Goodhue County, Minnesota - The whole text, 1878 (part 4 of 16)

I come now, Mr. Chairman, to the precedents cited in support of my claim, and which the gentleman from North Carolina so strongly objects, inasmuch as, in his opinion, they do not cover the present case. They are those of Paul Fearing and George W. Jones. It is admitted that the former, elected as delegate from the northwest territory, appeared and took his seat months after the passage of the act of Congress admitting Ohio into the Union, and before any other new territorial organization had been effected. So far, then, Ohio had a perfect right to send a representative and senators to Congress. That she did not do so, affects in no manner the merits of the question. She only declined, for good and sufficient reasons, to exercise her undoubted right. During this state of things, Mr. Fearing was in his seat, not as the representative of the sovereign State of Ohio, but of the residuum of the northwest territory. This is a fact beyond contradiction or dispute. If Ohio had sent her representatives, they would have been admitted without question. But it is said that Mr. Fearing's right to a seat was not formally passed upon by the House. But we know that the committee on elections reported favorably in his case, and the fact that he retained his station until the end of the session, is good evidence that the House concurred with the committee in opinion.

In the case of Hon. George W. Jones, now a United States Senator from Iowa, the circumstances, although not precisely similar, are sufficiently so in point to give them authority as a precedent. Mr. Jones was elected the delegate from the Territory of Michigan, and the State had previously formed a constitution and sent its senators and representatives here to demand admission. True, the act of Congress admitting the State not having been yet passed, they were not formally received ; but it is nevertheless equally true that Mr. Jones was elected by the people residing out of the limits of the

State, and that he represented the interests of the residuum only. The inhabitants of the State of Michigan took no part in the election of that gentleman. Surely one or the other of the above cited cases must be allowed to be an exact precedent, if both are not to be so considered.

Mr. Chairman, the onus probandi must rest upon those who deny the existence of a distinct territorial government in Wisconsin Territory. The fact that the organic law gave to that territory certain privileges, among which was the right to elect a delegate to Congress, is undeniable, and it is equally certain that no subsequent action of that body abrogated any portion of that law, or divested the people of any of these privileges. The conclusion is not to be controverted, that a law of Congress creating a temporary government over a portion of the territory of the United States, must continue in force, unless repealed by the same legislative authority. The division of a territory is not the destruction thereof. That portion formed iuto a State, and admitted as such, has commenced a new political existence; but the residuum not being in anywise affected thereby, remained under the operation of the old law. The sphere in which each moves is well defined, and there can be no collision between them. The very act of establishing the territorial government of Wisconsin, provides that Congress shall have the right to divide it into two or more territories at any time thereafter, if such a step should be deemed expedient or necessary. It did so virtually by the act admitting Wisconsin into the Union.

The honorable gentleman from North Carolina has fallen into a grievous error, when he asserts that during the first grade of territorial government, that in which the legislative power was vested in the governor and judges, the government has not granted them a delegate in Congress ; for Michigan was entitled to and represented by a delegate years before a legislative council was vouchsafed to her. This can be ascertained by a reference to the journals of Congress. But, sir, I do not conceive this question to have any bearing upon the case before you. The people of Wisconsin Territory are not present by their representative to argue any question of abstract right, but to appeal to this committee to protect them in the enjoyment of those immunities which are secured to them by the solemn sanctions of law. The government of the United States, when it invited its citizens to emigrate to the Territory of Wisconsin by the formation of a temporary government, must have intended to act in good faith towards them, by continuing over them the provisions of the organic law. Sixteen thousand acres of land have been purchased, for the most part by bona fide settlers, the proceeds of which have gone into your treasury. Taxed equally with other inhabitants of this Union for the support of the general government, they are certainly entitled to equal privileges.

Sir," it is a fact that the inhabitants of the region I have the honor to represent, have always heretofore, since the establishment of a territorial government for Wisconsin, participated in the election of a delegate, and have enjoyed all the rights and immunities secured to them by the organic law. It is equally a fact, that they have a full county organization, and form part of a judicial circuit. Congress was by no means ignorant of the existing state of things when the State of Wisconsin was admitted, for there were lying at that time upon the tables of both Houses, petitions signed by hundreds of citizens living north and west of the St. Croix Kiver, praying that they might not be included within the limits of the State, but suffered to enjoy the benefits of the territorial government. The region north and west of Wisconsin contains an area of more than 20,000 square miles, with a population nearly, if not quite, 6000 souls. Can a proposition be seriously entertained to disfranchise and outlaw the people? Sir, if it is determined that the territory I have come here to represent has no claim to such representation on the floor of Congress, then will one branch of the law-making power have sanctioned a principle which will scatter all the restraints of law in that region to the winds. For either the territorial organization is perfect and complete, or it has been entirely abrogated and annulled. The same authority which provides for the election of a delegate, gives the power to choose other officers. All must stand or fall together.

If we have no organization, as is contended by the honorable gentlemen from North Carolina, then have our judicial and ministerial officers rendered themselves liable to future punishment for a usurpation of power. If a malefactor has been apprehended, or a debtor arrested, the officers serving the writ will be visited hereafter with an action for false imprisonment. Our beautiful country will become a place of refuge for depraved and desperate characters from the neighboring States. The vast and varied agricultural and commercial interests of the country will be involved in ruin, and all security for life and property will vanish. But, sir, I do not believe that this committee will consent to give a decision involving such a train of evils, and such utter absurdities. Not a single good reason can be assigned for perpetrating so gross an outrage upon several thousand citizens of the United States, as to divest them, at one fell stroke, of all those blessings of a legal jurisdiction which they have hitherto enjoyed, and that without any consent or agency of their own.

Sir, there are certain fixed principles of law which cannot be annulled by sophistry, or destroyed by any system of special pleading. By these eternal and immutable maxims, are the duties of government and their citizens or subjects defined, and their mutual and reciprocal obligations are not to be laid aside or dispensed with by either. The action of all popular government must be of a beneficial character to the governed. The one must protect, the other obey. The former is charged with the duty of throwing around its citizens the safeguards of law, while they on their part are bound to uphold the majesty of that law. Circumstances of extreme danger alone can for a moment absolve either from these imperative obligations. Whence then is derived the power of this government to cast aside any portion of its citizens at will? Sir, when disfranchisement is visited by despotic governments upon their people, it is to mete out to them the severest punishment which can be inflicted upon a community for political offences short of actual extermination.

Sir, the case now before you for your action does certainly present some novel features. It is the first time since the foundation of this government that several thousand citizens of the United States have been found supplicating and pleading, by their representative, that they may not be deprived by Congress of all civil government, and thrust from its doors by a forced and constructive interpretation of a law of the land, which does not in fact bear even remotely upon the question. Sir, the wants and wishes of those who sent me here have now no advocatie on the floor of Congress. These people have emigrated to the remote region they now inhabit under many disadvantages.

They have not been attracted thither by the glitter of inexhaustible gold mines, but with the same spirit which has actuated all our pioneers of civilization. They have gone there to labor with the axe, the anvil, and the plough. They have elected a delegate, with the full assurance that they had a right to do so, and he presents himself here for admission. Sir, was this a question in which the consequences would be confined to me personally, the honorable members of this House would not find me here, day after day, wearying their patience by long appeals and explanations. But believing as I do, before God, that my case, and the question whether there is any law in the Territory of Wisconsin, are intimately and indissolubly blended together, I trust that the House of Representatives will, by its decision of the claim before it, establish the principle, which shall be as a landmark in all coming time, that citizens of this mighty republic, upon whom the rights and immunities of a civil government have been once bestowed by an act of Congress, shall not be deprived of those without fault or agency of their own, unless under circumstances of grave and imperious necessity, involving the safety and well-being of the whole country.

der and torrents of rain, the weekly stearapacket, the first to force its way through the icy. barriers of Lake Pepin, rounded the rocky point, whistling loud and long, as if the bearer of glad tidings. Before she was safely moored to the landing, the shouts of the excited villagers announced that there was a Territory of Minnesota, and that St. Paul was 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 State/'

"That from and after the passage of this act, all that part of the territory of the United States which lies within the following limits, to wit : Beginning in the Mississippi River, at the point where the line of forty-three degrees and thirty minutes of north latitude crosses the same ; thence running due west on said line, which is the northern boundary of the said State of Iowa, to the northwest corner of the said State of Iowa; thence southerly along the western boundary of said State to the point where said boundary strikes the Missouri River ; thence up the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River to the mouth of the White Earth River; thence up the middle of the main channel of the "White Earth River to the boundary line between the possessions of the United States and Great Britain; thence east and south of east along the boundary line between the possessions of the United States and Great Britain to Lake Superior; thence in a straight line to the northernmost point of the State of Wisconsin in Lake Superior; thence along the western boundary Hue of said State of Wisconsin to the Mississippi River; thence down the main channel of said river to the place 01 beginning, be, and the same is hereby erected into a temporary government, by the name of the Territory of Minnesota: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to inhibit the government of the United States from dividing said territory into two or more territories, in such manner and at such times as Congress shall deem convenient and proper, or from attaching any portion of said territory to any other State or Territory of the United States."

As thus defined, the Territory of Minnesota included a large part of the present Territory of Dakota. St. Paul and Stillwater were the most important towns or villages in the territory, and St. Paul was named as the temporary capital of the new territory.

The organic act further provided that there should be appropriated annually, from the U. S. treasury, the sum of one thousand dollars to be expended by the Governor, to defray the contingent expenses of the territory, and a sum sufficient, based upon the estimate of the Secretary of the U. S. Treasury, to defray the expenses of the Legislative Assembly, the printing of the laws, and other incidental expenses. It was also provided that the first session of the Legislative Assembly should be held at St. Paul ; and that at the said first session, the Governor and Legislative Assembly should locate and establish a temporary seat of government, at such place as they might deem eligible. Power was also conferred upon them to prescribe by law the manner of locating the permanent seat of government by a vote of the people. Twentythousand dollars, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, was granted to be applied by the Governor and Legislative Assemby, to the erection of suitable public buildings at the seat of government. Five thousand dollars to be expended under the direction of the Governor, was also appropriated for the purchase of a library, to be kept at the seat of government for the use of the Governor, Legislative Assembly, Judges of the Supreme Court, etc.

It was also provided (in section six) that all laws passed by the Legislative Assembly and Governor, should be submitted to the Congress of the United States, and if disapproved by that body, they should be null and of no effect.

Alexander Ramsey, of Pennsylvania, was appointed the first Governor of Minnesota, and on the 27th of May, he arrived at St. Paul with his family, but the scarcity and crowded condition of the public houses rendered it impossible for him to secure accommodations, and he went up to Mendota, and became the guest of Mr. Sibley, where he remained until the 26th of June. On the afternoon of that day, himself and family descended the river to St. Paul in a birch-bark canoe, and took up his abode in St. Paul, where he has ever since continued to reside, except when absent at Washington, as U. S. Senator.

Marshal, Joshua L. Taylor. Mr. Taylor declined the appointment, and A. M. Mitchell, of Ohio, a graduate of West Point, was appointed to the "vacancy.

A second proclamation was issued on the 11th of June, dividing the territory into three temporary judicial districts. The first district was comprised of the county of St. Croix; second, LaPointe county and the region north of the Minnesota River, and a line running due west from the headwaters of the Minnesota to the Missouri River. The third district included all the country south of the Minnesota River. Judge Goodrich was assigned to the first district, Meeker was assigned to the second district, and Cooper was assigned to the third district. Terms of court in each of the districts were ordered to be held as follows : St. Croix county, at Stillwater, on the second Monday of August; at the Falls of St. Anthony on the third Monday, and at Mendota on the fourth Monday. As illustrative of the condition of affairs then existing, the following paragraph, written by Mr. Sibley, is presented:

" I had the honor of being the foreman of the first grand jury ever impanelled on the west of the Mississippi River, in what is now the State of Minnesota. The court was held at Mendota, Judge Cooper being assigned to that district. His honor delivered a written charge of considerable length, and really it was an able and finished production. Unfortunately, out of the twenty-odd men who composed the jury, but three, if I recollect rightly, could speak English, the rest being Frenchmen, who were to a man profoundly ignorant of any language but their own. Asa matter of course, they were highly edified while engaged in listening to the Judge's charge."

On the 7th of July, Governor Ramsey issued a proclamation dividing the territory into seven council districts preparatory to the election of a Territorial Legislature, and for other election purposes, and fixing the 1st day of August as the time for holding the election. The election passed off very quietly. H. H. Sibley was elected as delegate to congress without opposition.

At the first session of the legislature the territory was divided into the following counties, the census of which, together with the votes cast for delegate to congress, was as follows:

During the summer the "- Central" House, a two-story frame build ing, had been erected, and there being a great scarcity in the capital of the new territory of buildings of sufficient capacity to accommodate the Legislature, the Central was brought into requisition, and in this building, on Monday the 3d day of September, 1849, the foundation of the laws of the now great and prosperous State of Minnesota was commenced. The office of the Secretary and representative chamber were located on the first floor, and the council chamber and library occupied rooms in the second story. Indians were plenty around the new capitol, and Mr. Neill says a number of them set on a rocky bluff and gazed at what to them was a novel, and perhaps saddening scene, as the flag was run up the staff in front of the house.

The Council consisted of nine, and the House of eighteen members. The Assembly met on Monday, the 3d day of September, in the diningroom of the " Central " House, and adjourned on the first of November. The Council organized by electing David Olmsted, president ; Joseph R. Brown, secretary, and H. A. Lambert, assistant. The House elected Joseph W. Furber as speaker ; W. D. Phillips, clerk, and L. B. Wait, assistant. After the organization was perfected, prayer was offered by Rev. E. D. Neill, after which Governor Ramsey delivered his message. The work of making laws for the new Territory then commenced.

What changes twenty-nine years have wrought! Now, instead of a village of a few hundred inhabitants, many of whom were only one degree removed from the native red men of the country, there are many thousands. Instead of a few scattering skeletons of frame buildings, there are thousands of stately stone and brick edifices, that would do no discredit to the cities of the oldest States of the Union. Instead of utilizing a newly-constructed frame hotel building as a capitol, there is a very handsome brick structure, founded upon a rock and built upon a hill, in which the Solons of the State are wont to meet bi-ennially to enact laws for the benefit and protection of the people of the commonwealth. Great manufacturing establishments give employment to thousands of honest, sturdy, toiling mechanics, and support to dependent families. Great trains of steam-drawn cars come and go at almost every hour of the twenty-four, and mighty steamboats plow the waters of the great Mississippi almost daily, where less than a quarter of a century ago, only an occasional birch-bark canoe, conveying wild men, their wives and little ones, or may be a few peltries, disturbed its skytinted waters. Strong iron bridges, instead of rude ferries, afford communication between the east and west divisions of the beautiful and prosperous State that has grown up in the land of the Dahkotas. Instead of cavalcades and whole villages of Indians zigzaging along the courses of the streets, or gazing in wonder and amazement at the hoisting of the American flag, only an occasional "dusky son or daughter of the forest" is to be seen on the old hunting grounds of their ancestors, now the abode of civilization, intelligence and refinement - of schools, churches and colleges - of thundering steam printing presses and all the other attendants and belongings of the high perfections of American advancement. Instead of a Territorial Assembly of twentyseven members, all told, there is now a State Legislature of more than five times that number. Instead of a solitary delegate (without vote) to represent a scattering pioneer people in the National Congress, there are two grave senators and three members of the House of Representatives, all of whom are as wise and statesmanlike as are the members from any of the other and older States. If twenty-nine short years have evoked these wonderful changes, who can predict or foresee the revolutions and additions of the next quarter of a century ? Fruitless the inquiry.

At the first session of the first Legislative Assembly it was enacted that " this Territory shall be divided into the following counties, to-wit : Benton, Dakota, Itasca, Cass, Pembina, Ramsey, Washington, Chisago and Wabasha." The boundary lines of these several counties were defined, and " that the counties of Washington, Ramsey and Benton be, and the same are hereby declared to be organized counties, and invested with all and singular, the rights, privileges and immunities to which all organized counties in the Territory shall be and are by law entitled." The counties of Itasca, Wabasha, Dakota, Cass and Pembina were " declared to be organized only for the purpose of the appointment of justices of the peace, constables and such other judicial and ministerial officers as may be especially provided for. St. Paul was declared to be the seat of justice of Ramsey county, and Stillwater of Washington county. It was further provided that the seat of justice of Benton should be within one quarter of a mile of a point on the east side of the Mississippi River, directly opposite the mouth of Sauk River, (Sauk Rapids.) The seat of justice of Chisago county was left to be located at such point as the first board of county commissioners should determine. Under the provisions of the law, however, Chisago county was not entitled to exercise county independent functions until after the first day of January, 1852. Wabasha county was attached to Washington for judicial purposes, and the county of Dakota was attached to the county of Ramsey for similar purposes. Cass, Itasca and Pembina were attached to Benton. The law also provided that the counties of Itasca, Wabasha, Dakota, Cass and Pembina should " each be entitled to any number of justices of the peace not exceeding six, and to the same number of constables;" the justices and constables to "receive their appointments from the Governor," and to hold for two years, unless sooner removed by the Governor.

The common school system elicited a good deal of attention, and an able report on this subject was made to the council by Mr. McLeod, the chairman of the committee that had that interest in charge.

During the session of the Assembly, Mr. Sibley addressed a commacation "To the Honorable the Legislative Council of Minnesota Territory," calling the attention of the members to the Red Pipe stone quarry in the southwest part of the Territory and to the propriety of sending a slab of the stone to the Washington Monument Association. He presented a slab to the Assembly about two and a half feet in length, a little over one and a halt in breadth and two inches in thickness, to be disposed of as the wisdom of the Territorial Legislators might suggest. A joint resolution was adopted, and the slab was forwarded to Washington. A county has since been created called Pipe Stone, named after this material.

" The motto of the Earl of Dunraven, * Quce sursum volo videre,' ' I wish to see what is above,' was most appropriately selected by Mr. Sibley, * * * but by the blunder of an engraver it appeared on the territorial seal ' Quo sursum velo videre/ which no scholar could translate. At length was substituted ' L'Etoile du Nord,' ' Star of the

North,' while the device of the setting sun remained, and this is objectionable, as Maine had already placed the North Star on her escutcheon, with the motto ' Dirigo,' ' I Guide. Perhaps some future legislature may direct the first motto to be restored and correctly engraved."

When the Territory of Minnesota was organized, only a small portion of the country had been acquired by the U. S. The portion to which the Indians had relinquished their title, was mostly on the east side of the Mississippi River, and was bounded on the north by aline extending east from Crow Wing River, to the western boundary line of Wisconsin. Above that line the lands were occupied by the Ojibways. A heavy immigration was anticipated, and it was deemed advisable to make a treaty with the Dakotas, so as to secure the right to the occupancy of the lands west of the Mississippi and in the valley of the Minnesota. To carry out this purpose, the U. S. authorities appointed Governor Ramsey and ex-Governor Chambers, of Iowa, to treat with the Dakotas. The commissioners went to Mendota during the session of the legislature to hold a pow-wow or council with the Dakota head men, but in consequence of the absence of many of the Indians on their fall hunt and other hindering causes, they did not accomplish the full purpose of their instructions, but did succeed in effecting a purchase of the halfbreed tract in the vicinity of Lake Pepin.

Political parties and party lines were unknown in Minnesota until after the commencement of the session of the Legislature. On the evening of the 24th of September, 1849, a caucus of Democrats was held at the residence of Henry M. Rice, at which it was determined to call a mass meeting of the Democrats, to assemble at St. Paul on the 20th of October. The meeting assembled in the ball room of the American House. Preliminary to a permanent organization, Henry Jackson was chosen as temporary chairman. A committee on permanent officers was appointed, which reported the following named gentlemen for permanent officers of the convention : President, James S. Norris ; vice presidents, John A. Ford, S. Trask, W. Dugas, H. N. Setzer, James Wells, John Rollins and A. Morrison; secretaries, B. W. Lott, A. Larpenteur, H. A. Lambert and John Morgan. The Minnesota " Pioneer" was designated as the Organ of the party. From that time forward a different spirit was present in the management of public affairs. On the 29th of March, 1855, a convention was held at St. Anthony, which led to the organization of the Republican party of Minnesota.

While the Legislature was in session, the right of the territory to expend the twenty thousand dollars appropriated by Congress for the erection of capitol buildings became a question of interest. Joseph R. Brown, the Secretary of the Council, addressed a letter of inquiry to

"In view of the antecedent, and the object of this appropriation, the Department decide that the public building in question, can only be erected at the permanent seat of justice, located as prescribed. Of course the reply to your inquiry must be, that nothing can be expended from this appropriation until after the location shall be duly made."

During the session of the Legislature the Minnesota Historical Society and the St. Anthony Library Association were incorporated. The incorporation of the former was principally due to the industry and influence of C. K. Smith, Territorial Secretary. The act of incorporation was the fifth one passed by the Legislature, and results have proved that it was a wise enactment. In the month of December the St. Anthony Association commenced a series of lectures, the introductory one being delivered by Rev. E. Dutefii: The first public exercises of the Historical Society occurred at the M. E. Church at St. Paul, on the 1st of January, 1850. "The day was pleasant," said the "Chronicle and Register," of the 5tb of that month, " and the attendance large. The opening annual address was delivered by Mr. Neill. Subject - 'The Early French Missionaries and Voyageurs to Minnesota.'"

On the fourth Monday in November an election for county officers was held in the counties which had been organized at the beginning of the Legislative Assembly. The Legislature passed an act providing that thereafter elections should be held on the first of September.

In November, 1849, the question of establishing common schools come to be considered. The first meeting relating to this vital interest was held in a small school house on St. Anthony street, near the site of the First Presbyterian Church, in St. Paul. Before this the English schools, in the white settlements, had been taught by teachers that had been sent out by the National Society of Popular Education. Among these teachers were the Misses Bishop and Scofield, who had taught at St. Paul ; and Miss A. Hosford, who had taught at Stillwater ; and Miss Backus, who had taught at St. Anthony. These were the pioneer white schools and school teachers in Minnesota Territory.

" 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,

The first roadway along the bank of the Mississippi River between Prairie du Chien and Hudson, Wisconsin, was marked out in December, 1849, and the hauling of supplies by land was commenced. Previous to that time the only roadway in winter to the settlements of Wisconsin and Iowa was the ice of the Mississippi. Mails were scarce, and as late as 1850 there was only one mail a week between St. Paul and Prairie du Chien. The proposals inviting bids for its transportation specified that it should leave St. Paul at 6 o'clock a. m. every Monday, and arrive at Prairie du Chien, 270 miles, by 6 o'clock p. m. the next Sunday.

The first murder, after white settlements commenced, occurred at St. Paul on the afternoon of September 12, 1849, when one boy named Isaiah McMillan shot and killed another boy named Snow, aged about twelve years. The case came on for trial before Judge Cooper at the February term (1850) of the Court at Stillwater. Messrs. Bishop and Wilkinson prosecuted, and Messrs. Ames and Moss defended. Notwithstanding there seemed to be an absence of malice prepense on the part of McMillan, he was found guilty of manslaughter, and in accordance with the recommendation of the jury that the court would inflict the lightest possible penalty consistent with the law, he was sentenced to one year's imprisonment. There was no prison in which to confine him, and he was sent up to Fort Snelling, and was subsisted at the expense of the soldiers. The circumstances of the. murder were as follows : McMillan and a number of other boys were playing on the bluff, and seeing Snow coming toward them with a press-board before his face, McMillan exclaimed that he would shoot him, and taking aim with a gun he had in his hands at the moment, fired. The shot entered Snow's right eye and left cheek, from the effect of which he died in a few hours.

The first proclamation for a Thanksgiving Day was issued by Governor Ramsey in 1850 ; and the 26th day of December was the day appointed, which was generally observed.

St. Paul In October, 1850

In October, 1850, Miss Frederika Bremer, the Swedish novelist, visited Minnesota and St. Paul, where she was the guest of Governor Ramsey and his wife, and this is her description of the capital of Minnesota and its surroundings at that time :

" Scarcely had we touched the shore, when the governor of Minnesota, and his pretty young wife, came on board and invited me to take up my quarters at their house. And there I am now ; happy with these kind people, and with them I make excursions into the neighborhood. The town is one of the youngest infants of the Great West, scarcely eighteen months old; and yet it has in a short time increased to a population of two thousand persons, and in a very few years it will certainly be possessed of twenty-two thousand; for its situation is as remarkable for its beauty and healthiness, as it is advantageous for trade.

" As yet, however, the town is but in its infancy, and people manage with such dwellings as they can get. The drawing-room at Governor Ramsey's house is also his office, and Indians and work people, and ladies and gentlemen, are all alike admitted. In the meantime, Mr. Ramsey is building a handsome spacious house upon a hill, a little out of the city, with beautiful trees around it, and commanding a grand view of the river. If I were to live on tne Mississippi, I would live here. It is a hilly region, and on all sides extend beautiful and varying landscapes.

" The city is thronged with Indians. The men, for the most part, go about grandly ornamented with naked hatchets, the shafts of which serve them as pipes. They paint themselves so utterly without any taste, that it is incredible. Here comes an Indian who has painted a great red spot in the middle of his nose; here another who has painted the whole of his forehead in lines of black and yellow ; there a third with coalblack rings around his eyes. * * * The women are less painted, with better taste than the men, generally with merely one deep red little spot on the middle of the cheeks ; and the parting of the hair on the forehead is dyed purple. There goes an Indian with his proud step, bearing aloft. He carries only his pipe, and when he is on a journey, perhaps a long stafl in his hand. After him, with bowed head and stooping shoulders, follows his wife, bending under the burden which she bears. Above the burden peeps forth a little round-faced child, with beautiful dark eyes."

The Second Legislature

the territory organized and the news spread abroad, then people - men of capital, mechanics, laborers, speculators - flocked there by hundreds, if not by thousands. Stone quarries, as well as the pine forests of the upper district of country and the deposits of brick-clay in the immediate vicinity, were utilized for building purposes, and in a short space of time large buildings were being erected in all parts of the embryo city. When the time came for the meeting of the second legislature on the 1st of January, 1851, better accommodations were in readiness, and a three-story brick building that stood on St. Anthony street, between Washington and Franklin streets, was secured for the occasion. This legislature, composed of nine councilmen and eighteen representatives, as provided in the organic act, consisted of the following members:

The exertions and influence of J. W. North, a member of the House from the St. Anthony district, secured the passage of a bill creating the University of Minnesota, and locating it at or near the Falls of St. Anthony. This establishment subsequently became the State University, and entitled to the ten townships of land granted by Congress to the State for that purpose.

A little " unpleasantness" occurred during this session, that finally resulted in the secession or withdrawal of seven members from the House. The difficulty grew out of the apportionment bill based on the census of 1850. The opponents of the bill maintained that the census was incorrect ; that under the provisions of the bill, Benton county, " with four thousand acres under cultivation, had but one-half the representation that Pembina county had, where there were but seventy acres under cultivation, and more than one-half of that belonging to one individual. They also urged the fact that, excepting soldiers, at least seven-eights of the population were Indians, and that the Legislature had no authority over the unceded lands." Notwithstanding the bitter personal feeling and discussion, and the withdrawal of the seven opposing members, the bill passed the House on Saturday, the 29th day of March. Under the provisions of this bill, the territory was divided into the counties, and the counties apportioned into council districts, as follows:

4. Counties of Wabasha and Washington, and precincts of St. Paul and Little Canada, jointly, (Wabasha county to be one representative district.)

Treaty With The Dakotas

At Traverse des Sioux, on the 23d of July, 1851, Luke Lea and Governor Ramsey, as commissioners on the part of the United States, concluded a treaty with the Dakotas, by which the country on the west side of the Mississippi River and the valley of the Minnesota, were opened to white occupancy. The terms of the treaty were in substance :

The cession of all the Sioux lands east of the Sioux River and Lac Traverse. The line then runs up to the head waters of Otter Tail Lake, thence down from the head of Watab River to the Mississippi.

The cession embraces the entire valley of the Minnesota, and the eastern tributaries of the Sioux, and was estimated to contain 21,000,000 acres.

The Indians reserve a tract on the Minnesota, about one hundred miles in length, and twenty in breadth. This reserve commences at the mouth of Yellow Medicine River, and extends up the Minnesota ten miles on each side to Lake Traverse.

The intercourse laws, so far as relates to the introduction and sale of ardent spirits, shall be continued in full force until changed by legal authority. - Neill.

The first week in August a treaty was also concluded beneath an oak bower on Pilot Knob, at Mendota, with the M'dewakantonwan and Wahpaykootay bands of the Dakotas. " About sixty of the chiefs and principal men touched the pen, and Little Crow, who had been in the mission school at Lac qui Parle, signed his own name" to the treaty papers. The next day after the treaty papers were signed, " these lower bands received $30,000, which, by the treaty of 1837, had been set apart for education, but by the misrepresentation of interested half breeds, the Indians were made to believe that it ought to be given to them to be employed as they pleased.

The Mendota treaty, signed on the 5th day of August, 1851, ceded to the United States all the lands held by the tribes named, in Minnesota and Iowa. A reserve was granted them on the Minnesota River, commencing at Little Rock, which is about fifty miles by land from Traverse des Sioux, and extending up the river ten miles wide on each side to Yellow Medicine and Ohautauba rivers, to which they were to remove within one year after the ratification of the treaty.

In ratification of the treaty, the chiefs were paid the sum of $220,000, to be used by them in the purchase of provisions, to defray the expenses of their removal, and settle their affairs generally.

These two treaties concluded with the four divisions or bands of the Dakota tribe, secured to the United States about 30,000,000 acres of land, most of which was within the limits of Minnesota.

Third Legislature

An election for members of the Third Legislature was held on the 14th day of October, 1851, and on the 7th day of January, 1852, the assembly met in a building on Franklin street, which subsequently became, and still remains a part of the Merchants' Hotel.

Political discussions did not disturb the' sittings of this assembly, nor did political issues cut any figure in the election of members. The people were more deeply interested in the ratification of the Dakota treaties of July and August, than in the discussion of political questions.

Hennepin county was created during this session, and an act was passed to punish trespassers on school lands. The election of a delegate was postponed, by enactment, until October, 1853. Even at this early day the temperance question enlisted the attention of the people, and it was so urged upon the attention of the Legislature that a law similar to the Maine Liquor Law in its provisions, was passed, referring the question back to the people and the ballot-box. An election was authorized to be held on the first Monday in April, and if the law was then ratified by the people, it was to become operative from and after the first day of May following. In St. Paul and .Ramsey county the discussion of the law was a theme of general interest among all classes, and the subject of sermons in all the pulpits - Protestant and Catholic ministers all joining in advocacy of the approval of the law. When it become known that Ramsey county had voted in favor of the law,- all the church bells at the capital were made to ring out glad peals simultaneously about the hour of nine o'clock at night. The good people of St. Paul never went to bed in a happier frame of mind than on the night of the day when they learned that the sovereign voters had declared, by their ballots, that King Alcohol should no longer be allowed an abiding place in their midst.

Against

Congress was memoralized in regard to changing the name of the River St. Peters. The memorial set forth that ever since the acquisition of the country by the United States, this river had been called St. Pierre by the French, and Anglicized by the Americans into St. Peters. The memorial further cited (Neill) that the stream was named after Mons. St. Pierre, who was never in this country, which is incorrect. It then asserted "that Minnesota is the true name of this stream as given to it in ages past by the strong and powerful tribes of aborigines, the Dakotas, who dwelt upon its banks, and, that not only to assimulate the name of the river with that of the Territory and future State of Minnesota, but to follow what we believe to be the dictates of a correct taste, and to show a proper regard for the memory of the great nation whose homes our people are soon to possess, we desire that it should be so designated." Agreeable to the request of the memorial an act was passed ordering the word St. Peters to be discontinued in public documents, and Minnesota employed in its place.

The first report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction was presented at this session of the Legislature. It was an elaborate document, and contained not only a full and concise account of the condition of the schools of the Territory, but it also contained many valuable suggestions that have had an important and influential bearing upon the welfare of the school interests. The following table represents the condition and number of school districts in the Territory on the 1st of January, 1852.

Size Op Lot

The liquor law question was reopened at this session. A majority of citizens petitioned for the passage of a law that would be free from the objections held against the law enacted at the previous session, and a new law was framed by the friends of temperance, but it failed to pass.

Petitions were presented at this session, asking for a division of the school fund in the interest of the Catholic Church. A law was framed looking to that end, but it failed to pass. The bill was introduced by Mr. Murray, of the second representative district, and lead to a good deal of discussion. The moderate and liberal-minded people of all denominations, and the friends of the American free school system, were amazed and surprised at the attempt to enact such a law, and the popular clamor against it became so great that the bill failed of a third reading in the House. When the question recurred on a third reading the ayes and noes were called, with the following result: Ayes, 5; noes, 12. " So the House refused to order the bill to be read a third time."

Eleven new counties, all on the west side of the Mississippi River, were created at this session - Dakota, Goodhue, Wabasha, Fillmore, Scott, Le Sueur, Rice, Blue Earth, Sibley, Nicollet and Pierce.

The Baldwin School was incorporated at this session and opened the following June. The male department of this school subsequently became subject to a separate charter, and is now known as the College of St. Paul.

The election of Franklin Pierce to the presidency in 1852, involved a change in the officers and policy of the Territory. Governor Ramsey was appointed under the Whig administration of Zachary Taylor, carried out by Mr. Fillmore, who succeeded to the presidency because of the death of Mr. Taylor. Mr. Pierce was elected as a representative Democrat, and, as had been the practice with all political parties since President Jackson established the rule that " to the victors belong the spoils," when he was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1853, he proceeded to exercise the prerogative of removing all the appointees of his predecessor, and filling their places with men whose political predilections were in harmony with his own. W. A. Gorman, of Indiana, was appointed Governor to succeed Mr. Ramsey ; J. T. Rosser, of Virginia, was appointed Secretary; W. H. Welch, of Minnesota, Chief Justice ; and Moses Sherburne, of Maine, and A. G. Chatfield, of Wisconsin, were appointed Associate Judges.

made a treaty with the Winnebago Indians at Watab, Benton county, for an exchange of country. At the close of the summer, the Dakotas began to remove from their former villages along the Mississippi to the Upper Minnesota reserve.

In October of this year (1853,) Henry M. Rice was elected as delegate to Congress. His opponent was Alexander Wilkin. Two thousand eight hundred and forty-five votes were cast for delegate, of which Mr. Rice had 2,149 and Mr. Wilkin 696, giving Mr. Rice a majority of 1,453.

The election contest this year was marked by bitter personal controversy, and the parties were known as Fur Company and Anti-Fur Company. In 1854 there were new combinations. Men who had previously stood shoulder to shoulder and worked hand in hand, were found arrayed against each other in bitter political hostility. Ramsey, Rice and Robertson were pitched against Sibley and Gorman.

Repress

Governor Gorman delivered his first annual message on the 10th. The three most prominent features of the message were those divisions relating to railroad matters, educational affairs and the interests of the lumbermen.

The act relating to the incorporation of the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad Company, introduced by Joseph R. Brown, was the most exciting topic of this session. It was passed after the hour of midnight on the last day of the session, and contrary to the expectation of

Grant

In the month of June of 1854, Mr. Farnham, the builder of the Rock Island Railroad, inaugurated and carried into effect, a grand project for an excursion of the magnates of the country - statesmen, scientists, historians, editors, divines, professors, etc. - via that road and the Mississippi River, to St. Paul and the Minnesota country. Five large steamers were chartered for the occasion, and were in readiness at Rock Island when the excursionists reached that city of the rapids, to convey the party to the point of destination. This was probably the beginning of the practice, now so common among railroad capitalists and " land grabbers," of extending to the national law makers free rides to such parts of the country as offer inviting opportunities for speculation and land monopoly. Mr. Farnham and his invited guests may not have foreseen nor anticipated the abuses to which that excursion opened the way. It may have been prompted by honest purposes ; it may have originated in pure motives ; but it is a fact, well known to every close observer of passing events, that such excursions in later years always result in national legislation favorable to land monopolists. But we are not writing an essay on political economy.

The excursionists numbered one thousand men and women, among whom were ex-President Fillmore, George Bancroft, Professor Silliman, Edward Robinson, L. L. D., Prof. Gibbs and Prof. Larned, of Yale College; Prof. Parker, of Harvard College; Prof. H. B. Smith, of New York ; Rev. Drs. Vermilye, Spring and Bacon, Charles Sedgwick, Miss Catharine Sedgwick, and many others of note and character. The arrival of the line of steamboats at St. Paul that conveyed the excursionists was one day sooner than expected, and before preparations for their reception were completed, but they were right royally received and entertained notwithstanding. The Falls of St. Anthony, Fort Snelling, and other points of interest were visited. In fact, the visitors came to Minnesota on a sight-seeing expedition, and were determined to see all that could be seen or that was worth seeing. And the people of St. Paul, proud to entertain so distinguished a party, gave themselves up to showing them the sights. There was no time for anything else. While the visitors remained, business was almost suspended. Lawyers laid aside their briefs ; territorial politicians and aspirants for place and fame, were never more obsequious or graciously condescending; merchants never wore more smiling faces nor gave better measure ; real estate speculators were never more glib of speech or ready to point out the advantages of the growing metropolis of the northwest. Preachers had no time to study and write their sermons in nicely rounded sentences, but were left to speak to their audiences under the influences and inspirations of the occasion. Of the discourses delivered on the Sunday the excursionists remained in St. Paul, Rev. E. D. Neill, then a young man, comparatively speaking, preached one that gave him a national reputation and elicited no small degree of criticism from the Eastern press, especially from the " Daily Times," of New York. The sermon was an impromptu one, the words of which were spoken without previous thought or preparation, and was based upon the following passages of Holy Writ:

Isaiah xl, 3. - The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low ; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.

Judges v, 6. - In the days of Shawgar, the son of Anath, in the days of Joel, the highways were unoccupied, and the travelers walked through byways.

June 29th, following this excursion, Congress passed an act to aid in the construction of a railroad in the Territory of Minnesota. The act was approved by President Pierce, and an order was issued from the general land office to the land offices in Minnesota, withdrawing from sale certain townships on the line of the proposed road, and Minnesotians rejoiced.

Some days after the passage of this act, it was discovered that some alterations had been made in the wording of the bill after it left the House, and on the 24th of July, Mr. Washburne, of Illinois, rose to a question of privilege. He stated that a material alteration had been made in the bill after its engrossment. The original wording of the bill was carefully overhauled. The first alteration Mr. Washburne had noticed, was the striking out of the word " future," but this erasure he believed had been made by the committee (on public lands.) "The second alteration, he charged as being made after the bill was engrossed, was the changing of the word ' or,' to the word ' and,' so as to read ' constituted and organized company.' This company, not being constituted and organized, expects to hold these lands under the bill, and he charged this object in the alteration. The word was in a hand different from that of the engrossment. This was a matter affecting deeply the proceedings of the House, and it was due that an examination should be made, as the records of this House have been mutilated." He moved for the appointment of a select committee to inquire into the fact, with power to send for persons and papers, and to examine witnesses under oath."

These statements of Mr. Washburne, called out several personal explanations from members, all of whom protested their innocence of any desire to change the wording of the bill for sinister or dishonest purposes. Pending the discussion of these matters, Mr. Letcher, of Virginia, introduced a repeal bill. Some of the members maintained that the House could not take such action, but when the bill (Letcher's) was called up for final action on the morning of the 3rd of August, it passed by a large majority, and the Minnesota land grant bill was repealed.

Mr. Neill says : " The Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad Company, contended that they had complied with the provisions of Congress, and that that body had no right to repeal. A complaint was brought before Judge Welch, at a session of the United States District Court in Goodhue county, against the company. The complaint alleged that the company had cut and carried away five hundred trees, the property of the United States, in Goodhue county. On the fourth of November, Chief Justice Welch, gave judgment in favor of the company. The case was carried up to the Supreme Court of Minnesota, on December sixth, which confirmed the decision of Judge Welch. Chancellor Walworth, and other jurists of New York, furnished written opinions that Congress had no right to repeal the act. The case was then taken to the Supreme Court of the United States, and at the December term, 1855, the attorney general moved to dismiss the case, which motion was granted The company triumphed, but the discussion of the subject continued to be agitated for several years. In his message to the Legislature in January, 1855, Governor Gorman "took strong grounds against the railroad charter, and in the United States House of Representatives, a resolution was passed declaring the charter of the Minnesota and Northwestern Company null. On the 27th of February, the United States Senate refused to approve the resolution that had passed the House, annulling the charter of the company. The news that the charter was not annulled, caused great rejoicing among the friends of the railroad, and on Saturday night, March 24th, there was a general illumination of the principal stores and residences of the capital.

" Governor Gorman having vetoed the bill passed by the Minnesota Legislature, amending the act incorporating the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad Company, it was again passed in the Legislature on February 21st, by a two-thirds vote and became a law."

First Execution Of The Death Penalty

On the afternoon of the 27th of December, 1855, the first execution of the death penalty was carried into effect by the hanging of a Dakota Indian named Yuhozee, for the murder of a German woman. The circumstances of the murder are thus stated: The murdered woman was traveling with others above Shakopee, when Yuhozee and some other Indians met them. As they gathered about the wagon in which the woman was riding, the Indians became much excited, and Yuhozee punched the woman with his gun. One of the party remonstrated with him for the cowardly act, when he immediately loaded his gun and shot and killed the woman and wounded one of the men. He was arrested and held for trial. His trial came on at the November term (1852) of the United States District Court for Ramsey county, Judge Hayner* presiding. He was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. Under the laws then existing one convicted of murder could not be executed until twelve months had elapsed, and Yuhozee was ordered into close confinement until the Governor of the Territory should issue a warrant for his execution.

The execution took place in St. Paul. About two o'clock, the prisoner, dressed in a white shroud, was taken from the old log jail by the officers of the law, and conveyed in a carriage to the place of execution. " He was assisted up the steps that led to the scaffold, where he made a few remarks in his native language, and was then executed. A disgraceful rabble surrounded the scaffold, and none of the decencies of the law were manifested on the occasion. * * * * Numerous ladies sent in a petition to the Governor asking the pardon of the Indian," but it had no other effect than to elicit from Governor Gorman a lengthy letter of refusal. The letter was couched in firm, but respectful language. We quote the following paragraphs :

" The murder for which this unfortunate child of nature is condemned, was without a shadow of excuse. It was seemingly deliberate, and his victim was of your sex, innocent and defenseless. She was murdered by the side of a poor, but no doubt fond and devoted husband, while in the public highway, wending their course to a new home.

" If such criminals should be allowed to escape the stern demands of the law, others of his savage tribe might be tempted to hope for a like release, and commit a like offense ; and the danger of such results would be far greater from Indians than from civilized man.

" Every effort that can be has been made to save him by the law. An impartial jury of the county gave him a fair trial, and found him guilty. And there is no just reason known to stay the execution of the law."

The sixth session of the Legislature commenced on the third day of January, 1855. A number of the old members had been re-elected. William P. Murray, of St. Paul, was chosen to preside over the deliberations of the Council, and James S. Norris was elected speaker of the House.

The last days of the first month of this year marked an important period in the history of the capital of the territory, if not in the entire country. In this month was completed at St. Paul the first bridge over the Mississippi between Lake Itasca and the Gulf of Mexico. The completion of this structure added fresh laurels to the character already accredited to Minnesota's capital-ists for energy and enterprise. In honor of the event, and to join with the people in rejoicing over the occasion, the Legislature adjourned over one day. This bridge is made of wire, and is the only one of the many that have since been built over the Father of Waters, that is sufficiently elevated to permit the passage of steamboats without a draw or turn section. It is in nowise an obstruction to navigation. At the time of its completion the patent for the land on which the west piers were built had not issued from the government land office - a remarkable evidence of the wonderful growth and development of the Minnesota country.

In section four of the organic act it was provided that the number of councillors and representatives might be increased by the Legislature from time to time, in proportion to the increase of population, but that the whole number should never exceed fifteen councillors and thirtynine representatives. In accordance with the provisions of this act, the Legislature of 1855 made a new apportionment and re-districted the State so that the Seventh Legislature consisted of fifteen councillors and thirty-eight representatives. John B. Brisbin was chosen as president of the Council, and Charles Gardiner was elected speaker of the House. The session commenced on the second day of January, 1856, and adjourned on the first day of March.

The Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad question came before this session as it had come before previous ones. Governor Gorman devoted a good share of his annual message to railroad measures, and expressed strong opposition to the old company and the terms and conditions of its charter. He had but little confidence in the honesty of the company or its purpose to carry out, in good faith, its part of the contract as stipulated in the act of incorporation. The Legislature passed an act granting the company an extension of time ; which, contrary to the expectations of the people, was approved and signed by Governor Gorman on the last night of the session.

During the sitting of this legislature, the question of dividing the territory by an east and west line so as to form a new territory north of the forty-sixth degree of latitude, was discussed to some extent, but no definite action was taken, and the proposition ended with the adjournment of the session.

The affairs of the Territory were remarkably tranquil during the spring, summer and fall of 1856. The people were generally too much absorbed in their own personal affairs - making claims, building houses, and otherwise laying foundations for homes, to engage in the discussion of political issues to any extent, and so the season passed away in almost undisturbed quiet.

The eighth and last regular session of the Territorial Legislature convened on the 7th of January, 1857. J. B. Brisbin was elected President of the Council, and J. W. Furber, Speaker of the House.

The most exciting topic attending this session, was the passage of a bill by the House to remove the capitol from St. Paul to St. Peter, on the Minnesota River. The bill, however, failed to become a law. The excitement in and out of the legislature while this measure was pending was intense and absorbing, and was the occasion of the council remaining in continued session for a period of one hundred and twenty-three hours, during which time the members partook of their meals and slept in the council chamber.

James Buchanan was elected president in November, 1856, and entered upon the duties of his office on the 4th of March, 1857. This change of the national executive involved a change of territorial officers, and Governor Gorman was succeeded by Samuel Medary, of Ohio, who served until the territory became a state, and was clothed with power to chose its own governor. He served as governor of the territory from April 23, 1857, to May 24, 1858, one year and one month, and was the last territorial governor.

State Organization

An act was passed by Congress on the 23d day of February, 1857, to enable the people of Minnesota to form a State constitution ; and during the last days of that session another act was passed making a grant of land in alternate sections, to aid in the construction of certain railroads. The eighth session of the territorial legislature adjourned on the 7th of March, and soon thereafter Governor Gorman issued a proclamation calling an extra session, to take into consideration such measures as were necessary to carry these Congressional enactments into force and effect. The extra session met on the 27th of April, and received the message of Governor Medary, which had been prepared for the occasion and properly transmitted. "An act was passed to execute the trust created by Congress ; and the lands, under certain conditions, were given to certain chartered railroad companies." The extra session adjourned on the 23d of May, and on the first Monday in June, an election was held to choose delegates to the constitutional convention, which was called to assemble at St. Paul on the second Monday in July. The election resulted, as was generally believed, in the choice of a majority of Republicans.

The organization of the convention was not harmoniously effected. The enabling act had not fixed the hour at which the convention should meet on the second Monday, and fearing the Democrats might meet and elect the officers of the convention, the Republicans took advantage of the omission, and at midnight of Sunday, before the day of meeting, repaired to the capitol and took possession. A little before noon of Monday the Secretary of the Territory entered the Speaker's place and commenced to call the members to order. At the same time, Delegate J. W. North, acting under a written request from a majority of the members, commenced to do the same thing. Confusion reigned. The Secretary of the Territory put a motion to adjourn, which prevailed, and the Democrats left the hall. The Republicans believing they had a majority of the members, remained and perfected an organization. The two wings were constituted as follows:

Democratic Wing

After leaving the Hall of the House of Representatives, the Democrats re-assembled in the Senate Chamber, and claiming to be the true body, proceeded to perfect an organization by the election of Henry H. Sibley, as president, and choosing J. J. Noah, as secretary.

Each body proceeded to the work of framing a constitution, each believing it was the legally constituted body. After some days an understanding was reached between the two bodies, and by means of conference committees the same constitution was framed by both wings, and submitted to the people, by whom it was ratified at an election held on the 13th of October. The convention dissolved on the 29th of August. The vote in favor of the constitution was almost unanimous.

Section seven of article five of the constitution, provided that "the term of each of the officers named in this article, shall commence on taking the oath of office, after the State shall be admitted by Congress into the Union." On the 29th of January, 1858, Mr. Douglas introduced a bill in the U. S. Senate, for the admission of Minnesota into the Union on terms of equality with the other States. The Kansas question was a disturbing element at that time, and some of the southern Senators were opposed to taking action in regard to the admission of Minnesota, until that question was settled. On the first day of February, a spirited discussion ensued on the bill, in which Douglas, Wilson, Gavin, Hale, Mason, Green, Brown, and Crittenden, participated. The bill passed the Senate on the 7th of April, with only three dissenting votes. In a few days thereafter, the bill was considered in the House, and agreed to, and out of one hundred and ninety-six votes, one hundred and fiftyeight were cast in favor of admission. On the 11th day of May, 1858, President Buchanan approved and signed the bill, and Minnesota became a sovereign and independent State of the American Union, with the following boundaries:

Beginning at the point in the centre of the main channel of the Red River of the North, where the boundary line between the United States and the British Possessions cross the same ; thence up the main channel of said river to that of the Bois dis Sioux River ; thence up the main channel of said river to Lake Traverse ; thence up the center of said lake to the southern extremity thereof ; thence in a direct line to the head of Big Stone Lake; thence through its centre to its outlet ; thence by a due south line to the north line of the State of Iowa; thence east along the northern boundary of the said State to the main channel of the Mississippi River ; thence up the main channel of said river, and following the boundary of the State of Wisconsin, until the same intersects the St. Louis River ; thence down the said river to and through Lake Superior, on the boundary line of Wisconsin and Michigan, until it intersects the dividing line between the United States and British Possessions ; thence up Pigeon River, and following said dividing line to the place of beginning.

The first State Legislature, consisting of thirty-seven Senators and eighty Representatives, convened on Wednesday, December 2, 1857. Richard G. Murphy presided over the Senate until June 2, when he was succeeded by Lieutenant-Governor Holcombe, who with the other State officers had taken the oath of office, and entered upon the discharge of the duties of their several offices. J. S. Watsons was speaker of the House until the 12th of March, when he was succeeded by Hon. George Bradley. On the 25th of March, 1858, a recess was taken until the 2d day of June, from which time it remained in session until the 12th of August, when it adjourned. In the month of December, soon after the Legislature organized, Henry M. Rice and James Shields were elected to represent the new State in the United States Senate. H. H. Sibley, who had been elected governor, entered upon the discharge of his duties on the 24th day of May, 1858.

When Minnesota became a State, the entire country was suffering from financial depression and embarrassements. There was a famine in the money market, and those who had hoped to aid the development of the new State on borrowed capital found themselves confronted by disappointment. The exigencies of the times were sore and pressing, and the pioneers were ready and willing to listen to any one who had a panacea to offer that promised relief. An act of Congress, approved March 5, 1857, granted 4,500,000 acres of land to the Territory to aid in the construction of a system of railways.

Soon after the passage of this bill, a combination of shrewd, cunning men was formed for the purpose of securing control of these lands, and on the 22d of May, 1857, during the extra session of the Legislature, an act was passed giving the entire grant to certain railroad companies. Not long after the passage of this act, however, the people discovered that those who had obtained control of the lands had neither money nor credit to carry out any of their promised schemes of internal improvements. In the winter of 1857-8 the first session of the State Legislature was -invoked by the railroad corporations, and another act was passed, submitting to the people an amendment to the constitution, providing for the loan of State credit to the land grant railroad companies to the amount of $5,000,000, on condition that a certain amount of labor was performed on the projected road. Such publicspirited men as ex-Governor Gorman, D. A. Robertson, William R. Marshall and others saw nothing but mischief in this scheme, and opposed it with all the force they could command, but without avail. On the 15th of April, 1858, the people voted on the amendment, and approved it by a majority of 18,290 votes, out of a total vote of 31,756.

"The credit of this State shall never be given or loaned in aid of any individual, association or corporation ; except that for the purpose of expediting the construction of the lines of railroads, in aid of which the Congress of the United States has granted lands to the Territory of Minnesota, the governor shall cause to be issued and delivered to each of the companies in which said grants are vested by the Legislative Assembly of Minnesota, the special bonds of the State, bearing an interest of seven per cent, per annum, payable semi-annually in the City of New York, as a loan of public credit, to an amount not exceeding twelve hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or an aggregate amount to all of said companies not exceeding five millions of dollars, in manner following, to wit," etc.

"The credit of the State shall never be given or loaned in aid of any individual, association or corporation ; nor shall there be any further issue of bonds denominated Minnesota State Railroad Bonds, under what purports to be an amendment to section ten (10,) of article nine (9,) of the constitution, adopted April fifteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, which is hereby expunged from the constitution, saving, excepting and reserving to the State, nevertheless, all rights, remedies and forfeitures accruing under said amendment."

Governor Sibley refused to issue these bonds unless the companies claiming them would give first mortgage bonds with priority of lien upon their lands, roads and franchises in favor of the State. The companies refused to do this, and one of the companies applied to the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to compel the governor to issue the bonds without restrictions. In November the Court, Judge Flandrau dissenting, ordered the governor to issue the bonds as soon as the company delivered their first mortgage bonds, as provided by the constitution.

The bonds did not become popular with capitalists. They were not regarded as either safe or profitable investments, and became a drug in the market. After more than $2,000,000 of bonds had been issued, not an iron rail had been laid, and only about 250 miles of grading completed. In his annual message to the second Legislature in December, 1858, Governor Sibley said in relation to the loan of the State credit:

Alexander Ramsey was elected governor in the fall of 1859, and his administration had to wrestle with the complications growing out of the mistaken policy of loaning the state credit to railroad companies, and his inaugural message delivered to the second Legislature, on the 2d of January, 1860, was largely devoted to a discussion of the question, and the suggestion of "ways and means" to relieve the embarrassment.

Minnesotians In The War Of The Rebellion

If there is any one thing more than another of which the people of the Northern States have reason to be proud, it is of the record they made during the War of the Rebellion. And no State in the patriotic Union-loving North, made a clearer, bolder, more commendable record than the infant State of Minnesota.

This war came on in the third year of Minnesota's existence as a State and in the second year of Governor Ramsey's administration. The people had scarcely become accustomed to the new order of things - to the transition of State independency from territorial dependency - and, busied with their individual plans and purposes, for the building of homes and the accumulation of a competence that would secure them against want in the days of old age, they had paid but little heed to the threatenings and mutterings of discontented, oligarchical slave breeders, slave traders and slave drivers. With the exception of these southern mutterings, the country was enjoying national peace and tranquility when Abraham Lincoln was elected to the presidency in November, 1860. The growth of the Republican party and the spread of its freedom-loving principles threatened to overcome and destroy the influence and power of the proslavery party in the National Legislature, and assuming to believe that it was the purpose and intention of Mr. Lincoln and the Republican party to destroy their cherished institution, they inaugurated a movement tor the destruction of the Union and the erection of an independent confederacy wherein the will of the slave breeder should be the supreme law of the land.

The spring of 1861 found Fort Sumter, at Charleston, South Carolina, garrisoned by a small detachment of United States troops under command of Major Anderson, as gallant and patriotic an officer as ever donned a federal uniform or drew a sword. Maddened at their loss of power, the hot-heads of South Carolina mustered in force in April, and demanded that Fort Sumter be surrendered to them. The demand was refused, in the belief that it was made more in a spirit of impetuous bravado than in a spirit of earnest, settled determination; more the act of a drunken mob, than the first earnest of a people determined to rule or ruin. But Major Anderson was given but little time to speculate upon the situation, and scarcely had the electric wires borne to Northern ears the news of the insulting, treasonable demand, than another message followed stating that the "secessionists" had fired upon the fort, and that the war had in reality commenced. The people were startled from their undertakings almost as much as if a bombshell had unexpectedly fallen and exploded in their fields or their door yards. Another message soon followed, announcing the fact that after a gallant resistance of thirty-four hours, Major Anderson had been forced to haul down the national colors, and surrender the fort to rebels in arms against the government.

The North was astounded, but their astonishment quickly gave way to active preparations to meet the assault and resent the insult to the nation's honor. The gauntlet thrown down by the traitors of the South in their attack upon Fort Sumter was accepted, not, however, in the spirit with which insolence meets insolence - but with a firm, determined spirit of patriotism and love of country. The duty of the President under the constitution and the laws was plain; and above and beyond all, the masses of the people, from whom all political power is derived, demanded the suppression of the rebellion, and stood ready to sustain the authority of their representative and executive officers, to the extent of the last man and the last dollar, to help drive the rebels into the "last ditch."

With Abraham Lincoln, the people's President and freedom's champion, there was no halting between two opinions. He saw and comprehended the situation, and, on the 15th day of April, 1861, issued a proclamation calling for " the militia of the several States of the Union, to the aggregate number of 75,000, to suppress the said combination and execute the laws."

Governor Ramsey was in Washington when the proclamation was issued, and on the Sunday following, in company with two other citizens of the State, he called on the President, and, on behalf of the people, tendered a regiment of volunteers in defense of the cause of the people, the suppression of the rebellion. The tender was accepted, and Governor Ramsey sent a dispatch to Lieutenant-Governor Donnelly, causing the following proclamation to be issued :

Whereas, the government of the United States, in the dne enforcement of the laws, has for several months been resisted by armed organizations of citizens in several of the Southern States, who, precipitating the country into revolution, have seized upon and confiscated the property of the nation to the amount of many millions of dollars ; have taken possession of its forts and arsenals; have fired upon its flag; and at last consummating their treason, have, under circumstances of peculiar indignity and humiliation, assaulted and captured a Federal fort, occupied by Federal troops ; and whereas, all these outrages, it is evident, are to be followed by an attempt to seize upon the national capital and the offices and archives of the government; and whereas, the President of the United States, recurring in this extremity to the only resource left him, the patriotism of a people who, through three great wars, and all the changes of eighty-five years, have ever proved true to the cause ol law, order, and free institutions, has issued a requisition to the governors of the several States for troops to support the government.

Now, therefore, in pursuance of law and of the requisition of the President of the United States, I do hereby give notice that volunteers will be received at the city of St. Paul for one regiment of infantry, composed of ten companies, each of sixty-four privates, one captain, two lieutenants, four sergeants, four corporals and one bugler. The volunteer companies already organized, upon complying with the foregoing requirements as to number and officers, will be entitled to be first received.

The term of service will be three months, unless sooner discharged. Volunteers will report themselves to the adjutant-general, at the capitol, St. Paul, by whom orders will at once be issued, giving all the necessary details as to enrollment and organization.

During the week following the publication of this proclamation business was almost entirely suspended. The national flag was displayed from all public places and private dwellings. There was no mistaking the spirit of the people. Party lines were, for the time, ignored. Bitter words spoken in moments of political heat, were forgiven and forgotten, and joining hands in a common cause, the masses of the people repeated the oath of America's soldier statesman : "By the Great Eternal, the Union must and shall he preserved.''''

The tocsin of war was sounded. War meetings were held in all the towns, villages and hamlets of the State - at St. Paul, Minneapolis, Hastings, Red Wing, Wabasha, Winona - at which stirring and spirited addresses were made and resolutions adopted that admitted of but one interpretation. The spirit and determination of the people were clearly reflected in the following preamble and resolutions:

Whereas, It becomes American citizens to know no political law but their country's welfare ; and, whereas, the flag of our country has been insulted, and the laws set at defiance by formidably-organized bands of lawless men, whose avowed purpose and overt acts are high treason against the government; therefore,

Besolved, That in the present endangered state of our country, we will ignore all party differences and distinctions, and will unite in rendering all the aid within our power to the Federal Executive iu executing the laws and defending the honor of our national flag.

Besolved, That we recognize the form of government formed by our fathers and baptized in their blood, the best in the world, the birthright of citizens, and to be given up but with our lives.

Enlistments commenced at once, and in a few days the first regiment was full ; a camp was established at Fort Snelling, and the regiment was mustered into the service by Captain Anderson D. Nelson, of the regular service. On the 27th of April, twelve days after the date of the president's proclamation, the following order was issued by Adjutant-General John B. Sanborn, in behalf of the governor:

"The commander-in-chief expresses his gratification at the prompt response to the call of the President of the United States upon the militia of Minnesota, and his regret that under the present requisition for only ten companies it is not possible to accept the services of all the companies offered.

" The following companies, under the operation of general order No. 1, have been accepted: Company B, 2d Regiment, Capt. Lester; Company A, 6th Regiment, Capt. Pell; Company A, 7th Regiment, Capt. Colvill; Company A, 8th Regiment, Capt. Dike; Company A, 13th Regiment, Capt. Adams; Company A, 16th Regiment, Capt. Putnam; Company A, 17th Regiment, Capt. Morgan; Company A, 23d Regiment, Capt. "Wilkin; Company B, 23d Regiment, Capt. Acker; Company A, 25th Regiment, Capt. Brownley. Each officer and private is recommended to provide himself with a blanket. Captains of the above companies will report their respective commands to the Adjutant General at Fort Snelling.

"The commander-in-chief recommends the companies not enumerated above, to maintain their organization and perfect their drill, and that patriotic citizens throughout the State continue to enroll themselves and be ready for any emergency."

There was no abatement in the patriotic ardor of the people. Enlistments continued throughout the State, and on the 3rd of May, Governor Ramsey telegraphed the offer of another regiment to the President.

The first call of the President was for 75,000 men. Mr. Lincoln and others in authority at Washington, soon saw the terrible mistake he had made, in that he did not call for a larger number. The magnitude of the rebellion had been underestimated. More men were needed, and more calls were issued, until the aggregate reached 3,339,748. Of this number Minnesota furnished her full proportion, without the humiliation of a draft.

" It is decidedly preferable that all the regiments mustered into the service of the government from your State not already actually sent forward, should be mustered into service for three years or during the war. If any persons belonging to the regiments already mustered for three months, but not yet actually sent forward, should be unwilling to serve for three years or during the war, could not their places be filled by others willing to serve?"

" The entire First Regiment, by its commissioned officers, is this day tendered to the President for three years or during the war. The men will be mustered in to-day by Capt. Nelson. In case of deficiency in the ranks, what course would you recommend?"

Governor Ramsey replied: "Adjutant General Thomas authorizes me to say that Capt. Nelson may muster in Col. Gorman's regiment at once for three years or during the war. Do this at once, under dispatch of May 7th."

While the regiment was being raised and mustered into the service, the ladies of St. Paul were not idle, but had purchased the material and made a handsome silk flag for presentation to the regiment. On the 25th of May the regiment marched down to receive it. It was presented from the Statehouse steps. The regiment was formed in a hollow square in front of the building, and at ten o'clock, Mrs. Governor Ramsey appeared on the steps carrying the flag, and Captain Stansbury, of the U. S. A. Topographical Engineers, made the presentation speech in behalf of the donors, to which Colonel Gorman responded in a speech full of patriotic wisdom.

June 14th, the regiment was ordered to Washington, and on the Saturday morning following the first regiment raised in the State of Minnesota embarked on the steamers Northern Belle and War Eagle, for the field of duty. Before leaving Fort Snelling, Rev. E. D. Neill, who had been appointed chaplain to the regiment, delivered an address that was so full of patriotism, Christian love and manly duty, as to be worthy of preservation :

" Soldiers of Minnesota ! This is not the hour for many words. The moment your faces are turned towards the South you assume a new attitude. Gray-haired sires, venerable matrons, young men and fair maidens, will look upon you with pride as you glide by their peaceful homes. From week to week they will eagerly search the newspapers to learn your position and condition.

" To-day the whole State view you as representative men, and you no doubt realize that the honor of our commonwealth is largely entrusted to your keeping.

" Your errand is not to overrun, but to uphold, the most tolerant and forbearing government on earth. You go to war with misguided brethren, not with wrathful but with mournful hearts. Your demeanor from the day of enlistment shows that you are fit for something else than ' treason, stratagem and spoils.'

" To fight for a great principle is a noble work. We are all erring and fallible men ; but the civilized world feel that you are engaged in a just cause, which God will defend.

" In introducing myself to you, I would say, I come not to command, but to be a friend, and to point you to the ' Friend of friends,' who sticketh closer than a brother, who pities when no earthly eye can pity, and who can save when no earthly arm can save.

" As far as in me lies, I am ready to make known the glad tidings of the gospel - the simple but sublime truth as it is in Christ Jesus. The religion I shall inculcate will make you feel self-denying, courageous, cheerful here, and happy hereafter.

"Soldiers! If you would be obedient fo God, you must honor him who has been ordained to lead you forth. The Colonel's will must be your will. If, like the Roman Centurion, he says ' go,' go you must. If he says 'come,' come you must. God grant you all the Hebrew's enduring faith, and you will be sure to have the Hebrew's valor. Now, with the Hebrew's benediction, I will close :

" The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen !"

At an early hour in the morning the regiment reached the upper landing at St. Paul, and amid the conflicting feelings of the citizens of the capital, marched through the city to the lower landing, and again embarked on the steamboat, and were soon borne beyond the sight of the dense throng of relatives, friends and neighbors, who had gathered to bid them " good bye " and " God speed." Some of them never came back to make glad the hearts that grew sad when the order came for them to march away where the enemy threatened. They died the death of brave men, and their memories are sacredly enshrined in the hearts of the people of the Union they fell to preserve and maintain.

So responded the patriotic sons of Minnesota to the first call of the President for men to subdue the rebellion. Other calls followed and other men were ready as long as there was an armed foe in the field - as long as there was an unholy arm raised against the " government of our fathers."

The regiment passed through Chicago on the 22d of June, 1861, en route for Washington, the point to which it had been ordered. On the 23d, the Tribune published the following :

" Gallant Minnesota deserves high credit for her noble sons and their appearance yesterday. They have eDJoyed in their make-up that rare and excellent process of selection and culling from the older States, which has thrown into the van of civilization the hardy lumbermen and first settlers of the wilds. There are few regiments we ever saw that can compete in brawn and muscle with these Minnesotians, used to the axe, the rifle, the oar, the setting pole, and thus every way splendid material for soldiers."

" The advent of the Minnesota regiment on Sunday, on their way to the seat of war, was suggestive of many curious reflections. It carried the mind back to the twilight of modern civilization, to the days when not hireling mercenaries, but companions in arms, free men of Northern Europe, burst from their icy homes and overwhelmed their effeminate southern neighbors. The old story of the world's history seemed to be repeated ; and chronicle and tradition alike teach us what the result must be. As we beheld the men march by, their stalwart forms, wild dress, martial bearing, and healthy complexions, gave reality to the reflection - that is, after all was the reflection of the scene, - that those were forms as brawny, faces as intelligent, expressions as resolute, as in the days of old issued from the northern bee-hive to plant the foundations of all that we now know of freedom and civilization."

The regiment remained at Washington a few days, and was then ordered to cross the Potomac, where it went into camp in the rear of Alexandria. From there the gallant First went wherever the fortunes of war directed, making a record that was not only a pride and honor to itself, but a credit to the State it represented.

"Washington, August 13. To Governor Ramsey : - Don't kill us with kindness. Tell liberal men and noble women to send no more money or clothing. God bless them. E. D. Neill."

It is impossible to mention in detail in a work of this character, the movements of the several regiments, batteries, etc., that went out from Minnesota to take part in the suppression of the great rebellion, but it must be written that from the time the first regiment was engaged in battle, until the final surrender of the rebel cause and rebel army, there was but few engagements in which some one or more of the Minnesota regiments did not engage. It would be a pleasing duty to chronicle the movements of these brave men and their gallant and heroic deeds, but that pleasure is submitted to other and abler pens. It has not been our purpose to write in detail of the heroic offerings and sacrifices of Minnesota's boys in blue, but rather to show the general character and willing and ready disposition of the people of one of the youngest States in the Union, to stand by and defend that Union and maintain its integrity with their "lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor."

From first to last the people of this young State, enlisted and sent forward to the field of battle, men as brave, as good, and as true as ever drew a sword or presented a musket. In 1860, according to the U. S. census report, the population of Minnesota was 172,023, thus Minnesota offered 24,000 of her valiant sons out of this small population, to defend the Union against traitors in arms. What other of the patriotic States of the patriotic North, can show a better record of devotion to the principles of union and freedom ?

Artillery Cavalry

The war ended, and, honorably discharged, the survivors of the dangers incident to life on war's tented fields, returned to their homes to receive ovations of honor from the people from whose midst they had gone out, and who had eagerly, zealously watched their movements, and marches and battles, from the day they were first borne away towards the South. The welcomes over, the returned volunteers laid aside their soldier's garb, donned the citizen's dress, and fell back upon their old avocations - on the farm, in the shop, at the forge, or whatever else their hands found to do. Brave men are honorable always, and no class of Minnesota's men deserve better than those who offered thenlives in defense of their country's honor, not alone because they were

Their country first, their glory and their pride ; Land of their hopes - land where their fathers died : When in the right, they'll keep their honor bright; When in the wrong, they'll die to set it right.

Like all the border States, the early settlers of Minnesota were subject to annoyances and incursions from the Indians, and many an honest, toiling, peaceable, inoffensive pioneer man and woman, intent only on securing a home they could call their own, became victims, in some way or another, to Indian savagery. Some of them were murdered, others met a fate that was worse.

The first of these savage butcheries occurred at Spirit Lake, in the northwestern part of Iowa, close to the Minnesota State line, in March, 1857, and ended at Springfield, in this State, about fifteen or twenty miles north of Spirit Lake.