Jackson County, Minnesota - Chapter 6: Resettlement and Organization - 1857-1859, 1910

IT SEEMS strange that in less than two months after the terrible Inkpaduta massacre - at a time when only a handful of men were braving the dangers of the Indian country by remaining in what was then known as the Springfield settlement - the legislature of the territory of Minnesota should see fit to create the political division known as Jackson county and make provision for its organization. But such is the case, and Jackson countv was for the first time entitled to a place on the map of Minnesota on May 23, 1857, when Governor Samuel Medary attached his signature to the bill creating it.

Conditions in Minnesota territory at the time were unique. Thousands of people were pouring in and building themselves homes in the frontier sections. Elaborate schemes for big ventures were planned ; nothing was done in a niggardly manner; frenzied finance reigned supreme. Railroad rumors filled the air, and it was indeed an out-of-the-way place that did not look forward to the coming of the iron horse in the immediate future. Paper roads covered the territory from one end of the territory to the other, and southwestern Minnesota was no exception to the rule. The territorial legislature caught the fever and granted bonuses to- various contemplated railroads. The townsite boomers carried their schemes to the legislature and largely for their benefit the Minnesota law making body indiscriminately created counties in all parts of the territory- - in many of which there was not at the time a single resident. And Jackson county came into existence under these conditions.

Investigation shows us that in addition to the Indian title, which was quieted by treaty in the early fifties, the land now comprising Jackson county has been in the possession of three different civilized nations and has formed a part of six different territories of the United States and of three different counties of Minnesota.

Our county formed a small part of the new world possessions claimed by France by right of discovery and exploration. In 17G3, humbled by wars in Europe and America, France was forced to relinquish her province known as I^uisiana, and all her possessions west of the Mississippi liver were ceded to Spain in that year. Amid the exigencies of European wars Spain, in the year 1800, ceded Louisiana back to France, which was then ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte. On April 30, 1803, negotiations were completed for the purchase of Louisiana by the United States

Soon after the United States secured possession - in 1805 - that part of the mammoth territory of Louisiana which had been called Upper Louisiana was organized into Missouri territory, and had our county then had settlers they would have been under the government of Missouri. Missouri was admitted as a state in 1820, and for several years thereafter the country beyond its northern boundary, comprising what is now Iowa and all of Minnesota west of the Mississippi river, was without organized government. But in 1834 congress attached this great expanse of territory to Michigan territory. Two years later Wisconsin territory was formed, comprising all of Michigan west of I/ake Michigan and for the next two years we were a part of that territory.

Congress did a lot of enacting and boundary changing before Jackson county got where is belonged. We became a part of Iowa territory when it was created in 1838, because we were included in "all that part of the [then] present territorv of Wisconsin which lies west of the Mississippi river and west of a line drawn due north from the headwaters or sources of the Mississippi to the territorial line." Jackson county was a part of Iowa territorv until Iowa became a state in 1846. During this time settlers began to locate in portions of what later became Minnesota, and they were put under the jurisdiction of Clayton county, lowa.^ 'Before this the Minnesota country had been practically a "no man's land." The only laws enforced were the rules of the fur companies and the law of the sword administered bv the commandant at Fort

'Henry H. Sibley, who lived at Mendota. was a justice of the peace of that county. The county seat was 260 miles distant, and his Jurisdiction extended over a region of country "as large as the empire of France."

Snelling. By the admission of Iowa as a state in 1846 our county again became actually a "no man's land;" we were a part of no territory or state. That condition existed until Minnesota territory was created in 1849.-

When the first legislature convened after the organization of the territor}' in 1849 it divided Minnesota into nine counties, named as follows: Benton, Dakota, Itasca, Cass, Pembina, Ramsey, Washington, Chisago and Wabasha. The whole of southern Minnesota was included in Wabasha and Dakota, and of these two, Dakota had the bulk of the territorv. Waa basha included that part of the territory "lying east of a line running due south from a point on the Mississippi river known as Medicine Bcttle village, at Pine Bend [near St. Paul], to the Iowa lino." Dakota county (created October 27, 1849) was "all that part of said territory west of the Mississippi and lying west of the county of Wabasha and south of a line beginning at the mouth of Crow river, and up said river and the north branch thereof to its source, and thence due west to the Missouri river."'*

It may be of interest to know that only an unfavorable act of congress prevented Jackson county from being divided - part to go to Iowa and part to the future Minnesota. In 1844 a constitutional convention prepared a constitution for the state of Iowa which provided for boundaries in part as follows: From a point where the Sioux or Calumet river enters the Missouri, in a straight line to a point where the Watonwan enters St. Peter's (Minnesota) river (which it does not. but rather the Blue Earth), and thence down the St. Peter's to the Mississippi and down that river. This line defining the northwest boundary would extend, on a present day map, from Sioux City. Iowa, to Mankato. Minnesota, and would pass through Jackson county. Had congress ratified this constitution, which it did not. the present Jackson county would have been partly in Iowa and partly in Minnesota.

^Minnesota territor>' then extended to the Missouri river. In this mammoth county of Dakota there were the following present day counties (or parts of counties) in Minnesota, in addition to many in what is now the state of South Dakota: Rock, N'obles, Jackson. Martin, Faribault. Freeborn. Steele. Waseca, Blue Elarth. Watonwan. Cottonwood, Murray. Pipestone. Lincoln, Lyon, Redwood, Brown, Nicollet, Lesueur, Rice, Dakota (part), Scott. Sibley, Renville. Yellow Medicine, Lac qui Parle, Chippewa. Kandiyohi (except small corner). Meeker (part). McLeod. Carver. Hennepin, Wright (part), Stearns (small part). Pope (part). Swift, Stevens (part), Big Stone and Traverse (part).

Although Dakota county was larger than many of the eastern states its population was almost nothing, and it was declared ^'organized only for the purpose of the appointment of justices of the peace, constables and such other judicial and ministerial officers as may be specially provided for."

The future Jackson county remained apart of Dakota county until March 5, 1853, when there was a readjustment of Dakota and Wabasha county boundaries, and Blue Earth countv came into existenee. The boundaries of the latter were described as follows: ^^o much territor}* lying south of the Minnesota river as remains of Wabasha and Dakota counties undivided by this act." As the boundaries of the two older counties as defined bv the act were very indefinite, it is impossible to state exactly what the dimensions of Blue Earth county were. It is known, however, that it included all of southwestern Minnesota.

For two years the unknown Jackson county country remained a part of Blue Earth countv, and then came another change. By an act approved February 20, 1855, the count}^ of Blue Earth was reduced to its present boundaries, Faribault countv was created with the boundaries it now has, except that it extended one township farther west than now; and the new county of Brown came into existence. It was described as follows: *That so much of the territory as was formerly included within the county of Blue Earth, and has not been included within the boundaries of any other county as herein established, shall be known as the county of Brown." All of the territory lying south of the Minnesota river and west of a line drawn south from the western boundary of the present day Blue Earth county now became Brown county, and Jackson remained a part of this until two years later, when it became a political division of itself.*

That so much of the territory of Minnesota as lies within the following boundaries be, and the same is hereby, established as the county of Jackson: Beginning at the southeast corner of township 101 north, of range 34 west; thence due north to the northeast comer of township 104 north, of range 34 west; thence due west to the northwest corner of township 104 north, of range 38 west; thence due south to the southwest corner of township 101 north, of range 38 west; thence due east to the place of beginning.

Of the nine counties created only Martin, Jackson^ Nobles and Big Sioux were declared to be organized counties and *'in- VQsted with all the immimities to which organized counties are entitled by law." These four counties were attached to the third judicial district for judicial purposes and to the tenth council district for legislative purposes. Provision was made for the early organization of Jackson county. Besidents of the county were to be named by the governor as commissioners to perfect the organization.® These commissioners were to meet during the

*Brown county was not orsranized at once, but by an act of the legislature on February 11, 1856, It was permitted to organize. New Ulm was named as the county seat.

"Minnesota territory at this time extended west to the Big Sioux river. The other counties created by the act were Martin, Nobles, Murray, Pipestone, Big Sioux, Cottonwood, Rock and Midway. The three first named were given the boundaries they now have. The boundaries of Pipestone county were described as including the present Rock county and the eastern portion of the present Minnehaha county, South Dakota. The boundaries of Rock county were described as including the present Pipestone county and a small part of the eastern portion of the present Moody county, South Dakota. This transposition of the names Rock and Pipestone in the description of their- boundaries in the original act of 1857 may have been due to a lack of knowledge of the physical features of this part of the country, or it may have been due to a clerical error. The mistake was corrected .later. Big Sioux county took in part of the present Minnehaha county and extended from the Big Sioux river eastward to Pipestone (Rock) county. Cottonwood county had the same boundaries as now, except that it did not then have three townships in the northwest corner which it now has. Midway county included that part of the present Moody county which lies between the Big Sioux river and the western boundary of the original Rock (Pipestone) county.

first week in July, 1857, at the county seat and set in motion the machinery of the government. The county seat was temporarily located at Jackson/ tlie townsite of Springfield liaving been renamed Jackson a short time before, as will be told later. Provision for the permanent location was made in section twelve, which reads as follows:

On the petition of twenty legal voters in any of said counties, at any time after the passage of this act, it shall be the duty of the county commissioners to order the legal voters of any of the said counties to vote at any general election for the location of the county seats of said counties, and the point receiving the highest number of votes shall be the county seat of said, coimty.

It is perhaps needless to say that Jackson county was not organized in July, 1857, as the act provided. It is doubtful if there were enough men in the county at the time, excepting the soldiers, to fill the necessary county offices. But within a short time permanent settlers again came to the county and the organization

-Section eleven of the act reads: "The governor shall appoint three persons for each of the respective organized counties, being residents and legal voters thereof, commissioners for each of said counties, with full power and authority to do and perform all acts and duties devolving upon the board of county commissioners of any organized county in this territory, the said board of commissioners shall have power to appoint all other officers that may be required to complete the organization of their respective counties."

'See article by R. I. Holcombe In Pioneer Press almanac for 1896; Warren XTpham's Minnesota County names: Minnesota in Three Centuries. . I ' I

The presence of Lieutenant Murry and his seventeen soldiers at Springfield was the only thing that kept Jackson county from beconring entirely depopulated after the massacre. As it was, only a few spent the summer of 1857 in the countv. Of ihe several families who were in the Springfield settlement at the time of the

-"On the night of June 9. 1842, there landed from a steamboat at St. Paul's a man named Henry Jackson, whose advent proved to be epochal In the career and history of the place. He was a Virginian and was bom in 1811. He had served as orderly sergeant in the 'Patriot Army' of Sam Houston that achieved the independence of Texas. In May, 1838, at Buffalo, New York, he married Angeline Blvins, a model wife for an enterprising and intelligent character, such as he was. Soon after his marriage ho moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and thence to Galena, niinois. where he engaged In business, but was unsuccessful. He had learned of the situation at St. Paul's and determined to establish himself there and with the remnant of his Galena stock to open a store for the sale of Indian and frontier goods. It was a dark rainy night when he landed, he did not know a single person or a single foot of the territory in the place, and it required much search and effort to find a shelter for himself and wife until the morning. Quarters were Anally found at the house of James R. CHewett, although his father-in-law's family, the Perrys. were at the time members of the household. Here Mr. and Mrs. Jackson remained for some days and then Jack.son rented of Pierre Parrant - 'Old Pig's Eve' - a cabin on the levee, which was his residence for some weeks. He soon purchased of Benjamin Gervals about two acres now lying in the block bounded by Jackson and Robert on the east and west and Third and Bench streets on the south and north. The tract was then a high bluff bank, and on a point overlooking the river. Mr. Jackson built a/ cabin of tamarack poles and oDoned a stock of goods especially selected for the local demand. In the summer of 1843 he enlarged and sold a half Interest In his business to William Hartshorn, and in September of that year the Arm took into their employ as clerk and French interpreter Auguste Louis I.arpenteur, a native of Baltimore, but of a prominent old French family and who Is (1908> yet an honored and honoring citizen of St. Paul.

"Henrv Jackson became very prominent and .serviceable in the early affairs of St. Paul. His store was a creditable establishment, was Independent of the fur company and popular among the settlers and the Indians. In 1848, while the Minnesota country east of the Mississippi belonged to Wisconsin territory, he was appointed by Governor Henry Dodge a justice of the peace for St. Croix county. In 1846 he was anpointed the first postmaster at St. PauVn. In 1847 and 1848 he was a member of the WIsf^onsln legislature, renre.senting the county of St. Croix. He was al.««o a member of the first t*>rrltorlal legislature nf Minnesota and of the first town council of St. Paul. In April. 1862, he moved to Mankato. becoming one of the first four settlers of the place, where he died Julv 31. 1857. Jackson street in St. Paul and .Tnck.son county are named for him and also Jnckson street in Mankato. His widow married John S. Hinckley, a pioneer of Mankato. and died in that city January 1, 1894." - Minnesota in Three Centuries.

massacre, only that of Dr. Strong ever returned to live, and Dr. Strong and family did not remain many years. The memory of the awful events was too clear in their minds to tempt back those families who had made settlement along the Des Moines river in the summer and fall of 1856. A few of the unmarried men of the settlement, however, remained during the summer. Among them were Nathaniel Frost, John Dodeon, Joseph Chiffin, Henry Trets and Adam Shiegley.

A few others came in during the summer of 1857 and took claims or bought from those who had departed. Alexander Wood, a brother of the murdered storekeepers, came to look after the .claims. He fell in with a company of townsite sharks, who were operating extensively all over Minnesota at the time, and an agreement was made by the terms of which Mr. Wood was to come and hold down his brothers^ claims and thev were to secure a half interest in the holdings by reason of improvements which they promised to make. Elaborate plans were made for building a town on the townsite selected by William and George Wood, which was to be called Jackson, instead of Springfield. A sawmill and grist mill were to be built, and work on these improvements was commenced. The townsite company did not fulfil its part of the agreement by making the stipulated improvements, possibly because of the panic of that year, and misunderstandings resulted which were afterwards settled in the courts to the benefit of Mr. Wood. . Mr. Wood did not wish to stay on the claim during the winter, so he entered the land as a farm claim, instead of a townsite claim, and spent the winter elsewhere.

Another abortive attempt to found a town in 1857 was made by Joseph Chiffin, John Dodson and James Whitchurch. Their "town'' «iyas located on Mr. Chiffin's claim on section eleven, Des Moines township, and was named Odessa. About this time there was a war between Eussia and Turkey, and the name of the Russian city Odessa was much in the public prints. That furnished the name, and the name was all there was to Odessa. No improvements whatever were made, and Odessa as a Jackson county place name will be handed down simply as an interesting relic of the wildcat townsite days in Minnesota's early history. The Norwegian settlers of 1860 report finding Odessa "a village of sticks, but without any buildings/' The proprietors of the townsite were trappers; they spent the winter of 1857-58 in the Skinner cabin.

Thomas Johnson came to the county in 1857, took a claim near Jackson, and some time later became a permanent resident. Charles Mead came with Mr. Johnson and became a resident of the county. Ned Lower took a claim on section 6, Belmont, in the summer but did not remain during the winter. Charles Kern, commonly called "Dutch Charlie" (he was a Bavarian), was another arrival of the year 1857, and he spent the following winter in the settlement "holding down" the claim of Alexander Wood. Mr. Kern was a man of considerable ability - a newspaper correspondent and a physician as well as a trapper. He resided in the county several years.. As indicated, only a few of these remained in the settlement during the winter; Jackson county was nearly depopulated during the winter of 1857-58.

The mail route between Mankato and Sioux City, which had been discontinued after the death of the carrier, Hoxie Eathban, and which had not been resumed in the spring on account of the massacre, was opened during the summer of 1857. Marsh & Babcock sublet the contract to David Pease, who lived on the Watonwan, and that gentleman carried the mail over the old route until about November 1. At that time the route was changed to go by way of the Spirit lake settlement, and two carriers were employed, a Mr. Johnson for the northern end and Mr. Jareb Palmer for the southern end. They carried the mail until April, 1858, when Mr. Pease again resumed the duties of carrier.

The departure of the soldiers in the fall of 1857 and the removal of most of the white settlers for the winter left those who remained in some apprehension of Indian attack. Although none of Inkpaduta's band came back, there were occasionally seen other Indians who created some alarm. In Buena Vista county, Iowa, about the last of December, 1857, a party of eleven white men attempteil to drive a band of Indians from the countrv. The Indians led the whites into an ambuscade and wounded one of the attackers, and the whites then withdrew and gave up the chase. A few Indians appeared at the Spirit lake settlement during the winter and caused much uneasiness among the few families who were wintering there. A petition was drawn np, signed by every adult in the Spirit lake settlement, and carried to Des Moines by Jareb Palmer. The petition asked the Iowa legislature to send a force of volunteers for their protection.^^

Governor Ijowc authorized the raising of a company of volunteers to go to the frontier, and Mr. Jareb Palmer recruited a company of thirty men, which was mustered in at Webster City and named Frontier Guard. H. B. Martin, of Webster City, was captain, and William L. Church, the former Springfield settler, was first lieutenant. The Frontier Guard arrived in the exposed settlements on March 1 and was divided into three squads - one at Spirit lake, one on the Des Moines, seven miles above Estherville, and

The guard remained on the frontier until the last of June, and then, as there appeared to be no Indians near the settlements, the soldiers returned to their homes. The countr}' had been thoroughly searched, but no Indians found. On one occasion, at Skunk lake, in Sioux Valley township of Jackson count}', there was found the dead body of an Indian laid upon the nearly horizontal branch of a large but somewhat scrubby oak tree. From the profusion of ornaments found on his person he was supposed to have been a chief or warrior distinguished among his fellows.

""Spirit Lake, January 9, 1858. To the Honorable, the General Assembly- of the State of Iowa. The undersigned citizens, residing- In the vicinity of Spirit lake, would respectfully present for the consideration of your honorable body the condition of the people on the frontier In the northwest part of the state. We are exposed to the attack of Indians under circumstances affording little hope of relief. The settlements are sparse and widely scattered, with but little or no communication with each other. A hostile incursion has already been made and depredations committed In the vicinity where the outrages were committed last winter, and with a result to encourage renewed attempts. At any hour this may be repeated at points utterly unprotected and but poorly supplied with means of defense. Some of the surrounding settlements have already been abandoned for the winter, and all are much weakened In numbers by persons who have left. Many of the settlers remaining cannot leave without abandoning their all and cannot collect in sufficient numbers to withstand attack, and depending - ^as nearly all the remaining settlers do - upon their own exertions for sustenance, must either endure great suffering or remain exposed to danger. If we apply to the general government, relief, if obtained, would be too late. Help for us, to be efficient, must be prompt. A small body of soldiers placed near the Little Sioux river, in the vicinity of the state line, would afford protection to all the settlements on the Little Sioux, about Spirit lake, and on the west fork of the Des Moines river and their vicinity. We would respectfully pray that a law be passed authorizing the raising of one hundred volunteer troops for the term of three months, to be stationed in the north part of the state. Your petitioners also pray for such other means of protection as circumstances demand."

guards there was quite a large immigration to the Spirit lake country, to Jackson county, and to other nearby settlements in the spring of 1858. The appearance of small bands of Indians about the first of September again created apprehension, and the guard returned to the frontier about the middle of November and remained all winter.

During the spring and summer of 1858 many who had been in the county the year before returned to make permanent settlement and several new settlers arrived. Among the more prominent of the settlers of this year was Joseph Thomas, who became one of the best known men of Jackson county." It was during the month of March that Mr. Thomas, accompanied by his son, Lansing, then a youth of nineteen years, James Palmer, his son-in-law, and P. P. Holland, drove into Jackson county by ox team from Newton, Iowa. Mr. Thomas had bought the Wheeler cliaim and cabin from a man named Kellogg, and made his home there until his death. He returned to Newton for provisions and household goods, but came back at once. Lewis Thomas arrived at the new home in July. The rest of the family came the next spring. James Palmer took as a claim the southwest quarter of section 19, Wisconsin township, and continued a resident of the countv until his death.

Nathaniel Frost came back early in the spring to become a permanent settler. George Bradbury came from Newton, Iowa, and took as his claim the north half of the south half of section 30, Wisconsin township, upon which he lived until his death that fall. James Townsend also came from Newton with his family and located on the southeast quarter of section 25, Des Moines township, making his home in the James B. Thomas cabin. During the winter of 1858-59 he went to Man- kato with two yoke of oxen for provisions. On his way back, while near Elm creek, his wagon became stuck in a slough so that the oxen could not pull it out. Mr. Townsend unhitched the oxen, turned them loose, and camped in the slough for the night. In the morning he started out to look for his oxen, but a storm came up and he lost his way. When nearly exhausted from wandering about on the prairie, he came upon an empty cabin near the west chain of lakes, in Martin county, and sought shelter there. He was too badly frozen to make a fire and perished in the cabin. His body was foimd ten days later by trappers. In the spring of 1859 Mrs. Townsend and the children returned to their old home in Newton.

James Meddleson was another unfortunate man who canje to the settlement early in 1858, only to meet a violent death. Soon after his arrival he started down the river in a canoe to take a few traps to John Dodson and Charles Kern, who were trapping in Emmet county, Iowa, and never returned. He had been murdered and his head severed entirely from the body. From this circumstance it was thought that he had been murdered bv Indians.

Benjamin Hill, with his family of a wife and three children, came from Mankato early in the spring, took a claim on the river in Belmont township, and remained several years. Charles Kern was also in the county in 1858 and remained for several years. John McEwen took a claim on section 30, Des Moines township, remained only a few months, and then sold to a Mr. Miller, of Newton, Iowa. The latter remained only a short time. Adam Shiegley, one of the trappers who liad come before the massacre, was in the county again in 1858, and was an intermittent resident for several years. Frank Wagner also came to the settlement from Webster City and remained a few years.

Messrs. Dodson, Chiflin and Whitchurch, of "Odessa/^ continued to hold their land claims and engage in trapping during the year. James Haughton and wife came (luring the summer and located on section 36, Des Moines township, but remained only about one year. Bartholomew Mc- Carthy, who had been to the Springfield settlement before the massacre, returned in the spring of 1858 and became a permanent resident.

Israel F. Eddy, who had previously selected a claim near where the Milwaukee depot in Jackson is now, came with his family in April, 1858, and became a permanent resident. Charles Clark came from Newton, Iowa, and took a claim in Belmont township. Morris Lester came from Mankato in the spring and took a claim on the west side of the river in the southern part of the county, but remained only a short time. Elisha Hill took a claim in Belmont, but departed from the county in the fall. Dr. E. B. N. Strong and his familv continued to reside in the county during 1858 and for some time afterward. Joseph Muck and his large family located near the present site of Jackson, where he lived until 1862.*^ Alexander Wood returned to look after his interests.

Probably a few other people came during the year 1858 to take claims and become permanent settlers, but as there is now none of the settlers of 1858 living in the county the record for the year must remain incomplete.

The townsite schemers of Minnesota appeared before the legislature early in 1858 and succeeded in inducing that body to provide for the establishment of over ninety state roads in different parts of

"In 1862 Mr. Muck and his family moved to Spirit Lake. There his wife died and his son, Stephen, became blind. The same year he enlisted In the Sioux City cavalrv and served In the army until 1864. In 1867 Mr. Muck located In the Graham lakes country. Nobles county, and became the first resident of that county.

the new state, most of them leading to towns which existed only in the minds of the promoters. The provision for the establishment of these roads was incorporated in one bill, approved by Charles L. Chase, acting governor, on March 19, 1858. Mr. Wood and his associates in the scheme for the building of a town at Jackson were not forgotten. Section 86 of the act reads as follows:

.That E. E. Smith, J. S. Fisher and Alexander Wood are hereby appointed commissioners to survey, locate and establish the following state roads, viz: I'rom Blue Earth City, via Fairmont, county seat of Martin county, to Jackson, county seat of Jackson county; also a road from Mankato, via Arcadia, in Brown county, to Jackson, in Jackson county; also a road from Fairmont in a southerly direction to the state line of Iowa

It was during the year 1858 that a company of promoters from Owatonna, Minnesota, founded the town of Belmont on the south half of the southeast quarter of section 34, Belmont township, and the northeast quarter of section 3, Des Moines township, on a flat on the east side of the river. To such an extent had real estate speculation, especially townsite speculation, progressed at this time that some wit of the time suggested a petition be sent to congress asking that a law be passed providing for the reservation of some of the government domain for agricultural entry. To illustrate the condition that permitted the founding of Belmont and other towns on the frontier and their more or less successful exploitation, I quote from a Minnesota state history:

The real estate speculation reached its crisis in the early part of 1857; everybody seemed inoculated with the mania, from the capitalist to the humble laborer. Townsites and additions to towns were laid out by the score. Many were purely imaginary, never having been surveyed, and lots in these paper cities were sold by the hundreds in the east at exorbitant prices. Agriculture was neglected, farmers, mechanics and laborers forsook their occupations to become operators in real estate. The number of real estate dealers was innumerable, but many of them were shysters, having no offices but the sidewalk, their stock in trade being a roll of townsite maps and a package of blank deeds. These operators, by sharp maneuvering, would manipulate unsuspecting strangers and fleece them of their nieans by selling them lots in moonshine towns for several hundred dollars each that were not actually worth as many cents. Such operations were repeated again and again until St. Paul and Minnesota had a name abroad that was anything but enviable.

In such times and under such conditions the town of Belmont was founded. While Springfield and Jackson and Odessa had made no material progress, Belmont did, boasting a number of buildings and one or two business enterprises - probably to the greater loss of lot purchasers. Charles Mead and D. P. Cornell seem to have been the leading spirits of the enterprise, although a number of others were interested with them.

The Belmont townsite boomers went farther with their schemes than most of the speculators of the day, and secured the incorporation of their town by the legislature, the act being signed by Governor Henry H. Sibley July 27, 1858. The first

C. C. Mead, for the proprietors of Belmont, and situated in the county of Jackson, and state of Minnesota, shall be a town corporate by the name of Belmont.

D. P. Cornell, George A. Bardwell and Frederick Noble be and are hereby appointed trustees, Charles G. Berry, secretary, E. W. Northrup, attorney, and S. A. Farrington, treasurer, and George E. Leary, marshal. The president, trustees and secretary shall constitute the council of said town.

Some of the officers of the town - perhaps all of them - located in the new town. At least two of them became permanent settlers of the county, for we find the names of Joshua Dyer and Frederick Noble listed as residents of Jackson county when the federal cen&u? of 1860 was taken.

Section three of the charter provided that the officers named in the act should enter upon their duties on the first Wednesday in January, 1859, and made provision for the holding the first town election at the next general state or county election. The fourth section stated the duties and defined the corporate powers of the officers. Among other items:

The oflficers of said town shall have a right of action against all trespasses on the property of said town; and any person trespassing upon any lands within the limits of said town, or occupying said lands without a conveyance from the proprietors of said town, or their trustees, agents or assignees, shall forfeit all improvements he may make on such lands, and shall be liable to pay damages to twice the amount of actual injustice done to said lands.

Other sections of the charter provided for keeping a record of the proceedings of the council, for filling vacancies, defined the powers of the council, provided for authority to assess and collect taxes for municipal purposes, and for the delivery of records to successors in office. The charter does not definitely locate the town, and, as the county had not yet been surveyed, neither the legislature nor the townsite proprietors knew the exact location as it would appear on a present day map. The land was still government property, but provision was made for securing title under the townsite act of 1844. Section

It shall be the duty of the said council of said town to apply for a preemption of the land within the limits of said town, not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres, under the provisions of an act of congress, entitled an act for the relief of citizens of towns upon lands of the United States, under certain circumstances, approved May 23, 1844; and as soon as the title to said land shall be obtained as aforesaid, to ascertain the persons entitled to the various lots and blocks within said town, who may have a valid right to the same, either by original claim, or by transfer by the person having made such original claim, and to deed under hand of the president and secretary, and to seal with the seal of said corporation, to such persons so entitled, the lots or blocks to which such person may be entitled; provided that no street or alley, or other public ground shall be so deeded; and provided also, that every person or persons to whom such lots or blocks shall be deeded as aforesaid, shall first pay to the treasurer or secretary of said town, for such lots or blocks the cost of entry, and incidental expenses of the same\

The proprietors of the village of Belmont were successful in inducing quite a number of people to locate on their land and actually spent considerable money in an effort to build a town. The people who located in Belmont were trappers, traders and farmers. A number of patches of prairie land were broken up in the vicinity and sown to crops ; surveyors' stakes covered o^er a quarter section of the finest farming land.

That the promoters were sincere in their intentions to build a little city on the frontier is evidenced by the number of enterprises put under way. Among the first improvements was the building of a dam across the river at what later became the Holsten Olson place. It is said that this dam was built during the winter on top of the ice. In the spring, instead of sinking and forming the dam, as the builders expected, the materials were swept away. A dam was then built across the river lower down, but the promoters decided to install a steam mill, and, at great expense the machinery for the county's first sawmill was brought overland with ox teams from St. Paul. The mill was set up on the east side of the river, very close to the center of section three and just west of the residence which was the home of the late Judge Simon Olson for so many years.^*

It was, of course, proposed to make Belmont the county seat of Jackson county, and to this end a two story log court house, about 18x26 feet, with roof of shakes, was built on the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section throe.*" Near the court house was a store building, and just over the line in Belmont township was a hotel. It is believed that a brick yard was located on the northwest quarter of the soutlieast quarter of section 3, for there was found a large quantity of burned brick. Besides the saw mill, court house, brick yard, store and hotel, there were a number of log houses on the townsite. All the buildings were of log, nearly all of which had floors of sawed lumber. There is evidence to show that the inhabitants of the town moved out of their houses during the winter and took refuge from the cold weather in caves dug close to the river in the timber. A number of these caves were found which had the appearance of having been occupied by the Belmont villas^ors, so settlers of a few vears later reported.

When the enumerator took the census of 1860 he reported finding six unoccupied buildings in the town of Belmont. The Norwegian settlers who came in 1860 found most of the buildings standing. There were also one or two of the promoters present who exerted every effort to sell the new comers lots. But as they had all out-doors to select from the Nor- Mcgians did not invest in Belmont town lots, and were accordingly coolly received by the townsite agents.

Like its rival, Jackson, Belmont was able to secure the passage of an act by the legislature providing for the establishment of state roads to the town. On August 5, 1858, a bill was approved providing for, among others, the establishment of three roads to Belmont with commissioners to oversee the work, as follows :

Despite the efforts of the promoters, Belmont was doomed, and within a few years not a sign of the village was to be seen; it had passed into history.'®

The boimdaries of Jackson county were surveyed in September, 1858, but township and section lines were not run until later. The mail route during the latter part of this year was under the management of Orrin Nason and a Mr. Bedow, of Mankato, under the firm name of Nafion and Bedow, and those gentlemen carried the mail between Mankato and Sioux City from that time until 1862, when the service was abandoned. The route was across Jackson county by way of the little settlement of Jackson.

During the year 1858 Jackson county was organized under the act of the legislature of May 23, 1857. John B. Fish, Alexander Wood and a gentleman by the name of Britton were chosen commissioners by the citizens to perfect the organization, but owing to some informality the governor, who had the appointing power, did not recognize these commissioners, but appointed others." The commissioners appointed other residents to fill the various countv offices and the macliinerv of county government was set in motion. These appointees served until their successors, elected in the fall of 1858, qualified.

--"... Belmont for a time promised to oustrip its competitors, Odessa and Jackson, down the river, but Its metropolitan march was brief, and better wheat cannot be grown than John and Andrew Olson now raise on these same lots and avenues of the old townslte of Belmont." - Jackson Republic. March 19, 1870.

and the consequent depopulation of the county. It is greatly to be regretted that so little is known of the county government under this first organization* With a very few exceptions, all records have been lost, only a few miscellaneous records having been preserved - just enough to make certain that the government was maintained during these years.

There was another Indian scare during the winter of 1858-59. Scouts of the Frontier Guard, which was stationed at the Spirit lake settlement all winter, found a few Indians near the head ot Spirit lake, and a detachment of troops was sent out to capture them. The soldiers found two warriors and a half-breed with their families camped in a grove on the east shore of Little Spirit lake, in Minneota township, Jackson county, and took them with their camp equipage to the soldiers' camp. The Indians made no resistence and professed friendship for the whites and intense hatred for Inkpaduta and his Indians.

A few of the settlers at Spirit lake believed tliey recognized in these Indians former followers of the noted outlaw, and the captives were kept under guard. Governor Lowe of Iowa ordered the Indians to' be taken to Des Moines for trial for the Spirit lake murders. In charge of a non-commissioned officer and two j)rivates the Indians were started on their way to trial. When Palo Alta county was reache<l both Indians made their escape and were never seen afterward. Although the captives had now gotten away, their arrest had a salutary effect upon the Sioux of the vicinity. Straggling bands of Indians were occasionally seen in the country after that, but they never pitched their camps in the vicinity. The Iowa guards returned home in May, 1859, and were disbanded.

in the history of Jackson county. Among the new settlers of the year was a party who came during the summer, consisting of D. Mortimer West, wife and sons - Stiles M., M. F., and H. F., - ^James R. West, a brother of D. Mortimer West, Edward Davies and Henry Pease. All except the two younger West boys took land claims, Mr. Davies in northern Des Moines township, the others south of the present site of Jackson. A few other settlers came and took claims, but others moved away, and at the close of the year there were probably not one hundred men, women and children in the county. The settlements were confined solely to the. country along the Des Moines river.