 
 The Good Templars re-organized on the 22d of 
 January, with a good list of charter members and 
 capable officers. 
 
 There was a Legislative excursion to Faribault 
 in the fall. Governor Marshall and other State 
 officers were present. It was in the interest of the 
 educational institutions established here. 
 
 In April a meeting was held which was very 
 important in negative results. The subject was 
 to see about the establishment of a Congrega- 
 tional college, which was subsequently located in 
 Northfield. 
 
 In the summer of 1866, the Faribault jjapers 
 stated that there was not a single soda fountain in 
 town. 
 
 The corner stone of the Shattuck grammar 
 school was laid with appropriate ceremonies on the 
 26th of July. 
 
 The total number of farms under cultivation 
 in Eice county was 1,200. Nrunber of sheep, 
 16,947. 
 
 St. Mary's Hall was opened on the 31st of Oc- 
 tober. 
 
 THE YEAR 1867. 
 
 There were thirty-eight Sioux remaining in Fari- 
 bault in July, when they were removed tu their 
 reservation in Nebraska by Kev. S. D. Henderson, 
 the agent for the purpose. 
 
 The amount of building in Faribault this year 
 was $178,000. 
 
 THE YEAR 1868. 
 
 The Shattuck grammar school building, which 
 was erected in 1866, was burned on the 24th of 
 January. 
 
 The citizens had a meeting on the 24th of Jan- 
 uary to see about having a city charter. The 
 Chairman of the meeting was L. Dearborn; the 
 Secretary, K. H. L. Jewett. A committee consis- 
 ting of T. S. Buckham, Luke Nutting, George 
 W. Butchelder, Ciiarles "Wood, and T. B. Clement, 
 was appointed to report at a sul)sequeut meeting. 
 
 On Thursday, the 3d of .January, the Minne- 
 sota Fruit Grower's Association met at Fariliault. 
 
 A Board of Trade was organized in August, 
 with the following olficers: President, T. B. 
 Clement; Vice-President, W.W. Knapp; Treasurer, 
 Hudson Wilson; Secretary, Thomas Mee; Corre- 
 sponding Secretary, G. F. Batchelder; Directors, 
 D. O'Brien, W. H. Dike, Moses Cole, and others. 
 
 The Shattuck school was hjrmerly reopened in 
 October. 
 
 The old schoolhouse in Faribault was sold this 
 year for S356, as there was no further public use 
 for the building. The new schoolhouse was com- 
 pleted in September, at a cost of S23,190. 
 
326 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 The population of Faribault was stated to be 
 3,424. 
 
 THE TEAR 1869. 
 
 Rev. Dr. S. W. Manny, who was connected with 
 the Seabury mission, on the 10th of January was 
 carried to 
 
 "That other side," 
 
 "That heavenly shore." 
 
 Lieut. .John C. Whipple received his final 
 "marching orders" on the 5th of February, 1869. 
 He was at Fort Ridgely at the time of the Indian 
 massacre. Lieut. Whipple was bom on the 12th of 
 September, 1823, near the corners of New York, 
 Massachusetts, and Vermont. When quite young 
 he wont on a whaling voyage, and was treated 
 with such cruelty by his brutal captain that he ran 
 away, and among savages had many thrilling ad- 
 ventures. He was a First Lietenant in the Thir- 
 tieth Minnesota Regiment, was a brave officer, and 
 was buried with Masonic honors. 
 
 About this time, Taope, a noted red man, started 
 for the happy hunting grounds. He was always 
 friendly to the whites. 
 
 A plow and agricultural imjilemeut factory was 
 started in Faribault this year. 
 
 On the 14th of June Fleckenstein's brewery was 
 liurned. 
 
 The cathedral of Our Merciful Savior was dedi- 
 cated on St. John's day, the 24th of June. 
 
 W. A. Heinrich, at his ashery, in 1869, made 
 19,000 pounds of potash. 
 
 The value of agricultural implements sold in 
 Faribault in this year was $27,715. They con- 
 sisted of 95 reapers, 47 horse rakes, 7 threshing 
 machines, and 12 mowers. 
 
 The Congregational church was dedicated on tlie 
 12th of October. 
 
 In October of this year a Horticultural Society 
 was formed. 
 
 THE YEAl! 1870. 
 
 The German Catholic church was opened in 
 January. 
 
 The freight business done in Faribault during 
 the year 1869, was as follows: wheat shipped, 
 69,492 bushels; Hour, 62,743 barrels; hogs, 398,660 
 pounds; total freight, 19,985,250 pounds. 
 
 Early in February there was a destructive fire in 
 Faribault, destroying several buildings. D. 
 Stevens, carpenter; and Smith, Mr. Sheeran, N. O. 
 
 Winans, J. Berghlems, Rogers & Stevens, and 
 others were sufferers. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Riddell, who was well and favorably 
 known here, died in Kansas in February. 
 
 On the 28th of June the Shattuck boys had a 
 regatta on Cannon Lake. There were four boats 
 in the race and they made the distace of two miles 
 as follows: 
 
 Undine 20 min. 14 sec. 
 
 Red Bird 20 " 24 " 
 
 Rover 20 " 36 " 
 
 Ariel 20 " 56 " 
 
 A flag was presented to the winning crew by 
 Miss Emily Du Bois. In the evening there was a 
 supper with the usual accessories. A Minneapolis 
 boat club afterwards sent a challenge, but as no 
 suitable boat could be procured no contest was had 
 with that club. 
 
 The census for Faribault in 1870 was 4,371. 
 
 THE YE.\R 1871. 
 
 The second regatta was on Thursday, the 8th of 
 June, 1871, at Cannon Lake. The contest was be- 
 tween the Shattuck school, the St. Paul, and the 
 Tritonio Club, of the University, During the 
 progress of the race the University boat filled and 
 went under. The other boats stopped to rescue 
 the floundering oarsmen, and then the St. Paul 
 crew pulled in and were declared the winners. 
 Since that time boating has not been a specialty 
 with the Shattuck Cadets. 
 
 In May the old Van Brunt store was removed 
 from the corner of Main and Third streets to the 
 south side of Third, in the rear of the First Na- 
 tional Bank. This building was put up by Van 
 Brimt & Misener in 1855, the lumber having been 
 brought from Red Wing. 
 
 A Turners Society was organized on tlie 10th 
 of August, with the following corps of officers: 
 President, C. E. Brandt; Vice-President, A.Muel- 
 ler; Treasurer, F. A. Theopold: Secretary, W. 
 Hendrick; Instructors, Newsal and Hcrljst; Su- 
 perintendent, Mr. Kraft. 
 
 Building improvements in 1871, in the city of 
 Faribault, amounted to .$176,576. 
 
 THE TEAR 1872. 
 
 Hon. George W. Tower, the fir.st mayor, was 
 inaugurated on the 9th of April. 
 
 In June the Shattuck and Seabury .kc1;oo1« had 
 
CITY OF FAIiriiAlILT. 
 
 327 
 
 a boat rnce, and the gray came in iihead of the 
 hhiok. 
 
 A Golden Weduino. — Dr. and Mrs. IloUis 
 Howe celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their 
 wedding. The assembly met at the residence of a 
 son of the aged couple, Mr. George Howe. The 
 rooms were appropriately decorated for the rare 
 occasion. The parlor had an arch emblazoned 
 with "Golden Wedding, June 4th, 1872." The 
 groomsmen and bridesmaids for this auspicious 
 occasion were Blr. and Sirs. James Gibson, Mr. 
 Andrew Gibson, and Mrs. Deusmore, a sister of 
 the bride of half a century. Rev. Mr. Hiutun, in 
 a few well-chosen words, exacted anew the promise 
 to "love, honor, and protect," and thus the well- 
 preserved couple started on the last half of the 
 century, the completion of which will certainly 
 find them on — 
 
 " The other fiide of Jordan, 
 Where the sweet fields of Eden, 
 Where the tree of life is blooming.'' 
 
 A golden wedding is such a rare event that it 
 should certainly be recorded in this permanent 
 form, for very few can realize what fifty years of 
 wedlock means, with its journeyings, it may be in 
 the wilderness, with the long deferred peace and 
 plenty, which is always hoped for in the not dis- 
 tant future, still deferred ; or it may be a journey 
 margined by fruits and Howers; but although the 
 paths have been those of pleasantness and pros- 
 perity as a predominating feature, there must 
 have been rough and rugged places, and if they 
 have been haj^pily passed without asperities from 
 either side, the journey has been indeed fortunate, 
 and these two lives have not been failures. 
 
 Dr. Howe was born in Marlboro', Massachu- 
 setts, in 1791), and was married in June, 1822, to 
 Miss Julia Bird, of Litchfield, Connecticut. 
 
 The Memorial Chapel of the Good She])hpril 
 was dedicated, and assigned to the use of the 
 Shattuck school on the 24th of September. 
 
 Hill's furnittire factory was burned on the 22d 
 of November, involving a loss of S25,000. 
 
 Seabury Hall was destroyed by tire on the 28th 
 of November, entailing a loss of .f 20,000. 
 
 THE YE.\I£ 1873. 
 
 The city fire department was thoroughly re- 
 organized on the first of January, 1873. The 
 steam fire engine arrived on the 7th of February, 
 after being sixty days on the road. 
 
 E. W. Leavens was appointed Postmaster in the 
 spring of this year, and his " flag is still there." 
 
 Quito a serious fire took place on the 10th ol 
 April. The losses sustained were by, Tuttli! aue 
 Barnard, a meat market ; Spo & Dappings, J 
 McCutcheu, George M. Gilmore, .T. Stocklein, and 
 a few others. The exj3eu.se of this conflagratioi 
 was about .f(),000. The new steam fire engint 
 was out, but it met with several comical mishaps, 
 and before the various snarls it encountered could 
 bo untangled the fire was extinguished. 
 
 In November H. E. Barron had a re-union of 
 his old friends at his hotel. He came to Fari- 
 bault in 1855, and built and started the Barron 
 house, with E. N. Leavens as clerk. 
 
 S. H. Jaijuos died on the 22d of December, in 
 Philadelphia, of ty]ihoid fever. He was a promi- 
 nent citizen of Faribault, and was in the real es- 
 tate and insurance business with H. W. Barry, 
 and was succeeded by J. D. Green. He was Secre- 
 tary of the Board of Trade, and interested in 
 other public enterprises. 
 
 The Faribault Driving Park was opened on the 
 24th of July, under the patronage of the Cannon 
 Valley Agricultural and Mechanical Association. 
 
 THE YE.VR 1874. 
 
 So.4NDiNAVi.vN Literary Society. — An institu- 
 tion with this name was organized on the 13th of 
 February in Faribault. A constitution and by- 
 laws were adopted, and ofiicers elected as fol- 
 lows: President, H. A. Larsou; Vice-President, O. 
 L. Haraery; Treasurer, A. T. Broudvold; Secre- 
 tary, ,T. J. Schey; Assistant Secretary, M. J. Hol- 
 men. 
 
 In February a catamount weighing thirty-six 
 pounds was shot within a few miles of Faribault. 
 Presumably he was one of the last of his nice in 
 this section. 
 
 Maj. Dike's house was burned on the 11th of 
 May.' 
 
 On the 25th of May the Shattuck Guards had 
 an excursion to Minneapolis and St. Paul. 
 Ninety-eight cadets turned out, with Captain J. 
 M. Lancaster in command of the battaliou, and 
 Captains Pierce, Casvillo, Talbot, and Lieutenant 
 Wiley in commaiul of the several companies. 
 Arriving at Fort Snelling the band joiueil them, 
 and in Minneapolis the University Cadets fell in. 
 They were received in an address by O. C. Merri- 
 uiau. President of the Council. Col. W. W. Fol- 
 
328 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 well of the State University also atldressed the 
 party. At six o'clock the detachment started for 
 St. Paul. Theie they were addressed by Gov- 
 ornor Davis, and there was a parade, etc. They 
 were most hospitably received and entertained at 
 the State Capital, and returned the next day. 
 
 On Sunday, the 2d of August, an insane stu- 
 dent of the Diviuity School attempted to shoot 
 Bishop Whipple. He started from the audience 
 and walked into the chancel, where he raised a 
 pistol to shoot the Bishop, but he had forgotten 
 to cock the weajjon, and his arm was siezed; others 
 interfering, he was secured and subsequently sent 
 to St Peter. 
 
 The church of the Immaculate Conception, in 
 Faribault, was consecrated on the 9th of October, 
 with imposing rites. 
 
 A Building and Loan Association was organ- 
 ized. C. W. Andrews was president. 
 
 THE YEAR 1876. 
 
 On the 22d of February the Masonic Hall was 
 dedicated with suitable exercises. 
 
 William A. Shaw, of the firm of Carpenter, 
 Smith & Shaw, clothing dealers, died on the 11th 
 of March. He was a native of Seneca Falls, New 
 York, and came here in 1857. He left a widow 
 and one child. 
 
 A veteran re-union of the First Minnesota Regu- 
 lar Volunteer Infantry of the war of 1861, occurred 
 in Faribault on the 1.5th of June. An address of 
 welcome was presented by Mayor Nutting. H. 
 C. Whitney was the President of the Veteran As- 
 sociation. A collation was served, new officers 
 elected, and an enjoyable time passed. 
 
 The Grange Mill was Immed on the 8th of No- 
 vember, entailing a loss of .$10,000. 
 
 The new engine house in Faribault was built in 
 this year, at a cost of $7,300. 
 
 The Houring miU of Bean Brothers it Tennant, 
 on the Cannon River, a mile and three-fourths 
 from town, was Imrnod on the 9th of December, at 
 a loss of $25,000. 
 
 THE TEAK 1878. 
 
 At the spring election of 1878, the question of 
 "License" or "No License" for the sale of intoxi- 
 cating beverages was sharply coiitested at the 
 polls, and the "No License" party succeeded in 
 obtaining a majority on the direct question, Imt 
 the other side elected their candiiliitis fur llio sev- 
 
 eral oflices, which proved to be a distressing state 
 of affairs. 
 
 The telephone, with its intenninable "Hello," 
 struck the city this spring. 
 
 A golden wedding on the 17th of May was a 
 notable affair. The happy couple who had seen a 
 half century of realization of "loves young 
 dream" were Rev. and Mrs. J. Hoover. As the 
 parties began to arrive on this semi-centenial, it 
 was soon found that their parlor was much too 
 small for the company and so Mr. T. H. Lewis, 
 who lived near, kindly opened his house. Among 
 those present were, Mr. and Mrs. J. Jepson, Mr. 
 and Mrs. George Dampier, Ml', and Mrs. N. 
 Travis, Mr. and Mrs. W. Neel, Mr. and Mrs. 
 D. Buckham, Mr. and Mrs. E. Hanes, Mr. and 
 Mrs. W. Walrod, Mr. and Mrs. E. Hoover, 
 Rev. and Mrs. Guyton, Miss Alice Neel, with the 
 host and hostess, Mr. and Mrs. T. H. Lewis, and 
 others. The dinner at half-past two was an en- 
 joyable affair. The aged couple came here from 
 Ohio in 1855, in the month of April, and he was 
 the first resident minister, as stated at the time, 
 and organized the first worshiper's C(mgregation. 
 A beautiful poem of a dozen stanzas, composed by 
 a daughter, was read by Miss Alice Neel. A few 
 lines are here transcribed as a specimen of the 
 
 whole : 
 
 "to father and mother." 
 When in a world of fancy my spirit will roam, 
 Memory carries me back to my childhood's home, 
 The meadow, the orchard, and each shady nook. 
 And back of the house the laughing, silvery brook. 
 The orchard my father grafted with such care 
 The rosy-cheeked apple that yearly hung there. 
 
 ***** 
 But there's a bright circle forming above, 
 In that home, prepared by infinite love.'' 
 
 * :i= * * * 
 
 The company separated at a seasonable hour, 
 well pleased with the display of affectionate re- 
 gard thus bestowed upon the venerable and worthy 
 pair. 
 
 The board of trade was reorganized on the 24th 
 of June. 
 
 The most disastrous fire that ever happened in 
 Faribault was on the 17th of June of this year. 
 Almost an entire square was consumed, including 
 two banks and ten stores; the losses were estimated 
 at $125,000, and embraced a long list of sufferers. 
 
 THE YEAR 1879. 
 
 A company to erect and ojjerate an amber cane 
 sugar ri'liuery was orgauizf'<l in FMrib.'iull in 1.S79, 
 
CITY OP FAIilDAULT. 
 
 329 
 
 with a capital of SO.OOO. S. H. Kenney, John 
 Mullin, auj I. B. Spencer were the officers. 
 
 The wind-mill company was organized in this 
 year. 
 
 THE YE.\U 1880. 
 
 The silver wedding of Captain and Mrs. E. H. 
 Cutts was celebrated on the 9tli of Januar}', 1880. 
 There were al)out forty friends of the worthy 
 oiiuple to congratulate them on arriving at the 
 half-way station on the road to the golden wedding- 
 The ancients considered silver to be the emblem of 
 wisdom, while gold was the representative of love> 
 and among the tokens of regard, the cake baskets, 
 the butter dishes, and knives, enough of them were 
 gold lined to signalize the beautiful correspon- 
 dence of these two grand divisions of the human 
 mind and which are so indispensable in married 
 partners. Mrs. Cutts, on this occasion was arrayed 
 in her original wedding suit, and after a repast, 
 the joyous occasion was concluded with promises, 
 with that inevitable //', to be there when the goldcu 
 period shoxild roll around. 
 
 In the summer of 1880, a stone manufactory 
 was added to the industries of Faribault. 
 
 On the 29th of October the Matteson Houring 
 mill, on the Cannon River, was destroyed by fire, 
 losa $23,000; insured for $18,000. 
 
 In this year J. D. Greene & Co.'s mill was revo- 
 lutionized and transformed into a new process mill, 
 and its capacity put up to between three and tour 
 hundred barrels a day, of the very best of flour. 
 
 The railroad business in Faribault during this 
 year was as follows: freight forwarded, 32,305,222 
 pounds; local charges, .$85, .516; freight received, 
 19,316,901 pounds, local charges, $48,364; ticket 
 sales, $24,667. 
 
 Births in the city, 772; deaths, 340; showing a 
 natural increase of 432. 
 
 The Faribault elevator was burned on the 10th 
 of June, at a loss of !?65,000. It was built in the 
 winter of 1865, was 52x162 feet, and had a storage 
 capacity of 100,000 bushels. The losers were A. 
 W. Pratt, Pratt and Eobinson. Hartford Brothers 
 ife Tennaut, .T. D. Greene * Co., .lames Murphy, 
 with numbers of farmers who lost from one to two 
 hundred dollars worth each. 
 
 THE TEAR 1881. 
 
 Another golden wedding occnrreil on the 30th 
 of June, 1881, the subjects of the hearty demon- 
 stration being Mr. and Mi's. Samuel Crossett, 
 
 the parents of H. N. Crossett, of the United 
 States Express. They were married in East 
 Berkshire, Vermont, on the 30th of ,Tune, 
 1831. Beautiful gifts of cut flowers, a purse of 
 gold from the Masonic brotherhood, of which he 
 was one of the oldest members, and other tokens 
 of esteem and regard were presented. As a sequel 
 to this joyous occasion it must be added, that on 
 the 16th of August following, Mr. Crossett's 
 spirit took its flight, to a land unknown, beyond 
 our mortal sight. 
 
 THE TEAR 1882. 
 
 Early in 1882, the city was numbered cm the 
 Philadelphia plan, by George W. Cheney, agent 
 of the Pennsylvania Numbering Company. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Winter were treated to a sur- 
 prise silver weddmg on the 20th of January. They 
 were married in Amherst, Massachusetts, on the 
 20th of January, 1856, Miss Harriet N. Kellogg 
 being the name of the bride. Several who were 
 present at the original wedding were here at the 
 ipiarter century reunion, amimg them being Mrs. 
 Levi Nutting, James A. Winter, and Mrs. E. N. 
 Leavens. 
 
 On the 13th of January there was a fire on 
 Third street, a building owned l)y Godfrey Flecken- 
 stein was burned. 
 
 Faribault City Mills changed to Hungarian 
 system in the winter of 1882. It delivers 125 
 barrels a day. 
 
 On the Ist of March a fire practically destroyed 
 an old landmark in Faribault, Maj. Fowler's store, 
 which was used as the first Deaf and Dumb school, 
 and some other buildings were injured. 
 
 On the 25th of February, Orrin Wilson, one of 
 the pioneers of the coupty, died in Ohio at the age 
 of 78 years. 
 
 The Barron House was burned on the 17th of 
 March; Hummel's photograph gallery and Joseph 
 Thompson's confectiopery store, and the Post- 
 office apartments were also burned, but the con- 
 tents of the office were safely removed. The loss 
 ou the hotel was .IjaQiOOO, and then> were many 
 personal losses. The hotel is rebuilding by G. E. 
 Cole, J. B. Wheeler, and H. W. Pratt. 
 
 The railroad business for 1881, in Faribault was 
 as follows: 
 
 Flour shipped, barrels 146,935 
 
 Millstuff", pounds 6,894,000 
 
330 
 
 HFSTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 Wheat, pounds 6,182,000 
 
 Dressed bogs, pounds 357,000 
 
 Cattle, cars 28 
 
 Live hogs, cars 12 
 
 a orses, cars 1 
 
 Sheep, ears 4 
 
 Total iirodneo slni)peii, pounds. . .48,436,960 
 Total freight received, pounds. . . .41,187,650 
 
 Charges $125,482 
 
 Tickets sold 25,620 
 
 THE CITY GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Faribault was at first a town embracing perhaps 
 a half of Cannon City, defined by an irregular 
 line running diagonally across the original govern- 
 ment township in a southeast and northwest direc- 
 tion. But, as elsewhere mentioned, it was finally, 
 for the most part, restored to Cannon Cit-y, and 
 three miles square was determined as the form 
 and size of the city. In this way the government 
 went on in an uneventful manner until the grow- 
 ing town began to realize that a city government 
 was recjuired. 
 
 On the 22d of January, 1870, a meeting of the 
 citizens of Faribault was held at the office of Gor- 
 don E. Cole. H. E. Barron was called to the chair, 
 and J. C. Parshall was appointed secretary. A 
 committee was appointed to take the subject of 
 procuring a city charter into consideration, and 
 report at a subsequent meeting. This committee 
 consisted of the following gentlemen : Gordon E. 
 Cole, T. B. Clement, and Hudson Wilson. About 
 forty of the leading citizens were present, and sev- 
 eral meetings were afterwards held to formulate 
 the matter. 
 
 The requirements of tlie city were seen and ap- 
 preciated by the State Legislature, and an act to 
 incorporate the city of Faribault was passed, and 
 approved by the Governor on the 29th of Febniary, 
 1872. The question of its acceptance by the jieo- 
 ple was submitted to a vote on the 2d of April, 
 and accepted, and the first city government insti- 
 tuted by the choice of officers. The wheels of 
 autliority which were then set in motion have been 
 aluKJst noiselessly kept running ever since, and 
 "Law and order everywhere prevails." 
 
 Hon. George W. Tower, the first Mayor of the 
 city, was inaugurated on the 9th of April. The 
 other olficers elected were: Aldermen, C. D. Ham, 
 J. H. Harding, S. C. Hunham, L. C. Ingram, J. 
 H. Winter, T. H. Nutting, W. L. Turner, and H. 
 
 E. Barron. H. E. Barron was elected President of 
 the board, and Henry E. Sime was appointed 
 Clerk; Justices of the Peace, Joseph C. Mold, O. 
 
 F. Perkins, J. B. Quinn, and J. L. Smallidge; City 
 Attorney, John C. Morrow; City Assessor, Henry 
 Dunham. 
 
 The organization of the city government was a 
 prominent milestone to mark the progress that had 
 been made, and to show the direction in which it 
 was moving. 
 
 The brief inaugural address of the Mayor-elect 
 is here presented. He said: "I came to Faribault 
 in October, 1855, and it has been my home ever 
 since. Many of the voters, the business men, the 
 wives, and the mothers of this young city were 
 then pratting children in other States, or on the 
 other Continent. The town itself, except as to the 
 mere territory, was not in existence, having been 
 subsequently entered as a town site by Judge 
 Chatfield. The rapid settlement of the village 
 commenced in the spring of 1856, and its location 
 at siich an important point very soon assured its 
 success, and it became the most promising place 
 in .southern Minnesota. In 1857, Gen. James 
 Shields, who had already been a United States 
 Senator, by his influence in Washington secured 
 this as a point to be provided for in the congres- 
 sional land grant in aid of the Minneapolis & 
 Cedar Valley railroad, which finally secured this 
 most important railroad connection with the East. 
 Early in the sixties our delegates in the Legisla- 
 ture secured the location of the Deaf, Dumb, and 
 Blind Institute in Faribault, and in due time the 
 school was opened and the buildings erected. 
 About the same time, in a humble way, was laid 
 the foundation which has proved to be deep and 
 broad, of the Bishop Seabury University, and we 
 now point to these institutions with pride, and it 
 becomes us as a city to cherish for them a friendly 
 and fostering interest." 
 
 PuESENT City Government. — Mayor, H. W. 
 Pratt; Board of Aldermen, Dennis Cavanaugh, 
 Henry Chattee, Patrick Devrey, E. Kaul, J. F. 
 Lindeman, A. J. Mennell, E. J. Moran, J. D. 
 Shipley; Recorder, J. J. Byrnes; Treasurer, S. I. 
 Pettitt; Justices of the Peace, J. J. Byrnes and 
 James Hunter; Street Commissioner, R. M. Lynch; 
 City Attorney, W. H. Keeley; Health Officer, Dr. 
 B. Mattocks; Clock Tender, J. Andrews; City 
 Printer, A. E. Haven; Pound-keeper, Reuben Ran- 
 dall; Chief of Police, J. D. Shipley. 
 
CITY OP VARIBAULT. 
 
 331 
 
 The Police Depaktment. — -The police, depart- 
 ment was organized at the time of the institntion 
 of the city government, in 1872. At first there 
 were four members of the force. Moses Cole was 
 Chief, and Henry Eoth, David Eeed, and James 
 Hunter were patrolmen. Mr. Cole remained at 
 the head of the force for two years, and then James 
 Hunter was Chief for two years, and after him 
 came S. C. Dunham and William Campbell. In 
 the spring of 1882, J. D. Shipley was appointed^ 
 and there arc still but four men on the force. 
 
 FiBE Department. — The fire department of 
 Faribault is among the most efHcient in the State. 
 It was organized in a small way in 1866, as a 
 hook- and- ladder company, and it kept branching 
 out and extending and consolidating, until it 
 reached its present condition of competency. In 
 1866, a hook-and-ladder truck was procured, and 
 as the .iepartment grew others were added, with 
 hose carts, etc. In 187i, the first steam fire en- 
 gine was purchased of the Sillsby Company, in 
 Kew York, at a cost of iJI.OOO, and is considered 
 the best kind made. 
 
 The department, as now composed, is made up 
 of five companies, as follows: Engine Company, 
 No 1; Niagara Hose Company; Young America 
 Hose Company; Straight River Hose Company; 
 and the Excelsior Hook and Ladder Company. 
 
 Each of these companies has a separate organi- 
 zation, with a foreman, two assistants, a treasurer, 
 and secretary, all, however, amenable to the cen- 
 tral department, the officers of which are: Chief 
 Engineer, G. H. Palmer; First Assistant, J. F. 
 Whalon; Second Assistant, William McCiinnis; 
 Treasurer, Thomas Mee; Secretary, William Mil- 
 ligan. 
 
 The present equipment of tlie department con- 
 sists of the Sillsby engine, a hook-and-ladder 
 truck, and three hose carriages. The engine 
 house is on the north side of Third, between Elm 
 and Chestnut streets, and was constructed in 
 1876, at a cost of .'i?7,3Ul). The ground story is 
 occupied by the engine, trucks, and other appa- 
 ratus. The second story has a fireman's hall, 
 neatly furnished, and city oflices. Indeed, the 
 building is sometimes called the City Hall. It is 
 of brick, is surmounted by a cupola with a bell, 
 and is a creditalile building for a city of this size. 
 
 When the first fire company was formed it was 
 a mere "bucket" company. A pair of wheels were 
 procured, the boys manned the ropes, and with 
 
 their "Hi! hi! hi!" made a tour of the village, 
 stopping at every shop and store to seize buckets, 
 whi<'Ii they hung upon their ])rimitive truck, and 
 thus the first fire extinguishing apparatus was se- 
 cured. 
 
 Post-office. — Alexander Faribault was the first 
 Postmaster, and E. J. Crump was his deputy. 
 The office was opened on Main street, opposite the 
 location of the Arlington House. This was early 
 in the spring of 185.5, and a mail route was es- 
 tablished between St. Paul and Owatonna, with a 
 weekly service. The first mail carrier was Mr. 
 Davis, and afterwards J. J. Braokett, who was a 
 well-known character; and for some time he could 
 carry the whole mail in his pocket, as not unfre- 
 quently Mr. Hulett's iVcw York Tribune, would he 
 the only paper received in a week. 
 
 The service under Mr. Crump was satisfactory, 
 as he was a man of education, and of an accomo- 
 dating disjjosition. After a time a Mr. Young 
 became the deputy and acting Postmaster, and he 
 severely tried the patience of those having busi- 
 ness with the office. He was too indolent to rise 
 from his chair and hand over a letter, so he would 
 declare there was " nothing," and having thus 
 committed himself he would stick to it until the 
 next weekly mail came l)etore delivering it. After 
 a time he was removed, and the office was located 
 in the Moses Cole block, on the comer of Willow 
 and Front streets. 
 
 In 1857, George S. Skinner was appointed Post 
 master, and the office was then kept on the west 
 side of Main, between Third and Fourth streets, 
 in a building belonging to Skinner himself. The 
 office was afterwards moved across the street, and 
 he held the keys until the change of administra- 
 tion in 1861, when James Gibson succeeded to the 
 position, and kept it eight years. Prescott Fish 
 and Frank Roberts were at diffierent times his 
 depTities, and did most of the work. 
 
 In 1869, J. S. Fuller was appointed, and he con- 
 tinued in the place until 1873, when E. N. Leav- 
 ens was commissioned. He kept it in the same 
 jilace for four years, when it was removed to the 
 Barron House, between First and Second on 
 Main street. This was burned on the 17th of 
 March, 1882. By strenuous exertions and careful 
 management nothing was lost, and the same 
 evening the office was in running order at its 
 present location, on Third between Main and 
 Elm streets. 
 
332 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 There are three assistants in the office — the 
 deputy, J. S. Bemis, Mrs. Nellie Williams, the 
 mailing clerk, and Will. Wilson, who attends the 
 general delivery. 
 
 In 1873, the amount of stamps sold was $5,000. 
 Now the sales amount to .flO.OOO a year. It was 
 made a mtmey order office during Gibson's term, 
 and the whole number that have been issued is 
 41,000. The business of this department amounts 
 to eighty or ninety thousand dollars annually. 
 
 Tliere is a daily mail to Waterville, ma War- 
 saw, a tri-weekly to Red Wing, one to Holden, 
 and one to Rochester, and twice a week to Shields- 
 ville ; these are by stage routes. By railroad 
 there are two or more mails each way every day. 
 The office is accessible, well-managed, and well- 
 appointed, with Yale lock and other boxes. The 
 mail is promptly delivered in a gentlemanly way, 
 and gives general satisfaction. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL ENTERntlSES AND MANUFACTURING 
 ESTABLISHMENTS. 
 
 Faribault may be said to be, to a large extent, 
 a manufacturing city, its citizens realizing that 
 mere trade in this age of the world is not the 
 principal source of wealth and prosperity. The 
 endeavor is made to notice the principal manu- 
 factaring and industrial enterprises, that the his- 
 torian of the next generation may, by a compari- 
 son with what may be found then, appreciate what 
 changes may have been wrought. The transfor- 
 mation that has taken place within a quarter of a 
 century is most marvelous, and if progress in the 
 future should be equally extensive and wonderful, 
 a comprehension of the changes at the present 
 time would draw upon the imagination in a way 
 that the possessor of only the broadest idealty 
 could honor. The purpose of this part of the 
 work is not to give a business directory, but 
 rather a bird's eye view of the material interests 
 of the city, and without doubt many meritorious 
 enterprises have been overlooked, but they can 
 console themselves that they will grow into notice 
 by real merit. 
 
 SxRAKillT RiVEK FLOURING MiLL. — This is 
 usually called Greene's mill. It was originally 
 built by Mr. Faribault and got in operation on the 
 1st of April, ISfi'i. In the building of this mill 
 a large amount of energy and enterprise was dis- 
 played. Mr. Faribault was induced to go into 
 the undertaking (|uite as much in the interest of 
 the town as with tlic idea that it would be remu- 
 
 nerative. It is one of the pioneer mills of the 
 county, and in itself illustrates the progress that 
 has been made in city and county. 
 
 In 1872, the mill was bought by Greene & 
 Carnfel who immediately made extensive improve- 
 ments and operated it until 1878, when an addi- 
 tion of 40x40 feet, four stories, was made, and a 
 complete transformation effected at a cost of 
 •130,000. Among other improvements a Corliss 
 engine of 120 horse-power was put in, and the 
 Hungarian system of reduction with corrugated 
 porcelain rolls was adopted. The mill was run in 
 this way until 1880, when, learning that there was 
 still another system which was an improvement on 
 this, another extensive reconstruction was made, 
 and Stevens' corrugated chilled iron rolls were in- 
 troduced. This machinery is made liy the John 
 G. Noye Manufacturing Company, at Buffalo, 
 New York. A great point gained, as is claimed, 
 is in "granulating the grain without cutting it." 
 The process of manufacturing flour is now very 
 complicated, it is done by gradual reduction, the 
 grain is squeezed a little at first, and what flour 
 results is carefully sifted out, then it is squeezed 
 again, and this process is repeated five or six 
 times with variations in the manipulation, and 
 three grades of flour result from all this handling. 
 The wheat itself, after being received, goes through 
 various machines to separate other grains or foreign 
 substances and to thoroughly clean it. 
 
 This mill now has six porcelain sets, one large 
 iron set, and six sets of Stevens' rolls, with the 
 reels, the middlings purifiers, and other apparatus 
 to make the highest grade of flour in the market. 
 The choice brands are "Old Hickory" and 
 "Olympia." The mill has a capacity of about 400 
 barrels a day. In relation to the water-power it 
 may be mentioned that the fall is from twelve to 
 fourteen feet. 
 
 Crown Point Roller Mill. — This mill was the 
 incidental outgrowth of a saw-mill which was Imilt 
 by Henry Riedell in 1856, at the corner of Fifth 
 and Willow streets. The saw-mill was run by a 
 portable steam engine and had a circular saw. In 
 1857, Mr. Riedell concluded to construct a grist- 
 mill, and so he ripped out the lumber for that pur- 
 pose and put it up and got it enclosed the same 
 year. W. H. Dike, who still resides here, and Wil- 
 liam Judd, now of Minneapolis, at this stage pur- 
 chased the building, put in the machinery, and had 
 it completed alid in running order in 1859. The 
 
CITY OF FAIilBAULT. 
 
 333 
 
 mill Wits 30x40 feet, three storiea liigb aud bad four 
 run of stones, with six reels, aud could make 100 
 barrels of flour a day, which was au enormous 
 amount in those early days. The [lOwer was 
 derived from an upright engine with two boilers 
 aud two flues in each. In 1862, Blr. Judd sold out 
 and the firm became Dike & Greggs. It was thus 
 ruu until the year 1867, after which Mr. Dike run 
 it aloue up to 1870. Previous to this time it was 
 known as the "Rice County Mills." It is claimed 
 that this mill was the first to ship Hour to New 
 York from Minnesota, and that it was thus the 
 jjioneer in the business which has become so cole issal 
 in Minneapolis. The fir.st cousignmcnt of Hour 
 was to Plummer & Co., in 1859, and the brand was 
 ^'Cannon River Mills." It was what might be 
 called a straight grade of flour. While Mr. Dike 
 was sole owner he made an addition of an elevator 
 to the mill with a capacity of 25,000 bushels. 
 
 lu the fall of 1871, Turner & Riedell leased the 
 mill, and the following year the property was pur- 
 chased by the present pi'oprietor, W. G. Turner, 
 who increased its size and capacity and trans- 
 formed it, in obedience to the milling revolution 
 which was sweeping over the country, into a roller 
 mill, and it now has three run of stones aud eight 
 sets of corrugated rolls, with purifiers aud all the 
 improved modern machinery for the manufacture 
 of the finest grades of flour. The power is de- 
 rived from au eighty horse-power engine, made at 
 the North Star Iron Works iu Minneapolis, it be- 
 ing their first flouring mill engine. It now turns 
 out 150 barrels of flour a day, and the mill is well 
 managed by John N. Gwathmey, the head miller. 
 
 Faribault City Floueino Mill. — In 1877, Mr. 
 J. S. Hillyer leased from A, L. Hill, in his furniture 
 establishment, certain rooms, 30x50 feet and four 
 stories in height, and a basement 50x100 feet, with 
 sufficient power, and at cmce put in machinery for 
 the manufacture of flour, consisting of three ruu 
 of stones, and a cajiacity of 100 barrels a day. Iu 
 1881, George Tileston became an equal partner iu 
 the concern, and it was transformed into a roller 
 mill with eight sets of rolls and three run of 
 •tones, two of which have been discarded smce 
 then. It contains all the newly improved machin- 
 ery for a first-class flouring mill and turns out 110 
 barrels a day, also Graham tlour, corn meal, aud 
 feed. The best brand is "The Belle of St. Mary's." 
 It is what may be called a custom, sale, and 
 merchant mill, and its production has a wide repu- 
 
 tation. 
 
 Faribault Grange Flouring Mill. — A milling 
 company was organized aud incorporated in .luly, 
 187-t, with a capital of .'ii!:!O,O0O. The stock was 
 owned by the farmers, and the following gentle- 
 men were directors: G. W. Fox, John Thomson, 
 Robert Hedges, John H. Passon, Isaac Hamlen, E. 
 A. Rice, James Murphy, William Close, Patrick 
 Healy, J. A. Mathers, S. M. West, N. H. Stone, and 
 Joseph Goar; about forty farmers were stock- 
 holders. Six acres of land was purchased, and a 
 mill was built and running in Sejjtember. It was 
 50x60 feet, a frame building three stories high with 
 a stone basement, aud there was an engine hou.se 
 34x50 feet, aud a 125 horse-power engine. The 
 mill had seven run of stones aud the machinery 
 was fully up to those times. It could deliver about 
 two hundred barrels of very superior flour per day, 
 which ranked as such in the eastern market. The 
 whole cost of the building aud machinery was 
 about $30,000. This mill had a successful career 
 until the Sth of November, 1876, when it was de- 
 stroyed liy fire. J. H. Passon was president and 
 general superintendent, and Miles Hollister, secre- 
 tary aud financier. 
 
 Polar St.*.r Mills. — This mill was commenced 
 soon after a mill was burned which occupied the 
 same place, and is a three-story brick building 
 with a stone basement, 60x62 feet. At first it had 
 seven ruu of stones, and in about a year two more 
 were added, and in addition to the water a steam 
 engine of 125 horse-power was put in. The cost 
 of the engine and house was about .S!(,000. The 
 mill was built by a stock company, consisting of 
 the following: T. A. Bean, William Tennant, A. 
 P. Stary, Miles Hollister, T. B. Clemeut, L. R. 
 Weld, G. W. Lewis, R. A. Mott, G. G. Gunhus, H. 
 W. Bingham, and D. W. Humphrey. The com- 
 pany operated the mill until 1878, when it was 
 leased by Bean k Tennant, who have since oper- 
 ated it. In 1881, it was transformed into a roller 
 mill, aud it now has the ability to deliver 325 
 barrels a day. The company has kept the mill 
 up to the modern standard of etticiency in order 
 to produce the best flour. A cooper shop is in 
 operation in connection with the establishment. 
 The cost of the mill with the power was about 
 47,000. The old mill that occupied this site was 
 built iu 1862, by Alexander Faribault and Henry 
 Mehlhoru. It had two run of stones, driven by 
 two wheels, and eight feet head of water — now 
 there is eleven feet fall. The building was orig- 
 
334 
 
 UISTOliY OF RICE OOUNTT. 
 
 inally frame, hut was veneereil over with brick. 
 It was sold to Siiter & Baugs not long after it was 
 built, who improved it somewhat. Sater subse- 
 quently sold his interest, and Mr. Baugs con- 
 verted it into a five-run mill. In 18G7, it was sold 
 to the Bean Brothers & Tennaut, and they oper- 
 ated it until it was burned on the 9th of Decern - 
 er, 1876, at a loss of $25,000. 
 
 Matteson's Mill. — In 1865, H. M. Matteson 
 aud Luke Hulett began the erection of a mill a 
 few rods above the conflueuce of the two rivers. 
 The size of the mill was 30x80 feet, and was 
 adapted to four run of stones. The power was 
 derived from a dam thrown acro.ss the river at the 
 point meutioned, and was a combined mill and 
 elevator. The firm continued as Matteson A- Hu- 
 lett for eighteen months, when Matteson becanie 
 the proprietor. This mill kept in operation, and 
 in 1879 a set of rolls were put in. In 1880, an- 
 other was added, and the capacity increased to 
 one hundred barrels a day. The principal brands 
 were "We Bet," "You Bet," and "Old Comfort." 
 The mill was burned in 1881. 
 
 Kendall Mill. — In 1866, this mill was built by 
 Louis Carnfel and J. D. Greene. In 1874, it 
 came iuto the hands ©f Greene & Gold. Its loca- 
 tion is on Fourteenth street and the Straight 
 River. Water and steam are both used as a 
 power, there being a head of six or seven feet. 
 When the general revolution in milling was in 
 full progress this mill, being exposed, caught the 
 epidemic, and went through the change suooeas- 
 fully. There are the corrugated and smooth 
 rolls, five of the one and three of the other, and 
 one of porcelain. It turns out 150 barrels a day 
 and has a storing capacity of 25,000 bushels. The 
 flour i.s high grade. 
 
 Millers' Association Elevator. — This was 
 jmt up iu 1881. The size is 32x60 feet, and oue 
 hundred feet high. It has a capacity of 60,000 
 bushels. The power to work it is derived from 
 the foundry near where it is located. Mr. J. D. 
 Gr('ifU(!, one of the most enterprising millers in 
 this region, built this elevator aud owns and 
 operates it. In its construction due regard was 
 paid to tlie most economical methods of handling 
 the grain, and the latest devices that had proved 
 valuable wore adopted. An enormous amount of 
 grain is handled iu it iu the course of the year. 
 
 Phatt's Elevatob. — When the railroad was 
 first completed an elevator with a capacity of 
 
 100,000 bushels was built, and this was operated 
 until may, 1881, when it was burned. The pres- 
 ent building was put up by S. W. Pratt. It is 
 30x50 feet, and reaches up eighty feet high; it has 
 a capacity of 50,000 bushels. The power is de- 
 rived from the engine that jmmps water to supply 
 the tank at the station. 
 
 Faribault Woolen Mill. — 0. H. Klemer, in 
 1865, put a carding machine into an old wagon 
 shop 18x20 feet, situated on Chestnut street be- 
 tween Fourth and Fifth, using a five horse-power 
 steam engine. In 1869, a feed mill was put into 
 the establishment, which, however did not ruu 
 long. He then made cotton batting for two 
 years or so, bringing the material from St. Louis. 
 After awhile, as the business did not prove remu- 
 nerative, it was suspended. Iu 1872, having 
 meantime enlarged the building, a regular set of 
 woolen machinery was put iu, for the manufac- 
 ture of yarn. Iu 1877, .still other machinery was 
 added, including three looms and other appliances 
 for making cloth. The mill now has three cards, 
 a spinning-jack, with 144 spindles, one wide loom, 
 and three narrow ones, one twister, one shearing 
 machine, one brush machine, one jig, one picker, 
 with warping, washing and other machines for 
 the manufacture of Haunels, blankets, yarns, and 
 other woolen goods that are in active demand. 
 Mr. Klemer is now building a stone factory, two 
 stories and a basement, 44x100 feet, near the 
 river on Third street, and will greatly enlarge the 
 business. 
 
 E. M. Leach's Sash, Door, and Blind F.\ctory 
 AND Planing Mill. — This is oue of the old estab- 
 lishments of Faribault, as it was first started in 
 1857, by L. C. Ingram, as a sash, door, and blind 
 factory, using a wind-mill for power. Its loca- 
 tion was uot far from the railway station. Some- 
 time during the war it was moved up to Main 
 street. In 1865, the concern was purchased by 
 E. M. Leach, the present proprietor, and removed 
 to its present location on Elm between Fourth 
 and Fifth streets. Its capacity for business was 
 at once enlarged by the introduction of a twenty 
 horse-power steam engine aud considerable new 
 machinery. The size of the building now is 20x80 
 feet, two stories, for the main structure, and two 
 additions of a single story, covering stjll more 
 ground thau the other. Iu the wood -working 
 department about eiglit men are emjjloyed. There 
 is also a feed-mill in connection with the estab- 
 lishment, au(J a lumber yard. 
 
CITY Oh' i''A/:niAi/i/r. 
 
 335 
 
 The Hazen Wind-Mill. — In the year 1875, 
 Tliayer & Wintor established a fouuJry and nia- 
 chiue shop near the Jeiiot, and iu 1878, the com- 
 pany commenced manufacturing the imprt)ved 
 wind-mill invented by Mr. S. Hazen, of Hipon 
 Wisconsin, which is supposed to be the very best 
 yet arranged for all purposes for which a wind 
 engine can be used. The works have a capacity 
 of one thousand a year. The establishment was at 
 lirst where the sugar refinery now is, but iu lS7It, 
 the company erected the shops near the staticju. 
 where the work is now carried on. In addition 
 to the wind-mill work, a general jobbiug business 
 is done in mill and other machinery. The Hazeu 
 wind engine is iu extensive use in Iowa and Ne- 
 braska particularly. There is about .S'20,000 in- 
 vested in the business, which is one of the most 
 substantial in town. Another point in regard to 
 this mill ought not to be overlooked in this 
 sketch; it is prepared to repair and regriud the 
 rolls of the new jjrooess system for flour making, 
 the only one in the State, outside of Minneapolis. 
 
 Faribault Wagon Wokks. — This establishment 
 is located on Elm, between Third and Fourth 
 streets; heavy wagons and bob sleighs are manu- 
 factured, and has been in continuous operation 
 since February, 1866, when it was started by Wil- 
 liam Frink who had bought out au old shop. He, 
 immediately built a frame building 32x40 feet on 
 the site of the present building, with a blacksmith 
 shop adjoining, both two stories high. Mr. Frink 
 run the establishment with different partners up to 
 1873, when G. W. Stafford became associated with 
 him and the business was thus continued until 
 1882, when P. S. Bateman was admitted into the 
 firm, the name of which now is Stafford and Bate- 
 man. They turn out about 150 wagons a year, 
 and from 20 to 30 sleighs, all the work being of a 
 very superior quality. 
 
 LiNDEMAN Bkotherh" Careiahe Factory. — This 
 shop was commenced iu 1876, by the erection of a 
 building 22x40 feet, on the corner of Main and 
 Fifth streets. At first they did all of their own 
 work, and met with such success that in 1877, au 
 addition was made, 20x22 feet, and in 1877 still 
 another. They now employ thirteen men. The 
 projjrietors personally assist in the shop and super- 
 intend the work, which is confined to light car- 
 riages and sleighs which have an excellent reputa- 
 tion, and are sold all over the State. The business 
 amounts to |45,000 a year. 
 
 Fahiiiault Carriagu Works. — There are three 
 buildings connected with this enterprise, one is 
 22x45 feet, two stories, another 30x50 feet, a single- 
 story, and the blacksmith shop, situated on tiii^ 
 corner of Elm and Front streets. It was com- 
 menced as long ago as 1858, by J. D. Denison, 
 who at first did repairing, but finally enlarged it and 
 began to set up farm wagons. In 1866, the manu- 
 facture of carriages and sleighs was commenced, 
 and ([uite a business built up as there was no 
 t)pposition in the city, and the amount of rejiairing 
 done was very large. In 1876, Frink, Andrews & 
 Stafford became owners and run it until 1878, 
 wheu its present owner bought out the other mem- 
 bers of the firm and now has the exclusive control. 
 He is turning out large numbers of fine carriages 
 and cutters, and doing an extensive rej)airing 
 Ijusiness. 
 
 Adam Weyer's Wagon Factory. — In 1868, this 
 shop was started in two small frame buildings on 
 Willow, near Second street, under the name of 
 Bieler & Weyer. In 1874, the present stone shop, 
 30x65 feet, two stories high, was built. About 
 fifty farm wagons a year are now made here witli 
 thirty or forty "bob sleighs," and there is a gen- 
 eral blacksmith shop in the Ijuilding which turns 
 out a large amount of work. Mr. Weyer is now 
 the sole proprietor. 
 
 Faribault Furnithre and Chair Factory. — At 
 first this was owned and operated by N. S. Flint. 
 The business was commenced in 1807, on a small 
 scale, in a building on the corner of Fifth and 
 Buckeye streets, which was small and but three or 
 four men were employed; a single luirse-power 
 drove what little machinery there was. In 1870, 
 a brother, M. M. Flint, became interested in the 
 firm. He put in a steam engine and increased the 
 capacity of the factory, and it has been doing a 
 very profitable business. From twenty-five to 
 forty men are employed, and from $30,000 to 
 if!40,000 worth of furniture is turned off iu a year. 
 The engine is of thirty-five horse-power. Iu 1870, 
 great improvements were made in the establish- 
 ment; among other things a saw-mill being put 
 in. Mr. M. M. Flint is now the sole owner. 
 
 Wandell's Furniture Factory. — The manu- 
 facture of furniture was commenced here in 1856, 
 on a small scale, and by hand. In 1857, some 
 machinery was put in, with a six horse-power 
 engine, and the business was entered into more 
 extensively. The location was on Main between 
 
336 
 
 HISTORY OF RICK COUNTT. 
 
 Third and Fourth streets. It was owned and 
 oiierated by C. Wandell. In 1862, it was moved 
 to the rear of the block and its capacity increased. 
 lu 1872, a twenty horse-power engine was put in 
 and new machhiery introduced. For some reason 
 — a want of enterprise and business capacity — the 
 establishment is in idleness and has been so for 
 several years. 
 
 Hill's Fuenituke Factory. — One of the largest 
 and most important manufacturing industries in 
 the city is the above-named establishment, owned 
 and operated by A. L. Hill. It was first brought 
 into existence in 18.55. Mr. S. B. Brockway was 
 one of the proprietors. It was located on the Hat 
 near the river, on Willow street between Second 
 and Third. At first it utilized a blind horse for 
 power, and a circular saw and a turning lathe was 
 all the machinery in use. One man only was at 
 first employed. There was serious trouble in pro- 
 curing lumber to build the mill, as men stood at 
 the saw-mill awaiting their turn to snatch each 
 board as it was cut. The first building was 20x30 
 feet, one and one-half stories high; the business 
 was continued here eight years and then moved tr) 
 a larger building on the corner of Third and Wil- 
 low streets. This was in 1863, and he put in a 
 twenty horse-power engine and employed from 
 twenty to twenty- five men up to 1872, when the 
 whole establishment was lapped up by the flames. 
 The present building was soon constructed; it is 
 50x100 feet and four stories high, with au engine 
 house 50x50 feet. In 1878, a Corliss engine of 
 125 horae-power was put in. The old engine is 
 still used in the saw-mill which runs in connec- 
 tion with the factory, and which can cut up about 
 6,000 feet of lumber in a day. The factory is run 
 to its utmost capacity and makes all kinds of 
 furniture, except upholstered goods, and is a valu- 
 able institution in the city. 
 
 Cigar Factory. — In 1880, Philip Loeft'el com- 
 menced the manufacture of cigars in Batchelder's 
 block, employing from eight to twelve hands, but 
 he soon failed and Kaul k Filler bought the stock 
 and continued the manufacture, removing the 
 business to the corner of Second and Main streets. 
 In the year 1882, M. C. Sheeran was taken in as 
 a partner, and the business is now carried on by 
 those parties. Tliey employ about ten men. Un- 
 der the United States revenue laws this factory is 
 No. 8 of the First district of Minnesota. 
 
 Fabibault Plow Comiwny. — A plow manufac- 
 
 turing company was organized in 1869. The 
 active members were, John Mullen, Henry Chalfee, 
 and C. A. Snyder. A main building, 35x100 feet, 
 was put up, with an engine room, and the manu- 
 facture of a good pattern of a plow commenced 
 and carried on for about two years. Then the shop 
 was used for about five years as a general foundry 
 and machine shoj), and afterwards transformed into 
 a sugar refinery. 
 
 Faribault Iron Works. — W. P. Wiukley estab- 
 lished this industrial enterprise eariy in the sixties, 
 and the establishment was owned and operated by 
 him until 1870, when it was purchased by A. 
 Moore who still retains it. It is a well appointed 
 shop with machinery for the manufacture of steam 
 engines, and general jobbing work. A feed-mill 
 is run in connection, that was put in operation in 
 1879. The establishment cost nearly $10,000, 
 and employs a dozen men. Its location is north 
 of the railroad station. 
 
 Straight Rivee Woolen Mill. — I. G. Beau- 
 mont and N. W. Blood put up a building on Wil- 
 low street. Some wool machinery was put up 
 and run by steam for about three years, when it 
 was sold to Mr. C. H. Klemer. The building is 
 now used as a sale stable. 
 
 Je.sse Sumner's Planing Mill. — Several years 
 ago a planing mill was started on the corner of 
 Fourth and Buckeye streets, by Blr. Sumner. It 
 run until in 1881, when business being duU it 
 was removed to St. Paul. This was the mill that 
 was built in 1857 by Clark & Weld, who brought 
 the machinery from Vermont. It was a planing 
 mill, and cost originally about .S4,400. Its loca- 
 tion was at first north of Greene's mill, and was a 
 frame building, 20x40 feet ; it run here for about 
 seven years, and then was sold to Cole «fc Risen g. 
 They operated it for about a year, when the ma- 
 chinery was sold to Jesse Sumner as above men- 
 tioned. 
 
 Lumber Yards. — When the country was first 
 settling up, of course the lumber business was 
 very active, and at one time ' there were seven 
 lumber yards in active operation, all doing a flour- 
 ishing business, but now there are only two. The 
 present firms are A. Blodgett & Son, and E. M. 
 Leach; the latter has a lumber yard in connec- 
 tion with his planing mill. Both of tuese firms 
 do a good business. 
 
 Case & Taylor's 'Bus Line. — -This is an insti- 
 tution that* is really a credit to the city, as it is 
 
CITY OF FAllIBAULT. 
 
 337 
 
 managed by thoroughly obliging men who under- 
 stand the requirements of the business, and meet 
 all engagements, couuecting witli all ])assf'nger 
 trains, and have never, in a single instanee, failed 
 to connect. It seems that Bishop Wlii|)ple met 
 Mr. 0. B. Case in Tallahasse, Florida, engaged in 
 the same business, and ol.iserviug his piM.iraptuess 
 and reliability, suggested that there was a grow- 
 ing town in Minnesota where a good business 
 coald be built up in this line, and he was thus in- 
 duced to come here. At the completion of the 
 railroad to this place, two of the hotels bfgau 
 running carriages to the depot on their own ac- 
 count, and more in their own interest than that of 
 the general public. Mr. Case bought the old 
 hacks, procured a new omnibus from the East, 
 and commenced making regular trips to the 
 trains, having order slates at convenient points. 
 He afterwards took in Horace Taylor as a partner 
 and they drive the regular " busses," of which 
 they have five, and the necessary baggage wagons. 
 
 Beeweby. — N. Pacjuin, in 1857, started to build 
 a hotel, but seeing how thirsty people were likely 
 to be, after coming so far as they had to, to settle 
 in this county, and realizing how grateful they 
 would be to receive the fresh brewed amber-col- 
 ored liquid, and how they would be likely to re- 
 munerate him for his outlay and interest in their 
 behalf, changed his mind and built a l)rewery. 
 The situation was on Willow street between 
 Eighth and Ninth. The dimensions of the struc- 
 ture were 26x40 feet. A still was also put in for 
 the manufacture of whiskey. The business did 
 not seem to flourish as he had hoped, and in 1860, 
 the concern was leased to E. Flecken.stein, who 
 run it a few months, and then Brandt and Gerdes 
 managed it for about two years. Edward Kelley 
 then got hold of it, and kept it in operation as a 
 distillery until about 1865, when it fell a victim to 
 the devouring element and has never been re- 
 built. 
 
 G. Fleckstein's Brewekt, — On the corner of 
 Oak and Third streets this concern was built in 
 1857, the machinery coming from St. Paul. At 
 first about five barrels a day were turned out 
 without the aid of machinery. The cost was 
 about S2,000. The Fleckenstein Brothers owned 
 the place, but in 1860, E. Fleckstein retired from 
 the firm. A horse-power was afterwards put in, 
 and the capacity enlarged. In 1872, it was torn 
 down and rebuilt on a much larger scale, with a 
 22 
 
 two-story basement and two stories above this, 
 the vaults running five liundred feet into the 
 blufr, the cost of the establishment being $20,000. 
 The capacity is thirty barrels a day. In 1859, a 
 still was j)ut in, which was operated until the ne- 
 cessities of the governiuc^nt established an excise 
 law, when this part of tlie business was suspended. 
 There is a good supply of spring water from the 
 bluff's above. It now has steam power, and is 
 fully occupied. 
 
 A. W. Mueller's Breweiiv. This is located 
 in the southern part of tlie city on South Willow 
 street. It was started in aliout 1862, l)y Brandt & 
 Gerdes. At first it was about 24x10 feet, of stone, 
 two stories high. In 1870, it was enlarged, a 
 twenty-five horse-power engine put in, and since 
 that time the whole establishment has been en- 
 larged and is now well appointed, with flrst-class 
 machinery and extensive cellars in the blufT in 
 the rear. 
 
 Star Bottlinii Works. — This establishment 
 was started in 1872 by Sheeran & Misgen, on 
 Fourth street between Elm and Chestnut. At 
 first Soda Water was principally made. In 1875, 
 the concern was moved to Tenth Street and the 
 business enlarged, and the manufacture of Seltzer 
 Water, cider, and pop was added. Tlie firm sub- 
 se(iuently became Sheeran A' Filler. In 1877, they 
 began to put up Beer from the brewery of G. Fleck- 
 stein, and this business has amounted to about 
 S16,000 a year besides their own manufactures. 
 In 1880, the business was moved to the corner of 
 Third and Oak streets. They have all the mod- 
 ern improvements and do good work. 
 
 E. Fleckenstein's Brewery. — This is located 
 liy the bluff" on the road to the Shattuck School. 
 It was built by its present owner and manager in 
 1861. It is (piite extensive and has a vault ex- 
 cavated into the rock of which the bluff is com- 
 jrased. The establishment is of stone and has the 
 fixtures and appurtenances for delivering twenty- 
 five barrels of lager beer per day. A ten horse- 
 power engine is employed, and the business seems 
 to be eminently successful. 
 
 Amber C.^ne Sugar Manufactory and Befi- 
 NERY. — In 1879, a stock company was organized, 
 with a cash capital of $9,000. The first officers 
 were: President, Seth Kenny; Treasurer, S. B. 
 Spencer; Secretary, John Mullen. It is one of the 
 finest establishments of the kind in the country, 
 with machinery, apparatus, fixtures, and facilities 
 
338 
 
 UI8T0RT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 for manufacturing the juice into syrujj and sugar, 
 and for refining this into the best white varieties. 
 Like all new enterprises there have been vicissi- 
 tudes attending the inauguration of the business. 
 The stockholders of the company were, Capt. B. 
 Blakely, James Wilhelm, and S. F. Jolly. The 
 real estate belongs to John Midlen. Its location 
 is on the comer of First and Willow streets. 
 
 The First Saw-Mill.— In the fall of 18.54, 
 Harvey Y. and James G. Scott commenced the erec- 
 tion of a saw-mill, and it was completed during 
 the winter, but the cold was so intense that it was 
 not set in operation until the spring of 1855. It 
 was in a good-sized building, 20x40 feet, with a 
 large wing shed. It had an engine with suiBcient 
 power, supplied with steam from a double flue 
 boiler. At first it had a vertical saw, but a circular 
 was soon put in. Its location was where Hill's 
 furniture factory is, on Willow near the foot of 
 Third street. The Scotts run it for about one year, 
 when it was sold to James Gibson. Tlie land, 
 about four acres, was given to the Scotts by the 
 proprietors, on condition that they build a saw- 
 mill. Some time the first year a run of stones was 
 put in and feed and Hour was ground ; this was the 
 first grist-mill in the county. The building was 
 finally torn down and the machinery placed in a 
 mill near Greene's, but it was finally burned. A 
 full account of all the difficulties overcome in 
 getting the machinery together to construct this 
 mill, w(juld be very interesting. The machinery 
 was bought in St. Louis and came up by boat to 
 Hastings at an enormous cost, and it took twelve 
 yoke of oxen to haul the boiler from that point. 
 They were a long time in getting it from Cannon 
 City, as they had to cut a road through the dense 
 woods. A party they met after dark, as they 
 looked at the huge cylinder, exclaimed : "Well! 
 that is the biggest saw-log I ever saw!" When the 
 mill got in operation it run night and day, and it 
 did what may be called, "a land office business." 
 At one time it was in the liands of Mr. Turner, 
 but at last it failed to pay. 
 
 Bankino House of W. H. Dike. — This was 
 started in 1857, and the name of the firm was G. 
 W. Boardman & Co. The "company" being W. H. 
 Dike ami Jerod Bishop. Bishop's interest, what- 
 ever it was, was looked after by Mr. Judd, now 
 well known in Minneapolis, who was an active man 
 in the business, lint owing to certain financial in- 
 tricacies could hold no property in his t)wn name 
 
 at that time. It was not a bank of issue, but they 
 did a general banking business. Their bank was 
 near the comer of Third and Main streets, where 
 S(|uier's dry goods store now is, in a frame build- 
 ing which lacked latli and plaster, but inside had 
 cotton cloth as a substitute, and this was pajjered 
 over and gave the place a business air. In 1858, 
 Mr. Boardman retired and it was then carried on 
 under the name of the Banking House of W. H. 
 Dike .t Co. In those days of silver, gold, and land 
 warrants, not unfrequently there would be exposed 
 in the window of the bank $40,000 worth of this 
 kind of currency, which would astonish the new 
 comens. Bishop retired in 1863, but Mr. Dike con- 
 tinued until 1872, when the business was closed. 
 FiBST National Bank of Fabibadlt. — The date 
 of the organization of this institution was on the 
 2d of December, 1868, with the following Board 
 of Directors: W. L. Turner, T. A. Berry, A. W. 
 McKinstry, and F. A. Theopold, in addition to the 
 oiKcers, who were: President, T. B. Clement; 
 Vice-President, E. W. Dike; Cashier, Thomas S. 
 Blackman. The capita) was .'8;50,000. The bank- 
 ing rooms were on the corner of Third and Main 
 streets, the front being a frame and the back part, 
 wliere the directors met, of logs. In 1876, a three 
 story brick building was erected at a cost of $115,. 
 000. On the 17th of June, 1878, this was, with 
 several others, razed to the ground by fire. The 
 structure was immediately rebuilt and the bank 
 occupies the ground floor on the corner, and is one 
 of the substantial financial institutions of tlii^ 
 country with over $200,000 in deposits. 
 
 The Citizens National Bank. — President, Hud- 
 son Wilson ; Vice-President, G. B. Skinner ; 
 Cashier, E. P. Brown; Assistant Cashier, W. S. 
 Hill. This bank was first established in 1857, as 
 a ])rivate bank with Mr. Wilson at the head of it. 
 In 1871, it was organized as a National Bank. 
 The institution seems to be too full of business to 
 furnish much information as to its hi.story. 
 
 Faribault Gas Company. — This was organized 
 in 1873, with a capital of $40,000 which has since 
 been increased to |50,000. It is a joint stock 
 company organized under the laws of the State. 
 The executive officers were and still are: President, 
 T. B. Clement; Vice-President, J. L. Noyes; Sec- 
 retary and Treasurer, A. W. McKinctry. The 
 works are located between Ninth and Tenth streets, 
 east nf Main. There are about four miles of four 
 inch mains. The gasholder has a capacity of 
 
CITY OF h'AHir.AUI/r. 
 
 :539 
 
 10,000 feet. The gas is made from naptha and the 
 quality is satisfactory. I'he charges for gas to 
 consumers is S3 per thousand with a discount of 
 ten per cent, for payment on presentation of the 
 bill, making the cost $2.70 net. The company has 
 a contract to furnish the strerts with light at .'it!3() 
 a post, and to light, extinguish, audkce]) in repair. 
 
 THE MINNESOTA INSTITUTE FOK Till! EDUl!ATI()N OP 
 THE DEAF AND DUMB, THE BLIND, AND THE 
 SCHOOL, FOB IDIOTS AND IMBECILES. 
 
 This is a pretentious name, broad in its mean- 
 ing and comprehensive in the work contemplated, 
 but, nevertheless, it is the true title, as the Insti- 
 tute now stands chartered by the State, and 
 warranted by the co-operative departments. 
 
 In the brief history of this Institute herewith 
 given the writer hopes to be able to explain why 
 this Institute was established, when founded, how 
 organized, the methods employed, the manner of 
 support, the present status of its affairs and 
 some of the results already realized. 
 
 Before Minnesota became a State, and while the 
 general government was providing liberally for 
 the public schools and the University, it was dis- 
 covered that there were children and youth still 
 unprovided for in matters of education, care and 
 training. In all our States and Territories the 
 deaf and dumb have been found to number from 
 one in fifteen to one iu ten hundred; the blind 
 from one in fifteen hundred to one in two thousand; 
 and the idiotic and imbecile as numerous as both 
 of the former classes together. We may safely 
 estimate forty thousand deaf-mutes, thirty-five 
 thousand blind, and sixty-five thousand idiotic and 
 imbecile persons in the United States, and this 
 State has her share of them. It was in anticipa- 
 tion of such facts as these, with no provision of a 
 public nature to meet the emergency, that the 
 friends of education, humanity, and the common- 
 wealth, gave thought, time, and labor, and urged 
 upon successive legislatures the importance, yes, 
 the necessity, of establishing just such schools as 
 are found in Faribault to-day. 
 
 The Deaf and Dumb and the Blind. — The 
 State Legislature, during its first session in 1858, 
 passed an act establishing " The Minnesota State 
 Institute for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb" 
 within two miles of Faribault, in Rice county, 
 upon condition that the town, or county, should, 
 within one year from the passage of the law, give 
 forty acres of land for its use. The land was do- 
 
 nated, but the school for varif>us reasons was not 
 opened till five years later. 
 
 The Legislatur(M)f 18C.'i, passed a law esfabli.sh- 
 ing a department for the care and education of the 
 blind, together with the deaf and dumb, and under 
 the same authority and management, but this 
 school was not opened till 18()(). During the sum- 
 mer of 1800, Miss. H. N. Tucker was employed as 
 teacher and three blind children were received, 
 provided for and taught in the Fitzgerald house, 
 in the south part of the town. Subsequently this 
 school was moved to the north part of the town 
 to the Tanner House, so called, and in May, 1868, 
 soon after the deaf and dumb occuj)ied the north 
 wing of their building, the blind were removed to 
 the same building with them. Here the blind re- 
 mained till their removal to their present quarters 
 on the old Faribault place, where for one year 
 they were under the care and instruction of Prof. 
 A. N. Pratt, acting principal, and subsequently 
 that of Prof. J, J. Dow who is still in charge and 
 has prepared the following brief history of the 
 blind department. 
 
 "As early as 1872, it had become evident that a 
 permanent separation of the two classes for whom 
 the Institution was designed, was desirable, and an 
 appropriation for the erection of a separate build- 
 ing was asked for, which the next legislature 
 readily granted. The home property of the orig- 
 inal settler and founder of this city, Alexander 
 Faribault, at that time coming into market it was 
 jmrohased for the new home for the blind. It 
 recommended itself for such a j)ur)iose by its 
 beautiful situation upon the high blulf over- 
 looking the town from the .southeast and com- 
 manding an extensive view of the valleys of the 
 Straight and Cannon Rivers, and the early and 
 extensive improvements made by its former owner, 
 by which immediate posses.sion was obtained of 
 twenty years growth of orcamental, shade, and 
 fruit trees and shrubbery. 
 
 A commodious building for the use of the blind 
 was speedily erected, and in the fall of 1874, they 
 were removed to their new (|uarters, about one 
 mile from the building for the deaf and dumb, and 
 placed under the immediate charge of Prof. A. N. 
 Pratt. 
 
 At the close of the first year in this new home 
 Mr. Pratt retired from his connection with the 
 school, and J. J. Dow, Superintendent of the pub- 
 lic schools of the city of Austin, was selected to 
 
340 
 
 HISTORY OF RICK COUNTY. 
 
 fill the place thus m^de vacant. For the next four 
 years little in the history of the school worthy of 
 mention occurred. Faithful and constant eflbrt 
 was put forth to secure the best results possilile in 
 the literary and musical departments of the school, 
 and a reasonable degree of success was attained, 
 but it was constantly felt that there should be a 
 department for training the youth here assembled 
 in such forms of manual labor as might be bene- 
 ticial in after life. 
 
 At the opening of the year 1878, an attempt 
 was made in a small way to aocoinjjlish this by 
 teaching the art of caning, with quite satisfactory 
 results. 
 
 At the opening of tlie next year an experiment 
 was made in broom-making, with such success that 
 during the year a shop was erected and the indus- 
 trial department permanently established. Since 
 that time it has continued to give evidence of the 
 substantial benefit arising from it, and there are 
 oven in so short a time several broom shops in dif- 
 ferent parts of the State, operated l)y young men 
 who learned the trade in this Institution. 
 
 In 1879, the congress of the United States made 
 a subsidy grant of money, the income of which 
 was to be annually expended for tlie education of 
 the blind throughout the country. This has been 
 of great hel]) to the library depart;nent in fur- 
 nishing needed l)ooks, maps, and school apparatus 
 without expense to the State. The amount so re- 
 ceived has varied from seventy-five to one hundred 
 and forty dollars jier year, according to the num- 
 ber of pupils in attendance. 
 
 At the beginning of the year 1881, J. J. Dow, 
 who had for six years been the principal and the 
 resident officer in charge, was elected superintend- 
 ent of the blind department, thus completing the 
 separate organization of the department. 
 
 The attendance of pujiils during the last seven 
 ys'irs has varied from eighteen to thirty-five which 
 was the attendance of the last school year. This 
 number is in excess of the capacity of the build- 
 ing, and an addition to the accommodations for the 
 blind is a pressing necessity, which it is confident- 
 ly expected will be appreciated and met by the 
 next legislature. 
 
 The .schcjol work as now organized is carried on 
 in three departments, the puf)il spending an as- 
 signed portion of each day in each department. 
 In the literary department instruction is given in 
 reading and spelling in the common or embossed 
 
 raised letter, and in a special system called the 
 New York point method which possesses the ad- 
 vantages of being more legible to the touch and 
 of being written by the learner, through the aid of 
 simple and cheap apparatus; in writing with pen- 
 cil in a letter approaching common script in form, 
 and legible to the ordinary reader, in the New 
 York point sistem and upon the type writer; in 
 arithmetic, both mental and written, the latter by 
 means of a simple arrangement of type, which 
 takes the place of the ordinary slate; in geography- 
 through the aid of excellent raised and desected 
 maps, by means of which the form and outlines of 
 the diilereut ]iolitioal divisions and the general 
 elevations and depressions of the earth's surfice 
 are readily perceived; and in history, both ancient 
 and modern, with especial reference to the insti- 
 tutions of our own country. Elementary instruc- 
 tion is also given in such other branches of study 
 as the advancement and capacity of the pupil 
 seems to re(|uire. Among the studies whicli have 
 been pursued, in addition to those mentioned, are 
 grammar, composition, and rhetoric, English lit- 
 erature, political economy, and civil government, 
 mental and moral philosophy, natural philosophy, 
 cliemistry, physiology, geology, zoology, and al- 
 gebra. In many of these departments of study, 
 text books are now printed in tyjie for the blind, 
 while in those in which books are still lacking or 
 are unsatisfactory, oral instruction alone is em- 
 ployed. The facilities for the literary education 
 of the blind are improving year by year, with the 
 increase of books and apjjaratus for study and in 
 choice works in literature for general culture. 
 
 In the musical department instruction is given 
 in vocal music and upon the piano, three of which 
 instruments are owned by the Institution, cabinet 
 organ, violin, and several other orchestra instru- 
 ments. The recently perfected New Y'ork point 
 system of musical notation, by means of which the 
 simplest as well as the most ditficult music can be 
 written and read by the blind, is now being intro- 
 duced, and bids fair to be of great service to this 
 department. Yet for much of his music a blind 
 musician must always depend upon a seeing read- 
 er, and instruction is chiefly given by reading. 
 
 In the Industrial department the broom and 
 cane work have already been mentioned. Besides 
 tliis work, which is especially for the benefit of the 
 boys, the girls are instructed in such of the house- 
 hold arts as can be most advantageously pursued 
 
CITY OF FAIilBAULT. 
 
 341 
 
 by the blind. All are tausjht to sew by hand, 
 many become proficient in phiin and fancy knit tiiif;', 
 crochetting, etc., and a fair proportion learn to 
 operate a sewing machine sncoessfully. The mak- 
 ing of fancy bead work by the girls and smaller 
 boys gives excellent practice in securing delicacy 
 of touch, and minute exactness of detail iu work. 
 
 In all of the departments the aim is to do for 
 blind persons what the home, the school, and the 
 shop may do for his more fortunate brothers and 
 sisters, but what, for lack of skill and appliances, 
 they cannot do for him. All fif the peculiar metli- 
 ods and apparatus in use are adapted to so supjily 
 the want of sight in securing an education, as to 
 produce, as nearly as possible, the same degree of 
 physical, mental, and moral culture, and the same 
 capacity for meeting with success iu life as the 
 seeing may so much more easily secure. 
 
 The officers and teachers for the last school year 
 (1881-82) are as follows: J. J. Dow, superintend- 
 ent; Miss Kate Barnes, Matron; .Tosiah Thomp- 
 son, teacher; Miss Julia Johnson, pupil assistant; 
 Miss C. C. La Grave, music teacher; Michael C. 
 Schneck, foreman broom sho))." 
 
 The School fok Imbeciles and Idiots.- — The 
 importance of estaVjlishing at an early day a 
 school for the care, education, and training of 
 feeble-minded children and youth, has been rec- 
 ognized by many citizens of the State. The first 
 puhlii' advocacy of such a step was made in the 
 annual report of the Superintendent of the L)cat 
 and Dumb, who had from time to time been 
 obliged to remove such unfortunate youth from 
 the school under his charge. As early as 1H(>8, 
 attention was called to these children in his an- 
 nual report, and the same was emphasized iu 
 1877. The State Board of Health also advocated 
 the movement in their annual reports. 
 * The Legislature in 1879 took up the subject 
 and established in Faribault an experimental 
 school for idiots and feeble-minded children under 
 the same authority and management as the Deaf 
 and Dumb and the Blind, and made appropria- 
 tions for two years. In giving the history of 
 this State School for Imbeciles, we cannot do 
 better than to quote from the first report of the 
 Directors: 
 
 "The last Legislature having entrusted the 
 Board of Directors of the Minnesota Institution 
 for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind with the 
 charge of such children and vouth as had driftc d 
 
 into the Insane hospitals of the Stale and were 
 found to be Imbecile and feeble-minded, rather 
 than lunatic, and seemed capable of improvemeut 
 and instruction, the Board early proceeded to the 
 trust. 
 
 The first want presenting itself was reliable in- 
 formation as to the special needs of this class of 
 eliildreii ami the most approved methods of or- 
 ganizing and conducting an institution for their 
 training. Fortunately for us and our enterprise, 
 the late Dr. H. M. Knight, the founder and super- 
 intendent (if the C!ouuecticut School for Imbeciles, 
 visited our State iu June, 1879. He was a man 
 of large brain and noble heart, and zealously in- 
 terested himself in our behalf. His long experi- 
 ence in this country and his personal examination 
 of the" principle Schools of Kurope for the feeble- 
 minded, fitted him to give us such aid and counsel 
 as we most needed. He directed our preparations 
 and superintended the organization and opening 
 of the school until his sou. Dr. G. H. Knight, who 
 had been brought up to the work by his father, 
 took charge in the latter part of September, 1879." 
 
 The report of the Acting Superintendent for the 
 first eighteen mimths states that during that time, 
 while the school was still an experiment, the 
 number of children cared for were twenty-five, 
 all that the building then t)ccupied could be 
 made to accommodate. During that time the pro- 
 gress of those cared for proved conclusively that 
 the time had passed when the education of the 
 feeble-minded could be looked upon as simply an 
 experiment 
 
 Accordingly the Legislature of 'SO and '81, 
 upoQ being ask<'d to make the school one of the 
 permanent Institutions of the State, did so with* 
 out a dissenting vi>te, and also appropriated the 
 sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, ($25,000) 
 for building purposes. The result of that sum is 
 a stone building 80 x 41 accommodating fifty- 
 five children, and (Completely equiped with steam 
 and water and all the conveniences for carrying 
 on a work of this kind successfully. 
 
 The Board of Directors is the same as that of 
 the I^eaf and Dumb. 
 
 Officeks and Teacheks. — Dr. George H. 
 Knight, Superintendent; Miss M. E. Powers 
 and Miss Susie Smith, Teachers; Miss Ella An- 
 derson, Matron. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that by the several enact- 
 uicnts of the Lecislature the Institute founded in 
 
 * Sec Errata, page 603. 
 
342 
 
 HTSTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 Faribault has been enlarged till, as ita title sets 
 forth, it embraces what, in most all of the States 
 comprises three separate institutions, — and so far 
 as unity of aim and purpose in doing the work 
 for the State, and economy in its management, 
 and freedom from impartial and unjust legisla- 
 tion are concerned, this union of three schools 
 under one Board of Directors is wise and timely 
 and will appear so just as long as competent men 
 are placed in authority over it. 
 
 Organization op the Deaf and Dumb De- 
 partment. — The first appropriation of the Leg- 
 islature for the support of the deaf and dumb 
 was in 1863. The same Legislature appointed 
 George F. Batchelder, K. A. Mott, and David H. 
 Frost as a Board of Commissioners to start the 
 school. Mr. Mott was sent to Ohio, where he 
 obtained the services of Prof. K. H. Kinney, an 
 experienced teacher, who came to Faribault and 
 organized the first deaf-mute school in Minnesota. 
 On the second Wednesday of September, 1863, 
 the school opened with five pupils in attendance. 
 The building occupied was the store and dwelling 
 on Front street known as Major Fowler's store. 
 The next year the school increased, and George 
 W. Chase was employed as assistant teacher. 
 
 In 1864, the Legislature appropriated four 
 thousand one hundred dollars for the support of 
 the school, eight hundred and fifty dollars of 
 which were expended in erecting a small wooden 
 building, 18x24, just east of Fowler's store, tor a 
 boys' dormitory. This building was subsequently 
 sold and moved to Fourth street, and is now used 
 as a marl)Ie factory. 
 
 Prof. Kinney experienced difficulties and some 
 hardships in his work and sore bereavement in his 
 family, and at the end of his third year resigned 
 the office of Superintendent. 
 
 About this time an important change took place 
 in the contemplated site for a permanent building. 
 The original forty acres of land donated by the 
 citizens of Faribault were sold and the present lot 
 on the bluff east of Straight River was obtained. 
 
 Prof. Kinney having retired, the Board of Di- 
 rectors employed J .L. Noyes, of Hartford, Conn., 
 to take his place. 
 
 On the 7th of September, 1866, Mr. Noyes and 
 family, with Miss A. L. Steele, assistant teacher, 
 and Miss Henrietta Watson, matron, arrived in 
 Faribault to carry on the work already begun. 
 This year chronicles the appropriation of fifteen 
 
 thousand dollars by the Legislature for the first 
 permanent building for the deaf and dumb on 
 the site already mentioned, and the next year the 
 foundation of the north wing of the present edi- 
 fice was commenced, and February .5th, 1867, the 
 comer-stone was laid by the Governor in the 
 presence of the members of the Legislature. The 
 citizens of Faribault had now eontriliuted funds 
 to ])urchase fifty-four acres of land for the use 
 of the Institution, and by appropriation and pur- 
 chase in 1882 more was added, making the pres- 
 ent site nearly sixty-five acres in all. 
 
 NoKTH Wing.— On the 17th of March, 1868, the 
 North Wing was occupied by the deaf and dumb 
 for the first time. This was a day of great joy 
 to the pupils and all concerned with the school. 
 The building was designed and arranged to ac- 
 commodate fifty pupils; sixty was the maximum. 
 
 In May of the same year the blind pupils were 
 added to the deaf-mutes, and soon the quarters 
 became too strait for the occupants. 
 
 During the year 1869 the foundation of the 
 South wing was laid, and the sujjerstructure was 
 to be a building suited to accommodate the girls, 
 with class rooms for the blind. These two wings 
 were of equal size, and stood ninety-six feet apart 
 with a temporary passage way between them. 
 
 September 10th, 1873, the school was re-organ- 
 ized, with the boys occupying the North Wing, 
 and the girls the South, with appropriate rooms 
 for the blind in each. 
 
 The same year steps were taken to provide a 
 separate permanent home for the blind pupils, as 
 there was not room enough for both classes in the 
 two wings, and it being obvious, after a fair trial, 
 that the two classes were so dissimilar that they 
 required sejoarate apartments. Accordingly the 
 old Faribault farm of ninety-seven acres was pur- 
 chased and suitable improvements made, and here, 
 in Sej^tember, 1874, the school for the blind was 
 re-organized, with A. N. Pratt, Acting Principal ; 
 John J. Tucker, Maria E. Crandall, and Cora Ship- 
 man, teachers. 
 
 The places vacated by the blind were soon 
 filled by the deaf and dumb, and in 187',), the 
 plans of the main center building were completed 
 by the architect, Monroe Sheire, Esq., of St. Paul, 
 and steps taken towards completing the entire 
 edifice. In the fall of 1879, the entire building, 
 main center and the two wings, were occupied by 
 the pupils, and the school re-organized under the 
 
CITY OF FAItTBAULT. 
 
 343 
 
 moat favorable oiroumstanoes ever enjoyed iu Min- 
 nesota. The entire edifice is admirably ventilated 
 and warmod by steam, lighted by gas, and abun- 
 dantly supplied with pure spring water. 
 
 It is worthy of note to mark the steady growth 
 of the institution in periods of five years each. 
 Five years after the passage of tlje first act estab- 
 lishing the Institute in Faribault the school was 
 opened. Five years later the North wing was com- 
 pleted and ready for occupancy. In five years 
 more the South wing was erected and occupied by 
 sixty pupils, and the completion, furnishing and 
 heating of the main center building marks a 
 period of five years more. Every advance has 
 been made as the circumstances of the school de- 
 manded it, and not ujion conjecture, or mere 
 probabilities. It is confidently expected that the 
 Imildings now provided will afford ample accom- 
 modations for the deaf-mutes of the State for the 
 next ten or fifteen years. The object kept in view- 
 has been to build sulistantially, in good taste, with 
 an eye to utility and the wants of the future, and 
 in a manner becoming a State enterprise. 
 
 It was the result of no pre-arrangement, orcou- 
 ti-act, that the same architect drew the jilans of the 
 entire building — the main center and two wings — 
 at thrtC different times and under three different 
 contracts. Whatever, therefore, of success has been 
 attained in the effort to unite the three portions in 
 one symmetrical, harmonious whole, is due to the 
 architect in faithfully carrying out the instructions 
 of the Board of Directors. And fortunately a 
 majority of the directors has remained on the 
 board during this building period, and have bad 
 ideas, more or less definite, in regard to the deaf 
 and dumb, and the size and nature of the build- 
 ings re<[uired in providing for them. 
 
 The entire cost of all the buildings erected by 
 tlie State for the deaf and dumb in Faribault, to- 
 gether with heating apparatus, will, in round num- 
 bers amount to .S200,000. This outlay for one 
 school seems large, and yet it is for all time and is 
 moderate in comparison with what neighboring 
 States have expended. 
 
 Methods. — The methods employed in the work 
 of instructing and training the deaf and dumb 
 have been those in common use in the older State 
 institutions at the East, and known as the French- 
 American system of signs, and the combined 
 method, together with a well arranged system of 
 iiidustri;il schools. The sign language is taught, 
 
 not as an accomplishment, or as an end, but as a 
 means to an end. No better method lias been de- 
 vised liy which the mass of deaf-niutf? cliildren 
 can be initiated into the moaning and (Construction 
 of the English language tlian by the; use of 
 natural signs as now employed iu all the older 
 instituticms for the deaf and dumb in the United 
 States and Canada. It is sinijily using the known 
 to obtain a knowledge of tlie unknown. And ail 
 other devices have failed to bear the test of pro- 
 tracted experience. 
 
 Combined Methods. — By the combined method 
 is meant the union, or combination, of the sign 
 and oral systems so far as the condition and ability 
 of the pupils will warrant. Recognizing the fact 
 that quite a number — not over twenty per cent. — 
 of the dtaf and duml) children received into our 
 scliools have some knowledge of spoken language, 
 or by natural endowments, possess the ability to 
 acquire considerable knowledge of speech, pro- 
 vision is made to lencli articulation and lip-reading 
 so far as circumstances warrant, and the pupils 
 give evidence of the proper ability. There 
 are a few schools that use only the oral method of 
 instruction, but they fail to educate all, and the 
 sign method has been found to succeed in many 
 cases where the pure oral system failed, hence the 
 wisdom of the combined method. 
 
 DiUEtTIONS FOR TrACHINO THE DeAF AND DlIMB 
 
 AT Home.'" — Deaf- mutes begin in early childhood to 
 use the language of natural signs; it is their 
 mother tongue; and parents, Ijrothers, and sisters, 
 should improve every opportunity to talk with 
 them. 
 
 Any person with a manual alj)habet can select 
 the letters d-o-g, c-a-t, c-o-w, and teach the mute 
 child to spell these wonls, placing its fingers in the 
 projjer position for each letter. Talie but one 
 word at a time, spell it slowly and repeatedly. 
 When these words are learned, teach the name of 
 other objects in and about the house. Write these 
 words upon a slate, and re(]uire the child to copy 
 them, till it can write them with ease. Then teach 
 its own name and the names of familiar persons, 
 distinguishing them by some ajiprojiriate sign. 
 
 If a person would consult the welfare of a mute 
 child, it must bo taught obedience, right and 
 wrong, just as other children are taught. A nod 
 and smile t)f ajjproval, or a shake of the head and 
 look of disapjjroval cannot fail to be understooil. 
 There is no mystery in this, as any one may learn 
 who makes the trial." 
 
344 
 
 BISTORY OP RICE COUNTY. 
 
 Industriai, Classes. In 1869, a cooper shop 
 was opened in which the mute boys were taught 
 coopery. Having been well satisfied with the re- 
 sult of this experiment, in due time a tailor shop, 
 a shoe shop, a printing office, and a department 
 for dressmaking and plain sewing were organized, 
 and all of these have been continued with highly 
 beneficial results. The forenoon is given to school 
 exercises proper, and the afternoons to industrial 
 work. By this method habits of industry, skill 
 and regular physical exercise are formed, and, at 
 the end of their course pupils are graduated with 
 minds that can think, and hands that can use tools 
 skillfully. Thus the^e unfortunate, dependent 
 children become useful, independent citizens 
 through the aid and bounty of the State. 
 
 The Manner or Suppokt. — As this is strictly 
 a State Institution, the support comes from ap- 
 propriations made by the Legislature from time 
 to time. The appropriations for buildings and 
 improvements come from the same source. 
 
 The products of the farm and garden contribute 
 something toward the table supplies, but at best 
 they yield but a very small part of what is con- 
 sumed during each year. 
 
 The shops are hardly self-supporting. As a 
 whole, when once provided with shops and a com- 
 plete outfit of tools, they have, as a rule, just 
 about met current expenses. Hence they cannot 
 be regarded as a source of pecuniary profit or in- 
 come, even under the best management. As fast 
 as the boys become skillful workmen they leave, 
 and more Ixiys take their places to repeat the 
 same thing in a few years. Biit the knowledge 
 and skill are valuable to the graduates in after 
 years. 
 
 The Present Status. The condition of affairs 
 in this Institution at this time may be indicated 
 by stating that the Board of Directors consists of 
 Gov. Ii. F. Hubbard, Hon. D. L. Kiehle, ex officio; 
 Hon. T. B. Clement, President ; Rev. Geo. B. 
 Whipple, Vice-President ; Hon. R. A. Mott, Sec- 
 retary ; Hudson Wilson, Esq., Treasurer ; Hon. 
 Geo. E. Skinner. 
 
 Officers and Teachers: J. L. Noyes, super- 
 intendent ; George Wing, Pender W. Downing, 
 Mary E. King, Ellen M. Franklin, Fannie Wood, 
 Anna Wicktom, Teacliers ; Dr. P. G. Denninger, 
 physician ; Mrs. A. R. Halo, matron ; Horace E. 
 Barron, steward ; D. F. Munro, foreman of tailor 
 shoj) ; J. R. Scnduer, foreman of shoe sho|) ; 
 
 George Wing, editor of the Companion: Philip 
 Slaveu, foreman of cooper shop ; Mrs. S. M. 
 Perry, mistress of sewing room ; A. B. Irvine, 
 engineer ; N. P. Rood, night watch. 
 
 One hundred and sixteen pupils were in attend- 
 ance the last term, twelve of whom completed the 
 prescribed time, or course, in the school, and 
 graduated at the close of the term in June last. 
 The deaf-mute pupils have deported themselves in 
 such a manner that not a single expulsion has 
 occurred in the last sixteen years. 
 
 The finances of the institution are in a good 
 condition, the Legislature never having declined 
 to make the necessary provision for buildings, or 
 support, provided there was money in the State 
 treasury. 
 
 The citizens of Faribault and the State gener- 
 ally foster the school with special interest and 
 personal pride, and look upon it as one of the 
 most beneficial institutions the State has estab- 
 lished. It is not local or sectarian in its work, 
 nearly all classes, nationalities, and almost all the 
 counties in the State being represented in it. 
 
 Tne Mute's Companion. — This little paper, 
 issued every two weeks of the school year, is 
 edited by one of the teachers, and the work of 
 setting the type and printing, besides considerable 
 job work, is done by the pupils themselves. It 
 pleads the cause of the deaf and the blind in 
 many a household, and by way of exchange in 
 many of the papers throughout the State, and 
 brings to the reading room a copy of nearly all 
 the newspapers published in Minnesota. Many 
 copies of papers and periodicals from other States 
 are obtained in exchange for "The Companion," 
 and thus the reading matter for the pupils is 
 greatly enlarged, and they are thereby provoked 
 to habits of reading and thought which, without 
 "The Companion," would be wholly lost. Parents 
 and patrons by it are called into a deeper sympathy 
 and interest in this school and its benevolent 
 work. 
 
 A slight change in the management of the In- 
 stitute has been made that deserves a passing 
 notice. From the commencement of this State 
 enterprise there has been only one board of trust, 
 one superintendent, and one steward until May 
 19th, 1881, when, with entire unanimity on the part 
 of the board, and the hearty approval of the Su- 
 perintendent, the latter was relieved of all care and 
 responsibility in regard to the blind department 
 
CITY OF FARIBAULT. 
 
 345 
 
 * and the sebool for idiots and imbeciles, and Prof. 
 J. J. Dow and Dr. George H. Knight were ap- 
 pointed superintendents of their respective depart- 
 ments, so that at this writing Minnesota has in 
 Faribault a trinity of humane and benevolent 
 institutions under one board, one steward, and 
 three superintendents, all working together not 
 only harmoniously and zealously, but efficiently 
 and economically, and are illustrating by practice, 
 what no other State has done, that these three in- 
 stitutions can be successfully and satisfactorily 
 managed in one place and by one board. The 
 State has heartily endorsed the plan, and successive 
 Legislatures have appropriated the funds necessary 
 for their establishment and support with great 
 unanimity, and with reason, for the improvements 
 have all been made, the buildings erected, and the 
 current expenses met by the appropriations, and, as 
 a rule, a balance left in the treasury. It is but 
 gi\'ing utterance to public opinion to say the 
 buildings are first class in constriiction, well lo- 
 cated, well adapted to the work, and no stealing 
 and very small profits to contractors. 
 
 So.ME Kesults Realized. — Two hundred and 
 eighty-five deaf and dumb children have been re- 
 ceived into the Institution since it was organized. 
 A large majority of the graduates learned a trade 
 while at school and have become rpiiet, useful, and 
 industrious citizens, possessing the respect and 
 confidence of those who know them, and earning a 
 comfortable Jiving. A few have been very success- 
 ful. One is the editor and proprietor of a leading 
 country newspaper. Another is a highly esteemed 
 bookkeeper in a large banking house. Six have 
 entered college at Washington. One is the fore- 
 man of a cooper shop. Three have been success- 
 ful teachers of the deaf and dumb. A few have 
 excelled as type-setters. Fourteen have married 
 and have fourteen children, and as parents and 
 citizens they are acting well their part in life. 
 There are others who as farmers, coopers, shoe- 
 makers, tailors, and laborers, are earning an honest 
 comfortable living and no longer eating the bread 
 of dependence. Not one, so far as heard from, has 
 become a vagrant, or an idler, trying to make 
 capital out of his misfortune. 
 
 The graduates are realiziug more deeply every 
 year how much the Institution has done for them. 
 Isolated from society, shut out from public lec- 
 tures and Saljbath instruction, which they enjoyed 
 at school, they fail to grow in intelligence and 
 
 • See Errata, page 1)03. 
 
 knowledge of wordly matters like persons with all 
 their senses. Reading and writing comprise their 
 medium of communication with others and in this 
 sometimes they are deficient. 
 
 The nature and object of the Institution are be- 
 coming better known and parents realize more 
 than formerly the importance of an education and 
 a trade tor the deaf and dumb, and moreover that 
 this cannot be obtained at home, or in the space of 
 four or five years even under very favorable cir- 
 cumstances. In order to realize more effectually 
 what the In,stitution has been doing the reader 
 should go to some of the homes of these children 
 and contrast the sadness, gloom, and despondency 
 that had settled over the hearts and minds of once 
 happy loving parents, and mark the contrast as 
 the cloud disap^iears before the joy, intelligence 
 and usefulness of the graduate as he takes his 
 place in society and the world. In instances not 
 a few jJarents have found language inadequate to 
 express their gratitude for what has been ac- 
 complished. As the educated deaf-mute proves 
 the comfort in sickness, the stay and staff in age to 
 many parents throughout the commonwealth the 
 beneficial results of this State Institute will 
 widen and deepen in ratios beyond computation, 
 and in values that money cannot equal. 
 
 It is unquestionable that the State of Minnesota 
 has been most remarkably fortunate in the pubUc 
 institutions located in Faril)ault. In the first 
 place the commissioners who were authorized to 
 make a beginning and to take the whole subject 
 into consideration, to ascertain the number of the 
 unfortimate who wei-e by rights w-ards of the 
 State, and to report, did their work faithfully and 
 well, and while the officers of the State have had 
 literally to feel their way, as the labor magnified 
 on their hands, they have never made a mistake; 
 and what is most wonderful, in all the expendi- 
 tures for buildings and support, they have never 
 exceeded the appropriation, except in a single 
 unimportant instance.. The institution in all re- 
 spects has been in its administration conducted in 
 an honest and economical way, and the gentle- 
 men who are in charge of the various depart- 
 ments are remarkably well adapted to the work, 
 and have kindly furnished this sketch, excepting 
 these concluding remarks. 
 
 There is considerable that might be said in this 
 connection, in relation to the personal fitness and 
 the remarkable adajjtability of the officers to the 
 
346 
 
 BISTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 performance of their duties ; the kindness and 
 consideration that has characterized their contact 
 with the various inmates ; the rare judgment that 
 has uniformly been displayed in the every day 
 affairs and iu numerous trying emergencies ; but 
 the usual anxiety is for results, and as here they 
 have been entirely satisfactory, this statement 
 must close our final, pointing with pride at these 
 institutions. 
 
 SHATTUCK SCHOOL. 
 
 The Shattuck School is under the patronage of 
 the Episcopal authorities, and is a most impor- 
 tant part of the denominational system of educa- 
 tion. It was organized in 1866, and placed in 
 charge of Eev. J. L. Breck. D. D,, who became 
 Ractor of the school, and on his removal to Cali- 
 fornia, in 1.S67, the Eev. James Dobbin succeeded 
 him. The object of the school is to train up boys 
 for the active business of life, which also embraces 
 a preparation for college, and to make it for Min- 
 nesota what Eton is for England. Of course 
 tliere weie at first many trials, but constant ad- 
 vances have been made, and it is now thoroughly 
 established on a lasting foundation, and in the 
 confidence and esteem of the community. The 
 buildings consist of two large halls built of stone, 
 a school-room, drill-room and gymnasium, and 
 one of the most beautiful college or school chap- 
 els in America, the whole costing over .1580,000. 
 There are fifty acres of land on a plateau back of 
 the bluff, opposite the lower part of the city, and 
 north of the State Institutitm for the Deaf apd 
 Dumb. 
 
 The school is a military one, and the boys as 
 they arrive are assigned to one of the organized 
 companies which are officered by the students in 
 accordance with the United States tactics, the 
 promotions being in the direction of competency 
 and seniority. The cndets are dressed in a neat 
 gray uniform, and the proficiency of the " Shat- 
 tuck Battalion" in the manual of arms and com- 
 pany and battalion movements, is very striking. A 
 Captain in the Regular Army is detailed as in- 
 structor, commandant, and professor of Natural 
 Sciences. 
 
 The following article from a St. PaTil paper, 
 from the pen of one of the stuff of the journal is 
 here reproduced, although it covers some of the 
 points already presented, but it will give a view 
 from a ditl'erent standpoint. Besides, the school 
 is of such a diaractcr that if tautology is to be ex- 
 
 cused in any case, it certainly will be iu this in- 
 stance. 
 
 "THE ETON OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 You can tell a town in which institutions for 
 the education of the youth abound almost as 
 soon as you enter it. There is an air of dignity 
 and scholastic quietude which permeates certain 
 portions thereof, and militates not one whit against 
 the mercantile or manufacturing activity likely 
 enough to be found in other localities. Then, too, 
 the surroundings, if not the town itself, are al- 
 most always characterized by especial beauties of 
 scenery. There is always a stream, and it is 
 usually picturesque, while foliage in abundance 
 mingles with plenitude of spires. The residences 
 show greater attention to the religion of the beau- 
 tiful, and the people more outward evidences, at 
 least, of culture than in towns where elevators are 
 the building of most note and the price of pro- 
 duce the principal topics of conversation. The 
 differences noted are more especially marked in a 
 State so new, comparatively, as our own, and no 
 one who has ever visited Faribault will wonder at 
 its serving as a text for the above. It is more 
 like a New England town, wherein decades have 
 merged into generations, and generations into 
 centuries, than a place of most modern foundation 
 and growth, and the claim that it is the prettiest 
 town in the State is hard, successfully to contro- 
 vert. The seat of the Deaf and Dumb Institution, 
 which crowns a commanding height on the east 
 side of the Straight River (what a pity the name 
 of the latter was changed from the euphonious 
 Owatonna), it is more widely known as the locale 
 of the two schools — Shattuck and St. Mary's — 
 founded by Protestant Episcopal liberality, and 
 supported by scholars of all denominations. It is 
 also the diocesan home of Bishop Whippl<>, and 
 here also is located Seabury Divinity School. 
 
 SHATTUCK SCHOOIj. 
 
 The choice location of the city, so rich in sites' 
 has unqiiestionably been taken by Shattuck 
 school, an institution more thoroughly academic 
 in appearance, scope, and plan than any in the 
 State. Its founders wisely eschewed the preten- 
 tious name of " College," or the often bombastic 
 title of "University." knowing that sucL appella- 
 tions would, tor many years at least, be misnomers, 
 if not shams, and adopted the expressive, if old- 
 fashioned, generic name. The success attendant 
 
CITY OF FAUIBAULr. 
 
 347 
 
 upon the earnest efforts of Bishop Whipple and 
 his coadjutors must be surprising even to them. 
 The parish school established as far back as 1858 
 was really the nucleus of Shattuck as it was of St. 
 Mary's, and when Bishop Whipple assumed 
 charge of the newly created diocese, in 1860, he 
 found the parochial school in anything but a fee- 
 ble condition, the population considered. In that 
 year the Bishoj} Seal)ury mission was incorporated 
 by H. B. Whipple, J. L. Breck, S. W. Manney, 
 and E. S. Peake, the charter giving ample educa- 
 tional powers to the board of trustees therein pro- 
 vided for. 
 
 In the autumn of 1865, it was determined to 
 separate an academic department from the Sea- 
 bury mission, the latter being more purely theo- 
 logic in its curriculum. Shattuok School took 
 high rank from the start, and not the least happy 
 of the ideas of its originators was that of making 
 the school 
 
 CLOSELY RESEMBLE WEST POINT 
 
 in many important particulars. While the mili- 
 tary code is subordinate to the educational, it is 
 merged with it as well, and plays a highly im- 
 portant part in the discipline. The pupils are 
 styled cadets and have their own commissioned and 
 non-commissioned officers, the commandant being 
 an oiBcer of the regular army who is next to the 
 rector in academic rank. The government has 
 furnished ritles similar to those used by the West 
 Pointers, and weighing only seven pounds, while 
 other acoout«rments have also been provided in 
 plenty. 
 
 The uniform is of gray and the cross belts of 
 white exactly similar to the national cadets in cut 
 and trimming, while as far as possible, the organ- 
 ization is modeled after that of the best military- 
 school in the world. The flag-staff on a com- 
 manding knoll, the frowning artillery, the uni- 
 forme.l cadets with their erect and soldier-like 
 beoring, the calls, and the hundreds of addenda of 
 a martial nature, are exceedingly pleasing to the 
 eye or ear, and better still have served a most ad- 
 mirable purpose. No one physically able is 
 excused from drills and concomitant military duty 
 and the esprit dii corps is fostered by awards and 
 rewards into vigorous Hfe. 
 
 THE CORPS AND BUILDINGS. 
 
 The limit of membership is fixed at 103 for the 
 present (it is to be enlarged to 150 as soon as 
 added facilities will admit), and there is Imt one 
 
 vacancy at present. Applications for the reception 
 of a much greater number are yearly received, but 
 are not acceded to, as the limit is rigid. The pre- 
 ceptors do not believe in crowding the cadets, 
 being of the opinion that the harm done would be 
 poorly compensated for by the increase of revenue. 
 Of course, the time is looked forward to when new 
 buildings will allow of an increase to 200, 300 or 
 400 students, and, if present popularity is any 
 criterion, the pupils will l)e ready ere the build- 
 ings are. There are now fully 100 acres in the 
 academic grounds, so that the room is ample. The 
 buildings are two large stone halls, each three 
 stories in height, for recitation rooms, dormitories, 
 and refectories, and in the ne<ir future an addi- 
 tional hall 100x65, with a dining room 55x65, is to 
 be erected. The Manney Armory Hall, named in 
 honor Rev. Solon W. Manney, D. D., is of com- 
 paratively recent erection and is a model of its 
 kind. The lower story is fitted up as a gymnasium 
 and reading room, the latter not so well supplied 
 with books as it will be in the ciuniug time, many 
 books having been burned in 1872, when Seabury 
 Hall fell victim to the flames. The gymnasium 
 proper is all that could be desired and is provided 
 with every possible appliance far athletic culture, 
 while the .-esthetic sense is pleased by the finish of 
 the entire building in hard woods, innocent of dis- 
 figuring paint, and handsome as are most of na- 
 ture's products. Up stairs is the armory and drill 
 room, a spacious apartment ample for the evolu- 
 tions of the corps, the room being unobstructed by 
 supports or columns of any kind, and the floor so 
 braced and held l>y iron hearted girders as to be 
 absolutely safe. In the southern part of the 
 grounds and facing westward toward the river, as 
 do most of the buildings, is the beautiful Shum- 
 way Memorial Chapel, erected by Mrs. Hunting- 
 tim, of Cincinnati, in remembrance of a beloved 
 child. The Chapel is of suitable size and is most 
 perfect in all its appointments and exquisite in de- 
 sign. The stained windows were made abroad and 
 are very handsome, representing in mosaic of 
 glass, scenes in sacred history of the symbolisms 
 of the Church. The organ and altar within the 
 chancel are suited to the chapel, which necessarily 
 plays an important part in the exercises of the 
 school. The Rector's house is also a fine one, and 
 is finished in the latest style of modern ornamen- 
 tation, without mere display. East of the armory 
 there has recently been erected a handsome cot- 
 tage for the use of the commandant, who formerly 
 
348 
 
 HISTORY OF BIOB COUNTY. 
 
 lived in the city. It is proposed soon to heat all 
 buildings by steam from central buildings, and it 
 would not lie surprising if the electric light shiiuld 
 be introduced within a short time. The parade 
 ground for the out door evolutions of the cadets is 
 large and smooth, and a dress parade of the corps is 
 an exceedingly pleasant sight. At the present time 
 music is furnished by an excellent drum corps, but 
 as the school grows in size it is not at all improba- 
 ble that a band will be. formed among the 
 cadets. * * *" 
 
 In relation to the scope and character of the 
 study in this school there is one point which is 
 most admirable, and which is so frequently, and 
 we had almost said criminally neglected in so 
 many schools that it should be emphasized in the 
 most striking way, and that is the physical train- 
 ing which goes along paripasee with the intellec- 
 tual. No plan to do this has ever been found 
 equal to the school of the soldier, as it combines 
 pleasure and labor in a way that is most condu- 
 cive to develoiDment from youth to manhood, 
 because there is enough of the intellectual with it 
 to give it zest, even with the mentally inclined. 
 
 Without publishing the curriculum it will, per- 
 haps, be sufficient that a list of the text-books be 
 printed, although it must be understood that thes» 
 are mere auxiliaries in the realm of instruction. 
 
 The following Text Books are used in the 
 School : 
 
 Arithmetic, Mental Stoddard. 
 
 Arithmetic, Written Hagar. 
 
 Algebra Wentworth. 
 
 Astronomy Gillet & Bolfe. 
 
 Botany Gray's School and Field. 
 
 Book-keeping Meservey. 
 
 Chemistry Avery. 
 
 Civil Government Towuseud 
 
 Copy Books S|jencerian. 
 
 English Literature Townsend. 
 
 Geography Colton. 
 
 Geography, Physical Geike. 
 
 Grammar Harvey, Whitney. 
 
 German Grammar Cook's Otto. 
 
 Geometry Davies' Legendre. 
 
 Greek Lessons White. 
 
 Greek Grammar and Header Goodwin. 
 
 Greek Prose Jones 
 
 History, U. S Seavey's Goodrich. 
 
 History, England Guest's Lectures. 
 
 History, General Talhcimcr 
 
 Latin, Introductory Lessons Harkness 
 
 Latin Grammar and Reader. .Harkness, Stan. Ed. 
 
 Latin Prose Arnold. 
 
 Military Tactics Upton- 
 
 Natural Philosophy Gillet & Eolfe. 
 
 Political Economy Faucett. 
 
 Physiology Hutchison. 
 
 Readers Appleton's, Shaw's Selections, 
 
 LefEngwell'a Classics. 
 
 Rhetoric Hart. 
 
 Elocution Mitchell. 
 
 Spellers Harrington. 
 
 Study of Words Trench. 
 
 In this line, a presentation of the corps of in- 
 structors will add still further to an idea of what 
 ground is covered by the teaching of the school. 
 
 The Right Reverend H. B. Whipple, D. D., 
 Bishop of Minnesota, Chancellor and Visitor. 
 
 Rev. James Dobbin, A. M., B. D., Rector. 
 
 Rev. George H. Davis, Vice-Rector, and In- 
 structor in English Literature and Political Econ- 
 omy. 
 
 Capt. Charles A. Curtis, A. B., U. S. A., Com- 
 mandant, and Instructor in Military and Natural 
 Sciences. 
 
 William W: Champlaiu, A. M., Mathematics. 
 
 Harry E. Whitney, A. M., Latin and (rerman. 
 
 E. Webster Whipple, A. M., LL. B., Greek Lan- 
 guage and Literature. 
 
 Charles E. S. Rasey, A. M., History and Elocu- 
 tion. 
 
 Mrs. H. E. Wliitey, Instrumental and Vocal 
 Music. 
 
 Charles W. Clinton, A. M., Preparatoy Depxrt- 
 meut. 
 
 PHYSICAi CDLTURB. 
 
 G. Weston Wood, M. D., Physician and Sur- 
 geon. 
 
 Mrs. C. N. Parker, Matron. 
 Mrs. C. F. Sheldon, Nurse. 
 The officers of the Battalion organization are 
 
 FIELD AND STAFF. 
 
 Captain C. A. Curtis, U. S. A., Conunanclant. 
 
 G. W. Wood, Surgeon. 
 
 Cadet Lieut. E. L. Welch, Adjutant. 
 
 Cadet Sergeant Major, F. E. Evans. 
 
 Cadet Qiiartermaster Sergeant, S. S. Tanner. 
 
C'lTV OF FMllli.WLT. 
 
 349 
 
 Touching the government of the school, upon 
 which so much depends, the following extriict 
 from the published rules is made: 
 
 UULES OF CONDUCT. 
 
 "Only such rules are imjrased as are known to 
 lie necessary to correct, or to prevent improper 
 conduct and neglect of duty. The utmost watch- 
 fulness is maintained over the habits and conduct 
 of the cadets. The discipline, while kind and 
 just, is meant to he very strict. Everything is 
 designed to imbue each one with such a manly. 
 Christian spirit, and such n wholesome respect for 
 law as will secure cheerful as well as exact obedi- 
 euce. 
 
 The discipline of the school is semi-military. 
 All riiles and regtdatious, except such as are 
 purely military, are imposed by the Kector. The 
 cadet officer.^ of the battalion are required to aid in 
 their enforcement. The Commissioned officers are 
 detailed in rotation as " Officer of the Day." 
 During his term of duty the Officer of the J)ay is 
 rosponsible, together with his Sergeant and Cor- 
 poral of the Guard, tor the maintenance of good 
 order, and the observance of all the regulations of 
 the school. In case of disorder, or of any known 
 or suspected violation of the rules, it is the duty 
 of the officers to report it. These reports are 
 made regularly each day in writing, through the 
 Commandant, and the penalties are assigned, in 
 all cases, by tLe Rector or his representative. 
 Every cadet who is reported for any delinquency 
 is given an opportunity to make an explanation 
 before he is punished. In this way all hasty, un- 
 just, and discriminating punishments are avoided, 
 and the discipline of the school is made, in its 
 truest sense, corrective. A record of all delin- 
 quencies and punishments is preserved, and is fur- 
 nished to parents if de.sired. So far as the various 
 faults and dispositions of cadets will allow, these 
 are uniform, and con.sist in the performance of ex- 
 tra drill, and stmly. the loss of holidays and 
 pocket money, confinement to close bounds, de- 
 merits, etc. 
 
 HABITS P'OEBIDDEN. 
 
 The folliiwiug habits arc strictly forbidden: 
 
 The use of ardent spirits. 
 
 The use of tobacco in any form. 
 
 Visiting saloons or billiard rooms. 
 
 The use of profane or obscene language. 
 
 Leaving the school groumlH witliout permission. 
 
 Playing cards. 
 
 The contraction of debts. 
 
 Willfully marring and d(stroyiDg school prop- 
 erty. 
 
 Reading books and papers disapjirovcd. 
 
 An habitual and wilful indulgence in any of 
 these habits is held to be sufficient groiiml for re- 
 moval from the school." 
 
 The United States (iovernmcnt lias sn|)phed the 
 school with one hundred and fifty cadet riHe- 
 muskets, fifty cavalry .sabres, eighteen small swords, 
 and two artillery piece.s, with all the necessary 
 eqifipments. It also furnishes annually for prac- 
 tice firing, two thousand rounds of musket cart- 
 ridges, and one hundred rounds for .six pounder 
 guns. The cadet rifle, including bayonet, weighs 
 nine pounds. No one able to drill is excused from 
 it. Each cadet is held personally responsible for 
 the arms assigned to him. An excellent drnm 
 corps is attached to the battalion. 
 
 A paper, "The Sh.\ttuck GcnooL," is printed at 
 the school, and there are various societies, such as 
 "The Reading Room Asst)ciation," the "C. S. 0. 
 Society," the "Athletic .Association," the "Base 
 Ball Club," the "Choir," the "Orchestra," the 
 "Band," and others. There are various honors 
 and prizes to be contended tor, and of course the 
 latter will increase as the school goes on. 
 
 FEES. 
 
 Tuition, military drill, board, fuel, 
 
 lights and washing, (one dozen ) 
 
 per annum SaSd 00 
 
 Payable September 14th $200 00 
 
 Payable January 4th 150 00 
 
 Entrance Fee ( paid but once ) . . . 2.5 00 
 
 German, except to those pursuing 
 
 the graduating course Ifi 00 
 
 Lessons on piano 00 00 
 
 Use of piano for practice 15 00 
 
 Medical attendance 5 00 
 
 Day scholars, payable half-yearly 
 
 in advance 50 00 
 
 A vejy liberal rediu-tion is made to the sons of 
 clergymen. 
 
 The school year consists of thirty-eight weeks. 
 
 .SE.iBCKT DIVINITY SCHOOL. 
 
 In the year 1858, Rev. Dr. T. L. Breek, Rev. S. 
 W. Manney, and Rev. E. S. Peake organized an 
 associate mission at Gull Lake, and Mr. Breck and 
 
350 
 
 HISTORY OF HIGH COUNTY. 
 
 Mr. Manney begau mission work in Faribault. 
 They acquired about forty acres of land, built a 
 small wooden Chapel, two dwelling houses, and a 
 Divinity School of the dimensions of 16x18 feet. 
 By the next autumn — 1859 — when H. B.Whipple 
 was elected as the first Bishop of Minnesota, they 
 had a flourishing parish school, and had com- 
 menced the Seabury Divinity School with eight 
 or ten pupils. 
 
 On the 15th of May, 1858, the citizens of Fari- 
 bault, who were adherents of this faith, met and 
 formed an organization tor the avowed purpose of 
 creating an "Episcopal University." The Chair- 
 m^in of this meeting was A. J. Turner, the Secre- 
 tary was O. F. Perkins. A committee was ap- 
 pointed to receive contributions as follows : G. E. 
 Skinner, Levi Nutting, and J. B. Wheeler. 
 
 It seems that the Rev. T. Wilcoxson had prev- 
 iously visited Faribault, and there was a mission 
 at St. Columbia, one hundred and fifty miles north, 
 and on the 30th of July, 1869, there was an event 
 of unusual interest in ccmnection with this mission 
 work. Three Chippewas had come down from 
 that distant mission; two, Ma-ne-ta-wah, a Chris- 
 tian chief, and En-me-gah-bowh, had come to be 
 ordained by the missionary Bishop Rt. Rev. J. 
 Kemper. Here indeed was the frilit of missionary 
 labor, the service was crowded with Indians and 
 whites to witness a sight beheld for the first time 
 in America, the ordination of a full-blooded Indian 
 into the Priesthood or Deacouship of the church. 
 
 In 1859. a little missionary paper was printed 
 which revealed the wants of the mission and the 
 progress made. 
 
 The first anniversary exercises of the Seabury 
 Mission were on the 17th of August, 1859, and 
 according to the reports then made, the number 
 of scholars during the first quarter was fifteen, the 
 second sixty-seven; the third eighty-three; and 
 the term just closed one hundred and two. It can 
 thus be seen that the school at that time was needed 
 and appreciated. 
 
 The clergy and teachers then were: Rev. J. 
 Lloyd Breck, M. A.; Rev. Prof. Manney, M. A.; 
 G.Clinton Tanner ;»S. Dutton Hinraan; James 
 Dobbin; Miss M. J. Mills; Miss M. J. Leigh. 
 
 The story of the conversion of the Chippewas 
 and of the Dakotas, and particularly of the edu- 
 cation of bright "Little Hattie" and "Clara Moko- 
 manik," children of the forest, excited interest in 
 this mission and helped to supply contributions 
 
 for its support, particularly as the name of J. J. 
 En-me-gah-bowh was added to the clergy of the 
 mission. The first two graduates of the school 
 were Indian missionaries. 
 
 In 1860, in addition to the name of the Bishop, 
 was added to the associate missionaries the names 
 of Rev. G. C. Tanner and Rev. S. Dutton Hinman. 
 
 On the 22d of May, 1860, the Bishop Seabury 
 mission was incorporated with the following Trus- 
 tees: Rt. Rev. H. B. Whipple, I). D.; Rev. J. 
 Lloyd Breck, D. D. ; Rev. S. W. Manney; Rev. E. 
 G. Gear; Rev. D. B. Knickerbacker; liev. E. P. 
 Gray; Hon. H. T. Welles; Hon. E. T. Wilder; 
 Gen. N. J. T. Davy; Rev. E. R. Welles; and C. 
 Woolley. The school was named in honor and re- 
 memberance of Bishop Seabury, the first Bishop 
 in America, who was consecrated to this work in 
 Scotland. 
 
 These two men who thus cjme and entered upon 
 this missionary work with such a comprehensive 
 view of the requirements of the future, were the 
 real founders of the Divinity school, and when 
 Bishop Whipj5le came he at once took the enter- 
 prise under his protection, and with an energy that 
 never flags, has, with the assistance that has been 
 secured, brought the school up to its present pros- 
 perous condition. The construction of Seabury 
 Hall was commenced in 1862. It is a noble stone 
 structure, three stories with a basement, and cost 
 about |;l 6,000. It was completed in 1864. For a 
 few years there was a boy's collegiate school in 
 the same building and under the same teachers, 
 and various instnactors were employed. The 
 necessity of the specific work of the Divinity 
 School became so urgent that in 1865, the Shat- 
 tuck School was organized, and since that time 
 this school has been enabled to concentrate upon 
 its special work. In 1864, Rev. E. S. Thomas 
 joined the school, and Rev. Dr. S. Buel in 1866. 
 Rev. Dr. Breck removed to California in 1867, and 
 in 1869, to Rev. Dr. Manney, 
 
 "The God of bounds who sets to seas a shore. 
 Came to him in his fatal rounds, 
 And said, no more!" 
 
 He had been a chaplain in the army with .^1, 800 
 
 a year, which he surrendered for $500 here with 
 
 lalior and discouragements, but he lived long 
 
 enough to see that his planting would become a 
 
 fruitful vineyard. The Rev. Dr. T. Riuhey was 
 
 elected professor of Ecclesiastical History. In 
 
 1870, Mr. Thomas was called to the rectorship of 
 
 St. Mark's Church in Minneapolis, and resigned 
 
677')' OA' FA/il/l.Un/r. 
 
 It.'il 
 
 his posiUon here. In 1871, Mr. Buel became a pro- 
 fessor in the General Theological Seminary, and 
 he was succeeJetl by Rev. Dr. J. S. Kidney. In 
 1874, Rev. Creorge L. Chase became warden and 
 Professor of Homiletics. The late Rev. Dr. H. Y. 
 McMasters acted as Professor of Evidences for 
 seven years. Rev. G. C Tanner was acting Pro- 
 fessor of Exegesis for two years, and he was suc- 
 ceeded by Rev. W.J. Gold. Dr. Richey was suc- 
 ceeded by Mr. Humphrey, Acting-Professor of 
 Ecclesiastical History, and Rev. E. 8. Wilson was 
 elected Professor of Exegesis. 
 
 In 1871, the Seabnry Hall was burned. It was 
 a heavy blow and a serious loss, but another was 
 soon commenced and the present edifice went up, 
 and now the.^e is a noble hall, a beautiful chapel, 
 a professor's residence, a library building, with 
 several thousand choice volumes. 
 
 The students read service at various outlying 
 stations. 
 
 The present staff is as follows, viz: 
 
 Bishop Whipple, Professor of Pastoral Work. 
 
 The Rev. George L.Chase, A. M., Warden and 
 Professor of Homiletics and Liturgies. 
 
 The Rev. F. Humphry, Acting Professor of Ec- 
 clesiastical History, and Rev. E. S. Wilson, Pro- 
 fessor of Exegesis. 
 
 The Rev. J. Steinford Kidney, D. D., Professor 
 of Divinity, and Acting Professor of Ethics and 
 Apologetics. 
 
 The ''Bishop Seabury Mission" has a board of 
 trustees consisting of eight laymen and six clergy- 
 men, the Bishop is the President. 
 
 As a divinity school it has a high rank and is the 
 advocate of no party or faction, but "within the 
 liberty which the church gives, yields to every man 
 all the freedom of opinion, which the church tol- 
 erates." 
 
 ST. mart's H.ibL. 
 
 This is a school for girls which has obtained a 
 wide reputation for usefulness during the sixteen 
 years of its existence. The several hundred who 
 have received instruction here are scattered over a 
 wide expanse of territory, and each one, as she has 
 opportunity, is the center of usefulness. The 
 school was instituted by Bisbop Whipple, and 
 opened in his residence in 1866, under the care of 
 Rpv. L.J. Mills and Miss S. P. Darlington. Mr. 
 Mills had been associated with Bishoj) Kerfoot at 
 James College, and he brought the knowledge ac- 
 quired by that school. He only lived to work with 
 
 the school for four months, hut during that time 
 left an imjircssion upon its characti^r which has 
 moulded and will continue to mould its forms of 
 instruction while it shall exist. At the end of six 
 years from the time of its institution the school 
 v/vs placed in the care of a board of trustees. At 
 ])resent tlie buildings occupy a block of land one 
 sipiare from the Cathedral, diagonally across the 
 street, they are spacious, comfortable, cheerful- 
 and home-like, with shady walks and cheerful sur- 
 roimdings. The avowed object of the school is to 
 train up Christian women, and the theory main- 
 tained is that religion should be a wellspring of 
 joy and pleasure, and not a source of sadness and 
 melancholy, and that girls will equal boys in 
 every department of letters, with equal advantages. 
 Rev. George B. Whipple, the brother of Bishop 
 H. B. Whipple, is the assistant in the spiritual 
 care of the school. It has accommodations for 
 seventy boarders and forty day scholars. We pre- 
 sent here as a fitting place, a brief sketch of the 
 woman who for fourteen years had her life bound 
 up in this school. 
 
 Miss S. P. Darlington. — This estimable lady 
 was the principal of St. Mary's Hall from 1862 
 up to the time when she was called to — 
 ' A land unknown. 
 
 That day of days drew nigh. 
 Which shall unlock all hidden storcH, 
 
 And bid our dreading, longing spirits rty 
 To thy mysterious .shores." 
 
 Her passing away was on the 19th of February, 
 1881, after eight days of pain and sufi'ering. 
 From the time when she took charge of the insti- 
 tution, except one year, she was the capable, cul- 
 tivated, and careful counselor of those under her 
 charge. Few women have better administrative 
 ability than she developed in the reponsibile posi- 
 tion that she occupied in such an etBcient way. 
 the monuments that she reared are living all over 
 the country, as devoted wives, faithful and loving 
 mothers, and beloved women. She came from 
 Pennsylvania, a daughter of Dr. Darlington, a 
 noted botanist. 
 
 The mantle of Miss Darlington has fallen upon 
 Miss E. A. Rice, her former associate, who is in 
 every way qualified to fill the responsible posi- 
 tion to which she has been called. 
 
 The regular terms of the school begin on the 
 third Thursday in September, and close on the 
 third Tuesday in June, and has two weeks vaca- 
 tion at Christmas, and ten days at Easter, when 
 the juipils can, if they choose, visit home. 
 
302 
 
 UJ6T0RY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 The terms are 1300 a year, with no extra 
 eharges for French or German. Music and paint- 
 ing are an extra charge. 
 
 The following are the officers and teachers for 
 1881-82. 
 
 Rt. Rev. H. B. Whipple, D. D., Rector. 
 
 Rev. Geo. B. Whipple, Chaplain and Treasurer. 
 
 Miss E. A. Bice, Principal. 
 
 Prof. John Foster, A. B., Latin and Mathemat- 
 ics. 
 
 Miss E. Whitney, History, English Language, 
 and Literature. 
 
 Miss F. S. Beaue, Natural Sciences and Blathe- 
 uiatics. 
 
 Miss M. Finch, English Branches. 
 
 Miss M. W. Greene, Preparatory Department. 
 
 Miss Mary A. Smith, Elocution. 
 
 Mile. M. P. Landerer, French and German. 
 
 Miss Grace D. Sherwood, Music. 
 
 Miss C. M. Hakes, Vocal Music. 
 
 Miss M. P. Harbaugh, Drawing and Painting. 
 
 Miss M. A. Williams, Matron. 
 
 Miss Susan Phelps, Assistant Matron. 
 
 Hon. Gordon E. Cole, Secretary. 
 
 Eiglit acres of laud on the bhiff opposite the 
 city and overlooking it, just south of the State 
 Institution for the Deaf Mutes, have been secured, 
 aud a building is now going up which will be in 
 every way adapted to the requirements of the 
 school and an ornament to the city. The cost 
 will be $75,000. 
 
 An account of the exercises attending the lay- 
 ing of the corner-stone is printed here from the 
 local press, and seems to be a fitting conclusion to 
 this summary account of St. Mary's Hall. 
 
 ST. mart's hail. THE CEREMONY OF LAi'ING THE 
 
 CORNER-STONE. 
 
 •' The laying of the corner-stone of St. Mary's 
 Hall marks another era in the progress of educa- 
 tional work in the city. The school has outgrown 
 the primitive foundations upon which it was first 
 reared, and the new and noble edifice which is de- 
 manded by its necessities will soon become one of 
 the chief ornaments of our attractive city. 
 
 The ceremonies of Monday, June 19th, were 
 witnessed by a large concourse of people, among 
 whom were numerous visitors who were in attend- 
 ance upon the commencement proceedings. 
 
 About the stone ware grouped the bishop and 
 resident clergy, tlie pupils of St. Mary's and 
 Shattuck Halls, the architect, Mr. William Wil- 
 
 cox, the contractor, Mr. William McNeil, of Chi- 
 cago, and others. 
 
 The services were in accordance with the usual 
 church formuliB. 
 
 The following articles were deposited in the box 
 which was placed under the stone : 
 
 English Bible, Prayer Book and Hymnal, Dako- 
 tah Prayer Book and Hymnal, Chippewa Prayer 
 Book and Hymnal, Catalogues of St. Mary's 
 Hall, Catalogues of Shattuck School, Catalogues 
 Seabury Divinity School, History of the Church 
 Schools in Faribault, Journal of Diocese of Minne- 
 sota, Conventional address of the Bishop, copies of 
 the St. Paul Pioneer Press, of June 18th and 19th, 
 1881, Minnesota Missionary for 1882, the Church- 
 man, the Episcopal Register, Guardian, Standard 
 of the Cross, Living Church, St. Paul Globe, St. 
 Paul Dispatch, Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis 
 Tribune, Faribault Democrat, Faribault Republi- 
 can, names of the President of the United States 
 and Cabinet, names of the Governor and State 
 Officers, Principal, Teachers and Pupils of St. 
 Mary's Hall, Officers and Teachers of Shattuck 
 School, and names of Superintendents of State In- 
 stitutions at Faribault. 
 
 The stone bears the symbol of the cross and the 
 iusciiption "St. Mary's Hall, 1882." 
 
 The Bisho)>, after laying the stone, delivered an 
 address of which the following is an extract: 
 
 BISHOP Whipple's address. 
 
 Beloved Friends: I bid you all a hearty wel- 
 come to share my joy to-day. It is a day for 
 which I have waited long. Twenty-three years 
 ago 1 came to Faribault a stranger. Every busi- 
 ness man in the border village came to ask me 
 to make Faribault my home. They were men of 
 different creeds, mostly strangers to the church. 
 They had come here from far-off' Eastern homes 
 to the distant West to found a State. They be- 
 lieved that Christian education must be its corner- 
 stone. They were, like myself, poor men. They 
 had an abiding faith in the coming future. They 
 gave me their pledge to he my helpers. Some of 
 those who welcomed me are scattered far, others 
 are sleeping with the dead, but the pledge they 
 made has been fulfilled. 
 
 I cannot tell you to-day the history of these 
 halls whicli liave made the name of Faiibault a 
 household word; nor can I tell you of a fairer 
 temple, not made with hands, builded in living 
 souls. That rude cottage on yonder hill was our 
 
CITY OF FMIIIIAULT. 
 
 353 
 
 University. Ou the fair grounds of Shattuck 
 School, where stands thut noble oluiich, a loving 
 woman's gift to God, was a tangled forest. Where 
 DOW you hear the organ peal I heard the wierd, 
 wild dunce of tlie Dakotah. Sixteen vears ago 
 there came to me, as the voice of God, the thought 
 that our schools would lose their rarest beauty un- 
 less we had a hall to traiu and mould into perfect- 
 ness Christian womanhood. Our other work was 
 in its infancy; halls to be built, library to be 
 gathered, professorships to found, an hundred 
 ways for every dollar given. I did not ask coun- 
 sel, save ot the best of all counselors, a Christian 
 wife. We settled it tliat our home should be the 
 new St. Mary's Hall. God sent me a woman of 
 the rarest culture, the deepest faith, and the strong- 
 est will. She heard tlie plan; she believed in it, 
 and Miss Sarah P. Darlington became the princi- 
 pal of our school. It was God's will that when 
 her work was done, she should be called home, 
 but the mantle fell on shoulders every way wor- 
 thy the trust. It seems as yesterday when we be- 
 gan this work. The school has to-day many hun- 
 dred daughters; 1 hear of them everywhere — lov- 
 ing children in happy homes. Christian wives and 
 mothers, gentle women ministering to sorrow — 
 and they have overpaid me an hundred-told for 
 every care. To-day we reach another way -murk 
 of our history. The school has outgrow-n its 
 present home; we need a fairer, nobler building 
 adapted to its work. Three-fourths of the cost to 
 enclo.se this noble building has been the gift of 
 women, and I should wrong my brothers' hearts 
 if I doulited that they would complete a work so 
 well begun. 
 
 PUBLIC .SCHOOLS. 
 
 Attention was early called to educational mat- 
 ters. No sooner were the people located here with 
 the children than they provided for a school. The 
 first school must have been the one startt'd by E. 
 J. Crump, who had for pupils the children ot Mr. 
 Faribault and Mr. Hulett. Mr. Mott, at an early 
 day, taught a select school. Other schools were 
 opened at various times which are mentioned in 
 another place. Ultimately the common school 
 system was adopted in the State, and full advan- 
 tage of its provisions was taken here. 
 
 By an act of the Legislature in 18G4, school 
 
 district No. 1 was made a corporate body by the 
 
 name of "Faribault School District," and it is 
 
 under the control of a Board of Education con- 
 
 23 
 
 sisting of five members, who are elected by the 
 legal voters of the district. The Faribault Cen- 
 tral School is located near the center of the district 
 and is of blue limestone, 82x52 feet on the ground 
 and four stories in height, including the basement. 
 From basement to eaves is 57 feet, and "the roof is 
 surmounted by a cupola which, including the 
 spire, reaches 45 feet above the roof. A hall 19 
 feet 5 inches wide, in which are the staircases, 
 divides the building on the three principal Hoors. 
 The basement has the heating apparatus, and a 
 tenement for the janitor. On the first floor above 
 the basement are three schoolrooms with accom- 
 modations for 208 pupils. On the next story are 
 two rooms with an ecpial seating capacity, while 
 the upper one is finished in a single room as a hall 
 for the use of the schools. 
 
 The city of Faribault constitutes a s])ecial school 
 district. The school department consists of a 
 Board of Education of five members, as follows: 
 L. W. Denison, President; S. B. Wilson, Clerk; 
 
 A. 1). Keyes, Treasurer; and George W. Batch- 
 elder. These members of the board are elected by 
 the people on the first Saturday in October. The 
 above were the members for 18^1-82. 
 
 The corps of instruction consists of one super- 
 intendent and nineteen teachers. The corps for 
 the year, ending .Tune 16, 1882, was as follows: 
 
 B. M. Reynolds, Superintendent. Ashworth Heys, 
 High School; George K. Simpson, Miss Abbie L. 
 Nutting, Miss Cliessie Gowdy,and Miss MaryGraut, 
 Grammar Dejiartment; Miss S. H. Hussey, MissR. 
 
 C. Adams, and Miss Mary Howe, Intermediate De- 
 partment; Miss Fanny O. Anderson, Miss Gertie 
 Denison, Miss .Tosephine H. Hegmon, Miss Mary 
 Howard, Miss Carrie Wood, Miss Hattie Evans, 
 Miss Auna Mahoney, Miss Mary Hughes, Miss 
 Mary Alden, Miss Nellie Robertson, and Mr. A. J. 
 Wolfe, Primary Department. 
 
 The schools are divided into High School, Gram- 
 mar, Indermediate, and Primary Grades. During 
 the school year, ending June IG, 1882, one thous- 
 and one hundred and ninety-eight different jnipils 
 were enrolled in all the departments. The current 
 expenses for the same year were a little over ten 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 The High School is under the supervision of the 
 State High School Board, and receives aid from 
 the State in accordance with an act of the Legis- 
 lature, approved March 3, 1881. The High School 
 course is sufScient to fit pupils for the different 
 colleges of the University. 
 
354 
 
 HrSTOHT OF UWE COUNTY. 
 
 The public schoolhouse iu Faribault was built 
 in 1868, aud comiileted ready for occupancy iu 
 September of that year. Dr. L. W. Denison was 
 President of the Board. The teachers were: G. 
 H. Warren, Lavinia Philbrick, Ella Winter, Laura 
 Van Horn, and Ellen Newcomb. The .school had 
 300 pupils to start off with. 
 
 There are four other school buildings on the 
 west side, each capable of seating about fifty 
 pupils. Two of these houses are of brick and two 
 of stone. There is one on the east side that will 
 accommodate one hundred; it has two rooms and 
 two teachers. 
 
 The main school building has chemical, astro- 
 nomical, and other apparatus now found in the 
 best schools in the country, with school furniture 
 in striking contrast with the rude benches of a 
 quarter of a century ago. 
 
 Notwithstanding the denominational schools, 
 which stand out so prominently in Faribault, and 
 whicL have been the objects of so much care and 
 tender solicitude, the common schools have not 
 been neglected, but are in all respects up to the 
 modern standard. 
 
 CHUncHES. 
 
 There are ten regular churches in town, iu addi- 
 tion to the school chapels, where services are more 
 or less frequently held. An account of their loca- 
 titm and service is here printed, and it makes a 
 pleasiug contrast with thirty years ago, when, near 
 where they stand, 
 
 "The rank thistle nodded iu the wind, 
 And the fox dug his hole unscared." 
 
 Whatever it may be in contrast with thirty 
 years lience. 
 
 Cathedkal of Ouu Merciful Saviouk. — Cor- 
 ner of Sixth and Chestnut streets. Services at 
 10:30 A. M. and 7:30 p. M. Seats free. Rt. Bev. 
 H. B. Whipple, D. D., Rector; Rev. George B. 
 Whipple, Assistant. 
 
 Memorial Chapel. — Services at 3:00 r. m. 
 James Dobbin, Rector. 
 
 Congregational. — Corner of Third and Maple 
 streets. Services at 10:30 a. m. and 7:30 P. M. 
 Rev. E. Gale, Pastor. 
 
 Baptist — Corner of Fifth anil Maple streets. 
 Services at 10:30 a. m. and 7:30 p. m. Rev. E. C. 
 Sanders, Pastor. 
 
 Methodist Episcopal. — Corner of Third and 
 Cherry streets. Services at the usual hours Sun- 
 day morning and evening; also Tuesday and 
 
 Thursday evenings of each week. Sunday school 
 at 12 M. J. T. Squiers, S. S. Supt., R. Forbes, 
 Pastor. 
 
 Church of the Immaculate Conception. — Cor- 
 ner of Front and Maple streets. High Mass at 
 10:30 A. M. Vespers at 7:30 p. m. C. Genis, 
 Pastor. 
 
 German Catholic — Corner Eightli and Chest- 
 nut streets. High Mass every Sunday at 10:30 
 A.M. Vespers at 3 :00 p. M. Father Lette, Pastor. 
 
 German Methodist. — Third street, between 
 Maple and Cherry. Services at 10:30 a. m. 
 
 French Catholic. — Corner Sixth and Cherry 
 streets. High Mass every Sunday at 10:30 a. m. 
 Vespers at 3:00 P. M. J. H. Leonard, Pastor. 
 
 Norwegian Lutheban. — On Third between 
 Chestnut and Elm streets. Services at the usual 
 hours. 
 
 ZioNS Church. — Corner of Sixth and Cedar 
 streets. Regular services. 
 
 The Congregational Church of Faribault. — 
 This denomination was early in the field. About 
 the commencement of regular religious services 
 was in the summer of 1855. They were conducted 
 liy various ministers who happened to be present, 
 aud in the absence of a clergyman. Dr. Charles 
 Jewett, who had settled about two and a halt 
 miles from town, and who is well remembered as 
 an apostle of temperance, conducted theesercises. 
 On the third Sunday in May, 185(5, a society hav- 
 ing been organized, a church was instituted by a 
 council which had been regularly called for the 
 purpose, and nearly thirty members were gathered. 
 The next Sabl)ath a Sunday school was organized, 
 and the services were regularly held in Crump's 
 Hall. A call was soon given to Rev. Lauren 
 Armsby, of New Hampshire, who accepted and 
 continued to preach until elected as a Chaplain of 
 the Eighth Minnesota Regiment in the war of 1801. 
 Early iu 1850, plans were laid to build a church. 
 Dr. Jewett wrote to a friend of his in Massachu- 
 settB, a Reverend Doctor of Divinity, asking for a 
 little help to erect a church, from friends in that 
 locality. This appeal was published in the Cou- 
 grogatioualist in Boston with favorable comments, 
 and the result was that there were some contribu- 
 tions from the East, a Sunday school library, 
 means to procure the communion service, the bible, 
 etc. The bell, which weighs 1,000 pounds, and 
 was hung on the last Saturday in August, 1857, 
 was presented by a cousin of Mr. Armsby, of 
 
VITY i)F FA/i/JlAL'LT. 
 
 355 
 
 WhitinsviUe, Miissiiohuaetts. The ohnrch, which 
 was located on Third street between Chestnut ;ind 
 Elm, was completed and dedicated on the 7th of 
 January, 1857. The Pastor, Kev. Mr. Arnisby, 
 was installed in tlie morning and the church was 
 dedicated in the afternoon. It was a great acca- 
 siou for these people and tor this town. Among 
 those present were Kev. Mr. Cressey, of Cannon 
 City, Rev. Mr. Barnes, of Cannon Falls, and the 
 Rev. Mr. Secombe. In July, 1857, the church hav- 
 ing been found to be too small, an addition was 
 made, This building cost about S3,000, and was 
 used until 1874, when it was S(_)ld to the Norwegian 
 Lutherans. 
 
 In 186-1, another Congregational church was 
 provisionally organized and meetings commence d, 
 and in the course of time a tine stone church was 
 built, and its history miglit as well be introduced 
 here. 
 
 PLYMot'TH Church was regularly organized on 
 the 25th of January, 1806, and the following Rev- 
 erend gentlemen were present: Mr. Dudley and 
 Mr. Hall, of St. Paul; Charles Secombe, of St. 
 Anthony; C. C. Salter, of Minneapolis; E, S. Wil- 
 liams and Mr. Goodsell, of Northtneld; Dr. Aiken 
 and Deacon Williamson, of Medford; and E. L. 
 Tappan, of Owatonna, Rev. J. W. Strong was in- 
 stalled as pastor. 
 
 About this tune an important meeting was held 
 here to see what could be done toward securing 
 Faribault as the location of the Congregational 
 College which was in contemplation. Little in- 
 terest was manifested and no special efl'orts made, 
 and so Northfleld secured the prize. 
 
 The corner stone of Plymouth church was laid 
 on the corner of Maple and Third streets on the 
 11th of September, 1867, with suitable ceremonies; 
 a large number of clergymen were present witli a 
 great concourse of people. The size of the edifice 
 is 40x75 feet, with a spire 114 feet high. The 
 building is of stone with a basement, built in a 
 modern style of architecture; it was completed 
 and dedicated to the service of Almighty God on 
 Thursday, October 12th, 1869. The Rev. J. W. 
 Strong, now president of Carleton College, was 
 the pastor. Among thechrgymen of this denora- 
 nation who were present may be named: Rev. E. 
 M. Williams, of Austin; Rev. E. S.Williams, of 
 Northfield; Rev. Mr. Packard, of Anoka ; Rev. Mr. 
 Whiting, of Janesville, Wisconsin; and Rev. Dr. 
 Secombe. Services were regularly held under sev- 
 eral pastors and a good membershijj resulted. 
 
 The two churches moved along in an uneventful 
 way until 1874, when th<' old organizations were 
 discarded and the members merged into a new so- 
 ciety and church with the name at the head of tliis 
 sketch. There is now a nu^mljership of 275, and 
 without doubt this church has been, and still is 
 one of considerable influence in the comnninity, as 
 its leading members are also leading public 
 sjiirited men in the city and county. 
 
 As to the ])a.stors of tliis eliurch, the first, as 
 above mentioned, was Rev. L. Armsby, whose 
 place was held by the first church until his return 
 from the army, covering about ten years. Then 
 came E. Gail, whose services wore seven years; J. 
 W. Strong and E. M. Williams, who was installed 
 on the nth of October, 1871. liev. Mr. Chapin 
 was next, and following were. Dr. Perrot, T. C. 
 (Gardiner, Mr. Wilkie, T. C. Northcott, and E. Gail 
 again, the present pastor. Up to the time of the 
 organization, from the period of the seperation, of 
 C(_>urse some two of the ministers were here at the 
 same time. When thej united, the original church 
 had 15U members, and Plymouth had 135. The 
 church was largely made up of New England 
 people, who have always assisted in building other 
 churches. 
 
 Baptist Church. — The movement for the or- 
 ganization of this church was commenced in June, 
 1856, by the following persons: Mr. and Mrs. M. 
 Cole, E. Q. Rising and wife, J. L. Smallidge and 
 wife, L. A. Fish and wife, D. Haskius and wife, 
 Mrs. A. Van Brunt, Mrs. Emily A. Howe, and Mr. 
 E. Darling. The organization was pulilicly effect- 
 ed on the 7th of September, 1856, delegates being 
 present from Prescott, Owatonna, Hastings, Minne- 
 apolis, and St. Paul. The clergymen whi> partici- 
 pated were the Revs. T. B. Rogers, of Prescott, 
 Iowa ; T. R. Cressey, of Cannon City ; Rev. Towne, of 
 Owatonna; Rev. E. W. Cressey, of Hastings; Rev. 
 D. S. Deane, and M. Bailey, of Illinois. The first 
 officers elected were: Trustees, Davis Has^jins, M. 
 Cole, E. Q. Rising, J. B. Cooper, and G.G. Howe; 
 clerk, L. A. Fish; treasurer, E. Q. Rising; dea- 
 cons, Davis Haskins and E. Q. Rising. Since or- 
 ganization the church has had 3ltO different mem- 
 bers, the present membership being about 115. 
 There has been eleven deaths of members. 
 
 The church has had eleven pastors, in order as 
 follows: Rev. T. R. Cressey, Rev. H. C. Haven, 
 K(>v. T. S. Nize, Rev. Charles Swift, Rev. T. R. 
 Peters, Itev. W. L. Sanders, Rev. R. F. Gray, Bcv. 
 
350 
 
 UISTORY OF RICE COUNTV. 
 
 C. J. B. Jackson, Kev. S. S. Utter, aud Bev E. C. 
 Sanders. 
 
 After organization the congregation met for 
 some time in Phelp's Hall, subsequently, in 1857, 
 Metropolitan Hall was rented for three years. The 
 resolution to build a church edifice was adopted in 
 May, 1857, but owing to various hindrances the 
 building was not erected until May, 1862, being 
 dedicated to the worship of God on the 4th of 
 February, 1803. Three of the brethren purchased 
 the lots on which the church stands, for the society, 
 personally assuming the obligation. When the 
 erection of a church was decided upon the society 
 raised S900 and concluded t{.) go on and build to 
 the extent of their fiuance.s. Geo. W. Tower 
 offered them all the timber they wanted, and their 
 funds were expended long before the building was 
 covered. A committee appointed for a 4th of 
 July celebration offered them the proceeds of a 
 dinner to be served ujjou the occasion, if they 
 would undertake the labor. The offer was ac- 
 cepted and the ladies of Faribault provided the 
 food, netting $.300 towards the church. 
 
 On the 28th of December, 1881, the church cele- 
 brated the 25th anniversary of organization, and 
 the Faribault Republican says in commenting 
 upon it, '-The first settlers of our city, who were 
 largely of New England origin, brought with 
 them the attachment to schools and churches that 
 has ever characterized the descendants of the Puri- 
 tants, wherever transplanted. It is not surprising 
 therefore, that, as early as 1854, only a single year 
 after the colonists had reared the first log cabins 
 on the town plat, initiatory steps were taken for 
 the organization of churches, the Baptist element 
 being among the first in the field." The church 
 is a comfortable frame structure situated on the 
 corner of Fifth and Maple streets. 
 
 Free Will Baptist. — A chiirch was organized 
 on the 8th of April, 185S, Elder Smith, of Wasioja, 
 Dodge County, officiating. Kev. D. O. Hink w-as 
 the preacher and meetings were held in the school 
 room with more or less regularity for some time. 
 
 Methodist Episcopal.- -The first class was or- 
 ganized in the summer of 1855, by Rev. T. M. 
 Kirkpatrick, in the house of Mr. Truman Nutting 
 This minister was appointed to the Cannon River 
 mission by the Wisconsin Conference. The olass 
 mentioned was (■omi)oscd of the following persons: 
 Truman Nutting and wife, Morgan Noble and 
 wife, J. M. White, E. J. Crum)), and H. T. Raw- 
 
 son. Soon after, Rev. T. M. Kirkpatrick was ap- 
 pointed presiding elder of the district and Dr. J. 
 L. Scofield was employed to supply the Cannon 
 River mission The Minnesota Conference was 
 created by the general conference of 1856, and 
 met" at Red Wing in August of that year, when 
 Rev. Mr. Jennison was transferred from Iowa and 
 appointed to Faribault. He remained in Faribault 
 six weeks, when, from some cause unknown he re- 
 signed the charge and returned to Iowa. Rev. Wm. 
 McKinley next took charge of the .society. During 
 this time meetings were held in Crump's Hall, and 
 that was continued as their "meeting-house" until 
 they built a church. 
 
 Rev. Kirkpatrick preached his first sermon in the 
 ofiice or bar-room of Nutting's hotel, to a respect- 
 able audience, among whom was Gen. James 
 Shields. The first quarterly meeting for Faribault 
 was held in Crump's Hall, in November, 1856, 
 aud was organized by Rev. Mr. McKinley. The 
 latter gentleman says that when he arrived at the 
 place of meeting, at the hour set, he found three 
 boys performing on fiddles, who, upon being asked 
 if they knew anything of the quarterly conference 
 that was to be held, replied, ^^Ni.vie ,1 im /'' Not- 
 withstanding this discouraging reply the (juar- 
 terly meeting was held, by going to the houses 
 and "drumming up" the members. 
 
 The society built a church in 1800, aud in No- 
 vember of that year dedicated it to the worehip of 
 God, and although small, gave the society. 
 ".\ local liabitation and a name." 
 
 The lot for the church was donated to the .society 
 by Gen. James Shields. 
 
 The order of ministers to offu'iate here has been 
 as follows: Revs. T. M. Kirkpatrick, William 
 McKinley, J. H. White, Thomas Day, J. O. Rich, 
 W. H. St. Claire. C. G. Bowdish, E. R. Lathrop, 
 J. M. Rogers, Ezra Tucker, I. H. Reddick, David 
 Tice, J. F. Chattee, E. R. Lathrop, A. B. Bishop, 
 Robert Forbes, and in the fall of 1881, Rev. Chas. 
 N. Stowers accepted a call to the charge and is the 
 present minister. The present membership is 
 about 110. 
 
 The building first erected by the church was 
 used until 1875, when the present neat edifice was 
 erected. It was not completed, however, until 
 1881, the co.st being about S12,000. It is of brick 
 and is located on Third Street, a block below the 
 Court House. 
 
 Geu-man Methodist Episcop.\l Church. — This 
 
ciry OF FAitni.wi.T. 
 
 357 
 
 congregation was organized ou the 23d of No- 
 
 voraber, 1S68. The earliest meetings were hold in 
 Mr. Kleiner's house by Rev. Felix Funk. Serv- 
 ices were held over the store of (!liarl(M Degens 
 for several years. lu 1870, the chureli was l)uilt, 
 at a cost of !i!!3,578. There is a parsonage in the 
 rear of the church. The first trustees were Rev. 
 F. Funk, F. Deters, Jacob Roth, and C. H. Klemei*. 
 There are now 110 members. The church edifice 
 is located on Third between Maple and Cherry 
 streets. 
 
 The first quarterly conference was held in 1869, 
 in Degens' Hall; Rev. F. Kopf was the presiding 
 elder. F. W. Buckholz was the minister in 
 charge. Rev. George Hartung is the present 
 pastor. 
 
 NoBWEOiAN Lutheran Chdrcii. — An organiza- 
 tion was effected in 1869, the first services being 
 held in Metropolitan Hall. Rev. Mr. Quemmen 
 was an early preacher. In 1876, the Congrega- 
 tioualist society having built a new church, the 
 old one was sold to this society for .§2,2.50. Its 
 location is on Third street nearly opposite the 
 engine house. At that time it had thirty mem- 
 bers, now it has 100. The officers of the church 
 arc: Trustees, Ole Peterson, J. Madsen, an<l N. 
 To;kelson; treasurer, A. K. Brandvold; secretary, 
 L. Torvson. 
 
 ZiON CriURl'II OF THE EVANGELICAI. ASSOCIATION 
 
 OF North America. — Was organized in 1879 with 
 forty-three members. The first services in this in- 
 terest were held in private houses by Rev. J. 
 Blank and Rev. W. C. Lydow for about six 
 months prior to the organization. The church 
 was soon erected, at a cost of about $2,.500, on 
 the corner of Cedar and Sixth streets. There are 
 now about sixty-two memliers. The following 
 Reverend gentlemen have been the ministers here: 
 W. C. Lydow, George Hus.ser, L. Van Wald, and 
 George Staeth, the present pastor. 
 
 Roman C.^tholio: The Church of the Immac- 
 ulate Conception. This is sometimes called the 
 " Irish Catholic," on account of the prevailing na- 
 tionality of the worshipers there. Father Ita- 
 voux and Father Francis held mass in Mr. Fari- 
 bault's house at an early period of the settlement 
 of the town. In 18.06, a little frame building was 
 put up for a church, in which missionaries had 
 service. In the fall of 18.57, this was burned, and 
 in the spring of 1858, the building now in use was 
 started. Services were held there before its com- 
 
 pletion, which was not for some years. It is on 
 the corner of Maple and Front streets. Father 
 Gi'iiis was here when it was finally comiili'tcd. 
 
 Thr first stationed priest was Father Keller, who 
 remained about ten years; Father Rivello came 
 next, and remained about two years; then Father 
 Cheney, and after him was Father Genis, who still 
 remains. There is a most excellent house of wor- 
 ship. Land was given for this church by Alex- 
 ander Faribault, by Norbert Paquin, and General 
 James Shields, two mea of French and one of Irish 
 descent. The jircdominating influence at first was 
 strongly French, but after a time the Irish mem- 
 bership became the larger, and the French mem- 
 bers gave up their share of the church property 
 and went by themselves. 
 
 CiiriKwi OF the Sacred Heaut. — Or, as it is 
 called the " French Catholic Church." The first 
 separate services were held in April, 1877, by Rev. 
 Father A. Payett, of St. Paul, services being held 
 in the old church. A building was soon com- 
 menced by contract for $4,7-13. At the time of 
 the separation there were 140 families in this di- 
 vision. The cost of the structure up to this time 
 is $10,000, and thei'e are now about 150 families 
 worshipiug here. 
 
 In 1880, a parsonage was commenced, and com- 
 pleted in 1882, at a cost of .$1,200. The church 
 is on the corner of Sixth and Cherry streets, and 
 the parsonage is near. The jjriests since Fatlier 
 Payett have been, Father .Joseph Leonard, -and 
 tlie present priest. Father .John Van Leent. 
 
 German St. Lawrence — Catholic. — This de- 
 nomination was for a number of years merged 
 with the Iri.sh Catholic, or Church of the Immacu- 
 late Conception. In 1869, this class withdrew 
 from the above-named society, and on September 
 19th of that year, effected au organization. The 
 first mass was said on that date by Father Keller, 
 in the building now used for a black.smith shop 
 on Fourth street, to an audience of about thirty- 
 five families. The building was purchased of Mr. 
 Lange, and this was used until their church edi- 
 fice was erected in 1876, on the corner of Chest- 
 nut and Eighth streets, at a cost of $5,400. Their 
 pastors have been the following: Fathers Keller, 
 Chaffee. Beaumann, Stecker, Sewazkey, Lette, and 
 Father Van Leent, the present priest. The pres- 
 ent officers are: Father Van Leent,' President; E. 
 Kaul, Secretary; Adam Weyer, Treasurer. A 
 neat and substantial parsonage was erected in 
 1S76, at a co.st of .$1,000. 
 
358 
 
 HISTORY OP RICE COUNTY. 
 
 This society is upon almost as substantial foot- 
 ing as any religious denomination in the city, and 
 has a good membership. 
 
 Parochial School of the Immaculate Con- 
 ception. — This was cammenced at an early day, 
 on the coming of the Sisters of the Order of St. 
 Dominie. At first the school was in the basement 
 of the church, but there is now a large, two-story 
 stone building, and the school has an attendance 
 of 2.50 pupils, who are taught by four of the Sis- 
 ters. It is near the church. Scholars taking a 
 course of music are instructed in the Bethlehem 
 Acade)ny, which is situated near the school. 
 
 Bethlehem Academy. — This institution, a 
 branch of tha St. Clara Academy, Sinsinawa 
 Mound, Wisconsin, one of the leading educational 
 institutions of the Northwest, is now prepared to 
 offer to the public every educational advantage. 
 A new and commodious Academy, furnished with 
 all modern improvements,, has lately been erected 
 on a pleasant and commanding point in the south- 
 ern part of the city. The higher branches, draw- 
 ing, music, painting, the languages, etc., are 
 taught. At the present time there are about 
 fifty children in the institvition. The school is 
 held from September to June in each year, and it 
 is a regular boarding school where each one com- 
 mitted to its charge receives a kind and fostering 
 care. 
 
 As to its early history, the Sisters came here in 
 Avigu,st, 180.5, and at first were located in a small 
 building near the Straight Biver, which was pur- 
 chased of Maj. Fowler. There they got together 
 from twenty to twenty-five day scholars, and taught 
 a parochial school in the basement of the church. 
 In 1861), they removed to a frame building in the 
 rear of the church. In 187.5, the building now 
 in use was commenced. The intention is to have 
 the school incorporated under the laws of the 
 State, and to regularly graduate those who suc- 
 cessfully pass through the curriculum. The Lady 
 Superior in charge is Sister Gertrude. 
 
 Parish op the Good Shephekd — The Pkotes- 
 TANT Ei'iMcoi'AL Oiiuiw^H. — This church through 
 its schools, the Cathedral, the presence of the 
 Bishop of iSIinnesota, wliose residence is here, has 
 a pronounced inHuonce on the city in many re- 
 spects, aside from its moral and religious power. 
 The Divinity School, the Shattuck School, and 
 the St. Mary's Hall, may be considered a part of 
 the Ej)i8Copal Chureli which thus has tendrils 
 
 entwining hearts scattered over a wide region. 
 It is impossible that such educational infiuences 
 thrown around so many youthful minds during 
 the j'ears of yielding susceptibility, should not be 
 continually held by those ties, which are so far 
 from being fetters; and then the action and re-ac- 
 tion which a coming to maturity involves, intensi- 
 fies, and consolidates this influence, and helps 
 to sustain the parent trunk. The Episcopal 
 Church here is a nucleus, which, viewed in a cur- 
 sory way, may not display its full value, but its 
 eflects are far-reaching, and its worth in the direc- 
 tion of its peculiar usefulness is not to be easily 
 estimated or comprehended. 
 
 This church has the confidence and esteem of 
 the whole community, and Bishop Whipple and his 
 co-laborers have wide reputations as philanthropic 
 religious teachers, and as Christian citizens. The 
 membership of the church is large, among so 
 many churches of other denominations, amount- 
 ing to 300 communicants. 
 
 The initial service of this church was in Fari- 
 bault on the 30th of June, 18.55, Trinity Sunday, 
 at 10:30 a. m., and at 3 o'clock. A child of Mr. 
 Orump was baptized. The next was on Sunday, 
 September 9th, 1855, and again on the 15th of 
 December. In the meantime Rev. T. Wilcoxson, 
 who was the pioneer missionary, had held services 
 in Northfield and other places not far away. On 
 the 29th of September, in connection with Bishop 
 Kemper of Wisconsin, services were held in the 
 Congregational church here. 
 
 The history of the early struggles of this church 
 is a counterpart of what occurred with so many 
 others all through the country when it was filling 
 up with men with such diversified views. As near 
 as can be gathered the first continued service in 
 the Episcopal form was by the Rev. J. Lloyd Breck 
 and Rev. A. S. W. Manney, who came after Breck, 
 who were two devoted missionaries, clear headed, 
 and large hearted. They had a vision of the 
 future requirements of this community, which was 
 prophetic, and they set themselves at work with a 
 zeal that knew no flagging, and an intelligent de- 
 votion that laid a foundation for the success that 
 has followed, and that is so largely indebted to 
 their patriotic Christianity. The commencement 
 was in 1857, meetings were held in all eligible 
 points that could be reached by these unwearied 
 missionaries of the Cross. Mr. Breck was from 
 Pennsylvania. Uev. David P. Sanford came as an 
 
CITY OF FAHIBAULT. 
 
 85!) 
 
 associate in the work in 1858. Faribault was 
 selfcted as the permanent missionary station, and 
 incursions and c^xcnrsions were, in tlie true evan- 
 gelical spirit, made in all directions for many miles. 
 
 The services here were at first in a store where 
 Major Fowler afterwards kept. After a few 
 months a building was erected that is known as 
 the "Old Chapel," which is near the public park, 
 and a parsonage called the "Mission bouse" was 
 constructed, which stood until 18G!). A school 
 started at an early day which has already been de- 
 scribed under the appropriate head. 
 
 Eev. Mr. Sauford remained here about one year. 
 Bev. Dr. Manney remained here until the time of 
 his death in 18(59. Kev. Dr. Breck, remained 
 up to the year 1866, then went to California where 
 he died in 1876. He was a born missionary, a 
 model iJioneer who could submit to his surround- 
 ings were they ever so disagreeable, if they could 
 not be improved, which he always promptly set 
 himself to do. He was sadly missed, but the monu- 
 ments, of which he laid the foundation, will endure 
 while America remains a nation. 
 
 It was stated that there were but three church 
 members at first, besides Dr. Breck. 
 
 Rev. H. B. Whipple, who was pastor of the Free 
 Church of the Holy Communion in Chicago, was 
 elected Bishop of Minnesota in June, 1859, and 
 was consecrated to this service on the 3d of Octo- 
 ber, 1859, at the St. James church, in Richmond, 
 Virginia. He visited Faribault in Februai-y, 1860. 
 Here he found .1. L. Breck, S. W. Manney, and E. 
 S. Peake, who had organized an associate mission. 
 Rev. Mr. Peake was in charge of the Gull Lake 
 Indian mis.son. They then had the school in oper- 
 ation. The Bishop moved here with his family in 
 May following. The first permanent building was 
 the Cathedral, the corner stone of which was laid 
 in 1862, and it was completed at a cost of about 
 $50,000, and consecrated in 1869, under the name 
 of the "Cathedral of Our Merciful Saviour." It is 
 a gothic structure of stone, located on the corner 
 of Chestnut and Sixth streets. The tower, which 
 springs from the northeast corner, is as yet only 
 carried about half way up the height of the 
 church, but will be completed in due time. The 
 con.secration was on the 2-lth of June, St. John's 
 day, and among those present were: Bishop 
 Kemper, of Wisconsin; Bishop Whitehouse, of 
 Illinois; the resident Bishop Whipple; Eev. Dr. 
 Gear, of Minneapolis; Bishop Armitage, of Wis- 
 
 consin; Eev. Dr. Buel; Eev. Dr. Patterson ; Eev' 
 Dr. E. E. Welles; Eev. Dr. Knickerbaoker ; and 
 Eev. Mr. Wilkinsim, of Milwaukee. The services 
 were impressive and there were several ordinations 
 
 When it was resolved to build a Cathedral, Rev. 
 Dr. Breck went East on a collecting tour, and was 
 engaged in this work for two-tliirds of a year or 
 more, and secured between eleven and twelve 
 thousand dollars toward the object. And the 
 promises made then, to "become helpers," are be- 
 ing' constantly fulfilled. In the Congregational 
 Church Sunday school, in July, 1882, they were 
 raising funds to help buy an organ for another 
 Sunday school in Dakota. 
 
 The Bishop has a fine residence on Sixth street, 
 opposite to the Cathedral. 
 
 Tlie first records of the church are in relation 
 to a meeting of the vestry on the 27th of Febru- 
 ary, 1859, of the church of the "Good Shepherd." 
 Mr. Syntell was in the chair and called the meet- 
 ing to order when G. L. Frisbee was elected chair- 
 i man. On the 5th of April the following named 
 brothers were elected vestrymen: G. C. Tanner, 
 Joseph A. Carter, S. W. Hinmau, G. Y. Syntell, 
 and E. J. Crump, the latter being elected Senior 
 Warden. 
 
 On the 8th of February, 1860, a proposition 
 was received from E. J. Crump, otreriug land for 
 a burial place consisting of ten acres at $30 per 
 acre, Mr. Crump to douate S50 and retain a 
 single lot himself, which was accepted. At this 
 meeting a committee was appointed to draw up 
 articles for the organization of the church. 
 
 The Cathedral was built by the Seabury Mission, 
 and the parish really owns no church. Regular 
 church services are held in the little old chape! in 
 the corner of the Cathedral lot, in the Norwegian 
 language. 
 
 The Pjpiscopal Church in Faribault is so closely 
 connected with the several schools under their 
 patronage, and the direction of the efforts of the 
 clergy and laity has been so earnestly and closely 
 devoted to their interests that really the history of 
 the one is the history of the other, and in the ac- 
 count of these schools, will be seen, at all points, 
 the hand of the church. It is rare that so much 
 that is real, visible, and sulistantial has been ac- 
 complished in such a comparative brief period, 
 and it speaks of the devotion of all, from the 
 Bishop, through the various grades. 
 
 Tlie ministers connected with the Cathedral are : 
 
360 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 Rt. Rev. Bishop H. B. Whipple. D. D., who is the 
 Rector; auJ Rev. George B. Whipple and Rev. E. 
 C. Bill, assistant ministers. The professors who 
 belong to the Divinity School, and those of the 
 Shattuck School who are clergymen, may also be 
 said to belong to the Cathedral establishment. 
 
 FRATEENAI AND OTHEB ORDERS. 
 
 The fraternal orders which seem to be so rap- 
 idly multiplying in this country, and most of the 
 new ones with specific insurance features, are well 
 represented here. The Masonic order which, pre- 
 vious to the anti-Masonic excitement as long ago 
 as Gen. Jackson's administration, occupied this 
 ground solitary and alone, was early in the field, 
 and instituted s lodge, afterwards a chapter, and 
 finally a commaudery. 
 
 There is unquestionably a taste in many minds 
 for a participation in — 
 
 " The ancient rites and regulations, 
 The pass-words, the grips and signals, 
 Used among the pristine brothers, 
 In that eastern nation, 
 In the land of milk and honey, 
 Where the grapes grew in clusters, 
 Where the palm spread its branches, 
 Where the fig tree was loaded 
 With its rich and luscious treasures. 
 Where they taught its lessons, 
 The wholesome silver legends. 
 The truthful teachings, 
 Its principles of virtue. 
 Its simple traditions." 
 
 Whatever may be thought of these various or- 
 ders by the uninitiated, there is no question but 
 that each ritual teaches the tenets of morality 
 and virtue, but it is nevertheless true, that the 
 cliaracter of each order must and does depend 
 upon the character of the individuals who compose 
 it; as no mere didactic instruction in initiatory 
 exercises, however imposing, can radically modify 
 the ruling disposition of any candidate. The 
 sketches of these orders are all necessarily brief. 
 
 Fabib.vult Lodge No. 9. — A dispensation to 
 open a lodge was granted on the 3d of March, 
 18.50, and a charter was issued on the 6th of 
 January, 1857. On the 1st of June, 1865, the old 
 charter was surrendered, and on the 7th of June a 
 dispensation was granted. On the 25th of October 
 the same year a charter was issued under the 
 number of 53. On the 9th of January, 1868, this 
 was changed to the old number, 9, which it still 
 retains. Most of the propei'ty and records of the 
 
 lodge were burned with the hall, mentioned else- 
 where. 
 
 Among the earlier members were: George W 
 Du Bois, Luther Dearborn, C. N. Daniels, John 
 Mullin, Dennis O'Brien, Daniel N. Russell, Zenas 
 Wilson, Thomas Carpenter, B. L. Van Horn, W. 
 T. Sargent, J. C. N. Cottrell, G. W. Batchelder, 
 Gordon E. Cole, George B. Whipple. The lodge 
 has a large membership, and is in a flourishing 
 condition. 
 
 RoTAL Arch Chapter — Tyrian No. 6. — The 
 early records of this chapter were burned when 
 the Masonic Hall was destroyed. It was instituted 
 about 1863. The present officers are : A. E. Ha- 
 ven, H. P.; Thomas Mee, K.; George B. Whipple, 
 S. ; Thomas Carpenter, C. of H.; John Mullin, P. 
 S.; Alexander Smith, R A.C.; D. O'Brien, T.; J. R. 
 Parsh.all, G. Ist V.; C. L. Lowen, G. 2d V.; S. L. 
 Crocker, G. 3d V. ; J. B. Gwathmey, Sen. 
 
 The following companions have held the office of 
 H. P. : C. W. Daniels, John Mullin, E. A. Rice, 
 George H. Davis, J. G. Shauts, C. E. Rogers, 
 Alexander Smith, and A. E. Haven. This branch 
 of the Masonic order is in a healthy condition 
 here. 
 
 Knights Templar — Fakibadlt Comjiandery. — 
 The first meeting was on the 3d of March, 1874. 
 The charter members were : Charles N. Daniels, J. 
 H. Harding, .John Mullin, ,T. M. Bemis, Moses 
 Cram, G. B. Wliipplc, E. A. Rice, George W. Du 
 Bois, A. B. Rogers, L. Z. Rogers. 
 
 The first officers were: C. N. Daniels, E. C; E. 
 A. Rice, Gen.; L. Z. Rogers, O. G.; G. B. Whipple, 
 Pre. and acting Rec. 
 
 The present olficers are: J. R. Parshall, E. C; 
 
 B. F. Straub, Gen.; G. B. Whipple, Pre.; C. L. 
 Lowell, R. 
 
 The meeting are the first Tuesday in each 
 month. 
 
 The following is a list of the members of the 
 commandery: O. N. Daniels, G. B. Whipple, J. 
 Blullin, N. M. Bemis, A. B. Rogers, L. Z. Rogers, 
 
 C. E. Rogers, W. N. Cosgrove, B. F. Straub, J. B. 
 Harper, G. M. Pliillip, J. R. Parshall, S. Rjiuvin, 
 T. H. Loyhed, Donald Grant, Thomas Mee, G. N. 
 Baxter, B. A. Van Horn, G. A. Blair, M. H. War- 
 ner, M. G. Kimball, A. W. Henkle, A. E. Haven, 
 A. Philman, R. W. Jacklin, L. Converse, E. H. 
 Smith, C. H. Whipple, A. W. Stockton, G. Wes- 
 ton Wood, C. M. Thompson, H. E. Whitney, J. N. 
 Porter, C. L. Lowell, G. H. Davis, Carl Richel, J. 
 L. Bluckman. 
 
VrVY OF FAIIIBAULT. 
 
 3(il 
 
 INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS. 
 
 Kainbow Lodge, No. 36. — Instituted on the 
 vSth day of August, 1872. The charier members 
 were: Dr. P. A. Davis, N. G.; Dr. N. M. Beniis, 
 V. G.; J. S. Fuller, R. S.; C. Newcomb, Treas.; 
 William Cami)bell, James Faskauis, C N. (Carrier, 
 and F. O. Beok. 
 
 Meetings were held in Batchelder's liuilding on 
 Wednesday evenings, now in Odd Fellow's Hall, 
 on Main street between Second and Third. There 
 are fifty-seven members. There is a Kobeeca 
 Lodge connected with it, and both are in a pros- 
 perous condition. 
 
 Lady Washington Lodge No. 44. — German. — 
 This lodge was instituted on the 16th of July, 
 1874. The charter members were as follows: D. 
 Berkert, M. Engelmeiu, J. Richert, E. Flecken- 
 stein, H. Kaperneck, H. Boge, William Haas, Lewis 
 Fisher, and William Oeiger. There are twenty- 
 four mejnbers, and tht; meetings are held weekly 
 on Thursday night. 
 
 ancient order of united wokkingmen. 
 
 Unitt Lodge No. 45. — Instituted on the 7th of 
 February, 1878, with the following officers: O. F. 
 Brand, P. M. W.; C. L. Lowell, M. W.; C. T. 
 Palmer, G. T.; C. W. Fitch, O.; J. E. Bingham, 
 R.: O. DuReitz, F.; M. B. Haskell, W. ; O. F. 
 Brand, Rep. There are fifteen members and the 
 nights of meeting are the first and third Thursday 
 in each month. 
 
 knights of honor. 
 
 Farihault Lodge No. 597. — Instituted on the 
 2()th of April, 1877, with the following charter 
 mL-mbers: Charles Numbers, A. W. Henker, B. L. 
 Vanttom, S. L. Crocker, Lyman Tuttle, O. S. 
 Beake, M. F. Potter, J. C. N. CottreU, S. I. Pettitt, 
 George W. Wood, C. N. Daniel, I. G. Beaumont, 
 H. N. Crossett, C. L. Lowell, G. H. Palmer, D. P. 
 Baldwin, C. T. Palmer, P. S. Kelly, John Grant, 
 D. E. Potter. The meetings are held in Knights 
 of Pythias Hall on the first and third Tuesdays in 
 each month. There are thirty-three members. 
 
 AMERICAN LEGION OF HONOR. 
 
 Faribault Council No. 275. —Was instituted 
 on the 26th of August, 1880. The first officers 
 were; Charles D. McKellif, C; T. B. Clement, V. 
 C; Ara Barton, D.; C. L. Lowell, P. C. ; M. H. 
 Cole, Sec; L. R. Weld, T. It has a membership 
 in town of thirty -three. 
 
 GRAND TEMPLE OP HONOR. 
 
 Fahihault No. 38.— W. W. Regan, (J. W. T.; 
 J. L. Zietlam, G. W. R. The charter is dated on 
 the 2Gth of September, 1881. The first officers 
 were: Charles Buch, W. 0. T.; William Frink, W. 
 V. T.; A. J. Woolf, W. T. R.; H. Audrew.s, W. T. ; 
 J. G. Williams, W. R. ; Rev. Mr. Sanders, C. ; N. A. 
 Coggswell, W. v.; Frank Chesroun, W. D. V.; 
 Seth Peach, W. G.; George Chamberlain, W. S.; 
 J. Staufer, Lodge Deputy. There are forty-.seven 
 members, and they meet on Monday nights in 
 Fraternal Hall. 
 
 KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS. 
 
 Faribault Lodge No. 16. -Instituted on the 
 Ifith of January, 1878. The first officers were: N. 
 R. Kurd, C. C; E. Barnura, P. C; E. Cooley, P.; 
 Oliver Du Reitz, V. C; Thomas Whitney, K.R. S. 
 It has about seventy meml)ers. and meets in the 
 Knights of Pythias Hall in Batchelder's block. 
 
 equitable aid union. 
 
 Faribatilt No. 226. — The headquarters of this 
 order is in Columbus, Pennsylvania. The Union 
 here was instituted im the 28th of .lanuary, 1881. 
 The initial officers were: O. W. Stockton, C. ; 
 William Close, A.; N. M. Bemis, P.; C. H. Dickin- 
 son, V. P.; G. W. Stafford, Aux.; E. D. Haskins, 
 T.; R. H. S. Jewett, S.; L. B. Smith, A. C; N. 
 W. Blodd. War.: John A. Sanders, Sen.; C. W. 
 Hallock, Wat. 
 
 grand army of the REPrnLIf. 
 
 John C. Whipple Post No. 11. — Was insti- 
 tuted on the 2d of March, 1871, with the follow- 
 ing veterans as officers : Major W. H. Lower, P. C. ; 
 J. C. Lower, S. V. C; A. P. Bell, J. V. C; H. C. 
 Whitney, Adjt.; Ji)hn Cooper, Q. M. ; C. S. 
 Brown, C.; William Mulligan, O. of D.; Henry 
 Roth, O. of G.; W. S. Wetherstune, Q. M. S.; 
 Theodore A. Close, S. M. 
 
 SOME OTHER SOCIETIES. 
 
 Ladies Literary Association. — Organized on 
 the 7th of Fel)ruary, 1878. The officers are: 
 President, Mrs. H. A. Pratt; Vice-President, Mrs. 
 T. S. Buckham; Recording Secretary, Miss Ada E. 
 Hilton; Corresponding Secretary, Miss Nellie 
 Mott; Treasurer, Mrs. Hudson Wilson; Executive 
 (Committee, Miss E. Whitney, Mrs. (xeorge B. 
 Whipple, Mrs. A. E. Haven, Mrs. J. H. Winter. 
 
 Faribault Library Association. — This est.ab- 
 
362 
 
 HTSTOnr OP RICE COUNTY. 
 
 lishment Lad a sort of a reorganization in 1879. 
 The executive committee chosen then consisted of 
 J. M. Berry, F. W. Prink, and J. J. Dow. G. E. 
 Cole and R. A. Mott liave since been placed on this 
 committee in place of J. M. Berry and P. W. Prink 
 resigned. The books are kept in the Court House, 
 and the library is opened on Wednesday and Sat- 
 urday afternoons. 
 
 P.^HiBATiLT DiuviNG Paek Cltb. — This waa 
 formed in 1882, with the avowed object of train- 
 ing horses, having racing, trotting, and pacing 
 meetings, but not to hold fairs. The following are 
 officers of the Clul): President, Col. James Hunter; 
 Treasurer, S. S. Crocker; Secretary, William Mee. 
 A series of meetings are announced for Octolier, 
 1882. The grounds are readily accessible, a half 
 mile west of the railway station. 
 
 Faribault Guauds. — This militia company was 
 originally organized on the 19th of August, 1877, 
 with James Hunter, Captain; B. F. Straub, First 
 Liputenant; and G. H. Palmer, Second Lieutenant. 
 On the 20th of August, 1880, they were mustered 
 out by reason of the expiration of the term of offi- 
 cers, and reorganized by the election of J. J. Van 
 Sann, Captain; A. W. Henkle, First Lieutenant; 
 and J. H. Ashley, Second Lieutenant. On the 5th 
 of July, 1881. the company was again reorganized, 
 this time under the new law, and elected as officers: 
 James Hunter, Captain; J. J. Van Sann, First 
 Lieutenant, and J. J. Ashley, Second Lieutenant; 
 Lieut. Henkle withdrawing from the company, J. 
 .7. Van Sann was subsequently elected Quarter- 
 master of the Second I5attalion, and J. J. Asliley 
 resigned, and the present incumbents, John W. 
 Snyder, First Lieutenant, and J. L. Buehann 
 Second Lieutenant, were elected to fill their places. 
 Tlie first organization uU7nl)ered thirty-one men, 
 three commissioned and twelve non-commissioned 
 officers. In the present organization there are 
 three commissioned and eleven non-commissioned 
 officers, two musicians, and thirty-three men. 
 Headquarters at Armory Hall. Fleckenstein's block, 
 where regular meetings are held the second and 
 fourth Tuesday in each month. 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 HlOOKAPUICAIj. 
 
 H. B. Aniiukws, a native of Genesee county, 
 Michigan, was borr. on the HOth of September, 
 18.39. He moved with his parents to Grant county, 
 Wisconsin, wlien five years old, and after reaching 
 
 the age of manhood learned the carriage maker's 
 trade. In 1862, he enlisted in the Thirty-third 
 Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, Company D, and 
 served three years and three days. After his dis- 
 charge, Mr. Andrews returned to his home in Grant 
 county and the same year came to Faribault. He 
 afterwards moved to Ohio and worked at his trade 
 for five years, carrying on a shop of his own dur- 
 ing the latter part of his residence there. He was 
 joined in wedlock on the 10th of March, 1867, his 
 bride being Miss Alice Eamhart. The result of 
 the union is four children, three of whom are liv- 
 ing. Mr. Andrews moved with his family to this 
 place in 1872, and in company with Mr. Frink 
 opened a carriage and wagon manufactory. He is 
 now doing a prosperous business, having recently 
 purchased his partner's interest. 
 
 Chakles Antoine, a pioneer of Minnesota, was 
 born in Masquilange, province of Quebec, Canada, 
 on the 3d of November, 1794. He was brought 
 up hy his lirother on a farm, and when eighteen 
 years old came to the States, and in Detroit, Michi- 
 gan, joined the English army, serving only six 
 months. He then went to Green Bay, Wisconsin, 
 where he was employed by an Indian trader; 
 worked there three years and then went to Mil- 
 waukee, where he s])ent the winter, there being no 
 white men in the place at that time. From tliere 
 he went to Mackinaw, and again engaged in trad- 
 ing. His time expiring at this point, he entered 
 the employ of another trader, Louis Provansalle, 
 whose daughter he afterward married. He re- 
 mained during the winter where St. Peter now 
 stands, and in the spring went to Prairie du Chien, 
 where he was employed by the Shatto .t Roulette 
 Fur Company of St. Louis. In 1K2(), lie went to 
 tlie Red River country in company with an Eng- 
 lish lord, Duncan Graham, and Laidlow, carrying 
 with them tlie tirst wlieat to that section, and sell- 
 ing it at a profit of S12 per bushel on three 
 liundred bushels. Mr. Antoine returned to Prairie 
 du Chien after three months, and worked in dif- 
 ferent parts of the country several years. In Sep- 
 tember, 1824, he married Margai'et Provansalle, 
 who was educated in Illinois and a daughter of a 
 French trader. Her mother was a full-blooded 
 Sioux. In October of the same year he engaged 
 as scout to an Infantry company under ciimmand 
 of Major Alexander, which was soon ordered from 
 Fort Crawford to Fort Snelling. He then returned 
 to Prairie du Cliien and purchased a farm wliicli 
 was Ills home several years; thence to Dubuque, 
 
CITY OF FARIBAULT. 
 
 363 
 
 and a year later returned to the former place. In 
 1847, they came to Minnesota, stojiped in Mendota 
 three weeks and then to Faribault, where he was 
 engaged by Alexander Faribault to take charge of 
 his farm, hia wife teaching the Hious children in 
 the mean time. A year later he returned to Men- 
 dota, bought a tract of laud which he improved, 
 giving his two sons a farm from the same. His 
 wife died in 1871, at the age of sixty-six years. 
 Mr. Antoine now makes his home with his daugh- 
 ter, Mrs. Johuville. Of five sons and three 
 daughters, but one son and two daughters are liv- 
 ing ; Margaret, the eldest, married Fred. Faribault, 
 youngest sou of Jean Baptist Fariliault, by whom 
 she had four children; Agnes, Steme, Libbie, and 
 Antoinette. Her husband died in 1867, and she 
 married, three years later, Jean Baptist Johuville. 
 The result of this union is one child, Freddie, now 
 living in this city. The second daughter, Frezine, 
 married George Faribault, a son of Alexander 
 Faribault, and now lives at Fort Yates, Dakota. 
 Antoine, the son, married Adelle Johuville, and has 
 five children. 
 
 W. R. Baldwin was born in Elyria, Ohio, on the 
 12th of September, 1841, and when five years old 
 removed with his parents to Connecticut, and lo- 
 cated in Merideu, where he received bis education. 
 His father was a merchant, and W. R. followed the 
 same employment. In 18.'>(), the family retui-ned 
 to Ohio, and in 1864, Mr. Baldwin married Miss 
 Lyda Irvin, the ceremony taking place on the 12th 
 of September. The issue of the union was one 
 son, who is now dead. In 18G8, they came to 
 Minnesota on account of the poor health of Mr. 
 Baldwin and located on a fine farm just west of 
 Faribault, on which he remained until 1881, then 
 moved into the city, and retired from active busi- 
 ness. In 1880, he was elected to the State Legis- 
 lature for one term. 
 
 Ara Barton, who has been Sherifl' of Bice 
 county, since 1876, was born in Charleston, Sulli- 
 van county. New Harajishire, on the 12th of April 
 1824. His father and grandfather were natives of 
 the same State. When Ara was seven years old 
 his parents removed to western New York, where 
 he assisted his father on a farm. In 1851, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Louisa Fish, the 
 Ceremony taking place in August. The union 
 has been blessed with five children, four of 
 whom are living. In 1857, Mr. Barton came 
 to Minnesota and located in Dakota county, where 
 he was one of the pioneers. He put in one hun- 
 
 dred acres of wheat, the first in that jjart of the 
 State. In 1862, he enlisted in the Minnesota 
 Mounted Rangers, and served one year as Lieu- 
 tenant in Company F. He then formed and was 
 Captain of Company D, Brackett's battalion, which 
 was engaged in war with the Indians. After his 
 discharge he located at Northfield, Rice C(juuty, 
 where he has since made his home when not a 
 county officer. In the fall of 1875, he was elected 
 County Sheriff and still holds the office. In 1859 
 and '60, he was elected to the State Senate from 
 Dakota county, and in the fall of 1870 and 
 again in 1872, was in the Legislature from this 
 district. In 1873, he was a candidate for Governor 
 against Mr. Davis. 
 
 G. N. Baxter was born in Onondaga county. 
 New i'ork, on the 25th of February, 1845. Ten 
 years later the family removed to Michigan, where 
 G. N. learned the brick and stone mason trade of 
 his father. In 1863, he came to Faribault and fol- 
 lowed his trade, studying law at the same time 
 with Batchelder >t Buokham until 1866, when he 
 was admitted to the bar; afterward formed a part- 
 nership with Judge Lafayette Emitt, with whom 
 he remained one year and has since been alone, 
 having a large and profitable business, acquired 
 through his energy and ability. He has an ex- 
 tensive library which cost about .'$4,000, and con- 
 tains many valuable law books, He was Justice 
 of the Peace five years, elected in 1866; County 
 Attorney six years, elected in 1871, and was 
 County Superintendent of schools in 1870. 
 
 Horace Everett Barron belongs to the Bar- 
 ron family who settled in New England in the 
 early part of the eighteenth century. William 
 Barron, the great-grandfather of Horace Everett 
 Barron, was a .scout during the French and Indian 
 war, and commanded a company from Lyndeboro, 
 New Hampshire, in the Revolutionary war. The 
 roll of his company, who first used their flint- 
 locks at Bunker Hill, is now in the archives of the 
 State department at Concord, New Hampshire. 
 He lived and died at Lyndeboro. His family 
 originated from Chelmsford, Middlesex county, 
 Massachussetts. 
 
 Micah Barron, his eldest son, born at Lynde- 
 boro, Massachussetts, adjoining Chelmsford, in 
 1763, moved to liradford, Orange county, Ver- 
 in 1788; was an enterprising lumberman and far- 
 mer, and for twenty-three years was l^eputy 
 Kherifl or Sheriff of Orange county. He was the 
 man who was sent to ('anada to arrest Stephen 
 
364 
 
 HLSTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 Buniiiigus, the notorious counterfeiter and des- 
 perado. IMicah Barron was at one time Colonel 
 of a regiment of the State Militia, and rose to the 
 rank of Brigadier-General. William Barron, son 
 of Micah and father of Horace, was less than a 
 year old when his parents moved to Bradford. 
 The maiden name of his second wife, mother of 
 Horace, was Hannah Davis Brooks, whose oldest 
 brother, Samuel Brooks, died while member of the 
 Canadian Parliament. His youngest son is now 
 a member of the same Parliament. William Bar- 
 ron, like his father, had a taste for military affairs--, 
 and rose to the rank of Colonel. He died in 
 Hartford, Connecticut, in the eighty-sixth year of 
 his age, as we gather from the "History of Brad- 
 ford, Vermont," whence other facts are derived. 
 President Harrison ajjpointed Colonel Barron 
 United States Marshal for the district of Vermont. 
 Horace E. Barron was bom in Bradford on the 
 2lKt of March, 1826, spending his boyhood on his 
 fatlier's farm, and completing his education at the 
 Bradford Academy. When about eighteen years 
 old he joined the engineer party who made the 
 first survey of the railroad from White Biver 
 .Tunction to Derby Liue, and was thus engaged 
 for four years, or till the road was completed and 
 the cars run from White River to Wells River. In 
 October, 1850, Mr. Barron pushed westward to 
 Chicago, and for five years traveled for wholesale 
 houses in that city, his trips extending over Illi- 
 nois and portions of Michigan and Indiana. In 
 October, 18.55, he came to Faribault, then an em- 
 bryotic village, with several log cabins and two or 
 tliree frame houses. During the winter following 
 he pun^hased the site on which his hotel subsequent- 
 ly stood, and made preparations to build, which he 
 did the next spring. His elder and only brother, 
 William Trotter Barron, a graduate of the Univer- 
 sity of Vermont, and a lawyer of Chicago for several 
 years, and judge of Cook county one or two 
 ti'rms, was killed in 1862, l)y a collision on the 
 railroad at Kenwood Station, near the southern 
 line of Chicago. For two years our subject was 
 engaged in looking after his property, returning 
 to his hotel in 1864. In 187(1, Mr. Barron built 
 the stately stone additiim to his hotel, 44x80 feet, 
 and three stories above the basement, leaving the 
 old frame building standing, using it for office, 
 sample-rooms, w.ish-roonis, etc. It was one of the 
 most spacious, airy, and inviting public houses in 
 central Minnesota. This he leased in 1879, and 
 in March, 1882, it was consumed by fire. 
 
 Mr. Barron has held a few offices in the munici- 
 pality of Faribault, and in 1874, was a member of 
 the Legislature, being Chairman of the commit- 
 tee of ways and means. He has been a Director 
 of the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the 
 Blind, located at Faribault, for ten or eleven 
 years; has been President of the Board most of 
 the time, and since 1880, has been steward for the 
 institutions. 
 
 In politics he was formerly a Whig; latterly 
 he has been a Republican, occasionally attending 
 congressional and State conventions — more to 
 oblige others than to please himself. He is a 
 strong partisan, more ready to work for the offi- 
 cial elevation of his friends than of himself. Mr. 
 Barron lived a single life till the 22d of February, 
 1876, when he became the husband of Miss 
 Kate W. Gray, daughter of the late James L. 
 Gray, many years a merchant on North Clark 
 street, Chicago. They have had three childien 
 (one pair of twins), and lost all of them. They 
 attend the Episcopal cliurch. 
 
 Nathan Marvin Bemis, M. D., tlie first })hysi- 
 cian to jjermanently settle in Faribault, was born 
 i in Whitingham, Windham county, Vennont, on 
 the 25th of March. 1821, his parents being James 
 Gilbert and Stata (Smith) Bemis. His ])aternal 
 great-grandfather came from England, and his 
 grandfather, Edmund Bemis, was an officer in the 
 continental army. James G. Bemis was a farmer, 
 with whom the son remained until eighteen years 
 of age. At this period in life, with his heart set 
 on being a physician, and with his father's con- 
 sent, he commenced reading medicine with Dr. 
 Horace Smith, of Wilmington, a town adjoining 
 Whitingham, in the same county ; attended lectures 
 and received his education at the Vermont Medi- 
 cal College of Woodstock; practiced three years 
 at Shutesbury, Franklin county, Massachusetts; 
 nine or ten at Cummington, Hampshire C( unty, 
 same State, and in May, 1855, settled in Faribault. 
 At that date only one frame house — that of Alexan- 
 der Faribault, for whom the town was named— was 
 completed; others were rising, and a few log 
 cabins had been up a short time. Indians were 
 abundant, and Dr. Bemis was the physician of two 
 chiefs of the Sioux nation, Papa and Ked Legs. 
 His rides, especially during the first ten or fifteen 
 years, extended up and down the valle/ of the 
 Cannon River and up the Straight ( which here 
 feeds the (Jannon) a long distance. Probably few 
 men of his profession in the State have ridden 
 
CITY OF h'AliJBAUI.T. 
 
 365 
 
 moro miles tliau he. In the territorial days of 
 Miuuesota, road or uo road, regardless of the state 
 of the weather, he promptly obeyed every sum- 
 mons, near or remote, whether to a wigwam or a 
 white man's csibin, facing the perils of swollen 
 streams, blinding snow storms, or a fearfully de- 
 ])ressed thermometer. Latterly his professional 
 eirewits have ordinarily been limited to the city 
 and adjoining towns, younger men taking the 
 longer rides. He has been successful pecuniarily 
 as well as professionally, and fortunately can afford 
 to curtail his business. Though quite elastic for 
 a man past his three-score years, and though hav- 
 ing uo deep wrinkles in his face, yet his long, 
 almost snow-white beard and rapidly whitening 
 head, indicate that "sap-eonsuniing winter's drizz- 
 ling snows" are not only falling, but thickening in 
 their fall. He does just enough business to afford 
 him a healthful amount of exercise. His spirits 
 are buoyant, and his social habits admirable. In 
 early manhood Dr. Bemis was an abolitionist of 
 the milder type, casting his first jjresidential vote 
 in 1844, for James G. Birney. Of late years he 
 has voted the republican ticket; has never been an 
 office-seeker, and has strictly refused to accept any- 
 thing of the kiu<l of a political nature. Among 
 the Freemasons he is a Knight Templar, and Las 
 been Master of the Blue Lodge twice, .-ind a Noble 
 Grand in Odd-Fellowship three times. Dr. Bemis 
 has been married since the 10th of February, 1842, 
 his wife being Miss Emeline H. Adams, a native of 
 Barre, Massaehii.setts, living at the time of her 
 marriage at Heath, in the same State. They have 
 had iive children, all living but (ieorge O., who 
 died when only tiu'ee years old. The four living 
 are all married but Ella J. Augusta E. is tlje 
 wife of William T. Kerr, a commercial agent, re- 
 siding in Davenport, Iowa; Joseph G. is a physi- 
 cian, educated in the College of Physicians and 
 Surgeons, New York City, and practicing in Fari- 
 bault; and Mary C. is IIk- wife of Henry C. Pres- 
 eott, agent for Seymour, Sabin & Co., manufac- 
 turers of the "Mmnesota Chief" threshing machine 
 at Stillwater, Minnesota, their home being at Fari- 
 bault. 
 
 W. L. Bentley, a native of Franklin comty. 
 Vermont, was born on the 28d of Mai'ch, 1,S3;5. 
 When eighteen years old he moved to Massachu- 
 setts and was employed in factories there for three 
 years, then to Ohio and later to Kansas where he 
 was connected with the Quartenuaster's depart- 
 ment, engaged in shipping through Colorado, 
 
 New Mexico, and the southwestern States. He 
 has been a resident of Minnesota since 1808, first 
 locating in Mower county, where he married Mi.ss 
 Annie Norton on the 28tli of December, 1K72. 
 Four children is the result of this union. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Bentley came here in 1872, and he was 
 engaged in the ice business until 1871(, wlien he 
 opened his present feed store. 
 
 John MidJoNoon Beuky, of the supreme bench 
 of Minnesota, and a native of Pittstield, New 
 Hampshire, was born on the 18th of September, 
 1827; liis parents being John Berry, merchant, 
 and Mary Ann Brown m-e Hogan. The Berry 
 family settled in southeastern New Hampshire, 
 nearly, and p<'rhaps fully, two centuries ago. The 
 maternal grandfather of otir subject was from 
 Ireland. The youth of Judge Berry was devoted 
 to tlie securing of an education; he spent bis last 
 joreparatory year at Phillips Academy, Andover, 
 Massachusetts; entered Yale College in Septem 
 ber, 1843, when just sixteen years old, and grad- 
 uated in his twentieth year. He began to read law 
 at Concord, New Hampshire, with Judge Perley, 
 afterward chief justice of that State; continui d 
 his readings with Hon. Moses Norris; was ad- 
 mitted to practice at a term of the su])reme court 
 held at Concord in July, ISfiO, practiced about two 
 years at Alton, Belknap county. New Hampshire; 
 came as far west as Janesville, Wisconsin, in the 
 spring of 18.53; was in practice there two years, 
 and then settled in Faribault, his home since then, 
 with the exception of something less than a year 
 spent at Austin, Mower county, his business being 
 the jiractice of law till he went on the bench. He 
 is a thorough legal and general .scholar, and ranks 
 deservedly high among his profession in the State 
 for his literary tastes and acquirements. He may 
 be classed as a thinker as distinguished from a man 
 of action. Judge Berry was a member of the 
 territorial house in the session of 185(i-57, and 
 chairman of the judiciary committee; was a mem- 
 ber of the State Senate in 1863 and 1864, and 
 chairman of the judiciary committee in that body 
 also, and went ou the bench of the supreme court 
 in January, 1865. He was re-elected in 1871. and 
 his second term exjjireil with the year 1878. He 
 was elected to his present position before the legal 
 practice in this State had become extensive, and 
 without the opj^ortunities for the practical work 
 of his profession whiirh some of his associates have 
 enjoyed; but he brings to the exercise of the high 
 duties of his position a knowledge of legal prin- 
 
366 
 
 HISTORY OF lilGE COUNTY. 
 
 ciples acquired by careful and thoughtful reading, 
 united to a broad and comprehensive judgment, 
 and an inflexible integrity, which, disdaining petty 
 technicalities and seeking for tlie intrinsic justice 
 of the case, has i)laoed him second to no judge 
 who ever held the office in this State iu popular 
 estimation. His opinions are terse, crisp, and well 
 written,and distiugushed rather for the enunciation 
 of some great general principle which disposes of 
 the case, than for minute discussions t)f minor and 
 technical points. Judge Berry is a republican of 
 whig antecedents, but has never been very active 
 in politics. Ou the 2Cth of May, 1853, Miss Alice 
 A. Parker, then of Roscoe, Illinois, but a native of 
 Centerville, Ohio, became tlie wife of Judge Berry, 
 and they have four oliildren. 
 
 A. S. Bloxam was born of English parents in 
 riidgway, Iowa county, Wisconsin, iu June, 18.53, 
 When thirteen years old be worked at the cabinet 
 maker's trade, and at the age of fifteen years went 
 to Dixon, Illinois, where be learned the gunsmith 
 trade, and worked at the same there for eight 
 years. In 1875, he came to Faribault, opened a 
 store and shop, in which he put a small stock of 
 guns, but has since greatly increased his stock to 
 accommodate his rapidly growing trade. Mr. 
 Blosam was married on tlie 1st of January, 1881, 
 to Miss Martha M. Schmutz. 
 
 JoHAM J. Blank, one of the pioneers of Rice 
 county and the first man to take a claim in 
 Wiieeling, was born in Germany, on the 15th of 
 September, 1821. He attended school until four- 
 teen years old, then engaged at work on the farm 
 and in 1843, emigrated to America, landing in 
 New York, and came directly to Cook county, Illi- 
 nois, where he conducted a farm ou shares. In 
 1844, he was united in marriage with Miss Eliza- 
 beth Veeh, and ten y.^ars later came to Rice coun- 
 ty, Minnesota, and staked out a claim in Wheel- 
 ing, in sections twenty -two and fifteen. He im- 
 proved the land and erected a log house. In 
 October, 1878, he sold his farm and purchased a 
 residence in Faribault, corner of Thirteenth and 
 Main streets, where he still resides. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Blank have bsen blessed with nine children ; 
 Delia, Mary, Wilhelmina, who died with the diph- 
 theria in 18(54, aged thirteen years; Elizabeth, 
 Caroline, Hannah, Sophia, who also died with 
 diphtheria, in 1872, thirteen years of age; Ma- 
 tilda, who died of consumption in 1864, three 
 years of age; and John Jacob. 
 
 A. Blodgett, an old settler of the county, and 
 one of the leading lumber merchants, was born in 
 Alexander, Genesee county, New York, on the 3d 
 of May, 1831. He clerked for five years in a dry 
 goods store, and when about I'ineteen years old 
 went to New York city, where he engaged in a 
 j^aint and varnisli sliop. In 1856, he came to 
 Rice county, locating on a farm in Warsaw town- 
 ship, and in 1874, moved into town, engaging in 
 mercantile purstiits. In 1880, he opened his pres- 
 ent lumber yard under the firm name of A. Elod- 
 gett & Son. The junior partner, W. E. Blodgett, 
 was born in Warsaw on the 16th of August, 1857, 
 and received his education at the public scliools 
 and at Shattuck School. He kept books one year 
 in this place, and studied music two years in Min- 
 neapolis. In 1881, he became a member of the 
 lumber firm above mentioned. 
 
 Gkegor Bjornktad was born in the stift of 
 of Christiania, Norway, on the 17th of October, 
 1856. He was reared ou a farm, and when a 
 young man engaged in buying and selling cattle- 
 In 1870, he emigrated to America, came directly 
 to Minnesota and located in Red Wing where he 
 attended the public school two years. He subse- 
 quently worked eighteen months on a farm, and 
 for six months clerked in a store. In March, 
 1882, he came to Faribault and became landlord 
 of the Scandinj,vian Hotel, which he has since 
 conducted. 
 
 Pabtick Byrnes, deceased, was born in Ireland 
 and came to America when young, located in Wis- 
 consin until 1863. then came to this county and 
 settled in Walcott, where he carried on a farm. In 
 186.5, he move to this city, engaged in merchan- 
 dising, antl was elected County Sheriff in 1871, 
 on the Democratic ticket. He was defeated once 
 after that by a small majority. His death oc- 
 curred in April, 1878. John J. Byrnes was born 
 in Winnebago county Wisconsin, ou the 15th of 
 July, 1853, and came with his parents to this 
 county. He attended the Catholic school, the 
 public school, •Shattuck School, and St. John's 
 College, in Stearns county. He then studied law 
 in the office of Gordon E. Cole, and was admitted 
 to the bar in 1876. He taught school a few 
 months, and then formed a partnership with J. F. 
 Walsh, in Henderson, Sibley county, which was 
 soon dissolved, and Mr. Byrnes returned here. He 
 was married on the 15th of October, 1878, Miss 
 Olive La Rose being his bride. He is Justice of 
 
CITY OF FMlin.WLT. 
 
 :567 
 
 the Peace, elected in 1879, and also City Recorder. 
 
 E. H. Crrrs is a native ol' Portsiuoiith, New 
 Hampshire, burn ou the iilat of May, 1831. Hii^ 
 iincestors were aiiioug- the i)it)neersi)f that locality-, 
 having settled at Portsmouth and on Outts' Is- 
 land about 1040. When our subject was two and 
 a-half years old the family moved to Vermont 
 and located on a farm. E. H. attended Kimball 
 Union Academy, at Meriden, New Hampahire, 
 when he was thirteen years old, and two years 
 later became a pupil at Thetl'ord, Vermont, and 
 afterward at Norwich University, finishing the 
 scientific course in 1849. He then studied for a 
 civil engineer, worked at that for a year, and then ou 
 his father's farm. In 1853, he came to \Vis(^onsin 
 and in December of that year started cm the old 
 Indian trail from Hastings to Mankato ou foot. 
 Passing through Faribault into what is now Wal- 
 cott, he staked out a claim ou sections tweuty-oue 
 and twenty-two, then went on to Mankato. He 
 soon returued to Wisconsin, and in February, 1854, 
 came with two yoke of oxen and conmienced to 
 improve his laud, being the first actual settler and 
 building the first house in Walcott. In 1875, he 
 removed into the city of Faribault, and now de- 
 votes his time to overseeing his farms in this and 
 Lyon counties. In 18(12, he enlisted in the 
 Eiglith Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, Com})aiiy 
 B, serving two months against the Sious. In 
 June, 18(54, he was appointed Captain of Com- 
 pany O, of the Forty -fifth United States Colored 
 Regiment, and served until the close of the war. 
 He has had nine children, four of whom are living. 
 
 Thomas C.vurENTER was born in England in 
 1832, and learned his trade there. He came to 
 Faribault in 1857, and the following spring en- 
 tered into partnership with Alexander Smith, iu 
 merchant tailoring. They have since added to 
 their busiue.ss ready-made clothing and gents' 
 furnishing goods, hats, caps, etc. 
 
 J. G. Clauk, one of the old settlers of this city, 
 is a native of Franklin county, Massachusetts, 
 born on the 4th of February, 1820. He was rear- 
 ed on a farm and when sixteen years old went to 
 Brattleborough, Vermont, where he learned the 
 carpenter trade, and with the exception of two years 
 worlied at the same in that State for twenty-one 
 years. On the 7th of August, 1849, he was joined 
 iu wedlock with Miss Sarah Jane Miller, and the 
 union has been blessed with one boy, Dwight E. 
 Iu 1857, Mr. Clark came to this city and built a 
 planing mUI which he operated with a partner 
 
 until 1865, then engaged in farming two years, 
 and since 18(59, has conducted a livery stable, 
 keeping good hor,ses. 
 
 Captain ChabijEsA. Curtis, U. S. Army, Com- 
 mandant of Sliattuck School, was born iu Hallo- 
 well, Maine, October 4, 1825. He graduated at 
 Norwich University, Vermont, with the degree of 
 Bachelor of Arts in 1860. He served as military 
 instructor of volunteers in Maine, from April, 18(>I 
 to June of the same year, going to the Potomac 
 with the Sixth Maine as instructor to the officers. 
 He was commissioned a Secimd Lieutenant in tlie 
 regular army, Ajjril 14, 18G2, and served in Vir- 
 ginia, Texas, and New Mexico, until the close of 
 the relielliou. He then served in the Indian war 
 with the Apac'ln'S and Navajos, in New Mexico and 
 Arizona, iu 18(55 and 1866. Was j)lacedonthe re- 
 tired list for wounds received in action December 
 15th, 1870. In 1866, the Captain married Har- 
 riette L. Hughes, aud in 1869, was detailed as 
 Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Nor- 
 wich University, serving iu that capacity until 
 ] 1875, when he was elected ])resideut of the college. 
 In 1880, he resigned and accepted his present jjo- 
 sitiou. He has had five children, four of whom are 
 living. 
 
 Captain D. CiVANArciii, an early resident of the 
 county aud a leading business man of this city, 
 claims Canada as his native place aud his birth 
 dates the 3d of December, 1838. He was reared 
 to agricultural pursuits aud in 1856, came with his 
 parents to this place aud continued tilling the soil 
 until 1862, when he enlisted in the Tenth Minne- 
 sota Volunteer Infantry, Comjjany H. He was 
 promoted to Second Lieutenant aud soon after to 
 Captain of Company C, serving iu that office until 
 the close of the war, when he was honoralily dis- 
 charged. After returning to Faribault Captain 
 Cavauaugh was engaged iu the milling business 
 four years, and in 1871, opened a store in which 
 he keeps hardware aud agricultural implements, 
 doing an extensive aud successful business under 
 she firm name of Cavanaugh & Co. 
 
 M. H. Cole was born iu Albany, New York, on 
 the 24th of November, 1836, attended school there 
 aud iu Cuop;'rstown uutil fourteen years old, then 
 clerked for a time, after which he went to school 
 untd twenty years of age. He then eugaged with 
 the Boston & Albany Railroad Company uutil 
 1861, when he enlisted in the Forty-fourth New 
 York Infantry as Second Lieutenant of Company 
 E. His senior officer being absent, he acted as 
 
368 
 
 HISTORY OF mCE COUNTY. 
 
 Captain of the company for three years, was then 
 discharged and re-enlisted in the Ninety-fourth 
 New York Infantry, and was immediately detailed 
 to the enrolling otEce of which he became head 
 clerk at Hart Island, New York harbor, and served 
 till the close of the war. He went to New York 
 City and engaged as a commercial traveler, then 
 came west, and after visiting different parts of the 
 country came to Faribault in 1872. In 1875, he 
 was appointed Deputy Register of Deeds, which 
 oiSce he has since tilled with credit. Mr. Cole was 
 married in 1875, to Miss Laura Wheeler, the 
 adopted daughter of Mrs. John Nelson. They 
 have been blessed with two children. 
 
 WiLr,i.\M Close is a native of Ohio, born on the 
 9th of Septemlier, 1827. When he was six years | 
 old his parents sold their interests there and re- 
 moved to Indiana, locating in the Wabash valley. 
 In 1855, they came to Minnesota, and on the 12th 
 of Juue of that year settled in Richland township 
 where they were pioneers. William and his 
 brother John helped to organize the place, and the 
 former was the first school clerk, hiring Miss 
 Debby Newcomb to teach the first school in his 
 district. No. 21 ; was first Town Collector, and after 
 the town was fully organized was elected Assessor. 
 In the fall of 1870, he was a member of the State 
 Legislature, and in 1871, was appointed Marshal 
 and Enumerator for seven townships, comprising 
 the east district of Rice county. While living in 
 Richland he pre-empted land in Walcott, b>it sold 
 a short time after and bought more in the former 
 l)lace, remaining in the township engaged in farm- 
 ing for twenty-five years. In 1876, he came to 
 this city, and resides on Eighth and Sycamore 
 streets. In 1881, he was appointed Enumerator for 
 the seventh ward of the city of Faribault. He is 
 engaged in the insurance business for the St. Paul 
 Fire & Marine Company and several other promi- 
 nent firms. He was married on the 19th of August, 
 1847. to Miss Elizabeth Fiers, who has borne him 
 nine children, of whom eight are living, four boys 
 and two girls were born in liice county. Mr. Close 
 served a short time as recruit in the first Minnesota 
 Regiment. 
 
 Ctobdon Earl (jOle, for six years Attorney - 
 General of the state of Minnesota, is a son of 
 Lansing J. Cole, a physician, and Laura Brown; 
 his parents living at the time of his birth, June 
 18th, 1833, at Cheshire, Berkshire county, Massa- 
 chusetts. His great-grandfather was an early 
 .-settler at Savbrook in that State, and moved 
 
 thence into the western county. Gordon received 
 his literary education mainly at the SufBeld Aca- 
 demy, Connecticut ; read law in the office of Gov- 
 ernor Briggs, at Pittsfield, and then with Gauunell 
 & Adams, and graduated from the Dane Law 
 School, Harvard University, in 1854. He prac- 
 ticed two years in his native town; came to Minne- 
 sota in the autumn of 1856, and after spending 
 two or three months at Chatfield, removed to Fari- 
 bault on the 1st of January, 1857, having been in 
 the practice of his profession here since that date. 
 He has a deservedly high reputation in his pro- 
 fession, and for many years has held a leading 
 position at the bar of the State, some good judges 
 placing him at the head. He was the attorney 
 that procured the payment of the State bonds last 
 winter, (1881 and '82. | Everybody who heard 
 him will admit that he has wonderful power before 
 a jury, being self-poised, conscious of his (jwn 
 strength, clear, forcible, and eloquent. In the 
 autumn of 1859, Mr. Cole was elected Attorney- 
 General of the State, and held the office three 
 consecutive terms; was elected a State Senator, to 
 fill a vacancy in the Eighth district, a short time 
 before his third term expired; served one session 
 and declined a renomination. He had previously 
 been elected one of the Commissioners for revising 
 the statutes, serving in that capacity about one 
 year. For the last eleven or twelve years he has 
 confined himself very closely to his professiim, 
 doing an extensive and very remtinerative practice. 
 He has also interested himself very much in local 
 enterprises of various kinds. He is a trustee of 
 Saint Mary's Hall, located at Faribault, an insti- 
 tution of learning for young ladies, under the 
 direction of Bishop Whipple; and is chairman of 
 a railroad committee, interested in building the 
 Cannon Valley railroad from Red Wing to Man- 
 kato. He has been the attorney of the Iowa & 
 Minnesota division of the Chicago, Milwaukee &. 
 St. Paul Railroad Company since the enterprise 
 was comjjleted. In politics, Mr. Cole has been a 
 republican since there was such a party, and was 
 chairman of a Fremont club in his native town in 
 1856, losing his vote that year by emigrating to 
 Minnesota. During the forty or fifty ballotings 
 for United States Senator in 1875, when at length 
 the republicans dropped the names of Messrs. 
 Ramsey and Davis, on one or two days Mr. Cole 
 led on the republican side, the votes being divided 
 among three or four strong men. We do not use 
 the word candidates, for, in the case of Mr. Cole, 
 
crrr of FAiiiiiAur/r. 
 
 309 
 
 be was nut a candidate — the act was sprung upon 
 the Legishiture without his knowledge — though, 
 had he been elected, he would hardly have refused 
 to serve. He has the ability to till witli credit auv 
 office whicli the people of Minnesota can bestow 
 upon hini. He is a Eoyal Arch Mason, a vestry- 
 man in Bisliop Whipple's cathredal, and a trustee 
 of the corporation known as the "Minnesota Foun- 
 dation," which is designed to alford an income for 
 the support of the bishop. Mr. Cole is living with 
 his second wife, being first married in August, 
 1855, to Miss Stella C. Whipple, of Shaftsbury, 
 Vermont, she dying in June, 1872; she had four 
 children, three of them yet living. His present 
 wife was Miss Kate D. Turner, of Cleveland, Ohio, 
 chosen on the 14th of February, 1874. 
 
 Adolphe Craki, one of the early settlers here, 
 was born iu Lower Canada on the 5th of Febru- 
 ary, 1829. He is of Scotch-French descent, lived 
 ut home until 1852, then came to Shokopee and 
 took charge of a farm of Mrs. Oliver Fari- 
 bault. He also bad charge of a farm of Gen. 
 Sibley's for a time, and in 1853, came to this 
 place and conducted a farm for Fred. Fari- 
 bault, near the junction of Straight and Can- 
 non Rivers. He subse(|uently took land near 
 Meudota, but in 1856, came here and engaged 
 in the freighting business. In 1857, he was joined 
 in marriage with Miss Julia Paquin, the ceremony 
 taking place on the 18th of January. This was 
 the first Catholic marriage preformed in the place, 
 it being during the mis.sion of Father Kovoux. In 
 1862, Mr. Craig made a trip to Colorado and later 
 visited Canada, and upon bis return settled on a 
 farm in this county, which be carried on four 
 years. Since leaving the latter he has made this 
 city his home and is a prominent member of the 
 Catholic church. 
 
 Major Michaei. Cook, deceased, was among the 
 very early settlers in Faribault, and one of the he- 
 roic men who fell in the late civil war. He aided 
 in building some of the first frame houses in this 
 place, and was honored with a seat in the ten-i- 
 torial council and the State Senate — a self-edu- 
 cated man of a noble type. He was a son of Eicli- 
 ard Cook, and was born iu Morris county. New 
 Jersey, on the 17th of March, 1828; had a com- 
 mon school education; learned the carpenter's 
 trade in New York City, and worked there as a 
 jourueymiin several years, attending a night 
 school while an ajiprentice. He early formed the 
 24 
 
 acquaintance of Horace Greeley, who encouraged 
 him in his struggle for knowledge. Major Cook 
 came to F;iribault iu 1855. He was in the State 
 Senate continuously from about 1858 to 18G2, and 
 took a prominent ]xirt in legislative work. He 
 was a diligent worker, with very few words, and 
 stood well in the legislative body. Honesty in 
 him was personified. In the the summer of 1862, 
 he raised a company for the Tenth Minnesota; was 
 made Captain of the company; was subsequently 
 promoted to Major of that regiment, and killed 
 in the battle of Nashville, Tennessee. The 
 memory of very few deceased men who ever lived 
 in Fariliault is more warmly cherished than that 
 of Major Cook. 
 
 C. B. Case, one of the proprietors of the popular 
 "bus" line, was born on the 21st of March, 1823, 
 in Monroe county. New York, where his ancestors 
 were among the first settlers. In hisycmth he at- 
 tended the district schools, and when quite young 
 commenced driving stage, in which business he 
 has since spent most of his time, going to Chicago 
 in 1840, and two years later to Missouri. Dur- 
 ing the Mexican war he was engaged iu shipping 
 horses for the American government. He was 
 afterwards general agent for the Mississippi, Ala- 
 bama, and Tennessee stage line. On the 10th of Jan- 
 uary, 1855, he was married to Miss Hannah Harris, 
 the ceremony taking place in La Grange, Tennessee. 
 She was formerly from Litchfield county, Connecti- 
 cut. For a time Mr. Case was in the livery business 
 in Tallahasse, Florida, and during the war was 
 agent for the quarter-master in the Confederate 
 army, having charge of the transportations for the 
 State of Florida. In 1865, he came north, and the 
 following year to this city, where he has since 
 been connected with the business, as previously 
 mentioned. Mrs. and Mrs. Case have bad four 
 childi-en, three of whom are living. 
 
 H. N. Ceossett is a native of Canada, born 
 on the 15th of June, 1832. When four years 
 old he moved with his parents to Vermont, 
 where he received his education. For eight 
 years he was engaged in mercantile pursuits 
 in Albany, New York, and there be was married 
 on the 0th of April, 1857, to Angeline E. Hawley. 
 In 1858, they came to Juneau, Dodge county, 
 Wisconsin, where Mr. Crossett clerked one year, 
 then entered the employ of the American Express 
 Company, as local agent; was soon made route 
 agent, and located at dill'erent places in the State. 
 
370 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 He came to this city iu tlie employ of the com- 
 pany, and iu 1869, was made Division Superinten- 
 dent for -the United States Express Company, and 
 now has under his supervision Minnesota, Wis- 
 consin, southern Dakota, northern Iowa, and 
 northern Illinois. Of seven children born to the 
 union, five are living. 
 
 Henkv Chaffee was born in Berkshire county, 
 Massachussetts, on the 9th of April, 1827. He 
 was reared on a farm, and when eighteen years 
 old entered a store, in his native county, as clerk. 
 In IS.'ifj, he came to this place and opened a gro- 
 cery store; two years later pre-empted a claim 
 in Waseca county, but continued to reside here. 
 He now owns a well-cultivated farm of four hun- 
 dred acres about a mile and a half south of this 
 city. Mr. Chafl'ee was married in 1871, to Miss 
 Charlotte Carter, who has borne him three oiiil- 
 dren. From ISOd to 1872, he operated a saw and 
 stave mill in Wells township, and has since been 
 a member of the Walcott Milling Company. 
 
 S. L. Cbockeu was born in Genesee county, 
 New York, on tlie 12th of December, 1845. He 
 attended the common schotjls and completed his 
 education at Batavia Academy, in his native State. 
 He then engaged as clerk in a drug store in Hills- 
 dale, Michigan, for over two years; then, after fol- 
 lowing the same employment in Butl'alo, New York, 
 one year, he came to Hastings, Minnesota, and in 
 1868, to Faribault. After clerking for a time he 
 purchased a drug store of W. T. Hunter, and now 
 has a full line of drugs, medicines, and fancy 
 goods. Mr. (.Jrocker was joined in matrimony on 
 the 2d of Novenal)er, 1876, witli Miss Carrie Mee. 
 He has been Alderman for four years. 
 
 J. C. N. CoTTitELL was born iu Canada on the 
 2Gth of February, 1827, and is of English parent- 
 age. He attended school near home, and finished 
 his education in Brownington, Vermont. In 1849, 
 wlicii but twenty-one years old, he went to Cali- 
 fornia, where he opened a store on Feather 
 Riv(!r, witli a stock of general merchandise and 
 miner's supplies. He was there three years and 
 met with great success; then returned to Canada 
 and opened a store in London. He was united in 
 marriage on the 2d of September, 1856, with Miss 
 Elizabeth Clinton. In 1857, tliey removed to 
 Minnesota and located in this ])lace, where Mr. 
 Cottrell opeuL'd a hardware store opposite the Bar- 
 ron House, but in 187(), went to Chicago where 
 
 he eu gaged in business four years; then returned 
 here and purchased his former stand. 
 
 Thomas Bukk Clement, Senator from Rice 
 county, is a son of Frederick and Olive Blallory 
 Clement and was born in Manlius, Onondaga 
 county, New York, on the 19th of June, 1834. 
 His paternal ancestors were early settlers in 
 Dutchess county, New York, his great-grandfather 
 being a member of the continental army, who was 
 taken and held captive for some lime on a British 
 priK<m ship. Thomas lived on a farm till sixteen 
 years old, with such education as a district school 
 furnished ; commenced business as a clerk in the 
 store of his elder brother, Stephen M. Clement, at 
 Fredonia, in western New York; went into trade 
 there for himself at nineteen years of age. He re- 
 moved to Faribault in January, 1864. Here he 
 traded four years; organized the First Naticjual 
 Bank of Faribault iu 1868; was made its president 
 and still holds that position. It is regarded as 
 "ne of the soundest institutions of the kind in the 
 Cannon valley. Mr. Clement was a member of 
 the Minnesota house of representatives in 1875, 
 Mayor of the city in 1877, and a member of the 
 State Senate in 1878. During the first session that 
 he attended he was Chairman of the committee on 
 insurance, and of the committees on finances, and 
 banks and banking. He makes a wise and pru- 
 dent Legislator. He is one of the directors of the 
 institution for educating the deaf and dumb and 
 the blind, and has held other local offices of trust 
 and responsibility, being at one time Chairman of 
 the board of County Commissioners. He is a re- 
 publican, but not a strong party man. Blind zeal 
 of any kiild never led him an inch. He is wedded 
 to business much more than to politics, and office 
 seeks him or he would never be found in official 
 positions, either in the city or out of it; yet he is 
 a public spirited man, one of the leaders in local 
 enterprises, proud of his adopted home, glorying 
 in her progress and jjrospects, and shirking no re- 
 sponsibility which his fellow-citizens insist on his 
 assuming. He is a solid man in business and 
 moral as well as financial standing. Mr. Clement 
 was first married in May, 1856, his wife being Miss 
 Emma Johnson of Fredonia, New York; she died 
 in 1865, leaving one child. His present wife was 
 Miss Ellen F. Johnson, sister of his lirst wife, 
 chosen in 1867; he has two children by her. 
 
 George Chesroun is a native of Pennsylvania, 
 born in 1829. In 1852, he came to the territory 
 
en y OF FAiunAULT. 
 
 ;i7i 
 
 of Minnesota, anil located in Walcott, where he 
 married Miss Augusta Uurston in 1858. Mr. 
 Ohesroun is a cabinet maker iu the employ of M. 
 M. Flint. 
 
 Thomas Donoiiiie, a native of Ireland, was born 
 in Wexford county, on the I5th of February, 1847. 
 His parents died when he was young, and when 
 eighteen yeara old he came to America, clerked in 
 New York City six months and then to Cincinnati, 
 Ohio, in a hotel. Mis.s Bridget Quinn became his 
 wife on the 13th of May, 1871. They came to 
 Faribault the same year and he opened a saloon, 
 but a few years later added a stock of merchandise 
 and in 1879, erected a brick building which he 
 occupies with general merchandise and a saloon. 
 Mr. and Mr.s. Donahue have a family of five chil- 
 dren. 
 
 H. T. Detert is a German, born in Prussia on 
 the 1st of July, 1837. He came to America when 
 seventeen years old and located in St. Louis, Mis- 
 souri, where he learned the hamessmaker's trade. 
 In 1863, he enlisted in the Thirteenth New York 
 Cavalry, Company H, and served till the close of 
 the war. Mr. Detert was married on the 1st of 
 July, 1866, to Miss Caroline Speck. They have 
 had nine children, eight of whom are living. At 
 the close of the war, Mr. Detert located in St. 
 Louis and opened a harness shop, which he con- 
 ducted till 1870, then came here and soon after 
 engaged in the same business, manufacturing 
 horse collars which have the name of being the 
 best in the market, the demand having grown so 
 rapidly he intends to manufacture more exten- 
 sively. He is also the inventor and patentee of a 
 neck collar pad, which has a large sale. 
 
 I. N. Donaldson dates his birth the 10th of 
 December, 1841, in Westmoreland county, Penn- 
 sylvania, where his ancestors were among the pio- 
 neers of that section, taking a prominent part in 
 the early history and development of the county. 
 When he was eight years old his parents moved 
 to Wells county, Indiana, remaining until 1862, 
 and then came to this county, locating in Bridge- 
 water. The subject of this sketch assisted his 
 father on the farm till 1871, then engaged in the 
 mercantile business in ccmipany with his brother, 
 at Dundas. In 1875, he was appointed Post- 
 master; in 1877, elected Register of Deeds, and 
 is now serving his third term in that office. On 
 the 31st of January, 1872, while on his way to 
 business he met with an accident on the railroad 
 
 track, the cars running over his right leg whicli 
 made amputation necessary. Mr. Donaldson was 
 joined iu marriage on the 12th of November, 1861, 
 with Miss Sarah A. Decider. The union lias boon 
 blessed with six children. 
 
 H. N. Dale, M. D., one of the pioneers of Can- 
 non City, was born in Hamilton, Butler county, 
 Ohio, and removed to White county, Indiana, 
 when but five years old. He attended an 
 Academy near his home until eighteen years old, 
 then became a pupil at the Asbury University, 
 where he remained two years, and subsequently 
 engaged in teaching school and studying medi- 
 cine. He entered the office of Dr. Haymond at 
 Mouticello, Indiana, and shortly after grudiuited 
 from the Eclectic Medieval Institute at Cincinnati, 
 Ohio. In the fall of 1856, he removed to Cannon 
 City and commenced practice, and in 18G7, came to 
 Faribault. In 186S, he spent one winter in Cin- 
 cinnati, Ohio, in the Medical schools and Ho.spitals. 
 The winter of 1875 and '76, was spent in the Chi- 
 cago schools, and the entire years of 1870 and '77, 
 in attendance at Rush Medical College and Cook 
 County Hospital. In 1879, Dr. Dale w-as married 
 to Mrs. E. M. McCauley. He has been County 
 Coroner two terms and County Physician three 
 years since coming t<i this city. 
 
 L. W. Denison, M. D., was born in Clarksvillc, 
 Madison county, New York, on the 17th of Decem- 
 ber, 1819. His father died when our subject was 
 eleven years old, after which he worked at the 
 mechanic's trade in Whitestown and vicinity two 
 years; then studied medicine in the former pl.ice 
 and at Brookfleld. He attended lectures iu the 
 medical department of the New York University, 
 also in Vermont, where he received a diploma. 
 After attending lectures in Buffalo. New York, he 
 came to Jefferson county, Wisconsin, in 18-19, and 
 practiced two years, then went to CaHfornia, 
 where he remained until 1855, when he came to 
 Faribault. In September, 1855, Miss Julia Frank- 
 lin became his wife. Mr. Denison practiced liis 
 profession until the last few years, since which 
 time he has been engaged in mercantile juirsuits, 
 also has some fine farming land in this vicinity. 
 He has been twice elected to the Legislature, and 
 an active member of the school board since 1857, 
 besides holding local offices. He is the father of 
 four children, three of whom are living. 
 
 J. D. Denison, one of the pioneeis of Pice 
 county, was born in Brookfield, Madi.son (•ouuty. 
 
372 
 
 HISTORY OF UlCB COUNTY. 
 
 New York, on the 5th of August, 1810. When 
 twenty years of age he commenced learning the 
 wagonmaker's trade, and afterward opened a shop 
 in his native pUxce. He was married on the 15th 
 of August, 1883, to MissChloe Cutely, a native of 
 Massachusetts. In 1848, he removed to Onondaga 
 county and in 1856, came here working at his 
 trade in the first shop of the kind in the place. 
 The same year he erected a building for a shop, 
 and iu 1858, built ii second, which was the begin- 
 ning of the Faribault carriage works of the present 
 day. He owned aud operated them till 1876. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Uenison have had four children, of whom 
 two are still living. 
 
 J. J. Dow, Superintendent of the Blind Institu- 
 tion, was born iu India, on the continent of Asia, 
 the 15th of February, 1848, his father being a 
 missionary from East Givermore, Maine, to that 
 country. M. Dow's ancestors were among the 
 early New England settlers. J. C. Dow, the father 
 of the subject of our sketch, was a Free-will Bap- 
 tist minister, aud returned to Maine while .J. J.was 
 an infant, where the latter grew to manhood. In 
 1863, he enlisted iu the Second Maine Cavalry,' 
 Company F, serving two years. In 1866, became 
 to Olmsted county, Minnesota, where his parents 
 had pieviously moved, aud thi-ee years after en- 
 tered Carleton College, from which he graduated 
 in 1874. He and Miss Myra A. Brown, who be- 
 came his wife on the 25th of December 1874, com- 
 posed the first graduating class from the above 
 College. He then became Superintendent of the 
 public schools of Austin, Minnesota, and in 
 August, 1875, became principal of the department 
 for the blind in the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Insti- 
 tute. In 1881, he was made Superintendent of 
 the Blind Department, when it became an institu- 
 tion of itself. He has since filled the office with 
 credit to himself and makes the Asylum an honor 
 to the State. He has a family of four children. 
 
 P. G. Denningbe, M. D., is a native of Berlin, 
 Germany, born on the 20th of January, 1848. 
 His fatlier, .\doli)h, was a Lutheran minister. In 
 18G'2, the family emigrated to America, located 
 in Washington county, Wisconsin, and P. G. en- 
 tered tlie Northwestern College at Watertown. In 
 1869, he began the study of medicine at the Ho- 
 meopathio Hospital College in Cleveland. Ohio, 
 then entered the ollice of Dr. D. H. L. Bradley at 
 Horicon, Wisconsin. In 1871, he came to Eyota, 
 Olmsted county, and commenced practicing. The 
 
 same year he married Miss Susie Wagner, the 
 ceremony taking place on the 12th of June, and 
 in 1876, they removed to Spring Valley. He 
 graduated from the Hahnemann Homeopathy Col- 
 lege of Chicago in 1878. His wife and two chil- 
 dren died the previous year of diphtheria, and he 
 again married cm the 16th of May, 1878, to Miss 
 Cora Gunwald, who has borne him one child. He 
 came to this place iu 1881, where he has a steadily 
 increasing practice. 
 
 Rev. James Dobbin, of the Shattuek school, 
 under whose good management and supervision it 
 has grown to its present prosperous condition, and 
 to whose energy is due most of the success of the 
 institution, is a good man in a good place. He 
 was born in Washington county. New York, on the 
 29th of June, 1833, and reared on a farm. When 
 eighteen years old he left home and prepared for 
 college by studying at Salem and Argyle, working 
 his way up by his own energy and industry. In 
 1855, he took charge of the school at Argyle, 
 where he remained till 1857, then entered Uni(m 
 College, graduating in 1859. He came to Fari- 
 bault aud taught in the first parish school one 
 year, then returned to New York and once more 
 conducted the Argyle Academy, and one year later 
 the one at Greenwick. In 1864, he returned to 
 this place and commenced the study of theology 
 at Seahury Divinity School. In 1860, he married 
 Fannie I. Leigh, the ceremony taking place on the 
 12th of December. She died after five years of 
 married Hfe, on the 29th of December, 1865, leav- 
 ing one daughter. In April, 1867, Mr. Dobbin 
 oommeuced his charge of Shattuek school, to which 
 he has since given his whole time and has made it 
 a credit to the State. He was ordained as minister 
 of the Episcopal church in May of the latter year. 
 He was again married on the 9th of April, 1874 
 to Elizabeth L. Ames, who has borne him one 
 child, a son. 
 
 Majou William H. Dike, a resident of Minne- 
 sota since 1857, and one of the most energetic 
 business men of Rice county, is a native of Rut- 
 laud county, Vermont, being born at Pittsford on 
 the 18th of May, 1813. His father, Jonathan 
 Dike, for many years High Sheriff of that county, 
 was born iu Chittenden, Vermont. His great- 
 grandfather was in the first war with England, 
 and his father in the second. The latter reached 
 Plattsburg while the battle was progressing, 
 l)ut not in season to take part in it, and re- 
 
CITY OF FARIBAULT. 
 
 373 
 
 fused to draw a pension. The wife of Jonathan 
 Dike was Tamizian Hammond, a native of Pitts- 
 ford, Vermont. Tlie family moved into the vil- 
 hige of Etitland when William was about six years 
 old, where the son attended school a small portion 
 of each year until he was thirteen, when he left 
 home, and lived for many years with two mater- 
 nal uncles, Charles F. and John C. Hammond, of 
 Crown Point, Essex county, New York. With 
 them he clerked until he was eighteen, with six 
 months' schooling during this time. The Ham- 
 monds were engaged in lumbering as well as 
 mercantile pursuits, and for a period of several 
 years Mr. Dike had the oversight of this 
 branch of their business. They had also a 
 blast furnace, and were extensive manufac- 
 turers of iron, in which business Mr. Dike had 
 an interest with them tor six or seven years, 
 also in the store. In the spring of 1857, he left 
 Crown Point, settled in Faribault, and commenced 
 banking, real estate and milling business, in con- 
 nection with other parties. He built what is 
 known as the Dike mill, and the first flour shipped 
 to Chicago and New York frem Minnesota went 
 from his mill, which was built in 1858, the year 
 Minnesota entered the Union in her sovereign 
 robes. At an early day people came a long way 
 to get their grist ground, usually with ox teams; 
 a distance of forty, fifty, and sixty miles was 
 not uncommon, and one time two men, with two 
 yoke of oxen and grists for half a dozen families, 
 came from the southern ])art of Blue Earth county, 
 a distance of more than eighty miles. Soon after 
 the First National Bank was opened Mr. Dike be- 
 came its cashier, resigining at the end of a year 
 or two. The last few years he has spent in taking 
 care of his property, which is somewhat scattered. 
 Besides his homestead of eight or nine acres in 
 the southern part of the city, and several small 
 bodies of improved land in dilferent sections of 
 Kice county, he has unimproved land in Houston, 
 Waseca, Watonwan, Dodge, Blue Earth, and Le 
 Sueur counties, in the aggregate two thousand 
 acres or more. 
 
 A little episode in his life occurred when the 
 civil war broke out, in April, 1861. He raised a 
 company in two days for the First regiment; went 
 in as Captain of Company H ; was made Major be- 
 fore leaving the State, participated in the first 
 battle of Bull Eun, and on that disastrous day was 
 one of the last members of the regiment to quit the 
 field, hunting up, just before leaving, the body of 
 
 Captain McKune, securing his sword, belt, and 
 watch, and kindly .sending them to his widow. 
 Just after this battle a gentleman residing in 
 Washington thus spoke of his heroic bravery and 
 that of Lieutenant-Colonel Miller on that occa- 
 sion : 
 
 "Major Dike's conduct is esi)ecially mentioned 
 by all as having been cool, uuexeited, and really 
 brave. He was among the last to leave, praying, 
 beseeching, and imploring the men to stand. If 
 one-half appeared in the newspapers that I hear 
 of him, he would be the Boderick of the battle. 
 He goes home to-morrow intending to recruit the 
 somewhat thinned ranks. He is a heavy artillery, 
 anyway, either as a man or a soldier — ^as popular 
 as a man can be wherever he goes, and as modest 
 in speaking of liis own exploits as though he ran 
 at the first fire." 
 
 About the same time another newspaper thus 
 spoke of Major Dike: 
 
 "This gallant otlicer has won the plaudits of 
 the brave men he had the honor to lead, in part, 
 to battle on the fatal 21st of July. It was his big 
 heart and genuine love of the stars and stripes 
 that prompted him to take up arms, and the good 
 account given of him is just what was expected 
 by all who knew the man." 
 
 The St. Paul "Press "of the 21st of August, 
 18i;l, thus spoke of Major Dike jnst as he was re- 
 turning to the Potomac, after a brief visit to Fari- 
 bault to look after his private business: 
 
 "While all accouuts of t'lie Minnesota regiment 
 whether in camp or on the field, have attested the 
 fidelity, coolness, and l)ravery of Major Dike, yet 
 there are some further particulars of the man and 
 his valuable services to the regiment, to which we 
 desire to refer. His energy and eificiency as a 
 man of business, concurring with his individual 
 lil)erality, were of immense service in the organi- 
 zation of the regiment, as every one famOiar with 
 the events at Fort Snelling will attest. We are 
 not surprised to hear that since the battle at Man- 
 assas the wounded of the Minnesota regiment 
 have received constant proofs of his warm-hearted 
 sympathy. He would be sure to make the cause 
 of every snITerer his own." 
 
 The private business of Major Dike was so 
 j pressing, that at the end of six UKmths (October, 
 1861, ) he resigned, and returned home. In poli- 
 tics he was originally a Whig, and of late years 
 has affiliated with the Kepublicans. Against his 
 wishes, and in the face of his refusal to go before 
 
374 
 
 niSTORT OF BICE COUNTY. 
 
 tlio conveutiou, he was nominated by the Rejiub- 
 lifaus and war Democrats for Governor in 18G1, 
 but peremptorily refused to stand as a candidate 
 for that high office. Here is his modest letter, re- 
 fusing to stand as the nominee: 
 
 " Camp Stone, Edwakd's Febky, Md., \_ 
 "September 12, 1861. \ 
 •' O. Bkown, Esq., Editor Faribault " Central, 
 
 Republican." 
 
 '^Friend Brown: When I was in Minnesota, a 
 great number of persons of all political parties 
 called upon me, and urged me to accept th6 Union 
 nomination for Governor. While acknowledging 
 the compliment intended with gratitude, I finally 
 left the matter in the hands of friends to relieve 
 me from the necessity of declining it, by request- 
 ing that the nomination be conferred upon some 
 othtr jiersou. When I returned to my regiment 
 I found an engagement with the enemy imminent, 
 and our First regiment (at the front of the post of 
 danger at this point) close enough to hold con- 
 versation, and hold it daily with pickets sent out 
 to watch our lines. Under such circumstances I 
 do not feel justified in accepting the nomination 
 for any civil office. I cannot accept for other 
 reasons of a personal nature, but this I might un- 
 der ordinary circumstances, forego. I therefore 
 beg all friends to accept my sincere thanks for the 
 honor they would have done me, and respectfully 
 but positively decline being run for any office by 
 any party or under any circumstances. My pri- 
 vate business is in such a condition that when I 
 can see a propriety in time and circumstances, I 
 must give it my supervision; but even that for 
 the present must be dismissed, and my whole at- 
 tention given to my imperiled country. 
 Most respectfully. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 W. H. Dike." 
 
 Major Dike has been twice married; first on the 
 29tli of June, 1841, to Miss Louisa T. Alvord, of 
 Rutland, Vermont, sister of Benjamin Alvord, pay- 
 master general of the United States. She died on 
 the 21st of March, 185.5, leaving one daughter, 
 IMary Hammond, who died on the 23d of Septem- 
 ber, 18G(). His present wife was Miss Matilde M. 
 Bates, of Boston, Massachusetts; married on the 
 14th of December, 1858. She accompanied her 
 husband and his r(>gimont to the South ; was with 
 him during his .service there, often visiting the hos- 
 pitals at Washington, and ministering to the wants 
 
 of the wounded, sick and suffering. The night 
 before the liattle of Bull Run the Major put a one 
 hundred dollar bill in her hands, requesting her 
 to use it in procuring delicacies for the sick sol- 
 diers in the Georgetown Hospital, which she did. 
 Major Dike has been the victim of misplaced con- 
 fidence once or twice, sufi'ering pecuniarily from 
 partnership connections in business, but has a 
 competency; is in fact independent in his circum- 
 stances, and in his delightful home has all the 
 comforts to which a remarkably busy and success- 
 ful life would seem to entitle him. A more liberal 
 and patriotic man never lived in Faribault. When 
 be enlisted in his company, at the opening of the 
 war, he took the money out of his own pocket to 
 support them till mustered in at Fort Snelling; 
 paid out thousands of dollars during the rebellion 
 to help on the Union cause; in March, 18(35, he 
 was appointed to solicit contributions to the great 
 fair held at Chicago, under the direction of the 
 Northwest Sanitary Commission and Soldiers' 
 home; no man in the State working with more zeal 
 to aid that grand outpouring of humane gen- 
 erosity. 
 
 We conclude this sketch with an article which 
 appeared in a republican Faribault paper, just after 
 Major Dike had left the army, giving an account 
 of what is called "his first, second and only public 
 speeches," headed with the motto: 
 "Not Words, but Deeds." 
 
 "Major Dike has never been suspected of military 
 aspirations. At the time when the late war broke 
 out he was known only as occupying a high posi- 
 tion in the first class of business men — kind and 
 prompt, cheerful and obliging. When it became 
 necessary to raise a comjiany here for the Minne- 
 sota First, resort was had, as elsewhere, to a call 
 for a public meeting. The time arrived — patriotic 
 speeches by patriotic speakers came off, all very 
 well in their way. But there is no fighting mettle 
 in mere speeches — there was no powder and ball 
 in them — nor could they induce any to join the 
 list of those "to kill or to be killed" for the honor 
 of the country. A dark cloud of cold silence set- 
 tled down upon the hall and the audience, till at 
 length a cry came for "Dike, Mr. Dike, Squire 
 Dike — a speech, a speech!" "Mr. Dike is called 
 for, will he step forward and favor the audience 
 with a short speech?" With a significant look and 
 bearing, peculiarly his own, that gentleman in- 
 stantly headed and signed the list of volunteer, 
 
CITY OF FAUTBAULT. 
 
 375 
 
 and dispensing from his side pocket sufficient of 
 the material aid to start the enterprise comfortably, 
 lie remarked, ' That is my speech.' It was his first 
 public speech. It aroused the life blood of his 
 fellow-citizens, who rallied at once to his stan- 
 dard. A noble company was raised, with which 
 • he immediately repaired to Fort Snelliug for dis- 
 cipline and drill. After several weeks' efficient 
 drilling, the regiment, under the command of the 
 gallant Gorman, repaired to the notional capitol; 
 and thence, under orders of superiors in command, 
 to the battle of Bull Run, where the Minnesota 
 First was deilicated to the service of the govern- 
 ment and the country in a baptism of blood. 
 There, where the bullets were as thick as whortle- 
 berries in August, Major Dike stopped not to 
 infjuire whether the patriotic speakers whom he 
 had parted with at the Metropolitan Hall hail 
 reached the battle-field, to share with him an.l 
 his the perils of the day, or whether they had per- 
 chance remained behind in the pursiiit of pi-ivate 
 business, or in the enjoyment of family, friends, and 
 home comforts. He was there, and there he faced 
 the enemy and fought out the fight like a man. 
 This was his second public speech. He has re- 
 mained in the service up to a short time since. 
 When it was difficult for government to induce 
 Volunteers to enlist, and more difficult to procure 
 suitable officers. Major Dike abandoned his own 
 business for the time — threw bis per.son and his 
 influence into the crisis — volunteered and accepted 
 an appointment, all as a matter of duty, and not 
 to gratify any military ambition. Now, when the 
 ranks of our citizen soldiery are readily filled up, 
 and other competent gentlemen are found justly 
 ambitious to fill his position, he has felt at liberty 
 to resign his post, and return to his legitimate 
 business; and, so here he is, surrounded by his 
 many warm friends at home." 
 
 K. M. Evans, the landlord of the popular Osden 
 House, is a native of Jefferson, Schoharie county. 
 New York, bom on the 21st of April, 1840. 
 While young he spent a few winters in sash 
 and blind factories and engaged at paint- 
 ing in the summers. In 18G1, he enlisted in 
 the Fifty-first New York Volunteer Infantry, 
 Company G, served eighteen months and was 
 then honorably discharged, but re-enlisted in 
 the First New York Engineers, serving eleven 
 months. On the 14th of December, 1802, he mar- 
 ried Miss B. J. Holdgridge. Mr. Evans located in 
 Schenevus, New York, where he kept a hotel three 
 
 years, and in 1878, came to this place, opening the 
 first Ogden House in 187!). In 1881, he ojjened 
 tlie present liotel which is a favorite resort for the 
 traveling public. Mr. and Mrs. Evans have three 
 children, two girls and one boy. 
 
 GoDi'Rinu Pleckenstein was born in Bavaria, 
 Germany, on the 20th of November, 1832. Hia 
 father beinp; proprietor of a brewery, Godfried was 
 reared to that business, and when twenty-one 
 years old came to America. He clerked in stores 
 in New York City for two years, and afterwards 
 resided in Cincinnati, Ohio. He came to Minne- 
 sota, remained in St. PaTil for a time, and in 1857, 
 came to this place and, with his brother E. as a 
 partner, opened a brewery; his brother retiring 
 soon after, he has since conducted the establish- 
 ment alone. He was married on the 13th of 
 March, 18.5(1, to Miss M. A. Ualz, in Cincinnati, 
 Ohio. They have had eight children, six of whom 
 iire living. 
 
 E. FiiECKENSTEiN, one of the early residents of 
 this city, is a native of Bavaria, Germany, liorn on 
 the 12th of January, 1834. His father owned a 
 brewery, in which occupation our subject was en- 
 gaged when quite young and continued at the 
 same until 1854, when he came to America, living 
 first in New York City and then in Cincinnati. In 
 1856, became to St. Paul, and the following year 
 to this place and immediately erected a brewery, 
 which lie carried on in company with his brother 
 for a short time. He has since erected another 
 building and carries on the business alone. Mr. 
 Fleckensteiu was united in marriage on the 7th of 
 July, 1859, to Miss Soj^hia Dopping. They have 
 had eight children, six of whom are living. 
 
 N. S. Flint, one of the old settlers of Faribault, 
 was born in Rutland, Worcester county, Mas- 
 sachusetts. His father was a farmer and chair 
 manufaci:urer. They moved to Butt'alo, New York, 
 in 184(!, and three years later to Jamestown. Mr. 
 Flint was married on the 28th of September, 1853, 
 to Miss Emily Stephens, of the latter place, and 
 in Ajiril, 1857, they came to Faribault. In 180(i, 
 Mr. Flint commenced the manufacture of furni- 
 ture, and started wliat is now known as the Fari- 
 bault Chair and Furniture factory, to which he 
 gave his whole time until 187C, when he retired 
 from business. 
 
 The principal portion of the data for the fol- 
 lowing sketch was obtained by the compilers of 
 this work from the lips of Mr. Faribault himself. 
 It may be noticed that there are some discrep- 
 
376 
 
 HISTORY OP RICE COUNTY. 
 
 ancies as to <lates and locations when compared 
 with the statements in the general liistory of the 
 county. This can only be accounted for by the 
 fact that Mr. Faribault is now quite aged, and 
 possibly may have forgotten many important 
 events of his life, as well as the dates. The other 
 statements referred to have been verified by old 
 settlers who claim to have obtained those facts 
 from the subject a <juarter of a century ago. 
 
 Alexandeb FabibauiiT was born in Prairie du 
 Chien, Crawford county, Wisconsin. The family 
 record shows his birth to have been on the 22d of 
 June, 1800, but as his certificate of baptism bears 
 the same date, and he distinctly remembers that 
 event, we conclude he must have been bom as early 
 as 1802 or 1803. His grandfather, Bartholomew 
 Faribault, came over fi'om Paris, France, to Can- 
 ada in 1757, as secretary of the French army. 
 He was the 3on of Bernard Faribault and Magda- 
 lena Hamon, the former of whom filled an honora- 
 ble position at the court royal, and died in Paris 
 on the 8th of May, 1741. The son, Bernard, was 
 a highly esteemed gentleman, and his son, Bar- 
 tholomew was born in Paris, where he was Notary 
 Public. Two years after his arrival in Canada, 
 after the defeat of tlie Canadians by the French, 
 in 1759, he went to Berthier, where he continued 
 his profession as Notary Public. He was married 
 to a lady by the name of Veronneau. He died in 
 the latter place on the 20th of June, 1801, and his 
 wife followed him in ten days. They left nine 
 children, the seventh, Jean Baptist, being the 
 father of Alexander Faribault. He was born at 
 Berthier on the 19th of October, 1775, married 
 Pelagic Haines, aud died on the 21st of August, 
 1860, in Torab. When a child Alexander was 
 very fond of hunting, and can remember while on 
 a pigeon hunt, that the British troojjs and Indian 
 allies attacked the place. This must have been 
 during the war of 1812. In the spring of 1821. 
 he, in company with tlie old trader; P. La Blan, 
 came u)) the Mississippi to the Minnesota river, 
 and the latter established a trading post where Le 
 Sueur now is. In the fall, BIr. Faribault was 
 given the escort of two Frenchmen, and returned 
 on the Mississippi to the present site of Hastings, 
 and traded during the winter. The following 
 spring they went to Fort Snelling, which Mr. 
 Faribault remembers having seen on his previous 
 trij). His father soon after became established on 
 Big Island, at? Mendota, as a trader, and once 
 when the Indian chief, Wauata, or Cut Head, 
 
 living where Fort Abercrombie was subse- 
 quently built, was wanted at Washington, he was 
 dispatched for him, having for companions Jo. 
 Snelling, son of the Colonel, and two French 
 guides. They took a pack horse, and made the 
 journey on foot, but when arriving there pur- 
 chased of the Indians a pony, which Jo. Snelling 
 aud Mr. Faribault took turns in riding back. The 
 latter was appointed by Major Taliaferro, United 
 States agent at Fort Snelling, and held the office un- 
 til 1825. He was married in the latter year to Miss 
 Elizabeth Graham, who is one year older than him- 
 self. Her father, Duncan Graham, was an ex-army 
 officer, and her mother, a half-breed, was a descend- 
 ant of the earliest explorers of Minnesota. The same 
 year of his marriage Mr. Faribault established 
 a trading post directly opposite the present city 
 of St. Peter, on the Minnesota bottom, and the 
 locality became known as We-we, or Wet Laud. 
 He lived there in a log house during the wiuter of 
 1825 and 1826. As the southern Indians desired 
 a nearer trading post, he, with a guide, in July, 
 1826, crossed the Cannon Biver at the present site 
 of Northfield, aud encamped where the city of 
 Faribault now stands. He continued his journey 
 through where Waterville now is, and about nine 
 miles southeast, a place now known as Okaman, 
 in Waseca county, concluded to locate. He marked 
 the place by jnitting up three stacks of hny.returned 
 to Mendota, and iu the fall of 1827, with seven 
 ox carts, and seven French assistants, wended his 
 way back through the wilderness, remaining at the 
 post three winters, and living at Mendota during 
 the summers. In the fall of 1830, he erected a 
 trading post at Lake Sakata, near where Water- 
 ville now is. The following fall he moved to the 
 east end of the lake, in the present town of Morris- 
 town, Rice county. The next year he moved 
 about three-quarters of a mile southwest, across 
 the Cannon River, and remained during the win- 
 ter of 1832-33. In 1833, he followed the Indians 
 south to their hunting grounds, locating in the 
 present county of Faribault. The place had an 
 Indian name, signifying chained lakes. He then 
 traded in what is now Steele county, where St. 
 Mary's now is. In 1835, he came to the present 
 site of Faribault and put up a log house 15x25 
 feet. It was ou the first bench on the east side of 
 Straight river, between the bridge and ilie resi- 
 dence of Mr. Gibson. Ever since he first en- 
 camped here, in 1826, it had been his intention to 
 secure the spot if it ever came into the market. 
 
CITY OF FARIBAULT. 
 
 377 
 
 He remained at this post during the winter 
 months, and lived with his family at Mendota in 
 summer, employing two Frenohmon to look after 
 the stock and post. 
 
 The flat on the west side of the river had pre- 
 viously been cultivated by the Indiaus, aud Mr. 
 Faribault plowed most of the land lying between 
 what is now Willow street and the river, north of 
 Third street, and planted wheat and com, the 
 Indians receiving the benefits, as they would take 
 the wheat from the stacks and thresh it in their 
 blankets, to all of which they were welcome. Mr. 
 Faribault then owned about thirty hiu'ses, one 
 hundred head of cattle, aud fmm twenty to foi-ty 
 hogs. In the spring of 1853, he liauled lumber 
 from St. Paul and employed twelve men in getting 
 timber from the woods here, and during the sum- 
 mer erected a commodious frame residence which 
 still stands. It was the first frame building in the 
 county. He was a very wealthy man in those 
 days, but his generosity has ruined him, finau- 
 cially, and now he is almost a pauper, not even 
 owning a home of his own. For ten years before 
 1853, he had plowed and planted land that is now 
 within the city limits. 
 
 His wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Fariliault, died in 
 Elizabethtown, near Fergus Falls, in 1875. Mr. 
 Faribault served in the battle of Birch Cooley in 
 18G2. 
 
 Frederk^k Willard Frink, who assisted in 
 organizing Bice county, Minnesota, in 1856, and 
 selected the site tor the present Court House, and 
 has been auditor of the county since March, 18G3, 
 is a native of Rutland county, Vermont, dating 
 his birth June 24, 1828. His father is Calvin 
 Friuk, a stone mason by trade, and the maiden 
 name of his mother was Lydia L. Avery. His 
 jjaternal great-great-grandfather was from Eng- 
 land, and his maternal great-grandfather was a 
 Captain in the Continental Army. When Freder- 
 ick was ten years old, the family moved to (xreeri 
 Bay, Wisconsin, and one year later (1839) to 
 Mineral Point, in the same State. There the 
 family remained until September, 1841, when 
 they removed to Sauk county, where Calvin Friiilc 
 and two other men laid out the village of Prairie 
 du Sac. There Frederick remained tea years, 
 farming and lumbering, finishing his education, 
 meanwhile, at the Beloit Seminary in 1846, pay- 
 ing some attention to the classics, as well as 
 mathematics and other practical branches. In 
 
 1851, our subject went to Waterloo, Grant county, 
 in the southwestern part of Wisconsin, was there 
 engaged in lumbering for three years, aud in 
 September, 1854, settled in Kice county, pre- 
 empting one liundred and sixty acres of land in 
 Kichland township. There Mr. Frink opened a 
 farm, but his health failing he moved into Fari- 
 bault in 1856. In October of that year he started 
 the "Rice County Herald," which he sold nut in a 
 short time, and which is still published under the 
 name of the "Faribault Republican," a jiaper de- 
 voted for twenty-two years to the advocacy of the 
 tenets of the Republican party. About this time 
 he purchased a fifth interest in the new town of 
 Shieldsville, Rice county, named for General 
 Shields, who was a resident of this county for two 
 or three years. It proved to be a "paper" town, 
 and with ten thousand other land speculators in 
 the "flush times" of 1856-'57, Mr. Friuk e.\])er- 
 ieuced a thorough "smash-up." After he had 
 made and lost his fortune in the Shieldsville ven- 
 ture, he was a clerk three years for Fariliault mer- 
 chants; was two years of this time Deputy County 
 Treasurer, and was elected County Auditor in 
 November, 1862. He is one of the most efficient 
 aud reliable business men in the county, and very 
 popular with the people. He was among the 
 frontier men when he broke land hi Minnesota, 
 and he was a frontier boy when living at Prairie 
 du Sac, Wisconsin. The first mail ever taken 
 from Madiscm westward to Prairie du Sac, was 
 carried by him on horseback at the age of eleven 
 years, a ride of more than fifty miles a day. All 
 the road he had, most of the way, was a trail 
 marked by "blazed trees," he aiding his father to 
 do the "blazing." Mr. Frink was Chairman of • 
 the first board of County Commissioners ( elected 
 in 185()), and resigned at the end of one year to 
 become a millionaire at Shieldsville. In politics, 
 Mr. Frink was originally a free-soiler, his candi- 
 dates on the Presidential ticket in 1852, being 
 John P. Hale aud George W. Julien. His wife 
 was Miss Julia E. Beach, of Grant county, Wis- 
 consin; their marriage took place on the 22d of 
 Sejitember, 1852. They have one son, Edward 
 Laman, aged twenty-five years. 
 
 Joseph G.\dorv was born in Berthier, district 
 of Montreal, Canada, on the 21st of May, 1833. 
 He left his native place in 1852, aud came to St. 
 Paul, where he clerked until 1855, then came to 
 Faribault, and in 1856, opened a general merchau- 
 
378 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNT r. 
 
 dise store with a $2,000 stock of goods. One 
 year lator he removed to Lake City, opened a sa- 
 loon and remained until 18G0, when he went to 
 Tennessee. He returned to this phice a year after- 
 ward, and has since been engaged in teaching in- 
 strumental music. 
 
 J. D. Greene, one of the active business men 
 of this place, was born in Kent county, Delaware, 
 on the 25th of April, 1828. His education was 
 received at the sclioois of his native county, and 
 when sixteen years old went to Philadelphia, 
 where he entered the employ of the extensive im- 
 porting firm of L. J. Levy & Co. In 1855, he 
 commenced business for himself, and in 1858, 
 went to Wa8hingt(.)n, where he received an appoint- 
 ment from the government, having charge of the 
 money department of the dead letter office, which 
 position he held for eight years, having previously 
 been connected with the appointment office of the 
 same department. He then came here, engaged 
 in the real estate and insurance business a year or 
 two, then commenced milling, which he has since 
 followed, owning ..nd operating the Straight River 
 stone mills, and also, with Mr. S. K. Gold, operat- 
 ing the Kendall mill in the city. He has the 
 reputation of making as good flour as is made in 
 the State, which is saying a good deal, in Minne- 
 sota. .He was married in 1854, to Mrs. Mary A. 
 Gold, who had two children by a former husband, 
 William J. and Sidney K., the one being an Epis- 
 copal clergyman and Professor of Greek at Racine 
 College, and the other In the milling business here. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Greene were blt.ssed with three chil- 
 dren; Walter W., Mary W., and Kendall. His 
 wife died on the 16th of April, 1875. She was a 
 most estimable woman, a daughter of Hon. Amos 
 Kendall, one of the leading men in Jackson's and 
 Van Buren's administrations, holding the position 
 of Postmaster General under them. He was the 
 founder of the Deaf and Dumb Institute in Wash- 
 ington, and was the agent and partner of Prof. 
 Morse in the development and establishment of 
 the telegraph system. Mr. Greene was again 
 married, his briile being Miss Minnie M. Gibson, 
 of Boston, the ceremony taking place on the 12th 
 of June, 1877. They have three children; .Jose])h 
 I)., Charles L., and Cornelia (i. 
 
 James Gibson, deceased, came to Faribault in 
 November, 185C, and was an inthiential citizen, a 
 native of Pennsylvania. He died on the 24th of 
 March, 1874, at the age of seventy-four years, 
 eaving a wife and tree children. 
 
 John Ricks, deceased, was an early settler com- 
 ing in the retinue of Mr. Faribault. He was 
 nearly blind for several years before his death, 
 which was in February, 1870. 
 
 John B. Gwathmey was born in Greencastle, 
 Indiana, on the 8th of July, 1830. After going 
 to the public schools he attended the Indiana 
 Asbury University four years. The family then 
 moved to Bowling Green, and his father being a 
 practicing jjhysician, John studied medicine in his 
 office. He attended school one year at Louisville, 
 Kentucky, after which be clerked in Cincinnati, 
 Ohio, then worked at the cabinet-maker's trade in 
 Greencastle and in 185.5, came to Faribault, Minne- 
 sota, and engaged at carpenter work on the first mill 
 here. After its completion he learned the trade in 
 it, and in 1862, enlisted in the Eighth Minnesota 
 Infantry, Company B; served three years, then re- 
 turned here and worked at his trade in different 
 mills in the State until 1870, since which time he 
 has been head miller in the Crown Point flourin g 
 mill. He was married in 1853, to Miss Lucinda 
 R. Willis, the ceremonj' taking place on the 10th 
 of February. They have three children. 
 
 Frank Glasee was born in New Jersey on the 
 28th of June, 185G. He learned the butcher's 
 trrtde with his father, and when nineteen years old 
 came to Faribault and engaged at that business. 
 He was married on the 25th of December, 1877, 
 to Miss Albertha Schultz, who has borne him three 
 children, all of whom are living. In 1879, Mr. 
 Glaser started a meat market of his own, which 
 he has since conducted. 
 
 Rev. Edmund Gale is a native of England, 
 born near Chichester, Sussex county, on the 12th 
 of November, 1821. He first engaged in mercan- 
 tile pursuits, and afterward studied medicine. He 
 was ordained as a Congregational minister in 
 1856, after having preached one year in Geneva, 
 Ohio, and previoufdy three years in England. On 
 the 28th of August, 1856, Miss Ruby C. Cowles 
 became his wife and they have three children. In 
 186.^, Mr. Gale removed to Michigan and in 1866, 
 came to thisjjlace and assumed charge of the Con- 
 gregational church, remaining till 1873, and then 
 returned to Ohio. In April, 1881, he came again 
 to Faribault and has since had charge of the same 
 church. 
 
 G. M. Giljiore, a native of Sullivan county, 
 New Hampshire, was born on the 24th of April, 
 1824. His father was engaged in the inanufac- 
 
CITY OF FAHIBAULT. 
 
 379 
 
 ture of woolen goocls and lumber, at wliich busi- 
 ness G. M. worked until tlie age of tweiitj-one. 
 He then, iu oompany with liis brotlier, went to 
 Boston and conducted a wholesale foreign fruit 
 trade. In 185."), he came to Minnesota, and iu 
 Janu,T,ry, 1856, to this place and bought his present 
 farm which was then heavy timber. He soon re- 
 turned to his native State, and after visiting Mis- 
 souri with a view of locating there, came again to 
 his farm. He was married in Sejjtember, 1851, to 
 Miss Sophia J. Medcalf. The result of the ^^nion 
 is seven children. In 1858, Mr. Gilmore run the 
 old Scott saw and flour mill, and continued it four 
 years, then was engaged in mercantile pursuits for 
 three years. In 1870, he moved on his farm and 
 has since devoted his time to its improvement. It 
 is beautifully located within the city limits and 
 flnelv cultivated, having fountains, well-kept build- 
 ings and lawn, and well-stocked trout and salmon 
 ponds, supplied with water by a spring a few feet 
 from the house. 
 
 Rev. O. Genis was born iu France, on tlie 3d of 
 October, 1838. He received his education in the 
 seminary of Meximieux and the Grand Seminary 
 iu the city of Bourg, and was ordained on the 15th 
 of June, 1862. The following year he came to 
 America and was engaged in missionary work iu 
 Minnesota under Bisliop Grace for five years, then 
 became parish priest at Austin, and since October, 
 1874, has been pastor of the Catholic church of 
 the Immaculate Conception in this city. To the 
 superior management of Father Genis is due much 
 of the present usefulness of this church. 
 
 Alexander J. Gk.^nt was born in Canada West 
 on the 10th of November, 1850. He was reared 
 on a farm and when eleven years old moved to 
 Ohio. In 1866, the family came to Fariliault and 
 his father was engaged in farming and lumbering, 
 and also contracted for railroad work, in all of which 
 Alexander assisted. In 1873, he was appointed 
 Deputy Sheriff of the county, held the office two 
 years and afterward clerked in a store. In 1870, 
 he bought the grocery store in which he had 
 previously clerked and has since carried on the 
 samfe, keeping a full line of staple and fancy 
 groceries. Miss Etta Fitz became the wife of Jlr. 
 Grant in September, 187i), and they have one 
 child, Henrietta. 
 
 L. A. Hath.\w.\t, a native of Delaware county, 
 New York, was born on the 1st of May, 1834. His 
 fath(M' was proprietor of a hotel, and he spent his 
 
 early life in that business. When he became of 
 age he went to El Paso, Illinois, and coutinui d in 
 the hotel business, subsequently went to La Salle 
 and thence to Cliicago where he was engaged in 
 mercantile pursuits in connection with tlie hotel. 
 Iu 1880, he came to Faribault, and under his su- 
 perior management the Arlington House has since 
 flourished. He was married before leaving his 
 native State to Miss Atlantic Beal, the ceremony 
 taking place on the 7th of March, 1852. They 
 have one boy, Elliott G. 
 
 P. J. HdmmeTj, a native of Germany, was born 
 iu Darmstadt on the 27th of February, 1859. His 
 father held the office of Recorder and Treasurer 
 in that city from the time he was of age until his 
 death. In 186!), P.J. came to America, landed iu 
 Rochester, New York, from which place, in 1872, 
 he came to Washington county, Minnesota, and 
 remained three years engaged in different occupa- 
 tions. He afterward lived in St. Paul one year 
 and in 1876, came to this city where he has since 
 carried on a photograph gallery, doing a very 
 prosperous business on Third between Main and 
 Elm streets. He is a member of the National 
 (iuards of the state of Minnesota, in which he holds 
 the office of Sergeant. On the 8th of June, 1880, 
 he was united in marriage with Miss Emma Degen. 
 
 Luke Hulett, deceased, one of the earliest set- 
 tlers in Faribault, who was closely identified with 
 the interests and prosperity of the whole com- 
 munity, and to whom it, in turn is indebted for 
 valuable counsel and assistance in town, county, 
 and State organization, was born in Rutland 
 county, Vermont, iu 1803. In 1824, he voted for 
 John Quincy Adams for President, and then started 
 for Ohi'.). In 1830, he visited Chicag(.i, and after- 
 wards settled 100 miles east of that city. He 
 built a saw-mill on the St. Joe River iu 1833. In 
 1846, be removed to Wisconsin. When he started 
 out his cajiital consisted of a knowledge of prac- 
 tical work on a farm, and when he got to Ohio 
 and began farming his wheat sold for twenty cents 
 a bushel, and it required ten bushels to buy a 
 pound of Young Hyson tea. Ten years afterward, 
 in northern Indiana, he sold wheat for thirty-five 
 cents a bushel. When Mr. Hulett came here he 
 brought his wife and six little girls, which was 
 deemed a hazardous thing, but they remained to 
 become highly respected wives and mothers. 
 Horace Greeley used to allude to the "Tribune 
 readers" as a particular class of men, above the 
 
380 
 
 nrsTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 average intelligence, large hearteJ, and liberal in 
 tbeir views, and with open sympathies for suffer- 
 ing humanity. Well Mr. Hulett was a "Tribune 
 reader," he took the jmper from its very commence- 
 ment, and constantly reading it made him a man 
 of general information. He left his impress on 
 the times, retaining the confidence and respect of 
 all who knew him to the very last. He was the 
 author of the chapter in the Minnesota laws on 
 town organization. For more than halt a century 
 he was a pioneer on" the frontier. On the 18th of 
 Blarch, 1882, at the ripe age of seventy-nine he 
 took his final departure. Resolutions of respect 
 were passed by the Old Settlers' Association, of 
 which he had been the honored and venerable pre- 
 sident from the first. 
 
 A. L. Hill, proprietor and owner of Hill's Fur- 
 niture factory, and one of the early settlers of the 
 city, was born in Hampden county, Massachu- 
 setts, on the 2d of April, 1829. When sixteen 
 years of age he commenced to learn the machinist 
 trade at Hadenville, at which he worked until 
 1848, then came to Fond-du-Lac, Wisconsin, and 
 started a machine shop, the ■first in that city, run- 
 lung his machinery by horse power. In 1853, he 
 visited California, but returned the next year and 
 engaged in the lumber trade in Fond-du-Lac, at 
 which he continued until 1855, when he came 
 here and manufactured furniture on a small scale. 
 He has increased his business, and now has one of 
 the largest manufacturing establishments in the 
 city, doing superior work. He carries on a retail 
 store also, and is proprietor of the fine business 
 block bearing his name. 
 
 Jeremiah Healy, deceased, the oldest settler of 
 Erin township, and one of the oldest in Rice 
 county, was born in the county of Cork, Ireland, 
 in 1819. He came to America in 1842, and set- 
 tled in Dubuque, Iowa, then a frontier town, re- 
 mained there till the spring of 1855, and moved to 
 the territory of Minnesota, settling in what is now 
 known as Erin townsbij), Ric« county. Mr. Healy 
 was noted for his integrity, honesty, and un- 
 l)ouuded hospitality, his claim shanty being open 
 to all emigrants, and assisting them in locating 
 claims in that vicinity free of charge. On the 
 25th of July, 18()8, ho passed calmly and peace- 
 fully away, surrounded by his family and friends 
 and fortified by the sacraments of the Catholic 
 church, of which he was a devout and consistent' 
 member. He left a farailv of fourteen children, 
 
 seven boys and seven girls, nine of whom are still 
 living, Sarah being the first white child born in 
 the township. He was ably assisted by his noble 
 and devoted wife, who still survives him. The 
 eldest, Edward and Jeremiah were twins. The 
 latter was elect d County Commissioner of the 
 Fifth district at the age of twenty-three years. 
 In 1874, he entered into the general merchandise 
 business in Faribault with his brother, Edward, 
 and was elected Alderman in the Third ward in 
 1880. 
 
 Edward taught school for several years in Rice 
 and Le Sueur counties, and in 1872, moved to 
 Faribault and engaged in mercantile pursuits. 
 He is at present County Commissioner of the 
 Third district. The two brothers do a successful 
 business on the corner of Third and Elm streets, 
 under the firm name of Healy Bros. John occu- 
 pies the old homestead. 
 
 J. S. HiLLYER, one of the proprietors of the 
 Faribault flouring mill, was born in Southamp- 
 ton, Hants county, England, on the 7th of April, 
 1840. His parents died before he was ten years 
 old, after which he attended school until eighteen 
 years of age at Duncan College, and then learned 
 the miller's trade. He bought the flouring mill 
 at Alresford, which he run until 18(57. Mr. Hill- 
 yer was married in June, 1860, to Miss Selena A. 
 Miller. They removed to Winona, Minnesota, 
 where he owned and operated a flouring mill with 
 his brother-in-law. Ho remained there about 
 eighteen months, then removed to Rockford, 
 Wright county, Minnesota, where he was from 
 18(i9 to 187G, then visited England and the next 
 year commenced his milling interest here by 
 building the Fariliault City mill. In 1880 and 
 '81, he owned a one-half interest in the -'Red 
 Jacket Mills" at Mankato, which burned in the 
 latter year. He is the father of four children, 
 three of whom are living, one boy and two girls. 
 
 A. H. Hatch was born in Chelsea, Orange 
 county, Vermont, on the 19th of June, 1833. His 
 father being a farmer, our subject remained at 
 home on the farm uutU nineteen years of age. He 
 then worked one year at tlie harness-maker's 
 trade, but gave it up on account of his health and 
 returned to the farm. Two years later he engaged 
 as clerk in a grocery store in Boston, and in the 
 spring of 1857, came to Juneau county, Wiscon- 
 sin, and worked on a farm that summer, teaching 
 scliool tliat winter. He learned the carpenter 
 
677')" OF FAUIBAl'LT. 
 
 381 
 
 trade of Edward Ray, and engaged at it in various 
 places until 18G1, then returued east. Tu 1864, 
 he came to Faribault and does business as con- 
 trai^tor and builder. He has been twiee married; 
 first to Miss Mary .Tane Bay, the ceremony dating 
 the 10th of Maroli, 18.58. They had three chil- 
 dren, and his wife died the 17th of August, 187-1. 
 His present wife was ft>rmerly Eliza A. Kn.ss<'ll, 
 whom he married in October, 187(1. Mr. Hatch is 
 a prominent member of Rainbow Lodge, No. :K. 
 I. O. O. P., and has held various offices in the same. 
 
 M. B. Haskell, a native of Kennebec connty, 
 Maine, dates his l)irth the 7th of May, 18-18, and 
 was reared on a farm. In 18(}9, he came to Steele 
 county, and opened a small store at Medford. He 
 was married on the 11th of October, 1869. his 
 bride being Miss Etta C. Boyles. In 1871, he 
 came to this place, and opened a confectionery 
 store on a small scale, but by good management 
 has increased his stock, and now carries a full line 
 of fancy and sttiple groceries. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Haskell have been blessed with three children. 
 
 M. P. HoLMEN was born in Norway on the 6t'i 
 of May, 1847. He was reared on a farm and 
 worked in copper mines in his native conutry, 
 coming to America in 1807. He came directly to 
 Minnesota, locating in this place the same year 
 and engaged in work on the railroad, continuing 
 at the same seven years, then clerked in the city 
 two years. In 1875, in company with Mr. Lar- 
 son, he 'opened a grocery store, but two years 
 later the firm dissolved partnership, and now Mr. 
 Holmen conducts the business alone. He was 
 married on the 12th of February, 1876, to Miss 
 Severena Matison. Of four children born to them, 
 three are living. 
 
 A. E. Haven, who owns and edits the '-F.iri- 
 banlt Democrat," was born in Guilford, Chenango 
 county. New York, on the 4th of February, 1840, 
 and attended the public schools of his native 
 town. In 1856, he went to La Crosse, Wisconsin, 
 was a pupil at the high school two years and then 
 studied law in the office of Judge Hugli Cameron, 
 learning the art of printing at tho sami' time. In 
 April, 1861, he enlisted in the Second Wisconsin 
 Volunteer Infantry, Company B, serving in the 
 Army of the Potomac till 1864, and received his 
 discharge in July. In August, he commenced 
 work in the "La Crosse Democrat" oifice and was 
 gradually promoted to associate editor, having 
 entire editorial charge the last three years. On 
 
 the 15th of November, 1867, Miss Mary A. Meeker 
 became his wife and they have two children, 
 Reide M. and Freda. In 1.S7], l\Ir. Haven came 
 to this place, and purchased the " Faril)anlt Lead- 
 er," changing its name to the " Faril)ault Demo- 
 crat," and issuing the first paper on the 8th of 
 September, 1871. He has been a member of the 
 School Board two terms during his residence here 
 and in 1876 and 1878, was elected County Super- 
 intendent of Schools. 
 
 E. D. Haskixs, the efficient Deputy (Jounty 
 Treasurer, was born in Northampton, Massachu- 
 setts, on the 9th of April, 1842. In 1856. the 
 farailj came to Faribault and E. D. assisted his 
 father at the carpenter trade, and three years later 
 inirchased a photograph gallery, in which ))usiness 
 he was engaged until 1861, then enlisted in the 
 First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, Company G, 
 serving three years as musician, and during the 
 Litter jjart of that time as chief musician of the 
 regiment. After receiving his discharge, he vis- 
 ited the East, and while there learned the art of 
 making gold pens, then returned to tliis place, and 
 in 1868, was a])poiuted to the oHice above men- 
 tioned, n-hich he has since held, with the exception 
 ol two years, when he was engaged in the manu- 
 facture of gold pens. His wife was formerly Miss 
 Nellie A. Beach, whom he married in Amherst, 
 Massachusetts, on the 27tli of November, 1866. 
 
 Miles Hollistbr was born in Cattaraugus 
 connty. New York, on the 22d of August, 1829, 
 and was reared on a farm. When ten years old lie 
 went to work in a tannery and remained two sum- 
 mers, after which he worked on a farm and clerked 
 in a store, going to school winters until seventeen 
 years old, when he went to live with his oldest 
 brother in Michigan. On account of malarial 
 sickness he soon returned to New York, however, 
 and taught school winters and attended Spring- 
 field Academy during spring and fall terms. In 
 1851, he was married to Orcelia A. Griffith, and 
 went into business for himself. In September, 
 1854, he left New York, stopping and teaching 
 school in Michigan that winter, and came to Min- 
 nesota in the spring, arriving in Faribault on the 
 18th of April, 1855. He made a claim and be- 
 came a resident on section fifteen, in what after- 
 wards liecame the town of Sargent (since changctl 
 to Warsaw), and engaged in mercantile and mill- 
 ing business. On the organization of that town 
 he was unanimously elected the fir.st Chairman of 
 
382 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 the board of Supervisors. In thfi fall of 1858, be 
 was elected Clerk of the District Court of Kice 
 county and removed witb bis family to Faribault 
 in the spring of 1859; was re-elected to the 
 latter office in 18G1, liaving in tbe meantime been 
 twice elected Town Clerk of Faribault, and also, 
 for a time, beld the office of Deputy County Treas- 
 urer, and at other times doing the work of the 
 County Auditor. On the 5th of August, 1862, he 
 enlisted as a private in Company B, of the Eighth 
 Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and on the 17th 
 of that month was commissioned its First Lieuten- 
 ant, and served in that capacity until tbe spring 
 of lS(').i, when be was transferred and mustered as 
 Captain of Company K, of the One Hundred and 
 Twenty-Third U. S. C. T., and as such was mus- 
 tered out about the 1st of November, 1865, filling, 
 while in service, tbe positions of Commissary, 
 Quartermaster, Ordnance Officer, Commandant of 
 a Company, of a Fort, and of a Regiment. On his 
 return from the army, be went to St. Paul to live, 
 keeping books in the State Land Office until 1867, 
 when he returned to Rice county, and the same 
 year was elected Register of Deeds, in which 
 office be served two years. In the spring of 1874, 
 he was chosen Secretary of Rice County Grange 
 Mill Company, and continued witb the company 
 until their mill burned and tbe company went out 
 of business, since which time be has held tbe 
 same position in the Polar Star Mill Company. 
 On tbe 28th of August, 1862, Mr. Hollister was 
 united in marriage with Susie S. Hunkins, for- 
 merly of New Hampshire, his first wife having 
 died on the 28th of June, 1861. 
 
 Charles F. Hummer w;i8 born in Austria, on 
 tbe 17th of August, 1841. When eleven years of 
 age, he entered the government military school, 
 remained there eight years, and entered the 
 Austrian army, serving eight years longer. He 
 was then employed as station agent on the rail- 
 road, and in 1875, came to New York City, 
 eighteen months later to Owatonna, Steele 
 county, Minnesota, where he clerked in a 
 store. On the 10th of October, 1880, he married 
 Miss Annie HoiTman, and tbe following year came 
 here and opened his present billiard hall and 
 saloon. 
 
 James Hintek was born in Stormont county, 
 in the province of Ontario, Canada, and grew to 
 manhood on a farm. In 1861, be came to Fari- 
 bault and attended school one winter. In Feb- 
 
 ruary. 1862, he enlisted in the Second Minnesota 
 Light Artillery, and was the first man wounded in 
 the battery. He was disabled on tbe 8tb of Octo- 
 ber, 1862,at the battle of Perryville, and in March, 
 1863, received an honorable discharge. Having 
 learned the blacksmith trade, he followed that for 
 a time, but in celebrating the surrender of Gen. 
 Lee, in 1865, his left arm was blown o£f just below 
 the elbow. He was married on the 25tb of April, 
 1866, to Miss Ehzabeth F. Metherson, and the 
 same year be was elected County Sberiii', held the 
 position six years, then was Chief of Police sev- 
 eral years, and has been City Justice for the past 
 five years. 
 
 S. H. Jay is a native of Maryland, born in 
 Montgomery county, on the 1st of March, 1821. 
 He was reared on a farm, and in 1833, went with 
 his mother to Ohio, where he followed farming, 
 and later was employed in the construction of 
 railroads. He was married on tbe 7th of Septem- 
 ber, 1847, to Miss Ellen Collins. They have bad 
 thirteen children, only seven of whom are living. 
 In 1856, Mr. Jay came to Wisconsin in the employ 
 of the railroad company, and two years later as- 
 sisted in the grading of tbe first railroad in this 
 State. He subseciuently opened a farm in Scott 
 county, and in 1871, moved to Owatonna, and the 
 following year came here. Since 1875, he has 
 been proprietor of the American Hotel. 
 
 C. F. KiEKENAPP, one of the pioneers of 
 Wheeling township, was born in Hanover, Ger- 
 many, on tbe 7th of March, 1838. In 1851, his 
 parents moved to Illinois, and four years later 
 drove an ox team from there to Wheeling, where 
 they located a farm. Tbe father died in 1859, 
 and C. F. carried on the farm until 1871, when he 
 came here and was employed in the machine bus- 
 iness. In 1877, be opened a grocery store and 
 saloon, and has since continued in the same. 
 
 F. H. KiEKENAPP, a native of Cook county, 
 Illinois, was born on the 25th of February, 1854. 
 In 1856, tbe family removed to Wheeling, this 
 county, driving an ox team the entire distance. 
 In 1861, his father died, and when our subject was 
 I'igbteen years old he came to this place and 
 learned tbe harness maker's trade, working at it 
 here and in Chicago till 1876, when he opened his 
 present harness shop, and has since aone a pros- 
 perous business. On the 1st of June, 1880, Miss 
 Mary Kriser became his wife, and they have one 
 child, Edwin. 
 
CITY OF FAUTllAULT. 
 
 383 
 
 E. Kai'l, a native of Germany, was born in 
 Prussia, on the 3d of Marob, 1839. \lc was 
 reared on a farm, and in 1865, came to Americ^a, 
 locating in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1806, iie went 
 to Cassville, in tlie same State, and clerked until 
 18G8, then came here and started in business for 
 himself, opening a stock of general merohandi.so. 
 On the 2d of Feljruary, 1871, he was married to 
 Miss Mary E. Misgen, who has borne him six 
 children. Mr. Kaul now carries on a grocery 
 store and saloon, and is engaged in the manufac- 
 tnre of cigars. He has been Alderman of the first" 
 ward four years. 
 
 M. H. Keeley was born in Rathguile. conuty 
 Wexford, Ireland, on the 17th of March, 1854. 
 In the fall of 1858, his parents, with their family 
 of seven children, of whom the subject of this 
 sketch was the youngest, left their native country 
 and came to America, settling near St. Thomas, 
 in Western Canada. After some years passed at 
 St. Thomas, Sandwich, and Chatham successively, 
 they moved to Beloit, Wisconsin, in 1865. After 
 passing a few terms in the High School at Beloit, 
 Mr. Keeley entered the celebrated Congregational 
 College, located in that city, taking a full classical 
 course. He remained in that institution till he 
 completed the Freshman year, and in 1869, was 
 sent from thence by his pai'cnts to prcjsecute his 
 studies at the excellent Catholic university of 
 Notre Dame, Indiana. There he graduated in 
 1872, receiving his bachelor degrees in arts, and 
 for the two snbse(|uent years taught in the insti- 
 tution. Meantime his family had moved to 
 Waseca county, Minnesota, whither, iu the sum- 
 mer of 1874, he followed them, with a view, how- 
 ever, of returning to his Alma Mater the same 
 fall, where he had made arrangements to continue 
 teaching. Being prevailed upon to remain in 
 Minnesota, and having cancelled his engagement 
 to teacb, he began reading law in the ofiBcc of 
 Hon. John H. Case, in Fiiribault, and was ad- 
 mitted to the bar iu 1877, since which time he has 
 been engaged in the practice of his profession. 
 In 1878, his Alma Mater conferred on him the 
 degree of Bachelor of Law, and some years prior, 
 the degree of Master of Arts. 
 
 On the 26th of June, 1879, Mr. Keeley was 
 united in marriage to Miss Katie F. Cavanaugh, a 
 young lady of tine accomplishments, a graduate 
 of St. Clara's Academy, Siu.sinawa Mound, Wis- 
 consin, and a universal favorite iu the best social 
 
 circles, the marriage taking plaeio at Mitchell, 
 Mitchell county, Iowa, the ceremony being per- 
 formed by Itev. Fathers Sanders and Ounii, of the 
 Koraan Catholic church.. Immediately after his 
 marriage, Mr. Keeley, who, up to that time was 
 apsociated with Mr. Case, opened a law office of 
 his own, and has since done a good business. 
 He has been City Attorney of Faribault tlire(^ 
 successive years, and still holds that office. In 
 religion he is an uncomiu'omising Catholic, with- 
 out being a bigot; in politics a staunch Democrat, 
 witliout being a partisan. 
 
 A. D. Keyes was born in Acworth, Sullivan 
 county, Xew Hampshire. He first attended the 
 common schools, tiien graduated from Kimball 
 Union Academy in 1868, having the Valedictory 
 of the classical course, and in 1872, from Dart- 
 mouth College. On the 17th of August, 1872, he 
 married Miss Mary E. Weston, a graduate of Kim- 
 ball Union. Poor health compelled him to come 
 west, and he began the study of law in the office 
 of (t. E. Cole and was admitted to the bar in 1873. 
 He practiced in the same office until 1879, since 
 which time he has been alone, doing a fine busi- 
 ness. F.e h.as held severallocal offices and in 1881, 
 was elected to the oHice of County Attorney which 
 he still holds. 
 
 C. H. KijEMEK, a native of Berlin, Germany, 
 was bom on the 20th of Jauuary, 1824. His 
 father died when O. H. was but five years old, 
 leaving a family of ten children. Om- subject 
 learned the turner's trade and in 1848, came to 
 America and engaged in farming in Dodge county, 
 Wisconsin, a short time, then worked at his trade 
 in Watertowu, in the latter State, until 1857, when 
 he moved to Goodhue county, Minnesota, and en- 
 gaged in farming seven years. In 1864, he came 
 here, worked at his trade one year, then started a 
 carding mill with one carding maohine. He has 
 increased his business until he now is ])roprietor 
 of the Faribault Woolen Mill. 
 
 Fred. Kkeft was born in Hanover, Germany, 
 on the 8th of October, 1834, and engaged .at the 
 batcher trade in his native country. He emigrated 
 to America aboiit 1856, located in Chicago, Illi- 
 nois, where he engaged in business, and while 
 there married Miss Sophia Messe. In 1859, he 
 removed to Wheeling, Eice county, where he was 
 one of the fir.st settlers; engaged in farming four- 
 teen vears, then came to Faribault and opened a 
 saloon, which he has since conducted. He is the 
 
384 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 father of eight children, six of whom are living. 
 
 J. W. KoLLMANN, a native of Germany, was born 
 in Hanover on the 2Gtli of August, 1849. He at- 
 tended school aud clerked iu his native place and 
 in 1807, came to Quincy, Illinois, where he re- 
 mained three years, then went to St. Louis, Mis- 
 souri, and followed the same employment till 1874, 
 when failing health comjielled him to change 
 climate. He came to Faribault and clerked for A. 
 W. Mueller. On the 21st of January, 1875, Miss 
 Mary Wiechers became his wife. They have one 
 child, Beata. In 1877, Mr. Kollmann bought out 
 the large stock of dry goods of A. W. Mueller 
 and in 1881, o])eued a clothing store opposite his 
 dry goods house, taking O. Vogl as partner in the 
 latter business, the firm being Kollmann & Volg. 
 
 E. N. Le.wens, the efficient and obliging Post- 
 master and one of the pioneers of Faribault, was 
 born in Putnam, Connecticut, and when two years 
 of age removed with his parents to Webster, Massa- 
 cliusetts where his fatlier had charge of the ma- 
 chinery in a cotton mill. When seventeen years 
 of age E. N. commenced clerking in a general 
 merchandise store and in 1853, married Miss 
 Eunice Darling. Two years later they came to 
 Faribault and he engaged to clerk for Mr. Barron 
 iu the old "Barron House," and in the fall of the 
 same year opened a clothing store. He was iden- 
 tified with the mercautile interests of the city until 
 1862, when he joined the Sibley expedition against 
 the Indians, serving as sutler of the Tenth Minne- 
 sota Infantry, going with the regiment to St. 
 Louis and through their extensive campaigns till 
 the close of the war. He was made Quartermaster 
 of the regiment in 1804. After his discharge he 
 returned here, where he was a commercial agent 
 five years. In 1858, he was elected first Represen- 
 tative from this district, and in 1873, was appointed 
 Postmaster, which position he still holds. 
 
 Joel L. Levi, a member of the firm of Levi 
 Bros., was born in Clear Spring, Maryland, on the 
 9th of September, 1855. His father was a mer- 
 chant and Joel was reared to that employment. In 
 18(53, the family moved to Goshen, Indiana, and 
 three years later to Oskaloosa, Iowa, where our 
 subject clerked until 1877, then came here and 
 opened his present clothing store, also carries a 
 stock of hats, caps, etc. In 1878, his store was 
 destroyed by fire, but he immediately rebuilt. His 
 brother, Morris L, lives in Iowa. 
 
 E. M. Leach, one of the early settlers of this 
 
 place, was born iu Washington county, Vermont, 
 on the 22d of April, 1830. He remained on a 
 farm until of age, then came to Illinois and two 
 years later to Iowa. In 1855, he removed to this 
 place, and for five years was engaged in various 
 occupations. In 18G0, he visited Colorado, ■which 
 was his home for four years. He then returned to 
 this place and became a partner in the sash, door, 
 and blind factory, under the firm name of Ingram 
 & Leach. In 1881, he became sole owner of the 
 factory and the lumber yard in connection with it. 
 Miss Caroline Stowel became his wife in Novem- 
 ber, 1866, and of nine children born to them, seven 
 are living. 
 
 R. J. LiEB was born in France on the 5th of 
 February, 1842. At the age of seven years he 
 came with his parents to Beloit, Wisconsin, where 
 he remained on his fathers farm until 1859, then 
 came to Faribault, driving through with a wagon. 
 After his arrival, he learned the shoemaker's trade, 
 at which he worked for some time, then specu- 
 lated in land and in 1862, opened a I'etail boot and 
 shoe store, which he has since carried on, also 
 manufacturing the same. He also deals in hides, 
 furs, etc. On the 15th of April, 1867, he married 
 Miss Catharine Pallas, who has borne him five 
 children, four of whom are living. He was burned 
 out in 1882, but soon opened his present store. 
 
 D. D. Lloyd was born in Flintshire, Wales, on 
 the 3d of December, 1824, and came to Oneida 
 couuty, New York, at the age of eleven years, 
 with his parents who located on a farm. In 1842, 
 our subject came to Galena, Illinois, where part of 
 his time was devoted to mining until 1846, when 
 he enlisted in the Sixth Infantry, Company K, 
 serving two years on detached duty in the Mexi- 
 can war. He then removed to Wisconsin and en- 
 gaged at the mason trade, which he had learned 
 while young, worked at that for a time, then de- 
 voted his time to mercantile pursuits. In January, 
 1850, Miss Jane E. Roberts became the wife of 
 Mr. Lloyd and the union has been blessed with 
 three children, only one of whom is living. In 
 1860, he came to this place; has been engaged in 
 dry goods, hardware and grocery business, but in 
 1881, opened his present flour, feed, aud provision 
 store. 
 
 Samheij Lord, Judge of the Fifth judicial dis- 
 trict of Minnesota, and a son of Enoch and Eleanor 
 Warren Lord, is a descendent of an old Connecti- 
 cut family, now sj^read over the New England, 
 
CITY OF FAUIBAULT. 
 
 385 
 
 Middle, and most of the Western States. He 
 dates his birth at Mead^olle, Pennsylvania, on the 
 26tli of July, 1831, where he remained till of age, 
 losing his father, a farmer, when the sou was four- 
 teen years old. Samuel was educated at the local 
 college, taking special studies, such as he deemed 
 of most importance, and not graduating, teaching 
 school one or two terms, but never designing to 
 follow that vocation. He read law at Meadville, 
 with Joshua Douglas; came to Minnesota in 1856, 
 and practiced three years at Marion, Olmsted 
 county, representing that county in the Legisla- 
 ture in the session of 1857-58. In 1859, Mr. 
 Ijord removed to Mantorville, Dodge county, where 
 he was in practice, except when on the bench, un- 
 til 1876, when he removed to Faribault, his present 
 home. He was a member of the State Senate, 
 representing Mower and Dodge counties in 1866, 
 '67, '70, and '71, being chairman of the Judiciary 
 committee during three of these sessions. His 
 standing in the upper branch of the Legislature 
 was highly creditable. Mr. Iiord was elected 
 Judge in the autumn of 1871, for a term of seven 
 years and was re-elected in November, 1878. He 
 is learned in the law, and a man of liberal culture; 
 is patient and painstaking in his official duties, 
 cool in his deliberation.s, strictly impartial, and a 
 man of the highest integrity. Such men honor 
 the ermine. Judge Lord has always affiliated with 
 the republican party, to which he owes the re- 
 peated honors conferred upon him. In June, 
 1855, Miss Louisa Comptou, of Erie, county, 
 Pennsylvania, was united in marriage with Judge 
 Lord. They have five children living, and have 
 lost two. 
 
 Hon. Henky Clay Lowell, deceased. — As one 
 of the most eminent and influential men of Kice 
 county and the State in the time of his life, a his- 
 tory of Rice county would be incomplete without 
 a slietch of his life. He was born in Tliomaster, 
 Lincoln county, Maine, on the 1st of September, 
 1803. He grew to manhood; studied law in East 
 Machias, Washington county, and was ailraitted 
 to practice in 1830. He then settled at Eockland, 
 Knox county, and for twenty-five years enjoyed 
 an honorable and extensive practice, not only in 
 his native State, but throughout all New England. 
 Wherever his practice called him, lie was recog- 
 nized as holding a high place in the very front 
 rank of his profession. In 1855, he removed to 
 the West, and in August of that year settled on 
 25 
 
 a farm about two miles .sf>uth of Earil)ault, where 
 he remained until the fall of 18(i2, when he re- 
 moved to the city. In the spring following he 
 went to Le Sueur to attend a term of District 
 court, where he was suddenly siezed with inflam- 
 mation of the bowels, and on the 10th of March, 
 1853, he died, being fifty years, five months, and 
 nineteen days old. During the first three years 
 of his residence in Rice county he did not practice, 
 but the force of habit and long ascociation could 
 not be resisted, and in 1858, he returned to the 
 bar, where for the following five years he was one 
 of the most active and successful iiractitioners in 
 the State, familiarly known in every judicial dis- 
 trict, and everywlicre regarded as one of the 
 brightest ornaments of his profession. He fell — 
 as he had often expressed a desire to fall — at his 
 post. He was a fine speaker, a true man, and his 
 fidelity to his client had almost jiassed into a pro- 
 verb. 
 
 The remains of the deceased were buried in the 
 Episcopal cemetery, where a large and solemn gath- 
 ering, from all parts of the State, united in paying 
 the last tribute of res|)ect to departed worth. 
 Honest and upright in all his dealings, he leaves 
 behind him a name that will be cherished by all 
 who knew him. 
 
 C. L. Lowell, one of the pioneers of this plac:', 
 was bom in Knos county, Maine, on the 3d of Oc- 
 toljer, 1820. Besides the high school of his na- 
 tive city he attended the Academies at Lewiston, 
 and East Machias, and studied law in the New 
 York Law School and at Rockland, where he was 
 admitted to the liar in 1850, and practiced until 
 1855. He then came to Faribault, and thence to 
 Wilton, Waseca county, Minnesota, with his father 
 and a few others, who platted the town. Mr. 
 Lowell was married in 1851, to Mis.s Georgia 
 Berry. In 1858, he returned to Faribault, where 
 he practiced his profession several years, when 
 poor health compelled him to abandon it. He 
 sold his library, etc., and engaged in mercantile 
 pursuits, but after a time again turned his atten- 
 tion to law, doing also insurance and real estate 
 business. He is a strong Democrat, and several 
 times has been the choice of his party for office. 
 
 Capt. James Rohert Lucas, deceased, was born 
 in Chicago, Illinois, in September, 1835. While still 
 an infant his mother died, and his father a few years 
 later. When he came to Faribault, in 1856, he had 
 been to school but six months. Under Mr. and 
 
386 
 
 HISTORY OF lilCE COUNT'/. 
 
 Mrs. R. A. Mott he stmlieJ arithmetic and otlier 
 branches, aaJ worked in the office as a printer, 
 and was afterwards foreman in a St. Paul office. In 
 1804, lie was appointed a paymaster in the army. 
 While in Faribault he married Miss Keid. In 
 186.5, he was appointed clerk in the Auditor's 
 office, and was chief clerk at the time of his death 
 m 1875. 
 
 J. P. LiNDEMAN, one of the proprietors of the 
 carriage factory in this place, was born on the 
 24th of December, 1854, in Missouri. In 1857, 
 the family removed to Iowa, and when our sul)- 
 !ect was fourteen years old they came to Hastings, 
 Minnesota. J. F. worked at the carriage maker's 
 trade three years in the latter place, then went 
 east, engaged at the same until 1876, when he 
 came here and in company with his brother 
 opened a factory for the manufacture of wagons, 
 buggies, etc., doing a prosperous business. On 
 the 1st of November, 1876, he married Miss Lena 
 Griebel. They have two children. 
 
 Rodney A. Mott, a native of New York, was 
 born in Warsaw on the (ith of December, 1825. 
 In the month of April, 1885, he removed witli his 
 mother to Chicago, his father having previously 
 died. Our subject attended Baker Academy in 
 northern Illinois, and Knox College, in Galesburg, 
 until 1848, supporting himself by teaching 
 through his literary and law studies. In 1848, he 
 commenced the study of law in Chicago with 
 James H. Collins Esq. In 1850, he went overr 
 land to California, and returned in the summer of 
 1852, by water. He w'as married in October, 1852, 
 to Miss Mary Ripley, daughter of Rev. David 
 Ripley, of Pomtret, Connecticut. Soon after Mr. 
 Mott's return from California, he started a school 
 known as Creto Academy for training teachers, 
 remaining in it for several years. In the spring 
 of 185(i, he came to Fai'ibault, and was the first 
 teacher in the public schools. For several years 
 lie was i)roprietor and editor of the first [japer 
 published in the place, the "Rice County Herald," 
 clianging its name to the "Faribault Herald," or 
 '■Faribault Republican." He left this enterpri.se 
 in 1858, and was admitted to the bar, and imme- 
 diately commenced practicing law, which is still 
 his profession. He was County Attorney two 
 terms, Couni^,' Su])erintendeut of Schools several 
 years, and in 1880, elected to the State Legisla- 
 ture. Mr. Mott has been connected with the State 
 institutions at Faribault, as Director and Secretarv 
 
 of the Board, ever since they started. He is 
 Chairman of the committees on education and the 
 Deaf and Dumb and Blind Imbecile schools. He 
 and his family take a more than ordinary inter- 
 est in literary pursuits and all matters pertaining 
 to education. His mother, born in 1801, is still 
 hale and active and lives with him. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Mott have five children living; Millie, a graduate 
 of St. Mary's College, is the wife of Prof. West, 
 superintendent of the Duluth schools; Mary E., 
 Alice J., who graduated at St. Mary's in 1881; 
 Christie, who graduated in 1882, and Louise. 
 The children were all born in Faribault, and 
 the family are all memlicrs of the Congregational 
 church. 
 
 A. W. McdCiNSTKY was born in Cbicopee, Hamp- 
 den county, Massachusetts, in 1828. His ancestors 
 on the paternal side were Scotch-Irish, and on the 
 maternal of English descent. A. W. received his 
 education in the common schools, which he at- 
 tended in the winter and worked on the farm in 
 the summer till the age of sixteen years. He sub- 
 seipiently was a pupil in Fredonia Academy one 
 term. In 1844, he secured a j)osition as appren- 
 tice to the printing l)usiness in the office of his 
 brother, who published the "Fredonia Censor" at 
 Fredonia, Chautauqua county. New York. After 
 ser\'ing four years, he worked for a time as journey- 
 man in eastern cities and then formed a co-partner- 
 ship with his brother in tlie publication of the Cen- 
 sor. In 1857, Ellen E. Putnam became his wife, the 
 cei'emony dating the 3d of September. They 
 have two children ; Grace E. and Linn H. In 
 1865, he disposed of his interest in the paj)er 
 above mentioned, and came to Faribault and pur- 
 chased the Faribault, then "Central," Republican, 
 of O. Brown, Esq. The first number, after the 
 purchase, was issued on the 27th of December, 
 1868, and from that time to the present he has 
 continued the publication of the paper. In 1877 
 he served one term in the Minnesota House of 
 R.'presentatives: has also been a director in the 
 First National Bank of Faribault a number of 
 years, and is one of the directors of the Minne- 
 sota Central Railroad Company. With the ex- 
 ception of one year, he has been secretary of the 
 Faribault Gas Light Company since its organiza- 
 tion in 1873. Mr. McKiustry is one of the lead- 
 ing and public spirited men of Faribault. Any 
 subject that arises involving action in the interest 
 of the community is sure to be pre.sented to him 
 
Cirr OF FAlilBAULT. 
 
 mi 
 
 for advice, iiiid f^reitt rcliuuce ia iihv:iya placed 
 upon his judgment. He is a man who is fhougbt 
 more of this year than he was hist, and next year 
 will be tliought morct)f than he is this. 
 
 H. M. Mattson was born in Herkimer county. 
 New York, on the 3d of May, 1818. He settled 
 iu Duudas in 1854, and has since continued to 
 reside in the county. 
 
 August Mortenson was born in Sweden on 
 the 2.5th of November, 1829. When seventeen 
 years old he commenced to learn the harness 
 maker's trade, at which lie worked in his native 
 country till 18.54, then emigrated to America, and 
 in 1856, came to Faribault. He worked in the 
 tirst harness shop in the place, and in 1858, 
 opened one of his own which he has since con- 
 ducted. He was married in May, 1860, to Miss 
 Annie Nelson, and they liave had eight children, 
 seven of whom are living. jMr. Mortenson has 
 been a member of the City Council six years. 
 
 Chakles H. Meyeb was l.iorn in Prussia, Ger- 
 many, on tha 17th of February, 1848. In 1854, 
 he came with his parents to America, and iu Illi- 
 nois joined a colony with ox teams coming to this 
 county. They located in Wheeling township, 
 and about two weeks after their arrival his father 
 met with his death while in the woods near his 
 fai'm, and his body was not found for over a year. 
 When fourteen years old, Charles went to Hast- 
 ings and learned the blacksmith trade. In 1872, 
 he came here and opened a shop, which was burned 
 soon after, and then he worked at his trade a few 
 years. He was married on the 22d of April, 
 1875, to Miss Matilda Burkert, who died on the 
 7th of October, 1877, leaving one child. In 
 1876,Mr. Meyer again started in business for him- 
 self, and has since continued making wagons. 
 The maiden name of his present wife was Jennie 
 Helberch, the marriage taking place on the 2d of 
 April, 1879. Two children have been born to tliis 
 iiuion. 
 
 Thomas Mee, one of the first settlers of this 
 city, is a native of New York, born in Essex 
 county, on the 11th of January, 1835. Heat- 
 tended the public schools of the village, and com- 
 pleted his education at the academy of Elizabeth- 
 town. After leaving school he learned the 
 machinist trade, and in 1856, came to Oshkosh, 
 Wiscon.sin, and the following year to this place. 
 He began his business career here by running an 
 engine in the old Scott saw-mill, afterward was 
 
 employed as book-keeper, and in 1859, when the 
 first national bank in the place, owned by W. H. 
 Dike, was established, he entered as cishier. In 
 1863, he started in the livery business, but two 
 years later engaged in mercantile ])ursuits. On 
 the 29th of November, 1865, he was married to 
 Miss Emma I. A. Davis. They have one sou, 
 James Robert. Mr. Mee continued in the latter 
 business until 1870, when he entered the employ 
 or the railroad company as station agent, but a 
 year later engaged as assistant ca.shier in the 
 First National Bank, and iu 1872 was made cash- 
 ier, which position he still fills. He has held 
 many local offices, and been City Treasurer four 
 years. 
 
 Timothy J. McCartiit was born in Ireland in 
 1848, and came with his parents to Minnesota in 
 1855. The same year, in company with Gen. 
 Shields, they came from Dubuque, Iowa, to this 
 county, and pre-empted land iu Erin township. 
 His father died when Timothy was twelve years 
 old, after which he earned his own living, work- 
 ing in different places. He finally came to Fari- 
 bault and attended school, and in 1868, began 
 teaching. His mother married again, and for five 
 years he worked for his step-father, then clerked in 
 the store which he now owns. After buying the 
 business, from 1872 to 1875. he had a partner, but 
 since that time has carried it cm alone. In 1880, 
 he purchased the Fai-ibault Marble Works, of 
 which J. H. Nightingale is foreman. This busi- 
 ness is located on Fc.iurth street, and the store on 
 Third. He also owns a brick yard in the city 
 limits northeast of Main street, keeping from 
 twenty-five to thirty men employed during the 
 summer seasons. He likewise owns several farms 
 in the county. He was married in 1873, to Miss 
 Anna C. Burns. They have fom- children. 
 
 Lewis C. Newcomb was born in Madi.son, Ohio, 
 on the 10th of August, 1843. His father was a 
 merchant and a farmer, and in 1851, the family 
 came to Fayette county, Iowa, where they battled 
 with hard times, and the father died in 1877. 
 Lewis came to Faribault with his mother and two 
 brothers, and commenced lite for himself with 
 absolutely nothing but his activity. He clerked 
 for a year, then, after working on a farm for the 
 same length of time, opened a small store in 
 NorthSeld, and in 1869, came again to this place 
 and bought out M. B. Sheffield. He iiow carries 
 §6,000 worth of groceries, and is doing a good 
 
388 
 
 HTSrOUT OP RICK COUNTY. 
 
 business. He was imrried ou the ] 3tli of May, 
 1808, to Miss Alsina Boardman. They liave oue 
 child, Charles L. 
 
 Generaij Levi Nutting, once Surveyor-General 
 for the district of Minnesota, datos his birth at 
 Amherst, Massachusetts, January 7, 1819. His 
 grandfather was of Scotch-Irish pedigree, and his 
 maternal grandmother was pure Scotch. His 
 father, John Nutting, a millwright by trade, 
 joined the Revolutionary army from Northamp- 
 ton, Massachussetts, near the close of the war, go- 
 ing in at the age of seventeen, and serving till 
 peace was declared. The mother of Levi was 
 Catharine Smith, whose father was of English 
 descent. After receiving a very hmited education 
 in a district school, at flfteen the subject of this 
 notice commenced learning the shoemaker's trade; 
 •worked at the business as apprentice, journeyman, 
 and manufacturer eight or nine years; attended 
 and taught scliool three years; was then employed 
 in superintending various branches of mechanical 
 business until near the close of 1852. At that 
 time Mr. Nutting started for Minnesota; reached 
 St. Paul on the 7th of January, 18.53, the day he 
 was thirty-four years old, and spent two years 
 there and at St. Anthony, now East Minneapolis, 
 working at the joiner's trade. During the first 
 year that General Nutting was in Minnesota — in 
 the month of May, 1853 — he visited the site of 
 Fariliault, was greatly pleased with it; made a 
 chiim of one hundred and sixty acres, and fully 
 made up his mind that this would some day be 
 his home. In April, 185.5, he moved hither: com- 
 menced improving his lands, and for a few years 
 farming was his leading business, ho dealing, how- 
 ever, more or less, in real estate, running teams, 
 burning lime, building, etc. He is a natural me- 
 chanic, and there seems to bo few kinds of work in 
 a new country to which he could not " turn his 
 hand." When farm work was slack there was a 
 demand for his skillful hands in other depai't- 
 ments of manual labor, and no such legacy as 
 laziness was left him. In 1865, he was appointed 
 Surveyor-General; hold the office four years; then 
 became special agent of the custom department of 
 tho United States Treasury, and held that position 
 sis years, retiring in the autumn of 1875. He su- 
 perintended the construction of tlie main building 
 of tho Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the 
 Blind. 
 
 General Nutting was a. County Commissioner in 
 
 1861-62, and chosen State Senator in 1864, attend- 
 ing only one session — winter of 1864-65 — and re- 
 signing to take the office of Surveyor- General, 
 which office he held several years. In politics, 
 he was originally an Abolitionist, one of the 
 voting class, whose candidate for the Presidency 
 in 1844, was James G. Birney. General Nutting 
 WHS one of the "constituent" members of the 
 Eepublican party, and has never abandoned it. 
 From 1859 to 18G4, he was Sergeant-at-Arms of 
 the State Senate, and has had, at times, some- 
 thing to do with the shaping of the police of the 
 party in this State, He is a man of considerable 
 influence, considerate and prudent, and a wise 
 counselor. The General has his third wife. The 
 first. Miss Orvilla M. Dickinson, of Amherst, Massa- 
 chusetts, marri( d on the 29th of January, 1846, died 
 I )U the 24th of the next December,leaviug a new-born 
 sun, Maynard L., who died in 18G7. His second 
 wife, who was Miss Mary Eliza Foster, of Shutes- 
 bnry, married on the 8th of May, 1848, and died 
 childless on the 24th of December, 185(i. His 
 present wife, who was Miss Luthera A. Winter, of 
 Amherst, was married on the 12th of November, 
 1857, has three children living, and has lost two. 
 
 D. O'Bbien, one of the first business men of the 
 |)lace, was born in Killenaule, Tipperary county, 
 Ireland, on the 24th of June, 1819. He learned 
 the shoemaker trade in his native jJace and moved 
 to Halifax at the age of nineteen years. He came 
 to America and settled in New York when twenty- 
 one years (.)ld, moved to Rochester when twenty- 
 seven, to Wisconsin when twenty-nine, and came 
 to Minnesota at the age of thirty-five years. He 
 was married in New York in 1846, to Miss Mary 
 Sheay. Since first coming to America Mr. O'Brien 
 has been engaged at his trade. He came with his 
 family and two yoke of cattle from Wisconsin to 
 this place in 1854. Having met with many amus- 
 ing as well as dangei'ous incidents in crossing the 
 country from Hastings, they arrived in Faribault 
 and settled on the claim he had taken the jjreced- 
 ing April, a mile and a half south of the present 
 city. He immediately erected a hig house, the 
 Indians assisting him in rolling up the logs, and 
 here tho first boots and shoes in Faribault were 
 made by him. He soon gave up his claim there, 
 located one on East Prairie, which he sold and in 
 1855, erected a store on his present site, which 
 was one of the first frame buildings in the city. 
 Mr. O'Brien's present brick block is Cie third build- 
 
Cirr OF FAlifBAl'LT. 
 
 389 
 
 ing erected ou the same site by him, and he uow 
 earries ou an extensive boot, shoo and l<>ather store, 
 also deals in hides and furs. 
 
 H. W. PitATT, Mayor of the oity of P'aribanlt, 
 was born in Chautauqua county, New York, on the 
 8th of August, 1834. His father was a farmer 
 and at times dealt in niercliaudise. H. W.. 
 removed to La Porte, Indiana, in 18.')4, where he 
 taught school one year, then, having previously 
 read law in the East, he prosecuted the study in 
 the office of Col. A. D. La Due. In 1856, they 
 both came to Mantorville, Dodge county, Muine- 
 sota, where they bought a one third interest in the 
 town site. Mr. Pratt was admitted to the bar in 
 1857, and practiced in the latter county ten years. 
 He was married on the 24th of November, 18f!2, 
 to Miss Imogene A. Theyer, who has bom him two 
 children. In 1867, they removed to Owatonna, 
 where he engaged in the grain trade, doing an 
 extensive bu.siness along the Chicago, Milwaukee 
 & St. Paul railroad and coming to this place in 
 1877, where he carries on the same business. In 
 many of the towns on the railroad from Blooming 
 Prairie to Jim River the elevators are owned liy 
 Mr. Pratt. He was Judge of Probate of Dodge 
 county from 1857 to 1862. 
 
 C. C. Pebkins, one of the pioneer attorneys of 
 Farilianlt, was born iu Stowe, Lamoille county, 
 Vermont, on the 22d of Blay, 1833. His father 
 dying when he was about three years of age, lie 
 was left with six other children, to the care of his 
 mother, and in a few years to the care of himself. 
 Until sixteen years old his time was divided be- 
 tween farm life and the [mblic schools, and from 
 that time until twenty, between teaching and 
 academical studies, attending first Bakersfleld and 
 afterward Barre Academy. He then commenced 
 the study of law iu his native town with Hon. H. 
 H. Bingham and after two years, in the spring of 
 1855, he emigrated to this place. Having been 
 admitted to the bar at the first term of the Terri- 
 torial District Court, he practiced his profession 
 about two years in partnership with his brother, 
 Hon. O. r. Perkins. Retiring from the tirm at the 
 end of this period, he devoted a year to further 
 study at the Cambridge law scliool. After his re- 
 turn the partnership of Berry, Perkins & Perkins 
 was formed, with which C. C. remained until 1861. 
 From this time for six years, ho presided at the 
 Justice Court for most of the litigation iu the 
 county within its province, and from 1864, for 
 
 four years he held the ofVice of Clerk of the Dis- 
 trict Court. During the decade he was also en- 
 gaged quite extensively in the real estates and 
 insurance business. In the fall of 1869, in con- 
 sequence of ill health he retired from active busi- 
 ness and devoted a year to traveling in the old 
 world, visiting most of the cities and other places 
 of interest in (ireat Britain and on t!ie continent 
 of Enrojje. He never again resumed the practice 
 of his profession, and for the last twelve years has 
 divided his time between traveling and the care of 
 his private business. In all his journeyings the 
 state of matrimony seems to have been entirely 
 overlooked. 
 
 C. P. P.\LiiEi£ was born in Onondaga county. 
 New York, (m the 18th of August, 1844. He at- 
 tended school in his native county and also at the 
 Oneida Conference Seminary, where he prepared 
 for college, but his eyes failing him he returned to 
 bis father's farm, and afterward clerked for a 
 time. In 1869, he married Miss Emma Wood, a 
 native of Onondaga county, New York, the cere- 
 mony taking place on the 27th of January. The 
 same year they came to Warsaw, this county, 
 where he engaged in farming two years, then re- 
 moved to Faribault and opened a book and sta- 
 tionery store, the firm name being Andrews A 
 Palmer. In the spring of 1875, he sold out and 
 the same fall was elected Clerk of the District 
 court which office he has since held. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Palmer have three children. 
 
 S. J. Pettitt was born in Dutchess county. New 
 York, on the 25th of October, 1829, and grew to 
 manhood on a farm. In 1854, he removed to Illi- 
 nois, ojoened a lumber yard and remained till 
 1856, then came to Mantorville, Dodge county, 
 Minnesota, and operated the first saw-mill in the 
 place and afterward carried on a farm and also a 
 tiour mill. On the 14th of February, 1863, he 
 married Miss Hattio L. Pratt. In 1874, he met 
 with reverses in business, then came to this ])lace 
 and was employed in a flouring mill, but in 1875, 
 he was caught in the gearing of the mill aud both 
 of his arms were crushed so badly as to necessitate 
 amputation near the elbows. H.e then started a 
 small confectionery stand, and in 1879, took a part- 
 ner; the iirm name being Pettitt .t Hill. They 
 carry a fine stock of fancy groceries and fruits. 
 Mr., and Mrs. Pettitt have had four children, two 
 of whom are living, both danghtera. 
 
 C. P. Pike is a native of St. Lawrence countv. 
 
390 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 New York, born the 22d of February, 1828. When 
 about fourteen years of age he went to New York 
 City and attended school three years, then was 
 employed in the tailoring establishment of J. 
 Newer * Co. with whom he remained nine years; 
 was then in various places in the East till 1858, 
 when ho came to Wisconsin for his health. In 
 1861, he removed to Faribault and has since con- 
 ducted a merchant tailoring house, carrying 
 also gent's furnishing goods. Miss Chloe Deni- 
 son became the wife of Mr. Pike in 1865. They 
 have had four children, three of whom are living, 
 one girl and two boys. 
 
 J. A. Petehsen, an old resident of this State 
 and one of the pioneers of Owatonna, was bom in 
 Schleswig-Holstein, in the northern part of the 
 Prussian province, on the 15th of August, 1827. 
 He attended school in his native town and when 
 sixteen years old began to learn the cabinetmaker 
 and joiner's trade. From 1848 till 1851, he served 
 in the war against Denmark and then entered the 
 Danish army and remained in Copenhagen one 
 year. In 1854, he was married to Miss Johanna 
 C. Cook, the ceremony taking place on the 9th of 
 July. They came to America the same year, di- 
 rectly to Minnesota and located on a farm in 
 Owatonna where they remained six years. In 
 1863, Mr. Petersen came to Faribault, opened a 
 stock of general merehaudi.se and in 1879, erected 
 his present fine Ijrick building on the corner of 
 Fourth and Plum streets. 
 
 E. 13. Petersen, a l)rotherof the subject of our 
 last sketch, was born in the same place on the 27th 
 of May, 1831. When young he learned the shoe- 
 maker's trade and in 1854, came with his brother 
 to America. He also took a claim in Owatonna, 
 the same year, but three years later came to this 
 county and opened a shoe shop in Warsaw. While 
 there he married Miss Annie Oaplan on the 29th 
 of November, 1859. She died the same year and 
 he married Miss Margaret Sell on the 2d of June, 
 1661. They have one child, a son. In 1865, Mr. 
 Petersen came to Faribault, opened a stock of 
 boots and shoes and afterward added groceries, 
 l3Ut in 1881, 80I4 out his boot and shoe business 
 and now carries groceries alone. 
 
 Milan N. Pond is a native of Erie county, 
 Pennsylvania, liorn on the 24th of March, 1830. 
 In 1839, he removed with his parents to Ohio, 
 tlience in 1844 to Janesville, Wisconsin, and re- 
 mained on the farm until the age of twenty-one 
 
 years. He then commenced traveling through the 
 State, selling dry goods and notions. In 1852, he 
 was married at Union, Rock county, to Miss Clara 
 Ide of that place. Mr. Pond came to Minnesota 
 and located a clain in East Plainville in 1854, but 
 a year later removed to Faribault where he was 
 one of the pioneer settlers. At the first election 
 lield in the county he ran for Sheriff and was said 
 to be elected, but was never qualified. In 1857, a 
 paper was started kown as the "Neutral" and Mr. 
 Pond and his brother purchased it, changed its 
 name to "The Free Soil" or "Abolition" they being 
 strong abolitionists, run the same for some time 
 and added to it consideraljle tjpe and working 
 material and made numerous other improvements. 
 He has several times been candidate for Represen- 
 tative and once for Treasurer. His children are: 
 Eda, Minnie, Milan, Hattie, Libbie Ethel, Gecjrge, 
 Eddie, and Marshal. His wife died on the 24th 
 of March, 1881. 
 
 Thomas H. Qdinn was born in Berlin, Wiscon- 
 sin, on the 6th of November, 1854, from which 
 place, in 1865, he removed with his parents to 
 Faribault where, with the exception of a portion 
 of the year 1872, during which he was engaged 
 with a party of engineers in locating the boundary 
 line from Pembina to the Lake of the Woods, he 
 has since resided. During his residence at Fari- 
 bault, and prior to commencing the study of law, 
 Mr. Quinn attended school and worked at various 
 occupations, including clerking, bookkeeping, 
 teaching school, etc. In December, 1875, he com- 
 menced the study of law in this city with Judge 
 John B. (^uinn, liis brother, and was admitted to 
 practice in November, 1876, since which time he 
 has continued to practice his profession. He is 
 now a member of the law firm of J. B. and F. H. 
 Quinn. 
 
 J. Wauuen Biohakdson was Ijoru in Massachu- 
 setts, in Franklin county, in 1844. In 1854, the 
 family came to Minnesota, and his father rented a 
 farm in St. Anthony one summer, then, the same 
 year, moved to Rice county and pre-empted land 
 in what is now Walcott township. The same 
 year he sold to Samuel Walcott, for whom the 
 town was afterward named, and removed to Fari- 
 bault. Two years later they went to Rolierd's 
 Lake, located a farm on the east si<le and re- 
 mained until 1862, then returned to Faribault, 
 and Warren assisted in the farm labor until he en- 
 listed in the Eighth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, 
 
crrr of FAiiniAcrr/r. 
 
 391 
 
 Company B. He served threo years, two on the 
 frontier, and one in the South under Gen. Thomns, 
 was in seven battles, and discliarged on the 20tli 
 of June, l.S()5. He immediately returned to Fari- 
 bault and was employed in the elevator until 
 the spring of 18(17, when he commeueed to im- 
 prove his farm in section nineteen, which is within 
 the city limits. Since 1879, he has been engaged 
 in the dairy business, keeping from eighteen to 
 twenty-seven cows. Mr. Richardson was married 
 on the ICth of April, 186fi, to Miss Elizabeth S. 
 Kerr, and the issue of the union is three children. 
 
 Ben.t.\min Miles Reynolds, Sujierintendent of 
 the Public Schools of Faribault, was born in Bar- 
 nard, Vermont, on the 12th of July, 182.5. His 
 boyhood was spent on a farm. At the age of 
 nineteen years he connnenced his preparations for 
 college at the academy in Royalton, Vermont, and 
 completed at Tlietford imder the instructicm of 
 Hiram Orcutt. He was gradiuited at Dartmouth 
 College iu the class of 18.52, and immediately en- 
 tered uj5on the work of teaching in the public 
 schools at Windsor, and has followed this calling 
 ever since in New York, New England, and the 
 Northwest. He has always been employed in the 
 public school with the exception of sis mouths, 
 when he was principal of the .\eademy of Brad- 
 ford, Vermont. Mr. Reynolds has been engaged 
 in educational educational wt)rk iu this State four 
 years; three at Northtield and one at Faribault. 
 Daring the last thirty years he has been Princi- 
 pal of the High Schoi>l at Barre, Massachusetts; 
 first Superintendent of Schools at Kock Island, 
 Illinois; Principal of the Union School at Lock- 
 port, New York; Superintendent of Schools at 
 Madison, Wisconsin; and Principal of the High 
 School at La Crosse, Wisconsin. He has acted 
 on the visiting committees of Knox College, Uni- 
 versity of Wisconsin, the Normal Schools of Wis- 
 consin and Mankato, and as Pi'esident of the Wis- 
 consin Teacliers" Association. 
 
 David Roth, a native of Washington ccmnty, 
 Ohio, was born on the 23d of April, 1848. He 
 was reared on a farm, and when seventeen years 
 old entered a wagon shop and learned the trade. 
 The family moved to Illinois, where David worked 
 at his trade three years, and in 1809, came to this 
 county and assisted his father on the farm. He 
 came to the city and was engaged at his trade a 
 few months, then ui St. Paul until 1875, when he 
 returned here and opened a wagon making and 
 
 repair shop, which he has since conducted. On 
 the 7th of Se]itember, 1871, he was married to 
 Miss Annie T;. Schmidt. Three children have 
 been born to the union; the oldest, Louis A., a 
 bright boy of ten years, had the misfortune of 
 losing his hearing, through sickness, when six 
 months old. 
 
 Fkancis M. Rose, M. D., a member of the firm 
 of Rose it Wood, the leading jihysicians in this 
 part of the State, was born in Columbus, Ohio, on 
 the 25tli of March, 1841. Mr. Rose's grandfather 
 visited the present site of that city in 1790, and 
 located on a farm twelve miles south of there, 
 where he died. Francis' father was a merchant 
 in the same place, and remained there until his 
 death. Dr. Rose attended the schools of his na- 
 tive place and the State University two years, 
 commenced the study of medicine when sixteen 
 years old at Starling Medical College and gradu- 
 ated three years later. He jjracticed at West 
 Rushvilfe, Ohio, until 18C1, when he was appoint- 
 ed Asssistant Surgeon of the Forty- third Ohio 
 Regiment; in April, 1862, was promoted to Regi- 
 mental Surgeon, and in the fall to Division Sur- 
 geon, being then only twenty-one years old. In 
 1863, he was Medical Inspector of the Seventeenth 
 Army Corps, on the staff of General Frank Blair; 
 in 18G4, was Inspector of General M. F. Forath's 
 division, and remaineil until the close of the war. 
 He then located in Ottawa, Illinois, and in 18(58, 
 removed to Faribault, forming the present part- 
 nership in 1874. On the 25th of November, 1876, 
 Miss Cornelia W. Whipple became his wife. They 
 have one child, Francis M. . 
 
 W. H. Stevens, one of the active business men 
 of the place, was born iu Scipio, Cayuga county, 
 New York, on the 22d of May, 1814. Soon after, 
 the family moved to Ontario county, where W. H. 
 attended school and studied medicine with James 
 Carta, M. D., in Genevn, commencing the practice 
 of his profession in September, 1835. He was 
 married in November of the latter year to Jane M. 
 Morris, of Seneca Falls, Seneca county. New York. 
 They moved to Michigan in 1837, where he fol- 
 lowed his profession for nineteen years, and in 
 1856, came to this place. Difficulty of his throat 
 and lungs led him to change his business, and 
 having purchased a stock of drugs and medicines 
 in Chicago on his way hither, he opened the first 
 business of the kind in the city. The only build- 
 ing he could obtain at that time was one 20x24 
 
392 
 
 ETSTORY OP RICE COUNTY. 
 
 feet and one story liigh. He erected a more 
 suitable one the following fall, and now carries a 
 stock of $10,000, iuclnding drugs, books, station- 
 ery, and fancy goods, under the Arm name of W. 
 H. Stevens ct Co., liis son, F. G., being his part- 
 ner. 
 
 Joseph STorKLEiN was born in Bavaria, Ger- 
 many, in 1832. He learned the confectioner's 
 trade when sixteen years of age, worked at it in his 
 native country until 1854, and emigrated to New 
 York City where he was engaged at the furniture 
 business two years. He then came to St. Paul 
 and was engaged iu a bakery and confectionery 
 store for a time, then to Mankato, and in 1858, 
 came to this place and opened a bakery and 
 cracker factory on a small scale, but soon added 
 more stock and conducted it ten years. At the 
 end of that time he engaged in the dry goods 
 business, to which he now gives bis attention. 
 
 Alex.\nder Smith was born in Dumbarton, on- 
 tlie Clyde river, in .Scotland, and learned the tail- 
 or's trade when fourteen years old. In 1853, he 
 came to New York City, where he worked at his 
 trade one year, then engaged at the same in New 
 Orleans nine months, when he returned to New 
 York, and a year later came to Michigan, and 
 from thence, in 1857, to Faribault. He opened a 
 tailor shop and the next year Thomas Carpenter 
 became his partner under the firm name of Car- 
 penter & Smith. Miss Annie Parsons became the 
 wife of our suliject on the 25th of December, 
 
 1862. They have been blessed with seven chil- 
 dren, three of whom are living. 
 
 J. T. Squiers, a native of New York, was born 
 on the 29th of January, 1836, and raised on a 
 farm. When twenty-one years old, he clerked in 
 a general store iu Madoc, Canada, remaining till 
 
 1863, then followed the same employment in 
 Chenango county, Now York, and soon started a 
 store for himself. In 1872, he came to Minneap- 
 olis and became ime of the projirietors of a whole- 
 sale spice mill, remained until 1877, and came to 
 Faribault. He immediately opened his present 
 store in which he carries a stock of staple and 
 fancy dry goods. Mr. Squiers was married on 
 the 17th of October, 1858, to Miss Elizabeth J. 
 Brown. The union has been blessed with four 
 children, three of whom are living. 
 
 M. J. SuEEKAN was born in Rutland, Vermont, 
 on the 10th of August, 1852. When seven years 
 old he came with his parents to La Salle county. 
 
 Illinois, and four years later to Houston county, 
 Minnesota. He resided on a farm for a time, and re- 
 moved to Blue Earth county. At the age of seven- 
 teen years he went to Mankato and learned the art 
 of manufacturing ginger ale, plain and fancy syr- 
 ups, soda and mineral waters, cider, etc. In 1872, he 
 came here and opened an establishment in which 
 he conducts the manufacture of the latter-named 
 articles, together with export bottled beer, which 
 the added in 1877. Their goods are shipped all 
 over the Northwest, the firm name being Sheeran 
 & Filler Bottling Company. 
 
 Mr. Sheeran was married on the 5th of April, 
 1875, to Miss Maria Burke. They have five chil- 
 dren. 
 
 James Shonts is a native of New York, born 
 in Tompkins county, on the 14th of September, 
 1816. When he was an infant his parents 
 moved to Schuyler county, where he was 
 engaged in different occupations and in 1842, 
 opened a farm. He was united in matrimony on 
 the 10th January, 1840, to Miss Blitta J. Erway. 
 The result of this union was four children, two of 
 whom are living. In 1854, Mr. Shonts made a 
 trip to Steele county, this State, and the following 
 year brought his family and settled in this coun- 
 ty, in Warsaw township. In 1856, he came to 
 Faribault which has since been his home, and he 
 is extensively engaged in real estate and money 
 loaning. Mrs. Shonts died in 1873, and the mai- 
 den name of his present wife was Theresa Hayden. 
 
 A. J. Stapffer is a native of this State, born in 
 Washington county, on the 4th of September, 
 1856. He came to Faribault in the spring of 
 1809, and located on the old Hiilett farm, where he 
 has since resided. On the 30th of March, 1881, 
 Miss Lin a J. Cuvert became his wife. 
 
 B. Schmidt was born in Germany on the 25th 
 of November, 1849. When he was fifteen years 
 old he came to America and learned the marble 
 cutter's trade in Wisconsin. He was afterwards 
 engaged at the same in Chicago, then in Iowa, 
 and iu 1873, came here and continued until 1877, 
 when he leased the United States Hotel, which he 
 has since conducted. It is a brick building con- 
 taining about thirty rooms. Mr. Schmidt was 
 married on the 26tli of November, 1875, to Miss 
 Katie Staly, who has born him four children. 
 
 William Tennant was born in Ireland on the 
 2d of April, 1847, and while he was still an infant 
 the family came to St. Lawrence county, New 
 
crrr op faribault. 
 
 393 
 
 York, and William lived on his father's farm until 
 seventeen years old. He attended siiliool at Bossie 
 and Hammond and then learned the millers's trade, 
 working at in New York until 18G!), then went to 
 St. Louis, Missouri, and six montlis later canie to 
 Minneapolis, where he remained till 1871. Until 
 1874, he was head miller for the firm of Green & 
 Carnfel in this eity, and was then employed in the 
 Polar Star Mill until it was destroyed by fire. It 
 was rebuilt, and Mr. Tennant became a stock- 
 holder in it, and is now a member of the firm of 
 Bean it Tennant, lessees of the present Polar Star 
 Mill. Our subject was married on the 20th of 
 June, 1874, to Miss Sarah E. Leamons. They 
 have had five children, four of whom are living. 
 
 F. A. Theopold, one of the active business 
 men of this place, is a native of the province of 
 Prussia, born in Lippe, on the 22d of June, 
 1833. His father was a minister, being a govern- 
 ment church official. The subject of our sketch 
 graduated from the college at Lemgo in 1849, 
 and intending to fit himself for a merchant, en- 
 tered and graduated from a commercial college at 
 Bremen in 1852. He emigrated to America, and 
 arrived iu Baltimore on the 4th of .July, 1852. 
 Was engaged principally in a manufacturing bus- 
 iness, and in 1854-55, had charge of a tobacco 
 packing establishment in Ohio. In 185G, he came 
 to Osage, Iowa, and engaged in real estate busi- 
 ness, and later carried a stock of general 
 merchandise. On the 12th of September, 1860, 
 he was married to Miss Eunice J. Cotton, at 
 Athens, Penn.sylvania, and shortly afterwards he 
 moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and engaged in the 
 grocery and commission trade. In 1867, his 
 health demanded a change of climate, and he 
 came to Faribault, where he opened his present 
 fine and extensive grocery business, building his 
 store block in 1871. In 1869, he assisted in start- 
 ing and directing the First National Bank, and 
 also, in 1873, became one of the stock owners of 
 the Faribault Gas Company. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Theopold have had four children, three of whom 
 are living. 
 
 George Tileston, a native of HopkintoM, 
 Massachusetts, was born on the 8th of October, 
 1858. When he was ten years old the family re- 
 moved to Hyde Park, and six years later to Hing- 
 ham, where George attended the High School. 
 In 1877, he went to Boston and entered a dry 
 goods commission house, then was connected 
 
 with a mercantile brokerage firm, and in 1879, 
 commenced the same business for liiinself. In 
 1SS2, he removed to Faril)ault and formed a p,-\rt- 
 nership under the firm name of Hillyor * Tiles- 
 ton, and they have since carried on a successful 
 milling business, owning the only strictly roller 
 custom mill in the State. 
 
 W. L. TuuNER, proprietor of the Crown Point 
 flouring mill, was born in Windham county, Ver- 
 mont, on the 13th of February, 1824, and lived 
 on his father's farm until twenty-one years (dd. He 
 then went to Boston.Massachusetts, and engaged in 
 what was known for twenty years as the Cheney &. 
 Co. express line, from there went to Fredonia, New 
 York, and in 1866, came to Minnesota, stopped at 
 St. Paul a few weeks, and came to Faribault. He 
 was married on the 18th of August, 1852, Miss 
 Selina J. Comstock becoming his wife. I\Ir. Tur- 
 ner was in the lumber busmess three years, then 
 leased the Crown Point mill, and soon j)urchased 
 it. He was one of the first Aldermen of tlie city. 
 He is the father of three children, two of whom 
 are living. 
 
 L. TuTTLE was born in New Haven, Connecti- 
 cut, on the 23d of August. 1837. When seventeen 
 years old he was employed in a mercantile house, 
 and remained until 1851!, when he came to Fari- 
 bault and engaged to work in a meat market. In 
 1858, he went into the same business for himself, 
 with a partner, and they have now a fine, well 
 kept shop. Mr. Tuttle was married on the 14th 
 of October, 1869, to Miss B. Boynton, who has 
 borne him one child. 
 
 Rev. J. Van Leent, a man of superior educa- 
 tion and one who is much respected by all his ac- 
 quaintances, was born in Holland on the 2l8t of 
 January, 1839. He received his early e<lucati(ra 
 at an Episcopal college in his native country, and 
 finished his Latin course after six years of study; 
 then bccomuig a Jesuit by teaching three years, 
 studying theology four years, and philosophy three 
 years. In 1869, he went to Belgium, where he met 
 Father De Smet, the Amejican mis.sionary, and 
 came with him to St. Louis, Missouri, teaching in 
 the University there one year. He then went to 
 Cincinnati, Ohio, and was professor of languages 
 at St. Francis for two year.s, and subsequently 
 filled the same position in St. Ignatius College, 
 of Chicago, four years. He then went to Europe 
 for his health, and in 1879, came to Faribault, 
 where he has since had charge of the French and 
 German Catholic cluu'ches. 
 
394 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 John Geoiuje Veeh, deceased, one of the pio- 
 ueers of this place, ■naa born in Germany on the 
 15th of November, 1799. He learned the stone- 
 cutter's trade, at which he was employed in the 
 summer and worked in a factory in the winter. In 
 1830, he married Miss Elizabeth Kahler, and in 
 1843, they came to America and located ii' Cook 
 county, Illinois, where ho worked a farm on 
 shares. Mrs. Veeh died one week after her arrival 
 from a disease contracted on the boat. She left 
 two children; Elizabeth, now Mrs. J. J. Blank, 
 living in Faribault; and Delia, now Mrs. F. Hel- 
 friest, living in Wisconsin. Mr. Veeh removed to 
 Wheeling, Minnesota, in 1854, and staked a claim 
 in section twenty-two, where he lived three years, 
 then made his home with his son-in-law, J. J. 
 Blank, until his death, which occurred on the 22d 
 of February, 1873. 
 
 M.iTHEW W.\Tji,, deceased, one of the pioneers 
 of this county, was bom in West Meath county, 
 Ireland. He received an education in his native 
 country and became a teacher. He came to 
 America, and in Uubu(iue, Iowa, continued to teach 
 school a few years coming to this place in 18 — . 
 He was one of the first teachers at Shieldsville and 
 also in the Catholic school in this place. In 1870, 
 he went to California for his health, but died three 
 weeks after his return in 1875. His son, S. P. 
 Wall, was bom in Ireland on the 8th of May, 
 1848, and came to this place with his father. In 
 18(12, he commenced to learn the tinner's trade, 
 and four years later went into business for himself 
 for two years. At the end of that time he went 
 to Mankato and three years later to Mason City, 
 Iowa, thence to California, and in 1873, returned 
 here, where he has since been engaged in the hard- 
 ware business. He was married in October, 1807, 
 to Miss Johanna Conners. They have had seven 
 children, six of whom are living. 
 
 J. B. WiiEELEK, one of the pioneer merchants 
 of the city, was born in Northbridge, Worcester 
 county, Massachusetts, on the 8th of May, 1822. He 
 was brought up to agricultural pursuits and edu- 
 cated at the Friends' school in Providence, Rhode 
 Island, and taught during the winter mouths. He 
 was a member of the school board and also Asses- 
 sor in his native town for several years. In 1850, 
 he visited Illinois, taught school near Chicago dur- 
 ing the winter and in tlie western part of the State 
 the following summer, tlien returned to his liome 
 in Massachusetts. He was married in 1853, to 
 
 Miss Clara L. Slocomb. In 1856, being in poor 
 health, he was induced to again come west and the 
 following year opened a drug store in this city. 
 He located on the corner of Main and Second 
 streets where he has been in business twenty-five 
 years and now carries a fine stock of drugs, medi- 
 cines, and fancy goods in one department, and a 
 large stock of groceries, crockery, etc., in the 
 other. He was County Commissioner for several 
 years and has filled many local offices. He is the 
 father of three children, two of whom are living. 
 
 Adam Weyer was bom in Prussia, Germany, on 
 the 28th of February, ^838, and came to America 
 in 1847, locating in Kenosha, Wisconsin. When 
 eighteen years old he commenced learning the 
 wagonmaker's trade, and the following year went 
 to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he was engaged 
 at his trade three years. He then removed to Chi- 
 cago and in 1868, came here and began to manu- 
 facture wagons, having now a commodious stone 
 building and doing an extensive business. Mr. 
 Weyer was married on the 2d of February, 1870, 
 tio Miss Lilbla Roell. They have had five children , 
 four of whom are living. 
 
 Rev. Geboe B. Whipple, a brother of Bishop 
 Whipple, was bom in Adams, Jefferson county, 
 New York, on the 26th of June, 1830. After at- 
 tending the schools of his native place he entered 
 Hamilton College from which he graduated in 
 June, 1852. He was then employed in a banking 
 house in New York until 1860, when business 
 called him to the Sandwich Islands where he re- 
 mained a short time, then came to Faribault and 
 taught in the Seabury Divinity School. He was 
 ordained in 1862, and three years later went as a 
 missionary to the Sandwich Islands. In 1873. he 
 returned and became pastor of the Cathedral of 
 our merciful Saviour, and is also acting Chaplain 
 of St. Mary's Hall. Miss Mary J. Mills, of AVnsh- 
 ington county. New York, became his wife on the 
 15th of August, 1861. 
 
 Rev. E. S. Wilson, professor of Exegesis and 
 Hebrew in the Seabury Divinity School at Fari- 
 liault, was formerly a Presbyterian minister of the 
 Old Scluiol. He IS a native of Ohio, born in 1834, 
 educated at the college and the theological 
 seminary at Danville, Kentucky, and was admitted 
 to the Presbyterian ministry by the Pres'oytery of 
 west Lexington, Kentucky. He remained in that 
 State as a minister of the Gospel until the war was 
 half over, when he went to Viueeunes, Indiana, 
 
CITY OF FARIBAULT. 
 
 395 
 
 where he remained three years. From thence he 
 wont to New York, where he reniiiinecl twelve 
 years. Dnrinp; his resiilcuee in that State he be- 
 came a minister of the Prote.^tant Episcopal church 
 and was Rector, first at Brockport and afterward 
 at Corning. He was then called to the professor- 
 ship at Faribault, where he is at present. 
 
 C. A. Wood was born in Shefford, Canada, on the 
 11th of May, 1830. When fourteen years old he 
 entered a store as clerk, and after five years in that 
 employment was in the civil engineering corjis of 
 the Stansted, Shcft'ord, and Cliamble Railroad 
 Company, and was soon made station agent and 
 telegraph operator. For a time, in company with 
 his father, he was engaged in the manufacture of 
 himljer, then again was employed by the above 
 railroad company. He was married on the 12th 
 of March, 18.56, to Miss Helen W. Cummings. In 
 1866, they came to Wisconsin and farmed a year, 
 then to Fond du Lac, where Mr. Wood conducted 
 a aaw-mill for the Chicago &. Northwestei-n Rail- 
 road Company for over four years. After coming 
 to Faribault he engaged with his brother in the 
 sale of Agricultural imjilements for a few years, 
 then was employed by C. AuUm;in k Co. as travel- 
 ing salesman and collector. In 1880, he bought 
 out his brother's agricultural machinery business 
 and now has a good trade. Mr. and Mrs. Wood 
 have had five children, four of whom are living. 
 
 W. J. Wilson is a native of Upper Canada, 
 born in the township of Darlington, Durham 
 covmty, district of Newcastle, on the 1st of May, 
 1820. He was raised on a farm and in 18.37, went 
 to New York and worked at farming and on the 
 rivers. In 1844, he came to Dodge county, Wis- 
 consin, where he op)ened a store, ten years later 
 moved to Iowa and was employed on the Missis- 
 sippi steamers several years. In 1861, he moved 
 to Waseca county, where he carried on a fann and 
 hotel, thence to Wal)asha and remained about nine 
 years. He came to Faribault in 1879, and has 
 since been proprietor of the hotel known as Wil- 
 son's Exchange, located near the depot. 
 
 C. F. Wendt was born in Prussia, near Berlin, 
 on the 13th of March, 1848. He learned the cab- 
 inet makers' trade in his native country, and when 
 nineteen years old emigrated to America. He 
 came directly to this place and w.as engaged in 
 different occupations until entering the Barron 
 House as 'clerk, where, he remained three years. 
 In 1873, he opened a n staurant and C(mfectiouery 
 
 store and also has groceries. He was married on 
 the 7th of October, 1873, to Miss Mary Melott. 
 They have three children. 
 
 Ri(iUT-RF,v. HENiiY B. Whipple, D. D., Protest- 
 and Episcopal liishop of the diocese of Minnesota, 
 was born in the town of Adams, .Tetlersou county. 
 New York, on the 15th of Fel)ruary. 1822. His 
 parents were .lohn H. and Elizabeth Wagner Whij)- 
 ple. The Whipples were early seetlers in Massa- 
 chusetts. Benjamin Whipple, the father of John 
 H., was in the revolutionary war, and taken priso- 
 ner, put on board a British .ship, and held a long 
 time. The subject of this sketch gave his early 
 years to study, designing to go directly through 
 college, but while making preparation his healtii 
 failed, and he devoted several yaara to mercantile 
 business at Adams. In 1847, his health being im- 
 proved, he relincjuished trade, became a candidate 
 for orders iu the Protestant Episcopal Church; 
 jiursued his studies with Rev. W. I). Wilson, D. D. 
 since professor in Cornell University, Ithaca, New 
 York, and in August, 1849, was ordained deacon 
 in Trinity Church, Geneva, New York, by Right- 
 Rev. W. H. DeLancy, D. D. On Advent Sunday 
 of the same year Mr. Whipple took charge of 
 Zion Church, Rome, New York. He was ordained 
 priest by the Bishop just mentioned, on the 16th 
 of July, 1850; had calls to Grace Church, Chi- 
 cago, and St. Paul's Church, Milwaukee, in the 
 winter of 1856-57, but declined. In the early ]iart 
 of 1857, at the solicitations of persons interested 
 in free churches, he went to Chicago, and on Easter 
 Sunday organized the Church of tlie Holy Com- 
 munion, a free-seated church, one of the first 
 E|)isco])al churches of the kind in the West. He 
 was elected bishop of the diocese of Minnesota, on 
 the 30th of June, 1859; was consecrated on the 
 13th of the following October, at Ricmimd, Vir- 
 ginia, and spent the following winter in visiting 
 his diocese, holding his first service at Waba.sha. 
 In the spring of 1860, Bishop Whipple, with his 
 family settled in Faribault, he having been mar- 
 ried on the 5th of October, 1842, his wife being 
 Miss Cornelia Wright, daughter of Hon. Benjamin 
 Wright, of Adams, New York. He brought with 
 him six children, all yet living but the youngest 
 son. Prior to the Bishop's settling in Faribault, 
 Revs. J. L. Breck and S. W. Manney had com- 
 menced an associate mission here, designing to 
 establish denominational schools; and one of the 
 very first steps of the Bishop was to organize 
 
396 
 
 HTSTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 Bishop Seabury Mission, uuder which corporation 
 are the Seabury Divinity College and Shattuck 
 School. St. Mary's Hall, also located at Fari- 
 bault, and devoted exclusively to the education of 
 young ladies, has a separate lioard of trustees. 
 These schools are all popular and well patronized, 
 and are annually sending out large numbers of 
 young men and young women equipped for use- 
 fulness in the world. From the Divinity College 
 have gone out between forty and fifty clergymen, 
 most of them now in fields of much usefulness. 
 Under the direction of Bisliop Whipple church 
 schools have been established at St. Paul, Miune 
 apolis, Shakopee, Red Wing, ard Hastings. At 
 White Earth, Polk county, is a Chippewa Indian 
 mission, with a church of between three and four 
 hundred members, and schools, and a hospital. 
 Since the Bishop settled in Minnesota more than 
 thirty Episcopal churches have been fornied, and 
 the denomination has been very largely strength- 
 
 ened. The churches in his diocesv, numbering in 
 all not far from sixty, are all free but four or five • 
 G. Weston Wood, M. D., one of the leading 
 physicians of the city, was born in Canada, in 
 Sheffield county, Quebec, on the 8th of May, 
 1812. His father was a cavalry officer of some 
 jirominence during the Canada insurrection in 
 18':S7, and was also engaged in maijufactnring. O. 
 Weston attended the Bishop's College, at Lenox- 
 ville until sixteen years old, and one year later 
 went to McGill College, where be graduated from 
 the medical department on the 4th of May, 1863. 
 He was united in marriage on the 4th of July, 
 1868, with Miss Ella M. Fox. In 1873, they re- 
 moved to Faribault, and one year later formed 
 the present partnership of Rose & Wood. He has 
 been County Coroner three terms and is now 
 County Commissioner. He was mayor of the city 
 iu 1881, and is now Surgeon of Shattuck School. 
 They have three children, two boys and one girl. 
 
 CITY OF NOKTHFIELD. 
 
 CHAHTER LIl. 
 
 INTEODUOTION — EARLY SETTLEMENT INTERESTING 
 
 EVENTS — BANDITS ATTACK THE BANK AND KILL, 
 THE CASHIER — INDUSTRIAL AND BUSINESS ENTER- 
 PRISES ST. clap's school — OARLBTON COLLEGE 
 
 OBSERVATORY — RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AND 
 
 SOCIETIES — OLD TOWN HALL WATERPORD. 
 
 This beautiful and enterprising city originated 
 more than a quarter of a century ago, when the beau- 
 tiful valley of the Cannon River was the hunting 
 grounds of some savage tribe, and when much of 
 the surroundings were as free and wild as the 
 time when the stars of the morning sang anthems 
 of joy at nature's dawn. 
 
 The changes from the primitive to the devel- 
 oped state have been constant an<] rapid. It has 
 been one continual change from the moment of its 
 origin luitil Nortlilield of to-day stands forth one 
 of the brightest jewels tn the diadem of a noble 
 State. Wliile there may have been nothing really 
 remarkalile in the development of the past, or no- 
 thing i)eculiarly striking in the present, still there 
 is much that cainiot fail to be of interest to those 
 
 who have been closely connected and identified 
 with the city in all the various changes that have 
 occurred from year to year. To those who have 
 watched its progress from its earliest origin — 
 when Rice county was a wilderness — until the 
 present time, the accomplishment of bygone years 
 seem like a herculean task; but are in reality the 
 sure and legitimate results of an advanced ttate 
 of civilization. Endowed with many natural ad- 
 vantages, aided by the strong arm of an enterpris- 
 ing husbandry. Rice county has assumed a posi- 
 tion among the best and wealthier of her sister 
 counties throughout the State; and Northfield, as 
 the second town within her Ixmiidaries, has kept 
 pace with the improvements and advancement of 
 the country by which it is surrounded. 
 
 Northfield, with its three thousand inhabitants, 
 is located in the extreme northeastern portion of 
 Rice county, with Dakota county on the north, 
 and beautifully situated on both sides of the river. 
 Cannon River is one of the most beautifui streams 
 in the State. The ground upon either side of the 
 stream ascends gradually as it recedes from the 
 river, and the city, resting gracefully ujion the 
 
CITY OF SitUTUFlEJJ). 
 
 397 
 
 gently sloping boundaries, presents an appear- 
 ance highly pleasing in its character. 
 
 A snbstantiiil iron bridge sjians the river, unit- 
 ing the eastern and western divisions of the town, 
 the business interests of which are also divided. 
 There are numerous good substantial brick and 
 stone blocks to be seen upon the busine.'^s thor- 
 oughfares, and a stroll through the town discloses 
 many handsome ami costly dwellings. There are 
 several tine church edifices and elegant school 
 buildings. An abundance of shade trees adorn 
 the streets, which in sunmier add greatly to the 
 beauty of the place. Northfield is surrounded by 
 one of the finest agricultural districts in the state 
 of Minnesota. The location is exceedingly healthy, 
 the inhabitants are possessed of intelligence, and 
 the society is of the most refined and desirable 
 character. 
 
 Here is also one of the best water powers in th6 
 State, with a capacity inc^xhaustable, and already 
 improved and partially utilized. 
 
 We know of no locality presenting a more favor- 
 able opportunity for the employment of capital in 
 industrial or manufacturing enterprises. Situated 
 upon a division of the Chicago, Milwaukee k St. 
 Paul railroad — one of the most important thor- 
 ouglifares in the country — the town is possessed of 
 the most desirable shipping faciUties. 
 
 Northtield reminds one of the stories of New 
 England life, and as we view the many white 
 robed cottages resting so gracefully upon the slo- 
 ping hillside, we can almost imagine ounselves in 
 some hamlet of the Eastern States. 
 
 The real originator of the town, or the man to 
 whom the community is indebted for its growth 
 and prosjjerity at that early day, is John \V. 
 North, from Utica, New York, althougli when he 
 came here there were a few other settlers into whom 
 he at once iufu.sed a new life. Among these may 
 be mentioned Jonathan Alexander, .Tohn Hoyt, 
 and Mr. Kirkendahl, the latter of whom was per- 
 haps the first man here. His jilace covered a ])art 
 of the town plat, and he raised the first crop here- 
 abouts. 
 
 In 1857, J. D. Hoskins laid tmt thirty acres on 
 the south side of the town, and this became Hos- 
 kin's addition. About the same time Albert Drake 
 laid out thirty acres, and Myron Wheaton added 
 several blocks on the east side. It can thus be seen 
 that all men were patriotic and no one was leaving 
 any obstruction to the growth of the city. In 
 
 1860, the scliool section became an addition, and 
 was cut u]) into blocks and lots, extending 
 down near the bridge. The year jjrevious Mr. 
 North puroliased a strip of land that had l)een 
 pre-empted by Daniel B. Turner, ami he also pur- 
 chased the farm of Mr. Kirkendahl which took in 
 the northern part of tlie town. This farm had a 
 log house, erected in 185.5 by the former proprie- 
 tor, who left the country, and it was then occupied 
 by Herman Jenkins. Tliese lots embraced the 
 original town plat, about 320 acres in all. The 
 surveying for the plat was done by a Minneapolis 
 man, and it was recorded by John W. North. 
 
 At a very early day a stage line was run within 
 a half mile of the place, through "White's cor- 
 ners," by a Mr. Hackett, and the old stage l)arn 
 where the horses were changed still stands. There 
 Were several other lines through the village until 
 after the railroad got in operation. 
 
 Jenkins liad filed a part of what became the vil- 
 lage ])lat, and Mr. Nortli |iurchased Mr. Jenkins' 
 place and also the claim of Mr. Kirkendahl, and 
 moved into the house which had been erected by 
 the latter. 
 
 The following letter from Hon. J. W. North to 
 J. W. Thompson is printed entire because it is 
 from the real founder of the town, and l)ecause of 
 its historical value: 
 
 San Fuanolsco, April 5tb, 18K0. 
 
 J. W. Thompson, Esq. — Bcur Sir: Yours of 
 March 27th is received. In answer to your (|ues- 
 tions I have to say — and I answer simply from 
 i-ecollectiou — that I first came to the .spot now 
 known as Northfield about the Ist of January, 
 1855, or it may have been in December, 1854. I 
 took measures to secure that location soon after I 
 first saw it. In the summer of 1855, 1 commenced 
 work on the dam and mill, wliich was completed so 
 as to commence sawing lumlier about the 1st of 
 December of that year. During tliat month we 
 sawed lumber and built with it the dwelling house 
 we moved into on the 3d of January, 1856. There 
 were settlers around there before I made my claim. 
 Tlie first time I saw that place I stopped at the 
 house of Mr. Alexauiler. He called my attention 
 to the water-power in the river at that point. Mr. 
 Stewart, Mr. Olin, Mr. Drake, Mr. Turner, and sev- 
 eral other families were living in the vicinity at 
 that time. When we moved down there, there 
 were the Whites, Mr. Wheeler, Mr. Hoskins, Mr. 
 Jenkins, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Pease, Mr. Trawle, and 
 
39S 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE GOUNTT. 
 
 several other families. Mr. Jenkins acted as my 
 agent until I moved there. Mr. Coburn, Mr. Pease, 
 Mr. Collett, and others worked for me. No one 
 was associated with me iu the enterprise. I was 
 not one of the men of whom you speak who stopped 
 over night at Felton's log house in Hastings with 
 you in June 1854. The incidents of the early set- 
 tlement will be remembered by the early settlers I 
 have named. I did not at first contemplate start- 
 ing a town, much less a city; I only thought of a 
 mill. There was then no road running through 
 the place, but I got one laid out from Waterford, 
 crossing the river just below the mills at North- 
 field. I then thought of a Post-office, school- 
 house, blacksmith sboj), store, town site, and finally 
 a railroad, and by energetic work got them all. 
 The people who remain can tell you all the rest. 
 I never so much as thought that I was making 
 history, and so the work done is the only record 
 of my acts. Yours, very truly, 
 
 J. W. North. 
 
 The following account of Northfield was pub- 
 lished in 1857, in a l''aril)ault paper: 
 
 "The site of this town was pre-empted by Dan- 
 iel Kirkendahl, Daniel B. Turner, and Herman 
 Jenkins, Mr. Kirkendahl settling on his claim in 
 June, 1854, Mr. Turner in December following, 
 and Mr. Jenkins in May, 1855. J. W. North, for- 
 merly of Utica, New York, purchased ot these pre- 
 emptors, and surveyed and platted the town site 
 in October, 1855, soon selling one-half interest in 
 it to GeorgeLoomis,and they two were the sole pro- 
 prietors for some time. In December, 1855, a saw- 
 mill was put in operation arranged with an upright 
 saw, and a siding mill, which cost when complete 
 over $4,000. The first frame house was completed 
 and occupied by Mr. North about the first oi 
 January, 1850, and he then commenced the con- 
 struction of a ilouring mill, which was completed 
 in September at a cost of over $10,000. The mill, 
 when in running order, contained three run of 
 stones, and was one of tlie best in the Territory at 
 that time, and did a thriving business. Messrs 
 Cox and Fleming erected a steam saw-mill with a 
 forty-horse-power engine, which cost from eight 
 to ten thousand dollars. 
 
 The improvement of the water-power by the 
 erection ot these and the steam mills, gave the 
 town a permanent importance not experienced by 
 any other place in the vicinity. Messrs. N. B-. and 
 T. U. Coidson built the first store, and commenced 
 
 trade in March, 1856, but in June following sold 
 out to H. Scriver. who at once began a large trade 
 with a capital of $10,000. Skinner & Brothers 
 opened a store in September of that year, and at 
 once commenced a good trade. Cole & Beach 
 opened up their goods iu August. Goods were 
 then brought from Hastings, as the nearest jjoiut 
 on the river. At the beginning of 1857, there 
 were two hotels, and a third was building, two 
 carriages, two blacksmith shops, a schoolhouse, a 
 reading-room with a public library, and organ- 
 ized churches, but as a newspaper correspondent 
 boasted at the time, no 'grog shop.' " 
 
 The first store was put up before Mr. North put 
 in an appeariince. It was on the farm of Mr. 
 Coulson, a short distance from town in a little 
 hut, with a wheelbarrow load of goods. When 
 the town was laid out, Coulson moved in and put 
 up a store, 18x30 feet, of green basswood boards, 
 and placed his goods on the shelves. This store 
 stood on the square in front of Mr. Scriver's 
 store. When Mr. Scriver arrived a short time af- 
 terwards, he purchased the store, and at the re- 
 quest of Mr. North, moved it back to enlarge the 
 square, and received his present lot in exchange. 
 
 The next store was erected by Skinner & 
 Brother on Main street, and a small stock of goods 
 was put iu. The building is now used as a 
 dwelling. 
 
 Aboiit the same time. Cole ct Beach constructed 
 a building,.and they put in a small stock of goods, 
 but this is also now occupied as a residence. 
 
 The next year Harvey Allen put up a store and 
 began trade; the same place is now occupied by J. 
 E. Jones. 
 
 Then, in 185G, Mr. H. Jenkins erected a hotel 
 on the corner where McNeil's drug store now is, 
 which was an old fashioned building, 25x25 feet, 
 with a cotton cloth roof, and was run back to 
 make room for the store. It is now used as a 
 boarding house. 
 
 Philip Colburn and Mr. Pease came shortly 
 after Coulson, and went to work by the day. 
 
 Jonathan Alexander came just before North, and 
 filed -his claim on the east of the town, and still 
 lives there. Alexander Stewart, who may yet be 
 found on his ])lace, secured it iu 1855. 
 
 J. A. Hunt came iu the spring ot 1856, when 
 there was but a single frame house iu the town- 
 He drove some claim stakes, and started a meat 
 shop, the first in town. 
 
CITY OF MlUTllFIKLl). 
 
 399 
 
 I. S. Fiekl was an early comer, aud it is not 
 
 ;il)i)liiti'ly (--ertiiiii tliat his name did not suggest 
 th(! (in;d sylUible of the name of the town and 
 eity, as Mr. North's certainly did the first. 
 There is, however, very little foundation for this 
 theory, if any. M. W. Skinner, Mr. H. Soriver, 
 Alva Cole, George Loomis, Olson Beach, Morgan 
 Emery, and otiiers, were arrivals about that time, 
 and the following winter there was quite a little 
 town, aud the people began to feel that they were 
 beeoniing quite metropolitan. 
 
 Mr. Jenkins was proprietor of the first liotel, and 
 the roof was a single thickness of cotton cloth. 
 Soon after it was built, the upper story was oecu- 
 ])ied l)y twenty-tlve men one night when a terrific 
 thunder shower drenched the inmates iu a most 
 unpleasant way. The next morning the proprie- 
 tor posted off to Hastings for shingles. 
 
 The second liotel went up in the summer of 
 1857, and was called the "Mansion House;'" it was 
 kept by Benjamin Kimball. The size was 25x60 
 feet, and at first was all utilized as a hotel; now 
 the lower part is used for stores. Its location is on 
 the West Side, and it was jjlaced there to get out 
 of the jurisdiction of Mr. North, who sc)ld lots with 
 the stipulation that no li<iuor should be sold on 
 the premises under penalty of forfeiture. This 
 hotel was on the school section, which was an 
 addition to the town plat. Kimball opened a bar 
 iu the place and went on selling for a few weeks, 
 when three men, George Loomis, W. W. Willis, 
 and Warren Weed, went over and with an ax de- 
 molished barrels and bottles; this literally broke 
 up the establishment, and it was never reopened. 
 Of course this breaking of the peace created con- 
 siderable excitement, but the man was paid a 
 small sum for his loss. 
 
 The American House was built in 1858 by J. 
 W. North, and is now used by Carleton College. 
 
 Gilson's was the very first stopping place 
 erected in Northfield, and was run as a boarding 
 Louse, hotel, or " hash factory," as it was some- 
 times called. It was erected by the man whose 
 name it bore, in 1855, and consisted of a log main 
 building about 16x20 feet, with a small addition 
 of twelve fe:et square. It stood about one-half 
 mile out of Northfield on the stage line of early 
 days. The shanty was roofed with split oak 
 pieces, which did excellent service in dry weather. 
 In the early part of 1856 this was the only place 
 to stop, and was very much crowded, the boarders 
 
 having to sleep on the lloor, aud on special occa- 
 sions they would us' their wagons for a bed with 
 but t\\v, canopy of heaven for a coV(^r. Tliis was 
 run as a stopping place for about two yc^ars, when 
 it was made a dwelling house, and used as sui^h 
 for a number of years. The beautiful residence 
 of William Giles, qow crowns the site the "stop- 
 ping place" occupied in days of yore. 
 
 Northfield can now accommodate her guests in 
 the following hotels: Archer's Hotel. Central 
 House, St. Paul House, Farmer's Home, Norske 
 Hotel, and several boarding houses. 
 
 INTEIiESTINi; EVENTS. 
 
 The fir.st practicing physicians in the town were 
 Drs. Schofield and Hanchet, who were both in 
 business here in 1857 and '58. Dr. Schofield, who 
 was the earlier of the two, is still iu active prac- 
 tice in town. 
 
 A child of Mr. and Mi's. Alexander Stewart, in 
 1850, was an early birth, and was named James. 
 
 Fred. Bingham, son of Mr. aud Mrs. John Bing- 
 ham, was an earlj comer, and the young man is 
 now in the jjhotograjjh business near Winnipeg. 
 
 Another early comer iu Northfield was George, 
 a son of Mr. and Mrs. Morgan Emery, iu 1856. 
 He grew up near Northfield, and is now a prac- 
 ticing lawyer in Le Sueur county. 
 
 Sadie Lockwood, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Ephraim Lockwood, was ushered into existence at 
 an early day in 1857, aud still lives in Northfield. 
 
 Charley, a son of .A.lva and Lovica Cole, was 
 also an early birth, being brought into the light 
 of this world in Northfield in the spring of 1857. 
 He is now a farmer near Grand Folks, Dakota 
 Territory. 
 
 Blr. anil Mrs. J. A. Hunt were blessed with a 
 .son on the 2d of January, 1858, which they named 
 William, and he is now a practicing physician. 
 
 In 1857, Mr. Kansom Smith and Miss Mary 
 Jenkins were joined in the bonds of wedlock by 
 the bride's father, H. Jenkins, Esq. The couple 
 are still living in town. At first they moved to 
 Bnish Prairie, but afterwai'ds got into the city. 
 This was very likely the first marriage, 
 
 Mr. Benjamin Kimball to Miss Hattie Kelley 
 was the next event of this kind to happen, and 
 they at once took charge of the "Mansion House.'' 
 In the course of a few years they went to California. 
 
 The first person to pay the debt of mortality in 
 
400 
 
 IIISTOUY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 Northfield was a two-year old child of Epbraim 
 Lookwood, in November, 1856, and the remains 
 were deposited in a spot that was already in con- 
 templation for a cemetery, in the northeast part 
 of the town, bnt were siilisequently removed to 
 the present cemetery in the south part. 
 
 Charles Loomis died in April, 1858, and his re- 
 mains repose in the cemetery south of town. He 
 died of bydro])hobia — a very sad and peculiar 
 case. 
 
 .Tosejjh Drake died in the spring of 1858, and 
 was buried in the same place, and was perhaps the 
 first there. 
 
 One of the first deaths was Mr. Simmons, who 
 was drowned in the Cannon River in June, 185(), 
 while Hoating logs for the construction of the mill. 
 He left a family of a wife and three children, one 
 of whom now lives in the township. His wife af- 
 terwards married a Mr. Mosher, and in 1864, com- 
 mitted suicide. 
 
 On the 5th of November, 1878, the first house 
 built in Northfield was destroyrd by fire. It was 
 erected by John W. North, and stood im north 
 Division street. 
 
 On the 19th of May, 1880, the Congregational 
 church and two barns were destroyed by fire. 
 
 A most heart-rending affair occurred in North- 
 field ou the 22d of March, 1858. A son of Mr. 
 Finley McFee was riding a horse and leading an- 
 other with a halter tied around his wrist, when the 
 bad horse took fright, and pulled the lad off and 
 ran with him dashing out his brains in his mad 
 career. 
 
 On the 24th of October, 1872, a liarn belimging 
 to Fred. Goodsell was set on fire by some unknown 
 person, and while attention was directed towards 
 the fire Mr. Emery's grocery store was entered and 
 robbed of $149.37. It was evidently what is 
 called in the rogues vernacular "a put up job." 
 
 The brewery, one mile from town, was burned 
 ou tlie 14th of December, 1872. The concern was 
 insured for .$2,000. 
 
 On Saturday the 18th of May, 1873, a runaway 
 occurred in which a sou of Mr. Leist, aged five 
 years, lost his life. 
 
 Silver Weddino.— The twenty-fifth anniver- 
 sary of the wedding of the parties named below 
 took place in Northfield some time in 1879, but the 
 exact date has dro))ped out, and there is not time 
 
 to secure it now, so it is introduced as it came 
 from the local paper : 
 
 " Saturday last signalized an interesting occa- 
 sion to some of our citizens. It was the twenty- 
 fifth anniversary of the marriage of W. H. Ben- 
 nett and wife, which was nothing less than then- 
 silver wedding. Mrs. Bennett is a member of the 
 somewhat numerous Bunday race, and they aU, or 
 nearly all, rallied and stormed the castle, the num- 
 ber present being about fifty persons, though 
 some were unavoidably absent. Among the pres- 
 ents were the following ; One silver-plated cake 
 dish, one silver-plated castor, one dozen silver 
 forks, very nice; two sets napkin rings, properly 
 marked; two butter-knives, one pickle-fork, one 
 silver thimble, one set each of silver table and tea 
 spoons. These were presented by a neat speech 
 from S. S. Dickinson, Esq., and duly acknowl- 
 edged by the recipients, though it was so much of 
 a surjjrise to them that their utterance was some- 
 what emotional, as would be very natural under the 
 circumstances. It was a very interesting and en- 
 joyable occasion. We wish Mr. and Mrs. Bennett 
 much joy on this auspicious beginning of the sec- 
 ond (piarter century of their married life, and 
 hope they may reach their golden wedding, 
 twenty-five years hence." 
 
 Marhiel) Oveb Aftek Fifty Yeaks. Eehodnd 
 IN Golden Bonds. -In the spring of 1878, a house 
 iwW of old and middle-aged came together to keep 
 in fitting style the fiftieth anniversary of the wed- 
 ding of Mr. and Airs. Almou Morris of this city. 
 The scene of the festivities was at the residence of 
 Mr. A. P. Morris, who with his wife invited the 
 guests and provided the entertainment. The bride 
 of a half century ago was attired in white. To 
 fiank this couple were the aged Mr. and Mrs. Con- 
 verse, of Dundas, who six years before had enjoyed 
 a similar occasion. A brother and sister of Mr. 
 M. were present from Wisconsin. The first hour 
 was occupied with giving and receiving congratu- 
 lations. A quartette sung by Cashier Phillips, 
 Prof. Thomas, Mrs. Rice and Emma Wheaton led 
 to some remaks by Rev. Mr. Leonard, including 
 the interesting story of courtship of this couple 
 and some of the incidents of their married life. 
 Then they arose, joined hands and convenanted 
 over to love, serve and cherish each the 'sther till 
 the end of life. President Strong offered a prayer 
 relating to the past, the present, and the future. 
 Tlie "Wedding March" was then rendered by Mag- 
 
CITY OF SOIITIIFIELD. 
 
 401 
 
 gie Dickson. Prpsitleut Strong rear! a golilen wetl- 
 diug j)oem written tor tbe oi-oasiou by a Vermont 
 minister past eighty, and the former pastor of the 
 bride and groom. C. A. Wheaton, of the Jnurniil, 
 sang with due pathos, "John Anderson my Jo." 
 Prof. Fattee, in behalf (if A. P. Morris, jjreseuted 
 a gold-headed eane to l)oth father and mother, and 
 to the former a splendid Waltham gold watch and 
 chain, while to the latter, from a nuralier of friends 
 in town, was given an easy chair. The wedding 
 dress was sent by Mrs. A. M. Rawson, of Chicago, 
 and an extra cane came from Wm. F. and Charles 
 Merriam of the same city. A table was covered 
 with other choice presents. Then followed the 
 singing by all of "Nearer My (xod to Thee," and 
 after that commenced a feast of another sort. 
 Oceans of various good things had been prepared 
 and were now served by the host in excellent style, 
 and in a style of equal excellence were con- 
 sumed. Thus hurried on the evening's close, and 
 at a late hour the pair, for whose sake the as- 
 semblage was held, were left to rest and to indulge 
 in pleasant memories of that notable 10th of June, 
 which surely will continue to the close of life. Not 
 far from 130 guests were present, and nothing oc- 
 curred to mar in the least the enjoyment of the 
 happy hours. 
 
 KuBY AVedding. — The fortieth anniversary of 
 the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Holt, was 
 celebrated on the 20th of November, 1879. The 
 bride's original name was Julia Cushmau. Forty 
 years is more than the life of a full generation, 
 and represents the time spent in the wilderness by 
 the children of Israel, but it is (juite certain that 
 this couple, although they have traveled consider- 
 able, have not been all this time in the wilderness. 
 This affair was well attended and was a very 
 jjleasant one. 
 
 MuKDER .\ND Attempted Robbery. — In the an- 
 nals of crime the Northfield tragedy is widely 
 known on account of the daring atrocity of the 
 enterprise, and the fatality of its results to the 
 chief actors. The men engaged in the venture- 
 some exploit were the "James brothers," and the 
 '•Younger brothers," and others whose names will 
 appear in the course of the narrative. 
 
 The party consisted of eight men who arrived 
 in town between 10 and 11 o'clock on the 7th of 
 He])tember, 1876, and making their headquarters 
 at a saloon, waited until 2 o'clock in the afternoon. 
 They then made a concerted attack upon the bank, 
 2G 
 
 five of them paying especial attention to the rob- 
 bery which was couteni] dated, one of them sta- 
 tioned himself on the sidewalk near the corner of 
 Lee & Hitchcock's store, and one at the door of 
 the First National Bank, while the other three 
 went inside to commit the robbery. At the same 
 time the three others came galloping acro.ss the 
 bridge, and with frightful yells and horrible ejacu- 
 lations, Iiegan firing their revolvers into stores and 
 at all persons who dared to shom themselves at 
 doors or windows, and riding up Division street 
 patroled in front of the bank, keeping up a con- 
 tinuous firing from their revolvers and calling 
 with murderous imprecations upon all who came 
 in sight to "git," displaying the most excellent 
 horsemanship. Meantime the three men who 
 entered the bank jumped over the counter with a 
 single bound and presented revolvers to the heads 
 t)f the three men who were there, .1. L. Heywood, 
 the acting cashier, E. E. Bunker, the teller, and J. 
 F. Wilcox, the bookkeeper, saying that they were 
 going to rob the bank, and asking for the cashier. 
 On being told that he was not in, they ordered Mr. 
 Heywood, who was seated at the cashier's desk, to 
 open the safe; the vault door was standing open, 
 but the safe door was closed. Mr. Heywood posi- 
 tively refused to open the safe for them, when the 
 villain took hold of him and drew a long knife 
 across his throat, threatening with the most hor- 
 rid oaths to cut bis throat from ear to ear, unless 
 he instantly complied. Mr. Heywood released 
 himself and started for the door crying murder at 
 the top of his voice, but he was knocked down 
 with a navy revolver, and dragged to the door of 
 the vault, and a shot was fired to further intimi- 
 date him. Mr. Bunker, meantime had torn him- 
 self away and escaped out of the back door, 
 receiving a shot in the shoulder, which, however, 
 did not prevent his shouting an alarm. The leader 
 stepped into the vaidt and tried to open the inside 
 door when Mr. Heywood attemjited to close the 
 door upon him, but was jerked away by one of 
 ruffians. Further etTorts were made to induce the 
 acting cashier to open the safe door, but all with- 
 out avail. All this time one of the scoundrels had 
 young Wilcox on his knees with a revolver at his 
 temple. 
 
 This was the condition of aflfairs inside when 
 the men, who were being severely punished out- 
 side, called out to those inside of the bank to 
 leave it at once, as it was getting ttio hot for them. 
 
402 
 
 HISTORY OF RIVIC COUNTY. 
 
 Two of them inimediately jumped over tbe 
 counter and rushed into tbe street, the other one, 
 who is supposed tp have been Jesse James, as he 
 was jumping over the counter, indignant and ex- 
 asperated at the dismal faihire of the daring 
 scheme, turned and deliberately fired at Mr. 
 Heywood, the second shot killing him instantly, a 
 ball through the left temple literally blowing his 
 brains out. 
 
 While this tragedy was being enacted in the 
 bank, another drama loaded with tragedy had 
 been rehearsing in a lively way outside. When 
 the "road agents" rode up towards the bank, 
 Mr. J. S. Allen, who kept a hardware store 
 on the south side of Mill Square, had his suspic- 
 ion aroused. He followed them, and reached the 
 bank just as the robbers had entered, the guard 
 there at once collared him, and pointing a pistol 
 at his head ordered him to keep quiet, but he 
 broke loose and ran, followed by two shots. Mr. 
 A. R. Manning, hearing the situation, seized a 
 breech-loading rifle and taking his station at tbe 
 corner of Lee & Hitchcock's store, fired a few 
 shots, and succeeded in killing one of tbe mis- 
 creants, wounding anotlier, and killing a horse. 
 Of course it required a high order of courage to 
 thus make a target of himself; as it was, he nar- 
 rowly escaped destruction. Henry Wheeler, 
 a young man in a drug store on tbe east 
 side of the street, ran up stairs into the Dam- 
 pier House, where he liad an old carbine, and 
 coolly fired from tlu' window three shots, all he 
 had, and killed one of the brigands and wounded 
 a hor.se and perhaps one of the bandits also. 
 Among others who took a hand in the skirmish 
 were, J. B. Hyde, L. Stacy, and K3v. Mr. Phillips, 
 who used shot guns and pistols, and they must 
 have done some execution, as the cadavers had 
 fine shot in their faces. Mr. George Bates also 
 drew the fire of the assas.sins by presenting a 
 pistol, and attempting to tire a gun that would 
 not go off. As they came from inside, the sur- 
 vivor; of tlie fray made no unnecessary delay in 
 starting im that j)erilous ride, which proved quite 
 as disastrous as the commencement of this abor- 
 tive robbery had thus far been. When they were 
 mounted and about to ride off, the wounded man 
 on the sidewalk said, "For God's sake Ijoys, don't 
 leave me;"sotliey took him up and threw him across 
 a horse and then gallopetl away. As they rode 
 up the street, a Swede came out of a shop and was 
 
 ordered to go back, but not understanding what 
 they said failed to comply, and he was shot 
 through the head, dying the next Monday. 
 
 Telegrams were at once started in all directi(jns 
 to intercept the outlaws. Unfortunately the 
 operator at Dundas was not in, or the whole gang 
 might have been captured there. Parties were 
 organized at various points, and the story of the 
 flight with the wovinded man, the pursuit, with 
 the attending escapades and hair-breadth escapes 
 on lioth sides, affords a most exciting chapter in 
 this kind of literature; for the whole country be- 
 tween here and Missouri, the headquarters of the 
 gang, was excited and under arms, and the rtsult 
 was that three were captured and ime more killed, 
 making six left behind of the eight who started on 
 this errand of plunder. The two who escaped 
 were Jesse and Frank James, the latter being the 
 oue wounded in Northfield. The names of those 
 killed in Northfield were Clell Miller and Stiles. 
 Charley Pitts, alias George Wells, was killed at 
 Madeliu, where Cole, Robert, and James Younger 
 were finally captured, and subsequently lodged in 
 the Faribault jail. Rumors of a rescuing party 
 oau.sed a guard to be placed outside the jail, and 
 on the 3d of October, 1876, a watchman, who 
 was coming to report for duty, was shot and in- 
 stantly killed by Frank Glazier, a guard at the 
 jail, who mistook him for the advance guard of 
 a rescuing party. This was indeed a sad and 
 fatal mistake, making the sixth human life de- 
 stroyed in consequence of the attempt to rob the 
 Northfield bank. 
 
 On the l(>th of November, 1876, the bandits 
 were indicted at Faribault, and pleading guilty, 
 were sentenced on the 20th to State prison during 
 the term of their natural lives, and on the 22d of 
 the same month they were taken to Stillwater. 
 Thus ended this terrible aflair. 
 
 THE INDIANS. 
 
 In the autumn of 1862, after the Sioux massa- 
 cre, the people in and about Northfield were in a 
 chronic state of apprehension. Indians wore con- 
 stantly passing in small bands, and while the days 
 were passed with feelings of security, the nights 
 were instinct with emotions of dread, every un- 
 usual sound was transformed into inJieatious of 
 the approach of the blood-thirsty savage, and 
 very many persons, who had retired for the night 
 had the most gloomy forebodings, and felt that it 
 
CITY Oh' yonrninKLi). 
 
 403 
 
 was extremely uncertain whether the light of 
 another morning would ever dawn for them. 
 
 Scouting parties were raised to scour the irountry 
 for the lurking foe, and in one of tliose s(|uads 
 was a man by the name of Holibs, who, when a 
 few miles out eouchided to fire oil' aii old charges 
 in liis gun, and pointing to a cornfield discharged 
 the piece, when there arose the most car-pierc- 
 ing screams, and a woman made her appearance, 
 bringing one foot in her hand and exclaiming 
 that she had been sliot, which proved to bo the 
 case, the shot having taking effect in the foot. 
 Hobbs explained the nature of the accident, and 
 the woman, who was just from England, was 
 willing to forgive him, if "in another like time 
 he would shoot in the ( h )air." But this state of 
 affairs did not continue long, and ti> paraphrase a 
 monotonous army report, "all was (|uict on the 
 Cannon." 
 
 In the fall of 1857, a band of Sioux on a 
 predatory expedition to the Chippewa region^ 
 east of the river, camped near the village. 
 They soon moved on and crossed the river 
 between Hastings and Ked Wing and had a 
 bloody fight with their enemies, securing several 
 scalps. On their way back they again encamped, 
 this time within the city limits in the northeast 
 part of the village, and here, being so far away 
 from the Chippewas that they had no fear of a 
 surprise, a scalp dance was indulged in. Each 
 scalp was put on a hoop and that attached to a 
 pole aljout ten feet long, and around these with 
 spasmodic contortions and ear-splitting yells and 
 drummiugs they danced, if such gyratory jump- 
 ings can be so called. 
 
 Another Indian affair occurred in 1808, when 
 the Little Crow band of Indians were on the 
 rampage about the country. A party of four 
 left the main body west of Northfield and 
 made their way hither on a horse stealing ex- 
 pedition. Crossing Mr. Daniels' farm, a half 
 mile from town, and so on to Michael Kennery's 
 place and remaining concealed until night, took 
 six horses and made off' toward the woods, retrac- 
 ing their steps. A force was at once organized 
 in town and a hot pursuit started. The Indians 
 finding themselves pursued kept dodging back and 
 forth in the woods. At one point there is a cross 
 road on the Dundas and Faribault road, leading 
 into the timber and to the ford of the Cannon 
 River, and at this point a guard was stationed, as 
 
 the red skins might cross there. About eleven 
 o'clock they came in sight, crossed the ford and 
 l)Ushed along slowly to the corners. There was a 
 farm house near the ambush, and as they passed, 
 the farmer's wife rushed out and screamed at the 
 top of her voice. -'Here they come! Shoot 'em! 
 Shoot 'em!!" This of course alarmed the fellows, 
 and they turned and recrossed the river. They 
 were pursued for several days and finally over- 
 taken and the whole four shot to death, the whites 
 losing a single horse. 
 
 This locality for a year or two, seemed to be on 
 a regular thoroughfare for the Indians between 
 the Mississippi Kiver and some point on the Min- 
 nesota River, as hardly a day passed without see- 
 ing them in greater or less numbers. It was not 
 uncommon for a woman, jicrliaps alone in the 
 house, to look up and see one of their " tigly 
 mugs" flattened against a window pane, or for a 
 man to stumble over them asleep in the barn. 
 
 At one tune, Mrs. Martin, who lived where John 
 Ames now does, was badly freightened on seeing 
 a large number of them, estimated at fifteen hun- 
 dred, passing not far from her house. She was 
 alone with a babe and two other children, and 
 hastily wrapping up the little one put it in a drip- 
 ping pan, and tying a string to it, started with 
 the improvised baby carriage and the other chil- 
 dren for John S. Way's place, a mile and a half 
 distant. 
 
 POLITICAL;. 
 
 A charter for a village government was obtained 
 in 1871, and the first meeting under the new or- 
 ganization held in March. The first oflicers were: 
 President, S. P. Stewart; Councilmen, E. Lathrop, 
 H. Scriver, F. A. Noble, and E. Hobbs, and on or- 
 ganization, E. Lathrop was chosen Chairman. 
 Lewis Goodsell was elected Recorder; Fred. 
 Goodsell, Treasurer; Charles Wheeler, Marshal; 
 Lewis Goodsell, Assessor; O. M. Meade, Attorney; 
 F. O. Rice, Surveyor; and A. F. Kingman, Street 
 Commissioner. 
 
 In the spring of 1875, a city charter was ob- 
 tained. The election for city officers having taken 
 place, a meeting for organization was held on the 
 16th of March at Lyceum Hall. It was called to 
 order by the Mayor-elect, H. Scriver, and there 
 were present the following Aldermen: Charles S. 
 Hulbert, C.W. Mann, A. P. Stewart, B. M. James, 
 C. S. Farrell, J. C. Nutting, Harold Therson, and 
 O. S. Taylor. A. P. Stewart was elected Presi- 
 
404 
 
 HISTORY OF IIWK GOVNTY. 
 
 (]eut;jW. H. Norton, Recorder; Charles Tiiylor. 
 City Attorney; O. M. Meade and C. A. Wlieaton, 
 .fuslices of the Peaee; J. L. Heywood, Treasurer; 
 Elias Hobbs, Chief of Police. The better class of 
 citizens have always held the offices, and the ad- 
 ministration of the city governraeut has been 
 without opportunity for adverse criticism. 
 
 The ]}resent officers are as follows: Mayor, G. 
 M. Phillips; Aldermen— First Ward, E. Lock- 
 wood and J. Handy; Second Ward, O. T. Lysue 
 and .T. B. Hyde; Third Ward, F. A. Noble and 
 August Ebel; Recorder, G. H. Coon; Treasurer, 
 H. B. dress; Chief of Police, William Russell: 
 Fire Warden, S. S. Dickinson; Street Commis- 
 sioner, S. S. Noteman ; Justices of the Peace, T. 
 H. Streeter and O. M. Meade; Health Officers, H. 
 L. Coon, M. D., and .T. S. Hoskius. 
 
 INDUSTinAL AND BUSINESS INTBKESTS. 
 
 The industrial and manufacturing interests of a 
 community, as well as of the country, lorm as it 
 were the bone and sinew of ]jrosperoiis life, and 
 like the agricultural interests, are one of the 
 ground principles upon which depends, to a great 
 extent, tht; success of all other branches of trade. 
 The benefits arising from industrial enterprise are 
 innumerable. It develops the various resources 
 of the country, builds up cities and villages, and 
 is naturally beneficial to all classes of business 
 men —the merchant, mechanic, and laborer — alike, 
 and in very many instances throughout the coun- 
 try, the rapid growth of cities and towns is due to 
 tlie <'xchisive agency of some manufacturing en- 
 terprise-. The al)Ove is no less true in the case of 
 Northiield; although comparatively young in in- 
 dustrial growth, the good effects are nevertheless 
 readily observed, and the rapid and increased 
 growtli of this particular branch of the business 
 interests of the jjlace is the best evidence that 
 could be afforded in maintenance of tlie theory 
 presented. 
 
 Fiijs'r Saw-Mili.. — Mr. North built the first 
 saw-mill, as he states in his it^tter; It was an old- 
 fashioned mill, although it had, in addition to the 
 vertical saw, a circular that would cut a board not 
 exceeding twelve inches wide. This mill was run in 
 an intermittent way for about ten years by Mr. 
 North and Mr. Ames, and was afterwards pur- 
 chased by the latter. 
 
 A Steam Saw-Milt, was built in the spring of 
 18.')7, by Cox <t Fleming. The boilers were 
 liauled in winter Ijy team from Dulniipie. Wlien 
 
 they arrived the event was duly celebrated by the 
 firing of anvils — the only available cannon — and 
 guns, and other demonstrations of joy. It was 
 jilaced up the river just outside of the village 
 ]ilat and run for about three years and disposed 
 of to parties in Stillwater. The cost of operating 
 in the hard woo \ lumlier, it was claimed, was too 
 great to allow a margin for profits. 
 
 Van Buskiuk Buotheks' Machine Shops. — In 
 187(i, a feed mill was established near the railroad 
 station, but it was soon discontinued as .such, and 
 remodeled into a foundry and machine shop. 
 
 Wyman'.s S.\sh, Doou, and Blind Factory. — 
 This was erected in 18(i7, by Daniel Wyman, and 
 run for about four years, when it was destroyed 
 by tire. It stood south of the depot, where the 
 planing mill now is. It was one of the best es- 
 tablishments in the State and had a saw-mill con- 
 connected with it, and a full complement of mod- 
 ern machinery. 
 
 A sash, door, and blind factory was put up in 
 1859, by Pease & Clarry, down the river (m the 
 east bank. After about two years the machinery 
 was sold and the building, after a time, was re- 
 moved to the farm of Mr. S. Bunday. 
 
 Ckeameu MANUiWCTORY. — This estalilishment 
 was started in 1879, for the manufacture of the 
 '• Cooley Creamer," a piece of furniture to faoili- 
 tite the handling of cream, which is made in two 
 sizes. No. 4 and No. 6, representing the number of 
 cans they hold. The first proprietors were Whit- 
 tier k Huut, l)ut the firm soon Viecame Whittier 
 k Camp. In the sjiring of 1882, the firm was 
 changed to Whittier & Ensign, the names of the 
 members being C. F. Whittier and W. E. Ensign. 
 Its location is on Water street and employs about 
 six men. 
 
 .Iesse Ames' Sons Flouring Mills. — The first 
 Hour-mill built here was on the east side of the 
 river in 18.5(5, by J. W. North. It was a two run 
 mill operated by water, and was run for several 
 years by the builder, I,)ut finally sold to C. A. 
 Wheaton who added another run of stones, and it 
 continued to grind as a custom mill till 18(!4 or'G5, 
 when it went into the hands of Jesse Ames & Sons, 
 who rebuilt and enlarged the capacity to seventy - 
 five barrels a day and operated it as a meriihant mill. 
 Tlie mill was thus run until ISOil, since when it 
 has been ns(Hl as a custom mill, and it is now un- 
 der the management of Felix Collett who heljied 
 
CITY OF MiiailFlKl.l). 
 
 ■t05 
 
 t<) Imilil it. and lias worknil there eDutiniiously ever 
 since. 
 
 TiiK New Mill on the west side of tlie river 
 was liiiilt by Jesse Ames .*c Sons in 1809, and was 
 set in o])erati(in that winter witli six nin of stones 
 and the ability to turn out 151) barrels in twenty- 
 fonr hours. In 1875, the seventh run was put in 
 with new bolting arrangements to earry it u]) 
 to 175 barrels a day. In 1879, thirty-tivc feet 
 were added to the height, making it five stories 
 al)Ove the basement; steam power was also added 
 at this time in the form of an Atlas Corli.ss engine 
 of two hundred horse-power. At the same time a 
 complete transformation of the grinding machin- 
 ery was made, and to-day the establishment ex- 
 hibits tlie following schedule : Ten double sets of 
 Ellis' corrugated rolls, nine double sets of Smith's 
 rolls, two single sets, one set of Stevens' scratch 
 rolls, four centrifugal rolls, seventeen Smith's puri- 
 fiei-s, twenty-five reels, three run of .stones, with 
 smuttera, cockle machines, and the other apparatus 
 usually found in a first class mill. It now manu- 
 factures 400 barrels of fine tiour in twenty-four 
 hours. The water-power is derived from a hea<l 
 of nine feet on the Cannon River, and is trans- 
 mitted by two Victor turbine wheels, forty-eight 
 inches in diameter The establishment emjikiys 
 about twentv-five men, and the elevator capacity 
 is 40,000 bushels of wheat: the bran house will 
 hold about 200 tons, the storage capacity for Hour 
 is 1,800 barrels, and there is a wood yard that 
 will hold several thousand cords. It is claimed 
 that this mill was the first in the State to turn out 
 the new process flour, and that the first patent 
 flour used in St. Paul was from this establishment. 
 Gen. Ames, one of the sons, lives in New York and 
 handles tlie Hour for the market. The value of 
 such a mill io the city and country is very great. 
 
 It should be noted that at the international ex- 
 hibition in I'hiladelphia in 1870, this mill received 
 the highest marking of any straight Hour at the 
 - exposition. 
 
 The perscmnel of the firm is Adelbert Ames, John 
 T. Ames, and John Handy. 
 
 In connection with the mills there is a machine 
 shop, under tlie supervision of Felix CoUett, Jr.^ 
 where repairing is done and much new machinery 
 turned out, emjiloying several men. 
 
 In 1880, a spur track mas built so that wlieat is 
 delivered and the flour loaded at the mill. 
 
 Thk N(UtTiiFii:i.i) Elev.\tor was built bv the 
 
 railroad company at the time of the completion of 
 the road, and they still own it. It is 75x100 feet 
 and handles 200,000 bushels of grain annuiiUy. 
 It is operated by Ames k Archibald under the 
 personal management of George Grevy. 
 
 The railroad was compleled in bSOo, and the 
 j)resent station immediately built, also an elevator 
 which at once began to receive grain. The gra- 
 ding was begun in 18G0, but during the war work 
 was susjieuded, but subsequently resuni"d and the 
 tracklayers reached this point in September, and 
 made their way towards Faribault. 
 
 Citizens NATioNAii Bank of Noktiifield. — 
 This flanking house was established in January, 
 1878, by W. H. Norton, who was president, and A. 
 W. Nortcm casliier. The capital was .S25,000. The 
 present bank building was erected by Mr. Norton, 
 the president, and in September of that year the 
 bank was regularly organized under tlie State law 
 with a capital of ^50,000. In 1880, A. W. Nor- 
 ton, tlie cashier, died, and he was succeeded by 
 W. H. Norton. * 
 
 FiitsT National Bank. — Tliis banking institu- 
 tion was originally established with a banking 
 capital of ^50,000, which has been increased to 
 the present capital of .§100,000. This bank was 
 the scene of the attempted robbery liy the Younger 
 Brothers gang, which is given in full elsewhere. 
 
 FIliE DErAItTMENT. 
 
 There is a very ellicieiit lire department in Nortli- 
 tield. It was at first organized on a small scale 
 about 1873, as a hook and ladder company, and 
 in 18S0, a force ))ump was procured aud attached 
 to the Ames mill, with sutlicient power, with suit- 
 able hose, to throw water as far as Dundas if 
 necessary. The Ames mill ofi'ered to furnish power 
 whenever it should be recjuired for ti u years. The 
 present chief of the dejiartment is J. H. Lawrence, 
 and James Anderson is a.ssistant, witli luNidquar- 
 ters in the City Hall or engine room. 
 
 On the 12th of March. 1880. the City Council 
 authorized the Mayor and Keeorder to issue bonds 
 to the amount of $4,500, for the purpose of pro- 
 curing fire apparatus. 
 
 The City Hall engine house was erected in 1880. 
 There are accommodations for the fire engine and 
 other apparatus on the first floor and the Council 
 chanilier above. It is 20x00 feet, and in addition 
 to the two stories has a ba.sement, the cost being 
 
 _ about S:!,000. 
 
 »Thi8 last sentence should read: "In 1880, W. H. Norton, the cashier, died, and he was saccecdcd by A. W. Norton.'' 
 
406 
 
 HTSTORT OF BICE COUNTY. 
 
 POLICE FORCE. 
 
 Of course while Northfield was still a town the 
 constables, or a dejiuty sheriff, il: there happened 
 to be one in town, were supposed to be the official 
 guardians of the peace and the preservers of law 
 and order. When the village government was in- 
 stituted, the marshal was supposed to stand be- 
 tween the people and the elements of turbulence. 
 When, however, Northfield became a city, that 
 metropolitan luxury, a police force, made its ap- 
 pearance, and it has existed ever since. The force, 
 as at first organized, consisted of a Chief and 
 Assistant. The first Chief was John B. Horner, 
 the next was Elias Hobbs. The present Chief of 
 Police is William Bussell, with two Assistants in 
 the persons of R. C. Ingalls and William Campbell. 
 
 PO.ST-OFFICE. 
 
 In the fall of 1855, a Post-office was established 
 about a mile and a half west of Northfield, called 
 "Fountain Grove." Charles Wheeler, who^was the 
 second Sheriff of the county, was the Postmaster. 
 After some mouths it was removed to Northfield. 
 Charles Knight was afterwards Postmaster. It 
 ■was kept in a shanty on the land now owned by 
 William Childs, and remained there until the sum- 
 mer of 1856, when it was removed into a "lean-to" 
 connected with Jones' store, and John E. Kennedy 
 was commissioned to handle the mail. Mrs. Hat- 
 tie Kingsley was next in order and held the office 
 for a number of years, and then J. W. Sebberson 
 and afterwards Cutlaf and S. H. Freuch, the latter 
 of whom is the present Postmaster. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL. 
 
 The first school opeded in Northfield was in the 
 fall or winter of 1856, and it was called to order 
 by Rollins Olin, who had twenty-five scholars in 
 the little frame building put up for the purpose 
 that year. This building was made to answer the 
 requirement with considerable pressure up to 
 18G1, at which time another was put uj) at a cost 
 $6,000, on the same site, and which was the envy 
 of neighboring districts for a wide range. Six 
 lots were bought and both buildings were used as 
 there were a sufficient number of children to fill 
 them. This consolidated school lasted until the 
 building was sold to the St. Olaf College. It was 
 used as a school for about two years wheu it was 
 moved over to their place and is now one of their 
 halls. 
 
 Tn 1874, an Independent school district was or- 
 
 ganized and a large commodious bmlding erected 
 at a cost of $30,000. It occupies a place on a 
 whole square, next to the public park, and is a fine 
 appearing building of pressed brick, three stories 
 high, and a liberal basement story. It is sufficient 
 to state that it has all the modern school improve- 
 ments, and standing as it does near the Cimgre- 
 gationalist church, and not far from the college 
 buildings, it does not suffer in comparison with 
 them, but is a worthy companion for those stately 
 buildings alike devoted to educational purposes. 
 
 The contract for the erection of the edifice was 
 awarded to James Boyd, of St. Paul, who did all 
 the carpenter work for $12,114, and to J. E. Boyd, 
 & Co., of Minneapolis, who were to do all the 
 mason work for •'ii8,494.50; the aggregate amount 
 for these two jorincipal items in the construction of 
 the building being .$20,608.50. 
 
 Tke present school officers are: Directors, O. F. 
 Perkins, President; J. T. Ames, Treasurer; W. S. 
 Pattee, and A. F. King; Secretary, A. Noble. 
 
 The teachers are: Principal, S. F. Brady; As 
 sistant, Miss Williams; Miss Delia Parks, Miss 
 Hattie A. Field, Miss Catharine Bingham, Miss 
 Jameson, Miss Agusta Riddle, Miss Wheeler, and 
 Miss Leota Bailey. 
 
 ST. olaf's scnooL. 
 
 A school adapted to the purpose of educating 
 the Scandinavian youth who may desire it in this 
 community, was started early in the seventies in 
 this city and kept for three years. A building 
 was then erected which now stands on a command- 
 ing eminence near the western boundary of the 
 city. It was built by subscription, and is of stone, 
 visible at a great distance. The cost was $18,000, 
 and it is still unfinished, although it is in good 
 condition to accommodate the 100 pupils who are 
 in attendance. In addition to the college build- 
 ing there is what is known as Ladies' Hall, a 
 structure 45x55 feet, and devoted to residence as 
 well as instruction purposes. The college was 
 opened in 1874. The management is vested in 
 thirteen trustees. The I'oUowiug are the officers of 
 the institution: President, Rev. B. J. Muus; Vice- 
 president, N. A. Quannen; Treasurer, B. J. Muus; 
 Secretary, T. N. Mohn. 
 
 Mr. Mohn is the principal of the school and the 
 manager of the institution, residing vnthin its 
 walls. The assistant teachers are Rev. O. G. Fel- 
 land and A. Egge, A. B. Vocal and instrumental 
 music. Miss M. O'Brien. 
 
CITT OF NOItTIIFIKLD. 
 
 407 
 
 Tbe followiug from the aiino\incpnieut nf the 
 lustitutioii will show its objects ami aims. 
 
 COURSES OF STUDY. 
 
 "The school is especially adapted to the purposes 
 of the American youth, of Scandinavian parent- 
 age, who desire a thorough practical education 
 and hence the foHowing Iiranelies are predominant: 
 
 English language and literature. 
 
 Mathematics. 
 
 History. 
 
 Geography. 
 
 Natural sciences. 
 
 Music, ( vocal and instrumental. ) 
 
 Latin. 
 
 Bookkeeping. 
 
 German language and literature. 
 
 Norwegian language and literature. 
 
 EXPENSES. 
 
 Fall Term. — Two mouths. — Begins second 
 Wednesday in September. 
 
 Tuition iji G 00 
 
 Board U 00 
 
 Room rent 2 00 
 
 Total $22 00 
 
 Winter Term. — Five months. — Begin.s first 
 Wednesday in November. 
 
 Tuition $15 7.5 
 
 Board 36 75 
 
 Room rent 5 25 
 
 Total $57 75 
 
 Spring Ter7ii.— Three months. — Begins Blarch 
 81st. 
 
 Tuition !S 8 25 
 
 Board 19 25 
 
 Room rent 2 75 
 
 Total .1|!30 25 
 
 Expenses to he paid at the beginning of each 
 
 term. Winter term paid in two installments, the 
 
 last, January 15th. 
 
 Music and the use of instrument, ijil'lr a term — 
 
 twenty-four lessons." 
 
 CARLETON COIiLEGE. 
 
 Carleton College o\yes its origin, primarily, to 
 Mr. C. M. Goodsell, late of Nortlifield, who came 
 to Minnesota with the purpose of establishing 
 somewhere within its limits a Christian College — 
 a sort of Northwestern Oberlin. That purpose 
 w.is made known (o several of the older clergy- 
 
 men, some of whom had tbought much upon the 
 subject and were deeijly interested. These minis- 
 ters, among whom Revs. Charles Shedd, Edward 
 Brown, Charles Secombe, Ricluird Hall, and David 
 Burt should be specially named, consulted to- 
 gether, and in 1HG4, the State Conference of Con- 
 gregational Churches, in accordance with a resolu- 
 tion drawn by Mr. Brown, appointed a committee 
 to consider the feasibility of founding such an in- 
 stitution. Two years later, after having visited 
 the several places which had sought to secure tho 
 location of the proposed college within their limits, 
 the committee reported unanimously in favor of 
 Nortlifield. 
 
 Here, in this beautiful town, situated on the 
 Cannon River and the Chicago, Milwaukee k St. 
 Paul Railroad, the college was located on a com- 
 manding eminence overlooking a pi(^turesque val- 
 ley and rich surrounding country. The grounds 
 donated by citizens of Nortlifield embraced nearly 
 twenty-five acres, which, together with the money 
 raised by them, represented about •'$25,000. A 
 large building that had been used as a hotel was 
 purchased and fitted up for the immediate use of 
 the preparatory department, which was opened on 
 the 25th of September, 1867, under the charge of 
 Horace Goodhue, Jr., a graduate of Dartmouth 
 College. For three years the school went on, the 
 trustees of the college, which had been incorpo- 
 rated, laboring with great zeal for its advance- 
 ment. Pecuniary pledges in various parts of the 
 State had been made to the extent of $12,000', but 
 a sum larger than could possibly be realized was 
 required to meet the current expenses which had 
 been already incurred. There were no funds for 
 new liuildings, the students were few. Mr. Good- 
 sell had died in May, the seeking for a man from 
 the East to take charge of the school had been in 
 vain, and the prospf ct of raising up an institution 
 here that would fulfill the hopes of its friends and 
 projectors seemed unjjromising. 
 
 In Septemlier, 1870, the trustees proceeded to 
 open a collegiate department, and elected Rev. 
 James M. Strong, the pastor of the Congregational 
 church in Faribault, as President. He had been 
 from the first one of the trustees, and knew its 
 past history and present wants. On the 13th of 
 October another meeting of the board was held, 
 and there were several noted clergymen present 
 ■who were in attendance upon the Congregational 
 Confiu'ence. A number of them were called into 
 
408 
 
 BISTORT OF RtCE COUNTY. 
 
 the council in relation to the college, they were 
 Rev. Dr. Ray Palmer, Rev. Dr. Clapp, and Rev. 
 Dr. William Barrows. Mr. Strong conchuleJ to 
 accept, and on the next day the meeting of the 
 conference was devoted to the young college, and 
 to show the situation of affairs, and under what 
 circumstances this college was started we will allow 
 an eye witness to tell the story. 
 
 WONDERFOD MEETING. 
 
 "It was a wonderful meeting. So soon as the 
 decision of the trustees was announced in Con- 
 ference, the Holy Spirit seemed to take possession 
 of the assembly. Men prayed that that border 
 land, not. far as yet from wigwams, might be dedi- 
 cated to Christian learning ; and that farms and 
 ballots and juries might come up under the sun- 
 light of the decalogue. These prayers wandered 
 off into blessed visions. Tiien remarks grew out 
 of the prayers, that they must raise up, on the 
 ground, the ministry and the intelligent and vir- 
 tuous merchants, farmers, and mechanies, that the 
 new coiuitry needed. Some one mentioned the 
 little beginnings, right among the Indians, of Old 
 Harvard and Dartmouth, and it gave such courage, 
 that poor men became rich, in faith, and women 
 broke forth into singing. 
 
 Between the songs and the prayers short 
 speeches were filtered in.olosing with subscriptions 
 ■ — -the very best figures of speech for such an oc- 
 casion. Men of Amherst, Yale, Dartmouth, and 
 Williams said that they must plant as good a col- 
 lege there, and named their subscription. The 
 meeting increased in wonder, and we of the East 
 were amazed at the broad views, long forecastings, 
 and exurbent benevolence of those men and 
 women of the prairies. It does make some difler- 
 ence in a man's views whether the next hill is the 
 Rocky Mountains, or just over the brook back of 
 the red schoolhouse. Thirty-seven donations were 
 made, and their hearty consecration to learning 
 made each a little fortune. 
 
 The miscellany of donors was typical of a wide 
 interest. Four of them were women, two were 
 families, three handled land, others handled goods 
 or mechanical tools, or agricultural, and one fresh 
 meat. Seventeen of them were ministers, and 
 mostly missionaries, and about as rich as Peter 
 anil John when they went to a prayer meeting 
 once and met a lame man. How we all wept when 
 one man, who had better gifts than that of public 
 speaking, with a choked utterance, pledged twenty 
 
 dollars, and said it was for his boy in heaven who 
 died in the army. One stalwart missionary, who 
 told me his family burials had kept pace with his 
 field all the way from Ohio to Minnesota, said he 
 had no money, never expected to have, and the 
 brethren knew it; but he could' not lose his chance 
 in so splendid a work. He offered a fine colt, that 
 was entered at forty dollars — more than the sheep 
 given to Cambridge College its second year. The 
 new president quietly remarked that no boys 
 would be allowed to ride a "pony" on college 
 grounds. Another brother, so good, hard-work- 
 ing and poor, whose parish I have seen east of the 
 Merrimac and west of the Mi ssouri, offered his 
 twenty dollars in three ann^ial payments. He 
 knew of the logs and spades around the founda- 
 tion of Illinois College. Vanderbilt, in his dona- 
 tions, never came up to that twenty-dollar man in 
 proportion to his property. Then how we took 
 heart and sung and offered thansgiving when six 
 thousand dollars were pledged. One church was 
 pledged for one hundred and six dollars, while a 
 modest lady, through her husband, put down five 
 hundred. Scores of thousands, and the name of 
 the college followed that donation, in good family 
 descent. A young missionary offered twenty-five 
 dollars out of the closing quarter of his scanty 
 salary. Just over the river from his hired log 
 parsonage was the Indian. He said the logs, shy 
 oteaeh other, left the cabin well ventilated, and 
 the puncheon floor yawned with cracks, but 
 neither he nor his young wife had any jewelry to 
 lose through; and his four chairs were stout and 
 good if they were borrowed; and as he would 
 never have another chance so favorable to found a 
 college, he must take part. A secretary, private 
 agent to get rid of "unabridged" money, depiived 
 the happy subscriber of the luxury of paying the 
 amount. 
 
 So we went through the meeting and took the 
 thirty-seven subscriptions, and when the close 
 came, the people were too happy to take the bene- 
 diction and separate. 
 
 Probably there have been few meetings beyond 
 the Alleghanies more joyful or devout, or more 
 fruitful for Christ's kingdom. When the meet- 
 ing opened, the total property of the institution 
 was estimated at $15,000, and the subscriptions 
 of that afternoon were $16,44(5. True, that sub- 
 scription would easily disappear in the high, ar- 
 tistic finish and furniture of a room or two in .some 
 
CITY OF yonril FIELD. 
 
 109 
 
 eastern halls of learning, benevolently built, but 
 it went very far toward ptittiug, already hundreds, 
 and by and by thousands of youtli, well trained 
 in letters, the scienees, and morals, into our young 
 and gigantic West." 
 
 President Strong at onoe bent all his energies 
 to the work of putttug the College on its feet, 
 and during that fall came tlie earnest of future 
 gifts in the form of eighteen hundred dollars 
 from Mr. William Carleton and Miss Susan Willis, 
 both of Charlestown, Massachusetts, who had be- 
 come interested in this young College of the 
 Northwest. Their interest seemed to be greatly 
 increased by President Strong's providential pres- 
 ervation from death by railroad accident, at Hart- 
 ford, Connecticut, in December of that year. 
 Soon after sulliciently rec(jvering from his injuries 
 to reach his home, in the spring of 1871, he re- 
 ceived for the college from Mr. Carleton the uncon- 
 ditional gift of SiiO,000. This princely donation at 
 once insured the success of tlie hitherto struggling 
 institution, to which, in grateful acknowledgement, 
 and by unanimous vote of the Board, the donor's 
 name was given. A subsequent gift of ten thous- 
 and dollars from Miss Willis, was acknowledged 
 by calling the central college building "Willis 
 Hall." 
 
 These early, and at that time unprecedented, 
 gifts to the college were supplemented liy many 
 others, both at home and abroad. In 1872, nearly 
 nine thousand dollars were promised by the 
 churches of the State; and from the same sources 
 came, in 1875, for the endowment of the Chair of 
 Physical Science, pledges amounting to over 
 twenty thousand dollars. Of this amount the cit- 
 izens of Northfield, who have from the first cher- 
 ished this institution with singular civic pride, 
 gave more than one-third. The gifts of Minne- 
 sota to the college have aggregated over one hun- 
 dred thousand dollars, and nearly one-half of this 
 amount has been received from Northfield. Fif- 
 teen thousand dollars were raised in New Eng- 
 land, in 1875. Thus the funds of the college 
 steadily increased, enabling it to enlarge its edu- 
 cational facilities, and attain a commanding posi- 
 tion among the institutions of learning in the 
 West. 
 
 The erection of the college building was com- 
 pleted and it was formally dedicated on Thursday, 
 the 19th of December, 1872. In June, 1871. the 
 "College Society," at a meeting in New Haven, 
 
 Connecticut, on motion of Rev. Dr. Bacon, "Carle- 
 ton College was duly endorsed and recognized as 
 a member of the brotherhood of colleges." And 
 from this time the college began a career of use- 
 fulness which it is gratifying to know still con- 
 tinues, sunny skies replacing the gloom which had 
 hung over its prospects. Professor Payne was se- 
 cui'ed about this time, and with his enthusiasm in 
 Mathematics and .\stronomy, infu.sed new life into 
 every department of Carleton. In due time the 
 Observatory was added, with its practical as- 
 tronomical and meteorological observations, aided 
 by the costly apparatus which will be more fully 
 described further on. In 1872, the title of Doctor 
 of Divinity, which had been so clearly earned, 
 was conferred ubon the President, Rev. Dr. J. W. 
 Strong, as he was thereafter called. . He had se- 
 cured pledges during 1872 and '73 to the amount 
 of eight thousand dollars. In 1874 and "75, over 
 fifteen thousand dollars was raised by him in New 
 England. During the year 1875, seven 
 thousand were pledged by the friends of 
 the college in Northfield on' condition that 
 thirteen thousand more could be raised 
 on or before the 1st of January, 187G. 
 This Wiis for the purpo.se of endowing the (Hiair 
 of Physical Science. The task \\;is undertaken 
 by the indefatigable President, and after a weary 
 and dilflcult canvass, on the last of December, he 
 returned with the whole sum made up, when he 
 was confronted with a telegram revoking one be- 
 quest of one thousand dollars,thus jeopardizing the 
 whole amount, l)ut prompt and decisive work se- 
 cured the deficiency, and on the 1st of January 
 the whole sum was pledged, and a surplus of four 
 hundred dollars. 
 
 The institution has been particularly fortunate 
 in its teachers, who have been earnest, self-sacri- 
 ficing, and devoted in the luost intelligent way to 
 the best interests of the school. 
 
 The relationship to the General Congregational 
 Conference involves no jurisdiction over the Col- 
 lege, as there is no corporate connection, but it is 
 one of friendship and community of interest, and 
 that body through a committee yearly in([uires 
 after its welfare to leaiu what good offices it can 
 render. On the board of trustees are representa- 
 tives of other denominations, and it relies U|.on 
 the letter of no Catechism, and inculcates the for- 
 mulas of no creed, lint it is nevertheless the semin- 
 ary for the inculcation of the teachings of Chris- 
 
410 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 tianity as exemplified by Congregationalism as it 
 exists to-Jay in the teachings from its thousand 
 pulpits all over this broad land. From the very 
 nature of the case, Carleton College is a home 
 missionary and a potent instrumentality in form- 
 ing public sentiment. 
 
 On the 23d of December, 1879, Willis Hall, 
 containing the library, cabinet, and recitation 
 rooms, was destroyed by fire. The utmost 
 vigilance was used to save the valuable things 
 contained in the different departments, such 
 as the valuable library and furniture connected 
 therewith. The books were hurriedly barried 
 to the Observatory. A large share of the Mu- 
 seum was saved, and considerable of the valu- 
 able apparatus in the Laboratory, more or less 
 damaged. One of the most important instruments 
 carried from the burning building was the grand 
 piano, which, with some risk, was safely landed on 
 the outside. 
 
 Fortunately for the college institutiim and for 
 Professor Payne individually, the many and costly 
 astronomical iustruments were safely located in 
 the Observatory, and all unharmed. The insur- 
 ance and the building ($12,000) was divided as 
 follows : 
 
 Underwriters .ff3,000 
 
 North American. Philadelphia 3,000 
 
 Home, New York 3,000 
 
 St. Paul Fire and Marine 3,000 
 
 Total S12,000 
 
 And on the contents : 
 
 Phoenix, Hartford .$2,650 
 
 Phenix, New Hork 2,650 
 
 Total 5,300 
 
 Making a grand total of ..?! 7,300 
 
 Professor Sj)erry lost almost his entire library, 
 containing encyclopanlias, dictionarie.s, medical 
 and scientific books; a quantity of valuable min- 
 eral and geological specimens, tents, bedding, and 
 camp equipage, three trunks containing a quan- 
 tity of summer and extra clolhing, a fine double 
 piano-leg study table with drawer containing 
 clipj)ing8, memorandas, lectures, etc., the whole 
 having a cash value of nearly $1,000 — upon 
 which, fortunately, he had an insurance of $500. 
 
 The energy and devotion of the officers of the 
 College were again placed in special recjuisition 
 and convenient temixirary quartc^rs were secured. 
 
 the students remained loyal, and college work was 
 pursued without interruption. 
 
 Meantime a deep and widely extended sympa- 
 thy for the College was awakened. The citizens 
 of Northfield, and others in the State, again gen- 
 erously tendered their aid, and old and new 
 friends at the East rose up to help the institution. 
 With the gifts thus ofl'ered, together with the 
 money received from insurance, WilUs Hall was 
 rebuilt on an improved plan; a greatly-needed 
 building for scientific purposes was erected, and 
 the foundation of a not less-needed Ladies" Hall 
 was laid. 
 
 Thus, through judicious management on the 
 part of its officers, and the- generosity of Christian 
 friends, its grow th has been unprecedented. Be- 
 sides assistants, its faculty now consists of thir- 
 teen professors and teachers who devote their 
 whole time to the work of instruction. During 
 the past year, over three hundred students were 
 enrolled in the different departments. 
 
 Four courses of study have been arranged. 
 Three of them, the Classical, the Literary, and the 
 Scientific, are collegiate courses — each covering 
 four yeaj-s. after full preparatory work has been 
 completed; and one is au English course, de- 
 signed for those who cannot secure a more thor- 
 ough education. While students may jmrsue 
 elective studies, selecting from a wide range, de- 
 grees are conft'rred only upon those who complete 
 satisfactorily one of the prescribed collegiate 
 courses. Full provision is made for instruction 
 in Art, in Elocution, and in both Vocal and In. 
 strumental Music. A special course in Pure 
 Mathematics and Practical Astronomy is now 
 offered. 
 
 As an item which may be interesting reailing 
 years hence, when the changed values and cir- 
 cumstances may make the figures representing the 
 cost of an education here appear grotesijue, the 
 i'ollowing card is printed: 
 
 "Boarding Depaktment. — The boarding de- 
 partment and the domestic affairs of the College 
 family at Ladies' Hall are committed to the direc- 
 tion of the Matron, under the general supervision 
 of the executive committee. It is designed, so far 
 as possible, to secure for every youg lady entering 
 the family, the influences and privileges of a Chris- 
 tian home. All the lady teachers reside there, and 
 board at the same table with the students. Gen- 
 tlemen students who ]jrefer to do so, may also take 
 
CITY OF NOliTlIFlELD. 
 
 411 
 
 their meals at Ladies' Hall. It is not tlesignetl to 
 make the Boarding Hall a source of profit to the 
 College, but to furuish to teachers aud students 
 good and acceptable board at the lowest practic- 
 able rate. 
 
 Expenses — Board in College building, per 
 
 week (tea and coffee extra) S2 50 
 
 Tuition— Fall term () 00 
 
 Tuition — Winter and spring terms, each. . . 7 50 
 
 Room rent, per term 3 00 
 
 Incidentals, per term 1 00 
 
 Extras — Tuition — Piano or cabinet organ, 
 
 per lesson of one-balf hour 50 
 
 Tuition — Cultivation of the voice, per lesson 
 
 of one-half hour 50 
 
 Use of piano or organ, per term, one hour 
 
 each day 2 00 
 
 Drawing, painting and Penmanship — As an- 
 nounced by the teacher. 
 
 Term bills are due at the beginning of each 
 term, and board bills every four weeks in advance. 
 No term bills are made out for less than half a 
 term. 
 
 No deductions are made, except in case of sick- 
 ness which continues for a month or more, unless 
 by special agreement when the student enters. 
 
 Students ordinarily can sujiply themselves with 
 wood at an expense of from $4 to .'55 per cord; and 
 those wishing board in private families (including 
 room, fuel, and lights) can secure it at from S3.50 
 to .S4.00 per week. Furnished rooms, without 
 board, are obtained at SI. 00 per week. 
 
 Applications for board and rooms should be 
 made as early as possible. Inquiries relating to 
 studies, classes, text-books, and examinations may 
 be addressed to any of the instructors, but all 
 general correspondence should be directed to 
 Jas. W. Strong, -President, 
 
 Northfield. Minn." 
 
 CARLETON rOLLEGE OI5SERVAT0RY. 
 
 The Observatory of Carletim College is near the 
 east side of the campus. The main building is 
 twenty feet square, and, from the ground to the 
 top of the dome, thirty-three feet high. There arc 
 two wings, each twelve by fifteen feet and fifteen 
 feet high, with Hat roof. It fronts to the south, 
 with a total length of fifty feet. The west wing 
 contains the transit instrument and the chrono- 
 graph. On the first floor of the main building is the 
 small room fur the portable instniments and their 
 
 accessories, the pier for the astronomical clocks, 
 telegraph oftice, computing room, and circular 
 stairway, leading to the equatorial room in the 
 dome. 
 
 The central ei|Uatorial pier starts nine and one- 
 half feet below the surface of the ground, has a 
 footing of large Hat stone in a vein of coarse 
 gravel, is built circular with a diameter of eight 
 feet, and is of solid masonry in cement to a height 
 of three feet above the groud. The well contain- 
 ing the pier is curbed with a dry stone wall from 
 the l)ottom to the surface of the ground, bo that 
 the pier may stand independent of the ground 
 from its base. Above the first floor it is built of 
 brick in a circular form to the upper surface of the 
 second floor, and capped with a stone three and 
 one-half feet in diameter and eight inches thick. 
 The entire height of the pier is twenty-six feet. 
 The j)ier for the transit instrument is made in a 
 similar manner, except that it is rectangular in 
 shape. 
 
 The east wing is for the astronomical library 
 and observer's study. 
 
 The second story of the building is devoted to 
 the equatorial room which is circular and sixteen 
 feet in diameter. It is a little more than sixteen 
 feet from the floor to the highest point of the 
 dome. The dome is a hemisphere, and rests on 
 twelve sheaved rollers, and it is revolved by ma- 
 chinery at the pleasure of the observer. The 
 ribs are of pine covered without with tin painted 
 nearly white, within with canvas kalsomined blue. 
 
 Instrdments. — Tlie observatory is furnished 
 with the following instruments: 
 
 A Clark equatorial telescope, eight and one- 
 fourth inches aperture, ten and one-half feet focal 
 length, with a Bond spring governor driving clock 
 and a full battery of eye-pieces with jiowers rang- 
 ing from 50 to 800. The micrometer is of the late 
 Burnham pattern furnishing the best bright wire 
 illumination now in use. 
 
 A Byrne portable equatorial telescope, four and 
 three- tenths inches aperature; powers ranging 
 from 50 to -140. 
 
 A transit instrument made by Fauth & Co., 
 Washington; three inches aperture, and forty - 
 two inches focal length, with reserving apparatus. 
 
 Two Howard clocks, mean time, and sidereal, 
 numbered respectively 196 and 195. Both are 
 furnished with electrical break-circuit attachments 
 for time and longitude work. 
 
412 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE GOUNTT. 
 
 A Bond sidereal chronometer supplied also with 
 the break-circuit attachment aud numbered 374. 
 
 A Clark chronograph and the ordinary meteor- 
 ological apparatus comjilete the list of the outfit 
 in instrumeuts for practical astronomy. 
 
 Time Service. — The time service of the Observa- 
 tory began October 23d, 1878, immediately after 
 the new clocks were regulated, the Northwestern 
 Telegraph Company (now Western Union) having 
 previously asked for the time, and having run a 
 telegraph line to the Observatory and furnished it 
 with an office. 
 
 The daily electrical time-signals are given by 
 the mean-time clock itself, which has a break- 
 circuit attachment operated by a small wheel on 
 the shaft of the second hand which has thirty- 
 one teeth spaced to represent two seconds of time 
 except fhrer, which give continuous seconds, to 
 mark the close of each minute. This clock is 
 placed in a local circuit with ajipliances for cuttiug 
 it into the main telegraph line for daily noon sig- 
 nals. 
 
 By arrangement with the railroad companies the 
 meau-time clock is put into line daily at 11 o'clock 
 and 57 minutes, so that three full minute signals 
 may be given, the last stroke of the third minute 
 being understood to mark the time of twelve ex- 
 actly. Until quite recently the distribution of 
 the time to the railroads has been effected in the 
 followiug manner: 
 
 Th(> prnici]ial offices of resort of the companies 
 terminating lines in St. Paul aud Minneapolis have 
 wire connection with the main office of the Chi- 
 cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway for the pur- 
 pose of time. In this way the Observatory clock 
 has daily given its three-minute signals over the 
 main lines of these companies. The branch lines 
 use the same time, but it is repeated over them by 
 hand. When the main line.^ are thus connected 
 the clock has given its break-circuit signals over 
 128.') miles of wire in six different States and Terri- 
 tories, ranging from Kansas City to St. Paul, 
 Winona, and McOregor of Iowa. For a few weel.s 
 recently, the signal has been modified by reversing 
 the points of the relay in the local circuit, for the 
 purpose of a muki-rircnil signal on the main lines. 
 A five-minute signal attachment has also been ap- 
 plied to the clock that time balls may be dropped, 
 at noon, daily in Cfmnection with the railroad time 
 service, (.\rraiigenients are already made to drop 
 a time-ball in r:ii'h of the cities of St. Paul and 
 
 Minneapolis, the apparatus for the same now beinp; 
 in hand. ) This five-minute attachment, as it is 
 called, is a plain disk, connected with the train of 
 the clock so as to revolve once in five minutes, and 
 a portion of the circumference representing four- 
 teen seconds is cut away. It is, of course, in the 
 local clock- circuit and serves to keep that circuit 
 closed, and hence the main line open during the 
 fourteen seconds preceding the aixtietli one before 
 noon. This interval of ojjen line gives oppor- 
 tunity to connect time-balls and electrically con- 
 trolled clocks with the Observatoi-y clock for the 
 purpose of giving the noon signal publicly to 
 cities and the railway companies in various ways. 
 Distribution of the Time. — The following 
 r.iilway companies take the Northfield meridian 
 time directly or indirectly, and use it over their 
 lines without local change except at distant points: 
 
 Mika. 
 
 1. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail- 
 
 way on its five divisions west of the 
 Mis.sissippi Eiver.embracing an aggre- 
 gate length of 2,271 
 
 2. Winona & St. Peter Railway (branch of 
 
 Chicago & Northwestern Railway) uses 
 both Northfield and Baraboo signals 
 but runs on Northfield time 453 
 
 3. Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & 
 
 Omaha Railway, from Sioux City to 
 Elroy, Wisconsin, on all its branches. . 1,057 
 
 4. Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway, from 
 
 Minneapolis South 361 
 
 5. Northern Pacific to end of track west in 
 
 Montana 1,033 
 
 6. St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Rail- 
 
 way, to Winnipeg possibly, to St. Vin- 
 cent certainly 1 ,(125 
 
 7. St. Paul & Duluth to the head of Lake 
 
 Superior 153 
 
 Total number of miles 6,353 
 
 The last two companies do not take the time 
 directly from the Observatory, but from jewelers 
 in the city of St. Paul, who receive our daily sig- 
 nals. The Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & 
 Omaha company have recently placed three of 
 Dudley's electrically controlled regulators on its 
 main line at St. James, St. Paul, and Eau Claire, 
 Wisconsin. Tbese clocks are so constructed that 
 they mav be set on true time by the Northfield 
 clock daily by telegraph. This has been done for- 
 the hist three mouths. 
 
CITY OF SiiUTllFlKlA). 
 
 4ia 
 
 Tlio territory traversed by these niilroada em- 
 liiMfcs [ill of MiuucBota, ]);irt.s of lowii, Nebraska, 
 Diikota, Wisconsin, Montariii, jiml possilily the 
 province of Manitoba. 
 
 The Observatory is iu telegraphic connection 
 with Washin^'ton, and is placed on the list of 
 the Smithsonian Institution for free communica- 
 tion of astronomical discovery Its exact geo- 
 graphical position is Latitude, W degrees, 27 min- 
 utes, -t().8 seconds; Longitude, 1 hour, 4 minutes, 
 23.8 seconds west of Washington. 
 
 Advanced Coukse in MATiiKMATies and As- 
 TuoNOMT. — In erecting the observatory the object 
 was threefold: 1, To give instruction to under- 
 graduate students; 2, To olTer an opiiortunity for 
 a comjjlete course of study iu pure mathematics 
 and practical astronomy ; and 3, To aid in original 
 investigation. 
 
 With the present facilities, these three lines of 
 work have been undertaken, and unexpected suc- 
 cess has attended each. The latitude of the Ob- 
 servatory was determined by Professor B. F. 
 Thomas (now of the Universitv of Missouri) in 
 • 1879, by the Talcott method, using a VVurdemanu 
 two-inch zenith telescope, loaned by Lieut. Ed- 
 ward Maguier, Chief Engineer of the Department 
 of Dakota. In 1880, the jjresent director of the 
 Observatory re-determined it, using the same in- 
 strument and method, and obtained the result 
 given above, which varies but a few hundreths of 
 a second from that obtained one year before by 
 Professor Thomas. In October, 1880, by the 
 courtesy of the last officer named and Lieut. O. B. 
 Wheeler, of the Lake Survey, the longitude of 
 the Observatory was determined, the Coast Sur- 
 vey meridian of St. Paul being the base of opera- 
 tion. Independent reductions of these observations 
 showed the longitude of the Observatory to be 14.3 
 seconds west of St. Paul and hence from Wa.sh- 
 ington, as named above. Original, elementary, or 
 class work of some kind is going im constantly, in 
 the midst of which the director aims to keep iu 
 mind and fittingly to express the true relation of 
 the Creator to his own works. 
 
 Mathematical Libkart. — The library to aid 
 the special study of mathematics and astronomy 
 consists of about 800 volumes. It contains stand- 
 ard works from the Bryant collection, with addi- 
 tional purchases, and the published observations 
 <yf Washington and other leading observatories iu 
 the world. Mr. T. Dwight Townseud, of Pitts- 
 
 burgh, Pennsylvania, has loaned to tlie Observa 
 tory his library oi rare and valii:iblc works on 
 mathematics ami pliilosophy. The ( )lisiivatory is 
 in need of abetter lilirary. 
 
 GOVEKNMHNT SuiNAL STATION. During tlie 
 summer of 1881, the government designated 
 (3arletoii College as a voluntary signal station, 
 and furnished the necessarj' instriunents for ob- 
 servation and monthly report to Washington. The 
 College supplied further apparatus needed to make 
 the station first-class in every particular. Daily 
 observations are recorded according to the Wash- 
 ington rules, weekly averages by request, are sent 
 to a large number of country newspapers, and 
 monthly reports are regularly sent to Washington. 
 
 The Sidbhkal Messenoer. — The latest step 
 taken by the Observatory in the interest of its 
 general work, is the beginning of an astronomi- 
 cal periodical, under the name given above. The 
 first number was published iu March la.st, and it 
 will continue iu monthly issues, except July and 
 September of each year, The subscription price, 
 per year, is .'$2. The work is adapted to those in- 
 terested in popular astronomy because of its 
 plainly-worded articles, and it will be helpful to 
 the student or amateur observer. It is the only 
 publication of the kind in the United States. 
 
 OFnoERS OF (iAELETON COLIiEBE. 
 
 BoAUi) OF Trustees. — Rev. Richard Hall, St. 
 Paul; Hiram Scriver, Northfield; Rev. James W. 
 Strong, Northfield; Miron W. Skinner, Northfield; 
 Prof. J. L- Noyes, Faribault; David C. Bell, Min- 
 nea]xilis; Chas. S. Hulbert, Minneajiolis; Rev. 
 Edward M. Williams, Minneapolis; Hon. Harlan 
 W. Page, Austin; Hon. William Wiudoiu, Winona; 
 Rev. Henry A. Stimson, Minneapolis; Hon. Wil- 
 liam R, Marshall, St. Paul; Daniel R. Noyes, Jr., 
 St. Paul; Hon. C. E. Vanderburgh, Minneapolis; 
 Rev. Cassius M. Terry, St. Paul: Cteorge M. 
 Phillips, Northfield; Rev. L. H. Cobb, Minneapo- 
 lis; Rev. David Burt, St. Paul; Rev. D. L. Leon- 
 ard, Northfield; Rev. L. W. Chaney, Mankato; 
 Willis H. Norton, Northfield; Rev. M. McO. Dana, 
 D. D., St. Paul; W. S. Pattee, Northfield. 
 
 Insrrdctous, '1881-82. — Rev. James W. Strong, 
 D. D., President, and Professor of Mental and 
 Moral Philosophy. 
 
 Horace Goodhne, Jr., .\. M., Professor of Greek, 
 and Priucipal of the Preparatory Department. 
 
 Wm. W. Payne, A, M., Professor of Mathematics 
 and Astronomv anil Director of the Observatory. 
 
414 
 
 UISTOUY OF lilCE COUNTY. 
 
 I\lis8 Margaret J. Evans, A. M., Precejitress, 
 and Professor of English Literature and Modern 
 Languages. 
 
 Lyman B. Sjierry, M. D., Professor of Geology, 
 Zoology, and Physiology. 
 
 Kev. George Huntington, A. M., Professor of 
 Logic and Rhetoric, and Instructor in Elocution. 
 
 Miss Alice L. Armsby, A. M., Professor of 
 Latin. 
 
 Rev. Arthur H. Pearson, A. M., Professor of 
 Chemistry, Physics, and Mineralogy. 
 
 Rev. M. L. WillistoQ, A. B., Professor of Polit- 
 ical Economy and History. 
 
 Dwight C. Rice, Professor of Music. (Granted 
 leave of absence for the year). 
 
 Mrs. Mary R. Wilcox, Teacher in the English 
 Course. 
 
 Miss Susan A. Searle, A. B., Teacher in the 
 English Course. 
 
 Miss Alice M. Heald, Teacher of Instrumental 
 Music. 
 
 Miss Cora M. Nichols, Teacher of Vocal Cul- 
 ture. 
 
 Offk^eks. — Miss Anna T. Lincoln, Matron. 
 
 Alfred W. Norton, Treasurer. 
 
 W. S. Pattee, Loan Agent. 
 
 George M. Phillips, Financial Secretary. 
 
 Andrew Lee, Deputy Financial Secretary. 
 
 CoNCLDSioN. — As a fitting close of this sketch 
 of Carleton College, which to-day is so much larger 
 than Harvard or Yale was at several times its age,an 
 account of the closing exercises of the year 1882, 
 from the local press, is printed here, and if changes 
 in all that pertains to civilization are as radical 
 for the next one hundred years as has been wit- 
 nessed in the last century, this will be rich read- 
 ing to the graduates of that day: 
 
 COMMENCEMENT DAT. 
 
 The attractions of a beautiful June day added 
 to the usual magnetic attractions of Commencement 
 Day, brought together an immense multitude of 
 people this morning, filling every inch of available 
 space in the commodious audience room of the 
 Congregational church. The room itself, attract- 
 ive and pleasant in its appointments, was rendered 
 especially so by elaborate floral decorations. The 
 organ loft at the rear of the rostrum was a bower 
 of beauty. Upon the organ, covered with ever- 
 green, stood a large harp, also of evergreen, with 
 golden harp strings, and on either side was a 
 massive mound of foliage and flowers. At either 
 
 side of the platform stood large masses of tropical 
 leaves and blossoms. Above all was draped in 
 letters of gold on a back-gound of blue the class- 
 motto: "Noil Finita sell Bnita." 
 
 Soon after the appointed hour, 10 o'clock, the 
 members of the Board of Trustees and Faculty of 
 the College filed to their seats upon the platform, 
 whereupon Danz' orchestra struck up Wiegand's 
 '•Popular Songs," and the exercises went on apace. 
 
 Dr. F. A. Noble, of Chicago," in a fervent prayer 
 invoked the Divine blessing upon the interests of 
 education in general, upon the interests of Carle- 
 ton College in particular, and upon the exercises 
 of the day and those who in them close their col- 
 lege days. 
 
 At the close of the prayer. Governor Hub- 
 bard, Professor Kiehle, and Rev. E. S. Williams of 
 Minneapolis, were led to seats upon the ])latform 
 amid applause. 
 
 In well-chosen Latin periods Miss Mary E. 
 (Trittiin said in turn to the audience, the President 
 the Trustees, the Faculty, her class-mates and col- 
 lege-mates, ■eon fudutamim. 
 
 The first oration of the day was delivered by 
 Byron Abbott, on "Democracy in Europe." Start- 
 ing with the jjroposition "The history of the world 
 is the history of liberty," Mr. Abbott traced the 
 history of Democracy in Europe, showing the 
 steady growth of principles of freedom. 
 
 Selden Bacon in his oration endeavored to an- 
 swer the question, "Will the French Republic En- 
 dure?" Though finding some causes for fear, in 
 the character of the people and the complicated 
 political inheritance from the j)ast, Mr. Bacon con- 
 cluded that the prospect was bright and bright- 
 ening, and that the French republic will endure. 
 
 Wuerst's "Under the Balcony," rendered by the 
 string quintette, was followed • by the cration of 
 Wm. T. Bill, who spoke of " The True Destination 
 of Philosophy," and said in substance: The true 
 object of philosophy is the ac([uisition of truth by 
 a study of the facts of the universe without and 
 the universe within, matter and mind, and a tra- 
 cing of their causes. In the past much error has 
 been associated with philosophy, but progressive 
 philosophy is leaving its mistaken j)rinciples be- 
 hind and advancing toward the ideal philosophy. 
 
 " The Unknown God " was the thctne of the 
 classical oration of Charles C. Wheelock. After 
 referring to the scene in Athens where Paul waa^ 
 inspired by the humble altar and its significant 
 
CITY OF ,MH;TII h'lEIJ). 
 
 410 
 
 inscription to deliver bis eloquent adiiress, the 
 speaker developed the thought that the idea of a 
 supreme being was universal among men. It lias 
 m uiifested itself in various forms and phases 
 among different nations, and finally in its true, 
 form in the "Man of Nazareth." 
 
 Areturus Z. Oonral argued that "Strong Con- 
 viction is the Vital Element of Progre.ss " in his 
 oration. The intinence of this mighty power 
 makes itself felt upon individuals, developing in 
 them sineerity,decision, courage, and independence, 
 and has given us the heroes and martyrs of his- 
 tory. It exerts its magic power upon society and 
 intious, and causes revolutions and reformations, 
 which mark the progress of mankind. 
 
 The audience rested itself by rising while the 
 orchestra jjlayed the "Reign of Venus" waltz, after 
 which Mr. Hale H. Cook orated in answer to the 
 question, " For What Will Our Age be Remem- 
 bered?" To XMY age, said he, much has been 
 given, and of it much will be required. What is 
 it which pre-eminently makes and is to make 
 memorable our age? Ours is the age of develop- 
 ment, past ages have been ages of discovery, this 
 is the age of development. Its iuHuence is mak 
 ing its stamp upon science, philosophy and mor- 
 als of the age. 
 
 Miss Emily M. Brown, in her philosophical 
 oration, discussed " Mysticism," which she defined 
 as a belief in a direct and immediate intercourse 
 between man and his maker, as one of the many 
 theories man has made in his search after and study 
 of divinity and infinity. Mysticism and skepti- 
 cism are the two extremes. The one believes too 
 much, the other too little. Mysticism is scarcely 
 less baneful than skepticism, and ought to receive 
 the attention and opposition of champions of truth, 
 not lies. 
 
 "The Citizen of the Future " was the subject of 
 an oration by William V. Powell. The advance 
 of civilization is placing more and more responsi- 
 bility upon the individual, the government of the 
 future is to be the republic of ths present per- 
 fected. The citizen of the future must be quali- 
 fied tor his position and prerogative by the char- 
 acteristics of integrity and honor. 
 
 The orchestra held the audience spell-hound by 
 the soft strains of the "Turkish Patrol," and there- 
 upon Mr. Merrill A. Robinson held their attention 
 -_ by his presentation of the "Mission of the Educa- 
 tor." It is the privilege and duty of the educator 
 
 to train and cultivate young and plastii; mdividu- 
 ality, which is to play so important a part in soci- 
 ety and government. He stands at the point where 
 to start the rivulets which will soon become the 
 groat rivers, and ho may and does, to a large ex- 
 tent, dire?t their future course. 
 
 Lynn C. Skinner portrayed the wonderful char- 
 acter and career of Savouasola, the Italian re- 
 former, whose noble struggle in life and death for 
 principle and fellow men marks him one of the 
 greatest martyrs of the world. 
 
 The last oration of the day was that of William 
 A. Selleck, who made " Historic Perspective " his 
 theme. Greatness, he argued, is a relative term, 
 circumstances, times, and conditions modify con- 
 ceptions of things and events. In the historic 
 perspective we see things in their true relations, 
 nations in their' proper bearings. By forecasting 
 the future perspective of our country many facts 
 and features of our natural life are made to stand 
 out bi'f(jre us more cl<>tirly. And now we turn to 
 the narrower perspective of college life. 
 
 The Valedictory. — Mr. Selleck addressed suc- 
 cessively President Strong, the Board of Trustees, 
 the Faculty, the citizens of Northfleld, and his 
 classmates and schoolmates appro])riate w<irds of 
 farewell, infusing into the common-place valedic- 
 tory an unusual amount of good sense and good 
 sentiment. 
 
 Presentation of Diplomas. — After music liy 
 the orchestra. President Strong, with the permis- 
 sion of Professor Noycs, president of the Board of 
 Trustees, presented the diplomas. To the follow- 
 ing were given degrees of bachelor of arts: 
 
 Byron Abbot, Kandiyohi. 
 
 Seldeu Bacon, Norwich, Conn. 
 
 William T. Bill, Northfleld. 
 
 Areturus Z. Conrad, Sterling. 
 
 Hale H. Cook, Leslie, Michigan. 
 
 Merrill A. Robinson, Plainview. 
 
 William A. Selleck, Owatonna. 
 
 Lynn C. Skinner. Northfleld. 
 
 Charles C. Wheelock, Mantorville. 
 
 Emily M. Brown, Granger. 
 
 Mary E. Griffin, Northfleld. 
 
 Mr. Selleck also received a degree for complet- 
 ing the literary course. 
 
 To William P. Powell, of Medford, was awarded 
 the degree of Bachelor of Science. 
 
 The Master's degree was given to Mr. H. C. 
 Wilson, who graduated in 1879, and has passed 
 the recjuired examinations. 
 
41G 
 
 n [STORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 The President stuteil that the Trustees had in- 
 structed him to state that those who had com- 
 pleted the Englisli course of the College should 
 Lot take part in the commencement exercises or 
 receive degrees. He then presented to Misses 
 Esther E. Adair, of Owatonna, and Ruth E. Reed, 
 of Lime Springs, Iowa, certificates of graduation 
 in the English course. 
 
 The Award or Pk[zes. — Next in order was the 
 announcement of the prizes, which were made by 
 the Chairmen of the committees, who acted as 
 judges. Rev. Mr. Kendall, of Northfield, after a 
 few interfating and amusing remarks, presented to 
 C. D. Decker, of the senior prejjaratcry class, the 
 jirize for the best declamation, and to P. E. Kent 
 the prize for the best essay. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Brown, of Owatonna, with pleasant 
 words of congratulation and counsel, gave to E. 
 K. Cheadle, of the junior class, the prize for the 
 best argument in debate; to Mr. F. N. Dickson, of 
 the freshman class, $10.50 of the freshman prize, 
 and to Miss Clieadle the remaining .f8.50 of the 
 prize. President Strong announced that the 
 Reeve prize for perfect deportment and highest 
 scholarship was awarded to Mi.ss Emily Brown of 
 the senior class. 
 
 Tlie exercises, which were throughout more than 
 usually interesting, were concluded with the bene- 
 diction pronounced by Prof Kiehle, State superin- 
 tendent of jjublic instruction. 
 
 Each of the speakers, (m leaving the stage, re- 
 ceived numerous tokens of regard in the shape of 
 beautiful bouquets. 
 
 The Dinneb. — Immediately after the exercises 
 at the church a large number of invited guests, 
 including tlie graduating class, trustees, faculty, 
 alumni, and friends, repaired to the dining room 
 at the Ladies' Hall. Here they found tables well 
 laden with good things, to winch they did ample 
 justice. The feast was elaborate in all its parts 
 and Pet and served in attractive Rtyle. 
 
 As soon as a moderate degree of order could be 
 secured. President Strong said it was time for the 
 intelltctual fea.st to begin, and called Prof. Noyes 
 to the chair, who, after a few remarks, expressing 
 his satisfaction in the exercises of the day and his 
 gratification at the prospects of the college, in- 
 vited Rev. E. M. Williams, of Minneapolis, to pre- 
 side over tlie exercises. Mr. Williams made a 
 siiort sharp si)eech, and in turn called on Prof^ 
 Ki(>hle, (ien. Ncttleton, (lov. Hubbard, Rev. M. 
 
 W. Montgomery, and Dr. Noble, of Chicago, who 
 each responded with striking felicity, keeping 
 those present in a constant state of laughter. The 
 general tenor of the remarks was highly com- 
 mendatory of the e.tercises of the day, and con- 
 gratulatory of the college on its prosperous pree- 
 ent, and hopeful future. Ex-Gov. Pillsbury said, 
 " T congratulate the state of Minnesota on having . 
 such an institution as this within its borders. I 
 am officially related to the State University and 
 believe in it and rejoice in its prosperity; but not 
 more than I do Carleton College on its marvelous 
 success. There is an abundant field for both in- 
 stitutions. With one exception I have attended 
 every such anniversary exercises at Carletim Col- 
 lege since the beginning, and have watched with 
 increasing interest and pride its steady growth, 
 and witness to-day's exercises with keen pleasure." 
 
 I liave been greatly pleased with what I have 
 seen and- heard to-day, said Prof. Kiehle; for I see 
 here the growth and fruits of Christian education. 
 This institution Ijears an important relation to the 
 educational work in the State. I believe in the 
 State University, but I believe in Carleton College 
 also, and think there is ample room for both to do 
 great things. 
 
 Dr. Noble said he had noticed a general ten- 
 dency among educators in the West to dwell up<m 
 the advantages of small colleges; but he advised 
 those who speak of and for Carleton College not to 
 argue on this line, but to expect of the college 
 great things. The prospect is that this institution 
 is to be one of the great educational centers of 
 the Northwest, great in its resources, in its influ- 
 ence, in its numbers, and in all things. 
 
 For the fii'st time speeches were called for and 
 given by a number of the alumni, who told their 
 regard for the Alma ^tlltel\ and their joy in her 
 jirosperity. 
 
 This was one of the most enjoyable features of 
 the anniversary exercises, and all dispersed with a 
 feeling of personal satisfaction and pride in the 
 young institution under whose auspices they 
 had met. 
 
 The Pkesident's Reception. — In the evening 
 the president's reception took place at the residence 
 of Mrs. Norton. A large number of ladies and 
 gentlemen connected with and interesi,3d in the 
 college, accepted President Strong's invitation 
 and passed an unusually pleasant evening. 
 
 TiiEiit PitosPEGTS. — The graduating class is 
 
CITY OF XOUTiniRLD. 
 
 417 
 
 miido up of strong material and commouce life 
 uuiler favoral>Ie auspices. So far as they know at 
 present their several prospects are as follows: 
 Courad will enter the Union Theological Semi- 
 nary, New York, in the fall; Miss Brown will go 
 to Japan, under the aus)iicos of the A. B. 0. F. 
 M., as principal of a ladies' school, known as the 
 " Kobe Home." Mr. Bacon intends to study law 
 in Yale law school; Messrs Abbott and Bill will 
 read law somewhere in the West; Mr. Kobinson, 
 MissGrifHu, and Miss Adair will teach for a while; 
 Mr. Cook, after teaching for a time will prol)ably 
 study law. Miss Eeed expects to make a further 
 study of music. Mr. Selleck will teach a year, 
 then take up the study of law; Mr. Skinner will 
 eventually go into the banking business; Mr. 
 Powell purposes going into business in Wisconsin; 
 Mr. Wheelock intends for the most part to ]5ursue 
 linguistic studies at Y^ale." 
 
 beligious. 
 
 First Congregational Ohueoh op North- 
 field. — On a Sunday afternoon in September, 
 1854, Elder Cressey, a lUiptist missionary, 
 prfeached in an unfinished log house of Aleseuder 
 Stewart which all the Congregationali.sts were glad 
 to attend. On the 10th of June, 1855, Rev. Ricli- 
 ard Hall preached in the same place, and on the 
 1st of August there were services in the cabin of 
 Thomas H. Olin. In May, 1856, Eev. J. R. Barnes 
 visited Northfield and found a few Congregra- 
 tionalists. and on the 15th held service in the fore- 
 noon in a half built house, afterwards Jenkins' 
 Tavern, and in the afternoon another meeting was 
 held and the importance of starting right was 
 urged in relation to religious matters particularly. 
 At that time there was no plastering in the houses, 
 or fences in the fields. During the summer a 
 sclioolhouse was built, and there were services 
 imce in two weeks or so. At that time there were 
 but eleven Congregational churches in existence 
 in Minnesota, six of them being organized that 
 summer. A council was called on Saturday, the 
 30th of August, 1856, to regularly organize the 
 church. There were no delegates present and but 
 two ministers. Rev. J. R. Barnes and a chance 
 visitor. Rev. Josejih Peckham from Massachusetts, 
 and the next day the church was duly organized 
 with twelve members. ' Mr. Barnes continued until 
 May, 1857. Rev. Joseph 8. Rounce then located 
 here and remained six years. 
 
 In 1858, there was a revival and fourteen joined 
 27 
 
 the church. In 1860, there were thirteen who 
 withdrew to form a church in Waterford. The 
 Sunday-school and the prayer meetings were union 
 at this time. The little l)anil struggled on up to 
 February, 1862, meeting in the schoolhouse and 
 Methodist church. 
 
 By. a great effort a church fund was got up 
 amounting to $1,100, and a church was erected 
 24x40 feet and when compl(>ted was made free 
 from debt. The next summer a $00 melodion was 
 purchased and the event was looked upon as an 
 evidence of prosperity and progress most encour- 
 aging. In 1863, Mr. Rounce removed from North- 
 field and there was no pastor. Rev. J. G. Wilcox, 
 the Baptist minister, and the evangelist, Rev. H. 
 H. Morgan, supplying the pulpit. Eev. E. P. 
 Hammond, the revivalist, was also here for a sea- 
 son and forty members joined the church, and the 
 thirteen who went to the church at Waterford re- 
 turned. That year the increment to the church 
 amounted to ninety-two souls, and after a greater 
 or less dependence for eight years upon the Home 
 Missionary Society, it became self-supporting. 
 
 On the 5th of April, 1864, Rev. Edwin S. Wil- 
 liams, just from Oberlin, Ohio, came, and his ordi- 
 nation followed on the 10th of June. In 1865, 
 the church was enlarged by the addition of twenty 
 feet, and a bell, the gift of eastern friends, was 
 hung up. In 1867, another enlargement was 
 made by an east wing 20x22 feet, and costing 
 .$1,000. In 1868, a west wing of like size was 
 added. 
 
 In 1866, the State Conference located Carletou 
 College here, and thenceforward the church and 
 the college have had a propinquity which has been 
 mutually advantageous, as it has been intimate, 
 cordial, and helpful. Rev. J. W. Strong was in- 
 augurated as president of the college in 1870. Mr. 
 Williams continued his pastorate for six years re- 
 signing in May, 1870. In June, 1872, R jv. James 
 A. Towle was chosen pastor and broke the bread 
 of the word to this people until the 1st of April, 
 1875. The evangelist. Rev. Mr. Cadwallader, was 
 here in the winter of 1874 and '75. 
 
 The plan of weekly offerings was adopted in 
 1875, and has proved successful. President Strong 
 preached until Rev. D. L. Leonard came, in July, 
 1875, and he resigned in July 1881. 
 
 On the 19th of May, 1880, the church was 
 burned, and measures were at once taken to i-e- 
 build, a site being secured in a beautiful location 
 
418 
 
 HISTOnr OF lllGE COUNTY. 
 
 nearly opposite the public school building. A 
 most elegaut church was erected in a modern style, 
 which has ample seating capacity, is well heated 
 and ventilated, and most admirably adojjted for 
 church purposes, at a cost of over $20,000. 
 
 Kev. Heniy L. Kendall was called to become 
 pastor on the 18th of November, 1881. 
 
 The membership of the church at the present 
 time is 323. When it was organized there were 
 eight members, as follows: Moses Porter, Mrs. 
 Moses Porter, Ammi M. Nichols, Mrs. Lucie A. 
 Nichols, Daniel W. Kingsley, Allen N. Nour.se, 
 Thomas H. Olin, and Mrs. Sarah Olin. This little 
 band of Christians must indeed liave had extrava- 
 gant expectations if in that day of small things 
 they could have anticipated the condition of the 
 church and its surroundings that we now behold. 
 
 A list of those who have been clerks of the so- 
 ciety is here appended: Allen N. Nourse, Myron 
 W. Skinner, Joseph H. Spencer, Horace Goodhue, 
 James J. Dow, Henry S. French, Mrs. Nellie L. 
 Bunker, and the present clerk Miss Emma Whea- 
 ton. On account of tliis being the home of Carle- 
 ton College this church must continue to be the 
 leading one in town. 
 
 Methodist Episoor.4.L Church. — The first meet- 
 ings in this vicinity were lield in the house of BTr. 
 Larkins, three miles south of Northfield on the 
 road from Hastings to Faribault, on the '24th of 
 July, 1855, by Dr. John L. Scjheld, a local 
 preacher from Racine, Wisconsin. Kev. Mr. 
 McKenzie, from Illinois, also preached for some 
 time at Mr. Larkins', at Cannon City, and other 
 j^laces. At the Wisconsin Conference, in the au- 
 tumn of 1855, Rev. T. M. Kirkpatrick was ap- 
 pointed to the Cannon River Mission, which 
 extended from the mouth of that river westward. 
 
 Early in September the meetings were held here 
 in the house of Joseph Drake, and also at Foun- 
 tain Grove. The first (piarterly meeting was held 
 on the 1st of December, 1855, at James McGinnis' 
 residence. In February, 1856, Mr. Kirkpatrick 
 was ap))oiuted ])residing elder. Dr. Sohofield was 
 appointed a leader of the class which was formed 
 with seventeen members. When the schoolhouse 
 was built, in 185(5, Rev. William BlcKiuley 
 preached at the several appointments, and by 1859, 
 about 100 members and probationers were gathered 
 within the circuit. At this time a board of trus- 
 tees was appointed ami a lot jjrocured, and ar- 
 rangements made to build a cliurch, which was 
 
 completed in 1859. Its location was several blocks 
 southeast of the present edifice. Among those who 
 were stationed here were the following Reverend 
 gentlemen: Thomas Day, J. Stagdill, T. W. Rich- 
 ardson, G. W. Bennett, J. M. Rogers, under whom 
 a debt of «500 was paid, S. J. Sterrett, J. W. 
 Martin, now presiding eliler of Mankato district, 
 which brings it up to 1870, when Noel Lathrop 
 followed and T. M. Gassart, W. W. Park, S. G. 
 Gale, G. R. Horr, and Levi Gilbert, the present 
 pastor. A parsonage was built at an early day. 
 Tlie new parsonage was built in about 1875, and 
 the new church erected so as to be occupied on the 
 first floor in 1878, at a coat of over $8,000. There 
 are about 200 members and a Sunday-school of 
 100. The main audience room of the church is 
 now in process of completion. 
 
 MoE.\vi.\N Chuech. — It is claimed that this 
 church originated in Moravia and Bohemia as long 
 ago as in 1415, having been started by John Huss 
 as a schism from the Catholic church, and thus 
 antedating the Lutheran. 
 
 In 18(59, this society was organized in North- 
 field, there having been service for some time 
 previous. The church is on Division street, and is 
 a neat structure. Among the clergymen who have 
 administered to this little flock may be named, 
 Kev. C. L. Reinke, Rev. D. Z. Smith, and Kev. 
 Ernst Schwartze. 
 
 All S.vintr' Epis('opal CnrKCH. — The first 
 remembered service in this belief was at the house 
 of Harley D. White, on the 9th of March, 1856, 
 and in the evening there was another service, and 
 one infant was baptized. Services were occasion- 
 ally held by Rev. R. J. Lloyd Breck, Kev. D. P. 
 Sauford, and others from Faribault. On the 1st 
 of November, 1858, the parish was organized, and 
 there was service by Rev. Mr. Breck, Rev. S. W. 
 Manney, and students from the Divinity School at 
 Faribault. The first visit of the Bishop was on 
 the 26th of February, 1860. Rev. Solomon 
 Stevens Burleson oBiciated from the 3d of Jan- 
 uary, 1864, until September, when he was or- 
 dained into the priesthood and became Rector, 
 and weekly service was afterwards held. On th ^ 
 22d of March, 1865, a lot was purchased of Sam- 
 uel Wing and deeded to the Seabury Mission. 
 Tlie edificfe was begun in May, 1866. The sum uf 
 •■SI, 100 was raised, and the building was ready 
 for service that winter. The consecration took 
 place on the 11th of April, 1867. Right Rev. 
 
CITT OP NORTn FIELD. 
 
 419 
 
 H. B. Whipple and Rev. Edward R. Wells were 
 present. A communion service was presented. In 
 October, 18(58, means were raised to purchase a 
 parsonage, which was done, and in November it 
 was occupied. In 18(i0, the children of the Sun- 
 day school began work to secure funds with which 
 to procure a bell, and by September they had got 
 together .$35. The citizens made up the balance- 
 and on the 11th of October its peals rang out. 
 
 Among those who liave been pastors here since 
 that time, may be named : Rev. T. S. Pycolt. 
 George B. Whipple, Rev. A. R. Graves, Rev. A. J. 
 Yeater, Rev. J. Dudley Ferguson, Rev. George L. 
 Chase, Rev. E. 8. Wilson, and A. W. Ryan. As 
 to their having a pastor now can be judged from 
 the reply received on asking A. O. Whipple, one 
 of the leading members of the church, "What is the 
 name of the pastor?"' he said he "did not know 
 they had a pastor." 
 
 Baptist Church. — The meeting held for the 
 purpose of organizing was on the 27th of July, 
 18.56, and the following jiersons constituted the 
 membership: Charles F. Whittier, Mrs. Mar- 
 garet A. Whittier, Joseph Harris, Ransom V- 
 Smith, George W. Smith, Hannah F. Smith, and 
 Alvah Cole. 
 
 On the 27th of September following the organ- 
 ization was completed; Elder Cressey was Mod- 
 erator. 
 
 At a meeting in October, the church was for- 
 mally organized by the other churches of the 
 same denomination already in existence within 
 hailing distance. A third meeting was held on 
 the 23d of November, when Elder Cressey was 
 called as pastor, with a salary of ijlOd for one- 
 fourth of his time for one year. On the 31st of 
 March, 18.57, it was resolved to build a church. 
 
 Rev. J. G. Wilcox came in April, 1858; he had 
 been an agent of the American Baptist Home Mis- 
 sionary Society at New York. He became pastor 
 and succeeded in building the church which still 
 stands. He remained until 1809, when Rev. T. R. 
 Peters came and remained eleven months. 
 According to the records, he was ordained on the 
 24th of May, 1870. 
 
 Rev. J. H. Wilderman was tlie pastor in 1872. 
 Rev. S. S. Utter was afterwards pastor, and while 
 here he was instrumental in building the parson- 
 age, which was done in 1874 and '75, at a cost of 
 about $2,000. Rev. John Rounds became pastor 
 in March, 1869. There are now sixty members. 
 
 There is a Sunday school with J. T. Wymau as 
 the superintendent. 
 
 St. Dominie-Roman Catholic— About the first 
 service in the interest of this church was in 18G0, 
 by Rev. Father Keller and Rev. Father Sheae, 
 and the other priests up to 1882 have been. Rev. 
 Father Ralph Hoose, Rev. James McGlone, and 
 Rev. .John Pahein who came in 1875. The land 
 was procnred and building begun in 18(50. Since 
 the church was built it has received an addition, 
 and there is a parsonage adjoining. Its location 
 is on the west side. Rev. Mr. Paldm also has 
 another charge, "the Church of the Annunciation'' 
 located in Webster township. 
 
 German Methodist. — The church where this 
 congregation worships is on the west side of the 
 river. The earliest services were held in about 
 1856. The ministers who have labored here are: 
 Rev. H. Hermsmyer, Rev. Charles P. Richster,Rev. 
 Henry Schneicker, Rev. Henry Roth, Rev. Wil- 
 liam Bucholz, Rev. William Reltered, Rev. Jacob 
 Keller, and Rev. William Pogenhat, the present 
 pastor. The church was built about 1876, at a 
 cost of S2,000. The circuit embraces several 
 other places, Prairie Creek, East Prairie, and 
 others. There is a Sunday school under the 
 superintendence of Michael Tramm. 
 
 First Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran 
 Congreg.ation — St. Johannes. — Meetings were 
 held in 1869, in the schoolhouse and 
 in Thoreson's Hall, by Rev. N. A. Quam- 
 men at irregular intei'vals. Since then at 
 the German Methodist; and the Moravian Church 
 was leased at one time. This congregation is 
 closely connected with St. Olaf's School, Rev. Mr. 
 IMohn being the present pastor. The church was 
 built in 1881, at a cost of about $3,000. 
 
 In 1877, the questi(m of temperance agitated 
 this church, many meetings were held, and it was 
 finally decided that those who habitually drink 
 intoxicating beverages could not be admitted as 
 church members. In 187G, the society joined the 
 Svnod. Tliere is a membership of fifteen families. 
 
 The Trustees are: O. T. Lysne, H. O. Gratf, 
 anil Edwin Alfson; Treasurer, S. A. Siverts; 
 Clerk, M. A. Boe. 
 
 ASSOCIATIONS AND SOCIETIES. 
 
 The Old Settlers' Association.— This club, 
 which is a county society, an account of which 
 appears in another part of this work, met in 
 Northfield on the 26th of January, 1876, and the 
 
420 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 usual variety of exorcises were gone through \vith 
 and Mr. H. Scriver, the Mayor, ilelivered an ad- 
 dress, whieh is preserved here: 
 
 " Selected by your Committee to open the cere- 
 monies of this festive occasion, I feel like the boy 
 on the Fourth of July morning who has the honor 
 of firing the first anvil, a little nervous lest the noise, 
 or the powder, or the anvil have would a disagree- 
 ably elevating effect, and he come to some sad 
 end, like a good many little boys doing their coun- 
 try's duty. Nevertheless, like him, cheered on by 
 the reflection that it will be the opening chorus to 
 a good deal of thrilling music contributed by my 
 friends and neighbors, and as the explosions of 
 wit and humor, of tales of by-gone days, burst 
 forth, rocket-like, from your well-filled memories' 
 store, I will be amply repaid for the risk I take. 
 And first I must congratulate you ujxm the day; 
 a day to become dearer to us as the pleasant as- 
 sociations are increased with the revolving years. 
 
 A generous, whole-souled, large-hearted person 
 must he or she have been who first conceived tiie 
 idea of having a day set apart for the purpose of 
 reviving the memories of the buried past, to con- 
 tribute to the hearty cheer and good- will of the 
 present. A day to lift us out of the slough of the 
 cares and anxieties of this busy lite, and make us 
 "O'er a' the ills o' life victorious." Farther 
 north at a certain season of the year, as the sun 
 sinks below the horizon, the aurora follows the 
 circuit of tlie sky until the sun again bursts forth 
 in all his glory of light and heat. So the recol- 
 lections of this day will follow us as the year rolls 
 around, and we will feel its influences and have its 
 cheer to help us through many a dark moment of 
 trial. 
 
 We cannot have too much "oil of gladness" in 
 tliis wearing, active life of ours, and it is a pleas- 
 ing feature to lie noticed that the days of good 
 fellowship and pleasant associations are on the in- 
 crease among us. We may say of the day in the 
 words of Burns: 
 
 "But oil'd by thee, 
 The wheels o" life go down the scrieven 
 Wi' r.attlin' glee." 
 
 In June, 1856, I came to the State (then Terri- 
 tory ), riding in a stage from Hastings. As the 
 prairies spread out before us in their living green, 
 dotted with tlir wild rose and other flowers, was it 
 any wonder that the lieartot the traveler from the 
 barren hills of the East or the wilds of Canada, 
 should leap for joy withiu him, and that he should 
 
 feel that this is indeed a goodly land? And as we 
 came over the hill east of the village, and the 
 noble forest with that then magnificent grove of 
 elms near the mill broke upon our view as the 
 stage drove into the embryo city of Northfield, 
 need you be surprised that I ordered my trunk 
 taken ofi', and felt at last I had reached my jour- 
 ney's end, and in old settler's parlance "stuck my 
 stake." At that time the line of woods came down 
 ujjon a line with the railroad track. The school 
 section was furnishing wool and logs for the gen- 
 eral public. The latter (the logs I mean) were 
 sawed up at the old mill, standing where now 
 stands the west side grist-mill. Tlie lumber so 
 furnished was building up the town, and so fur- 
 nished a salve to the consciences of those receiving 
 its benefits. The skeleton balloon frames were 
 being erected with great rapidity. The frames of 
 the Jenkins and Cannon Eiver Houses were up, 
 and Mr. North's, the most complete in the village, 
 was a board house, battened and lined with cot- 
 ton cloth, in which he and his family had spent the 
 winter, standing about where Mr. Gress' shoe store 
 stands, and is now the building occupied by Mr. 
 liivins opposite the Lyceum. The grist mill was 
 just enclosed, and under its shadow John Way 
 and I threw out black bass with a spear a fast as 
 we could handle them. The old bridge was a 
 rude affair of bents and stringei's, swept away two 
 or three times and replaced. There was a tradi- 
 tion that floodwood was found on the line of this 
 Division street, landed here by some great flood. 
 Nothing so great has occurred in our day, al- 
 though we have had some pretty ones. The grist 
 mill furnished shelter for our first Fourth of July 
 dinner. Many of you remember the basswood- 
 jflank, one-story building, 20x30 feet, set on 
 blocks, in which was the beginning of the mercan- 
 tile interests of Northfield, now grown to such 
 magnificent proportions. Perhaps you would not 
 recognize it now in the two-story building owned 
 by the corporation of Carleton College, and known 
 by the significant name of " Pancake Hall," taken 
 from the busy mart of commerce where it served 
 an honorable purpose, and exalted to the higher 
 duty of shelter and for the ga.«tronomic uses o'i 
 those seeking knowledge under difficulties. 
 
 The fir.st stock in trade amounted to tiie modest 
 sum of .'{;500. A pale-faced youth who had seen 
 too much in-door work for health, was its iiappy 
 proprietor, and on the counter, as h.o made his bed 
 
a ITT OF NOUTll FIELD. 
 
 421 
 
 on a piece of cotton cloth, the favoring breezes 
 blew over him between the shrunken phmks at the 
 sides and the loose boards of the lioor, and bronglit 
 health and vigor again. 
 
 You remember the remarkable summer of "5(5, 
 and for that matter every season is remarkable. 
 The frequent and terrible thunder showers; how 
 it seemed every night almost as though all nature 
 was about to collapse. How the lightning played 
 and the thunder roared and crackled, and the 
 morning would c)])en clear and beautiful and na- 
 ture with her face washed would smile again. 
 
 At times during the night herds of cattle with 
 no fear of the "cattle law" before them, would 
 come down hungry for salt, and as the brine 
 dripped through the opening floor from pork or 
 fish barrel, the frail building would surge back 
 and forth from their endeavors to reach it, till it 
 seemed to its owner a question whether the cattle 
 or the gentle breezes of the thunder showers 
 would succeed first in toppling over his castle. 
 Occasionally a venturesome calf would succeed in 
 crawling under, .and then there was no more sleep 
 from the rattling and the banging of the door 
 boards till that calf was dislodged. Warned by 
 these experiences, the new building has been sunk 
 to the solid rock. A hen hatched her brood under 
 one corner of the building, and asserting her right, 
 female-like, to roost or ruin, would ascend the 
 stairs in the quiet shades of evening, and at peep 
 of dawn the owner was awakened by peep of 
 chick, and the whole brood would come clamoring 
 down the stairs and demand an exit. Animal life 
 was active in getting a living. Even a little 
 mouse, attracted, perhaps, by the goodly size of 
 the young man's shoe, as affording sufficient stor- 
 age for a winter's supply of food for the family, 
 persisted several nights in succession in attempts 
 to fill it with nuts. 
 
 The first religious service that I attended was in 
 old Mr. Drake's house, two miles smith. Dr. Sco- 
 fleld officiating. When the schoolhouse on the 
 east side of the village was enclosed, services were 
 held there, and the good people came in to attend, 
 drawn by the sure-footed slow locomotion of ox 
 teams. The first debating club was organized and 
 held there, and the first question on the board was 
 "female suffrage." Thus early did this great 
 question agitate the minds and hearts of this com- 
 munity. It was difficult to find anybody to take 
 the negative, for the male sex, especially, felt that 
 
 the great necessity of the hour was the immigra- 
 tion of the fairer sex. Young men and old liaclie- 
 lors, therefore, were! spoiling to have women vote, 
 and every inducement was oHered to get them 
 here. The debating society grew, and a reading- 
 room was formed and the upper portion of Skin- 
 ner's store occupied, but it was soon felt that a 
 building suitable to its needs must be had, anil the 
 present Lyceum building and library was the re- 
 sult. The long winter evenings were spent in 
 debate, music, readings, original papers, etc. Of 
 course we had some astonishing bursts of eloquence, 
 for genius felt in this free air untrammeled. One, 
 iu using a Bible illustration, spoke of the "Widow 
 Cruse's jug of oil as unfailing. In s])eakiug of 
 his musical acquirements he said, "I once liad no 
 ear, no voice, but look at me now." A sufficient 
 cause of encouragement iu the musical line to 
 those who knew him. As we felt the necessity of 
 the civilizing influence of music in our serai-savage 
 state, a band of young men was formed, led by 
 John Mullin, now of Faribault, who, differing 
 somewhat from a certain long-eared gent, had more 
 voice than ear for music, the principles of whom 
 were that each should be an independent singer 
 sing in his own key, and as loud as possible. Un- 
 der the inspiration of a large and appreciative 
 audience, when at the word that hopeful band was 
 let loose on the expectant ear, it was like a thous- 
 and bulls of Bashan, or a regiment of army mules. 
 The efTect was terrific, and at the word "Halt!" 
 they were finally stopped, and the stillness could 
 be felt — a trifle. 8uch ancient lyrics as "Old 
 Grimes," "The Battle of the Nile," etc., were ren- 
 dered with stunning effect. Time hung heavy. 
 Money and girls, two prime necessities of life, 
 were scarce. Even a counterfeit bill was a prize 
 to some, and the first financial principle I heard 
 enunciated was, "Never refuse a counterfeit; I 
 would rather have a counterfeit than a genuine, 
 for it helps to make trade lively. Keep it circu- 
 lating." A print'iple which, if faithfully foUowed, 
 will no .doubt make it lively. If a sleigh ride was 
 gotten up a sort of lottery was resorted to, and 
 sorry was the poor wight who was not paired ott'. 
 We have a tradition that the winters were cold 
 in those days. Certainly the climate is changed 
 now, but no doubt we were as often puzzled as the 
 Irishman who, looking at the thermometer, said, 
 "I have often wondhered how a little thing loik 
 that should make it so cault in the wintlier and so 
 
422 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 warrum in in the summer." It is, I suppose, be- 
 yond contradiction that in the winter of '56 it did 
 not thaw on the south side of the house for three 
 months. It is perhaps well to refresh our mem- 
 ories in these mild and salubrious days with recol- 
 lections of those severe winters which gave our 
 State such a bad reputation East, and in which it 
 is said we were oljliged to piece out our thermom- 
 eters with broom handles in order to make a proper 
 record. Mr. Jenkins had a boarder who froze his 
 toes while asleep in bed with his feet near a win- 
 dow, and there was quite a disturbance among the 
 boarders in consequence of the smell of gargling 
 oil used in healing the injured members. 
 
 A more turbulent, roystering, good-natured, and 
 withal complaining, whining crew, it would be diffi- 
 cult to get together than were those boarding at 
 the two hotels during those winters. Scant fare 
 and tough beef were disguised blessings to stir 
 their sluggish blood and keep things lively. But 
 woe to the poor traveler who happened along. 
 What their ingenuity could- not devise to annoy 
 each other was visited upon him. While his at- 
 tention would be attracted liy some one at his side 
 at the dinner table his pie or cake, or any little 
 delicacy, was fast disappearing down the capacious 
 maw of a consjiirator at the other side. Overcoat 
 pockets were visited and bottles, "contents not 
 noted," was sure to be confiscated for the public 
 good. At night he would wake up perhaps shiv- 
 ering from the loss of a blanket, and the snoring 
 occupants "f the field room would be entirely 
 ignorant, of course, of the cause of his distress 
 until the disturbance would bring the landlord to 
 his relief. Toll was levied on the two enterprising 
 young merchants, and there was a constant oscil- 
 lation from one side to the other of these idlers. 
 
 Ingenious devices wers used to distract the 
 attention of the merchants, while a dip into the 
 candy-box or nut barrel was made. • Nails were 
 driven into the ends of sticks by which a bunch of 
 raisins could be quietly "hooked." You see to 
 what straits for employment and amusement many 
 were driven. 
 
 In tlie spring of '.57, when the river was at the 
 flood, a young man ventured to go over the dam. 
 In doing so, his boat swamped and he was nearly 
 drowned. Upon being drawn upon the bridge, 
 his landlord walked up to the almost lifeless body, 
 and giving it a kick said, "I'll teach you not to go 
 and drown yourself till you have paid me your 
 board." 
 
 In those halcyon days of steamboats, when rail- 
 roads and railroad bonds did not trouble us, those 
 of you who traveled, recollect how crowded they 
 were, packed like herrings in a barrel, was a com- 
 mon occurrence, when caliin floors, chairs, tables, 
 and every available space and piece of furniture 
 were put in requisition and covered by tired 
 humanity. It was once my good fortune to obtain 
 a room in company with a very corpulent German. 
 Eetiring first, I took the lower berth, and was soon 
 fast asleep. I did not awaken when he entered, 
 but soon did so from a crash and the smothering 
 effects of the upper berth upon me while the fran- 
 tic struggles and great weight of my German 
 friend soon made me aware of what had happened. 
 He soon rolled off, however, and as soon as he 
 could get the mattress off, my ears were greeted 
 with the exclamations and question, "Mine CotI 
 Mine Cot! ish you kilt?" Soon assuring him I was 
 safe it no doubt took a great load off his mind, as 
 he did off my stomach. 
 
 But I must close my already too lengthy 
 sketch. Do you realize that many of you have 
 lived here one-fifth of the length of the life of 
 this Nation. It seems short, but so it is. But the 
 other day a light-haired youth was m.nrried who 
 had not seen the light of day when you and I 
 came here. A generation already past. It seems 
 but the other day when the Indian trail could be 
 tracked across the hill where now stands our Col- 
 lege building. I believe but tew shadows have 
 fallen across our pathway during the past year. 
 Our number undiminished as we assemble again 
 with unbroken ranks. A mercy of which we 
 ought to be truly thankful, while it may be con- 
 sidered a glorious tribute to the general healthful- 
 ness of our climate. A kind Providence has certainly 
 smiled upon us. Changes scarcely perceptible 
 are constantly occurring with us. A few more gray 
 hairs may be noticed perhaj)S, a little more stoop 
 to the shonlders, a slight halting in the step, warn- 
 ing us that change is upon us, and that it cannot 
 always be so, but for present mercies let us be glad 
 and rejoice, that we have been enabled to meet to- 
 gether once more under such happy auspices." 
 
 The Association met in Northfield on the Kith 
 of February, 1882. The usual progromme was 
 carried out, and speeches were made by G. W. 
 Batchelder, Rev. A. Willey, Robert Watson, J. C. 
 Cooper, Sherriff Barton, Gen. Nutting, D. H. Orr, 
 Rev. WilHam Reynolds, F. W. Frink, Rev. L. Gil- 
 
CITY OF MillTIII-'IKLl). 
 
 423 
 
 bert, and others. A letter was received from Mrs. 
 E. Hobbs which was read and highly appreoiated. 
 
 Lyceum .Vssociation. — A i>nmiinent feature in 
 early days was what is known under the above 
 title, and oeeupied a eeutral position, as the citi- 
 zens were so nearly shut out of the world tliat 
 tiiey had to depend upon their own genius for 
 sources of amusement. This society took i|uit(' a 
 wide range, and the best talent of the place «a8 
 called into requisition. A gratifying feature was 
 the commingling of elements whicli were denomi- 
 nationally antagonistic, as all shades of belief 
 joined hands in sustaining the society. The 
 early records are not visible, but the tradition is 
 that it was called into being in 1858, and under 
 its benign pressure a building was c nstructed. 
 Weekly meetings were held in the regular season 
 the fee for membership being iif2 at first, but af- 
 terwards it was reduced one-half. 
 
 The discussions which were held we-e character- 
 ized by ability, originality, and often blended with 
 eccentricity, leaving them long to be rememl;ered_ 
 As the adherents of the various fonns of religious 
 belief began to gather, each would get up social 
 gatlierings by themselves, and the denominational 
 entertainments took the place of this association; 
 thus apathy necessarily resulted, and finally the 
 meetings were discontinued. In 1878, the build- 
 ing and the library that had been accumulated 
 was transferred to the city. 
 
 Soci.vL Lodge No. 48 — Masonic. — This was in- 
 stituted on the 6th of October. 1864, with the fol- 
 lowing first three oHicers: Charles Taylor, W. AI.; 
 D. W. Whitney, S. W.; Felix Collett,"j. W. The 
 regular communications are on the first and third 
 Wednesdays of each month. 
 
 The following lirothers have been masters of 
 the lodge: Charles Taylor, H. W. Bingham, 
 Morgan Emery, F. A. Noble, A. A. Keller, J. W. 
 Murphy, and O. P. Perkins, the present master. 
 The other officers are: H. L. Crittenden, S. W. ; 
 Willis Eaw.son, J. W.; V). H. Lord, S. IX; S. L. 
 Bushnell, T. 
 
 Royal Arch Chapter — Corixthiax No. 33. — 
 Was instituted on the 1st of March, 1877. The char- \ 
 ter members were: C. N. Daniels, C. E. Rogers, 
 L. k. Puller, J. D. Johnson, Peter W. Delaney, 
 S. Raineri, H. J. Eldred, P. Collett, J. C. Haven. 
 
 The meetings are on the second and fourth 
 Thursdays in each month. 
 
 The present officers are: H. K. Kelley, H. P.; 
 
 H. L. Crutten, K.; B. P. Henry, S.; J. L. Black- 
 man, Sec; John Hands, T. 
 
 NoHTiiKiKi.n Lodge No. .50. — Odd Fei,lows. — 
 There was a lodge instituted here before the war, 
 but which surrendered its charter. 
 
 The pi-esent lodge was instituted on the l.jth of 
 Novemlier, 1875. The charter memb.'rs were: S. 
 S. Dickinson, William H. Bennett, T. M. (lossard, 
 Otis H. Taylor, John Lapp, Samuel W. Matteson, 
 C. H. Miller, Peter Filbert, Henry EI.el, and W. 
 O. Johnson. There are now .sixty members. The 
 present officers are Cialen H. Coon, N. (r.; .1. A. 
 Lawrence, V. G. ; James Morton, Secretary; S. 
 Raineri, Treasurer. 
 
 Orient Encampment No. 20. — The cliarter 
 members of this body were: J. A. Lawrence, 
 David Sibbesou, Seymour Finkelson, O. H. Tay- 
 lor. John F. Hunter, William H. Bennett, I. B. 
 Hodgson, Ross C. Phillips, Ira Sumner, Charles 
 H.Miller, S. Raineri, William Ebel, and limry 
 Riddell. The nights of meeting are on the first 
 and third Thursdays of each month. 
 
 The officers for the current term are: Henry 
 Riddell, C. P.; G. H. Coon, H. P.; D. Sibbe.son, 
 S. W.; P. Henderson, J. W.; S. Finkelson, S.; 
 S. Raineri, T. 
 
 Northfield Lodge No. 41 — Ancient Order 
 OF United Wokkingmen. — The original members 
 were: George A. Henry, E. Lockwood, George 
 
 E. Bates, E. H. Springer, W. J. Sibbeson, E. J. 
 Clark, Mason Wheeler, D. J. Whitney, W. N. 
 Olin, and S. A. Morse. 
 
 It has now a membersliip of twenty-two. The 
 officers for the jiresent term are: James Kenney, 
 M. W., E. Lockwood, P.; C. W. Mann, 6.; 
 
 F. O. Rice, R.; C. A. Drew, T. 
 
 Knights of the Golden Rule.— Institued on 
 the 15th of August, 1879, with the following roll: 
 H. S. Robinson. Joseph Cocayne, E. B. Carpen- 
 penler. 
 
 Yoi'NG Men's Ciihistian .Association. — This 
 was first organized as a Students" Cliristian .Asso- 
 ciation in 1874, with the following officers: Pres- 
 ident, .1. J. Dow; Vice President, E. S. Ross; 
 Treasurer, E. W. Young; Secretary, W. K. Mul- 
 liken. 
 
 The last meeting of this organizaticm was on 
 :he 14th of .Tiine, 1879, when it was reorganized 
 .inder the rules of the '-Young Men's Chris- 
 tian Association." The present officers are: Pres- 
 ident, Dr. Graves; Vice President, O. L. Robinson; 
 
424 
 
 niSTORY OF mcB COUNTY. 
 
 Treasurer, M. Wright; Secretary, Sarah T>. Steg- 
 ner. A reading room well filled with periodicals 
 is kept open down town. 
 
 Good Templaks. — This institution was organ- 
 ized on the 21st of September, 1881. Its meet- 
 ings are on Tuesday evenings. 
 
 The fraternal orders being rather popular at 
 the present time, particularly where there is life, 
 health, or accident insurance, there may be still 
 others in town, as there is certainly quite an ex- 
 tensive membership in outside companies. 
 
 OLD TOWN HALL. 
 
 This building was the first erected by the town 
 for puljlic purposes, on Fourth street, and was us- 
 ually called "Lyceum Building," as it was con- 
 structed under the auspices of the Lyceum Asso- 
 ciation in 1858. All the residents contributed to 
 pay the -"JljOOO it is said to have cost. A library 
 was also started by subscription, and kept accu- 
 mulating through the means of festivals and en- 
 tertainments iintil there were upwards of 400 
 valuable volumes. The building is in a state of 
 decay, and is occupied as a justice's office. 
 
 WATEEFORD. 
 
 Early in 1855, a town was laid out north of 
 Northfield about two miles, just over the line in 
 Dakota county. This was before Northfield was 
 platted, and there was great rivalry between the 
 new places, which amounted to animosity in some 
 instances. This feeling between new towns which 
 were springing all around, seemed to be general; 
 each one seemed to feel that it could ouly tiourish 
 at the expense of others. This town of Waterford 
 was laid out by "Bobby Masters." He secured a 
 Post-office and had it opened early that year, which 
 might have been in the fall of 1854, or early the 
 following year. One of the Atkin boys, whoever 
 they were, was the Postmaster. The office was 
 kept in an old trunk. Joseph Bills and Mr. Parch 
 have been Postmasters. Mrs. Madison is the pres- 
 ent Postmistress. The place now has about one 
 hundred inhabitants, and of course is no longer 
 a rival of Northfield. 
 
 This place, although in Dakota county, is men- 
 tioned for the good it has done and the good it is 
 still doing as a place of trade for some of Bice 
 county people. 
 
 CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 Captain Jesse Ames was born at Vinal Haven, 
 Knox county, Maine, on the 4th of February, 1808. 
 He lived on a farm until fifteen years of age, then 
 went to sea and at the age of twenty-three was 
 master of a merchant vessel. On the 27th of Oc- 
 tober, 1832, Miss Martha Tt>lman became his wife. 
 She is a daughter of Thomas Tolman, of Bock- 
 land, Maine. Mi's. Ames sailed round the world 
 twice with her husband, who, after being captain 
 of a vessel thirty years, made his last voyage in 
 1861, coming from New Zealand to London, and 
 thence home, after selling his vessel. Having a son 
 in Minnesota, he visited the State and concluded 
 to cast anchor here for life, and after two years 
 spent in farming in the county, located in North- 
 field. In October, 1864, Mr. Ames and his sons 
 purchased the flouring mill at this place, and the 
 " Northfield" brand of flour, made by Jesse Ames 
 & Sous, and now by Jesse Ames' Sons, is in high 
 repute. In 1868, Mr. Ames was in the Legisla- 
 ture and was also a member of the Convention at 
 Chicago, which nominated Grant the first term. 
 He has two children; John T. and Adelbert. 
 
 David Ames, a brother of Capt. Jesse Ames, 
 was bom in North Haven, Knox county, Maine, 
 on the 26th of June, 1819. He received a good 
 education and taught school in the winter for 
 thirteen or fourteen years. During the summer 
 he coasted from Rockland to New York, having a 
 vessel of his own a portion of the time. In De- 
 cember, 1842, he married Miss Lucy Dyer, of his 
 native phice, and they have four children; Char- 
 lotte B., Hannibal Hamlin, John B., and Arthur 
 H. In 1847 and 1850, Mr. Ames was in the Maine 
 Legislature. In 1867, he came to this place and 
 soon after engaged in his brother's flour-mill. He 
 owns a farm of four hundred and seven acres on 
 Prairie Creek, and a residence in the city. Has 
 been Chairman of the Board of Supervisors three 
 years. 
 
 W. M. Berkman was born in Franklin county, 
 Indiana, on the 29th of March, 1854, and the 4th 
 of July following his parents came to Minnesota. 
 His father enlisted in the army, leaving his family 
 in Hastings, and in 1866, they removed to Min- 
 neajjolis and soon after to St. Paul, where the 
 father still resides, being one of the leading vet- 
 erinary surgeons in the State. In 1878, our sub- 
 ject married Miss Daisy C. Williamson, the ■ cere- 
 
CITY OF NORTH FIKLD. 
 
 425 
 
 mony taking place the 5tb of September. Tn May, 
 1880, be came to Northfield, and his profession is 
 that of a veterinary surgeon and physician. He 
 has two chiUlren; Jessie C, and Mildred May. 
 
 Julius L. Blackman was born in Jericho, Ver- 
 mont, on the 2(ltli of Novemlier, 1848. His par- 
 ents were Wells and Fidelia M. Blackmau, and liis 
 father was born in Connecticut but removed to 
 Vermont in an early day. When Julius was four- 
 teen years old the family moved to Northfield, Min- 
 nesota, locating on section thirty-four, where our 
 subject grew to manhood. He attended the com- 
 mon schools for a time, and afterwards Carleton 
 College. He learned the drug business with Con- 
 ner & Miner, and in 1872, engaged in the latter 
 business for himself, having since continued at 
 the same. His wife was formerly Miss Clara B. 
 MoCausland. They have two children, Jessie 
 Marion and Henry Arthur. 
 
 Daniel Bowe, a native of Genesee county. New 
 York, and one of Northfleld's early settlers, left 
 his native State when about thirty years of age, 
 and went to Ohio, where for about ten years he 
 was engaged in farming. In 1842, Miss Eveline 
 Lord became his wife and in 18.J.5, they came to 
 Northfield, locating in section seven. He read 
 law here and was admitted to the bar in 1SG2, and 
 until recently has continued in practice in this 
 place. He is at present in Dakota Territory. Of 
 a family of four children three are living: Ar- 
 thur E., Daniel E., who lives in Sciota, Dakota 
 county, and Mary, wife of E. J. Evans, of Fergus 
 Falls. 
 
 Arthur E. was reared on a farm and when 
 twenty years old entered the office of Gordon E. 
 Cole, of Faribault, with whom he read law for a 
 time, afterwards with his father in this place, and 
 then with R. Reynolds, at Detmit, in this State; 
 was admitted to the bar and after three years 
 at his profession went to Minneapolis. He 
 practiced there for a time, then returned to North- 
 field and formed a partnership with his father un- 
 der the firm name of Bowe & Bowe, and is still in 
 practice. He marrried Miss Hellie M. Henderson 
 on the 1st of February, 1881. 
 
 Benjamin R. Bauker, a native of New York, 
 was born on the 24th of September, 1841, and re- 
 moved with his parents to Jeflerson county, Wis- 
 consin, when eight years of age. He worked at 
 the carpenter trade tiU 1866, with the exception of 
 one year spent in the army in thu First Wiscon- 
 
 sin Heavy Artillery. He came to Northfield, and 
 one year later removed to Collins, McLeod county, 
 where he farmed and worked at his trade four 
 years, then went to Lahetteo county, Kansas, re- 
 mained one and a half years and in 1873, returned 
 to Northfield and h.as given his attention to his 
 trade. Mr. Barker has been twice married; first 
 to Miss Henrietta Wood, who died after a year 
 and a half of wedded lite. The maiden name of 
 his present wife was Miss Eliza H. Curtis, Of 
 three children born to him only one is living, 
 Ethel P. 
 
 Felix Collett, a native of lower Canada, was 
 born near Montreal, on the 14th of August, 181.'5. 
 Wlien sixteen years old he went to upper Canada, 
 and for three years was engaged in the lumber 
 business, then came to Ohio, remaining twelve 
 years as clerk for the railroad and canal com- 
 panies, and was also in the laud office. In 1849, 
 he went to California, and after mining two years 
 returned to Canada, wliere he engaged in lumber- 
 ing aiul carpenter work. In 1855, he came to 
 Minnesota, stopped in St. Anthony a few months 
 and in December came to Northfield and first 
 worked on the old mill, now standing on the east 
 side of Cannon River. When it was completed he 
 was employed in it and has remained there ever 
 since. Mr. Collett has been married twice. His 
 first wife was Miss Rebecca Batson and she bore 
 liim three children, only one of whom is living, 
 Nelson T. His present wife was Miss Jane Chis- 
 holm. 
 
 Hiram L. Coon, M. D., was born in Grafton, 
 New York, on the 25th of August, 1828, and 
 reared to agricultural pursuits. He removed with 
 his parents to Milton, Rock county, Wisconsin, 
 when twelve years of age, received an education 
 at the common schools, Milton Academy, and 
 Rush Medical College in Chicago, from which he 
 graduated in 1854. He commenced the practice 
 of his profession in Rutland, Dane county, Wis- 
 consin, where he was married in 1855, to Miss 
 Sarah Morton, daughter of Roger Morton. In 
 1856, he removed to Austin, this State, and in 
 1861 to Northfield, where he Las been in con- 
 stant practice since, giving especial attention to 
 surgery. He is a member of the State and also 
 of the American Medical Societies; was County 
 O(.)rouer several years. His children are Galen H., 
 an attorney at this place, and George M., attend- 
 ing medical lectures at Rush Medical College, in 
 Chicago. 
 
426 
 
 HISTORT OF RICE COUNT r. 
 
 Galen H. Coon, a native of Rutland, Wisconsin, 
 dates bis birth the 21st of August, 1856, and 
 came with his parents to this place. He first at- 
 tended the common scliools, then was a pupil at 
 Carleton College and later at the State University 
 of Wisconsin, graduating from the law depart- 
 ment and was admitted to the bar at Madison in 
 1880. On the 29th of December, 1875, Miss Jen- 
 nie S. Bush became his wife. They have had two 
 children, both of whom are dead. Mr. Coon has 
 continued at his profession here and is the City 
 Reorder, elected in March, 1882. 
 
 Arthur W. Dampier was born in Meriden, 
 Steele county, Minnesota, on the 3d of June, 
 1859. He is a son of Edward Dampier, former 
 proprietor of the Dampier House, who in 1878, 
 rented Archer's Hotel, which he conducted till the 
 20th of July, 1880, when he was succeeded by his 
 son, Arthur W. The house is a four-story brick, 
 containing about fifty rooms and is a first-class 
 hotel. Mr. Dampier was married on the 12th of 
 October, 1881, Miss Augusta M. Kiddell being his 
 bride. 
 
 H. D. Davis was born in Dodge county, Wis- 
 consin, in February, 1847, and came with his 
 parents to Minnesota when eight years of age, lo- 
 cating in East Prairieville, Rice county, where he 
 grew to manhood and received a common school 
 education. He engaged in farming in the latter 
 place but in 1871, went to St. Paul, where he en- 
 gaged in a meat market for one year, then came 
 to Northfield and carried ou the same business. 
 He was joined in matrimony in 1877, with Miss 
 Eliza Spencer, a native of Vermont, born in 1847, 
 He is now engaged in the livery business, under 
 the firm name of Davis & Hibbard. 
 
 EzEKiEL C. DwiNEL was bom in Newport, Sul- 
 livan county. New Hampshire, on the 29th of July, 
 1824. At the age of fourteen years he engaged 
 to work in a saw-mill, and two years later in a 
 machine shop remaining in the latter five years. 
 When twenty-one years old, he went to Claremout 
 engaged at his trade, and in two years removed to 
 Union village, Washington county. New York, 
 where he remained three years, employed in manu- 
 facturing jMiUs, then went to Port Edward. In 
 1848, Miss Louisa Tanner became his wife, the 
 ceremony taking place on the 20th of Ainil. In 
 1856, he came to Nortlitield and the first work he 
 did was on the second frame house on the east side 
 of the river, thou was employed on the mill being 
 
 built by Mr. North where the floiar mill now 
 stands. After its completion he worked in it for 
 a period of four years and the following six years 
 was in the employ of Linus Pox in his machine 
 shop and foundry. In 1866 or '67, in company 
 with Frank Wyman, he built a j^laning mill and 
 sash, door, and blind factory, which they operated 
 about five years, when it was destroyed by fire, 
 the loss being $15,000 and no insurance. He then 
 built a small planing mill to which he added a 
 feed mill, which he conducted till 1875, then sold 
 to S. P. Stewart and went to his native town on a 
 visit. He returned in the fall, worked for Mr. Fox 
 until 1877, then went to the Black Hills and run a 
 quartz mill for a Minneapolis firm one year, since 
 which time he has been in the employ of the Ames' 
 as machinist and engineer. He had one son, 
 Charles C, who died at the age of seventeen years. 
 
 Willard E. Ensign was born in Wood county, 
 Wisconsin, on the 23d of November, 1859, and 
 when two years old removed with his parents to 
 Wabasha county, Minnesota, and ten years later 
 to Redwood county, where our subject lived 
 till 1879. He then came to this place and was a 
 student at Carleton College two years, and in 
 March, 1882, formed a partnership with C. F. 
 Whittier for the manufacture of the Cooley 
 Creamer, in which business he is now engaged. 
 Miss Anna M. Shufeldt became his wife on the 
 12th of June, 1882. 
 
 F. FiNKELSON was born in Racine, Wisconsin, 
 in 1855, and remained there until fourteen years of 
 age, then came to Minnesota and located in North- 
 field, where he grew to manhood. He first at- 
 tended the common schools and finished his edu- 
 cation in Miimeapolis, afterwards clerked in the 
 general merchandise store of E. Lockwood and 
 later became a partner in the same store. Mr. 
 Lockwood retired from business in the spring of 
 1882, and the firm is now Finkelson Brothers & 
 Alfson. He was married in 1877, to Miss Minnie 
 Gress, a daughter t)f C. W. Gress. They have 
 been blessed with three children; (irace, Emme- 
 liue, and Charles. 
 
 LiNfs Fox was born in Oswego county, New 
 York, in 1828, and reared on a farm. When six- 
 teen years old he removed with his parents to 
 Lenox, in the same State, where he gx3\v to man- 
 hood and received a common school education. 
 He learned tlie trade of a moulder and followed 
 that business until 1859, when he came to Minue- 
 
CITY OF SdUTll FIELD. 
 
 427 
 
 sota, located in Nortbfield and built the first foun- 
 dry in the place which he still carries on in 
 company wilh S. T. Forris, having a niachiueshop 
 iu connection with the foundry. Mr. Fox was 
 married in his native county in the spring of 1853, 
 to Miss Mary L. Palmer. He has been Justice of 
 the Peace two years. 
 
 Henry S. French, a native of Stockton, Maine, 
 was born on the 14th of September, 1 843, and spent 
 the first fourteen years of his life on his father's 
 farm. The confines of the land became too narrow 
 for his enquiring mmd and he engaged as cabin 
 boy on a sliip, worked his way up until at the age 
 of twenty-two he was master of a merchant vessel, 
 sailing between the United States, West Indies, 
 and Europe. When twenty-eight years old he 
 sold the vessel of which he was a part owner at 
 Boston, and in 1872, came to Northfleld, where he 
 engaged in the furniture business. On the 25th 
 of April, 1871), he was appointed Postmaster and 
 still holds the same position. 
 
 L. F. Gordon is a native of Guernsey county, 
 Ohio, and dates his birth the lOth of February, 
 1851. In 1858, his parents came to Rice county 
 and located on a farm near the village of Dundas, 
 where his mother still resides, his father having 
 died the 2d of April, 1882, and is buried iu North- 
 field cemetery. Mr. Gordon makes his home in 
 Northfield at present. He owns a farm of three 
 hundred and twenty acres in Stevens county, one 
 containing one hundred and sixty acres in Murray 
 county, and one of the same size in Grant county. 
 On the 11th of May, 187ti, he married Miss Mary 
 L. Kouuce, a native of Rice county. They have 
 two children: Edith E. and Eldora. 
 
 H. C. Grcss, a native of Germany, was born in 
 1847. He grew to manhood in his native country, 
 received a common school education and learned 
 the cabinetmaker's trade. He came to Chicago in 
 1871, worked at his trade nine years, then was in 
 the furniture business, and in 1881, came to North- 
 fleld where he has a furniture store. He was mar- 
 ried in 18C5, to Miss Sarah Braudes, a native of 
 St. Peter, Minnesota, the marriage ceremony tak- 
 ing place at Rock Island, Illinois. He is t!:e 
 father of four children, three of whom are living; 
 Albert, Annie, and Emma. 
 
 Franklin Hodoe was born in Madison county. 
 New York, on the 25th of September, 1831, and 
 grew to manhood on a farm. When eighteen years 
 of age he was obliged to depend on his own re- 
 
 sources. On the 21st of April, 18(i4, married Miss 
 Mary Jane Avery, who was born in Perryville, 
 New York. The same year he came to Minnesota 
 and now owns a farm in Dakota county and a 
 beautiful residence and grounds in the city of 
 Northfield. His father died on the 3d of Jidy, 
 1850, and his mother when he was but a few 
 months old. 
 
 J. A. Hunt was born in Franklin county, Mis- 
 sissippi, iu 1823, and grew to manhood in his 
 native State, receiving a common school education. 
 He learned the tanner's trade and remained at 
 home oa a farm until twenty-two years of age, 
 then removed to Readsborough, Vermont, where 
 he was married a few years later to Miss M. L. 
 Hicks, who is a native of Vermont, born in 1825. 
 H*e removed to Minnesota in the spring of 1856, 
 and located in Northfield, where he opened a meat 
 market, the first in the place. He was in that busi- 
 ness seven years, then opened a grocery store, 
 which he has since continued with the exception 
 of two years. Mr. and Mrs. Hunt have had three 
 cliildren, two of whom are living, Hiram and Wil- 
 liam. 
 
 A. C. Hammang is a native of Spring Prairie, 
 Wisconsin, born the 27th of June, 1848, and came 
 with his parents to this State in 1854. They lo- 
 cated in Dakota county where they remained 
 until their death. Our subject came to Northfield 
 in September, 1859, and learned the trade of a 
 bhicksmith, at which he has been employed until 
 recently. He is now in company with .Jacob 
 Diehl and conducts a meat market. Mr. Hammang 
 was married in February, 1872, to Miss Mary A. 
 Nash, a native of New Jersey. They have four 
 children; John W., Elizabeth May, Emma Adelia, 
 and Frank L. He owns a good residence and lot 
 iu the city. 
 
 Hiram A. Hunt, a native of Vermont, was born 
 in Bennington, on the 27th of November, 1855, 
 and while still an infant removed with his parents 
 to Northfield. He received his education at the 
 common schools and Carleton College, and was 
 subsequently employed as clerk in a mercantile 
 bouse. He was engaged in the insurance business 
 for three years and has since been bookkeeper for 
 Ames & Archibald. 
 
 John Handy is a native of England, born on 
 the 11th of November, 1846, and emigrated to 
 Canada when ten years old. In 1861, he removed 
 to Pennsylvania, where he worked at the milling 
 
428 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 business two years, then came to Dundas and was 
 in the employ of the Archibalds in the mill until 
 1871. He then came to Northfield and with the 
 exception of one year spent in California, was in 
 the employ of the Ames' until 1876, then became 
 a partner in the firm, having charge of the mill. 
 
 William E. Hihbard was born in the town of 
 Orwell, Rutland county, Vermont, on the 12th of 
 October, 1851, and removed with his parents to 
 Dakota county, Minnesota, in 1855. They en- 
 gaged in farming in Waterford, and William, when 
 twenty-one years old, engaged with W. Gould in 
 Minneapolis in selling farm machinery. In 1876, 
 in company with D.wight Bushnell, he opened a 
 liverv stable and agricultural house, but disposed 
 of it in a few years, and since October 25th, 1881, 
 hiis been with H. D. Da^ns in the livery business, 
 under the firm name of Davis & Hibbard. They 
 own a fine two-story brick veneered building 
 33x110 feet with forty stalls. He married Miss 
 Fraukie Bushnell on the 26th of January, 1881, 
 and they have one child, Ella L. 
 
 Elias Hobbs was born in Bfuton, Lackawanna 
 county, Pennsylvania, on the 4th of February, 
 1830. His father died when Elias was six years 
 old, and he made his home with his grandfather 
 ten years, when the latter also died. Oar subject 
 then learned the stone mason's trade and after- 
 ward became a student of Hartford University in 
 Sus((uehauna county. He then engaged in sur- 
 veying and in 1855, came to Hudson, Wisconsin, at 
 which place and Eiver Falls he spent the winter. 
 In the spring of 1856, be removed to Northfield 
 and has since been engaged in surveying and real 
 estate business. He has been Deputy Sherifl' at 
 different limes, and was in the Legislature in 1873. 
 He married Miss Emeline Stowell, a daughter of 
 Hammon Stowell. The issue of the union is three 
 children; Arthur C, Walter S., and Emily W. 
 
 .TonN HxiNTRit was born in Dumfries county) 
 Scotland, on the 29th of May, 1826, and came to 
 Canada with his parents in 1831. They located 
 near Cornwall, where they resided till their death. 
 In 184il, our subject married Miss Jane Fergu- 
 son. In 1855, tney came to Minnesota, locating 
 iu Dakota county, where they resided four years, 
 then moved to Faribault, and in November, 1869, 
 came to this city, where he has a fine residence 
 and also owns a farm in the township. Mr. 
 Hunter has ;i family of seven children: John F., 
 Jane M., Barbara" A., William H., Eliza H.. 
 Stephen A., and Marietta. 
 
 LoEL B. HoAG was born in Bristol, Vermont, 
 on the 19th of January, 1830, but moved to west- 
 ern New York with his parents while in his fifth 
 year, and was reared on a farm. When twenty 
 years old he learned the carjienter's trade, and al- 
 ternated between that, school teaching, and at- 
 tending school till 1856, when he came to Roch- 
 ester, Minnesota, and engaged at bis trade. In 
 the fall of 1857, he removed to Cannon Falls, and 
 with his lirother, R. A. Hoag, began the publica- 
 tion of a newspaper. In April, 1858, they moved 
 the printing office to Northfield and published a 
 pnper several years. In August, 1862, he enlisted 
 in the Seventh Minnesota Volunteer Infantry as 
 First Lieutenant, and was mustered out as Cap- 
 tain three years later. He returned to Northfield 
 and on the 21st of May, 1856, married Elizabeth 
 Beach. They have had three children, two of 
 whom are still living; Nellie E. and Lillian M. 
 Poor health prevented him from working at his 
 trade, so.as an experiment,in 1870,he moved on his 
 farm in the township of Northfield, but continued 
 declining health compelled him to leave it 
 after a stay of five years, and he returned to the 
 city, where he still resides, but iU health has pre- 
 vented him from engaging in any business isince. 
 
 Benaiah M. James was born in Nortbwood, 
 Rockingham county, New Hampshire, on the 2d of 
 Deceml)er, 1824, and lived in his native place 
 until fifteen years old, receiving such an education 
 as could be obtained at the common schools. In 
 1849, he married Miss Mary D. Haynes, of Deer- 
 field, New Hampshire, and for several years was 
 engaged in the wholesale and retail business, carry- 
 ing a stock of fancy dry goods and confectionery. 
 In 1854, he removed to Wisconsin, and in 1855, 
 came to this State, locating near Rosemount, Da- 
 kota county, remained sis or seven years, subse- 
 quently removiug to St. Anthony, the schools be- 
 ing the main inducement. In 1866, he came to 
 Northfield, where he has a farm of sixty-five acres 
 within the present city limits, building a cheese 
 factory iu 1871, which was one of the first enter- 
 prises of the kind in the place, and conducted the 
 same until recently. He has had five children, 
 four of whom are living; his son Willis A. being 
 Deputy County Treasurer of Hennepin county. 
 Mr. James was elected to the State L-^gislature in 
 1874, by the Republican party. 
 
 CAPTAIN Ddren F. Kelley was born in New- 
 port, New Hampshire, on. the 16th of November 
 
CITY OF NORTIIFIELD. 
 
 429 
 
 1839, and came to Nortlifii'kl in 1855. He wiis a 
 Btudeut in Hamlin University in 18G0 and '(!!, and 
 in August, 18(i'2, enlisted in tlie Seventh Minne- 
 sota Volimteer Infantry. Marched to the relief 
 of Fort Kidgely against the Indians; participated 
 in the battle of Wood Lake on the 23d of Se])tem- 
 ber, the capture of "Red Iron's" camp a few days 
 later, and the release of bis white captives; was 
 with Gen. Sibley's expedition against the Sioux to 
 the Missouri in 1803; went south with the regi- 
 ment in September, and was appointed A. A. Q. M. 
 and A. C. S., and served at Marganzie, Port Hud- 
 son, and Baton Rouge, Department of the Gulf. 
 Capt. Kelley was mustered out in the winter of 
 18(57, after a continuous service of four years and a 
 half. He married Emma I. Rounce, daughter of 
 Kev. J. S. Rimnce, the first resident Congrega- 
 tional minister in Northfield, the ceremony taking 
 place on the 2d of February, 1863. Mr. Kelley 
 took the tenth Government census for the city of 
 Northfield in 188(1. He is iiow proprietoi- of the 
 South-side dairy, conijjrising one hundred and 
 sixty acres within the city limits, from which the 
 town is supplied with milk. Mr. and Blrs. Kelley 
 have one daughter, Eva I., born on the 2(lth of 
 October, 18()l!, at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 
 
 A. F. KiNGM.VN was born in Massachusetts in 
 1824, grew to manhood and received his educati<m 
 in that State. He taught school two years, then 
 engaged in running a wholesale notion wagom 
 selling goods in different parts of the State twelve 
 years. He was married in 1847, to Miss Marion 
 Jenkins, who was bom i7i 1824. She biu'e him 
 four children, only one of whom is living, Rolden 
 E. On account of his wife's failing health, he 
 removed to Minnesota in 1857; was on a farm in 
 Rice county until 18(34, then removed to Korth- 
 field, where he started a meat market, and several 
 years later engaged in buying wlieat, which he 
 continued four or five years and has since been in 
 the hardware business, the firm name being 
 Bacon, Kingman & Co. 
 
 Fr.vnklin Kelley was born in Newport, New 
 Hampshire, on the 24th of September, 1810. He 
 received his education in his native town and at 
 New Hampton Seminary, and afterwards tauglit 
 vocal music and the district schools for several 
 terms. He was married on the 2(')th of Novem- 
 ber, 1835, to Miss Temperance Dwiuell, of his 
 native place. Mr. Kelley was engaged in farm- 
 ing and the lumber business for about twentv 
 
 years, when, on account of his failing health, he 
 came to Minnesota and settled in Nortliiield on 
 the 22d of April, 1855, ))re-enii)ting near what is 
 now the city of Nortlifield. He was Ccuinty 
 Commissiojier several terms before jNIiunesota was 
 admitted as a State, was one of the building com- 
 mittee for the first church edifice in Northfield, 
 and has taken an active part in the religious insti- 
 tutions of the i)lace. Mr. and Mrs. Kelley have 
 had seven children, six of whom are living; 
 Marha E., Duren F., Mary A., Seth C, Lura E., 
 and Helen M., all but one of whom are married. 
 Mr. Kelley resides in the city and still owns his 
 old farm adjacent. 
 
 William A. King was born in Alexander, Gen- 
 cssee county, Nesv York, on the 5th of .\pril, 
 1820. He came to Illinois in 1840, where in 1855, 
 lie married Mrs. Marietta Brown, also a native of 
 New York. In 1808, he came to Northfield wber<! 
 he has since resided, having fourteen acrss of land 
 and a fine residence in the city. 
 
 Henky E. L.-\wrf.nce was born in Clareiuont, 
 Sullivan county. New Hampshire, on tlie 2()th of 
 May, 1852. At the beginning of the war his father 
 enlisted, went South, and died at Port Royal, 
 S )uth Carolina. The family came to Minnesota 
 in the spring of 1861, and settled at Northfield. 
 After Henry completed his education, he entered 
 the Enterprise newspaper office at the age of six- 
 teen, and afterward published the "Monday Morn- 
 ing News" at Minneapolis for one year. On the 
 1st of November, 1876, he established the "Diin- 
 da.s News," continued the j^nblication in that vil- 
 lage three years, when he removed to Nortlifield 
 and changed the name of his paper to the 
 "Northfield News." It has a large circulation in 
 both towns. 
 
 .TrLL\N A. Lawrence was born in Claremont, 
 Sullivan covmty, New Hampshire, on the 16th of 
 April, 1852. In 1860, he came to Northfield and 
 was engaged in agricultural pursuits several 
 years. In 1875, he started a saloon and has a fine 
 billiard hall on the corner of Fourth and Main 
 streets. He is chief of the fire department, is a 
 member of the Masonic fraternity and alsn an Odd 
 Fellow. 
 
 Edgar Lockekby, a native of Bridgewater, 
 Michigan, was born on the 9th of .August, 1838. 
 and came with his parents to Rice county in 1855. 
 They located in Bridgewater, where they remained 
 five years, then removed to Northfield. Our sub- 
 
430 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 ject went to Idaho in 1864, and remained eight 
 months, and for one year after his return was eu- 
 gagen in mercantile business. Then, in company 
 with Mr. Pwight Bushuell, he estabhshed a livery 
 stable. Their building is on West Third street. 
 Miss Ada BuUoek became his wife on the 9th of 
 September, 18GG. They have two children; Ida 
 F., and Charles E. 
 
 Drew H. Lord was bom in Lathrop, Susqe- 
 hanna county, Pennsylvania, on the 6th of June, 
 1844. He learned the carpenter trade and when 
 eighteen years old enlisted in the Seventeenth 
 Pennsylvania Cavalry, serving nearly three years 
 as musician. On receiving his discharge he went 
 to Seranton, where for eight years he engaged in 
 C(mtracting, building, and lumbering. He was 
 married to Miss Olive M. Lord on the 20th of 
 Aj:)ril, 1870. He made a trip to Kansas but re- 
 mained only a few months, and in December, 1873, 
 came to this place and entered the employ of the 
 Ames' as millwright. 
 
 C. W. Mann was born in Canada on the 20th of 
 May, 1830, and removed with his parents to Rook 
 county, Wisconsin, in 1845, where he received his 
 education and grew to manhood. He removed to 
 Minnesota in the spring of 1851, and four years 
 later located in Northfield, in section thirty-four, 
 where he engaged in farming ten years. He was 
 married on the 4th of December, 1856, to Miss 
 Elizabeth A. Bush, also a native of Canada, born 
 the 10th of May, 1832, the marriage ceremony 
 taking place in St. Paul. They have three chil- 
 dren; Bion E., born the 11 th of October, 1857; 
 Lydia D., born the 12th of September, 1859; and 
 Cora L., born the 31st of October, 1869. He re- 
 moved to the city of Northfield in the fall of 1869, 
 and has since been engaged in the lumber business. 
 
 Alexander Merritt was born near Waterford, 
 New Jersey, on the 15th of April, 1815, and when 
 young moved with his parents to Cayuga county, 
 New Vork, and grew to manhood on a farm. He 
 was married in 1839, to Miss Betsey Davis, a native 
 of New York, born in 1817, and removed to Michi- 
 gan where he engaged in driving stage. In the 
 spring of 1856, he came to Minnesota, located near 
 Hader, Goodhue county, and came to this place in 
 1877. Ho had a family of nine children, five of 
 whom are living; Roseltha, Ann, Frederic S., 
 Charles E., Melissa J., and William H. 
 
 Prof. T. N. Moun was born near Skieu, Nor- 
 way, on tlie 15th of July, 1844, and came with his 
 
 parents to America at the age of eight years. 
 They settled in Columbia county, Wisconsin. Our 
 subject graduated from the Lutheran College at 
 Decorah, Iowa, in the class of 1870, having taken 
 the full classical course, and in 1873, from the 
 Theological department of the Concordia College 
 at St. Louis, Missouri. In 1874, he came to St. 
 Paul; wfls engaged in the ministry a few months, 
 then, when Rev. B. J. Muus founded St. Olaf's 
 School at this place Prof. Mohn was sent to take 
 charge of it. He is principal of the Institution 
 and there are five or six teachers under his super- 
 vision. He was married in 1875, to Miss Anna E. 
 Ringstad, of Winneshiek county, Iowa. They 
 have two children; Nils Ivar Edward and John 
 Olaf Gerhard. 
 
 F. A. Noble was born in Vermont in 1825, and 
 removed with his parents to New Hampshire when 
 seven years old. He attended the common schools 
 and finished bis education at the Academy of New 
 Hampshire. At the age of twenty years he en- 
 gaged in the manufacture of lumber and followed 
 the same for years, and subsequently went to Bos- 
 ton where he was engaged in the music business. 
 He was married in Sanbornton, New Hampshire, 
 in 1845, to Miss Lyda A. Smith who was born in 
 the latter State in 1826. In 1860, they removed 
 to Minnesota, located near Cannon Falls where 
 Mr. Noble was on a farm one year and a half, then 
 came to Northfield and engaged in the manufac- 
 ture of leather and gloves. He has had a family 
 of five children, four of whom are living; Lyda, 
 wife of Charles Anderson; Clara Jane, Florence, 
 and Flora. 
 
 A. W. Noeton was born in Cattaraugus county, 
 New York, on the 1st of June, 1852. He remained 
 in his native county, living with his parents and 
 receiving a liberal education, until the western 
 fever reached the East, when they came to New 
 Richmond, Wisconsin. Here he remained until 
 1871, and then transferred himself to this place 
 and engaged in the dry goods store of Lee & 
 Hitchcock for the ensuing four years. He next 
 engaged in the insurance and loan business in 
 company with his brother who had preceded him 
 to Northfield, remaining in that business until the 
 bank with which he is now connected was started 
 by his brother, W. H. Norton, as a private enter- 
 prise. The subject of our sketch took the position 
 of cashier and when the Citizen's Bank was organ- 
 ized under the State law in September, 1878, he 
 
CITY OF NOUTIIFII-:!.!). 
 
 431 
 
 gave w<iy to his brother and became assistaut 
 cashier to him. On the 1st of .Tiinnurj', 1881, he 
 was re-elected cashier and still holds the jiosition. 
 In 1876, Mr. Norton was married to Miss Hattie 
 A. Strong, and one sou has blessed the union. 
 
 VV. H. Norton, deceased, a Ijrother of the sub- 
 ject of our last sketch, was alo born in Cattarau- 
 gus county, New York, in 1848. He came to 
 Northfield in 1868, and made his home here until 
 his death in 1880. He was most of the time en- 
 gaged in biinking, loaning aud insurance business 
 and was the founder of the Citizen's Bank, being 
 first president of the same. He erected the hand- 
 some bank building and did much toward making 
 Northfield what it is. He was highly esteemed by 
 all who knew him and left many friends to mourn 
 bis loss. 
 
 WrLLiAM S. Pattee is a native of Jacks<m, Waldo 
 county, Maine, born the 19th of September, 1846. 
 He attended the common schools and neighboring 
 academies, and in 1868, entered Bowdoin College, 
 from which he graduated in 1871, and was then 
 appointed Superintendent of public schools in 
 Brunswick. Maine. In 1871, Miss Julia Tuttle. 
 of Plymouth, in the same State, became the wife 
 of Mr. Pattee, and the next year he came to Illi- 
 nois, where he received an appointment as profes- 
 sor of natural history in Lake Forest University 
 in that State. In 1874, he removed to Northfield 
 where he had been elected Superintendent of the 
 public schools, and he did a great deal while iu 
 that office and since, in giving the schools the 
 reputation abroad for solid worth and attainments. 
 He had, previous to this time, studied law and in 
 1878, was admitted to the bar of Bice county, and 
 at once entered upon the practice of his profession 
 in the city of Northfield. 
 
 John Passon is a native of Germany and dates 
 his birth the 11th of October, 1823. He received 
 a good education and in 1843, entered the Prus- 
 sian army, remaining in service seven years and 
 participating in engagements iu Denmark. He 
 emigrated to America in 1852, and came to Minne- 
 sota seven years later, locating first in Winona. 
 He was married iu 1863, to Mrs. R. Hannerman 
 who had one sou by her first husband. She died 
 in this pl.ace. In 18(16, they removed to North- 
 field, where Mr. Passon owns property, both in (he 
 city and township. 
 
 William W. Payne was born in Somerset, 
 Hillsdale county, Michigan, on the 19th of Blav, 
 
 1837. He was reared on a f.irni. and at the age 
 of seventeen years taught school, wliicli occu]ja- 
 tion he followed three years, teaching a ])ortion 
 of the time and attending school tlu^ reuiainde.'. 
 At the age of twenty years lie entered the Hills- 
 dale College, from which he graduated in 1863, 
 then spent one year iu the law department of 
 Michigan Univei-sity, then the same length of 
 time in the Chicago Law School, graduating in 
 186J5, received the degree of L. L. B., and was ad- 
 mitted to the bar of Illinois. In 1866, Mr. Payne 
 removed to Mantorville, Dodge county, Minnesota, 
 and formed a partnership with E. Taylor, which 
 continued one year. He was the projector of the 
 •'Minnesota Teacher" and "Journal of Kducation," 
 which he published for about five years at St. 
 Paul. He was County Superintendent of schools 
 of Dodge county. In 1868, he was appointed 
 Clerk in the oflice of the Superintendent of Public 
 Instruction under Mark H. Dunnell. On the 8th 
 of June, 1870, Miss Josephine Viuecore, of Stan- 
 ton, Montcalm county, Michigan, became the wife 
 of our subject. In the winter of 1870 and '71, lie 
 purchased the paper known as the "Mantorville 
 Express," which he edited a few months, aud in 
 September, 1871, came to Northfield as Professor 
 o" mathematics aud astronomy in Carleton Col- 
 lege, and still holds the same position. In the 
 summer of 1881, the government made Carleton 
 College a signal office, and he was appointed vol- 
 untai'y signal observer. In March, 1882, he started 
 the "Sidereal Messenger," a monthly review de- 
 voted exclusively to astronomy. Mr. aud Mrs. 
 Payne have one child, Jessie V. 
 
 F. C. P. Pentz, M. D,,was liorn in Hanover,Ger- 
 many, on the 20th of January, 1823. He received 
 an education at the high school, and in 1841 and 
 '42, served in the Prussian army. In 1846, ho 
 entered the Gottingen Medical Institute, but did 
 not take a full course, and in 1848, returned to 
 the army. He came to America in 1850, and iu 
 1855, married Miss Rt>becca Abbott, a native of 
 Indiana. One year later they removed to Minne- 
 sota, but did not settle permanently in this place 
 until 1S67. Mr. Pentz has practiced as a physi- 
 cian jjart of the time since coming to this country- 
 
 Osi'AB P. Perkins, the first settler of the legal 
 professi(m in Kice county, was born in Stowe, La- 
 moille county, Vermont, on the 4th of January, 
 1830. His parents were Capt. Ellet Perkins and 
 Mrs. (Lathrop) Perkins, a daughter of Cap'. 
 
432 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTT. 
 
 Daniel Lathrop. When fifteen years old, Oscar 
 went to Woodstock, spent three years in farming, 
 attending a district school in the winters, and then 
 for the ensuing four years was a student at 
 Bakersfield Academy, teaching during the winter 
 season. In 1853, Miss Harriet E. Fay became 
 his wife. He commenced reading law with Wil- 
 liam C. Wilson, and was admitted to the bar in 
 June, 1854. He came to Minnesota in the autumn 
 of that year, spent the winter in St. Anthony, and 
 then located in Fariljunlt, where he practiced his 
 j^rotession twent_Y-oue years, and in 1876, came to 
 Northfleld, forming the law firm of Perkins & 
 Whipple. Mr. Perkins has held various ofBces 
 since his residence in the State; was County Attor- 
 ney four years, a member of the constitutional 
 convention in 1857; prosecuting attorney for the 
 Fifth Judicial District one term, and was iu the 
 State Senate in 18(57 and "68, being Chairman of 
 the judiciary committee both sessions. He was 
 elected Coimty Attorney in 1878, and still holds 
 the office. Their children are Fay and Mollie. 
 
 E. Pldmmer was bom in Lincoln county, 
 Maine, on the 24th of October, 1835. He was en- 
 gaged in farming and the raanufacure of lumber 
 in his native State until 1857, then came to Min- 
 nesota and located in St. .Anthony, now East Min- 
 neapolis, where he followed the latter employment. 
 He enlisted in 1861, in the First Minnesota 
 Light Artillery, and served till the close of the 
 war, participating in many heavy battles under 
 Gen Sherman. He lias been engaged in mercan- 
 tile pursuits most of the time since leaving the 
 army, and in 1874, opened a stock of goods in 
 Northfield, but has recently retired from busine.ss. 
 Mr. Plummer has been twice married; first in 
 1857, to Miss Sarah J. Norris, who died in June, 
 1806, and is buried in East Minneapolis. His 
 present wife was Miss Martha S. Moses, whom he 
 married in October, 1869. 
 
 C. W. Pyb is a native of Yorkshire, England, 
 born on the 10th of September, 1846. When he 
 was two and a lialf years old bis parents came to 
 America, and locate d in Du Page county, Hlinois, 
 where they remained till 1856, then removed to 
 Wheeling, Eice county, and located on a farm. Our 
 subject attended Shattiick School in Faribault 
 about five years, and for eight years afterwards 
 was engaged iu teacliing school, and since then 
 has practiced law. In 1878, he married Miss 
 Luc} A. Cook, wlio was born near Madison, Wis- 
 
 consin, the ]2th of March, 1845, and when sixteen 
 years of age came to Dodge county, Minnesota, 
 with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Pye have three 
 children; William W., Grace M., and Edith M. 
 
 Adel H, Eawson, deceased, a native of New 
 Hamp.shire, was born on the 19th of May, 1814. 
 His father was a physician, but lived on a farm, 
 where onr subject grew to manhood. When 
 twenty-one years of age, be went to Madison 
 county, New York, where he was engaged in mill- 
 ing for a time, and afterwards in mercantile pur- 
 suits. On the Cth of June, 1839, Miss Eliza Fos- 
 ter, of Stockbridge, Madison county, became his 
 wife. The result of the union is four children; 
 Milton, Sarah, Willis, and Flora, the latter of 
 whom died at the age of fifteen years. In 1857, 
 they removed to Northfield township, bought a 
 farm in section thirty-two, but always lived in the 
 city. He was quite extensively engaged in the 
 lumber business, and' in 1874, bought the saw 
 mill formerly owned by Whittle & Carlow, to which 
 he added a box factory, running them both two or 
 three years, then put in heading machinery and in 
 1878, began the manufacture of barrels, making 
 from 75,000 to 80,000 annually, most of them be- 
 ing used at home. His son and A. P. Morris were 
 with him in business imder the flim name of Eaw- 
 son & Co. Mr. Eawson died on the 12th of July, 
 1882, and is buried in Northfield cemetery. 
 
 Willis Eaw.so.v, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. H. 
 Eaw.son, was burn in Stockbridge, Madison county, 
 New York, on the 3d of July, 1848, and came to 
 Minnesota with his parents in 1857. In 1872, 
 Miss Sarah A. Converse became his wife, and they 
 have had four childreu, three of whom are living; 
 Willis C, Stella, and Je-^se. Their youngest child, 
 Carlis Merle, was born on the 4th of December, 
 1881, and died the 17th of July, 1882. - 
 
 0. N. Eamsdell was born in Windham county, 
 Vermont, on the 11th of May, 1816, and there 
 grew to manhood on a farm. In February, 1842, 
 he married Miss Maria E. Field, a native of New 
 Salem, Massachusetts, born on the 29th of Sep- 
 tember, 1820, and removed to Vermont with her 
 parents when twelve years old. In April, 1855, 
 they came to this State, located first on a farm in 
 Scott county and in February, 1858, came to this 
 township and settled on Prairie Cre?k, but now 
 reside iu the city. They have one child, Ella M., 
 now Mrs. C H. Watson. 
 
 WiLLi.vM H. Eeviek is a native of St. Lawrence 
 
CITY OF NOHTITFIELT). 
 
 433 
 
 county, New York, born on the 3d of March, 1855. 
 Wlien twelve years of age he came to Bridge- 
 water, Rice county, with his mother and brothers, 
 and the former still residis iu that township. Our 
 subject came to Northfleld iu March, 1881, and 
 does business under the firm name of Sampson X' 
 Revier. He is one of a family of eleven children, 
 of whom there are three girls and eight boys. 
 
 Cabl Rtcheij, a native of (xermany, was born in 
 1830, grew to manhood and received his educa- 
 tion in his native country. He was a carver by 
 trade, working at it there four years, and in 18.53, 
 emigrated to New York City, where he engaged in 
 the furniture business. He then removed to New 
 Hampshire where he married Miss Sojihia Oldham, 
 a native of England, born in 1836, the ceremony 
 taking place on the 20th of July, 1857. In two 
 years he went to Ashburnham, Massachusetts, 
 where he remained over three years engaged at 
 his trade, then moved to Gardner in the latter State 
 and in the spring of 1874, came to Blinnesota, lo- 
 cated in Northfleld, and established a cigar manu- 
 factory. Mr. and Mrs. Richel havp eleven children ; 
 Charles A., twenty-four years old; Alfred H., 
 twenty-one; William 0.. nineteen; Herbert, eigh- 
 teen; Benjamin F., sixteen; Emma, fourteen; 
 Christian F. S., ten; Josejjhine S., eight; Sarah, 
 six; Esther S., five; and Joseph G., one. Mr. 
 Richel is a man of good address, sociable, and 
 liked by all 
 
 Charles Siofield was born in Racine county, 
 Wisconsin, on the 22d of March, 1842. His father 
 came to Minnesota in 1855, and the following year 
 moved his family to Bridgewater, Rice county, 
 and located on a farm. Dr. Scofield soon moved 
 to Northfleld, where our subject received his edu- 
 cation and learned the painter's trade, which he 
 still follows. In October, 1861, he enlisted in the 
 Fourth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, Company 
 F, and served till the close of the war, participat- 
 ing in the battle of Corinth, Lookout Mountain, 
 and others. He was married in March, 1867, to 
 Miss Harriett Riddle, a native of Canada. They 
 have three children; Aura Ann, George Henry, 
 and Robert Leroy. Mr. Scofield has a residence 
 in the city and a farm in Dakota Territory. 
 
 John L. Soofield, M. D., was born in Stam- 
 ford, Connecticut, on the 23d of July, 1811. His 
 l)nrents were in the latter place on a visit at the 
 time of his birth, but were residents of New York 
 City. John graduated from the University of 
 28 
 
 Pennsylvania in 1832, and commenced practice in 
 New York. He sul)sequently went to Jackson- 
 ville, Floridi, remaining but a short time, then to 
 Raymond, Racine county, Wisconsin. In 1830, 
 he married Miss Betsey A. Dibble, the ceremony 
 taking place on the 24th of July. He remained 
 in the latter place with the exception of two years, 
 1849 and '50, spent in California, until 1850, then 
 came to Northfleld, where he was the first, and for 
 many years the only physician in the place. He 
 flrst made a claim about four miles south of the 
 village and iu March, 1858, removed to the town. 
 In 1857 and '58, Mr. Scofield was a member of the 
 Legislatui-e and lias also filled local offices. He 
 has had four cliildren, two of whom are living; 
 Francis L., and Charles. 
 
 Hiram Si 'river, a native of Hemmingford, 
 Quebec, Canada, dates his birth the 22d of April, 
 1830. He engaged in mercantile establishments 
 till 1850, when he came to this place, and on the 
 12th of June purchased the general merchandise 
 store of Coulson Bros., who had started the first 
 store in town a few months before. Mr. Scriver 
 lias been iu business here ever since and was an 
 early member of the board of Supervisors, of 
 which he was Chairman; also a member of the 
 school board and has held town and county otflces. 
 He was married in 1800, to Miss Clara E. Oliu, 
 and they had one child who died when two years 
 old. Mr. Scriver was the first Mayor of the city 
 of Northfield and was in the Legislature in 1877 
 and '70. He has been one of the trustees of Carle- 
 ton College since its organization, and recording 
 secretary until the last meeting of its officers. 
 
 Solomon P. Stewart was born in Williams- 
 town, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, on the 
 28th of August, 1823, and removed with his 
 parents, at the age of twelve years, to Williams- 
 town, Cswego county. New York, and five years 
 later he engaged in the lumber business. In the 
 spring of 1844, he came to Racine county, Wis- 
 consin, where he engaged as a machinist, and 
 afterward in the livery business. In 1857, he 
 came to Northfield and has since taken a deep 
 interest in the progress of the ti iwn, having served 
 iu the school board six years and as Mayor two 
 years. He has been twice married; first, in 1849, 
 to Miss Mary Allen, of Geneva, Wisconsin. She 
 died in January, 1801, leaving two children; 
 Granville W., and Mary Bell. His present wife 
 was formerlv Miss Emilv S. Tuttle, whom he mar- 
 
434 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 ried on the 10th of April, 1863. They have three 
 children; Carl L.. Carrie E., and Mary B. 
 
 James W. Stisonq, D. D., President of Carleton 
 College, is a native of Vermont, born iu Browniiig- 
 ton, Orleans county, on the 29th of September, 
 1833. He graduated from Beloit College, Wis- 
 consin, iu 1858, and from Union Theological Semi- 
 nary, New York, in 1862, being ordained in Sep- 
 tember of the same year. He commenced his 
 duties as a minister at Brodhead, Wisconsin, and 
 after two years came to Faribault, Minnesota, 
 where, in January, 1866, he^was installed as pastor 
 of the Plymotith Congregational church. He be- 
 came the first President of Carleton College in 
 1870, then known as Northfiekl College, and sub- 
 sequently the duties of professor of mental and 
 moral philosophy were assigned him. Mr. Strong 
 was married at Beloit, Wisconsin, to Miss Mary 
 Davenport, a native of Milan, Ohio. The union 
 was blessed with four children, one of whom is 
 dead. Those living arc William B., born on the 
 8th of December, 1866; Edward W., born on the 
 22d of October, 1870; and Arthur D. W., born on 
 the 6th of March, 1874. 
 
 Hiram Spraoue was born near the village of 
 Ellisburgb, Jefferson county. New York, on the 
 16th of December, 1827, and there received his 
 education, learning the carpenter trade. His father 
 was captain on a vessel running from Ogdens- 
 bnrgh, New York, to Chicago, on the great lakes, 
 and when Hiram was seventeen years old he was 
 on the vessel with his fattier. In 1864, he came to 
 Minnesota and located on a farm on Prairie Creek 
 in Northfield township, where he remained five 
 years, then moved into the city. He has had three 
 children, two of whom are living; Lora Genevieve, 
 and Mary Eloise. The eldest is married. 
 
 Tbdman H. Streeter, a native of Rowe, Frank- 
 lin county, Massachusetts, was born on the 16th 
 of December, 1816, and removed with his; parents 
 to Whitingham, Vermont, when quite young. He 
 worked on a farm and iu a woolen mill until eigh- 
 teen years old, then entered the Whitingham 
 Academy, from which he graduated three years 
 later. Ho then went to New Jersey, taught school 
 two years and returned to his home. He com- 
 menced tlie study of law and was admitted to the 
 bar of Windham county, Vermont, some jears 
 later. He was a Kepresentative from Windham 
 county in the State Legislature in 1858, and dur- 
 ing t'Je Kebellion was a recruiting ofKcer. In 
 
 1868, he came to Minnesota, located in this place 
 and has since practiced his profession here. He is 
 Court Commissioner and Justice of the Peace, be- 
 ing elected to the former five consecutive terms of 
 three years each, and the latter four times in suc- 
 cession. He has been married twice; his first wife 
 was formerly Miss Nancy M. Taylor, and the 
 second wife Mrs. Eliza A. Thayer, both of whom 
 are dead. 
 
 Charles M. Thompson, M. D., was born in Scot- 
 land, on the 7th of July, 1844, and emigrated with 
 his parents to America when ten years of age, lo- 
 cating in Worcester, Massachusetts. In a short 
 time they removed to Waterville, Maine, and when 
 fifteen years of age our subject came to Still- 
 water, Minnesota, and in one year went south for 
 his health. In 1865, he came to Northfield and 
 clerked two years, studying medicine at the same 
 time. He then went to Ann Arbor, Michigan, 
 graduating from the University of that place in 
 the spring of 1870, and has since been iu practice 
 here, with the exception of one year Spent in Eu- 
 rope at the University of Edinburgh and St. 
 Bartholomew Hospital in London. He was mar- 
 ried in 1881. to Mrs. .\nnie M. Smith, the ceremony 
 taking place on the 30th of August. 
 
 Capt. D. S. Van Ambtjrgh is a native of Jas- 
 per, Steuben county. New York, and dates his 
 liiith the 27th of June, 1836. He received a good 
 education and learned the mason's trade, coming 
 to Wisconsin in 1854, and locating in Dane 
 county, where he was engaged in teaching school 
 part of the time. He came to Minnesota in 1859, 
 but did not settle until May, of the next year. 
 He entered the service in May, 1864, and was as- 
 signed to the Sixth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, 
 Company I, went soutli and served till the close of 
 the war. He was married in 1862, to Miss F. S. 
 Patterson, and they have two sons, William E. 
 and George C. He came to Northfield in 1873, 
 and has a farm of fifty acres in the city limits, 
 and has been engaged in teaching most of the 
 time since his residence in the State. 
 
 C. H. W.\TSON was born in Canada in 1843, and 
 came to Red Wing, Minuesots, in 1855, where ho 
 received his education and grew to manhood. Ii' 
 August, 1862, he enlisted in the Sixth^ Minnesota 
 Volunteer Infantry, Company F, served tlireo 
 y.'ars and was mustered out at Fort Snelling. H.; 
 returned to Red Wiug, where he learned the har- 
 ness maker's trade, and in 1867, came to Northfield, 
 
VITY OP j^OUTIIFIELD. 
 
 435 
 
 where he has since been engaged at his trade, with 
 the exception of three years, wlien ho was farming. 
 He was married in 18C8, to Miss Ella M. Rams- 
 dell, a native of Vermont, who has borne him five 
 cliildren;Earl H., EUiot C, Clara M., Fred J., and 
 Amy F. 
 
 KoBERT Watson was born in Dundee, Scotland, 
 in September, 1825. He came with his parents to 
 Cleveland, Ohio, when twelve years of age, and 
 in April, 1850, in company with his brother Wil- 
 liam to Minnesota. They came from Galena, Illi- 
 nois, on Capt. Smith's new steamer "Nominee," 
 her first trip to St. Paul. The first Territorial 
 Legislature had then but recently adjourned, it 
 having organized three counties east of the Mis- 
 sissippi, all the territory west being in possession 
 of the Sioux. In May. 1850, Mr. Watson settled 
 in Cottage Grove, Washington eounty, there being 
 but three families living in the place at that time- 
 viz: J. S. Norris, J. W. Furber, and Theo. Fur- 
 ber. He was a member of the Fourth Territorial 
 Legislature, in which the since famous Joe Rolette 
 represented Pembina and all beyond. In 1851, 
 Mr. Watson married Miss Mebetabel W. Furber, a 
 sister of those early settlers and a native of Maine. 
 They have four children living, the oldest born 
 before the admission of Minnesota as a State. 
 The subject of this sketch is well acquainted with 
 the first settlers on Cannon River and in the 
 northern part of Rice county, many of them being 
 young men from Cottage Grove and the southern 
 part of Washington county. He has pic-niced at 
 Vermillion Falls when Hastings was not, all the 
 country west being one vast wilderness. His 
 mother, one of the oldest settlers of this place, is 
 still living in Northfleld, aged eighty-one years. 
 
 Rev. Isaac Waldron was born in Cu.t'>u, 
 Canada, on the 20th of Novemlier, 1812, auit grow 
 to manhood in his native place. When about 
 twenty-eight years old he removed to Derby, Ver- 
 mont, and afterward attended the academy at that 
 place three years. He was married in 1839, to 
 MLss Eliza A. Goodhue, a native of Now Hamp- 
 shire, but who afterward lived in Canada. In 
 1843, Mr. Waldrcu was ordained as a minister of 
 the gospel, and has continued to preach until seven 
 or eight years since, when his health tailed. In 
 1858, he came to Minnesota in the interest of the 
 Baptist Home Mission Society, but in 1874, re- 
 tired from the field, and has since lived in North- 
 field. He has a family of three children, having 
 
 lost two. Those living are; Lu E., E. P., and 
 C. J. 
 
 Richmond L. Wakd, a native of Cayuga 
 county. New York, was born oi' the 31st of Jan- 
 uary, 1839, and reared on a farm. In 185(5, he 
 came to Northfield, remained but one season, then 
 went to Wisconsin and engaged in farming. In 
 1862, he married Miss Nancy Maganty, the cere- 
 mony being performed on the 4th of October. In 
 1864, he removed to Illinois, where he farmed 
 four years, then returned to this place and learned 
 the mason's trade, at which he has since been en- 
 gaged. 
 
 Steven V. Ward, one of the first settlers here, 
 was also born in Cayuga county. New York, on 
 the 17th of October, 1832. When nineteen years 
 old he learned the mason trade, worked at it in his 
 native place until 1853, when he came to Beloit, 
 Wisconsin. In 1855, after working in the latter 
 State and Illinois, he came to Northfield and pur- 
 chased a town lot, but spent that year in Hast- 
 ings working at his trade. He then settled per- 
 manently in this place, and was married on the 
 7th of July, 1856, to Miss Ellen J. Tague, who 
 has borne him two children; Uelass C. and Carrie 
 L. Mr. Ward spent sis months in the army in 
 in Tennessee. 
 
 Mi'KON Whitaker was born in StalTord, Con- 
 necticut, on the 15th of May, 1847. While still a 
 child he came with his parents, William and Lunah 
 (Cushman) Whitaker, to Dakota county, Minne- 
 sota, where they wer; pi^iueers in Greenvale town- 
 ship. In eight years our subject came to North- 
 field, where he learned the carpenter trade at 
 w'lich he has since been en ./iged. and is also a 
 mill- Wright. He married IMiss .Tenuis Sidwell on 
 the 15th of May, 1870, and tliey have had four 
 children, two of whom are living; Hattie B., and 
 and Donna M. Mr. Whitaker served eight montlis 
 in the First Minnesr •■. Heavy Artillery. He has 
 a brother. Frank, u w living in Farmington, and 
 a sister, Josej^hiue, now Mrs. Alfred Needham. 
 
 John F. Wvman was born in Roekport, Maine, 
 on the 25th of November, 1840, and when seven 
 year? old went to Rockland to live with his 
 grandfather, who died when our suliject was thir- 
 teen years old. He returned to his former home 
 in Roekport and lived with an uncle; at the age of 
 sixteen years was apprenticed to learn the carpen- 
 ter trade, and three years later went to Tiverton, 
 Rhode Island, where he clerked till the 22d of 
 
43fi 
 
 HISTORY OF RICK COUNTY. 
 
 August, 1861, when he enlisted in the Third 
 Rliode Island Volunteer Infantry, Company C^ 
 which was afterwards converted into Artillery. 
 He enlisted as private hut was mustered out as 
 First Lieutenant on the 9th of June, 1865. He 
 then returned to Maine, worked at his trade a 
 few months and went to Massachusetts, where 
 he remained n short time and then came to 
 Northfield, entering the employ of the Ames' as 
 clerk. In 1867, he engaged in a planing mill 
 and manufactory of sash, doors, and blinds, in 
 company with E. C. Dwinel, but four years 
 later their establishment was destr(3yeJ by fire. 
 On the 19th of June, 1870, Mr. Wyman married 
 Miss Eliza H. Uolby, and they horve three chil- 
 dren; Paul, Kate, and Fannie R. He went to 
 Iowa, remained one year, then returned to tliis 
 jilace and one year later went to Minneapolis, 
 where he worked for two years in a sash, door 
 and blind factory, and at the end of that time 
 came here to settle permanently. He has since 
 been with the Ames' as wheat buyer and super- 
 intendent of outside work. He was a member 
 of the City Council in 1878 and '79. 
 
 Eev. ,Iame.s F. Wilcox was born in Westmin- 
 ster, Vermont, on the 29th of Septeml:)er, 1806, 
 and was reared on a farm. When eighteen years 
 of age, he went to Mason Village, New Hamp- 
 shire, where for three years he was teaching school 
 and studying at intervals; then removed to New 
 York, following the same employment, and in 
 ISHO went to Massachusetts and entered the Acad- 
 emy at Wakefield. Three years later he studied 
 in the Theological Seminary at Newton, from 
 which he graduated in 1836. In January, 1837, 
 he was ordained as pastor of the Baptist church 
 at Amesbury; remained there until 1842, and went 
 to Taunton, where he assumed the same duties til] 
 1849. when he removed to Springfield as agent for 
 the American Baptist Missionary Union, remaining 
 a year and a half. He went to Burlington, New 
 Jersey, and thence, in 1854, to Trenton, and four 
 years later to Northfield, Minnesota, arriving 'on 
 the 1st of May. For twelve years he had charge 
 of the Baptist church here, and also three other 
 churches a portion of the time, located at Owa- 
 tonna, Medford, and Castle Kock. Of late years 
 he has had no regular charge, but still continues to 
 preach: Mr. Wilcox has been twice married, first 
 to Mi,ss Louisa Smith, wlio bore him two children; 
 Maria L,, wlio died in 1866, au<l Frank J., now 
 
 cashier of the First National Rank at this place. 
 His jjresent wife was Miss Irene Colby, who was 
 at one time principal of the Normal School at 
 Trenton, New Jersey. Our subject has been an 
 earnest worker in the schools, and President of the 
 Bjard of Education. 
 
 ChaeiiBs Augustus Wheaton, deceased, was 
 born on the 1st of July, 1809, in Amenia, Dutch- 
 ess county. New York. His parents moved to 
 Pompey Hill,Onondaga county, when he was but six 
 months old. He received his education at Pompey 
 Academy, which was a leading institution of 
 learinng in that part of the country. At the age 
 of twenty-five years he married Ellen, eldest 
 daughter of Victory Birdseye, a prominent lawyer 
 and public servant in western New I'ork. After the 
 lapse of a year and a half, Mr. Wheaton moved to 
 Syracuse, Onondaga county. Early in his career 
 he espoused the anti-slavery cause, and was asso- 
 ciated familiarly with Gerrit Smith, Beriah Smith, 
 William Lloyd GarrLson, and others. "He was 
 also active in the temperance reform, and was for 
 several years identified with the educational inter- 
 ests of Syracuse. When he first went to the latter 
 city he became a member of the Presbyterian church 
 and was an earnest worker in it for many years, as 
 superintendent of the Sunday school, leader of the 
 choir, etc., but finally withdrew from the church 
 on account of disagreement on the slavery ques- 
 tion. He, with others who symj^athized with him, 
 organized a First Congregational church, wliich he 
 served earnestly in various capacities. 
 
 All these years he carried on successfully an ex- 
 tensive business, but finally becime much embar- 
 assed. The truths of the New Cliurch came to 
 him when adversity hedged him in, and gave him 
 much comfort. The loss of his wife, the compli- 
 cations relative to a railroad through some of the 
 Southern States for which he was heavily respon- 
 sible, revolutionized his affairs, and in 1860, 
 through the influence of his old and honored 
 friend, John W. North, he left his old home and 
 sought a new one in the state of Minnesota. In 
 1861, he married Martha Wagner, daughter of 
 the late Thomas Archibald, of Dundas, Minnesota, 
 and settled in the town of Northfield^ where he 
 was a resident for nearly twenty -two years. His 
 iittention was first turned toward the milling in- 
 terests, but of late years he was engaged in edit- 
 ing "The Rice County Journal." His love for his 
 
BRIDGISWATERTOM-SSIIIP. 
 
 437 
 
 country was always a strong passion with him, 
 anil has descended through the narrower circles of 
 State, county, and town. His funeral ceremonies 
 were held at the Congregational chureli of Fiiri- 
 liault, on the 17tli of Mareli, ISS'i, and the lianks 
 
 and many of the business houses were closed out 
 of respect to the memory of the dcofiasixl. 
 
 C. H. Pierce was associated with him in the 
 management of the"Rice County Jourual,"and now 
 the firm name is Wlieatou &, Pierce. 
 
 BRIDGEWATER. 
 
 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 GENEKAL DESCRIPTION EARLY SETTLEMENT — 
 
 POLITICAL EDUCATIONAL — DDNDAS VILLAGE — 
 
 INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISEK CHITKCHES — GRADED 
 
 SCHOOL — BIOGR APHK !AL. 
 
 This is one of the banner subdivisions of Riee 
 county, being one of the river and railroad (owns. 
 The Chicago, Milwaukee ct St, Paul railroad 
 enters on the eastern boundary of section two, and 
 crossing in a southwesterly direction leaves 
 through section thirty-one and enters Cannon City 
 township. The Cannon River divides the town, 
 winding its tortuous course almost j^arallel with 
 the railroad, running in a northeasterly direction. 
 The town is bounded on the north by Dakota 
 county, on the south by Cannon City township, on 
 the east by Northtield, and on the west by Forest 
 and Webster. It embraces 40 sections, in all 
 25,()00 acres, and takes in all of township 111, 
 range 20, with the exception of the northeast cor- 
 ner section, and also includes sections thirty-one 
 to thirty -five inclusive, of township 112, same 
 range. This makes it the second township in size 
 in the county. 
 
 The township is well watered by miraerous 
 streams, among them Heath Creek, Spring Creek, 
 and others of more or less importance. The Can- 
 non River has been mentioned heretofore. Aside 
 from these rivers and streams there are several 
 small lakes nestling among the hills, among which 
 are Macklewain, Spring, Albers, and Hart. The 
 surface is rather more broken than that of a ma- 
 jority of the towns in the county, and is mostly 
 timber land. Along the northern line and in the 
 northern part the timber is interspersed with spots 
 of prairie, which have been converted into the 
 most valuable farming land in the county. In 
 the southern part, and in fact in many parts of the 
 
 township, are interspersed pieces of prairie land. 
 The prairie in the southern part is called Little 
 Prairie and makes the richest farming land in the 
 townsliip, containing liOO or 700 acres. Portions 
 of it was originally covered with hazel lirush. 
 Along the river the surface is usually broken and 
 hilly, and there is found an aljundance of limestone 
 which is very fine for either lime or building jJur- 
 pos(>s, but as you retreat from the stream the sur- 
 face is more of a rolling nature. Sjirings are not 
 uncommon in the town. 
 
 One peculiar physical feature is what is known 
 as "Hogs Back," which is a narrow ridge, com- 
 posed of sand and coarse gravel; it is about 20 to 
 40 feet high and 100 feet through at the base. This 
 commences in section twenty-one, aud extends in 
 a southwesterly direction f(U' a mile or mcire. The 
 supposition is, and it must, we presume, ever re- 
 main a theory, that at some ancient date a flood of 
 water piled up the mound and then receded, leav- 
 it as an everlasting memento of its prowess. We 
 will venture no theory in regard to it — it is tliere 
 — and an explanation of it we leave to the archa- 
 eologist. 
 
 EARLY .SETTLEMENT. 
 
 The auspicious epoch of the first arrival in this 
 townsliip dates back further than most of the sub- 
 divisions of Rice county, aud it may be said that 
 from the first advent of the "early settler" until its 
 fertile farms were all the homes of thrifty farmers, 
 the tide of incomers was constant and irrepressible. 
 Of course in this sketch it is not possible, nor is it 
 the intention, to carry the settlement of the town- 
 shij) in detail up to the present day, but we have 
 used o\ir utmost endeavors to chronicle the inter- 
 esting incidents of early settlement, and the most 
 notable arrivals. 
 The first exploration of this township, with a 
 
438 
 
 HISTORY OF BICE COUNTY. 
 
 view to securing homes, occurred in 1852, in the 
 fall. Although this is disputed by a few who claim 
 there is a mistake in the date, we are led to be- 
 lieve, from a personal interview with one of the first 
 explorers, that the date is correct, the jiarties con- 
 testing not having made their appearance until 
 two or more years after the t ne referred to. 
 
 Albon and John Hoyt, two brothers, were the 
 first to make their way to the town, and their first 
 trip through was in the fall of 1852, although 
 they did not take claims until some time later. 
 They had been stop,, 'ng on the Mississippi River 
 for a short time, and having heard considerable 
 about the Cannon River Valley, they decided to 
 take their earthly possessions on their backs and 
 see what the reports concerning a "land flowing 
 with milk and honey" were based on. They 
 started with the intention of going as far as Fari- 
 bault, and return. Their first night was spent in 
 camp on th; A'ormilli.iu River, and the nest night 
 at Waterford, from there passing over the terri- 
 tority of Bridgewater and reaching Faribault. 
 Here they met Alexander Faribault, who told them 
 that they had just passed over the finest country 
 in the Territory of Minnesota, and they decided 
 to look more closely on their return. They re- 
 turned by the same route as they came, but failed 
 to find claims that suited them. Mr. A. Hoyt 
 says that ' 'Although one upon the land at that 
 time was 'monarch of all he surveyed,' it was a 
 more difficult matter to select farms than would be 
 imagined. The country was beautiful and im- 
 pressive! I could gaze all about me, on the beauti- 
 ful hills covered with a mass of green verdure 
 swaying in the gentle breeze, that dipped silently 
 down to the level of the many trickling streams, 
 and say, here is the place of my choice; but, upon 
 gazing to the right or left I saw another that lured 
 me on by its fascinating beauty. And I followed! 
 The mania had seized me and almost before I knew 
 it I had reached my old stamping ground on the 
 Mississippi." The brothers remained on the Mis- 
 sissippi UDtil the 10th of March, 1853, when they 
 again started for the Cannon River valley, this 
 time determined to stay. They brought with them 
 a couple of barrels of flour, 200 pounds of sugar, 
 axes, etc. A man by the name of Irish brought 
 them in by team, and the greater portion of the 
 distance they were obliged to cut their way 
 through the timber. In due time they arrived at 
 Faribault and pushed on to Cannon City where 
 
 they camped and began to look for claims in 
 earnest. Albon Hoyt finally took a claim on sec- 
 tion eleven, in Bridgewater; John, his brother, 
 took a place west of him, adjoining the site of 
 Dundas village, and Irish made up his mind to 
 secure the townsite of Dundas, which he did. 
 
 John and Albon commenced at once the erection 
 of a log cabin near where Slee's farm residence 
 now is, the size of which was 12x11. They put up 
 the sides of poplar logs and then Albon Hoyt and 
 Iri.sa left John on the ground with provisions, etc., 
 to finish the cabin while they returned to the 
 shores of the Mississippi to attend to their im- 
 provements there. AVhile they were gone, and 
 before John had roofed the cabin, a snow storm 
 came up, and John, in laying in the cold and wet 
 became very sick with fever and ague; so bad, in- 
 deed, that he became delirious and was in a very 
 dangerous condition as he had no means of start- 
 ing a fire. In this condition he was discovered by 
 the Indians, and they, thinking him drunk began 
 sporting with him, saying, "Miunewankon seetya 
 do," (whisky bad very J, and the band finally went 
 into camp near by. It did not take long, how- 
 ever, for them to discover that he was not drunk, 
 but very sick, and two Indians came to him one 
 day saying, "Puck-a-chee Habo tee-pee," which 
 meant "go to Faribault's home." After a time he 
 was taken to Faribault by the Indians, and there 
 staid at Bush's house until he recovered, the 
 "medicine man" making him potions which worked 
 a speedy cure. 
 
 In a short time a Mr. Closseu came through 
 Faribault with five yoke of oxen, and he and 
 John move'd together, back to the Hoyt farms in 
 Bridgewater. Here they finished the cabin be- 
 gun by John and Albon, and broke ten acres on 
 John's place, this being the first farrow turned in 
 the township. In June, Clossen yoked his oxen 
 and took John to the Mississippi, where Albon 
 and Irish were, and here he remained until fully 
 recovered. In the meantime Irish had taken the 
 claim where Dundas now is, with the water power, 
 and intended to get a friend from Ohio to go in 
 partnership with him in the erection of a saw-mOl. 
 
 In June, Albon Hoyt, Irish, and a man named 
 Bliss, came to the farms to make improvements, 
 and Albon planted two acres to potatoes, etc., by 
 just raising the sod and putting his germ under- 
 neath. After planting he did not touch or culti- 
 vate them until harvest. When harvest time came 
 
BllIDGEWATEIl TO WNSlllP. 
 
 439 
 
 the entire force left to attenJ to the crop on the 
 Mississippi Eiver, where John still renuiinod vv- 
 cuperating his health. 
 
 In Septemher, 1853, Albon and John both re- 
 turned to Bridgewiiter, this time with the inten- 
 tion of remaining, and found that during their 
 short absence another pioneer had made his ar- 
 rival. This was Mahlon Lockwood, who had ar- 
 rived with his wife and several children, and lo- 
 cated jnst south of Dundas near the Archibald 
 farm; and, as he brought a cow and a yoke of 
 oxen, he was a valuable acquisition to the meagre 
 settlement. He had already put up a little board 
 shanty-, the material for which he had brought 
 with him, but this, it is said, would not keep the 
 sun out, so the entire party at once commenced 
 work on, and soon finished, a substantial log house 
 for the protection of the Lockwood family, and all 
 began to make preparations for the winter, which 
 they knew would be long and severe. Nor were 
 they wrong, as the long, dreary, and bitterly cold 
 months that followed proved, and some of the 
 settlers say they have hauled rails for fuel when 
 their faces were actually coated with a veil of ice 
 and their finger frozen stiff. 
 
 The Indians were plenty in the neighborhood! 
 and the timber abounded with all kinds of game; 
 deer, elk, and bear were the main articles of food, 
 and a good hunter in those days could always be 
 a high liver. The settlers made many fast and 
 useful friends among the Indians, all of them hav- 
 ing learned their "lingo" were almost as much at 
 home among them as though they were whites. 
 They were not troublesome in regard to thieving, 
 if treated well, and the following incident will 
 serve to show the confidence felt in them. An 
 old Indian came one day to Albon Hoyt's cabin 
 and wanted to borrow his rifle, saying he could 
 not kill deer with his shotgun, and that if tlie 
 "white man" would only allow him to take the rifle 
 three weeks, he would return it at the end of that 
 time in as good order as it was at the time of his 
 getting it. Albon allowed him to take it, and the 
 Indian disappeared. For three weeks nothing 
 was seen of Indian or gun, but on the day that the 
 three weeks expired, the Indian and rifle appeared 
 at the door, with a handsome present of game 
 that compensated him. Many incidents like this 
 occurred, and the old settlers came to believe, in 
 the words of Mr. Hoyt, that "if treated right 
 they are considerable better than the average 
 white."' 
 
 This carries the settlers through a hard winter, 
 and brings them uito the siiring of 1854, with 
 Albon and John Hoyt and the Lockwood family. 
 Irish had gone to the Mississippi, intending to re- 
 turn during the summer. Hopes jan high among 
 them, for they were confident of a good crop, 
 and all had succeeded in getting more or less land 
 ready for seeding,in fact all the available laud was 
 sown until their seed was exhausted. A good 
 crop was the result, although the acreage sown 
 was comparatively very small. 
 
 In the meantime the settlement had commenced 
 in v.-uious parts (jf the county. Northfield and 
 vicinity had received a numlter of settlers,"aud the 
 entire settlement north of Faribault was known as 
 "Alexandria," after Jonathan Alexander, who was 
 an early pioneer ncarNorthfleld. Other portions of 
 this townhad also begun making evolutions toward 
 civilization, as in the same year, (1854) we find 
 that Kdmund Larkius, Job Chester, Joseph Drake, 
 and Daniel Bundy, all made their appearance and 
 began opening farms in the eastern part of the 
 town. This settlement, however, properly be- 
 loufred to the Northfield section, as they were di- 
 vided from Dundas by the heavy timber ridge, 
 and it was not until several years after the settle- 
 ment began that a road was cut and graded 
 through the timber strip. 
 
 C. 0. Stetson, from Philadelphia, came in the 
 month of July, 185-t, on his way to California, but 
 as he ueared the Cannon Valley he heard so much 
 of its beautiful scenery, its excellent farming land, 
 and the unsurpassed advantages of the country, 
 he determiued to secure a farm, which he did on 
 section twenty -four, where he still lives. He came 
 in company with Morris B. Stiles, with a team 
 they had bought in St. Paul. Stiles took a claim 
 adjoining Stetson on section twenty-four, this sec- 
 tion being on what was then known as the Indian 
 trail, a north and south stage line from Fort Snel- 
 ling to Faribault; and a short time after their 
 arrival the Hastings stages passed through their 
 farms; this being an east and west line. The for- 
 mer of these received its name of "Indian Trail" 
 from the number of Indians that were constantly 
 passing over it to and from the agency at Fort 
 Snelliug, and after the agency was removed from 
 there, this was the established treadway of the In- 
 dians in visiting one another, until the Sioux out- 
 break in 1862, since which time they have almost 
 entirely disaj)peared from this as well as most of 
 
440 
 
 ETSTORT OF RIG E COUNTY. ' 
 
 the towns in the eoiiuiy. This road is now the 
 coanty road through the eastern part of Bridge- 
 water, having been straightened considerably. 
 
 Stetson and Stiles at once put up a log shanty 
 and commenced keeping "batch," the former of the 
 two earning a wide reputation as a "cookist," as the 
 stage drivers called him. They were not troubled 
 with Indians, except as beggars, and although 
 they would not "steal for the sake of stealing," as 
 is claimed by some, victuals and anything like 
 licjuor for medicinal purposes had to be carefully 
 guarded or locked up. 
 
 C. C. Stetson kept several cows and made excel- 
 lent butter which he used to treat his visitors 
 with, and on one occasion left the house unlocked, 
 with his milk pans arrayed in order about the 
 pantry. His pans had been leaking and he had 
 driven j)ine ])lugs into the holes to remedy it. 
 During his absence .somebody called at the house 
 and pulled out all the plugs, and upon his return 
 he found his floor bathed in milk and he was so 
 much butter behind. Mr. Stetson also started a 
 blacksmith shop soon after he got here, which was 
 the first shop in this part of the country, and did 
 a good business shoeing horses on the stage lines. 
 The shop is still in full blast at Mr. Stetson's farm 
 on section twenty-four. 
 
 Morris Stiles' place finally went into the hands 
 of Mr. P. Oleson, an early settler who still lives 
 on the farm. The latter gentleman, in company 
 with Captain John Hanson, came in 18.54. 
 
 In June, 1854, the eastern part of the township 
 received its first settlers in the persons of the Drake 
 brothers, Charles B., J. R., and A. W. Daniel 
 Bundy came about the same time, and all located 
 in school district number two. Tliey all put up 
 log cabins in which they lived for a number of 
 years. 
 
 Everything ran along very smoothly during 
 the summer and in November, 1854, Mr. H. M. 
 Matteson, a New- Yorker, arrived with a livery from 
 St. Paul, prospecting for a chance to settle and 
 make a speculation. He was favorably imiiressed 
 with the location, liut did not settle or take any 
 land at the time, driving back to St. Paul and 
 returning the following year; arriving in the spring 
 of 1855, he jumped the claim that Mr. Irish had 
 selected and paid him for improvements. This 
 was the claim where Dundas is, including the 
 water-power, and he then commenced laying plans 
 lor throwing a dam across the river and erecting 
 
 a saw-mill. His next move was to get out timber 
 for a mill, but before it was fairly begun he sold 
 his entire interest and 740 acres of land to the 
 Archibalds, in June, 1857. Mr. Mattesou, after 
 selling his property here, removed to Faribault 
 where he still lives and is a prominent man. 
 
 This year, 1855, yielded the most bountiful 
 harvest to the pioneers of Bridgewater of any 
 year before or since. Wheat yielded from 40 to 
 45 busiieLs per acre, and the average price received 
 was $1.50 per bushel. 
 
 James Babb, of New Hampshire, had become 
 one of the settlement in April, 1854, with his wife, 
 and was located southwest of Dundas, adjoining 
 the place now known as the Archibald farm. He 
 afterwards, in company with another early pio- 
 neer, commenced the erection of a saw-mill. 
 
 James Smith was another who came this year 
 and remained for several years. He was after- 
 wards Town Clerk for a number of years in Fari- 
 bault, and was finally killed by Indians on his way 
 to California. 
 
 In the spring of 1855, Jacob Emery made his 
 appearance, and after looking about for a short 
 time decided to locate on Little Pi-airie, south of 
 Dundas, and he out his way three miles through 
 the heavy timber to get to the place that suited him. 
 He finally reached it and was so well satisfied 
 that he still remains on the farm, in sections 
 twenty-one and twenty-eight. 
 
 Then the settlement commenced very rapidly 
 and in June and July of that year one could look 
 in any direction and see the white-winged prairie 
 schooners. Many came and found temporary 
 homes, who in the hard times that followed sold 
 for little or nothing and left the country. Among 
 those who came to stay were the Donaldson 
 brothers, James, John, Isaac, and Robert, who 
 idl settled in the timber in the southern part of the 
 town. Three of these, James, John, and Robert, 
 are still in the township, and Isaac is now Regis- 
 ter of Deeds of Rice county. 
 
 The Sheppards and Macklewains came and set- 
 tled in the southern jjart, the latter naming the 
 little lake in section thirty-two, but have since 
 quietly folded their tents and departed. 
 
 •T. S. and George Archibald arrived in June, 
 1855, and platted Dundas, besides ouilding the 
 mills. They are treated more fully elsewhere. 
 
 Others came and settled in early days, many of 
 whom are noted under the head of "Biograj)h- 
 
BUI DUE WAT EH TO ]V:^;<ini'. 
 
 441 
 
 EVENTS AND INCIDENTS. 
 
 'J'hc first religious services in the ti)wu were hold 
 in Edmund Larkius' liouse in 1855, I>y Rev. Mr. 
 Cressey, of the Baptist faith. The siiiuo rovorcnd 
 geutlemau also held services in .T. R. Drake's pri- 
 vate house to an audience of about thirty persons, 
 in 1856. 
 
 The first death in BriJgewater occurred in the 
 fall of 1854. in the departure of Jesse, a child of 
 Edmund and .Jane Larkius, who lived in the 
 Stetson settlement. A son of tliese parents was 
 among the first births, and occured in the spring 
 of 1855, with not a physician, nor even a woman 
 present to assist the mother. The child was chris- 
 tened Bruce, and is now a young man residing in 
 the township. 
 
 A. W. Drake deeded a cemetery ground to 
 Northfield, and liis father was the first to find his 
 last resting place in it. Joseph Drake died in 
 April, 1857, at the age of 03 years. Another 
 early death was the demise of Mrs. Owen, in Dun- 
 das, in 1855, early in the spring. 
 
 The earliest marriage, undoubtedly, in the 
 township, was celebrated in 1855, when Miss 
 Mary M. Drake and Daniel Bundy were united in 
 the bonds of wedlock. 
 
 In 185(5, by mutual consent. Miss Catherine 
 Tucker was united to Mr. Smith Alexander. 
 
 In June, 1857, C. C. Stetson and Amelia Howe 
 were married. 
 
 The first Post-office established in the town was 
 known as the Fountain Grove Post-otEce, and was 
 opened in the winter of 1855-56, in the northeast- 
 ern part of the town. The olliee was removed to 
 Northfield within one year. 
 
 Edmund Larkins was one of the arrivals in 
 1854, and he brought a number of head of young 
 stock with him, settling in section twenty-four. 
 One day in the spring of 1855, a numljer of emi- 
 grant wagons passed his house while his stock was 
 grazing in the hollow near C. C. Stetson's cabin 
 and when Larkins came to look for his cattle they 
 were nowhere to be seen. He became frantic and 
 rushed down to Stetson's, and without stopping 
 to explain or say a word took one of the horsja, 
 tbey being the only ones in the neighborhood, and 
 started in hot pursuit of the white covered wagons, 
 which had about three hours start of him. He 
 rushed on, goading the horse almost to death, and 
 finally, at night, overtook them, and found they 
 had seen nothin" of his cattle. He had been on 
 
 a wild goose chase from his home to near St. Paul, 
 and camping out of doors that night, the follow- 
 ing day made his a])j)earance at home with his 
 arm over the horses withers, limping in a most 
 singular and pitiful gait. Here he found his cat- 
 tle_ quietly grazing within a few rods of where he 
 had got the horse. To pay for his folly he carried a 
 pillow to sit on for several weeks, and felt that 
 another trip like that would necessitate buckling 
 a strap around his waist to keep him from splitting 
 in two, as it was said the ride made his legs an 
 inch or so longer, but we will not vouch for the 
 latter statement. 
 
 A terrible murder was committed in the town of 
 Bridgewater on the 30th of June, 1867. The 
 criminal was Alfred Hoyt; the victim being Josiah 
 Stamford, who had a farm adjoining Hoyt's. 
 There had been some trouble about the trespassing 
 of the cattle, and the parties met in the woods and 
 had some words, when Hoyt felled his neighbor 
 to the ground by a blow from an axe and then cut 
 oil' his head. He then went to the house and made, 
 a murderous assault upon Mrs. Stamford with the 
 axe, but she lieing a muscular woman defended 
 herself until her daughters and nous coming to the 
 rescue, secured him by tying, and then, he an- 
 nounced that he had killed the old man, and on 
 repairing to the pot it was found to be too true. 
 The man was at once placed in the hands of tl e 
 officers of the lav/, and upon trial was judged in- 
 sane and accordingly committed to the insane 
 asylum. 
 
 In .June. 1867, the papers had an article hea<led, 
 "Female Monster." The facts of the ease were 
 that Mathilda Kergin, living a mile and a half 
 from Dundas, was brought before Justice Perkins 
 on the 13th of June, 1867, charged with brutal 
 jiunishment of a boy that lived in her family by 
 the name of Franklin Pierce Adams, a lad of 
 eleven years of age. The boy's mother was dead 
 and he was l)0und out to the Kergins. He was 
 horribly whipped with more than one hundred 
 and fifty stripes, many of them cutting through 
 the skin. It seems that he had gone some distance 
 to do a certain piece of work, which detained him 
 longer than this sweet-tempered female thought 
 necessary, and she met him and knocked him 
 down, and with a cruel switch thrashed him in an 
 unmerciful manner, and what is most astonishing, 
 two full-grown men sat there and let her do it, 
 without remonstrance or interference. She was 
 
442 
 
 HISTOBT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 fined $50 and costs, and in default of payment 
 committed to jail. 
 
 POLITICAL.. 
 
 Tlie first town meeting ot Bridgewater, for the 
 purpose of organizing the township, was held on 
 the 11th of May, 1858, at the house of Fernando 
 Thompson in the village of Dundas. The meeting 
 was called to order and 0. C. Stetson was chosen 
 chairman, pro Urn., and Benjamin Lockerby, mod- 
 erator. They next proceeded to ballot for officers, 
 which resulted as follows: Supervisors, Benjamin 
 Lockerby, Chairman, Jacob Emery, and J. A. Up- 
 ham; Clerk. C. C. Stetson; Assessor, Eoyal Ester- 
 brook ; Collector, Fernando Thompson ; Overseer of 
 the Poor, James Gates; Justices of the P(^ace, Geo. 
 Barton, David Hatfield, and W. B. Taylor receiv- 
 ing the same number of votes, neither were de- 
 clared elected; Constable, Charles B. Drake and 
 Fernando Thompson were a tie. The whole num- 
 ber of votes cast at tliis election was fifty-nine. 
 
 During the war this township did its part, 
 furnishing men as fast almost as they were called 
 for. and at the time of the organization of the 
 First Minnesota Regiment three men went into it 
 from Archibald brother's store. A special town 
 meeting was held in 1864, at which the sum of 
 $1,500 was voted to pay a bounty to volunteers, 
 and bonds were issued at 7 per cent, to pay the 
 same. The sum of $25 was paid to each man. The 
 judges appointed were J. R. Drake, H. Drought, 
 and D. Hatfield. ■ At a session some time afterward 
 an additional appropriation of 8900 was made, 
 there being at that time four volunteers needed. 
 
 The management of the town has been efficient 
 and able, and no events have transjaired to inter- 
 rupt tlie usual tranquility of town government; 
 the management of the finances of the town have 
 alsobeea commendable. 
 
 The officers elected for 1882 are as follows: Su- 
 jjervisors, J. W. Huckius, Chairman, J. W. Koss, 
 and A. Wescott; Clerk,' J. M. Oliver: Treasurer, 
 H. M. Baboock ; Justices of the Peace, William 
 Tew and J. W. Ennis; Assessor, W. B.Henderson. 
 
 EDUC'ATION.VL. 
 
 The general history of the rise, progress, and 
 present condition of the schools in the town ot 
 Bridgewater is almost, in its salient points, a du- 
 plicate of tliat of almost every other township in 
 the county we might mention; it will, however, be 
 of interest to the residents of the various districts. 
 
 The educational interests of the township are di- 
 vided into six district schools and one graded. 
 The districts are all in good financial condition, 
 and the schools well attended. The total amount 
 of school property in town is about .'$11),000. 
 
 DisTKiOT No. 2. — This should probably have 
 been district No. 1, as the schoolhouse was the first 
 put up in the county. In the spring of 1856, it 
 was decided to build a schoolhouse, and Charles 
 Wheeler and others, during the night, quietly ap- 
 propriated timber from section sixteen. In the 
 daytime they hauled it away, and put up their 
 schoolhouse, the size of which was about 20x.30 
 feet, upon the southeast corner of section twelve. 
 
 The first school was called to order soon after by 
 Miss Martha Kelley, now Mrs. A. Dodge, of 
 Northfield. School was continued in this building 
 two terms each year until 1880, when the old 
 bouse was burned, and then the present building 
 was erected at a cost of $1,700. This is the best 
 district schoolhouse in the township, being heated 
 with furnace and furnished with the latest im- 
 provements. 
 
 District No. 11. — The first school held was in 
 a log house, the organization being eflected in the 
 latter part of the fifties. The stone schoolhouse 
 now in use by the district for school purposes is 
 one of the best in the township; it is located in the 
 southern part of section thirty-five. The present 
 school board consists of Messrs. John Cheney, 
 J. J. Chester, and E. McKibbie. The school has 
 about twenty-four pupils. 
 
 District No. 13. — The first school was taught 
 in the latter part of 1856, or early in 1857, by 
 Miss Lockerby, in McKinley"s house, when the 
 district may be said to have been organized. The 
 first winter school was taught by .James Ecles, 
 with about twenty scholars. The present site of 
 the schoolliouse is in the southwestern part of sec- 
 tion twenty-four. 
 
 District No. 15. — The first school in the dis- 
 trict was taught in 1857, when the district 
 was organized, in a log building owned by Bmith 
 Alexander, and the following year a log school- 
 house was put up on the same site. This build- 
 ing served the purpose until 1865, when it was 
 destroyed by fire, but the following year it was 
 replaced by the building now in use. The loca- 
 tion of the school is the northwestern corner of 
 section twenty-eight. 
 
 District No. 31. — The first school was called 
 
BRIDGEWArEU Towxsnir. 
 
 443 
 
 to order in 1857, by Peter Scuriugton in a house 
 a liouse on section eight. The history of the 
 early organiziition and growth of this district 
 seems to be iihuost forgotten, ;is tlioso who live in 
 the same who have been interviewed, are very 
 conllieting in their statements. The location of 
 the present schoolhouse is the northern part of 
 section six. 
 
 DisTiiTCT No. 01. — The organization of this 
 district was effected in 187-1, and it is, therefore, 
 the youngest district in the township. The first 
 school was held in the present schoollionse in 1874, 
 with forty-flve scholars in attendance. Miss Lucy 
 Cowan being the teacher. Their neat and sub- 
 stantial schoolhouse was erected in 1874, at a cost 
 of about $(500: the school board at that time being 
 composed of Messrs Tew, Gurran, and Donaldson. 
 The present members of the board are William Tew, 
 Henry Piatt, and W. S. Partlow. The school is 
 located in the southwestern part of section nine. 
 
 DUND.VS. 
 
 This is the only village in the township of 
 Bridgewater, and is the third in size and impor- 
 tance in the county. It is situated on the Cannon 
 River, near the center of tlie town, its village plat 
 extending into sections ten, eleven, and fifteen. 
 The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad con- 
 nects the village with the outside world, passing 
 through it in a southwesterly direction. 
 
 The location of tliis thriving village is all that 
 could be desired. As we contemplate the changes 
 of a quarter of a century past we can scarcely com- 
 prehend or realize that the results of time's won- 
 der-working hand are the achievements of a period 
 so brief as to be within the remembrance, almost, 
 of the present generation. 
 
 Let us turn back, as it were, the leaves of time's 
 great book to but a quarter of a century ago, and 
 the stranger would have gazed upon a landscape 
 of wondroiis beauty; selected by Dakota as his 
 camping ground, with that singular ajipreciation 
 of the beautiful which nature made an instinct 
 with the savage. These noble forests wei'e as green 
 then as now, the prairie flowers blot}med as thickly 
 and diffused their fragrance as bountifully. Wo 
 are in the haunt of the red man, with scarcely a 
 trace of civilization, and literally a wilderness. 
 But what a contrast! Then all was as nature had 
 formed it, with its variegated hues of vegetation; 
 in winter a dreary barren waste, in summer a per- 
 fect paradise of tiowers. Now many traces of the 
 
 primitive are obliterated ; in place of the tall prairie 
 grass and tangled \mderbrush, we behold the rich 
 waving fields of golden grain. In place of the 
 dusky warriors' cal)ins are the elegant and sub- 
 stantial dwellings, and the ''iron horse," swifter 
 than the nimble deer, treads the pathway so rec- 
 ently the trail of the red man. 
 
 In point of location, Dundas is all that could be 
 desired. The Cannon River at this point furnishes 
 one of the most valuable water-powers in the State, 
 and with the a.ssi8tauce of relial)le railroad con- 
 nection with eastern markets, its future is assured. 
 The Minnesota Central railroad has already sur- 
 veyed and graded a line through the place and by 
 fall the lomotive will be pushing its way through 
 the village on this line. 
 
 The immediate surroundings of the village are 
 timber lands, but within a mile from the limits 
 you emerge from the timber and before you lie the 
 richest prairie and farming lands in the State; 
 dotted with well built and costly farm houses, in- 
 dicating the thrift and prosjjerify of the farmers 
 from which the village receives its support. The 
 main part of the village, and where most of the 
 residences are, is upon the east side of the river, 
 up(m the level table land extending from the low 
 hills to the river. A majority of the business 
 houses iind the Dundas mills are on the west side 
 of the river, while the old stone mill and the 
 coojjer shops are on the island which separates the 
 river at this point, and which is connected to the 
 main land by substantial iron liridges sjianning 
 the divided river. 
 
 E.^KLY Settlement. — As stated in the article on 
 the early settlement of the township, the land 
 where the village now stands was pre-empted in 
 18.52, by Irish; and he broke a few acres and then 
 left, when H. M. Matteson came in the spring of 
 18.55, and jumped the claim, paid Irish for his 
 improvements, and commenced to get out timber 
 for a mill. In June, 1857, J. S. and George N. 
 Archibald arrived and purchased of Mr. Matteson 
 the town site, and at once laid out the town. They 
 threw a stone dam across the river and commenced 
 the erection of the old stone mill. 
 
 In the fall of 1856, a saw-mill was erected by a 
 Mr. Veeley, about 80 rods above the Archibald 
 mill site, on the river, and shortly after the com- 
 pletion of it the firm became -Tames Bafib i: Veeley. 
 A small dam was thrown across the river, which 
 secured a three foot head of water. The mill was 
 
444 
 
 EISTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 equipped with a circular saw, aud was purchased 
 by the Archibalds a short time after their arrival, 
 aud used to timber the new grist-mill. After this 
 was set in motion the work on the stone mill pro- 
 gressed rapidly, and in the same year it was com- 
 pleted and in motion. The rhill contained four 
 run of stones and was at that time considered the 
 best mill in the State. It was two stories high 
 with a stone basement, and still stands on the 
 island opposite the present fine mills. Flonrmade 
 by the old mill was taken to St Paul and Minne- 
 apolis by team, and won the reputation of being 
 the best made in the State. 
 
 The first store started in Dundas was built and 
 stocked by J. S. & G. N. Archibald in 1858. The 
 store stood one block south of the bridge, and 
 was known far and near as the "Dundas Cash 
 Store." The first frame residence in town was 
 put up by the same gentlemen at the same time 
 and is now occupied by the widow of J. S. Archi- 
 bald. 
 
 The next store, and really the first substantial 
 one, was opened in 1859 by E. G. & J. J. Ault, 
 with about a 93,000 stock, in the building now 
 occupied as the shoe shop of Mr. Richert. In 
 1861, George Kirkpatrick purchased the Archi- 
 bald Brothers' store and stocked it up. This occu- 
 pied the building now used as a residence by Ed. 
 Coppin. The Ault brothers afterward put up a 
 substantial stoue building. 
 
 In 1858, the Post-office was established, and 
 Herman Jenkins was first ajjpointed to handle the 
 mails. He was called the traveling Post-master, 
 because he would go to Northfield, get the mail, 
 and then deliver it to the few inhabitants in the 
 ])lace. In 1859, the people of Northfield raised a 
 bonus aud secured a daily stage mail on the line 
 from Northfield to Faribault. This was continued 
 until the railroad was constructed through the 
 place in 1804. The Post-office has in the mean- 
 time passed into numerous hands, and finally J. 
 M. Oliver, the present accommodating and efficient 
 Postmaster was appointed, and has since retained 
 the office. 
 
 Hotels. — In 1858, the first hotel was put up in 
 Dundas by H. Jenldns. It stood where the Arch- 
 ibald Company barn now is. It was not a very 
 gorgeously furnished establishment, bnt it served 
 the purpose until it was burned to the ground 
 some years later. 
 
 The next hotel was put up liy H. C. Komoll, and 
 
 is still run and known as the "Komoll House." 
 Next was started the "Franklin Hotel," kept by 
 that best of hosts, A. Frink. 
 
 A few years ago Mr. Cramer started "Mer- 
 chants' Hotel," near the depot. 
 
 In 1870, Dundas had a population of about 
 500. In the last ten years it has almost doubled, 
 now having about 1,000. 
 
 EVENTS OF INTEBEST. 
 
 The first house or bifilding ever erected on the 
 town site of Dundas was put up in the spring and 
 summer of 1855, by the owner at that time, H. M. 
 Matteson. It stood on the west side of the river 
 near the Blerchants" Hotel; built of logs, size 
 16x20 feet, and for those days a good and sub- 
 stantial house. Mr. Matteson afterward told Mr. 
 Archibald, the owner, that he would buy the old 
 house and lot back, and board it up so as to "pre- 
 serve it for future reference," but Mr. Archibald 
 stated that the house was in the center of the 
 street and had to be torn down. 
 
 Among the first, and we are inclined to believe 
 the first death to occur in Dundas, was a daughter 
 of Wm. and Mary B. Taylor, named Calista, aged 
 twelve years, of diphtheria. This occurred in Oc- 
 tober, 1856. A daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor 
 was born on the 4th of January, 1856, and was 
 the first birth. The child was christened 
 Clara E., and still lives with her mother in 
 Dundas. 
 
 A short time after the occurrence above men- 
 tioned, Jacob, a son of Ira Markell, was born. He 
 also still lives in Dundas. 
 
 An early death was the child of Mr. H. C. 
 Komoll, the hotel keeper. 
 
 William B. Taylor was drowned in April, 1866. 
 The bridge over the Cannon River had been 
 washed out, and he, as well as other employes in 
 the mill, were obliged to go to and from their work 
 in boats. One day, as he, in company with the 
 miUer, Thomas Handy, and two others were cross- 
 ing, the boat was capsized, and they were left 
 struggling in the water. Two of the occupants 
 were saved, but Taylor and Handy were swallowed 
 by the greedy torrent and both met watery graves. 
 Wm. B. Taylor left a wife and six children, and 
 Thomas Handy a wife and three chil'^ien. 
 
 VILLAGE OKGANIZATION. 
 
 In the spring of 1879, the residents of Dundas 
 having come to the conclusion that an organiza- 
 
inilDGEWATEI! TOWXSllIi: 
 
 415 
 
 tion of the village was necessary, accordingly 
 took steps auil had the village chartered. The or- 
 gauiziition was effected by the election of the fol- 
 lowing officers: Council, E. T. Archibald,Presideut, 
 C. W. Brown, R. R. Hutchinson, J. T. Thielbar, 
 and F. Shaudort; Recorder, D. W. Markell; Treas- 
 uicr, E. G. Ault; Justice of the Peace, J. R. De 
 Cousins; Marshal, C. Runnels. 
 
 The bu.siness of the village has been transacted 
 in a commendable and economical way. 
 
 The present officers are:' Council, C. Runnels, 
 President, P. K. Empey, Henry Carrol, A. Wool- 
 ery, and Wm. B. Henderson; Recorder, A. Hed- 
 re'n; Treasurer, J. W. Huckins; .Justice of the 
 Peace, Edward Strange; Marshal, John C. King. 
 The council rent a building east of the iron bridge 
 for a Village Hall, and have made an addition to 
 the same for a lock-up. 
 
 DU.1DAS GRADED SCHOOLS. 
 
 This organization for educational purposes em- 
 braces the village of Dundasand the immediately 
 sTirrounding territory, and in its management, both 
 financially and educationally, has been one of the 
 most prudent and efficient institutions in the 
 county. 
 
 The first school in Dundas was taught in 18.58, 
 in a building erected for a meat market, standing 
 where Hoyuck's bakery now is, and had in atten- 
 dance fifteen children. The teacher was Miss 
 Mary Hutchison, now Mrs. Drought. It was at 
 this time organized as district No. -t, and a house 
 erected soon after. The records commence on the 
 30th of May, 18f>5, the first record being a letter 
 from the Clerk of tlie district to County Superin- 
 tendent Buekham, stating that "if a teachi r is not 
 secured ft>r the summer term our 80 or 40 childrea 
 must run wild until fall." In ISGCi, an appropria- 
 tion of S600 was made to furnish an addition to 
 the schoolhouse. On the 12th of May, 18(i8, the 
 district was organized into a graded school and 
 .$4,000 in bonds voted to erect a school buildiug, 
 the site selected being Maple Grove. Accord- 
 ingly, in 1869, W. C. Cleland took the contract 
 and finished one half the present building at a 
 cost, when furnished, of about )j!5,0()0. In 18SI, 
 the requirements of the school demanded an in- 
 crease, and the same contractor finished the othc r 
 , half of the building at a cost of 82,000, making 
 the total cost about .§7,000. The schools are now 
 in good condition, employing three teachers with 
 an attendance of about 2.50 jjupjls. 
 
 SECRET SOCIEXr. 
 
 A. O. U. W. -An Ancient Order of United 
 Workmen was instituted in Dundas on the 27tlu)f 
 February, 1878, with twenty-four charter mem- 
 bers. The prime movers in this, or those through 
 whose instrumentality it was organized, were H. 
 E. Lawrence, E. G. Ault, A. Hedreen, and C. W. 
 Brown. 
 
 The first officers elected were: Blaster Workman, 
 A. Hedreen; Recorder, H. E. Lawrence; Ti-eas- 
 nrer, R. R, Hiitchin.son; Financier, .1. M. Oliver. 
 The present officers are as follows : Master Work- 
 man, J. P. Hummel; Recorder, C. Runnels; Treas- 
 urer, A. F. Thielbar; Financier, J. M. Oliver. The 
 order now has twenty-one members in good stand- 
 ing, and is in the most prosperous and nourishing 
 condition. 
 
 EETjIOIOUS. 
 
 The religious and God-fearing people of Dun- 
 das are divided into four denominations, and they 
 have already erected three substantial and neat 
 buildings, and another is now in process of erection. 
 Speaking financially, the churches in this place 
 are in as good condition as is usual in a town of 
 this size, and one may get an inference from that 
 as to their standing. Below we give a condensed 
 notice of the organization and principal proceed- 
 ings of each. 
 
 Episcopal. — The fii-st service was held in Archi- 
 bald's hall in 1864, by Bishop Whipple. Their 
 church was erected in 1868, by W. C. Clel.aud, 
 contractor, at a cost of ij7,000, and dedicated with 
 Bishop Wiiipple officiating. Rev. W. J. Gould 
 was the first regular pastor and remained for seven 
 years, after which Rev. Humphrey presiiled for 
 two years, and since that time they have had no 
 regular preacher. As above stated their church 
 was built in 1868 at a cost of $7,000, and iu 1874, 
 a neat parsonage was erected at a cost of aljout 
 iJS.SOO. Tliis was all ])ut up at the expense of, 
 and donated to the society by, J. S. Archibald, 
 with a very little aid from a few others. Mr. 
 .Archibald, at the time of his death, in 1875, 
 lieqneathed the sum of S15,000 to the churcli, 
 making his total donations foot up to .f 25,000. 
 
 German Lutheran. — The fii-st service held by 
 this denomination was in the summer of 1866, in 
 the old schoolliouse cm the cast side of the river, 
 by Rev. Shultz. Shortly afterward the organiza- 
 tion was effected, ha\ing at first about twelve 
 
446 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 members. Services were held at various places 
 until 1881, wheu they commenced the erection of a 
 church edifice on Second street, on the east side of 
 the river. The building is not completed as yet. 
 Among the jjastors to officiate in this denomina- 
 tion are Eeverends Shultz and Sipler. The pulpit 
 is now supplied by the Lutheran minister of Fari- 
 bault. 
 
 Peesbyterian. — This society formally organ- 
 ized in the year 1865. with Eev. J. I. Smith 
 officiating, and had about twenty members. In 
 1867, they commenced the erection of a church 
 which was finished the following year at a cost of 
 about $1,200, and this is the building now in use 
 by the society. The pastors have been : Reverends 
 Breck, J. H. Hunter, W. S. Wilson, James IMc- 
 Lain, W. E. Donaldson, and J. C. Garver, the latter 
 being the present pastor. The church was dedi- 
 cated on the 17th of July, 1868. 
 
 Methodist. — There was at one time a strong 
 organization of this denomination here, but at 
 present there is not much interest felt or shown in 
 it. They erected a church and a parsonage. The 
 former was finally sold and is now used by Mr. 
 Phillip Empey as a livery stable; the parsonage 
 was destroyed by fire the 2d of March, 1879. 
 
 INDUSTBIAIj ENTERPRISES. 
 
 As all the industries of this nature in the town- 
 ship are centered at Dundas, they will all be 
 treated under one head, and a review of the various 
 manufacturing establishments of the village and 
 township will be appropos to thisoccason, as they 
 are the nucleus to the now prosperous village- 
 The first we will allude to will be the manufactur- 
 ing enterprise known as the 
 
 Dundas ELOtTRiNG Mills, which have ever been 
 the magnet around which have clustered the vari- 
 ous business interests of wh.ich the town is pos- 
 sessed. These mills, in their past years of useful- 
 ness, have achieved a reputation perhaps second 
 ti) none other .similar institution in the State. Ac- 
 cumulation of Imsiness and an increased demand 
 for the productionsof the establishment from time 
 to time, rendering an increase of capacity necessary, 
 have been the means of forcing alti rations which 
 have made its capacity without equal in this part 
 of the State. 
 
 The mills are located on the west bank of the 
 Cannon River, within the limits of the village, and 
 consist of the main building, the old stone mill, 
 and several warehouses. 
 
 In 1857, J. S. and G N. Archibald, natives of 
 Canada, came to Dundas and put up the old stone 
 mill upon the island, building a stone dam across 
 the river and securing a good water-jjower. Four 
 run of stones were placed in the mill and opera- 
 tions commenced the same year. The crops fail- 
 ing that year and the following one the mill was 
 not operated to its full capacity until 1859, when 
 a small merchant bolt was jjut in, and in this con- 
 dition the mill was run until 1870. Shortly after 
 building and commencing operations, the firm was 
 dissolved; G. N. going out and J. S. continuing 
 until 1870, when it became J. S. & E. T. Archibald; 
 and at that time the frame portion of the present 
 main building was erected, size 35x70 feet, five 
 stories high, with a basement, and to this has been 
 added a stone wing 36x80 feet, joining the frame 
 on the north. 
 
 In 1866, the original dam, built in 1857, was 
 washed away, and the year following rebuilt. In 
 1871, the mill was enlarged to an eight run mill, 
 and in 1879, it was entirely remodeled and con- 
 verted into a roller mill. Thirty-five sets of rollers 
 were put in, and two burrs, making a capacity of 
 500 barrels per day. 
 
 The power by which the mill is run is both 
 steam and water; having nine feet of water fall, 
 and a 150 horse-power steam engine — making the 
 propelling force of the mill efficient and perma- 
 nent. The steam power was added at the recon- 
 struction of the mill in 1879, a substantial stone 
 engine house being erected at that time. About 
 same time a side trai^k was laid from the main line 
 of the raih'oad to the mill door. 
 
 The present firm is E. T. Archibald & Co., en 
 personnel E. T. and Cyril Archibald. The origin- 
 ator and startor of the enterprise, J. S. Archibald, 
 died in 1875, leaving many earnest and warm 
 friends to moUrn his loss. His widow, Mrs. C. C. 
 Archibald, still lives in l^undas, much esteemed 
 by all. 
 
 Cooperage. — In connection with the mill is the 
 cooper business. The shops are located on the 
 island, one on each side of the street. Their ca- 
 pacity is only limited by the number of barrels 
 in demand per day. and this branch of industry is 
 certainly as important a factor and as beneficial 
 to Dundas as any it contains. It employs as a . 
 rule about thirty men. When started they were 
 operated in connection with and under the man- 
 agement of the Diuidas mills, but of late years it 
 
niilDGEWATKIi Towys/iir. 
 
 447 
 
 has been managed by a co-operative CoopGr'a 
 Association. 
 
 Star Flodkixg Mills. — To get at the founda- 
 tion of this mill's establishment, one must go back 
 in date to 1869, when the firm of Drought & Hutch- 
 inson purchased the ground north of the bridge, 
 on the west side of the river, for a saw-mill. Thoy 
 at once put up a steam saw-mill with a perpen- 
 dicular, and a circular saw. This was run by them 
 four years and then sold to Jacobs & Dittis, who 
 run it until it was biirned, two years later. In 
 1877, the site was purchased by James Pcppin, 
 who commenced the erection of the mill which is 
 both a flour and saw-mill. Three run of stones 
 were put in and an 80 horse-power steam engine. 
 In 1880, the firm became Newell ct Peppin, and 
 the mill was remodeled and rollers put in in ad- 
 dition to the burrs, making the capacity about 
 l.'iO barrels. The saw-mill in connection is 
 ecpiipped with a circular saw, and has been piling 
 up saw-dust to the present time. The flouring mill 
 was only operated for about one year, the proprie- 
 tors having become involved in" debt. The mill is 
 a large tliree story and abasement building, and 
 tba entire outfit is estimated at having cost about 
 S30,000. 
 
 Cochran Mill. — A small custom mill was 
 erected in 1878 by Robert Cochran, on section 
 twenty -two, and was run by steam. For a short 
 time it did a good l:)usiness, but was finally, in the 
 fall of 1880, destroyed by fire. 
 
 Hoover Saw -Mill. — This enterprise was orig- 
 inally established in Cannon City by J. M. Hoover, 
 but after running there a short time was moved to 
 his farm on section thirty-two. It is run by 
 steam, and does good work. Mr. Hoover is still 
 proprietor of it. 
 
 The First Saw-Mill.— In the fall of 18,50, a 
 saw-mill was erected by a Mr. Veeley, a short dis- 
 tance from the present location of the Dundas 
 mills. It was run a short time by Babb & Veeley, 
 and finally, in 1857, was purcha.sed by J. S. and 
 G. N. Archibald. It was run by water-power, atlam 
 having been built which gave them tlircc feet fall 
 of water. This was the first institution of a man- 
 facturing nature started in this entire section of 
 country. A description of the mill is given else- 
 where. 
 
 Railroad Business. — An idea can be formed 
 of the business importance of Dundas from the 
 following items obtained through the kindness 
 
 of the affable depot agent Mr. J. W. Cam- 
 eron. 'V\io shipments from Dundas in A])ril, 
 1882, amounted to '2,230.2:i0 ])()nnds, composed of 
 the following items: Flour, 1,. 5.58.780 pounds; 
 mill feed, 009,700 pounds; merchandise, 56,770 
 pounds; potatoes, 5,270 pounds. The freight re- 
 ceived during this month amounted to 2,405,792 
 pounds. 
 
 The shipmcuts during May were as follows: 
 Fhiur, 1,141,400 pounds; mill feed, 640,100 
 pounds; potatoes, 11,860 pounds, and merchan- 
 dise, 48,690 pounds. The total shipments for the 
 month were 2,642,910 pounds. Received during 
 the month, 2,40;J,305 pounds. 
 
 During the mouth of June the shipments were 
 as follows: Flour, 2,630,050 pounds: mill feed, 
 431,200 pounds; merchandise, 4,320 pounds, and 
 two car loads of wood. Total shipments for June, 
 2,546,570 pounds Total receipts, 2,563,810 
 pounds. The express business amounts to about 
 $S0(l per year. 
 
 WOGRAPHIO.AI.. 
 
 Cyhil Aki^hibald was born in Stormont 
 county, province of Ontario, Canada, in 1837. 
 His father was a merchant and physician, and 
 Cyril remained in his native place, engaged in 
 farming and mercantile pursuits, in a limited way, 
 until Augustjl880, when he removed to this place. 
 The following year he became a member of the 
 firm of E. T. Archil)ald & Co., proprietors of the 
 Dundas Flouring Mills, and is still one of the well 
 known firm. He was united in marriage in Jan- 
 uary, 1881, to Miss Gertrude, daughter of John R. 
 Wood, of Stormout county, Canada, and one child 
 has lieen the result of the uni(.)n, a V)oy named 
 Heber. 
 
 J. J. Ahlt is a native of Aultsville, Ontario, 
 Canada, born in 1834,and came to Dundas in 1859. 
 Aftar being engaged in various pursuits, he left 
 the place, but returned again in 1874, and has ever 
 since been in the employ of E. T. Archibald &Co., 
 as cashier and book-keeper. 
 
 Edgar G. .\rLT was born in Canada in 1838. 
 .\ultville claimed him as a resident until twenty 
 years old. He attended school at Potsdam 
 Academy, and finally completed his education at 
 Fort Edward, New York. He came to Dundas, 
 Minnesota, in 1859, and engaged in mercantile 
 pursuits, which business he has followed most of 
 the time since. He built a large stone store in 
 1868, and in 1881, a large brick and stone store 
 
us 
 
 HTSTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 which he now occupies, dealing in general mer- 
 chandise. Mr. Ault has been one of the active 
 men in building up the town and the schools. 
 
 Simon Babrigak was born in Canada in 1822, 
 and reared on a farm. In 1S49, he removed to 
 New York, where lie engaged in agricultural pur- 
 suits until 18G3, then came to Minnesota, located 
 in Bridgewater in section nineteen, where he has a 
 farm of three hundred acres, most of which is im- 
 jjroved. He was married in Canada, and has had 
 a family of nine children, eight of whom c^re 
 living. 
 
 W. H. Bennett was born in Albany, New 
 York, on the 7th of February, 1815, and grew to 
 manhood in bis native place. In 1837, he came to 
 Wisconsin and settled on a farm near Milwaukee, 
 and there married Miss Mary Bunday, on the 13th 
 of September, 1849. She was born in Wayne 
 county. New York, on the 15th of January, 1829. 
 but had lived in Wisconsin many years. In 
 March, 1855, he came to Rice county and located 
 in Bridgewater, near what was then the village of 
 Northfield. He now owns sixty-six acres of land, 
 having sold the remainder of bis claim for the 
 Northfield Fair Grounds. He has four children, 
 two having died; those living are: Elizabeth D., 
 Ida M., Ella B., and Sarah S. 
 
 L. R. Babcock was born in New York in 1820, 
 and lived there until nine years of age. He then 
 removed with bis parents to Indiana, where he 
 was engaged as an engineer, and spent his time 
 in the manner of a "Wandering Jew." He came to 
 Dnndas iu 18(i9, and found employment as a 
 cooper, which business he now follows. Mr. 
 Babcock was married iu Indiana, and the union 
 has been blessed witli eight children. 
 
 F. Creiman was b(U-n in Germany iu 1837, 
 where he remained until eighteen years old, then 
 emigrated to America. He has been in Dundas 
 seven years, engaged in the hotel business. Mr 
 Creiman's family consists of a wife and two children, 
 
 G. W. Cameron was liorn iu Canada in 1839, 
 where he attended school and was reared on a 
 farm. When he was twenty-two yerrs of age he 
 came to Vermont, engaged in farming two years, 
 tlien removed to Wisconsin, where he learned tele- 
 graphy. Iu 18(i5, lie came to Northfield, Minne- 
 sota. *wherc he engaged as telegraph operator, 
 coming to Dundas in 18(17, and has since been the 
 agent of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul rail- 
 road. He was married in Northfield iu 18(58, to 
 
 Miss C. P. White, a native of Vermont. They 
 have been blessed with three children; Belle, nine 
 years of age; Jennie, seven; and Georgia, two. 
 
 Job Chester, a native of England, was born in 
 1818, and lived in his native country until four- 
 teen years old, then came witli his parents to 
 America. They remained in Philadelphia one 
 year, then moved to Ohio, where Job finished 
 his education. He was employed as porter in a 
 wholesale store in Cleveland for five years, then 
 removed to St. Louis and engaged in the same 
 business two years. While in the latter city he 
 married Miss Anne Jeffries, a native of Canada, 
 the ceremony taking place in 1844. He came to 
 Racine couuty, Wisconsin, engaged in farming 
 and remained there eight years, then moved to 
 Bridgewater, Rice county, and staked out the first 
 claim in this township, locating it on section 
 twenty-five. He is the father of five children, one 
 of whom is dead, 
 
 William C. Clel.^nd was born iu Ireland in 
 1823, and received his education in his native 
 country. When twenty-four years of age he 
 came to Canada, where he worked at the carpen- 
 ter trade, contracting, etc. In 186(5, he returned 
 to Ireland, remained eight months, then came to 
 Dundas, where he has since been engaged in 
 farming, and also works at his trade. He has built 
 the greater portion of the best buildings in the 
 village. 
 
 Joseph Clute was born iu Germany in 1837, 
 and remained there until 1854, when he emigrated 
 to America. He was educated in his native 
 country and reared to agricultural pursuits. In 
 1858, he removed to Minnesota and located in 
 Bridgewater, in section six, where he still resides. 
 He was married in 1863, to Miss Sophia Grone- 
 wald, also a native of Germany. The union has 
 been blessed with six children. Mr. Clute was 
 drafted into the army in 1805, and served six 
 months in the Second Minnesota Infantry. He 
 has beeu a member of the Board of Supervisors 
 two years, and one of the school l)oard eight 
 yuars. 
 
 \V. S. CuRREN was born in Wisconsin in 1842, 
 and removed with his parents to Blinnesota when 
 fourteen years old, completing his education in this 
 State. In 1862, he was married; reuioVed to his 
 farm in Bridgewater, section eight, in 1868, and 
 has one hundred and seven acres of land, nearly 
 all improved. Mr. and Mrs. Curren have had eight 
 
BUI DUE WATER Tii\V.\S//n>. 
 
 M!) 
 
 childreu, four i)f whom are living; two died of 
 diphtlieriii iu cue week, and two in infancy. 
 
 W. H. Emery was born iu New York iu 1841, 
 and at the age of fourteen years removed to Min- 
 nesota with his pareuts, who settled in Bridge- 
 water. W. H. attended school in New York and 
 finished his education here, also taught one term 
 of school. He was joined in matrimony in 1865, 
 with Miss Eunice Bardwell, a native of Pennsyl- 
 vania, who has borne him three children. He has 
 a farm of ninety acres in section twenty-one which 
 is well improved. Mr. Emery has been elected to 
 the offices of Constable, Supervisor, and Assessor. 
 He served through the Indian war of 1862, with 
 Gen. Sibley. He and his wife are members of the 
 Methodist church. 
 
 Mrs. MAiti.i EjirEY, a daughter of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Kausey Morgan, was born iu Canada on the 
 2ith of June, 1816. She was married to Mr. 
 Nicholas W. Em23ey on the 15th of September, 
 1834, in the eastern part of Canada. In 1840, 
 they moved to Hancock county, IlliuoLs, where 
 they remained about eight yeai-s, then returned to 
 their former home in Canada and resided on a farm 
 nine years. In October, 1856, they made their 
 way to Minnesota,and after sojourning in Northfleld 
 several weeks located on a pre-emption in Steele 
 county, and afterward lived in Goodhue county four 
 years. In 1870, their farm in the latter place was 
 traded for the one on which Mrs. Empey now re- 
 sides. Her husband died on the 17th of Novem- 
 ber, 1872, leaving many friends to mourn his loss. 
 The marriage was blessed with ten children of 
 whom five are now living, Samantha, Alice, Almeda, 
 Phillip, and Nellie. Mrs. Empey is a firm be- 
 liever and an earnest worker in the church of the 
 Latter Da}' Saints, being respected and loved by 
 all who know her. 
 
 Philii' K. Empey was born in Canada in 18r)7, 
 and removed with his parents to the United States 
 when two years of age. Tliey first settled in 
 Steele and afterward in Goodhue county engaged 
 at farming. .-V few years later he came to Dundas 
 with his parents and engaged iu the livery busi- 
 ness. He has been a jiromhient man in public 
 enterprises and has held several offices, being at 
 present a member of the Village Council. He and 
 his mother reside together. 
 
 .Jacob Emery was born iu Wayne county. New 
 York, in 1810, and was reared to agricultural pur- 
 suits, receiving a common school education. He 
 29 
 
 was married iu 1830 to Miss Eliza Portman, also a 
 native of New York. In 1855, he removed to 
 Minnesota, locating in this township, in section 
 twenty-eight, whei'e he may still be foiuid. His 
 wife died on the 6th of September, 1868, leaving 
 nine children, and ho was again married in 1880, 
 to Mi.ss Etta Hoover. Mr. Emery was a member 
 of the first board of Sujjervisors of the town and 
 was very active in organizing schools. He and his 
 wife are members of the Methodist church. 
 
 A. Feink is a native of Germany, born in 1826. 
 He attended school and lived on a farm. In 1853, 
 he emigrated to America, direct to Minnesota, and 
 located in St. Paul where he was engaged in lum- 
 bering two years, then removed to Dakota county 
 and pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of 
 land. In 1860, he sold his farm and at the first 
 call for troops enlisted and served three months, 
 then came to Northfield where he engaged in a 
 hotel. In 1872, he again went to Dakota county 
 where he farmed three years, and in tlie fall of 
 1878, came to Dundas where he has since kept a 
 hotel. He was married in August, 1866, to Miss 
 Augusta Fox, also a native of Germany. They 
 have four children, all of whom are girls. 
 
 G. A. Gatzke was born in Prussia iu 1840, and 
 received his education there, also learning the mil- 
 ler's trade. In 1864, he came to America and di- 
 rectly to Wisconsin where, in 1862, he married 
 Miss Amelia Johu.sou, also a native of Prussia. 
 In 1872, he came to Bridgewater, Rice county, 
 and has since beeu foreman in the Dundas mills. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Gatzke have had five children, four 
 of whom are living. They are members of the 
 Lutheran church. 
 
 Alio GiltjAndees was born in New York iu 
 1844, where he attonded school and was reared to 
 agricultural pursuits. He served in the Army of 
 the Potomac one year in the One hundred and 
 sixty-ninth New York Volunteer Infantry. In 
 1864, he removed to Minnesota and resided for 
 four years in Dakota county, then came to this 
 township and located in section eighteen. In 
 1867, Miss Elizabeth Moore, a native of New York, 
 became his wife. They have one child, Jennie, 
 eleven years of age. They are members of tlie 
 Me'ihodist church. 
 
 Peter Grau is a native of Germany, born in 
 1832; was educated and learned the tailors trade 
 in his native country. In May, 1851, he emi- 
 grated to America and located in New York {'itv 
 
450 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 where be followed his trade sixteen years. In 
 1864, Miss Martha Baker, also a native of Ger- 
 many, became his wife. He enlisted in the Seventh 
 New York Infantry, served one year, and after re- 
 ceiving his discharge came to Minnesota, locating 
 in Forest township. Rice county, and two years 
 later removed to Dundas where he is at work in the 
 Archibald mill. Mr. and Mrs. Grau have had six 
 children, tour of whom are living. They are 
 members of the Presbyterian church. 
 
 James Garrity was born in Ireland in 1832, 
 where he remained until nineteen years old. He 
 served one year in the British army and emigrated 
 to America in 18.56, coming directly to this place. 
 In July, 1859, he was united in marriage and the 
 union has been blessed with three children. 
 
 J. G. H.iTFiELD was born in Ohio in 1836, and 
 removed with his parents to Indiana when two 
 years of age where he was educated. He was 
 married in 1859, to Miss Mary H. Donaldson who 
 was born in Pennsylvania in 1836. In 1864, they 
 came to Minnesota, located on a farm in Bridge- 
 water in section twenty-nine, where he still resides, 
 the farm containing eighty acres, all well im- 
 proved. They have been blessed with five chil- 
 dren, four of whom are living. He is a member 
 of the .school l)()ard. 
 
 .1. J. Hummel was born in Germany on the 23d 
 of July. 1854, lived in his native land with his 
 parents until fourteen years of age, when, in the 
 fall of 1868, he went to Algiers, Africa, where he 
 had relatives, and engaged in the brewing busi- 
 ness. Tliis occupation receive his attention until 
 July, 1873, when he again removed, this time to 
 America. He came directly to where his parents 
 resided in Cottage Grove, Minnesota, and for a 
 little over a year devoted his time to agricultural 
 pursuits. His next move was to Faribault, where 
 he remained until 1881, witli the exception of one 
 year spent at the German-English Normal School 
 at Galena, Illinois. In 1881, he made a prospect- 
 ing tour to California, and ujion his return to 
 Minnesota decided to move his family to the Pa- 
 cific coast whicli he did, but soon returned to this 
 State and took \i\> his abode in Dundas, and in 
 March, 1882, became an active partner in the firm 
 of Hummel Bros, of the Dundas meat market. 
 His wife was formerly Josephine C. Degen, of 
 Faribault, wliom ho married on the 29th of No- 
 vember, 1877. One child has blessed the union, a 
 boy named Charles 1). 
 
 J. P. Hummel, a brother of the subject of our 
 last sketch, is just two years his senior, having 
 been born on the 23d of July, 1852. He came to 
 America in 1869, with his mother, brothers and 
 sisters, his father having died in Germany. They 
 settled in Rochester, New York, where J. P. learned 
 the butcher trade. In June, 1871, he removed to 
 Washington county, Minnesota, and engaged at 
 his trade and farming until 1875, when he re- 
 moved to Dundas and still follows butchering. 
 He was married in Wisconsin in 1876, to Miss 
 Elizabeth Hartman, a native of the latter State. 
 They have four children. 
 
 J. G. Hergott was born in France in 1848, 
 and when twenty years of age went to Africa, serv- 
 ing in the French army. He next went to Italy 
 and was in the army seven months, then to Ger- 
 many, where he served through the Prussian war, 
 was taken prisoner at Metz and held for seven 
 months, after which he returned to France. Mr. 
 Hergott emigrated to America in 1872, and after 
 traveling over a large portion of the United States, 
 located in Dundas, where he has since been en- 
 gaged in the milling business. He was married in 
 Chicago in 1876, and the issue of the union is two 
 children. 
 
 Andrew J. Hbdrebn was born in Sweden on the 
 16th of December, 1846, and came to America 
 in 1866, landing in New York on the 
 4th of July. The most of his younger 
 days were spent in school, completing common 
 branches and taking a flve-year collegiate course. 
 He cama direct to Otisco, Waseca county, Minne- 
 .sota, and taught one term of school, thence to 
 Faribault where he was engaged at surveying, 
 and subsequently learned the cooper's trade. In 
 1872, he came to Dundas and has since been en- 
 gaged at his trade, being the first foreman of the 
 Co-operative Coopers Association of this place. 
 He is also a member of tlie Ancient Order of 
 United Workmen. He is now Rec(jrder of the 
 village, and has held several other offices of trust. 
 Ou the Isfc of August, 1869, he was married to 
 Miss Lizzie O. Edsall, of Waseca county, and they 
 have four children; Lillie, Charles, Guy, and 
 Harry. 
 
 J. W. Hdokins was born in Delaware, Ripley 
 county, Indiana, in 1838. When sev'^teen years 
 old he removed to Ohio, where he finished his ed- 
 ucation, then came to Miunesota, and thence to 
 Indiana, where he engaged ia clerking. In 1861, 
 
Dili DO l<: WATER TOWXSllIl'. 
 
 151 
 
 be returned to Cannon City, Minnesota, where 
 mercantile pursuits claimoil his attention until 
 18{)2, when be came to Minneapolis anil engaged 
 in the same business. Four years later he removed 
 to Cannon City, and from tliore to Dnnchis, where 
 he deals in general merchandise and lumber. He 
 was married in Michigan in 18M1), to Miss Annie 
 Graham, a native of Ohio. They were ble.ssed 
 with two children. 
 
 K. B. Hutchinson was born in Montreal, Can- 
 ada, in 1838. When fourteen years old he removed 
 with bis parents to Buffalo, New York, remained 
 five years, then went to Ohio, and one year later 
 to Minnesota. He received his education in 
 Canada and Buff'alo. In 18fi'2, he enlisted in tlie 
 Sixth Minnesota Infantry, was with Gen. Sibley in 
 the Indian massacre, at first as a private, then 
 promoted to the various higher offices and mus- 
 tered out as Captain in 18(>5. He returned to 
 Minnesota, and in 1877, came to Dundas, where 
 he has since been engaged in mercantile business. 
 He was married in 1866, to Miss Susan Patterson, 
 a native of Canada. They have five childien. 
 
 Albon Hoyt, one of the fii'st settlers of this 
 township, is a native of New York, born in Frank- 
 lin county in 1824, and remained there until 
 twenty-five years old. He then came to St. Paul, 
 and in three years to Bridgewater, locating on 
 section eleven. He has a fine farm of one hun- 
 dred and eighty acres under good cultivation, sit- 
 uated between Dundas and Northfleld. 
 
 Is.\.^c Hendeeson was born in Dundas county, 
 Ontario, Canada, in 1834, where he received his 
 education and was reared as a farmer. In 186.5, 
 be came to Bice county and located in Biidge- 
 water, in section twenty-two. He was nuirried to 
 Miss Mary Hobbs, who was also Ijoru in Canada. 
 They have five chaldren and are members of the 
 -\dvent church. 
 
 WiLLi.\M Henderson was born in Canada 
 in 1842, and reared on a farm, receiving a 
 common school education. He was married in 
 1864, to Miss Isabell Van Alstine, and the next 
 year they came to Wisconsin, where Mr. Hender- 
 son engaged on the railr(}ad two years. After re- 
 moving to Minnesota he followed (he same em- 
 ployment, and afterward engaged in farming. In 
 1872, they came to Bridgewater and he has since 
 been engaged in farming, owning a house and lot 
 ill Dundas, and taking charge of the Archibald 
 land. 
 
 Hebman Hoyuck was born in Gernianj- in 
 1844, where he received his education and learned 
 the baker's trade. In 1870, he emigrated to 
 America, worked at his trade two years in New 
 York City, then removed to Chicago and followed 
 the same business eight years. He was united in 
 marriage in 187(i, and his wife is also a native of 
 Germany. In 1880, they removed to this county 
 and located in l^uudas, where he has a bakery and 
 restaurant. Mr. and Mrs. Hoyuck have three 
 children. 
 
 Thom.\s Ingram was born in Irel.and in 1830. 
 When twenty years old he married Miss Olivia 
 Wightman, and the next year they came to Amer- 
 ica, remained in Canada one year, then came to 
 New York. He was engaged in boating two 
 years, and afterward in farming for eleven years. 
 In 1866, he removed to his present farm in Bridge- 
 water, Kice county. Mr. and Mrs. Ingram have 
 had si.x children, five of whom are living. 
 
 H. C. KoMOLL was born in Germany in 1824. 
 In 18.55, he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Caroline Johnson, and one year later emigrated 
 to America, He had previously learned the shoe- 
 maker's trade, at which he worked four years in 
 Canada, then removed to Dundas, Minnesota, 
 where he worked at his trade for several years. 
 He then engaged in hotel keeping and also carries 
 on a farm Mr. .ind Mrs. KomoU have been 
 blessed with three children, two of whom are 
 liying. 
 
 S. LucKERT was lioru in Germany in 1843. He 
 was educated in his native country and learned 
 the shoemaker's trade. In 1858, he emigrated 
 with his parents to America, located in Luzerne 
 county, Pennsylvania, and worked at his trade. 
 In 1865, he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Catharine Wagner, also a native of Germany. In 
 186li, tliev removed to Minnesota, engaged in 
 farming four years, then came to Dundas and was 
 in the boot and shoe business several years. In 
 1876, he opened a saloon and restaurant, and is 
 now erecting a brick building, two stories high 
 with a basement, which he intends occupying. He 
 is the father of seven children, three boys and 
 four girls. 
 
 W. S. Mattison was born in Minnesota in 
 1857, and received his education in Dakota county, 
 where his father was a farmer. He came to Dun- 
 das in 1878, and has since been foreman in the 
 cooj)er shop. 
 
452 
 
 HrSTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 J. C. NoTEMAN was born in New York, where he 
 remained until sixteen years of age, then came to 
 Wisconsin, and in 1861, enlisted in the Eighth 
 Wisconsin Infantry, served three years, then, after 
 his discharge re-eulisted and served till the close 
 of the war. He then removed to Michigan and 
 worked in a drug store two years, and in 187G, 
 came to Duudas, where he buys wheat for the 
 Archibald Mills. He has a wife and one child. 
 
 J. M. Oliver was , Born in Lawrence county, 
 Pennsylvania, in 1852, and lived in his native State 
 until 1860, when he came to Rice county, Minne- 
 sota. He attended school in Pennsylvania and 
 finished his education at the Shattuck school in 
 Faribault, after which he taught in Dundas. In 
 the fall of 1872, engaged in a store and has been 
 in that business mo.st of the time since. He was 
 ajjpointed Postmaster in 1877, and still holds tliat 
 position. He is Town Clerk, elected in 1878, and 
 has been re-elected every year since, and in 1876, 
 was Chairman of the board of Supervisors. 
 
 Peter H. Olson, one of the first to locate in 
 this township, was boru in Norway in 1824, where 
 he received his education and lived on a farm. He 
 came to America in 1848, located in Wisconsin, 
 where he remained until 1853, then came to 
 Bridgewater, engaged in farming till 1861, then 
 went to California and worked in the mines. He 
 returned to Minnesota in eight years and located 
 in this township, in section twenty-four. He was 
 married in Northfleld in 1870, to Miss Carrie 
 Sable, a native of Norway, who has born him five 
 children, one of whom, Lewis Henry, died in 1882, 
 aged three years. 
 
 H. B. PoE was born in Kentucky in 1882, and 
 remained in his native State until 1844, when he 
 removed with his parents to Indiana. In 1855, 
 Mr. Poo removed to Bridgewater, and located on 
 section thirty where he has a farm containing 
 eighty acres of improved land. He served one 
 year during the war. He has been a member of 
 the school hoard several terms and is always an 
 active worker in the advancement of education. 
 He was married two years after coming to this 
 place to Miss Eliza McHee. The result of the 
 union is six children. 
 
 Julius Kkvier was born in New York in 1840, 
 where he attended school and became skilled in 
 agricultural pursuits. He was united in marriage 
 with Miss Ann Perry, a native of Canada, and in 
 1865. he came to Minnesota, remaining but six 
 
 months. In two years they removed toJ\Iinnesota 
 and located on a farm in Bridgewater. He has 
 eight brothers all living in this State. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Bevier have had twelve children, nine of 
 whom are living. He is a member of the board 
 of Supervisors. 
 
 J. W. Boss was born in Sussex county. New 
 Jersey, in 1836, and at the age of six years re- 
 moved with his parents to Luzerne county, Penn- 
 sylvania, where he was educated and reared as a 
 farmer. In 1856, he came to Minnesota and 
 worked as a carpenter in this county for six years, 
 then engaged in farming in Northfield township. 
 In 1862, Miss Frances E. Durland became his wife, 
 and they removed to Bridgewater in 1873, locat- 
 ing on secti(m twenty-six. They have a family of 
 nine children. Mr. Boss has been Assessor one 
 year and a member of the board of Supervisors 
 five years. 
 
 Charles Eunnels was born in Vermont in 1846, 
 and moved with his parents to Ohio in 1850, re- 
 mained there five years then came to Iowa where 
 he learned the cooper's trade. In 1867, he came 
 to Minnesota, located in Winona, but removed to 
 Bridgewater in 1873, where he has since worked 
 at his trade. He was married in 1874, to Miss 
 Sarah J. McMurtin, a native of Pennsylvania, who 
 has borne him three children. Mr. Runnels has 
 been Marshal of Dundas one year and is at present 
 Chairman of the Village Council. 
 
 ■John J. Sc^hultz is a native of Germany born 
 in 1848. His native country claimed him as a 
 resident until 1864, when he came to America and 
 located in Minnesota. He was married in Roches- 
 ter in 1872, and the issue of the union is five 
 children, four of whom are living. In 1880, Mr. 
 Schultz came to Dundas and has since been head 
 engineer in Archibald's mill. 
 
 M. H. SouTHWORTH was boru in Eaymondville, 
 St. Lawrence county. New York, in 1850, and in 
 1862, removed with his parents to Wisconsin where 
 he was reared as a farmer. In 1866, he came to 
 Dundas and engaged at work in the Archibald 
 mill where he still is emjiloyed. 
 
 FivED Shandorf was born in France in 1842, 
 and removed with his parents to America whea 
 two years old. They located in New York, where 
 lie received his education and was raised on a 
 farm. He was married in 1868, to Miss Susau 
 Deshan, also a native of France. Tlie same year 
 they came to Dundas, where Mr. Shandorf nas 
 
BRIDGE WATER TO WSiilllP. 
 
 453 
 
 engaged in farming until 1875, then engaged as 
 a butcher, and iu 1879, commenced to deal in gen- 
 eral merchandise, which business he still follows. 
 He occupies a double brick store, and is building 
 a large frame warehouse. He has been Council- 
 man three terms. They were blessed with five 
 children, only one of whom is living; three died 
 of diphtheria inside of three weeks, and the other 
 of the same disease. 
 
 Edw.\rd Stkange was born near Danville, Hen- 
 dricks county, Indiana, on the 4th of January, 
 1842. In Octoljer, 1855, his parents came to 
 Goodhue county, Minnesota, when- Edward at- 
 tended school and learned the wagon maker trade of 
 his father, with whom he was afterward in part- 
 nership for two years in Cannon Falls. In ISlil!, 
 the family moved to Millersburg, where the father 
 and his son James engaged in business, Ed. work- 
 ing at the carpenter trade most of the time. He 
 was married in November, 1807, and moved to 
 Dundas the following year. He immediately 
 opened a wagon shop, the first of the kind in the 
 place, and continued in the business until 1881, 
 when he was elected village Justice. 
 
 C. C. Stetson was bom in Maine in 1823, 
 where he remained until twenty-one years old, 
 finished his education and learned the blacksmith 
 and machinist trade. He went to Massachusetts 
 and worked at his trade one year, then 
 to Providence, Rhode Island, where he re- 
 mained two years, thence to New Orleans, and 
 sis months later to Texas. In the spring of 1850 
 Mr. Stetson went to California, remained there 
 three years engaged in mining and at his trade, 
 then returned to Maine, and in 1854, came to 
 Bridgewater. Three years after coming hero be 
 married Miss Amelia Howe, a native of Ohio. Of 
 five children bom of this union four are living, one 
 
 dying in infancy. Mr. Stetson was the first Town 
 Clerk in this place and lias since held many other 
 local offices. They are nicmbcrs of the (,'ongre- 
 gational church. 
 
 William Tew Wi'.s born in New York in 1841, 
 and removed with his parents to Wisconsin two 
 years later. In the latter State he was educated 
 and reared as a farmer. In 18G4, he was married, 
 and the result of the union is two children. Three 
 years after they came to Minnesota and pre- 
 empted a claim in Bridgewater in section nine, 
 where he still resides. He has been a member of 
 the board of Supervisors three terms. Mrs. Tew 
 died in 1881, at the age of thirty-five years. 
 
 H. F. Thielbar, a native of Germany, was born 
 in 1834, reared to farming pursuits, and received his 
 education in his native country. In 1853, he emi- 
 grated to America, located in New York City, 
 where he engaged in the grocery business until 
 1857, then came to this county, where he carried 
 on a farm. He was married at Dundas in 18()1, 
 to Miss Loesia Buckoern, also a native of Ger- 
 many. In 1863, he enlisted in the army, served 
 one year, then returned to his farm and in 1867, 
 came to Dundas, where he engaged in clerking. 
 In 1872, he commenced business for himself, and 
 has since carried a stock of general merchandise. 
 He has been Councilman one term and a member 
 of the school board several terms. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Thielbar have had eleven children, all of whom 
 are living at home. 
 
 A. WooLEET was born in Cani-.da in 1844, came 
 to the United States with his parents and located 
 in Minnesota, In 18G(>, Mr. Woolery came to 
 - Dundas and engaged in the Archibald Mill, where 
 he is now foreman. Ho was married since coming 
 to this place. 
 
454 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 WHEELING. 
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 GENERAL DESCRIPTION — EARLY SETTLEMENT 
 
 EVENTS OF INTEREST — MANUFACTURING — MEBCAJJ- 
 TILE INSURANCE COMPANY RELIGIOUS EDU- 
 CATIONAL BIOGEAPHICAL. 
 
 The subdivison of Rice county bearing this re- 
 volving appellation is in the eastern tier of towns. 
 It is composed, as originally surveyed, of thirty-six 
 sections or sqnare miles, in all 23,040 acres. The 
 contiguous surroundings are Northfleld on the 
 north, Richland on the south, Cannon City town- 
 ship on the west, and Goodhue county on the east. 
 
 Wheeling may be called one of the prairie towns 
 of the county, as almost all of the area is made 
 up of prairie land. The southern portion is quite 
 level, but as you approach the north the surface is 
 more rolling, and the uorthwe-t corner, hilly. The 
 soil is variable, the soutli- part being a rich 
 dark loam, while in the north, where the prairie is 
 more rolling, the soil is of a lighter color, in some 
 places having a clay mixture, and in otliers it is 
 of a sandy character. The town is well suited for 
 all kinds of agricultural pursuits, and also makes 
 excellent grazing land, as the fine natural meadows 
 are covered with all species of indigenous grasses. 
 
 There are no large streams and but few small 
 ones in the town. Prairie Creek touches the north- 
 west quarter section as it passes on its way from 
 Cannon City township to Northfleld. A branch of 
 Prairie Creek starts from a S])ring on Henry C. 
 Kolliug's laud, on section twenty-one, passing 
 north to section sixteen, then nortliwest to section 
 seventeen, thence north to section eight where it 
 takes an easterly course across section nine to sec- 
 tion ten; from there it runs in a northerly course 
 through section three to the town of Northfleld, 
 where it joins Prijirie Creek. This stream passes 
 thrugh quite a deep ravine, and on the way is 
 joined by several small rivulets. The head waters 
 of this stream never fail, but in some places the 
 
 bed is dry at times, and it is probable that there is 
 a subterranean passage through which it passes 
 in dry seasons. A stream called Little Cannon 
 rises on section thirteen, and passes in an easterly 
 direction to Goodhue county where it scion be- 
 comes (]uite a river and empties into Cannon River 
 near the falls. 
 
 There are two limestone quarries in the town, 
 from which considerable stone has been taken for 
 building purposes. There are two churches and a 
 number of private houses that have been built 
 from this stone. One of these quarries, located on 
 section three, is owned by S. Aslakson. 
 
 The town contains about two thousand acres of 
 timber land, the most of which is on sections six- 
 teen, nine, and ten, and the nortlieast quarter of 
 section six. When it was first settled the timber 
 was quite heavy, but the greater jJortion of the 
 original stock has been cut, and a flourishing young 
 growth taken its place. 
 
 EARLY SETTLEMENT. 
 
 The actual settlement of this town commenced 
 iij June, 18D4, when a party of Germau.s, who had 
 stopped for a short time in Illinois, made their ap- 
 pearance, having come with os teams and 
 been four weeks on the road. The j^arty consisted 
 of Henry Bultmann and family, Jacob Blank and 
 family, Louis Helberg, Frieilerich Hogrefe, and 
 John George Veeh. They arrived on the 15th of 
 June, 1854. 
 
 Jacob Blank was the first to make a claim, and 
 drove his stakes in sections fifteen and twenty- 
 two, immediately commencing improvements. He 
 had brought with him a pair of steers and two 
 cows that he used in the yoke, and he at once put 
 up a little hay shanty to live in; in this same little 
 hay hut the first child born in the township first 
 saw the light. In the fall Blank built a log house 
 into which he moved that winter. As be could not 
 buy any lumber ha had to manufacture it him- 
 
WHEELimi TO wysiiip. 
 
 455 
 
 self. With his axe he split shakes from Oak with 
 which to cover the roof, and for flooring he split 
 the boards from bass wood, making them about 
 two im'hes thick. He cut small trees in the woods 
 which he converted into latha, nailing them inside 
 and then plastering with clay. He lived in this 
 house until 1804, when he built another log house. 
 Mr. Blank improved his farm and lived there until 
 October, 1878, when he sold out and retired to 
 Faribault, where he is now enjoying the fruits of 
 his labor. 
 
 Mr. Veeh made the second claim on section 
 twenty-one. He was a widower with no family, 
 and improved a small part of the laud. In about 
 three years he sold and made his home with his 
 son-in-law, .Jacob Blank, until his death wliich oc- 
 curred on the 22d of February, 1873. 
 
 Louis Helberg was the third to select a home, 
 which he did on section twenty-one. He was a 
 single man but soon found a partner. They were 
 the first couple married in the town. He improved 
 the land and built a good set of buildings and 
 made his home there until the time of his death 
 which occurred in August, 1879. His family now 
 occupy the homestead. 
 
 Henry Bultmann was the fourth man to make a 
 claim which he did on section seventeen. He also 
 built a hay shanty in which he lived a short time, 
 then built a log house, using fence rails for the 
 floor. He lived in that but a few years then built 
 a frame house in which he now lives. 
 
 Mr. Hogrefe made the fifth claim, on sections 
 seventeen and eight. He was a single man but 
 married soon after coming here. He carried on 
 his farm a few years then engaged in the ministry, 
 and is now a Methodist preacher at Rochester, 
 Olmsted county, Minnesota. 
 
 In August these colonists were joined by an- 
 other of their countrymen, named Henry C. Rol- 
 ling, who also came from Illinois where he had 
 been living a few years. He selected land on sec- 
 tion twenty-one, then went back to Illinois and re- 
 turned witli bis family, living the first winter in 
 his brother-in-law's log house, Louis Helberg. In 
 the spring of 1855, he built a log house, sawing 
 the lumlier with a whip-saw, and lived in that a 
 few years; then built the neat frame house in 
 which he now lives surrounded by the comforts of 
 a pleasant home. 
 
 Henry Grote, another German, came from Illi- 
 nois about the same time and settled on section 
 seventeen where he now lives. 
 
 About this time the settlement of this town be- 
 gan in earnest, and a number of Scandinavian 
 families came from Wisconsin where they had 
 made a temporary stop when first coming from 
 Norway. Those who remained here were Truls 
 Earlandson, John Olson, Andrew Olson, Seaver 
 Halgrimson, and Elef Trulson. They performed 
 the tedious journey with ox teams, bringing their 
 families. They at once improvised log residences 
 with bark roofs, and split ba.ss wood logs for 
 floors. 
 
 Earlandson t(^ok a claim in section six where he 
 yet lives. 
 
 Trulson made a claim on section three where he 
 opened a blacksmith shop; he remained there until 
 1872, when he sold out and moved to Kandiyohi 
 county where he may still be found. 
 
 .John Olson planted himself in section six where 
 he still is. 
 
 Andrew Olson claimed a place in section five. 
 In 1879, he went to Dakota. 
 
 Hans Anderson came from Wiscon.sin where he 
 had been sojourning, and settled in section seven. 
 His wife was burned to death by a kerosene acci- 
 dent. He afterwards married Elling Johnson's 
 widow, and now lives in Grant county. 
 
 Seaver Halgrimson, another of the party of 
 Norwegians, arrived in July of the same year, and 
 after drifting about a short time anchored on sec- 
 tion five, where he remained steadfast until the gale 
 of death unmoored and carried him off in 1870. 
 His widow married again and still lives on the 
 original homestead. 
 
 Elling Johnson, of Norway nativity, came from 
 Iowa and stationed himself on section eight, where 
 he stood guard until that insatiable enemy of im- 
 mortality removed him some seven yeais ago. 
 
 In 1855, the arrivals were cpiite numerous, and 
 most of them will be mentioned. 
 
 Ever Bonde, of Norway, came here from Iowa, 
 where he had been for a year, and settled on sec- 
 tion eleven, where he spent the remainder of his 
 days. 
 
 Ole Sherven, who first settled in Wisconsin, 
 came to this place from Iowa, whore he had lived 
 five years, and secured a place in section eighteen, 
 where he is yet. 
 
 Adam Knopf, P. Wolf, and Christian Erb. 
 natives of Germany, came here from Cook county, 
 Illinois. 
 
 Wolf took his claim in section fourteen. He 
 
•15(3 
 
 HISTORY OF RIGE COUNTY. 
 
 was killed i»y .ui acciileut in the timber on the '21st 
 of February, 1857. 
 
 Erb took his farm iu section twenty-three. He 
 improved the land and built a house. In 1870, 
 he sold out, and now lives in Cannon City. 
 
 Knopf suri'onnded a claim in section twenty- 
 two and another iu section twenty-three, which he 
 improved, and where he still lives. 
 
 Truls Halgrimson came during this year and set- 
 tled in section three. 
 
 Ole Olsou Brodeu was another of the "fifty- 
 fivers." 
 
 Another settler about this time w'as Augustxis 
 Meyei' with his family,' > ho had been here but about 
 two weeks, when one Sunday morning he shaved 
 himself, lighted his pipe, and proposed to go to 
 the timber to look out a road on which he coiild 
 haul some wood to the prairie, but he never re- 
 turned. Several days were spent by the whole 
 settlement in hunting for him without avail, and 
 it was not until eighteen months afterward that 
 his bones were found bleaching near his shoes, 
 pipe, and other articles, on section sixteen, on the 
 land now owned by Henry Bultmann. The man- 
 ner of his death is a profound mystery. His 
 children still live in the county. 
 
 Ole Benson made a claim in section ten, where 
 he is still at work. 
 
 Jacob .T. Bosshart came here from Iowa, 
 and his lot fell in section twenty-seven. 
 
 John Hanson found a place that suited him in 
 section four, where he died in a few years, but his 
 widow yet occupies the homestejid. 
 
 Watts A. Pye, an Englishman, came from Illi- 
 nois and took a place in section eighteen, where 
 he still remains. 
 
 Hugh McDurland, a native of Pennsylvania, 
 canie from there and halted and went to work 
 in section thirty, and he is still bustling around 
 there. 
 
 The acces.^ions to the town settlement in 1856 
 were valualjle, and will be mentioned as far as re- 
 membered. 
 
 Ole Fingalsnn at lirst alighted in section two, to 
 wiiich he devoted himself up to 1878, when he 
 sold his |)lace and moved to Becker county. 
 
 Truls Fingalson was stationed for some years in 
 section two. 
 
 Erick Erickson Rood was another comer this 
 year. His place was in sections five and six. He 
 removed (o Kaudiyolii county in 1866. 
 
 Syver Aslackson came up from Houston county, 
 where he first lived a while after crossing the Mis- 
 sissippi; his place was in section ten, and there he 
 still remains. 
 
 Hans O. Stenbakken, a native of Norway, settled 
 in section twelve, where he still has a home. 
 
 Mark Bosshart, of Switzerland, cultivated a 
 farm in section twenty-two, but in 1872 he was 
 called hence. 
 
 William Frederick came from Illinois and drifted 
 into section twenty-eight, where he is still an- 
 chored. 
 
 WiUiam Grote took a claim on sections twenty- 
 six and twenty-.seven. A house was put up and 
 he lived there to the time of his death in 1871. his 
 widow lives in a house he was building when over- 
 taken by the "grim messenger." 
 
 Frederick Kuaus built his castle iu sectit>n 
 twenty-three, which he still holds. 
 
 Osmund Osmundson came here from California, 
 and at first built a timber residence in section 
 fourteen, but he now has a brick house in section 
 eleven. 
 
 John Thompson came here from Eock county, 
 Wisconsin, and transplanted himself in section two 
 where he is still thriving. 
 
 In 1857, William Boltman, from Germany, came 
 and found an unoccupied spot iu section twenty- 
 five which he has since (cultivated. 
 
 Christian Deike, also a German, arrived in 1859, 
 and his place is in section thirty-two. He is a 
 prominent citizen of the county. 
 
 EVENTS on INTEREST. 
 
 The first birth in the township occurred on the 
 2d of October, 1854, in a little hay shanty put up 
 for temporary shelter by the father. Tlie parents 
 were Jacob and Elizabeth Blank, the child being 
 christened Caroline. She now lives with her 
 parents iu Faribault. 
 
 Another early birth was the bringing into exist- 
 ence of Halgrim son of Seaver and Christine Hal- 
 grim.sou, on the 20th of January, 1855. 
 
 In the fall of tins year, .Julia, daughter of Truls 
 and Annie Earlandson, was born, and now lives in 
 Minneapolis. 
 
 The first marriage iu the township, that there is 
 any record of, took place on the 5th of November, 
 1855, tlie high contracting parties bting Louis 
 Helberg and Wilhelmina Meyer. The groom died 
 iu 1879. 
 
 The next marriage was Friedrick Hogrefe to 
 
WHEEL TNG TO Wys Iff P. 
 
 457 
 
 IJis'^ Dorothy Fischer, in December, 18r)5. They 
 are now living in Kochester, where Mr. Hogrefo is 
 a Methodist minister. 
 
 Jacob .Tohnson and Cecelia Evan.'^on were made 
 one by mutual consent in the spring of 185G. 
 Tliey are now living on section four in Wheeling, 
 and have been blessed with si.\ children. 
 
 The first town meeting was in a schoolhouse in 
 district No. 27, on the 11th of May, 18.58. The 
 officers elected were : Supervisors, Watts A. Pye, 
 Chairman, Christian Erb, and Lewis Everson; 
 Clerk, Augustus Sickler; Assessor, 01c Sherven; 
 Collector, Lewis Helberg; Justices of the Peace, 
 Joseph Covert and Henry C. Kolling; Overseer of 
 the Poor, John Bi-own; Constables, George Fogg 
 and Jacob J. Bosshart. The town government 
 thus started has wended the even tenor of its way 
 ever sir.ce. 
 
 The Town Hall was built in 1870. It is a frame 
 building costing ijGOO. Its location i.s on the 
 northeast quarter of section twenty-one. Before 
 its completion meetings were held in private houses 
 and in shoolhouses. 
 
 At the spring election in 1882, the following 
 officers were elected : Supervisors, Christian Deike, 
 Chairman, William L. T. Meyer, and O. H. Steu- 
 bakken; Clerk, H. C. Kolling; Assessor, Henry 
 Bultmann; Treasurer, Christian Deike; Justices of 
 the Peace, Michael Knopf and Tosten E. Bonde; 
 Constable. George Knopf. 
 
 The town paid in bounties S7,200. ami sent 
 thirty-two men into the army. 
 
 STRTJP MAXUFACTOKT. 
 
 The firm of Roth & Lips erected and commenced 
 operating a syrup mill in 1880, on Koth's place, 
 on section twenty-two, and during the first year 
 manufactured 966 gallons of syrup. In 1881, the 
 mill changed hands and became the property of 
 tlic Lips Brothers, who at once moved it to their 
 farm on section fifteen where it is still located. In 
 the fall of 1881, this company manufactured 1.300 
 gallons of syruj]. 
 
 Knopf's mild. 
 
 In 1879, Michael Knopf started a like mill at his 
 place on section twenty-three, and this is the 
 largest mill in the township, having manufactured 
 in 1881, 2,100 gallons of syrup. 
 
 STORES IN WHEELING. 
 
 In 1877, Osmund Osmundson put up a store 
 building on section fourteen, which he rented to 
 
 Evans Brothers, who at once ])laccd a stuck of 
 goods on the shelves and commenced doing busi- 
 ness; they, however, only remained four montlis 
 when they removed to Owatonna. It was after- 
 wards rented to various parties who continued the 
 business until it finally became the property of the 
 present ]5roprietors, Osmund Osmundson and Mr. 
 Hegnes. A large stock of general merchandise is 
 kejjt, and the store is of great convenience to the 
 surrounding neighborhood, as thev keep good 
 articles and sell at reusouablo prices. 
 
 Another store was erected in 1880, on the north- 
 east quarter of section twenty-three, by Henry 
 Knopf. It was well stocked, and opened on the 
 7th of July the saiiie year, being still run liy the 
 original pi-oprietor. 
 
 m.ACKSMITHING. 
 
 The first blacksmith shoj) in the town was in' 
 1854, on the northeastern part of section three, by 
 Eief Trulson, who also carried on a farm in con- 
 nection w'ith his shop until 1872, when he sold out 
 and moved to Kandiyohi county. 
 
 The town was then without a blacksiiiith until 
 
 1880, when George Knopf erected a shop in sqc- 
 tion thirteen and hired a man to run it, but in 
 
 1881, sold to William Friday, who is conducting 
 it at the present time. 
 
 WHEELING MUTUAL FIRE INStTRAXCE COMPANY. 
 
 This is a local institution, the membership being 
 made up of farmers, that was organized on the 
 13th of May, 1876, by the prominent men of the 
 town. The following were the initial officers of 
 the company : Trustees, Christian Deike, H. H. 
 Kvi, M. Knopf, T, E. Bonde, John J. Hamra, G. 
 W. Grote, and Henry Bultmann; President, Chris- 
 tian Deike; Treasurer, Michael Knopf; Secretary, 
 T. E. Bonde. The amount of capital subscribed 
 was .'i!32,400. The rate of premium was fixed at 
 three mills on a dollar, this, however, was raised in 
 1881 to five mills. No losses have yet been met, 
 and the funds are drawing interest at six per cent. 
 
 Only farmers' risks are taken, and the territory 
 embraced includes Wheeling, Northfield, Rich- 
 land, Cannon City, and Holden, in Goodhue 
 county. The secretary reports, in 1882, that there 
 are sixty-five policies in force, insuring S112,592. 
 Tiie officers receive .S1.50 per day for actual work. 
 The experiment thus far has been a great suc- 
 cess. 
 
458 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE GOV NT Y. 
 
 POST-OFFICES. 
 
 Wheeling P. O. — This office was establishad 
 in ISGU. or '61, aud named Wheeling in honor of 
 the town. Rev. Sebastian Wei.ss was first ap- 
 pointed Postmaster, and kept the office at the par- 
 sonage. Jacob .T. Bosshart was the mail carrier, 
 coming once a week from Faribault, and he suc- 
 ceeded tlie former Postmaster. J<jhn B. Berges 
 is the present mail distributor, with office at the 
 parsonage. Mail arrives three times a week, from 
 Fariliault. 
 
 Nestr.^nd p. O. — Was established in 1878, and 
 Augen S. Brokke appointe<l Postmaster, the office 
 being kept at the store on section fourteen. The 
 office was namxl bj Osmund Osmundson, in 
 honor of his Post-office iu Norway. Henry N. 
 Hegnes is the present Postmaster, the office being 
 kept at the same place. Mail arrives tliree times 
 per week from Faribault. 
 
 EELIGIOUS. 
 
 Below we give a short sketch of the various 
 church organizations in Wheeling township, and 
 as nothing can be said iu preface to them in re- 
 gard to tlieir condition and growth that would not 
 be a duplicate of what should be said of all the 
 religious departments of the various subdivisions 
 of Eice county, it is best it should remain unsaid 
 here and the reader allowed to judge for himself 
 
 LfTHEKAN Ev.\NGELIOAL DeNOMIN.\TION. — The 
 
 first services by the followers of this faith were 
 held at the residence of John Oleson, on section 
 six. the minister being Rev. Nils Brandt, aud he, 
 also lield services in various places throughout the 
 town. In 1856, a society was organized just over 
 the line iu Goodhue county, and. the members in 
 Wlieeling attended there. On one occasion, on 
 June 18th, 18.58, a meeting was held by the above 
 mentioned Reverend in Oaptain John Hanson's 
 grove, ou tlie soutliwest quarter of section eight, 
 and thirty-three eliildren were baptized. In 1866, 
 tliH society ei-eeted a neat and commodious stone 
 building on section throe, in Wheeling. Rev. B. 
 .F. Muus was tlie first minister, and Rev. N. A. 
 (^uammen the present j)astor. 
 
 Geijman Methodist Church. — The first meet- 
 ings by this denomination were held in Jacob 
 Blank's house ou sectiou twenty-two. Rev. Mr. 
 Zollman being the first preacher. They organized 
 in 18.56, with F.Orochtenmire as preacher; he also 
 organized a Sabbath school at Jacob Blank's house. 
 
 where it was held through the year 1856, and Mr. 
 Grochtenmire preached one year. In 1857, he was 
 succeeded by G. Siebrasse, and Rev. William 
 Pagenhart is the present pastor. They held meet- 
 ings in private houses until 1862, when they built 
 their church <m the northeast quarter of section 
 twenty-five. The congregation is made up partly 
 from Goodhue county. There are about fifty 
 members and quite a large congregation. 
 
 Germ.\n United Church. — This was organized 
 in 1856, as a part of the Northwestern Conference, 
 and in the spring of 1857, they erected a small 
 log church on the northeastern part of section 
 twenty-eight. At the conference held that fall. 
 Rev. August Bremer was appointed as pastor. He 
 retained the charge for about two years, and then 
 for a like period they were without a ministerial 
 agent. At this time Rev. Sebastian Weiss took 
 the charge and remained about six years when he 
 was succeeded by Rev. Samuel Lang, who lield 
 until the present pastor. Rev. John D. Berges, took 
 the pulpit. When first organized there were about 
 eighteen members, which has increased to sixty- 
 five. In the fall of 1869, the log church was 
 burned, and in 1870, a stone edifice was erected on 
 the old site, at a cost of about $5,000. 
 
 Salem Church. — This congregation belongs to 
 the Evangelical Association of North America. 
 The first services by this society were held in Paul 
 Wolf's house on section fourteen, in 1856, with 
 Rev. Andreas Turnutzer as the officiating minister. 
 The preacher came from St. Paiil on horseback. 
 Th,i society continued to hold meetings in private 
 houses until 1861, when they erected their neat 
 and substantial edifice on section twenty-four. 
 Rev. Mr. Hamraetter, was the first preacher to ex- 
 pound the sacred word in the church. There are 
 now ninety members, many being from the ad- 
 joining county of Goodhue, and Rev. Julius J. 
 Manthay is the present pastor. 
 
 educational. 
 
 DisTRUvr No. 61. — This district was organized 
 in 1860, and a schoolhouse put up the same year 
 on section fourteen. This was a frame build- 
 ing and served a good purpose until 1876, when a 
 brick building was constructed on the old site. 
 
 Di.sTKic'T No. 72. — An organization was effected 
 in 1867, and a schoolhouse erectea on section 
 thirty -one. This is a union district extending into 
 Richlaiul. 
 
 District No. 43. — In 1859, this district was 
 
WICEKLTNG TO WNSIHP. 
 
 459 
 
 organized, and the first schoolhouse built of logs 
 on section eleven. This house was used until 1S71. 
 when the present house was built at acostof S800. 
 It is a nice frame house, located where the old 
 one stood. Miss Fannie Thorpe and llalver Kvi 
 were teachers at an early day. 
 
 DisTBicT No. 27. — In 1857, this district oarae to 
 existence, the first meeting being at the lionso of 
 George Fisher. In the spring of that year a house 
 was built on section seventeen, and in the fall of 
 1867, a new house was built on the same spot; E. 
 S. Sonious was the first teacher in the new house. 
 
 DiSTElCT No. 41. —At an early day this house 
 was built in the uewly organized district, and was 
 placed on section four where it still stands Imt irr 
 long must be replaced by a new one. 
 
 District No. 5. — In 1861, this was called into 
 being as a separate district and tlic same year a 
 tidy little frame building was constructed ou sec- 
 tion twenty-six. The school here is usually in the 
 winter, as the residents being Germans send their 
 children for six mouths each year to a denomina- 
 tional school. 
 
 BIOCJKAPHICAIj. 
 
 Hemry Achterkirch, a native of Germany, was 
 horn on the 19th of November, 1837, attended 
 school in his native country until sixteen years of 
 age, then emigrated to America, remained three 
 mouths in New York and came to Cook county, 
 Illinois, where he had an aunt. In 1857, after 
 farming in the latter county, he went to the 
 southern part of the State antl on to Tennessee 
 where he visited his uncle, then went to Missouri 
 in search of land, but soon returned to Illinois. 
 In 1860, he came to Minnesota and secured a farm 
 in Wheeling township on section twenty -one, but 
 engaged in farming for Henry Grote to obtain 
 money to improve his own laud. On the 16th of 
 August, 1862, he enlisted in the Eighth Minnesota 
 Volunteer Infantry, Company B.; was with Hul- 
 ly's expedition up the Yellowstone, then ordered 
 south in 1864, and participated in the battle of 
 Murfreesborough; was ordered to Washington and 
 thence to Goldsboro, where they met Sherm:in, 
 going by way of Fort Fisher and Moorhead City. 
 He was honorably discharged on the 11th of .July, 
 1865, and rotui-ned to his farm. On the 6th of 
 May, 1866, Miss Louise Lindermann became his 
 wife. The union has been blessed with seven 
 children; Charles W., Minnie, Emma, Eddie, who 
 
 died in 1876, three years of age; Benedict, who 
 died in infancy; August, and Annie. 
 
 iSyvhr AsIjAKSon, one of the pioneers of Min- 
 nesota, was born in Norway in March, 1830, where 
 he attended school and worked on a farm. In 
 1850, he married Miss Margaret Olson, and the 
 same year emigrated to Am<>rica, landed at New- 
 York, and went to Kook county, Wiscon.sin, by the 
 way of Albany, Butfalo, and the great lakes. In 
 1853, he came to Min'nosota, settled in Houston 
 county and staked a claim, and three years later 
 sold out and came to Rice county, taking a claim 
 in Wheeling, section ten. He has a good house 
 and numerous outbuildings. Ho is the father of 
 .seven children; Aslak, Ole, Kirstiua, Lewis, 
 Thomas, Sever, and .John. Aslak was married to 
 Miss Ingebor N. O. Stoandi-mo in 1877, and moved 
 to Stearns county in the spring of the following 
 year, engaged in farming. Kirstiua was married 
 to Mr. J. J. Johnson in the spring of 1880; they 
 own a farm in this township in section four. 
 
 Rev. John D. Bebges was born in Prussia on 
 the 28th of January, 1838, and reared on a farm. 
 In 1854, he came to America, landed at New 
 Orleans and went directly to Missouri, where he 
 was engaged in farming two years, then came to 
 Iowa and made his home in Burlington uutil 1860, 
 He then returned to Jlissouri and entered the 
 Theological Seminary, studied there six years, 
 when he was ordained as a minsster at Evansville, 
 Indiana. He was immediately sent to Ohio, where 
 he had charge of two societies, one in Stark and 
 one in Tuscarawas county. In two years he re- 
 moved to Washington county, Wisconsin, and three 
 years later to Primrose, Lee county, Iowa, where 
 he remained four years, then came to Wheeling, 
 where he now resides, having charge of the (xer- 
 raan United Evangelical church and the school 
 connected with it. He married in 1867, Miss Eiise 
 Moery, who bore him one child, Lydia, and died 
 in 1868. The next year Elizabeth Gutli became 
 his wife. She liore him one child, Herman 
 Lorenzo, who died on the 14th of September, 1870. 
 seven months old, and the mother died the 
 same day, aged nineteen years. In 1871, he mar- 
 ried Miss Wilhelmina Guth, who has borne him 
 five children; Elizal)eth, Lorenz, John, Edward, 
 and Annie. 
 
 Mark Bosshakt, deceased, one of tlic pioneers 
 of Rice county, was born in Switzerland in 1807. 
 He was married in 1832, to Miss Regula Ludwig. 
 
4r.o 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE GOUNTT. 
 
 He eD,i?ageJ in working in a machine shop until 
 18o7, when he purchasod a farm. He emigrated 
 to America in 1856, landed at New York, came di- 
 rectly to this county and took land in Wheeling 
 on section twenty-two, and lived there until 1868, 
 then resided with his son until his death. He was 
 the father of two children; Elizabeth, born in 
 1833, who married Henry Lips and died in 1871; 
 and Jacob. Tlie father died in 1872, and the 
 mother in 1875. 
 
 Jacob J. Bossuakt, son of Mark Bosshart, was 
 also born in Switzerland in 1835, and reared on a 
 farm. In 1853, he came to America, landed at 
 New York, then went to Philadelphia; remaining 
 four weeks, then to I)u Page county, Illinois, and 
 two months and a half later to Galena, where he 
 engaged as tii-em.m of a steamer on the Missis- 
 sippi River. In the fall of 1853, he went to work 
 iu the pineries in Wisconsin, and in the spring 
 came to Burlington, Iowa, with a raft, and soon 
 after removed to Highland, Bladison county, Illi- 
 nois, then to Cairo and thence to St. Louis, where 
 he remained aliont eight weeks. He then went up 
 the Missouri to St. Jo, Kansas City, and Fort 
 Atkinson, Iowa. Early in the spring of 1855, he 
 set out on foot and came to about eighty miles 
 west of Maukato, then returned to Iowa, passing 
 Rice county iu June. In July of the same year 
 he came again to this county and staked a claim 
 in Wheeling cm section twenty-seven, where he 
 still resides. The next year he went to New 
 York to meet his parents, who returned with him. 
 In 1860, he married Miss Sophia Helberg, and 
 thev have eight children; Anna, Herman, Mary, 
 Sojihia, William, Henry, Frank, and John. He 
 first built a log house, which was burned in 1857 
 by a prairie fire, then erected another log struc- 
 ture, and in 1867 their present frame house. In 
 1875, he built a barn, 40x60 feet, with a stone 
 basement. 
 
 Ever H. Bondr, deceased, was born in Nor- 
 way, in December, 1800, and reared on a farm. 
 He was united in marriage in 1835, with Miss 
 Berret Bonde. They were blessed with five chil- 
 dren, two of whom are living; Tosten and Halver. 
 In 1S40, Mr. Bonde emigrated to America, landed 
 at Quebec and came directly to Wisconsin, settling 
 in Port Washington, where he remained until the 
 spring of 1854, then to Winuesheik county, Iowa, 
 and from there to Rice county, where he took land. 
 He improved the land and built a log house in 
 
 which he lived until his death, which occurred in 
 1875. His wife died two years later, seventy- 
 five years of age. Their oldest son, Tosten, was 
 born in Norway, on the 12th of January, 1843, 
 came to America with his parents and made his 
 home with them. He was married in April, 18G7, 
 to Miss Ingebor Oleson. They have been blessed 
 with seven children ; Edward, who died the 5th of 
 April, 1882, fourteen years and three months old; 
 Thomas, who died in 1870, two years old; 
 Thomas, Barnard, Oscar, who died on the 28th of 
 March, 1882, five yearsof age; Annie, and Albert, 
 who died on the 5th of April, 1882, one year 
 old. Mr. Bonde now occupies the old homestead. 
 In 1870, he built a barn 35x57 feet, and in 1875, 
 he erected the stone house in which they now live. 
 He has been elected to offices of trust in the town, 
 and is Justice of the Peace at present. His 
 brother, Halver, lives in Swift county. 
 
 Christian Deike was bom in Germany on the 
 13th of December, 1834. He attended school and 
 worked on a farm and when twenty years old en- 
 listed in the German army and served three years. 
 In 1858, he emigrated to America, landed in New 
 York on the 29th of May and came directly to 
 Cook county, Illinois, where he engaged in farm- 
 ing. In the fall of 1859, he came to Minnesota, 
 bought land iu Wheeling, section thirty-two, and 
 has since improved it. He married in 1864, Miss 
 Friederike Grote. In 1863, he built a frame house, 
 and in 1876 built the lirick residence in which he 
 now lives. In 1875, he erected a barn 40x60 feet 
 with a stone basement. Mr. Deike has been Town 
 Treasurer, is Chairman of the board of Super- 
 visors and is serving his second term as County 
 Commissioner. He is Director and President of 
 the Wheeling Mutual Fire Insurance Company 
 and Treasurer and Secretary of the German church. 
 
 WiLHELM Friedrioh was born in Germany on 
 the 21st of June, 1821, and commenced to learn 
 the carpenter trade when sixteen years old. On 
 the 19th of January, 1849, he married Miss 
 Augusta Grose. In 1854, they emigrated to 
 America landed at Quebec, came directly to Chi- 
 cago, and in four weeks went west thirty miles, 
 where he engaged at his trade until 1856, then 
 came to this county and took land in Wheeling, 
 section twenty-eight, where they stili Reside. He 
 first built a small frame house and in 1875 built 
 their ))resent larger one. Mr. and Mrs. Friedrich 
 have had ten children; Pauline, Emil, Augusta, 
 
WHEELING TO I VXSIll I '. 
 
 4fil 
 
 August, Minnie, Bertha, Louise, Emily, William, 
 and Gustave. 
 
 Henry Gkote, Sr., was born in Germany on the 
 22d of June, 1812, attended seliool and worked on 
 a farm. He was united in marriage on the 26th 
 of September, 1847, with Miss Frcdrica Abolraan, 
 and three years later they emigrated to America, 
 landed at New York and came directly to Illinois 
 where he had a brother. He made his home there 
 until the fall of 1854, then came to Minnesota 
 and located a claim in Wheeling, section seventeen. 
 He spent the winter with Henry Bultman and in 
 the spring built a log house in which they lived 
 until 1870, when he erected his present brick house. 
 His wife died on the 3d of June, 1880, leaving 
 three children; Henry W., Mary, and Caroline. 
 Their only son, Henry W., was born in Cook 
 county, Illinois, on the 27th of January, 1851. 
 He has attended both German and English .schools 
 and was confirmed on the 2M of April, 18(55. On 
 the 13th of April. 1874, Miss Augusta Budde be- 
 came his wife. They had one child, T. C. H. Wil- 
 liam. Mrs. Grote died on the 28th of February, 
 
 1875. In 1876, he married Miss Mary E. T. 
 Bieman, and tliey have had five children tour of 
 whom are living; Minnie, Henry, Annie, and 
 Louise. He now owns his father's farm and the 
 latter still lives with his son. 
 
 August Hansino, son of Ludwig Hansing, was 
 born in Illinois, on the 8th of February, 1855. 
 When three years of age he removed with his 
 parents to Minnesota where he has been reared to 
 agricultural pursuits, meanwhile attending both 
 German and English schools. His father died in 
 
 1876, leaving August the farm. In 1879, he mar- 
 ried Lizzie Barnstadt, and in 1880, built his preseut 
 frame house. 
 
 Henry N. Hegnes was born in Norway on the 
 4th of July, 1857, and when sixteen years of age 
 commenced to learn the blacksmith trade, at which 
 he worked two years, then came to America. He 
 landed at Quebec, went to Goodluie county and 
 engaged in blacksmithing three years, then clerked 
 for a time and afterward purchased a half interest 
 in a store with A. H. Brokke in Wheeling. The 
 latter sold to Osmund Osraundson and they still 
 continue in the business, carrying a large stock of 
 general merchandise. Mr. Hegnes is Postmaster 
 of Nerstand Post-ofHce. He married in 1878, 
 Miss Eliza Eothi, who has borne him three chil- 
 dren; Nils, Helmar, and Oscar. 
 
 Lewis Helbeuo, decc^ased, one of the pioneers 
 of Bice county, was born in Gerruanv on the lltli 
 of February, 1829, and reared on a farm. In 
 1847, ho came with his pannits to .\morica, landed 
 at (Quebec and came direc^tly to Chicago, working 
 on a farm iu that vicinity uniil 1852, wlien ho en- 
 gaged in draying two years, then came to Minne- 
 sota. He went to Mankato and St. Peter, made a 
 claim in that locality, and returned to Clucago for 
 a team and two cows; then, in comjiany witli four 
 others, came again to Minnesota. On reach- 
 ing Wheeling, in this count}, they were unable to 
 drive further, the mus(]uitoes were so numerous, 
 and consequently settled here. Mr. Helljerg was 
 married in 1855, to Miss Wilhelmina Myer, the 
 ceremony being the first performed in the town- 
 ship. The union was blessed with eight children; 
 Caroline, Sojihia, Bertha, John, William, Emma, 
 Anna,and Ernestine. He staked out a claim in sec- 
 tion twenty-one and erected the first house in the 
 jjlace, and in 1863, built a frame residence in 
 which he lived until his death in August, 1879. 
 Mr. Helberg was an honest and upright citizen, 
 and held a nnmlier of town ollices, being the first 
 tax collector. 
 
 Friedrrih Helbeuo, a native of Germany, 
 was born on the 5th of February, 1824, and in 
 1846, emigrated to America. He landed in New 
 York and went to Chicago, where he worked on a 
 farm, la 1853, he married Miss Caroline Meese, 
 and two years later they came to Minnesota and 
 settled in Wheeling, taking a claim iu section 
 nine, and then bought land in section twenty- 
 eight, built a log house in which he lived five 
 years, then built a frame house, and in 1877, 
 erected their present lirick dwelling. Mi-, and 
 Mrs. Helberg were lilessed with eleven children, 
 but three of whom are living; Herman, Sophia, and 
 Mary. Louise died on the 5th of January, 1861, 
 two years old; Franz P. on the 13tli of August, 
 1862,-two years old; Henry, on the 30th of No- 
 vember, 1864, aged eight years; Frederick F., on 
 the 14th of December, 1864, at the age of nine 
 yeai's and ten months; Charles, on the 24th of De- 
 cember, 1864, four years old; Caroline, on the 7th 
 of January, 1865, when twelve years old; Ludwig,on 
 the 2lRt of May, 186-(, at the age of two years, 
 and Wilhelmina, on the 19th of August, 1870, at 
 the -age of eleven months. 
 
 Henrv C. Kollinc, one of the pioneers of 
 Bice county, was boi'u iu Germany on the 14th of 
 
462 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 April, 1821, ami attendecj school in his native 
 couutrv'. lu 1845, he emigrated to America, 
 Ciime to Illinois and made his home in Cook 
 county until tlie fall of 1854, then came to this 
 county and staked out a claim in section twenty- 
 one, Wheeling township. In 1855,heputin his first 
 crop, a few acres of oats and corn, and the next 
 year ])ut in ten acres of wheat. He threshed it 
 by hand and carried it to market in Hastings, a 
 distance of forty miles. In 1855, he built a log 
 liouse 16x22, and ten years later built their pres- 
 ent frame house. In 1869, he erected a bam 
 40x58, with an addition 30x30. Mr. Kolliug has 
 been repeatedly elected to local offices, and is the 
 present Town Clerk. 
 
 John A. M.\ther, deceased, was born iu Frank- 
 lin county, Massachusetts, in July, 1822, reared 
 on a farm and learned the carpenters trade. He 
 was married iu-1847, to Miss Mary E. Bedient, a 
 native of New York. In 1848, he came to Wis- 
 consin and took a timber claim in Waushara 
 county; soon sold that, however, and purchased on 
 Burr Oak Prairie, where he lived until 1857, then 
 removed to Minnesota and settled in Richland, 
 Bice county, taking land on section twenty-six. 
 He improvetl the laud, built a log house and lived 
 there until 1865, when he sold, and bought a farm 
 on section twenty-seven, in this township. They 
 lived in a log house till 1871, when Mr. Mather 
 erected a frame house which sheltared him until 
 his death on the 7th of March, 1875. He had a 
 family of live children, tlu'ec of whom are living. 
 He was one of tlie first Board of Sujjervisors. 
 His widow now resides with her son, John H. 
 The eldest sou, James S., was born in Wisconsin, 
 on the 8th of January, 1852, and came to Minne- 
 sota with his parents. In 1872, he bought a 
 farm in section twenty-two. The following year, 
 Miss Emma Fanning became his wife, and has 
 biirue him three children. In 1875, he lost his 
 house by tire, and immediately built their pres- 
 ent residence. He is engaged in stock raising 
 and dairying. Mr. Mather has been elected to 
 a number of local offices, and is the present town 
 Treasurer. 
 
 EnNST Meese, a native of Illinois, was born in 
 Cook county, on the 4(h of February, 1846, and 
 received his education in the district school. In 
 1805, he came to Minnesota, lived two years on a 
 farm of Lis brother's, then located on his present 
 place. On the 17th of May, 1807, Miss Louise 
 
 Rodewall became his wife. Their children are; 
 Mena, Sophia, Caroline, Ida, Lizzie. Margaret- 
 George, Annie, and Birdie. In 1876, he built the 
 house iu which he now lives, and the next year 
 built a barn. 
 
 Peter H. Odegard, generally known as Peter 
 H. Halverson, was born in Norway on the 7th of 
 May, 1837, and when thirteen years old emigrated 
 with his parents to America. They went to Green 
 county, Wisconsin by way of Albany, Buffah), 
 and the great lakes. Peter remained there but 
 a short time, going to Illinois, where he engaged 
 in farming one year, then returned to Wisconsin. 
 In 1854, he removed with his parents to Minne- 
 sota, and four years later settled on school land iu 
 section thirty-six in Wheeling. On the Kith of 
 July, 1867, he married Miss Guro Allen, who has 
 borne him eight children, four of them now living. 
 He first built a log house, and in 1876, built their 
 present brick house. His farm is supplied with 
 good out buildings. 
 
 Hon. Osmund O.smund.son was born in Norway, 
 near the city of Stavanger, on the 7th of March, 
 182G. He attended school in his younger days, 
 afterward engaged at the carpenter trade, then 
 was on the sea five years. In 1850, he emigrated 
 to America, landing in New York on the 29th of 
 June, then went by steamer to Albany, from there 
 on the Erie canal to Buffalo, and thence by steamer 
 to Milwaukee. He was in Rock county one year, 
 then went to Walworth county and from there, in 
 1853, to California where be engaged in mining in 
 Nevada county three years then returned to Wis- 
 consin and thence, in the fall of 1856, to Minne- 
 sota. He was married in 1857, to Miss Ann Benson, 
 the ceremony taking place in Houston county. 
 Mr. Osmundson settled in Wheeling, taking land on 
 section fourteen and has since bought two hundred 
 ' and forty acres iu section eleven. He lived in a 
 log cabin until 1861, then built a frame house and 
 in 1880, erected his present briitk house. Sir. and 
 Mrs. Osmundson have had eight children; Andrew 
 Bernhart, Albert Oscar, Samuel Milton, John 
 Gabriel, Russell Edward, Esther Hebiue, Ambrosia 
 Sophia, and Andrew Bernhart, who was born in 
 May, 1858, and died on the 6th of December, 
 1874, while attending the Lutheran College at 
 Decorah, Iowa. Mrs. Osmundson die3 on the 26th 
 of April, 1882. Mr. Osmundson has filled a num- 
 ber of local offices, has served as County Conmiis- 
 sioner and two terms in the State Legislature. 
 
WHEELING TO W.XslIIP. 
 
 4r>:5 
 
 Hans H. Kinde, a native of Norway, was born 
 on the (Jtli of April, 1829, and attended kcIiooI 
 until fifteen years old, then was employed on a 
 farm. In 1853, he raarried Miss Kosa Nilson and 
 the same year they came to America, landed at 
 New York and came directly to Dane county, Wis- 
 consin, where they remained until 1855, then, in 
 com])anv with four other families, came with an ox 
 team to Minnesota. He settled in Wheeling, 
 staked out a claim in section two, built a log house 
 and in 18()2, erected their present frame house. In 
 1864, he enlisted in the Fourth Minnesota Infantry, 
 Company H, went south and joined Sherman at 
 Atlanta and was with him in his famous march to 
 the sea. He was discharged at Louisville, Ken- 
 tucky, in July, 1865, and then returned to his 
 farm. He has purchased more land and now has a 
 fine farm of four hundred acres. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Rinde have been blessed with ten children ; Henry, 
 Nils, Ole, Theodore, Anna, Ellie, Inger, Helena, 
 Johanna, and Genie. 
 
 Ole Shebven was born in Norway on the 2()th 
 of July, 1831. He went to school and worked on 
 a farm in his niitive country. In 1850, he emi- 
 grated to America, landed at New York, then 
 went to Albany, thence to Buffalo, and thence 
 to Milwaukee by way of the great lakes. He 
 remained three weeks in Dane county, Wis- 
 consin, then with oxen drove to Winneshiek 
 county, Iowa, took land, built a log house 
 and remained there five years. He was married in 
 1853, to Miss Inger Thoeson. He came to Rice 
 county, Minnesota, and settled in Wheeling, sec- 
 tion eighteen, where he still resides. He liuilt a 
 log house in which he lived seven years then 
 erected their present frame house and in 1878, lie 
 built a barn 40x64 feet with a stone basement, and 
 in 1881, a granary 20x30 with an addition 12x20. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Sherven were blessed with eight 
 children, five of whom are living; Oliver, Theo- 
 dore, Andrew, John, and Edward. Mrs. Sherven 
 died in 1870. thirty -eight years of age. In 1876, 
 he married Miss Maria Erickson and they have one 
 child, Julius. Mr. Sherven has held a number of 
 local offices and was the first Assessor of the town. 
 
 Han.s O. Stenbakken, one of the pioneers of 
 Rice county, was born in Norway, in June, 1825, 
 attended school for a time and subsequently en- 
 gaged in herding cattle. In 1846, he married Miss 
 Carrie Erickson, who bore him six children, five 
 of them now living; Ragnil, Ole, Erick, Thor, and 
 
 Gunnild. In 1854, they came to America, landed 
 in Quebec and came directly to Rock county, Wis- 
 consin, where he engaged in farming. In the 
 spring of 1856, he came to Wheeling and staked 
 out a claim in section twelve, built a small log house 
 which was plastered with clay, then built a larger 
 one, and in 1871, erected a frame house. His wife 
 died on the 28th of May, 1862, and two years 
 later Miss Mary Ol.son became his wife. His son 
 Erick occupies one farm, and his youngest son an- 
 other on section four, while Hans expects to spend 
 the remainder of his life with his son, Ole, on the 
 old homestead. 
 
 Ole H. Stenbakken was born in Norway on the 
 17th of December, 1848. When six years old he 
 came with his parents to America, landed at (Que- 
 bec and came directly to Rock county, Wiscousiui 
 where he remeined two years, and came to Rice 
 county, Minnesota, settling in Wheeling. His 
 father pre-empted land in section twelve at the 
 same time. Ole was luiited in marriage on the 
 13th of December, 1875, with Miss Berget H. 
 Rank. They have been blessed with three chil- 
 dren; Kari Maria, Hannah Solihia, and Gena 
 Karina. He bought his father's farm upon which 
 he now resides. He is serving his third term as a 
 member of the board of Supervisors. 
 
 EnicK H. Stenbakken was l)orn in Norway on 
 the 16tb of October, 1851, and three years later 
 came with his parents to America. They settled 
 in Rock county. Wisconsin, and in 1856, came to 
 Minnesota and located in Wheeling. Erick at- 
 tended the ilistrict school and went one term to 
 St. Olafs College in Northfield and has since de- 
 voted his hime to farming. In 1880, he married 
 Miss Randi Halverson, who has borne him one 
 child, Hans Christian. He has a farm in sections 
 twelve and thirteen. On the twenty-fourth annivers- 
 ary of his birth he met with a sad accident, having 
 his right hand crushed in a threshing machine so 
 badly as to necessitate amputaticm. 
 
 John Thompson was born in Norway in 1821, 
 and reared on a farm. He \vas married in 1846, 
 I'.is bride being Miss Julia Benson. In 1848, they 
 came to America, landed at New York and went 
 to Milwaukee by the way of Albany, Buffalo, and 
 the great lakes, from thence to Rock county, Wis- 
 consin, and in 1856, removed to Rice county, 
 Minnesota, and located in Wheeling, section two. 
 He first built a log house and in 1863. erected bis 
 present frame house. They were blessed with ten 
 
464 
 
 UlsrORY OF RIGE COUNTY. 
 
 cliilclreu, only one of whom is living, Julia. Eight 
 of the children died in infancy, and Theodore when 
 iiboiit seven years of age. 
 
 T. A. Vebles. a native of Norway, was born on 
 the 2d of October, 1818. He attended school, 
 worked on a farm, and was employed at the car- 
 penter trade in his native place. In 1846, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Kari Bundy. In 
 1817, they emigrated to America, landed at Que- 
 bec, came directly to Port Washington, Wisconsin, 
 and remained there one year, then removed to 
 Slicb )ygan, and six years later to Mount Vernon. 
 In 18(30, he came to Minnesota, located in this 
 county and bought land in Wheeling, section 
 
 twelve, erecting the frame house in which they now 
 live, the second year. In 1872, he built a' barn 
 48x62. Mr. and Mrs. Veblen have been blessed 
 with twelve children, nine of whom are living; 
 Andrew, Betsey E., Austin A., Tosten, luger, 
 Mary. Thomas, Edward, and Hannah. Mr. Veblen 
 has always taken a great interest in education. 
 Andrew, Tosten, and Inger are graduates of Carle- 
 ton College at Northfield. Andrew is now attend- 
 ing the University at Baltimore, and Tosten is at 
 Yale College in New Haven; Thomas and Austin 
 have both attended Carleton College, th<? former 
 being obliged to leave on account of poor health, 
 while Austin is engaged in mercantile pursuits at 
 Blooming Prairie, Steele county. 
 
 RICHLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER LVI. 
 
 GENKKAL DESCRIPTION EARLY SETTLEMENT — 
 
 EVENTS OP INTEREST —POLITICAL — RELIGIOUS — 
 SC.HO()L.S — BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 In the southeast coriier of Bice county, with 
 its tliirty-sis sections as designated by the gov- 
 ernment survey, lays the town with the above 
 name that so well describes the character of 
 its soil. Goodhue county is its neighbor on the 
 east. Dodge county touches its southeast corner, 
 Steele county is on the south, the town of Walcott 
 on the west, and Wheeling on the north. 
 
 It is a prairie town, somewhat rolling, and re- 
 markably well watered by small streams which 
 coalesce in tlie interior of the town to form the 
 north branch of the Zumjjro River. It seems 
 (|uite unnecessary to describe the course of these 
 rivulets, except, perhaps, to say that they are but 
 two or three miles apart at the widest point, and 
 this part of the toi)Ography leaves nothing to be 
 desired. 
 
 Section twelve, tlirough whicli the river leaves 
 the town, was rather of a timber section, having 
 more than all the rest of the township, and early 
 received tlie name of "Norwegian Grove," as the 
 people of tliat nationality secured possession of it 
 when first in the market. There were smaller 
 groves on sections sixteen and thirty-one. The 
 character of the soil is variable, being in places a 
 
 loam with a sand mixture, and in other places what 
 may be called black muck. It is everywhere deep 
 and very productive. 
 
 EARLY SETTLEMENT. 
 
 The year 1854 was the first to witness the ad- 
 vent of the westward bound emigrant. Four 
 sturdy Norwegians who had stopjjed long enough 
 in Wisconsin to learn the pioneering trade, so to 
 speak, came here in the spring of this year with 
 ox teams, which, at that time, was by all odds the 
 most sensible way to come to this new country. 
 Their names were Halver Halverson, Erik Gun- 
 derson, Ole Larson, and Osten Oleson. 
 
 Gunderson staked out the first claim on the 
 southeast quarter of section twelve, near the Zum- 
 bro. He put up a hay shanty and made himself 
 comfortable while getting up a log shelter, which 
 he lost no time in doing, and he has still a home 
 on the same spot. 
 
 Halverson claimed three forties in section eleven 
 and one in section twelve. He started life in a 
 tent which he improvised, using his wagon cover 
 for the top, then cut and cured some hay and soon 
 had a, fasliionable residence, and afterwards his 
 regular timber abode like a high-toned frontiers- 
 man. He may now be found on sectich twelve. 
 
 Olson also secured his acies in section twelve, 
 which he cultivated until 1863, when his mortal 
 remains were dep.jsited beneath the sod. His 
 
RICH LAND Tcnrysnrp. 
 
 405 
 
 willow occupies the homestead with her only 
 daughter, whose husband carries on the farm. 
 
 Ole Larson went into section ten and succeeded 
 in getting up the first house in town, wliich he 
 moved into in September, 1854. In 1856, he went 
 to Winona on some business with the hind otBce, 
 and never returned. What became of him is still 
 a mystery most profound. The conjecture at the 
 time was tliat he was murdered. His sou, Ever 
 Olesou, still lives on the place. 
 
 In the fall of this year there was quite a little 
 party came together and selected claims in section 
 thirty and the vicinity. Among this number 
 were F. W. Frink, J. Kinnison, Ozro Carter and 
 Willard Carter, two brothers, whose claims fell in 
 the township of Walcott. The.se peojile returned 
 to bring their families the following spring. 
 
 Other comers were Edward and Sumner Beach, 
 father and son; H. F. Smith; H. M. Beardsley; 
 George M. Smitli; and Abner Beardsley; who 
 located in that neighborhood. 
 
 In 1855, there was a party who came from Wis- 
 consin, some of whom had stopped a while there to 
 create homes for themselves.and others came direct- 
 ly from the eastern States. Arriving here they were 
 so well pleased with the country that some of them 
 at once proceeded to locate their claims in this 
 town, and brief sketches of these men are here 
 given. 
 
 J. M. Strunk was from Chautauqua county, 
 New York; he selected a place in section seven and 
 lived in his wagon for a while, then in a bark 
 shanty until he could get up his log cabin. 
 
 Mr. Barlow settled in section seven, where he 
 lived making improvements for several years. At 
 present he is keeping a hotel in Medford. 
 
 Edwin Wheeler found a place in section 
 eighteen. 
 
 William Close, a native of Ohio, came here 
 from Indiana during the summer of 1855, and se- 
 cured a foothold in section thirty-one, where he 
 remained until 1875, when his place was ex- 
 changed for city property and he remove<l to Fari- 
 bault where he has since resided. 
 
 F. Herrington, whose birthplace was Delaware, 
 put in a personal appearance in the fall of this 
 year and boarded with H. M. Beardsley through 
 the winter, and in the spring he Ixmght a claim in 
 section twenty-nine where he may still be found. 
 
 During the year 185G, the accessions to the 
 colony in this township were quite important. 
 30 
 
 John Close, from the Buckeye State, came up 
 here from Iowa, where he had remained for a year. 
 He came across the country with an ox team, a 
 distance of more than three hundred miles 
 through a trackless, and of cour.se bridgeless 
 country, and such a trip, it seems almost needless 
 to add, required great good judgement as to the 
 direction to take and as to how to compass the 
 various difficulties being constantly met. He se- 
 cured the northeast quarter of section twenty- 
 nine. 
 
 During the tir.st two or three years of the early 
 settlement of the township there were quite a 
 number of the sons of the "Emerald Isle" who se- 
 cured homes here, and some of the original comers 
 still remain where they were first plauted. 
 
 John G. Miller, of Germany, came here in 1856, 
 and worked a farm on the school section, thirty- 
 six, for two years, and then traded some land he 
 had acquired in Iowa before coming here for a 
 farm in section twenty-nine, where he still resides. 
 
 Nathan S. Wheeler and his son George H. came 
 here from Illinois, being natives of the Empire 
 State; the father pre-empted a place in section 
 one, and the son staked out some laud in section 
 thirteen. In the fall they returned to speml the 
 winter in Illinois. The young man came back in 
 the spring and he now lives in section twenty-one. 
 The old gentleman visited the town again in the 
 summer of 1858, but returned to remain in Illi- 
 nois. 
 
 The year 1857 saw fresh arrivals, among them 
 John A. Mather, and his position was in section 
 twenty-six. He improved that place for awhile, 
 then sold out and bought in section twenty-seven, 
 where he lived and wrought until his earthly 
 sojourn was ended, in 1875. 
 
 Frank Gowen, of Maine, started a farm in sec- 
 tion twenty-six, but after a time moved on to 
 Nebraska. 
 
 During this year several Massachusetts men ar- 
 rived, among them Andrew and Enoch Story and 
 Washington Tarr. 
 
 Mr. Tarr took a claim in sectit)n three; Enoch 
 Story took his slice from section two, and in the 
 fall they both returned to the old Bay State. 
 
 Andrew Story bought the east half of the south- 
 east quarter of section two, but at that time re- 
 mained but a few weeks. In 1861, however, he 
 returned and permanently located on the claim 
 
46fi 
 
 HISTORY OF RIGE COUNTY. 
 
 first taken by Washington Tarr, and he may yet 
 be found on the claim. 
 
 Harvey Y. Scott, of New Jersey, came to Fari- 
 bault in 1854, in the mouth of June, where he 
 remained until 1860. In 18(53, he came to Rich- 
 land, having secured a place in section four where 
 he still abides. 
 
 EVENTS OK INTEREST. 
 
 One of the earliest marriages was Henry M. 
 Beardsley and Ariminta Newcomb, by Rev. B. F- 
 Haviland in 18.57. Knud Finset was married to 
 Bess Berget Halverson about the same time. 
 
 On the 2d of January, 1 8.57, Cajst. John Hanson 
 was united to Lena Halverson. They were mar- 
 ried in Faribault. 
 
 Earlier than any of the above was the union of 
 
 E. L. Beach and Elizabeth Beardsley, in the year 
 1856. They have both passed to the great be- 
 yond. 
 
 Columbia Adams, a lady of sixteen years of age, 
 was struck by lightning late in June, 1855, and 
 instantly killed. Mrs. Tew was injured by the 
 same bolt, and never recovered from the shock, but 
 passed away a tew years afterwards. This mis- 
 fortune made a wonderful impression on the settle- 
 ment, and one that will never be forgotten. In 
 the absence of anything more suitable, a dry 
 goo Is box which had lieen used in bringing 
 
 F. W. Frink's furniture and goods, was split up 
 and made into a coffin. One peculiar incident 
 connected with the melancholy event was that the 
 bolt of lightning entered the victim's head just 
 back of the ear, and passing the entire length of 
 the body made its exit through a nail hole in the 
 toe of the shoe. 
 
 John Wesley, son of .John and Susan Close, was 
 born on the -Ith of June, 1857. He now lives at 
 Little Falls, Morrison county, where he is engaged 
 in business as a druggist. 
 
 Richard, a son of Richard and Bridget Leonard, 
 was born on the lOtli of May, 1857. He now re- 
 sides with his jiarents. 
 
 Halver Austin, son of Osten Olson, was born on 
 the 14th of January, 1856. He was removed to 
 his eternal home on the 10th of .^pril, 1876. 
 
 Richland cemetery was laid out in 1873, and the 
 mortal remains of Herbert Stickney were the first 
 to be deposited there, early in December of that 
 year. It embraces one acre of land which was 
 I)urchased of Alon/.o Stickney, and is in section 
 thirty. 
 
 The Catholic cemetery was platted in 1874, and 
 embraces three acres of land donated by S. G. 
 Nolan on section sixteen. 
 
 The first Postmaster was T. Larson. The pres- 
 ent incumbent is James Nolan, who was commis- 
 sioned in August, 1881. 
 
 A store was opened by T. Larson in 1878, in 
 1881, he sold to S. G. Nolan, the present pro- 
 prietor, who still does business there in section 
 twenty-one. 
 
 A store had previously been started on section 
 thirty-six in 1875, by Nils N. Kveruoden, which he 
 sold to Hagan O. Naeseth in 1879, and be sold to 
 Mr. Lund in 1881, who is the present proprietor. 
 
 A Post-office had been established here while 
 Kveruoden was proprietor, and he handled the 
 mails, but it was discontinued. In June, 1882, are- 
 establishment of the office took place, with Peter 
 Lund as Postmaster, under the name of Maylaud. 
 The mail is delivered twice a week. It formerly 
 came from Dodge City once a week. 
 
 POLITICAL. 
 
 The first town meeting was on the 11th of May, 
 1858, at the house of R. W. Mathews. John A. 
 Mather was the moderator and Samuel Gowen 
 was clerk. 
 
 The officers to inaugurate the town government 
 were: Supervisors, Lafayette Barlow, Chairman, 
 John A. Mather, and E. S. Staiibrd; Town Clerk, 
 F. Mathews; Assessor, George W. Fox; Collector, 
 William Close; Justices of the Peace, J. M. 
 Ktrunk and Josiah H. Gale; Constables, Charles 
 Birge and James Stevens. 
 
 Town affairs from that time to this have been in 
 good hands, and everything in this line has run on 
 in the even tenor of its way. 
 
 Present Town Officers. — At the town meeting 
 convened at the schoolhouse in district No. 24, on 
 the 14th of March, 1882, the following officers 
 were designated lor the ensuing year: Super- 
 visors, J. B. Johnson, Chairman, August Weshoe, 
 and Charles Egenbrod; Clerk and Assessor, John 
 Murphy; Collector, James Mather; Justices of the 
 Peace, Albert Zigler and John Close; Constables, 
 William Hildebrand and C. E. Engle. 
 
 RELIGIOUS. ■ 
 
 NoRWEGi.^N LuTHBBAN Chubi^h.— As early as 
 1855, meetings were held in the house of Halvt r 
 Halverson on section thirteen, Rev. Nils Brandt 
 was the missionary. Meetings were continued in 
 
1! I a II LAX D TOWNSHIP. 
 
 467 
 
 private bouses for some time, but tbcy now wor- 
 sbij) in a cburob in Goodbue county. 
 
 Norwegian Evangelical Li'theuan Congke- 
 OATioN. — Tbe first meetings were at tbe scbool- 
 house in district No. .51, in 187S. Kev. Mr. Muua 
 was tbe minister. Tbe next year an organization 
 was effected witb about two score members. Rev. 
 M. O. Bockman was tbe pastor appointed by tbe 
 synod, and is tbe present incumbent. Part of 
 tbis congregation comes from Steele, Dodge, and 
 Goodbue counties, and meetings are beUl cmce in 
 four weeks. 
 
 Bethel Methodist Episcopal Chdrcui. — In 
 1868, tbis society was establisbed, and tbe meet- 
 ings were bskl in tbe scboolbouse in section 
 twenty-sis. Rev. Mr. Eicbardson was tbe first 
 preacber, and wben tbe Grange Hall was built tbat 
 became tbe meeting bouse. Tbe last minister was J. 
 Milton Akers. In 1881, tbe meetings were discon- 
 tinued. 
 
 Methodist Episcopal Church. — In tbe winter 
 of 18.56, Rev. William McKiuley preacbed tbe 
 first sermon bere in tbe residence of Jobn Close. 
 In tbe spring of 1857, Rev. Aaron Matteson or- 
 ganized a society witb Mr. Close as class leader 
 and seven members; Jobn Close and wife, William 
 Close and wife, Mrs. Paul Williams, and Calvin 
 Frink and wife. The membership increased quite 
 rapidly until there were about one hundred. 
 Meetings were afterwards held in F. W. Frink's 
 log bouse, and also in tbe scboolbouse in district 
 No. 21. Meetings were kept up here until 1873. 
 
 Soon after the formation of tbe society, a Sun- 
 day school was started, and it has since been kept 
 up; T. B. Brown is tbe present superintendent. 
 
 Rev. J. Milton Akers is tbe "(>reseut pastor. This 
 church is connected witb tbe Minnesota Confer- 
 ence, and is a part of the Faribault circuit. 
 
 The Evangelical Association - Ebenezer 
 Church. — Tbe first meeting by tbis denomination 
 was held in Mr. Jenkins' bouse on section three, in 
 1863, Rev. William Stegner officiating, and meet- 
 ings continued to be held here tor four years, and 
 a year or so in other bouses of tbe members. In 
 1870, the congregation succeeded in building a 
 cburob, which is situated on section four, where 
 H. Y. Scott donated two acres of land. There is 
 a cemetery near the church, and tbe first burial 
 was in 1870. 
 
 Catholic Church. — Mass was first said in Mr. 
 Moore's bouse on section twenty-two, in Decem- 
 
 ber, 1858. Father G. Keller was the officiating 
 priest, and services were held in various bouses 
 until 1874, when a church was built on section six- 
 teen. Father Genis is tbe jiresent pastor. 
 
 SCHOOLS. 
 
 District No. 12. — This was first organized in 
 1856, and a school was opened and presided over 
 l)y Mrs. Edwin Wheeler at tbe bouse of her hus- 
 band. The scboolbouse was built the same year 
 on section twelve, where it .still stands and is yet 
 used for school purposes; when it was resolved to 
 build, the farmers all turned out bringing logs and 
 material and soon completed tbe structure. This 
 was the first district organized in this part of the 
 county. 
 
 District No. 16. — A part of tbis district is in 
 the town of Wheeling, and it came iuto existence 
 in 1856. The next year tbe shoolbouse was got 
 up on section four. Miss Ella Evans bad the honor 
 of teaching the first school bere. 
 
 District No. 80. — This was outlined iu 1859, 
 and a school started at Roland Fairfield's bouse, 
 his wife wielding the rod of authority. Tbis was 
 in section twenty-three, and early in 1860, a log 
 house was rolled together on .section twenty-four. 
 Tbis was used up to the year 1877, when a new 
 and better one was prtivided on section twenty- 
 three. 
 
 Di.strict No. 51. — In tbe house of Roland Fair- 
 field, iu 1859, a school was opened, and in 1861, a 
 division was made and No. 80 set oft'. The south 
 part kept the old number and built a bouse tbat 
 year on section thirty-five, and Miss Nellie White 
 took charge of the school. In 1870, tbe bouse now 
 existing was constructed ou section twenty -six. 
 
 District No. 88. — The year 1868 saw tbis dis- 
 trict formed, and tbe scboolbouse was built that 
 same year. Mrs. Jeft'ers was tbe first to attemi)t 
 to teach the young idea how to shoot, iu William 
 Sawyer's granary. 
 
 District No. 21. — The district with tbis num- 
 ber was created in 1857, and the earliest school 
 was in F. W. Frink's log bouse in the summer and 
 the following winter. In the spring of 1858, the 
 district, witb commendal)Ie energy, got up a fraftie 
 building for school purposes on section thirty, 
 which served until the building of the present 
 structure. Sarah Campbell was tbe first teacher 
 in the new house, and William Bentley in tbe old. 
 The first scboolbouse was put up at the exi:)ense of 
 Calvin Frink, father of tbe present County Audi- 
 
468 
 
 HTSTORT OP RICE COUNTY. 
 
 tor, and he afterward received the tax levied in 
 return for his money. 
 
 DiSTEiOT No. 24. — School was first taught in a 
 private house on .section sixteen in 3859. The 
 schoolhouse is on section twenty-one, and was built 
 at an early day. 
 
 District No. 102 was instituted al)out 1875, 
 and a schoolhouse put up on the north line o( sec- 
 tion sixteen. 
 
 BIDUBAPIIIC.iL. 
 
 William W. Beakd was born in Kennebec 
 county, Maine, where he attended school and lived 
 on a farm. When twenty years old he went to sea 
 and was a sailor five years. He then engaged in 
 tanning in bis native State, and in 1854 Miss Betsey 
 W. Gowen became bis wife. They came toWaushara 
 county, Wisconsin, in 1855, where he staked out a 
 claim, improved it, and built a bouse and barn. 
 In 1858, Mr. Beard came to Minnesota on a pros- 
 pecting tour, and in 1862, sold his farm in Wis- 
 consin and came to Richland, where he bought a 
 farm on section twenty-six. He improved his 
 place and has since purchased one hundred and 
 sixty acres adjoining. They lived in a log house 
 until 1868, then erected their present frame house. 
 He is the father of seven children. Mr. Beard has 
 been elected to ofiBces of trust in the town, and is 
 a man that is well known in this section of the 
 country. 
 
 John Close was bom in Wayne county, Ohio, 
 on the 6th of October, 1825, and removed vrith his 
 parents to Indiana when seven years of age; first 
 settled in Cass county and then assisted his father 
 in clearing a claim in Miami county. The latter 
 died in September, 1845. On the 8th of .January, 
 1846, John married Miss Susan Fickle who bore 
 him ten children, six of whom are living. Mrs. 
 Close was born in Pennsylvania on the 15th of 
 December, 1828, and died the 24th of March, 
 1870. The maiden name of bis present wife was 
 Miss Martha .7. Ernsj^erger whom he married on 
 the 4th of February, 1871. They have one child. 
 He purchased a farm in Kosciusko county, In- 
 diana, where he lived one year then sold out, in 
 1854, .md purchased land in Greene county, Iowa. 
 He was sick the first summer there and the next 
 year came to Faribault, but returned in about six 
 weeks, then worked in a grist-mill. In the spring 
 of 1856, he sold his land and came to this county, 
 settling in Richland on a claim in section twenty- 
 nine. He first built a log caliin and engaged in 
 
 improving his land. He spent one winter in Wal- 
 cott, and in 1866, built a barn, 32x42 feet, and 
 two years later built their present frame house. 
 Mr. Close has been a member of the Methodist 
 church since sixteen years of age. 
 
 Leander Eastman, a native of Maine, was born 
 on the 11th of March, 1836. He was reared on a 
 farm, and when sixteen years old went to the 
 pineries, where he was engaged in lumbering for 
 twelve years. In 1854, he married Miss P. A. 
 Brackett, and they have had six children, four of 
 whom are living. Mr. Eastman came to Dakota 
 county, Blinnesota, in 1861, and remained there 
 until 1863, when he came to Richland and bought 
 a farm in section twenty -six, improved it, setting 
 out a grove, and in 1863, built a dwelling house. 
 In 1865, he enlisted in the first Minnesota Volun- 
 teer Infantry, Company H, went south and joined 
 Thomas in Alexandria, Virginia, and was honorably 
 discharged at the close of the war, on the 14tb of 
 July, 1865. He then returned to this place, 
 bought a farm in section twenty -seven and built a 
 granary, in which they lived until 1869, then ' 
 erected their present dwelling. 
 
 Erik G. Giinderson was born in Norway, on 
 the 24th of March, 1828. His younger d.iys were 
 spent at school, and in 1849, he came to America, 
 landed at New York and proceeded directly to 
 Wisconsin, where he engaged in farming. He 
 was joined in matrimony in 1852, with Miss 
 Helena Hanson, and two years later, in company 
 witli a few others, came to Minnesota. He pre- 
 empted land in Richland township, this county, 
 and it was the first claim made in the town. He 
 first built a hay shanty, then a log house, and in 
 two years another one of logs, to which he has 
 put an addition. On the 24th of July, 1860, his 
 wife died, leaving five children. The maiden name 
 of his present wife was Miss Astre Asle, whom he 
 married in 1865. They have five children. 
 
 .Iames Greelv, one of the pioneers of Minne- 
 sota, was born in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, on 
 the 2:(d.of February, 1826, and removed with his 
 parents when one year old to Maine, and lo- 
 cated in Waldo county. When fifteen years old 
 he went to sea and was a sailor eleven years on 
 merchant vessels between the United States and 
 the West Indies. He was married in 1619, to Miss 
 Sarah .J. Rand. When twenty-sis yeais old Le 
 retired from sea life and bought a farm in Waldo 
 county, which he carried on till 1856, then sold 
 
men LAND To WSSIIIP. 
 
 469 
 
 and removed to Steele countv, Minnesota, took a 
 claim and built a house. In February, 1805, he 
 enlisted in the Second Minnesota Cavalrj', went to 
 Port Wadsworth, then returned to Fort Snclling 
 where he ■was hont)rably dischai'ged in November, 
 18(55, then returned to his farm. Tu 186(5, he sold 
 hi.s farm in Steele county, and bought in Kiuh- 
 land in sections thirty-one and thirty-two, having 
 since devoted his time to its cultivation, building 
 a house, and in 1875, bought laud adjoining his 
 first purchase. BJrs. Greeley died in October, 
 1868, leaving four children. The maiden name of 
 his present wife was Miss Augusta Parshal, whom 
 he married in 1869. 
 
 John B. Johxson was born in M<-intgomery 
 couuty, New York, on the 23d of June, 1834. and 
 obtained an education at the district school, and 
 later worked on a farm, (!)n the ith of January, 
 1856, Miss Anna E.Schuyler became his wife. In 
 1870, they removed to Minnesota and purchased a 
 farm in Richland township, in section nineteen, 
 where he may still be found. Mrs. Johnson was 
 a native of Montgomery county. New York, l)orn 
 in May, 1831, and died in 1875, leaving three 
 children. In 1875, he was joined in marriage 
 with Miss Mahala Swanger, who has borne him 
 three children. He has held a number of local 
 offices, and is at jsresent Chairman of the Board of 
 Supervisors. 
 
 John G. Millek, one of the pioneers of Eich- 
 land, was born in Germany in March, 1825. He 
 attended school, and when fourteen years old 
 learned the shoemaker's trade, .serving an appren- 
 ticeship of two -years, besides paying S42 for the 
 privilege. In 1845, he emigrated to America, 
 landed at New Y'ork, where he worked one month 
 at his trade, then in Genesee county two moutlis. 
 He found farming more profitable, engaged at it 
 two years in the latter county, and removed to 
 Rock county, Wisconsin, where, in 1850, he was 
 married. Miss Susan Burtman becoming his wife. 
 In 1851, he bought a farm in Fayette county, 
 Iowa, where he remained until 1856, then located 
 in Walcott, Rice county, Minnesota, and lived two 
 yt ars on section thirty-six. At the expiration of 
 that time he traded his laud in Iowa for a farm in 
 section twenty-nine in Richland township, to which 
 he moved the same year. He lived in a log house 
 until 1868, then built a frame house in which he 
 now lives, and in 1880, erectfd a liarn 24x30 feet. 
 He is the father cif nine childreii, six of whom are 
 living. 
 
 Moses C. Peasley, deceased, one of the pioneers 
 of Rice county, was born in New Hampshire in 
 1831, and lioth of his parents died when he was 
 but eight years old. When a ycnujg man he went 
 to California where he sjjent five years in mining, 
 then returned to New Hampshire and in a short 
 time came to Minnesota. He pre-empted land in 
 Richland, in sectiou twenty-six, then sold it and 
 bought on section sixteen where he lived a few 
 years; disposed of that and purchased three hun- 
 dred and twenty acres in sections twenty-two and 
 twenty-seven. On the 7th of September, 1859, he 
 married Miss Martha C. Finlayson, a native of 
 Canada. Mr. Peasley enlisted on the 13th of 
 August, 1862, in the Seventh Minnesota Volunteer 
 Infantry, Company A, served till the close of the 
 war and was honorably discharged on the 7th of 
 July, 1865, when he returned home and devoted 
 his time to the improvement of his farm until his 
 death in February, 1879. They had a family of 
 six children, four of them now living. Mrs. Peas- 
 ley lives on the homestead and carries on the farm. 
 
 Andrew Stoby was born in Hamilton, Essex 
 county, Massachusetts, on the 16th of November, 
 1812. He acquired an education at the district 
 school, and in May, 1829, engaged in the village of 
 Essex to learn the trade of shipbuilding, serving 
 three years. He worked as a journeyman for a 
 time, then started in business for himself, and 
 while in the business built as many as thirteen 
 schooners in one year. In November, 1838, he 
 married Miss Lucy A. Story. In 1857, he came 
 west on a prospecting tour with two young men 
 who were in his employ. During that summer 
 Mr. Story purchased laud in Richland in section 
 two, and the other two men made claims in sec- 
 tions two and three, which claims he afterwards 
 jjurchased. He returned to Massachusetts and in 
 May, 1861, launched his last vessel, then, with his 
 family removed to a place on section three, this 
 township, where he has a farm of four hundred 
 acres. In 1869, he Iiuilt a barn and in 1878, an- 
 other one, which is connected with the first by a 
 shed. Mr. and BIrs. Story have had seven chil- 
 dren, six of whom are living. Lucy Ellen, the 
 eldest, died on the 7th of September, 1842. 
 
 J. M. Stkunk, one of the pioneers of this county, 
 was born in Chautauqua county, New York, on 
 the 21st of November, 1829. His younger days 
 were spent at school and since that time be has 
 been engaged in agricultural pursuits. lu 1854, 
 
470 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE GOUNTF. 
 
 Lydia Williams became his wife. She was also a 
 native of the latter county. In 1855, they started 
 west; came to Wisconsin by rail and from thence 
 to Rice eonnty with a few others, with ox teams. 
 Mr. Strunk staked out a claim in Richland on section 
 seven, and now has a farm of three hundred and 
 forty acres of prairie land, besides forty acres of 
 timber. He first built a bark shanty, then a log 
 house, and in 1872, his present frame house, and in 
 1874, a barn 45x50 feet. He is the father of five 
 children, three of whom are living. 
 
 George H. Wheeler, one of the pioneers of 
 Richland, is a native of Orange county, New York, 
 boru on the 18th of May, 18.35. He attended 
 school at Amity, and when fifteen years old re- 
 moved with his parents to Delaware, Ohio, where 
 
 they lived three years, then moved to St. Charles, 
 Illinois. In 1856, he and bis father, Nathan S. 
 Wheeler, (?ame to Minnesota, Richland township, 
 the father taking land in section twelve and the 
 son in section thirteen. In the fall they returned 
 to Illinois where, in 1857, Celia M. Howard became 
 his wife. The following October they removed to 
 Minnesota, coming on a boat as far as Red Wing 
 tjien drove to their claim. He erected a house 
 with the help of a carpenter who came with him, 
 but in 1870, sold his farm and purchased in sec- 
 tion twenty-one where he still resides. His father 
 returned here in 1858, and spent the summer, then 
 went back to Illinois where he lives at present. 
 Mr. and BIrs. Wheeler have been blessed with nine 
 children. 
 
 WALCOTT. 
 
 CHAPTER LVII. 
 
 liOCATION AND DESOEIPTION EARLT SETTLEMENT 
 
 — EVENTS OF INTEKE.ST — MANDFACTCRINti TOWN 
 
 ORGANIZATION — SCHOOLS — BIOOKAPHICAL. 
 
 The location of this town may be thus de- 
 scribed. It is the second from the eastern boun- 
 dary of the county, on the south tier of townships. 
 Its contiguous surroundings are, Richland on the 
 east. Cannon City and Faribault on the north, 
 Warsaw on the west, and Steele county on the 
 south. 
 
 The )]rincipal river is Straight River, which 
 flows quite faithfully toward the north, a little 
 west of the center. Mud Creek and Rush Creek 
 with several other branches join it in its course. 
 The river leaves the town from section four, and a 
 quarter of a mile west it returns, moving directly 
 south to turn west and again get beyond the 
 town limits on the line between sections five and 
 six, passing through Faribault. A.s a rule, the 
 creeks and rivers carry a belt of timber that is 
 <iuite heavy for a mile or two wide, making about 
 one-third of the town covered with timber. 
 
 On the east side is the noted F.ast Prairie, with 
 its black loam from eighteen inches to two feet in 
 depth, with a blue clay subsoil, and laying so low 
 that artificial drainage has to be resorted to. On 
 the west side the soil is sandy, with a gravel sub- 
 
 soil on what is known as the low prairie, which 
 extends west three-fourths of a mile, and north 
 from the southern line about three and one-half 
 jniles. The rest of the town is known as High 
 Prairie, which is a sort of table land with a black 
 loam and clay subsoil, making the richest kind of 
 soil for any crops suitable to this latitude. 
 
 EARLY SETTLEMENT. 
 
 The first actual settler in this town was Edward 
 H. Cutts, who came from Vermont, having 
 stopped a while at the head of Lake Pepin, in the 
 year 1853. His first visit here was in December of 
 that year, and he selected a claim in sections 
 twenty and twenty-one. Late in February, 1854, 
 he returned with Jacob Chesrown, who was a 
 young man, and another by the name of Rouse, 
 who were hired by Mr. Cutts. They started from 
 Hastings with a yoke of oxen, a cow, and a pony, 
 with supplies on a sled, and for the first day had a 
 good many snowbanks to shovel through. When 
 twelve miles out they lost the trail, and while 
 looking right and left for it one of the men was 
 sent ow ahead to a piece of timber to build a fire 
 and pirepare supper. It was getting dark and 
 they heard a pack of wolves comiL."^. One of 
 them seized the axe and the other got his pistol 
 ready, but they crossed 'at a little distance, evi- 
 dently on tlie track of a deer. The next day the 
 
ir. 1 Lcorr to wxsjiip. 
 
 471 
 
 grouDtl got bare and it was literally "hard sled- 
 ding." The next night the camp was on the prai- 
 rie, and liy picking up every stick they could find 
 and usiug what they could spare of the ends of 
 the sled stakes, got up quite a good fire. They 
 got out of hay, and in the night the cattle took 
 the back track and Mr. Cutts had to gallop back 
 on the pony after them fur five or six miles. They 
 mixed up some meal in a handkerchief and baked 
 a cake in the ashes. Before they readied Fa;i- 
 bault the sled had to be abandoned and a wagon 
 secured, with which he finally got his things on 
 his place and began to build. In a few days his 
 cow had a calf, and one night a timber wolf un- 
 dertook to carry it off, but he drove the brute 
 away and took the calf inside. There came up a 
 firghtful snow storm, and as he had no shelter, ex- 
 cept the lee side of the cabin, he had to take the 
 cow in also until the storm had subsided. Mr. Outts 
 built the first log cabin in town, and the first frame 
 house; the first house was burned in the winter of 
 185.5-56. The next winter iie went to get married, 
 and brought his wife as far as Illinois aud re- 
 turned, having a serious time in getting through. 
 Traveling in those days was not the pastime it is 
 now. When at last Mrs. Cutts came on he went 
 to meet her in an ox cart, and she liad to make a 
 part of the journey on foot, stopping at that 
 noted sod tavern, wheie they met Dr. Jewett, who 
 had also been to meet his family. 
 
 The town received a few settlers in 1S53. 
 Nathaniel Meyers, with his family, came and lo- 
 cated on section twenty-eight. He was from New 
 York, but has passed on to the great majority. 
 His son, John M., remains on the old homestead. 
 
 John Luther Cabot, a single man, also from New 
 York, came at the same time. He was born in 
 1831, and remained here a few years, removing to 
 Goodhue county. 
 
 The spring of 1854 brought a few more venture- 
 some individuals, among whom should lie noted, 
 Richmond Jones, of New York, wliose life has 
 been spared to the present time. 
 
 Joseph Richard, also a New Y'orker, came that 
 year, but several years ago he was called to the 
 great hereafter. 
 
 George W. Marks secured a place in section 
 eleven from whence he was transferred to " the 
 other shore" on the 27th of November, 1875. His 
 widow is still in town. 
 
 George Dorrance, another native of the Empire 
 
 State, is still in section twenty-three, where he 
 transplanted himself some time that year. 
 
 In 1855, attention having been called to this 
 region, the town was well filled up. Some of the 
 claims having been entered the fall bifore. 
 
 The town was named in honor of Samuel Wal- 
 cott from Masschusetts, who was a very able, 
 energetic, and talented man, making everything 
 lively around his vicinity, but after a time his mind 
 became distraught, and he found an abiding place 
 in an insane retreat in his native State. He was 
 public spirited, liberal minded, aud with un- 
 bounded enthusiasm, and had he remained, who 
 can tell what projects for the improvement of his 
 adopted town he might have carried out. 
 
 EVENTS OF INTEREST. 
 
 The first religious exercises were by Elder Crist, 
 a Methodist minister, in 1855, in the spring, at a 
 private house owned by Mr. Richardson, on section 
 thirty-two. 
 
 An early birth was Laura E., daughter of 
 George and Hannah M. Dorrauce, on the 3d of 
 February, 1855, on section twenty -two in a log 
 cabin. She was married on the 14th of December, 
 1878, and the following spring removed to Y'ellow 
 Medicine eounty. 
 
 The first marriage remembered was on the 25th 
 of December, 1856, when Edward Beach and 
 Elizabeth Beardsley were united in the bonds of 
 wedlock; they have since been united in death. 
 
 The fir.st death was that of Mrs. Axta Jones, 
 wife of Richmond Jones, who was struck by light- 
 ning on the 4th of July, 1854, while in their tent 
 in section twenty-nine, in the presence of her hus- 
 band, two children, her brother, aud John Luther 
 Cabot. It was most remarkable that she alone of 
 the whole number should have been stricken down. 
 
 The following paragraph appeared in the local 
 papers in November, 1878: "Intelligence has just 
 reached here that a farmer, whose name could not 
 be learned, residing near Walcott, a little station 
 situated between Faribault and Medford, on the 
 Iowa division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. 
 Paul railroad, had administered a lesson to two 
 tramps, that by reason of its severity will never 
 be appreciated by them in this world, but will 
 have a wholesome effect in deterring others from 
 attempting similar crimes. The two tramps above 
 mentioned, under cover of the darkness, entered a 
 wheat field where a self-binding harvester had 
 
472 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 been at work during the day, and deliberately 
 piling the newly cut grain about the machine pre- 
 pared to cremate both grain and harvester. Un- 
 fortunately for the success of tbeir plans, the 
 owner, whose suspicions had been aroused during 
 the day, happened with a douljle-barreled shot- 
 gun just as they applied the torch, and with an 
 impartiality which did him credit, gave each the 
 contents of a barrel. Result, two dead tramps 
 and a little damage to the grain. The farmer hur- 
 ried to Faribault after the dee 1 and gave himself 
 up to the authorities, but instead of being detained 
 was told to go back to his farm, and if another 
 such attempt to destroy his property was made to 
 serve the perpetrators in a like manner." 
 
 The first railroad survey was made through the 
 town iu 18.58, and grading began in 1850, but it 
 was not until 18(i8, that the rumbling of the cars was 
 first heard. The road runs through the southwest 
 quarter of the town between the middle of the 
 southern boundary of section thirty-two and the 
 middle of the western boundary of section eigh- 
 teen. In 1877, a preliminary survey was made 
 through the northern part uf the town for an east 
 and west line. 
 
 The first blacksmith shop was erected in 1860, 
 on section thirty-six, by Mr. McLaughlin, who 
 wrought the plastic iron and steel for two years, 
 when he packed up his ''kit" and went "West." 
 From the time when that fire went out. the town 
 had no sou of Vulcan within its borders until 
 1881, when Hans Floom, a Norsk, started a forge 
 in section twenty-four, and he is still making the 
 sparks fly. 
 
 Samuel Livingston, from 1860 to 1867, was 
 known as the "VValcott Lime Burner." He se- 
 cured his rock from the very bed of the Straight 
 River. E. S. Lord succeeded him, and he took 
 the stone from the bank of the river. 
 
 There are a few farmers^on the east side, where 
 the nature of the ground makes it impossible for a 
 threshing machine to visit them, and they get out 
 their grain with a flail, the good old fashioned 
 way; of course this farming is not on a large 
 BCide. 
 
 Some excitement was once created by the mys- 
 terious disappearance on one occasion of Jack 
 Williams. Blood was found near the wood pile, 
 and murder most foul wss suspected. In a few 
 days he returned, still in the flesh. 
 
 A cheese factory was established in 1878 in 
 
 section one. The establishment was procured in 
 Richland and moved here by William Mathers and 
 worked by his son. It is now owned and operated 
 by Clifton Tucker. 
 
 This town has no public building of its own, 
 and town meetings are held under a tent, in a 
 barn, or under the lee side of a wood pile, as may 
 be most convenient, somewhere on section six- 
 teen. 
 
 Agricultural productions of the town for the 
 year 1881, as returned to the County Auditor: 
 
 Aerex. Bushels- 
 
 Wheat 3,800 57,,'513 
 
 Oats 803 31,180 
 
 Corn 699 26,785 
 
 Barley 62 1,790 
 
 Buckwheat: 6 110 
 
 Potatoes 47 4,941 
 
 Beans 2 32 
 
 Sugar Cane 9 gals. 1,332 
 
 Cultivated hay 778 tons 1,128 
 
 Wild hay " 1,382 
 
 Timotiiy seed bush. 60 
 
 Clover " " 299 
 
 Apples " 255 
 
 Sheep, 910 lbs. wool 5,632 
 
 Milch cows, 304 lbs. butter 24,950 
 
 Cheese lbs. 5,600 
 
 Honey " 881 
 
 Straight River Grange. — This was organized 
 on the 5th of September, 1872, with seventy char- 
 ter members. Its meetings were on Saturday 
 evenings in sehoolhouse No. 50, and the organiza- 
 tion kept up until 1881, when it was finally dis- 
 banded. 
 
 The Hunters of the Prairie. — In 1800, a 
 society with this romantic name was organized, 
 and it was kept up for ten years. The first meet- 
 ing was in the sehoolhouse, when an organization 
 was effected and officers chosen to lead in a war of 
 extermination against the predatory animals in the 
 vicinity, and a hunt was promptly instituted. 
 
 Two captains chose their respective follow^ers, 
 and tlie whole community was thus divided into 
 two clans. Everything was game, from the tail 
 of a mouse up to the fiercest denizen of the forest. 
 The troi^hies of the chase were the caudle appen- 
 dages, and each had a value accordiuj to a pre- 
 established scale, and the losing party had to pay 
 certain prizes. In July, a regular picnic, which 
 went by the name of a "Gopher Picnic" in honor 
 
WALCOTT Ti> WSSIIIP. 
 
 473 
 
 of the rodent that was most numerous here, was 
 lield, where men, women, and children gathered to 
 participate in the sport, and after tlie contest was 
 dei'ided bj counting the game, a dinner and other 
 festivities were enjoyed. The number of animals 
 takeu would run up into the thousands, and these 
 hunts were of gi'eat value in ridding the country 
 of the swarming pests. 
 
 Redfield Old Settlehs' Assoc.i.vnoN. — This 
 society was organized in the schoolhouse of dis- 
 trict No. .50, in 1858, meetings being held 
 annually. All were admitted, men, women, and 
 children, regardless of age, that had corae fmni 
 the township of Eedfleld in New York State, and 
 members were eligible from any (lortion of Rice 
 county. In 1868, the last meeting of the society 
 was held, the membership having dwindled down 
 to ten. During their time of jjrosperity, meetings 
 were held at the residence of M. S. Seymour, on 
 section twenty-two, the fleeting hours being occu- 
 pied in having a general good time. 
 
 Post-Office. — The first and only Post-ofBce in 
 town was established in 185.5. It was on the 
 northwest quarter of section thirty-three, with M. 
 Richardson as Postmaster. In 1858, William 
 Babcock was appointed. The mail was brought 
 by a stage which run between Faribault and 
 Owatonna. In 18B2, the office was discontinued. 
 
 In 1856, Samuel Walcott, having contracted the 
 prevailing epidemic which inspired so many to lay 
 out villages and cities, proceded to plat a village 
 which was given the name of Walcott. The loca- 
 tion involved parts of sections twenty, twenty-one, 
 twenty-eight, and twenty-nine. There was noth- 
 ing small aliout the plan, the proportions of which 
 were magnificent, but it did not progress far 
 enough to be recorded. But a single house was 
 built, and that was for a hotel by Charles Smith. 
 There was a steam saw-mill with a twenty-live 
 horse-power engine ready to cut lumber to build 
 the prospective city. This was owned by E. H. 
 Auldou and run for a while, but was subsequently 
 taken down and carried to Shicldsville where it 
 still is. 
 
 A golden wedding, one of the rare occasions 
 that so few may expect to experieuci' in their own 
 persons, took place in Walcott on the 19th of 
 March, 1881. The groom and bride of half a 
 hundred years were Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Sexton, Mr. 
 Sexton being 76 years of age and Mrs. Sexton 74. 
 They were married in central New York (ju tlie 
 
 r.ithof March, 18H1. Six persons who were then 
 ])resent assembled at the golden wedding. Their 
 names were Mr. and Mrs. Baker, of Tomah, Wis- 
 consin, Mr. John Castle, Mrs. Nesbitt, the mother 
 of Mrs. T. B. Spencer, and the bride and groom. 
 Mrs. Anna, wife of Gaylord Sexton, made the 
 bridal cake tor her own wedding, for the weddings 
 of each of her three sisters, and now for the semi- 
 centennial of her father and mother's wedding. 
 This notable gathering was one long to be re- 
 memliered by tliosi- who were fortunate enou; h to 
 be present. 
 
 On the 21st of November, 1861, Judge Isaac 
 Woodman had a burial ground surveyed on section 
 eight, a single acre, and divided up into forty lots, 
 seventeen of which have been taken. The first 
 burial here was Helena, a daughter of Mr. J. S. 
 and Mrs. S. A. House, who died on the 2d of 
 March, 1860, at the age of two years and three 
 months, a shocking and most horrible death. It 
 seems that her mother was called out for a few 
 moments in the performance of her domestic duties, 
 leaving the little girl tied into a high chair, which 
 slie upset directly upon the stove and was 
 liurued in such a terrible way that she survived 
 but a few hours. 
 
 Walcott, in the war of the rebellion, was well 
 represented, tliere being twenty-four men who vol- 
 unteered and who, strange to say, returned without 
 a missing man. No draft in town was had, but 
 the citizens voted at different times recruit boun- 
 ties amounting in the aggregate to !J4,800. 
 
 In 1872, the town voted bonds to the amount of 
 •52,000 to build a bridge across the Straight River 
 at the Walcott mills. A bridge bad existed at the 
 mills partly constructed by the proprietors and 
 partly by the town, but it washed away and the 
 mill owners being disinclined to repair the damage 
 so as to make it available for a road the town had 
 to rebuild it, which was done about twenty rods 
 north of its' old position at the mUl. 
 
 SIANUFACTUHING. 
 
 Walcott Mills. — Early in the seventies this 
 mill was constructed by Grant k La May as a feed 
 and flouring mill. It embraced two stories and a 
 basement and was 3()X46 feet. Its situation is on 
 Straight River, on section sixteen. At first there 
 was ten feet fall, Imt it was afterwards increased 
 to twelve. In 1874, it was bought by M.B. Shef- 
 lield, George E. Skinner, and Henry ChalTee, un- 
 
474 
 
 BISTORT OF BICE COUyTY. 
 
 der the finn name of Walcott Mill Companv. and 
 a ninetT horse-povrer steam engine was put in and 
 great improvements made, to the extent of 824,000. 
 In 1S51. Mr. Sheffield became sole proprietor, and 
 since that time the mill has gone throngh a trans- 
 fonaation. It is now. after an additional expense 
 of s27,00l'. a lirst-elass roller mill with five floors 
 and a daily capacitr of 2-50 barrels. It hHS been 
 a merchant mill since 1S74, and has a wide repu- 
 tation as a Minnesota patent process milL 
 
 EiCEKios i Compaxy"s Mux. — In 18-56. this 
 firm e:>mmenced the erection of a saw-mill on the 
 straight Kirer in Walcott_ township, on section 
 three. It was completed and commenced nmning 
 in the fall of 18-57. with a Parker reaction water 
 wheel, and an upright saw. with a capacity of 
 ab-out 3.i>Xl feet of lumber per daj. The com- 
 panv became insolrent. the mill continued to run, 
 howerer. until the dam joined arms with a freshet 
 and went careering down the stream in the spring 
 of 1858. A dam was again erected, but after the 
 debts began to push in a short time, the boss of 
 the company, in a colloquial phrase, '^ook his 
 iooi in his hand and crossed the river to Charlie," 
 disappearing for good, and the mill from that day 
 to this has been sQent. The bmlding was finallv 
 removed to East Prairieville for a barD. 
 
 A steam mill had been started before this one, 
 bv Samuel Walcott on section thirtj-three. It 
 was of twenty-five horse-power, and cotild cut 
 4,000 feet a day. It was on the land of Lewis 
 Howard, but in about a year it went to Owatonna. 
 
 Thomas Harlow built a saw-mill on section four. 
 on Straight Biver. This was a good mill, run by 
 an overshot wheel and could rip out 8,000 feet a 
 dav. It 18-57. it was burned and again built up, 
 but at the end of a year the dam accepted the 
 urgent invitation of a flood to join its mad career 
 down stream. The dam was reconstructed and 
 the mill started, only to be again abruptly closed 
 bv tlie emigration of the fJa"! at the end of another 
 year. 
 
 TOWX OEGAXIZATIOS. 
 
 Pursuant to notice, the first town meeting for 
 the election of officers and organization of the 
 town was held at the house of .Jacob Chesrown.on 
 the 11th of May. 18-58. The moderator was Isaac 
 Woodmaji. and the clerk was Isaac E. Pentz. An 
 assessment of S200 was made for town expenses; 
 what should cocstitnte a lawful fence was agreed 
 
 upon. It was voted that horses and cattle could 
 ran at large from November to the first of April, 
 and that sheep and hogs be prohibited from being 
 at large. 
 
 The second town meeting was held at the house 
 of -James Williams, and was an adjourned meeting 
 to elect officers, which was not accomplished at the 
 first meeting on account of the other business 
 upon which so manv had to ventilate their ideas. 
 
 The town officers elected at this meeting were: 
 Supervisors. Isaac Woodman, Chairman. E. P. 
 Jones, and D. C. Hunkins: Assessor. James Den- 
 ison: Collector, Elijah Austin; Clerk. Isaac B. 
 Pentz: .Justices of the Peace, William Hester and 
 George Dorrance; Overseer of the Poor, Isaac 
 Woodman: Constables, Jacob Chesrown and 
 Charles B. Kingsbury. 
 
 The first meeting of the Supervisors was on the 
 22d of May, at the house of the clerk, where the 
 first division of load districts was made. The 
 salary of the first clerk was S1.30 for the first 
 year. At the first State election, in the fall of 
 18-58, there were twenty-eight votes cast. 
 
 Town affairs have been managed in an honest 
 and economical way. 
 
 The officers of the town for 1882, are : Super- 
 visors. James Denison. Chairman. A. L. Austin, 
 and A- M. Harris; Clerk and A^«ssor. J. H. Pet- 
 teys; Treasurer, -John D. Beardsley: Justices of 
 the Peace. T. C. Adams and M. S. Seymour; Con- 
 stables, T. J. Neil and John McNasney. 
 
 SHOOLS. 
 
 The following school districts are in the town of 
 Walcott, and a few items in relation to each will be 
 presented. 
 
 DiSTBicT No. 3.5. — The first school here was in 
 the summer of 1857, in a blacksmith shop on sec- 
 tion thirty -two. The district was organized in the 
 spring of 18.57, in the house of Jacob Chesrown 
 on section twenty-nine. In 18-58, Miss Francis 
 taught in a house owned by Mr. Bird on stction 
 thirty-three. The same year a log house was hired 
 on section twenty-one. The schoolhouse was built 
 in 1875, Miss Emma Cabot being the first teacher. 
 
 District No. 50. — In 1858, a part of the fore- 
 going district was set off and anew one formed. A 
 frame dwelling house was bought in Medford and 
 moved to where the schoolhouse now ^stands, on 
 section thirty -two, Miss S. Francis being the- first 
 teacher, with twenty scholars. The present house 
 was built in 1876. 
 
WALCOTT Towysaip. 
 
 475 
 
 District 2so. 12 was _"rgaiiized at the house of 
 EJwarJ Jones in 1856, in section twenty-fonr, and 
 in the spring of lf*57. a log house was got np on 
 the same section, with two half windows for light: 
 and Miss Ajminta Newcomb called about twenty 
 pupils to order. In 1S72. a frame honse was con- 
 structed in section thirteen, near the town line and 
 so it is a union district. 
 
 DisTKicT Xo. 38 came into existence on the 25th 
 of June. 1858, in section nineteen. A tax of .?1.50 
 was raised to build a log house, which was lSs20 
 feet with six windows, one door, and a cottage 
 roof, located on section eighteen. James Denison 
 was the first, instructor. lu 1862, the honse was 
 moved to section twenty. The schoolhouse now 
 stan'ding was constructed in 1878. Miss Mary 
 Auldon had the honor of wieldirg the rod of au- 
 thoritv. The school now has twenty-five scholars. 
 
 It is quite likely that a new district wiU be 
 formed from the eastern part of No. 50. as it is so 
 inconvenient for many to get across the river to 
 school. In 1882. a private school with fourteen 
 pupils was taught on this side in a granary owned 
 by Bartlett Smith; Miss Maggie Foster was the 
 teacher. 
 
 District Xo. 17. — This district was organized 
 in 1856. in the house of Isaac Woodman. The 
 house was built the same year, of logs or slabs, 
 and was 16s2J: feet and had four windows and one 
 door and it was got ready for school purposes the 
 next vear when Susie Frisbegwith taught the first 
 school. This building served until 1875, when the 
 district constructed a rrame edifice, 18x28 feet, in 
 section eight, at a cost of S500. Miss Hattie 
 Howard inaugurated the first classes in the new 
 house. 
 
 BIOGE.VPHICAI,. 
 
 liAUKiTS A^rDESSEX. a native of Denmark, was 
 born on the 22d of October, ISio. He emigrated 
 to Wisconsin in 1868, and one year later married 
 Miss Anna C. Johnson, the ceremony taking place 
 on the 9th of April. They have one child. In 
 1871, they removed to Steele county. Minnesota, 
 and four years later to Rice county, where, in 
 1880, he purchased his present farm of one huj- 
 dred acres in Walcott, in sections eight and nine:- 
 
 Jesse C. Castle was bom in Rome. Oneida 
 county. New York, on the 21st of .July. 18.58. and 
 removed to Minnesota in 1879. In ISSl, he pur- 
 chased his present farm of one hundred and twenty 
 acres in Walcott, sections tweatv and twentv-one. 
 
 He was married on the 24th of April. ]R=»2. t.) 
 Minina L. Keed. a native of Minnesota. 
 
 Chaxdleb O. Castle was also bom in Uueida 
 county. New Tork, on the .3d of -June, 1826. He 
 was married in 1851. to Miss Elmira Knotgrass, 
 the ceremony taking place on the 20ih of Novem- 
 ber. In 1878, he removed to this county where 
 he has two hundred acres of land in Walcott, sec- 
 tions twenty and twenty-one. Mr. and Mrs. C^tstle 
 have had four children, three of whom are living. 
 JiiiEi^ Dexison was bom in New York, ou the 
 3d ui May. 1820, and while young removed with 
 his parents to Ohio. In 1840. he was united in 
 matrimony with Miss Mary McC<^cliran. the cere- 
 mouv takinff place on the 13th of March. They 
 removed to Indiana in 1842, and in 1855, came to 
 Minnesota and located in Walcott. v%-here he pre- 
 empted one hundred and sixty acres of land to 
 which he has since added one hundred and forty 
 acres. He has had a family of nine children, but 
 live of them are now dead. Mr. Denison was 
 Treasurer of the town in 1856. and Assessor and 
 Collector in 1859. and is the present Chairman of 
 the board of Supervisors. 
 
 E. O. Destsox. a son of -James and Mary Den- 
 ison. was bom in Indiana, his birth dating the 1st 
 of ApriL 1850. He came with his parents to this 
 township in 1855. He was joined in marriage 
 with Miis Barbara McEachran. on the 30th of 
 ApnL 1874. They moved to Redwood cotmty, 
 but soon returned, and in the spring of 1881, pur- 
 chased eighty acres of land on section eighteen 
 adjoining his father" s. His house was burned the 
 same spring, in April. Mr. and Mrs. Denison 
 have a family of three children. 
 
 Fbaxk Deckeb was bom in Tompkins county. 
 New Tork, on the 15th of Jtdy, 1S4S, and in 1864, 
 came to Minnes^^ita, where he purchased land in 
 Walcott in section seventeen. His farm was 
 rented until three years ago. previous to which 
 time he was engaged in a feed store in Faribault. 
 His mother and sister reside with him on the 
 farm. 
 
 H. E. RASTLTsa was bom in Canada on the 1st 
 of Janoary, 18 — and removed to Michigan in 
 18i32. and one year later -to Rice cotmty, Minne- 
 sota, where he pttrchased eighty acres of land in 
 Walcott. section twenty-nine. He was married in 
 -June, 1865. to Miss EUen Jane Kenslow. who has 
 borne him seventeen children, but eight of whom 
 are living, three girls, triplets, and five boys. 
 
476 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 Cathaeixb Gkant was born in Canada on the 
 5tli of May, 1812. She was married to William 
 (}rant in 1829, and removed to Ohio in 1861. Her 
 hu.sband died in 186.5, and the following year she 
 removed to Minnesota with her six children, three 
 of whom are now married. She resides with her 
 son, D. W. (Jrant. 
 
 A. M. Hakkis, a native of Lawrence county, 
 Pennsylvania, was born on the 1st of February, 
 1839. He was married on the 24th of February 
 18116. In 1868, they removed to Minnesota and 
 purcha.sed eighty-eight acres of prairie land in 
 Walcott, section two, and Mr. Harris has since de- 
 voted his time in improving the same. 
 
 J. N. HoWLAND was born in Barnstable, Mas- 
 sachusetts, on the lOth of May, 1838, where he 
 resided until 18.52, then went to sea, was on the 
 water six years, and on his return engaged at the 
 blacksmith trade. In 1862, he enlisted in the 
 Fortieth Massachusetts Infantry, Company E, 
 served fourteen months, then went to Boston, 
 where he engaged in gas fitting. Fe married 
 Miss Jane H. Mayhew, who died on the 27th of 
 February, 1862, and in 1868, he was again mar- 
 ried, his bride being Miss Ellen P. Weeks, the 
 ceremony taking place on the 20th of January. 
 In 1869, Mr. Howland came to Iowa, and in the 
 spring of 1872, returned to Boston, and two years 
 later came to Minneapolis. In 1878, he purchased 
 his jjresent farm in Walcott, section thirty-two. 
 Of a family of five children, only two are living. 
 He was Assessor in 1879. 
 
 W. J. Johnstone was born in northern Ireland 
 on the 20th of June, 1830, and there prepared for 
 college, and in 1842, emigrated to New York, 
 where he finished his education at Union College. 
 In August, 1852, he married Miss Jessie Mills, 
 and the same year went to Freeport, Illinois, 
 where he taught a district school, Luther W. 
 (iuiteau being one of the trustees, and his son 
 Charles J., then eleven years old, one of bis 
 pupils. In 1851, Mr. Johnstone turned his at- 
 tention to theology, and in October, 1855. was or- 
 dained as a Presbyterian minister at Rock Eiver, 
 having charge of two parishes for ten years, then 
 changed his views and became an Episcopal cler- 
 gyman. He came to Faribault, assisted Dr. 
 Breck in the schools, and was the first to propose 
 the graded system in that place. In 1866, he was 
 rector of the parish, the next year went to Roch- 
 ester and assumed the same duties, then returned 
 
 to Freeport, Illinois, and in 1871, went to Chi- 
 cago. After the great fire which destroyed his 
 parish there, he came, in July, 1872, to Stillwater 
 on account of failing healtli, and in 1874, to St. 
 Paul. He returned once more to Freeport, 
 and in 1876, came to his present place, where he 
 has since been engaged in farming. He has one 
 son now living in St. Paul. 
 
 George W. Marks, deceased, was born in New 
 York on the 3d of May, 1819. He was married 
 in 1842, to Miss Phebe Jane Smith, the ceremony 
 taking place on the 4th of July. In 1854, they 
 came to Minnesota and pre-empted land in Wal- 
 cott, in section eleven. They had two children, 
 one of whom is living. The father died on the 
 29th of November, 1875. His widow and only 
 child, Charles W., are living on the old homestead. 
 Charles was born on the 22d of March, 1846, in 
 New York and came to Minnesota with his parents 
 in 1854. In 1863, he enlisted in the First Minne- 
 sota Mounted Rangers, Company H, and in 1864, 
 re-enlisted in the Third Minnesota Volunteer In- 
 fantry, Company H, and was discharged in Sep- 
 tember, 1865. On the 23d of October, 1875, he 
 married Miss Phoebe Jane Fish, who has borne 
 him one child. 
 
 John E. McLean was born in Quebec, Canada, 
 on the 27th of October, 1833, and when ten years 
 old moved to Upper Canada. In 1845, he re- 
 moved to Illinois and in 1850, to Faribault, 
 where he remained until 1864, then came to his 
 present farm in Walcott. In 1866, he lost his 
 house by fire, then returned to Faribault, and in 
 1868, came again to this place. He married Miss 
 Catharine Faribault, who was born at the old 
 trading post of Meiidota, and is a daughter of 
 Alexander Faribault, the first settler in this 
 county. 
 
 F. MandeijTj was born in Hardwick, Massa- 
 chusetts, on the 4th of April, 1852, and remained 
 there until 1874, when he came to Minnesota and 
 loc^.ted in Walcott in section twenty-nine. On the 
 30th of October, 1879, he was married to Miss 
 Lenora Nichols, who has bjrne him two children. 
 
 John M. Myers is a son of Nathaniel Myers, a 
 native of Washington county, Penn.sylvania. The 
 former was born in Ohio on the 8th of January, 
 1828. On the 4th of July, 1854, he l-wjded on his 
 present place in section twenty-eight. Mrs. Myers 
 was formerly Miss Hannah Dring. Of twelve 
 children born of this union, nine are living. 
 
wALCorr Towxsiiii'. 
 
 477 
 
 T. J. NEAt; was born in St. Joseph county, 
 Miohigiiu, on the ICth of September, 1840. In 
 18(;4, he came to tbis county, and 1868, bought 
 his present farm of eighty acres in soctiou thirty- 
 two, Walcott, moving on it in 1874. Twenty-one 
 acres were covered with heavy timber. th(> balance 
 was grub laud, and he now has Hiirty-two acres 
 under cultivation. When he first came to the 
 State he worked in a saw-mill for Charles Wood. 
 
 HrLLi.\KD Nichols was lioru in Maine on the 
 29th of June, 1809. He was united in marriage 
 in 1834, ta Miss Abbie Copp, tlie ceremony taking 
 place on the 1st of April. In 18.5:i, he went to 
 Massachusetts and run the express line in to Bos- 
 ton twelve years, then engaged in a grocery store. 
 They were blessed with one child, Aseneth, and 
 the mother died in December, 185.5. In 18(58, he 
 removed to Minnesota, and two years after located 
 on his present place in Walcott, on .section twenty- 
 five. On the 20th of March, 1872, Mr. Nichols 
 was married to Blrs. Rebecca Boyington, whose 
 maiden name was Williams. She was born in the 
 city of New York on the 2d of May, 1812, re- 
 moved with her parents to Ohio in 1824, and in 
 1830, to Indiana, wiiere one year after she married 
 Gilbert Vail whom she bore eight children, six of 
 whom are living. She came to Minnesota in 1855, 
 and after her husband's death she married David 
 Boyington who died soon after the marriage, and 
 in 1872, she was united in matrimony with the 
 subject of our sketch. 
 
 Is.i.w'R. Pentz, a native of Pennsylvania, was 
 born on the 12th of Octolier, 1813, and removed 
 to Indiana in 1837. Miss Elizabeth Hall became 
 bis wife on the 24th of August, 1846, and in Oc- 
 tober, 1854, they removed to Iowa. In May, 
 1855, Mr. Pentz visited Minnesota and the follow- 
 ing May brought his family and purchased one 
 hundred and sixty acres of land in Walcott, sec- 
 tion twenty-seven, and also oui^huudrel and sixty 
 acres in section twenty, all of which he has now 
 nnder cultivation and well improved. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Pentz have been blessed with nine children, 
 six of whom are living, four boys and two girls. 
 Mr. Pentz served as Town Clerk in 1858, and was 
 Justice of the Peace a number of years. 
 
 A. B. Sexton was born in Oneida county, New 
 York, on the 15th of December, 1805. He was 
 married in 1831, to Miss Eliza Castle who has 
 borne him five children, four of whom are living. 
 In 1859, they came to Minnesota and purchased 
 
 their present farm of one hundred and sixty acres 
 in section eight and he has since devoted his time 
 to its imi)rovenient. He was a member of the 
 board of Supervisors in 1862, and again in 1866; 
 Assessor in 1865 and 1868. His daughter, Ann 
 Eliza Sexton, married Gaylord Sexton, who was 
 born in New York on the 29tli of October, 1830, 
 and in 18(!7, came to this section of the country. 
 The marriage ceremony took place on the 12tli of 
 January, 18."i8. 
 
 E. F. Smallidoe was born in Massachusetts on 
 the 2d of March, 1841. In 1855, he removed to 
 \\'alcott. Rice county, Minnesota, where he re- 
 mained three years then went to Faribault. In 
 1862, he was married to Miss Nellie Townseud, the 
 ceremon_y taking place ou the 11th of March. 
 They have two children. In 1864, he removed to 
 Illinois but returned in two years to Walcott, 
 where he has eighty acres of laud in section seven. 
 
 S. Baxter Thompson, a native of New York, 
 dates his birth tlie 18th of July, 1830. In 1848, 
 he came to Wisconsin, fnun whence he went to 
 California in 1852, and in the fall of 1855, re- 
 turned to the former State. In 1856, he removed 
 to Warsaw, this county, and in 1862, jjurchased 
 his farm in Walcott, section eighteen, to which he 
 has added one hundred and sixty acres. He was 
 married on the 10th of December, 1862, to Miss 
 Harriet Woods, who bore him one child, who soon 
 died. Mrs. Thompson died on the 3dth of May, 
 1867. The maiden name of his present wife was 
 Miss Emma Lewis, whom be married in 1876. 
 They have a family of two children, both boys. 
 
 OijE ToRGtisoN, a native of Norway, was born on 
 the 15th of February, 1825. He emigrated to 
 -America in 1851, and worked in Iowa until 185fi, 
 when he came to Minnesota and purchased land in 
 Walcott, in section sixteen, to which he has added, 
 making an aggregate of one hundred and thirty- 
 five acres. He has a timber farm about half of 
 which is under cultivation. On the 15th of March, 
 1860, Miss Martha Madelia Gabrielson became his 
 wife. The result of the union is ten children, 
 eight of whom are living. 
 
 D. C. Wi«)D was born in Canada East ou the 
 1st of .\pril, 1850. In 1873, he removed to Rice 
 county, Minnesota, and in 1880, purchased a farm 
 in this township of hisbnither, .1. W. It contains 
 three hundred and forty acres and is located in 
 sections seven, eight, and eighteen. 
 
478 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 FOREST. 
 
 CHAPTER LVIII. 
 
 GEMERAIi DESt^RIPTION — EAELT SETTLEMENT RE- 
 LIGIOUS — EDUCATIONAL — MILLERSBURG — BIO- 
 GRAPHICAL. 
 
 The township bearing this suggestive appella- 
 tiou is in the northwestern part of Kice county, 
 anil comprises the thirty-six sections of the con- 
 gressional township. It would be known in legal 
 and technical parlance as township HI, range 21 
 west, containing 23,040 acres. The contiguous 
 surroundings are Webster on the north. Wells on 
 the south, Bridgewater on the east, and Erin on 
 the west. The town is made up of rolling, and 
 in some places hilly, timber land, interspersed with 
 spots of prairie and natural meadow. There are 
 no bluffs, and few hills that are too abrupt for 
 agricultural purposes. When the township was 
 originally settled the prairie spots were, as a rule, 
 covered with patches of hazel brush, and here and 
 there lay acres of natural meadow, seemingly pre- 
 pared and waiting for the plow. This, however, 
 has all been trautormed into the richest and most 
 fertile farms in the county. 
 
 The soil is mostly a blank loam with a clay sub- 
 soil; there is hardly any sand or lime stone in the 
 town. (Tood clear water can be obtained easily 
 within from twelve to fifteen feet. 
 
 There are a number of beautiful lakes nestling 
 among the hills, which all abound with fish of 
 various varieties, and beeau.se of the abundance 
 of the finny species this locality was a favorite 
 resort for the Indians in an early day, many hun- 
 dreds of pick(!rel, ])ike, bass, etc., being secured 
 each season by th;' rod-skius. Circle Lake is the 
 l)ri!icipal and the largest one in the town. It is 
 situated in the geographical center of the town, 
 and takes its name from the fact that it makes a 
 complete circle, leaving an island in the center, of 
 97 acres. Just south of this is Fox Lake embrac- 
 ing about 200 acres. "ITnion Lake extends into 
 
 the town in the northeast corner, and infringes on 
 section two. Lake Mazaska floods about one-half 
 of section thirty-one; and a little lake with the 
 cognomen of "Mud" nestles in section eleven. 
 There are also numerous small streams in the 
 town. In an early day the Indians, in camping 
 in the vicinity of these lakes, made their perma- 
 nent camping ground upon land now owned by J. 
 W. Thompson, and they had opened and under a 
 fair state of cultivation a five-acre Indian corn 
 field. This was used to advantage by the present 
 owner, Mr. Thompson. Originally, in sections six 
 and seven, wild cranberries abounded, and many of 
 the early pioneers availed themselves of this 
 luxury, but of late years not much attention has 
 been paid to them and they have now become com- 
 paratively scarce. In 1856, from the northeast 
 quarter of section seven, John W. and Joseph 
 Thompson, and Albert Fillmore took .$780 worth 
 of the berries. 
 
 EARLY SETTLEMENT. 
 
 When the first explorers of this township made 
 their appearance, they found the hills and inter- 
 S|iersed jjrairie spots covered with wild game and 
 the wild aborigines. The timber hind was a forest 
 in the strictest sense of the word, and was almost 
 impenetrable, making the progress of the intro- 
 ducers of civilization very tedious and even 
 dangerous. Too much cannot be said in com- 
 mendation of the heroic manner in which the hills 
 and prairies were transformed into the beautiful 
 and fertile farms which now make up the territory 
 of '-Circle Lake district." 
 
 The actual seftleiueut in the locality commenced 
 in 18.54, the honor of the "first settlership" being 
 due to William Henderson, who arrived in October 
 of that year, originally from Maine. He made his 
 way on foot from St. P;iul, and when he came to 
 consider that he "was monarch of all he surveyed," 
 he made u]) his mind to avail himself of the op- 
 
FOREST TOWNSHIP. 
 
 479 
 
 portunity and take bis "pick" of the fine farms in 
 the township. Tliis he did by locating in the 
 northeastern ])art of the town on section two, at 
 the ontlet of Union Lake. He at once pnt up the 
 fr.ame of a small log shanty, and without com- 
 pleting it, remained to hunt and trap until he was 
 froze out when he "pulled up stakes" and went to 
 St. Paul to winter. The liabitation lie put up i.s 
 hardly deserving of the name of shanty, bi>ing 
 moi-e after the fashion of a " pen ;" but this served 
 as shelter so long as the elements confined them- 
 selves to "horizontal" work as he was i^rotected 
 by the sides of the pen, — which had three or four 
 logs for sides but no roof — when the elements re- 
 sorted to "perpendicular" measures, Henderson 
 had to make for the woods or get wet. As before 
 stated, after spending a few months on the ground 
 -he went to St. Paul and spent the winter, in the 
 following spring again making his appearance, 
 this time bringing with him a small load of furni- 
 ture, his wife and her sister, au ancient maiden 
 lady. He took the claim ihat he had .sele<'ted, 
 and on which Dr. Swain now lives, ami commenced 
 opening a farm. Here he remained for about five 
 years when he left for parts unknown. 
 
 The next to cast his lot among the lakes and 
 timber land of Forest was George Eaton, a young 
 man of grit and enterprise, who arrived a couple 
 of months later than Henderson and began call- 
 ing the southwest quarter of section eleven, 
 " home." He put up a small hewn log hut and 
 commenced trying to farm, but succeeded better 
 at trapping. This, it will be seen, commenced a 
 settlement; Henderson on section two. at the out- 
 let of Lake Union, and Eaton on section eleven, 
 one mile soutli, made a neighborhood, if two 
 neighbors will comprise one, and relived the niouD- 
 tony of the solitude and comparative heriiiitage. 
 
 The next acquisition to the settlement was made 
 early in 18.'j5, in the persons of Mr. Hill, John 
 Parker, and William Palmer, who all located on or 
 near section nine, one mile west of the places set- 
 tled bv Eaton and Henderson. Parker and Hill 
 had brought their famihes with them, and they at 
 once put up hewn log shanties. Hill brought in 
 with him one horse, and the other two, Parker 
 and Palmer, brought what they called "a team on 
 snooks," or in other words, an ox team in which each 
 owned an interest. Then began a happy time in 
 the history of the early settlement, there being 
 just enough to have the entire party united with- 
 
 out bickering or hard feeling, and many social 
 gatherings were held tliat were enjoyed by all. 
 
 And now, these pioneers being all safely housed 
 in their hewn log huts, we will take the reader 
 back one year while we bring the next comer across 
 Wisconsin and into Minnesota, with some of his 
 experience on the way to the Cannon River Valley. 
 John W. Thompson arrived in Hastings on the 
 15th of June, 1854, on the famous old steam tug 
 "Galena," and found only one little log hut 12x14 
 there. He at once took a claim within two miles 
 of the present city of Hastings, and in comi)auy 
 with his brother Joseph, who had also made his 
 appearance', began making plans for erecting a log 
 cabin. John had liought an old horse of the In- 
 dians for S52, and lie decided to haul logs for his 
 residence, but there appeared two difficulties to be 
 overcome, the logs which he had to build with 
 were across the Vermillion River, he had no axe to 
 cut them with, and lastly, if they had their logs 
 cut, they had no harness with which the horse 
 could draw them. After considerable trouble they 
 managed to buy au axe of their only neighbor for 
 .f5, and thus remedy that difficulty. Next came 
 the <iuestion of harness, and John W. Thompson 
 bethought a jjrimitive way with which he con- 
 quered this. He went to the only hous' in Has- 
 tings and succeeded in getting them to let him 
 have their "bed cord" and use boards in its stead, 
 whUe he took the heavy cord, and after doubling it 
 several times made a noose large enough for the 
 horse's neck, and slipping it over the head, and 
 extending the one tug between the legs of the 
 animal, his harness was complete, and he felt as 
 jubilant over it as if it were a gold-mounted, silver- 
 plated, four-in-hand outfit. The next proceeding 
 was to commence operations, and John "harnessed" 
 his horse, crossed the river, and hitched on to a 
 log; this was on the opposite side of the river to 
 that on which he wanted to build, and he stationed 
 his brother on the side where the horse would 
 land. Then he started the horse into the river and 
 had him, by swimming, tow the log to the oppo- 
 site shore where Joseph was waiting to catch him. 
 In this way they succeeded in getting over a num- 
 ber of logs, but before they had got enough to 
 build, the Vermillion River rose suddenly and be- 
 came so much uf a torrent that they were obliged 
 to give it up for fear of drowning their horse, so 
 they abandoned the log idea entirely and resorted 
 to a shanty built of sods. 
 
■180 
 
 HISTOliY OF IIICB COUNTY. 
 
 They remained iu Hastings for some time. Ijiit 
 finally the Indians became so troublesome, and 
 both the brothers being taken badly with the a^ne, 
 they decided to leave and look for "pastures 
 fresh." This they did, John W. naaking his way 
 eventually to his jiresent home in Forest townshij), 
 and his brother Joseph going back to his former 
 place of residence in New York. The former ar- 
 rived and permanently located in May, 1856, hav- 
 ing been through the township twice previous to 
 this. He brought with him some furniture and 
 at once put up a small log shanty and commenced 
 opening the farm he now lives on. His farm near 
 Hastings he sold for .'!f283, and a few years later it 
 was sold for $12,000. 
 
 We will now carry the reader back to the time 
 of our digression, when we left a little settlement 
 of pioneers in the northeastern part of Forest, in 
 the Union Lake region. In the meantime the set- 
 tlers had made themselves very comfortable, con- 
 sidering their circumstances, and all were living 
 principally on deer meat and other wild game. In 
 this manner they spent the summer, a few of them 
 having pnt in a few ])otatoes, rutabagoes, etc., and 
 a rich harvest rewarded them; there were none, 
 however, but opened and prepared some land for 
 crop the following year. 
 
 In the fall of that year ( 185.5) a number of ar- 
 rivals were marked ou the corner stakes of claims. 
 Leonard and Jacob Balyet, Joseph and Elijah 
 Houck, and John Craven, came together, and all 
 took claims near Millersburg, a little south of the 
 settlement mentioned above. Of this party only 
 two now remain in the town, they are Leonard 
 and Jacob Balyet who are still on their original 
 claims. 
 
 Zebulon Sargent and .John .Jones came shortly 
 afterward and located in section twenty-seven, and 
 lioth with their families remain on their original 
 claims. They, in common with the rest of the 
 hardy pioneers, commenced Minnesota life in log 
 huts. 
 
 A few days after the arrival of the above par- 
 ties, there appeared three Norwegian families on 
 the scene, fresh from tlie pioneer life in Wisconsin, 
 and in covered wagons. As the. season was getting 
 late and they had their stock with them, they con- 
 cluded to put u|) hay to last through winter lie- 
 fore they erected cabins. This they did, and while 
 they were at work iu the hay field the wife of one 
 of the emigrants was taken sick, and there, iu the 
 
 covered wagon, was delivered of a girl baby. Both 
 mother and child lived, and the girl grew to 
 womanhood, was married, and now lives with her 
 husband and a large family of children on the 
 identical spot where the wagon stood when the 
 birth occurred. This was the first birth in the 
 township. 
 
 This occurred in the fall of 1855, and brings 
 the settlement up to Christmas of that year, which 
 was oliserved in a limited way by most of the set- 
 tlers. 
 
 Early in 1856, Albert Fillmore and family, and 
 the following week, H. A. White, arrived and lo- 
 cated near Millersburg; and crowding after them 
 came James Fitzimmons and commenced layiifg 
 plans for the village of Millersburg. At the 
 same time should be chronicled the arrival of 
 George and Milo J. Sellon, John Wood, and E. F. 
 Taylor, who were brought in by ,T. W. Thompson, 
 and all took claims, most of them in the neighbor- 
 hood of Millersburg. 
 
 August and William Demann took places on 
 section twenty, where August still remains. In 
 the fall their brother Christian made his appear- 
 ance and still lives there, all of the brothers being 
 well-to-do farmers. When Christian first arrived 
 he purchased a fifteen-acre corner of his brother's 
 farm for $25 per acre, this being before the land 
 came into market; he could have secured a whole 
 ipiarter for the same amount of money, but not 
 knowing it he paid the money for fifteen acres. 
 This amount of laud being gone from the corner 
 of his brother's farm "spoiled the sale of the 
 quarter," and Christian refused to sell the fifteen- 
 acre comer at any jjrice, saying that if he was 
 cheated at first he would come out ahead at last. 
 The farm his fifteen acres infringes on is now 
 without tenants. 
 
 This brings us to a period when the rush to this 
 country became a sort of stampede, and as it will 
 be impossible to trace them in regular order, we 
 will only mention the arrival of a few notable 
 personages. 
 
 The richest man that ever lived in the town 
 made his appearance in the latter part of 1856, in 
 the person of Frederick Fisher, from Milwaukee. 
 He brought with him forty -one head of stock, and 
 two large wagon loads of furniture '«nd goods. 
 It being late in the season he decided to follow the 
 example of the Norwegians in the fall before, and 
 put u]> hay for his stock before he erected a cabin, 
 
FOIlEsr TOWXSIIIP. 
 
 48] 
 
 and afterward put up a substantial log bouse. 
 Here be lived for a uumber of years, but was very 
 unfortunate iu almost all bis undertakings. His 
 wife was burned to deatb a few years after bis ar- 
 rival, by tbe explosion of a kerosene lamp — sucb a 
 thing as a lava]) being at that time a novelty and a 
 curiosity. He expended all of his means in a few 
 years and removed to parts unknown. One inci 
 dent connected with his early pioneering may 
 prove of interest. He brought in with him a very 
 large and fierce dog which it was said coidd 
 "down" an ox, and intended it for protection 
 against the wild beasts. One noon, at the time 
 when Fisher and his family were living iu wagons 
 and making hay, immediately after their arrival, 
 they left the bay field, and while gone to dinner 
 the large dog went down to the field where a pack 
 of wolves were heard bowling and barking, and 
 from tbe high point where the wagons were, over- 
 looking the meadow, they saw a fierce fight going 
 on between wolves and dog, and liy the time they 
 got upon tbe ground all that was left of the dog 
 was tbe shining skeleton which had been jiicked 
 clean by the voracious pack. 
 
 The first deatb in the townsbijj was John Parker 
 who died in the fall of 1855. He was buried in 
 solitude under an oak tree near tlie cabin where he 
 lived in section ten, and now, tlieroad having been 
 changed, passes immediately over his grave. 
 
 Antoine Mosher. — -Although this personage 
 was not, properly speakinar. an early settler in 
 Forest, be was a very early picjueer in Minnesota, 
 and was undoubtedly among tbe first to explore, 
 trap, anil hunt through this region. As he sub- 
 sequently settled in Forest, and ^ as for a uumber 
 of years identified with Rice county, be deserves 
 mora than a passing notice. A ntoiui- Mosher came 
 from Canada in 1829, to Wisconsin and Minnesota, 
 when these now wealthy States were without even 
 a na.ue, and commenced to work for th-^ Hudson 
 Bay Fur Comjiany lor §20 per month and '-fouu '' 
 this was the contract, but Mosher said years . i- 
 ward that he went to one of the jiroprieto.j not 
 long after commencing work, and told him that 
 he bad not received anything to eat, and that ac- 
 'ordiug to tbe contract the company had to "find" 
 him. The proprietor took him in at a glance and 
 said sarcastically, "If you get li/nt we'll gr.arautee 
 to titid you, but if you want any meat you had 
 better find it or sta-ve." 
 
 After this he wandered aliout through the \orth- 
 31 
 
 west, hunting and trajjping for a number of years, 
 and was finally married to a Winnebago squaw at 
 tbe wild spot where Hastings now is, and several 
 children were the result of this union, all of whom 
 disappeared except one son, Edward. The old 
 man began to get rich, the squaw being a thrifty 
 wife and a scheming money maker, and by making 
 lucky bits be became tiwner of a portion of the 
 town sites of Prescott, Minneapolis, and Red 
 Wing, and was for years considered the richest 
 man west of the Mississippi River, it being frankly 
 stati>d by him that he did not know how much he 
 was worth. 
 
 In 1862, Mosher's son, Edward, who had mar- 
 ried a beautiful but extravagent half-breed, enlisted 
 in Company F, of the Seventh Minnesota Volun- 
 teer Infantry, and went into tbe Indian war leav- 
 ing bis wife at home with his father. He was in 
 active service all through the Indian war, after 
 which he was sent south, and in tlie fall of 1864, 
 returned home sick and in a short time died, leav- 
 ing his wife iu the care of his father. Tbe follow- 
 ing year, 1865, the father's wife, the Winnebago 
 woman, died, and he married the iviihm of his de- 
 reijKed mm. In 1868, he came to Forest, and of all 
 bis enormous fortune which be had accumulated 
 through tbe carefulness and thrift of bis former 
 wife, through the extravagance of his last wi^e 
 only $600 remained. In a few years tins and his 
 farm bad been sijuandered by tbe cruel woman, 
 and his credit so low that be could not get tobacco. 
 His little farm was finally taken on a mortgage 
 and be moved to Lac Qu arle w- '.re be died a 
 few 3'ear.-; since, his wife having ruined and de- 
 serted him. 
 
 POLITUAT.,. 
 
 The town of Fi.Te^ t was not behind the m igh- 
 boring towns iu organizing and starting the local 
 goverumental wheels. The first meeting was held 
 on that inevitable 11th of M-iy, 1858, at the resi- 
 dence of James Fitzimmons, now tlie Millersburg 
 Hotel, and alter organization the following 
 officiiils were elected : Su]>ervisor.s, Elias F. Taylor, 
 Zebulou Sargent, and Charles I5rand; Clerk, Alex- 
 ander Smith; Assess •■ Joseph L. Houck ; Justices 
 of the Peace, (leorg. Miller and John R. Bartlett; 
 Constables, Milo T. Sellon and John W. Sargent; 
 Overseer of the Poor, John .Tones. The clerk of 
 this meeting was J. F. Donaldson, and S. A. Hen 
 derson, moderator. Three of the first officers are 
 still residents of the township. 
 
482 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNT )'. 
 
 In 1881, a neat and substantial Town Hall was 
 erected in Millersburg, which is used for town 
 meetings, etc. 
 
 LESTEK POST-OFFinE. 
 
 Tin's convenient office was established in 1871, 
 at the instigation of J. W. Thompson, and is 
 situated on the southwest quarter of section eight, 
 in the northwestern part of the town. The office 
 is very useful to- the settlers in this vicinity and 
 undoubtedly supplies the largest numlier of in- 
 habitants of any country oflBce in the county. J. 
 W. Thompson was appointed first Postmaster, and 
 still retains the office to the satisfaction of his con- 
 stituents. The business of the office amounts to 
 about 3100 per annum. It is on mail route No. 
 26,148, extending from Northliekl to Lester tin 
 Union Lake, once a week. 
 
 KELIGIOCS. 
 
 Forest townshi]) is well represented as to religious 
 creed.s. and the way the professors' zeal is exhiliited 
 is truly commendable. Service is scarcely ever 
 held in the town without a fair attendance, and 
 there are a couple of very good churches which 
 are the outgrowth of this interest. Wlien 
 the settlement of Germans first commenced there 
 was a large majority of them who belonged to the 
 Evangelical faith, but, strange to say, the feeling 
 has insidiously changed, and to-day there is only 
 one of this belief in the township. 
 
 Methodist. — This denomination organized in 
 Forest as early as 18-57, when religious service was 
 held by a pioneer minister from Faribault. Thev 
 soon after erected a hewn log house of worshi]> on 
 the south shore of Circle Lake, in section twenty- 
 seven. This log house was sold in 1877, up to 
 which time they had service in it. Since then 
 they have had no regular place of worship, hold- 
 ing service in the various sehoolhouses in the town- 
 ship. The pulpit is now supplied irregularly by 
 the minister of the Dundas charge. 
 
 Baptist. — Services were held among the Ger- 
 mans of this society as early as 18.')8, in the school- 
 house of district No. 66 by Rev. August Stegner, 
 with an average attendance of forty during the 
 first year. Tlie denomination organized in 18.59, 
 and had the most flourishing society of any simi- 
 lar organization in the county. In 1866, they had 
 an average attendance of eighty. A Sunday 
 school was also organized, wdnch has now a strong 
 membership, there being alxmt seventy-five pupils. 
 
 The pulpit of the church is supjjlied by the Rev- 
 erends August Biechel and Carl Hirdler. 
 
 Tliere is also an organization of Americans of 
 the same faith, which was started in 1860. They 
 hold service m the schoolhouse of district No. 19 
 and other parts of the town, now having a mem- 
 bership of about thirty. 
 
 Swedish Luther.\n. — The organization of a re- 
 ligious sect by this name was effected in 1877, and 
 in 1878 they erected a neat church, size 34x60 feet, 
 at a cost of about $1,000, on section nine. The 
 first .service was held in the hiiuse of Christian 
 Lundstrom by Rev. Mr. Anderson, of St. Paul, to 
 an audience of about seven. Next came Rev. Mr. 
 Vallien, and the present minister Rev. Mr. Ander- 
 son succeeded him. They have seventy members, 
 and an average attendance of 170. Services are 
 held every third Sunday. 
 
 MiLLEKiTEs.^In 1856, George- '^l. Miller, a 
 lirother of the man who, early in the forties, 
 seriously agitated the Christian world by announc- 
 ing that he had unraveled the intricacies of proph- 
 ecy and made the startling discovery that the lit- 
 eral world would come to an end in 1843, on the 
 '• tenth day of the seventh month," which would 
 be in September, came to town and began to 
 propogate these doctrines. Of course he preached 
 as a •' dying man to dying men," extending his 
 circuit throughout the greater part of the State, 
 proclaiming that he " preached without monpy and 
 without price." Several of the brothers moved in 
 and about Millersburg and .succeeded in increasing 
 their force to about ten, but here it remained for a 
 time and finally began to droop. They have at 
 last disappeared almost entirely, there not being 
 at the present time more than two in the town. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL. 
 
 Tlie first move made in the town towards 
 educating the young, took place in the spring of 
 1857, in a log house near the residence of Zebulon 
 Sargent, in what is now district No. 19, with six 
 youngsters on the benches. This was the first dis- 
 trict organized. 
 
 The schools in the town are all in good financial 
 condition, and thriving with a good attendance of 
 scholars. There are six frame and one brick 
 schoolhouse, employing one teacher iiTeach. The 
 sjiiools average about forty-five scholars, making 
 about 315 in the town. The total value of school 
 property is about S5,000. In 1881, the township 
 
FOniiST TO WXSIHP. 
 
 483 
 
 received $1,065 from the school ajiportionment 
 fund. 
 
 IJelow is given a lirief skoloh of the various 
 districts, so far as tlie memories of old settlers cau 
 furnish. 
 
 District No. 19. — The first school in this edu- 
 cational division was called to order by Eli.sha 
 Houcks in the spring of 1857, with six scliolars 
 present, in the residence of Zebnlon Sargent. 
 The first school board was composed of Zebulon 
 Sargent, John Bartlett, and Hugh Smith. A 
 schoolhouse was erected soon after, and was the 
 first school building in tiie township. The pres- 
 ent building is located m the northern j)art of 
 section twenty-six. 
 
 District No. 20. — This is the district embrac- 
 ing the village of Millersburg and surrounding 
 territory. The first school was taught by Ellen 
 CresR. in a log house on section eleven, belonging 
 to Mr. Eaton; this took place in 1857, and there 
 were ten scholar.^ in attendance. The first school 
 officers were Messrs. Taylor, Dunham, and Geo. 
 W. Miller. A schoolhouse was erected the year 
 after organizing, 1858, which lasted for a number 
 of years when they erected their present house in 
 the western part of the village. 
 
 District No. 29. — Tliis district embraces ter- 
 ritory in the towns of both Forest and Bridge- 
 water, and the first scoool was held in the latter 
 town by Mrs. Crosby in the winter of '57, with an 
 attendance of nine pupils. The district was organ- 
 ized soon after, and in 1859, a log schoolhouse 
 was put up at a cost of about S150, on section 
 twenty-four. This served the purj^ose until 1870, 
 when it was dispensed with and the present cosy 
 frame house erected in the northeastern part of 
 section twenty-five. There are now about thirty- 
 five scholars who receive instruction here. 
 
 District No. 56. — This subdivision effected au 
 organization in 1864, and embraces the territory 
 in the northeastern part of the town. The first 
 officers were: N. H. Swain, Clerk; B. Burton, 
 Treasurer, and H. M. Humphrey, Director. The 
 district has a neat frame building in the northeast 
 corner of section two. The present school board is 
 made up of: N. H. Swain, Clerk; Alex. Walters, 
 Treasurer: and Benedict Wyman, Director. The 
 school has an attendance of about sixteen pupils. 
 
 District No. 65. — The organization of this 
 district was effected in tlie early part of 1862, the 
 first meeting being held in .Alexander Smith's 
 
 liouse on the 2d of April in that year, electing the 
 following as the first ollicers: Director, Olo Han- 
 son; Treasurer, .John .Tones; Clerk, .John K. Bart- 
 lett. The first school comme'ic(>d on the 27th of 
 .July, 1862, and was taught liy Miss Oeorgiana 
 Stevens, with twelve scholars registered, being 
 held in a house rented for the i)urpose. In 1863, 
 a house was erected at a cost of about .'ii!200, in the 
 northern part of section thirty-four. The present 
 officers are Ole Ellingson, Hans Hanson, and A. 
 Frederickson ; the school enrolls thirty-seven 
 scholars at the present time. 
 
 District No. ()6. — Was organized in March, 
 1857, J. W. Tohmpson being the main factor in its 
 institution. The first meeting was held at the 
 residence of -James Craven, on the date above men- 
 tioned, and .Jo!?eph Thompson w.is made Treasurer; 
 J. W. Thompson, Clerk, and James Craven, Direc- 
 tor. The clerk, .J. W. Thompson, has held the 
 office up to the present day, being the oldest con- 
 tinuous school officer in the county. The first 
 school was held in the summer of 1858, in J. W. 
 Thompson's new frame house, by Miss Murdock, 
 with twelve pupils in attendance; the following 
 few years until 1861, school was lield in various 
 places, but in this year the inhabitants of the dis- 
 trict agreed and "voted" that each should furnish 
 their share of material and build a schoolhouse by 
 subscription. They then all turned out and se- 
 lected a site, and while the excitement was high, J. 
 W. Thompson mounted a log and put it to them 
 how much each would furnish. Promi.ses were 
 made recklessly, and when Mr. Thom2:)son said to 
 William Demanu, "How much will you give ?" he 
 received the reply, 'Twill give 20U feet of lumber." 
 A brother of this liberal speaking gentleman, 
 August, was next a.sked, and he yelled, "If he 'gives 
 2U0 I will rjiee bOOfert!'^ Next came another 
 brother. Christian Demann, who said, "If he gives 
 500 / iPill yhi' 100(),/'((/.'" Others chipped in and 
 told what they would give, but as usual in such 
 cases the matter dropped and nothing was got 
 toward a schoolhouse, so the matter stood al this 
 point until after tlie war terminated, in 1865, when 
 the school clerk, J. W. Thompson, got back from 
 the war a cripj^le. He made out ]iapers for a 
 meeting, while in bed, and the meeting thus 
 called voted $150 to put up a log schoolhou,se, 
 12x24 feet. This lasted until 1879, when it was 
 sold at auction for •'56.25, iind the present neat brick 
 house erected in section seventeen, size, 18x26 feet. 
 
484 
 
 ITTSTOnr OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 at a cost of i^r,'25, being the best bouse in the 
 townslii]) for school purposes. The present school 
 board is composed of J. W. Thompson, John 
 Evert, and Frederick Priuzing. 
 
 District No. 97. — This district was formed by 
 the County Commissioners in March, 1869, and 
 the first meeting was lield at tlie h(msc of Robert 
 N. Smith, on the 27th of INIareh of that year, the 
 district being substantially organized by the 
 election of A. Gillander, director; Robert N. 
 Smith, treasurer; and Simon Taylor, clerk. A 
 schoolhouse was put up in 1870, at a cost of 
 .S385, the size of which is 20x20 feet and twelve 
 foot posts, in the southeastern part of section 
 twelve. Miss Belle Van Emmons was the first 
 teacher, with ten scholars in attendance. The at- 
 tendance is now fil'teen pupils. The present 
 school board is A. Gillander, director; J. E. 
 Crosby, treasurer; and Gilbert Fish, clerk. 
 
 District No. 105. — This is the youngest dis- 
 trict in the township. It was set off and made a 
 sepai'ate organization on the 7th of September, 
 1878, having formerly been connected witli No. 
 fi6. The first board was made up of H. C. Oleson, 
 director; August Riechel, trea.surer; and J. W. 
 Thompson, clerk. In 1879, the boai'd voted an 
 appropriation of $350 for a school building, 16x24 
 feet. This house was finished in May, 1880, at a 
 cost af .S416, and is the one now in use on the 
 noi'theasteru part of section seven. The first 
 school taught in this district was in C O. Persons' 
 old log house, witli fourteen scholars present, the 
 teacher being Catherine Deming. The district 
 paid Mr. Persons $15 for the rent of the shanty 
 for three months, the owner's valuation of the 
 same being 810. The present school officeis are: 
 Nels Larson, director; August Riechel, tre;.surer; 
 and J. W. Thomj)sou, clerk. 
 
 MiT.i.ERsnuno village. 
 
 This is t)ie only village in the town of Forest, 
 and in it at one time laid ail the hopes and aspira- 
 tians, in this line, of the entire country surround- 
 ing it; but this, like many other similar enter- 
 prises shattered the fond hopes and anticipations, 
 after a brief struggle, and was laid on tlie sli(!lf as 
 a thing of yore. It started with fair prosjiccts, 
 advantages of a good location, etc., but the non- 
 arrival I'l a hoped for railway, with its accompa- 
 nying !ienefits, coujiled with the op])osition of 
 1-u-gcr and surmunding towns, finally used the 
 
 •as declared mori- 
 
 struggling village uj). and it 
 hiuid. 
 
 Tlie first settlement on the village site com- 
 menced in 1855, when James Fitzimmons came 
 and pre-emijted 160 acres where the village is, and 
 opened it as a farm. In the spring following he 
 sold to George W. Miller, who also took some 
 other land. 
 
 Mr. Miller soon afterward platted the village 
 and recorded it as Millersburg. He also put up a 
 mill and a hotel. Next a store was started by 
 Albert Fillmore just out of the village limits. 
 He made uj) his mind to start an establishment, 
 and went to the cranberry marsh on stctions six 
 and seven and gatliered a load of berries. These 
 he marketed, and with the proceeds thereof started 
 the first store in MillersbiU'g. He ran this store 
 one year and a half, when the calamity of bank- 
 ruptcy overtook him, and he went to Minne- 
 apolis, but has since died. 
 
 The next store was started by Thomas Adams in 
 the lall of 1858, who opened a building opposite 
 the hotel and put in a stock of groceries and gen- 
 eral merchandise. He succeeded in withstanding 
 the pressure for about one year, when the fate of 
 the former merchant overtook him and he removed 
 to Dundas. 
 
 In 1857, the fii-st blacksmith shop was started 
 by Mr. Sellon in the same building that was af- 
 terwards converted into Adams' store. It was 
 oi.!erated as a "bellows and anvil" establishment 
 for about one year, when Mr. Sellon retired. There 
 have been a number of blacksmith shops started, 
 and now there are three in operation : Elof John- 
 son's, James Strange' s, and Mr. Anderson's. The 
 latter son of Vulcan still retains the good old 
 fashioned way of shoeing horses in which each 
 man that wants a horse shod must hold its foot up 
 while the manipulator drives the nails. 
 
 Millersburg Hotel was originally started when 
 the town was platted by the proprietor, George 
 W. Miller, in 1857. 
 
 MiLLEESBCRG PoST-OFFICE.-^This Post-oiBce 
 
 was established in 1859, and was located in the 
 village bearing the same name. Geo. W. Miller 
 was the first appointed to handle the mail. He held 
 tl;e office for a number of years, and his sou, 
 George A. IMiller, is the present Pos'-master. 
 
 MANrFACTniiiNG. — The only saw-mill ever oper- 
 ated in the town of Forest was started at Millers- 
 burg in 1856, by James Fitzimmons. It was run 
 
FoUKsr ToWSslil r. 
 
 485 
 
 by steam with a fifteen horse-power engine, ami 
 was e(]uip|jed with a perpendicular saw, the 
 eapaeitv being about -i.OOO leet per day- Tlie 
 mill was run in this shape until 18G2, when a eir- 
 eular saw was substituted tor tlie perpendicular, 
 and the mill becanie the ijropcrly ol' Ueorge W. 
 Miller. He ran the mill ami placed one run of 
 feed stones in it, continuing until 1S76, when it 
 was sold to Mr. Kobbins, and in 1880 moved to 
 Montgomery, Le Sueur county, where the latter 
 gentleman still resides. He also owns most of tlie 
 Millersburg village property. 
 
 The village now contains the hotel, in which is 
 kept the Post-oflice, and the blacksmith shops. 
 Through some illegality in recording the village 
 plat, or some non-concurrence with some techni- 
 cal form, the lots and blocks of the village have 
 reverted to, and for the last few years have l)e; n 
 assessed as farm propeety. 
 
 BIOGHAPIIICAL. 
 
 WiLLi.VM An Dyke was born in Huntingdon 
 county, Pennsylvania, in 1829, was reared as a 
 farmer and learned the blacksmith trade. In 
 18.50, he removed to Dixon, Lee county, Illinois, 
 where he engaged at his trade and farming. In 
 1854, he was married to Mary Jane Robinson, of 
 Pennsylvania. They came to Minnesota the fol- 
 lowing year aud located a farm iu Cann(m City, 
 and in 1864, removed to Forest in section twenty- 
 six, and followed his trade and farming until 1877, 
 since which time farming has lieen his occupation. 
 Mr. and Mrs. ku Dyke have had eight children, 
 four of whom are living, four having died in in- 
 fancy. 
 
 R. M. B.\RNETT was born in Hamilton county, 
 Ohio, in 1828, aud at the age of two and a half 
 years removed with his parents to Michigan; four 
 years later to Wisconsin, and thence, in two years, 
 to Linn county, Iowa, where they were the first 
 settlers of tlie county. Our subject lived in Iowa 
 seventeen years ;.nd there received his education 
 being reared as a farmer. In 1852, he married 
 Miss Margaret Wolmering, tlie ceremony being 
 performed in Dnbucpie. In 1855, he removed to 
 Cannon City, Rice county, but pre-emjjted laud in 
 Goodhue county and imjiroved ten acres; six 
 mouths later he came again to Cannon City, built 
 the second frame house in the place and worked at 
 blau'ksmithing. He remained there three years, 
 then removed to Faribault aud engaged at the 
 same employment two years, at the end of which 
 
 time he came to Forest and bought his present 
 farm of eighty acres, most of which is improved. 
 He has three children; John W., twenty-nine years 
 old; Francis B., twenty-six, and Ida May, twenty- 
 four years old. The latter is married and lives in 
 Douglas county. iMr. Rarnett has been a mem- 
 ber of the school boanl several times. His father 
 died in Nebraska and his mother in Iowa. 
 
 J. W. B.^HNETT was born iu Clayton county, 
 Iowa, in 1853. He received a good education in 
 the college of Faribault and graduated at Shay- 
 lor's Commercial College in Michigan. In 1861, 
 his parents came to Rice county and located f)n a 
 farm. In 1873, J. W. made a trip through Michi- 
 gan and the eastern States returning to this county 
 and buying land in Forest township in 1875. His 
 par. nts and one brother live in this township and 
 a sister lives in Alexandria in this State. 
 
 Jacxjh B.\i,i<tet was born iu Ohio in 1835, and 
 reared on a farm, receiving a common school 
 education. In 1854, he removed to Wisconsin and 
 one year later came to Rice county and located in 
 Foiest on section fourteen, where he has since been 
 engaged in farming. In 1861, he enlisted in the 
 Third Minnesota Regiment; was taken prisoner at 
 Murfreesborough, Tenne.=see, and paroled, then re- 
 turned home and served three months under Gen. 
 Sibley against the Indians. He again went south; 
 was at the siege of Vicksburg and mustered out of 
 service in 1864. Mr. Ballyet has been Town 
 Treasurer ten years and one of the board of Super- 
 visors one year. 
 
 John W. Beckley was born in Clay county, 
 Indiana, in 1849, and at the age of seven years, re- 
 moved with his parents to Minnesota. The latter 
 now live in Holden, Goodhue county. John re- 
 ceived his education in this State and grew to mau- 
 hood on a farm. He taught school four years aud 
 worked at the mason trade. He was married in 
 Holden in 1876, to Miss Adelia Engel, a native of 
 Wisconsin, aud the same year they came to Rice 
 county, settling in this townsliip, section tn-elve, 
 where he has since been engaged in farming. He 
 has eighty acres of land, all of which is well im- 
 proved and supplied with good buildings. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Beckley have three children; Elmer J., 
 fwe years of age; Wesley B., three years old, and 
 Alfred, one year old. They arc members of the 
 Methodist church. 
 
 8. W. CusuMAN is a native of Connecticut, bom 
 in 1824, received an education in his native State 
 
486 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 and studied medicine lor a time. When twenty 
 years of age he went to Massaclmsetts and clerked 
 for two years in a hotel and one year in a dry 
 goods store. He then went to buying and selling 
 horses and studied for a yeterinary surgeon which 
 employment he followed till 1853, when he re- 
 moyed to Wisconsin and engaged in butchering 
 one year, then went to Michigan and engaged in 
 mercantile jjursuits for the same length of time. 
 In the fall of 1856, he came to Minnesota, located 
 at Northfield and started a restaurant and was 
 also dealing in horses for four years. He then re- 
 moved to losva and engaged in buying and 
 shipping .stock; returning to this State, he settled 
 in Waseca and followed the same employment. In 
 1873, he came to Millersburg, locating on section 
 fourteen where he has since kept a hotel and car- 
 ried on a farm. Mr. Cushman has been twice 
 married, his first wife being Miss Mary Parr, a 
 native of Vermont, whom he married in New Hamp- 
 shire in 1846. They have one child, a son, now 
 living in the northern part of the State. His pres- 
 ent wife was formerly Miss Luciuda Gilbert, a 
 native of Bochester, New York. They have one 
 child, Charlie F., fifteen years of age. 
 
 August Demann was born in Germany and came 
 to America in 1855. He located in this township 
 in section twenty-one, where he has a farm of two 
 hundred acres of improved land with a brick 
 house, barns, etc. He enlisted in tlie army in 
 1864, and served eight months. Mr. Demann has 
 a wife and nine children, all of whom are living at 
 home. 
 
 John L. Dunham was born in New Jersey in 
 December, 1822, was educated and lived on a farm 
 in his native State. In April, 1856, he came to 
 Forest, and pre-empted land in section thirty. He 
 helped to organize a colony to emigrate, in Brook- 
 lyn, New York, and is the only one of the colony 
 now living in Minnesota. In 1858, Mr. Dunham 
 purchased a fariu in irection fifteen where he still 
 resides. He was married in May, 1862, to Mi.ss 
 Sarah M. An Dyke, a native of Pennsylvania. 
 She died at the age of fifty-one years; was a mem- 
 ber of the Baptist church and is buried on his 
 farm. Mr. Dunham has again married. ' He has 
 held town ollices every year since the organiza- 
 tion of this towns! lip, and has always taken an ac- 
 tive part in maintaining schools. sal)bath schools, 
 and churches. 
 
 Gilbert Flsh was born in Ohio in 1838, and 
 
 when nine years of age removed with his parents to 
 Wisconsin, where he received his education and 
 was reared on a farm. He was married in 1860, 
 to Miss Cornelia A. Dumond, a native of New 
 Y'ork. In 1862, he enlisted in the Eighteenth 
 Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, serving till the 
 close of the war, a perit)d of three years and three 
 months; was taken prisoner twice, once at Shiloh 
 on the 6th of April, 1862, and again at Atlanta, 
 Georgia. He was mustered out at Milwaukee and 
 soon removed to Bice county, locating in Forest in 
 section twelve, where he has since been engaged in 
 farming. Mr. Fish has been a membei- of the 
 board of Supervisors two years, being Chairman 
 one year and a member of the school board for 
 several terms, being very active in all school 
 matters. He has a family of five children ; Elmer, 
 twenty years of age; Addie seventeen; Bertha, 
 fourteen; George twelve, and Ida, ten. 
 
 John D. Gilbert, a native of New I'ork, was 
 born in 1840, and came with his parents to Mich- 
 igan in 1847, remaining, however, but two years, 
 when they moved to Ohio, where J. D. grew to 
 manhood and received a common school educa- 
 tion. In 1859, he removed to Forest, Bice county, 
 located in section two and has since been engaged 
 in farming. In 1861, be enlisted at Cleveland, 
 Ohio, in the United States Fourth Artillery, Com- 
 pany I, serving three years and receiving his dis- 
 charge at Nashville, Tennessee. He was married 
 in 1866, his bride being Miss Martha Craven, a 
 native of Pennsylvania. They have six children, 
 all living at home. Mr. Gilbert's father died in 
 Millersburg at the ;ige of eighty-six years and his 
 mother at the age of eighty-two. His only broth- 
 er died in the army. 
 
 Samuel Hallcock was born in England in 1841, 
 and came with his parents to America at the age 
 of four years. They first located in Rhode Island, 
 and also lived in New Hampsliire, Connecticut, 
 and Massachusetts, but in ten years came to Illin- 
 ois, where Samuel attended school and engaged 
 in farming. In 1865 he enlisted in the One Hun- 
 dred and Fifty- fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 
 and served till the close of the war. He was mar- 
 ried in Illinois, in 1867, to Miss Hannah J. Hatch, 
 of New Y'ork. They have had eight children, 
 seven of whom are living. In June, 1876, they 
 came to Forest, and engaged in farming, which is 
 still his employment, Mr. Hallcock has been 
 school Treasurer five years. 
 
FOREST roWXsIUP. 
 
 487 
 
 William Hamill was born in England iu 1812, 
 
 received bis education in liis uutive country and 
 learned the trade of a cotton spinner. Ho oni- 
 grated to America in 1830, locating in Michigan^ 
 and was engaged in farming in that State five 
 years, then removed to Massachusetts and was 
 employed as a spinner in a cotton factory, hut re- 
 turned to Michigan in 1837, and engaged with 
 Judge Sibblay one year. In 1838, he enlisled in 
 the Fourth Artillery, served five years and then 
 went to Detroit, ami from there to .Tackson, where 
 he was watchman iu the depot. In 1854, Miss 
 Phoebe Wooley became liis wife, and two years 
 later they came to Eice county and located in 
 Forest in section one. In 1862, Mr. Hamill went 
 to Idaho and was gone eighteen months, then re- 
 turned home aud has since devoted his time to 
 agricultural pursuits. He has had tliree children, 
 two of whom are living; William H., twenty-six 
 years old, aud Mary K., twenty years of age. 
 Moses died at the age of six years. 
 
 Cakl B. Hirdleu, a native of Geriuauy, was 
 born in 1S28, aud grew to manhood in his native 
 country. He learned the shoemaker's trade. In 
 1851, Miss Mary Mism became his wife, and in 
 18(i0, they emigrated to America, located in New 
 York City aU'l engaged at his trade for a time; 
 then moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and thence 
 to Michigan, where he farmed twelve years. In 
 1875, he removed to .Jackson county. Minnesota, 
 and in August, 187(5, came to Rice county, locat- 
 ing on a farm in Forest, section nine, where he 
 still resides. He has one hundred aud nineteen 
 acres of land, neai'ly all of which is improved with 
 good buildings. Mr. and Mrs. Hirdler have had 
 ten children, seven of whom are living, five in this 
 county and two in St. Louis, Missouri. One child 
 died on the ocean and two in Michigan. Mr. 
 Hirdler has devoted some time to the practice of 
 medicine. He has been Town Clerk aud was Justice 
 of the Peace in Jackson county. He and his 
 wife aud four children are members of the Second 
 Advent Cliurch, and he is Superintendent of the 
 Sabbath school. 
 
 Nils Larson was born in Sweden in 1834, re- 
 ceived a common school education and was reared 
 on a farm. He was married in 18G0 toMissMarma 
 Andrias. In 1869, he came to America and located 
 in Michigan, remained there part of one year, then 
 removed to Wisconsin aud one year later to Minne- 
 sota. He engaged iu a mill in Wells, Kice coun- 
 
 ty, and in 1871 purchased one hundred and sixty 
 acres of land in Forest, section seven, wliere he is 
 still conducting a farm. His family came from 
 the "old country" in 1871. There are four chil- 
 dren, all living in this State. Mr. Larson is Con- 
 stable and also school director. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Larson are members of the Lutheran churcli in 
 ChristJala, where he is a deacon. 
 
 John Major was born in Canada in 1S2!), and 
 his native place claimed him as a resident until 
 the age of manhood, being educated there and 
 reared as a farmer. In 1849, he came to Jefferson 
 county. New York, and engaged in Watertown as 
 a carpenter and joiner. He was married on the 
 3d of July, 1853, to Miss Lenora A. Lyman, and 
 in four years they came to Forest and located on 
 a farm in section fourteen, wliere he has one hun- 
 dred and forty-five acres, nearly all improved. He 
 has been a member of the town and school boards 
 several terms. He had one ado2:)ted child, George 
 E., who was drowned in Wolf Creek on the 16th of 
 June, 1881, at the age of twenty-four years. Mr. 
 Major is a member of the Second Advent church. 
 
 Jacob Meyer was born iu Germany in 1827, 
 reared on a farm and received a common school 
 education in his native place. He served in the 
 German army for three years and five months. In 
 1853, Miss Marylina Cenen became his wife. They 
 came to America the following year and settled on 
 a farm in Wisconsin, remaining twelve years. 
 Since 1869 Mr. and Mrs. Meyer have been resi- 
 dents of this place engaged in farming. They 
 have had seven children, six of whom are living. 
 
 C. F. Miller was boi-n in 1831, in New York, 
 which was his home until the age of twenty-seveu 
 years, graduating from the Cortland Academy. 
 He was married in 1856 to Miss Louisa Wright, a 
 native of Massachu.setts. Mr. Miller was engaged 
 iu wagon making in Waterloo, Iowa, for two aud 
 a half years, then in farming three years. He came 
 to this place in a '-prairie schooner" and locat- 
 ed iu section twenty-five, where he now lives. In 
 1871, he rented his place and went to St. Jo, Michi- 
 gan, where he engaged in fruit culture, but re- 
 urned to his farm after one year's al)sence. 
 When there, his son, Orlaud D., aged twelve years, 
 was drowned while bathing in the river, on the 
 5th of August, 1872. He has six children living, 
 and all but one at home; Clarence E. is in Wash- 
 ington, Dakota. Mr. Miller, in company with 
 Mr. Kinney, introduced sugar cane growing and 
 
488 
 
 HISTOnr OP BIGE GOUNTT. 
 
 manufactnre in this county. He is a member of 
 the school board, and he and uis wife are members 
 of the ConRregatidnal church. 
 
 G. A. MiLLEK is a son of O. W. Miller, who was 
 born in New York in 1818, and lived in his native 
 State until 1857, wlien he came to Forest and 
 purchased land where Millersburg now stands, 
 giving the place liis name. He l)uilt and rim the 
 first saw-mill in tlie county, and was an energetic 
 man in all improvements. He died in 1876, at 
 the age of fifty-eight years. His wife died in New 
 York, and is buried there. Our subject, G. A., was 
 boin in New York in 184G, and came with his 
 father to thip f^Late. 'le was married ia 1871 to 
 Miss Amanda Buss, and they have a family of 
 three children. He has been Town Clerk, and a 
 memTier of the school board. 
 
 James O'Gkady, deceased, one of the pioneers 
 of Forest, was born in Ireland in 1800. In 1838, 
 he brought his family to America, located first in 
 Oswego county and then in Steuben county. New 
 Y'ork, remained until 1851, and removed to Mc- 
 Henry county, Illinois, where he engaged in farm- 
 ing four years. He then came to Minnesota and 
 located in this township, on section twenty, giving 
 his whole time to his farm until his death in 1875. 
 He had a family of (^leven children. His son 
 Timothy O'Grady was born on the 15th of June, 
 1837, and made his home with his father until his 
 death. lu 1855, he came to this county and 
 staked out a claim in section one ih Wells, then 
 reurued to Illinois, and in 185(5, came to Forest, 
 where he pre-empted land in section twenty-two. 
 He afterward gave the farm to his father, and 
 after his death rt became Timothy's. In 1860, he 
 purchased more land in the township and carries 
 that on in connection with the old homestead. 
 Mr. 0'(rrady is a member of the County Board of 
 Commissioners, and has been Chairman of the 
 Board of Supervisors five or six years and Asses- 
 sor one year. In 1881, he married Miss Mary 
 Jane Shield, and they have one child, Mary Ann. 
 
 C. O. Peksons was born in Sweden in 1846, 
 and his native country claimed him as a resident 
 until he reached the age of twenty-three. He at- 
 tended Common schools and was reared on a farm. 
 Ho came to America, remaining only three years, 
 then returned to Sweden, and in April, 1873, was 
 married, returning to this country the following 
 month. He located in Meeker county, Minnesota, 
 and engaged in farming. Wliile there he was a 
 
 member of the Board of Supervisors and of the 
 School Board. In 1876, they removed' to North- 
 field township, and two years later to Forest, set- 
 tling on section eight, where he still resides, hav- 
 ir ae hundred and sixty acres of land, ninety- 
 ;l^ of which is improved. He is Assessor at pres- 
 ent, and has held the office four years, and was 
 census enumerator in 1880. Mr. Persons and wife 
 are members of the Swedish Lutlieran Church, 
 and he is Secretary aud Treasurer of the same. 
 They have liad five children, four of whom are 
 living. 
 
 August Eibceel, a native of Germa: y, was 
 born in 1819, and there grew to manhood; re- 
 ceived an education in the common schools and 
 learned the blacksmith trade. He was married in 
 1855, to Miss Christine Luckert, and two years 
 later they emigrated to America; remained a short 
 time in New York City, then went to Newark, 
 New Jersey, where Mr. Riechel engaged at his 
 trade part of one year. He removed from thereto 
 Port Amboy, and one year and a halt later to Wil- 
 liamsburgh, working in a cork factory in both 
 places. In 1861, he came to Forest, and located 
 on section eighteen, where he built a log house 
 and remained till 1875, then removed to section 
 seven, where they still reside, having two hundred 
 and fifty acres of land. He has been a member of 
 the school board, and is at present treasurer of the 
 same. Mr. and Mrs. Riechel have had ten chil- 
 dren, six of whom are living; Adolpb, twenty-six 
 years of age; Annie Rachel, twenty-two years; 
 August, twenty years; Henry, eighteen years; 
 Willie, sixteen years; and Martha, eight years 
 of age. Those dead are Hannah, who died in 
 New Jersey, in infancy; Edward, who was acci- 
 dentally shot in his father's house in Forest, and 
 Albert and Emma, who died in infancy. 
 
 Z. L. Saugent was born in Maine in 1818, and 
 grew t'l manhood on a farm. In May, 1839, he 
 removed to Illinois, where he married his wife, 
 also a native of Maine, and in 1844, came to Wis- 
 consin territory and engaged in farming. In 
 1854, Mr. Sargent came to Cannon Falls and pre- 
 empted one hundred and sixty acres of land, then 
 returned for his family, and during his absence 
 his claim was taken. He then located in Forest, 
 in section twenty-seven, which is still' his home. 
 He is the father of twelve children, ten of whom 
 are living. He was in the Indian massacre, and 
 was at Mankato when some of them were hung. 
 
FORKHT TOWS Sin I'. 
 
 189 
 
 and afterwards enlisted in tliearmy. Three of his 
 sous woro in tlie United States service, and tlio 
 oldest one died in tbe army- Our subject wastlin 
 first road supervisor in tlie towuslii|>, oi)euing the 
 first road. At the organization of the town he was 
 a 'aember of the Board of Sni)ervisors, an 1 has 
 held some otlice most of the time since, being a 
 member of the board at present. 
 
 J.iMES Str.\ngk is a native cf Kentucky, born in 
 182P, aud removed with his parents, at the age of 
 one year, to Indiana, where lie lived imtil twenty- 
 one years old. He tlien came to Goodhue county, 
 Minnesota, and in 1861, enlisted in the army, 
 served two years aud received an liouorable dis- 
 charge, after which became to Forest and estab- 
 lished the first blacksmith shop in town aud is still 
 engaged at the business. He owns forty acres of 
 land and a good h<iuse and shop. 
 
 Simon Taylor was born in the province of 
 Quebec, Canada, in 1830, reared on a farm and re- 
 ceived a common school education. In 1848, he 
 went to Massachusetts and worked ou a farm in 
 the summer aud in the Bay State Mill in Law- 
 rence during the winter. In 1849, he moved to 
 grand River, Michigan, but being taken with the 
 ague in a few days, as soon as he was able started 
 for a healthier country, and after a slow and weari- 
 some journey arrived in Appleton, Wisconsin. A 
 year later he went south aud spent a year rambliug 
 along and near the Mississippi river. In Decem- 
 ber, 1852r he landed in Mobile, Alab.jma, where 
 he remained until June, 18.5.5, engaged in lumber- 
 ing. He then made a short visit to Canada, and 
 the 26th of July, 1855, found him near St. Paul, 
 and in November following he pre-empted the 
 quarter section ou which he now lives, the first 
 land taken iu this township. From that time until 
 1805, he speut his time farming aud teaching 
 school in Minnesota, lumbering in Alabama, teach- 
 ing school in Canada, and building railroad 
 l)ridges for Uncle Sam in Virginia aud Georgia. 
 He was married in Canada in 1863, to Miss 
 Maggie Sauuders. who has borne him seven chil- 
 dren, five of whom are living ; two died in infancy. 
 In 1865, he cams with his wife aud one child to 
 his farm on which he has since resided. Mr. Tay- 
 lor has. at different times, held the offices of .lus- 
 tice of the Peace, Supervisor, Assessor, and Treas- 
 urer. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. 
 
 Eli.\s F. Taylor is a native of Rhode Island, 
 
 born in 1825, and lived in his native State uutil 
 eighteen years old, learning the trade of u spiiuier. 
 He then removed to Illinois aud made that State 
 his home tliirteeu years, engaged in farming most 
 of the time, and there married, iu 1852, Melissa 
 Sloan, of New York. In 1856, they came to Forest 
 and pre-empted a cjuiu'ter in section ten wliere he 
 is still following fanning. He was supervisor of 
 roads, apjjointed by the Commissiouer.s before the 
 orgauizatiou of the town aud was made Chairman 
 of the first board of Supervisors. He has been 
 Assessor for five years, one of the Supervisors 
 several terms and was census enumerator of the 
 county in 1875. He is the father of two children, 
 one living in Minneapolis and one in Northfleld. 
 Mr. aud Mrs. Taylor are members of the Methodist 
 church. 
 
 Hon. John William Thompson was boru iu 
 Attleliorough, near Nottingham, England, on the 
 27th of July, 1827. He received a common school 
 education, aud while young his pocket money was 
 spent for books and mechanical tools. He served 
 an apprenticeship as engineer in his native coun- 
 try and one year after was appointed foreman of 
 the locomotive and maoliiue works of the Shrews- 
 burg and Birmingham railway. In 1852, he came 
 to America and for two years engaged as engineer 
 ou the New York Central and the Rome and 
 Waterlowu railroads. In the spring of 1854, he 
 removed to Minnesota, locating near the mounds, 
 two aud a half miles scratli of Hastings, Dakota 
 couuty; the city of to-day, then contained only one 
 log shanty owned by a Mr. Felton. In Feljruary, 
 1855, when the land office was located at Red 
 Wiug, our subject pre-empted his claim. His 
 nearest neighbor to the south was a Canadian, who 
 had married a Winnebago S(|uaw and had a large 
 family, liaviug been a trapper iu the territory for 
 twenty years. The Winnebago and.other bauds 
 of Indians made their rendezvous near his place 
 and at times were very troublesome to those who 
 could not speak their language. His neighbors to 
 the westward were two families twelve miles dis- 
 taut. Iu the summer of 1855, Mr. Tlmmpson was 
 Justice of the Peace in Dakota couuty and the 
 same year made several trips prosjjectiug through 
 Goodhue, Dodge, Waseca, and Rice counties, aud 
 finally sold his former farm aud settled in this 
 county in the township of Forest, which has since 
 been his home, lieing one of the earliest settlers 
 iu the town. He worked ou his timber farm, 
 
490 
 
 HTSTOBT OF RICE COUNTr. 
 
 improving it, etc., until 1858. After tlae panic of 
 1857, farm products brought very low prices and 
 after selling potatoes for fourteen cents per bushel, 
 and wheat, after threshipg it with a flail, for forty- 
 six cents, he collected what money he could, cash 
 sales not being frequent, and went to St. Louis 
 College. After two years attendance he graduated 
 with honors, then returned to Minnesota, remain- 
 ing,however,but a few weeks, then went to Napoleon, 
 Desha county, Arkansas, and formed a partner- 
 ship with Chas. Merckle, a watchmaker and manu- 
 facturing jeweler. After the presidential election 
 of 1860 took jjlace, and as soon as it was known 
 that Lincoln was elected, the people of that county 
 expressed freely their sentiments for war, and held 
 a mass meeting at the court house in Napoleon, 
 the county seat, and then and there voted two 
 hundred thousand dollars in bonds to buy fire 
 arms and ammunition to carry on war against the 
 Northern States. During the following winter, 
 companies and regiments were raised and drilled, 
 and in March, 18G1, to avoid being drafted into 
 the southern army he went to Vicksburg, Missis- 
 sippi, but here he was liable to be drafted, and in a 
 few days returned to Napoleon to dispose of some 
 private property. When the news of the fall of 
 Fort Sumter arrived all men wpre immediately 
 drafted into the confederate army, and Mr. 
 Thompson among the rest. He and live other 
 men were determined not to serve with the South 
 and found a liidiug place until they made their 
 escape. Although the Mississippi and other rivers 
 had overllowed their banks, they crossed at some 
 places on logs and in other places in skiffs, and by 
 traveling at night and after being chased by blood 
 hounds, four of the six men arrived at St. Louis, 
 Missouri, the other two having been shot while 
 on the way. The same day of their arrival the 
 tight at the court house took place between the 
 United States troops and the btate malitia, and 
 our subject with two of his companions, the other 
 one remaining in St. Louis, took the steamljoat tor 
 Minnesota. He again commenced to clear his 
 
 land and in a few weeks his health was restored 
 after his many hardships. On the 18th of August, 
 1862, he enlisted in the Seventh Minnesota Volun- 
 teer Infantry, Company A, was ordered to Fort 
 Eidgely instead of South as the massacre was just 
 beginning. He took jjart in the battles of Birch 
 Cooley, Wood Lake, Big Stone Hills, etc., and was 
 in all the Indian expeditions of 1862, and '63, and 
 in the latter part of October, 1863, was sent with 
 his regiment to the South, and at the expiration of 
 three years they were discharged. Mr. Thompson 
 was Chairman of the board of Supervisors at the 
 time of his entering the army and has held other 
 town offices since the war. In 1871, he was ap- 
 pointed Notary Public and the same year Post- 
 master of Lester Post-office, still retaining both 
 positions, and at present is Justice of the Peace, 
 having held that office several years. He was mar 
 ried on the 17th of March, 1873, to Charlotte 
 Luudberg, who has borne him two children; John, 
 who was born in June, 1878, and died in infancy, 
 and Mary C, born the 27th of September, 1881, is 
 still living. In the fall of 1877, our subject was 
 nominated at the republican convention, and was 
 elected by a large majority to the State Legisla- 
 ture, and at the county convention in 1879, was 
 defeated by only one vote in receiving the nomina- 
 tion for re-election. 
 
 Benedict Wtm.\n was born iu New York in 
 1635, and he was a resident of that State until 
 1852, then came to Wisconsin and engaged iu 
 farming. In 1862, he enlisted in the Eighteenth 
 Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry ; was taken prisoner 
 at Altooua, Georgia, and confined fifty-two days 
 in the prison at Millen, in the same State. At the 
 close of the war he was mustered out at Milwaukee; 
 returned to Winnecoune, Wisconsin, and iu 1866, 
 came to this township; bought one hundred and 
 sixty acres of laud in section twelve and still 
 makes that his home. He was married in Forest 
 to Miss Margaret Jane Taylor, a native of Canada, 
 and they have four children, two sons and two 
 daughters, all living at home. 
 
WKfJ.s TOW'XSIII r. 
 
 491 
 
 WELLS 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 GENERAL DESCRIPTION EARLY SETTLEMENT 
 
 BOLLT WELLS— EARLY NOTES OF INTEREST 
 
 POLITICAL INDUSTRI.U, ENTERPRISES EDUCA- 
 TIONAL — SOCIETIES — BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 Wells townshi]) is one of the ceutral townships 
 of Rice county, and is next to the smallest in size. 
 It contains the full congressional township, with 
 the exception of two hucI one-half sections in the 
 southeastern part, that have of late years been an- 
 nexed to the city of Faribault. This leaves the 
 town an area of 22,440 acres, of which a consider- 
 able portion is covered with water. It is bounded 
 on the north by Forest; east l)y Cannon City 
 township and city of Faribault; south by Warsaw; 
 and west by Shieldsvillc. 
 
 It is amply supplied with water by lakes, 
 ponds, rivers, and brooks, and if any town in Rice 
 county can bo said to be noted for its beautiful 
 lakes and streams this is the one. French Lake 
 covers more land than any other, embracing 1,0(14 
 acres in sections seven, eight, seventeen, and 
 eighteen, in the western part of the town, and ex- 
 tending a short distance into the town of Shields- 
 ville. Roberds' Lake is the next in size; a beau- 
 tiful sbeet of water, and is connected to French 
 Lake by a stream called the '-lulet;" from the 
 southeastern shore also Hows a smaU stream con- 
 necting it to the Cannon River. This, it will be 
 seen, makes the two lakes a "chain." Roberds' 
 Lake covers an area of about 700 acres, in sections 
 fifteen, sixteen, twenty -one, and twenty-two, in the 
 exact geograpliical center of the towuslii]). The 
 tloor of the lake is made up of a sand bed, making 
 the limpid water pure and clear as crystal, while 
 the shore is formed of Ijold promontories and 
 rocks, broken here and there with level stretches 
 of pebbly beach. The lake is well stocked with 
 tish, and is much frequented by pleasure seekers 
 
 from near and far, while a daily "bus" connects it 
 to the busy little metropolis of Faribault. It re- 
 ceived its name in honor of William Roberds. 
 
 The township contains several other lakes of less 
 importance. Mazaska Lake enters the town from 
 the northwe-st (juarter and covers about one-third 
 of section six. Dudley's Lake is a small body of 
 water in the northwestern part of the town, lying 
 mostly in section eight. Wells Lake is formed 
 by the Cannon River in sections thirty-three and 
 thirty-four, and was named in honor of James 
 Wells, after whom the town was also named- 
 Peterson's Lake is located in sections thirty and 
 thirty-one. There are a number of other small 
 bodies of water in various parts of the town, some- 
 times called lakes, but more properly known as 
 ponds. Cannon River enters Wells from the south, 
 traversing section thirty-three, forming Wells 
 Lake, and after passing through thirty-four and 
 thirty-five, leaves the township and enters the city 
 of Faribault. Several small streams flow into 
 this as it makes its way through, and help to swell 
 the torrent. The streams at many points furnish 
 unexcelled water power, and this is made use of to 
 a limited extent. 
 
 Originally this township was a timber territory, 
 and covered with a heavy growth of the most 
 sturdy varieties. Secti(ms thirty-five and thirty- 
 six were the only jjortions of it that could, strictly 
 speaking, bo called prairie laud; here and there, 
 however, throughout the town, might be found 
 small natural meadows and partial •'clearings" 
 covered with brush and hazel. For the greater 
 part, the timlier has now been cut down, and many 
 tine fields and farms mark what was but a quarter 
 of a century ago, a trackless wilderness. The soD 
 is variable, in some places a tendency to clayey- 
 ness being visible, and in others a rich dark loam. 
 The whole is very productive, and it is doubtful if 
 there is another locality in the State where the 
 
492 
 
 nrsTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 farmers are moro uuiversally prosperous and suc- 
 ci'sslul thau iu this town. 
 
 Fruit, in connection with other agricultural 
 products, has also received considerable attention, 
 and ifc has not been without success. Mr. Asa 
 Bell. '6 is one who has proven iu a practical way 
 that the theory of the impossibility of successful 
 fruit culture in this country is a fallacy, and he 
 has as abundant te.stimony a fine orchard of .500 
 thrifty apple trees, — undoubtedly as flue as any 
 in the State, and of which the far-famed New 
 York apple growers might well be proud. 
 
 A sketch of this township, published iu 1871. 
 states that it had 19,829 acres of taxable lands, 
 80 acres of unsiild University land, a little over 
 320 acres of unsold school land, about 200 acres 
 of government laud, and 160 acres of railroad 
 laud. A majority of the population are of foreign 
 origin, and consists of Canadian, Belgian, French, 
 and Irish, although the American element is 
 stronger than either of these, and nearly equal 
 to them all. The population in 1860 was 461 ; iu 
 1865, 624, and at the last census, in 1880, 1,100. 
 The unsold land mentioned is now about all in the 
 hands of actual settlers. 
 
 In ] 870, the amount of real and personal prop- 
 erty as given to the census-taker was as follows: 
 Beal estate, .$268,1.50; personal personal $108,485; 
 total, 8370,635. The total assessed value of Wells 
 for the same year, real and personal, was $164,- 
 343. For the year 1882, the total assessed valua- 
 tion amounted to §220,414, of which .'J42,626 rep- 
 resented the personal, and $177,788, the real 
 property ; showing an increase of valuation in the 
 last ten years of $156,071. In the last report, 
 above mentioned, it states that iu the township 
 there are 389 horses and colts over one year old; 
 742 cattle over oue year; 357 sheep, and 416 
 hogs. 
 
 EARDT .SBTTIjEMENT. 
 
 As we contemplate the changes of but a little 
 more than a quarter of a century, noting the pres- 
 ent condition and ])rosi)erity, in comparison with 
 the trackless and apparently impenetrable wilder- 
 ness of those days, we can scarcely realiz-^or com- 
 prehend how it was possible to make the transfor- 
 mation which we now behold. Insidiously, al- 
 most imperc('])libly, has the change been wrought, 
 yet, since tlit^ lirst forward step was taken, has the 
 onward march of progress continued its untiring 
 tread until we find ourselves in the midst of a fer- 
 
 tile, civilized, well settled and cultivated land, from 
 which almost all traces of the jjriraitive, which in 
 early days proved so glaring and painful, have 
 vanished. 
 
 To get at the original and very first settlement 
 of this town, we must take the reader and retrace 
 the steps of time twenty-nine years, to 1853, when 
 we find Wells without a single inhabitant, escejjt 
 natives of the forest; not a shanty, not a furrow 
 turned, nor a sign of civilization. It was iu this 
 shape the first settlers found it, and the' quietude 
 was scarcely disturbed by the arrivals of that year, 
 there being very few and easily noted. 
 
 Mark Wells is probably the oldest living settler, 
 he being one of the party who first arrived. He 
 is a native of Massachusetts, and made his way 
 to Minnesota as best he could. He selected a claim 
 on section thirty-five, and put up a small log cab- 
 in, plastering it with mud and clay. In this he 
 made himself at home, and being a single man, in 
 company with several others kept bachelor's hall 
 until 1858, when he was married and moved to 
 Faribault, where he now lives. 
 
 About the same time that Mark arrived, a man 
 named Standish, of the same State, became his 
 neighbor, and took a claim adjoining him in sec- 
 tion thirty-five. He remained until 1856, when 
 he returned to his native State. 
 
 "Bully" Wells had also made his appearance, 
 and was making a claim in section thirty-four his 
 home. 
 
 This, it will be remembered, all occurred in 
 1853, and the three settlers mentioned secured 
 places adjoining each other in the south-eastern 
 part of the township, this being the most inviting, 
 because it was prairie laud, and almost the only 
 locality that was prairie in the township. With 
 these few the settlement of the township "stood at 
 a standstill" until 1855, and probably the fact that 
 the remainder of the town was timber land, had 
 some intluence in keeping the influx at bay for the 
 year 1854. In 1855, the settlement began to 
 spread, and other parts of the town received the 
 initiatory member of society. 
 
 William Eoberds, a native of North Carolina, 
 came in from Indiana and commenced a settle- 
 ment near the center of the town, taking a claim 
 in section twenty-two, on the banks u? the lake 
 which now bears his name. He put up a small 
 log shanty the same year, erected a saw-mill, and 
 became a very prominent man. He made this his 
 
WELLS TOWNSHIP. 
 
 493 
 
 home until he piiid the debt of lUDrtality iu 1869. 
 
 John Wesley Cowiiii, auutiveof Kcutncky, liav- 
 iug sto])peil fcira time in Indiuna, soon swelled the 
 Roberds' settlement by taking a claim in section 
 twenty-two. He cleared some land and erected a 
 log hut, and remains in the same section yet. 
 
 Thomas B. Owings al.so helped iill the s<'ttl(>- 
 meut, and took a claim north of Ivoberds" Lake. 
 He has since moved to the Koberds' settlement, 
 and taken a claim in section twenty-two. 
 
 In the meantime a settlement had been com- 
 menced north of Roberds' Lake. John H. Pas- 
 son, a native of the Buckeye State, made his ap- 
 pearance and settled (m section ten. He was a 
 millwright by trade, and erected a uumlier of mills 
 in Rice county; he is now living in section fif- 
 teen. 
 
 The same year we find the following natives of 
 the Emerald Isle crowding into the northern part 
 to make a neighhorho. d near the Oliioan. This 
 party consisted of James Byrnes, Michael Brazil, 
 Thomas and Timothy Casey, and Patrick O'Brien. 
 
 James Byrnes, who had stopped awhile in Ver- 
 mont, took a claim in section four where he 
 still resides. 
 
 Timothy Casey made himself at home in section 
 six, and remained there until his death, in 1869. 
 His widow died in 1876. 
 
 Thomas Casey surrounded a claim iu section 
 five, where his lamp still holds out to burn. 
 
 Michael Brazil secured a tract of land in section 
 nine, where he still lives. 
 
 James O'Brien made a habitation in section nine, 
 and still oecripies the log house he erected at the 
 time of his settlement. 
 
 John L. Squier, of the Empire State, swelled 
 the settlement in the southi'rn part of the town by 
 taking a farm from the prairie land of section 
 thirty-four, where he may still be found. 
 
 Thomas Kirk had taken land on sections four- 
 teen and twenty-three, where he made his home 
 until the grim messenger called him hence in Oc- 
 tober, 1868. The deceased was father of the first 
 child born in the town. 
 
 Samuel J. Keller, a native of the good old Buck- 
 eye State, having stojjjjed for a time in In- 
 diana, drifted in and dropped anchor on the only 
 quarter left in section twenty-two, in the Roberds' 
 settlement. He remained a few years and then 
 retraced his steps to Indiana. 
 
 Section thirty-four received another settler tliis 
 
 year in th(^ person of William McCalla, a native of 
 Ireland, who, after remaining a few years remov(>d 
 to California, where he still remains. 
 
 Tsaac Anderson, from Ohio, madi' his apjiear- 
 ance and proceeded to enlarge the settlement in 
 the northern part of the town by taking a farm 
 from section nine, which had already rceived 
 one settler. 
 
 John Manahan did his part also, securing a 
 home in section one, in .Tune, 18.")."), where he still 
 remains. 
 
 Two brothers, .John and Thomas Johnson, ar- 
 rived in the summer of this year and both took 
 farms in the northern settlement; John on section 
 three, where he died in 1863; and his brother on 
 section eleven where he remained until 1861, when 
 he went to Vermont. 
 
 This is about the list of arrivals for the year 
 18-i5, and it will be seen that from the three settle- 
 ments started in the township, one in the south, 
 one in the center, and one in the north, the in- 
 comers had branched in every direction until ev.-ry 
 portion of the townshij) had received one or more 
 settlers, who had gone directly to work, putting 
 up shanties and opening land for cultivation. The 
 following year the immigration commenced and 
 continued with a rush until all tlie government 
 land within the borders had been secured. We 
 sliall endeavor to give most of these arrivals, al- 
 though to give them all would be almost imjjos- 
 sible. 
 
 S. P. Case, originally, from Ohio, but directly 
 from Grant county, Indiana, arrived in 18.56, and 
 planted his stakes in .section three. He has since 
 changed his location, now living on section twenty- 
 seven. 
 
 Peter Dunn drifted in and anchored near Mr. 
 Case, in section four, where his moorings are 
 still intact. He was a native of the land of the 
 Shamrock, having stopped for a time in Ver- 
 mont. 
 
 Robert Dudley, of the same nationality, 
 marched iu and stationed himself over the farm 
 lying south of the one secured by Peter Duun, in 
 the same section, and here he still stands guard. 
 
 Andrew Eredrickson came about the same time 
 and declared himself at home on a farm iu section 
 three, in the same neighborhood, where he still 
 lives. 
 
 Many others came in iu 1856, many of whom 
 have again pulled U]) stakes and started on with 
 
494 
 
 HISTORY OF III CE COUNTY. 
 
 their faces still turned to an ever promising 
 "West." 
 
 In 1857, John Murray, a native of the Emerald 
 Isle put in an aijpearanee and secured a tract of 
 laud. He is now in section one, and is a promi- 
 nent man in tlie township. 
 
 Barnard Mehagnoui, a native of Belgium, also 
 arrived aljout tlie same time and pre-empted a 
 farm m section twenty-uine where he may yet be 
 found. The following year, 1858, he was joined 
 liy a number of his countrymen, named Duch- 
 ennes, who settled a short distance north of him, 
 and about these have gathered quite a Belgian! 
 settlement. 
 
 In 1859, we note the arrivals of many others, 
 among whom may be mentioned John and Owen 
 Varley, who took claims in section eleven, where 
 the former still remains. The latter, Owen Varley, 
 paid the debt of mortality in July, 1877. 
 
 Joseph Milliron, arrived and secured a habita- 
 tion in section sixteen where he still lives. 
 
 W. H. Pease was a pioneer in Minnesota, ar- 
 riving from New York State in 1855. He finally 
 secured the place he now occupies in section 
 twenty-one. 
 
 A. C. Judd, another promiiieut man in Wells, 
 and a native of the Empire State, arrived in 1860, 
 and located on his present place in section thirty- 
 three. 
 
 E. A. Orne, of Boston; Joseph Sescoult, of 
 Canada; and C. Mcillier, of Wisconsin, have since 
 arrived at various times and settled in the town- 
 ship, where they are now influential men. 
 
 Joseph Ducreyi, a Frenchman, was another 
 early settler in the county, and a prominent man. 
 He originally took a claim in Wheatland in 
 1856, but finally found his way to the shores of 
 the lake bearing the memorial name in honor of 
 bis nativity, in section seventeen, where he now 
 lives. 
 
 Charles T. Wiuans, a native of New York State, 
 came to Minnesota in 185(5, and located in War- 
 saw. In 1860, after having been engaged for 
 several years in mercantile bu.siness in Faribault, 
 he moved to section fifteen in Wells. 
 
 Asa Bebee, a native of Monroe county, New 
 York, having stopped for a time in Illinois, was an- 
 other early settler in this vicinity. He first locat- 
 ed in Warsaw, Init now lives in section twenty-six 
 in Wells township. His original slab shanty which 
 li'> first erected, 16x16 feet, makes quite a contrast 
 
 to his present elegant residence, which is among 
 the finest in the county. He is a prominent and 
 influential man in the county, as well as in the 
 townshiji. 
 
 Tames G. Scott, another prominent man, came 
 til this county in 1854, and settled first in Fari- 
 bault, where he was engaged in various pursuits. 
 He is now a resident of Wells township. 
 
 Many others might be mentioned here, but our 
 space forbids, and most of them are noted under 
 the head of biographies. 
 
 James Wells, or, as he was always known, 
 "Bully" Wells, having been a prominent and con- 
 spicuous figure in the settlement of Wells, which 
 town received its name in honor of him, a few 
 words as to a sketch of his life will not only be 
 interesting to the residents of Wells but to the 
 entire county. James Wells was the true name of 
 the subject of this sketch, but he won the nick- 
 name of Bully Wells, and insisted on being known 
 by it. He was born in New Jersey in 1804, and 
 when a boy ran away from home, going to sea on 
 an American war vessel, serving as a cabin boy. 
 He finally enlisted in the U. S. army, and served 
 for fifteen years, coming to Fort Snelling in 1819 
 with Col. Leavenworth. When his time as a sol- 
 dier e spired he started a little trading post at Lit- 
 tle Kapids, or whatisuowChaska, and remained at 
 this point for some time. On the 12th of Septem- 
 ber, 1836, he was married to Jane, a sister of the 
 wife of Alexander Faribault, and a daughter of 
 Duncan Graham. The marriage took place at the 
 house of Oliver Cratte, at Fort Snelling, the cere- 
 mony being performed by the Indian Agent at the 
 fort, Taliaferro. The same year he came south- 
 west and started a small trading post at the point 
 where Okaman, Waseca county, now is, and re- 
 mained here for about one year, when he again 
 removed, this time to locate at the foot of Lake 
 Pepin, on the Mississippi River, where he carried 
 on a trading business until he came to Wells town- 
 ship. Having made up his mind while passing 
 through to take land in the vicinity of the Cannon 
 Lake, as soon as it came into market, in 1853, he 
 made his way to the lake and started a trading 
 post on section thirly-foui-, at the foot of Cannon 
 Lake, in Wells township. Here he di;^ a profita- 
 ble business for a short time, but gradually turned 
 his attention to farming, and continued in it until 
 the close of the Sioux war in 1863, when he was 
 
WELLS TOWNSnir 
 
 495 
 
 murdered mysteriously, the supposition being that 
 it was the work of the treacherous Indians. 
 
 Bully Wells was a man of good impulses, rough 
 spoken, Imt with a heart that always l)eat for dis- 
 tress and a hand that never failed to offer relief. A 
 frieuil iu the truest sense of tlie word to a friend, 
 and a bitter enemy to a foe. liniuii scd in. pm-r. 
 
 BAULT NOTES OP INTEEl':sT. 
 
 The first blacksmith shop o]jened in tlie tnwn- 
 ship was erected in IS.'SS by William Roberds, in 
 section twenty-two, on the shore of Roberds' Lake. 
 The shop was operated liy his nephew. Freeman 
 Koberds, for about three years, when it was dis- 
 continued, the manipulator moving to Faribault, 
 where he now carries on a like business. 
 
 E.\RLY Births. — The first birth iu the township 
 ot Wells took place on section twenty- three, in 
 October, 1855, and ushered into existence Eliza- 
 beth, daughter of Thomas and May Kirk. The 
 father of the child died iu October, 18()8, and the 
 girl is now a teacher in the |iublic schools of War- 
 saw. 
 
 The ue-tt event of this kind brought into the 
 light John, a son of T. B. and Elizabeth Owens, 
 on the 22d of May, 1856. This child, however, 
 died on the 11 li of December, 186-1. 
 
 On the 1th of February, 1857, a son was born to 
 Isaac and Lydia Anderson, who was christened 
 Elias, and who now lives in Faribault a grown 
 man. 
 
 Four days later, on tlie 8th of February, John 
 C, a son of Peter and Margaret O'Brien was born. 
 He is now teaching school in Pope county, Minne- 
 sota. 
 
 Within a month after the arrival above men- 
 tioned, a daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Peter 
 Dunn. The child was named Maria, and is now 
 married and living in the township of Shields- 
 ville. 
 
 Leonora, a daughter of John H. and Minerva 
 Passon, was born on the 19th of May. 1857. In 
 1877, she married Mr. Julius Ripley, and now 
 makes her home with her parents. 
 
 Marri.ages in an Early Day.— -One of the ear- 
 liest marriages to occur in the township of Wells 
 was the union of Martha Roberds and J. S. Mc- 
 Cartney, by E. J. Crump, Esq., at the residence of 
 the bride's father, William Robei'ds, iu section 
 twenty-two. The happy couple now reside iu 
 Liucoln county, having been blessed with an even 
 
 dozen of children, of whom ten are still in the land 
 of the living. 
 
 In October, 1856, Joseph Byrne anil Alice 
 O'Brien were made one in the bonds of matrimony 
 and commenced housekeeping in his log house on 
 his farm in section four. The l)ride was called 
 away by the grim voice of death in December, 
 186-1. and the husband still occupies the old home- 
 stead. 
 
 POLITICAL. 
 
 Pursuant to notice the first township meeting 
 was held on the 11th of May, 1858, in the log 
 schoolhou.so in section fourteen, and organized 
 the township by the election of the following 
 oilicers: Supervisors, Thomas Kirk, Chairman, 
 William McCalla, and Patrick O'Brien: Collector, 
 J. W. Cowan; Clerk, S. P. Case; Assessor, T. B. 
 Owens; Ctmstables, William Kolierds and Timothy 
 Casey; Overseer of the Poor, S. C. Duuham. 
 
 At the twenty-fourth annual meeting of the 
 town, on the 1-lth of March, 1882, the following 
 officers were placed in charge of town afl'airs: 
 Supervisors, Heniy Greenwood, Chairman; Philip 
 McKenna, and Jacob Gutzler; Clerk, A. J. Swan- 
 son; Treasurer, A. B. Cowan; Assessor, William 
 Hassinger; Justice of the Peace, O. P. Burgess. 
 
 The government of the town has been tranquil 
 and even. The funds and expenditures have been 
 managed in a frugal but efficient manner, and on 
 a whole, the interests of the public in town mat- 
 ters have been taken care of in a way that is ctim- 
 mendable. 
 
 In 1878, the township purchased a building, the 
 original cost of which was $500, of school dis- 
 trict No. 18, to be used for a town hall. It is lo- 
 cated on section twenty-two. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES. 
 
 Roberds' Lake Mills. — Thes? mills were orig- 
 inally started in 1855. by William Roberds, who 
 erected a saw-mill at the outlet of the lake bear- 
 ing his name, on section twenty-two. It was run 
 by water power, and was equipped with an old- 
 fashioned perpendicular saw. In 1856, a run of 
 stones for feed was placed in the mill, and in 1858, 
 the firm became Roberds & Spear. A circular saw 
 was put in and this firm continued the mill in this 
 shape until 1862, when they sold it to Beb.^e & 
 Wood, who ran the establishment with water as 
 the motor until 1865, when the supply of water 
 failed and they hired a steam engine to saw up the 
 
49fi 
 
 UI8T0RT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 logs on hand. In 18fi6, Charles Wood sold his 
 interest to Mr. Tennoy. and the firm of Bebee & 
 Tenney at once erected a flour-mill, put in one run 
 of stones with all the necessary machinery for a 
 first-class mill, and it was continued under this 
 firm until 18G9, when the partnership of Nutting 
 it Carufel took hold of the property and run it 
 until 1871. This year it was purchased by 
 James G. Scott, the present proprietor. He put in 
 a steam engine of forty horse-power, to run when 
 the water was low, and constructed another saw- 
 mill with two circular saws and an excellent run 
 of machinery. In 1872, Mr. Scott remodeled the 
 Hour-mill, and it now has two run of stones for 
 flour, one run for feed, two sets of rolls for mid- 
 dlings, three sets of bolting cIk sts for flour, one 
 for buckwheat and rye, twj purifiers, and the nec- 
 essary cleaning machinery, and equipments for 
 mercliant and custom grinding. Altogether, the 
 mill is justly the pride of the township, and al- 
 though not having the capacity of some mills in 
 the county, in quality of work it equals them, and 
 gives perfect satisfaction to its patrons. 
 
 Melbokne Mii^ri. — In 1856, Mr. Graham laid 
 the foundation for tliis mill by putting up a saw- 
 mill on the Cannon River in the northwestern part 
 of section thirty-five. He threw a log dam across 
 the river and started the mill, throwing sawdust 
 with a circular saw. In 18.58, he added a run of 
 stones for flour and feed, and as such he continued 
 it until 1859, when he bought a small saw and 
 grist mill of "Bully" Wells, which he made into an 
 addition to his mill. In 1860, the dam got rest- 
 less and started down the river with a freshet, 
 when Mr. Graham tore down the old mill. He 
 soon after erected another on the same stream, 
 ecpiipped with two run of stones. In 18G1, he 
 turned this over to G. P. Pettitt,who in 18G2, sold 
 the property to Henry Melborne, and in a short 
 time the establishment was destroyed -by fire. 
 
 CiiAPPius' Sorghum AIit^l. — This mill was es- 
 tablished in 1870 by J. C. Ohappius on his farm in 
 section seventeen. It has been operated every 
 season since its establishment, making about 1,500 
 gallons per season. The location of the mill is in 
 the western part of the town just east of French 
 Lake. 
 
 EIlDCATIONAL. 
 
 Wells townsliijo is divided for educational pur- 
 poses into seven districts, and if equally distrib- 
 •.ited Would give in the township an area of about 
 
 five square miles to each district. The districts 
 are all in good condition and well attended. Dis- 
 trict No. 18 was the first organized in the town- 
 ship, and has the finest and most commodious 
 school building of any of the districts. Below is 
 given a short sketch of the organization, growth, 
 and development of each. 
 
 District No. 18. — The first .school was called 
 to order in this district immediately after its or- 
 ganization, in 1856. by Miss Sarah Owens. This 
 same year a schoolhouse was rolled together, of 
 logs, on Thomas Kirk's land in section fourteen, 
 and in this building school was held until 1861, 
 when the location of the schoolhouse was changed, 
 and the district erected a small slab shanty in sec- 
 tion twenty-two, where the Park now is, and used 
 this until 1865. The shanty was then disposed of 
 and a neat school building erected at a cost of 
 .$500. In 1878. this structure was sold to the 
 township for a public hall, and their present hand- 
 some brick edifice was erected near the lake, in 
 section twenty-two, at a cost of $1,500. 
 
 District No. 39. — Efl'ected an organization in 
 1858, and a log house was rolled together this 
 year for school purposes in section nine. The first 
 school was held in this building immediately after 
 its completion, by Isiah Eoberds. Their original 
 building was used until it was burned in 1865, 
 when one term of school was taught in .Toseph 
 Byrne's house while another log schoolhouse was 
 rolled together. In 1877, this house was dispensed 
 with and tlieir present neat schoolhouse put up in 
 the northern part of section nine. 
 
 District No. 57. — This district commenced its 
 existence in 1860, when it was organized and a 
 log house erected in the northeastern part of sec- 
 tion nineteen. Isiah Eoberds was the first instruc- 
 tor in the district, holding school in the newly 
 erected log cabin. In 1868, they dispensed with 
 the old log house, and erected the. building now in 
 use, in the eastern part of section nineteen ; Miss 
 Nellie Canley first called the school to order in 
 this house. 
 
 District No. 73. — The district under this num- 
 ber effected an organization one year later than 
 the last mentioned, in 1861, and the following year 
 commenced the erection of a log house in section 
 fourteen, completing it in 1863. Tliis school 
 building answered the purpose until 1873, when 
 the present neat schoolhouse was built on the old 
 site in the northwestern part of section fourteen. 
 
WELLS TOWyslITP. 
 
 497 
 
 Miss Bridget Fitzgerald first called the school to 
 order in the new house. The territory now em- 
 braced by tliis district was formerly a part of dis- 
 trict No. 18. 
 
 District No. 77. — Effected an organization in 
 1861, comprised of the territory now embraced in 
 district No. 100, in addition to its present limits. 
 Tlie same year that organization took place, all 
 the farmers iu the neighborhood turned out, 
 furnished logs and put up a log sohooUionse in 
 the northeast quarter of .section tliirty-four. Iu 
 1871, the district was divided by tlie taking oil' of 
 district No. 100, the eastern part retaining the 
 original number of seventy-seven. A new school- 
 house was erected at this time, jnst over the line 
 into tlie southeast corner of section twenty-seven. 
 This schoolhouse is used very frequently by 
 different denominations for religions services. 
 
 District No. 79. — The district under this num- 
 ber includes as a part of its territory a portion of 
 the western part of Cannon City township and 
 the northeastern part of Wells. The district was 
 organized in 1861, and the first .school was kept iu 
 John Murray's claim shanty, with Miss .lulia 
 Grady as teacher. In 1865, they erected a school 
 budding of logs iu section one, and the following 
 year moved it to the eastern part»of section two, 
 where it remained in use until 1876, when the 
 present handsome brick house was erected in the 
 northeastern corner of section twelve. 
 
 District No. 100. — The territory now com- 
 prising this district was embraced in the the or- 
 ganization of district seventy-seven in 1861, and 
 remained as such imtil 1874, when it was .set off 
 and organized as No. 100. Miss Sarah Passou 
 was the first teacher. In 187.5, the present school- 
 house was erected in the nortliwestern jjart of sec- 
 tion thirty-three, at a cost of about .S'iOO. Mi.s3 
 Sarah Owens first called the school to order in 
 the present house, and remained for five terms 
 teaching the young idea how to shoot 
 
 SOCIETIES. 
 
 Theclo.se p oximity of this to^vuhhip to the city 
 of Faribault, relieves the necessity or need of h)cal 
 organization. wliich. as a raatt;'r of course, would be 
 small, and makes it convenient for the inhabitants 
 to attend in the city, where the different societi s 
 are strong, and where many of the farmers of 
 Wells are members. We find, however, notwith- 
 standing this fact, several organizations here, and 
 below give a short sketch of them, severally. 
 32 
 
 The first religious services in the town were held 
 in the little log schoolhouse in section fourteen, 
 late in 18.")7, by the (!ongregationalists. Rev. Mr. 
 .\rmsby presiding. The same year the M(>thodist 
 Episcopal denomination organized, with Kev. Mr. 
 Day as their minister. They held services for a 
 short time regularly, when it was suspended, to be 
 revived during the war, when they held meetings 
 in the new schoolhouse in section twenty-two. 
 This organization has been rather idle for a num- 
 ber of years. 
 
 About the same time, if not a little before the 
 organization of the above mentioned society, the 
 Episcopalians got together and held services in 
 the same schoolhouse alternately with the Metho- 
 dists. In 1875, the Episcopal society commenced 
 the erection of a church in the northern part of 
 section twenty-two. They raised tlie frame, 
 boarded it, put up a belfry, hung a bell and then 
 suspended the organization. Meetings of various 
 denominations ai'e now held in this edifice. Ser- 
 vices of the Episcopalians are also held here irreg- 
 ularly. A Sunday school was kept up here for a 
 number of years after building. 
 
 German Methodist meetings were held for the 
 benefit of the followers of this faith, in William 
 Bruun's house on section twenty-one, in 1874, 
 Rev. Emil Uhl being the first minister. Services 
 were held in Mr. Braun's residence until 1878, 
 when Mr. William Bartlett's hou.se was used for 
 four years. In 1882, the society erected a frame 
 church building on section twenty at a cost of 
 about •'?700, where services are now held every 
 other Sunday. A Sunday school has been organ- 
 ized here, which is held every Sunday, with 
 an attendance of about forty scholars, and a good 
 library in connection. Fred Saldswedel is super- 
 int .ndent. 
 
 Wells Grange. — This fraternal society was 
 instituted in Wells township in January, 1873. 
 It commenced with about thirty charter members, 
 among whom may be mantioaed John McCartney, 
 A. B. Cowan, John H. Pas.sou, T. B. Owens, John 
 W. Cowan, Mary Hassinger, Sarah J. Owens, 
 Elizabeth Kirk, Sarah F. Passon, and Emma 1.. 
 Haukins. Meetings were held once in two weeks 
 in the schoolhouse of district No. 18, and also in 
 the residence of S. D. Benedict. The society 
 grew stronger, and at the last meeting in Feb- 
 ruary, 1876, there were sixty members. They 
 have not disbanded, but at present no meeting" 
 are held. 
 
498 
 
 HI8T0BT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 Catholic Cemetery. — This burial ground was 
 laid out in 1858, and contains ten acres in the 
 southern part of section thirty-five iu the south- 
 easteru part of the town. The bodies of Catholics 
 who were buried in Fariljault have since been re- 
 moved to this place, and there are now many 
 beautiful and costly tombstones marking the final 
 resting places oi departed friends and believers iu 
 the old Romish church. 
 
 BIOGUAPHK AL. 
 
 Asa Bebee, one of the pioneers of Rice county, 
 was liorn in Monroe county, New York, on the 9th 
 of April, 1829. When sis year.s of age, he removed 
 with his parents to Will county, Illinois, where his 
 father died eight years latei'. He then returned 
 to New York and resided with his' grand-parents 
 three years; attended school there and finished liis 
 ednc ition at the district schools of Illinois. In 18.50, 
 he went by overland route to California, and was 
 engaged in mining twenty-two months, tlien re- 
 turned home. Miss Blary J. Wood, a native of 
 Monroe county, New York, l)ecarae his wife on 
 the 10th of Novemb-r, 1853; and May 1, 1855, he 
 came to Fariliault, Minnesota, remained till 1860, 
 tlien sold his farm and made a trip to Colorado, 
 Avhere he spent the summer mining, returning in 
 the fall to Illinois. In 1861, he enlisted in the 
 army, but did not serve on account of ill health, 
 and in the fall of the same year came to Faribault. 
 In the fall of 1862. he bought an interest iu Rob- 
 erd's Lake Mill, and iu August joined a volunteer 
 company going west to meet the Indians. They 
 went to St. Peter and thence to Swan Lake,finding 
 a number of the citizens wounded they conveyed 
 them to St. Peter for medical aid. In thirty days 
 they were relieved by government troops and our 
 subject returned home. The next year he pur- 
 chased a half interest in a porta))le saw-mill and 
 set it up about three miles north of Faribiuilt. near 
 the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad; con- 
 ducted it two years, then sold that and also his 
 interest at Robards' Lake. He moved to Fari- 
 bault, and in 1871 made a trip south to Tennes- 
 see, but finding that Miiuiesofa was the best place, 
 he returned and bought land in Wells, section 
 twenty -six, adjoining Faribault on the west, where 
 he now resides. He has oue hundred acres of 
 cleare.l land, an orchard of five hundred trees, and 
 many varieties of small fruits. 
 
 William Braun is a native of Germany, born 
 o.i the 29th of July, 1810, and received his edu- 
 
 cation in his native country. In 1866 he married 
 Jliss Louise Malott, and tliree years later emi- 
 grated to America. They lauded in New York, 
 then came to this State, and one year later settled 
 in Faribault, where he was engaged on the rail 
 road for three and a half years. He then came to 
 Wells and bought land on section twenty-one. He 
 has six children : Annie, Minnie, Fritz, Willie, Ed- 
 ward, and Lydia. Mr. Braun has been connected 
 with the Methodist church twelve years. 
 
 John Bultman, was bom in Germany on the 
 1st of January, 1828, and attended school until 
 fourteen years of age, then for eight years follow- 
 ed the sea. He came to New York and commenced 
 to learn the baker's trade, working at it three years, 
 after which he was engaged in fishing two years, 
 and at the expiration of that time removed to Fox 
 Lake, Wisconsin, where he carried on a farm. In 
 185S, he came to Minnesota and bought land in 
 Wells in section twenty-seven, where he remained 
 until 1872, then sold out and bought on section 
 thirty-three, which is still his home. In 1866, he 
 married Miss Mary Sullivan, and their children 
 are; Willie, Charlie, Hannah, Mary J., and George 
 C. In 1881 Mr. Bultman built his present frame 
 house. 
 
 Osc.\R F. BuRC4Ess was born in Corltaud county, 
 New York, on the 12th of October, 1819. When 
 eighteen years old he learned the carpenter and 
 joiner trade, at wliich he worked seven years in his 
 native State, and afterward engaged as a mill- 
 wright for a time. Subsequently, in the spring 
 of the year, he shipped rafts loaded with lumber 
 and boats with vegetables and provisions down 
 the Susquehanna river to Harrisburg, at which 
 business he was engaged nine seasons. In 1865, 
 he came west and settled in Decorah, Iowa, where 
 he worked at his trade until 1873, then came to 
 Faribault, and iu December, 1871, moved to Wells 
 and located in section twenty -six. The next spring 
 he commenced his present business of raising veg- 
 etables for Faribault markets, having been in sim- 
 ilar business during the last five years of his resi- 
 dence in New York. Mr. Burgess' first wife was 
 Miss Elenor Moore, whom he married in February, 
 1815. She died in May, 1850, leaving two chil- 
 dren, Louisa and Edward, and our subject was 
 again married in February, 1851, to Mi.ss Harriet 
 Maria Nichols, who bore him three chddren, 
 Clarence, Clifford and Herbert, and died the 26th 
 of July, 1881, at the age of fifty-nine years. His 
 
WELi.s ■row.xsii/r. 
 
 499 
 
 present wife was Mrs. M. A. Cobb, whom he raar- 
 rieJ the fith of July. 188-J. His oUiost son, Ed- 
 ward, enlisted in the army in February, 18(31, iiud 
 died at Jacksonville, Florida, on the 20th of March, 
 the same year, aged sixteen years and eighteen 
 days. Herbert died the 27th of September, 18(12. 
 aged three years and two months, and Clarence 
 died the 13th of October, 1881, thirty years of 
 age. 
 
 Joseph Byrne, one of the early settlors of Rice 
 county, was born in Ireland on the 3d of April, 
 181(), and reared on a farm. In 18.")1, lie emigrat- 
 ed to America, landed at Quebec, and went from 
 there to Oswego, New York, thence to Buffalo 
 and then to Ohio, where he engaged as a foreman 
 in a stone-quarry. In 185.5, he came to Wells, and 
 staked out a claim in section four, built a log 
 house, which was burned, and in 1875, his second 
 house was destroyed by fire, after which he erected 
 ■ his present frame house. In October, 18.56, he 
 married Miss Alice O'Brien, and tbey have had 
 four children, Mary A., Joseph, Ellie, who died in 
 18(i9, aged eight years, and John. 
 
 Simeon P. Case, one of the pioneers of this 
 township, was born in Ohio on the 9th of Septem- 
 ber, 1825, and when three years of age removed 
 with his parents to Grant county, Indiana, where 
 he received his education, and when twenty years 
 old learned the carpenter trade. Miss E. J. Owens 
 1 ecame his wife in 1848, and in 185(;. he came to 
 Minnesota, taking land in Wells, section three. In 
 ■Vugust, 1864, he enlisted in the Eleventh Minne- 
 ;ota Volunteer Infantry, Company D., went South 
 and served till June, 18(55, when he received an 
 honorable discharge and returned home. In 18(i9 
 he removed to Faribault, but in 1876, came again 
 to this township and located on sectit>n twenty- 
 seven. He has had nine children, six of whom are 
 living ; Elias P., William L,, Mary C, Martha A., 
 Rose A., and Elroy E. 
 
 John Wesley Cowan, one of the early settlers 
 in this town, was born in Bourbon county, Ken- 
 tucky, on the 25th of March, 1807, and was reared 
 on a farm. In 1833, he removed to Jefferson coun- 
 ty, Indiana, where, in 1839, Miss Elizabetli Bu- 
 chanan became his wife. In 1854, he removed to 
 Des Moines county, Iowa, where he spent the 
 winter, and in the spring of 1855, came to Kice 
 county, and on the 14th of ]\)ay staked out a claim 
 in Wells on section twenty-two. He cleared about 
 twenty acres of land and built a log house, in 
 
 which he lived seven yoar.^, then sold and pur- 
 chased the northeast quarter of the same section. 
 He has cleared sixty acres of land, and in 1867, 
 built his present frame house. He was the first 
 Collector for the town. Mi-, and iMrs. Cowan have 
 liad eleven children, six of whom are living, An- 
 drew B., Martha, Elizabeth, Enoch C, Ann, and 
 Lucinda. Andrew B. was born in Jefferson county, 
 Indiana, in 1841, and has always made his home 
 with his parents. He enlisted in .\ugnst, 1862, in 
 the Eighth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, Com- 
 pany B, went West to the frontier, where he re- 
 mained two years: was then ordered South, and 
 was with the regiment till the clo.se of the war. 
 He was honorably discharged in June, 1865, and 
 immediately returned home. He has lieen Town 
 Treasurer several terms, and has also filled other 
 offices. 
 
 Jean Louis Ch.\vee was born in Belgium on 
 the the 27th of December, 1820, and learned the 
 trade of harness making of his fatlier, also worked 
 on the farm. In 1858, he came to America, landed 
 at New York, and from thence moved to Minne- 
 sota, locating in Wells on section nineteen, where 
 he still resides on a farm. He first built a log 
 house, then a frame house, and is now making 
 preparations to build one of brick. In 1861, he 
 married Miss M. Mahagnoul, and they have four 
 children, Mary, .Jaines L., Mary Antoinette, and 
 .Terome M. A. 
 
 Francis CHArD.A.LAiN Decolette is a native of 
 Canada, born in December, 1827, and was reared 
 on a farm. When twenty years old he emigrated 
 to America, went to Stockbridge, Massachu.setts, 
 then to Douglas, where he engaged in an axe 
 manufactory lor six years, and returned to 
 Canada. In 1857, he came to tliis county and 
 bought land in Wells, section nineteen, built a log 
 hou.se in which he lived till 1874, when it was de- 
 stroyed by fire. He then erected his present frame 
 house. He was married in July, 1858, to Miss 
 Felicty Duchene, who has borne him nine chil- 
 dren, eight of whom are living; Mary, Alexander, 
 Susan, Lucy,' Sherraffin, Lewis, Emma, and 
 Felicty. 
 
 Joseph Deokay was born in France, just across 
 the line from Geneva, Switzerland, im the 22d of 
 February, 1830. He was reared on a farm and 
 learned the stone mason trade. On the 7th of De- 
 cember, 1855, he started fi,>r America and after a 
 very stormy passage, arrived at New York on the 
 
500 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 28th ot February, 3856, went to Ohio, thence to 
 Kentucky and in a few mouths canK? to St. Paul, 
 Minnesota. He then came to Rice county and lo- 
 cated a claim in Wheatland in section thirty-one, 
 where he remained until 1874, then purchased a 
 farm in Wells on section seventeen, where he now 
 resides. Bliss Louisa Brognard became his wife 
 in 1871, and they have one child, Dinah Alber- 
 tiua. 
 
 Daniel Dillon was born in Ireland, in April, 
 1855, and when eight years old came to America 
 with his father. They landed at Quebec, then 
 came to Ohio, where they remained until the 
 spring of 1857, then to Wisconsin, and in 1860, 
 removed to Minnesota. They located in Wells, 
 where his father bought land on section eleven, 
 but soon sold that and bought on section two. 
 where he remained until his death in July, 1873, 
 his wife dying the previous November. In 1866, 
 Daniel went to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and soon 
 after engaged on a steamboat running on the 
 Mississippi River, and followed that employment 
 for eight years being mate the last four years. In 
 1870, "he "Inarried Miss Bridget Devyer. Their 
 children are: Mamie, Agnes, Thersa, Maggie, 
 Julia, Rose, and Johnnie. In 1877, he built his 
 brick liouse on the old homestead, and in 1879, 
 added to his land by purchasing in section two. 
 
 William Hassinger was born in Germany on 
 the 10th of February, 1836. He attended school 
 until eighteen years of age and then devoted his 
 time to agricultural pursuits. In 1858, he came 
 to America, landed at New York and removed to 
 Wisconsin, settling in Winnebago county, where, 
 in 1864, he married Miss Mary Hart, a native of 
 Enghind. In the spring of 1867, he came to Min- 
 nesota and bought a tract of land in Wells, sectitm 
 twelve, where he erected a log house in which he 
 lived until 1881, then built his present frame resi- 
 dence. He has had four children; .Tohn William, 
 who was born in May, 1865, and died in April, 
 1871 ; Nellie L., Alice A., and Frank G. Mr. Has- 
 singer was Clerk of his school district twelve years 
 and is the present Assessor for the town. 
 
 A. C. Jddd was born in Tompkins county, New 
 York, on the 10th of April, 1828, where he at- 
 tended school and worked on the farm. In 1844, 
 he removed with his parents to Wisconsin, and lo- 
 cated in Kenosha county, making his home with 
 them until seventeen years old. In 1849, he 
 bought a farm in Cohimbia county and in 1850, 
 
 married Miss Lucinda Squier. One year later he 
 sold his farm and purchased one in Marquette 
 county on an Indian reservation, where he re- 
 mained two years and for the ensuing seven years 
 owned and lived on a farm near by. In 1860, he 
 came to Wells, and has since resided in the town- 
 ship, first on section twenty-eight, then worked a 
 prairie farm, and his present home is on section 
 thirty-tliree. He has seven children; Matilda, 
 Martin, Fred, Asa, George, Nettie, and Eva. 
 
 William Klatt is a native of Germany, born 
 the 8th of May, 1838, and attended school until 
 fourteen years old, then worked on the farm. In 
 1873, he married Miss Wilhelmina Kuster and the 
 next year they emigrated to America, lauded at 
 New York, and came directly to this county, buy- 
 ing a farm in Wells, section sixteen. In 1879, he 
 built his present house. Mr. and Mrs. Klatt have 
 six children; Otto, Annie, Amelia, Helena, Wil- 
 liam, and Emil. 
 
 John Kranske was born in Germauv on the 9th 
 of January, 1842, and reared to agricultural pur- 
 suits. In 1869, he came to America and directly 
 to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where he engaged on 
 vessels in the harbor and at work in a brick yard. 
 In 1870, he married Bliss Wilhelmina Hobenttans, 
 and in 1874, came to Faribault, engaged on the 
 railroad, and remained until 1877. then removed 
 to Wells which is still his home. They have six 
 children; Freddie, Annie, Blinnie, Emma, Eddie, 
 and Willie. 
 
 Vincent Lieb is a native ot France, born the 
 20th of August, 1834, and after attending school 
 learned the shoemaker's trade, working at that un- 
 til 1852. He then came to America and located 
 near Beloit, Wisconsin, where he engaged in 
 farming one year and then worked at his trade. 
 In 1857, he came to Forest, Rice county, and lo- 
 cated a claim, biit in a few months went to Fari- 
 bault, and subsequently started a shoe shop there. 
 In 1858, he married Bliss Elizabeth Hayward and 
 in 1866, bought a farm in Wells, where he has 
 since resided. BIr. and BIrs. Lieb have had ten 
 children, eight ot whom are living; Mary, George, 
 Frank, .Joseph, Annie, Nellie, Bertha, and Vincent. 
 Two died in infancy. 
 
 CoNELns BIahont, a native ot Louisville. Ken- 
 tucky, was born in April, 1847, and removed witli 
 his parents to Texas in 1854. That State not be- 
 ing suited to their idea for a home they removed 
 to Minnesota and located in Wabasha, where they 
 
M'E/J.S TOWNSHIP. 
 
 501 
 
 were among tbe first settlers. In 1857, they oaine 
 to Shieldsville ami in 1863, Oonelus enlisted in 
 tlie army, but was rejected on account of his 
 youth; he again enlisted in 1864, in the First Min- 
 nesota Heavy Artillery, Coupany 0, went to the 
 South and served till the 17th of June, 1865, when 
 he receive.! an honorable discharge and returned 
 home. In 1864, he purchased land in Wells, sec- 
 tion thirty, and in 1867, married Miss Catharine 
 Burkly, who has borne him five children; William, 
 Daniel, Catharine, Agnes, and Cornelius. In 1880, 
 he erected his present frame house. 
 
 B. Mehagnoul was born in Belgium in Decem- 
 ber, 1829, and there received his education, being 
 reared on a farm. In 1857, he emigrated to 
 America, came directly to Rice county, Minnesota, 
 and bought land in Wells, section thirty. He 
 built a log house and lived there till 1861, then 
 sold out and removed to section twenty-nine. He 
 was joined in marriage in 1861, with Miss Mary 
 Joachim. They have seven children; Mary, Ma- 
 loney, Julia, Louis, Annie, Emil, and Ellen. 
 
 E. McCuLLOUCin was born in Northern Vermont 
 on the 7th of November, 1831, and when quite 
 young removed with his parents to St. Johns 
 province of Quebec, Canada, where they remainetl 
 a few years, then* returned to Vermont. When 
 our subject was twenty years old he learned the 
 cabinet maker's trade at Montpelier, served four 
 years, then went to Monti'eal, Canada, and four 
 years later to Chicago, working at his trade in 
 both places. In 1855, he married Miss Madelia 
 Marpvell, and two years later they removed to 
 Faribault, where Mr. McCullough engaged at car- 
 pentering. In 1873, he removed to Wells and set- 
 tled on a farm which he had purchased a few years 
 previous. He has had eight children, one of whom 
 died in iufifncy. Those living are; John, Marga- 
 ret, Annie, Willie, James, Henry, and Louisa. 
 
 Clement Morow was born in the province of 
 Quebec. Canada, on the 18th of July, 1846. In 
 1857, he came to Faribault, where he engaged at 
 brick making, mason work, etc. In 1867, he mar- 
 ried Miss Mary St. Martin, and they have been 
 bles.sed with two children, Clement and Norman. 
 In 1870. he removed to Wells and located on sec- 
 tion thirty-lwo, having cleared about fifty acres. 
 
 RicH.\m> MuKPHY is a native of Ireland, and 
 was born the 18th of March, 1827. He was reared 
 to agricultural pursuits, and in 1849, emigrated to 
 America, lauded at New York, from there went to 
 
 Albany, and thence to Otsego county, where for 
 two years he was engaged in farming. He then 
 came to Beloit, Wisconsin, followed the same em- 
 ph)yment imtil 1857, and removed to Jefferson 
 county, making his home there until the spring of 
 186'2, when he came to Faribault. In 1869, lie 
 bought a farm in this township in section thirty- 
 five, to which he removed the next year. He has 
 improved the land, set out a grove, which is now 
 a beautiful ornament to the place, and in 1875, 
 built his present frame house. He was married in 
 1852, to Miss Catharine Fleming, and they have 
 seven children, George W., Frances M., Annie M., 
 Andrew A., James .1., Kichard .!., and Alice M. For 
 several years Mr. Murphy w;is a member of the 
 board of Supervisors besides having held other of- 
 fices of trust in the place, but for the past two years, 
 because of failing health, he takes no part in outside 
 affairs, his time being occupied with his farm and 
 family interests. 
 
 John Mcekat, a native of Ireland, was born in 
 1819, and reared on a farm. He worked at the 
 carpenter trade in his native country until 1850, 
 then came to America and engaged at the same 
 employment in New York. In 1853, Miss May 
 Ann Callahan became his wife, and in the fall of 
 1854, he came to Minnesota, spent the winter in 
 Minneapolis, then came to Faribault, and two 
 weeks later to Red Wing, where he engaged lo 
 work on bridges for the government. In the fall 
 he was engaged at the same occupation across the 
 Snake and Kettle rivers, and in the spring of 1856 
 returned to Faribault, was employed on the Cath- 
 olic church, and the next fall removed to Wells and 
 pre-empted land in section one. He built a claim 
 shanty of logs, engaged in clearing the land, and 
 in 1863, erected his present dwelling. He has had 
 ten children, eight of whom are living, Josie, James 
 M., Nellie S., John F., Lucy A., Mary F., Alice L., 
 and Willie P. Those dead are Mary, who died in 
 1866, twelve years of age, and Julia M., who died 
 in infancy, in 1868. 
 
 Caristian Meillier was born in France on the 
 12th of .July, 1831, attended school and was reared 
 on a farm. In 1854, he emigrated to America, 
 located in Springfield, Massachusetts, and in one 
 year moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he 
 remained but six months, then came to Dodge 
 cimnty, Wisconsin, and engaged in farming. In 
 1860,Miss Margaret Des Lurzes became his wife. In 
 October, 1861, he enlisted in the Tenth Wisconsin 
 
502 
 
 HISTORY OF RIOE COUNTY. 
 
 Yoluntser Infiiutry, Company B, went south to 
 Kentucky and Tennossee, where they were first 
 under Buell and then Boseorans. From the hitter 
 State he went to Alabama, and thence to Atlanta, 
 Georgia, where he joined Sherman, and remained 
 till October, 1804, when he was honorably dis- 
 charged at Milwaukee. In January, 1855, he 
 came to Faribault and in February to Wells, where 
 he bought a farm of eighty acres on section four- 
 teen. He now has one hundred and eighty acres 
 of land, eighty in timber and the balance 
 well cultivated, with good buildings. He has 
 had a family of four children, Fabian, Helene, 
 Jules, who died iu infancy, and Mathilde. 
 
 Edw.vkd a. Okne was born in Carroll county. 
 New Hampshire, on the 28th of March, 184-3, and 
 reared on a farm. When sixteen years old he 
 learned the shoemaker's trade, at which he worked 
 one year, anil went to Salem, Massachusetts,where 
 he engaged in driving team, thence to Chelsea and 
 then back to the former place. From there he 
 went to Canada, engaged in the hardware busi- 
 ness two years, tijen removed to Boston and in a 
 short time came to Faribault and has since been 
 engaged iu moving buildings, hiring the work 
 done in the city while he resides on a farm in this 
 township, in section twenty-six. In 1881, he 
 bought a piece of land on section twenty-seven 
 rud now has a farm of two hundred and eighty 
 acres. He has been twice riarried; first to Miss 
 Melviua White, on the 15th of June, 1863. They 
 had three children; Kual Edward, Fred D., and 
 Wiufield Scott. Mrs. Orne died the 22d of Febru- 
 ary, 1869, thirty-eight years of age. His present 
 wife was formerly Miss Elbina Whitehouse, whom 
 he married in 1870. They have four children; 
 Mabel, Herbert F., William H., and Walter. Mr. 
 Orne has taken a great interest iu town affairs and 
 has held many local offices. 
 
 John H. Passon, one of the pioneers of Rice 
 county, was born in Darke county, Ohio, on the 
 9th of July, 1830. He attended school until 
 eighteen years old, then learned the millwright 
 trade, serving three years and the last as foreman. 
 He afterward engaged iu business for himself and 
 in 1851, Miss Minerva A. French became his wife. 
 In 1855, he came to this State and located in 
 Wells in section twenty-three, soon sold that claim 
 however, and took another in section ten, and im- 
 mediately began to work at his trade. In August, 
 1862, Mr. Passon enlisted in the Eighth Minnesota 
 
 Volunteer Infantry, Company B, -went to the fron- 
 tier and engaged in one battle and several skirm- 
 ishes. In 1864, the regiment was ordered to Clif- 
 ton, Tennes.see, from whence they went to Wash- 
 ington by way of Cincinnati and thence to North 
 Carolina and participated in the battle of Kinston, 
 remaining till the close of the war. Our subject 
 was discharged at Charlotte, North Carolina, and 
 mustered out at Fort Snelling in July, 1845, then 
 returned home. In 1866, he sold his former farm 
 and bought in section fourteen, and ten years later 
 built his present brick residence. In 1874, he was 
 elected president of the Grange Mill comjiany and 
 went to Faribault to build the mill. Mr. Passon 
 has filled many local offices and represented his 
 district in the Legislature. He has had five chil- 
 dren, three of whom are living: Sarah F., Lenora, 
 and Amy E. Arthur W., died in Indiana in 1855, 
 three years of age, and Adaline M., in 1865, at the 
 age of five years. 
 
 W. H. Pease is a native of Madison county, New 
 York, where he was reared on a farm, He was 
 employed on the Erie canal eleven years and in 
 1855, came to Minnesota, locating in Deerfield, 
 Steele county, where he remained four years, then 
 came to Faribault and engaged in farming and 
 teaming. In the fall of 1860, he moved to Jack- 
 son county and staked out a claim. In 1801, he 
 enlisted iu the Fifth Iowa Cavalry, Company I, 
 went South to Fort Henry and iu June, 1863, re- 
 ceived an honorable discharge on account of dis- 
 ability and returned to Faribault. There he en- 
 gaged in Hill's factory one year and in a saw mill 
 two years, after which he went to Koberds' Lake 
 where he teamed for a time. In 1865, he married 
 Miss Martha Davis and they have three children ; 
 Carrie, James, and John. In 1870, he purchased 
 laud in this township in section twenty-one, where 
 he still resides, having built his present frame 
 house in 1874. 
 
 WiijMam RtiBERDS, deceased, one of the early 
 settlers in this township, was boin in Ohio in 
 1794, and reared to agricultural pursuits. In 
 1828, he removed to Grant county, Indiana, where 
 he was one of the first settlers. He bought a tim- 
 ber farm of the government, cleared the laud, 
 erected buildings, and made his home- there till 
 1855, when he sold out and removed to Minnesota, 
 located a claim in Wells, and built a saw-mill on 
 the outlet of the lake that now bears his name. 
 In 1856, ho erected a saw-mill, but in 1861, sold 
 
WELLS TOWXSHIP. 
 
 503 
 
 botU his mills and devoted his time to farming. 
 Mr. Kobei'ds was twice married; his first wife was 
 Miss Sarah Bennett, whom he married in 1815, 
 and they were blessed with five children, (me of 
 whom is living, and that wife is also dead. His 
 second wife was Mrs. Sarah Cochran, widow of 
 John Cochran, and they were married in 1S2(> 
 The result of the luiion was seven children, five 
 of whom are now living. Mrs. Roberds makes lier 
 home with hor daughter, Mrs. T. B. Owens. Mr. 
 Roberd's death was caused by injuries received 
 from a tree which fell as he and a neighbor were 
 passing. Death ensued two days after the acci- 
 dent. 
 
 .Tames Roach, a pioneer of this county, was 
 born in Ireland in 1822, and grew to manhood on 
 a farm. In 1842, he emigrated to America" 
 went from New York City to Albanj', and 
 thence to Builalo, where he remained two 
 years, then went to Ohio and after farming 
 two years, removed to Indiana. In 1854, Miss 
 Catharine Lawler became bis wife. Two years 
 later he came to Minnesota with two horses, a yoke 
 of o.xen, and a wagon, driving the entire distance, 
 and located in Shieldsville, where he bought one 
 hundred and sixty acres of land. He cleared some 
 of the land, but in 1864, sold out and bought in 
 section fourteen in this township; ba.« added to it, 
 and now owns a farm of one hundred and seventy- 
 three acres. He has had five children, all sons, 
 but one of whom is living, Thomas. 
 
 Patrick Ryan is a native of Ireland, born in 
 1828, and reared to agricultural pursuits. In 
 1846, he emigrated to America, lauded at Quebec 
 and went from there to Ogdensburg.New York,two 
 years later to Columbia, Ohio, and thence to Tor_ 
 onto, Canada, in three years. He next removed 
 to Medina, New York, worked on the Erie canal 
 one winter, then came to Wisconsin. In 1856, he 
 married Miss Mary Ryan and in 1857, they came 
 to Minnesota. He purchased two acres in Fari- 
 bault, but sold it in 1864, and bought a farm in 
 Wells, section fourteen, building his present frame 
 house in 1879. He has had ten children; Johr;, 
 Johanna, James, Mary E., Katie, who was born in 
 June, 1865, and died the 2Uth of April. 1880: 
 Michael, Francis, Agnes, Daniel, Etta and Cora. 
 
 James G. Scott, an early settler in this county^ 
 dates liis birth at Trenton, New Jersey, on the 24t!i 
 of October, 1824. His father purchased a fruit 
 farm, on which they remained till in 1836, then 
 
 went to Ohio, where .Tames learned the cabinet mak- 
 ers' trade. He then went to Wisconsin and worked 
 at the busine.ss in Burlington, remaining till the 
 fall of 1849, thence to Monroe, and in the spring 
 started for California with five wagons and twenty- 
 five horses. They made the trip in five months^ 
 remaining in Salt Lake City two weeks, from there 
 to Sacremento, where oxrr subject lived until 1854, 
 then returned home by way of Norfolk, Virginia, 
 thence to Chicago, and from there to Monroe. He 
 subseqently visited Kansas, Nebraska, and Mis- 
 souri, and settled in Rice county, Minnesota, on 
 the 19th of June, 1854. He located in Faribault, 
 building the first saw-mill that was built on the 
 west side of the Mississippi in this State, pre- 
 empted land on the east side of Straight River 
 and commenced to build a saw-mill on the oppo- 
 site shore, which he run in company with his 
 brother till 1856. They sold out and opened an 
 office for the sale of land warrants and did a gen- 
 eral brokerage business. When the land otEce 
 was moved Mr. Scott went to Wisconsin and pur- 
 chased eight hundred and ninety-six sheep, con- 
 veyed them to his farm, and engaged in sheep 
 raising. In 18()2, Miss L. A. Wood became his 
 wife, and the fruits of the union are two children; 
 Mary and Walter. In 1871, he traded his farm 
 for the Roljerds' Lake Mill pro])erty, and the nest 
 year erected a saw-mill. Mr. Scott has been a 
 pioneer in three States, and voted for the admis- 
 sion of Wisconsin, California and Minnesota. 
 He was a County Commissioner for this county 
 from 1871 to 1874. 
 
 Friedeicu Selzwedel was born in Germany on 
 the 9th of May, 1831, and his younger days were 
 spent at school and on a farm. In 1859, Miss 
 Minnie Braiin became his wife, and they have 
 tliree children; Willie, Freddie and Anna. In 
 1868, they came to America and directly to Mani- 
 towoc, Wisconsiu.where Mr.Selzwedel was employed 
 on vessels in the harl)or. He then went to Min- 
 nesota Lake, from there to Owatonna and thence to 
 Faribault, where he engaged on the railroad. He 
 bought property in the city but in 1873, traded it 
 for land in Wells on section twenty, and erected 
 his present house. He has been a member of the 
 Methodist church fifteen years, and is at present 
 superintendent of the Saljbath school. 
 
 John L. Squtee, one of the pioneers of this 
 county, was born in Washington county. New 
 York, on the 9th of April, 1811, and removed to 
 
504 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE GOUNTT. 
 
 Mouroe county with his parents when he was sev- 
 enteen years old. In 1837, he went to Pennsylva- 
 nia, bought a farm in Crawford county, where he 
 lived two years, then returned to New York, and 
 in ISi-t, came to Marquette county, Wisconsin. 
 He purchased a farm on which he resided eleven 
 years, then sold out and bought a saw mill at 
 Harrisville, on Montello River, which he disposed 
 of in the spring of 1855, and came to Minnesota, 
 locating in Wells on a claim in section thirty-four, 
 building first a frame house, but in 1872, erected 
 his present frame house. Mr. Squier was first 
 married in 1832, to Miss Eoxanna Howard, who 
 bore him eight children, three of them now liv- 
 ing; Lucinda, Chauncey, and John H. She died 
 on the 5th of April, 1850, thirty-eight years of 
 age. His present wife was formerly Miss Abbie J. 
 Scoville. They have six children; Leonard, Emer- 
 son, Dennis, Charlie, Elma, and Stella. 
 
 Mark Wells is a native of Deerfield, Franklin 
 county, Massachusetts, where his birth occurred 
 the 29th of December, 1829. He was reared to 
 agricnltural pursuits and when twenty-one years 
 old removed to Hampshire county and learned the 
 broom maker's trade. In 1853, he came with a 
 colony to St. Paul, and then on to Faribault, only 
 five of the number reaching that place, the rest 
 becoming disheartened remained in St. Paul. He 
 located on section thirty-five in Wells on what is 
 now known as the Mary Burgett farm, but soon 
 moved to the city and engaged at his trade. He 
 was married on the 15th of November, 1858, to 
 Miss Orpha L. Haskins who has borne him four 
 children, one of whom is dead. In 1863, Mr. 
 Wells enlisted in the Eighth Minnesota Volunteer 
 Infantry, Company B, serving two years and 
 eight months. 
 
 Clakk T. Winans, one of the pioneers of Rice 
 county, was born in Chemung county. New York, 
 in 1824. He was married to Miss C. A. Winans in 
 1848, and in 1856, came to Minnesota, settling in 
 Warsaw. In 1857 and '58, he was engaged in 
 business in Faribault. In 1860, he exchanged his 
 farm for timber land in Wells, upon which he 
 now resides. 
 
 Nicholas O. Winans was born in Chemling 
 county, New York, on the 30th of August, 1830, 
 and attended a district school. In 1842, the family 
 removed to Illinois and settled in Aurora, where 
 our subject afterward engaged in the hardware 
 business. In 1857, he married Miss Martha Ken- 
 
 dal, and the same year sold out and came to Fari- 
 bault where he engaged iu a provision store. In 
 1872, he bought a farm on section twenty-six in 
 this township, and immediately began to improve 
 it, building his present house the same year. He 
 has three children; Clarke, Richard, and John. 
 
 Theodore F. Winslow was born in Chattar- 
 augus county, New York, on the 24th of Decem- 
 ber, 1844. In 1861, the family came to Minnesota 
 and located in Freeborn county where the father 
 pre-empted land, built a house and lived until 1873, 
 when he sold and removed to Faribault. In 1878, 
 Theodore bought a tract of land in Wells, section 
 twenty-seven, and moved on it in the fall of that 
 year. He has improved it and built a good house. 
 In 1879, Miss Mary Atkin became his wife and 
 the issue of the union is two children; Minnie M., 
 and Albert L. 
 
 Chakles Wood, a pioneer of this county, was 
 born in Randolph, Vermont, on the 1st of August, 
 1811. His father died at Burlington when Charles 
 was one year and a half old. He began hard 
 manuel labor when very young, and when four- 
 teen years of age learned the cooper's trade. In 
 1832, Miss Placentia Atherton became his wife. 
 She was a native of Waterbury, Vermont, born the 
 24th of October, 1810. In August, 1832, they 
 started West, went from Burlington to Whitehall, 
 then to Rochester, New York, where for two years 
 he was engaged in coopering and selling dry 
 goods and notions, thence to Greenfield, Michi- 
 gan, one year later to Grand Rapids, and then to 
 Crete, Illinois. In two years he removed to Joliet 
 where he operated a sawmill on shares a number of 
 years then returned to Crete. In 1850, Mr. Wood 
 went to California by land, making the trip in 
 four months, but soon returned on account of sick- 
 ness, and in 1854, came to this State and pre- 
 empted land in Rice county, at the junction of 
 Cannon and Straight Rivers, and engaged in farm- 
 ing. In 1856, he built the first bridge across 
 Straight River and in the fall one across the Can- 
 non River. He was county Sheriflin 1856, also 
 served two years as Collector and represented his 
 district in the Legislature for the same length of 
 time. In 1860, he bought a farm in Morristown 
 and in 1863, an interest in Roberds" Lake Mill 
 property; sold that in five years and jmrchased 
 lots in town. His children are, Jane, tTauet, Har- 
 riet, Viola, Lucia, and Charlie D. His wife died 
 in April, 1876, two children having died be- 
 fore her. Mr. Wood makes his home with his son- 
 in-law, J. Cr. Scott, iu Wells. 
 
ir.iA'.s.iir rowysiiip. 
 
 505 
 
 AV AK.^AW 
 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE EARLY SETTLEMENT EARLY EVENTS 
 
 TOWN GOVERNMENT — WARSAW DURING THE WAR 
 
 MANUFACTTJEING —CEMETERIES EDUCATIONAL 
 
 WARSAW VILLAGE — ^LAKE CITY VILLAGE — BIO- 
 GRAPHICAL. 
 
 Warsaw towuship lies along the soutlieru 
 boundary of Rice county, beiug separated 
 from the western boundary by one town. 
 Its ooutiguous surroundings are Wells, Wal- 
 cott, and Morristown, wntli Kteele county on 
 the south. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
 railroad passes through two sections in the north- 
 eastern part, making it one. of the railroad towns 
 of the county. 
 
 In the northeastern part the city limits 
 of Faribault embrace the north half of sec- 
 tion one, leaving" 22,720 acres to comprise the area 
 of the town. Of this about 2,000 acres are cover- 
 ed with water. The Cannon river winds its pow- 
 erful course diagonally through the northwestern 
 part of the town, entering from Morristown 
 through section eighteen, and ik'>wing northeast- 
 erly forms Cannon Lake, and leaves the town by 
 way of section four and enters Wells. BIcKen- 
 zie's creek, named in honor of Alex. Mc- 
 Kenzie, an early settler, a stream of considerable 
 importance, finds its source south of the town line 
 and winds its tortuous way northward through the 
 center of the town, until its waters mingle with 
 those of Cannon Lake. A small stream with the 
 non-aesthetic appellation of Mud Creek, infringes 
 on the southeast corner, and hastening its course 
 through sections thirty-five, thirty-six and twenty- 
 five, empties into Straight River iu Walcot towu- 
 ship. Dry Creek rises in Shieldsville and flows 
 through the northwest corner on its way to Cannon 
 Lake. The name this stream bears was evidently 
 not given to characterize it, as the creek is scarce- 
 ly ever dry. this, howev^i-, to a speculative mind. 
 
 will illustrate a point in one of the idiosyncrasies 
 of mankind. 
 
 Cannon Lake is the largest and most beautiful 
 lake in Rice county, and covers about 1,451 acres. 
 It extends almost across the northwest quarter of 
 the town, embracing portions of sections thirty- 
 four, seven, eight, nine, and ten. It is about four 
 miles long and from one-half to one mile in width, 
 being about 25 feet deep at the utmost The 
 lake abounds with all local species of fish, and ia 
 early days this was made regular and oft-fre- 
 ijuented hunting and fishing grounds by the 
 Aboriginies, if such Indians may be termed. 
 Many of the old settlers can call to mind occasions 
 when there were as many as two hundred tee-pees 
 on the shores of the lake, while the dusky skinned 
 hunters were laying in winter supplies. The lake 
 was originally named by the Indians, "Te-ton-ka 
 To-nah," or the Lake of the Village, and it bore 
 this name for a number of j'ears. The story is 
 told, and we give it as a legend, that after the name 
 above given had been bestowed upon the lake by 
 the Indians, a small colony of Frenchmen were 
 driven by the red skins to the river, and they took 
 to canoes. The colonists had been prepared for 
 an emergency of this kind, and were supplied with 
 fire arms, besides having a small cannon in one of 
 the canoes. They were not, however, able to cope 
 with their pursuers, and in attempting to pass the 
 Cannon Falls, the canoe containing the cannon 
 became capsized and went to the bottom. Search 
 was made, and tlie Indians became superstitous in 
 regard to it, as thev were unable to find theslisrht- 
 est trace of the lost gun. Since that time the river 
 has always been known as Cannon River, and the 
 lake being formed by it took the same name. 
 
 The soil of the township is mostly a dark loam, 
 of about two feet deep, and a yellow clay subsoil, 
 of about four feet, beneath which is a clay of a 
 bluish color. This partains particularly to the 
 timbered portions of the town. The prairie laud 
 
506 
 
 HISTORY OF RWE COUNTY. 
 
 is made up of a dark loam from eight inches to a 
 foot in tliickuess, with a yellow clay subsoil, un- 
 derneath which is a bed of gravel or sand. 
 
 Aliout one-fourth of the township is made up of 
 timber lan<l, and the balance prairie, which is now 
 the richest farniiug laud iu the State. The heavy 
 timber consists of the well-known and common 
 varieties, as red, black, and burr oak, rock elm. 
 maple, basswood, and willow. 
 
 The Cannon Valley railway line was surveyed 
 through the town of Warsaw in the year 1872, and 
 f )llows the bank of the lake, but for some reason 
 tlie matter remained at this point until 1882, 
 when work commenced on the line in earnest. 
 This road is treated more fully on another page. 
 
 A report from this township published in 1868, 
 says: '-The larger portion of Warsaw is prairie, 
 with occasional groves iu the southern and middle 
 portion, and a heavy body of timber belonging to 
 and a part of tlie Big Woods, on the Cannon 
 Eiver, iu the uortheru part. It has within its 
 limits 21,000 acres of taxable lands, exclusive of 
 town lots. The Canuon Lake occupies about 1,- 
 400 aci'es of the northern portion of its area. It 
 has also 320 acres of school lands unsold, and one 
 forty of railroad land. There is a considerable 
 portion of the land of this towu owned by non- 
 residents til at can be Vjought for from S5 to $25 
 per acre. Its inhabitants are chiefly American, 
 Irish and German, with a majority of the first 
 named over all others." 
 
 Tlie statement as to naticmality of the inhabi- 
 tants is applical)le to the present time, the Ameri- 
 cans having increased more rapidly than the other 
 classes. The unsold lands mentioned have now all 
 been transfoi'med into fertile and productive 
 farms, while the price of land varies from .'i?25 per 
 acre upwartis. 
 
 As to values in Warsaw, the amount of property, 
 real and personal, as given to the census takers iu 
 1870, was »615,545,of which $42.5,970 represented 
 the real, and .'i?18i).575 the personal property. The 
 as.ssess(^d valuation for the same year was, $205,- 
 500. The as.sesspd valuation in 1882, amounted to 
 .S31(),331, of which $59,205 represented the per- 
 sonal, and 8257,126 the real property; showing an 
 increase in assessed value of $110,831. The popu- 
 latiim of Warsaw iu 1860, was 550; in 1865, 718; 
 in 1870, 1,000; and in 1880, the last census, 1,150. 
 
 EARLY SETTLEMENT. 
 
 The earliest infringement by settlers in this 
 town took place in 1853, and when started its .set- 
 tlement was rapid and constant until all the gov- 
 erument land within its borders was taken. When 
 the first exploration by white men took place, it is 
 impossible to state, as this had been the pathway 
 and trading land of the Faribaults for years before 
 the advent of actual settlers. The town being re- 
 splendent with natural advantages and beautifying 
 works of nature, when once starteil the settlement 
 became irrepressble. 
 
 It is said that in the fall of 1826, Mr. Alexan- 
 der Faribault established a trading post at the 
 foot of the lake now known as Cannon Lake, but 
 then called, in the language of the Dacotahs' 
 '■Tetonka Touah," or Lake of the Village. Nearly 
 ten years afterwards, this trading post was removed 
 three miles eastward and established at the pres- 
 ent site of the town of Faribault. After this, from 
 the date of the removal, 1836, until early in the 
 fifties, this neighborhood was without a settler. 
 
 In 1852, Alexander Faribault was in St. Paul on 
 a trip for business purposes and met Mr. Peter 
 Bush, a blacksmith, and hired him to go to Fari- 
 bault and work. Mr. Bush was a Canadian 
 Frenchman, and after considering the matter, de- 
 cided to accept, and at once came to Faribault and 
 became a resident of Eice county. He remained 
 in Fariijault the following winter, at work for Mr. 
 Faribault. In the spring of the year following 
 (1853), he decided to secure a claim and finally 
 made his way into Warsaw and selected one of the 
 finest farms in the county, on section three, at the 
 foot of Tetonka Tonah, or Cannon Lake. Here he 
 remained for a number of years, and became 
 prominent in the early settlement of the county. 
 A few years ago he began to show symptoms of 
 a deranged mind, and he was finally, in July, 
 1881, placed in the State asylum. 
 
 The same year as the above arrival, N. N. Graves 
 made his appearance and secured a habitation one 
 mile and a half west of Bush, where he yet re- 
 mains. This was the extent to which the town 
 was settled this year, and the winter jjassed with 
 but two settlers there. 
 
 The next year, however, the beautiefKand advan- 
 tages of the Cannon Kiver country began to be 
 hei-alded abroad, and the prospective settlers be- 
 gan to file in slowly, it is true, at first, but still 
 civilation took a perceptible stride, and this year 
 
It'.'l liS.lW TOWNSniP. 
 
 507 
 
 (1854,) olironieloil tho arrivals of Edward Hollis- 
 ter aud Henry Dawa who came and located near 
 the lake. The former was a native of New York 
 and still resides in the village of Warsaw where he 
 is Postmaster; the latter was an Englishman, and 
 remained until 1880, when the grim cluti^hes of 
 death seized him aud he was called hence. 
 
 About the same time cams Peter Dalconr and 
 planted his stakes on section forir, where he still 
 flourishes. 
 
 Thomas Blaekborn was another who availed 
 himself of the opportunity and secured himself a 
 habitation. He, however, only remained a few 
 years, when he pulled up stakes and replanted 
 them in the town of Morristown, where he has 
 since been buried. His family still live in Morris- 
 town. 
 
 In 1855, the arrivals were more numerous, aud 
 among them we notice, J. B. Wait, who is still 
 living on section twenty-eight. 
 
 F. Weatherhead drifted iu and secured a claim 
 in section eighteen, and was afterward one of the 
 proprietors of Warsaw village. 
 
 Dr. Charles Jewett made his appearance and 
 selected a claim on section twelve, where he re- 
 mained a few years, and returned to New England, 
 from whence he came. 
 
 Thomas Sjjrague arrived in the town iu 1851, 
 and almost immediately retraced his steps to St. 
 Paul for provisions, but taking sick on the road, he 
 died sh irtly after his re-arrival in the town. This 
 occurred in the spring of 1855, and was the first 
 death iu Warsaw. 
 
 Others came in very rapidly, and a year fi'om 
 this time all the government land was taken. The 
 prominent ones are noted elsewhere. 
 
 E.\RIjV f:VENTSOF INTEREST. 
 
 The first birth in Warsaw took place on the '24th 
 of November, 1854, being a son of Thomas aud 
 Desire Blaekborn, and the child was named Wil- 
 liam H. 
 
 The first marriage solemnized was on the 2f)th 
 of August, 1855; the high contracting parties 
 were Sarah Ann, eldest daiighter of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Elias Gilhou.seu, to Alexander McKenzie. T'.o 
 affair took place at the residence of the bride's 
 parents on section seven, the knot being tied by 
 Charles Crump, Esq. Another early marriage 
 was that of Peter Dalcour to Miss Lucia Wtiolett, 
 on the 7th of December, 1857. 
 
 The T )WN' Name. — Iu 1858, at the organiza- 
 
 tion, considerable difliculty was encountered in nam- 
 ing the town. Dr. (!harles Jewett, a prominent 
 citizen, was i)res(Mit and insisted, and took the 
 stumj) to declare, that he had a wealthy friend in 
 Massachusetts by the name of Sargent, and if the 
 citizens would name the town Sargent, he ( Sar- 
 gent ) would move to tbe town and make it his 
 future home, besides building a town hall and 
 donating S5(tO to the public fund. As there was 
 already a Post-office in the town named Warsaw, 
 in honor of a town in N(^w York, from whence a 
 number of the early settlers had come, it was but 
 natural that a great many favored that name, but 
 after listening to the appeals of Dr. .Jewett, the 
 feeling changed pereej)tibly, and upon the matter 
 being put to a vote, five ballots were found in 
 favor of Warsaw aud five timers that numlier favor- 
 ing the name of Sargent. It was accordingly de- 
 clared to be Sargent township. This was the cap- 
 tion until 18()4', when as nothing had been seen or 
 heard of the rich man Sargent, the citizens of tiie 
 town decided to re-name it, and accordingly had a 
 bill passed by the Legislature iu 1864, changing 
 the name from Sargent to AVarsaw. 
 
 Bully Wells. — This peculiar and eccentric 
 character, although living just over the town line 
 in Wells township, was more or less connected 
 with the growth and development of Warsaw. He 
 was a very peculiar and rough sjjoken man, and 
 was always ready for a trade, although if his best 
 friend asked to buy an article of hiju, he always 
 replied that "he did not keep such things to sell," 
 and made a present of it. He lived a short dis- 
 tance north of Peter Bush's residence in Lake 
 City, and for a year or more they were the only 
 neighbois in the township. Wells, being a man 
 of considerable means, would have his joke at any 
 price. On one occasion, Peter Bush, being a 
 blacksmith, had run up quite a bill for iron in St. 
 Paul, and Wells, without saying a word to Bush, 
 stepped into the place where the latter dealt and 
 paid the iron bill. When Bush got his pay from 
 the Indians he was doing work for, he went to St. 
 Paid, and on telling them he was ready to pay hia 
 bill, received the reply that he had no bill to pay, 
 and an explanation of the matter. Bush at once 
 returned, and going to Wells told him he wanted 
 to settle with him; Wells obstinately refused to 
 have anything to do with him, aud informed him 
 that if he "hung around any longer spouting such 
 nonsense he would lead him home." 
 
508 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 Upon another occasion Bully was over at Bush's 
 house, and Mis. Bush told him that she had been 
 offered SGO for a batch of honey by Faribault. 
 Wells said it must be a pretty nice lot, and asked 
 to see it. Upon being shown the lump, he remarked 
 that he guessed he could make good us of it him- 
 self, and thereupon loaded it np and took it home 
 without saying a word in regard to pay. Things 
 ran along for several days, nothing being said in 
 regard to it. Finally he went over to Bush's and 
 inquired if they did not need a cow; on being 
 answered in the affirmative, he immediately went 
 home and sent his hired man back with a cow, a 
 load of hay, and $%i) in cash, with the remark that 
 he guessed that would balance the honey. 
 
 He was also bound to be called Bully Wells, 
 and on one occasion ordered a man off from his 
 place for calling him "Mr." Wells, saying he was 
 "Bully" or nothing. 
 
 Peter Dalcour and the Indian Ponies. — 
 Peter Dalcour, of whom mention has already been 
 made, was not accustomed to frontier life, and 
 could not get to understand the Indians. On one 
 bright spring morning he discovered a number of 
 the Indian ponies in the meadow destroying the 
 hay and grass. He went down and tried to keep 
 them off, but could not succeed, and getting ex- 
 cited he went to the house, got his rifle, and com- 
 ing back commenced blazing away at them. It 
 was whiz, bang, and when he quit firing he had 
 killed fifteen pimies and twenty-five dogs. The 
 Indians did ilot resent this fearful slaughter, but 
 the following spring one of them presented Dal- 
 cour with a huge butcher k;iife, and he said he 
 supposed it was to pay tor the destroyed hay, and 
 as a token of future friendship and regard. This 
 occurred on the farm of Peter Bush while Dalcour 
 was working for him. 
 
 Mdrdeb. — In the spring of 1874. Jacob Steok- 
 ner, while out hunting ducks, found the body of 
 his father, John Steckner, at the foot of Cannon 
 Lake, in a condition that proved undoubtedly that 
 he had been murdered. The deceased was a 
 Pennsylvauia German, aged about fifty-five years, 
 and it was proven that he had left the Lake Hotel 
 and driven across the ice in company with another 
 party, having about S30 in his pockets. This was 
 the last seen of him until he was found silent in 
 the arms of grim deatli. The bead was battered 
 in a horrible manner, and a club lying near by 
 covered with the gcre of the victim, proving, be- 
 
 yond a doubt, that there had been foul play, but 
 as no testimony could be brought forward sufficient 
 to convict, the matter still remains a mystery — 
 and will until the old prophesy of "murder will 
 out" proves itself true. 
 
 Dr. Charles Jewett, who is prominently men- 
 tioned in connection with the pioneer life in this 
 county, fulfilled his mission on earth on the third 
 day of April, 1879, at Norwich, Connecticut, of 
 chronic enlargement of the heart, at the ripe age 
 of three score years and twelve. His nativity was 
 in Lisbon, Connecticut, on the 5th of Sejjtember, 
 1807. He was educated at Plainfleld, studied 
 medicine and graduated, and began the practice 
 of his profession in East Greenwich at the age of 
 twenty-two. In 1830. he was married to Miss 
 Lucy A. Tracy, who survived him. He early went 
 into the temperance work and was the agent of the 
 Massachusetts Temperance Union, and was the 
 best known total abstinence advocate in New Eng- 
 land. He afterwards located in MilllMiry, Massa- 
 chusetts, on a farm paid for by his temperance 
 friends. Here he resided for five years, doing tem- 
 perance work when wanted. In 1853, he went to 
 Batavia, Illinois, where, in connection with other 
 work he lectured on physiology in a school, which 
 did riot prove to be a success, and, as himself and 
 family suffered from chills and fever, he removed 
 til Minnesota in the spring of 1855, locating in 
 Warsaw, on section twelve, and remained for three 
 years, when he returned to Massachusetts, at the 
 urgent invitation of the temperance people. A 
 part of the time during the war he was a resident 
 of Menasha, Wisconsin, at work in the temjierance 
 cause. In 1873, he removed to Norwich, Connec- 
 ticut. He left a widow, four sons, and two daugh- 
 ters. He was an earnest, amiable, talented, and 
 true-hearted man, resjjected and beloved by all. 
 
 TOWN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Pursuant to a notice issued by the Register of 
 Deeds of Rice county, a town meeting was held at 
 the Turner House in the village of Warsaw, on the 
 11th of May, 185S, for the purpose of organizing 
 the township and electing officers to guard public 
 matters. There were in all eighty-two votes cast 
 and the following were the officers elected : Super- 
 visors, Miles Hollister, Chairman; Augustus John- 
 son and D. W. Wood worth ;Clerk,Jolia McDonald; 
 Assessor, John Goldthwait; Collector, George 
 W. Friuk; Overseer of the Poor, Philander Griffith; 
 Justices of the Peace, J. F. Weatherhead and 
 
WA i:sA w Towx.'^inp. 
 
 509 
 
 Cliarles Jewett, Jr. ; CoDstables, James O. Lamb 
 aud J. H. Maiue. The temporary officers of this 
 preliminary meeting were: J. F. Weatherhead, 
 Chairman; D. W. Woodworth, Moderator; aud 
 Miles Hollister, Clerls. 
 
 The board at their first meeting, voted the snm 
 of seventy-five dollars to defray town expenses 
 during the ensuing year. 
 
 Town matters in Warsaw have run along 
 smoothly, the business of the public being in capa- 
 l)le hands. At the last town meeting held at the 
 Lake House Iti section three, on the lith of March, 
 1S82, the following officers were elected: Super- 
 visors, J. H. Austin, Chairman; G. W. Barton, 
 and Ct. W. Aargetsinger; Clerk, Frank Evans; 
 Treasurer, 0. H. Nichols; Assessor, W. H. Cheney; 
 Justices of the Peace, Geo. W. Durham and P. 
 Griffith; Constaliles, W. P. Griffith and Beruard 
 Durham, Sr. 
 
 Waks.iw During the War. — It is a matter of 
 pride to the inhabitants of AVarsaw, and justly, 
 tliat during the war of the rebellion tlieir quota 
 was always filled without tlie necessity of force; 
 true, one draft was made out, but the volunteers 
 were furnished before it was enforced, and the 
 town in one instance raised .fSOO to pay Charles 
 Hagstrom to voluntarily enlist. There were, in 
 all, forty-one volunteers, of whom four never rt- 
 turned, but found graves in confederate soil, as 
 follows: S. G. Randall, Edward Rible, Clark 
 Turner, and Charles P. Hagstrom. Five of the 
 volunteers are drawing pensions. 
 
 AGEIOULTUEAL STATISTICS FOE THE XEAR 1881. 
 
 Acres. Bitshdn. 
 
 Wheat 3,800 57,.513 
 
 Oats 803 31,180 
 
 Corn 699 20,785 
 
 Barley 62 1,790 
 
 Buckwheat 6 110 
 
 Potatoes 47 4,941 
 
 Beans 2 82 
 
 Sugar cane (gallons ) 9 1,332 
 
 Cultivated hay (tons) 77K 1,128 
 
 Wild hay " 1,382 
 
 Timotliy seed (bush.) 60 
 
 Clover seed " 299 
 
 Apples •' 255 
 
 Sheep, 910 ; wool, lbs 5,632 
 
 Milch 0OW.S, 304; butter, lbs . . . 24,950 
 
 Cheese, lbs 5,600 
 
 Honey, " 881 
 
 MANUFACTDRING. 
 
 Tub Old Original Saw Mill. — This was the 
 first saw-mill, or in fact any kiml of a mill, that 
 was ever erected in the town. It was started in 
 1855, by Chris Hershey in section eighteen, on 
 Cannon River, near where the village of Warsaw 
 now is. It was a good and substantial mill, its 
 size being about 30x40 feet, aud the machinery 
 cost about $3,000. It was equipped with an up- 
 right saw, and the power was derived from the 
 Caimou River through the medium of a flutter 
 water wheel, having a capacity of about 3,000 feet 
 per day. In 1857, stones and Hour making 
 machiuery were added, and it was remodeled and 
 a grist mill was run in connection with it until 
 1862, when the dam was carried away by a flood 
 aud the saw-mill portion was never rebuilt, the 
 timbers being used for various purposes. 
 
 In 1862, a grist-mill was put up on the old site, 
 by Hollister, Frink & Co., the size of which was 
 40x60 feet. This was continued by a numljer of 
 firms until 1872, when it was destroyed by fire. 
 Mr. Thompson next owned the site, and he, in 
 1872, rebuilt the mill, putting in two run of 
 stones, and en'Cting a building about 30x40 feet; 
 he rau it for a time and turned it over to S. M. 
 West, who in turn sold it to tbe Polar Star Mill 
 Company, which firm operated it until it was 
 burned iu 1880, and as yet it has not been re- 
 built. 
 
 lu 1869, an incorporated company was formed 
 by Messrs. Edward and Miles HoUister, and D. C. 
 and Orin Coates, as the Warsaw Steam Mill Com- 
 pany, which erected a saw-mill on section seven, 
 and put in a 56-inch circular saw; it was run 
 by steam with a thirty-horse-power engine, and a 
 capacity of about 7,000 feet per day. In 1876, 
 the management changed to Coates it Snyder, 
 under whose supervision the mill is still in opera- 
 tion. The saw has worn down fnur inches, beiug 
 now a fifty -two inch saw. 
 
 Cheese Factoet. — In 1874, William Winter 
 put up a two story 20x24 foot buildiug for a 
 cheese factory on section twenty-four, and operated 
 it until 1880, but as it did dot prove a sueces.s, it 
 has been discontinued. 
 
 Sorghum Mill. — A mill of this description was 
 erected in 1870, by Henry Bickel on section four, 
 and was run by horse-power, having a capacity of 
 100 gallons per day. In 1878, the mill was re- 
 modeled and a sixteen-horse-power steam cngiuf 
 
510 
 
 lUSTORT OF RIOE COUNTY. 
 
 jjlaced iu the establishment, and increasing the 
 capacity to 400 gallons per day. This was moved 
 io Morristown iu 1881. 
 
 RICE (.'OrSTT TOOK F.iKM. 
 
 This institution is located in section two, War- 
 saw, and embraces the southwest quarter, contain- 
 i:ig one hundred and sixty acres. This farm was 
 prc-emjjfed in 1855 by Mr. A. Bebee, a native of 
 the "Sucker State," who opened it as a farm and 
 jjut Tip a slab house. Here he remained until 
 1850, when lie sold to Henry Grifford and re- 
 moved to the township of Wells, where he still 
 lives. In 1860, the farm again changed hands 
 and became the property of Sumner Sheffield, 
 who in 1865, sold it to Rice county for $4,000. 
 The farm, under the government of the county, 
 was first uniler the management of Charles S. 
 Gidding, and iu 1866, a substantial house was 
 erected, the size of which was 30x40, two stories 
 high, with a wing 18x24 on the west; the north 
 wing is made up of the original bouse, the size of 
 which is 18x30, where the superintendent now 
 lives. The appropriations for buildings and im- 
 provemtnts on this farm are found in the article 
 on their proceedings in another chapter. 
 
 CEMETERY ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Tlie Warsaw Cemetery Association was organ- 
 ized in lS02,the first officers being Philander Grif- 
 fith, Secretary and Treasurer; and Miles Hollister, 
 President. The site was selected on J. F. Weath- 
 erbead's place, and laid into lots. The first 
 burial was the wife of the president of the associa- 
 tion. Miles Hollister, and now about 150 gleam- 
 ing tombstones mark the last resting places of 
 departed friends. The present officers of the asso- 
 ciation are. President, J. W. Outhouse; Treasurer, 
 Philander Griffith; and Secretary, A. Evans. 
 
 HERSHEY BURIAL GROUND. 
 
 This graveyard is located in the northeastern 
 quarter of section seven. The first burial here was 
 Mary, daughter of Christian and Jane Hershey, 
 who lUedon tlie 30th of August, 1856, in her .sixth 
 year. One grave in the yard has two bodies, 
 tliosc of the wife and child of E. B. Peterson. 
 The ground has the remains of ten departed ones, 
 and, sad iis it may seem, the ground is all a thicket 
 of hazel and blackberry liushes, which grow 
 thicker each year as the mortal remains under- 
 neath sleep on in quietude, nudistnrlied and un- 
 molested. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL. 
 
 In Warsaw w'e find more school districts than in 
 any township in Rice county, and as many, un- 
 doubtedly, as any township in the State, the aver- 
 age being from five to eight, while this has eleven 
 districts. This speaks well for the intelligence 
 and enterprise of its citizens, and their spirit is 
 commendable. The districts in Warsaw, if the 
 town were divided equally, would each have an 
 area of three and one-third sections, besides the 
 territory embraced in other towns and counties- 
 The districts are all in good financial standing, 
 and have neat and commodious school liuild- 
 ings. 
 
 District No. 4. — Tlie first instruction given in 
 this district was in the year 1857, and the organi- 
 zation was efi'ected in March of that year in the 
 residence of John Acti. The first teacher was Miss 
 Pierce, and the school consisted of twelve pupils. 
 The board at this time was composed of George 
 D. Potter, Director; Williard Hnghson, Clerk; and 
 P. Griffith, Treasurer. In 1857, a log house was 
 rolled together by subscription, the size of which 
 was 14x18 feet. This district was discontinued in 
 1868, and the territory merged into other dis- 
 tricts. 
 
 District No. 14. — This is the educational sub- 
 division embracing the village of Warsaw and sur- 
 rounding territory. The district was organized in 
 1856, when a log schoolhouse was rolled together 
 in Lamb's addition to Warsaw, by subsciiptiou, 
 and the first school was held in this building the 
 same summer by Edwin Darling, it is claimed with 
 sixty scholars in attendance. This house lasted 
 until it was burued, in 1863, the supposition at 
 the time being that it was set on fire by infidels 
 who objected to its use for church jjurposes. The 
 district then purchased the store building of J. C. 
 Turner, and this was converted into a schoolhouse 
 which lasted them until 1873, when the present , 
 neat building was put up. The house is a sub- 
 stantial lirick, two stories, and cost about $2,000, 
 Hollister Bros, being the contractors. This is the 
 best schoolhouse in the township, and the school is 
 in a most (iouri.shing condition. 
 
 District No. .23. — A meeting was held iu Sep- 
 tember, 1866, in Nicholas Nusbaum's house, that 
 effectually organized the district, and>eleoted the 
 school officers as follows: Director, T. P. Town?; 
 Clerk, William H. Cheney; Treasurer, Richard 
 Oooley. The first teacher was Miss Martha Wood, 
 
W A US AW TOWNSHIP. 
 
 511 
 
 with twelve scholars in attendance. A uoat lirick 
 s;5hi);)lhoase was erectel in J8G7, iu the southern 
 part of section twenty, at a co-^t of about .'i;500. 
 The praseut board is: Director, S.A.Wales; Clerk^ 
 H. A. .\ckerman; Treasurer, N. Nusbaum. The 
 seho )l now has thirty pupils in averii2;e atten- 
 dance. 
 
 District No. 26.--On the 24th of April, 1864, 
 all the records of this district were destroyed by fire 
 iu the burning of the house of the Clerk, G. W. 
 Glines, and the organization of the district cannot 
 be ascertained with r.ny degree of certainty. Tlie 
 date, however, was about 18G0, but who the officers 
 were is not known. The district has a neat school- 
 house in the northern part of section twenty-five. 
 The present school offioers are: Andrew Swanson, 
 Director; G. R. Weatherston, Clerk; and G. T. 
 Short, Treasurer. 
 
 District No. 37. — This was organized in 1864, 
 and the following officers were elected: Director, 
 A. Blodgett; Clerk, A. A. Sargent; and Treasurer, 
 M. Burke. The first school was held the same 
 year. Miss Hattie A. Wilson being the teacher, 
 with ten scholars in attendance, The Cannon Val- 
 ley road now runs through the old school groundt 
 and the building has lately been moved to the 
 shore of Cannon Lake, in section tour. 
 
 District No. 55. — Was organized in 1856, in a 
 bouse owned I)y Dr. Charles Jewett on section 
 twelve. The house was shortly afterward moved 
 to its present location in the southwestern corner 
 of section twelve. The first school was taught by 
 Bliss Lee, and the school board at the time of her 
 engagement was composed of Messrs. Geo. Sco- 
 field, Charles Lee, and N. N. Graves. The pres- 
 ent board is: Director, A. Post; Clerk, Barnard 
 Durham; Treasurer, N. N. Graves. The latter 
 member of the board has held the otKce of school 
 treasurer since the organization of the district. 
 
 District No. 82.— In the fall of 1870, a meeting 
 was held at the house of William Allen, at which 
 the organization of this district was effected, and 
 the officers of the school elected as follows: Direc- 
 tor. Robert Hedges; Clerk, M. S. Randall; Treas- 
 urer, Captain West. Their [U'esent excellent 
 schoolhouse was erected in 1871, at a cost of |GL),', 
 and the first school was held in this year by Miss 
 Sarah Parker, with an attendance of eleven schol- 
 ars. The present school officers are: Robert 
 Hedges, Director; S. M. West, Clerk; J. J. Miller, 
 
 Treasurer. There is now an average attendance 
 of twenty pupils. 
 
 District No. 83. — Efl'ected its orgaiiization in 
 the spring of 1867, in the iiouse of Henry Kannv, 
 in 8;>ctiou five, and placeil the following otfieersat 
 the head: Director, Jacob Rusler; Clerk, Harvey 
 Sanborn, Sr. ; Treasurer, Henry Karow. .\ small 
 house was erected the same summer at a cost of 
 about $100, on section six, and tliis lasted until 
 1874, when the present neat and sub.stantial build- 
 ing . was ei-ected at a cost of about $500, size, 
 16x20 feet. The first teacher was Miss Jane 
 Chapens. The present school officials are Messrs. 
 John Hunt, .John Keske, and M. Bailey, respec- 
 tively Director, Clerk and Treasurer. 
 
 District No. 92. -^Effected an organization in 
 1S6S, and met in the house of George Nichols to 
 eleot officers. The result was as follows: Director, 
 J. E. Langie; Clerk, George Nichols, and Treas- 
 urer, George W. Durham. The first school was 
 held at the time of organization, iu C. H. Nichols" 
 house in section fourteen, with fift'cn scholars iu 
 attendance. The present school board is: Direc- 
 t)r, Charles Nichols; Treasurer, (reorge Nichols; 
 Clerk, L. Jackson. The school house is located iu 
 the southwe^itern part of section fourteen. 
 
 District No. 93. — This educational sub-divis- 
 ion commenced its existence in 1864, inaugurating 
 its organization by electing George W. Glines, 
 Clerk; George H. Davis, Director; and T. P. 
 Towne, Treasurer. Shortly afterward they put 
 up a temporary building at a cost of about $100. 
 The present schoolhouse is located on the northern 
 part of section thirty-four. 
 
 District No. 9-5. — Received its organization in 
 1868, the first meeting being held in the house of 
 Christian Low, on section twenty-seven, and the 
 following officers elected: Director, .James Mur- 
 phy; Clerk, Thomas Clark; Treasurer, Henry 
 Haine. The first school was called to order by 
 Miss Katie Austin. In 1868, a neat, though small, 
 house was erected in section twenty-seven at a cost 
 of •i<20 1. The present school officers are: W. 
 Ciiskelly, Director; J. J. Cart-oU, Clerk; James 
 Murphy, Treasurer. 
 
 District No. 103. — This is the youngest dis- 
 trict iu the township, not having dignified itself 
 with an organization until 1877. .Vt this time it 
 was set off from the adjoining districts, and the 
 following officers were elected: Director, Francis 
 J. Voegele; Clerk, William Berigan; Treasurer, 
 
512 
 
 nrsTORT OF RTCE COUNTY. 
 
 Michael Finnefi;ati. The first school in this dis- 
 trict was taught by Miss Ella Brown, with twenty- 
 two pupils on the benches. Their house was 
 erected the same year, size 18x24 feet, at a cost of 
 S400. The officers for 1882 are: Director, H. 
 Daws. Jr.; Clerk, William Berigan; Treasurer, 
 F. J. Voegele. The district embraces the territory 
 south of Cannon Ijake. 
 
 WARSAW VITjliAGE. 
 
 This is the largest and most important Village 
 in tliis township. It is located in the western part 
 cif the town in sections seven and eighteen, on the 
 banks of the Cannon River, just west of the head 
 of Cannon Lake. The river here furnishes good 
 and sufficient water power to propel twice tlie 
 manufactories the village has. It is about seven 
 and one-half miles south of Fariliault. 
 
 As to the earliest settlement of the village, not 
 much can be said that would not apply, as to date, 
 with the other village in this township. In 1854, 
 J. Freeman Weatherhead, a native of New Hamp- 
 shire, migrated to Minnesota, freezing both legs 
 so severely that he was obliged to have them 
 amputated, and made his way to Warsaw town- 
 ship, securing by pre-emption the northeast quar- 
 ter of section eighteen. In 1855, he moved his 
 family upon the farm, and commenced improve- 
 ments. Following him in 1855, came Christian 
 Hershey, a native of Canada, and took the quarter 
 section adjoining Weatherhead's on the west, in 
 section eighteen. The same year A. Lamb, a 
 native of Wisconsin, pre-empted a claim in the 
 southern part of section seven. This, it will be 
 seen, made quite a settlement m this neighbor- 
 hood, and in 1857, they conceived the plan of lay- 
 ing out lots and blocks for the village of Warsaw, 
 which was accoinplished in this year. C. Hershey 
 and J. F. Weatherhead |jlatted the main part of 
 the village on their farms in section eighteen, and 
 Mr. Lamb staked out Lamb's addition in the 
 southern part of section seven. This was all re- 
 corded as Warsaw, and started as a village. 
 
 or the tliree original town proprietors, not one 
 of them remain in the township. Mr. J. F. Weath- 
 erhead passed on to the unknown world on the 
 2d of September, 1863, leaving many warm friends 
 and a family to mourn his departure. Christian 
 Hershey lived in the township until 1859, when he 
 nnnoved to Morristowu. Mr. A. Lamb, who was 
 of the Mormon faith, decided that he was not the 
 k'ud of a "sheep" to submit to the restriction of 
 
 his conjugal affections to one reciinent, so in 1858, 
 he pulled up stakes and joined his amative breth- 
 ren in Utah. 
 
 The fir.st house erected on the towni^lat was put 
 up in 1855, by Christian Hershey, on section 
 seven. The same building is now used as a stable 
 by Edward Hollister. In the spring of 1857, 
 HoUister & Frink put up the first store building, 
 .and placed a stock of goods upon the shelves 
 worth about $2,000. Immediately following them 
 the firm of Clement & Belote erected a substantial 
 store building aud put in a small stock of general 
 merchandise. This firm sold out in the fall to T. 
 P. Towne who continued the business until 1859, 
 and then turned it over to J. C. Turner, and the 
 building was, in 1864, sold to district No. 14, and 
 used for a school building. 
 
 In 1858, Nye & McDonald put up a building 
 aud went into partnership in the mercantile busi- 
 ness. They continued for about two years and 
 dissolved, to disappear. A boot and shoe manu- 
 facturing establishment was started in 1857, by E. 
 B. Peterson, and during the war he resigned in fa- 
 vor of Moses Sear.=, who continued it until 1872, 
 since which time Warsaw has been without an es- 
 tablishment of this kind. 
 
 The first blacksmith shop was opened in 1856, 
 by Henry Piatt, who is still hammering away. At 
 more recent dates two more shops have been 
 opened. Dan Harper came in 1872, and Mr. 
 Dargavel in 1880. 
 
 The first and only hotel ever put up in the vil- 
 lage was erected in 1856, by James Polar. It was 
 run by him until 1859, when it was sold to Robert 
 Starb.acks, and after passing through a number of 
 uands finally, in 1882, was sold by Alfred Daws 
 to N. Bemis, the present host. 
 
 A rcHume of what the village now contains would 
 read something like this: Two general merchan- 
 dise stores, two churches, three blacksmith shops, 
 three wagon repair shops, one steam sawmill, and 
 thirty-two dwellings. The village lies on both 
 sides of the river, the southern portion being the 
 principal part, and the river is spanned by a sub- 
 stantial bi idge. 
 
 BELiGiors. 
 
 The first religious services ever held in Warsaw 
 was in 1856, by Kev. A. S. Ketchum, Of the Bap- 
 tist faith, in the old log schoolhouse to a small au- 
 dience. The year following the Baptist denomina- 
 (ioii was dulv organized by the above minister in 
 
WAIi'SAM' TOWNSHIP. 
 
 -.13 
 
 his house. The society has never erected a jjlaee of 
 worship but has held services iu tlic scho'ilhoiise 
 and in private residences. 
 
 Methodist Episcop.\l. — Tliis denomiuatiim was 
 organized in 18.57, iu the schoolhonse iu Warsaw, 
 by the Rsv. Mr. Smith, with a f^ood attendance. 
 A substantial brick church was put up iu 1872, 
 which they now use. 
 
 EnsooPAii — Bishop Whipple, of Faribault, or- 
 ganized this denomination in 18(!(), in the school- 
 house, and in 1865, a neat frame church was 
 erected, and the society is iu good financial and 
 numerical condition. 
 
 As early as 1857, Rev. Walter Morris, a Canip- 
 bellite minister, preached in the schoolhonse to a 
 few believers in this faith, but there has never been 
 an organization. 
 
 MoRMON'isji. — In 1857, Milon Fillmore arrived 
 in Warsaw and commenced the organization of a 
 Mormon society. He remained for one year try- 
 ing to work up excitement enough to organize, but 
 it seems the excitement worked the wrong way as 
 he was driven out of the town. 
 
 WARSAW POST-OFFICE. 
 
 This office was originally established in 185C, 
 and J. D. Polar was first appointed to handle the 
 mail; it was on the old Faribault and St. Peter 
 road, the mail being carried by C. E. Hess. At 
 first the mail carrier went on foot, but Mr. Hess 
 soon after procured an old mule that lie took 
 turns in ridnig with, sometimes going on foot and 
 sometimes on mule-back, thus accelerating his 
 speed. At times the various inhabitants of tlie 
 postal district would go to Faribault and bring 
 the mail to the offic6 in a grain sack. On one 
 occasion Henry Piatt, in company with several 
 others, started for the mail, and upon arriving at 
 Faribault they found there was to be a dance that 
 night and they determined to stay and "shake the 
 light fantastic toe" with friends in Fariliault, so 
 tViey got the mail sack, and whgn they got to the 
 hall they "fired" it under the benches and went on 
 with the dance. They remained until daylight 
 and then took the mail to the anxious waiters at 
 War.'^aw. 
 
 Until 1860, the mail was weekly, and after this 
 date, until 1868, it was made daily, and afterwards 
 daily from east and west. The Postmasters in 
 order have been as follows : J. D. Polar, M. Nye, 
 ,T. C. Turner, W. F. Sloan, C. D. Hastings, Walter 
 Clayson, J. B. Goweu, J. W. Outhouse, J. B. 
 33 
 
 Gowen again and Edward HoUister, the latter be- 
 ing the present incumbent. The office is kept at 
 his general merchandise store iu the northern part 
 of Warsaw. 
 
 TiAKH CITY. 
 
 The little hamlet bearing this metropolitan 
 uame was the scene of the first settlement in the 
 town, and played quite au important part iu the 
 early history of the county. It was the first vil- 
 lage platted iu the township. It had a beautiful 
 location on section three, at the foot of (3aunoii 
 Lake, in the northern part of the town. 
 
 In 1853, early in the spring, Peter Bush came 
 to the shores of Cannon Lake and pre-empted 160 
 acres in section three. He at once put up a log 
 habitation, 18x20 feet, and commenced making it 
 his actual home. He shortly after put up a small 
 shop, 18x20 feet, and being a practical blacksmith 
 commenced working at his trade. These were the 
 first buildings erected in eitlier village or town- 
 ship. He hammered away at the anvil, and in 
 1856, conceived the idea, and at once platted the 
 village on his farm in section three, and recorded 
 it the same year as Lake City. Selling his shop 
 to Frederick Roth, in 1857, he went back to his 
 birthjjlace in Canada. He remained away one 
 year and then returned to his place, and again 
 took up the hammer and blacksmith tools, contin- 
 uing work at his trade until 1880. 
 
 (ieorge Burns arrived in 1855, and put up a 
 hotel, with a saloon in connection, near Bush's 
 blacksmith establishment. He managed this until 
 1866, when he sold to Henry D. Kopps, who, after 
 running it for two years, sold to Patrick Cuskelly, 
 and he in turn, in 1869, sold the establishment to 
 the fatlier of the present jiroprietor, M. F. Depati. 
 This gentleman erected a lirick addition, the size 
 of which was 28x33- feet, two stories, at a cost of 
 S2.500, and in 1880 sold it to his sou, Moses F. 
 Depati, for $3,000, who still continues the estab- 
 lishment, with a .'i|!600 stock of goods in connec- 
 tion. 
 
 In 1856, at the time of laying out the village. 
 Joseph Gadory put up a two-story building for a 
 saloon, and run it as such until 1859, when he sold 
 the building to Peter Bush, wlio, with his family, 
 occupied it as a dwelling. 
 
 In the fall of 1856, a saw-mill was put up in th^ 
 "Village of the Lake" by J. Bowman, with a cir- 
 cular saw and a power of 40 horse, making the 
 capacity 1,500 feet per day. In 1857, the mil] 
 
514 
 
 HISTORY OP RIVE COUNTY. 
 
 was destroyed by fire, the supposition being that 
 it was the incendiary work of Indians; and the 
 ground was purchased by P. Melhorn and Enoch 
 Woodman, who rebuilt the mill, and in connection 
 with the saw tliey put in one run of stone, and 
 commenced doing custom work for the surround- 
 ing neighborhood. In 1859, the mill became the 
 property of P. Schuyler and Jared Patrick, who 
 operated it until 1862, when it was sold to D. M. 
 Lucris, and this gentleman removed it to Cordova, 
 and still runs it there. 
 
 The village has now become almost a thing of 
 the past, as the opposition of larger towns, and 
 their close proximity proved too much for the 
 little "burg," else, from the beauty of its location, 
 advantages of age, etc., the fond hopes of its pro- 
 jectors might have been realized. In its palmy 
 days it was recognized as an important point in 
 the county, and at one time had the concomitants 
 that would readily distinguish it from a cross- 
 road or a hamlet; now they have passed away and 
 it contains only a hotel, a school house, a couple 
 of dwellings, and the memory of days gone by. 
 
 There is still a chance, however, for this village, 
 as the Cannon Valley railroad passes directly 
 through tlie village plat within a, few rods of the 
 hotel, and undoubtedly the time our readers are 
 perusing this the sound of the locomotive will be 
 heard in the region of the Lake City, reminding 
 the patriarchs of what "might have been." 
 
 BIOGK.VrHII'ATj. 
 
 H. A. AcKERMAN was born in Fond du Lac 
 couuty, Wisconsin, on the 22d of November, 1848. 
 In 18G4, he enlisted in the Fourth Wisconsin Cav- 
 alry and served till tlie close of the war. He then 
 returned to Wisconsin, and in 1870, came to this 
 place and located in section twenty-nine, where he 
 still resides. He has been clerk of his school dis- 
 trict, and also taught in the district. On the 25th 
 of D333inb3r,1872, he was mnrried to Miss Louisa 
 Suitohii, who has borne him two children. 
 
 Franklin Austin was born in New York on the 
 29th of December, 1816. He moved to Ohio in 
 1841, and there married Miss Harriet Hively in 
 October, 1847. In 1856, they came to Minne- 
 sota, located first in Dakota county until 1867, 
 and then purchased the farm which has since 
 been their home. Mr. and Mrs. Austin have had 
 six children, of whom three are living. 
 
 Orlix Avehv is the only son of John Avery, 
 w"io was born on the 8th of January, 1827, in 
 
 Ohio. He married in May, 1846, Miss Lidia 
 Kechum and their son, Orlin, was born on the 2d 
 of January, 1854. The following spring they re- 
 moved to Wisconsin, and in 1857, came to this 
 place, his parents moving to Lyons county in 
 1871, and still make it their home. Orlin, the 
 subject of this sketch, resides on the farm which 
 hi", father took. He was married on the 7th of 
 July, 1880, to Mi.ss Frankey Aldrich. They have 
 one child. 
 
 George W. Aldrich, a native of New York, 
 was born on the 17th of September, 1836. In 
 1856, he came with his parents to this place, and 
 has since made it his home. Miss Jane Gilhousen 
 became his wife on the 5th of June, 1860. Of six 
 children born of this union, five are living. 
 
 Norman Bemi.s, proprietor and manager of the 
 hotel of this place, was born in Jefferson county, 
 Wisconsin, on the 20th of March, 1847. He was 
 united in marriage on the 15th of September, 
 1869, to Miss Augusta Getchaw and they have a 
 family of three children. They moved from the 
 latter State to this place in 1873, and engaged 
 in the hotel business as previously mentioned. 
 
 JosiAH Bailey was born on the 7th of October, 
 1844, in Indiana, where he remained until coming 
 with his parents to Minnesota in 1856. The 
 following year he purchased a farm in section six- 
 teen which has since been his home. In 1862, he en- 
 listed in the First Minnesota Mounted Bangers, 
 Company H, was discharged on the 28th of May, 
 1863, and re-enlisted in the Minnesota Heavy Ar- 
 tillery, Company L, and served till the close of 
 the war. After his discharge he returned to his 
 farm, and on the 1st of February, 1867, married 
 Miss Lnsetta Gilhousen, who has borne him 
 three child.ien. Mr. Bailey has been a member of 
 the school board several times. 
 
 J. P. Bush, whose parents were among the first 
 to locate in this place was born in Oswego county. 
 New York, on the 1st of March, 1847. He came 
 with them to Beloit, Wisconsin, in 1850, and to this 
 township three years later, locating in section 
 three. In 1856, he returned east and resided in 
 Canada two years, then came again to his home 
 here and has since engaged in farming, his mother 
 living with him. 
 
 Peter Bush, one of the earliest residents of 
 Faribault and also one of the pioneers in this place, 
 was born on the 1st of August, 1808, in St. 
 Hugues, Quebec, He was married on the 4th of 
 
HM/,'.s'.ll|- TOWNSIII I'. 
 
 )15 
 
 July, 1845, to Mrs. Emily Grassett. The follow- 
 ing year they moved to Oswego county, New- 
 York, and in 185(1, came west to Beloit, Wisconsin. 
 Mr. Busli located in section thirtv-one, where 
 Faribault now is, in 18.58, I)ut soon after sold his 
 claim to Indian traders and in the fall located in 
 this township. He built a blacksmith shop and 
 worked at the business until 1856, when he went 
 to Le Sueur county and platted Lake City. The 
 same year he returned to liis native place in Can- 
 ada, remained until 1858, and came again to Lake 
 City, where he was engaged at his trade several 
 years. In 1878, he returned to Ins farm in this 
 place, and has since made it his home. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Bush have had seven chihlron, only one of 
 whom is living. 
 
 D. C. Co.\TES, an old resident of this State, was 
 born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, on the 8th 
 of September, 1839. In 184i, he came west with 
 )iis parents and located near Black Hawk, Iowa, 
 thence, in 1852, to St. Paul, and four years later 
 to Morristown, Rice county. On the 13th of Au- 
 gust, 18()2, he enlisted in the Eighth Minnesota 
 Volunteer Infantry, Company B, was in some im- 
 portant battles in the north and south and in a 
 number of skirmishes. After his discharge on the 
 31st of May, 1865, he came to this place and on 
 the 16th of November, 1869, was joined in matri- 
 mony with Miss Mary A. Green. The union has 
 been blessed with one child, Martha Irene. Mr. 
 Coates was elected a member of his school district 
 in 1881. 
 
 David D.\ VIS was born in New York on the 12th 
 of May, 1831. When he was seven years old his 
 parents removed to Illinois and in 1850, to Iowa. 
 David learned the carpenter and joiner trade and 
 in 1855, came to Faribault where he worked at the 
 same, building the first house in the place after 
 the town was platted. He was married on the 1st 
 of April, 1858, to Janette Vansdal. Of eight chil- 
 dren born of this union, seven are liviog. 
 
 Pbtek Dalcour, one of the first settlers in this 
 place, was born in lower Canada in the District of 
 Montreal on the 18th of March, 1832. He left 
 his native j^lace in 1851, and came to Warsaw 
 which has since been his home. He first built a 
 log house 14x16 feet, cutting the logs and carrv- 
 ing them on his back. On the 7th of December, 
 1857, he married Miss Lucia A. Walleat, who has 
 borne him seven cliildren, five of whom are living. 
 In 1874, he erected the fine brick building in 
 which he now lives. 
 
 AijKKeii Daws is a son of Henry Daws, who 
 was horn on the 27th of February, 1795, in Lon- 
 don, Enghiud; left his native phicc and emi- 
 grated to America in 1848. Ho remained in New 
 York one year and came from thence to Wisconsin 
 where he lived until coming to Warsaw in 1853, 
 and settled in section seventeen, being among the 
 first to locate here. He died on the 18th of Jan- 
 uary, 1880. His son Alfred, the subject of this 
 sketch, was born on the 31st of July, 1839, in 
 England and came with his father to America and 
 to this place, which has since been his home, com- 
 ing into po.ssession of the old homestead at the 
 deatli of h^ father. He was married on the 16th 
 of March, 1866, to Miss Austena Thrown. They 
 have had three children, of whom two are living. 
 
 MosEs F. Dep.\ti, Jr., was born in Montreal, 
 Canada, on the 15th of April, 1852, and left his 
 native home in 1869, coming to Faribault. In 
 1870, he moved to Warsaw and for ten years 
 worked at his trade, that of house and sign paint- 
 ing, which he learned in Canada. He was united 
 in matrimony on tlie 9th of December, 1876, to 
 Miss Anna Smith and they have three children. 
 In 1880, Mr. Depati bouslit the Lake House of 
 which he has since been landlord. 
 
 P. Griffith was l)orn in New York on the 10th 
 of June, 1809. He was reared in his native State 
 and married on the 31stof October,1830, to Clarissa 
 Barnes. In 1852, lie moved to Illinois but re- 
 turned to New York two years later. He then 
 made a trip to Minnesota, pre-empted land and in 
 the spring of 1857, moved his family to the claim 
 and two years later removed to the village. In 1862, 
 he returned to his farm but came again to the vil- 
 lage in 1867, and engaged in mercantile pursuits. 
 Since retiring from l)usiness in 1877, he has filled 
 the office of .Tustice of the Peace and lieen a mem- 
 ber of the board of Supervisors. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Griffith have had seven children, five of whom are 
 living. 
 
 Elias GiLHorsEN, one of the j^ioneers of this 
 place, was born in Dauphin county, Pennsvlvania, 
 on the 11th of October, 1817. He was married on 
 the 22d of February, 1838, to Miss Elizabeth 
 Siford, who bore him ten children, nine of 
 whom are living. In 1854, Mr. and Mrs. Gil- 
 housen emigrated to Minnesota, resided in St. 
 Paul until the 1st of March, 1855, when they 
 came to this township. Mrs. Gilhousen died on 
 the 30th of November. 1881. 
 
516 
 
 HTSTORT OF RICE COUNTT. 
 
 Jacob Heushey was Ijoru in Wisconsin on the 
 28tli of Dec-ember, 1814, and came with his par- 
 ents to this place on the 10th of May, 1855. On 
 the 13th of .Tanuary, 1867, he married Miss Lu- 
 cilia Clemmor and two years later his father pre- 
 sented him with a farm in section seven. In 1876, 
 Mr. Hershey moved to Chippewa conuty and 
 while there was school Director three years aud a 
 member of the board of Supervisors three years. 
 He returned to Warsaw in 1882, and is engaged 
 in the cultivation of bis farm. 
 
 N. N. Gr.wes, one of the ea,rliest pioneers of this 
 place, was born in Oneida county, New York, on 
 the 18th of November, 1814, and at the'age of ten 
 years removed with his parents to Jefferson 
 county, where he grew to manhood and learned 
 the carpenter trade. He 1835, he .moved to Michi- 
 gan, and on the 18th of November, of the same 
 year married Miss Emily Welch, who has borne 
 him nine children, three of whom are living. In 
 1843, he returned to his old home in Oneida 
 county and engaged in blacksmitbing four years, 
 then came to Wisconsin aud farmed until 1852, 
 when he moved to this place in section one. Mr. 
 Graves built many of the first buildings in the 
 county. Until the last town meeting, when be re- 
 signed, he has held some local ofiiee, has been 
 Supervisor and Justice of the Peace. 
 
 Edw.\1!D Holi.isteu, one of the first settlers of 
 this jilace, is a native of New York, born on the 
 27th of November, 1832. In 1853, he came to 
 Wisconsin but the following year returned 
 to New York. In October following he made 
 another trip west to IMinnesuta and located 
 a claim on the shore of Cannon Lake in this 
 town.sliip, where he lived until 1856, then weut to 
 the village of Warsaw and engaged in mercantile 
 juirsnits. In 1861, on the 29th of April, he en- 
 listed in the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, 
 Company G, and participated in the first battle of 
 Bull Run, was discharged for disability the last 
 of August of the same year, with the rank of 
 Fourth Corporal. He was married after returning 
 from tlie army on the 24th of February, 1862. to 
 Miss Rowena Coats, who has borne him six chil- 
 dren, four of whom are living. Mr. HoUister was 
 a member of the Legislature in 1869 and '70, has 
 held the office of Town Ti-easurer eight terms and 
 is at pr iseut Postmaster aud Notary Public. He 
 again eagaged in mercantile bu8ine.ss in 1881. 
 
 W. H. HiLSE was born in New York on the 16th 
 
 of March, 1846, and when ten years old came with 
 his parents to Minnesota Territory, and located in 
 this place, where they were among the early set- 
 tlers. Mr. Hulse enlisted in the First Minnesota 
 Mounted Rangers, Company H, in 1862, and serv- 
 ed fourteen months, then re-enlisted in the Elev- 
 enth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, Company D, 
 and received an honorable discharge in 1865. He 
 immediately returned to Warsaw, and in 1876, 
 was united in marriage to Miss Marinda A. Har- 
 per, the ceremony taking place on the 26th of 
 February. The re.sult of the union is one child. 
 Mr. Hulse's farm is located in .section thirteen, 
 which he has owned since before the war. 
 
 WiLLARD HuGHSO.N-, one of the pioneers of this 
 place, was born at Hamilton, in Upper Canada, on 
 the 7th of February, 1824. In 1833, he moved 
 with his parents to Michigan, and in 1837, to Mil- 
 waukee, Wisconsin. On the 17th of January, 
 1850, he was united in marriage with Miss Harriett 
 E. Love, who has borne him four children, of 
 whom one is living. Mr. Hughson came to this 
 township in 1855, and pre-empted land in section 
 twenty-eight, upon which he lived until 1868, 
 when he moved to the village of Warsaw, but in 
 1871, returned to agricultural pursuits, this time 
 locating his present farm in section eight. He 
 was elected a member of the Board of Supervisors 
 in 1859, and Chairman of the same in 1876 and 
 ;78, and in 1865, '66 and '67 was Assessor. 
 
 Lorenzo .Jackson, one of the pioneers of Rice 
 county, was born in Manchester, Hillsborough 
 county, New Hampshire, on the 26th of Septem- 
 ber, 1819. He was engaged in farming until 1845, 
 then clerked, and a year later started a dry goods 
 store for himself. He was united in marriage on 
 the 28th of November, 1850, with Miss Caroline 
 S. Bartlett, who has borne him six children, two 
 of whom are living. In 1856 he came to Cannon 
 City, where he was in the same business five years, 
 then came to Faribault, aud entered the employ of 
 a mercantile house. Ten years later he engaged 
 in farming in Warsaw, where he still resides. In 
 1881, he was elected County Treasurer, and still 
 holds the office; also has been a memljer of the 
 board of County Commissioners. 
 
 CniusTiAN Low was born in Germany on the 
 2d of February, 1838, and in 1852 emigrated to 
 Wisconsin. On the 2d of February, 1864, he was 
 married to Hannah Guitchel. In 1867, they moved 
 to Warsaw, aiid located in section twenty-seven, 
 
WAJ,'SA\V TOW \S II IP. 
 
 U7 
 
 which has since been their home. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Low have had eight ohiklreu, six of whom arc 
 living. 
 
 .T.\MES A. MoKci.VN, one of the early settlers of 
 Warsaw, was bora in Beaver county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, on the 1st of March, 1832. Ho was married 
 in his twenty-second year, on the llith of May. to 
 Jane Denison. In an early day Mr. Morgan made 
 a trip through Maryland and Virginia, and in 
 1855, came to this township and pre-empted laud 
 in section six. In 1859, he went to Pike's Peak, 
 but returned shortly, and in 1862, enlisted in the 
 Eighth Minnesota Kegiment, Company B, and 
 served till the close of the war. He then returned 
 to his farm, to which he has since given his atten- 
 tion. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan have had fourteen 
 children, nine of whom are living. 
 
 John Nfsbaum is a native of Prussia, born on 
 the 13th of April, 1831, and at the age of twenty- 
 one years emigrated to America. He first located 
 in Toledo, Oliio, but a year later came to Wiscon- 
 sin, and in 18tU, to Warsaw, where he still resides. 
 He was married on the 22d of October, 1870, to 
 Miss Kaeynah Richard, who has borne him sis 
 children. 
 
 HOW.A.RD R.\ND was born in Nova Scotia on the 
 nth of March, 1836, and in 1847, left his native 
 place and moved to Massachusetts. On the 25th 
 of December, 1858, he was joiued in matrimony 
 with Miss Mary Reynolds, and they have had 
 seven children, six of whom are living. In 1861 
 Mr. Rand came to Minnesota, first settled in (iood- 
 hue county, and in 1867, moved to Warsaw, where 
 he lias since lived. 
 
 Andrew Swanson, a native of Sweden, was 
 born on the 24th of July, 1823. He was married 
 near his birthplace on the 26th of December, 1848, 
 to Miss Betsy Mary Morgulson. They sailed for 
 America on the 17th of April, 1852, and located in 
 Illinois. In 1856 they moved to Red Wing, Min- 
 nesota, and in 1860 rented a farm at the head of 
 Spring Creek, upon which they lived until coming 
 to this place in March, 1868. Mr. Swarson own3 
 a good farm of one liumlred and sixty acres in 
 section thirty-six. He has a family of seven chil- 
 dren, one having died. 
 
 H. S.ANBORN was born in New York on the 4th 
 of March, 1827, and moved to Wisconsin in 1844. 
 
 He was married there on the 2()tli of Septemlier, 
 1857, to Melittia A. Hull. The following year 
 they came to Blue Earth county, Minnesota, and 
 resided on a farm until 1860, then came to this 
 township and bought land in section seven, where 
 they have since made tlnnr home. They have had 
 four children, three of whom are living. Mr. San- 
 born has boeiiTown Clerk, and also School Clerk. 
 
 W. S. SNyuEU was born in Albany county. New 
 York, on the 22d of November, 1840. He removed 
 to Wisconsin, and thence, on the 11th of June, 
 1856, to Warsaw. On the 10th of August, 1862, 
 he enlisted in the Eighth Minnesota Volunteer 
 Infantry, served three years; was wounded in the 
 third battle, and still carries the ball in the left 
 shoulder. Miss Maggie Wood became his wife on 
 the 1st of January, 1872, and they have one child. 
 
 W. S. Weatheeston was born in St. Lawrence 
 county. New York, on the 16tli of July, 1844. On 
 the 9th of September, 1861, he enlisted in the 
 Sixth New York Cavalry, Company K, went south, 
 and was in the battles of Williamsburg,Fair Oaks, 
 Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Ohancelsors- 
 ville, and the three days' fight at Gettysburg. 
 Having been discharged, and re-enlisted in the 
 winter of 18G2, under Gen. Sheridan, he was in 
 the battles of the Wilderness, in front of Rich- 
 mond, thence to Malvern Hill, and joined the 
 army under (ren. Grant. Mr. Weatherston after- 
 ward had charge of seventy men who were sent to 
 secure a supply of corn. While making the 
 journey they were engaged in a severe fight 
 During all the battles and skirmishes in which Mr. 
 Weatherston participated, he received but one 
 mark, a ball at one time grazing his left leg and 
 leaving a black and blue spot. On receiving his 
 discharge, he came to Rice county, Minnesota, and 
 located in Wells township, where he resided until 
 returning to his native State in Ogdensburg, St. 
 Lawrence county, where he was joined in marriage 
 with Miss Laura C. Lytle. In 1873, he returned 
 to this county, and settled in Warsaw, where he 
 engaged in grain raising until 1881, since which 
 time he has been engaged in the dairy business, 
 liaving some very fine blooded cattle, and has sold 
 one thousand pounds of creamery butter. Mr. 
 and Jliv. Weatherston have had four children, one 
 of whom is living. 
 
518 
 
 HISTORY OP RICE GOV NT Y. 
 
 CANNON CITY. 
 
 CHAPTEE LXI. 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE — EARLY SETTLEMENT — EABLY ITEMS 
 
 OP INTEREST POLITIOAJj EDUCATIONAL 
 
 VAKIOUS MATTERS — VILLAGE OF CANNON CITY 
 
 EAST PBAIRIEVILLE — BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 Cannon City is one of the center towns of Rice 
 county, lying in the second tier from the south 
 and west county lines, and the smallest town in 
 the county. Its immediate surroundings are, 
 Bridgewater on the north; Wheeling on the east; 
 Walcott and Faribault on the south; and Wells 
 and Faribault on the west, embracing an area of 
 19,840 acres. The city of Faribault takes from 
 its southwest comer 3,200 acres, or sections 
 twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two and the 
 southern halves of sections nineteen and twenty. 
 Of the area mentioned, considerable is taken up by 
 town lots and some is covered with water, which 
 leaves the township exclusive of these, an area of 
 1.3,243 acres. 
 
 Here we find both timber and jjrairie land; the 
 entire western portion being covered with timber, 
 iu places heavy and again light, and interspersed 
 with meadow and timber openings. The eastern 
 and northeastern pa'rts, extending from the north 
 to the south line of the town, is a rolling prairie, 
 with here and there fine groves of timber. 
 This is called East Prairie, for the reason that it 
 lies east of the Cannon River timber. Little 
 Prairie is a small prairie in section four. The 
 greater part of the town is under a high state of 
 cultivation, and many of the oldest and finest 
 farms in the county are located here. The soil is 
 rich and well ad;i|)ted to the crops and agricul- 
 tural modes of to-day. A dark loam is the cover- 
 ing of the prairie, and as you approach the timber 
 a lighter nature of soil is visible, with a tendency 
 to clay and sand. Along the Cannon River, which 
 enters the township from Faribault and crosses 
 the western part in a nortlierly direction, the sur- 
 
 face is more or less broken, and in some places 
 enough so to be termed hilly, although thei'e are 
 few places so abrupt as to be detrimental to till- 
 age. An abundance of excellent limestone is 
 found in various localities in the western part of 
 the town, and several have burned kilns with the 
 most satisfactory results, there being a number of 
 these enterprises now in operation. It is also val- 
 uable for building purposes, for which it has al- 
 ready been used quite extensively, several stone 
 quarries being now at work. 
 
 The town is well watered, but has not as many 
 lakes as the surrounding townships. Chrystal 
 Lake is the only one of note, and is located in the 
 central part, just north of the village of Cannon 
 City. Prairie Creek rises in section twenty-three, 
 and taking a northern course hastens its way to 
 Northfield township, from whence it enters the 
 county of Goodhue. The Cannon River has been 
 mentioned as traversing the western part. Otto 
 Falls Creek, or, as it is generally known. Pond's 
 Creek, rises in Wheeling, and flowing westward, 
 crosses the southern tier of towns and eventually 
 becomes part of the Straight River. Several 
 small streams traverse the northwestern part of the 
 township on their way to the Cannon River. 
 
 A sketch of the town, published in 1868 by P. 
 W. Frink, says that "Cannon City township occu- 
 pies the larger part of the same township in which 
 the town of Faribault is also located. The num- 
 ber of acres of taxable lands within its limits, ex- 
 clusive of town lots, is 13,243. Some of the oldest 
 and most valuable farnn in the county are located 
 in this town, and in no part of the county can 
 more favorable locations be found with regard to 
 timber, meadow, water, and arable land. Its pop- 
 ulation is mostly emigrants from eastern ;md mid- 
 dle States." 
 
 In 1860, the population was 601); iu 1865, 667; 
 in 1870, 4'J7; and in IHSO, the last census, 1,188. 
 
OAy^'oy city tow y ship. 
 
 51i> 
 
 At the census taken in 1870, the values in Cannon 
 City, as given to the census takers, were as fol- 
 lows: Keiil property, S2(!5,(!0(); personal prop- 
 erty, S58,8U0; total, §324,400. Tlie total v;ilue of 
 property for the seme year, as jier assessment 
 rolls, was $120,139. In 1882, the total value as- 
 sessed was $318,8.50, of which 82(53,309 represented 
 tlie real, and •'$55,.541, the personal property. This 
 shows an increase of property assessed, during the 
 past twelve years, of $192,711. 
 
 EARLr SETTLEMENT. 
 
 To get at, with any degree of accuracy, the real 
 first settler of a section that has been settled for a 
 generation is a more difficult matter than would 
 be imagined by one who has never undertaken to 
 determine such a case, for, no matter how authen- 
 tic the source, or how conclusive the evidence 
 brought to bear, there will be a certain number of 
 men who will emphatically deny the assertion, and 
 bring up another candidate for patriarchal hon- 
 ors, so to speak. Therefore, to avoid any mis- 
 understanding, or any chance for dispiite, that 
 course has been adopted whereby the date of ar- 
 rival is given, as near as can be ascertained, and 
 the reader can select therefrom a first settler to his 
 notion. In the language of Mark Twain, you 
 "read the facts and take your choice," or words to 
 that effect. 
 
 The actual settlement of Cannon City township 
 commenced early in 18-54, and it is claimed there 
 were one or two arrivals late in the year previous; 
 but of such we can learn nothing. Among the 
 first to locate was Mr. John Corsett, a native of 
 Ohio, who got into the town in the spring of 1854, 
 and took a claim in section thirty-five. He built a 
 little shanty covered with what he called "shakes," 
 and at once commenced putting up hay, succeeding 
 in securing about twenty tons. After he had 
 been there a short time a number of others swelled 
 the settlement in this part of the township. The 
 entire force that arrived in this year were from 
 Dunkirk, Wisconsin, but they have now all 
 removed to other towns or counties, except one 
 family. 
 
 William N. Owens and family were natives of 
 New York, having left the place of their nativity 
 early in the forties and removed to Wisconsirj. 
 Here they remained for ten years, in Dunkirk, and 
 in 1854, when the Minnesota fever first began to 
 find root in the minds of the eastern people, they 
 decided to join the throng. A number also came. 
 
 among whom were Isaac Hamlin and his parents, 
 George Marks and his family, John Pratt and 
 family, Samuel Howe, John Ralier, A. Kcnslnw, 
 and some who are mentioned elsewhere, and who 
 took claims in adjoining towns. These all started 
 about the same time, and came straggling along 
 on their way to the Cannon Valley. When they 
 got to the Eoot River, in Fillmore county, where 
 Forestville now is, the ty])hoid fever took hold of 
 some members of Mr. Owens' family and he was 
 detained there some time, Mrs. Owens being con- 
 fined and delivered of a child during the deten- 
 tion. This, however, although it detained the 
 family, did not hinder the balance of the party, 
 and Mr. Owens witli his teams assisted the others 
 to get into the country, his eldest coming up to 
 drive one of the teams. When the boy got back 
 he reported not very flattering news to his parents, 
 and they seriously entertained the plan of retrac- 
 ing their steps to their former home, but thially 
 overcame their scruples and pushed on. arriving 
 on East Prairie, on the 1st of October, 1854. They 
 here found that those who had preceded them 
 had failed in their agreement to select a good claim 
 and cut hay for the detained party, and as they 
 had four yoke of oxen, two cows, and one horse, 
 they were obliged to secure hay or suffer severe 
 loss. After looking about for a short time, he 
 (Owens ) made Corsett, who is mentioned above as 
 having put up twenty tons of hay, an offer of $250 
 for his claim .md hay, which offer was accepted 
 and Mr. Owens moved his family into Corsett's 
 doorless and floorless cabin. This was soon 
 remedied by making a floor out of slijjpery elm 
 bark, and door of slabs. The roof of the cabin 
 was very poor, as it was made of clap boards, and 
 Mr. Owens says that often has he heard the chil- 
 dren in the night crying, "Ma, Ma, it's suowin' in 
 my face!" and he determined to fix it, so he went 
 out on the prairie, cut sod and packed it in layers 
 on the roof of his house. This remedied the evil 
 for the present and "kept the snow out of the chil- 
 dren's faces,'" but when the spring came and the 
 drenching rain washed crevices through the sod, 
 great haste was required in shoveling it off' the 
 roof to prevent the shanty from being transformed 
 into a mud hole. 
 
 During the fall Mr. Owens broke two acres of 
 the prairie, and later in the fall and through the 
 winter he fenced eighty acres; being the first fence 
 put up in the township; also makhig, at the same 
 
520 
 
 HISTOIIY OF UTCK COUNTY. 
 
 time, by night work, witli a draw-knife, shingles 
 euougli to cover the houses of Samuel Howe, John 
 Ralier, ami his own, which were each 16x24 feet. 
 
 All of these settlers mentioned had come in un- 
 prepared for the extreme "newness" of matters 
 which they found, and as provisions and lumber 
 were very scarce Mr. Owens, iu October, 1864, 
 started by team to Hastings to lay iu a supply. 
 When he got there he found nothing but one little 
 hut, where was kept a few articles for sale,but they 
 were out of provisions and lumber was not to be 
 thought of. He then went to Prescott and Doug- 
 lass where he succeeded in getting provisions and 
 a few rough boards. Mr. Owens is still living^^in 
 section thirty-five and may be called the pioneer 
 tavern keeper of the town, as from his very first 
 advent he, more or less, kept tavern until about 
 1870. Of his sons, two of them still remain and 
 are prominent men in Rice county, while William 
 N. and Aueel E. Owen are now in the territory of 
 Montana, both having done valuable service tor 
 their country, the first in crushing the rebellion, 
 and the last in the Indian war at Fort Abercrom- 
 bie. 
 
 But we digi-ess. To return to the time of Mr. 
 Owen's arrival in October, 1854. After Corsett 
 had sold his farm lie took a claim in Walcott town- 
 ship and finally found his way to Redwood 
 county, where he died some years ago. 
 
 Aliout the time that Owens settled, a few more 
 made their appearance. A party who were natives 
 of Vermont having stopped for a time in Wiscon- 
 sin, from whence they came direct. M. N. Pond 
 and wife, and Prof. Ide, his father-in-law, with 
 Mrs. Ide and her two daughters, made up the 
 party. Tliey came direct to Faribault, following 
 the trail of Mr. Thomas Sprague,who had settled iu 
 Warsaw, and arrived at their destination in due 
 time, liaving lost tlie single wagon trail. They 
 then started to East Prairie in search of farms. 
 Tliere was not a track through the timber nor a 
 sign of civilization, and they were forced to tedi- 
 ously cut a pathway through the heavy and 
 tangled woods. Wlien they got to the prairie they 
 found signs of someone's having already been on 
 the ground, for on a stake, conspicuously planted, 
 apijoarcd tlie warning words: 
 
 " 6,000 AcrEs 
 
 of this land is claimed by 
 
 TriPP, Boss& Co." 
 
 Whoever this remarkable "monarch-of-all-they- 
 
 surveyed" firm were, the sturdy pioneers allowed 
 them to diiiin it, and proceeded to select and settle 
 on the best farms tliey could find. Prof. Ide took 
 a claim in section thirty-five where the village 
 now is, while Mr. Pond secured a place in sec- 
 tion thirty-six, where he at once erected a hewn 
 log hut, making shingles therefor with a draw- 
 knife; the fact has been omitted that they liad 
 brought with them a yoke of oxen and team of 
 horses. Here Pond remained until the survey was 
 made which discovered to him that he was upon a 
 school section, and he at once sold for .f200 and re- 
 moved to the timber in section thirty-three, in 
 which he took the southwest quarter and at once 
 put up a bark shanty; peeling the bark from sap- 
 plings, unrolling and nailing it to the posts he had 
 prepared, making a shanty sixteen feet square. 
 He moved into this in the spring of 1855. The 
 winter of 1855-50 was a very severe one, and as 
 soon aj the thermometer was put out the mercury 
 would at once bob out of sight, w-hile the 
 anxious shiverer was still in doubt as to how cold 
 it really was, and it became a standing joke that 
 two thermometers must be tied together perpen- 
 dicularly to find how cold it was; but, it was an ac- 
 tual fact that for ninety days there was not a min- 
 ute's thaw. This was quite an unfortunate sur- 
 prise to the early settlers as the winter before had 
 been very mild, and it is stated on good authority 
 that musquitoes were seen iu December and men 
 could work in shirt sleeves, almost all winter. 
 However, they stood it, as they were obliged to, 
 many faring badly; but it is a strange fact that 
 stock stood out of doors all through the frightfully 
 severe winter, enduring the cold and did not 
 sutler, apparently. 
 
 A number of others came about the same time 
 and increa.sed the settlement iu the southern part 
 of the town, and many pushed their way over the 
 line and took farms in Walcott. Among these were 
 George Marks and Mr. Emerson. The latter first 
 took a claim on East Prairie, but afterwards re- 
 moved to Walcott where he engaged in a mill. 
 Oliver Tripp, a native of the state of New York, 
 came on the 15th of August, iu 1854, and took 
 posse.ssion of some of the prairie land in section 
 thirty-six, where he still remaius.having purchased 
 adjoining lands until he now owns a t'ai-m of 320 
 acres, a part being in Walcott and Cannon City. 
 W.. L. Herriman was another who came in 1854, 
 arriving from Ohio iu the fall of the year named 
 
CAyNox CITY Ton'xs/rrp. 
 
 521 
 
 and secured a claim a short distance north of the 
 farina occupied by the parties aljove montioneil. 
 He was a blacksmith by trade and assisted in the 
 early settlement of the village by starting the first 
 blacksmith shop. He has held the office of Towu 
 Treasurer for sixteen years aud is stDl a pi-oniinent 
 man in tlie town. 
 
 Mr. Truman Boss came early in the fall of 18.54 
 and secured a place in section twenty -two, where 
 Mr. C Erb now lives. He left a number of years 
 ago. 
 
 Mr. John Thompson, a native of Scotland, ar- 
 rived in Cannon City township in 185.5, and as- 
 sisted in the settlement of East Prairie and the 
 village, by aiding in the erection of a steam and 
 grist mill, an account of which is found on another 
 page. 
 
 M. C. Sweat, a native of Vermont, after stopping 
 in Wisconsin for a time, made his appearance in 
 the year 18.")4, and took a claim north of the East 
 Prairie settlement, in section twenty-three, where 
 he still -'tills the soil." having sii'ce his arrival 
 spent some time in the Rocky Mountains, besides 
 doing his country service in the late war. Mr. 
 Sweat was joined the following year by a New 
 Yorker in the person of H. C. Tripp, who with his 
 family made himself at home on an adjoining 
 farm in the same section where he still holds forth, 
 now having 240 acres of land and one of the finest 
 brick residences in Rice county. 
 
 About the same time another native of the Em- 
 pire State put in an appearance and joined his 
 fellow New Yorker by purchasing a claim in sec- 
 tion twenty-five. This was E. B. Orcutt, of 
 Oneida county, and aftei- having stopped for a 
 time in Wisconsin, he Inade his arrival in 1855, 
 with two yoke of oxen. He still remains on tlie 
 claim he originally secured, having one of tne 
 finest farms in the town. Mr. .Joseph Covert, of 
 New York, came about the same time, and should 
 be mentioned as prominent among the eiu-ly set- 
 tlers, although he first took a claim and lived 
 over the line in the town of Wheeling. In 18C8, 
 he removed to his present place in section twenty- 
 five of Cannon City, adjoining Mr. Orcutt'son the 
 south. He has Itocn and now is among the most 
 prominent and jiublic spirited men in the township 
 and county. 
 
 Still another crowded into this section this year, 
 — 1855 — in the person of Roswell Bryant, of 
 New England, who, with his family, after stopping 
 
 for a time in fiidiana, nuule their way to IMimiL- 
 sota and became identified with Cannon City 
 township jiioueering by securing prairie land ad- 
 joining the places above mentioned. He still re- 
 mains on the place. 
 
 H. X. Swarthout, of I'eiuisylvauia, came two 
 years later, in 1857, an<l j)urchased the farm be 
 now owns in sections twenty-six and twenty- 
 seven. 
 
 In the meantime other parts of the tciwnsbi]>liad 
 begun evoluti(ms toward civilization, although as 
 3'et the north and south portions were as far apart, 
 in a social sense, as it is now distant from St. Paul. 
 Until the settlements grew so large as to merge 
 together there was no intercoui'se between them, 
 and one "heard not, neither did he see, what the 
 other did." Below we shall endeavor to give most 
 of the prominent arrivals in the northern settle 
 raent, as they grew, and gradually converging be- 
 came one. 
 
 About the first to commence a settlement in the 
 north was what was known as the Closson party, 
 of Wisconsin. They consisted of Calab Closson 
 and his sous J. Clark, Joseph, Amasa, and Schuy- 
 ler, who all took farms adjoining, in the northeast- 
 ern corner of the town, arriving late in the year 
 1854. They at once erected log houses and 
 stables as they had considerable stock with them. 
 Caleb, the father, remained here until about 1872, 
 when he removed to the northern jjart of the 
 State, where he is j'et. The two oldest sons, J. 
 Clark and Joseph, were both married; the former 
 is now a drayman at Faribault, and the latter is 
 still on the farm. The other two boys, Schuyler 
 and Amasa, took claims here first, then went to 
 the army and died from the effects (.)f injuries re- 
 ceived there. These were the most prominent 
 pioneers in the northern part of the town, and the 
 "Closson Settlement" is still often spoken of by 
 the old pioneers. Section five, a few miles west of 
 this settlement, received an initiating settler soon 
 afterward in the person of John Dun gay, a native 
 of England who came from Chicago, where he 
 had been working at the carpenter trade for sev- 
 eral years, and secured a good farm in Cannon 
 City township. He at once erected a comfortable 
 house, sawing the lumber therefor with a whip- 
 saw, also preparing lumber and making probably 
 the first wagon made in Rice county. He re- 
 mained on his original place until 1862, when 
 he removed to where he lives at present, in sectiun 
 sixteen. 
 
522 
 
 BISTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 Thomas Van Eaton, late of Wisconsin, made 
 his appearance in the sjjring of 1855, and helped 
 fill in the gap between the two settlers above men- 
 tioned by taking a farm in section three. He 
 afterwards turned out to be a preacher, and was 
 finally murdered near Sauk Centre by the Indians 
 during their outbreak, they cutting off his bead 
 and leaving his body lying in a slough. The 
 ghastly, grinning skull rolled over the prairie for 
 nine years before it was identified and buried. 
 
 Messrs. Godfrey, father and son, secured farms 
 in the northern part of the town in 1855, and 
 moved on them the following year. 
 
 Jesse Carr, a native of the Empire State, made 
 bis appearance the same spring, 1855, and pre- 
 empted- a farm in section four, where he began im- 
 provements at once, and still remains on the place, 
 at the ripe old age of seventy-two years. 
 
 About the same time George A. Turner, of New 
 York, arrived and took a place near Mr. Garr, and 
 still lives in the township. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that by the fall of 1855 the 
 town bad become pretty well settled and all 
 parts bad representatives in the pioneer line. 
 Sears brothers bad arrived and the village of 
 Cannon City brought into existence, while Prai- 
 rieville in the south, bad made a very noticeable 
 stride. A few more of the most prominent arrivals 
 can be noted. 
 
 F. Van Eaton came from Indiana in 1856, and 
 secured a place in the northern part of the town, 
 where he has been a school clerk for fifteen 
 years. 
 
 C. H. Mulliner, a native of New York State, 
 came to Minnesota in 1855, and in 1856 secured a 
 place in Cannon City township, where he still re- 
 mains, a prominent man among the most success- 
 ful farmers. 
 
 O. B. Hawley, another of Cannon City's public 
 spirited men, arrived from New Y'^ork State, in 
 1856, and settled on bis present farm in section 
 twenty-six, wbicOi his father, E. Hawley, had 
 pre-empted the year previous. Mr. Hawley was 
 Chairman of the Board of Supervisors which or- 
 ganized the township in 1858, which oflBce he held 
 for eight terms. 
 
 John Jepson, one of the pioneers of Minnesota, 
 arrived in 1856, and took a farm in section four- 
 teen in Wheeling. He has since moved to Cannon 
 City and become prominently identified with the 
 interests of the townshij). 
 
 S. J. Clemans located in Warsaw in 1855, but 
 finally moved to Cannon City township, where he 
 still remains. 
 
 Thomas Gallagher, of Emerald Isle nativity, se- 
 cured a farm in section seven, where he still re- 
 sides. 
 
 F. Strunk, of the state of New York, came to 
 Bice county in 1864, and in 1873 formed a stock 
 company imder the title of Cannon City Mill Com- 
 pany, and erected a flouring mill on the Cannon 
 River, in section eight. 
 
 William Dunn was among the first settlers in 
 the northern part of the town, coming about the 
 latter part of 1854. 
 
 A German named Sherman came in at an early 
 day in 1855. 
 
 Joseph Fancher, and J. and Elson Emerson, 
 came from the east and settled on sections three 
 and eleven. They have since gone to parts un- 
 known. 
 
 Thomas Bowles, or as be was familiarly known, 
 Deacon Bowles, of Michigan, a brother-in-law of 
 the Sears brothers, came to Cannon City in the 
 spring of 1855, and took a farm near the village. 
 He mortgaged his farm to some capitalists of Fari- 
 bault, by which he tinally lost it, and in 1872, re- 
 moved toOsakis. 
 
 EARLY ITEMS OF INTEREST. 
 
 In 1854, when William N. Owens arrived in the 
 southern part of the town, the particulars of which 
 have already been noted, he broke two acres of 
 prairie land which was the first sod turned for ag- 
 ricultural purposes in the town. The following 
 year be sowed this to oats from which he put up 
 a stack that he sold in the field for $50. At the 
 same time he jjut in six bu.sbel8 of wheat, and 
 raised, besides enough for seed, 100 bushels, which 
 be sold for $2.00 per bushel, and could have got 
 more if be had asked it. It was cleai ed with an 
 old fashioned hand fan. He had settled on the old 
 "Indian Trail," and the Indians in passing 
 through from Red Wood to Wabasha, became a 
 nuisance. The first thing they did after he had 
 settled was to come to the farm and strike their tee- 
 pees directly in front of his house, in a little grove 
 which was there. This was more than the pioneer 
 family could bear, and as soon as they were rid of 
 them, Mr. Owens and his son repaired lo the grove 
 where they felled every tree and turned over the 
 sod, so that the Indians, on their return, were 
 forced to seek shelter in the timber half a mile 
 
CAyWnX CITY TOWNSIITP. 
 
 523 
 
 west of the farm. On one occasion the red skins 
 came to Mr. Owens' door for breud, iiiid upon be- 
 ing handed a loaf laid down •')f2..'50 in gold and re- 
 fused to take it back or receive any change. An- 
 other time a new gun was left for a pan of flour. 
 Mr. Owens says that had he been pr(>pared for 
 trading he could have made a fortune in furnish- 
 ing provisions to them. It was sometime before 
 the Indians co\ild be taught what fences were 
 made for, and in passing through the prairie land 
 would tear them down and march in tribes directly 
 through the growing grain and up to the bouse,in 
 caildish ignorance that was very provoking, and 
 Mr. Owens stationed one of his children at the 
 })oint where they usually entered the field with in- 
 structions to lead them around the piece of grain. 
 This finally taught them to be more careful, but 
 they proved to be so bothersome that Mrs. Owens 
 bethought a plan and carried it into successful 
 execution that cured their propensity for laying 
 around the house. She got her daughter, Amelia, 
 to go to bed when she saw them coming, and then 
 she would meet them at the door and l)laudly tell 
 them "Mecosha Sharada," which means small-pox, 
 and the red skins would "light" out like a pack of 
 dogs. 
 
 The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Owens, Amelia, 
 who is mentioned above, grew to be a great favor- 
 ite among the Indians, and many times has the 
 anxious mother feared they would abduct her, but 
 finally the messenger of death called her away 
 from the home in which she had so long been a 
 bright figure, which left a deep and lasting im- 
 pression on the small colony. For years afterward, 
 the Indians, who had loved and petted the bright 
 girl, would stop at Mr. Owens' door and enquire, 
 '^Piipoiise?' and on being told '^Nrpo," or dead, 
 would go away sadly saying, "Too bad, Too 
 bad!" 
 
 Rev. John Hoover, with his wife and three chil- 
 dren, and his son-in-law, William Neel, came 
 from Ohio, and arrived in Cannon City townsliip 
 in April, 1855. He found all the claims marked, 
 mostly with the names of Tripp, Boss & Co., Wil- 
 liam Dunn, and Sears Brothers, and not knowing 
 that these parties had no right to claim 
 'the laud, he purcliased a farm of a man uaineil 
 Carr, who had .settled on sections ten ami eleven 
 and was living in a little pole shanty, one half of 
 which constituted his stable, and the other halt 
 his dwelliufr. Mr. Hoover at ouce moved on the 
 
 place and erected a log house, which he covered 
 with a roof of four thicknesses of "shakes," think- 
 ing that Would surely keep out the rain. The sec- 
 ond night after this was put up there came up a 
 frightful storm, which they found to be about as 
 severe in the house as out of doors, and to save 
 his library the Elder placed it under the bed, but 
 notwithstanding this precaution, the water soaked 
 through the bed and almost ruined his books. 
 When Rev. Hoover was at Fariliault, on his way 
 here, he was called upon to preach a funeral ser- 
 mon over the body of an emigrant who had taken 
 sick and died in an Indian hut in the place. Mr. 
 H. protested that he could not, as he had nothing 
 but his rough traveling clothes and could not ap- 
 pear in such unsuitaWe garments. They insisted, 
 however, and borrowed him a suit, in which he 
 delivered the discourse to a congregation of two 
 men and several women. In fact, when the 
 shroud which had been made was brought forward 
 there were not enough men present to raise the 
 coi-pse, and it was split open in the back and 
 tucked under. This was on the 15th of April, 
 1855. During the summer of the same year, Mr. 
 Hoover jjosted up a notice that he would hold re- 
 ligious services on the shore of Chrystal Lake, he 
 being of the Methodist Protestant faith, and after 
 inaugurating it, seats were made of logs, and 
 spread over the grounds here and there. Many 
 well attended and able meetings were held here at 
 which Mr. Hoover officiated, and a Sunday school 
 was organized, which is still in force. William 
 Neel now occupies the farm secured by Mr. 
 Hoover. 
 
 Rev. T. R. Cressey was jirobably the first and 
 most prominent missionary of the Baptist faith in 
 Rice couuty. He originally came from Ohio, lo- 
 cating first, for a time, at Hastings. In 1855, he 
 came to Rice county and settled in Cannon City 
 township, where Mr. Turner now is, and was 
 prominent aud foremost among religious circles, 
 preaching the first sermon in the town. In 1862, 
 he went into the army as chaplain and did val- 
 uable Service. Returning after the close of the 
 war, he remained a short time and removed to 
 Des Moines, Iowa, where he died. He was a true 
 Christian, an earnest worker, and was beloved and 
 respected by all who knew him. 
 
 Among the first marriages in the town was that 
 of Elson Emerson to Charity Judd, at the resi- 
 dence of John Emerson, in ]85() or '57. Another 
 was that of Mr. and Mrs. KiekenofT. 
 
524 
 
 HISTORY OF BICE COUNTY. 
 
 The first ileath oecurred in the spring of 1855, 
 and was Mrs. Warren, mother of Mrs. John Pratt, 
 at the latter's residence in the southern part of the 
 township. A coffin was made under the shade of 
 a tree by Mr. M. N. Pond, from the boards of a 
 wagon box, and wa.s stained with a red wood cane. 
 Her remains are now at rest in the Prairieville 
 cemetery. 
 
 A few weeks after this death, on the 24:th of 
 May, 1855, Amelia, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. 
 W. N. Owens, was taken away by death, and was 
 buried in their garden, where they remained until 
 the burial ground was laid out. Rev. J. Hoover, 
 of Cannon C!ity, preached the funeral discourse. 
 
 A man called "Doctor" died at the residence of 
 Truman Boss in the fall of 1855. He had just 
 sold nis claim and contemplated going back to his 
 eastern home, when the grim monster overtook 
 him. 
 
 rOLITICAIj. 
 
 This townshi]) was brought into existence for 
 self-government shortly after the territory became 
 a State, and the meeting for the purpose of or- 
 ganizing was held at the residence of I. N. Safer, 
 in Can Don City, on the 11th of May, 1858. The 
 meeting came to order upon call of I. N. Safer, 
 and officers pro tern, were placed in charge of the 
 meeting as follows: Chairman, Thomas Eobin- 
 son; Moderator, Peter Chenne worth; Clerk, D. 
 W. .\lbaugh. The meeting then took up the mat- 
 tor of township officers for the ensuing year, and 
 elected the following: Supervisors, O. B. Haw- 
 ley, Cliairman, Jesse Carr, and J. h. Starks; Jus- 
 tice of the Peace, William N. Owens; Clerk, C. 
 Smith House; Asses.sor, J. D. Carr; Constable, 
 Jobn Cusey. The first records of the township are 
 in such condition that it is impossible to ascertain 
 to a certainty who were the first officers, and the 
 above are as near correct as we can determine. 
 The name of Thomas Bowles also appears in the 
 first record as making a motion to vote .f 200 to 
 defray town espouses, which was carried. 
 
 This township voted sums at different times to 
 pay bounties to volunteers who should fill the 
 quota. On the 8th of August, 1864, an appro- 
 priation was made to pay S200 to each man who 
 sliould oll'cr to enlist before the 5th of September, 
 1864, the vote on the t[ue3tion being 63 for and 
 17 against the proposition. On the 21st of Jan- 
 uary, 1865, another special town meeting was 
 held for the purpose of levying a tax to pay 
 
 bounties; but this was defeated by a vote of 63 
 against and 29 for. 
 
 At the annual town meeting in the spring of 
 1882, the following town officers were elected: 
 Supervisors, E. Walrod, Chairman, O. R. Ingram, 
 and F. Van Eaton ; Clerk, Thomas Sloan ; Treas- 
 urer, W. L. Herrimau; Assessor, H. C. Leasure; 
 Justice of the Peace, Franklin Carter: Constable, 
 John Struthers. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL. 
 
 Dtstkict No. 8. — This district, which embraces 
 the village of Praireville, effected an organization 
 at the first meeting of the Rice County Commis- 
 sioners in January, 1856, although school had 
 been held the year previous, in the fall, by Mr. 
 Haugland in a sclioolhouse erected in the summer 
 of 1855, by K. Merrit, the lumber having been 
 drawn from Hastings. This was a very good 
 building and served the purpose until 1876, when 
 the present neat and substantial brick house was 
 erected on the same site in the village of Prairie- 
 ville, at a cost of !|;1,800, being heated by a furnace 
 and supplied with necessary apparatus for a suc- 
 cessful school. In 1858, James Anderson, Clerk, 
 reported this district as having thirty scholars, and 
 a year later E. Austin reported sixty-five. 
 
 DisTKiCT No. 9. — The first school taught in this 
 district was in the winter of 1856-57, at the resi- 
 dence of William Dunn, by Miss Mary Swart- 
 hout, with an attendance of about fourteen 
 scholars. The distric^t was organized the same 
 year, and a schoolhouse erected soon after. 
 Their present school building is located in the 
 eastern part of section twelve, and cost .S400; the 
 number of scholars at present is about eighteen. 
 This district, in January, 1858, reported to the 
 county conimi.ssioners as having thirty-two schol- 
 ars. Geo. Douglass was Clerk. 
 
 District No. 10. — This is the district embrac- 
 ing the village of Cannon City. It was set apart 
 and organized under its present number, at the 
 very first meeting of the board of County Commis- 
 sioners, in January, 1856. The first school was 
 taught the summer before the organization, in a 
 store building belonging to North & Carroll, by 
 Miss Fannie Havlin, with twenty-five scholars 
 present. In January, 1858, J. Sanborn, Clerk, re- 
 ported this district as having ninety -two scholars; 
 and one year later, James D. Carr who was then 
 Clerk, reported 103 scholars. This was to deter- 
 mine how much of the apportionment money this 
 
CANNOy CITY TOWNSHIP. 
 
 district was entitled to; it being that year sixty- 
 live cents per scholar. The ilislriet now has a 
 very neat and commodious huilding on block 
 eighteen in the village, which was erected in 1873, 
 18x28 feet, of brick, at a cost of $1,7(10. It is 
 furnished with patent desks and necessary ap- 
 paratus. The last term was taught by Miss H. 
 Ray, with seventy scholars. 
 
 District No. 25. — Effected an organization in 
 18<)2, and a log house was rolled together at that 
 time, 14xl(! feet. Miss Mary Carr taught the first 
 school in this building, with fifteen juveniles on 
 the hard wood benches. The district now has a 
 fine brick schoolhouse, 20x30 feet, that was erected 
 in the northeastern part of section seventeen at a 
 cost of SfiOO, with patent seats and heated with a 
 furnace. S. N. Haynes was the last teacher, there 
 being an attendauce of fifteen. 
 
 District No. 30. — This educational organiza- 
 tion came into existence m 18.57. aud the first 
 school was taught in a building 18x24 feet, which 
 the district erected in the northern part of section 
 twenty-five, on G. G. Durland's land, the lumber 
 being hauled from Hastings, and there were ten 
 scholars present. The location of the jjresent 
 school structure is the southwestern jiart of the 
 same section, there being now an attendance of 
 eighteen pupils. This district, in 1858, reported to 
 the Commissicmers that they had thirty-five 
 scholars in attendance. 
 
 District No. 72. — The greater portion of the 
 territory now comprising this district was formerly 
 merged into the organization of district No. 22. 
 which was organized in 1857. It was s?t off in 
 1861, and a schoolhouse erected in 18G4, at a cost 
 of .f 150. Tlie first school was held in a log house 
 on the Rutherford farm, a short time after the dis- 
 trict was set off, by Miss Mary Jane Butterfield, 
 with thirteen scholars present. The prefent loca- 
 tion of the schoolhouse is in the southwestern 
 corner of section three, and the attendance regis- 
 ters twenty -four. 
 
 District No 81. — Effected an organization in 
 1865, and the first school was taught in a little 
 shanty in section twenty-four by Miss Esther 
 Durance with eleven scholars. In 18G7, a school- 
 house was erected, 20x21 feet, on the same site now 
 occupied by their building, the northwest corner 
 o" section twenty-four. 
 
 VABI()D.S matters. 
 
 TiiK First Saw-Mill.— In 1855, M. N. P.md 
 commenced getting out timber ou section tiiirty- 
 thrce for a saw-mill. He threw a dam acMviss the 
 river, jnit in a Hume witli twenty-two feet head, and 
 equipping the concern with a sash saw commenced 
 making lumber at the rate of about 3,000 feet per 
 day, in 1857. He ran the mill for .six or seven 
 years, until steam got so plenty and efficient that a 
 common water wheel of early days was too re- 
 mindful of a "poor-liouse" and he left it to rot 
 down. The old water wheel is still in tlie stream, 
 and combined with the rocky bhiii', the water 
 trickling over the stone steps in the stream, which 
 nature formed, the unused kilti makes a most pic- 
 turesque scene. 
 
 As early as 1854, Mr. Pond started the first lime 
 burning in the townshijj, starting a kiln on a log 
 heap and burning enough lime to plaster his 
 hou.se. In 1856, he erected a good kiln with a ca- 
 pacity of about 100l)arrels per week, which he ran 
 for iil)OUt fifteen years. The kiln is still there but 
 not in use. 
 
 S(»tt"s Mill. — In 1856, the foundation of this 
 mill was laid by Henry Audyke, who erected a 
 saw-mill there and commenced to cut lumber at 
 the rate of about 3,000 feet per day. It was run 
 by several jiarties and firms until 1873, when it 
 was converted into a grist-mill by Strunk & Com- 
 pany, the owners at that time. They continued 
 to run it until 187(), when the present owner, R. 
 H. Scott, purchased it, and continues to 023erate it, 
 with four run of stones, and the necessa ry machin- 
 ery to make a first-class custom and merchant 
 mill. It is located on the Canncm River in the 
 southeastern part of section eight: its total cost 
 was about .S34,000. 
 
 Norwegian Lutheran CntTRCH. — This society 
 was organized some years ago, and in 1881,erected 
 a small church building in the northwestern part 
 of section eight. This is about the center of the 
 Norwegian settlement, and the society is compos- 
 ed of about twenty families, the present pastor is 
 Rev. Carter Hanson. 
 
 A school in the Norwegian language is also 
 taught hero for the benefit of the children of the 
 members. 
 
 Oak Ridge Cemetery. — This beautiful spot for 
 burial purposes is located ou what is known as 
 "Oak Ridge," and contains ten acres. It w.as laid 
 out and recorded in the fall of 1857, and has more 
 
526 
 
 nrsroRT of rice county. 
 
 graves than any burial ground in ttie county, be- 
 ing connected with and under the management of 
 gentlemen in Pavil)anlt, usually going by the 
 name of "Faribault Cemetery." The grounds are 
 laid out in drives and walks, and a large vault 
 has been constructed in the eastern I3art. It is 
 under the care of Mr. Levi Nutting ; the present 
 officers of the association are: President, General 
 L. Nutting; Secretary, H. L. Jewett; Trea.surer, 
 B. A. Mott. 
 
 Early in June, 18.57, two young ladies, Mar- 
 garat Morgan and Sallie Robinson, were drowned 
 at Cannon City by the upsetting of a boat in 
 v. hich were twelve ladies and gentlemen, the oth- 
 ers being rescued. In a book by Edward Eggle- 
 ston, called the "Mysteries of Metropoli.sville," the 
 scene of which is laid in this vicinity, the tragical 
 part of the story embraces the drowning of two 
 young ladies, which must have been suggested to 
 the author by this sad and fatal accident, which 
 cast such a gloom over all hearts at the time. 
 
 VILLAGE OF 0.\NNON CITY. 
 
 This village, the most important in the town- 
 ship, is located in about the center, in sections 
 fifteen and twenty-two, of townshiji 110, 
 range 20. Contiguous to East Prairie, it lies in 
 the midst of a most valuable and productive 
 farming country ; while the timber extends to the 
 outskirts on the west. It is situated on the banks 
 of a beautiful little sheet of water, justly called 
 "Crystal Lake," and as a spot of beauty for a vil- 
 lage site, the location is certainly hard to equal. 
 Tlie prosjject at the times of starting was unex- 
 celled, as the hope and expectation of a railroad 
 and the county seat spurred the proprietors and 
 those concerned on to enterprise and energy; but, 
 when the probability, even, of such events, began 
 to disappear, the village, which had taken many 
 strides in advance of the surrounding country, 
 began also to wane and decline, inaugurating a 
 retrogrc-ssion which only ceased in its backward 
 march when it left what we find to-day as a mem- 
 ory of days gone liy. 
 
 As an interesting item to tiiose now here, as to 
 what was said ii; early days of Cannon City, we 
 annex a short sketch of the village, made in 1860, 
 by Mr. C. Williams, and published by Holley & 
 Brown in pamphlet form; it is as follows: 
 
 "Cannon City village was laid out in the fall of 
 1855, by the Messrs. Ci. A. and ,T. D. Sears, from 
 Michigan. It is located on section fifteen, town 
 
 110 north, range 20 west, four miles northeast of 
 Faribault, thirty-five miles from Hastings, and 
 forty- five from St. Paul, with excellent roads to 
 each of these places. It is eligibly situated with 
 reference to the surrounding country, on a beau- 
 tiful and elevated plat of ground commanding a 
 view for miles to the east, north, and south, and 
 contiguous to the "Big Woods." It is situated on 
 the main thorougiifare between tlie southwestern 
 and southern counties and St. Paul, Minneapolis, 
 St. Antliony, Hastings, and Red Wing. The 
 village has all the requisite facilities 
 for the accommodation of the surround- 
 ing county, having a good Houring mill 
 and saw-mill connected, of easy access, and driven 
 by steam, three stores, two hotels, mechanic's shops 
 of all kinds, blacksmith shops, a wagon shop, a 
 furniture establishment, a fanniug-mill manufac- 
 tory. It has church organizations of the various 
 Protestant denominations. The village is sup- 
 porting two select schools the present winter, and 
 they are well patronized by an intelligent, moral, 
 industrious, and frugal population. There is no 
 better farming country in the State than that 
 which lies contiguous to this village. It is on 
 the borders of what is known in this countv as 
 'East Prairie,' a country hard to beat for farming 
 purposes in any State." 
 
 F. W. Frink, in his sketch of Rice county, says 
 of this village: "It has a beautiful location with 
 reference to surrounding country. * * * 
 It is four miles northwest from Faribault, and 
 being of easy access to some of the best farming 
 country in the county, is a good point for trade, 
 and its Post-office furnishes a large extent of 
 country with its mails, etc.." * * * 
 
 Its Eaiiliek Dats. — The locality in which Can- 
 non City is situated first received a settler in the 
 year 1854, when Eli Oowen and Isaac Amy arrived 
 and secured farms there. Truman Boss had also 
 made his appearance and secured a habitation, 
 when, in the spring of 1855, the Sears Brothers, of 
 Micliigan, arrived and conceived the idea of start- 
 ing a village. There were three of the brothers, 
 Gregory A., the oldest, who brought lus family 
 with him, Douglass, and William. They suc- 
 ceeded in platting and recording the town in 1855, 
 naming it in honor of the Cannon iliver. The 
 first house had already been erected on the town 
 site by Eli Cowen and Isaac Amy, it being a small 
 and rather cheaj) log structure, and the Sears 
 
vAyyoy city towxsuip. 
 
 527 
 
 Brothei's at once opened a store, and erected a 
 store building near this. 
 
 C. Smitli House, for the firm of North & Carroll, 
 Hastings, erected a good store and placed a heavy 
 stock of goods upon the shelves; and, as the Post- 
 office was soon after established, it was made a 
 part of the store and Mr. House a|)pointed Post- 
 master. Mr. Talbert erected and put in motion 
 an excellent steam power saw-mill, with a circular 
 saw, and did a splendid business for some time, 
 there often being, in the winter of 1856, as many 
 as 500,000 feet of logs in the yard at once. After 
 niuning it ft)r a time Mr. Talbert sold to the firm 
 of Starks & Sears, who added a large Houriug mill 
 to it at a cost of about $10,000. 
 
 W. L. Herriman, who had for a short time been 
 operating a blacksmith shop on his farm a short 
 distance from town, moved into the village and 
 erecting a shop commenced awakening echoes in 
 Gannon City, with the sound of the anvil. He is 
 still in the village. William An Dyke soon joined 
 his "fellow son of the forge,"' and after erecting a 
 building he remained for some time at his trade, 
 finally removing to Foi'est. 
 
 Mr. Freetine, of .Jewish origin, came the spring 
 following, 1856, and constructed a small log tav- 
 ern about the place where the Christian Church 
 now is, and run it for a short time, when it was 
 discontinued and finally torn down. 
 
 The City Hotel was erected within a few month.s 
 after by Mr. Cowen, being a commodius frame 
 building; it was purchased shortly after its comple- 
 tiim by J. Giles, who after running it a few years 
 .sold to Mr. Samuel Hawkin.s and it finally passed 
 into the hands of, and was partially torn down by, 
 W. L. Herriman. The last, but one, proprietor, 
 Samuel Hawkins, lost his life on Easter Day, 1881, 
 while trying to save his library from his house 
 which was burning, being so seriously burned 
 that he died shortly after. His widow still lives in 
 the village. 
 
 The Sherman House was put up and oj^ened 
 about the same time as the above hotel, by H. 
 Sherman. 
 
 Charles and Peter Chenneworth erected a tine 
 store building the same year — 1856 — and placed 
 a large stock of goods upon the shelves, running 
 it a short time and selling it to Albaugh & Brother. 
 
 J. W. Dean also made his appearance and 
 erected a substantial building for general merchan- 
 dise where Mr. Shank's blacksmith shop now is. 
 
 and put in a heavy stock of goods. He continued 
 in business some ten or twelve years. His build- 
 ing was sold and used for school purposes, and 
 finally made into a blacksmith shop. 
 
 So the growth of the village went on — increas- 
 ing and accumulating; but this is sufficient to 
 show how rapidly it was developed, and exhibits 
 the su|)posed "embryo city" in the height of the 
 "boom," it being at this time equal in importance 
 to any village in the county, not excepting even 
 Faribault, and we hereto attach an article clipped 
 from the Faribault Herald, of December, 1857, 
 which will reveal Caun(m City at that time, and 
 throw some light upon a busy scene which justi- 
 fied high expectations. The article is as follows: 
 "We paid Cannon City a visit this week, and are 
 happy to report positive permanent improvement. 
 The large steam saw and flouring mill of Starks k 
 Sears, built at a co.stof nearly .'$14,0()0 ( including 
 $5,000 paid for the saw-mill ), is now ready for 
 operation. This mill is a monument of the energy 
 and enterprise of its proprietors. They have falt- 
 ered not in its early completion, although the 
 crisis lowered its dark front over our country. The 
 wheat pouring into its vaults, last Monday, is in- 
 dicative of its popularity. Its engine is of forty 
 horse-power, and three bolts are put up. Success 
 to the project. 
 
 Of her schoolhouse. Cannon City may lie proud. 
 It is built and furnished with an eye to beauty and 
 comfort. It cost SI, 400, and was designed to ac- 
 commodate sixty-four scholars. It mfght contain, 
 however, in the neighborhood of one hundred. We 
 found a school promising in numbers, just organ- 
 ized under the superintendence of I. N. Sater,Esq., 
 of that place. 
 
 We counted forty-nine buildings, and appar- 
 ently none vacant. 
 
 The mercantile line is well represented. We 
 were shown fiver the establishment of C. Smith 
 House, and found as fine a variety of dry goods, 
 groceries, shelf wares, fancy goods, etc., as we 
 have seen in the Territory, and a larger assort- 
 ment of crockery and glass ware than we have be- 
 fore observed. His warehouse was literally 
 crammed with grain, which is taken in exchange 
 for goods. Mr. House is also Postmaster at this 
 place. 
 
 Alliaugh k. Brother are doing a good trade. 
 They also exchange for produce. 
 
 .J. W. Dean is also proprietor of a general va- 
 rietv establishment. 
 
528 
 
 nrsroHT of rice county. 
 
 We uotice two hotels: The City Hotel, by J. 
 Giles, autl the Sheraiiin House, by H. Sherman. 
 
 One cabinet sliop by Neel it Bailor. 
 
 Cue chair factory by Beckley & Goss. 
 
 One wagon shojj by E. S. Rice. 
 
 Three blacksmith shops and one harness shop. 
 
 The professions are represented by Revs. T. R. 
 Cressey and J. Hoover, in the clerical line; Dr. 
 Dale in the medical; Starts & Carman'^n the le- 
 gal. 
 
 The topography of Cannon City has been too 
 frequently given to need a repetition by us, suffice 
 it to say that as a spot of beauty it has few 
 equals." 
 
 This prosperous state of affairs kept ujj for a 
 time, but gradually the decline set in. The town 
 jiroprietors, with whom a great deal of merited 
 f;iult had been found, packed up their "duds," as 
 they were called, and disappeared from view for a 
 time, finally coming to light as the town proprie- 
 tors of Kar.son City, Nevada, and since that time 
 have been lost sight of. The mill was discontin- 
 ued and the floui'ing machinery removed to Matte- 
 son's Mill, in Faribault, while the saw portion 
 found its way to Osakis. C. Smith House, whose 
 name in front of his grocery store, had deceived 
 so many travelers into believing it was a hotel in 
 charge of ''C. Smith," finally went out of business. 
 The lawyers and doctor left in queat of pastures 
 new. Dr. Dale removing to Faribault and grad- 
 ually the business interests deserted the town, with 
 the exception of a hotel, store and Post-otEce. The 
 two latter are in charge of William KiekenolT, and 
 Mr. Gordon is "Mine Host" at the hotel, where, in 
 the words of Shenstone, the weary traveler 
 
 "May sigh to think he still has found 
 I'he warmest welcome at an inn." 
 
 Tu addition to this the village has a large num- 
 ber of residences, a good schoolhouse, three 
 churches, and in 1880, Isaac Walden erected a 
 building, put in mjicl)inery,and now operates a feed 
 mill with the steamer of his threshing machine. 
 
 As an important factor of the village, both of 
 early times and the present, we below give a short 
 history of the gruwtli and development of the 
 various religious denominations. 
 
 :\Iethodist Protestant. — This denomination 
 organized in 18(!0,with about forty members. The 
 first .services were lield in the summer of 1856, by 
 Rev. J. Hoover, on the shores of Crystal Lake, 
 wliore a Sunday school was also organized. After 
 
 organization, which took place in the schoolhouse, 
 services were held at various places until about 
 1870, when the membership increased to seventy 
 and a chui-ch was erected, size 36x40 feet, at a 
 cost of $2,000, besides a great amount of the labor 
 being accomplished by the members. In 1872, 
 the congregation merged into the Congregational 
 Society, the church was deeded over to new 
 trustees, and the denomination has since been 
 known under this bead. Among the pastors who 
 have officiated here are. Rev. J. Hoover. Rev. Mr. 
 McChesney, Rev. Mr. Bushnell, Rev. Mr. Mitchell, 
 and Rev. Mr. Guitou. There is no regidar pastor 
 at present. 
 
 CnnisTiAN OR Campbellite Chdrch. — Effected 
 an organization in 1873, in the schoolhouse, with 
 Rev. Mr. Taylor officiating, and a small member- 
 ship. The society increased rapidly and the fol- 
 lowing winter the lake was brought into requisi- 
 tion to baptize 150 members. Soon after a neat 
 and commodious church was erected in the village 
 which they now use; Rev. Mr. McRennels being 
 the present minister. 
 
 Episcopal Society. — This was organized by 
 Bishop H. B. Whipple, of Faribault, in 1868, with 
 probably fifteen members. In 1874, a small, 
 though neat, church was erected, in which they 
 now worship, the membership not having in- 
 creased much. The society has no regular minis- 
 ter, tlieir puljiit being filled occasionally by a 
 student, whom the Bislioj5 sends from the college 
 in Faribault. 
 
 Methodist Episcopal. — .•Vt an early day there 
 was a very strong organization of this denomina- 
 tion, but the interest waning and the organization 
 growing weak, was finally suspended and the 
 society declared i/iorihund. 
 
 EAST PRAIBIEVILLE. 
 
 This little hamlet is situated in the southern 
 ])art of the township of Cannon City, in section 
 thirty-five, extending partially over the line and 
 into Walcott township. The village started out 
 with a very fair prospect, although it was not laid 
 out with au eye to making a metropolis of it, but 
 more for convenience of farmers. 
 
 The village site is well located for a pleasant 
 village, adjoining the rich farming land of East 
 Prairie f>n the east, and the timber exi.ends up to 
 the bouudary of the village on the west, being 
 about two miles and a half distant from the city 
 limits of Faribault. To show what has been said 
 
OANNOy CITY Towy.^i/rp. 
 
 529 
 
 of the village at various times, we liave clipped 
 fi'om a sketch of the county by 0. Williams, in 
 1860, the following in regard to East Prairieville; 
 "It is a little village situated upon the edge of 
 what is called East Prairie and the Straight River 
 timber. It has perhaps the best settled prairie 
 country east of it in the county. It contains from 
 fifty to a hundred inhabitants, has a Post-office, a 
 good schoolhouse, a tavern, a store, iind a steam 
 mill." 
 
 Ten years later than the above was written, in 
 1870, F. W. Frink, County Auditor, commented on 
 the village as follows: "East Prairieville is a 
 small town four miles east of Faribault, lying on 
 the edge of the Straight River timber, on what is 
 known as East Prairie, a name which designates a 
 large extent of the best prairie lands in the county. 
 The town has a neat and commodit)Us church be- 
 longing to the Congregational society, has a 
 Post-office and a store, and from its situation must 
 always be a pleasant little village and a good 
 point tor trade." 
 
 Early Development. — In 1854, Prof. Ide, in 
 company with others who are noted in another 
 place, came to Cannon City township and took as a 
 pre-emption the land in section thirty -five, where 
 the village now stands. He held it and remained 
 until the spring of the following year, when James 
 Anderson, with his father, Alexander Anderson, 
 and their families made their appearance, and 
 the former, in May, 1855, purchased Ide's claim, 
 John Corsett bad also settled in the same section, 
 adjoining the village, and in 1854, sold to W. N. 
 Owena. On this pre-emption the first house 
 erected in the village was put up, in the spring of 
 1854, by Corsett. In the year 1855, the village was 
 laid out and all made ready for the events which 
 followed. In the meantime, before the platting of 
 the village,or about the same time.W. B. Spencer, a 
 native of Pennsylvania, came and erecting a little 
 board building, placed a stock of goods in it, and 
 commenced keeping store. Alf. Barrick had ar- 
 rived with his father and their families, and had 
 located in another part of the town, but when he 
 learned of East Prairieville he at once came down 
 determined to start a shop, as he was by trade a 
 blacksmith. As trade was at first slow in coming, 
 he almost starved waiting for it, and had it not 
 been for the generous spirit of Mr. W. N. Owens, 
 who furnished bis family with provisions, they 
 would have suffered from hunger. This was soon 
 34 
 
 bridged over, however, and Mr. Barrick continued 
 until 18G4, when he sold to John Wagner and re- 
 moved to Crow River. Wagner ccmtinued for a 
 time and finally sold to Charley Edward.s, who in 
 turn, in 1878, sold to the present jnoprietor, Mr. 
 McLean, who is now doing a good l)usiMess, to the 
 entire satisfaction of all who jiatronize his estab- 
 lishment. 
 
 Geo. De Forest came to the village in the fall of 
 
 1857, and opened a caliinet and carjjenter shop 
 which he continued until the time of his death in 
 1878. 
 
 Logan Ross started and run a blacksmith .shop 
 for a time, but finally gave it up and is now in 
 Montana. 
 
 Thus the growth of the village went on until 
 
 1858, when the condition of affairs here are pretty 
 well descriljcd by the following article, taken from 
 the Faribault Herald, which was published during 
 the early days of the village : 
 
 East Prairieville is the name of a new town laid 
 out east of Straight River timber, about three 
 miles from Faribault, by Anderson, Thompson & 
 Spencer. It is about three months since the plat 
 and survey was completed. It already numbers 
 about fifteen houses — all new. A schoolhouse 
 twenty -five feet by tbiriy-two has been ereoted,and 
 a school under the supeiintendence of Mr. R. 
 Hoaglaud is in progress. We will notice that 
 more fully some future time. 
 
 A hotel is in course of erection by Friedenburg 
 & Ross. 
 
 We notice one blacksmith shop, employing two 
 hands. 
 
 One carpenter shop. 
 
 A general variety store, with a good ass'jrtment, 
 has lately been opened by W. B. Spencer, who has 
 entered into successful competition with the mer- 
 chants of the adjacent towns. From our own ex- 
 perience, we must say that we have never seen 
 goods cheaper in the west. 
 
 A steam saw and gri.st-mill has been built by 
 Anderson & Thompson, at a cost of over S12,000. 
 The grist mill is thirty by forty — three stories 
 in height. They, have put in three runs of stones 
 and four bolts. — Each run of stones will grind 
 twelve bushels per hour. We have tried some of 
 the flour and found it good as any in the market. 
 The machinery was made by Weston & Cogswell, 
 N. Y. The extension which contains the saw-mill 
 is thirty by sixty feet. Eight hundred feet of lum- 
 
530 
 
 HISTORY OF MICE COUNTY. 
 
 ber is near the average cut every twelve hours. 
 Logs are coming iu briskly. The engine driviug 
 both mills is of thirty-Qve horse-power— from the 
 shop of Davis & Bonsell, Salem, Ohio, and works 
 admirably. 
 
 This placn lies adjanent to a good body of tim- 
 Iier, wliile south and oast lie? some of the richest 
 agricultural lauds in the country. The prairie is 
 thickly settled, and by a very intelligent and en- 
 teprisiug community." 
 
 Store and Post-office. — This was established 
 in 1858, with W. B. Spencer as manager, iu a little 
 board building which Spencer had erected. The 
 first mail received consisted of two letters. Among 
 the proprietors since, have been, Daniel Bussell, 
 John Bailey, Charley L. Lowell, Isaac Hamlin, 
 Henry Hile, IMr. Alther, and Mr. Brockman. The 
 store and the Post-office have been discontinued. 
 The former is soon to he restocked, however, and 
 the latter re-established. 
 
 That Unfortunate Mill. — This may seem an 
 odd and rather exaggerated caption, but wlien the 
 truth is known, it will be admitted as appropriate. 
 When James Auderson first came to tlie East 
 Prairie, he purchased a small portable saw-mill 
 which he moved to the village and commenced 
 running. After a time this was discontinued and 
 sold. Hon. .Tolin Thompson then went into part- 
 nership and erected a suitable building, put in ne- 
 cessary machinery, and commenced operating a 
 first rate steam saw-mill. Shortly afterward a 
 large two-story building was erected and a splen- 
 did Houring mill put in running order. This com- 
 menced grinding on tlio second day of December, 
 1857, and after running just six weeks caught fire 
 and was totally destroyed. This cast a gloom 
 over the entire settlement, as Mr. Anderson had 
 l)orrowed a good deal of money on the building, 
 and all the farmers in the neighborhood were in 
 one way iir another financially interested in it, the 
 mill having' been the hope and pride of the entire 
 southern portion of the township. It was intended 
 for five run of stones and at the time of the fire had 
 already received throe run. This so crippled the 
 firm tliat they were unable to re-build, and a public 
 meeting was held for the purpo.se of furnishing aid, 
 wliich resulted in raising the sum of ^1,900 toward 
 a new mill. This money was given to James An- 
 derson with instructions to go to Cleveland, Ohio, 
 and purchase the necessary machinery. When he 
 r.'turned he stated thiit ho had accomplished it, 
 
 and had paid in addition to the |1,900, $400 from 
 his own pocket. In a short time .'$300 worth of 
 machinery arrived and the people got nervous but 
 Mr. Anderson seemed to be as impatient for its ar- 
 rival as any one. Next came the astonishing news 
 from the firm in Cleveland that they had shipped 
 all that Anderson had paid for,— $300 worth. An- 
 derson was arrested, but bailed out, and be disap- 
 peared from view. The true extent of his swind- 
 ling was never known until after he had gone, 
 when it was found that the lots of the village which 
 had been purchased by the various settlers were 
 all under heavy mortgage in the hands of Dr. Mc- 
 Cutcheon, of Faribault. Several widows and a 
 great many persons in moderate circumstances, 
 turned up, who had placed their entire wordly po- 
 sessions in the shape of ready cash, only to see it 
 vanish with the oily-tongued scamp whom they 
 had trusted. Another interesting point in connec- 
 tion with this, is that during Anderson's absence 
 in Cleveland, supposedly purchasing machinery, 
 the citizens of this vicinity all turned out and 
 erected a suitable building, ready to place ma- 
 chinery in, and were going to surprise him; this 
 building is still doing service — not for which it 
 was built, but as the barn of Mr. Owens. 
 
 After all this had been settled as far as ever 
 could be, Mr. Thompson, the unfortunate partner 
 of Anderson, secured a partner iu the person of 
 Mr. A. Renslow, who furnished the necessary 
 means for purchasing the balance of the machin- 
 ery, and by the fall of 1858, a first-class saw-mill 
 was in operation, under the management of the 
 new firm. This was continued for about two 
 years, when it was sold to a Mr. Al)bot,t, who 
 removed it to Medford. 
 
 E.\ST Praieieville Hotel. — In 1857, two 
 young men, Benjamin Friedenburg and John 
 Eoss, who had been at work on the mill, purchased 
 six acres and commenced the erection of this hotel. 
 After they had got up the walls the mill burning 
 catastroplie occurred which spoiled tlie hopes of 
 making a hotel profitable, and they thereupon 
 sold out to William N. Owens, who finished it and. 
 opened up iu October, 1858. Mr. Owens contin- 
 ued as the proprietor until 1866, wheUj his health 
 failing, ho sold to Isaac Hamlin, who operated it 
 until the present proprietor, O. R. Ingram, pur- 
 chased it in 1877, and now occupies the building 
 as a residence. 
 
CANNON cm' TOWNSIIIP. 
 
 531 
 
 EEIilGIOrS. 
 
 The first services of this nature in this 
 neighborhood were heUl in the hcmse of Wil- 
 liana N. Owens, in Blarcb, 1855, by Rev. T. R. 
 Cressey, of the Baptist faith. After this, services 
 were held once every four weeks by Rev. Mr. 
 Cressey, but no organization took place in this 
 faith. Since that two societies have been organ- 
 ized, a short .sketch of which are below given, the 
 Congregational and Methodist. 
 
 CoNGKEGATiONAL SOCIETY. — The first services 
 for this denomination were held in the spring of 
 1858, at the schoollious(>, by Rev. Mr. Heverland, 
 a photographer. An organization was effected 
 soon after, and in 1865, a church edifice was 
 erected by them in the village, the size of which is 
 about 30x50 feet, W. B. Spencer donating a church 
 site. Rev. Mr. Gilbert was the first minister sta- 
 tioned here, and remained for about fifteen years. 
 Their church was finally sold to the Methodist 
 society, and no meetings are held at present. 
 
 Methodist Denomination. — The first services 
 for this society were held by Rev. Mr. Kirkpatrick, 
 in the residence of Elijah Austin in the village, 
 in the fall of 1855, and a class of about fourteen 
 members was formed soon after. Services were 
 held in his house and the school house until the 
 Congregational church was completed, when ser- 
 vices were held in that, and iu 187(5, the buUding 
 was purchased of the Congregationalists. There 
 are now about twenty members, and services are 
 held every two weeks in the church, with Rev. 
 Mr. Acres as pastor. 
 
 Peaieieville Cemetery. — This burial ground 
 is located on the farm of William N. Owens, hav- 
 ing been laid out in April, 18G0. The first inter- 
 ment here was the remains of Mrs. Warren who 
 died in April, 1855, and who was removed from 
 her former resting place to these grounds as soon 
 as laid out. The grounds are now pretty thickly 
 dotted with head stones and thoughts are enter- 
 tained of enlarging them. 
 
 BIOGEAPHICAIj. 
 
 Joseph Covert was bom in Sullivan county, 
 New York, on the 29th of April, 1828, brought 
 up on a farm and when twenty-two years old be- 
 gan the manufacture of lumber. Two and a half 
 years later he removed to Dodge county, Wiscon- 
 sin, and engaged in farming two years. In 1850, 
 he married Miss Sarah F. Ogden and three years 
 
 later came to this township, pre-empting wild 
 land in 1855. He now owns two hundred and 
 forty acres most of which is improved, and has 
 erected a fine brick residence. Mr. Covert has 
 held local ofBces and in 1870, was elected to the 
 Legislature, and again in 1879. He has a family 
 of seven chililren. 
 
 John T. Cowles is a native of .Jefferson coimty, 
 New York, bom in 1832, and was schooled to ag- 
 ricultural pursuits. In 1844, he removed to 
 Dodge county, Wisconsin, and C(mtinued tilling 
 the soil. On the 21st of November, 1858, he mar- 
 ried Miss Mary Jane Walrod. In 1863, they re- 
 moved to Plainview, Wabasha county, Minnesota, 
 and in 1865, came to liis present farm of two 
 hundred and forty-seven acres in section sixteen. 
 Cannon City township. He has been a member 
 of the l)oard of Supervisors three years. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Cowles have been ble.ssed with five children. 
 
 J. Clossan was born in Jefferson county, New 
 York, and remained at home on a farm until six- 
 teen years old, then came to Wisconsin, where in 
 1853, he married Miss Susan Koon. They came 
 to Rice county in 1855, and Mr. Clossan pre- 
 empted his present farm of one hundred and sixty 
 acres in section one. He served nine months in 
 Company C, of the Sixth Minnesota Volunteer 
 Infantry and was discharged at Fort Snelling for 
 disability. He has one child, a son. 
 
 CiEOEGE Douglass was born in Beekmantown, 
 Clinton coimty. New York, in 1825, and grew to 
 manhood as a farmer and currier. In 1852, he 
 married Miss Minerva Howe, who was born in 
 1831, in Vermont, and in 1855, they removed to 
 Minnesota, coming by the way of Iowa. Mr. 
 Douglass located a farm in sections twelve and 
 thirteen and now has two hundred acres improved, 
 building his present house in 1879. Ha has three 
 children. 
 
 P. B. Edwards was born in Warrensville, Ohio, 
 in 1848, and remained at home until twenty-one 
 years old. In 1869, he came to Bridgewater, this 
 county, and in 1874, to this township, buying a 
 farm of eighty acres in section thirty-five where 
 he still resides. Mrs. C. J. Edwards became his 
 wife in 1882. 
 
 B. C. Godfrey was born in New Brunswick, 
 Canada, on the 4th of November, 1852. His 
 father, Ehsha Godfrey, was a farmer and was also 
 engaged in the fisheries to some extent, and after- 
 ward, in 1855, became a pioneer in this county 
 
532 
 
 BISTORT OF EWE COUNTY. 
 
 Our subject came to this jilace and resided on his 
 father's farm, in section three, until he purchased 
 the same in 1880. He was united in marriage in 
 the latter year wttlx Miss Eva Foster. 
 
 John Jepson was born in New York in 1835, 
 and learned the cooper trade of liis brother. In 
 August, 1856, he came to Bice county, and 
 staked out a claim in Kichland township, and in 
 the fall of 1857, Miss Lyda L. Sherpy became his 
 wife. In 1800, he made a trip to California, re- 
 maining two and a half vears, then returned and 
 located in Cannon City, where he conducted a 
 store nine years. He served seven months in the 
 First Minnesota Heavy Artillery. In 1876, he 
 removed to section fourteen and has a farm of two 
 hundred and eighty acres with good substantial 
 buildings. Mr. and Mrs. Jepson have four chil- 
 dren. He was Cohstable two years; Chairman of 
 the board of Supervisors one year; Postmaster 
 three years; Justice of the Peace three years, and 
 Town Clerk seven years. 
 
 0. H. MumjInbe was born in Penfield, Monroe 
 county. New York, on the 12th of November, 1826, 
 and when young worked on a farm. In 1850, he 
 came to Michigan and was engaged in farming in 
 different localities, and in 1852, he was married 
 to Miss Sabrina Sanford. In 1856, he removed to 
 this township, settled on section three, and in 1858, 
 removed to the village, where he has since resided. 
 He enlisted in 1862, in the First Minnesota Cav- 
 alry, served one year, and re-enlisted in the Sixth 
 Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, serving two years. 
 He now draws a ])cnsion for injuries received 
 while in service. Mr. Mulliner has three chil- 
 dren. 
 
 D. A. M(^Lean was born in Canada on the 19th 
 of August, 1855, and learned the blacksmith trade 
 of his uncle, Alexander McLean. In 1878, our 
 subject (-ame to Rice county directly to Faribault, 
 and bouglit the shop owned by C. P. Edwards, 
 wliich he has since conducted, doing a good busi- 
 ness. 
 
 William Neel is a native of Ohio, born in 
 1829, and when seventeen years old learned the 
 carpenter trade. On the 18th of August, 1853, 
 he was joined in marriage with Miss Pauline 
 Hoovor, and the next year removed to Rice coun- 
 ty. He pre-empted land in this township in sec- 
 tion thirty-two, which ho sold the following win- 
 ter to G. M. Crilmore, and moved to Faribault, 
 where ho engaged in cabinet making. The next 
 
 spring he sold out his business and removed to 
 Cannon City, locating in section ten, but after- 
 ward removed to his present farm in sections ten 
 and eleven, where he has a farm of one hundred 
 and sixty acres. Mr. and Mrs. Neel have four 
 children. 
 
 E. B. Okcdtt was born in Oneida county. New 
 York, on the 22d of February, 1822, and ten years 
 later he removed with his parents to Ohio, but re- 
 turned to New York in 1838, and located in Mon- 
 roe county. On the 13th of June, 1851, he was 
 married to Miss Sylvia Dunning. Mr. Orcutt had 
 charge of a boat on the Erie Canal until 1852, 
 then removed to Dodge county, Wisconsin, and 
 in 1855, came with two yoke of oxen to his pres- 
 ent farm on section twenty-five, where he has two 
 hundred and sixty acres, all improved, and with a 
 maple grove, which he set out thirteen years ago. 
 He has a family of five children. 
 
 William N. Owen, one of the pioneers of this 
 place, was born in Delaware county, New York, 
 in 1813, and grew to manhood on a farm. He 
 was joined in marriage on the 5th of July, 1837, 
 and in 1844, removed to Dane county, Wisconsin, 
 where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits 
 until 1854, then came to Rice county and located 
 a farm in this township on section thirty-five. He 
 built his house on the Indian trial, the Sioux In- 
 dians coming from Wabasha to the trading post, 
 Faril)ault, also put up the first fence and raised 
 the first wheat and oats in Rice county. He states 
 that he was the first Justice of the Peace of this 
 place. Mr. and Mrs. Owen have had eleven chil- 
 dren, six of whom are living, and all have received 
 a good education in the Faribault schools. His 
 son George conducts the farm. 
 
 William Pennock is a native of Madison coun- 
 ty. New York, born in 1822, and came with his 
 parents to Steele county, Minnesota, in 1842. 
 Miss Julia Hamlin became his wife in 1843, and 
 in 1869, they removed to this township and locat- 
 ed on their present farm near the city of Fari- 
 bault. 
 
 G. W. Pope was born in St. Lawrence county. 
 Now York, on the 17th of September, 1828, and 
 removed with his parents to Kenosha county, 
 Wisconsin, in 1846, remaining at home until 
 twenty-three years old. He then louated on a 
 farm near Portage City, and in 1852, married Miss 
 Adaline Barlow. In 1857, he removed to this 
 township, where he has one hundred and fifty-two 
 
CANNON CITY TOWNSHIP. 
 
 533 
 
 acres of land in section thirty-five, with beautiful 
 buildings and many fine shade trees. He has a 
 family of six children. 
 
 F. Strunk was born in New York in 18:!G, and 
 after working at agricultural pursuits, came 
 to Michigan in 1802. Two years later he removed 
 to this county, and in company with bis brother 
 purchased a farm in Richland township, which he 
 sold in 1876, and came to this place, forming a 
 stock companj' for a flour mill, known as the Can- 
 non City Jlill Co. This be conducted two years, 
 then sold out and j)urchased bis present farm on 
 sections ten and eleven, having now two hundred 
 and forty acres. He was married in 1867 to Miss 
 Ada C. Rathbun, who has borne him three chil- 
 dren. 
 
 M. C. SwEATT, one of the old settlers of this 
 place, was born on a farm in Vermont in 1829. In 
 1831, he removed to New Hampshire, where he 
 was married to Miss Cynthia Amy. They removed 
 to Wisconsin in 1849, and Mr. Sweatt worked on 
 a farm and in the pineries until 1851, when he 
 moved to Green Bay. In 1854, he came to this 
 county, and located on his present farm, the north- 
 east quarter of section twenty-three. Soon after 
 coming here he visited the Rocky Mountains, but 
 returned and enlisted in the First Minnesota 
 Heavy Artillery, served one year, and previous to 
 that was First Lieutenant of the State Militia in 
 1861. He has a family of four children. 
 
 G. A. Turner was born in Ommdaga county, 
 New York, on the Ist of May, 1821, and removed 
 with his parents to Indiana when fifteen years of 
 age. In 1842, he went to Illinois, spent a few 
 months there, and made a trip south, spending 
 the winter of 1842 and '43, in New Orleans. In 
 the spring he went to Hillsdale county, Michigan, 
 and engaged in farming. In 1851, he married 
 Miss Romina S. Blanchard, of Ovid, Michigan. 
 They came to (his State in 1854, and after remain- 
 ing in Hastings a short time pre-empted one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres in section four, Cannon City, 
 which he made his home until 1862, when he re- 
 moved to his present farm in section two. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Turner have two daughters and five 
 sons. 
 
 John Thompson was bom in Scotland on the 
 28th of January, 1832, and removed to Canada 
 with his parents at the age of three years. He 
 assisted his father on the farm, and at the age of 
 seventeen years began the manufacture of lumber, 
 
 removing to West Canada in four years. In 1852, 
 he made a trip to California, remained three years 
 and came to Cannon City township, erecting a 
 steam saw-mill between Faribault and Prairieville; 
 conducted it one year, then traded it for three 
 factories, which ho still owns. He was next en- 
 gaged in a grist-mill, first alone, but after its de- 
 Ktruction by fire, creeled another and took a part- 
 ner. On the 12th of July, 1857, he married Miss 
 Nancy E. Henderson, and the issue of the union 
 is three children, two of whom are living. In 
 1859, Mr. Thompson bought a part of his present 
 farm, moved cm it, and now has a farm of four 
 hundred acres, well improved and good buildings. 
 In 1878. he was elected to the State Legislature, 
 and again in 1881. 
 
 H. C. Tripp was born in Fjrie county. New 
 York, on the 10th of May, 1817, and his fatlier, 
 Noah Tripp, being a farmer, H. C. was reai-ed to 
 the same occupation. In 1838, he went to Jack- 
 son county, Michigan, worked in a saw-mill a 
 short time, then returned to New York. In 1840, 
 he married Miss Emma E. White, of Cayuga 
 county, who bore him three children. After her 
 death he married his jiresent wife. Bliss Minerva 
 Ray, who was born in Vermont in 1825, the mar- 
 riage taking place in 1849. They removed to 
 Collins, Erie county, New York, where Mr. Tripp 
 engaged in carriage making until 1854, and in 
 that year started for Minnesota with a team, land- 
 ing in this place in 1855, and immediately located 
 a farm in section twenty-three, where he now owns 
 two himdred and forty acres of land. He has a 
 large brick house, beautifully located, and one of 
 the finest farms in the county. He was Justice of 
 the Peace four years, and Assessor one year. His 
 eldest sou, Merritt N., enlisted in 1861, in Com- 
 pany A, of the Sixty-fourth New I'ork Battalion, 
 and died at Alexandria Hosjjital on the 29th of 
 April, 1862. Mr. Tripp has two living children, 
 Lettie and Delose, both at home. 
 
 F. Van Eaton, a native of Indiana, was born in 
 ] 835, and assisted in the farm labor until the age 
 of fourteen years, when ho learned the blacksmith 
 trade, worked four years in his native State, then 
 removed to Illinois. In 1851, he removed to Win- 
 nebago county, Wisconsin, engaged in farming 
 until 1856, and came to Cannon City, locating on 
 his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres in 
 section three. His land is all improved but thirty 
 acres, which is covered with heavy timber, and 
 
534 
 
 HISTORY OP RICE COUNTY. 
 
 has two mineral springs. He has been twice mar- 
 ried, first to Miss S. J. Patterson in 1853, and 
 after her death to Mrs. Phoebe M. Davis in 1864, 
 and has been blessed with four children. Mr. Van 
 Eaton has been a member of the board of Super- 
 visors three years, and District Clerk fifteen years. 
 
 J. M. Wood was born in Nova Scotia on the 
 24th of Octolter, 1815, and learned the carpenter 
 trade when fourteen years old. He removed to 
 Massachusetts in 1830, where he married Miss 
 Mary Ann Finch in 1842, and the issue of the 
 union is three children. In 18G0, they came to 
 this State, settled in Union Lakes until 1872, then 
 removed to his present farm in section seventeen, 
 Cannon City township. 
 
 A. L. Wright was born in Franklin county, 
 
 Massachusetts, on the 1st of March, 1828, and 
 when sixteen years old went to Worcester coiinty, 
 and for seven years worked at the boot and shoe 
 business. At the expiration of that time he re- 
 moved to Northampton, where he engaged with 
 his uncle working in marble. In 1853, he re- 
 moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, arriving there the 
 3d of May, and in five months went to Medford, 
 Steele county, locating land in section five, which 
 was the first land claimed in that county, and he 
 and Mr. C. Lull are said to be the first white men 
 there. In 1855, he married Miss Plioebe Hays, 
 the ceremony taking place the 22d of March. 
 They have five children. In 1863, he removed 
 to this place, and has two hundred and forty acres 
 of improved land in section three, being supplied 
 with good buildings. 
 
 WEBSTER, 
 
 CHAPTER LXIL 
 
 GENERAL, DESCRIPTION E.\ELY SETTLEMENT EARLY 
 
 EVENTS OF INTEREST TOWNSHIP OKGANIZATION 
 
 — MANUFACTURING POSTOFFICES — RELIGIOUS 
 
 EDUCATIONAL — BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 Webster Township is the companion town of 
 Wheatland in extending the boundary line of the 
 county northward. It is in the northwestern jiart 
 of Rice county; its contiguous surroundings are 
 the counties of Scott and Dakota on the north and 
 east, with Bridgewater township forming an east- 
 em boundary to section thirty-six; on the south 
 Forest and on the west Wheatland. 
 
 Webster is comprised of thirty -six square miles, 
 containing 23,040 acres, of which about 330 are 
 covered with water. 
 
 The soil is variable, the hilly portions being 
 somewhat clayey, while the rolling and bottom 
 lands are made up of a rich dark loam, with a clay 
 or sand subsoil. The southwestern part of the 
 township is very rolling in some places, enough 
 so to be termed hilly, which gradually becomes 
 m<jre level as you advance to the north. This was 
 originally (covered with very fine timber such as oak, 
 walnut, maple, basswood, etc., but this has nearly 
 all been cut down long since and used for build- 
 
 ing and other jourposes. One of the walnut for- 
 ests, such as abounded here in an early day, would 
 now prove an immense fortune to those who, in 
 pioneer times, cut them down as ruthlessly as 
 poplar. In the northern part of the town it is 
 also quite hilly, and this was covered with timber 
 of the smaller varieties; but as you go eastward 
 the surface becomes more even, although the 
 tendency to rolling is still apparent and some- 
 times quite abrupt. This jjortion was originally 
 covered with small timber, interspersed with nat- 
 ural rneadows, and small prairie spots covered 
 with hazel brush, scrub oak, elm, etc., but this has 
 long since almost entirely disappeared, and now 
 many fine and fertile farms have transformed the 
 spot where once the Indian hunter and wild beast 
 held undisputed sway, into a land of beauty, 
 thrift, civilization, and productiveness. 
 
 Webster is not so well watered as most of its 
 contiguous neighbors, in fact it has no lakes of 
 any importance wholly within its borders, nor is 
 its surface traversed by streams of any note. 
 Union Lake is the largest body of water in the 
 town, entering from Forest and covering about 
 200 acres in section thirty-five. Kuowles Lake is 
 the next in size, located in the western part of the 
 town, almost wholly in section nineteen. These 
 
WEBSTER TOWNSHIP. 
 
 535 
 
 two lakes are connected by a stream flowing from 
 the latter, called Chub Creek. Another little 
 stream rises in the northwestern part of the town- 
 ship and crosses sections five and six as it leaves 
 and enters Scott county. Still another small 
 brook rises in the eastern part of section eleven, 
 and crossing section thirteen in a soutlieasterly 
 direction, enters Dakota county. 
 
 A small majority of the citizens at the present 
 writing are of German, Irisli, and other foreign 
 origin, although the American population is grow- 
 ing more rapidly than the foreign-born. A re- 
 port of the township published a few years ago 
 states that the township contained "640 acres of 
 unsold school laud.s, 520 acres still belonging to 
 the government, and nearly 5,000 acres to thi; 
 raih'oad. Wild lands may be purchased from 
 $2.00 to .'$5.00 per acre, etc." This, however, is 
 now changed and almost all lands aliove men- 
 tioned have been sold to, and are now occupied 
 by actual settlers, while the wild lands have 
 doubled the price mentioned. 
 
 In the year 1860, the township had a popula- 
 tion of 210; in 1865, 319; in 1880 the latest cen- 
 sus, 872. At the census taken in 1860, the values 
 in this town, as given to the census takers, were 
 as follows: Keal property, .§137,700; personal, 
 »49,150; total, .«186,850. The total assessed val- 
 uation for the same year, real and personal, 
 amounted to .$53,259. In 1882, the board of 
 County Commissioners in equalizing assessments 
 in the various townships made the following re- 
 port of valuation in Webster : Personal property, 
 .■$26,915; real property, »105,169; total, $132,084; 
 showing an increase in assessed valuation over the 
 year mentioned above of $78,825. 
 
 E.\KLY .SETTLEMENT. 
 
 Webster commenced evolutions toward settle- 
 ment and civilization in 1855, probably a little 
 later than any township in Kice county, but the 
 changes wrought are second to none. About tlie 
 first to take a claim and actually settle, who is yet 
 in the town, was Martin Taylor, a native 
 of Ireland, who secured a claim in section twenty- 
 one in November, 1855. He had left his family 
 in Hastings, but in the following spring removed 
 them to his new made home, where he had erected 
 a smaU log shanty. He then went to work and 
 cleared and spaded up three acres of land, which 
 he planted to corn and potatoes. The nest spring, 
 wishing to seed the ground to wheat, he started to 
 
 Northfield, the nearest point where the seed could 
 be obtained, with a yoke of oxi n Imt no wagon. 
 He placed one sack of wheat across the back of 
 one ox, and another across the yoke, arriving home 
 in safety with his wheat. With this he seeded his 
 ground, and from the throe acres he raised pne 
 hundred and ten bushels. This yield has never 
 since been e(pialled, but Mr. Taylor says that 
 since that crop he has never once been out of the 
 article. 
 
 In the spring of the year that Mr. Taylor ar- 
 rived — 1855 — a settlement was commenced in the 
 southeastern part of the town. Harry Humphrey, 
 a native of New York, having stopped for a time 
 in Ohio, arrived and secured a place in section 
 thirty-six, on the shore of Union Lake. He put 
 up a log house and commenced running it as a 
 hotel. He remained here until some time in the 
 seventies, when he disposed of his farm and re- 
 moved to Minneapolis, wliere he paid the delit of 
 mortality iu 1881, his devoted wife soon following 
 him. They left several sons in various parts of 
 the Northwest. 
 
 Neither of the settlements, which were about 
 five miles apart, received many settlers during the 
 year 1855. The Union Lake settlement, in the 
 southei'n part of the town, that was begun in the 
 spring by Mr. Humphrey, was increased in De- 
 cember by the arrival of two more parties, S. J. 
 and Chalmer M. Webster, natives of Ohio. 8. J. 
 took a valuable claim in section thirty-five, and 
 Chalmer M. took a farm about two miles to the 
 west, in section twenty-eight. Both of these early 
 comers remained on their places until 1866, when 
 they removed to Marsliall, Lyon county, where 
 they now reside. 
 
 Ferris Webster, now deceased, was a prominent 
 and active figure in the early settlement of this 
 locality, and it was in honor of him that the town 
 received its name. He was father of the parties 
 above mentioned, and came to the township at the 
 same time, taking a farm in section twenty-six, 
 where he remained until the time of liis death, 
 which occurred in 1880. His respected widow 
 still lives on the old homestead, and he left one 
 son, M. C. Weljster, who is still a resident of the 
 township, the rest of his descendants being located 
 in various parts of the Northwest. He was a man 
 honorable in his dealings and highly respected by 
 all who knew him. 
 
 In the spring following Blr. Webster's arrival. 
 
536 
 
 BISTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 all parts of the township began to be settled, and 
 the two settlements already settled branched into 
 surrounding sections with surprising rapidity. 
 Jacob Camp with his wife came this year, and he, 
 after securing a farm in sections twenty -seven and 
 thirty-four, commenced the erection of a log hut. 
 The grit and perseverance of early settlers is pret- 
 ty well indicated by the tact that he carried the 
 logs to build his house on his shoulders, and drew 
 his stove through the woods from Northfield with 
 a sled by hand. He commenced life here with 
 scarcely anything, but has now become well-to-do 
 and independent. 
 
 Early in the spring and about the time of the 
 last mentioned arrival, Ransom F. and Oscar Web- 
 ster, natives of the Buckeye State, came and set- 
 tled in section twenty-six, immediately commenc- 
 ing to build log houses. The first remained in 
 the township until 1874, when he sold his farm 
 and removed to Lyon county, where a couple of 
 his brothers had preceded him. Oscar Webster 
 remained on his farm until 1870, when he re- 
 moved to Wisconsin, but has since gone to Water- 
 town, D. T., where he now lives. 
 
 In May, 18.50, Thomas Keegan, a native of the 
 Emerald Isle, made his appearance and took a 
 claim northwest of Taylor's place, in section sev- 
 enteen. He Y>nt up a log shanty and a hay and 
 brush stable, and commenced getting laud ready 
 for seed. He remained on his ]Aa.ce until 1864, 
 when he sold out and removed to Nebraska. With 
 the settler mentioned above came another native 
 of Ireland, m the ])erson of William Sabry. He 
 took a place a short distance south of his compan- 
 ion, locating in section twenty-one, where he made 
 improvements and remained until 1868, when he 
 removed to Bismarck, D. T. 
 
 Section eleven also received a settler this year, 
 and commenced a settlement in the northern part 
 of the town. John Gleason, of the "Land of the 
 Shamroi^k," drifted into this town one July morn- 
 ing, and anchored himself on section eleven, where 
 he still remains fast. Abotit the same time James 
 McCabe, a native of Massachusetts, moved in-and 
 made Gleason company by selecting a farm in 
 section twelve. He erected a log shanty and com- 
 menced farming. In 1865, he opened a general 
 merchandise store, which he still continues on his 
 farm. Joseph Dilly was also a settler f)f this 
 year. 
 
 Mr. Belling Beutou, a native of England, made 
 
 his appearance in 1856, and planted his stakes on 
 a beautiful piece of ground in section thirty-six, 
 bordering on the shores of Union Lake. The se- 
 lection prove 1 satisfactory, as he still remains 
 there. 
 
 After this the influx became so rapid and in- 
 cessant that it would be impossible to chronicle 
 the arrivals in their sequence, but we give the 
 prominent ones who took farms and are yet culti- 
 vating them. Many came who have since pulled 
 up stakes and removed further west or returned 
 to their former hoiues in the East. 
 
 James Kiley, a native of Ireland, arrived in 
 1857, and secured a farm in section ten where he 
 still remains, satisfied. The following year, 1858, 
 another quarter of the same section was secured 
 by Mr. Blaher, also of Celtic origin. 
 
 E. C. Knowles drifted into the northwest quar- 
 ter of section twenty-nine, in 1860, where he is 
 still anchored. He came to Minnesota in 1855. 
 John Cole, was another early settler in Minnesota, 
 having come to the State in 1856. He arrived in 
 Webster in 1865, and taking a farm in section 
 twenty-eight still stands guard over it. Corne- 
 lius Deuman came to Kice county from Ohio in 
 1855, and set tied in Morristown. In 1867, he pur- 
 chased a farm in section thirty-four, Welister, 
 where he still remains. 
 
 Ola Elstad, of Norway, settled in section one 
 in 1862, and in 1860, Edward Elstad, of the same 
 nationality kept him company by purchasing a 
 farm adjoining him in the same section, wliere 
 they both still remain. In 1874, Nels Hoagen- 
 son joined the little settlement of Norwegians^ 
 and took a place in section two. J. O. Larson, G. 
 Ohristopherson, M. Christianson and others came 
 in at various times and swelled the settlement of 
 this nationality. 
 
 Thomas Gleason, a native of the Emerald Isle, 
 came in 1864 and jiurchased a large farm in sec- 
 tions twelve and thirteen, where he still lives. 
 Joseph Gear, another Irishman, took a farm off of 
 an early settler's hands, in 1868, in section twelve. 
 
 Robert Campbell, of the old country, came to 
 America in 1862, and in 1866 arrived in \yebster, 
 purchasing the farm where he now lives in section 
 eighteen. In 1867, Henry Graves came and pur- 
 chased 120 acres in section twenty-one, where he 
 now lives. The same year J. G. Walden, of Maine, 
 made his appearance and purchased the farm he 
 now occupies in section twenty-eight. Thomas 
 
WEBSTER TOWySIITP. 
 
 537 
 
 Lyucb, came in 1863 and bougbt a farm in sec- 
 tion thirty-two. He was a native of Ireland and 
 still occupies the place he originally settled on. 
 
 Thus it will be seen the settlement of the town- 
 ship pushed onward, each succeeding year wit- 
 nessing still further additions and devolop'^ieuts. 
 Farms were opened in all parts of the town, and 
 the early comers began to reap the just reward of 
 their industry. Step by step the change had 
 been wrought, until a new era had almost imper- 
 ceptibly dawned upon the scene. Larger build- 
 ings were erected, schools and churches estab- 
 lished, and a general air of enterprise was mani- 
 fest where so recently all was wild and uninhab- 
 ited. From the crude efforts of earlier years the 
 present tillers of the soil fast adapted wiser and 
 more systematic modes of farming, the beneficent 
 results of which are already so plainly apparent. 
 
 EARLY EVENTS OF INTEEEST. 
 
 Town N.^me. — "Webster township was originally 
 named by the government surveyors, "Minne- 
 mada," and for a short time this was the name of 
 the locality rather than the township. It was 
 afterwards voted by the citizens that the town be 
 named "Carrolltown," but the County Commis- 
 sioners bestowed upon it the name of "Webster" 
 and it has ever since recognized this as its appel- 
 lation, being in honor of Mr. Ferris Webster, an 
 early settler in the town. 
 
 Eaelt Births. — The first birth of a white child 
 in the township was John McGuire, whose natal 
 date is on the 18th of March, 1857. 
 
 A daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Camp was 
 brought into existence in January, 1858. 
 
 There was a minor arrival in the shape of a 
 nine-pound child at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Salmon Webster in May, 1858. 
 
 December, 1858, witnessed the birth of Thnma.s, 
 a son of Martin Taylor and wife. 
 
 Early Maeriages. — The first marriage of 
 Webster parties occurred in June, 18o(). and joined 
 as man and wife Mr. Salmon Webster and Miss 
 Fannie Humphrey. Mr. Webster moved out of 
 the township in 18(i(), and now lives in Lyon 
 county. 
 
 Another marriage occurred in August, 1858, 
 the high contracting parties being Epbraim Dilly 
 and Miss Alice St. John. 
 
 Early Deaths. — In the summer of 1858, Web- 
 ster first felt the elfects of the ravages of death. 
 The wife of Samuel Dilly was the first victim, and 
 
 passed to her eternal home. Her little daughter 
 died soon afterward and was the second death. 
 
 TOWNSUir OUOANIZATION. 
 
 In common with all the sub-divisions of Rice 
 county the organization of this township took 
 place soon after the Territory was admitted to the 
 sisterhood of States, in 1858, and the first meet- 
 ing was held on the 11th of May of that year. 
 This meeting was hel J at tlie residence of Ephraim 
 Dilly, and came to order by appointing Michael 
 O'Mara, chairman, and S. S. Humphrey, clerk. 
 
 The meeting then proceeded to ballot for officers 
 to take charge of town matters, which resulted as 
 follows: Supervisors, Geo. Carpenter, Chairman, 
 Iv. H. Dilly, and James Kiley; Town Clerk, J. J. 
 McCabe; Collector, Timothy Gleason; Justices of 
 the Peace, Ephraim Dilly, Sen., and F.Webster; 
 Constables, William Dilly and Elisha Fitch; Over- 
 seer of Roads, William Dilly, Sen. Nest the 
 meeting took up the matter of town expenses and 
 voted the sum of $100 for that purjsose. 
 
 The att'airs of public interest have been at- 
 tended to since this inaugural meeting with com- 
 mendable zeal and fidelity, there having been ex- 
 hibited due economy in regard to finance and jjub- 
 lic expenditures. 
 
 At the tweuty-fourth annual meeting of the 
 town, in March, 1882, a full corps of township 
 officials were elected as follows: Supervisors, 
 John Gleason, Jr., Chairman, Hans Hamann, and 
 John King; Clerk, Thomas Skefflngton; Treas- 
 urer, Hogeu Oleson ; Justices of the Peace, John 
 Hennesy and Henry Meinke; "Constable, Henry 
 Weise; Assessor, Thomas Skeffiugton. 
 
 BUSINESS INTERESTS. 
 
 In this township, there being no villages, the 
 matters under this head are somewhat scattered. 
 The Post-offices, blacksmitli shops, and stores are 
 of great convenience to the farmers of the sur- 
 rounding country, relieving them of the nece.ssity 
 of going out of their township for supplies or 
 common requirements of life. It can be said that 
 Webster is well represented so far as manufactur- 
 ing and mercantile aft'airs are concerned, consid- 
 ering the distance from railroad connection and 
 its accompanying advantages. 
 
 In 1856, Mr. Ferris Webster hauled goods from 
 Hastings by team and opened a small store in 
 section thirty-five, with a limited stock of grocer- 
 ies and provisions. It was opei'ated for a sliort 
 
538 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 time ami then discontinued, as the country was 
 too sparsely settled as yet to support the enter- 
 prise. 
 
 In the fall of 18(55, however, another effort was 
 made with better success. Mr. James McCabe 
 hauled a stock of goods from St. Paul and opened 
 a store in a small shanty in the northern part of 
 section twelve. It proved a success and is now 
 occupying a commodious and substantial building, 
 18.x55, on the old site, keeping a large and well 
 assorted stock of goods and is a great conven- 
 ii^nce to the farmers. Until 1872 a stock of wines, 
 liquors, etc., were kept, but since that time they 
 have been dispensed with. 
 
 A saloon was started in the winter of 1857, in 
 the western part of section thirty-six, by a Mr. 
 Hoffnekle, but was only run for about three 
 months. It seems the proprietor got a lot of In- 
 dians in the saloon and proceeded to get them 
 drunk; he succeeded but the citizens near by came 
 down on him and he left. 
 
 Saw Mill.— -An excellent steam saw mill was 
 erected in 1873 by Mr. William Albers, in the 
 eastern part of section thirty-five, on the bank of 
 Union Lake. The propelling motor of the mill is 
 a thirty horse-power steam engine, that drives the 
 two circular saws with which the mill is equipped, 
 with sufficient force to cut 10,000 feet of lumber 
 per day, although the average is only 5,000. This 
 mill is a great benefit to the surrounding country, 
 and takes a prominent place among the manufac- 
 turing interests of Rice county. 
 
 Blacksmith Shops. — After the settlement of 
 the township commenced it was not long until a 
 brawny armed son of Vulcan moved his forge and 
 anvil into Webster and commenced to make the 
 steel ring. This was in 1856, and a Mr. Palmer 
 also opened his shop, and kept banging away un- 
 til 1858 when he pulled up stakes and removed to 
 Rochester where he now lives. His shop was lo- 
 cated on the eastern part of section thirty-five. 
 
 The next shojj was oijeued in 1868, by Gilbert 
 Christopherson, who erected and commenced oper- 
 ating a shop in the northeastern part of section 
 <me, where it is still in full blast. 
 
 Nels Oleson, in 1874, put up a shop in the south- 
 western part of section twenty-nine, putting in a 
 complete set of tools, and here he may yet be 
 found, still blowing the bellows. 
 
 Union Lake Post-ofpioe. — This was the first 
 office established in the town of Webster, having 
 
 commenced its existence through a petition to 
 Congress in the winter of 1856. Henry Hum- 
 phrey was the first Postmaster, with the office at 
 his house in section thirty-five. This gentleman 
 was the incumbent until 1873, when Gteorge 
 Prunk was appointed to handle the mail, which 
 arrives on Thursday of each week by way of 
 Millersburg. 
 
 Hazelwood Post-office. — This office was es- 
 tablished in 1857, one year later than the above, 
 with J. W. Doyle, Postmaster. Mail was then re- 
 ceived once each week ; now it arrives on Tuesday 
 and Saturday of each week from Northfield. 
 James BlcCabe is the present Postmaster, and E. 
 W. Parker, mail carrier, the office being kept at 
 Mr. McCabe's store, in the eastern part of section 
 twelve. 
 
 Webster Post-office. — This is the youngest 
 office in the township, having been established in 
 1879, with F. Butzke, Postmaster, and the office at 
 his house in section eight. He is still Postmaster. 
 Mail arrives twice each week from Northfield by 
 way of Hazelwood. 
 
 EELIGIOUS. 
 
 The first religious services held in this township 
 were in the summer of 1856, by Elder K. C. Cres- 
 sey, a missionary of the Congregationalist faith, 
 in the house of Blr. F. Webster in section twenty - 
 six. After this, services were held in John Camp- 
 bell's house once in two weeks. This was contin- 
 ued until Mr. Campbell moved out of the town- 
 ship in 1866, and since that time there has been 
 no regular services, as the Congregationalists have 
 never had an organization. 
 
 Baptist Society. — This denomination com- 
 menced holding services at the log schoolhouse 
 of district thirty-three in 1870, with the Rev. Mr. 
 Gale, as officiating minister. The society was 
 duly organized in the fall of the same year with 
 twenty-eight members. In the year 1873, Mr. 
 Humphrey donated the church a site for a build- 
 ing, and they at once commenced the erection of 
 their present church edifice, completing it a num- 
 ber of years afterward at a cost of about S!l,200, 
 it being a very neat and commodious structure. 
 Among tlie pastors who have presided here are 
 Elder James F. Walker, Rev. Frank Howard, Rev. 
 Mr. Piuiik, and Rev. J. F. Wilcox, the latter gen- 
 tleman l)eing the ])resent pastor. The church is 
 located on the southern line of section twenty-five. 
 
 Norwegian Lutheran Church. — First held 
 
WEBSTEli TOWKSUIP. 
 
 539 
 
 services in 1876, at the scliQolliovise of district 
 No. fi7, and continued holding irregular services 
 here and at various places until 1878, when the 
 society was organized, and the following trustees 
 chosen : Olo Keige, Peter Oleson, Ole Anderson, 
 and Christopher Seiga, with twenty members en- 
 rolled and Rev. Nels Veker the first minister. In 
 1878, the erection of a neat frame church was 
 commenced in the southwest corner of section 
 thirty-one, which, although not completed as yet, 
 lias cost -SGOO. The society now has thirty mem- 
 bers but no regular piistor. A cemetery is con- 
 nected with the church organization, being lo- 
 cated in the town of Wheatland. 
 
 OathoijIC Society. — Meetings of this society 
 were first held in Timothy Gleasou's house in 
 1857, tlie first mass being said at the residence of 
 James McCabe in 1858, by Father Oster, who was 
 the first priest. In 1861, they decided to build a 
 church, as meetings were being held at various 
 places, and a building committee was appointed. 
 James McOabe donated the society ten acres in 
 section twelve and they purchased an additional 
 ten acres adjoining it. Their building was finally 
 finished as it now stands, with vestry, addition, 
 and steeple, in 1881, having cost .53,100. The 
 present officers are; Secretary, James McCabe; 
 Treasurer, James Kiley. The priest is Father 
 Reorlin. The church building of this denomina- 
 tion is a fine and commodious one; a credit to the 
 township, and the society deserve commendation 
 for their enterprise and zeal. Its location is in 
 the southern part of section twelve. 
 
 The Catholic cemetery, not far from the church, 
 was laid out in the summer of 1863, containing 
 one acre. The first burial here took place in the 
 same year, and placed the remains of Mrs. Fos in 
 their last earthly abode. 
 
 SOLORS OONGKEGATION OF THE NoKWEcilAN 
 
 LuTHEKAN Synod. — The first services held in the 
 township by this denomination, was at the resi- 
 dence of Mr. M. Oleson, in section four, in 1876. 
 In 1878, an organization was efl'ected and the 
 erection of a church commenced, in section nine, 
 which, although it is not yet comjileted, has cist 
 $700. The first pastor was Kev. O. A. Borah, who 
 still officiates. 
 
 In 1881, a cemetery ground was laid out by 
 this church on E. Anderson's farm in the north- 
 ern part of section nine, near the church, contain- 
 ing sixty -six lots. 
 
 German LuTnEiux CnnBcn.— Bev. Julius 
 Wolf, in 1871, held services with this d(!noniiiia- 
 tiou at the residence of Henry Kinker, and the 
 following year an organization was efl'ected and a 
 frame church edifice erected in the nortiiwestern 
 part of section five, at a cost of .i^lOO, the members 
 doing almost all of tlie labor. The present pastor 
 is Kev. Christian Alphers, with a membershii) of 
 aI)out twenty, and a Hourishiug Sunday school in 
 connection with the church. 
 
 When the society was first contemjilated, in 
 1871, a cemetery was platted and laid out in sec- 
 tion five, near the church site, and the burial of 
 a child of Mr. and Blrs. Hans Hamaun, inaugurated 
 the sad and touching scenes that have since fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 EDUOATIONAL. 
 
 Historically speaking, there is not much to the 
 educational department of Webster township — 
 not that it is inefficient or incapable, for such is 
 not the case, as it would favorably compare with 
 any of which we might speak — liut there is an un- 
 avoidable sameness between them; in fact, the 
 history of (me district is, with the exception of 
 minor points, almost a synonym of all others. 
 However, to gratify that pardonable local pride 
 and curiosity in regard to "our district," wo attach 
 hereto a short sketch of the organizatiim and 
 growth of the various districts severally. 
 
 DisTUKT No. 33. — This district effected an or- 
 ganization in the summer of 1857, and school was 
 held at the residence of Mr. Salmon Webster, with 
 three scholars in attendance, and Mrs. Frances 
 Webster, teacher. In the fall, of 1861, a log school- 
 house was rolled together in section thenty-six, 
 where Miss Rosy Bidwell first called school to 
 order. This primitive structure served its pur- 
 pose until 1873, when the present neat and com- 
 modious schoolhouse was erected on the same site 
 at a cost of aljout .$625. R. J. Matson first taught 
 in the new house. 
 
 DisTuicT No. 42. — This educational subdivision 
 was set off and organized under this uumlier ou 
 the 5th of June, 1858, with Messrs. Samuel Dilly, 
 R. H. l^illy, and John Gleason as school officers. 
 A school building was put together, of logs, ou 
 section twelve soon .ifterward, which was kept in 
 use until 1S72. In the latter year their present 
 building was constructed in the southern part of 
 section eleven, at a cost of iS;400. Mr. James Ken- 
 noy first called school together in this house. 
 
540 
 
 BISTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 District No. 52. — This was legally organ- 
 ized in 1865, and a log house built in the southern 
 |)iirt t)f section eight. Tlie first school was taught 
 the following spring in this building by Miss 
 Mary Ann Shippy — although this statement is 
 contradicted — and the Iniilding was used continu- 
 ously until 1880, when it was dispensed with, and 
 the present house erected in the southern part of 
 section eight at a cost of .S615. 
 
 District No. 67.^Effected an organization in 
 18(51, and a school meeting was held on the 27th 
 of March, at the house of E. O. Knowles, at 
 which school officers were elected as follows: 
 Treasurer, E. C. Knowles; Director, Elisha Fitch; 
 and Clerk, H. D. Williams. At a special school 
 meeting held on the 9th of July, 1864, a tax of 
 .S200 was voted for the purpose of erecting a 
 schoolhouse, and the following year the walls of a 
 log house, 18x20 feet, were put up by contribu- 
 tion, that was completed in the fall of 1865 and 
 ready for use. In the summer of 1866, school 
 was held in it by Miss Angerora Shippy, and it 
 was in use from this on for school jiui'P"^^^ until 
 1880, when the present house was erected in the 
 central part of section twenty-nine, at a cost of 
 .•$700. William H. Wetherston first called school 
 to order in this edifice. At present the school en- 
 rolls about sixty-five pupils. 
 
 BIOGKArUICAIj. 
 
 S. B. Baklow, one of the early settlers in Web- 
 ster township, was born in Connecticut on the 31st 
 of July, 1834. When he was but three years old his 
 parents moved to Franklin county,New York, where 
 he received his schooling. At the age of fifteen 
 years he was employed in the pineries; in 1853, 
 moved to Michigan, where he was in the lumber 
 business one year, thence to Wisconsin engaged in 
 digging wells and cisterns until 1857. He then 
 came to Rice county and took a claim in section 
 thirty -two in tliis place, which has since been his 
 liome. He erected a house immediately after his 
 arrival, but the following year built a more sub- 
 stantial one, wliich was destroyed by fire in 1866, 
 wlien lie put up his present dwelling. In 1862, 
 he enlisted in the Second Minnesota Cavalry and 
 served one year. After his discharge he returned 
 to his farm and has since devoted his time to its 
 cultivation, with the e.'iception of the year 1872, 
 which he spent traveling through Minnesota, 
 Wisconsin, and Michigan. He was joined in mat- 
 rimony on the 16tli of March, 1861, to Miss Louisa 
 
 S. Walden. They have had seven children; Ad- 
 die, Melvin, Mabel, Sarah, Edna, and Cora. One 
 died in infancy. 
 
 BEiitAMY Benton, one of the old settlers of 
 Rice county, was born in England in 1809. He 
 was lirought up on a farm, attended school and 
 learned the baker trade. At the age of twenty he 
 enlisted in the army and served two and a half 
 years when his parents bought his discharge. He 
 then returned home and was engaged on the po- 
 lice force iu the city of Wisbeach four years. In 
 1846, he married Miss Mary Salmons and they 
 were blessed with five children, all of whom are 
 now dead, also his first wife. For twenty- four 
 years he was engaged in a grain warehouse and 
 aftei'ward was appointed Warden of the jail in 
 Wisbeach remaining three years. He married his 
 second wife, Miss Maryan Mitchal, and soon after 
 emigrated to America, landing in New York. He 
 moved from there to Cleveland, Ohio, and the 
 same year (1856) came to this township, built a 
 log cabin in which they lived until 1871, and then 
 erected their present fine frame structure. 
 
 F. BuTZKE, one of the early settlers of this 
 township, is a native of Germany, born on the 
 22d of October, 1819. He attended school and 
 when (juite young learned the blacksmith trade of 
 his father. In 1840, he enlisted in the Prussian 
 army and served three years. In 1845, Miss Hen- 
 riette Wasse became his wife. They emigrated to 
 America in 1857, landed in Baltimore and came 
 directly to Minnesota, stopping in Hastings one 
 month and then to this place. He staked out a 
 claim in section eight, built a log house in which 
 he lived about fourteen years, then erected his 
 present frame dwelling, and now owns three hun- 
 dred and twenty acres of land. He has a family 
 of seven children; Bertha, Herman, Ulrike, Ferdi- 
 nand, Matilda, William, and John. 
 
 Abel, Carpenter was born in Vermont on the 
 13th of June, 1813. At the age of three years he 
 moved with his parents to Predonia, New York, 
 wliere they remained five years, thence to Pair view, 
 I'enii.sylvania, and three years later to Ashtal)ula 
 county, Ohio, where Abel grew to manhood. He 
 was married on the 28th of March, 1843, to Miss 
 Mary Britt. Two years later they moved to Lee 
 county, Iowa, where they resided on 1 farm until 
 1871, and on the 20th of May they came to this 
 township and purchased a farm in section thirty- 
 five, which has since been their home. Mr. and 
 
WKDSTKH T()]\'NSIIIl'. 
 
 )ll 
 
 Mrs. Carpenter have a family of seven children ; 
 Henrietta, James, William, George, Samuel, Abel, 
 and Emma. Abel was born on the 3<1 of March, 
 18")!!, in Lee county, Iowa, and lum always made 
 liis home with his parents. 
 
 Jacob Camp is a native of Pennsylvania, born 
 on the 11th of August, 1829, and when an infant 
 removed with his parents to Holmes county, Ohio. 
 In the s]5ring of 1855, he started with an oil-doth 
 covered wagon and one horse for the We.st. On 
 reaching Dubuque, Iowa, he tt)ok a steamer for 
 Hastings, from whence he went to Washington 
 county and spent the winter. The following 
 spring he came to this township and was among 
 the first settlers, locating in section twenty-four 
 and twenty-seven. He was married in August, 
 185G, to Miss Mary Egan and the union has been 
 blessed with three children. 
 
 John Cole, a native of Yorkshire, England, 
 was born on the 23d of April, 1829. He spent 
 his youth on a farm and in school and in 1852, 
 emigrated to America, landed in (Juebec and came 
 directly to Detroit, Michigan, where he engaged 
 in farming and gardening. In 1856, he came to 
 Minnesota to seek a home, settled on Vermillion 
 river iji Dakota county and remained until the 
 spring of 1865, when he enlisted in the First Min- 
 nesota Heavy Artillery, Company I, was sent 
 south to Chattanooga and stationed witli the regi- 
 ment on Cameron Hill, remaining till the close of 
 the war. After receiving his discharge he re- 
 turned to Mmuesota and located in Webster in 
 section twenty-eight, which has since been his 
 home, building his present house in 1870. Mr. 
 Cole was united in matrimony on the 28th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1860, to Miss Lenora Blew, a native of 
 New Jersey. The issue of the union is one son, 
 William. 
 
 Paui; Dannielson is a native of Norway, bom 
 on the 5th of December, 1850. In June, 1869, he 
 sailed for America, came directly to Minnesota and 
 resided in Dakota county on a farm four years, 
 then kept a boarding house in Minneapolis two 
 years, and in 1875, came to this township and pur- 
 chased his present farm. He was married on the 
 3d of March, 187-1, to Miss Mary Severson, who 
 has borne him three children; Daniel, Peter, and 
 TiUa. 
 
 John Etlwakd was born in Ireland on the 
 20th of June, 1822. His father died when he was 
 twelve years old, after which he went to live with 
 
 an uncle and attended school. He came to Amer- 
 ica in 1817, landed in Savannah, Georgia, and 
 tlienee to New Jersey where he was engaged in 
 the print works. He was joined in wedlock with 
 Bridget Martin in July, 1852. In July, 1S58, 
 they came to this townsliip and are nnnibered 
 among the pioneers, building their prest-nt frame 
 hou.se in 1871). Tliey have had six children; Sa- 
 rali, .John, Mary, James, Martin, and Daniel. Ha- 
 rali died at the age of eleven years and James at 
 live. 
 
 Oi.eIj. Elstaii was born in Norway on tlie I'.lth 
 of February, 1822. He attended school in liis 
 native place and in 1840, purchased a I'arm. He 
 was married on the 2ith of June, of the latter year, 
 and remained in that coimtry until 1869, when 
 they emigrated to America. They came to Min- 
 nesota and settled first in Dakota county and two 
 years later moved to this township, buying a good 
 farm in seotion one, which is still their home. 
 They have a family of eight children; Edward, 
 Augusta, Anna, Matilda, Maggie, Maria, Emeline, 
 and Alice. 
 
 Hugh Geoghagan, one of the prominent men 
 of this county and erne of the first to locate a 
 farm in this township, was born in Ireland on the 
 15th of August, 1830. His youth was spent at 
 school and in farming pursuits, coming to Amer- 
 ica in 1852. He landed in New Orleans from 
 whence he came to Chicago and was in the employ 
 of the government as engineer for two years, and 
 afterward engaged as fireman and engineer in dif- 
 ferent parts of Illinois. In 1856, he made a trip 
 to Minnesota and secured land in this township 
 but did not settle here until 1865. He was mar- 
 ried on the 3d of April, 1860, to Miss Mary Hurly, 
 who has borne him ten children; Lawrence, 
 James, Hugh, Henry, Mathew, Mary, Thomas, 
 Anna, Catherine, and John Henry, the '.ourth born 
 was killed by a pile of lumber falling on him. 
 
 Daniel Glyzee, a native of Indiana, was born 
 on the 28th of October, 1850. He was 
 reared to agricultural pursuits and came with his 
 parents to Minnesota in 1862, first locating in 
 Lawrence county, but a year later came to this 
 place and bought a farm in section thirty-four. 
 His father died in 1870, and Daniel has since had 
 charge of the farm, his motner living with him. 
 
 Henry Graves wiis born in Ireland in 1838, 
 and spent eight years of his youth in school. He 
 sailed for America in September, 1845, and set- 
 
542 
 
 HI STORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 tied in Bureau county, Illiuois, -where, after reach- 
 ing his majority, he was employed on the Chica- 
 go, Burlington & Qnincy railroad several years. 
 On the 9th of September, 1858, Miss Catherine 
 Dufl'y Ijecarae his wife. In 1869, they came to 
 this township, purchased a farm of one hundred 
 and twenty acres in section twenty-one, and the 
 same year erected their present house. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Graves have had eleven children, ten of 
 whom are now living. 
 
 Nils Hoauen.son, a native of Norway, was born 
 on the lith of November, 1849. He remained at 
 home engaged in farming until the 20th of July, 
 1868, when he set sail for America in company 
 with his parents. They came direct to Minnesota 
 and settled in Eushford, J'illmore county, where 
 they remained five years and came to this town- 
 ship. Mr. Hoagenson purchased a farm and im- 
 mediately erected his j^resent house. Bliss Caro- 
 line Larson Ijecame his wife on the 5th of Febru- 
 ary, 1874, and they have ;i family of four chil- 
 dren. 
 
 Petek John.son was lioru in Norway on the 
 6th of March. 1831. He was married in his na- 
 tive country in July, 1864, to Miss Carrie Thomp- 
 son. They came to America in 1868, landed in 
 New York and from thence came to Carver county, 
 Minnesota, where they were engaged in farming 
 until 1872. In the latter year they came to this 
 township, purchased a farm in section twenty, and 
 in 1875, erected their present fine house. They 
 have a family of nine children: Eva, Peter, Carrie, 
 Henry, John, Willie, Ola, Mary, and Charles. 
 
 John King, whose father came from New Jer- 
 sey to Webster in 1856, being among the first .set- 
 tlers, was born in the latter State in 1853. All 
 his school days amounted to but nineteen months, 
 and wlien he was eight years old his father died. 
 John has always resided on the old homestead, 
 his sisters living with him. He is a member of 
 the board of Supervisors. 
 
 James Keegan, one of the pioneers of this place, 
 was born on the 20th of March, 1828, in Ireland. 
 In 1846, he came to America and settled in Wash- 
 ington county, Maine, where he learned the tailor 
 trade, remaining two years. From thence he went 
 to New York and engaged at his trade, then 
 to McHenry county, Illinois, and afterward resid- 
 ed in Milwaukee and Chicago, and in 1865, came 
 lo St. Paul, in each of which places he worked at 
 lis trade. In 1856, he came to this township and 
 
 bought the land upon which he now resides. He 
 was united in marriage on the 16th of November, 
 1862, to Miss B. H. Carroll, who has borne him 
 two sons, James and Andrew. 
 
 Aethuk Kin'SElla, deceased, was born in Ire- 
 land in 1821. He was reared on a farm and came 
 to America in 1850, first located in Rockford, Hli- 
 uois, but soon after came to Dakota county, Min- 
 nesota. He was married in 1856, to Miss Anna 
 Mangon. They came to this township in 1862, 
 purchased a farm in section fourteen, and built a 
 shanty in which they lived until 1870, then erected 
 a fine frame house. Five children blessed this 
 union; Andrew, John, Arthur, George, and Blary. 
 Mr. Kiusella died on the 19th of June, 1874, 
 mourned by a large circle of friends. 
 
 E. C. Knowles, one of the old settlers of Min- 
 nesota, was born in Merrimack county. New 
 Hampshire, on the 30th of August, 1820. In 1841, 
 he married Miss Lucinda ."itwood of his native 
 place. He then engaged in farming for a time 
 but finally sold and Ijought a shingle mill, which 
 bn.siness and carpentering he continued until the 
 fall of 1849, when he was employed by the North- 
 ern Railroad Company and worked five years as a 
 mechanic, building and repairing bridges, and was 
 also in the repair shops. In 1855, he came west 
 to seek a home, first pre-empted land in Dakota 
 county near Hastings and worked at his trade in 
 that city. In 1856, he bought a quarter section 
 in this township but continued to reside in Hast- 
 ings. In 1858, he went to Kenyon, Goodhue coun- 
 ty, spent one season and then came to Northfield, 
 and in 1860, settled in this place. The following 
 fall he built the house in which he now lives. He 
 lias many times been elected to local offices of 
 trust, and also represented this district in the 
 State Legislature. Mr. and Mrs. Knowles have 
 had eight children; John, Mary, Jane, Albert, 
 Ezekiel, Frank, Ella, and Orrin. Mary died in 
 1858, at the age of fifteen, and Ezekiel in 1856, 
 when six years old. 
 
 James Leahet was born in Ireland on the 15th 
 of August, 1840, and came with his parents to 
 America when seventeen years old. They landed in 
 New Orleans, and came from thence to Dakota 
 county, Minnesota, where James attended school. 
 Ho came to this township in 1859, now owns a 
 good farm, and has held many offices of trust. He 
 was united in marriage on the 5th of January, 
 1875, to Miss Mary Hagan, who has borne him 
 
WEBSTER TOWN Kin P. 
 
 543 
 
 four children; Daniel, John Henry, Mary Ellen, 
 nd James. 
 
 John Mollot was born in Ireland on thf 12th 
 of March, 1835, and emigrated to America in 1852. 
 He was employed in a factory in Oswego connty, 
 New York, until 1857, then came to this township 
 and pre-empted a claim which is his present 
 home. 
 
 Andrew Nelson, a native of Norway, was born 
 on the 24th of August, 1830. His father died 
 when he was one year old, and he lived with his 
 mother attending school until the age of eleven; 
 then engaged to work in the pineries, continuing, 
 with the exception of two seasons, until 1869. In 
 the latter year became to America, landed in Que- 
 bec, and came to Carver county, Minnesota. 
 While there he married Miss Merrit Nelson in 
 1871. They came to this township in 1873, and 
 built the house in whicli they now live in section 
 twenty, where they have a good farm. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Nelson have had eight children; Annie, 
 Merrit, Andrew, Henry, Blary, Cora. Herman, and 
 Carrie, five of whom are dead. 
 
 Nels Oleson "Holte" is a native of Norway, 
 born on the 25th of May, 1830. At the age of 
 sixteen years he began to learn the carpenter 
 trade, at which he was engaged until coming to 
 America in 1866. He was married before coming, 
 in 1855, to Miss Olianna Oleson. They first set- 
 tled in Trempealeau, Trempealeau county, Wis- 
 consin, where he was engaged at his trade. In 
 1868, he came to Dakota county, Minnesota, where 
 he followed his trade for six years, then in St. 
 Paul four years, and in 1874, came to this place, 
 bought a farm and built a blacksmith shop, which 
 he has since conducted. Mr. and Mrs. Holte have 
 had ten children, eight of whom are living. 
 
 Magnus Olson was born in Norway on the 15th 
 of November, 1830, reared on a farm, and at the 
 age of fifteen years began to learn the stone mason 
 trade. He was married in 1858, to Miss Sophia 
 Cyprans. In 1852, they left their native country 
 and came to America, directly to Chicago, where 
 Mr. Olson worked at his trade for two months, and 
 came to Goodhue county, Minnesota. His wife 
 died in 1868, and in 1870, he married Miss Anna 
 Amimdson. He remained in the latter place until 
 1876, when he moved to this township and bought 
 a farm in sections four and nine, which he has 
 since made his home. Mr. and Mrs. Olson have 
 hid two children, Simon and Carl. 
 
 Haagen Olson was bom in Norway on the 18th 
 of September, 1839. In 1865, married Miss Mary 
 Olson. The following year they came to America, 
 to Dakota connty, Minnesota, and after a residence 
 of five years there moved to Dakota territory. In 
 1875, his wife died and the same year he came to 
 this township, puriihased a faiin iu sectinri thirty, 
 and has since made it his home. The maiden 
 name of his present wife was Annie M. Swedeen, 
 and this union has been blessed with two children; 
 Julianna and Edwin. Mr. Olson has been a mem- 
 ber of the Board of Supervisors and is at present 
 Treasurer. 
 
 Thomas Reynolos, one of the few Anaeri(!ans in 
 this place, is a native of New York, born on tlie 
 1st of Juno, 1839. He remained at home at- 
 tending school and in 1872 married; then came 
 west to this township and resided with his brother- 
 in-law until 1874. Having purchased a farm 
 upon his arrival, he built a house in the latter year 
 and has since made it his home. Mr. and Mrs. 
 T-ieyuolds have had seven children, four of whom 
 are living; Catharine, Florence, Maggie, and 
 Alice. Three died in infancy. 
 
 Ole Rtgu was born in Norway on the 29tli of 
 January,1832. In 1860, he came to America, locat- 
 ed in Door county,Wisconsin,thence to Chickasaw, 
 Iowa, and iu 1876, came to this township, pur- 
 chased a farm and built the house which has 
 since been his home. He was married in Wiscon- 
 sin on tlie 3d of May, 1863, to Miss Mary Hovy, 
 who has burne him three children; Oliver, Mary, 
 and an infant who died. The oldest also died. 
 
 Ole a. Sjoli was born in Norway on the 21st 
 of October, 1821, and there received a common 
 school education and learned the gardener's trade. 
 He was married in 1849 to Miss Amelia Lister. 
 They came to America iu 1867, landed in New 
 York, and came directly to Rice county. His 
 wife died iu 1870, leaving seven children; Anna, 
 Carrie, Adolph, Otto, Hannah, Olive, and Eminel. 
 In 1873, Mr. Sjoli married Miss Isabel Peterson, 
 and the same year they came to this township and 
 purchased a farm in section thirty. This union 
 has bten blessed with three children; Peter, Mar- 
 tin, and Charlotte. 
 
 Albert M. Strate, a native of Norway, was 
 born on the 18th of December, 1851. He came 
 to America in 1868, landed in New York, from 
 which place he came to Northfield, and thence to 
 Dakota county, where he was engaged in farming 
 
544 
 
 II I STORY OF IIICE GOV NT r. 
 
 more or less for five years. Duriug that time he 
 made u tri]) to the western part of the State, and 
 iu 1874, came to this township and purchased a 
 farm, which he sold in 1881, and bought his pres- 
 ent laud in section thirty-one. He was united in 
 marriage in 1877, to Miss Carrie Sjoli, who has 
 borne him two children; Berlothe and Alfred. 
 
 Feekis Webster, deceased, one of the pioneers 
 of Rice county, was born in Franklin, Delaware 
 county. New York, on the 2d of February, 1802. 
 When he was quite young his parents moved to 
 Ohio, where he was reared on a farm and received 
 his education. He was married on the 12th of 
 January, 1824, to Miss Siifau Abbott, who died 
 on thi' 5th of March, 1827, leaving two children. 
 Fis se^'ond wife was Miss Adaline Mitchani, who 
 bore hi'U three children, and died on the 24th of 
 Januar/, 1844. In 1828, Mr. Webster built a ho- 
 tel at >lpfTerson, Ashtabula county, and was its 
 landlord until 184S, when he sold and purchased 
 a farm in Kingsville in the same county. On the 
 28th of January, 1844, he married Miss Roxana 
 Carpenter, who survives him. This union was 
 blessed with two children. In 1854, be sold his 
 farm and built a hotel in Geneva, in the same 
 county, but sold soon after and went to Monroe- 
 ville. Iu the .spring of 1856, he came west to 
 seek a home, and immediately upon his arrival 
 here took Govcrument land in section twenty-six 
 of this township, which was his home until his 
 death, which occurred on the 24th of August, 
 1880. Mrs. Webster resides on the old home- 
 stead. She has two children. Her youngest soui 
 
 Morrow C, was born in Kingsville, Ashtabula 
 county, Ohio, on the 13th of June, 1850, and came 
 with his parents to this place where he received 
 his education. He was married on the 7th of 
 February, 1872, to Miss Elizabeth Walter. They 
 have been blessed with two children; Archer 
 Pearl and Daisy A. He resides on the homestead 
 with his mother, and in 1878, built the house 
 which they now occupy. 
 
 Fred Wiese wa« l)orn in Germany on 
 tho twenty-third of February, 1853 When 
 he was an infant his parents emigrated to 
 America, settled first in Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
 vania, then iu Chicago, and from thence 
 to Milwaukee, where Fred received his education. 
 In 1870, he moved to New London, Minnesota, 
 and thence to the northern part of Wisconsin, 
 where he was engaged in the pineries two seasons, 
 and also in rafting on the Mississippi two seasons. 
 In 1874, he went to Michigan, was employed in 
 the niines and railroading for ' a time and re- 
 turned to New London, thence to Winona, and in 
 1875, came to this township. In June, 1881, he 
 bought his father's farm and erected a new house. 
 He was married to Miss Minnie Dodes in Septem- 
 ber, 1881. 
 
 C. D. Walter was born iu Huron, Erie county, 
 Ohio, on the 7th of April, 1842. He came to 
 Webster in 1872, bought a farm iu sections twen- 
 ty-five and twenty-six, and built the house in 
 which he now lives. He was united in marriage 
 in September, 1872, with Miss Alice Dilly. They 
 have two children; Daniel Liston and Edith M. 
 
WHEAT/.. wo TOM'ysllll'. 
 
 545 
 
 WHEATLAND. 
 
 CHAPTEK LXIII. 
 
 GENEBAL DESCRIPTION — EARLr SETTLEMENT — 
 
 SCHOOLS POST-OFFICE EELIGIOCS EARLY 
 
 EVENTS — VESSLEY VILLAOE — BIOGIiAPHUAL. 
 
 This, the northwest corner townshi)) of Kice 
 county, has Le Siieur county on the west, Scott 
 county on the north, the town of Webster on the 
 east, and Erin 9U the south. It has the regular 
 thirty-six sections of a government township. As 
 to the name, whethei' it is derived from the Wheat- 
 land which was the residence of President Bu- 
 chanan, from some town further east, or from its 
 intrinsic quality as regards the production of the 
 leading cereal of the eounti'y, it perhaps matters 
 little so long as it answers the two great purposes 
 of a name, which are to characterize and also to 
 distinguish it from all else with which it may be 
 confounded. 
 
 The town may be described as a rolling prairie, 
 being almost hilly in some parts. There was 
 formerly some lieavy timbei', but much of it was 
 l)rush prairie with scattering groves of small tim- 
 bei'. The soil is remarkably well adapted to 
 hay or grain. There are three lakes, in addition 
 to Phelps Lake which lays mostly in Erin but 
 comes up into this town near the western corner, 
 on the southern boundary. The largest of these 
 lakes is Cody Lake, which is from a few rods to 
 half a mile wide and about two miles long. The 
 other two have not been honored with names that 
 appear on the maps, but they are oval in form and 
 half a mOe in diameter, and certainly should have 
 this distinction. The overflow from these lakes, 
 which involve sections sixteen and seventeen for 
 one, imd nineteen and twenty for the other, finds 
 its way into Cody Lake. There are two or three 
 little rivulets in town but no streams of import- 
 ance. The soil is a rich dark loam with clayey 
 outcroppings on the elevated points. 
 
 The township is well settled with men who as a 
 35 
 
 rule carefully cultivate small farms, from which 
 the best results may always be expected. 
 
 EAKLY SETTLEMENT. 
 
 The earliest settlers to reach this town arrived 
 in 1855. It appears that Joseph J. Frazier, a 
 halfbreed, bis father being a Scotchman, came 
 here at an early day on a hunting and trapping 
 expedition under the patronage of Gen. Sibley 
 who was his fast friend. Being attracted by the 
 location, in the year above named he made a 
 claim on section thirty-two, between Cody and 
 Phelps Lakes, and here he estalilished a home, if 
 a bachelor hermitage can be so called, and existed 
 until 1861, when he was married and ccmtinued to 
 reside on the spot until gathered in by the (rreat 
 Keaper on the 23d of February, 1869. In mem- 
 ory of his old friend. Gen. Sibley placed a slate at 
 the head of his last resting place. Frazier was a 
 noted hunter and Indian warrior, and was at Fort 
 Eidgely when it was invested by the savages, and 
 ran through the lines and gave the alarm at Fort 
 Suelling so that relief was sent. At the time of 
 his death, a s^ketch of his life written by Gen. Sib- 
 ley was printed in the Pioneer Press. 
 
 Thomas Lambert, a native of Canada, came 
 here from West St. Paul in 1855, and selected a 
 place in section twenty-nine, but tlie next year 
 went to Mendota. Keturning the following Jan- 
 uary he located in section thirty-two where his son 
 Hercules now lives, and here he remained until 
 the 12th of March, 1882, when his demise oc- 
 curred. 
 
 Battice Bushman, also from Canada, came this 
 year and his lot fell in section twenty ; here he 
 made improvements for five or six years and then 
 moved to Nicollet county. 
 
 It is claimed that the first man after Frazier 
 was Louis Plaisance, a Canadian who planted 
 himself in section twenty-nine, but sold out iu 
 1858, and transplanted himself to Mendota, but 
 now lives in Minneapolis. 
 
546 
 
 BISTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 Henry Bellend, another Canadian, came with 
 Frazier from St. Paul and drove some claim 
 stakes in section thirty-two. He lived there long 
 enough to secure a title and then returned to 
 West St. Paul where he now resides. 
 
 John Faulkner, David Valentine, Charles Smith, 
 and John Taylor, natives of Scotland, formed a 
 settlement in the eastern part of the town. Faulk- 
 ner's place was in section thirteen which he culti- 
 vated for fourteen years and then removed to Mo- 
 Leod county where he now lives. Smith found a 
 piece of land in section fourteen; Valentine in 
 section thirteen; and Taylor struck a farm in sec 
 tion fourteen. Some years ago the whole party 
 went to some place near Cannon Falls. Taylor 
 was struck to death by lightning early in the sev- 
 enties. 
 
 Elaire Legree, a Canadian Frenchman, secured 
 a home in section twenty -one, and when the war 
 broke upon the country he enlisted in the army 
 and died on his way home. 
 
 Thomas McCormick surrounded a claim in sec- 
 tion twenty, which he worked up to 18G6, when 
 he sold and went to Illinois and from thence to 
 Missouri. 
 
 Titus Bunnell, of Nova Scotia, came here from 
 Louisiana and placed his signet on a farm in sec- 
 tion nineteen ; after a few years he went to Can- 
 non Falls and from there drifted over into Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 Among others who came this first year of the 
 settlement — 1855 — were Henry Bilon, William 
 Quinn, John Berry, Nelson Marsh, John Irvin, 
 John Cook, Benjamin LeDuc, and others. 
 
 In 1856, quite a number of new neiglil orhoods 
 were formed and the settlement considerably thick- 
 ened up. Three brothers, Louis, Joseph, and Gus- 
 tavus Martin, in company with their father and an 
 uncle named Paul, came together and secured 
 homesteads. Louis dismounted in section twenty 
 and proceeded to make himself comfortable un- 
 til 1873, when he removed to Le Sueur county. 
 Joseph made a home in section thirty-one and 
 there he toiled on up to the year 1878, when he 
 sold bis place and moved to White Earth, Becker 
 county, where he may l)e now found. Gustavus 
 settled on a lot in section thirty-one and there he 
 lived until 1875, when he went to Wisconsin. The 
 father made his home with Joseph. Pairl lived in 
 section thirty-three until his departure hence in 
 1873. 
 
 Zenus Y. Hatch, of Maine, put his sign man- 
 ual on a farm in section seventeen where he made 
 a home until 1870, when he sold and went to Red- 
 wood Falls, and from thence to Sante Agency, 
 Dakota, where he now is. 
 
 John Lynch, of Ireland, settled down to work 
 in section six. In 1868, he sold the place and 
 went to Goodhue county. 
 
 Peter Campbell and Charles Orr went into the 
 same section. Orr died in 1862, and Campbell 
 removed to Scott county. 
 
 Eichard Browne, a native of the Emerald Isle, 
 surrounded a farm in section thirty-five, upon 
 which he has wrought to the present time. 
 
 The Wilson brothers, William and James, na- 
 tives of Scotland, came onto section seven where 
 they made improvements up to 1864, when they 
 both sold out and joined the army. They may 
 now be found in Scott county. 
 
 Barnard Durham, an Irishman, located his part 
 of Uncle Sam's dominion in section eleven. He 
 now resides near Faribault. 
 
 James Thompson, another son of the Ever Green 
 Isle, took his acres in section thirty, and worked 
 the farm for four years and then went to Mendo- 
 ta. He took bis place early in 1856, or late in 
 the year previous. 
 
 Michael Fitzpatrick, of the same Celtic origin, 
 found a spot in section twenty-three that met his 
 re<[uii-ements, and he has been digging away 
 there ever since. 
 
 Onezian Berry, a native of Canada, pre-empted 
 a place for a home in sections nine and ten In 
 1882, he moved into Wells. 
 
 Thomas Lawler, another Celt, procured a farm 
 in section eighteen, but he now lives in the town- 
 ship of Northfield. 
 
 Among others who should be mentioned as mak- 
 ing their appearance this year, although but few, 
 if any, of them remain in the township are : John, 
 William, and Thomas Barrett, Patrick Kirk, Pat- 
 rick Littleton, Thomas Kelly, Thomas Kilroy, and 
 James Giblin, all natives of the "Shamrock Isle." 
 
 In 1857, the jjopulatiou received notable acces- 
 sions and some of the best remembered will be 
 mentioned. 
 
 Patrick Cody, a native Ireland, reported in per- 
 son to remain, on a farm in sections iwenty-niue 
 and thirty-two, which he had selected the year 
 previous. 
 
 James Lynn and Thomas Browne, from Ire- 
 
WHEATI.A Xl> ToWysllll'. 
 
 547 
 
 land, came directly from California and selected a 
 l<icatiou in section thirty-four which he has suc- 
 cessfully cultivated up to the present time. 
 
 Andrew Thompson, of the same nationality, 
 came with his son James and settled in section 
 thirty. Andrew, another son of the above, en- 
 listed in Company B, of the Cth Minnesota, and 
 returned at the close of the war, in June, 1865. 
 He was an able man and filled several town and 
 other offices and was three times a member of the 
 State Legislature. In 1880, he removed to Mc- 
 Leod county where he now resides. 
 
 Murdoch McLennan, a native of Scotland, se- 
 cured a homestead in section twenty -three, and 
 there he yielded up his life in 18(55. 
 
 James Willey, from the land of the Shamrock, 
 was transferred to section twenty -six, where he 
 still is in a thriving condition. 
 
 Jabez W. Flavel, from England, came over and 
 lived here until 1861, then sold out and went into 
 the army, but returned to live in Scott county. 
 
 Peter O'Brien had a stopping place here fur a 
 few years, when he moved on. 
 
 In the year 1858, the rear guard of the immi- 
 gration army came in and drojiped down on vari- 
 ous unoccupied points. 
 
 John Moutoul, a Canadian Frenchman, found 
 an unoecujiied spot in section nine, and there he 
 stationed himself and stood guard for eighteen 
 years, when he vacated the old jJost and camped 
 on section thirty-four, where be is in command at 
 the present time. 
 
 Thomas Horner came down from St. Paul on 
 his way from the "Old country" and cast anchor 
 in section five where he still remains. 
 
 Joseph Kartaka, a Bohemian, the advance guard 
 of that small but determined army that has since 
 followed, found some unoccupied acres in section 
 sixteen which he captured, but he afterward 
 moved on to Beaver Falls. Within a year or so 
 afterward came Philip Plaisance, who served the 
 town in various capacities, the State as a repre- 
 sentative, and his adopted country as a soldier. 
 
 Mr. B. Stepson, another Bohemian, secured a 
 local habitation in section four, but he is now on 
 section fourteen. Of his two sons, John has a 
 farm which he assiduously cultivates in section 
 eleven, and Frank bustles around with the old 
 gentleman. Thomas Lapic, of section ten, came 
 here in 1862. At the present time the population 
 
 is largely Bohemian. Although but few of them 
 can be said to be old settlers. 
 
 District No. 59. — This has been designated as 
 the mother of di.stricts. It was organized in 1857 
 and a school opened in a liuilding owned by Bat- 
 tice Bushman, on which some repairs had been 
 made by sawing the lumber with a whip saw. 
 Miss Ann (xxly was the first to wield the ferule 
 her-e. The next building to be pressed into the 
 service in which to teach mental "shooting," was 
 a claim cabin belonging to Mr. Simons of St. 
 Paul. Miss Nancy Patterson was the next to try 
 her hand in keeping the motley throng in order. 
 In 1865, tbey constructed a schoolhouse of hewn 
 logs, which was high toned even at that time, on 
 section twenty-nine. Miss Jane Young then as- 
 sumed the government of the school. In 1877, 
 this house fell a victim to the devouring flames 
 and a new frame house was put up that fall which 
 still stands. 
 
 District No. 76. —On the 15th of January, 
 1862, this district was brought into existence, and 
 Miss Lizzie Larking opened a school in the house 
 of James Welby in section twenty-six. The next 
 year a log house was got together on the same 
 section and Miss Larkins inaugurated the exer- 
 cises. That building was made to answer until 
 1879, when another was built on the same section 
 but about 80 rods west, more in accordance with 
 the modern ideas. Miss Ella Lee was the initial 
 teacher here. 
 
 District No. 45. — In 1863, this district assum- 
 ed form and a log cabin -nas rolled together on 
 section eleven. Miss Maggie Morrisey was the 
 presiding genius of the establishment, and this 
 building sheltered the school for about five years 
 when the wants of the district demanded better, 
 quarters and the building that now stands on the 
 same section was placed there. 
 
 DisTKicT No. 107. — This is one of the newest 
 districts as it had no existence until January, 
 1881. The first board of directors was made up 
 of Ole Bigg, O. M. Strate, and J. Tossum. Dur- 
 ing the year the house was erected on section 
 thirty-six. The first to take charge of the juven- 
 iles when collected for instruction was Richard 
 Lynch. 
 
 District No. 58. — In 1868, this district seemed 
 to be required by the growing wants of the neigh- 
 borhood, and after a regular organization the 
 
548 
 
 JTISTOnr OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 usual loghouse was gathered together on section 
 eight; a hyjjotheticHl Ijell was mug and the rising 
 generation assembled under its roof. Miss Mag- 
 gie Morrisey managed to manipulate them for a 
 fortnight when Miss Katie Galey took them in 
 hand and completed the term. In 1875, a frame 
 building was built, and here Joseph Mathias first 
 exclaimed, attention! 
 
 District No. 108. — Here is another new dis- 
 trict, as its high number indicates, which was or- 
 ganized by one of those special acts of the legisla- 
 ture which took n]> so niucdi time of that con- 
 glomerate body, and a schoolhouae is going up in 
 the village of Vessley. 
 
 DisTBicT No. 104. — The year 1878 witnessed 
 the formation of this district, and in the winter 
 the house was raised on section thirty-two and 
 completed at a cost of .f 800. Dan Duly was the 
 first to teach under its roof. It takes in a part of 
 Erin. 
 
 POST-OFFIOE. 
 
 This luxury was early obtained for this settle- 
 ment, that is, in 1857. The Postmaster was Peter 
 O'Brien who opened the office at his store in 
 section nineteen and held it there for two years; 
 then Patrick Cody got the appointment, and the 
 office went over to his house in section thirty-two 
 where it remained up to 1876. Then Thomas 
 Plaisance took the office to his place in section 
 twenty-six and he continued to handle the mails 
 until George E. Bates was commissioned in 1880. 
 He kept it one year and then C. A. Eemillard was 
 appointed who still has the office at his store in 
 section thirty-three. 
 
 POLITICAL. 
 
 The town was organized on the 11th of May, 
 1858, but the records of the first town meeting 
 are, to use a legal term, non est inmntus, but the 
 the minutes of the next meeting, in 1859, are pre- 
 served and the officers then elected were as fol- 
 lows : Supervisor, Z. Y. Hatch, Chairman, Charles 
 Orr, and Augustus Martin; Assessor, Z. Y. Hatch; 
 Collector, Caleb Vincent; Justice of the Peace, 
 Caleb Vincent; Town Clerk, Peter O'Brien. Titus 
 Bunnell and. Patrick Cody were among tlio first 
 officers of the town. 
 
 On the 14th of March, 1882, the following 
 officers were elected for the ensuing year: Super- 
 visor, Albert Husman, Chairman, John Pauek, 
 and Albert Smechek; Clerk, Flavian Benjamin; 
 
 Treasurer, Frank Sherek; Assessor, John Swan- 
 awitz; Justice of the Peace, C. A. Eemillard; Con- 
 stables, Thomas Lafitts and William Cody. 
 
 BBLIGIOUS. 
 
 Catuolic Church. — The first mass in town was 
 in Thomas Lambert's house on section twenty- 
 three in 1855, by Father Ravoux. Mr, Lambert 
 donated ten acres of laud in section twenty-nine, 
 and a church was built on that in 1858, which 
 must have been the second Catholic church in the 
 county. It was .of logs, the lumber to finish it 
 coming from St. Paul. Father Keller, from Fari- 
 bault, was the first priest in the church, which 
 served until 1871, when the building now stand- 
 ing was erected. Father Leib was the priest for 
 a number of years but Father Slevin now offici ■ 
 ates. 
 
 The Bohemian Cataolic Chdrch. — This church 
 stands on section ten and was constructed in 1875, 
 Mr. Thomas Lapic having donated fifteen acres of 
 land and John Ziska a like amount. There is a 
 cemetery connected with it. The first mass said 
 here before these people was at the house of John 
 Ziska. 
 
 MERCANTILE. 
 
 The first store in town was opened by Peter 
 O'Brien on section nineteen in 1857, but he kept 
 it up but a few years. 
 
 In 1874, Thomas Lambert opened a store in 
 section thirty -two, where he kept a general stock 
 of groceries, dry goods, boots and shoes, and liq- 
 uors. In about twenty months he became satis- 
 fied with his experience and closed up. 
 
 Napoleon Begin put up a building on section 
 thirty-three, and putting in a stock of goods be- 
 gan trade, and kept it up for about a year, when 
 he sold to C. A. Eemillard who kept on in the 
 same stor'e for about six months and then bought 
 a building near. Be is still behind that counter. 
 
 EARLY EVENTS. 
 
 Early Births. — Edward H., a son to Thomas 
 and Eosalie Lambert, was introduced into this 
 world on the 10th of June, 1854; he is now a 
 married man with a residence in section twenty- 
 nine. 
 
 Louis, a son of Louis and Angeline Morton, 
 dates his nativity from the 11th of June, 1857. 
 
 Edward, son of Louis and Julia Plaisance, ar- 
 rived on the 12th of June, 1857. 
 
WHEATLAND TOWNSHIP. 
 
 549 
 
 It is said that Joseph, a son of Joseph and Julia 
 Martin, was born in 1856, and lived to be two 
 years old. 
 
 Makriages. — Mr. Thomas Lambert and Miss 
 Cecil Guartin were united in marriage in June, 
 1858, by Patrick Cody, Esi]. Mr. Lambert lived 
 here until his summons by the Aii^el of death ou 
 the 12th of March, 1882. Hi.s widow remains ou 
 section thirty-two. 
 
 Deaths. — Eosalie, wife of Thomas Lambert, 
 was taken to the "Other Side" in October, 1857, 
 and her mortal remains were placed in the Cath- 
 olic cemetery in section nine. 
 
 Mary, daughter of Thomas and Rosalie Lam- 
 bert died some time in 185G, and was buried in 
 the same cemetery. 
 
 Drunken- Folly. — A Bohemian named Mat- 
 thew Cichla came to a fearful death on the 24th 
 of April, 1879. It seems that ou Easter Sunday, 
 Cichla got upon an exteusive spree in the course 
 of which he offered a wager that he could drink a 
 tumliler of whisky and also eat the glass — put the 
 entire thing out of sight and digest it. The bet 
 was accepted and the foolish fellow proceeded to 
 win it by drinking the whisky and then pounding 
 up the glass which he mixed with the tallow of a 
 candle, he swallowed the mixture of glass and 
 grease. The potion did not take immediate ef- 
 fect, liut on the following day he was seized with 
 horrible pains as the glass began to lacerate his 
 bowels. He started for home but f<'ll l>y the road 
 side and laid all day unattended, suffering inde- 
 scribable tortures. Toward night he was discov- 
 ered and carried home by neighbors and a physi- 
 cian secured, but as might be expected nothing 
 could be done, and the glass continued its cruel 
 and deadly work of grinding the poor wretch's 
 inwards until Thursday afternoon when deatli in 
 mercy carried him off. A post mortem examina- 
 tion disclosed that his stomach anil intestines had 
 been literally ground to shreds. The deceased 
 left a wife and family. 
 
 An Accident. — In September, 1879, while IMr. 
 and Mrs. Touack's little boy and girl were playing 
 in the haystack they conceived the idea of sliding 
 down the side, and while practicing this daugLM-- 
 ovs pastime the little girl missed her footing and 
 slid down striking on her head and instantly 
 breaking her neck, dying in a few moments. 
 
 Another accident similar to this occurred a few 
 weeks later near the same place, in which a Bo- 
 
 hemian, whose name we are unable to ascertain, 
 while threshing grain, fell from a strawstack and 
 was instantaneously killed. 
 
 THE VILLAGE OF VESSLET. 
 
 This is one of the latest candidates for recogni- 
 tion as a growing village. It was laid out, platted, 
 and lots put into the market in 1880, so that as 
 yet it is but an infant, although it must be admit- 
 ted that it is a lusty one for its age. The sight 
 of the new town is mostly on section fifteen. It 
 may be said to Vie a Bohemian enterprise, and 
 has stores, a church, schoolhouse, and other 
 village accessories, which, with a rich surrounding 
 country, makes it already a promising place. 
 
 The name first given to the village, and which 
 is still retained by the Post-office, was Wesely, but 
 it is said that seemed to grate harshly upon the 
 ears of the high ecclesiastical authorities, as it 
 sounded too much like the name of a destinguish- 
 ed dissenter, and so the W was bisected and S 
 added, and two letters transposed, but it is pre- 
 sumed that the bones of the illustrious Methodist 
 will moulder in the grave just as cpiietly, and his 
 influence on the present and succeeding gener- 
 ations be just as active as though all this had 
 never happened. 
 
 Business Interests. — Thomas Lapic started a 
 saloon in the spring of 1874, which is still in 
 operation. Another saloon was opened in 1881. 
 .Tames Toaps has a shoemaker's shop where cus- 
 tom work and repairing are specialties. 
 Albert Naalc has a provision store. 
 Charles Mosher, in 1880, put in a stock of goods, 
 and still continues in trade. 
 
 Albert Wasejpher erected a forge in 1875, and 
 he still carries on the blacksmithing business. 
 
 A. Charlaud built a blacksmith shop in section 
 thirty -three in 1870, and started a fire and kept it 
 aglow for about one year when he jold to Joseph 
 LaVoye who is still hammering away there. 
 
 In 1880, James Drozdu opened a saloon on 
 section thirty-three which is in full blast, to use a 
 furnace phrase. 
 
 The Post-office was established on the 1st of 
 July, 1879, and Albert Wasejpher was commis- 
 sioned Postmaster. 
 
 In 1882, Maertz and Semoter, erected a building 
 20x6Cr feet with tenements overhead, and put in a 
 stock of goods in great variety. Mr. Semoter at- 
 tends to the business, his partner living in New 
 Prague where he is also in mercantile business. 
 
550 
 
 HISTORY OP RICE COUNTY. 
 
 A harness shop is in course of construction. 
 
 Mathias Trinda, in January, 1879, opened a 
 saloon which is still in operation, in a building 
 24x50 feet with a hall in the second story. 
 
 John Tomek constructed a blacksmith shop 
 in 1877, and the sparks are still flying about his 
 anvil. 
 
 Voe Machacek started a blacksmith shop in 
 188(1, but at the end of eighteen months discontin- 
 ued the business. 
 
 Prank Sticka started the saloon business in 
 1877, which, after a tew months was turned over 
 to Joe Vrana, who is still behind the bar. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 Thomas Barrett, deceased, was born in Ireland 
 in 1825, and in 1847, came to America, locating 
 in Xeuia, Ohio, where he was employed on the 
 railroad a few years, then removed to Wisconsin 
 and engaged in farming. In 1855, he came to 
 Eice county and took a claim on section twenty- 
 three iu this township, but did not settle here. 
 He went to Muscatine, Iowa, and thence in a year 
 to Iowa City, where, in 1858, he married Miss 
 Honora Lacey. They went to Memphis, Ten- 
 nessee, where Mr. Barrett worked on the railroad 
 while his wife kept a boarding house, and from 
 there to Madrid, in the same State, purchased a 
 pair of mules and worked at grading, but finally 
 returned to Memphis. He remained in that city 
 until it was taken by the Union army during the 
 late war, then removed to St. Louis, Missouri, where 
 he engaged in taking rafts of lumber from the river. 
 In 1805, he came to his farm here and began to 
 improve it, building a log house in which he re- 
 sided until 1871, when he erected the present 
 edifice in which his family still live, having since 
 built a granary. He died on the 20th of May, 
 1874, and left a family of sis children ; William, 
 Thomas, John, Henry, Joseph, and Edward. 
 Edmund died at three years of age and the only 
 daughter when seven months old. 
 
 Petek O. Berg is a native of Norway, l)orn the 
 18th of September, 1842, and attended school in his 
 native country. He was married in 1871, to 
 Olivia Lar.sou and the same year came to America) 
 landed at Quebec, and came directly to North field, 
 Minnesota, thence moved to Dakota county, mak- 
 ing his home there until 1874. On removilig to 
 Wheatland, he jmrcliased wild land in section 
 twenty-five and immediately began to improve it 
 and built his ])resent house. Mr. and Mrs. Berg 
 
 have had sis children, three of whom are living, 
 Laurets, Bernt, andlngea. 
 
 Flavien Bbn.tamin, Jr., was born in Iberville 
 county, province of Quebec, Canada, on the 11th of 
 July, 1850. He sj^ent his youthful days at the 
 public schools, and in 1864 came to Minnesota 
 with his father, who bought land on section thirty- 
 three, Wheatland, and has since made his home 
 with him. His mother died just previous to their 
 removal. Our subject was married in the 20th of 
 February, 1882, to Miss Jennie Cody, daughter 
 of the late John Cody of St. Paul. He has been 
 elected to many local ofiices of trust; is the pres- 
 ent Town Clerk, and has been the Clerk of his 
 school district since its organization. 
 
 Thomas Brown dates his birth in Ireland, on 
 22nd of October, 1827, and early iu life engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits. In April, 1848, he emigra- 
 ted to America, landed in Boston, and went from 
 there to Wabau, iu the same State, where he en- 
 gaged in farming two years and in a tannery one 
 year. He was married in 1851, to Miss Ellen 
 Brown, and soon removed to California, spending 
 three years in mining, then returned to Wabau, 
 Massachusetts, and again engaged in a tannery. 
 In March, 1857, he came to Wheatland, located a 
 claim in sections thirty-four and thirty-five and 
 built a house which was subsequently destroyed 
 by fire, after which he erected a shanty and in 
 1869, his jjresent house. In 1864, he was drafted 
 into the army but was esempted. He has a family 
 of six children, Michael, Thomas, Johanna, Pat- 
 rick, Catheriue, and Mary. 
 
 Patriok Cody, deceased, one of the first settlers 
 in Wheatland, was a native of Ireland, born the 
 19th of January, 1808. He attended school until 
 eighteen years old, when he came with his parents 
 to America, and located at Port Kent, where Pat- 
 rick learned of his brother the trade of making nails, 
 which was, at that time, done by hand. At the 
 espiration of three years he went to Beauharnois 
 county, province of Quebec, Canada, where he en- 
 gaged in farming, and remained during the re- 
 bellion, taking ])art in it, for which he was arrested 
 and barely missed being transported. He after 
 ward returned to New York and located in Clinton 
 county where he made his home on a f^rm until 
 1854, when he removed to St. Paul, Minnesota. 
 In 1855, he came to Rice county, staked out a 
 claim in this township in sections twenty-nine and 
 thirty-two and built a claim shanty of logs, mov- 
 
WIIEATLji2fD TOWNSHIP. 
 
 551 
 
 ing bis family here in the spring of 1856. In 
 1875, he built the frame house in which he resided 
 till his death on the 10th of January, 1880. He 
 was married on the 0th of June, 18:!'2, to Miss 
 Sarah Graham, a native of Ciunberland county, 
 England. Their children were; Jane, now Mrs. 
 John Patterson, living in St. Paul; Andrew, vpho 
 died in infancy; John, who died in 186.3, in his 
 twenty-fourth year; Willie, who died in infancy; 
 Patrick, who died in 1864, in liis twenty-fourth 
 year; Ann, now Mrs. Joseph Dubois, living in 
 St. Paul; Sarah, William, who is married and 
 lives on the farm adjoining the homestead; and 
 Blary, who died in 1871, in her nineteenth year. 
 Mrs. Cody still resides on the homestead with her 
 sou, Edward, and daughter, Sarah. Mr. Cody 
 was warm-hearted and hospitalile; no weary 
 traveler, whether rich or poor, ever passed his 
 door and found the latch string pulled in, and the 
 old settlers who have often times enjoyed his hos- 
 pitality sincerely mourn his loss. 
 
 Peter Fabee, a native of France, was born the 
 7th of October, 1847. After receiving his educa- 
 tion he worked in a flour-mill, and in 1867, went 
 to Marseilles, where he was employed in the same 
 occupation for a few months. In 1871, he en- 
 listed in the French army, serving eight months 
 and receiving an honorable discharge. In the 
 latter part of 1871, he went to Lyons, engaged as 
 miller nearly a year, afterward removed to Paris, 
 and in 1873, emigrated to America, landing in 
 Quebec, Canada, and from there went to Mon- 
 treal, where he found employment at his traile. 
 One year later he came to Minnesota, and for 
 three months resided in Cannon City, then went 
 to Dundas and engaged in Archil)akr3 Mills sis 
 months. He came to Wheatland and conducted 
 St. Amond's Mill fourteen months, subsequently 
 erected a building on section thirty-two and 
 opened a store and saloon, which he conducted 
 until 1880. In 1876, he went to the Centennial 
 at Philadelphia, and afterward to France. He was 
 married in the latter year to Miss Louise (Jrotliy, 
 who has borne him two children; Louise and Al- 
 bert. In 1879, Mr. Fabre built a Hour-mill aud 
 in 1881, a saw-mill, and has since conducted them 
 both. 
 
 Michael Fitzpateick, one of the pioneers of 
 Kice county, was born in Ireland in 1817, and 
 was brought up on a farm. In 18-12, he emi- 
 grated to America; went from New York City to 
 
 Corning where he engaged un tlie railroad and in 
 one year went to Great Bend and afterward to 
 Kentucky. After working at railroading in the 
 latter State eleven months he returned to Corn- 
 ing. In 1854, Miss Bridget McCall became his 
 wife, and two years later they came to Minnesota, 
 located a claim iu Wheatland, section twenty- 
 three, which is still their home. Their children 
 are; Catharine, Michael, Mary, Lizzie, Susan, 
 Bridget, Margaret, and Ellen. 
 
 Patrick Gorman was tiorn ui Ireland in 1831, 
 aud when eight years old his father died, and two 
 years later Patrick came to America witli his 
 mother. They landed at Quebec and went from 
 thence to Rouse's Point, New York, living in or 
 near the place four years. Our subject resided 
 in many different places in that State, including 
 Binghamton, Great Bend, and New Milford, un- 
 til 1855, when he removed to Scranton, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and engaged in railroad work one year. In 
 1856, he came to this State, located in Eagan 
 town, Dakota county, and for nine seasons was 
 engaged in boating on the Mississippi and Min- 
 nesota rivers. He served in the late war from 
 1864, until June, 1865, in the Tenth Minnesota 
 Volunteer Infantry, Company K. In 1870, he 
 bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in 
 this township, moved his family here and imme- 
 diately began making improvements. Mr. Gor- 
 man was married in Binghamton, New York, to 
 Miss Mary Mehan and the issue of the imion was 
 seven children, six of whom are living; Elizabeth, 
 Annie, James, Blargaret, Katie, and Maria. His 
 wife died in Dakota county and is buried at Men- 
 dota. His present wife was Miss Mary Flynn whom 
 he married in 1871. They have had six children, 
 four now living; Cornelius, Daniel, Honora, and 
 Mary. Susan died in 1882, aged two years and 
 four mouths, and Edward died in 1875, at the age 
 of one year and six months. 
 
 Thomas Hoenek is a native of Ireland and 
 dates his birth in 1830. He was raised to agri- 
 cultural pursuits and in 1850, came to America, 
 going from New York to New Jersey, and after 
 working in a saw-mill five years, removed to Chi- 
 cago, Illinois, There he was employed in a gas 
 manufactory six months, then came to St. Paul, 
 and in 1857 pre-empted a quarter in section five, 
 Wheatland, where he remained long enough to 
 establish his claim and returned to St. Paul. In 
 1861, he married Miss Mary Fox of his native 
 
552 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNT r. 
 
 country, and the same year settled permanently 
 on bis farm. He has eight chiklren ; James, 
 Thomas, Mary Jane, Patrick, JRobert, John, Ma- 
 tilda, and Ellen. 
 
 Thomas Lambekt, deceased, one of the oldest 
 settlers of Wheatland, was born in Quebec, Can- 
 ada, on the 16th of November, 1823. He was 
 employed on boats on the St. Lawrence Eiver un- 
 til 1847, when he came to the States to settle and 
 for two seasons was engaged on a boat plying on 
 the Mississippi River from St. Paul to St. Louis. 
 He made a claim at Little Crow village, but soon 
 sold and went to We.st St. Paul, bought a tract of 
 land and built a house. He was married in 18.50, 
 to Miss Rosalie Osier and they had three children; 
 Hercules, Mary, and Edward. In 1855, he re- 
 moved to Wheatland and staked out a claim in 
 section twenty-nine, building a log house. He 
 assisted new-comers in selecting land and put up 
 shanties for many of them. In 1856, he moved 
 to Mendota and opened a stock of goods, but did 
 not make a success of it, closed out in about six 
 months and returned to this place, locating on his 
 son's land in section thirty-two. He built a frame 
 house in which he lived a few years, afterward 
 erected a large log house in which he kept board- 
 ers. His wife died in 1858, and a few months 
 later he married Cecil Guartiu who survives him. 
 Mr. Lambert enlisted in the Second Minnesota 
 Cavalry, was transferred to the Eleventh Minne 
 sola Volunteer Infantry, Company B, sent south, 
 and at Gallatin, Tennessee, was taken sick and 
 never after fully recovered his health. He died 
 on the 12tb of March, 1882. Mrs. Lambert bore 
 her husband thirteen children, seven of whom are 
 living; Ro.salie, Amelia, Mary, Benjamin, Orelia, 
 Sophrenia, and Zereme. 
 
 Edward H. Lambert, son of the subject of 
 our last sketch, made his home with his parents 
 until 1878, when he was joined in matrimony 
 with Miss Zereme Piston and now resides on his 
 farm in section twenty-nine. 
 
 Murdoch McLennan, deceased, one of the 
 pioneers of this township, was born in Scotland 
 in 1809, While young he was engaged in herd- 
 ing sheep and afterward opened a provision store 
 which lie conducted about ten years. He was 
 united in marriage in January, 1848, with Miss 
 Catharine Lyon, and in 1857, they emigrated to 
 America, coming directly to Rice county and lo- 
 cating a claim in Wheatland in section twenty- 
 
 three. He had six children; Arabella, Ellen 
 Murdoch, John, Janet, and Kenneth. Mr. Mc- 
 Lennan died on the 5th of November, 1865, and 
 his wife in March, 1862. The children now oc- 
 cuj)y the homestead. 
 
 JoriN Montour is a native of Canada, born 
 the 18th of November, 1843, and was brought up 
 on a farm. In 1857, he came to Minnesota and 
 after one year's residence in St. Paul came to 
 Wheatland, bought land in section nine and built 
 a log hou.se. He was married in 1861, to Miss 
 Lilda Lackepell, Mrs. Montour died leaving five 
 children; Jessie, Mary Louise, Peter, Moses, and 
 Mamie. In 1880, he sold his former farm and 
 purchased in section thirty -four where he still re- 
 sides. 
 
 THEorHii/US O'Dette was born in Montreal, 
 Canada, on the 13th of October, 1812. In 1831, 
 he married Miss Elmira MontviUe, and in 1851, 
 removed to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, remained 
 five years and came to Minnesota, taking land 
 near Mendota. He worked on Gen. Sibley's farm 
 one year, afterward made improvements on his 
 own, and in 1864, entered the Second Minnesota 
 Volunteer Infantry, Company D, serving till 
 June, 1865, and after his discharge returned to 
 Mendota. He contracted a disease while in the 
 army from which he has never fully recovered. 
 In 1866, he traded his land in the latter place for 
 a farm in this townsliip in section twenty, where 
 he still makes his home. Of eight children born 
 to him five are living; Emma, Mary, Vallaire, Ed- 
 ward, and Johanna. 
 
 Philip Plais.ance, a n.ative of Canada, was 
 born in Litbiniere, Quebec, on the 25th of Sep- 
 tember, 1835, and attended the public schools of 
 his native village. He afterward clerked in a 
 store three years and in 1855, came to Minnesota, 
 arriving at Mendota the 19th of October; pre- 
 empted land in this county in the townshij) of 
 Erin on which he lived until his claim was estab- 
 lished, then returned to jNIendota. He clerked in 
 a store six months, after which he engaged in 
 farming and in 1857, purchased land in Wheat- 
 land, to which he removed two years later. He 
 was married on the 5th of July, 1858, to Miss 
 Sophia Corbin, of his native country.^ In June, 
 
 1864, he enlisted in the Eleventh Minnesota Vol- 
 imt«er Infantry, Company B; served till May, 
 
 1865, when he was discharged and returned home. 
 The same year he liuilt a log house, and in 1875, 
 
WITEAri.AND TOWNSniP. 
 
 553 
 
 his present frame house. Mr. Plaisance has filled 
 local offices and served three terms in the Legisla- 
 ture. Of thirteen children born«to him two died 
 in infancy, and those living are; Ootavia, Philip, 
 Joseph, Mary, Thomas, Arthur, Delia, Denis, 
 Amanda, Emma, and Alice. 
 
 William Quinn is a native of Ireland, born iu 
 1837, and when seventeen years old came to 
 America, landed in New York and went from there 
 to Philadelphia, remaining six months. He then 
 removed to this State, lived one year iu Sauk 
 Centi'e, afterward went to Lousiana, w,here for one 
 winter he was engaged in building levees, and the 
 next spring removed to Cincinnati, Ohio. In 
 September, 1862, he enlisted in the Fifth Ohio 
 Volunteer Infautry, Company 0, and after being 
 in camp five months, joined the army of the Ten- 
 nessee, and served till the close of the war, being 
 taken prisoner once in East Tennessee and held 
 five days. He was discharged in .Juno, 1865, and 
 in 1867, came to Wheatland, locating in section 
 one on the land formerly owned by his brother. 
 In 1869, he married Miss Mary J. Gordon, who 
 died in 187(1, and his present wife was Miss Mary 
 McKenna, who l)ecame Mrs. Quinn iu 1871. The 
 result of the later uuiou is Ave children; Sarah, 
 James, John, Thomas, and William. 
 
 C. A. Remillard was born in the proviuce of 
 Quebec, Canada, on tlie 25th of March, 1847, and 
 when seventeen years old, having then received 
 his education, he came to New York, where he en- 
 gaged on the Erie Canal one summer and iu the 
 winter worked on a farm. In the spring he went 
 to Vermont and after working two years iu a saw- 
 mill came to St. Paul, Minnesota, thence to North- 
 field, engaged on a farm, and in the fall returned 
 to St. Paul, where he clerked iu a store one year. 
 then moved to Minne.^ipolis and subsequently to 
 Lake Sujierior and worked on the railroad three 
 months. The nest winter he spent in this town- 
 ship and the following two years worked in a saw- 
 mill in Minneapolis in the summer and in the 
 pineries in the winter, then returned here and en- 
 gaged in St. Amond's saw and grist-mill. In 
 
 1874, Miss Margaret Berry became his wife. In 
 
 1875, he opened a saloon on section thirty-tliree, 
 conducted it three montLis and moved to Erin; 
 spent four years there, and in 1881, engaged in 
 mercantile business iu section thirty -three, which 
 he still c niilu'^ts. He is at ])resent .Justice of the 
 Peace and also Postmaster, appoiuted in 1881. 
 
 His children are Emma, and Clare and Henry, who 
 
 are twins. 
 
 Alhekt Smisek was born in Bohemia iu July, 
 1852, and received his education in his native couu- 
 I try, coming to America in 1867, with his sister. He 
 I was employed three years on a steamboat on the 
 Mississippi Kivor, and now owns and resides on a 
 farm in this township in section fifteen. He was 
 was married on the 19th of May, 1873, to Miss 
 Elizabeth Pasak, who has borne him five children; 
 Albert, Michael, Frank, Joe, and Mary. 
 
 Olif M. Strate is a native of Norway and dates 
 his birth the 26th of August, 1849. He received 
 his education and engaged in farming in that 
 country until 1867, when he emigrated to Ameri- 
 ca. He came to Minnesota and settled in Eureka, 
 Dakota county, remaining until 1876, then came to 
 this county and bought a farm iu section twenty - 
 five; has most of his land cleared and owns a good 
 house. He was joined iu marriage in 1876, with 
 Miss Mary Alickson. They have three children; 
 Betsy Maria, Magnus Bernhart, and Dorothea 
 Ragna. 
 
 James Tonek was Ijorn in the western part of 
 Ireland, in 1818, and grew to manhood on a farm. 
 In 1849, he married Miss Elizabeth Durfee, and in 
 1851, they came to America, landed at New York 
 and went directly to Willimantic, Couneticut, 
 where Mr. Toner engaged in the paper mill of L. 
 M. Page. In 1856, he removed to York, Wiscon- 
 sin, engaged in farming until 1869, when he came 
 to Hastings, Minnesota, and in two years to 
 Wheatlanil, liuying wild laud in section twenty- 
 five which is now nearly all cleared. His children 
 are; Mary, John, James, Michael, Kate, and 
 Thomas. 
 
 James WiLBV, one of the early settlers of Wheat- 
 land, was born in Ireland in 1817, and when 
 yormg engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1852, 
 he came to America, went from Ni^w York, the 
 place of landing, to New .Jersey, and engaged in 
 fanning two years, afterward went to Manistee, 
 Michigan. He was there employed in a saw-mill, 
 and in 1854, married Miss Bridget Branan. In 
 1856, lie removed to St. Paul, and the next spriug 
 to this township, locating a claim iu section 
 twenty-six and in 1869, l)uilt his present frame 
 house, having previously lived in log houses. Of 
 nine children born to him, .sis are living; Patrick 
 Johnnie, Mary, Thomas, Margaret, and Martin. 
 
554 
 
 HISTORY OF RIGE COUNTY. 
 
 ERIN. 
 
 CHAPTER LXIV. 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE — EARLY SETTLEMENT EVENTS AND 
 
 INCIDENTS — POLITICAL FOWLEKSVILLE EDU- 
 CATIONAL — BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 The township bearing this memorial name 
 leaves no doubt as to the nationality which first 
 settled it, and naturally would keep thronging in; 
 and the name indicates the class of people by 
 whicli it ia now almost entirely settled. As to the 
 general features of the surface and scenery, what 
 has been said of Forest and Shieldsville would 
 apply very readily to this township, except, how- 
 ever, that Erin is a more strictly timber town, and 
 has fewer lakes than either of those named; in 
 fact it has no lakes of any importance wholly with- 
 in its borders, although many small streams tra- 
 verse the valley of the timber to become affluents 
 to the Cannon River. Tuft's Lake on the south 
 extends partially over sections thirty-four and 
 thirty-five, forming the largest body of water in 
 the township, while a small chain of lakes extend 
 the sheet eastward and forms a southern bound- 
 ary to section thirty-six. In the northern part of 
 town Phelps' Lake infringes on portions of sections 
 live and six,entering from Wheatland; and one mile 
 to the east a small body of water covers a few 
 acres of land in section four. In the center of 
 section ten is located a pond known as "Logue 
 Lake," from which flows a small stream which 
 woiids its way eastward to Circle Lake in Forest 
 townsliip. Another small brook, which joins the 
 one mentioned, rises in section twenty-five, and 
 flowing northward completes the unison in sec- 
 tion thirteen. 
 
 The soil is mostly a rich dark loam, with, how- 
 ever, a frequent tendency to a lighter nature, and 
 sand; well adapted to the common crops of this 
 latitude, and ricli for all varieties of indigenous 
 grasses for grazing. The entire town, with the 
 exception of a few natural meadows, was origin- 
 
 ally forest, the noted body of timber known as the 
 "Big Woods" claiming the greater portion of the 
 territory, bift now a great deal of this has been 
 removed and many fine and valuable farm 
 are being cultivated, where originally the wilder- 
 ness was almost impenetrable; and the hand of 
 industry, which has wrought the change — con- 
 verted the dense, uninhabitable region into homes 
 and fields of plenty — is still at work, and proba- 
 bly, by the time another generation passes into 
 the "days of old," additional changes shall have 
 been wrought, quite as marvelous. 
 
 Erin is constituted as originally surveyed by 
 government officers, and has, therefore, thirty-six 
 sections or 23,040 acres, of which very little is no* 
 taxable. In 1860, the population was barely 300, 
 five years later, it had increased to 385; in 
 1870, to 527; and in 1880, at the last census, to 
 846. In 1870, the values in Erin, as given to the 
 census takers, were as foUows: real property, 
 $78,000; personal property, $42,350; total, $120,- 
 350. The total assessed value, real and personal 
 for the same year, was .$57,187. In 1882, after 
 taxes had been equalized, the values were assess- 
 ed as follows: real property, $72,251; personal, 
 $25,357; total, $97,608. This shows an increase 
 of assessed value in the last twelve years of $40,- 
 421. 
 
 To furnish an idea of what was said of this 
 township in early days, here is a sketch of it made 
 in 1868, by F. W. Frink, and published in j^am- 
 phlet form; it is as follows: "As its name indi- 
 cates, this town, like Shieldsville, is peopled almost 
 entirely by emigrants from the Emerald Isle. In 
 its general features of surface, and scenery also, 
 it resembles the town last mentioned, which it lies 
 next to on the north. Erin, however, has fewer 
 lakes, in fact none situated wholly within its bound- 
 aries, more of meadows and brush prairie and less 
 of heavily timbered land than the town of Shields- 
 ville. Of its whole area 19,528 acres are taxable 
 
ERIN TOWNSlirP. 
 
 555 
 
 lands, 1,960 acres beloug to railroads,280 to Gov- 
 ernment, and 1,130 acres are unsold School lands. 
 Non-resident lands are held at from §2.50 to S5 
 per acre." 
 
 The above would answer very readily for the 
 present, except that the unsold land is now about 
 all occupied by actual settlers. Of its comjjari- 
 son, in the clipping, with Shieldsville, it is incor- 
 rect; but that is treated in the former part of this 
 article. The price of land now ranges from $i) 
 per acre upwards. 
 
 EAKLT SETTLEMENT. 
 
 The earliest actual settlement of tliis sub-divi- 
 siou of Rice county was commenced early in the 
 year 1855, and was, therefore, a little behind the 
 majority of towns, as most of them received a set- 
 tler or two in IS.ii. As the name of the town im- 
 plies, there were none but the descendants of the 
 old loved Emerald Isle to be recorded in the 
 pages of its early history ; and, in fact, for a num- 
 ber of years, until a good share of the government 
 land was taken, there was not one resident of the 
 township of other than the Celtic origin; as it is 
 said, the arrival of pioneers of other nationalities, 
 with a view to securing homes, being regarded by 
 many of the citizens as an encroachment upon 
 their rights and domain. 
 
 In the spring of 1855, as if premeditated, a 
 party of pioneers, from various directions, burst 
 in upon the tranquility of the town, in the south- 
 eastern part, with the determination to secure 
 homes and promote civilization. The balance of 
 the county had already received a number of set- 
 tlers. Faribault was quite a town and near it 
 already was heard the sound of the water-wheel 
 and the buzz of the saw; but Eriu was yet con- 
 sidered "backwoods" ;ind no pioneer had consent- 
 ed to accept the hardship, privation, and toil the 
 opening of the timber would necessarily incur. 
 This party had decided to risk it, and here they 
 were in June, 1855: Jeremiah Healy, Sylvester 
 Smith, John Burke, James Cummin gs, John BIc- 
 Manus and Owen Farley, the most of them bring- 
 ing their families. 
 
 About the first of this party to locate and select 
 a claim was Jeremiah Healy, and as he was an 
 important personage among the early pioneers, 
 we will give a short sketch of his life: Jeremiah 
 Healv was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1819, and re- 
 mained at the place of his birth until the year 
 18i2, when he came to America and located at 
 
 Dubuque, Iowa, where, in April, 1849, he was 
 married to Miss Hannah McCarthy. He re- 
 mained here until 1855, when he came to Erin 
 and located in the southern part of the town, 
 where he put up a log shanty l(;x24 feet, the first 
 in the township. Mr. Healy had left his family 
 in his former home, and after he had prepared a 
 place for them returned and brought them out, 
 bringing also a, number of head of stock and one 
 colt. He remained in Erin until the time of his 
 death which occurred on the 25th of July, 18G8. 
 Of his family of children, nine are still living. 
 His widow lives in Faribault with her two sons, 
 E. J. and J. F. Healy, twins, who are in the mer- 
 cantile business. Anotiier son, Jolm Healy, is 
 still on the old place in Erin. 
 
 After Healy had located, Sylvester Smith was 
 next to select a place, which he did in sections 
 twenty-five and thirty-six. He was a native of 
 Ireland and had stopped for a time in Iowa, get- 
 ting into Kice' county with a yoke of oxen and 
 immediately erected a small log shanty. Soon 
 after his arrival he manged to secure a grindstone, 
 and for a number of years the settlers for six 
 miles around would come to his place to sharpen 
 their knives and farming cutlery. He also was 
 fortunate enough to secure the first grain cradle 
 in the township. When he first arrived with his 
 family, consisting of his wife and two children, 
 there were only three houses between his place 
 and Faribault. 
 
 Mr. John Burke, of the same nationality, plant- 
 ed his stakes on the claim of his choice, but only 
 remained for a few years when he left for parts 
 unknown to us. 
 
 James Cummhigs next secured a place on sec- 
 tion twenty-seven and put up a small log shanty 
 at once, as he had brought his family, and com- 
 menced pioneering with barely enough to get. 
 along with, and by thrift and enterprise has now 
 become a well-to-do and iutluential farmer, still 
 living on the old place. One of his sons is now 
 a Justice of the Peace and Town Clerk, and an- 
 other is school clerk of the district in which he 
 lives. 
 
 John McMauus, another son of the Emerald 
 Isle, a single man, took a claim in the southern 
 part of the town, near his fellow countrymen, and 
 still remains in the same vicinity. He was joined 
 in wedlock shortly afterward, making one of the 
 first marriages in the town. 
 
556 
 
 HISTOBT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 The last member of this party, Owen Farley, 
 settled on section twenty-six, where he still re- 
 mains. 
 
 This entire party came in with ox teams and all 
 settled in the south and southeastern part of the 
 township. Those of them who still remain, al- 
 though coming with little or nothing, are now 
 farmers in comfortable circumstances, and with 
 fertile and valuable farms. 
 
 In the same year, a little later in the season, the 
 southwestern comer of the town received a settler 
 and commenced building up a neighborhood as 
 efficiently as the southeastern part. 
 
 James McBride, another descendant of "Tlie 
 Old Sod," drifted in and anchored himself in 
 section thirty-one, where his moorings are still 
 fast. He brought in considerable stock and com- 
 menced pioneer life by putting up a log shanty. 
 Shortly after McBride arrived in the fall, E. 
 Clarken put in an appearance and located on sec- 
 tion thirty, where he still remains, having made 
 himself what he is, a wealthy farmer, since his ar- 
 rival in Erin. 
 
 This was the extent to which the township was 
 settled this year, carrying the settlement up to 
 the winter of 1855-56, which proved a very trying 
 and severe one to the meagre settlement, as they, 
 as yst, had had no time to prepare for it. A Mr. 
 Condon was frozen to death while on his way to 
 his claim near J. Oumming's place. He had gone 
 to Shieldsville for groceries and jjrovisions to sup- 
 ply the wants of his family, and on his way home 
 lost the road, became discouraged and benumbed 
 by cold, and gave up to the drowsiness which in 
 freezing means death. This misfortune was the 
 third death that occurred in the township. Many 
 of the settlers, lunvever, anticipating a hard time, 
 had avoided the danger by going to St. Paul for 
 the winter, and returning the following spring. 
 
 The next year the settlement became more rapid 
 and all parts of the town received a share of the 
 incomers. Many came who have since removed 
 with the restlessness of Americans, to the far 
 West, there to help, no doubt, in the civilization 
 and cultivation of a land fully as rich as this has 
 proved to be. Among the arrivals this year many 
 will be mentioned. 
 
 Charley McBride arrived in 1856, and made 
 himself at home on sections nine and sixteen 
 where his lamp still holds out to burn. His ready 
 wit, ever willingness for a joke, no matter who 
 
 the "butt" of it was, and altogether his good nature 
 and sociability made bim a noted character 
 throughout the entire county and stamped him as 
 the "prince of good fellows." Wherever the 
 happy "phiz" of Charley is, there is sure to be 
 fun and a good time generally. 
 
 Andrew Kelly, of Celtic origin, drifted in and 
 dropped anchor in section twenty-six where his 
 anchorage still remains intact. He came in com- 
 pany with his brother, Frank Kellv, who took a 
 quarter section adjoining his farm. Frank was 
 married at an early day, and lived here until 
 about 1862, when he mysteriously disappeared^ 
 and nothing has ever since been seen or heard of 
 him. Many theories, and they could be only 
 mere speculative ideas, have been advanced as to 
 the cause of his disappearance, but they are all 
 unsatisfactory, as nothing can be conclusive where 
 there is not the slightest shadow of fact for its 
 foundation. His son still holds the old homestead 
 in section twenty-six. 
 
 D. and John Caliban came in 1856, the latter 
 being still on his place. J. O'Keilly and father 
 came about the same time; the latter is now de- 
 ceased and the former is in St. Paul. The Ash 
 brothers also arrived about the same time. They 
 were Peter and Thomas, the former took the place 
 where he now lives, in section fourteen, and the 
 latter left without obtaining any land. 
 
 Section thirty- three, in the southern part of the 
 town, was the recipient of T. Flaunagan, an 
 Irishmen, who still "holds the fort" here, and 
 about the same time of the year '56, Henry Smith 
 secured a home in section twenty-seven. 
 
 Four Mnlcahy brothers, Patrick, Timothy, Dan- 
 iel, and Dennis, natives of the Emerald Isle, put 
 in an appearance this year and took farms near to- 
 gether, on and about section twenty-nine. The 
 first two, Patrick and Timothy, died at an early 
 day; Dennis removed to Wells township abont 
 1867, while Daniel still lives on the original pre- 
 emption. 
 
 In section eight, the same year, Edward P. Oar- 
 roll took the northeast, and Patrick Sheehan secur- 
 ed the southwest (juarter where they now reside 
 in comfortable circumstances. Just south of these 
 parties, in section seventeen, B. Foley and An- 
 drew Devereux each secured IGO acres and still 
 flourish on their places, both having been promi- 
 nent men in the township. 
 
 John Doyle, originally from Ireland, planted 
 
EUTN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 r,r,7 
 
 his stakes on an eighty acre piece of land in the 
 southern part of section five, and still occupies the 
 place. 
 
 Hugh and Patrick McEntee, fatlier and son, 
 came in IHbl], and the former took the farm in sec- 
 tion twenty-four, on which he now lives, and after 
 a few years Patrick got married and purchased a 
 jjlace in section ten. E. Kiernan pre-emjjted a 
 jjlace in 1856, which joins Patrick's farm. 
 
 There were many arrivals this year besides those 
 noted already, among which may be mentioned 
 John Gorman, who remained on his farm until 
 1870, when he removed to Fairbault where he is 
 now "Mine host" at the Northwestern Hotel; the 
 O'Sullivan brothers, Patrick, John, and James, 
 who are still prominent men in the town ; James 
 Warren, who paid the debt of mortality in 1873, 
 leaving his widow and one son upon the place; 
 Dennis Dooley, Michael Richardson, Chas. Ma- 
 guire, M. Kallaher, John Quinlan, E. Maher, and 
 T. McBreen, all of whom settled this year, and 
 still remain in the township, well-to-do, influential, 
 and comfortable farmers. 
 
 This carries the settlement up to a time when 
 the influx became so rapid and constant that it is 
 impossible to note them in sequence; but many 
 arrivals since this date are noted in another place 
 under the head of "Biographical," to which place 
 we refer the reader. In 1860, the populaticm of Erin 
 had grown to 306, and almost all of the govern- 
 ment land was taken. It should be noted in this 
 connection that General James Siiields had a great 
 deal of influence in developing this township, and 
 especially can the tide of Irish incomers be at- 
 tributed to him, as he had located just on the line 
 dividing this town from Shieldsville, and his ad- 
 vertisements in eastern papers in\'iting others to 
 join him, attracted the attention of his country- 
 men, and they thronged in. A great many of the 
 claims occupied by the settlers mentioned above, 
 had been selected before the parties had arrived, 
 by Jeremiah Healy, who was the first to actually 
 secure a farm. By observation, he had jiicked up 
 the rudiments of surveying and his knowledge 
 was very useful to the pioneers in laying out their 
 future homes. There have been as many as sis- 
 teen or twenty of them, in early days, stopping at 
 Mr. Healy's log cabin — free of charge — while they 
 were looking for farms. 
 
 EVENTS AND INCIDENTS. 
 
 Early Bikths. — The first child born in the 
 
 township was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jeremiah 
 Healy, in the latter part of 185.'), in the southern 
 part of the town. The minor arrival was chris- 
 tened Sarah, and she afterwards m.-irried Mr. .John 
 Dudley and is now living in Faribault. 
 
 The next event of this kind was in 1856, when a 
 child named Catherine was born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 John Burke. She now lives in Iowa. 
 
 Another early birth was James, a son of Mr. 
 and Mrs. E. Clarken; the boy grew to manhood in 
 Erin and n<jw lives in St. Paul. 
 
 Mathew Smith, who now lives in Wells, wab 
 born in Erin at an early day. 
 
 Marriages. — In this line the township has a 
 peculiar history, one in fact, which is almost with- 
 out a parallel. It is, that since the original set- 
 tlement of the town, almost thirty years ago, un- 
 til the present time, only one marriage has taken 
 place within the limits of the town, this being the 
 oci-asion, in 1878, when Mr. George Levoy and 
 Miss Annie Berry were united in the holy bonds 
 of matrimony by Father Eobierrie, at the house 
 of School district No. 68. The bride was the 
 daughter of John Berry. Of course this does not 
 signify that the residents of Erin have refrained 
 from taking partners to their joys and sorrows, 
 indeed, such is not the case, but by some queer 
 freak of the "god of chance" parties matri- 
 monially inclined have always had the conjugal 
 knot tied at some point out of the limits of the 
 town. 
 
 The first marriage of residents in the town oc- 
 curred in the winter of 1856, at Faribault and 
 were .John Quinlan and Bridget Martin. The 
 ceremony was performed by Father Eavoux and 
 the ha])py couple still reside in their country's 
 namesake township. 
 
 As early as 1857, the marriage of Mr. John 
 McManus to Miss Eliza Kelly took place at the 
 village of ShieldsviUe, and after the couple had 
 taken the floor preparatory to listening to the 
 last words of the ceremony, it was discovered that 
 there was no ring to place u]X)n the liride's finger, 
 and as this article was indispensible in the code, 
 for a moment it lo(.)ked as though the young couple 
 were doomed to single life yet a short time, or 
 until the needed finger ornament was brought 
 forward. Happily, the officiating minister con- 
 ceived an idea that he at once executed, which 
 relieved them of the dilficulty; he took the key 
 from the door and placing it upon the l)ride'8 
 finger pronounced them man and wife. 
 
558 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 Another early marriage was that of Thomas 
 Casey to Catlierine Kelley. They now live in 
 Wells township. 
 
 Early Deaths. — Undoubtedly the first death 
 to occur in Erin was Mary Ann, child of Sylvester 
 Smith, who was called away in October, 1855. 
 She was buried in Shields ville. "This child's 
 grandfather, Martin Smith, father of Sylvester 
 Smith, was the second death, laying down the 
 burden of life's trials and uncertainties in 1855, 
 at the age of sixty- five years. His remains were 
 also interred at Shieldsville. 
 
 The next death was Mr. Condon, in the early 
 part of 1856, hy freezing. He is mentioned else- 
 where. 
 
 In 1858, while Edward Kiley and Sylvester 
 Smith were in the timber chopping wood, a limb 
 from one of the trees fell, and striking Edward 
 Riley on the head, killed him instantly. 
 
 FiKST Crop. — When Sylvester Smith first came 
 to the town in company with a few others, in 1855, 
 they made their way with ox teams through the 
 timber, having to ciit their own roads. Their 
 nearest place for supplies was at Hastings or St. 
 Paul. In 1856, they broke a little ground and 
 put in and raised a small crop of corn and pota- 
 toes. The first crop of wheat was raised in 1857, 
 and it was marketed at Hastings at 50 cei'ts per 
 bushel, the trip l)eing made with ox teams, and 
 occupying five days, camping on the way and 
 cooking their meals by the wayside. 
 
 First Election. — The first precinct election 
 ever held, embracing Erin, was held at Shields- 
 ville in 1855; the precinct comprising what is now 
 known as Erin, Shieldsville, Wheatland, and 
 part of the towns of Forest and Wells. 
 
 McBride and the R.ats. — Charley McBride 
 can undoubtedly claim the honor of bringing rats 
 iuto this town.ship, from what we can learn. It 
 seems that Mr. BIcBride, while in the East, sent 
 several boxes of clothing, consigned to a commis- 
 sion warehouse in Hastings, and finally, after 
 much trouble, succeeded in getting them to 
 Shieldsville. Upou arriving there he selected the 
 one which upon opening was discovered 
 to contain two rats. He hastily slammed 
 the cover shut, and shouting to several 
 of liis friends near tuld them to get sticks and he 
 did likewise. Friends all gathered round the 
 box, spit on their hands, held their sticks up ready 
 to flatten the first rat into a grease spot and thus 
 
 nip the rat business in the bud. All were in ex- 
 pectation. Every one held his breath, gripped 
 his stick tighter, and determined to do or die; the 
 deep silence was oppressive, as the box lid was 
 being raised. It came up with a rush, and with 
 a yell of vengeance the crowd of clubs made a 
 downward swoop! But, alas! As the foolish ex- 
 pression deepened on the countenance of the aston- 
 ished vengeance seekers, it was easy to guess the 
 cause, — llie rain were f/oiie. McBride, as usual, 
 laughed immoderately, and to this day when a 
 rat is seen it is called "McBride's pet" by those 
 who remember the incident. 
 
 But this did not injure McBride's reputation, 
 for his many good deeds overbalanced by far this 
 dark one. One of the latter was to bring in with 
 him some geese, and "McBride's geese" were for 
 years the only ones in the region, and from the 
 product of this small flock, has many a feather 
 bed been made, that has given rest to not a tew 
 weary travelers, who can testify to the hospitality 
 of these natives of the Emerald Isle. This same 
 Charley McBride also brought the first horse team 
 into Erin township. 
 
 Clergy in Erin. — The town of Erin was first 
 encroached upon in the month of May, 1855, and 
 among the first to build a log cabin was Mr. Jer- 
 emiah Healy who, amidst the trials and privations 
 of pioneer life, had succeeded in preserving a few 
 seed jjotatoes and planted them near his cabin, 
 and about the time the potatoes were in bloom 
 Father Ravoux, the first missionary in this part of 
 the country, came traveling along on his Indian 
 pony, and discovering this cabin with the inmates 
 and a few scattering neighbors, he concluded to 
 stop and hold the first service here, and when 
 about to retire respectfully declined to sleep in- 
 side of the cabin, but taking his saddle for a pil- 
 low, and spreading his blankets, made his bed be- 
 tween the rows of potatoes, and there, with the 
 sky for a mantle, slept sweetly until the rising 
 sun kissed the morning dew. 
 
 Erin in the Late War. — This town did its full 
 share in the war of rebellion and we have suc- 
 ceeded in getting the list of volunteers who par- 
 ticipated in it from the township. The following 
 is the list: Daniel Caliban, John Caliban, 
 Charles Lipman, Tore Coran, Antoine LaDuc, 
 David Tierney, James McLaughlin, John Mc- 
 Bride, James O'Neill, Arne Logue, Michael 
 Logue, Jerry Lyons, Thomas Grady, Herman 
 
ERIN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 559 
 
 Kampen, John Meehan, Martin Kallaher, Andrew 
 Devereus, Dennis Mulcahy, Patrick Quinlan, and 
 Edward Martin. 
 
 POLITICAL. 
 
 This town was organized in common with 
 the balance of the townships in Bice county, 
 when the Territory was made a State. The 
 first town meeting was held on the llth of 
 May, 1858, at the residence of P. Kyan. The 
 meeting was called to order by the election of 
 Thomas Flanuagan as chairman, and William 
 Kerrott, secretary. A motion was then made by 
 D. Dooley to name the town " McBride," then one 
 to call it " Healy " in honor of Jeremiah Healy, 
 but both of these were lost. A motion was next 
 made by Mr. John Gorman that the township 
 should be called "Erin," in honor of their na- 
 tivity, and this was carried by a majority of seven. 
 They then proceeded to the election of the fol- 
 lowing officers: Supervisors, John Conn iff. Chair- 
 man; Timothy Foley, and Sylvester Smith; As- 
 sessor, Dennis Dooley; Collector, John Gorman: 
 Justices of the Peace, Thomas Flanigan and B. 
 Foley; Constables, Michael Richardson and John 
 Smith; Overseer of the poor, Charles McBride; 
 Overseers of roads, Patrick Ryan, Martin Duffy, 
 and Edward darken. 
 
 At the town meeting in spring of 1882, the fol- 
 lowing officers were elected : Supervisors, Patrick 
 Sullivan, Chairman, John Quinlan, and Patrick 
 Mangan; Town Clerk, Thomas Cummiugs; Jus- 
 tices of Peace, Thomas Cummiugs and Andrew 
 Devereux; Treasurer, Owen Farley; Constables, 
 Edward Rouin and Thomas Carroll; Assessor, 
 Michael Carroll. There is no town hall in Erin, 
 and elections and town meetings are held at the 
 residence of Michael Carroll. 
 
 FOWLEESVILLE POST-OFFK^E 
 
 This office was established in 185(), with Bar- 
 tholomew Foley as Postmaster, and the office at 
 his house. In 1857, John Smith was appointed 
 Postmaster and the office was removed to his 
 house in section eighteen, where it remained for 
 eight years, until Charles Cooke became Postmas- 
 ter, when it was again changed and kept in Bern 
 ard Tague's house in section sixteen. Here it was 
 kept for a short time when Edward Carroll was 
 made Postmaster, and it was removed to his resi- 
 dence in section eight. Four years later Edward 
 
 Kiernan was appointed to the office and the name 
 clianged, to be finally, in 1880, discontinued. 
 
 BDncATION.\L. 
 
 In Erin we find rather less than the average 
 number of school districts in the towns through- 
 out the county, there being only five. The dis- 
 tricts are all, however, efficiently managed, and 
 the educational advantages here are at par with 
 the general run of neighboring towns. The school 
 buildings are neat and substantial, and the schools 
 are well attended, employing one teacher in each 
 district, a short sketch of which are given below. 
 
 District No. 4fi. — This was the first district 
 organized in the township, having been etl'ected 
 about 1857, and a log schoolbouse rolled together 
 in the southeastern part of section fifteen. The 
 school grew rapidly, and in 18G5, Miss Powers 
 taught a term with thirty juveniles on the benches. 
 In 1872, the old log schoolhouse was dispensed 
 with and their present house erected near the 
 center of section eleven, at a cost of $300, where 
 Miss L. Douley first distributed knowledge. The 
 pressnt school officers are: Messrs. Daniel Call- 
 ahan, Patrick McEntee, and Edward Kiernan, 
 respectively director, treasurer, and clerk. The 
 last school was taught by Miss Anna L. Kiernan, 
 with twenty-five scholars present. The land on 
 which the schoolhouse stands was generously 
 donated by Mr. Daniel Caliban. 
 
 DisTKicT No. 49, — The first school in this dis- 
 trict was taught in the summer of 1860, in the 
 log house of Dennis Dooley, and Bridget Fitzger- 
 ald first taught the young idea how to shoot. 
 The first school board consisted of Messrs. Dooley, 
 Coffey, and Mehan. In 1863, the schoolhouse 
 was erected of logs in the eastern part of section 
 thirty, the land being donated by E. darken. The 
 first school was attended by twelve pupils, and it 
 has increased until there are now about twenty 
 enrolled. 
 
 District No. (38. — First came into existence in 
 
 1858, when the first school was taught in the win- 
 ter by Andrew Devereux in John Gorman's log 
 house in section fifteen. Shortly afterwards Pat- 
 rick Sheehan deeded the district one half an acre 
 of ground in section eight and a log house was 
 put up. This was about a half a mile north of 
 the present site, to which it was removed in 
 
 1859. In 1873, the present frame building was 
 erected at a cost of $400, on the same site in the 
 southern part of section eiglit. The j)resent 
 
500 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 school board consists of Messrs P. Sheehan, B. 
 Foley, and P. Cassidy; the school now enrolls 
 about forty-two scholars. 
 
 District No. 69. — The first school in this dis- 
 trict was taught in a log house on Anthony Kel- 
 ly's land, in the summer of 1857, with Mrs. Kyun 
 as teacher. Tlie winter school was taught by 
 Anthony Kelly in a little log hut that stood on 
 the Warren place, tlie inhabitants having agreed 
 that it should be held part of the time in one end, 
 and the remainder of the time in theother end of 
 the district. In 1859, the district was divided, 
 and this obtains the original number. A log 
 building was put U]) this year on the site of the 
 present building, the school ground having been 
 donated to the district liy Andrew Kelly. This 
 house was burned to the ground on the evening 
 of election in 1870. It seems that on the day fol- 
 lowing, E. J. Healy, now a merchant of Fari- 
 bault, was to commence teaching a term of school 
 having been hired by the school board under the 
 bitter ojjposition of some of the residents and one 
 member of the board, and the building was un- 
 doubtedly burned by some of the lawless to pre- 
 vent the school being taught. In this design, 
 however, they signally failed, for Mr. Healy went 
 to work, plastered a log building on theMcCul- 
 lough place, and two days after the fire, school 
 was called to order in this building and kept for 
 five months by the plucky teacher. At the time 
 of reorganization this was a very large district, 
 and the first school was attended by about twenty- 
 five scholars. At present the register shows about 
 twice that many enrolled, and the present officers 
 are: Director, Patrick Mangan; Treasurer, B. 
 Kiley; and Clerk, H. Cummings. 
 
 District No. 98. — This district comprises as 
 its territory portions of the townships of Erin 
 and Forest, and its schoolhouse is located on the 
 line betweeu the two towns in section twenty-five. 
 The district is in good standing, well attended, 
 and ably managed, having been organized some 
 time during the sixties. Their present school 
 structure was erected at a cost of about .$400, be- 
 ing a neat frame building. 
 
 ISIOGKAPHIC.^L. 
 
 Daniel C.vi-niAx was born in Ireland in 1823, 
 and when young engaged in agricultural pur- 
 suits. In 1851, he came to America and for five 
 years resided in New York, engaged in brick 
 making. He was married in that State in 1852, 
 
 to Miss Ann Simpson, a native of Ireland. For a 
 time after leaving that place he was engaged in a 
 stone quarry in Eock Island, Illinois, quarrying 
 some of the stone for the first bridge built across 
 the Mississippi. In the spring of 1856, he came 
 to this county and located a farm in section 
 eleven, Erin, which has since been his home. He 
 has held local offices and has taken an active part 
 in organizing the schools. He was in the army 
 from 1864 until the close of the war, being with 
 Sherman in his famous March to the Sea. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Caliban have have had seven children, 
 four living; Arba, aged twenty-nine years, is the 
 wife of Thomas Cahill, clferk in the State House at 
 St. Paul ; Bessie, Miles, and Mary. 
 
 James Cummixgs was born in Ireland in 1806, 
 and lived in his native country until 1846. He 
 then came to America, landed in Quebec, Canada, 
 and was engaged in railroading one year, then 
 came to the States and followed the same business 
 in Vermont two years. He carried on a farm for 
 six year^in Clinton county. New York, and then 
 moved to St. Paul where he was engaged in the 
 construction of tlie Catholic Church. Since 1856, 
 he has been a resident of this place, he being one 
 of the first sis to settle here; his farm is Ijcated 
 in section twenty-seven. He was married in his 
 native land in 1845, to Miss Alice Kirk. They 
 are both members of the Koman Catholic church 
 in this place. They have had nine children, three 
 of whom are living and at home; Thomas M., who 
 is Justice of the Peace and Town Clerk; William 
 H., aged twenty-four yeans, and Annie J., aged 
 nineteen years; Mary died in Canada at the age 
 of one year; Patrick died in Vermont when an 
 infant, James died in Vermont at the age of two 
 years, John died iu this place when thirteen years 
 old; James, second, died after coming here, and 
 Ellen died in infancy. 
 
 Edward Cl.vrken was born in 1825, in Ireland 
 where he received his education and resided until 
 twenty-two years old. After coming to America 
 he located in Maryland and remained eight 
 months, then in Virginia and engaged in rail- 
 roading and mining for eight years. He was 
 married in the latter place and his wife is a na- 
 tive of Ireland. They have had ten chDdren, 
 nine of whom are living, eight at ho3e and one 
 in St. Paul. Mr. darken came with his family 
 to this place in 1856, and has since made his 
 home in section thirty, where he owns one hun- 
 
ERIN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 561 
 
 dred and sixty acres of land. He is a member of 
 the school board aud also of the Catholic church. 
 
 John Cokley was born in Ireland iu 1842, aud 
 lived in his native country uutil the age of nine 
 years. He emigrated to .'America with his par- 
 ents iu 1851, and located in Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
 vania, where he was educated and afterward 
 taught school, remaining in the State sixteen 
 years. His father died in the latter place, and iu 
 October, 1866, he and his mother came to Kice 
 county, Minnesota, and located a farm in section 
 thirty, Erin township, which is still their home. 
 Mr. Corley was united in marriage at Shieldsville 
 in 1869, to Miss Margaret Maloney, a uative of 
 Maine. She died on the 5th of September, 1870, 
 aged twenty-two years, leaving one child, Mary 
 Bertha, who died at the age of three months. He 
 has been a member of the board of education for 
 several years aud is at present school treasurer. 
 He and his mother, the only members of the fam- 
 ily now living, are both members of the Koman 
 Catholic church. 
 
 Andkew Deverehx was born in County Wex- 
 ford, Ireland, iu 1836. The Devereux family 
 are of Norman descent and have lived in Wex- 
 ford, Ireland, for centuries. The father of the 
 subject of this sketch, Patrick Devereux, was a 
 farmer in good circumstances and emigrated to 
 Canada in 1850, lauded in Quebec, and after a so- 
 journ of two days settled on a farm of two hun- 
 dred acres, presented him by his brother A^'illiam, 
 about twelve miles from Presoott, upon which 
 they lived five years. The family consisted of 
 five children, Andrew being the eldest. The sec- 
 pud, Robert, was shot and instantly killed while 
 herding cattle in this place. The deed was done 
 in November, 1861, by a villain named Lydou, 
 and the death of Mr. Devereux was mourned l)y a 
 large circle of friends. William, the third child, 
 died in Ireland at the age of seven years; John, 
 the fourth son, is still living and owns a farm in 
 tills township, his father living with him; Mary, 
 the youngest and only daughter, married a man 
 named Bernard Cassidy and lives in the city of 
 Stockton, California. After a residence of five 
 years iu Canada Mr. Patrick Devereux returned 
 the farm to his brother, sold out his effects and 
 came to the States, settling in Iowa, twelve miles 
 south of Dubuque. There Andrew commenced 
 to shape his own fortune, working at farm labor 
 during summer months and attending school win- 
 36 
 
 ters. He remained with his father until August, 
 1856, when he came to Minnesota territory and 
 after traveling over the greater portion of the 
 State finally located in Erin, where he built a 
 shanty and also made claims for several of his 
 countrymen. At the beginning of the winter he 
 returned to his home in Iowa and commenced the 
 study of surveying, which he completed in six 
 months. He then came again to this place in 
 comjjany with his brother Robert, for whom he 
 made a claim adjoining his own, and where, as 
 previously mentioned, he lost his life. In the win- 
 ter of 1857, Mr. Devereux taught the first term of 
 school ever held in the township and the following 
 summer worked as a deck hand on a Mississippi 
 steamer. At the close of navigation he went 
 south as far as Lake Providence in Louisiana 
 where he acted as foreman for a contractor, repair- 
 ing levees. The following summer he spent at his 
 father's and iu September, 1860, the whole family 
 moved to Minnesota. In August, 1862, he en- 
 listed in Company H, of the Tenth Minnesota 
 Volunteer Infantry and was appointed duty Ser- 
 geant. He spent part of the winter in camp at 
 Swan Lake, Nicollet county, and from thence was 
 sent to LeSueur to attend a military school taught 
 by Lieut. Col. S. P. Jenuisou. In the spring of 
 1863, he joined Sibley's expedition and partici- 
 pated in several engagement.s with the Indians, 
 driving them across the Missouri River, but they 
 soon returned, however. The, regiment returned 
 to Fort SneUing and then south, having their 
 winter quarters at St. Louis where they remained 
 six months, and in the spring of 1864, joined the 
 First Brigade of the First Division of the Six- 
 teenth Anny Corps, commanded by Major Gen- 
 eral A. J. Smith, and was engaged in all the bat- 
 tles in which the division took part. He was hon- 
 orably discharged at Fort Snelling in September, 
 18()5, with the rank of First Sergeant, and imme- 
 diately returned to his farm. On the 3d of June, 
 1866, Mr. Devereux was married to Miss Mary 
 Cassidy and is now the father of sis children; 
 Robert, aged fifteen years; Margaret, thirteen; 
 William F., eleven; Mary Jane, nine; Kate, five; 
 aud John B., fifteen months. 
 
 Denis Dooly was born in 1820, in Ireland, 
 where he recieved his education and learned the 
 carpenter, trade. In 1842, he came to Canada, 
 where he found employment at his trade and re- 
 sided fourteen years. He was married there in 
 
562 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 1843, to Miss Mary Allen, a native of Ireland. In 
 September, 1856, Mr. Dooly became one of the 
 pioneers of this place, locating a farm in section 
 thirty-two, where he has since resided. He has 
 been a member of the school board for several 
 terms, and always takes an active part in school 
 matters. Mr. and Mrs. Dooly have had seven 
 children, five of whom are living and all in this 
 State; Patrick, thirty-five years of age; Mary Ann, 
 thirty-two; Louisa, thirty; Daniel, twenty -eight, 
 and Hattie, twenty-six. One child died in Canada 
 and one in Shieldsville, Minnesota. 
 
 Timothy P. Foley, a native of Minnesota, was 
 bom in Erin township in March, 1860. His father 
 was born in county Cork, Ireland, and is of a very 
 ancient family. He emigrated to America in 
 1845, landing in New York City where he worked 
 at the stone mason trade two years, at the end of 
 which time he engaged in agricultural pursuits 
 for six years. He moved from New York to Iowa, 
 and three years later he came to Minnesota and 
 pre-empted land in this township. He returned 
 to Iowa and married a young lady by the name 
 of Donahoe, a native of county Wexford, Ireland. 
 She is a lineal descendant of the O'Donahoes, 
 formerly valiant Knights of Ireland, who upheld 
 Christianity while in its infancy in that country, 
 their gleaming swords finally establishing the 
 Christian religion there. Mr. and Mrs. Foley 
 moved to his new home in Minnesota and imme- 
 diately began improvements on his farm and the 
 surrounding country, petitioning for the first pub- 
 lic road in the township. He established a Post 
 oflice which he kept a number of years, and also 
 held other local offices. Of a family of ten chil- 
 dren, nine are living; EHzae, the eldest, is a dress- 
 maker living in Minneapolis, aged twenty-four 
 years; Timothy, twenty-two; Mary Ann, twenty; 
 John,eighteen ; Catheriucsixteen ; Bridget, thirteen ; 
 Thomas, eleven ; Bartholomew, nine; William, the 
 youngest living, is six years of age, and Margaret 
 E., the youngest of the family, died at the age of 
 ten months. Timothy, the subject of this sketch, 
 received a good common school education and is 
 now engaged in farming. 
 
 Thomas Flanio.vn, one of the early settlers of 
 this townsliip, was born in Ireland in 1823, reared 
 on a farm and received a common school educa- 
 tion there. In August, 1844, be came to America, 
 was engaged in a tannery in New York City one 
 year, after which he removed to Rhode Island and 
 
 was employed in a cotton factory in all its differ- 
 ent departments. While in that State he was 
 married in May, 1848, to Miss Ellen Hughs, a na- 
 tive of Ireland. In April, 1857, they came to 
 Rice county and settled in this township in sec- 
 tion thirty-three. He has a fine farm, well im- 
 proved; has been chairman of the board of Super- 
 visors several terms, a member of the school 
 board, Justice of the Peace, and was Justice of the 
 precinct at the organization of the town. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Flanigan have had nine children, five of 
 whom are living; Cilia, aged thirty years; Clarry, 
 twenty-three; Eliza, twenty-one; Joseph, nine- 
 teen, and Ella, seventeen. Three children died in 
 Rhode Island and one in this place. 
 
 Anthony M. Kellt, another of the early settlers 
 of tins place, was born in Ireland in 1814, and at- 
 tended the common school in his native country. 
 In May, 1840, he was married to Miss Judith 
 Ganghan. Just five years later they came to 
 America and located in Indiana where he was en- 
 gaged in farming and surveying on railroads. He 
 was subsequently employed as overseer in an 
 asylum in Indianapolis. In 1856, they came to 
 this place and located in section twenty-eight 
 which is still their home. Mr. Kelly has been 
 Justice of the Peace, Town Treasurer, Assessor, 
 and a member of the school board, taking an ac- 
 tive interest in all educational matters, having 
 taught the first winter school in his district. Of 
 ten children born to him, five are living; Bridget, 
 born in 1845;Thomas M.,in 1850; Kate E., in 1853; 
 William A., in 1857; and Joseph P., in 1859; one 
 daughter died in Ireland aged four years; John 
 died in Indianapolis at the age of seven years; 
 one in infancy; Philip and Blary Ann, in this 
 place, of diphtheria. The family are all members 
 of the Catholic church. Joseph P. was elected 
 Justice of the Peace just as he attained his ma- 
 jority. 
 
 William Keeeott was born in February, 1810, 
 and raised on a farm between Newry and Lough- 
 brickland in county Down, Ireland. He received 
 a fair business education in various private schools 
 kept by itinerant teachers and assisted in all de- 
 partments of farm labor until the age of seven- 
 teen years. He then entered the employ of Wil- 
 liam Francis Hart, Esq., his father's landlord, as 
 under steward and gardener at Greenogiie in 
 county Dublin, discharging those duties five and 
 a half years, until the death of his employer. He 
 
EHIN TOWNS III P. 
 
 563 
 
 was afterward engaged as foreman and salesman 
 in Livingston's nnrsery and public gardens in tho 
 suburbs of the city, and later aoqnirod tho jxisi- 
 tion of steward in a popular semiuiiry at Port 
 Bella from Avhich place he departed for Liverpool, 
 England, on the 11th of May, 1835, and sailed for 
 America the 18th of the same month. He landed 
 in New York on the 24th of June and enjoyed the 
 first 4th of July with friends in Albany. Coming 
 westward by way of the Erie Canal he found em- 
 ployment for some time in Rochester, and then 
 engaged in the construction of new locks at Lock- 
 port on the latter canal, thence to Canada and 
 settled at the first lock on the Grand River, as- 
 suming the duty of Deputy Collector, Look-mas- 
 ter, and section Superintendent on the first divis- 
 ion of the said canal, discharging these duties for 
 twenty years with marked success and satisfaction 
 to the civil officers and directors. He was mar- 
 ried on the 20th of May, 1839. On the 15th of 
 May, 1856, they moved to Minnesota, and on the 
 9th of June following filed a claim in this town- 
 ship. By his advice his parents' family followed 
 him in the fall, coming in the steamer "Lady 
 Franklin" which sunk causing tlie loss of all their 
 effects and scattered the family of six boys and 
 two girls to struggle for self-support. In March, 
 1858, Mr. Kerrott organized an election precinct 
 in the town of Wheatland, and conducted the elec- 
 tion ; afterward organized the town of Eriu and was 
 its first Town Clerk. His wife, having a distaste for 
 the privations and struggles of frontier life, made 
 a visit to friends in Chicago where she died. In 
 October, 1859, Mr. Kerrott went to New Orleans; 
 in 1860, worked on levees at Lake Bolivar, Mis- 
 sissippi; in 1861, was in Tunica county, thence 
 north to Blemphis and took passage for Colum- 
 bus, Kentucky, landing iinder fire of the Rebels 
 at Fort Pillow, where he acted with the sappers 
 and miners for some time. He returned to Mem- 
 phis and remained until it was occupied by Fed- 
 eral troops, being present at the naval conflict he- 
 fore the city surrendered. He was watchman of 
 Government freight transportation and also Su- 
 perintendent of a wood yard on Wolf Island. In 
 1866, he accepted employment at the National 
 • Cemetery on the M. & O. railroad but two years 
 later returned to Minnesota and has since lived in 
 this county always holding some office of trust — 
 Town Clerk, Justice of the Peace, etc., every one 
 of which was vacated on his own motion, having 
 
 no blot or stigma to stain the vista of fifty-seven 
 years. 
 
 Ch.veles McBride, one of the first farmers to 
 settle in this township, is a native of Ireland, bom 
 in 1812. He was married in 1830, to Sarah Mar- 
 tin. Two years later they emigrated to America, 
 located in Westchester county. New York, and re- 
 mained in the State six years. They afterwards 
 resided in New Jersey one year and in Iowa nine 
 years, engaged in farming. In the spring of 1856, 
 Mr. McBride came to Erin, liringing the first horse 
 team in the township, and settled in section nine 
 where he still lives. His wife died in 1858, and is 
 buried in Shieldsville cemetery. She bore him 
 eight children, seven of whom are living. He 
 married his j)resent wife. Miss Alesia McHall, a 
 native of Ireland, in 1861. The result of this 
 union is ten children, six of whom are living. His 
 children all live in the State and six are at home. 
 He and his wife are members of the Roman Catho- 
 lic church. Mr. McBride took a very active part 
 in organizing schools in an early day; he hired 
 and paid the teacher who taught the first school 
 in this township; has been a member of the board 
 of supervisors and of the school board, each sever- 
 al terms. 
 
 Patrick McENTEEwas born in Ireland in 1844! 
 and lived in his native country until 1852. He 
 came with his parents to Virginia where he atten- 
 ded school, completing his education, after coming 
 to Minnesota, in St. Paul. The family settled 
 in section twenty-four in this township in 1856, 
 and our subject remained at home until 1869, 
 when he was married to Miss Mary Ann Dooley, a 
 native of Canada, the ceremony taking place in 
 Shieldsville. The same year he moved to section 
 ten which he still makes his home. He has been 
 Chairman of the Board of Supervisors two terms, 
 a member of the school board several terms and in 
 1880, took the census. His parents still live in 
 this township, his father aged seventy-five years 
 and his mother ten years younger. He has two 
 brothers and two sisters in this place, one sister 
 in St. Paul, and one in Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. 
 McEntee have had seven children, three of whom 
 are living; William, Patrick, and Agnes. 
 
 Edw.\ed Ruinn was born in Canada in 1840, 
 and his native place claimed him as a resident 
 until the age of twenty-six. He was united in 
 marriage in 1862, with Miss Catherine McKinna, 
 a native of Ireland. They have a family of nine 
 
564 
 
 HISTORY OP RIGB COUNTY. 
 
 children; Timothy, nineteen years of age; Pat- 
 rick, seventeen; Catherine, fifteen; Julia Ann, 
 thirteen: Mary, eleven; Margaret, nine; Louise, 
 seven; Teresa, five, and Edward J., three, all 
 living at home. Mr. Ruinu at present fills the 
 oflBce of Constable. 
 
 Sylvester Smith, one of the first settlers in 
 this township, was born in 1814, in Ireland where 
 he received his education. He came to America in 
 1842, located in SuUivan county. New York, and 
 remained in that State ten years. He was mar- 
 ried in New York City, in 1851, to Miss Sarah 
 Brady, a native of Ireland. They resided in West 
 
 Virginia three years, then came to this place and 
 settled in section twenty-five, which has since 
 been their home. He has been a meniber of the 
 school board several terms, and was one of the first 
 to organize and maintain the school in this sec- 
 tion, it being by subscription; has also been a 
 member of the board of Supervisors two terms. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Smith have had seven children, five 
 of whom are living; John, Matthew, Julia, Mary, 
 and Annie. Mary A., died in infancy in 1855, 
 and was the first death in the township, and Sarah 
 E. was drowned in the lake while bathing, in June, 
 1875. 
 
 NORTHFIELD 
 
 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 GENERAL DESCRIPTION' — BAELY SETTLEMENT — ITEMS 
 
 OF INTEREST — POLITICAL WAB EECOED— -SCHOOLS 
 
 INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES — RELIGIOUS. 
 
 Northfield township is situated in the extreme 
 northwestern portion of Rice county, adjoining 
 Dakota county on the north, Goodhue county on 
 the east, and contiguous to the townships of 
 Bridgewater and Wheeling on the west and south; 
 embracing as .its area, including the city of North- 
 field, forty-four sections of land, or 28,160 acres, 
 almost all of which is under a high state of culti- 
 vation, and admirably adapted to all agricultural 
 purposes. 
 
 The surface of the township is varied and diver- 
 sified. It is really a prairie town, smooth in 
 places, but everywhere is noticeable the rolling 
 tendency. As you approach the eastern line, along 
 Prairie Creek, the laud is more broken and hilly, 
 covered with a heavy growth of timber. Here are 
 many ledges of barren rock extending along the 
 line of timber and prairie where it breaks its sur- 
 face to make room for the stream. Along the en- 
 tire western and southern boundaries the surface 
 is more broken and hilly, and as you retreat from 
 these you enter th;; prairie land which is undulat- 
 ing and beautiful. The soil on the prairie is a 
 dark, rich loam, and in the timber, or in the hilly 
 Land, it is of a lighter color. 
 
 On sections twenty-six and thirty-four is located 
 what is known as the "Big Woods," although they 
 are now small and insignificant in comparison with 
 what they were in former years. Throughout the 
 town, where there is no natural timber, the far- 
 mers have cultivated domestic groves, which are a 
 great help in beautifying the township. One in 
 particular is worth mentioning, on the farm of 
 Samuel F. Johnson, in section thirteen. The 
 grove consists of maple and Cottonwood, covering 
 ten or twelve acres, set in symetrical rows about 
 twelve feet apart, and visitors pronounce it one of 
 the finest in the State. There are many fine farms, 
 well watered, well cultivated, and supplied with 
 excellent buildings, and it can unhesitatingly be 
 said that this is the finest township in Rice conn- 
 ty. 
 
 There are only two streams of any note passing 
 over the surface of this sub-divesion, the Cannon 
 River, passing through the city of Northfield, and 
 Prairie Creek. The latter rises in Cannon City, 
 enters Northfield at the extreme southwestern 
 point, and flows through the southern tier of 
 towns until it reaches the northeastern part of sec- 
 tion thirty-four, where it is joined by another 
 small stream and makes a northward turn, keep- 
 ing this direction with a little inclination to the 
 west until it reaches section one, when it leaves 
 Northfield and enters Goodhue county. In sec- 
 twelve Prairie Creek is joined by Spring Creek, 
 which rises in section thirtv-six and flows north- 
 
NOBTIIFIELD TOM'NSHIl'. 
 
 565 
 
 ward through the eastern tier of sections until it 
 joins the more powerful stream. 
 
 A sketch of Northfiekl published in 1808, wlieu 
 the territory was a part of the town that now 
 comprises the corporate limits of the town of 
 Northfiekl, says: 
 
 "NoBTHFiELD, the northeastern town of the 
 county, contains one congressional township and 
 eight sections of land. Of its area eighty acres 
 belong to the government, two hundred and 
 eighty acres to the railroad, and one hundred and 
 sixty to the University. This town presents great 
 inducements for the investment of capital in farm- 
 ing, its surface is beautifully diversified with 
 prairies, groves, and running streams. The "Big 
 Woods " skirts the town on the west, and furnishes 
 an inexhaustible supjily of timber. Its popula- 
 tion is principally of American origin, and its for- 
 eign born citizens mostly Germans and Nor- 
 wegians. The station of the Milwaukee & St. 
 Paul railway is in the town of the same name, sit- 
 uated in the northwestern part of the townsliip." 
 
 Since the above was written the city of North- 
 field has been set off and organized as a separate 
 government, leaving the area of the township as 
 stated elsewhere in this article. The same report 
 states that the population of both in 1860, was 
 880, and in 1865, 1,502. In 1870, the population 
 of both town and city was 2,381. 
 
 The government and unsold land mentioned in 
 the above report is now occupied by actual set- 
 tlers. The statement as to the nationality of the 
 inhabitants will apply to the present time. 
 
 In 1870, the values in Northfiekl, city and 
 township, as given to the census takers were as 
 follows: Keal property, 8984,180; personal, 
 S340,325; total, SI, 324, .505. The total assessed 
 valuation for the same year, real and personal, was 
 S716,890. In 1882, the County Commissioners in 
 equalizing the taxes of the county made the fol- 
 lowing report of the assessed valuation in North- 
 field: Personal property, town and city, S527,- 
 473; real property, $979,459; total assessed value, 
 $1,506,932. Showing an increase since 1872, of 
 S790,042. Of the figures given for 1882, the 
 total assessed valuation in the city was $1,050,265, 
 of which S445,841 represented the personal, and 
 and .S604,416 the real property. The total as- 
 sessed valuation in the township, exclusive of the 
 city, for 1882, was $446,667, of which $71,632 
 was personal and .§375,035 real property. 
 
 EARLY SETTLEMENT. 
 
 This subdivision of Rice ciiunty commeneed its 
 era of picmcering in 1854, about the same time as 
 did almost all of the prairie towns, this kind of 
 land being more inviting to the incomers and more 
 easily sulnlued and made ready for agriculture. 
 The first to come into the township and actually 
 settle and take a farm was Mr. D. Kirkendahl, or, as 
 it is sometimes spelled, "Kuykendahl", who was a 
 native of Germany but recently from Pennysl- 
 vania. He took a farm just where part of the city 
 now is, and commenced western life in a tent 
 where the college buildings now are, and where, 
 in a few weeks, he put up a log cabin. His sell- 
 ing out to Mr. North and leaving is noted in the 
 history of the city. 
 
 Mr. Kirkenhahl had been here just twelve days 
 when Mr. Alexander Stewart made his appearance. 
 He was a native of New York, having stopped for 
 a time in Wisconsin, which latter place he left on 
 Ihe 16th of May, and arrived in Northfield on the 
 16th of .Tune, 1854, and found Kirkendahl safely, 
 but temporarily, lurased in his tent. Mr. Stewart 
 brought bis family, and all he had in the world 
 which consisted of three pair of oxen, four cows, 
 and some loose cattle, besides the usual household 
 articles and "nick-nacks." A tent was pitched on 
 his present place in which he lived four weeks 
 while he did some breaking and preparing land, 
 and then he erected a log shanty 14x18 feet, and, 
 as he says, "one story low." This he covered with 
 a half roof of shakes, the remaining half being 
 open for two months, no floor was put in and in 
 this shape the family moved into their new home 
 and remained there until after the fall work was 
 finished. Then Mr. Stewart went to St. Paul and 
 procured some lumber with which he made some 
 badly needed repairs. Shakes of black oak were 
 brought into use to make a good roof, which was 
 covered with sod, and this sheltered the inmates 
 for nearly two years when, on the occasion upon 
 which Elder T. R. Cressey, the pioneer Baptist 
 minister, was a guest of Mr. Stewart's, a heavy 
 rain storm came up and speedily made mush of 
 the sod whicli had become rotten, and soon trans- 
 formed the little cabin into a mud pile. This 
 made it painfully apparent that there was still 
 room for improvement, which was speedily furn- 
 ished and afterwards a pleasant and neat dwelling 
 was erected to take the place of the cabin, which 
 still stands. Mr. Stewart stUl resides on his farm 
 
566 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE GOUNTT. 
 
 and is undoubtedly the oldest settler in the town- 
 ship or city. This little commencement was the 
 basis upon which grew the entire northern settle- 
 ment of the city and townshij). Two weeks after 
 Mr. Stewart's arrival, Jonathan Alexander and 
 . family made their appearance and selected the 
 farm upon which they now live, near the last 
 named pioneer's place. He brought considerable 
 stock, about ten cows and ten head of loose cattle, 
 one horse, and was pretty well fixed with world's 
 goods. A tent was pitched which served as shel- 
 ter while a good shanty was erected; this was run 
 as a hotel and tavern, or an old fashioned inni 
 from the time of its erection for a number of years, 
 and many a weary traveler has here found shel- 
 ter. Mr. Alexander lias one son who took a farm 
 as early, if not before he did, and both still oc- 
 cupy them. 
 
 J. D. Hoskins and Henry Tralle were about the 
 next to arrive. Hoskins was a native of the state 
 of Maine and secured the place now occupied by 
 Captain Ames. Tralle was a native of Germany 
 and took a farm which he sold in 1855 to 0. N. 
 Stewart. This was about the extent to which the 
 northern part of the town was settled this year, 
 and carried it up to the winter of 1845-55, which 
 was a very mild one and the settlers experienced 
 no trouble in getting through in safety. In the 
 meantime, and before cold weather had actually 
 set in, another native of the old "fader -land" had 
 arrived and settled south of this little neighbor- 
 hood, in the person oi Frank Frahnkoop, who still 
 lives iu the town. 
 
 In 1855, the immigration actually set in and as 
 many of the arrivals as can be remembered wQl be 
 given here. 
 
 John S. Way, whose nativity dates in Caledo- 
 nia county, Vermont, came through this township 
 from St. Paul where he had arrived in May, and 
 reached Northfield in June, 1855. He put up 
 some hay and iu September secured the claim he 
 now occupies in section seven, and put up a log 
 house which is still standing and in use for an ice 
 house. Mr. Way is now a member of the board 
 of County Commissioners. 
 
 Next among the arrivals in the spring of 1855, 
 we notice the names of C. P. Whittier, who now 
 lives in Northfield, John Bingham, the White 
 brothers, H. H. Merrie, T. H. Olin, who still lives 
 on the second place he secured, and who is men- 
 tioned elsewhere; Sylvanus Bunday, who took 
 
 land in section eleven; Ransom and George 
 Smith, brothers just from Ohio; J. W. North, and 
 W. W. and James Willis, also from Ohio. After 
 this the settlement was carried on so rajjidly that 
 it is impossible to trace it in sequence. The city 
 of Northfield was commenced,and although slowly 
 at first, gained steadily until we find it what it is 
 to-day. The settlement of the township thicken- 
 ed, new modes of cultivation and agriculture have 
 been adopted, and now we find one of the richest 
 and most fertile farming localities in the State, 
 with the fai'mers all in most prosjierous and com- 
 fortable circumstances. Since the time mention- 
 ed, and on various dates, the following are a few 
 of those who have arrived and now help fill the 
 northern part of the town: Daniel Goodhue, P. 
 Tosney, S. V. Ward, Thos. Lawler, James Lynn, 
 the Bunday s, Duncan Ferguson, Thomas De 
 Lancey, Colville Oarlaw, Wells Blackman, John 
 Miller, B. F. Woodman, Thomas Wilson, Charies 
 S. Martin. J. C. Oouper, W. R. Green, C. W. Ly- 
 man, E. Spaar, Culver Hibbard, John Eiddell, 
 John Law, A. T. Barrows, S. M. Persons, Benja- 
 min Ogden, Nels Woodworth, G. Bacon, W. N. 
 Woods worth, Franklin Kelly, etc., etc. 
 
 In the meantime a settlement had been started 
 and was growing rapidly in the southern and 
 central part of the township, and we must call the 
 reader back to the date of its beginning. About 
 the first to come and select a claim was J. D. 
 Jones, a Scotchman, who had stopped for about 
 ten years in Wisconsin, and who arrived in the 
 township in the spring of 1855. He made his 
 way to East Prairie and took a farm iu section 
 thirty-five op Prairie Creek, and found that he 
 had arrived just about the same time as a party 
 of Norwegians who wiU be mentioned hereafter. 
 He erected a small shanty and returned to Mil- 
 waukee, where he remained for a time but subse- 
 quently came back to his claim. 
 
 In the same spring, 1855, a party of Germans 
 made their way into the township and became 
 domiciled. Gottlieb Pray, or as it is sometimes 
 spelled, "Prehn," F. Sommers, Mr. Crintz, and 
 Gottlieb Lackel, were members of the party. 
 Gottlieb Pray (or Prehn) took a farm in section 
 twenty-two, where he dug a hole in the side of a 
 hill aud commenced pioneer life. Soon afterward 
 a log house was erected, and he lived on his 
 place abt)ut fourteen years when he went to Illi- 
 nois where he died; his son still occujiies the old 
 homestead, in comfortable circumstances. 
 
NORTH FIELD TOWNSHIP. 
 
 567 
 
 F. Sommers secured a home in section ten, and 
 put ujj a little shantj' covered with dirt, and be- 
 gan " stayin " there. He still occupies his place 
 in a well fixed home. 
 
 Mr. Crintz took the farm now occupied by Mr. 
 H. Harris in section sixteen, where he erected a 
 house and lived until the time of his death, which 
 occurred in 1875. His first team consisted of a 
 couple of milch cows. 
 
 Gottlieb Lackel made a pre emption in section 
 seventeen, and after living there a few years went 
 to Cannon City, and from there to Faribault where 
 he now lives. All of these parties had their fam- 
 ilies with them and had but very little of the 
 world's goods. There are now, however, those who 
 remain, among the "solid men" of this part of the 
 connty. There is some dispute as to the date of 
 their coming, by outside parties who claim they 
 did not come until 1856, but we give it as re- 
 ported to us by one of the members of the party, 
 and we believe this to be correct. 
 
 T. H. Olin also arrived this year, being a na- 
 tive of New York. He made a claim near Mr. J. 
 D. Jones' place, and, as he was afraid some one 
 might jump it, he placed a man named Sanford 
 upon it to comply with the statutes, so it would be 
 sate. Sanford proved to be a treacherous fellow, 
 and after he had been on the place a short time 
 began to consider it his, and when Mr. Olin re- 
 turned from an eastward trip to claim the land he 
 had selected, Sanford pretended not to recognize 
 him, and although he had been paid for attending 
 it he refused to give it up, and as Mr. Olin was a 
 lover of peace, rather than make trouble he went 
 several miles north and purchased a claim where 
 he now lives. Olin had put up, at a cost of $100, 
 one of the first houses in the township on this 
 land, hauling the lumber from Hastings, and to be 
 cheated out of the whole thing was a severe blow 
 financially. Sanford, after six or seven months, 
 decided that this was an unhealthy locality for 
 him and he finally sold his claim to Mr. Thorpe 
 for §600, and went to Hastings where all of his 
 money was stolen from him and he and his fam- 
 ily commenced working their way eastward. He, 
 during his stay, had made considerable money by 
 locating parties on land, for which he charged ex- 
 orbitantly; but, after E. L. Fuller arrived, a 
 town plat was secured and this work was done 
 free of charge. 
 
 On the 24th of May, 1850, E. L. Fuller, a na- 
 
 tive of the Empire State, made his appearance 
 with his family, some stock, and household goods, 
 and took the claim he now occupies on sections 
 twenty-two and twenty-seven. The first thing he 
 did was to pitch a tent, in which he lived until his 
 log house was erected. Charles Ferrall, a native 
 of New York, and a man from Wisconsin, Bich- 
 mond Clinton, came at the same time; the former 
 took land in section twenty-seven, where he re- 
 mained four years, and after spending a short time 
 in Northfield finally found his way back to his 
 native State. Richmond Clinton secured a home 
 adjoining section twenty-two and remained there 
 until his death, which occurred in April, 1864. 
 
 In June, 1856, .1. D. .Tones, wlio is mentioned 
 above, returned to the township, having spent 
 some time in Milwaukee, and commenced board- 
 ing with Mr. Fuller's family, as he was a single 
 man, while he did his breaking. Mr. Jones still 
 lives on his farm which is one of the finest in the 
 county, surrounded by all the luxuries and com- 
 forts of an eastern home, and is one of Kice 
 county's prominent men. 
 
 George and William Thorpe, of Vermont, ar- 
 rived on the 4th of July, 1856, and celelirated the 
 day by taking farms north of Mr. Jones. One of 
 them pin-chased Olin's farm of Sanford. Wil- 
 liam died some years ago, but the property is yet 
 in the family. John Dixon, late from Michigan, 
 drifted in about the same time and pre-empted the 
 northwest quarter of section twenty-eight, where 
 F. Koester now lives, and lived on it for six 
 years. He erected a log house, and his wife 
 taught school, but he finally returned to Michi- 
 gan from whence he came. Some old settlers 
 think Mr. Dixon did not come until one year later 
 than '56, while others claim this date is correct. 
 
 About the next to come in and take a home was 
 Lambert Watts and family, from Vermont, who 
 made their way with a team of horses and settled 
 on the northeast quarter of twenty-seven. They 
 still live in the township. Mr. William Eoss and 
 family, from Pennsylvania, showed up about this 
 time, the whole party being on foot. They set- 
 tled on a farm in section twenty-one, and the fam- 
 ily held the claim while the father and son went 
 out to work until they had earned enough to buy 
 a t«am. They remained on the place for fifteen 
 or sixteen years, until they became in comfortable 
 circumstances, and then removed westward; one 
 son is now in Bridgewater township. 
 
568 
 
 BISTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 In the fall of 1857, Philip Miller and family, 
 wife and two children, Germans, drove into the 
 township behind a team composed of one ox and a 
 cow, and au old fashioned home-made wagon with 
 wheels without tires. They first settled in section 
 fifteen where they remained for a number of years 
 and then piirchast'd the valuable farm they now 
 occupy in section twenty-one. 
 
 The same year a man named Gregory came and 
 settled, but has since gone. A man whose name 
 is forgotten came early and took a place in sec- 
 tions seventeen and eighteen and after occupying 
 the same a short time sold, in the fall of 1857, to 
 Joseph Cannedy who now occupies it. 
 
 Mr. David H. Orr had heen in the town before 
 this on a prospecting tour, but returned to stay 
 in 1858. 
 
 A small colony of Norwegians had arrived in 
 1855, and it is claimed that some came the year 
 previous. They all settled in the southern part 
 of the town, mostly along Prairie Creek. As 
 many of those whose names are remembered will 
 be given, viz : Halver Quie, Hans Hanson, Einde 
 Erick, Shure and Ingelwet Igebretson, Toske Bun- 
 day, Sever AslaJison, Ole Lockrun and two broth- 
 ers, Helger Hanson, Lars Knuteson, Nels Oleson, 
 John Hanson, Andrew Johnson, Guttorm Sever- 
 son, Eson Clemmerson, Sever Oleson, Ole Sever- 
 son, and a man whose name has slipped from 
 memory. In the summer this remarkable indi- 
 vidual was called the " Old Saw- mill " because, as 
 it is claimed, he and his daughter with a whip- 
 saw cut up all the lumber used by this small 
 army for building purposes; in the winter he 
 spent his time cobbling and was then called the 
 "Old Shoemaker." He has since gone west. 
 This crowd was joined the following year by Os- 
 mund O.smundson, Captain John Hanson, who 
 could talk English, as could Halver Quie, and 
 Toske Bunday, and were known as the "Interpre- 
 ters." Many others came at various times, and 
 probably a few of those who are mentioned as 
 coming in 1855, did not reach their farms until 
 the spring of the following year. 
 
 The above list embraces most of Hje early set- 
 tlers, but of course it is not intended to be a com- 
 plete roll of all the pioneers, for only a census 
 taken at that time and carefully preserved could 
 do that. 
 
 ITEMS OP INTEREST. 
 
 It is claimed that Elder T. K. Cressey, the pion- 
 eer Baptist preacher, held services in the house of 
 Alexander Stewart in September, 1854. This was 
 among the first serWces in the county. The first 
 Methodist and Congregational services were also 
 held in the same place, the first by the Kev. Mr. 
 Curran, and the last by Rev. Mr. HaU. 
 
 There has been three railroad lines surveyed 
 through the township, along Prairie Creek, but 
 all have proved failures. 
 
 Earlt Bikths. — About the first birth in the 
 county, and undoubtedly the first in the township, 
 was the arrival of James, a son of Alexander and 
 Hannah Stewart, at their residence in section 
 thirty-one, near the City. The boy died some 
 years ago. 
 
 Willie Ferrall, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles 
 Ferrall, was born in the year 1857, grew to 
 manhood, and is now a mail distributor in Minne- 
 apolis at a salary of 11,100 per year. A number 
 of Norwegian children were born very early. 
 
 Marriages. — The first marriage of parties from 
 this town was John, a son of Jonathan Alexander, 
 who went east shortly after his arrival in the town 
 and was married while there to Miss Ann TolifF, 
 and together they returned to their new home in 
 the West. They still live in the township. Their 
 marriage must have occurred late in 1854. 
 
 About the first marriage within the limits of the 
 township took place in 1855, at the residence of 
 the bride's parents, and the high contracting par- 
 ties were Mr. John Lamphier and Miss Athea 
 Alexander; the ceremony being performed by the 
 Congregational minister, Eev. Mr. Hall. 
 
 William Bierman and Miss Christine Pray (or 
 PrehuJ were joined in the holy bonds early in 
 1857, by Squire Frost, the happy couple going 
 and returning from 'their place of union on foot. 
 They are now weU off. 
 
 In the same fall August Pray was mar- 
 to Miss Bierm.an, at the "dug out" of the groom's 
 father, by a German minister. They are still liv- 
 ing on the place where they ^yere made one, sur- 
 rounded by all the comforts of life. ^ 
 
 Deaths. — Two cliildren of Herman Jerkins died 
 in the fall of 1856, and were buried on the old 
 Kuykendahl (or Kirkendahl) place. 
 
NORTHFIELD TOWNSHIP. 
 
 509 
 
 POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS. 
 
 The first meeting of the township w:is nndouht- 
 edly hekl on tlie 11th of M;iy, 1858, in common 
 with the bnlauoe of Kice county's subdivisions; 
 but the first twenty leaves have in some manner, 
 and owing to someone's carelessness or vandalism, 
 been torn from the clerk's book, and the original, 
 and therefore the most interesting part of the 
 township records must be guessed at. It is one of 
 the duties of the township clerk to see that the 
 town records are preserved, and to mutilate them 
 himself or to allow any one else to mutilate or 
 destroy any portion of them, is as open to penal- 
 ty as to make a false entry on them. Men should 
 be placed in office who can be depended uj^on, and 
 bonds required for the faithful perfi>rmance of 
 duties, while the board should promptly investi- 
 gate matters of this kind with an eye to ascertain- 
 ing who the real culprit is. It is probable, how- 
 ever, in this case, that the books have been torn 
 while moving from one office to another. 
 
 The first meeting shown by the records was held 
 on the 1st of April, 1862, in Lyceum Hall, in 
 Northfield, and O. H. Rawson was appointed mod- 
 erator, and George W. Butterfield, clerk. The 
 moderator then declared, the polls open, the ballot 
 box being in charge of N. G. Clary, G. Gregory, 
 and Linus Fox. After the polls were closed it 
 was found that there had been about ninety votes 
 cast, and the following officers were declared elec- 
 ted: Supervisors, John S. Way, Chairman J. A. 
 Hunt, and George C. Thorpe; Clerk, George W. 
 Butterfield; Treasm-er, M. P. Skinner; .Justices of 
 the Peace, Charles Taylor and Linus Fox ; Asses- 
 sor, Elias Hobbs; Constables, Dwight Bushnell 
 and John Vanater. The government of the town- 
 ship was continued by these gentlemen, and has 
 been kept uji by their successors in an efficient 
 manner. 
 
 At the town meeting in 1882, in the spring, the 
 twenty-fourth annual reunion of the voters, the 
 following officers were placed in charge of town 
 matters: Supervisors; J. J. Alexander, Chairman, 
 N. S. Cannedy, and A. T. Huseby; Clerk, John G. 
 Koester; Treasurer, C. J. Orr; Assessor, Charles 
 J. Sherpey; Justice of the Peace, J. D. Jones; 
 Constable, J. C. Sommers. Meetings are now held 
 in the Hall over Mr. D. H. Orr's cheese factory, in 
 the southwestern portion of section fourteen; but 
 the project of erecting a town hall is now being 
 entertained by the officials. 
 
 War liEoonD. — In February, 1864, a request 
 was mad(> by the free holders of the locality for a 
 special town meeting, to issue bonds for the pur- 
 pose of comi)eusating volunteers wlio should en- 
 list to fill the ([Uota assigned the town. This call 
 was signed by Charles Taylor, J. A. Hunt, Linus 
 Fox, S. L. Bushnell, William Thorpe, H. Scriver, 
 E. Lathrop, and E. Lockwood. Accordingly the 
 requisite papers were issued, and on the 26tli of 
 February, 18G4, the special meeting came to order 
 in the Lyceum hall, and T. H. Olin was chosen 
 moderator. The records then says they voted the 
 sum of $2,000, or as much thereof, as, in the dis- 
 cretion of the board, should be necessary to pro- 
 cure volunteers. Bonds to be issued at 12 per 
 cent interest. The proceedimgs are signed by the 
 Supervisors, who were, John S. Way, J. A. Hunt, 
 and G. C. Thorpe; E. Lathrop was Clerk. Then, 
 on the 7th of the following March, the Treasurer 
 was directed to let bonds be issued in favor of the 
 following volunteers, at the rate of interest men- 
 tioned above, and to the amount as set opposite 
 their names, as follows: 
 
 Kleber Wilkinson S 100 
 
 William A. Bowe 100 
 
 James A. Philbrick 125 
 
 Henry Pratt 100 
 
 Frank Groom 100 
 
 William C. Haycock 100 
 
 William A. Bickett 100 
 
 Robert S. Keane 100 
 
 E. B. Hale 100 
 
 William H. Wood 50 
 
 Frank Schofield 100 
 
 Andrew L. Emory 100 
 
 Total $1,175 
 
 This order was signed by the last above mention 
 ed supervisors. 
 
 Shortly after this, in July, 1861:, another re- 
 quest was made by the following named freehol- 
 ders, for a special meeting for the purpose of vot- 
 ing money to volunteers: Charles Taylor, William 
 Thorpe, J. A. Hunt, E. Lockwood, M. W. Skin- 
 ner, Robert Silk, Urill Butler, E. Slocum, John 
 Simmons, S. L. Bushnell, J. L. McFee, John Van- 
 ater, and H. .Jenkins, jr. The requested meeting 
 was held in the store of H. Jenkins, jr., and Hiram 
 Scriver was elected moderator. After the usual 
 preliminaries it was voted that .156,000 should be 
 issued in bonds at 12 per cent, interest, to those 
 
570 
 
 HISTORY OP RICE COUNTY. 
 
 who should volunteer to e»list to fill the town's 
 quota. The Supervisors at that time were D. H. 
 Orr, William Thorpe, and N. Wheaton. 
 
 Another special meeting whs held on the eighth 
 of November, 1864, at which the sum of $200 was 
 voted for relief to the families of volunteers, and 
 C. A. Wheaton, W. J. Sibbison, and I. S. Field 
 were made a committee to investigate and distrib- 
 ute the relief. 
 
 Still another special meeting was held on the 
 21st of January, 186.5, at which $8,000 was voted 
 to pay bounties to volunteers, the meeting being 
 held at Lyceum Hall in North field, and the report 
 is signed by William Thorpe, D. H. Orr, and M. 
 Wheaton, Supervisors. 
 
 I EDUC.iTIONAl. 
 
 District No. 28. — The first organization that 
 embraced the territory now comprising this num- 
 ber was organized in 1857 as district No. 13, with 
 a schoolhouse in the township of Bridgewater. It 
 was subseqiiently set off and organized under its 
 present number, embracing the territory 
 in the eastern part of town, south of the 
 city of Northfield. The present schoolhouse was 
 erected in 1867, at a cost of $1,200, being a good 
 and substantial stone building in section nineteen. 
 The first school was taught the winter following 
 by Miss Putney, with an attendance of iifty schol- 
 ars, the district embracing at that time a great 
 deal of territory; the attendance is now about 
 twenty-five. 
 
 DisTBicT No. 34. — This district effected an or- 
 ganization in 1857, at the residence of William 
 Thorpe. The first school was taught at the resi- 
 dence of John Merrill soon after organization. 
 In 1859, a schoolhouse was erected, a frame build- 
 ing in the eastern part of section twenty-six,which 
 still answers the purjjoso of a schoolhouse. This 
 district embraces the territory in the southeastern 
 part of the township. 
 
 UisTiiicT No. 47. — The first school taught in this 
 district was by Mr. R. L. CUnton in 1859, at a 
 residence erected by the teacher. This primitive 
 structure has since rotted down and its builder 
 passed to the great hereafter. In 1866, a neat and 
 commodious stone school building was construct- 
 ed in the center of section twenty-two, which is 
 still in use. 
 
 District No. 62. — Miss Carrie Fields was 
 the first teacher in this educational subdivi- 
 sion, school being held at the residence of Mr. 
 
 Hoyt Field, in section eleven, in 1861. The present 
 owner of the place on which this building stood 
 is Mr. Sylvanus Bunday. The district was organ- 
 ized and a school building erected in 1862, which 
 was afterwards burned down. It has now an ex- 
 cellent stone edifice in the southeastern corner of 
 section eleven, which is well filled with the neces- 
 sary apparratns, and is one of the most healthy 
 and ably managed districts in the township. 
 
 Districts No. 63 and 70. — This is a consoli- 
 dated district, embracing territory in the counties 
 of both Rice and Dakota. No. 63 represents the 
 territory belonging to Northfield township and 
 comprises the northeastern part. It was organ- 
 ized in 1861, and in the fall of the following year 
 a neat school structure was erected by both dis- 
 tricts in the northern part of section thirty-five. 
 
 District No. 75. — This educational subdivision 
 commenced its existence in 1867, and inaugurated 
 this dignity by immediately building a school- 
 house in the southern part of section thirty -four. 
 The first school was taught by Miss Sarah Raw- 
 son, now Mrs. A. P. Morris, of Northfied, with ten 
 juveniles on the benches. The school now enrolls 
 about twenty-five. 
 
 District No. 78. — Was organized in 1865, at 
 the residence of Philip Cobum. The first school 
 was taught the same year in a part of his house by 
 Maretta Alexander, now Mrs. Charles Holt, for the 
 sum of three dollars per week, sometimes there 
 being only two or three pupils present. In 1870, 
 the schoolhouse was erected in the northern part 
 of section ten. The average attendance at pres- 
 ent is about twelve. 
 
 District No. 94. — The first school in this dis- 
 trict was taught by Miss Edith Clark, now Mrs. 
 Alichael Coburn, at the residence of Solomon 
 Clark in section seventeen, in the summer of 1868. 
 School was afterward held in an old granary un- 
 til the present frame building was erected in the 
 northeast corner of section seventeen. Miss Clara 
 Kingston taught the last term in the old granary, 
 with an attendance of about thirty scholars. 
 
 SoANDiNAViiN Seleot School. — This school 
 is located on section twenty-six, in the southern 
 part of the town; it is kept in a smal' building, 
 14x16 feet, erected for the j^urpose, and its object 
 is the teaching of church catechism in the lan- 
 guage of tlie nationality who sustain it. 
 
NORTIIFTELD TOWNSHIP. 
 
 571 
 
 INDUSTRIAIi ENTERPRISES. 
 
 Prairie Creek Cheese Factory. — This is one 
 of the princ'ipiil manufacturing iutlustries in this 
 part of the county. It was established on the 1st 
 of May, 1871, by David H. Orr, in the southwest- 
 ern corner of sactioa fourteen. Mr. Orr liad some 
 misgivings as to the success of his enterprise, so 
 he erected a building that he could use as a barn 
 in case the matter failed to come up to his expec- 
 tation; but in this he was happily disappointed, 
 as he has been very prosperous and successful in 
 his undertaking, as will lie seen by the fact that 
 the article manufactured by this factory took 
 the first premium at the Minneapolis fair. 
 The premium money, $100, offered by Mr. Gilson, 
 then projjrietor of the Nicollet House, Minneapo- 
 lis, was for some unknown reason, withheld, al- 
 though the judges decided that it was due Mr. 
 Orr, so he got the name and honor but not the 
 gain. This factory also took the first premium at 
 the American Institute in New York, and Mr. Orr 
 now holds the diploma as an evidence of his suc- 
 cess. Altogether the establishment is one which 
 is justly a credit to the town and county. 
 
 James' Cheese Factory. — This enterprise was 
 established in the fall of 1871, by Mr. M. D. 
 James, who erected a suitable building in the 
 southeastern part of section five. It was contin- 
 ued as a cheese-making establishment until 1881, 
 when it was sold to the Ellis Brothers, of Boston, 
 who at once transformed the same into a creamery, 
 or butter-making establishment. New and 
 thorough machinery, churns, etc., have been put 
 in, and everything equipped m first-class shape. 
 Owing to the lateness of the season and the price 
 asked for cream, it has not yet commenced run- 
 ning. 
 
 GERMAIN IIETHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 This society may be said to have effected an or- 
 ganization when their first services were held in 
 Mr. Drentlaw's house, in 1855, by the Bev. Mr. 
 Soloman, with ten in the congregation. After this 
 services were held in private houses until their 
 church was erected in 1867 or '(58, in the western 
 part of section twenty-two, which they still use. 
 It is a very neat and commodious structure, hav- 
 ing cost about .SI, 500, and Mr. Charlas Ebel gen- 
 erously donated three acres of laud which is util- 
 ized for a cemetery. The present pastor is Kev. 
 Mr. Plagenhart, the membership numbering about 
 sixteen. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 Thomas Arthur was born in the seaport town, 
 New London, Connecticut, on the 6th of Febru- 
 ary, 1825. Since the age of twelve years he has 
 maintained himself. In the fall of 1854, he came 
 to this township and built a shanty on the present 
 site of the elevator, which is supposed to be the 
 first building erected within the present city lim- 
 its of Northfield. He was married to Miss Eunice 
 Brown in October, 1849. She died in October, 
 1867, leaving three children; Homer J. A., 
 Thomas W., and Katy, deceased. He married his 
 present wife, Zelia Brown, on the 29th of Janu- 
 ary, 1870. The latter union has been blessed with 
 three children; Cora May, and two who died. Mr. 
 Arthur located on his present fann a few years 
 since and now has it under good cultivation. 
 
 John W. Birch, a native of New York, was 
 bora near Sarati.iga Springs on the 16th of May, 
 1830. His parents came to Michigan when he 
 was four years old and located in Ann Arbor, 
 where John received his education and grew to 
 manhood. In 1856, he came to this county and 
 settled in Bridgewater township, where he was 
 among the first settlers. He came to his present 
 farm in the spring of 1874. On the Ist of May, 
 1856, he was married to Miss Louisa Lockerby. 
 They have a family of seven children, four sons 
 and three daughters. 
 
 William Bierman was born near the present 
 city of Chicago, Illinois, on the 11th of August, 
 1834. When he was quite young his parents 
 moved to the northeastern part of the State, in 
 Will county, where he grew to manhood. He has 
 always made farming his occupation, coming to 
 Minnesota in 1854, and first located at Prairie 
 Creek, Kice county, where he remained until com- 
 ing to this township in 1865. He has a fine 
 farm, all under improvement. His wife was for- 
 merly Miss Gustina Prehn, a native of Germany. 
 They have nine children; Mary E., O-scar I., Ed- 
 ward, John L., Charles, Asa, Arthur, Martha, and 
 Jennie. Mr. Bierman's mother came to Minne- 
 sota with him but returned to Will county,Illinois, 
 where she died and was buried near her husband 
 who ilied several years previous. 
 
 John Beytien, a native of Germany, was born 
 in Mecklenburg on the 12th of July, 1844. When 
 fourteen years old he came with his parents to 
 America, direct to Minnesota, and settled in 
 Bridgewater township. In 1867, he was married 
 
572 
 
 BISTORT OF BICE COUNTY. 
 
 to Miss Sophia Sanders, wlio was born in his na- 
 tive place. They have two children; Anna M., 
 and Matilda C. ' They came to Northfleld in 1873, 
 and own a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, 
 well improved. Mr. Beytien has been a member 
 of the school board since coming here. 
 
 Sylvantis Bt'nday was born in Orleans connty, 
 New York, ou the 4th of August, 1834. In 1841, 
 his parents came west and settled on a farm near 
 Racine, Wisconsin, where Sylvanus was raised and 
 received his education. He came to Northfield in 
 1855, bitt returned to Wisconsin the following 
 year. On the 1st of November, 1857, he was 
 joined in matrimony with Miss Ellen Spear. They 
 have seven children; Ida E., Alice M., E. Clar- 
 ence, Marvin I., Hattie A., Ernest S., and Tesslie 
 W. Mr. Bunday came again to this place in 1865, 
 and located on a farm in section eleven which is 
 still his home. 
 
 Nathan S. DAVENroRi is a native of Vermont, 
 born near St. Johnsbury on the 17th of January, 
 1843. He was brought up to agricultural pur- 
 suits, remaining at home until the breaking out of 
 the war when he enlisted and served one year. 
 He came to this place in August, 1865, and has 
 since made it his home. His marriage took place 
 in 1871, and his wife was Miss Alice E. Orr, of 
 New York. They have been blessed with a fam- 
 ily of three children, two boys and one girl. 
 
 Asa Fkench was born in Springfield, New 
 Hampshire, on the 21st of November, 1814. 
 When young he was engaged in farming pursuits 
 in Vermont, and in 1836, married Miss Louisa 
 Coggswell of his native State. In 1850, they 
 came west to Illinois, and in 1859, to this place. 
 He owns a fine farm adjoining the city of North- 
 field and displays the taste of a genuine Vermont 
 farmer in the management of the same. Mr. and 
 Mrs. French have had eleven children, ten of 
 whom are living. 
 
 Otto Fuller was born in Monkton, Addison 
 county, Vermont, on the 25th of March, 1836. 
 He remained at homo until the age of twenty-two 
 years when he married Miss Minerva Willoughby, 
 who was born near his home. They came west 
 the same year, located in Wisconsin, and in 1861, 
 came to this place. Mrs. Fuller died in July, 
 1866. Mr. Fuller's present wife was formerly 
 Mrs. Lucy Stam, a native of Maine. The result 
 of this union is two children; Wyron and Oas- 
 tara. 
 
 Duncan Ferguson was bom in Dundee, Can- 
 ada East, on the 27th of March, 1826. He at- 
 tended school in his native place.and when twenty- 
 one years old weait to New York but returned in 
 1852. In 1855, he made a trip to California and 
 remained there, engaged in mining, for six years. 
 He located his present farm in 1861, and the fol- 
 lowing year commenced making improvements 
 and has since made it his home, having two hun- 
 dred acres under cultivation. He was married ou 
 the Ibt of November, 1863, to Miss Barbara Spink, 
 also a native of Canada, born on the 22d of No- 
 vember, 1841. They have three children; John 
 A., Mary E., and Nellie A. Mr. Ferguson's par- 
 ents are both from Scotland. 
 
 W. R. Green, a native of New York, was born 
 in Morristown, St. Lawrence county, on the 13th 
 of December, 1846. Since the age of sixteen years 
 he has earned his own living, and when eighteen 
 came to Minnesota and was employed on farms in 
 Dakota connty until February, 1864, when he en- 
 listed atSciota inCompany I of the First Minneso- 
 ta Heavy Artillery. He was under Capt. Kearney, 
 sent south and remained in service eight months, 
 when he was honorably discharged at Fort Snell- 
 ing. He was married in. December, 1873, to Miss 
 Elizabeth Miller, who was born near his home in 
 New York. They came to this place in April, 
 1876, and own a good farm in section three. They 
 have two children. 
 
 Asa D. Howe, deceased, one of the pioneers of 
 this place, was born in Vermont on the 7th of 
 February, 1816. He was brought up on a farm in 
 Ohio, where his parents moved when he was quite 
 young. In 1855, he came to Minnesota, spent a 
 tew days in Saint Anthony and then located a 
 farm in Northfield township, upon which his 
 widow now lives. He died on the 26th of Febru- 
 ary, 1863, and is buried in the Northfield ceme- 
 tery. Mrs. Howe has had ten children, only three 
 of whom are living, two sons and one daiighter. 
 
 J. S. Haselton, a native of New York, was born 
 near New London in Sullivan county, ou the 31st 
 of January, 1819. There he attended school and 
 learned the cabinet maker's trade, at which he was 
 engaged seven years. He afterwards spent some 
 time teaching penmanship. In 1843, he married 
 Miss Esther B. Webster, who was boiii near Con- 
 cord, New Hampshire, on the 2d of October, 
 1820. They had three children all of whom died 
 in their infancy. In 1855, they came to Minneso- 
 
KORTir FIELD TOWNS n/ P. 
 
 573 
 
 ta, and until 1868, resided in Hamilton, Dakota 
 oouuty, then came to this townsliip wbore they 
 own a good farm. Mr. Haselton has held various 
 local offices, and in 1878, was elected by the Re- 
 publicans to the State Legislature. 
 
 A. P. J.\MEsoN, a native of Maine, was I]om in a 
 small village inWaldo county on the 30th of March, 
 1829. In 1850, he was married to Miss Aravesta 
 U. Fuller of his native State. Two years later 
 Mr. Jameson went to the goldmines of California, 
 returned to Maine in 18G0, and soon after came 
 west and settled in this township, where he owns 
 a farm of two hundred acres. In 1876, he made a 
 trip to the mining regions in the Black Hills but 
 returned to his farm] in August of the same year. 
 He has a family of five children. 
 
 John D. Jones, the second settler in the south- 
 east half of this township, was born in southwest 
 Liverpool, South Wales, in March, 1823. He 
 came to America and landed in New York in June, 
 1842, from thence to Newark, Ohio, where he re- 
 mained two years. He then followed Horace 
 Greeley's advice and came west to Milwaukee, 
 Wisconsin, in June, 1844. The following year 
 he pxirchased a valuable tract of land from the 
 government at the land office at Milwaukee, and 
 since that time has been engaged in the real es- 
 tate business. Having a desire to improve his 
 education he attended the acadsmy at Waukesha 
 and also the business department of the Carroll 
 Collej.e. Mr. Jones assisted in locating the La 
 Crosse railroad from Milwaukee to the Mississip- 
 pi River. He came to Minnesota territory in May, 
 1855, and after several days' explorations located 
 his present farm about midway between the Can- 
 non rivers. He was married in Milwaukee in July, 
 1865, to Margaret Oliver, who was born in his 
 native land. They have two sons; Burton F. and 
 Oliver W. For eight years Mr. Jones has held 
 the office of Justice of the Peace. In his boy- 
 hood, previous to 1842, he visited Great Britain 
 and since has seen the fields in many States, and 
 it is his opinion that none is ijuite equal to the 
 fertile soil of Minnesota* He has a fine farm and 
 has been very successful as an agriculturalist. 
 
 Samuel F. Johnson was born near Brasher 
 Falls in St. Lawrence county, New Yurk, on the 
 19th of April, 1831. He was reared on a farm 
 and learned the trade of a sawyer in the mills 
 near his home. In 1852, he came to Little Fulls, 
 Morrison county, Minnesota, and was employed 
 
 at his trade iu the mills of Fer_.^uson and Tiittle 
 for two years. He then returned to his native 
 State and in 1856, in Vermont, married Mies 
 Weltha Hall, who died on the 15th of April, 1866. 
 The following year he married Miss Hannah Daw- 
 ■ son, and tlie same year returned to Minnesota, to 
 this township where he owns two hundred and 
 forty aci'es of land, all well improved. His wife 
 died on the 5th of SeptemVier, 18 77, and is bur- 
 ied in the Northfield cemetery. The maiden 
 name of his present wife was Ellen Dawson. He 
 is the father of four children, the three eldest; El- 
 don L., Hartland C, and Herbert G., by his first 
 wife, and Asa M. by his present. Mr. Johnson 
 has held most of the town and school offices and 
 in 1876, was Chairman of the board of Su]iorvis- 
 ors. He was President of the Rice County Fair 
 in 1882. He devotes considerable time to stock 
 raising. 
 
 John Livingston was born near the village of 
 BiDghamptim in Boone county. New York, qn the 
 26th of March, 1837. When he was eight years 
 old he moved with his parents to Wisconsin, lo- 
 cated a farm in Eock county and remained until 
 1857, when he came to this township. In 1861, 
 he enlisted in the army, served .aliout fifteen 
 months and was discharged for disability. He 
 then returned to this place, and in the fall of 1867, 
 purchased his present farm. Miss Matilda Hoyt 
 became his wife in 1868, and the union has been 
 blessed with three children; Lynn, Mary E., and 
 Clara B. 
 
 T. H. MuKP.Ai" is a native of Pennsylvania, 
 born near the village of Milton in Northumber- 
 land county on the 1st of July, 1825. He was 
 married in 1847, to Miss Mary J. Taggart, who 
 was born in the latter State on the 11th of July, 
 1827. The same year they came west and lo- 
 cated in Kalamazoo county, Blichigan; remained 
 until 1854, and came to Minnesota, settling at 
 ! White Bear Lake. They came to this place in 
 1868, and own a fine farm in section two. Mr. 
 Murray's parents are both dead, his father dying 
 thf 17th of March, 1869, and his mother the 21st 
 of July, 1879, and are buried in the cemetery at 
 White Bear. Mi's. Murray's father died in Feb- 
 ruary, 1851, and her mother on the 11th of De- 
 cember, 1858. 
 
 1). H. Ork, a native of Madison county. New 
 Y'ork, was born on the 27th of August, 1825. He 
 received an academic education at Oneida Castle, 
 
574 
 
 HLSTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 after which he taught school, spending his leisure 
 time studying. In 1857, he came through North- 
 tield to Watonwan county and pre-empted a 
 claim, but soon after returned to this township 
 and staked out his present land. He lived on his 
 farm one summer then returned to New York, and 
 in 1861, volunteered his services in the war but 
 was not accepted on account of poor sight. He 
 was married in 1862, to Miss Catherine Tiffany, 
 and immediately returned to his farm in this 
 place. They have had five children, four of whom 
 are hving. 
 
 Alvah M. Olin, a native of AVisconsin, was 
 horn in Waukesha, Waukesha county, on the 
 1st of August, 18i3. At the age of twelve years 
 he came with his parents to this State and lo- 
 cated within the present city limits of Northfield. 
 Alvah received his education here and afterward 
 taught school. In 1868, he married Miss Sarah 
 E. Jameson, who was born in Appleton, Maine, on 
 the 19th of June, 1844. She came with her 
 brother to Minnesota in 1860, and when sixteen 
 years old engaged in teaching school, which she 
 continued until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Olin 
 have had two children, one of whom is living, 
 Gertrude E., born on the 7th of May, 1872. Mrs. 
 Olin's mother died on the 19th of April, 1873, and 
 is buried in the Northfield cemetery. Her father 
 died in the East. 
 
 John Riddell was born near the village of 
 Brockville, Canada, on the 23d of December, 1828. 
 He received a good education and in 1849, moved 
 
 to New York, but soon returned to his native 
 place. On the 7th of October, 1852, he married 
 Miss Margaret Dodds, a native of Glasgow, Scot- 
 land. They have had six children, five of whom 
 are living. In the fall of 1857, they came to 
 Minnesota, located first at Cannon Palls, then in 
 Stanton, Goodhue county, and in 1864, came to 
 this place. Mr. Riddell owns a good farm, part 
 cultivated and part timber. 
 
 J. C. SoMMBKS, a native of Illinois, was born in 
 Monee, Will county, on the 28th of March, 1854. 
 His parents located in this place when he was an 
 infant of one year. He remained at home until 
 his marriage on the 20th of July, 1879, with Miss 
 Sarah M. Holmes, adopted daughter of Mr. Stall- 
 cop. She was born in Wisconsin. Mr. Sommer's 
 farm is three miles southwest of the claim taken 
 by his father. He has one child. Amy Grace, born 
 on the Ist of October, 1880. His father, who was 
 born in Germany, still lives in this place and his 
 mother died on the 19th of September, 1875. 
 
 Daniel B. Satlor was born in Armstrong 
 county, Pennsylvania, on the 16th of April, 1851. 
 His parents came to Minnesota in 1861, and lo- 
 cated in Warsaw, Goodhue county, where they 
 still reside. Daniel was joined in wedlock in 
 September, 1875, to Miss Janette King, who was 
 born in the latter place. They came to North- 
 field and Mr. Saylor purchased a farm in section 
 one, upon which he has since lived. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Saylor have two children; Adaline B. and Bertha 
 Ann. 
 
SIIIELDSVILLE TOWWSiriP. 
 
 575 
 
 SHIELDSVILLE. 
 
 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 GENEBAL DESCRrPTION EARLY SETTLEMENT — TOWN 
 
 GOVERNMENT-SCHOOLS — EA RLY EVENTS-SHIELDS- 
 
 VILLE SHIELDSVILLE MILLS — OATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 — BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 Sbieltlsville is one of the townships in the 
 western tier, situated just north of Morristown. 
 On the north is Erin; on the east Wells, and on 
 the west LeSueur county, embracing as its terri- 
 tory thirty-six sections, or 23,0-40 acres, of which 
 a greater portion is under cultivation. 
 
 There are no cataracts or water- powers, but it is 
 abundantly supplied with lakes. The largest of 
 these is Cedar Lake, in the southeastern part of 
 the town, covering portions of sections twenty-five, 
 . twenty- six, twenty-eight, thirty-four, thirty-five, 
 and thirty-sis. A number of islands dot the 
 placid surface of water. West of this lake one 
 mile is Mud Lake, covering about 320 acres of 
 section twenty -eight. Rice Lake floods about the 
 same number of acres in sections sixteen and sev- 
 enteen, and east of this one mile a small body of 
 water known as Hunt Lake occupies a part of sec- 
 tion fifteen. In the northern portion of the town- 
 ship is Tuft's Lake, and another small body of 
 water infringes on the territory from Erin. These 
 lakes are almost all connected by small rivulets 
 and streams, sluggishly and lazily wending their 
 way through the marsh lands and lakes, to even- 
 tually mingle with the Cannon River as it rolls on 
 to the Atlantic. 
 
 To the eye Shieldsville presents a view of un- 
 dulating surface, with here and there a tendency 
 to hilly, timber, marsh, and meadow land. The 
 wild forest, the tranquil and glassy lakes, embed- 
 ded in the midst of the hills, and the sluggish 
 course of the lazy streams as they wind their 
 pathway between the sister lakes, combine to 
 make Shieldsville a pleasant and picturesque 
 spot. 
 
 All through the township the early pioneers 
 found beautiful groves of oak, and all sturdy va- 
 rieties of timber, interspersed with maple and 
 walnut; and in the shady aisles of this miniature 
 forest, clear sparkling springs bubbled up, fur- 
 nishing, without stint or measure, that best of 
 beverages — pure, clear, cold water — and forming 
 the fountain heads of many affluents to the Can- 
 non River. A great deal of the timber has now 
 been removed, but enough remains to furnish an 
 idea of the delightful prospect which lured early 
 explorers in search of this kind of laud, to found 
 homes in this locality. 
 
 The town is well adapted to agricultural pur- 
 suits, and has a large cultivatadarea, yielding, be" 
 sides the usual cereals, all the crops common to 
 this latitude, and in the low lands, an alniiidant 
 yield of hay. Fruit culture is also attended to 
 in a moderate and limited way, with fair results. 
 
 A sketch of this township published in 18(58, by 
 F. W. Frink, says: •'Shieldsville, the town join- 
 ing Morristown on the corth, is another township 
 of timber land. Its area of taxable lands, exclu- 
 sive of town lots, comprises 17,816 acres. About 
 2,500 acres of its surface is occupied by lakes, of 
 which there are eight, either wholly or in part 
 within the township. It has also bewteen 1,500 and 
 1,600 acres of railroad lands, 434 acres still be- 
 longing to the government, and 480 acres of un- 
 sold school lands within its limits. Its popula- 
 tion is made up chiefly of emigrants from Ireland, 
 with but few adults American born within its 
 boundaries. Non-resident lands in the township 
 may be had for from .'$2.50 to $5 per acre." 
 
 Since the above was written some changes have 
 taken place; the unsold land mentioned has long 
 since almost all passed into the hands of actual 
 Settlers; and instead of S2.50 to $5 per acre, can- 
 not now be purchased for less than from .flO to 
 »;25 ])er acre. The statement as to the inhabit- 
 ants will ajjply readily to the present writing, ex- 
 
57C 
 
 niSTOBT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 cept that the American jiopwlation has grown 
 more rapidly than the foreign born. In 1860, the 
 population of Shieklsville was 343; in 1865, 384; 
 ill 1870, 562; and in 1880, the last census gave 
 the township 771, and village 118; total, 889. 
 
 As to the vahies in Shieldsville, the census 
 taken in '70"reports that the real property amounts 
 to $109,750; personal, $39,725; total, 149,425; the 
 total assessed valuation for the same year was 
 .$68,880. In 1882, after the County Commissioners 
 had equalized the county taxes, the assessed vahie 
 of property in Shieldsville was as follows: real 
 property, $90,159; personal, $23,010; total, 113,- 
 169, showing the creditable increase in assessed 
 value since 1870, of .S44,289. 
 
 EARLY SETTLEMENT. 
 
 As in Erin township, the early settlement of 
 Shieldsville was due almost entirely to the des- 
 cendents of the Emerald Isle, and was known in 
 early days as General Shield's colony. About the 
 first to arrive in the township was General Shields, 
 a native of Ireland, who laid out the village of 
 Shieldsville and at once took steps towards col- 
 lecting his countrymen about him. He arrived in 
 1855, early iu the spring, and after staying long 
 enough to lay out the village, he retraced his stfejis 
 to St. Paul, returning the same year with a num- 
 ber of Irishmen, many of whom settled in Erin 
 and were identified with the early growth and set- 
 tlement of that locality. Sliields then commenced 
 a period of advertising in the papers of the East, 
 stating that he had located here, and was desirous 
 of being joined by his countrymen, and began 
 raising colonies. This had a telling effect, as it was 
 not long until they began crowding in on foot, by 
 horse, ox, and cow teams, and taking farms, until 
 by the fall of 1856, the town was pretty well set- 
 tled, and the government laud,of the better quality, 
 was scarce. Most of those who were in at this time 
 will be mentioned. 
 
 The first to be treated in tliis connection will be 
 the man after whom lioth town and village were 
 named. 
 
 (lENERAL James Shields. This distinguished 
 man was early identified with the settlement of 
 Eice county. He was born in Atmore, Tyrone 
 county, Ireland, on the 12th of December, 1810, 
 came to America iu 1826, and studied law until 
 1832, when he went to Kaskaskia, IllLniois, to prac- 
 tice the profession. In 1836, he was in the legisla- 
 ture of that State, and in 1843 was Judge of the 
 
 Sujireme Court. In 1845, he was appointed com- 
 missioner of the Laud Oflice. His military career 
 commenced as a lieutenant in the Florida war. 
 When the Mexican war broke out. President Polk 
 appointed him as a Brigadier General, his com- 
 mission bearing date of the 1st of July, 1846, and 
 for distinguished services at Cerro Gordo, where 
 he was dangerously wounded, was breveted Major 
 General. He was again wounded at the battle of 
 Chepultepec. In 1848, the General was appoint- 
 ed Governor of Oregon Territory, which he soon 
 resigned, and in 1849 was elected United States 
 Senator for six years. At the expiration of his 
 term of service he came to Minnesota and started 
 the village of Shieldsville, but was soon induced 
 to join the proprietors of the town of Faribault, 
 where he was agent and attorney for the townsite 
 company. 
 
 He was elected to the United States Senate for 
 the short term terminating in 1860, at the expira- 
 tion of which he went to California. When the 
 Kebellion was inaugurated he received the ap- 
 pointment of Brigadier General by President Lin- 
 coln, was assigned to a command and gained a 
 victory at Winchester, where he was severely 
 wounded. After the war he took ujj his 4'esidence 
 in Missouri, where he remained in private life until 
 1877, when he was elected to fill a vacancy caused 
 by the retirement of Senator Armstrong, and 
 served to the end of that Congress, and afterwards 
 devoted his time to lecturing until his death,which 
 was on the 1st of June, 1879, at Ottumwa, Missouri, 
 and rather suddenly. 
 
 General Shields was a man of ability, with 
 a good share of ambition and a desire for public 
 life, and the fact that he was wanting in that pop- 
 ularity which in a Republic is so essential to suc- 
 cess in this regard, led him to leave a handsome 
 projierty in Faribault in search of pastures new. 
 To show why he oam« to be looked upon with dis- 
 favor, it is stated that when supplying deeds to 
 citizens who had purchased lots which they had 
 paid for at a good round stipulated price, he ex- 
 acted $5 for each deed, when he was under obli- 
 gation to furnish them impliedly for nothing. 
 Such transactions, together with his want of pub- 
 lic spirit, and utter deafness to charitable appeals, 
 always alienated his term of oflice. The General 
 was a brave man and a good soldier, and with a 
 liberal disposition he would have had all the ele- 
 ments for popular support. 
 
SIIIELDSVILI.E TOWS sill I'. 
 
 ■i77 
 
 John Nagle, another native of the Emerald 
 Isle, had arrived in America in 1848, and located 
 in New York State, where he remained until 1855, 
 when he came west and arrived in Shiehlsville at 
 the time the first settlement was made in Erin, in 
 June, 1855. The majoritj of the party he came 
 with located in the latter town, but he made hia 
 way to section eleven in Shieldsville where he still 
 lives. Mr. Nagle has held various offices in the 
 township, and is one of the oldest settlers now 
 in the town. A few others came through, and 
 some stopped for a time in Shieldsville, but the 
 majority in this year settled in other localities. 
 
 Bernard Hunt, another Irishman, had stopped 
 in Illinois for a time, and in June, 1856, made 
 his appearance in Shieldsville and jire-empteil a 
 j^lace a short distance north of where he now is. 
 He remained for about a year and came to the 
 southwest quarter of section fourteen where he still 
 remains. The lake, to which his farm lies adja- 
 cent, was named by the Indians as Eagle Lake, 
 but it has now changed to Hunt Lake by common 
 consent. Among others who came in '56, Michael 
 Gavin and family were prominent and settled near 
 Hunt Lake, where Mr. Gavin's widow still remains, 
 he having died several years ago. 
 
 James Murphy and several sons, James Carpen- 
 ter, J. Roach, and Mr. Gillispie, all came, took 
 farms, erected log cabins and remained a short 
 time; but have now all removed to other portions 
 of the Northwest. 
 
 Michael Delaney came in the spring of 1856, 
 and secured a habitation in section ten where he 
 remained until called away by the "grim messen- 
 ger," and his widow still lives on the place. 
 
 Roger Madden arrived about the same time and 
 commenced a settlement in the eastern part of sec- 
 tion twenty -one, and Thomas Minton took 160 
 acres adjoining in the same section, on which farm . 
 both still live in comfortable circumstances. 
 
 Patrick Hagarty and William Blahoney each 
 took a farm near Cedar Lake in sections twenty- 
 three and twenty-seven where they still live. 
 
 Thomas O'Donnell joined this settlement and 
 took 160 acres in section twenty where he still 
 lives. Patrick Smith located a couple of miles 
 west of these settlers, in section twenty-nine, at 
 the same time, and Patrick Murphy helped close 
 up the gap by taking a farm in section twenty- 
 two. John Fitzgerald carved a place for settle- 
 ment, from the woods in section eight. All of 
 37 
 
 these parties still occupy their homesteads, and 
 are in comfortable circumstances. 
 
 Thomas Roach came into section seventeen the 
 same year, (1856), and remained a sliort time; 
 the place is now owned by Mr. Davis. Daniel 
 Savage located near Rice Lake and remained there 
 until he paid the debt of mortality some years ago, 
 and his sons now occupy the farm. John Buck- 
 ley also made a claim near the same lake and has 
 also been removed to the "other shore." His son 
 runs the homestead now. Daniel and David Gon- 
 sor made their apjiearance and took pre-emptions 
 east of Hunt Lake, the latter of them going into 
 Wells some years later, and the former is dead. 
 John Kelly now owns the place originally taken 
 by Daniel. James Murphy, deceased, located in 
 section ten, where Mr. DuLac now resides. 
 
 NOTES AND ITEMS OF INTEREST. 
 
 About the first birth in this township took 
 place, in 1856, in the log cabin of Bernard Hunt 
 on section twenty -two, and on the 28th of July 
 was ushered into existence this gentleman's son, 
 John J., who still remains with his father. In 
 February of the following year, a brother of John 
 was born. He was named Thomas and still lives 
 at his birth place. 
 
 D. F. Hagarty was born early in 1857, on sec- 
 tion twenty-two, and still lives there. Other early 
 births may have occurred but they have escaped 
 the memories of those interviewed. 
 
 E.^KLY Marriages. — The earliest marriage of 
 parties from this township occurred in Hastings, 
 in 1857; the high contracting parties being Mr. 
 Michael Gavin and Miss Mary Ann Rogers, who 
 returned to the township and lived here until Mr. 
 Gavin's death in 1809; and the widow still lives in 
 the township. Another early marriage was that 
 of James Carpenter to Ellen MeOohey, of St. 
 Paul; the ceremony taking place in that city in 
 1857, the groom meeting the bride there. The 
 happy couple came back to Shieldsville and still 
 reside here in comfortable circumstances. 
 
 Hawley's Death. — In early days, as early as 
 1857, an outlaw named Hawley made this part of 
 the county his stamping ground, and as he had 
 committed many depredations for which he was 
 wanted bv the officers of the law, he was of course 
 about as quiet in his movements as possible. His 
 strategy, however, was ineffectual, as the author- 
 ities in Faribault someway became cognizant of 
 his whereabouts, and a party sent out in search 
 
578 
 
 HTSTORT OF BICE COUNTY. 
 
 of him, iinally found him near Shieldsville, and 
 surrounding him with clubs and butcher knives, 
 belted him over the head, and carved him up as 
 they would butcher a hog. The only parties whose 
 names can be remembered as in connection with 
 this lawless execution, are Messrs Bentley and 
 Russ, whoever they are. This was among the 
 first deaths in the township. 
 
 Another early death was that of Miss Bridget 
 Harrison, a 10 or 17 year old girl, who was called 
 over the dark river in 1858. 
 
 The Indians. — During the Indian outbreak, in 
 1802, this township had many serious and amus- 
 ing anecdotes to divert the minds of the citizens 
 from agricultural duties. Although up to this 
 time there had been plenty of redskins passing to 
 and fro through the town, yet they had not been 
 especially troublesome, except as to their begging 
 propensities, and General Shields had permitted 
 them to use as a camping ground, a spot adjoin- 
 ing the vilhige known as the General's Island. 
 When the actual outbreak occurred, the dusky 
 skinned hunters were wiley enough to see that the 
 whites were afraid, and they began to get arrogant 
 and defiant, and finally the whites decided to have 
 them go. So a small force, of probably 100 men, 
 gathered together, and going to the Island told 
 the disturbers that they must go. This they re- 
 fused to do, at first, ofiering as an excuse that 
 they had a letter from the General with a permit 
 to occupy the same as their home. Words were 
 bandied, and the spokesman of the pioneers in- 
 formed them that if "General Shields was 
 tliere, a gun would be put in his hands 
 and ho would l)o, forced to fight," imply- 
 ing that General Shields was not lunning 
 that campaign. This ended the matter of words, 
 and on a slight show of fight on the part of the 
 Indians, the pioneers "lit" into the camp and be- 
 gan knocking the tee-pees right and left, which set- 
 tled the matter as far as resistance was concerned. 
 The baggage was then taken from the squaws and 
 placed on tlie backs of the bucks, and the "In- 
 juns" grural)liiigly left, more enraged at having 
 to carry the baggage than to leave the camp; they 
 no doubt placed the baggage where they thought 
 it belonged — on the squaws — as soon as out of 
 sight of the "palefaces." 
 
 Anotlicr time a party of fifty armed pioneers 
 drove a baud of 1,500 Indians from the hills near 
 Mud Lake, and forced them to leave the town- 
 
 ship, although at one time — as one of them told 
 us — there was not a man in the crowd but would 
 have given a number of years of his life to have 
 turned heels and run for the woods, and the same 
 party says that a good deal of the valor and 
 bravery exhibited on that memorable day was 
 due to the strength of the whiskey they had been 
 freely imbibing. On the way for volunteers to 
 this raid, the party would go to a neighbor's 
 house and tell him they wanted him ; if he came 
 willingly, well and good; if not, he would be 
 "grabbed" and "yanked" into the ranks, where 
 an oath was administered to all, that "the first 
 man who turned to run was to receive a death 
 ball by the first who could draw a bead." Well, 
 it is unnecessary to state that no one ran. 
 
 Mazaska Lake. — This body of water extends 
 into four townships, Erin, Forest, Wells, and 
 Shieldsville, being located in the four corners, and 
 infringes on Shieldsville in the northeastern part. 
 The old Indian chief "Eastman," claimed that the 
 lake received its name in honor of his son, and 
 was for years called "Mazuka," which was the 
 name of his boy; but in after years the name be- 
 came demoralized, so to speak, common pronun- 
 ciation slightly altered it, and finally the map 
 men desingated it under the name of "Ma- 
 zaska," and it still retains that cognomen. 
 
 TOWN GOVEBNMENT. 
 
 This township was created as a government 
 within itself when the territory of Minnesota was 
 admitted to the Union as a State, in 1858, and the 
 first town meeting was held on the 11th of May, 
 that year, at Shieldsville village. After the usual 
 preliminaries the township was organized by the 
 election of the first officers, as follows: Super- 
 visors, Joseph Hagerty, Chairman; Patrick Gun- 
 niff, and Patrick Smith; Constables, Michael Han- 
 Jey and Patrick McKenua; Justices of the Peace, 
 Timothy Doyle and James Roach; Assessor, John 
 Finley; Town Clerk, John H. Gibbons. It was 
 voted that the town should be named Shieldsville, 
 in honor of General James Shields, with a slight 
 show of enthusiasm. Money was voted then to 
 defray town expenses for the coming year. 
 
 SHiEt.D.sviLiiE DURING THE WAK. — This town- 
 ship did its share in sustaining the government 
 thrcmgh the war of the rebellion, and in furnishing 
 men. We find that on the 2d of March, 1864, a 
 special town meeting was held at which the sum 
 of $3,000 was voted for the purpose of raising 
 
SIIIELDSVILLE TOWNSHIP, 
 
 579 
 
 volunteers or substitutes to fill the quota of the 
 town. The officers at this meeting were Joseph 
 Hagerty, Chairman; Richard Leahy, and Patrick 
 Smith; Maurice O'Hearu was clerk. 
 
 Again, on the 25th of January, 1865, another 
 sjjecial meeting was held at which the sum of 
 $4,000 was voted for the same purpose. The offi- 
 cers at this time were, Joseph Hagerty, Chair- 
 man; Patrick Murphy, and John Healy; Patrick 
 McKenna was clerk. 
 
 At a subsequent meeting 9500 was levied to 
 pay interest on the bonds, making in all the sum 
 of $7,500. 
 
 The following is a list of the volunteers who 
 participated in the war as near as can be arrived 
 at: J. Buckley, P. Harris, Patrick Smith, J. Ma- 
 loney, J. Foran, P. Houlahan, J. Gilson, C. Ma- 
 hony, M. Hanley, John Hagerty, .Joseph Hagerty, 
 and John Healy. 
 
 The financial and public government of the 
 township has been tranquil and pleasant, good 
 and efficient officers having had control of the in- 
 terests of the people. 
 
 SCHOOLS. 
 
 District No. 32. — This was among the first to 
 receive an organization in the township, and is 
 generally known as the Shieldsville school, as it 
 is the educational sub-division embracing the vil- 
 lage and immediately surrounding country. It 
 commenced its existence in the spring of 1858, 
 and the following officers were elected: J. Hag- 
 arty, Patrick Hanlin, and Tim Shields. The first 
 school was taught in an old shanty erected by 
 •James Tuft, by James Bentley, there being 
 about twenty-five scholars present. This build- 
 ing was then designated as the schoolhouse, and 
 used for school purposes until 1865, when a new 
 log house was erected in the village. The first 
 school in this house was taught by Mr. Wall with 
 an attendance of 120 scholars between the ages 
 of four and twenty, and it was used as their 
 school building until 1881, when the present 
 frame edifice was constructed upon land donated 
 the district by Gen. James Shields. The size of 
 the building is 28x40 feet, well furnished, and 
 cost $1,000. The present school board is as fol- 
 lows: Christ. Gibnick, Director; Thomas Laiig- 
 don. Treasurer; and William lierrott, Clerk. Miss 
 Hagerty was the last teacher, with seventy pupils 
 on the register. 
 
 DisTKioT No. 53. — The first school in this dis- 
 
 trict was taught by Mr. O'Connor in a log shanty 
 on Mr. Hugh Byrne's place, in 1863. The teacher 
 
 of the first school is now in the Insane Asylum, his 
 mind having become deranged. The organization 
 was effected in 1863, and the Messrs. Patrick 
 Smith, John Healy, and John McGancy were 
 made first officers. In the spring of 1866, a site 
 was purchased in the northern part of section 
 twenty-nine, and the school building now in use 
 was erected at a cost of about $600, being a neat 
 and substantial frame building. The present 
 school board is Thomas Mintrum, Director; A. 
 Hanlin, Clerk; aid P. H. Byrne, Treasurer. The 
 school now enrolls about forty pupils. 
 
 District No. 70. — This district effected an or- 
 ganization in 1860, and a log schoolhouse was 
 erected the same year in the northeastern corner 
 of section eight,on land belonging to Michael De- 
 laney. The first officers were Messrs. M. Delaney, 
 Carpenter, and James McDonnell. Miss Bridget 
 Kelly taught the first school in the house just 
 erected, with twenty pupils on the benches. In 
 1864, the schoolhouse was burned and another log 
 structure was put up on the same site. In 1879, 
 this house also was destroyed by fire, and the pres- 
 ent frame house was built at a cost of four $400, 
 size 18x24, but upon the spot occupied by the for- 
 mer buildiugs. The present school officers are 
 Messrs. James Carpenter, James McDonnell, and 
 John Fitzgerald. The last term of school was 
 taught by Miss Eose Tague with about forty 
 scholars in attendance. 
 
 District No. 71. — This district was originally 
 in connection with the adjoining districts, but in 
 1801, was set off and has since been a government 
 for school purposes in itself. The organiza- 
 tion was really effected on the side of the road 
 near the spot where the school house now is, as 
 the citizens were selecting a site for a school 
 building, and Richard Ijahey was the first clerk; 
 the names of the other officers have been forgot- 
 ten, and the early records have either been lost or 
 destroyed, at least they are not in the hands of 
 the present clerk. The school structure was at 
 once erected of logs with a chip board roof, at a 
 nominal cost, and it is now in use, having been 
 greatly repaired. The first teacher was Miss 
 Laura Snyder, who agreed to instruct the fifteen 
 pupils for .$10 per mouth and board herself. Since 
 organization the district has always had from 
 seven to nine months school each year, and the 
 
580 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 scholars Lave steadily increased until at the last 
 term, tauglit by Miss Rosa Ward, thirty pupils 
 were enrolled, the teacher receiving the sum of 
 S20 per month for her services. The present offi- 
 cers are: C. Mahony, Clerk; Oscar Hearn, Direc- 
 tor, and D. LeMieux, Treasurer. The school 
 house is located near the center of section twen- 
 ty-six. 
 
 District No. 84. — Was organized late in the 
 sixties and the first officers were : B. Hunt, Direc- 
 tor; T. MoDowney, Treasurer, and Michael CTa\in, 
 Clerk. This district was formerly merged into the 
 territory of district number seventy -one. When it 
 was set oli' a schoolhouse was at once erected, at a 
 cost of about .U300, size lGx22 feet, which is still 
 in use, having been improved to a considerable 
 extent. The first school was taught by Miss Mary 
 Ann McDowney, immediately after the school- 
 house was built, with fourteen scholars present, 
 and she was compensated with $25 a month. The 
 last term, taught by Miss Judge, had an attend- 
 ance of about twenty-six scholars. The present 
 officers are: Messrs. B. Hunt, William Judge and 
 Patrick Harrison. The location of the building is 
 the northeast corner of section fifteen. 
 
 SHIELDSVILLE VILLAGE. 
 
 This is the only village in the township, or in 
 this part of the county. It is situated in section 
 (me of Shieldsville township, between Lake Maz- 
 aska and Tuft, and on one of the most beautiful 
 town sites in the country. It is not a large vil- 
 lage, in fact it is among the smallest in Eice coun- 
 ty, but it has all the concomitants to distinguish 
 it from a "four-corners." The population at the 
 last census, in 188(1, was 118. 
 
 The village was platted by Gen. James Shields 
 and James Tuft, who.se coming here is recordeed 
 elsewhere, in the fall of 1855. This was General 
 Sliield's second trip to this vicinity and with him 
 came Jerry Healy, John Burke, James Clarking, 
 S. Smith, and others, some of whom settled in the 
 town of Erin. 
 
 In 1850, Francis Maloney and others erected, 
 with a saw and hatchet astheir tools, the first store 
 building in the village, and the firm of Johnson & 
 Ilanlin, now both dead, soon after opened a gener- 
 ;il merchandise store there. After running for a 
 time it was sold to Josepli Hagerty and brother, 
 who, after continuing for about fifteen years, went 
 out of the business. 
 
 The first business house, if such it may be term- 
 
 ed, was started early in 1856, by Conner & Mat- 
 thew, in a little log hut, and the principle article 
 handled was whiskey. 
 
 In the fall of 1856, or early the year following, 
 Mr. Francis Maloney opened a general merchan- 
 dise store in a large 30x40 log structure, and in 
 connection with the general requirements of life, 
 dealt out a large amount of stimulant, etc. Dur- 
 ing the Indian outbreak, he prepared himself for 
 tte red skins by keejiing a large bottle of strych- 
 nine for each barrel of lisuor, so as to be able to 
 treat the expected visitors in a vengeance like 
 way. Mr. Maloney continued in business until 
 1873, when he retired, although he still remains 
 in the village, one of the oldest settlers in the 
 town. 
 
 Mr. John Fox made his appearance, and about 
 1858, opened a blacksmith shop, which he ran for 
 a time and then retired to Minneapolis, where he 
 now is. 
 
 James Stack came early and also opened a shop 
 which is yet conducted by his sons. 
 
 Mr. M. Cochran was another blacksmith, who 
 hammered away for a time and then sold his shop 
 to Thomas Casey, who still runs the establishment. 
 
 James Connell runs a wagon shop, which was 
 started some years ago. 
 
 Patrick LcKenna arrived, and opened a general 
 saloon establishment, and still runs it at this writ- 
 ing, in connection with a hotel he has since erec- 
 ted. 
 
 Some time in the seventies, Thomas Coleman 
 came and bought out John Murphy who had 
 started a general merchandise store two years prior, 
 and Mr. Coleman still continues the business, 
 handling a little of the festive beverage over the 
 bar. 
 
 Messrs Mathew and Thomas Brown, some time 
 ago, started a general merchandise store which 
 they still continue, carrying a large and complete 
 stock. They have a substantial and large build- 
 ing, a good trade, and the finest general merchan- 
 dise establishment in this part of the country. 
 
 The village now contains the following: one 
 excellent steam saw -mill with a capacity of sawing 
 6000 feet of lumber per day ; a neat church ; a school 
 house ; two stores ; a Post-office; four saloons; a 
 hotel; two blacksmith shops; one wagon shop; 
 and a number of dwelling houses. It has a fine lo- 
 cation on the high land between two beautiful 
 lakes, which are surrounded by high wooded 
 
SUIELDSVILLB TOWNSHIP. 
 
 581 
 
 Bhores and a rich farming country. These lakes, 
 Hke all others in Rice coimty, abound with iisli of 
 various species. It is distant about ten miles 
 northwest from Faribault. 
 
 Catholic Choeoh of ShieldsviijLE. — The his- 
 tory of this parish covers a jjeriod of twcnty-si.x 
 years, having been organized in 18.5(5. embracing 
 the territory of Shieldsville and Erin townships, 
 and a portion of Wells and Forest. In 1857, the 
 old church building was erected at a cost of 
 Sl,200, which lasted until 1878, when their pres- 
 ent excellent stone structure was built at a cost of 
 about $16,000. This church was completed in 
 1882, and is one of the finest in the county, hav- 
 ing a seating capacity of 620 persons, with stand- 
 ing room for over a hundred. A parsonage was 
 also erected at a cost of about .SI, 000. The pas- 
 tors who have officiated here are Rev. Mr. Keller, 
 Father McCuUogn, Father Sales, Father Robert, 
 and Rev. J. J. Slaviu, the present pastor. 
 
 A cemetery ground was laid out by this society, 
 at the time of organizing the church. It occupies 
 ten acres just south of the village, in which there 
 about 200 graves. 
 
 When the first church was erected it was left 
 without seats, stove or any furniture. It remain- 
 ed in this shape until 1867, when Catherine Dem- 
 ing returned to the village after an absence of 
 eight years, and with vim and energy that was 
 commendable, she, in company with a few other 
 ladies, got up a pic-nic and ladies fair from which 
 was netted the snug little sum of iJlOO, and with 
 this the church was finished, a floor, stoves, and 
 seats being put in. Since th.it time the church 
 has grown rapidly, and now the rent of pews 
 alone is a revenue sufficient to keep the house in 
 repair and beautify the grounds. 
 
 Shieldsville mills. — -This enterprise was 
 founded in 1856, when the Delaney Brothers 
 erected a saw mill on the same site the present 
 mills occupy; and putting in a moderate steam 
 power and a circular saw commenced running with 
 a capacity of 2,000 feet per day. It did 
 not prove an entire success and in 1858, 
 General James Shields and others took pos- 
 session of the property; and putting in new 
 and more modern machinery, increased its capac- 
 ity to 6,000 or 7,000 feet per day. In this shape 
 it was continued until the IGth of April, 1864, (in 
 the meantime the firm of Russell, Tenny & Co. 
 had purchased it) when it was destroyed by fire. 
 
 together with 25,000 feet of valuable lumber. 
 Soon afterward the firm of Hagerty, McAvoy & 
 O'Hearn erected the (jresent mill with a capacity 
 of 6,000 feet per day. This firm continued the 
 business for about two years, when Mr. Hagerty 
 went out and the other two gentleman managed 
 the establishment until 1877, when Dooley, Tack 
 & McAvoy attached a two run grist and feed-mill 
 to the concern. Since that time the mill has been 
 managed by difi'erent^firms until 1881, when the 
 present firm of Patrick and DanielDooloy, under 
 the firm name of Dooley Brothers, purchased it 
 and still continue the business. 
 
 The mill makes good fiour, with a capacity of 
 250 bushels per day, not as much in quantity as 
 other mills in the county, but equal in quality. 
 The saw-mill is equipped so as_to be able to saw 
 6,000 feet of lumber per day. The establishment 
 is run by steam and is in good condition. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 Thomas Coleman was born in Ireland in 1843, 
 and lived in his native country until the age of 
 seven years. He then came to America with his 
 parents and located in Dunkirk, New York, where 
 he attended school; five years later moved to Ga- 
 lena, IlHuois, and completed his education. In 
 1856, Mr. Coleman's father came to Shieldsville 
 and was one of the first settlers in the place. 
 Thomas was married here in February, 1863, to 
 Miss Ann Murphy a native of Ireland. She died 
 in 1876, and in 1877, lie married his present wife, 
 formerly Miss Eliza Bramau, a native of Wiscon- 
 sin. He had three children by his first wife, two 
 of whom are living, and also three by his present 
 wife, two living. Mr. Coleman has held the office 
 of Assessor and was commissioned Postmaster in 
 1878, still holding the latter. 
 
 John Finley, one of the pioneers of tliis place, 
 is a native of Ireland, born in 1820. He was mar- 
 ried in 1845, to Miss Mary Tuey and resided in 
 his native place until the age of thirty-two years. 
 He came to America and first located in Rockland 
 county. New York, engaged in brick making. 
 In 1856, he moved to this place and located in 
 section three, where he still resides. He has been 
 Chairman of the board of Supervisors six years. 
 Justice of the Peace six years, and has been a 
 member of the School board several terms. He 
 and his wife are members of the Cathohc church. 
 They have had four children, tln-ee of whom are 
 
582 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 living; James, .aged thirty-five years; Ann, 
 twenty-nine years, and John, twenty. 
 
 Patrick MoKenna is a native of Ireland, born 
 in the parish of Ardstree, county Tyrone, on the 
 15th of April, 1829. He received a common 
 school education and at the age of seventeen years 
 emigrated to America, locating in Quebec, Cana- 
 da. He was engaged in rafting timber for ships 
 five months, then removed to Toronto and worked 
 on a farm a year and a half. In 1848, he had 
 charge of a sail vessel which he run during sum- 
 mer montlis for four years and during the winters 
 was in the lumber business. On the 23d of Sep- 
 tember, 18i9, he marricnl Miss Susan McKenna. 
 They reside! on a farm tour years in Canada 
 West and in October, 1856,came to the territory of 
 INIinnesota and directly to Shieldsville. There 
 were then but four white families in the place. 
 They moved to Erin township but soon returned 
 to this place, bought lots, built a house and start- 
 ed a grocery store. In 1876, Mr. McKenna erect- 
 ed a hotel called the North Star, which he now 
 keeps. He held the office of Town Clerk, Asses- 
 sor, and Constable all at the same time for twelve 
 years; in 1874, was elected Justice of the Peace 
 and still holds the office and in July of the same 
 year was appointed Notary Public by Gov. Davis. 
 Mr. and Mrs. McKenna have had fifteen children, 
 seven of whom are living; John, thirty years of 
 age; Charles, twenty-five; James P., twenty-three; 
 Catherine, twenty-two; Mary Ella, seventeen; Ed- 
 die, thirteen; and Daniel, ten. The family are all 
 members of the Catholic church. 
 
 John Nagle, one of the earliest settlers of this 
 place, was born in Ireland in 1830, and resided 
 there until eighteen years old, attending school. 
 He came to America in 1840, and settled in Wash- 
 ington coimty, New York, where he was engaged 
 in farming until 1855, when he moved to Shields- 
 ville. He was married in New York to Bridget 
 Murphy, who has borne him six children, four of 
 whom are living; Richard, aged twenty-five years; 
 Thomas, twenty- three; John, twenty -one, and 
 Mark H., eleven. Katie died in May, 1882, at 
 the age of twenty -seven years. She was the wife 
 of James Finley. Dennis died in infancy and 
 both are buried in the cemetery at this place. Mr. 
 Nagle has been a member of the school board sev- 
 eral years and always takes an active part in all 
 school matters. His second son is studying law 
 at Faribault. 
 
 Rev. John J. Slevin was born in county 
 Longford, Ireland, on the 4th of March, 1855. 
 He attended St. Mary's Seminary in his native 
 place and afterward All Hallow's College at Dub- 
 lin and was ordained Priest on the 24th of June, 
 1878. He, then came to America to St. Paul, 
 Minnesota, from whence he was sent by the Bish- 
 op to Shakopee, where he built a parsonage cost- 
 ing .«1,600. In 1880, he came to Shieldsville, 
 since which time the Catholic church has been 
 completed at a cost of $1,600. Father Slevin has 
 four brothers and four sisters in Ireland and one 
 brother and one sister in the state of Missouri. 
 His father died in Ireland in 1882. 
 
 ^^ 
 
 o-^ 
 
MonmsTowN township. 
 
 583 
 
 MORRISTOWN, 
 
 CHAPTER LXVII. 
 
 DESCBIPTIVE — EAELT SETTLEMENT EELIGIODS 
 
 EDUCATIONAIj INDUSTRIAL BNTEEPEJSES VIL- 
 LAGE OF MOBRISTOWN — BIOQEAPHICAL. 
 
 Morristown is the southwestern corner township 
 of Rice county ; being contiguous to the counties 
 of Le Sueur and Waseca on the west and south, 
 with the towns of Shieldsville and Warsaw on the 
 north and west. It is comprised of tliirty-six sec- 
 tions, or 23,040 acres of which 20,503 exclusive of 
 town lots, are taxable lands; 900 are covered by 
 its lakes, and a large part of the balance is under 
 a high state of cultivation. 
 
 The Cannon River crosses the township from 
 west to east, and seemingly divides the different 
 classes of laud, as all the territory north of the 
 river is covered with timber of common varieties, 
 while that to the south is principally prairie land 
 interspersed with fine groves of timber, combining 
 to make a beautiful and picturesque country, 
 which, in connection with its fine soil, excellent 
 water and water power, soon attracted the atten- 
 tion of those seeking homes. The soil is mostly a 
 dark loam, with a blue clay subsoil, this apj)ly- 
 ing particularly to the prairie, while in the tim- 
 ber, a tendency to sandiness is visible, and a sub- 
 soil of clay or gravel. 
 
 The township is abundantly watered by rivers, 
 creeks, and lakes. The Cannon River has been 
 mentioned above, it enters the town in the form 
 of Lake Sakata, which it forms in sections nine- 
 teen and twenty. A mineral spring bubbles up 
 on the south side of this lake, which, although 
 not at all notorious, is supposed to be valuable for 
 medicinal purposes. Sprague Lake is a small 
 body of water covering portions of sections twenty- 
 eight and twenty-nine. Pat's Lake lies nestled in 
 the midst of the timber in the northeastern part 
 of the town. Mormon Lake, so-called because in 
 an early day the Mormons used it for baptismal 
 
 purposes, occupying a few' acres in the south- 
 western part of section twelve; while IJonesett 
 Lake is located just north of it. Devil's Creek 
 rises in Mud Lake, in Shieldsville, and flowing 
 southward, is joined by several small streams be- 
 fore it joins Cannon River. Dixon's Creek finds 
 its source south of the boundary, and wending a 
 northern course mingles its waters with those of 
 the Cannon in section twenty-three. Horseshoe 
 Lake infringes on tlie town in the northwestern 
 part, and is the source of a small stream which 
 connects it to Cannon River by way of .section 
 eighteen and seventeen. 
 
 A sketcli of this township published by F. W. 
 Frink in 18(J8, says: "Morristown, the south- 
 western township of Rice county, comprises with- 
 in its boundaries both prairie and timbered lands, 
 with a larger proportion of the latter. All the 
 country north of the Cannon River, which enters 
 the township in the shape of a lake, a little south 
 of the center of its western boundary, and flows in 
 the first two niiles of its course in a northeasterly 
 direction, thence southeasterly to near the center 
 of the township, and froai thence until it leaves it 
 on its eastern boundary in a direction north of 
 east, being lieavily timbered. South of the Can- 
 non the land is chiehy prairie and meadow, with 
 frequent groves of timber intervening. But a 
 small proportion of its inhabitants are foreign- 
 born, and a majority of those are Germans. It 
 contains 20,-503 acres of taxable land, exclusive, 
 of town lots, the remainder of its area is divided 
 as follows: about 900 acres occupied by its lakes, 
 five in number, 80 acres of unsold school lands 
 427 acres of railroad land, 360 acres belonging to 
 State University, and 320 acres still belonging to 
 the government. Uiiimjjroved lands of either timber 
 or prairie ar;' held at prices ranging from iSS to S15 
 per acre." The above is still true in regard to 
 population, but the unsold land mentioned has 
 long since passed into tlie hands of actual settlers; 
 
584 
 
 HISTORY OF BICE COUNTY. 
 
 and the price varies from $15 per acre upwards. 
 In 1860, the population of 'Morristown was 438; 
 in 1865, 822; in 1870, 1,084: and in 1880, as per 
 last census, 1,939, of which 517 represented the 
 village, and 1,422 the township. 
 
 As to the values in Morristown, from the census 
 returns of 1870, we glean the following returns 
 of property, as given to the census takers: Real 
 property, i*356,225; personal, •'^162,905; total, 
 8519,130. For the same year the total assessed 
 value in Morristown was $100,611. In the year 
 ]882, after taxes had been equalized, the total as- 
 sessed value was $323,181; of which $69,362 rep- 
 resented the personal, and $253,819 the real prop- 
 erty. This shows the creditable increase of 
 1153,570 during the past twelve years. The val- 
 ues in the village of Morristown, as assessed for 
 1882, are as follows: Real property, .$43,100; 
 personal property, $24,546; total, $67,646. 
 
 Cannon ViLLEV Railboad. — This line was sur- 
 veyed through the town several years ago, but no 
 actual work done until the spring of 1882, when 
 grading commenced in earnest. At the present 
 writing the line has been finished, except the lay- 
 ing of iron, and it is expected by the time this 
 work shall have been issued that the iron horse 
 will be treading the pathway, and doing the work 
 heretofore done by cumbersome stages. The road 
 enters the town from the east, in section thirteen, 
 and passing through the township and village in 
 a westerly direction, leaves to enter LeSueur 
 county through section thirty. 
 
 EARLY SETTLEMENT. 
 
 As to the date of the steps and early movements 
 leading to the subsequent development of this 
 thriving township, it will agree with a majority 
 of the sub-divisions of Rice county. It required 
 no prophetic vision to foresee the Tiltimate concen- 
 tration of cajutal and energy which have placed 
 this naturally favored spot among the foremost 
 and most prosperous inland towns, and given to 
 it superior manufacturing and industrial facilities, 
 and when the Cannon Valley railroad which is 
 now being constructed reaches and connects it 
 by rail with the leading markets of the Northwest, 
 marvelous things m:iy be expected. 
 
 The earliest settlement was made in the fall of 
 1853, when John Lynch and H(!nry Masters came 
 from St. Paul in a buggy, and on reaching the 
 town determined to stay, and erected a log house, 
 taking claims in sections twenty-three and twenty- 
 
 four, just east of where the village now is. 
 ters was a native of Illinois, and the following 
 spring returned to his old home and brought back 
 a team. In January, 1855, he was joined in wed- 
 lock to Miss Anna Randall, by Walter Morris, this 
 being the first marriage in the township; be re- 
 mained until 1865, when he removed to the 
 Southwest, now living in Kansas. Mr. John 
 Lynch was a native of the Emerald Isle, and is still 
 a bachelor, yet lives in the town on section four- 
 teen, having never been out of the county since. 
 
 Shortly after the settlement of Messrs. Lynch 
 and Masters, in the spring of 1854, Andrew Story 
 with his wife Mary E., and son Charles, four 
 months old, made their appearance, Mrs. Story 
 bemg the first white woman to set foot in the 
 town, and took a claim in section twenty-two, just 
 west of the settlement above mentioned. On the 
 21st of August, 1855, a child was born to Mr. 
 and Mrs. Story, the first in the town; it was chris- 
 tened EUie, and is now a married woman, residing 
 in Kansas. The Story family remained in Morris- 
 town until 1862, when they removed to Kansas 
 and ai-e now living in Osborne county in that 
 State. 
 
 During the month of August, 1851, William 
 and Bartemus K. Soule, brothers of Mrs. Story, 
 came on from the East and selected claims south 
 of Mr. Story's place. William took a farm in sec- 
 tion twenty-three, but was too young to hold it 
 and was bought out by Mr. Morris in the spring 
 of 1855; he then went to section thirty-three 
 where he now lives. His brother took a claim in 
 section thirty-four and remained there until 1861, 
 when he enlisted and went to the war; returning 
 he settled in Chippewa county, Minnesota, where 
 he now resides. 
 
 In the mouth of Septemlier, 1854, three broth- 
 ers named Benson, Marshal, John, and C. M., 
 natives of Vermont, having stopped for a time in 
 Indiana, arrived in the township. Marshal se- 
 cured a home in section twenty-one, where he re- 
 mained mitil 1865; then left and now lives in 
 Waterville. John drifted into the southwest 
 quarter of the same section and remained on it 
 for ten years; he now sojcmrns in Idaho Terri- 
 tory. C. M. secured a place on section twenty- 
 three, but as he was too young to hold it, some 
 one jumped the place, and in 1855, he took a farm 
 in section twenty where he yet remains. 
 
 An incident in connection with the settlement 
 
WUiRISTOWN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 585 
 
 of the Benson brothers is worthy of notice. A 
 man by the name of Drake, sometime during the 
 summer of 1855, at the place now known as 
 Watervillo, thought he would be able to divert 
 the travel from the present site of Morristown by 
 constructing a road south of the old Indian trail. 
 About the time he had completed hia road, the 
 Bensons went to work and constructed a .good 
 wagon road along the old Indian trail, and 
 Drake's road was ever after untraveled. The 
 Benson road was probably the first improved high- 
 way in the county. 
 
 The f(.illowing spring the Messrs Morris located 
 on section twenty -three, and the village of Morris- 
 town was brought into existence. Their meander- 
 ings are noted at length in another column. They 
 were followed by Robert Pope, a native of Cana- 
 da, who made a claim on section twenty-nine, 
 where he remained until 1857, when he joined his 
 amative Mormon brethren in Utali. Mr. Wilson 
 soon after made himself a habitation in section 
 thirty, where he remained until 18G6, and left. 
 Joseph Ladous, of France, joined him and took a 
 quarter section number thirty, where he died 
 in 1856, and his family, in 1857, went to Utah. 
 
 Mr. David Springer and family also came early 
 in 1855, and took a habitation in section twenty- 
 three, remaining there for a year and then return- 
 ed to Pennyslvania, his native State. 
 
 Joseph Dixon and family, in company with his 
 father-in-law, made their appearance about the 
 same time. Their child, Clarissa Dixon, boni on 
 the ■24th of August, 1855, in John Lynch's cabin, 
 was the second while child born in the township, 
 and is now Mrs. Albert Wolever, in the village. 
 
 Others came and have since gone, and the in- 
 flux became so great that it is almost impossible 
 to note them. The prairie land was taken very 
 rapidly, and in 1857, but few farms of much 
 value were left in the timber. Many of the early 
 and most prominent arrivals are noted under the 
 head of ''Biographical," io wliicli we refer the 
 reader. 
 
 Jonathan Morris. — This early pioneer and im - 
 portant personage in the early history of the 
 township bearing his name, was a man of consid- 
 erable note in various places before he came to the 
 West. He was born in the state of Pennyslvania, 
 on the 9th of January, 1804, and when four years 
 of age his father died, and his mother moved the 
 family to Ohio in 1809. lu this early day the 
 
 means of education were limited, and it is a fact 
 that the subject of this sketch did not know his 
 letters at the time of his marriage. He had fine 
 natural alnlities, however, and by energy and hard 
 study, acquired a good general idea of the com- 
 mon branches of education, and entered the minis- 
 try of the Christian or Disciple faith, preaching 
 for twenty-five years through the states of Indi- 
 ana and Ohio, and was uudoubte<lly the medium 
 of 10,000 conversions. In the meantime his mar- 
 riage had been blessed with children, and in 1853, 
 in company with his sou Walter, he came to St. 
 Paul, Minnesota, where the son remained during 
 the winter, in the State Executive Department, and 
 he went to Hastings. In the following spring, 
 — 1854, — he joined his son, who had left the de- 
 partment at St. Paul, and purchased an interest in 
 the town site of Faribault, removing to the latter 
 place. Here they remained until the following 
 spring when they started up the Cannon River 
 in search of a mill site, as related elsewhere, and 
 located at Morristown, where he remained until 
 the time of his death which occurred on the 27th of 
 November, 1856. He left a wife and seven child- 
 ren to mourn his loss. His widow still lives in 
 Morristown with her son Walter Morris, and men- 
 tion is made of the parties elsewhere. 
 
 POLITICAL. 
 
 Morristown effected an organization in 1858, the 
 first township meeting being held on the 11th of 
 May, of tliat year, at the Delaware House. After 
 the usual preliminaries, James R. Davidson was 
 appointed moderator, and William P. Heydon, 
 clerk. The meeting then proceeded to the election 
 of town officials for the ensuing year, resulting as 
 follows: Supervisors, Isaac Hammond, Chairman, 
 "Henery" Bassett, and John D. Benson; Clerk, 
 Charles D. Adams: Asssessor, John S. Pope; 
 Collector, D. G. Wilkins; Overseer of the poor, 
 Reuben Morris; .Justices of the Peace, Walter 
 Morris and W^illard Eddy; Constables, Wil- 
 liam P. Heydon and Samuel Clark; Over- 
 seers of roads, O. K. Hogle and Nathan Mor- 
 ris. All of these officers qualified except Samuel 
 Clark and Jolin S. Pope, but their places were 
 soon filled. 
 
 On the '24th of August, 1864, bonds were voted 
 at a special meeting, to pay the sum of S25 to each 
 man who woidd volunteer to enlist in the army, 
 under the Presidents' call for 500,000 men; the 
 bonds to bear 12 ]3er cent interest. The proposi- 
 
586 
 
 HISTORY OF BICE COUNTY. 
 
 tion carried by a vote of 58 for, to seven against; 
 the committee men were, 0. D. Adams, T. McOlay, 
 and Isaac Pope. 
 
 On the 9th of February, 1865, a sjjecial meet- 
 ing was held at which it was voted that bonds to 
 the amount of S300 should be issued to each man 
 who would volunteer to enlist, and fill the quota. 
 This was under the Presidents' call for 300,000 
 men. This supplied the deficiency and no draft 
 was made. George Bassett and William Adams 
 were among those who volunteered, and they 
 found graves iu southern soil. 
 
 At the twenty-fourth annual town meeting, held 
 in the spring of 1882, the following officers were 
 elected who still are incumbents: Supervisors, 
 .John Hile, Chairman, Samuel J. Chapman, and A. 
 H. Greene; Clerk, Walter Morris; Treasurer, Chris- 
 tian Hershey, Jr.; Justices of the Peace, Isaac 
 Hand and J. N. Powers; Constables, Isaac Newell 
 and Chas. H. (irant, Jr. 
 
 KEIjIGIOUS. 
 
 The first religious services in the township were 
 held by Kev. Jonathan Morris, of the Disciple 
 faith, at his residence, where the village now is, in 
 1855; the same fall he organized his church at 
 the same place, with ten members, and continued 
 holding services iu his house until 1856, when the 
 congregation became too large for the limited ac- 
 commodations, and a frame church was erected at 
 a cost of .S350, with a seating capa 'ity of 150. 
 This building was destroyed by fire in 1874, and 
 since that time they have had preaching in vari- 
 ous places. The membership at the time the 
 church was burned was- 100, with Walter Morris 
 as minister. 
 
 Episcopal Chubcu. — The first services by fol- 
 lowers of this belief were held in the Morristown 
 hotel in 1858, by Rev. J. L. Breok. Organization 
 was effected shortly after with thirty members, 
 and in 1864, they erected their present church at 
 a cost of .$2,600 in the village, it being a neat and 
 commodious structure, capable of seating 200 per- 
 sons. The Eev. Mr. Bills, of Faiibault, is the 
 present pastor, there being twenty members, and 
 services are held once in two weeks. 
 
 Methodist Denomination. — This society was 
 organized at the house of Hilton Bloomer, on sec- 
 tion thirty-four, in 1856, by Rev. A. V. Hitch- 
 cock, and the first services were held just previous 
 to it by the same minister iu the boarding house 
 of Walter Morris, in the village. At organization 
 
 there were eight members of the society. As soon 
 as erected, the denomination used the Christian or 
 DiscijDle church building until it was burned in 
 1874, and they then commenced the erection of 
 their church, in the village, which has already cost 
 .f 600, and is not yet finished. Rev. J. Whitney is 
 the present pastor, and services are held every 
 Sunday evening; Sunday school every Sabbath, 
 and prayer meeting Thursday evenings. The so- 
 ciety is in good financial as well as spiritual con- 
 dition, evidently considering true inward worth 
 as of more value than mere outward show and 
 pomposity. 
 
 United Brethren Church. — Effected an or- 
 ganization at the house of Hiram Erickson, on 
 section eighteen, where the first service was held, 
 with liev. Daniel Reed officiating, in the summer 
 of 1867. There were at organization fourteen 
 members, and services were held in private resi- 
 dences until 1870, when a log church was con- 
 structed at -a cost of S150, on the shore of Horse- 
 shoe Lake, in section seven. Rev. Uriah Cook is 
 the present minister. 
 
 The Albright Society. — This denomination 
 effected an organization in 1863, and in 1873, 
 erected their present neat and substantial church 
 edifice, at a cost of $1,400, in the southeastern 
 part of section thirty-four; there is now a mem- 
 bership of thirty on the church rolls. There is 
 also a cemetery ground j^latted adjoining the 
 church, in which peacefully repose the remains 
 of about fifteen departed friends. 
 
 German Ldtheran. — This society effected an 
 organization in 1868, at the house of John Weber 
 iu section four, and services were held at various 
 places in the northern part of town until 1881, 
 when their church was erected in section four at 
 a cost of $600. There is a burial ground con- 
 nected with this church, located in section five, 
 called the Weber cemetery, that was laid out in 
 1874, at the time of the demise of John Weber, 
 who was the first to find a last resting place iu it. 
 
 educational. 
 
 Morristown is well up to the average towns in 
 educational matters, and many neat and commo- 
 dious schoolhouses dot the surface of the town- 
 ship. Not much can be said of them in general, 
 except that these districts are all in good condi- 
 tion, and are ably and efficiently managed. Be- 
 low we give a short sketch of the organization of 
 the various districts, together with their 1 ocations 
 
MORRISTOWN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 587 
 
 MoEKiSTOWN GuADBD SoHOOLS.— The flrst school 
 held in the village of Morristowu was iu a little 
 log shauty, 12x1-4 feet, aud was taught by Isaac 
 Hammond iu the winter of 1855-56, there being 
 twelve scholars present. In 1857, the district in 
 the meantime having been legally organized, a 
 frame sohoolhouse was erected, 24x40 feet, at a 
 cost of $800. This building served the purposes 
 for which it was erected until 1873, when the 
 present neat and substantial building was erected 
 at a cost of $2,000. It is a two story building 
 with a seating capacity of about 120. The flrst 
 olBcers of the district were, Messrs. Andrew Story, 
 Levi Coen, and Hilton Bloomer. The present offi- 
 cers are: Director, Charles Grant; Clerk, Baron 
 Hopkins; and Treasurer, William Crawford. The 
 principal of the school is C. A. Slieridan. 
 
 District No. 7. — This was about the first dis- 
 trict to effect organization in the township, dating 
 its existence back to 1856, when officers were 
 elected to take care of school matters, as follows : 
 Director, H. Blanco; Clerk, Uriah Northrup; and 
 Treasurer, C. M. Benson; and Mr. Joseph Baker 
 called school to order the winter following with 
 fifteen pupils in attendance. The district now 
 has a neat and commodious school building in the 
 northern part of section twenty-nine. The Sak- 
 ata Literary Association was organized at this 
 schoolhouse in February, 1877, aud is a meritori- 
 ous and commendable institution. 
 
 Dkttict No. 40. — Effected an organization one 
 year later than the above, in 1857, and the dis- 
 trict shortly after erected a school building. The 
 first ofiicers were as follows : Director, James K. 
 Davidson; Clerk, Lewis McKune; and Treasurer, 
 John McKune. The first instruction was diffused 
 by Miss Nettie Davidson. The location of the 
 sohoolhouse now in use is the eastern part of sec- 
 tion thirty-five, the district embracing the terri- 
 tory in the southeastern part of the town. 
 
 DiSTEiCT No. 54. — Embraces under its educa- 
 tional jurisdiction the territory lying just north 
 of the village of Morristowu. The organization 
 was made substantial in 1859, the meeting being- 
 held at the residence of H. Hershey, which re- 
 sulted in the election of first officers, the names of 
 whom have escaped the memories of those whom 
 we have interviewed. The first school was taught 
 by Miss Harriet Wood, with an attendance of 
 twelve juveniles. The present school structure is 
 in the northeastern corner of section fourteen. 
 
 District No. 60. — Was organized in 1867, hav- 
 ing, prior to this, been merged into other districts. 
 The first school board was: Director, Peter 
 Ruthen; Clerk, Soth H. Kenney; aud Treasurer, 
 Samuel Donarh. The first school was taught by 
 Mr. Eli Smith with twelve pupils on the benches. 
 The district embraces the northwestern part of 
 the township as its territory. 
 
 DiSTKKvr No. 89. — The organization of this 
 district took place in the year 18G6, aud the first 
 officials were: Director, .lohn Hile; Clerk, Benja- 
 min Hershey; and Treasurer, William Haines. 
 The location of the house now in use by this dis- 
 trict is the northeast corner of section seventeen. 
 
 District No. 99.— Commenced its existence in 
 1872, being the youngest district in the township. 
 The first school was taught l)y Miss .Jane Chapin 
 with an attendance of twelve pupils, in a building 
 on section two, and the officers at that time were: 
 Director, Richard Cooley; Clerk, Horace Green; 
 aud Treasurer, Richard Newell. The location of 
 the school structure now in use by the district is 
 the southeast corner of section three. 
 
 industrial enterprises. 
 
 Under this head the matters pertaining thereto, 
 in both town and village, being identical, are 
 combined. Probably no township, away from 
 railroad connections and its accompanying advan- 
 tages, in the state of Minnesota, is as well sup- 
 plied, and therefore so prosperous, with manufac- 
 turing interests as is Blorristown, and too much 
 praise cannot be bestowed upon those who have 
 devoted capital and energy to industries that fur- 
 nish employment to a large number of bauds and 
 bring thousands of dollars annually to the local- 
 ity, the most of whicli is expended here, mutually 
 benefitting all classes. 
 
 Mokristown MimjS. — This is the largest man- 
 ufacturing enterprise in Morristowu and one of 
 the largest in the county. In 1876, a stock com- 
 pany was formed tor the purpose of erecting a 
 mill, and elected the following gentlemen as offi- 
 cers: President, A. E. Barkley; Directors, C. D. 
 Adams, William Shaw, Tobias Ohler, and Chris- 
 tian Ramund, and this board superintended the 
 erection of the mill building. It is situated on 
 the south liank of Cannon River, in the village, a 
 four-story frame building, with a stone basement 
 and engine house, aud cost about $43,000, Its 
 propelling power was a 120 horse-power steam en- 
 gine, and with eight run of stones the capacity 
 
588 
 
 nrSTORT OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 was about 200 barrels per day. The mill was 
 operated by tbe company, but did not prove an 
 eatire success to them, and in 1880, George W. 
 Newell, the present proprietor, purchased the 
 property. In 1881, he had the mill remodeled 
 and all the modern improvements added for mak- 
 ing the mill a flrst-class merchant mill, with im- 
 proved rollers, burrs, packers, cleaners, etc., the 
 mill having co.st, as it now stands, not less than 
 $65,000. About thirty men find employment in 
 the mills — fifteen cooj^ers and fifteen mill men, — 
 and the capacity of the mill is now about 250 
 barrels per day. Altogether it is the pride of the 
 township and surrounding country, and has been 
 and wid continue to be the nucleus to the pros- 
 pering little village, and a magnet that cannot 
 fail to draw other business interests to this point. 
 
 Hershet Grist-Mill. — The foundation of 
 this mill was commenced in 1855, when Jonathan 
 and Walter Morris erected a saw-mill on the same 
 site and began active operations the same year. 
 Owing to some flaw in the foundation the water 
 found its way under the same, which resulted in 
 the destruction of the mill. Mr. Walter 
 Morris then secured the site and immediately 
 commenced the construction of a new mill, which 
 he comj)leted and put in operation early iu the 
 fall of 1856, and once more the manufacture of 
 lumber was commenced in earnest and continued 
 until June, 1858, when the dam was washed out. 
 Steps were taken to re2:)air the damage, and so 
 thoroughly was the work done that the same dam 
 remains to this day. In the autumn of 1858, Mr. 
 Nathan Morris purchased the property and oper- 
 ated it for a time. In 1860, the Messrs. Hershey 
 secured it and erected a good two and a half story 
 building, put in one run of stones and the neces- 
 sary flouring machinery and commenced grind- 
 ing. It was operated in this shajje until 1877, 
 when it was partially remodeled, many improve- 
 ments added, aud a wooden re-action water wheel 
 made the motor, increasing the capacity to 100 
 barrels per 2i hours. The mill is owned aud op- 
 erated by Christian Hershey, Jr. 
 
 Hopkins' Head Linino Factory. — Thi.s, now 
 important enterpri.se, was originally commenced 
 as a soiglnim mill in 1867, by Seth H. Kenuey 
 and E. Hopkins, on section six, and after being 
 operated for two years as such they came to the 
 conclusion that a saw-mill would be more profita- 
 ble, info which they thereupon converted it, and 
 
 continued its operation until it was destroyed by 
 fire in 1870. In 1872, J. B. Hopkins & Bro. pur- 
 chased the machinery that had fortunately been 
 saved, and moved it to the village, where they 
 erected large buildings, and with a 45 horse- 
 power engine kept turning out lumber until 1877, 
 when the head lining machinery was put in for a 
 capacity of 400,000 per day. In 1878, J. B. Hop- 
 kins became sole proprietor and still operates it, 
 employing fifteen hands and shipping produc- 
 tions all over the country, forty millions of them 
 being shipped every year to St. Louis. The tim 
 ber north of the Cannon River furnishes material 
 for the mills of this description, and the business 
 is one of the most valuable elements of industrial 
 interests iu the county. 
 
 Heesuey Saw-mill. — This enterprise origin- 
 ated in 1865, when Mr. Chris. Hershey erected a 
 building 30x40 feet, put in an upright saw, a 
 dam, and wooden re-action water-wheel, on the 
 east side of the bend of Cannon Kiver, near Mor- 
 ristown, and commenced running with a capacity 
 of about 3,000 feet per day. It was managed and 
 operated in this condition until 1875, when the 
 water played havoc with the river bank, and it 
 has not as yet been repaired. The remains of the 
 mill still occupy the old site but the bank wash- 
 ing away has left it almost in the middle of the 
 river. 
 
 OsTEEHOUT ct Co.'s FACTORY. — In the year 
 1866, James Osterhout and his son Charles erected 
 a saw-mill, 20x60 feet, equipped it with a circular 
 saw, and with a thirty-five horse- power steam en- 
 gine commenced ripping up lumber at the rate of 
 8,000 feet per day. The original firm operated it 
 until 1870, when they sold it to Daniel Scott, who 
 in turn, in 1876, turned the property over to Eli- 
 jah Spaulding. In 1878, the latter gentleman 
 remodeled the mill, and put in head lining ma- 
 chinery, made an addition of 30x100 feet, and af- 
 ter running a short time sold to the present firm, 
 H. II. Osterhout & Co., who have added many im- 
 j)rovements and douliled the capacity. They are 
 manufacturers principally of heading aud curved 
 head lining, furnishing employment to nine men 
 aud four teams, and the mill has the reputation of 
 being equal to any iu this region. 
 
 MoREiSTovTN Stave Factoey. — This industrial 
 enterprise was started in 1867, by 0. D. Adams 
 and George Smith, who erected a building 24x60 
 feet, aiul with a fifteen horse-power engine com- 
 
MOIllllsraWX TOWWsllir 
 
 589 
 
 menceJ operatious. Au ecjnipmeut of carding 
 machinery was also put in tho factory and it was 
 run by this firm until 1870, when Mr. Adams bo- 
 came proprietor. It was burned soon afterward. 
 J. B. Buck, architect and builder, established 
 himself in Morristown in 186(;. In 1881, he pur- 
 chased a building formerly used as a livery stable. 
 and putting in the necessary machinery and a fif- 
 teen horse-power engine, is now doing a good 
 business in his line. 
 
 The first blacksmith shop was opened in 1857, 
 in a little log shop 16x20 feet, by W. S. Craw- 
 ford. In 1862, he bought a building of Mr. 
 Adams, in which he worked until he was burned 
 out in 1875, when he erected his j)resent shop and 
 is stUl hammering away with two assistants, hav- 
 ing been twenty years on the same spi^t. 
 
 Kennet's Sorghum F.vctoey. — This manufac- 
 turing institution is located in the northwestern 
 part of the township, on the farm of the owner in 
 section six. It was originally established in 1860, 
 consisting of two wooden rollers made by Mr. 
 Stevens, father of the proprietor, and was run 
 each season until 1862, with a yoke of oxen and a 
 caj^acity of thirty-two gallons per day. In this 
 year, seeing that it could be made a success, he 
 purchased an iron mill, doubled the capacity, and 
 began running it with horse-power. During the 
 war he disposed of his sorghum at from SI. 00 to 
 •SI. 25 per gallon. In 186(), the establishment was 
 enlarged and a twelve horse-power engine put in, 
 increasing the capacity to twelve barrels per day. 
 This was the first mill of this nature run by steam 
 in the State, and only partial success attended the 
 experiment. In the fall of 1868, the mill was en- 
 tirely destroyed by fire, and in the summer of the 
 year following two mills and two horse-power.^ 
 were brought into requisition to replace it. In 
 1879, a fifteen horse-power steam engine was at 
 tached; and, as the mills now stand, it having 
 been since refitted, they have cost S5,000. They 
 consist of a five ton mill, a storage and granulat- 
 ing house, 30x40 feet, three stories high, with a, 
 storage capacity of 16,580 gallons; engine house, 
 22x26 feet; mill house, 30x62 feet; boiling house, 
 16x30 feet; refinery mill, 20 feet deep, and a Cen- 
 trifical for draining the sugar, that was purchased 
 in Germany at a cost of .'$500. Thus it will be 
 seen that the establishment is a costly one, and in 
 fact it is the finest and best managed mill in the 
 State. Its capacity is 700 gallons per day and 
 
 600 pounds of sugar, its productions being ship- 
 ped all over the United States. The proprietor, 
 Seth H. Kenney, is president of tiie Aliiinesota 
 Amber Cane Association. 
 
 DuiiiiiN Saw-Mill. — In 1856, two young men 
 mamed Norton and Webster came from Californiai 
 bringing with them considerable capital.and erected 
 the second steam saw-mill in the county, in IMor- 
 ristown, on the present site of Hopkins' factory. 
 It w;i.<j a good mill and they operated it until the 
 spring of 1857, wlien they left it with a cousin, K. 
 Norton, who ran it ror a time, but it ilnally became 
 the prciperty of the present proprietor, E. P. Uur- 
 rin, and was moved to the timber in section three. 
 The mill was destroyed by fire early in the seven- 
 ties lint was almost immediately replaced with a 
 building 18x26 feet, a fifty two inch circular saw, 
 and a thirty -two horse-power steam engine, giv- 
 ing it a capacity of 6,000 feet per day. a majority 
 of the work being in furniture lumber. 
 
 In 1866. Mr. C. C. Aldrich established an apiary 
 on his farm in section twenty-seven, which has 
 grown with each year until it is now one of the 
 most extensive enterprises in the town, with an al- 
 most endless number of swarms and a regular 
 feeding or pasture ground sown in buckwheat for 
 the bees. In connection with this, in 1877, Mr. 
 Aldrich put in necessary machinery and a ten 
 horse-power steam engine, and commenced oper- 
 ating a first class sorghum factory which he still 
 continues. 
 
 VILL.VGE OF MOKEISTOWN. 
 
 This is the only village in the township, and has 
 a beautiful location on the Cannon Kiver, in the 
 corners of sections twenty-two, twenty-three, 
 twenty -six, and twenty -seven. The river furnish- 
 es excellent water-power, and it is suri-ouuded 
 with the best timber and prairie farming land in 
 the county. It is the fourth place, of size and im- 
 portance in Rice county, and, when tho railroads 
 which are now being graded are in working order, 
 it bids fair to beeomo a formidable rival for a 
 higher place. The village has a population of 
 about 600, and according to the last assessment 
 the total value assessed in the limits is .§67,546, 
 of which $25,546 represent the personal, and .S43,- 
 100, the real property. 
 
 To give some idea of what was thought of the 
 village in an early day, below is a short sketch of 
 it made by Mr. C. Williams, in 186)0; it says: 
 "Morristown is another important village on tho 
 
590 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 Cannon Biver in the extreme western part of the 
 county, and ten miles from Faribault. It contains 
 two stores, one steam saw-mill, one water saw and 
 grist miU, two taverns, one cabinet shop with water- 
 power, two blacksmith shops, one schoolhouse, 
 one house of public worship, and a Post-office. 
 The village contains 100 inhabitants. The farm- 
 country around it is very flue, oombiniug the ad- 
 vantages of prairie, wood and water." 
 
 In 1874, the village was incorporated, embrac- 
 ing in its limits sections twenty -two, twenty-three, 
 twenty-six, and twenty-seven, a square of two 
 miles. 
 
 Early Settlement. — The first settlement of 
 the village commenced shortly after that 
 of the township, and since the beginning 
 has been rapid and constant. About the mid- 
 dle of April, 185.5, Mr. Jonathan Morris, who 
 Lad the year before settled at Faribault, star- 
 ted up Cannon Kiver, in company with Walter 
 Morris, in search of a mill jjower. They followed 
 the course of the river as far up as the present site 
 of Waterville, then returned as far as Mr. Story's, 
 where they remained over night, receiving at the 
 hands of Mr. Story and his excellent wife, true 
 pioneer hospitality. Finding that nature had 
 provided a splendid water power at this point, they 
 decided upon locating at the present site of Mor- 
 ristown, and in a few days thereafter, erected a 
 log cabin near where Mr. Hershey's dwelling now 
 stands, and moved in the same. 
 
 They immediately commenced the construction 
 of a saw-mill, which was comjileted and in active 
 oparatiou early in the fall of the same year, a 
 history of which has already been given. 
 
 During the summer and autumn of 1855, 
 Joseph Dixon, Isaac Hammond, Reuben Morris, 
 Daniel Wilkins, Richard Miller, Harrison and 
 Jackson Willis, Thomas and James Sjirague, Cole- 
 man Bloomer and brother, and several others, 
 moved into the township and made claims, thus 
 forming quite a little community, and Mr. Jona- 
 than Morris decided on laying out a. portion of 
 his claim into village lots, but owing to hard work 
 and exposure incident to the building of the mUl 
 referred to, Mr. Morris was taken sick, which re- 
 sulted in his death, being the first death in this 
 part of the county. After the death of Mr. Mor- 
 ris, his widow, Mrs. Sarah Morris filed ujion the 
 tract of land she and her husband had settled 
 upon, and during tlie winter of 1856-57, went to 
 
 Winona and pre-empted it, and in the spring fol- 
 lowing secured the services of Mr. C. C. Perkins, 
 who surveyed a portion of her claim into town 
 lots. About this time Mr. Thomas Dexter moved 
 into the place and put up a small frame house, 
 and opened the same as a hotel, which was known 
 as the "Delaware House," Mr. and Mrs. Dexter 
 proved well adapted to the business, and did a 
 flourishing trade for several years. 
 
 Early in the spring of 1857, Messrs Locke & 
 Pope commenced the construction of a large hotel, 
 at that time one of the largest in the country, and 
 when completed, was known as the "Eagle Hotel." 
 This house continued to do a good business until 
 a road was opened up on the north side of the 
 river, which changed the travel so much as to ma- 
 terially effect the business, since which time the 
 house has changed hands several times, and to-day 
 stands without a tenant. 
 
 In the summer of 1855, Walter Morris built a 
 small log buQding near where Mr. Hershey's mill 
 now stands, which he fitted up as a store, and com- 
 menced the sale of goods, and continued till the 
 fall of 1856, when he sold out his entire stock to 
 Messrs Locke & Pope. In the fall of 1856, Mr. 
 Collins came from Hastings and opened a store on 
 the corner where Mr. Crawford's black smith shop 
 stands, but failing to meet his obligations, was 
 compelled to surrender his stock to his creditors 
 early the next spring; the store passing into the 
 hands of Messrs .Adams & Allen. Mr. Adams took 
 charge of the store, but immediately sold out to 
 Reuben Morris, taking in exchange for the same, 
 Mr. Morris' claim of 160 acres lying immediately 
 west and adjoining the original survey of the vil- 
 lage, the consideration being estimated at .$1,600 
 Soon after Mr. Lewis McKune purchased an in- 
 terest in the store with Mr. Adams, whereupon 
 Walter Morris took charge of the store, and in the 
 winter of 1857. sold the siock to Messrs Hayden & 
 Graves. 
 
 In the month of January, 1857, Mr. Charles D. 
 Adams returned to Morristown bringing with him 
 a stock of merchandise, and opened up for busi- 
 ness in the store formerly occupied by Mr. Collins. 
 Daring Mr. Adams' absence one Benjamine Dexter 
 jumped the claim of Adams & Allen, which creat- 
 ed quite an excitement, and on the return of Mr. 
 Adams, several members of the "claim society" 
 proposed to remove Dexter from the claim. In 
 the early settlement of this country, the claim 
 
MORlil STOW K TOWNSHIP. 
 
 591 
 
 societies often resorted to violence to accomplish 
 their object, but Mr. Adams bein^ a man of peace 
 desired to avoid all trouble and finally paid Dax- 
 ter $212 to leave the claim, and Uext.-r found it 
 convenient to leave the country, it not being con- 
 sidered a very healthy locality for claim jump- 
 ers. 
 
 In the autumn of 1857, Mr. Adams erected a 
 large store building, and immediately moved into 
 it. This was erected on what is known as Adams' 
 & Allen's addition, and is still doing excellent duty 
 as a tenement house, and is an evidence of the 
 pluck and energy of the oldest mercbant of the 
 place. 
 
 In 1856, Messr* Webster & Norton located here 
 and put into operation the first steam saw-mill in 
 this part of the country, which they continued to 
 run for some time, but finally transferred it to 
 Rnfus Norton, who operated it for several years. 
 
 During the summer of 1858, Mr. (3sterhout set- 
 tled in the village and put up another steam saw- 
 mill, making at that early day, one water and two 
 steam mills in town. Besides these mill there was 
 a cooper shop, cabinet shop, and two blacksmith 
 shops. 
 
 The town having gone ahead of the country it 
 was evident that a standstill would follow, until 
 the surrounding country was better improved, and 
 it was some years before any other improvements 
 were made worthy of notice. What there has 
 been are noted under the head of "Industrial Enter- 
 prises." 
 
 The early settlers of this section were princi- 
 pally young and energetic men who had left 
 their homes in the East to endure the hardships 
 and privations incident to settlement of new coun- 
 tries, and during the long winters, when one and 
 all were compelled to be more or le.ss inactive, the 
 want of some kind of amusement suggested the 
 idea of organizing a mock legislature, and during 
 the winter of J856, a society was organized, the 
 hall in tlie Eagle Hotel was secured, where, once 
 a week, the old and young, male and female, for 
 miles around, would attend to hear the boys dis- 
 cuss questions usual to such societies, and listen 
 to the reading of a paper, which purported to give 
 the current news of the day. The local depart- 
 ment of the paper proved of great interest to one 
 and all, and the settlers now living look back up- 
 on the winter of 185G-57. as ttte most pleasant 
 and enjoyable one they ever experienced. 
 
 Time or space will not admit of giving a full 
 account of every event that transpired in the early 
 days of wliat is now the lieautiful and flourishing 
 village of Morristown. Where but a few years 
 ago the wigwam of the untutored savage stood, 
 has, by the hand of industry, been transformed 
 into a tliriving village, containing churches, 
 schools, stores, milts, hotels, and in short, all the 
 conveniences of civilization. 
 
 Morristown Post-opfu^e. — Was established in 
 1856, Walter Morris having been appointed Post- 
 master, with jDowor to appoint a carrier at an ex- 
 pense not to exceed the net proceeds of the office, 
 whereupon, Dr. Ward took the contract and con- 
 tinued to carry the mail from Fariliault until a 
 mail route was established, and M. O. Walker 
 commenced running his stage from Hastings to 
 St. Peter. Owing to the rush of immigration in 
 1856, Mr. Morris deemed it best to run a stage 
 from Hastings to this place, whereupon, he pur- 
 chased stock and commenced running a convey- 
 ance twice a week, and continued until M. O. 
 Walker liegan running his stages over the same 
 route. 
 
 Mail now leaves Morristown for Faribault at 
 eight o'clock in tlie forenoon and arrives at Fari- 
 bault at 11 o'clock. Leaves Faribault at one 
 o'clock r. M., and arrives at Moyistown at four 
 o'clock, daily. Charles Dolan is contractor and 
 driver, and Mr. Walter Morris is the Postmaster, 
 with the office in his store. 
 
 "Not Dead." — A very peculiar circumstance is 
 reported in the various papers of the county as 
 occurring near Morristown on the 17th of Novem- 
 ber, 1872, and we give it, unvouched for, as we 
 get it. A lady whose name is withheld, was ex- 
 tremely ill; she sank slowly away until it was 
 whispered, "She is dead." Friends gathered and 
 wept tears of sorrow over her departure; neigh- 
 bors were called and slie was shrouded for burial. 
 Arrangements were fast being made to deposit 
 her remains in the narrow house. The time was 
 fixed, — but, to the joy of friends, signs of life 
 were visible^ breathing apparent; life struggled; 
 the eyes displayed their original beauty, and she 
 lived, while the friends joyfully dispiirsed, 
 
 BIOORAPHIC^L. 
 
 OyRus 0. Aldriou, a native of New York, was 
 born in Chenango county on the 5th of August, 
 1833. He was married on the 18th of February, 
 1851, to Amanda Chapin. The year following 
 
592 
 
 Ul STORY OF RKJE OOUNTT. 
 
 they moved to Wisconsin, a year later to Fari- 
 bault, and iu 1859, to Morristown, locating in sec- 
 tion seven. Mr. Aldrich enlisted in the 
 First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, Company G, 
 on the '21st of April, 1861, served three months 
 and then re-enlisted iu the Fourth Minnesota 
 Regiment, was wounded iu the battle of \ltooua 
 and discharged for disability. After returning 
 from the army, being unable to perform heavy 
 manual labor, he engaged in the manufacture of 
 sorghum and bee culture and is at present pro- 
 prietor of the Central Apiary depot of supples, 
 hives, and honey. Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich have 
 had six children, five of whom are living. He 
 was one of the Councilmen the first two years 
 after the village was incorporated. 
 
 Heert Blbncoe was born in Chenango county, 
 New York, on the 1st of June, 1837. He was 
 married on the 18th of March, 1863, to Mrs. 
 Mary Ann France, and Lis native place claimed 
 him as a resident until 1865. He came from there 
 to Minnesota and for two years lived in Waseca 
 county, then moved to the village of Morristown, 
 and in 1869, to his present farm in section twenty- 
 nine. Mr. and Jtrs. Blencoe have two children 
 both girls. 
 
 C. M. Benson, one of the early settlers of Mor- 
 ristown, is a native of Vermont, born on the 7th 
 of August, 1836. In 1853, he removed to Illi- 
 nois and the following year to this township 
 where he took a claim, but as he was not of age 
 it was "jumped" and soon after his twenty-first 
 birthday he made another, in section twenty, 
 which has since been his home. In 1861, he en- 
 listed in the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, 
 Company G, served three years and partici])ated 
 in thirty battles, in the last of which he was shot, 
 the ball entering his left side passed through him 
 and lodged in his knapsack. He received an 
 honorable discharge, returned to his home, and on 
 the 31st of May, 1866, married Miss Ann Eliza 
 Pool. The result of the ULion was eight children, 
 six of whom are living. Mr. Benson is always in- 
 terested in all school matters. 
 
 Alonzo BuRcii, a native of Michigan, was born 
 on the 18th of December, 1844. In 1856, he 
 came with his parents to Steele county, Minne- 
 sota, and two years later moved to Faribault. He 
 enlisted in the army iu 18(52, and served till the 
 close of the war, then returned to Faribault and 
 engaged in mechanical pursuits ten years. He 
 
 was joined in marriage on the 16th of November, 
 1867, to Ardella Hammond. They came to this 
 township in 1875, purchased land in section five, 
 and Mr. Burch has since devoted his time to its 
 cultivation. 
 
 TnoM.\s Bennett was born in Licking county, 
 Ohio, on the 7th of October, 1816, and resided there 
 until the age of twenty -two years. He then, in 
 the spring of 1839, moved to Indiana, where he 
 married Miss Sarah Baker, the event taking place 
 on the 8th of May, 1846. In 1863, they came to 
 Morristown and two years later moved to Le 
 Sueur county, where Mr. Bennett was a member 
 of the board of Supervisors and Treasurer of his 
 school district. In 1873, he returned to Morris- 
 town and bought land in section six, where he has 
 built up a comfortable home. Mr. and Mrs. Ben- 
 nett have had eleven children, seven of whom are 
 living. 
 
 Joseph DrsoN was born on the 15th of April, 
 1830, in Highland county, Ohio. He was married 
 in Owen county, Indiana, on the 12th of Septem- 
 ber, 1850, to Miss Elizabeth Morris. Four years 
 later they came west to Faribault, and the follow- 
 ing spring to Morristown, where they were pio- 
 neers, and staked out a claim in section twenty-six, 
 now known as Nathan's addition of the village of 
 Morristown. On the 30th of April, 1864, he en- 
 listed in Company I, of the Fourth Minnesota 
 Volunteer Infantry, and served till the close of 
 the war. He then returned to his home in this 
 place and has since devoted his time to its culti- 
 vation. Mr. and Mrs. Dixon have ten children, 
 five of whom are married and five stOl remain at 
 home. 
 
 C. Hekshey, Jr., one of the early residents of 
 this county, is a native of Canada, born on the 
 12th of September, 1836, and emigrated with his 
 parents to Wisconsin when three years old. In 
 1855, they moved to Warsaw township where Mr. 
 Hershey remained until 1859, then came to Mor- 
 ristown and has since made it his home. He 
 erected a saw and grist-mill, the latter of which 
 he still operates. He was married on the 1st of 
 January, 1869, to Miss L. A. Hurt and the union 
 has been blessed with three children. Mr. Her- 
 shey was elected Town Treasurer at the last elec- 
 tion. 
 
 J. B. Hopkins was born in St. Lawrence coun- 
 ty, New York, in 1837, and received an academic 
 education at Governeur Wesleyan Seminary, and 
 
MoniiTsrow.Y 7Y)\vNsirrp. 
 
 593 
 
 studied law at the Albany University. He was 
 married on the (ith of March, 1801, to Miss Eninui 
 Lynde. In 18(i5, they removed to Missouri, two 
 years later to Faribault, arriving on the -ith of 
 July, and in a few months located in jNIorristown. 
 lie has been Justice of the Poaco several terms, 
 and in 187:-i and '7") was a memlicr of the Legisla- 
 ture. He is proprietor of the head lining factory 
 and also manufactures lumlier and shingles. He 
 is tlie father of three children. 
 
 WilijIa.m H.iLEiN, a native of Germany, was 
 born on the 18th of 'Nobember, 1825. He was 
 married on the 12th of November, 18.'55, to Miss 
 Eugle Neymier and the same year emigrated to 
 America and settled in Illinois. In 186.5, he 
 moved from there to Waseca county, Minnesota, 
 and remained engaged in farming until 1881, 
 then came to this place and purchased land in 
 section thirty-four, where he now resides. Of 
 fourteen children born to him, t;m are living, two 
 married and eight at home. Mr. Halein has been 
 a school Director ever since his residence in this 
 State. 
 
 John Hilb was born in Northumberland coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania, on the 17th of July, 1828. In 
 1844, he moved with is parents to St. Joseph coun- 
 ty, Michigan. In the spring of 1853, he left 
 home and went overland to California, crossing 
 the plains with an ox team, was engaged in min- 
 ing and lumbering until 1859, then returned by 
 wav of the Isthmus of Pannama. He reached 
 Michigan in August, 1859, and the 1st of tlie fol- 
 lowing November, married Miss Sarah Jane Reed, 
 who bore him three children, two of whom are 
 living. She died on tlie 8th of A))ril, 18(54, -soon 
 after which Mr. Hile enlisted in the Fourteenth 
 Michigan Light Artillery and served till July, 
 1865. He then returned to his home and children, 
 and on the 3rd of September, 18G5, married Miss 
 Henrietta E. Vincent, who has borne him four 
 children, three-of whom are living. A month 
 after his marriage, Mr. Hile brought his family to 
 Minnesota and lived in the village of Morristown 
 till the following spring when he purchased land 
 in section seventeen and in March moved his fam- 
 ily to the farm which has since been their home. 
 He has been a member of the board of Supervis- 
 ors and is at present Chairman; in 1880, was elec- 
 ted Assessor of the town and u])on the organiza- 
 tion of his school district was chosen Director and 
 is now Treasurer. 
 38 
 
 C. B. Jackhon was born in Tipton county, In- 
 diana, on the 12th of Jiiiy, 1842. In 1854, he re- 
 moved with his parents, Thomas and Margaret 
 Jackson, to Webster county, Iowa, and in 1856, 
 to Waseca county, Minnesota. In April, 1861, he 
 enlisted for that month in Company (t, of the 
 First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry and on the 
 29th of the month ro-enlistcd in the same regi- 
 ment for three years. He was discharged and re- 
 turned to his home, but in February, 1865. again 
 re-enlisted, in Battery L, of the First Minnesota 
 Heavy Artillery, was promoted from Sergea^it to 
 Commissary of the Regiment, and received his 
 discharge on the 27th of September, 1865. the 
 close of the war, having participated in twenty- 
 two battles. Mr. Jackson's military record was 
 not excelled by any private soldier,and it is stated 
 by one of his comrades that at the battle of 
 Gettysburg he took at least fortj' prisoners, single 
 handed and alone, wliich fact can be attested by 
 Sergeant C. 0. Parker and many others of the 
 company. On the 22d of November, 1865, he 
 was married to Miss Mary E. Donaldson, who 
 has borne him five children, four boys and one 
 girl, the latter of whom died on the 12th of Au- 
 gust, 1881. After returning from rhe war Mr. 
 .Jackson removed to Morristown, and was em- 
 ployed as an engineer in a mill for three years. 
 Finding that the business did not agree with his 
 health he rented a small Imildiug and opened a 
 tin shop, employed a tinsmith and learned the 
 trade in his own shop. He now carries a good 
 stock of general hardware. He was elected Jus- 
 tice of the Peace in 1877, and held the office until 
 1882, when he resigned. 
 
 Aabon Ivisoh is a native of Ohio, born on the 
 13th of October, 1833. When ten years old he 
 moved with his parents to Wisconsin where he 
 was engaged in agricultural |)nrsuits until 1859, 
 then removed to Le Sueur county, Minnesota. 
 While in Wisconsin he married Miss S. G. Dun- 
 lavey, a native of New York City, the ceremony 
 taking place on the 15th of September, 1855. 
 They have had eleven children, ten of whom are 
 living, eight boys and two girls. In 1875, they 
 moved to this township and settled in section fif- 
 teen, where they still live. Soon after his arrival 
 here Mr. Kisor was elected Town Treasurer, and 
 in 1879, Cliairmau of the board of Supervisors. 
 
 Skth H. Kenney, a native of Massachusetts, 
 was born m Williamstown, Berkshire county, on 
 
59i 
 
 HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY. 
 
 the 22d of February, 1836. In 1848, he moved 
 ■with his parents to Franklin county, and after- 
 ward resided in different counties in the same 
 State, remaining until 1857, when he moved west 
 to Minnesota and settled in Faribault, and the 
 following year bought land in section sis, Mor- 
 ristosvn. He has since made the place his home 
 and added to his farm, which now contains tliree 
 hundred and thirty-eight acres. On the 29th of 
 July, 1859, he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Olive Purinton, of St. Lawrence county. New 
 York, and they have four children, three sons and 
 one daughter. In 1869, he was chosen Chairman 
 of the board of Supervisors; in 1870, was elected 
 Justice of the Peace, and several times has been 
 clerk in his school district; in 1878 and '79, was 
 a Bepresentative in the State Legislature. Mr. 
 Kenuey devotes his entire time to the manufac- 
 ture of sorghum and aml)er sugar, has a fine mill 
 and makes the best article in the State. 
 
 John Larson was born in Norway on the 39th 
 of December, 1830. He was married in his native 
 land on the 1st of October, 1858, to Miss Anna 
 Anderson. They have had five children, four of 
 whom are now living, two boys and two girls, the 
 oldest having died after coming to this place in 
 1881. Mr. Larson came to America in 1869, re- 
 mained in St. Paul one year, during which time he 
 earned money with which to send for his family. 
 Soon after he purchased land in Morristown and 
 has since enjoyed life in a comfortable home. 
 
 Walter Mobris, one of the early settlers in 
 this place, having come as early as April, 1855, 
 was born in Ohio on the 12th of January, 1833. 
 In 1846, his parents moved to Indiana, and in 
 
 1853, to St. Paul, thence to Hastings until 1854, 
 when they settled in Faribault where our subject 
 was one of the original proprietors, selling his in- 
 terest to John W. North. An event of his life, 
 which he wdl always remember, happened in 
 
 1854, when he assisted Alexander Faribault in 
 getting five hundred Indians across the Kedwood 
 to receive their pay. While on their way thither 
 the Indians obtained liquor, got drunk and made 
 numerous threats, but were finally sobered down 
 and reached their destination in safety. After 
 leaving Mankato they traveled two and a half 
 days with nothing to eat and when finding a 
 skunk, which made them a meal, they thought 
 themselves fortunate. Mr. Morris was married on 
 the 4th of July, 1857, to Miss Anna Chilstrum. 
 
 She died on the 17th of June, 1858, leaving one 
 child. His present wife was formerly Miss Solina 
 McGindlsy, whom he married on the 18th of Sep- 
 tember, 1860. Of four children born to this 
 union, two are living. In 1855, Mr. Morris was 
 appointed by Gov. Gorman, Justice of the Peace, 
 and afterward elected to the office, holding the 
 same four terms. In 1861, he removed to Owa- 
 tonna, where he was County Auditor and Register 
 of Deeds. In the fall of J863, he resigned, and 
 the following spring made a trip to Colorado, en- 
 gaged in farming and remained two years, but as 
 the grasshoppers harvested both crops he removed 
 to Mason, Missouri. There he was Deputy Clerk 
 of the Court and Register of Deeds and remained 
 until 1870, then went to St. Louis, and in 1875, 
 returned to Morristown, which has since been his 
 home, engaged in mercantile pursuits. He is 
 Town Clerk and Postmaster. 
 
 Matuias Nelson is a native of Norway, born 
 on the 6th of January, 1837. His father died 
 leaving his mother and three children who emi- 
 grated to America in 1847. They first settled in 
 Waukesha county, Wisconsin, and remained until 
 coming to this township in 1856, being among 
 the first settlers. Mr. Nelson's brother, Nels, en- 
 listed in the army in 1862, and never returned; 
 his sister, Mary E., is married and lives in Lyon 
 county, and his mother, Catharine Nelson, died on 
 the 11th of June, 1881, in her seventy-sixth year. 
 He was married on the 3d of April, 1864, to Miss 
 Elizabeth Lind, a native of Germany. They have 
 five children, two boys and three girls. He has 
 been a school Director the past term. 
 
 H., H. OsTBRHouT was born in Detroit, Michi- 
 gan, on the 28th of April, 1832. He remained at 
 home until reaching the age of manhood, when he 
 engaged in the lumber business and as a mill- 
 wright. He was married on the 13th of April, 
 185>7, to Miss Alvah A. Hall, who has borne him 
 four children, three of whom are living. In 1866, 
 Mr. Osterhout was made a member of the Post 
 Hope Masonic Lodge of Michigan, No. 138, and 
 in 1876, was converted and joined the Methodist 
 church. On removing to Morristown in 1877, he 
 joined the lodge in this place and also the M. E- 
 Church, of which he is class-leader and local 
 preacher. Soon after comming he purchased the 
 saw-mill and hsading factory of which he is pro- 
 prietor. 
 
 C. H. Pdrinton was born in New York on the 
 
MORIilSTOWN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 595 
 
 15th of October, 1851), and resided in his native 
 Statu until the age of seventeen years. He then 
 came to Minussota with his parents and settled in 
 this township iu section eighteen, which has since 
 been his home. He is at present school Clerk (or 
 district No 90. 
 
 Joseph K. Southwiok was born in Moummith 
 county, New Jersey, on the 12th of May, 1832. 
 For a time he was engaged in rnnuing a saw-mill, 
 and in 1848, moved to Indiana where he speut si.K 
 years, then retnrned to his native place. On the 
 10th of February, 1856, he was joined in marri- 
 age with Miss Susan Williams. They have had nine 
 children, seven of whom are living. In 18G9, he 
 came west to Minnesota and purchased his farm 
 which has since been his home. He is one of the 
 school Directors in district No. 90. 
 
 Fkanz Schneider was born in Germany on the 
 5th of April, 1830, and in 1856, emigrated to 
 America; first located in Wisconsin, where he en- 
 gaged in farming until 1878, then removed to this 
 place and bought his present farm of one hundred 
 and thirty-six acres. Mr. Schneider has been 
 married; first on the 4th of April, 1857, to Miss 
 Mary Hienz, who bore him eight children, six of 
 whom are still living. .She died fm the 9th of 
 September, 1879. The maiden name of liis pres- 
 
 ent wife was Miss Johanna Gudenschwager, whom 
 
 he married on the 2d of June, 1882. 
 
 WiLLi.\M Riley Soule was born in Albany 
 county. New York, on the 22d of July, 1837. 
 His father died when William was ten years old, 
 leaving nine children dependent on their mother. 
 In 1848, she removed to Watertowu, Wisconsin, 
 our subject remaining with hi.s brother, B. F., in 
 New York, until the next year, when they too 
 moved to the same place. In 1850, William went 
 to Iowa, and four years later came to Morristown, 
 staking out land in section twenty-three, but be- 
 ing too young to hold it he was offered and accep- 
 ted $200 for it and the improvements, which con- 
 sisted of some house logs, four thousand rails, and 
 ten acres broken. In March, 1855. he removed to 
 his present place on section thirty-three, and soon 
 returned to Wisconsin for his mother, brothers, and 
 sisters. In 1805, he enlisted in the First Minne- 
 sota Heavy Artillery, Company L. ; was in several 
 skirmishes and at the close of the war received an 
 honorable discharge at Nashville, Tennessee, and 
 came directly home. He has been elected to local 
 offices several times, but refused to serve. He was 
 m-irried on the 21st of February, 1880, to Miss 
 Mary E. Veal and the union has been blessed with 
 one child, Rebecca Jane. His mother died the 
 llthof Julv, 1876. 
 
 »->= 
 
50fi 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 EXPLOEEES AND PIONEEES OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Abraham. Plains of 1 
 
 Accault (Aku) IMichael. cinnpan- 
 
 ion of Heuneiiin. 10, IS, 'AS, 23, 2i, 26 
 
 Described In- La belle 18 
 
 Leader of Mississippi Explo- 
 rations 19 
 
 Achiganaga arrested by Perrot. . . 12 
 Tried for murder before Du 
 
 Luth 13 
 
 Aiouez, see loways 
 
 Albanel. Jesuit missionary at 
 
 Sault St. Marie 11 
 
 AUouez, Jesuit missionary visits 
 
 La Pointe 4 
 
 Meets the Sioux at the ex- 
 tremity of Lake Superior.. 4 
 
 Ames, M. E., early lawyer 122 
 
 Anderson, Captain in British ser- 
 vice 81 
 
 Andrews, Joseph, killed by Sifise- 
 
 tnn Sioux 92 
 
 Aquipaguetin. Sioux chief men- 
 tioned by Hennepin 21, 27 
 
 Assineboines 2, 9, 23, 43, 46. 65 
 
 Augelle, .\nthony, alias Pieard 
 
 du Guy. associate of Hennepiu 
 
 10, 18, 23, 21, 26 
 
 Ayer, Frederick, missionary to 
 
 Ojibwavs 107 
 
 Baker, B. F., Indian trader 112 
 
 Bailly. Alexis, drives cattle to 
 
 Pembina 93 
 
 Member of Legislature 93 
 
 Biloombe, St. A. D 127 
 
 Bilfour, Captain 62 
 
 Bass, 3. W., early settler at St. 
 
 Paul 116 
 
 Beauharnois, Governor, favors 
 
 Verendrye 68 
 
 B'^aujeau, urged by Langlade of 
 
 Wisconsin, defeats Br.addock.. 61 
 BcUin alludes to Fort Itouge on 
 
 Ued river 87 
 
 Fort on St. Croix river 112 
 
 Beltrami. G. C, notice of 93 
 
 Discovers northern sources of 
 
 the Mississippi 94 
 
 Bishop, Harriet E., establishes 
 
 schoolatSt. Paul Ill 
 
 Blue Earth Kilmer explored 4.1, 47 
 
 D'Evaque visits 48 
 
 B'>al, J. M., early settler at St. 
 
 Paul in;, 118 
 
 Bottineau, J. B., exposed in a 
 
 snow storm 102 
 
 Jloisguillot, early trader on Wis- 
 
 (Nuisin and Mississippi 32 
 
 i;<iuclu!r, I*i(!rre, described Lake 
 
 Siiperior copper mines 7 
 
 Father of Sieur do Le Per- 
 
 rierc 51 
 
 Boudor trades with the Sioux 48 
 
 Attacked liy tlu; I^'oxes 49 
 
 Bougainville, mentions Indian 
 
 tri i»os seen by Verendrye 60 
 
 Boutwell. Uev. \V. T., Ojibway 
 
 missionary 11)6, 113 
 
 Removes to Stillwater Ill 
 
 Noticeof stillw.ater Ill 
 
 Eraddock's defeat 61 
 
 PAGES 1 TO 123. 
 
 ^.^GE 
 Bremer, Frederka, Swedish nov- 
 elist in Minnesota 122 
 
 Brisbin, J. B 127 
 
 Brisbois, Lieutenant in British 
 
 service 81 
 
 Brissette, Edward, notice of 114 
 
 Brown, Joseph K.. drummer boy 
 
 at FortSnelling 95 
 
 Trading Post at Lake Trav- 
 erse 102 
 
 Keeps a grog shop for sol- 
 diers 103 
 
 At Grey Cloud Island 113 
 
 Member of Wisconsin Leg- 
 islature 113 
 
 Makes a towu site near 
 
 Stillwater 113 
 
 Secretary of Council 1819.. 119 
 
 Bruce, trader at Green Bay 63 
 
 Brunson, Key. A., Methodist Mis- 
 sionary Ill, 113 
 
 Brunson, B. W 119 
 
 Brusky, Charles, Indian tr.ader.. 77 
 Bulwer, Sir E. L.. translaticm of 
 
 Sioux Death Sonfr 67 
 
 Cameron, Murdock, sells liquor 
 
 to Indians 74 
 
 Campbell. Colin, interpreter 92 
 
 Carver's Cave mentioned... .06. 78 81 
 Carver. Capt. Jonathan, early life 
 
 of 64 
 
 In battle of Lake George 64 
 
 Arrival at M.xckinaw 64 
 
 Describes the fort at Green 
 
 Bay Bi 
 
 Visits Winehago Village 61 
 
 Visits Fox Village 64 
 
 Describes Prairie du Chien... 64 
 Describes earth works at 
 
 Lake Pepin 65 
 
 Describescave at St. Paul 66 
 
 Describes Falls of St. Au- 
 
 thony 66 
 
 Describes Minnesota river. . . 66 
 
 Describes funeral rites 67 
 
 Translation of Bulwer ana 
 
 Herschell 67, 68 
 
 His alleged deed for Sioux 
 
 land 70 
 
 Grandsons of, visit Minne- 
 sota 82 
 
 Charlevoix on La Hon tan's fab- 
 rications 96 
 
 On Le Sueur's mining opera- 
 tions 45 
 
 Chatfield, A. G., Territorial 
 
 Julge 125 
 
 Chouart, Medard, see Crroselliers 
 
 Chiistinaux mentioned !43, 44 
 
 Clark, Lt. Nathan, at Fort Snel- 
 
 ling 90 
 
 Letters from Gen . ( i i bson 94 
 
 Coe, Rev. Alvan, visits Fort Snel- 
 
 lingin 1829 106 
 
 Convention to form a State Con- 
 stitution 128 
 
 Cooper, David, Territorial Judge 118 
 Copper mines of Lake Superior, 
 
 Early uotice of 7 
 
 Notice of lele Royal 7 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Notice of Ontaiiag..;; 7 
 
 Copper mines spoken of hy 
 
 Talon, A. D., 1669 7 
 
 Cociuard, Father, accompanies 
 
 Verendrye 60 
 
 Mentions Kocky Mountain 
 
 Indians 60 
 
 Dakotahs or Dahkotahs.see Sioux 
 
 D'Avagour. Governor of Canada. 
 
 opinion of the region West of 
 
 Lake Superior i 
 
 Day, Dr. David 124 
 
 De Gonor, Jesuit, visits Lake 
 
 Pepin 51, 68 
 
 Keturn to Canada 64 
 
 Couver.ses with Verendrye..! 68 
 De la Barre, Governor, notices 
 
 Du Luth 11 
 
 De la Tour. Jesuits missionary..! 13 
 DelaTiuiiette. Greysoloa, broth- 
 er of Du Luth 16 
 
 Denis, Canadian voyageur, joins 
 
 Le yueur 42 
 
 Denonville. Governor, attacks 
 
 Seneccas 15 
 
 Orders Du Luth to build a 
 
 „*'urt-- 16 
 
 Send^ for western allies 30 
 
 Commissions Du Luth 32 
 
 Denton, Rev. D., missionaJy to 
 
 Sioux Ill 
 
 D'Esprit, Pierre, seeRadissoii.!!! 
 D'Kvaque, in charge of Fort 
 
 L'HuiUier 48 
 
 Devotion, M , sutler at Fort 
 
 Suelling 91 
 
 D'Iberville, Gov., criticises Hen- 
 nepin 28 
 
 Relative of Le Sueur 39 
 
 Dieskau, Baron 61 
 
 Dickson, Col. Robert, visits Lt. 
 
 Pike 77 
 
 Trad ing post at Grand Ilapids 78 
 
 At Jlendota 78 
 
 During war of 1.^12 80, 81 
 
 At Lake Traverse 89 
 
 At FortSnelling 93, 96 
 
 William, Sim of Robert 98 
 
 Du Chesneau, intendant of Can- 
 ada, complains of Duluth 11 
 
 Du Luth, Daniel Grevsolon, early 
 
 lifeof 9 
 
 Various spellings of his name 6 
 Establishes a Fort at Kaman- 
 
 istigoya 9 
 
 Descends the St. Croix river 
 
 11, 112 
 Arrests and executes Indians 
 
 at Sault St. Marie 11 
 
 Brintrs allies to Niagara, for 
 
 De la Barre 15 
 
 Establishes a Fort on Lake 
 
 Erie 15 
 
 Returns to Lake Erie with hia 
 
 cousin Tonty "^ 16 
 
 Brother of, from Lake Nepi- 
 
 gon 16 
 
 In command at Fort Fronte- 
 
 nac 16 
 
 Death of 17 
 
INDEX. 
 
 597«" 
 
 i' VtlE 
 
 At FaiJs ul St. Aiith^^y IS, 'ili 
 
 Meets IleniK.jiu 25 
 
 Tribute to 27 
 
 His t'tur from Lake Superior 
 
 to Mississippi 112 
 
 IMcets Afcault :md Hennepin 112 
 
 Du Pay, a vuyageur 10 
 
 Durantayc, commander at Mack- 
 inaw x\ 
 
 At Tieonderojja tVi 
 
 At N-ajjara 15 
 
 Ely. E. F., mis^; -nary teacher... lio 
 Enjali •. .Jesuit missionary at 
 
 SauU St. Maire II. 13 
 
 FatTart. interpreter for Da Luth lU 
 
 Visits the Sioux 11 
 
 Falls of Saint Anthony, first 
 
 white man at 25 
 
 Firstmill at US, HI 
 
 Described by L^SiUc HI 
 
 Described bvHennr^piii.2L25, 2(i 
 
 Descrilied by Lt.Z.M.Pikc. 75. 7() 
 
 Descrilifd ity ^lajor Luni^ 85 
 
 First newsjiaper at 123 
 
 Bridge, tirst across Missis- 
 sippi 12rt 
 
 Fisher, tra ler at Green Biy 03 
 
 Fitch, pioneer ia St. Croix Val- 
 ley 112 
 
 Flat Month, Ojibwav Chief, vis- 
 its Fort SnelUn*,'. A. D. 1SJ7 .... 97 
 Forsyth. Major Th<»mas, accom- 
 
 ftanies tirst troops to Fort Sncl- 
 
 in^ 91 
 
 Pays Indians for reservation. . . 91 
 Fort Beauharnois established A. 
 
 D. 1727. at Lake Pepin 51. 52 
 
 Commanded by St. Pierre, 50, 57 
 
 Fort Crawford UH) 
 
 La Reine. oii River Assine- 
 
 boine :W, H7 
 
 Le Sueur, below Ilasting.s ... 37 
 L'HuiUier on Blue Karth 
 
 river 43 
 
 Left in charge of D'Evaiiue 47 
 
 McKay 81 
 
 Perrot, at Lake Pepin 29 
 
 Shelbj', at Prairie du Chien 
 
 80. 81 
 Fort Snelliug site secured by Lt. 
 
 Pike 75 
 
 Troops for, at Prairie du 
 
 Cliien 90 
 
 Birth of Charlotte Ouiscon- 
 
 sin Chirk 90 
 
 Col. Le; venworth arrives at 
 
 Mend< ti 91 
 
 First officers at cantonment. . 91 
 Major Taliaferro Indian 
 
 agen t at 91 
 
 Cass and Schoolcraft visits. . 92 
 Col. Siieliing .succeeds Leav- 
 enworth . , 92 
 
 Events of A. D. 1S21 93 
 
 Advance in buildinii 93 
 
 Events of A. D. l^22. A. D. 
 
 1H23 93 
 
 First steamboat at 93 
 
 Beltrami, the Italian, at.. 93, 94 
 
 Blajor H. S. Lon^ arrives at. . 94 
 
 Government null uear 91 
 
 Sunday School at 94 
 
 EventsofA. D 1H21 95 
 
 General Scott suggests name 
 
 for fort 95 
 
 Euents of A. D. 1825 and 1H2(3, 9fi 
 
 Mail arrival at SKi 
 
 Great snowstorm I\[arch.l82H, 90 
 
 High water at. April 2!. 182«. 97 
 Slaves belonging to oflicers 
 
 at 97 
 
 Steamboac arrivals to close 
 
 of ls2f) 97 
 
 General Gaines censures Col- 
 onel of 97 
 
 EventsofA. D. 1827 9S 
 
 Flat Mouth. Ojibway chief. 
 
 visits, in 1827 93 
 
 Col. Sneliing delivers mur- 
 derers for execution 99 
 
 Construction of. criticised by 
 
 General Gaines 100 
 
 Rev. Alva Coe in 1829 preach- 
 es at 106 
 
 1 AOii 
 
 J. N. NicoUut arrives at 102 
 
 Marriages at Ht2. Hi8, 120 
 
 Steamer Palmyra at. in July, 
 ls:i,s, with notice of ratifica- 
 
 tion of Indian treaties 112 
 
 Indian council held at. by 
 
 (Jovernor Uamsey 121 
 
 Fort St. Anthony, uow'Snellmg. . 95 
 St. Ciiarles, on Lake of the 
 
 W(tods 58 
 
 St. Joseph, on Lake Erie, es- 
 
 tal)Iished by Du Luth 10 
 
 St. Pierre, on Rainy Lake.... 58 
 
 Literview with Perrot 81 
 
 Mentioned. 33. 37, 38, 48, Ui. 51, 55 
 Franklin, Sir Jf»hn. relics of, pass 
 
 thrc>u;,'h St. Paul 12M 
 
 Frontfiiac. Governor of Canada. U) 
 
 Friend of Duluth 11 
 
 Encourages Le >neur 39 
 
 B'razer, trader 78 
 
 Fuller. Jerome, Territorial Chief 
 
 Justice 123 
 
 Furber. J. W 127 
 
 Gal tier. Rev. L.. builds first 
 
 chapel in St. Paul 114 
 
 Gavin. Key. Daniel missi<)nary. . Ill 
 Gibson, General, letters relative 
 
 to St. Anthony np:tl 94 
 
 (lillan. Gapt. Zachary, of Bos- 
 ton, accompanied by Grosel- 
 lirs and Kidi.sson, sails for 
 Iludsim's Bay in ship None- 
 such 5 
 
 Goodhue. James M., first Minne- 
 sota editor 117 
 
 Death of 121 
 
 Goodrich, Aaron, Territorial 
 
 Judge 118 
 
 Gorman. Willis A. Governor 125 
 
 Gorrell. Lieut, at Green Bay 62 
 
 Graham. Duncan, arrives at Fort 
 
 Sneliing 100 
 
 Grant trader at Sandy Lake, vis- 
 ited' by Pike 77 
 
 Gravier. Father James, criticises 
 
 Hennepin 28 
 
 Greeley. Elam Hi9 
 
 Griffing La Salle's ship 10 
 
 Voyage to Green Bay 19 
 
 Grignod, Cabtain in British ser- 
 vice 78, 81 
 
 Groselliers. Sieur. early life 1. ti 
 
 Visits Mille Lacs region 2 
 
 iMoets the Assineboiues 2 
 
 Visits Hudson's Bay 4 
 
 Name given to what is now 
 
 Pigeon river 5 
 
 Visits New England G 
 
 Encouraged by Prince Ru- 
 pert 5 
 
 Death of 6 
 
 Guignas, Father, missionary at 
 
 Fort Beauharnois 51 
 
 Guignas, Father, captured by In- 
 dians 54 
 
 Returns to Lake Pepin .5t) 
 
 Gun, grandson of Carver 82 
 
 Hall. Rev. Sherman, Ojibway 
 
 missionary li)7 
 
 Moves to Sauk Rapids HI 
 
 Hayner. H. Z., Chief Justice of 
 
 Territory 12t 
 
 Hempstfacl accompanies Major 
 
 Long. A. D. 1817 82 
 
 Hennepin, Louis, Franciscan mis- 
 sionary, early life of 19 
 
 Depreciates Jesuits 18 
 
 At Falls of St. Anthony 
 
 Hi* 22, 24, 25 
 
 Denounced by La Salle 19 
 
 Chaplain of La Salle 2<) 
 
 At Lake Pepin 22 
 
 Met byDu Luth 25 
 
 Careor on return to Europe. . 25 
 
 His later days 28 
 
 Opinion of Jesuit Missions.. 106 
 
 Henniss C. J.. Editor 122 
 
 nerschell. Sir John, translates 
 Schiller's song, Son of Sioux 
 
 Chief 63 
 
 Historical Society, first public 
 
 meeting 119 
 
 Hobart. Rev. 1!0 
 
 i'AUE 
 
 Holcomb. Capt. William 110 
 
 Hole in-the-Day, the father at- 
 tacks tlie Sioux 103 
 
 Hole-in-the-Day. Junior attacks 
 
 Sioux near St. Paul 121 
 
 On first sti?amboat above falls 
 
 of St. Anthony 121 
 
 Howe, early settler at Marine. . .. 113 
 Huggins. Alexander, mission 
 
 farmer 107 
 
 Hurons (irl ve.n to Minnesota 2 
 
 At war with the Sioux 4 
 
 Indiana Territ<)ry organized 73 
 
 Indians of Mississippi Valley, 
 earliest comniunication about. 46 
 Upper Missouri, seen by Ver- 
 
 endrye 60 
 
 Minnesota. 104 
 
 lowavs. visited by Hurons 2 
 
 Visit Perrot at Lake Pepin... 29 
 Iroquois, Virgin, her intercession 
 
 Bouj'ht by Du Luth 17 
 
 Isle, Pelee, of the Mississippi, 
 
 below St. Croix River 37 
 
 Isle Royal, c()pper in 10^57, noticed 7 
 
 Itasca, origin of word 107 
 
 Jackson. Ilenrv, early settler in 
 
 St. Paul ." 114, 115 
 
 Jemeraye, Sieur de la, with the 
 
 Sioux 56 
 
 Explores to Rainy Lake.. 58, 59 
 
 Death of 59 
 
 Jesuit. Father AUouez 4 
 
 Chardon 52 
 
 De Gonor 51 
 
 De la Chasse 51 
 
 Guignas 51, 54. 55, 56 
 
 Marquette 5 
 
 Menard 2, 3 
 
 Messayer 58 
 
 Jesuit missions unsuccessful 106 
 
 Johnson. Parsons K 119 
 
 Judd, early settler at Marine 113 
 
 Kaposia, Chief, requests a mis- 
 sionary 114 
 
 Kennerman, Pike's sergeant 79 
 
 Kickapoos, at Fort Perrot 80 
 
 Capture French from Lake 
 
 Pepin 54 
 
 King, grandson of Carver 82 
 
 LaHontan, his early life 35 
 
 Ascent of the Fox River 35 
 
 Criticised Carlevoix 36 
 
 Noticed by Nicollet 36 
 
 Laid low travels from Selkirk set- 
 tlement to I'rairie du Chien 91 
 
 At Fort Sneliing 83 
 
 Lae (^ui Parle Mission 109 
 
 Lake Calhoun, Indian farm es- 
 tablished 106 
 
 Lake Harriet missirm described.. 109 
 Lake Pepin, called Lake of Tears 
 
 Described in A. D. 17(0 41 
 
 Fort Perrot at 29 
 
 Fort Beauharnois at 53 
 
 Lake Pokeguma Mission 109 
 
 La .Mtmde. a voyager lo 
 
 Landsing. trader, killed 63 
 
 Lambert, David, early settler in 
 
 St. Paul 118 
 
 Lambert, Henry A., early settler 
 
 in St. Paul 119 
 
 Langlade, (»f Green Bay, urges 
 
 attack of ikaddoek 61 
 
 La Pt-rriere, Sieur de, proceeds to 
 
 Sioux country 81 
 
 S<m of Pierre Boucher 51 
 
 Arrives at Lake Pepin 52 
 
 La I'orte, see Lovigny 
 
 La Potherie describes Fort Per- 
 rot at Lake Pepin 29 
 
 Larpcnteur, A., early settler in 
 
 St. Paul 116 
 
 La Salle licensed to trade in Buf- 
 falo robes 10 
 
 Criticises Du Luth 10, 18 
 
 First to aescribe Upper Mis- 
 sissippi 18 
 
 Describes falls of St. .Anthony 19 
 
 La Tanjiine. see Moreau 
 
 Laurence. Phineas, pioneer at St. 
 
 Croix Valley 113 
 
 Leach. Calvin, a founder of Still- 
 water U» 
 
598 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Lead inineB on MiRsissippi 33 
 
 Leavenworth, Colonel, ewtab- 
 
 lishes Fort Snelling 90 
 
 Le^ardeur. Augrustine. associfttc 
 
 of Herrot 33 
 
 Leiiislature. Territorial.... lilt to 127 
 
 ' First State Legislature \'1% 
 
 Leslie. Lt., command at Macki- 
 naw 62 
 
 L'Huillier. Fort, why named 43 
 
 Le Sueur, associated with Per- 
 rot. builds a Fort below Has- 
 
 tiuLTs 82 
 
 At Lake Pepin in lti8;j and 
 
 ir.H9 :i7. -JO 
 
 At La Ponte of Lake Supe- 
 rior, 1692 37 
 
 Brings first Sioux chief to 
 
 Montreal 37, S3 
 
 Visits France.. 38 
 
 Arrives in Gulf of Mexico... 39 
 Passes Perrot's lead mines... 40 
 
 At the iiiver St. Croix 42 
 
 Holds a council with the 
 
 Sicmx 44 
 
 Returns to Gulf of Mexic<).45, 74 
 LihViev. Washington, pioneer at 
 
 St. Oroix Falls 113 
 
 Li^'iicry, commands at Macki- 
 naw no 
 
 At Fort Duquesne 61 
 
 Linctot. commander at Macki- 
 
 n;tw. ill 
 
 Littl^Crow, Sioux chief, goes in 
 
 IVJ 1 to Washington S5 
 
 L(>n<4. Major Stephen H.. tour to 
 
 St. Anthony. A. D. 1S17 82 
 
 Burial place 83 
 
 Kaposia Village 86 
 
 Carver's cave 84 
 
 St. Anthony Falls 85 
 
 Opinion of the site of Fort 
 
 Snelling 86 
 
 Loomis, Captain Gustavus A., 
 
 U.S. A 108 
 
 Loomis. D. B., early settler of St. 
 
 Croix Valley 122 
 
 Loras, Bishop of Dubuque lU9 
 
 Louisiana, transfer of 73 
 
 Lowry, Sylvanus. early settler... 127 
 
 Macalester College 125 
 
 Mackinaw re-occupied 5n 
 
 Presbyterian mission at 106 
 
 Rev. Dr. Morse visits 19t) 
 
 Robert Stuart resides at lo6 
 
 Rev. W. M. Ferry, mission- 
 ary at IftS 
 
 Maginnis makes a claim at St. 
 
 Croix Falls 112 
 
 Map by Franquelin indicates Du 
 
 Lnth's explorations 9 
 
 Marcst. James Joseph, Jesuit 
 missionary, signs the papers 
 taking possession of the Upper 
 
 Mississippi •• 82 
 
 Letter to Le Sueur 39 
 
 Marin, Lamiirque de, French offi- 
 cer 60 
 
 Marine, early settlers at 112 
 
 Marshall, Hon. W. R. mentioned, 
 
 \\'\ 126 
 
 Marquette. Jesuit missionary at 
 
 La Point.e 4 
 
 Martin, Abraham, pilot 1 
 
 Maskoutcns mentioned 87 
 
 Massacre Island. Lake of the 
 
 Woods origin of the name .^9 
 
 McGillis. Hugh.N- W. Co. Agent, 
 
 Leech Lake 78 
 
 McGregor, English trader ar- 
 rested 1!) 
 
 McKay, trader from .Mbany 03 
 
 Lt. Col. William attacks 
 
 Praric du Chien 81 
 
 McKeau, EUas, a founder of Still- 
 water 113 
 
 McKenzie, old trader S7 
 
 McKusick J., a founder of Still- 
 water 113 
 
 McLean, Nathaniel, editor 119 
 
 McLeod, Martin, exposed to snow 
 
 storm 102 
 
 Menard Rene, Jesuit missionary 
 letterof 2 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Among the Ottowas of Lake 
 
 Superior 3 
 
 M-^dary, Governor. Samuel 127 
 
 Meeker, B. B., Territorial Judge 
 
 118, 119 
 Messaver. Father, accompanies 
 
 the Verendrye expedition f»8 
 
 Miami Indians visited by Perrot, 30 
 Ask for a trading post on Mis- 
 
 sippi 33 
 
 Mill, lirst in Minuesr.ta 93, 98 
 
 Mi lie Lacs Sioux visited by Du 
 
 Luth 9 
 
 Hennepin 22 
 
 Minnesota, meaningof the word, 116 
 
 River, first steamboat in 122 
 
 Historical Society 119 
 
 Territory, proposed bounda- 
 ries 115 
 
 Convention at Stillwater ll.i 
 
 When organized 117 
 
 First election 118 
 
 First Legislature 118 
 
 First counties organized 119 
 
 Recognized as a -State 128 
 
 Mitchell, Alexander M., U. S. 
 
 Marshal IIS 
 
 Candidate for Congress 125 
 
 Missions, Jesuit 5. 16. i06 
 
 Mission Stations lllB to 111 
 
 Missirmaries. Rev. A Ivan Ctn' 
 
 visits Fort Snelling 107 
 
 Frederick Ayer 107 
 
 W. T. Boutwell 107 
 
 F.F.Ely, (teacher ) IdS 
 
 Mr. Denton Ill 
 
 Sherman Hall 107 
 
 Daniel Gavin. Ill 
 
 John F. Alton Ill 
 
 Robert Hopkins 117 
 
 Gideon H. Pond Iti7 
 
 Samuel W. Pond 107 
 
 J. W- Hancock Ill 
 
 J. D. Stevens 107 
 
 S. R. Riggs Ill 
 
 T. S. Williamson, M. D in; 
 
 M.N. Adams Ill 
 
 Rloreau, Pierre, with Du Luih at 
 
 Luke Superior 9 
 
 Morrison, William, old t:nder,73, 67 
 Mnss. Henry L., tf. S. District 
 
 Attorney 118 
 
 Nadowaysioux, see Sioux 
 
 N'-wspapers, first in St- Paul 
 
 117 to 123 
 Nicolet, Jean, first white trader 
 
 in Wisconsin 1 
 
 Nicollet. J. N., astronomer and 
 
 geologist 102 
 
 Nivervule, Boucher de, at Lake 
 
 Winnipeg' 60 
 
 Norris, J. S 120 
 
 North, J. W 122. 128 
 
 Northwest company trading posts 73 
 N >ue. Robertal dela, rr-occupies 
 Du Luth's post at the head of 
 
 Lake Superior 50 
 
 Ochagacbs, draws a map for Ve- 
 rendrye 58 
 
 Mentioned by the geographer 
 
 Bellin 87 
 
 Ojigways or Chippewas. . . .30, 31, 37 
 
 Early residence of 105 
 
 Principal villageB of 105 
 
 Of Lake Pokeguma attacked 110 
 
 Treaty of 1837 112 
 
 Oliver, Lieut. U. S. A., detained 
 
 by ice at Hastings 91 
 
 01nistead,8. B 126 
 
 Olmsted, David, President of 
 
 first council 119 
 
 Candidate for Congress 122 
 
 Editor of Democrat 125 
 
 One Eyed Sioux, alias I'ourgne 
 Original Leve, Rising I^Ioose.. 85 
 Loyal to America during war 
 
 of 1812 81 
 
 Ottawas. their migrations 2 
 
 OLtoes, mentioned* 42, 43, 41 
 
 Ouasicoude. ( Wah-zee-ko-tay ) 
 Sioux chief mentioned by Hen 
 
 nepin 23, 27 
 
 Owens. John P.. editor 123 
 
 PAGK 
 
 Pacific Ocean, route to 
 
 3K, ro, 58, 6 J, 69 
 
 Persons. Rev. J. P 119 
 
 Potron, uncle of Du Luth H 
 
 Penicaut describes Fort Perrot.. 29 
 Fort Le Sueur on Isle Pelee. . 37 
 
 Mississippi river -12 
 
 Describes Fort L'Huillier... 47 
 Pennensha, French trader among 
 
 the Sioux 53 
 
 Pere see Peirot. 
 
 Perkins, Lt. U. S. A., in charge of 
 
 E< -rt Shel by 80 
 
 Perrierre, see L- Perrierre. 
 l\rrot, Nicholas, arrests Achiga- 
 
 naga at Lake Superior 12 
 
 Early days of 20 
 
 Account of Father Menard's 
 ascent of the Mississippi 
 
 and Black Rivers 2 
 
 Suspected of poisoning La 
 
 Salle 29 
 
 Associated with Du Luth 29 
 
 Presents a silver ostensorium 30 
 
 In the Seneca expedition 31 
 
 His return to Lake Pepin' 31 
 
 Takes possession of the coun- 
 try 32 
 
 Conducts a convoy from Mon- 
 treal VA, 38 
 
 Establishes a post on Kala- 
 mazoo river 31 
 
 Threatened with death by 
 
 Indians 38 
 
 Peters, Rev. Samuel, interested 
 
 in the Carver claim 70,71, 96 
 
 Petuns, seeHurons. 
 
 Phillips, W. D., early lawyer at 
 
 St Paul llii. 119 
 
 Pike, Lt. Z. M.: U- S. army at 
 
 Prairie du Chien ,. 74 
 
 Address to Indians 74 
 
 Description of Falls of St. 
 
 Anthony 75, 76 
 
 Block house at Swan River.. 77 
 
 At Sandy Lake 77 
 
 At Leech Lake .\. 78 
 
 .A.t Dickson's trading post... 78 
 
 Confers with Little Crow 78 
 
 Pinchon, see Pennensha. 
 Pinchon, Fils de. Sioux chief, 
 
 confers with Pike 78 
 
 Editor of Dakotah Friend... 122 
 Interpreter at treaty of 1851. 124 
 Pond, Rev. Samuel W- notifies 
 
 the agent of a Sioux war party 103 
 Porlier. trader near Sauk Rapids 
 
 76, 78 
 
 Poupob, leadore, killed bj Sisse- 
 
 ton Sioux 92 
 
 Prairie du Chien described by 
 
 Carver 64 
 
 During war of 1812-1815 80 
 
 McKav at 81 
 
 Pr(Bcott> Philander, early life... 91 
 Piiivencalle. loyal to America in 
 
 warof 1812 81 
 
 (^uinn, Peter 103 
 
 Raelos. Madeline, wife of Nicho- 
 las Perrot 34 
 
 Kadisson, Sieur, early life and 
 
 marriage 2 
 
 Rae, Dr., Arctic explorer at St. 
 
 Paul \U 
 
 Ramsey, Hon. Alexander, first 
 
 G o vernor 117 
 
 Guest of H. H. Sibley at Men- 
 
 dota 118 
 
 Becomes a resident of St. 
 
 Paul 118 
 
 Holds Indian council at Fort 
 
 Snelling 121 
 
 Randin. visits extremity of Lake 
 
 Superior 110 
 
 Ravoux, Rev. A., Sioux mission- 
 ary 109 
 
 Reaume, Sieur. interpreter 52 
 
 Red River of the >(orth, 'men- 
 tioned 87 
 
 Renville, Joseph, mention of. .76, 109 
 
 Ren vil le. John 109 
 
 llepublican convention at St. An- 
 thony 126 
 
 JUice, Hon. Henry M., steps to or- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 r>i»9 
 
 TAHE 
 
 ganizc Minnesota Territory, 115. 110 
 ]''Iertod tc» Congress .....125, \'1\\ 
 
 U. 8. Senator I2S 
 
 KtrhardH, F. S., trader at Lake 
 
 Pepin 117 
 
 Rig^s, Kev. S. 11., Sioux mission- 
 ary, letter of HI 
 
 Itohninette, pioneer in St. Croix 
 
 Valley 112 
 
 Robertson, Daniel A., editor, .124. 125 
 liogers. Captain, at Ticoniieroffa 02 
 
 In charge at Mackinaw ti2, 66 
 
 Uolette, Joseph, Sr., in the Brit- 
 ish service 81 
 
 Ilolette, Joseph. Jr 127 
 
 Koseboom. English tr.idcr, ar- 
 rested near !\Iacninaw 15 
 
 Roseboora. trader at Green Bay. 03 
 Kosser, J. T., Secretary of Ter- 
 ritory 125 
 
 Hnssell, Jeremiah, pioneer in St. 
 
 Croix Valley Ul9, 112 
 
 Scgard, in 1836 notices Lake Su- 
 perior copper 7 
 
 Saint Anth'inv Express, first pa- 
 per beyoiul St. Paul 12" 
 
 Saint Anthony Falls. Suspension 
 
 bridge over ]?n 
 
 fyovernment mill at 93, 91 
 
 St. Croix county organized HI 
 
 Court in lU 
 
 Saint Croix river, orii^in of 
 
 name ,42, V.'l 
 
 Du Luth hrst explorer of , ... 112 
 
 Pioneers in Valley of 112 
 
 Early preachers in valley of. 113 
 
 Saint Paul, origin of name I H 
 
 Early Settlers of ill 
 
 High water in 1850 121 
 
 Firt^t execution for murder .. 121 
 Effort to remove seat of gov- 
 ernment therefrom 127 
 
 Saint Pierre, Captain, at Lake 
 
 Superior U) 
 
 At Lake Pepin 55, 05 
 
 Commander at Mackinaw 61 
 
 At Fort La Heine 60 
 
 I" N. W. Pennsylvania 60, 61 
 
 Visited by Washington 00 
 
 Saskatchewan, tirst visited by 
 
 French .'i9 
 
 Fort at 6U 
 
 Schiller, versifies a Sioui chief's 
 
 speech 67 
 
 Sct)tt, Dred, slave at Fort SnelU 
 
 ing 97 
 
 Scott. General Winfield. suggests 
 
 the name of Fort SnelUng 103 
 
 Selkirk, Earl, Thomas Douglas.. 87 
 Semple, Governor of Selkirk set- 
 tlement, killed.. 83 
 
 Senecas defeated by the French, 15 
 Shea, J. G., on failure to estab- 
 lish Sioux mission 1^6 
 
 Sherburne Moses, Judge I'i5 
 
 ;>hields, Gen. James, elected U. 
 
 S. Senator 128 
 
 Sibley, Hon. H. H., at Stillwater 
 
 convention 115 
 
 Delegate to Congress from 
 
 PAdE 
 
 Wisconsin Territory 116 
 
 l'',Iecte(l delegate to ("'ongress 122 
 
 Sii 'U.K. origin of the wonl 1 
 
 IVeiiliar langnagi; of 1 
 
 Villages visited hy Du Luth.. 9 
 
 Described by Cadillac 10 
 
 Meet .\ccault and Hennepin, 
 
 19, 20 
 
 Of Mille Laos 22 
 
 Nicolas Pcrrot 29 
 
 Described by Perrot 31 
 
 I\Teaning of the wor(i 101 
 
 Different bands of lOl 
 
 Warpay twawus I(t5 
 
 Seeseetwawns 105 
 
 Mantantaws 32. 41 
 
 Sissetons 32 
 
 OujalespoitoDS 43, \\ 
 
 Chief's speech to Fionteriac. :'S 
 
 Chief's death at M(»nfre:il :*s 
 
 Chief visits Fort L'iliiillier, -13 
 
 In council with Le Sueur It 
 
 Visited, by Jesuits 51 
 
 A foil to the Foxes 55 
 
 Bands desciihed by Cirver. . . 05 
 Chief's speech described by 
 
 Carver 67 
 
 LangungCj Carver's views on ti'.t 
 Chief, Original Leve, Pike's 
 
 friend 75. Hi 
 
 Formerly dwelt at Leech 
 
 Lake 78 
 
 Sisseton murderer brought to 
 
 Fort Snelling 92 
 
 In ccmncil with Ojibways ... 9t 
 Sioux Delegation in A. D. 1S21, 
 
 go to Washington 95 
 
 Delivered by Col, Snellin^'.. . 99 
 
 Executed by Ojibways 99 
 
 Killed by Ojibways, April, 
 
 183.S 103 
 
 Attack Lake Pokeguma band 
 
 in 1811 110 
 
 Are attacked in 1842 lU 
 
 Treaties of 1851 123 
 
 Attacked in St. Paul by Ojib- 
 ways .' 125 
 
 ^■impso^. early settler in St. Paul 114 
 
 naves. African, in Minnesota 97 
 
 Smith. C. K., first Secretary of 
 
 Territory 1 1 H 119 
 
 Snelling. Col. Josiah, arrives at 
 
 Fort Snelling 92 
 
 Delivers Sioux assassins to 
 
 Ojibways 99 
 
 Death of 101 
 
 W. Joseph, son of Colonel, 
 
 career of 97 
 
 Pasquinade on N. P. Willis... 98 
 Steele, Franklin, pioneer of St. 
 
 Croix Valley 112, 113 
 
 At Stillwater Convention, 
 
 1848 115 
 
 Stevens, Kev. J. D 106. 108 
 
 Stillwater, battle between Sioux 
 
 and Ojibways 103 
 
 Founders of H3 ' 
 
 Land slide iu 1852 124 i 
 
 Strattim, pioneer in St. Croix 1 
 
 Valley 112, 113 I 
 
 PAOE 
 
 StuRrt, Robert, at Mackinaw, in- 
 
 Uuerice of \m 
 
 Swiss emigrants, at Red Uiver... 89 
 Taliaferro. Maj. Lawreiu'c, agent 
 
 for tlie Sioux, notice of 91 
 
 iiCttor to C(d. Levenworth.. 92 
 Takes Lidians to Washington 
 
 A. D. 1S24 95 
 
 Tanner, John, stolen from his 
 
 parents 88 
 
 Tannery for P>uffalo skins 16 48 
 
 Taylor, Jessie B., pioneer in St. 
 
 Croix Valley 112 
 
 Joshua L 118 
 
 N. CJ. U., Speaker House of 
 
 Representatives 1S54 126 
 
 Speech to Gov. Frontenic 38 
 
 Tegahkouita, Catherine, the Iro- 
 
 <|uois virgin 17 
 
 Terry, Elijah, murdered by Sioux 
 
 at Pembina 124 
 
 Thompson, David, geographer, 
 
 N. W. Co 78 
 
 Tonty. Henry, with Du Luth at 
 
 Niagara 15 
 
 Treaties of 1837 with Sioux and 
 
 Ojihways 112 
 
 Tuttle, C. A. .at Falla of St. Croix 112 
 Uuivrsity of Minnesota creatctl 122 
 
 Van Cleve, Gen. H. P 9-' 
 
 Varennes, Pierre Gualtier, see 
 
 Verendrye. 
 Vercheres, in command at Green 
 
 Bay 61 
 
 Verendrye, Sieur, early life of . 58 
 Expedition west of Like Su- 
 perior 58 
 
 Return to Lake of the Woods 95 
 Sieur, Jr., accompanies St. 
 
 Pierre 59, 61 
 
 Wahkautape, Sioux chief visits 
 
 J^e Sueur 43, 44 
 
 Wahmatah, Sioux chief 95 
 
 Wait, L B 119 
 
 Wakefield, John A 116 
 
 Wales, W. W 127 
 
 Washington visits St. Pierre 60 
 
 Welch. W. H. Chief Justice of 
 
 Territory 125 
 
 Wells, James, trader, married. .. 102 
 
 At Lake Pepin 117 
 
 Wilkin, Alexander, Secretary of 
 
 Territory. 124 
 
 Candidate for Congress 125 
 
 Williamson, Rew. T- S., M. D. 
 
 early life 107 
 
 Organizes church at Fort 
 
 Snelling 108 
 
 Missionary at Lac qui Parle 
 
 Kaposia 114 
 
 Willis, N. P., lampoons Joseph 
 
 Snelling 97 
 
 Winnebagocs mentioned 40, 52 
 
 Wisconsin River called Mescherz 
 
 Obeda by La Salle 18 
 
 Wolfe, General, death of 1 
 
 Wood, trader amoni; Sioux 78 
 
 Yeis;er, Captain at Fort Shelby.. 80 
 Yuhazee, executed at St. Paul... 124 
 
 -^^-■^yk-^^- 
 
ffilKl 
 
 TXDFX. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA. 
 
 Admission or the State 12fl 
 
 Agricultural Biiildine 1(7 
 
 AiiBtin, Horace. sketcE of 156 
 
 Aldrich. CyruB. sketch of isi) 
 
 Averill, John T., sketch of IMI 
 
 Uattle of Pittsburg Lunding 133 
 
 Fair Oaks 133 
 
 Savage Station 133 
 
 luka 134 
 
 Corinth 131 
 
 Gettysburg 137 
 
 Biennial session of the Legisia- 
 
 „ture 140 
 
 Bancroft George, speech of 141 
 
 Blind, Education of the OH 
 
 (Javanaufh. James M., sketch of. LW 
 
 Cavalry C'oinpaniob 133 
 
 UeafandUumli Institution 117 
 
 Davis. C. K., sketch of ].'i7 
 
 Donnelly, Ignatius, sketch of 15(1 
 
 Dunnell. Mark, M., sketch of... l.Vj 
 
 Ed^erton. A. J., sketch of isg 
 
 Eignth Minnesota Kegiment 137 
 
 First State Legislature iffl 
 
 F'irst steamboat on the Bed River 
 
 of the Niirth ]3o 
 
 First white person cteeuted. ...'." 130 
 First .Minnesnta lii'j;imcnt. ... 131, 1.37 
 Jifth JlinncKota lte<;iment. . .131, 137 
 Fourth Jliunesota IJcgiment 137 
 
 Page 129 to 150. 
 
 Fifth State Legislature 138 
 
 Fillmore, ex-President, speech 
 
 of 141 
 
 Flag presentation 143 
 
 Gorman. Willis A., sketch of.!!! LIS 
 Hubbard, Lucius F.. sketch of. . . 157 
 
 Insane Hospital at St. Peter U9 
 
 Rochester 1.50 
 
 King. Wm. 8.. sketch of i.',D 
 
 .Miller, Stephen, .sketch of ISS 
 
 Marshall, W. It., sketch of 158 
 
 McMillan, S. J. R., sketch of. . .. l.W 
 
 Minnesota in the civil war 131 
 
 Normal School act 130 
 
 Northfield Bank, raid on .'! 139 
 
 Noyes, J. L . sketch of 149 
 
 Norton, Daniel S., sketch of ir>8 
 
 P.tge, Judge, impeachment of 140 
 
 Pillsbury^ J. S., sketch of ].'i7 
 
 Phelps, Wm. W., sketch of if,a 
 
 Poehler, Henry, sketch of 16' 1 
 
 Itiilroad land grants I'^g 
 
 Ramsey, Governor, tenders the 
 
 services of his fellow-citizens 
 
 to the President 131 
 
 Religious instruction excluded 
 
 from schools no 
 
 Ramsey, Ale.-sander, sketch of !'!' 1.51 
 
 Rice. Henry M.. sket-'h of isg 
 
 Second State Legislature isu 
 
 State railroad bonds issued 13 1 
 
 Capital, history of ui 
 
 In flames 14 1 
 
 Penitentiary ! ! ! 144 
 
 University '. !!!! 14.5 
 
 Faculty !!!!!!! 147 
 
 Campus and buildings !!! 147 
 
 Reform School 1.50 
 
 Normal Schools ! 151 
 
 Second Minnesota Regiment. .132. 137 
 
 Sharpshooters 132 
 
 Sioux Outbreak !!!!!! 13.t 
 
 Seward, Wm. H., speech of U'l 
 
 School for the Feeble-minded.. 149 
 
 Sibley, H. H.. sketch of 1.13 
 
 Swift, H. A., sketch of irw 
 
 Shields, James, sketch of.. " ir,8 
 
 Stearns. O. P., sketch '.f ! ms 
 
 Strait. Horace B., sketch of 159 
 
 t^tewart. Jacob H.. sketch of.... 159 
 
 Third Minnesota Regiment 133 
 
 The Rocky Mountain Locu.st 139 
 
 Women allowed to vote for 
 
 school officers 131) 
 
 Wilkinson, Mortons., sketch of ! 158 
 
 Windom, William, sketch of 158 
 
 Wilson, Eugene M. sketch of... l.ig 
 
 VVasriburn, W. D.. sketch of l(i!i 
 
 V or k town, siege of 133 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 STATE EDUCATION. 
 
 Introdnction im 1(52 
 
 Colonial Period '" ' ifi^ 
 
 Education in 1787 !..'.!!! i(U 
 
 State Aid ""ihV lO.") 
 
 Education in Miunesoti.'.' .'.'.'!. . . ' kjJj 
 
 Pu'^e ICl to 176. 
 
 Board of Regents ''*im 
 
 Land Grant J,"; 
 
 State University. ii-.y 
 
 Rt lated S.vi^teni 2 
 
 btate School Funil. .!!!.!!!!!!!!! 171 
 
 Local Ta.Tation 172 
 
 Gr,adeil School System 172 
 
 Equal rights 174 
 
 A Common foe 175 
 
 Results hojK'd for !!! 176 
 
noi 
 
 TNDKX. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 THE SIOUX MASSACRE OF 1862. 
 
 Attack on the Upper Agency 186 
 
 Attack on Fort xVbercrombie 239 
 
 Battle of Birch Coolie 249 
 
 Wood Lake 249 
 
 New Ulm 217 
 
 At Lower Agency Ferry 221 
 
 Near Glencoe 228 
 
 Of Fort A Ijercrombie 285 
 
 Baker, Mrs., flight of 195 
 
 Byrnee, Lieut., with forty-seven 
 
 men starts from Minneapolis 
 
 for Meeker and Kandijohi 
 
 counties * 228 
 
 Carver, Jonathan 177 
 
 Causes of irritation preceding 
 
 the massacre ISO 
 
 ( 'ovill's Mrs , statement 209 
 
 Chittenden's Captain, letter to 
 
 the "New Haven Palladium".. 213 
 Cox, E. St. Julien, arrives to the 
 
 relief of New Ulm 217 
 
 Camp Release, white prisoners 
 
 brought into 250 
 
 Dodd, Capt. William B., death 
 
 of 218 
 
 Dead bodies are found and bur- 
 ied in Meeker county 225 
 
 Davis. Captain, ordered to the 
 
 relief of Fort Abercrombie 235 
 
 Expedition to Fort Leavenworth 219 
 Fugitives on the wav to St. Peter 2!3 
 
 Fight at LakeSlietek 215 
 
 Fight at the wind-mill at New 
 
 Ulm 217 
 
 Fort Kidgely, siege of 222 
 
 Forest City, troops arrive at 225 
 
 Freeman, Captain, ordered to 
 
 the relief of Fort Abercrombie 235 
 
 Fort Abercrombie relieved 239 
 
 Fortitications erected at Paynes- 
 
 ville, Maine Prairie, St- Joseph, 
 
 Fftffe 177 to 250. 
 
 PAOR 
 
 and Sank Centre 231 
 
 Galbraith. Major, statement of. . 184 
 
 Hennepin. Louis 177 
 
 Detained by Indians 177 
 
 Henderson, Mrs., horrible death 
 
 of 201 
 
 Hayden's. Mrs. Mary, statement. 2n2 
 
 Huran's. Kcarn. statement 2u2 
 
 Husbands and fathers search for 
 
 their lost families 210 
 
 Harrington's Mrs., weary wan- 
 derings 211 
 
 Hurd, .Mrs., starts for the settle- 
 ments with her naked children 215 
 Hostilities in the Bed liiver Val- 
 ley 234 
 
 Indian tribes in Minnesota in 
 
 18G2 177 
 
 Indian treaty at St. Louis 178 
 
 Indian reservations 17S 
 
 Indian life, sketch of 178 
 
 Inilians. efforts to civilize 179 
 
 Inkpaduta Mawacre 181 
 
 Indians, thirty-eight hung at 
 
 Mankato 254 
 
 Indians, annuity, paid 1.H3 
 
 Indian chiefs at cnurch 1h8 
 
 Indian officials changed 188 
 
 Indians, large numbers of, ar- 
 rive at YeUow Medicine 193 
 
 Indians forcibly enter the ware 
 
 house of Yellow Medicine 103 
 
 Indian atrocities 204 
 
 Indians attack Colonel Sibley's 
 
 camp at Wood Lake 240 
 
 Indian sympathizers 251 
 
 Jones'. Sergeant faithful vigil... 187 
 
 Jonfs. Mr., the first victim 195 
 
 Koch's Mrs., escape 215 
 
 Little Crow, deatn of 25ti 
 
 Statement by uhjh of il56 
 
 PANE 
 
 MurmnnngrB of the impending 
 storm '04 
 
 Massacre begins 1H5 
 
 Massacre at the L(.wer Agency.. 197 
 Massacre at the German settle- 
 ment 201 
 
 Massacre at Lake Shetek 215 
 
 Massacre extends into Dakota. . . 216 
 
 Massacre at N'irw;ty Lake 2H0 
 
 Murder of .\nn>s Huggins 2lfi 
 
 Marsh, Capt. killed 22J 
 
 Memorial to the President 2'2 
 
 M i collet c< »un ty the scene of 
 
 bloodshed 212 
 
 New Ulm, citizens evacuate 219 
 
 Other Day, John, rescues whites. 205 
 
 Death of 206 
 
 Prichette, Major, at YeUi>w :\I('d- 
 icine in 1H57, holds a council 
 
 with the annuity Indiatis 1R2 
 
 Prescott. Philander, murdered.. 1<,'8 
 
 Patoile's escape 205 
 
 Robert's. Louis, store attacked.. 198 
 Iledwood River Agency attacked 199 
 Biggs, Rev. S. B.. escape of, and 
 
 other? 207 
 
 Refugees at St. Peter 217 
 
 Rescue of women prisoners by 
 
 the Wap<Hon Sioux 182 
 
 Spencer's Mrs., story 197 
 
 Strouts'. Capt . party attacked.. 227 
 Trading post at Big Stone Lake 
 destroyed and the whites 
 
 killed 214 
 
 Thomas. Kslph. statement 219 
 
 War dance at the Upper Agency. 186 
 
 Whiton's, Mrs statement.. 211 
 
 Wabasha surrenders and is fol- 
 lowed by over 2.UU0 wairiors... 250 
 
 ^tjHIJfl " 
 
602 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 HI.STORY OF KICE OOITNTT. 
 
 GENEKAL HISTOHY. 
 
 Page 263-317. 
 
 Agricultural 
 
 (-'t'nwiis from 1850 — '80 
 
 CV'Dtennial celebration 
 
 Clerk of Court 
 
 County organization 
 
 County Cioverumeut 
 
 County otTicers 
 
 County Associations 3112 
 
 Crops 
 
 i)(>scrii)tive 
 
 Description of Townships — 2iJi 
 
 Documents 
 
 Drainajje 
 
 Early settlers 2i>!l 
 
 (•Educational. 308 
 
 Faribault Herald 281 
 
 Karibault Kepublicau 
 
 Financial report 21)1 
 
 Frosts 
 
 General remarks 31ti 
 
 Geology 2fi:i 
 
 (inpiier hunt 
 
 ItHliatis 277 
 
 Limestones 207 
 
 Ladies' Aid Society 
 
 Minnesota admitted as a state — 
 
 Maps 
 
 Newspapers _. .304 
 
 Ort;ani/.ation of school districts.. 
 
 Population in 18.")r> 
 
 Kai Iroads aoti 
 
 Keiiistry of Deeds 
 
 Heli^'iouB 311 
 
 Salaries of county officers 
 
 Senators 
 
 Situation and area 
 
 Soldiers' Aid Society 
 
 Surface and soil 
 
 Timber 2tjt) 
 
 Transfer of lands 
 
 Voting precincts 
 
 War meeting 
 
 War record 2(l.'i 
 
 CITY OK FAKIBAULT. 
 
 Page 318—396. 
 
 .\ccidental shotiting 
 
 A Catamount shot 
 
 .Additions 
 
 AmlxT cane company 32S 
 
 .\n avalanche 
 
 ]5ariking houses 
 
 liarron Ilouse Imrned 
 
 Biou'raphical 302 
 
 Breweries 
 
 Burned to death 
 
 Business houses 
 
 Business men 
 
 'Bus line 
 
 Catholic church burned 
 
 Cemetery Association 
 
 Churches 354 
 
 Cigar factory 
 
 City Government 
 
 Congregational cliurch dedicated 
 Corner stone i>f Shitttuck gram- 
 mar school laid 
 
 294 
 293 
 277 
 291 
 •2S4 
 285 
 •287 
 314 
 278 
 •263 
 265 
 •291 
 '2B4 
 271 
 311 
 283 
 304 
 292 
 294 
 317 
 268 
 318 
 •281 
 268 
 •295 
 ■286 
 3j5 
 3U5 
 286 
 •278 
 307 
 290 
 312 
 •288 
 •293 
 •263 
 297 
 ■264 
 •267 
 291 
 •285 
 ■295 
 303 
 
 321 
 
 327 
 319 
 337 
 319 
 888 
 •3'29 
 396 
 3.37 
 321 
 .T22 
 323 
 336 
 3-23 
 3^22 
 3tHI 
 336 
 330 
 321 
 
 Crown Point Roller Mill 332 
 
 Deaf, Dumb, and Blind, schools 
 
 for 339 346 
 
 Deaths 3^26 
 
 Descriptive 318 
 
 Disastrous fire 328 
 
 Faribault driving park 3^27 
 
 Faribault elevator burned 329 
 
 Falal accident 325 
 
 First frame building 319 
 
 First religious meeting 3'20 
 
 First National Bank 3^25 
 
 Fire 3^26 3^27 
 
 First Mayor 3^2d 
 
 Fire department 331 
 
 Fraternal orders 360 362 
 
 l''reighting 3*26 
 
 F'ruit Growers' Association 3'25 
 
 Furniture and chair factrjry. .335 336 
 
 Gas Company 338 
 
 (fiuscDg 825 
 
 Ciiiod Templars Lodge. 3"24 
 
 (ioUien weddings 327-8^28 329 
 
 Grange mill tiurned 3'28 
 
 41orticnltural Society 326 
 
 Industrial enterprises 332 338 
 
 Iron works. 336 
 
 Killed byafall 3-24 
 
 Ladies' Benevolent .Association. . 321 
 Ladies' Literary Association. — 324 
 
 Legislative excursion 3'25 
 
 Lime stone quarries 318 
 
 Literary associations 319 3'23 
 
 Liquor question 3",!8 
 
 Lumber yard 336 
 
 Manny, Rev. S. W 3-26 
 
 Masonic Hall dedicated .3'28 
 
 Mills 332 335 
 
 Mills burn 3^24 
 
 Miller's Association elevator 334 
 
 Rlusical societies 322 
 
 New buildings 324 
 
 Police department 831 
 
 Post-oHice 331 
 
 Postmaster appointed .327 
 
 Proprietors of the town 318 
 
 Public schools 353 3.54 
 
 Regatta 3^2« 
 
 Removal of Sioux 825 
 
 Relinimi at Barron House 827 
 
 Reunion of First Minnesota Vol- 
 unteer Infantry if28 
 
 Robbery 322 
 
 Saw and grist mill 3^24 
 
 Scandinavian Literary Society.. . 8127 
 
 Seabury Hall burned 827 
 
 Seaburv Divinity School 349 351 
 
 Shields, Gen 319 
 
 Shattuck gr.'tmmar schotd burned 3'25 
 
 Re-opened 325 
 
 Shattuck Guards excursion 3*27 
 
 Shattucrk school 346 349 
 
 Silver weddings 3"29 
 
 Stage line 321 3*22 
 
 St. Mary's Hall opened 3'25 
 
 Storm 3'24 
 
 Student's Ijiterary Association.. 821 
 Stone manufacturing company.. 3'29 
 
 Straight River Flour Mill .332 
 
 St. Mary's Hail 351 853 
 
 Turner's Society 326 
 
 Wagon works 835 
 
 Whipple, Lieut. J. C 326 
 
 Woolen mill 336 
 
 CITY OF NOKTHFIELD. 
 
 Page 396—437. 
 
 Association and Societies 419 4'24 
 
 Bank robbery and murder 401 4J12 
 
 Banks 405 
 
 Biographical 4'24 437 
 
 Carleton College dedicated 409 
 
 CarletoD College Observatory... 411 
 
 Carleton College officers 443 
 
 Carleton College commencement 
 
 day ,.414 41K 
 
 Early settlers 398 399 
 
 Births 399 
 
 Marriages T 399 
 
 Deaths 400 
 
 Educational 406 
 
 Elevator 405 
 
 First stores 398 
 
 Fire 400 
 
 I'lre department 405 
 
 Golden wedding 400 
 
 Indians 402 403 
 
 Introduction 896 
 
 Location 896 
 
 Mills 404 405 
 
 North, JohnW 396 
 
 Old Town Hall 424 
 
 Political 4113 404 
 
 Police force 406 
 
 Post-office 406 
 
 Religious 117 419 
 
 Ruby wedding 401 
 
 Silver wedding 400 
 
 Stage line 397 
 
 bt. Olaf's school 406 407 
 
 Terrible accident 400 
 
 Water power 397 
 
 Waterford 424 
 
 BRIDOEWATER. 
 
 Page 137-4.53. 
 
 Biographical 447 453 
 
 Dundas village 413 447 
 
 Descriptive 437 
 
 liarly settlers 437 140 
 
 Educational 442 
 
 Female monster 441 
 
 F'irst death Ill 
 
 Marriage 141 
 
 Murder 411 
 
 Post-office 441 
 
 Political 142 
 
 BeligiouB 145 
 
 WHEELINO. 
 
 Page 451—164. 
 
 Blacksmithing 157 
 
 Biographical :-..«,» 464 
 
 Dfscription 454 
 
 KducMto.nal 458 
 
 Fire Insurance 457 
 
 First settlers 454 456 
 
 Births 456 
 
 Marriages 456 
 
INDEX. 
 
 603 
 
 Town meeting 457 
 
 Ollicers 457 
 
 Mills 457 
 
 Post-odice 45S 
 
 Kcliizious 458 
 
 Syrup manufacture 457 
 
 Stores 457 
 
 Town Hall 457 
 
 liicnr.ANn. 
 Page 464—470. 
 
 Biographical 488 470 
 
 Churches KJfi 467 
 
 Early settlers 4W 401! 
 
 Early events 46ii 
 
 G-eneral description 164 
 
 Political 466 
 
 S^chools 46V 46S 
 
 WALCOTT. 
 
 Page 470—577. 
 
 Biographical 475 477 
 
 Early events 471 47:i 
 
 First settlers 470 471 
 
 Location and description 470 
 
 Manufacturing 473 474 
 
 Post-office 473 
 
 Schools 474 475 
 
 Town organization 47 1 
 
 FOKEST. 
 
 Page 47S-490. 
 
 Antoine Mosher 4.S1 
 
 Biographical 485 4ilo 
 
 Descriptive 47-y 
 
 Earlv settlers 478 481 
 
 Educational 482 481 
 
 Lester post-office J 82 
 
 Mil lersburg village 484 485 
 
 Mills ; 4t<4 
 
 Post-office 481 
 
 Political 4S1 
 
 Religious 482 
 
 WELLS. 
 
 Page 4'Jl— ,501. 
 
 Biographical 498 .504 
 
 Births 41)4 
 
 Early settlement 492 494 
 
 First blacksmith shop 495 
 
 General description 491 492 
 
 Marriages 495 
 
 Mills 495 496 
 
 Political 495 
 
 Schools 496 497 
 
 Societies 497 498 
 
 WARSAW. 
 
 Page 505 - 517 
 
 Agricultural statistics 1881 .509 
 
 BiiUy Wells 507 
 
 Biographical 514 517 
 
 (bounty poor farm 5li) 
 
 Cemetery .'Vssociation 510 
 
 Descriptive .505 .5iH'i 
 
 Educational 511) 512 
 
 Early settlemcu!; .506 507 
 
 First nuirria^e 507 
 
 Hershey burial ground 510 
 
 Jewett. ')r. Chas .508 
 
 Lake City 513 514 
 
 Manufacturing .509 
 
 Murder .508 
 
 Peter Dalcour 508 
 
 i'ost-office 513 
 
 Keligious 512 513 
 
 Town name .507 
 
 Town (rovernment 508 
 
 Warsaw village 512 
 
 CANNON CITY. 
 
 Page 518-534. 
 
 Biographical ,531 .534 
 
 Church 525 
 
 Cemetery 525 
 
 Descriptive 518 
 
 Drowned .526 
 
 Earb' settlement 519 522 
 
 Pearly items 522 524 
 
 First saw-mill 525 
 
 Political 521 
 
 Schools .521 525 
 
 Village of Cannon City .526 •'2-s 
 
 Churches .528 
 
 Hotels 527 
 
 East Prairieville .528 531 
 
 Cemetery 531 
 
 Hotel .530 
 
 Mills .530 
 
 Religious .531 
 
 Store and Post-office. 530 
 
 WEBSTER. 
 
 Page 534— 51J. 
 
 Business 537 538 
 
 Biographical 540 544 
 
 Descriptive , 534 535 
 
 Earlv tiirths 537 
 
 De.nths 537 
 
 Marriages 537 
 
 Educational 539 541) 
 
 First settlers 535 536 
 
 Hazelwood Pos:;-(jffice 538 
 
 Religious .538 539 
 
 Saw-mlll 538 
 
 Township organization .537 
 
 Town name 537 
 
 Union Lake Post office 538 
 
 Webster l*ost-<>lfice 538 
 
 WUEATLAND. 
 
 Page 545-553. 
 
 Biograph ical 550 553 
 
 Descriptive 545 
 
 Early events 548 549 
 
 Mercanti le .548 
 
 Pioneers .545 547 
 
 Political 548 
 
 Post-office .518 
 
 Religious 548 
 
 Schools 517 548 
 
 Village of Vessley 549 550 
 
 EUIN. 
 
 Page 534-564. 
 
 r.iograph i<-al 560 564 
 
 l)i script ion of .554 
 
 Karlv settlers 5.55 5.57 
 
 Education .5.59 560 
 
 Events of interest 557 .5.58 
 
 Fowlersville post-office 559 
 
 Political 559 
 
 NORTHFIEI.U TOWNSHIP. 
 
 Page 564-574. 
 
 Biographical 571 575 
 
 Churches 571 
 
 Early items 568 
 
 PMucational .570 
 
 First settlers .565 568 
 
 General description 564 .565 
 
 Industries 571 
 
 Pol i tical 56il 
 
 SHIEI.DSVILI.E. 
 
 Page 57.5-582. 
 
 Biographical .581 582 
 
 Description of 575 
 
 Early notes .577 578 
 
 Early settlers 575 576 
 
 ^eh.Kils... 579 
 
 Shieldsville village 580 581 
 
 Town government 579 
 
 MOBRISTOWN. 
 
 Page 583-595. 
 
 Biographical 591 595 
 
 Descriptive 583 .5.84 
 
 Early settlement 584 .585 
 
 Educational 586 587 
 
 Industries 5,87 589 
 
 Morristown village 589 591 
 
 P.ilitical 585 586 
 
 Religious 586 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 On page 341, the second sentence under the 
 head of "The school for Imbeciles and Idiots," 
 should read ^'One of the first to cull attention to the 
 matter, was the Superintendent of the Deaf and 
 Dumb," &c. 
 
 On page 341, the first sentence ot the second 
 paragrapli under the same head, instead of "Under 
 the same authority and management as the Deaf 
 and Dumb and the Blind," should read "under 
 
 the same Ijoard of directors as the Deaf and Dumb 
 and the Blind. 
 
 On page 34.5, the top line in first column "and 
 the school for idiots and imbeciles" and in the 
 second line, the name "Dr. George H. Knight" 
 should be erased, so that the reading would be 
 "and Prof. J. J. Dow was appointed superinten- 
 dent of his respective department." 
 
Minneapolis & St. Louis R'y. 
 
 The Albert Lea Route" 
 
 FOR ALL POINTS IN 
 
 TIBiE] CS^X-iOI^IOTTS IM-QIE^TIBai^A^ElST. 
 
 Close coniiectious are made iu Union depots hoth in Minneapolis and St. Pinil witli trains of the 
 Northern Pacitie and St. Paul, Minneapolis i- Manitoba, and St. Paul & Duluth Kailways for Duluth, 
 BrainerJ. Fergus Falls. Moorhead, Crookston. St. Viincent, A\'innipeg, Grand P''o)ks, Jamestown, Bis- 
 niiirek, Billings, and all points in 
 
 MANITOBA 
 
 at 
 
 —AND THE— 
 
 Red River and Yellowstone River Valleys* 
 
 THE DIRECT LINE TO 
 
 CENTRAL IOWA AND SOUTHWESTERN POINTS' 
 
 Through trairns are run between Minneapolis and Dew Moines, via ALBEBT LEA, connecting 
 Des Moines with the various roads centering there FOE SUCH POINTS AS 
 
 Ottumwa, Albia. Knoxville, Council Bluffs and Omaha. 
 
 Two trains daily betweeo St. Paul, Minneapolis and Chicago. Solid trains between Minneapolis 
 ami St, Louis. The only line running EXCLUSIVELY PULLMAN PALACE SLEEP- 
 ING CAF^S between St. Paul itnd Minneapolis, Chicago and St. Louis. 
 
 TlflkFTSs "'■'' '"■■ ^"1" ■'■^'^ '^'- "ALBERT LEA ROUTE," at all the principal ticket offices throughout 
 UUI^Llp tiig ^Vest and Northwest. 
 
 TICKET OFFICES: 
 
 MINNEAPOLIS: ST. PAUL: 
 
 I .MO!> DEPOT, Cily Office No. S AVu>,liin|;toiic Avr. INION DEPOT, 
 
 City Office «'or. Third aitd !!iibley »>treets. 
 
 C.H.HUDSON. SAM. F. KOVI». 
 
 General Miina(;er. 4icii^l Ticket and Puss .\gt. 
 
 J. A. McCONNELL, Trav. Agent. 
 
 MINNEAPOLIS, MINN 
 
T lEi Ei 
 
 Northern Pacific Country, 
 
 FKOM THE 
 
 Great Lakes to the Pacific, 
 
 TRAVERSES 
 
 The Great Wheat Belt, Grazing Eaiige, 
 
 and the Vast Gold and 
 
 Silver Regions 
 
 OF 
 
 Minnesota, Dakota. Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. 
 
 ^ — -* t» I ^m 
 
 The most attractive regions for new settlemnnt are unmiostiimahly t'lp nfraiii and <jra/,ing lands alonsr the line of the 
 Northern Pacific railroad in Minnesota, Dakota. Montana. Idaho, Oregon and Washington 'i'erritorv. No section is 
 settlingso rapidly. None offers such advantages to the faraier an ,1 stock raiser. The Northern Pacific Railroad com- 
 pany now offers for sale 
 
 4,000,000 Acres of the Most Productive Wheat Lands 
 
 In the world, adjacent to its completed road in Dakota and Minnesota, which lauds are now ready fur the plow. No 
 failure of crops (u apprehend. Average yield of twenty-two bushels of whe 't to the acre in Dakota last year. 
 Twenty-five to thirty bnshels of wheat not an exceptional crop. No aL^ricultnral industry is more protitalde than wheat 
 farmiuiiwpon these rich and rollint; plains. The country is well watered. Plenty of timber for domestic purposes* 
 Low freijrht rates on farm products and settlers' household goods. 
 
 PT5 TPff m? T A TJnC! '^^^^ **f the Missouri Kiver. in Dakota and Minnesota, $4 per acre, with a rebate 
 A XV:LL/iJ wT ^iXViUO. of 25 percent, for acrea^^e cultivated within two years from purchase. West of the 
 Missouri Hiver, alouT' its coinoleted road in Western Dakota and Montana, and in the beautiful valley of the Yellow- 
 stone, the company offers a lar^earca of fine farming lands at the government price of f2.'ii' per acre (with a cbarge of 10 
 c^nts per acre to cover cost of surveying. &c.) admirably adapted for stock raising and general farming purposes. The 
 Northern Pacific is now completed and in operatum t<> a point ninety miles west of Miles City, on the Yellowstone 
 Kiver in ^lontana, and will soon be opened 2i_ni miles further west. Settlers who go into this new region will have the 
 advautajre nf a eh )ice of locations and lands, and of the rapid rise in the value of property. The climate of the Pacific 
 country is bracing and healthful. 
 
 IN THE MOUNTAIN REGION OF MONTANA 
 
 Soon to be traversed by the road there are many lovely and fertile valleys awaiting settlement, and vast wealth in 
 Gold, Silver. Copper and Iron offers fine openings in every kind of mining enterprise. Upon the Pacific slope the 
 Northern Pacific railroad is now in operation from Puget Sound to Pen d'Oreille Lake in Northern Idaho. 10,000,00- 
 acres of magnificent timber and wheat lands of unparalleled fertility in (»ret:on and Washington Territory are offered 
 for sale by tlie company in the immediate vicinity of rail and water transportation at the rate of .^2 60 per acre. 
 
 PACIFIC COAST LANDS. 
 
 For information relating to the lands of the company west of the Rocky Mountains, address J. H. Houcjhton. General 
 Land -Agent. New Tacoma, W. T.or Paul Sohulze, General Immigration Agent, Portland, Oregon, or A. S. Stokes. Gen- 
 eral Agent, 52 Clark street, Chicago. 
 
 THE NORTHERN PACIFIC COUNTRY, 
 
 From Lake Superior to the Pacific Ocean, has unsurpassed attractiims to the tourist. It offering an unrivalled rield for 
 fishing and hunting. For informatifui and reduced rates for round-trip tourist and excursion tickets, address G. K. 
 BATiNm. General Passenger and Ticket Agent, St. Paul. Minn. H. Haui'T, General JIanager. .J. M. Hannafokd, General 
 Freight Agent. G. K. Barnes, G. P. & T, A., St. Paul, Minnesota. 
 
 MINNESOTA, DAKOTA, and MONTANA LANDS. 
 
 For land seekers' and colonists' rates of fare and freight, and inquiries relating to movements of colonists, and with 
 reference to traveling and land agencies, address P. B. Gkoat. General Immigration Agent. 
 
 For all information referring to location, description, and prices of the millions of acres of cheap lauds for sale by 
 this company, and for maps and descriptive publications relating thereto, address K. M. Newpokt, General Land Ageut . 
 
#^th:e<^^ 
 
 z 
 
 n. 
 
 is 4 I 
 
 RAILWAY COMPANY 
 
 OPERATES 
 
 ■I TWO GREAT TRUNK LINES ^ 
 
 RUNNING 
 
 NORTH AND WEST 
 
 FROM 
 
 ST. PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS 
 
 UNITING AT 
 
 And forming the only line which reaches every part of the Red River 
 
 Valley. It touches the Red River at three different 
 
 points and connects at either with 4,000 
 
 miles of inland navigation. 
 
 It triivorses a section of country, whicli offers: 
 
 TO THE FARMER 
 
 A soil which in richness and vai-iety is uuequaled. 
 
 TO THE BUSINESS MAN 
 
 An agricultural commuuity who have been blessed with a succession of bountiful harvests. 
 
 TO THE SPORTSMAN 
 
 In its forests, on its prairies, in its numberles.s lakes or streams an abundance of game, and lish 
 of (^very variety. 
 
 TO THE TOURIST 
 
 Not only the most attractive Summer Resort on the Continent— Lake Minnetonka^' "i* 
 the matchless beaiities of the famous Park Kegion. 
 
 A. MANVEL, 
 
 General Manager. 
 
 W, S, ALEXANDER, 
 
 General Passenffor Agent. 
 
 H. C. DAVIS, 
 
 Ass't General Passenjjer Age nt. 
 
 ST. ip^xjL, is/dziirnsr.