Goodhue County, Minnesota - Chapter 4: Early Days, 1909

Possession by Indians - The Dakotas - Traditions and Opinions - Col. Colville's Views - Origin of Name "Red Wing" - The Raidsson-Groseillers Allegations - No Proof that These Men Ever Saw Goodhue County - Hennepin Lands at Red Wing's Village - Duluth Passes the Village - LeSueur at Prairie Island - Fort Beauharnois and Its Successors - Carver Passes Through Wisconsin Channel - Pike and His Narrative - . Meets Red Wing and Calls Him by His English Name - Leavenworth - First Steamers - Denton and Gavin - Aiton and Hancock - Tribute to Rev. Hancock - Early Schooling- - The Pioneers Arrive - By Dr. W. M. Sweney.

Through how many ages the Indians flourished in this county is a question that will never be satisfactorily settled. At any event, the white men found here a band of Indians whose ancestors, according to their tribal traditions, had occupied the land for ages, and had for headquarters, "Hem-minne-cha," which is now known as Cannon Junction, with straggling villages extending in every direction within a radius of six miles. The villages of the Sioux Indians were usually found situated near a collection of earth mounds ; but there' are no well authenticated accounts of the Indians found there by the early explorer, having practiced to any great extent mound burial, but they did follow the custom of scaffold burial, as was noticed by Hennepin at Prescott Point, at the mouth of the St. Croix in 1680. This practice I have myself seen in Red AVing. a great many times. Such flint, stone, bone and copper implements, and rude pottery, as were found to be in general use in the hands of the Indians, when first visited by the whites, are usually found at the bottom of a mound when excavated, yet the natives had no traditions as to who were the makers of the artifacts, or who were the builders of the mounds. Within a radius of six miles from Cannon Juncr tion I have located, mapped and charted over four thousand Indian burial mounds, earthworks, stone cairns, etc., showing conclusively that this region must have been inhabited for many ages. I can show today an oak stump standing on top of a burial mound that lias in evidence 250 concentric rings, indicating that it "was 250 years ago when the acorn which grew into the tree was planted in the mound. How long had the mound been built ? The prevailing opinion of writers of recent date, who have made Indian mounds of this region a study, is that the ancestors of the Indians found inhabiting these parts at the time it was first visited by Europeans, were the creators of these earthworks. From time immemorial this locality has been known as Hem-minne-cha (Hill, water, wood). Franqueline published in Paris, in 166-4, a map of this country, and located an Indian village at what is now known as Cannon Junction, and called it by the name of "Remnica." Franqueline received his information probably from Hennepin, as that explorer had returned to France and published his book about that time. "While I have not been asked to contribute an article on archaeology, yet it may not be out of place for me to add a few words on the very interesting subject. My father, some years ago, writing on the subject, stated that the builders of the mounds, or the people who inhabited this country before the Dakotas. must have been a more civilized and peaceful race than the Sioux, as no warlike implements were found. Since the above was written by my father I have found in this immediate vicinity thousands of flint and stone arrows and spear heads, stone axes, and clubs, without number. The general opinion, I think, prevails, that the art of chipping flint and stone implements is a lost one; but as there are a number of descriptions in print, written by persons who have witnessed the operation, I will give a description or two. Catlin's description of Apache mode of making flint arrow points: "This operation is very curious, both the holder and the striker singing, and the strokes of the mallet, given exactly in time with the music, and with a short and rebounding blow, in which, the Indians tell us, is the great medicine of the operation." Admiral L. E. Belcher gives an account of flint arrow head making by western Eskimo tribes. Schoolcraft describes the mode of making flint arrow heads by North American Indians. John Smith describes the making of arrow points by Virginia Indians. "His arrow head he quickly maketh with a little bone, which he ever weareth at his brace, of a splint of a stone or glass, in the form of a heart and these they glue to the end of their arrows."

I have made the statement at the beginning of this article that it could never be known how many ages the Indians had flourished in this country, and now add the opinions of others. Many writers in the past, and a few at the present time, speak of the Mound Builders as a vanished race and declare that the skeletons found buried in the mounds denote that they were giants in stature. Marquis De Nadaillac, in "Prehistoric Amer- ica," pages L13-154, says: ''The new school, with such scholars at its head as Brinton, Cyrus Thomas, Powell and Carr, hold that the presenl Indians are the descendants of the Mound Builders." John Gmeiner, pastor of the Church of St. Raphael, Springfield, Minn.. January 10, 1908, in "Acta et Dicta," published by the St. Paul Catholics' Historical Society, July, 1908, page 221-222. says: "The Dakota confederation consisted of a number of tribes whose ancestors must have been originally united in one tribe, for they spoke dialects of the same language." About 800 years ago seven tribes, the Omaha, Ooehenonpa, Minnikannazo, Ttazipco, Licanga, Hunkpapa, and Yanktonnen, united to form the Dakota confederation. The very name implies this. It means "allied nations." The name Sioux was unknown to them; it is a corruption of an Ojibwa word, meaning enemies, as the Dakotas and Ojibwas were continually at war. The Dakota confederation gradually increased until it included forty-two tribes and extended far beyond the limits of our present state.

The Dakotas entered Minnesota and Wisconsin about the beginning of their confederation. Father Craft writes: 'It is quite certain they were near Lake Michigan 800 years ago, as they met there Eric Upsi, Bishop of Greenland, who had come therefrom Vineland about 1121." It is certainly a most interesting and surprising fact to find the long-lost, zealous Norse bishop finally reappear in the ancient traditions of the Dakotas. Any one desirous of reading more about Bishop Eric Upsi, or Gnupson, may consult P. De Roo, "History of America Before Columbus," Philadelphia and London, 1900, vol. 88, pp. 174-282. No doubt Eric Upsi came to the western shores of Lake Michigan by way of the St. Lawrence river and the Great Lakes. According to Humboldt, the Norsemen had some of their principal settlements at the mouth of the St. Lawrence river, and it was quite natural for them to follow that great waterway to its sources, as the French did at a later period. The following appeared in the St. Paul Pioneer Press September 7, 1909 :

" 'Eight Swedes and twenty-two Norwegians upon a journey of discovery from Vineland, Nova Scotia, westward. We had a camp of two skerries (rocks in water) one day's journey from this stone. "We were out fishing one day. When we returned home we found ten men red with blood and dead. Ave Maria. Save us from evil. We have ten men by the sea to look after our vessel. forty-one (?) days' journey from this island. Year 1362.' This legend, cut in Runic characters on the Kensington stone now on exhibition at the Swedish village at the fair grounds, the genuineness of which seems to have involved in dispute many of the pioneer Scandinavians in Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin. Some doubt the story of the finding of the stone. According to affidavits in possession of H. R. H. Holand, curator of the Sons of Norway, Ephrain, AVis., the stone was found under a gigantic tree at Kensington, Minn., by Pehr Oman while he was grubbing stumps. However, it was at one time on exhibition at Chicago and was declared to be a fake. At the exposition at Stockholm, Sweden, where the Runic lettering was translated by some of the best scholars in Sweden, it was claimed that there can be no doubt as to its authenticity. Arthur- G. Thomas, of Chicago, manager of the Swedish village, said yesterday that in his opinion the proof of the finding of the stone is conclusive." The above may, as some claim, be a fake; but investigate, and if in time to come it is entitled to credence, it may perhaps be the means of shedding light on some of our ancient history that is very confusing. On the other hand, if it proves to be spurious, brand it as such, in a manner so as to cause the perpetrators of fakes of this nature, to be more careful in the future. The finding of this stone is not more remarkable or singular than the finding of the Rosetta stone in 1799, by some Egyptian fishermen, who in drawing a seine in the river Nile brought to shore in their nets a curiously engraved stone, which on investigation by students proved to be the key by which the import of the hieroglyphics and writings carved within the great Pyramids of Sheops was made known to the world. Some of the information given to the world through the assistance of this remarkable relic, is, that these pyramids in question were begun by the builders 2170 years before the Christian era, and they stand today the greatest structure ever reared by the hand of man.

Following is an article written by Lucien Carr, entitled "The Mounds of the Mississippi ATalley Historically Considered," which appeared in 'Memoirs of the Kentucky Geological Survey," Vol. 11, 1183; N. S. Shaler, Director. In a paper upon the "Prehistoric Remains of Kentucky," published in the first volume of these memoirs, I have expressed the opinion that it was impossible to distinguish between a series of stone implements taken from the Mounds in the Mississippi valley and a similar series made and used by the Modern Indians. In fact, so alike are these objects in conception and execution that any attempt to distinguish them, based upon form or finish, must be but the merest guesswork. From the rude knife to the carved and polished "Groget," they may, one and all, have been taken from the inmost recesses of a mound or picked upon the surface amid the debris of a recent Indian village, and the most experienced archaeologist, if called upon to decide as to their origin, would have to acknowledge himself at fault. Nor does the similarity stop with objects made of stone. On the contrary, it is believed to extend to all articles, of every kind whatsoever, that have thus far been taken from the mounds. Indeed, I might even go further, and as the result of some years of work, as well in the field as in the library, venture the assertion that not only has there not as yet been anything taken from the mounds indicating a higher stage of development than the red Indian of the United States is known to have reached, but that even the mounds themselves, and under this head are included all the earthworks of the Mississippi valley, were quite within the limits of his efforts. All that I intend to assert is, that, admitting everything that can be reasonably claimed by the most enthusiastic advocate of the superior civilization of the Mound Builders, there is no reason why the red Indians, of the Mississippi valley, judging from what we know, historically, of their development, could not have thrown up these works. This proposition is not as complete as could be desired, and yet it probably embodies all that can ever be proven on this subject."

I quote from Marquis de Nadaillac's article, "The Unity of the Human Species," pp. 1-2. The arrow heads of the Dakota, Apache, and Comanche Indians show curious resemblance to those discovered on the borders of the Seine and Thames ; the nuclei of Scandinavia compare wrell with those of Mexico, and if one exchange the hatchets or the knives of flint from Europe with similar objects from America it is difficult for even experts to separate them, however well they may be versed in petrograph and prehistoric archaeology, and it will be extremely difficult to distinguish the races to which they belong. Pottery from widely separated regions is made in the same form and by the same processes of fabrication, and even with the same ornamentation. The spindle whorls in stone, bone and pottery, found in settlements succeeding each other on the hills of Hissarlik, recall those of the Swiss lake dwellings. Those of Peru, Mexico, and* even those in present use among the Navajos. are the same as in our museums, whether they come from Italy, Germany, the south of France, or the north of Scandinavia."

Thomas La Blanc, a half-breed Sioux, has told of the separation of the bands of Wacoota, Bed Wing and "Wabasha, in the vivid terms of Indian tradition. While this narrative, containing a story of the forceful removal of a mountain, must be regarded as fanciful, it is doubtless as near the truth as anything else, in which we have only tradition to rely upon. After telling of a general war,, after which Wacoota, whom he describes as a young libertine, was made chief, La Blanc says, in "Bunnell's History of Winona County": from the place where he settled, "went on down to the site of the modern city of Red Wing, where game of all kinds, fish included, were found in great abundance. Here there seemed nothing lacking to their perfect happiness, and they lived for a great length of time, intermarrying like some families in Europe, until another chief, who might be styled the first of the name of Wah-pa-sha or his progenitor, drew attention to the efficiency of some of the warriors who could not complete the trail of the sun dance and bear dance and had been compelled to assume the garb and occupation of women, as was the custom among the Sioux. He also referred to the increasing number of skeletons they were compelled to place in their ossuaries on Barn and other bluffs in the neighborhood and ended by declaring that new alliances should be made with more vigorous tribes, and the customs of other Indians, now extinct, should be strictly enforced.

"It so happened that one of his own daughters was in expectation of an alliance with Chaska, a brave of great repute, eldest son of a chief, but the talk of Wah-pa-sha had so impressed him that without saying anything of his purpose, he had started off as if for a hunt, but in reality to see and espouse the daughter of Yellow Thunder, a noted Winnebago chief, who. though of Dah-ko-tah origin, was very far removed from the original stock. Chaska 's absence was iirst noticed by his charming bride, who, jealous of his absence, complained to her father. Upon inquiry, it was found that the teachings of Wah-pa-sha had driven the young man away, but not to be baffled, the young girl, proving to the high priest her virginity, he was at once able to call good spirits to her aid. At first Rem-ne-chee and Wah-pa-sha had taken sides, one dor the son, the other for the daughter. Neither chief desired bloodshed, but old-time prejudices and customs are stronger than the authority of any chief, unless he has welltested persona] bravery to enforce his commands. This seemed Lacking in the older chief, Rem-ne-chee, and bows were being strung and spears pointed, when the power of the secret incantations of the priest burst forth in vivid flashes of lightning, the earth trembled and then all was enveloped in darkness most profound; while the Indians in affright cast themselves upon the ground, where they remained chanting their death-songs in expectation of destruction. But lo ! light again appeared, and those mi Red Wing found that a part of their possessions, including the dome-shaped peak and part of the Barn bluff ossuary, had disappeared, and during the seismic strife, Wah-pa-sha the elder, and part of his band, had also been torn from Remnechee's turbulent followers. Witch-e-ain, the virgin, had been left behind, but calling to the spokesman of the band for aid, she soon assembled a few young braves, who. in devotion to her father, and in admiration of her purpose, declared that they would not only find the truant lover, but they would also recover their lost territory, which they naturally supposed must have been transported, with the direction of the wind, clown the Mississippi. Believing this, they started down in a canoe. With the keen sight of Indians, they discovered fragments of their lost possessions at the present site of Wabasha ; but it would not be possible to explain their reasons for believing this, without a faith in their medicine charms, so we will pass on.

"At the site of Winona they were overjoyed to see, as they approached the landing, the exact counterpart of their sacred dome at Bed Wing. It had been rent in twain, it is true, but the attrition of transportation had modeled it into a beautiful cap, not unlike the Scotch or Canadian cap of old, and standing in front as though in a mirage, his tall form outstretching almost to top of cliff, was the lost chief once more in possession of the lost cliff, which he declared should be his cap for all future time. Its beautiful form, garlanded with cedar, would have remained the admiration of all beholders until this time, but for Mammon, a most powerful modern god, more powerful by far than any known to the Dakotas.

'Leaving the chief to recover from his dazed condition, and assemble his scattered family on a site he selected for himself on what became known as Burn's creek, the anxious maiden with her young braves pursued her way down the river. They soon came in sight of one of their lost mountains, which became known to the whole Dakota tribe, when they had heard of the wonder, as Fah-ha-dah (the moving mountain), but to the Winnebagoes, who, in approaching it in canoes on the east side, found it surrounded by water, it was known as Hay-nee-ah-chah, or Soaking Mountain. The pursuing party stopped but a moment at Pah-ha-dah, or Trempeauleau, for just below they saw a short range of isolated bluffs, which they felt sure were taken from the upper portion of the range of what is modernly known as Barn bluff. The vacant space below Bed Wing, they argued, justified their conclusion. But they were about to land for examination, and perhaps for some slight refreshment, when their ears were assailed by the most persistent rattling of numerous rattlesnakes, of sin-tah-dah, they had ever heard. Upon inquiry they found that the bluffs were really a part of their old possessions, but that the remains of their ancestors should not again be disturbed from the mounds and ossuaries on the ridge, but be held sacred for all time. The snakes were magically sent by the good high priest, with the bluffs, to protect the remains from desecration."

the Missouri, mainly in one campaign led by Red Wing and "Wapasha. The Menominees were privy to the plans of the Sioux, but took no part in the war ; perhaps furnished canoes and horses. The Sioux marched by the headwaters of the St. Croix and Chippewas, down the Wisconsin, beginning the attack at McGregor. The Y-hanktons reinforced them on the upper course of the Minnesota. The Sioux undertook this war for the purpose of settlement in the country which they had always claimed to own since the expulsion of the Assinniboines. It was after Wapasha had received his red cap and commission as head chief of the British.

Colonel AYilliam Colville once wrote: " Wapasha 's title as head chief not being allowed by Red Wing, Wapasha removed with the greater part of his band to Winona. Red Wing's titular name was Wacouta - 'The Shooter.' This was always the head chief 's title - the same as that of the chief who captured Hennepin, lie had the name of Red Wing, Koo-poodioo-sha, from the swan's wing, which he dyed scarlet and carried. Wapahasha had his name from his red "coupe stick," which was wound with scarlet ribbons and surmounted by a white horse tail, dyed a brilliant red. This lie used to signal and direct his warriors in battle, sometimes as a standard to rally them.

'Red Wing and his contemporaries here retained their old custom of mound burial, such as is described by Carver in his account of the cave at St. Paul. His spring and summer camp was along the west bank of Jordan stream in this place. The Indians called the stream Cold Water creek. The upper end of the camp was ;i little above Main street. There was an oak grove a short distance behind the camp on slightly higher ground, and commanding a broad view of the river scenery. In this grove were a number of mounds when I came here - 1854 - mostly of small size, one conspicuous, over twenty feet across and three feet high. It was ;it the southwest corner of Main and Broadway crossing. In grading the street this was leveled, and along with very badly decayed bones was found a Jefferson medal of the year 1801. After Red Wing's time the Indians coffined and buried the dead same as the whites.

Big Buffalo, his successor, was so coffined and buried, about 1820. Now Lieutenant Pike, on his return from the source of the Mississippi in 1806, stopped two days with Red Wing at this camp, and was very hospitably entertained. On his way down he had been reminded by Little Crow, at the mouth of the St. Croix, of his promised medals, promised at the treaty of the fall before at Pike Island. One of the head men of Red Wing's band signed that treaty; Red Wing, from old age, was not present. Red Wing was friendly to the Americans; AVapahasha had his commission from the British. This was talked over. Altogether, if anyone was entitled, Red AYing was, to one of the medals. Of course, Pike's promises were sacredly kept. It is no objection that the date is 1801, as it was the custom to strike the medal the first year of the new administration and the die was preserved until another president took his seat. Big Buffalo's was a Madison medal of the year 1809, but which he could not have received until 1816, for he fought with the British in 1812-15, and surrendered his old medal, if he had one, to them on receiving their flag. Big Buffalo was originally buried at the corner of Main and Plum streets, and when the town was laid out was removed to College Bluff, and about 1870 his medal was stolen from the grave and fell into the hands of a stranger, to whom it is worthless, and is lost to us.

"The Jefferson medal is now held by Mrs. Frank Sterritt, of Merriam Park, in trust for our Red Wing Library Association. I think the above facts make a good case for it, as having in very deed been worn by Red Wing."

The titles Hoo-pa-hoo-doo-ta (Wing of Scarlet), now rendered Red Wing; Wapashaw (Red War Banner), now rendered Wabasha, and Wa-coo-tay (Leaf Shooter), rendered in French Ochagach and now called AVacoota, probably have a common origin, and weye evidently used interchangably by the early writers to describe whatever chief they found at the head of the bands in this vicinity. The particular chief of the Goodhue county band of whom we know the most, with the exception of AVacoota, whom the white settlers of 1848-53 found here, is the Aile Rouge described by Pike and Hennepin. The Dakota Indians who now reside on Prairie Island still speak of Red AVing as Ilupa-hu-sha, meaning wing of red.

The question as to the first white man who ever set foot on the soil of this county is no less a matter of conjecture. Traders or soldiers of fortune may have wandered to this locality, but the first white man of whom we have any reliable record as to his presence here is Father Louis Hennepin, an explorer and Franciscan monk, in 1680.

This statement is made with a full knowledge of the allegations advanced by AVarren Upham, of the State Historical Society, that Radisson and Groseilliers wintered on Prairie Island in 1654-55 and were consequently the first white men in Minnesota. In this contention, Mr. Upham is unsupported by any reliable historian, and his own earlier writings successfully refute his present arguments. Peter (or Pierre) Esprit Radisson and Meclard Chouart, better known as Sieur de Groseilliers (The Gooseberry), were early explorers around the Great Lakes, and the former, after being discredited by France, wrote an extensive account, largely fictitious, of his adventures, for the purpose of interesting English parties to join in forming what later became the Hudson Bay Company, for the exploitation of America. This manuscript, long forgotten, was rescued in part (some of it having been sold for wrapping paper) and published by the Prince Society in 1885. In this narrative Radisson claims to have visited nearly every portion of America and to have discovered a passage way to the Pacific ocean. If the remainder of the manuscript could have been procured I have no doubt that it would be learned that Radisson built an air ship and ascended to Mars, and even reached the North Pole, thereby robbing those two distinguished Americans. Cook and Peary, of the honor of being the first to actually discover the Great Nail. Mr. Upham himself acknowledges that the manuscript is largely fictitious, but picks out tin1 part which he claims to refer to Prairie Island and stamps that with the approval of truth while the other parts are characterized by the same authority as apparent fiction, vaguely and blunderingly told. The part of the manuscript which is alleged to refer to Minnesota, and the contention that Radisson and Groseilliers were the first white men in Minnesota, is best described in Mr. Upham 's own words.

He says: "When we come to his (Radisson 's) account of that next year (1855), following the apparent fiction so vaguely and blunderingly told, he resumes his accustomed definiteness of details, telling us that in the early spring, before the snow and ice were gone, which forbade the use of canoes, these two Frenchmen, with about one hundred and fifty men and women of the native tribes, traveled almost fifty leagues on snow shoes, coming to a river side where they spent three weeks in making boats. This journey was. if I rightly identify it, from the vicinity of Green bay, in eastern Wisconsin, across that state to the Mississippi, reaching this river near the southeast corner of Minnesota, or somewhat further south, perhaps coming by a route not far from the canoe route of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. Thence they voyaged eight days up the river on which their boats had been made, to villages of two tribes, probably in the vicinity of Winona, where they obtained meal and corn, which supplied this large company until they 'came to the first landing isle.'

"The description indicates that the voyagers passed along Lake Pepin and upward to the large Isle Pelee (or Bald Island), now called Prairie Island, on the Minnesota side of the main river channel above Red Wing. On this island, which derived its names, both in French and English, from its being mostly a prairie, a large number of Huron s and Ottawas, fleeing from their enemies, the Iroquois, had recently taken refuge, and had begun the cultivation of corn. Their harvest the preceding year, in newly worked land, was small; but much corn would be needed for food duriug the loug journey thence to Quebec with beaver skins, which canoe voyage, requiring a month or more, Groseilliers and Radisson wished to begin soon after their arrival on the island. They were obliged to remain till the next year, and Groseilliers spent the summer on Prairie Island and in its vicinity, one of his chief objects being to provide a large supply of corn for the return journey. Meanwhile Radisson went with hunting parties, and traveled four months 'without doing anything but go from river to river.' He wTas enamored of the beauty and fertility of the country and was astonished at its herds of buffaloes and antelopes, flocks of pelicans and the shovel-nosed sturgeon, all of which he particularly described. Such was the first year, 1655, of observations and exploration by white men in Minnesota and their earliest navigation of the upper part of the Mississippi river. Accompanied by several hundred Hurons and other Algonquins. and carrying a most welcome freight of furs, Groseilliers and Radisson returned to Montreal and Quebec in August, 1656. Their stay on Prairie Island covered the period from April or May, 1655, to June, 1656, about fourteen months."

Such is the new page which Mr. Upham would write on the pages of AVisconsin and Minnesota history, and in honor of which he would erect a monument on Prairie Island. While I personally would be very much pleased to have this region honored with a marble shaft as being the spot upon which the first white men in the state firs,t set foot, in view of the uncertainty and grave doubts I do not feel as though one should be erected to perpetuate a scarcely probable incident, when there are so many well authenticated and important events which actually happened within the borders of this county in the early days that could be so honored. To my mind there are several facts which preclude the possibility of this early settlement by two Frenchmen and a party of Hurons on Prairie Island for a long period of fourteen months. Briefly, the objections are as follows :

The reputation given Radisson for veracity by such a distinguished investigater as Mr. Upham is sufficient to cause us to view the writer's narrative with suspicion. I quote Mr. Upham in 'First White Men in Minnesota" (page 2). Speaking of Radisson he says: 'His narration, besides being very uncouth in style, is exceedingly deficient in dates, sometimes negligent as to the sequence of events, and even here and there discordant and demonstrably untruthful." Mr. Upham 's opinion of Radisson 's descriptive powers, as found on page 11 of the above work, is this: 'Lake Michigan, with its surrounding forests and prairies and Indian tribes, appeared even more fascinating to Radisson 's enraptured vision. He wrote of it in an ecstasy." Radisson must have lost power of his "enraptured vision" before he reached this locality, for there is no description in the entire narrative that in any way describes the scenery along the Mississippi from the mouth of the Wisconsin to Prairie Island. I do not know of a single early voyager who has left any written record of his travel in this region that has not gone into ecstasies over the beautiful panoramic views ever presenting to his vision as he was paddled up the river in the vicinity of Lake Pepin. If Radisson had remained on Prairie Island fourteen months he surely would have seen Barn Bluff many times, and if he did see it and not mention it he cannot hope for forgiveness.

In March, 1660, Radisson did not understand the Dakota language. On page 45 of his work, Mr. Upham says: "The next morning, in March, 1660, they were called by an interpretor. "We understood not a word of their language, being quite contrary to those that we were with." Jean Nicollet discovered Green Bay, Wisconsin, in the year 1634, and reported a wild tribe of Indians in this region which he calls the Nandusin (Sioux). Hennepin found the Sioux here in 1680. Le Sueur lived with them on Prairie Island 1695, and, from Indian tradition, their ancestors had made Prairie Island their home for ages before Radisson was born. Now we are asked to accept as an historical fact that Radisson spent fourteen months on Prairie Island and never heard the Dakota tongue spoken, and that the first time he did hear it was in March, 1660. in the northern part of the state.

I do not intend to burden the reader with my views on this Radisson matter at this time, for in my opinion the facts are not sufficiently historical to warrant the great publicity already given by the Minnesota Historical Society to what some of our most able writers on early explorations consider as "pure romance." The claims made by Mr. Upham are being so persistently forced onto the citizens of this state that they will soon be accepted as an historical fact, without someone call a halt and ask for a more thorough investigation, and I regret very much that someone more competent than myself has not felt it his duty to ask for more light on this very important subject. As this Radisson matter is a subject of local interest to the people of Goodhue county, and as I have been asked to contribute a chapter on early times, I will take the opportunity to present some evidence to show that Mr. Upham 's position is not well taken. In doing so I will quote from Mr. Upham 's own work. "First White Men in Minnesota." William Kingsford. The History of Canada. (Toronto, 1887- 98; ten volumes.) Pages 1-12 and 45-49, in volume III, 1889, notice the relation of Groseilliers and Radisson to the beginnings of English commerce with the region of Hudson bay. The author ignores the narratives of the four land expeditions, ascribed to

Radisson 's authorship, in the volume published by the Prince Society, declaring that part to be "without value" and apparently "the work of a writer of fiction."

He says: "It is difficult to find authority for the statement put forth of the original discovery of Hudson's Bay by des Groseilliers and Radisson, on which so much stress has been laid" (page 5); and again: "The names of two commonplace adventurers have obtained mention in the chronicles of those days, to which they are in no way entitled, from the circumstances that they were brought forward by the French, for want of a better ^ argument to sustain their pretensions to early discovery" (page 12).

Legler, Henry E. 'Leading Events of Wisconsin History." (Milwaukee, 1898; pages 322.) The travels of Groseilliers and Radisson are noticed in pages 21, 47-51 and 137. Although chapter II details somewhat fully "The Strange Adventures of Radisson," the routes and dates of the expeditions are not exactly stated. Concerning their supposed journeying to the Mississippi river, the author thinks that "evidence is lacking to prove the surmise."

Ogg, Frederic Austin. "The Opening of the Mississippi; a Struggle for Supremacy in the American Interior. ' ' (New York, 1904; pages 670.) The far western travels of Groseilliers and Radisson are considered in pages 53-56. Their first expedition is conjectured to have been in 1654-56, they being the unnamed French traders who are mentioned in the Jusuit relation. A second expedition is thought to have been made by Groseilliers in 1658-59, "trading and exploring on the shores of Lake Superior," with return to the St. Lawrence "in the spring of 1659." Next, "within a few weeks," Groseilliers and Radisson traveled again to Lake Superior, this time exploring the south shore to La Pointe and Chequamegon bay, spending the winter in "many excursions among the surrounding tribes," and returning to lower Canada in the summer of 1660. Groseilliers and other traders are said to have made a later expedition to Lake Superior, going in August, 1660, and returning in 1663. It is thought that they did not reach the Mississippi river in any of these expeditions, though coming to some of its eastern tributaries. This author makes no reference to Radisson 's assertions that they went to the Gulf of Mexico and to Hudson bay.

Neill, Edward D. "Groseilliers and Radisson, the First Explorers of Lake Superior and the State of Minnesota." (Magazine of Western History, volume VII, pages 412-421, February, 1888.) The following footnote, on page 413, explains why so little care was taken to follow the narratives of Radisson in this confused and unwarrantable account of the expeditions to the region of Minnesota: "The journals of Kadisson, published by the Prince Society of Boston, in 1885, cannot be trusted for dates, but are correct in the description of the customs of the tribes he visited." Neill, Edward D. "Wisconsin Historical Society Collections, volume X, 188, pages 292-297. Accepting the supposed chronology of the Prince Society's volume, the first western expedition is referred to the years 1658-60 and the second to 1662-63 or 1664. Neill, ' Edward D. Macalaster College Contributions, first series, 1890; pages 86-94, 223-224. The expedition to Lake Superior, narrated by Radisson, is restricted to about one year, in 1659-60 ; and two later expeditions by Groseilliers are noted, with return from the last August 5, 1663. Perrot's account of the wanderings of the Ilurons and Ottawas is translated; but no suggestion appears that Radisson 's "first landing isle," not here mentioned, Avas their place of refuge, "Prairie Island' (Pelee) on the Mississippi.

McCormick, Hon. Robert Laird. A short letter, dated December 26, 1902. is published by Hon. J. V. Brower in volume VI of his "Memoirs of Explorations in the Basin of the Mississippi," 1903, page 72. In this letter Mr. McCormick writes: "Historical students would welcome further information regarding the travels of these two explorers who doubtless saw the upper Mississippi years before Joliet and Marquette, but in the absence of documentary testimony it is presumption to seriously claim that Radisson crossed AVisconsin on snowshoes from Green Bay to the Mississippi river in 1651-55."

Moore, Charles. "The Discovers of Lake Superior." (Publications of the Michigan Political Science Association, volume II. pages 199-211. Ann Arbor, January, 1897.) The two western journeys of Groseilliers and Radisson are referred to 1658-60 and 1661-63. It is doubted that they saw the Mississippi, but the claim of an overland trip to Hudson bay is accepted. The chronology carefully studied out a year before by Campbell is considered and rejected.

I quote the following from "Memoirs of Exploration in the Basin of the Mississippi," volume VI. Minnesota. By J. V. Brower: "At the annual meeting of the Minnesota Historical Society held at St. Paul, January 13, 1902, AVarren Upham delivered an address containing expressions of opinion concerning the original discovery of the area of Minnesota by Peter Esprit Radisson and Medard Chouart in the spring months of 1655. Those opinions were placed in writing, ordered printed and were about to be adopted as adequate history. Indeed, Mr. Upham was so positive concerning the results of his study of Radisson 's narratives that at page 83, Kathio, announcement was made that Radis-

"That statement is erroneous and I now expunge it from my volume IV, above mentioned. After a careful investigation of the historic record so far as the same is available at St. Paul, I have reached what is to me sufficient conclusion that Mr, Upham's opinions concerning Radisson's explorations cannot be safely accepted or adopted as a part and portion of the history of the discovery of Minnesota. Before I proceeded to Prairie Island, where I fully expected to discover an extensive Huron Indian village site, Mr. Upham was requested to contribute for the pages of this volume on account of the results of his studies concerning the original discovery of the area of Minnesota. As soon as it was ascertained that no adequate Huron village site comparable with the descriptions given by Mr. Upham could be found on Prairie Island, he was requested to correct his manuscript to conform to such actual proofs as might be surely ascertained, thereby protecting the credibility and accuracy of Minnesota history. Mr. Upham has repeatedly and positively refused to comply with that reasonable request, incidentally urging that his statement be published herein as originally written. I comply with that request in order to review for the benefit of Minnesota history the fallacies and inaccuracies which his article contains, similar to the review which he has himself extended against the published treatise on the same subject by the late Captain Russell Blakely. That manner of procedure is by me deemed to be the only substantial way to guard against some egregious errors which are about to be precipitated against the integrity and stability of our state history.

'I have failed to discover any substantial declaration, written or printed, definitely indicating that Peter Esprit Radisson, who was in Europe in the early part of 1654, arrived at or near Fox river, "Wisconsin, the same year. His movements during the years 1654 and 1655, after he arrived in New France from Europe, are unknown, unaccounted for and developed in uncertainty and obscurity. Any statement declaring that he certainly proceeded direct from Europe to Prairie Island between the late spring months of 1654 and the early spring of 1655 (conducting a snowshoe voyage across the present area of "Wisconsin as an incidental necessity), unsupported by any definite corroborative evidence except the vague falsifications contained in the book entitled 'Radisson's Narratives,' is insufficient historical data upon which to base the history of the discovery of Minnesota. The fact that two nameless persons proceeded westward from Quebec in 1654 is not definite corroborative evidence.

its sister society at Madison, Wis., as a part of the history of that state, an alleged snowshoe voyage urged in the foregoing paper as certainly having been made by Radisson and Chouart in 1655 from Green Bay to the Mississippi ? The historians of that state have rejected the proposition and it has been declared to be a presumption to force upon them an unwelcome page in their history which lacks any confirmation whatsoever of a reliable character. The opinion of one writer unsupported by sufficient confirmatory evidence cannot and ought not to unduly influence the history of the discovery of the area of Wisconsin and Minnesota, especially so in the event that all the facts concerning Radisson have not become fully known so that we can advisedly and discretely complete our history harmoniously with a neighboring society."

From these opinions Mr. Upham reaches the following conclusion : "In view of the very diverse opinions expressed by the many writers cited in the foregoing bibliography, concerning the routes and dates of the western expeditions of Groseilliers and Radisson, it would certainly be unreasonable for the present writer to expect his studies and conclusions, stated in this paper, to be accepted without challenge and adverse discussions. It will require probably many years for historians to reach a general agreement as to the interpretation of Radisson 's uncouth but exceedingly interesting narratives of these earliest expeditions to the upper Mississippi river (if, indeed, he came there, which some deny) and to the area which is now Minnesota.

"Careful studies of this subject during seven years have led me to believe, with full confidence, that the arguments and results here presented are true, and that they will ultimately be so received by all students of our Northwestern history." This appears on the last page of the book entitled "First White Men in Minnesota," by Mr. Upham, and appears to me to be in the nature of an apology to the readers by the author for having asked the public to consider in a serious manner the proposition that these two French adventurers were ever within two hundred miles of Prairie Island.

The first European to explore the Mississippi above the mouth of the Wisconsin, the first to set foot on the soil of Goodhue county, was undoubtedly Father Louis Hennepin, a Franciscan priest of the Recollect Order. LaSalle, in February, 1680, had erected a fort on an eminence near Lake Peoria, in Illinois, and from this point he determined to send an expedition up the Mississippi. For this task he selected three of his faithful followers. Accordingly, on February 29, Father Hennepin, with two companions named Picard du Gay and Michael Accault set out in a canoe for the upper Minnesota. On the way they fell in with a band of

Sioux on the warpath against the Illinois and the Miami nations. This party accompanied the Frenchmen up the river, evidently in doubt as to whether they should scalp them or treat them as friends. On their way up the party slept one night in April or May, 1680, at the head of Lake Pepin, near Point La Saub. A few leagues up the river, probably about where Red "Wing is now located, Hennepin and his party landed. A chief, probably Red Wing, went clown to tlie shore, and telling the party to leave their canoes, pulled up three piles of grass for seats. Then taking a piece of cedar full of little holes he placed a stick into one and revolved it between the palms of his hands until he kindled a fire. During the meeting the chief informed the Frenchmen that they would be at Mille Lacs in six days. According to Hennepin the whites were held in captivity; according to Accaidjb they were not. At any rate, they went northward with the Indians and went to the region of Mille Lacs, where they arrived early in May, Permission was then given to Hennepin and Auguelle (Pickard) to return in a canoe down the Mississippi to the mouth of the Wisconsin, where they hoped to find a reinforcement of Frenchmen as well as goods and ammunition. Meantime Accault was left with the Indians, possibly as a hostage. On this voyage down the river, Hennepin and Pickard again passed the bluffs of Goodhue county. Further down the river they wTere again captured, according to Hennepin, and finding no Frenchmen at the spot where they hoped, late in July the party of Indians and Frenchmen made their way up the Mississippi and met DuLuth and several French soldiers who had come from Lake Superior by the canoe route of the Brule and St. Croix rivers. They all then went back to the Isanti villages near Mille Lacs, where DuLuth the previous year had met the Indians in council and endeavored to show them what benefits they would receive from trading with the French. DuLuth sharply reprimanded the savages for their attitude toward Hennepin and his companions, who henceforth had no reason to complain of their treatment. In the autumn (1681) , on pretense of bringing goods to establish a trading post, DuLuth, Hennepin and other Frenchmen were allowed to depart. On their journey down the Mississippi they again passed Goodhue county, this time with DuLuth and his companions. According to Sieur DuLuth, the Indians near the source of Run river, this state, near the latter end of September, 1681, held a great council, at which Ousicoude (Wacoota), the head chief, prepared for them a chart of the route, by the way of the Mississippi and Wisconsin, to Green Bay. "Minnesota Historical Collections, volume 1, page 316 (note). The name of the chief in Dakota was Wazikute (Wah-zee-koo-tay), or the 'Shooter of the Pines.' Long's expedition in 1823 met a Dakota at Red Wing

Le Sueur had visited Prairie Island and established a trading post in 1695, after having' prevailed upon the Dakota and Chippewa Indians to recognize the island as neutral ground, bury the hatchet, and live together in friendly intercourse, for the purpose of amusement and trade.

Of this post. La Harpe, in the introduction of his narrative of Le Sueur's mining expedition in 1700. wrote as follows, according to Shea's translation: "M. Le Sueur, by order of the Count de Frontenac, Governor General of Canada, built a fort on an island in the Mississippi, more than 200 leagues above the Illinois, in order to effect a peace between the Santeurs nations (Ojibways), who dwell qc I lie shores of a hike of five hundred leagues circumference Lake Superior), one hundred leagues east of the river, and the Sioux, posted on the upper Mississippi. The same year, according to his orders, he went down to Montreal in Canada with a Sauteur chief named Chingouabe and a Sioux named Cioscate Tioscate i. who was the first of his nation who had seen Canada."

Penicaut wrote of Prairie Island, as translated by Hill: "At the end of tin- lake (Pepin) yon come to Paid Island, so called because there arc no treeson it. It is on this island that the French from Canada established their fort and storehouse when they come to trade for furs and other merchandise, and they also winter here because game is very abundant in the prairies on both shores of the river. In the month of September they bring their store of meat there procured by hunting, and after having skinned and (leaned it. place it upon a sort of raised scaffold near the cabin, in order that the extreme cold, which lasts from the month of September to the end of March, may hinder it from corrupting during the winter, which is very severe in that country. During the whole winter they do not go out except for water, when they have to break the ice every day; and the cabin is generally built on the bank, so as not to have to go far. When spring arrives the savages come to the island, bringing their merchandise, which consists id' all kinds of furs, as beaver, otter, marten, lynx and many others - the bear skins are generally used to cover the canoes of the savages and < 'anadians. There are often savages who pillage the French Canadian traders, among others the savages of a village composed of the five different nations, and which have each their own name: that is. the Sioux, the people of the big village; the Mententons, the Mencouacantons. the Ouyatespony and other Sioux of the plains. Three leagues higher up. after leaving this island, you meet on the right the river St. Croix."

Prance, published in 1744. the following brief description of this island is translated: "On going above the lake (Pepin) one comes to Isle Pelee, so named because it has not a single tree, but is a very beautiful prairie. The French of Canada have often made it the center of their trade in these western districts, and many have also wintered there, because all this country is excellent for hunting."

There have been found on Prairie Island in modern times such articles as iron axes of very ancitnl make, "strike-a-light" flintlock guns, pistols, etc., indicating an early occupation by whites long previous to the settlement in 1837-53.

Rev. Neill says: "In June, 1727, an expedition left Montreal under Rene Boucher, Sieur de la Perriere, to establish a post on Lake Pepin. His party, arriving there on September 17 following, built a post, according to Father Guignas, upon the western shore of Lake Pepin, about the middle of the north side, on a low point where the soil is excellent. We are here on the parallel of 43 degrees and 41 minutes." Again Xeill says: "Frontenac, in Goodhue county, occupied the site of this old fort, and recently a four and a six-pound cannon ball were found at the railway station five feet below the surface. It is noteworthy that Sieur La Perriere Boucher, the officer in command of the Indians who surprised Haverhill. Mass.. killed the minister of the town, scalped his wife and broke the skull of his child against a rock, and shot one Samuel Sibley, said to be a relative of Hon. H. H. Sibley, of St. Paul, was the person who established this post at Point au Sable of Lake Pepin. A connection of the leader of the expedition was the wife of a person named Pepin (Jean Pepin), and this may account for the name of the lake. The post was located at the Sandy Point, which extends into Lake Pepin opposite Maiden's Rock. Boucher built a stockade of pickets twelve feet high, forming a square of 100 feet, with two bastions, and called the post Fort Beauharnois. in compliment to the governor of Canada. On April 15, 1728. the water in the lake was unusually high and overflowed the point, so that the log buildings within the enclosure were full of water and it was necessary, for two weeks, to dwell upon higher ground. The principal trader at the post ;it this time was the Sieur de Mont Brun Boucher, a In-other of the commandant: and the armorer and blacksmith was Francis Campau, a brother of him who settled at Detroit.' and whose descendants are so numerous in Michigan.

"Owing to the hostility of the Renards, or Fox Indians, early in October, 1728, the post was left in charge of a young man, the Sieur Dutrost Jemeraye. and a few voyagers, while the rest placed the goods in canoes, retreated down the Mississippi toward the Illinois river and were captured by allies of the Renards. The Sieur Jemeraye, early in 1729, abandoned the post, and nothing was done toward its re-establishment. In March, 1730, the Sieur Marin, a bold officer, moved against and had an engagement of the 'warmest character' with the Renards in Wisconsin; and in September of the same year another French force attacked them, killed many of their warriors and compelled them to escape.

"After this defeat of the F»xes it was determined to build a new post on higher ground, yet in the vicinity of the first stockade, which had been destroyed. The new commandant was Sieur Portneuf. Linctot's son, Campau and several others were licensed to trade with the Sioux. Linctot passed the winter of 1731-32 at 'Mantagne Quitrempe Dans L'eau,' now corrupted to Trempealeau, and early in the spring of 1732 proceeded to the vicinity of Sandy Point, Lake Pepin, and found at the site of the old stockade ;i large number of Sioux awaiting his arrival. Selecting a belter position, he erected a larger post, the pickets enclosing I2(i let square, and there were four bastions. The Sieur Linctot. jti 1733, asked to be relieved, and the able officer, Sieur Legardeur St. Pierre, was sent to command. Upon the 6th of May. ITMti. St. Pierre was informed by letters from Lake Superior of the dreadful massacre of twenty-one Frenchmen on an island in the Lake of the Woods by a party of Sioux. The 16th of September there came to the Lake Pepin post a party of Sioux with some beaver skins as a pledge of friendship, and the next day another party, one of whom wore in his ear a silver pendant. When asked by St. Pierre how he obtained the ornament he refused to answer, and the captain tore it from his ear and found that it was similar in workmanship to those sold by the traders, and then placed him under guard. The Sioux, in December, were unruly, and burned the pickets around the garden of Guignas, chaplain of the post. In the spring of 1737 a war party of 0 jib ways appeared from the St. Louis river of Lake Superior, and wished to attack the Sioux, and threatened St. Pierre; and after conferring with the son of Linctot, the second officer, in May. 1737, he set fire to the post and descended the Mississippi.

"After a few years the Sioux begged that the French would return to Lake Pepin, and in 1750 the governor of Canada sent the great Indian fighter and stern officer, Pierre Paul Marin, to take command there, and Marin's son was stationed at Chagauamigon, on Lake Superior. In 1752 Marin the elder was relieved at Lake Pepin and his son became his successor. The war between the French and English, which continued several years, led to the abandonment of the post at Lake Pepin. Captain Jonathan Carver, the first British traveler in Minnesota, mentioned in his book of travels in L766 he observed the ruins of a French factory (trading post), where, it is said, Captain St. Pierre resided, and carried on a very great trade with the Naudowessies before the reduction of Canada.

-'Lieutenant Pike, the first officer of the United States army to pass through Lake Pepin, writing in 1805 of Point au Sable, or Sandy Point, which he reached on the same day of the same month as La Perriere in 17127. observes: "The French, under the government of M. Frontenac, drove the Renards, or Otaguainies, from the Ouisconsing, and pursued them up the Mississippi; and as a barrier built a stockade on Lake Pepin on the west shore just below Point au Sable; and. as was generally the case with that nation, blended the military and mercantile professions by making their fort a factory for the Sioux.'

"A short distance from the extreme end of the point, near the mouth of what Pike, on his map. calls Sandy Point, there is an eminence from which there is an extensive view of Lake Pepin below and above the sandy peninsula."

There is evidence that there had been once a clearing there,, and it is the most suitable spot in the vicinity for a stockade, and visible to anyone coming up in a boat from the bend near where Lake City is now situated. By the valley of the creek the Sioux of the prairies could readily bring their peltries to the post. The cannon balls found in the ground at Frontenac station may have been discharged in some engagement with hostile Indians, or they may have been taken from the fort, after its abandonment, and placed in a cache.

In the meantime, there were probably many explorers and traders who passed Goodhue county; but the next one of whom we have an authentic record is Jonathan Carver, the first native white American to explore the Mississippi. He did not, however, . land at Red "Wing, but passed by on the other side of the island, through what is known as the back channel.

Then came the sturdy sailor, Zebulon M. Pike, who carried the American flag, and informed the Indians that the President of the United States, and not a European monarch, was now their great father. Pike passed Red Wing on September 18, 1805T on his way up the river. Of Pike's visit to Red Wing he himself wrote: "Embarked after breakfast. Mr. Cameron with his boats came on with me, crossed the lake, rounded it, and took an observation at the upper end. I embarked in one of his canoes, and we came up Canoe river (Cannon river), where there was a small band of Sioux, under the command of Red Wing, the second war chief of the nation. He made me a speech and presented a pipe, punch and a buffalo skin. He appeared a man of sense, and promised to accompany me to St. Peters." I think that on September

18, 1805, Lieutenant Pike, for the first time in history, spoke the English name of the Sioux chieftain Bed AYing. On his return trip he calls him by his French name, Aile Rouge. Continuing his narrative of the trip up the river, Pike says: "We encamped on the end of the island, and although not more than 11 o'clock, Avere obliged to stay all night; distance eighteen miles."

Lieutenant Pike writes after that, leaving his camp on the island, he proceeded to the mouth of the Minnesota river, then known as St. Peter, when on the 23rd of September, 1805, he held a council with sonic of the Dakota chiefs, and purchased from the Dakota Indians a large portion of hind now known as Fort Snelling. Somewhere above the mouth of the St. Croix and below the mouth of the Minnesota rivers. Pike notes the following: "I observed a white Mag on shore today, and on landing observed il to be white silk; it was suspended over a scaffold, on which were laid four dead bodies, two enclosed in boards and two in bark. They were the bodies. 1 was informed, of two Sioux women who had Lived with two Frenchmen, one of their children and some other relative, two of whom died at St. Peter and two at St. Croix. This is the manner of the Sioux burial, when persons die a natural de-ath ; but when they are killed they suffer them to remain unburied. Tins circumstance brought to my recollection the bones of a man I found on the hills below the Si. Croix. The jawbone I brought on board. He must have been killed on the spot. Distance twenty-four miles."

The names of some of the chiefs thai signed the treaty granting the United States the land spoken of above are familiar to our people. I quote from the "St. Paul Daily Democrat" of May 21, 1854, an article by Dr. Thomas Foster: "LeBoccasse should be written 'Bras <';isse,' or 'Broken Arm.' His Indian name was, tI believe, Wa-kan-tah-pay, and as late as 1825 he was still living at his small village. AYahpaykootans, on a lake near the Minnesota, some five or six miles below Prairie La Fleeh, now LeSueur. The last named on the list is Le Bouef epie Marche, the 'Walking Buffalo.' or Tah-taw-kah-mah-me. He was a kind of sub-chief of old Wabasha, who was not present, being also called Red Wing, and it is from him that the name of the village at the head of Lake Pepin derives its name. lie was the father of AVah-koo-tay. Hie present old chieftain of the Red Wing band." After Pike had concluded the treaty at the mouth of the Minnesota, he continued on up the river, for, as he states, a distance of two hundred and thirty miles, and went into camp for some time. In the spring of 1806' he revisited Red AVing again; but I shall let him tell the story himself.

mit rowed us; the first boat or canoe we met with on the voyage able to do it, but then they were double manned and light. Arrived at the band of the Aile Rouge (Red Wing) at two o'clock, where we were saluted as usual. We had a council, when he spoke with more than detestation of the rascals at the mouth of the St. Peter's than any man I had yet heard. He assured me, speaking of the fellow who had fired on my sentinel and threatened to kill me. that if 1 thought it requisite, he should be killed; but that, as there Mere many chiefs above with whom he wished to speak, he hoped I would remain one day, when all the Sioux would be down, and I might have the command of a thousand men of them, that I would probably think it no honor1; but that the British used to flatter them ; they were proud of having them for soldiers. I replied in general terms, and assured him it was not for the conduct of two or three rascals that I meant to pass over all the good treatment I had received from the Sioux nation, but that in general council I wTould explain myself. That as to the scoundrel who fired at my sentinel, had I been at home the Sioux nation would never have been troubled with him, for I would have killed him on the spot. But that my young men did not do it, apprehensive that I would he displeased. I then gave him the news of the Sauteurs; that as to remaining one day it would be of no service ; that I was much pressed to arrive below, as my general expected me, my duty called me, and that the state of my provision demanded the utmost expedition; that I would be happy to oblige him, but that my men must eat. He replied that Lake Pepin, being yet shut with ice, if I wrent on and encamped on the ice it wTould not get me provision. That he would send out all his young men the next day, and that if the other bands did not arrive he would depart the day after wTith me. In short, after much talk. I agreed to remain one day, knowing that the lake was closed, and that Ave could proceed only nine miles if wTe went ; this appeared to give general satisfaction. I was invited to different feasts, and entertained at one by a person whose father wTas enacted a chief by the Spaniards. At this feast I saw a man (called by the French the Roman Nose, and by the Indians the "Wind that Walks) who wyas formerly the second chief of the Sioux, but being the cause of the death of one of the traders, seven years since, he voluntarily relinquished the dignity and has frequently requested to be given up to the whites. But he was now determined to go to St. Louis and deliver himself up where he said they might put him to death. His long repentance, the great confidence of the nation in him, would perhaps protect him from a punishment which the crime merited. But as the crime wTas committed long before the United States assumed its authority, and as no law of theirs could affect it, unless it w^as ex-post facto, and had a retrospective effect, I conceived it would certainly be dispunishable now. I did not think it proper, however, to inform him so. I here received a letter from Mr. Kollet, partner of Mr. Cameron, with a present of some brandy, coffee, and sugar. I hesitated about receiving those articles from the partner of the man I intended to prosecute; their amount being trifling, however, I accepted of them, offering him pay. I assured him that the prosecution arose from a sense of duty and not from any personal prejudice. My canoe did not come up in consequence of the head wind. Sent out two men in a canoe to set fishing lines ; the canoe overset, and had it not been for the timely assistance of the savages, who carried them into their lodges, undressed them, and treated them with the greatest humanity and kindness, they must inevitably have perished. At this place I was informed that the rascal spoken of as having threatened my life had actually cocked his gun to shoot me from behind the hills, but was prevented by the others.

'April 14. Monday. - Was invited to a feast by the Roman Nose. His conversation was interesting, and shall be detailed hereafter. The other Indians had not yet arrived. Messrs. AYood, Frazer, and myself, ascended a high hill called the Barn, from which we had a view of Lake Pepin, the valley through which the .Mississippi by numerous channels wound itself to the St. Croix ; tlie ( 'annon river, and the lofty hills on each side.

"April 15, Tuesday. - Arose very early and embarked about sunrise, much to the astonishment of the Indians, who were entirely prepared for the council when they heard I had put it off; however, after some conversation with Mr. Frazer, they acknowledged that it was agreeable to what I had said, that I would sail early, and that they could not blame me. I was very positive in my word, for I found it by far the best way to treat the Indians. The Aile Rouge had a beaver robe and pipe prepared to present, but was obliged for the present to retain it."

From this time onward all the early celebrities of Minnesota passed this way on their journey to Fort Snelling and other settlements that were afterward made. That many of them stopped with the Indians at Red Wing occasionally is not unlikely. In 1823 the first steamboat, the "Virginia," from St. Louis, came up the river, and up to May 26, 1826, fifteen steamers had passed Barn Bluff. After that they became more frequent.

Major Long was ordered by the War Department in the summer of 1817 to proceed west and. examine sites on the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers suitable for the location of fortifications. "Minnesota in Three Centuries," on page 363, Vol. I, gives an account of Major Long's visit at Red Wing: 'The next day, on Julv 18, Long similarly examined the country adjoining the mouth of the St. Croix, in relation to its advantages for a military post. Mis stock of provisions was already nearly exhausted, and therefore a delay through the afternoon was allowed at the village of the old Sioux chief Red Wing, for catching fish, and Long ascended the Barn Bluff, called by its French name of the Grange in his journal. He wrote: "From the summit of the Grange the view of the surrounding scenery is surpassed, perhaps, by very few. if any. of a similar character that the country and probably the world can afford. The sublime and beautiful are here blended in the most enchanting manner, while the prospect has very 1 ittle to terrify or shock the imagination.' "

I quote from ".Minnesota in Three Centuries." Vol. II, pages 37-38. that portion of .Major Forsyth's journal that pertains to Red Wing: "A't Prairie du Chien Colonel Leavenworth (1819) was joined by Major Thomas Forsyth, a special Indian agent, wdio had been sent up from St. Louis in charge of the provisions, etc., for the troops to be stationed at the St. Peter's, and 'a quantity of.goods, say $2,000 worth.' to be delivered to the Sioux in payment for the lands ceded by them to the United States under the Pike treaty of 1806. As stated, he joined Colonel Leavenworth at Fort Crawford and accompanied the expedition to the St. Peter's. Major Forsyth kept a daily journal of his trip from St. Louis to the St. Peter's and return. This important manuscript was secured from his son. Colonel Robert Forsyth, of St. Louis, in 1871, by Dr. Lyman C. Draper, and published in the Wisconsin Historical collections, of which he (Dr. Draper) was editor, and was reprinted in Volume III of the Minnesota Society Collections. From this journal the incidents of the voyage of Colonel Leavenworth to Minnesota have, in the main, been obtained.

'The Sioux bad somehow learned that an agent of their American Father was on his way with presents for them, and on the arrival of Major Forsyth at Prairie du Chien, July 5, he found the son of Chief Red Wing, with a considerable band, awaiting him. Young Red Wing at once began begging for goods. He said a member of his band had recently been killed by the Chippewas, and on this account the hearts of himself and companions were very sad, and therefore the major should at once give them goods to assuage their grief and lighten the gloom of their bereavement. 'But all this,' writes Major Forsyth, 'was a mere begging speech. I told him that I meant to go up with the troops to the River St. Peter's, and on my way up I would stop at their different villages, where I would speak to them and give them a few goods, but that I would not give any goods at this place. Yet he is such a beggar that he would not take any refusal. I got up in an abrupt manner and left him and his band to study awhile.' A week later the major writes: 'The Red Wing's son is still begging.' And not until the 15th, after a stay of ten days, did he leave for home, to Forsyth's great relief. But in the meantime old "Wabash, he of one eye, whose big village was near the present site of Winona, had arrived, and a week later old Red Wing himself, with twenty followers, from their village, where the City of Red W7ing now stands, had come. 'This is another begging expedition,' writes Major Forsyth. Lake Pepin was 'crossed with ease' on the 18th, and the next morning Major Forsyth had 'a little talk' with Chief Red AVing at his village. 'I gave him some goods. He was much pleased with his presents. His son (whom the major encountered at Prairie du Chien) is exactly what I took him to be - a trifling, begging, discontented fellow.' This clay, after making twenty-four miles, the expedition encamped at the mouth of the St. Croix, which is described as a 'large river.' On the evening of the 20th a landing was made at Medicine Wood, probably near Gray Cloud Island. Medicine AVooel takes its name from a large beech tree, which kind of wood the Sioux are unacquainted with, supposing that the Great Spirit plaeed it there as a genius to protect or punish them according to their deserts. This is the first and perhaps the only recorded instance of the existence of a beech tree in Minnesota, and it might therefore properly have a 'medicine' character, that term being Sioux for supernatural or deeply mysterious."

Henry R. Schoolcraft in 1820 accompanied the Cass expedition as mineralogist and historian, and that part of the journey relating to Red Wing will be found in the work entitled Minnesota in Three Centuries, Vol. 1, page 353: "The next day they passed the mouth of the St. Croix, and at noon arrived at the village of Talangamane (for Tatankamani, his Dakota name, meaning Walking Buffalo), or the Red Wing, consisting of four large lodges and several other smaller, built of logs like those of Little Crows. Of this chief, Red Wing, and his band, Schoolcraft wrote: 'Talangamane is now considered the first of his nation, which honor, it is said, he enjoys both on account of his superior age and sagacity. He appears to be about sixty, and bears all the marks of that age. Very few of his people were at home, being engaged in hunting and fishing. We observed several fine cornfields near the village, but they subsist chiefly by taking sturgeon in the neighboring lake, and by hunting deer. The buffalo is also occasionally killed, but they are obliged to go two days' journey west of the Mississippi before this animal is found in plenty.' "

Major Long Again, in 1823, called at Red Wing, and I quote from the same authority as above: "On the evening of June 30. Major Long arrived at the village of the chief Red AVing, then called Shakea; and in the next forenoon the boat party arrived there I>y invitation of Shakea a ceremonious council was held in his cabin, over which he hoisted the United States nag. Being shown the map of the upper Mississippi region used for the expedition, the Indians readily understood it, traced and named its rivers, and one of them laid his finger upon the Falls of St. Anthony, which he called Ilahawotepa."

The first men to locate 'on what is now the site of Red Wing were Revs. Daniel Gavin and Samuel Denton, sent out by a missionary society of Basle, Switzerland. After arriving in this region. Mr. Denton married Persis Skinner and later Mr. Gavin married Lucy C. Stevens, of Lake Harriet. Their first mission was located at Trempeleau, on the Mississippi, near the present site of Winona, and its field of work was near Wabasha's Prairie. However, the Sioux of that region had become degenerated through intermarriage, and the missionaries in 1837 decided to come to Red AVing's village, where the Indians were of a higher degree of intelligence and morality. Mr. and Mrs. Denton came first and were soon joined by Mr. and Mrs. Gavin. They built two mission houses of logs on a spot which is now about a third of the way along the east side of Bush street, between Third and Main streets. One of the houses extended into what is now the street. It is unfortunate that we have not a more complete account of the work done by these devoted souls. To them belongs more credit than has ever been accorded them. The Indians were taught to read and write and many of them learned farming and gardening. In July. 1838, Airs. Denton, writing to Governor Sibly. said :

"The Indians have planted something more than thirty acres of corn, also some vegetables, all of which are growing finely. They are now in excellent humor, and have about given up the practice of begging from us. Many thanks for your prompt attention to our call for seeds. Could you see how finely they are growing in our beautiful garden I am sure that you would be glad with us. Indeed you can hardly imagine what wonderful improvements have been made at our village since you were here. You must know also that among many other mercies which I enjoy I have at length a friend with me, a Miss Blakesly, from the vicinity of Cooperstown, N. Y. I know that you will rejoice at this, as you knowT howr much I needed assistance."

This letter would indicate that the Dentons and Gavin families were in the habit of entertaining the people at Fort Snelling as well as other guests from time to time. The Gavins left Red Wing in 1845 on account of the ill health of Mrs. Gavin, and a year later the Dentons also left on account of the ill health of Mr. Denton. The respect in which these missionaries were held by the Indians is shown by the fact that the mission houses reuu HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY mained unmolested for two years, until the arrival of the Rev. J. F. Aiton in 1848. J. W. Hancock came the following year. Revs. Aiton and Hancock were sent out by the American Board of Foreign Missions and moved into the houses abandoned by their predecessors, the Messrs. Denton and Gavin. Mr. Aiton soon afterward departed, having, however, rendered future generations the great service of having' closely examined the few stone cairns in this vicinity and established their identity as burial places.

The above are the cold historical facts as we find them, and as I am supposed to write only of those things that transpired previous to 1853, and while our old friend, the Rev. J. AY. Hancock, will receive full mention in this work by persons delegated to that duty, yet I cannot drop my pen without adding a few words out of respect to the man whose memory all the old pioneers delight in honoring.

In 1852-53 I was a member of Rev. J. W. Hancock's Sunday school, when it was held in the little log cabin that stood in what is now Bush street. There were perhaps six or eight of we small white children and fifteen or twenty little red brethren and sisters. While Julia Bevans instructed the white children (in the English language) how to walk in the straight and narrow way, so that when we had passed over to that "bourne from whence none return"' Ave might be worthy to wear a crown of glory. Mr. Hancock was laboring hard with the little Indians (in the Sioux language), endeavoring to impress the same lesson upon their minds. I do not think the lesson indelibly impressed on my memory the first day of my attendance at a house of divine worship will ever be forgotten.- The plan of instruction at the Sunday schools in those early days was different from the course now pursued : not so much of love or mercy but more of his satanic majesty, lakes of fire and everlasting torment, if you departed from the path of rectitude.

AVhile it is true that Mr. Hancock served only for two or three years as a missionary to the Indians, yet he remained for over sixty years in administering spiritual grace and comfort to a class of whites, who were as much in need of a saving grace as the wild Indians, and by his everyday life and example caused men to stop and consider, thereby making them better men. I know that Mr. Hancock had many trials and disappointments in his early life here in those pioneer days, but you will not find them mentioned in any of his early writings ; neither did he go to his neighbors and friends with a tale of wroe. but always with a smile, a good word to all, satisfied that he had a mission to fulfill ; and by the everyday life he led in our midst and for all those years of trouble and privations I am firm in the belief that he is now enjoying the reward, in the fullest extent, that he so justly merits. Charles Gould, Snow the trader, Calvin Potter, James McGinnis, William Freeborn and my father, Dr. \\\ W. Sweney, thus begin-

Following Mr. Hancock, or possibly in one or two cases preceding him, came John Bush, Benjamin Young, James Wells, Charles Gould, Snow the trader, Calvin Potter, James McGinnis, William Freeborn and my father, Dr. W. W. Sweney, 'thus beginning the influx of modern settlement.

William Montgomery Sweney, whose studious article appears above, was born in Fulton county. Illinois, November 6, 1849, son of William Wilson and Maria M. Sweney, and was brought to this village with his parents as an infant. He attended Rev. J. W. Hancock's mission school and later took a course in Hamline University, at that time located in Red AVing. Having spent the early part of his life amid pioneer conditions, he early accpiired a love of nature, which has since resulted in exhaustive studies in archaeology and geology, in both of which he was a thorough student and able writer. In 1876 he graduated from Bellevue Hospital Medical College, in New York City, and took up the practice of medicine in Red Wing. Yielding to the solicitation of his friends, he has served the city as alderman, and in this capacity has been an earnest advocate of purer water for general use in the city, his efforts resulting in the now projected municipal artesian well water supply. Dr. Sweney was married in 1880 to Delia M. Drew, by whom he has four children - William M., born February 8. 1882; James H.. born November 2, 1881: Marjorie M. born May 11. 1893, and Edward B., born February 23, 1898.