Mower County, Minnesota - Chapter 4: Governmental History, 1911

Chapter 4: Governmental History

Early Claims of Title - Spain, France and England - Treaties and Agreements - The Louisiana Purchase - Indiana - Louisiana District - Louisiana Territory - Missouri Territory - Northwest Territory - Illinois Territory - Michigan Territory - Wisconsin Territory - Iowa Territory - No Man's Land - Sibley in Congress - Minnesota Territory - Minnesota State - Compiled from Manuscripts of Hon. F. M. Crosby.

The liistory of the early government of what is now southern Minnesota, is formulated with some difficulty, as, prior to the nineteenth centurv, the interior of the county was so little known.

and the maps upon which claims and grants were founded were so meagre, as well as incorrect and unreliable, that descriptions of boundaries and locations as given in the early treaties are vague in the extreme, and very difficult of identification with present day lines and locations.

The Hon. J. V. Brower, a scholarly authority upon this subject, says - ("The Mississippi Eiver and Its Sources"): "Spain, by virtue of the discoveries of Columbus and others, confirmed to her by papal grant (that of Alexander VI, May 4, 1493), may be said to have been the first European oAvner of the entire valley of the Mississippi, but she never used this claim as a ground for taking formal possession of this part of her domains other than incidentally involved in De Soto's doings. The feeble objections which she made in the next two centuries after the discovery, to other nations exploring and settling North America, were successfully overcome by the force of accomplished facts. The name of Florida, now so limited in its application, was first applied by the Spaniards to the greater part of the eastern half of North America, commencing at the Gulf of Mexico and proceeding northward indefinitely. This expansiveness of geographical view was paralleled later by the definition of a New France of still greater extent, Avhich practically included all the continent.

"L'Escarbot, in his history of New France, written in 1617, says, in reference to this: 'Thus our Canada has for its limits on the Avest side all the lands as far as the sea called the Pacific, on this side of the Tropic of Cancer; on the south the islands of the Atlantic sea in the direction of Cuba and the Spanish land; on the east the northern sea Avhich bathes Ncav France ; and on the north the land said to be unknoAvn, toward the icy sea as far as the arctic pole.'

' ' Judging also by the A'arious grants to individuals, noble and otherAvise, and 'companies,' AAdiich gave away the country in latitudinal strips extending from the Atlantic Avestward, the English were not far behind the Spaniards and French in this kind of effrontery. As English colonists never settled on the Mississippi in pursuance of such grants, and never performed any acts of authority there, such shadoAA^y sovereignties may be disregarded here, in spite of the fact that it Avas considered necessary, many years later, for A-arious states concerned to conA-ey to the United States their rights to territory Avhich they never actually ruled over.

"Thus, in the most arbitrary manner, did the Mississippi river, though yet unknoAvn, become the property, successively, of the Iberian, Gaulish and Anglo-Saxon races - of three peoples who, in later times, by diplomacy and force of arms, struggled for an actual occupancy. Practically, hoAvever, the upper Mississippi valley may be considered as having been in the first place Canadian soil, for it was Frenchmen from Canada who first visited it and traded with its various native inhabitants. The further prosecution of his discoveries by La Salle, in 1682, extended Canada as a French possession to the Gulf of Mexico, though he did not use the name of Canada nor yet that of New France. He preferred to call the entire country watered by the Mississippi river and its tributaries, from its uttermost source to its mouth, by the new name he had already invented for the purpose - Louisiana. The name of Canada and New France had been indifferently used to express about the same extent of territory, but the name of Louisiana now came to supersede them in being applied to the conjectural regions of the West. Although La Salle has applied the latter expression to the entire valley of the Mississippi, it was not generally used in that sense after his time, the upper part of the region was called Canada, and the lower Louisiana; but the actual dividing line between the two provinces was not absolutely established, and their names and boundaries were variously indicated on published maps. Speaking generally, the Canada of the eighteenth century included the Great Lakes and the country drained by their tributaries; the northern one-fourth of the present state of Illinois, that is, as much as lies north of the mouth of the Rock river ; all the regions lying north of the northern Avatershed of the Missouri, and finally the valley of the upper Missouri itself." This would include Mower county.

But it is now necessary to go back two centuries previous and consider the various explorations of the Mississippi upon which were based the claims of the European monarchs. Possibly the mouth of the Mississippi had been reached by Spaniards previous to 1541, possibly Hibernian missionaries as early as the middle of the sixth century, or Welch emigrants (Madoc), about 1170, discovered North America by way of the Gulf of Mexico, but historians give to Hernando de Soto and his band of adventurers the credit of having been the first white men to actually view the Mississippi on its course through the interior of the continent and of being the first ones to actually traverse its waters. De Soto sighted the Mississippi in ]\Iay, 15-11, at the head of an expedition in search of gold and precious stones. In the following spring, weary with hope long deferred, and worn out with his adventures, De Soto fell a victim to disease, and died May 21, 1541. His followers, greatly reduced in number by sickness, after wandering about in a vain searching, built three small vessels and descended to the mouth of the Mississippi, being the first white men to reach the outlet of that great river From the interior. However, tlicy were too weary and discour-

In 1554, James Cartier, a Frenchman, discovered the St. Lawrence, and explored it as far as the present site of Quebec. The next year he ascended the river to Mont Real, the lofty hill for which Montreal was named. Thereafter all the country drained by the St. Lawrence was claimed by the French. Many years later the King of France granted the "basin of the St. Lawrence and all the rivers flowing through it to the sea," to a company, whose leader was Champlain, tlie founder of Quebec, which became the capital of New France, whose then unexplored territory stretched westward to well wdthin the boundaries of Avhat is now Minnesota. In 1613-15 Champlain explored the OttaAva river, and the Georgian bay to Lake Huron, and missions were established in the Huron country. IMissionaries and fur traders were the most active explorers of the new possessions. They followed the shores of the Great Lakes and then penetrated further and further into the wilderness. As they went they tried to make friends of the red men, established trading posts and raised the Christian cross. In 1641 Jogues and Raymbault, Jesuits, after a long and perilous voyage in frail canoes and bateaux, reached the Sault Ste. Marie, where they heard of a large river, the Mich-is-ip-e, flowing southward to the sea, and of a powerful Indian tribe dwelling near its headquarters. Stories of vast fertile plains, of numberless streams, of herds of buffalo, and of many peoples, in regions far to the west and south, roused missionaries and traders anew, and the voyages and trips of the explorers became more frequent.

In 1659-60 Radisson and Groselliers, proceeding westward from Lake Superior, entered what is now Minnesota. They spent some time in the "forty villages of the Dakotas," in the vicinity of Mille Lacs, and probably were the first white men to set foot on the soil of this state. The contention that these adventurers spent a part of the years 1655-56 on Prairie Island, in the Mississippi just above Red Wing, is disputed by most historians, but still forms au interesting subject for study and conjecture.

Some writers also claim that the Frenchman, Sieur Nicollet, who should not be confused with the Nicollet of a later d;)te, reached the Mississippi in 1639.

Rene Menard, a Jesuit missionary, reached the Mississippi in 1661 by way of Wisconsin. This was twelve years prior to its discovery by Marquette and Joliet, and to Menard historians in general give the honor of the discovery of the upper waters of the great river. Menard ascended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Black river. Wis., and was lost in a forest near the source of tliat stream while attempting to carry the gospel to the

Hnrons. His sole companion "called him and sought him, l)ut he made no reply and could not be found." Some years later his camp kettle, robe and prayer book were seen in the possession of the Indians.

In the summer of 1663 the intelligence of the fate of ]\Ienard reached Quebec, and on August 8, 1665, Father Claude Allouez, who had anxiously waited two years for the means of conveyance, embarked for Lake Superior with a party of French traders and Indians. He visited the Minnesota shores of Lake Superior in the fall of 1665, established the Mission of the Holy Spirit at La Pointe, now in "Wisconsin, and we are told "was the first to Avrite 'Messipi' the name of the great river of the Sioux country," as he heard it pronounced by the Chippewas, or rather as it sounded to his ears.

May 13, 1673, Jaques Marquette and Louis Joliet, the former a priest and the latter the commander of the expedition, set out with five assistants, and on June 17 of the same year reached the TMississippi at the present site of Prairie du Chien, thence continuing down the river as far as the mouth of the Illinois, which they ascended, subsequently reaching the lakes.

In 1678, the Sieur Duluth, Daniel Graysolon, under commission from the governor of Canada, set out from Quebec, to explore the country west of the Lake Superior region. He was to take possession of it in the name of the king of France, and secure the trade of the native tribes. Duluth entered IMinnesota in 1679, reaching the great Sioux village of Kathio at Mille Lacs, on July 2. "On that day," he says, "I had the honor to plant His Majesty's arms, where a Frenchman never before had been."

La Salle, however, was the first to lay claim to the entire valley in the name of his sovereign. After achieving perpetual fame by the discovery of the Ohio river (1670-71), he conceived the plan of reaching the Pacific by way of the northern Mississippi, at that time unexplored and supposed to be a waterway connecting the two oceans. Frontenac, then governor-general of Canada, favored the plan, as did the King of France. Accordingly, gathering a company of Frenchmen, he pursued his way through the lakes, made a portage to the Illinois river, and January 4, 1680, reached what is now Lake Peoria, in Illinois. From there, in February, he sent Hennepin and two companions to explore the upper ]Mississippi. During this voyage Hennepin, and the men accompanying him, were taken by the Indians as far north as Mille Lacs. He also discovered St. Anthony Falls. Needing reinforcements, La Salle again returned to Canada. In January, 1682, with a band of followers, he started on his third and greatest expedition. February 6, they reached the IMississippi by Avay of Lake Michigan and the Illinois river, and ^lareh

6, discovered the three great passages by which the river discharges its waters into the Gulf. Two days later they reascended the river a short distance, to find a high spot out of the reach of inundations, and there erected a column and planted a cross, proclaiming with due ceremony the authority of the king of France. Thus did the whole Mississippi valley pass under the nominal sovereignty of the French monarchs.

The first definite claim to the upper Mississippi is embodied in a paper, still preserved, in the colonial archives of France, entitled "The record of the taking possession, in his majesty's name, of the Bay des Puants (Green bay), of the lake and rivers of the Outagamis and IMaskoutins (Fox rivers and Lake Winnebago), of the river Ouiskonche (Wisconsin), and that of the Mississippi, the country of the Nadouesioux (the Sioux or Dakota Indians), the rivers St. Croix and St. Pierre (Minnesota), and other places more remote, May 8, 1689." (E. B. 0 "Callahan's translation in 1855, published in Vol. 9, page 418, "Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York") This claim was made by Perrot, and the proclamation is supposed to have been issued from Fort St. Antonie (Anthony) near the present site of Trempealeau.

The previous proclamations of St. Lusson in 1671 at the outlet of Lake Superior, of De Luth, in 1679, at the west end of the same lake and at Mille Lacs, had no definite bearing on the land now embraced in Mower county, but nevertheless strengthened the French claims of sovereignty.

For over eight decades thereafter, the claims of France were, tacitly at least, recognized in Europe. In 1763 there came a change. Of this change, A. N. Winchell (in Vol. 10, "Minnesota Historical Society Collections") writes: "The present eastern boundary of Minnesota, in part (that is, so far as the Mississippi now forms its eastern boundary), has a history beginning at a very early date. In 1763, at the end of that long struggle during which England passed many a mile post in her race for world empire, while France lost nearly as much as Britain gained - that struggle, called in America the French and Indian war - - the Mississippi river became an international boundary. The articles of the definite treaty of peace were signed at Paris, on February 10, 1763. The seventh article made the Mississippi, from its source to about the 31st degree of north latitude, the boundary between the English colonies on this continent and the French Louisiana. The text of the article is as follows: (Published in the "Gentleman's Magazine," Vol. 33, pages 121- 126, March, 1763).

limits of the British and French Territories on the continent of America; - that for the future, the confines between the domains of his Britannic majesty and those of his most Christian majesty (the king of France) in that part of the world, shall be fixed irrevocably by a line drawn down the middle of the river Mississippi, from its source to the river Iberville, and from thence, by a line drawn along the middle of this river, and the Lake Maurepas and Pontchartrain, to the sea." The boundary from the source of the river further north, or west, or in any direction, was not given ; it was evidently supposed that it would be of no importance, for many centuries, at least.

This seventh article of the definite treaty was identical with the sixth article in the preliminary treaty of peace signed by England, Spain and France, at Fontainebleau, November 3, 1762. On that same day, November 3, 1762, the French and Spanish representatives had signed another act by which the French king "ceded to his cousin of Spain, and his successors forever * * * all the country known by the name of Louisiana, including New Orleans and the island on which that city is situated." This agreement was kept secret, but when the definite treaty was signed at Paris the following year, this secret pact went into efi'ect, and Spain at once became the possessor of the area described.

At the close of the Revolutionary war, the territory east of the Mississippi, and north of the 31st parallel, passed under the jurisdiction of the United States. By the definite treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain, ratified at Paris, September 3, 1783, a part of the northern boundary of the United States, and the western boundary thereof was established, as follovv'S: Commencing at the most northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods and from thence on a due course west to the Mississippi river (the Mississippi at that time was thought to extend into what is now Canada), thence by a line to be drawn along the middle of said Mississippi river until it shall intersect the northernmost part of the 31st degree of north latitude. (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 8, page 82.)

In 1800, by the secret treaty of San (or Saint) Ildefouso (signed October 1), Spain receded the indefinite tract west of the Mississippi to France, which nation did not, however, take formal possession until three years later, when the formality was made necessary in order that the tract might be ceded to the United States, Napoleon, for France, sold the tract to the United States, April 30, 1803. The region comprehended in the "Louisiana Purchase," as this area was called, included all the country west of the Mississippi, except those portions west of the Rocky

By an act of congress, approved October 31, 1803, the president of the United States was authorized to take possession of this territory, the act providing that "all the military, civil, and judicial powers exercised by the officers of the existing government, shall be vested in such person and persons, and shall be exercised in such manner as the president of the United States shall direct." (United States Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, page 245.)

December 20, 1803, Louisiana was formally turned over to the United States at New Orleans, by M. Laussat, the civil agent of France, Avho a few days previous (November 30) had received a formal transfer from representatives of Spain.

Louisiana District. By an act of congress, approved ]\Iarch 26, 1801:, all of that portion of the country ceded by France to the United States under the name of Louisiana, lying south of the 33d degree of north latitude, was organized as the territory of Orleans and all the residue thereof was organized as the district of Louisiana. That act contained the following provision: "The executive power now vested in the government of the Indiana territory shall extend to and be exercised in said district of Louisiana." The area set oif as the territory of Orleans was admitted as the state of Louisiana in 1812.

Louisiana Territory. By an act of congress approved March 3, 1805, all that part of the country, embraced in the district of Louisiana, Avas organized as a territory, called the territory of Louisiana.

Missouri Territory. By an act of congress approved June 4, 1814, it Avas provided that the territory hitherto called Louisiana should be called Missouri, and Avas organized as a territory. The struggles in congress Avhich led to the Missouri compromise ; the agreement that all territory west of Missouri and north of parallel 36° 36' should forever be free from the curse of slavery, and the final admission of Missouri Avitli her present boundaries, by presidential proclamation, August 10, 1821, are outside of the province of this history. Sufficient is it to say here that this admission left the land to the northAvard, including MoAver county, Avithout a fountain head of territorial government from 1hat date until June 28, 1834, Avhen it Avas attached to Michigan.

It is noAv necessary to turn to the events that had been trans]>irJiifr in regard to tlie government of the area east of the ^Mississippi and iiort Invest of the Ohio river.

famous "Northwest Ordinance, " passed July V\ 1787, by the Congress of the Confederation (the constitution of the United States not being adopted until September 17), tlie Ohio river became the boundary of the territory. The fifth article of the ordinance reads as follows: "Art. 5. There shall be formed in the said (i. e., the Northwest) territory, not less than three, nor more than tive states," * * * the western state in the said territory shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio and the Wabash rivers; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post Vincents, due north, to the territorial line between the United States and Canada; and by the said territorial line to the Lake of the Woods and the Mississippi. (See Executive Documents, 3d session, 46th congress, 1880-81, Vol. 25, Doc. 47, Part 4, pages 153-156; also United States Statutes at Large, Vol. 1, page 51, note a.)

Indiana Territory. Tlie ordinance of 1787 provided for the organization of three "states'' out of the Northwest Territory. That same year the constitution of the United States was adopted. In 1799, Ohio organized a territorial government, but the middle and western "states" did not have, separately, sufficient population to warrant the establishment of two separate governments. Congress solved the difficulty by uniting the two under the name of Indiana. The act was passed May 7, 1800, and its first section reads as follows: "Section 1 - Be it enacted, etc., that from and after the fourth day of July next, all that part of the territory of the United States, northwest of the Ohio river, which lies to the westward of a line beginning at the Ohio opposite the moutli of the Kentucky river, and running thence to Fort Kecovery, and thence north until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate territory, and be called the Indiana Territory." (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, page 58.) Indiana was admitted as a state in 1816.

Michigan Territory. By an act of congress passed June 11, 1805, Michigan territory was fornfed. The boundaries were described as follows: "All that part of the Indiana territory which lies north of a line draAvn east from the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan until it shall intersect Lake Erie, and east of a line drawn from the said southerly bend througli the middle of said lake to its northern extremity, and thence due north to the northern l)Oundary of the United States, shall for the piu'pose of temporary government constitute a separate territory, to be called iMichigan. (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, page 309.) Additions, noted further along in tliis artich", were later made to this territory.

there were sufficieut citizens in Indiana territory to snpport two governments. Accordingly, the territory of Illinois was established, February 3, 1809, by the following enactment: "Be it enacted, etc., That from and after the first day of March, next, all that part of the Indiana territory which lies west of the Wabash river and a direct line drawn from the said Wabash river and Post Vincennes, due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall for the purpose of temporary government constitute a separate territory, and be called Illinois. (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, page 514.) Illinois was admitted p.s a state in 1818.

Michigan Territory. The population of Illinois continued to increase, and the people were eager for a state government. The southern portion was therefore granted statehood privileges, and the northern portion, mainly unoccvipied, Avas cut off and added to the territory of Michigan, previously created. This transfer of territory was authorized in section 7 of the act passed April 18, 1818, enabling Illinois to form a state government and constitution. The terms of the act are as follows: "Section 7. And be it further enacted. That all that part of the territory of the United States lying north of the state of Indiana, and which was inebided in the former Indiana territory, together with that part of the Illinois territory which is situated north of, and not included within the boundaries prescribed by this act (viz., the boundaries of the state of Illinois) to the state thereby authorized to be formed, shall be and hereby is, attached to and made a part of the Michigan territory. Thus matters remained for sixteen years.

Missouri, in the meantime, had been admitted as a state (1821), and the territory north of that state, and Avest of the Mississippi, was practically without organized authority from that year until 1834, when the increase of settlement made it advisable that the benefits of some sort of government should be extended to its area. Consequently, Michigan territory Avas extended to include this vast region. The act so enlarging Michigan territory passed congress June 28, 1834, in the folloAA'- :ng terms : "Be it enacted, etc.. That all that part of the territory of the United States, bounded on the east by the Mississippi river, on the south by the state of Missouri, and a line drawn due Avest from the northwest corner of said state to the Missouri river; on the soutliAvest and Avest by the Missouri riA^er and the White Earth river, falling into the same, and on the north by the northera boundary of the United States, shall be, and hereby is, for the purpose of temporary government attached to and made a part oi, the territoiy of Michigan." (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 4, page 701.) In less than two years, certain territory Avas set apart to form the proposed state of Michigan. This act passed congress April 20, 1836, but Michigan was not admitted until January 26, 1837. (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 5, pages 10-16.)

Wisconsin Territory. When AVisconsin territory was organized by an act of congress, April 20, 1836, all the Louisiana purcliase north of the state of Missouri was placed under its jurisdiction. This included Mower county. The boundaries as given at that time were as follows: "Bounded on the east by a line drawn from the northeast corner of the state of Illinois through the middle of Lake ]\Iichigan to a point in the middle of said lake and opposite the main channel of Green Bay and through said channel and Green Bay to the mouth of the Menominee river, thence through the middle of the main channel of said rivr-r to that head of said river nearest the Lake of the Desert, 1 hence in a direct line to the middle of said lake, thence through tlie middle of the main channel of the Montreal river to its mouth ; thence with a direct line across Lake Superior to where the territorial line of the United States last touches said lake, northAvest, thence on the north with the said territorial line to the White Earth river (located in what is now Wood county. North Dakota). On the west by a line from the said boundary line, following down the middle of the main channel of the White Earth river to the Missouri river, and down the middle of the main channel of the Missouri river to a point due west from the north- Avesi corner of the state of Missouri; and on the south from said point due east to the northwest corner of the state of Missouri, and thence with the boundaries of the states of Missouri and Illinois as already fixed by act of congress. (U. S. Statutes at Large, 'Vol. 5, page 18.) It is interesting to note in this connection that two sessions of the Wisconsin territorial legislature were held at whfit is now Burlington, Iowa.

Iowa Territory. The territory of Iowa Avas created by the act of congress, June 12, 1838, which act divided the territory of Wisconsin along the Mississippi river and named the western part, Iowa. The act provided : ' ' That from and after the third day of July, next, all that part of the present territory of Wisconsin AA'hich lies west of the INIississippi river and west of a line draAvn due south from the head waters or sources of the Mississippi to the territorial lines, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, be and constitute a separate territorial government, by the name of loAva." The area noAV embracing ]\IoAver couuty Avas included Avithin these lines.

loAva remained a territory from 1838 to 18-16. The greater part of southern and southeastern INIinnesota Avas Avithin the jurisdiction of Clayton county. Henry 11. Sibley Avas a justice of the peace in that county. The county seat Avas 2r)0 miles distant from his home iu ^leudota, and his jm'isdietion extended over a region of eountry, which, as he expressed it, was "as large as the empire of France." A convention of duly authorized representatives of the people remained in session at Iowa City from October 7 to November 1, 1844, and framed a state constitution. It was provided that the constitution adopted, together with any alterations which might subsequently be made by congress, should be submitted to the people of the territory for their approval or re.jection at the township elections in April, 1845. The boundaries of the proposed new state, as defined in the constitution, were in part as follows: '' * * * Thence up in the middle of the main channel of the river last mentioned (the I\lissouri) to the mouth of the Sioux or Calumet river; thence in a direct, line to the middle of the main channel' of the St. Peter's (Minnesota) river, where the Watonwan river - according to Nicollet's map - enters the same, thence down the middle of the main channel of said river to the middle of the Mississippi river ; thence down the middle of said river to the place of beginning." This would have included in the state of Iowa Mower county, and in fact, all the counties of what is now IMinnesota that lie south and east of the Minnesota as far as Mankato, also including Faribault county and nearly all of Martin, the greater part of Blue Earth and portions of AVatonwan, Cottonwood nd Jackson.

Congress rejected these boundary lines, and March 3, 1845, in its enabling act, substituted the following description of the proposed boundaries: "Beginning at the mouth of the Des Moines river, in the middle of the Mississippi ; thence by the middle of the channel of that river to the parallel of latitude passing through the moiith of the IMankato or Blue Earth river ; thence west along said parallel of latitude to a point where it is intersected by a meridian line 17° 30' west of the meridian of Washington City; thence due south to the northern boundary line of the state of Missouri; thence eastwardly following tliat boundary to the point at which the same intersects with the Des Moines river ; thence by the middle of the channel of that river to the place of beginning." Thus the soutliern boundary of Minnesota would haA^e been on a line due east from the present city oC ]\Iankato to the Mississippi river and due west from the same point to a point in Brown county. This would have included in Iowa all but a small fraction of the counties of Winona, Olmstead. Dodge, Steele, AVaseka and Blue Earth, portions of Brown, Watonwan and Martin; and all of Faribault, Freeborn, Slower, Fillmore and Houston. This reduction in its proposed territory was not pleasing to those citizens of Iowa who wished the state to have its boundaries to include the Minnesota river from the Blue Earth to the ^Mississippi and the Mississippi from the Minne- sota river to the Missouri state Hue. This chaugiug in the boundary was really a political measure, a part of those battles in congress over free and slave states which preceded the Civil war. The boundaries as proposed by congress were rejected by the people of Iowa after a bitter campaign. August 4, 1846, congress passed a second enabling act, which was accepted by the people by a narrow margin of 456, the vote being 9,492 for and 9,036 against. This second act placed the northern boundary of Iowa still further south, but added territory to the west. The northern boundary of Iowa, as described in the enabling act, was identical with the parallel of 43° 30' north, from the Big Sioux river eastward to the Mississippi. This, with the exception of the short distance from the Big Sioux river to the present western boundary of Minnesota, is the present southern boundary of our state. Minnesota's southern boundary, as thus described, was carefully surveyed and marked within six yeai's of its acceptance by Iowa. Tlie work was authorized March 3, 1849, and two appropriations of $1,500 each were soon made. The survey was completed during the years 1849 to 1852, at a total cost of $32,277.73. Although the work was done with the best instruments then known, an error of twenty-three chains, evidently due to carelessness, was discovered within a year. Iowa was admitted as a state December 28, 1846. Wisconsin State. Wisconsin soon wished to become a state. The northwestern boundary provoked considerable discussion both in congress and in the two constitutional conventions whicli were called. There were some who wished to include all the remaining portion of the northwest territory within the boandaries of the new proposed state. The two prevailing coteries, however, were the ones between whom the fight really centered. One body wished the northwestern boundary of the new state (Wisconsin) to extend up the Mississippi as far as the Rum river, where the city of Anoka is now situated, thence northeastAvardly to the first rapids of the St. Louis river and thence lo Lake Superior. The residents of the St. Croix valley, and those living on the east side of the Mississippi, between the St. Croix and the Hum river, constituted the other party and objected to being included in the proposed state of Wisconsin. They declared tJuit they were separated from the settled portions of Wisconsin l)y hundreds of miles of barren land, and still more greatly separated ty a ditiPerence in the interests and character of the inhabitants. They proposed that the northwest boundary of the new state should be a line drawn due south from Shagwamigan bay, on Lake Superior, to the intersection of the main Chippewa river, and from thence down the middle of said river to its debouchure into the Mississippi. Residents of the district affected and also about Fort Snelling and on the west bank of tlic ^Mississij^pi furtlicr u|> joined, in a memorial to congress, citing the grave injustice tliat would be done the proposed territory of ]\Iinnesota if it were left without a single point on the Mississippi below St. Anthony's falls, the limit of navigation. Among those who signed this memorial were H. H. Sibley and Alexander Faribault. The result of the controversy was a compromise adopting a middle line along the St. Croix and St. Louis rivers.

The enabling act for the state of AA'isconsin, approved August 6, 1S46, provided: "That the people of the territory of AViseonsin be and they are hereby authorized to form a constitution and state government * * * with the following boundaries, to-wit : * * * thence through the center of Lake Superior to the mouth of the St. Louis river, thence up the main channel of said river to the first rapids in the same, above the Indian village, according to Nicollet's map; thence due south to the main branch of the River St. Croix ; thence down the main channel of said river to the Mississippi ; thence down the maua channel of said river to tlie northwest corner of the state of Illinois, thence due east * * *." This is the first and incidentally the present description of Alinnesota's eastern boundary. (United States Statutes at Large, Vol. 9, page 56.)

The convention that framed the constitution of AVisconsiu in 1847-48 strongly desired the Rum river as their eastern boundary. After accepting the boundary chosen by congress the convention recommended a line which, if agreeable to congress, should replace the one in the enabling act. The proposed boundary, which was rejected, was described as follows: Leaving the aforesaid boundary line at tlie first rapids of the St. Louis river, thence in a direct line, bearing southwestwardly to the mouth of the Iskodewabo or Rum river, where the same empties into the Mississippi river, thence down the main channel of the said Mississippi river to the aforesaid boundary. (Charters and Constitutions of the L'nitod States, Part ii, page 2030.)

Minnesota Territory. The events which led up to tlie establishing of Minnesota as a territory can be given but brief mention here. Sulficient is it to say that for three years after the admission of Iowa (in 1846) the area that is now Minnesota, west of the Mississippi, Avas practically a no-man's land. December 18, 1846, Morgan L. Martin, delegate from AVisconsin territory, gave notice to the house of representatives that "at an early day" he would ask leave to introduce a bill establishing the territorial government of Minnesota. The name, which is the Indian term for Avhat was then the river St. Peter (Pierre) and has now become its official designation was, it is believed, applied to the proposed territory at the suggestion of Joseph R. BroAvn. During its consideration by congress the l)iU underwent various changes. As reported back to the house, the name "Minnesota" had been changed by Stephen A. Douglas to "Itasca." Mr. Martin immediately moved that the name "Minnesota" be placed in the bill in place of ' ' Itasca. " " Chippewa, " " Jackson ' ' and ' ' Washington ' ' were also proposed. After many motions, counter motions and amendments, "Minnesota" was placed in the bill, which with a minor change passed the house. In the senate it was rejected. A second attempt was made two years later. January 10, 1848, Stephen A. Douglas gave due notice to the senate that "at a future day"' lie would introduce a bill to establish the territory of Minnesota. He brought in the bill February 23. It was several dmes read, was amended, referred to committee and discussed, but congress adjourned August l-l without taking ultimate action on the proposition.

In the meantime "Wisconsin Avas admitted to the Union ]\Iay 29, 1848, and the western half of what was then St. Croix county was left outside the new state. The settled portions of the area thus cut off from Wisconsin by its admission to statehood privileges were in the southern part of the peninsula of land lying between tlie ]\tississippi and the St. Croix.

The people of this area were now confronted with a serious problem. As residents of the territory of Wisconsin they had enjoj'ed the privileges of citizenship in the United States. By the creation of the state of Wisconsin they were disfranchised and left without the benefits of organized government. Thus, Stillwater, which had been the governmental seat of a growing county (St. Croix), was left outside the pale of organized law. Legal minds disagreed on the question of whether the minor civil officers, such as justices of the peace, created under the territorial organization, were still qualified to exercise the authority of their positions. At a meeting held at St. Paul, in July, 1848, the citizens of that (then) village considered the necessity for the formation of a new territory. August 5 a meeting of citizens of the area west of the St. Croix was held at Stillwater, and it was decided to call a general convention at that place, August 26, 1848, for a three-fold purpose : 1 - To elect a territorial delegate to congi-ess. 2 - To organize a territory with a name other than Wisconsin. 3 - To determine whether tlie laws and organization of the old territory of Wisconsin were still in effect now that a part of that territory was organized as a state. In the call for this meeting, the signers called themselves, "AVe, the undersigned citizens of Minnesota territory." Tlie meeting was held pursuant to tlie call. Action was taken in regard to the first proposition by the election of II. H. Sibley, who was authorized to proceed to Washington and use such efforts as were in hi^s power to secure the organization of the territory of ^Minnesota. In regard fo the second proposition a memorial was addressed to the president oC the United States, stating the reasons why the organization of Minnesota territory was necessary. The third proposition presented technical points worthy of the attention of the wisest legal minds. The state of "Wisconsin had been organized, but the territory of Wisconsin had not been abolished. AVas not, therefore, the territory still in existence, and did not its organization and its laws still prevail in the part of the territory that had not been included in the state 1 If territorial government was in existence Yvould it not give the residents thereof a better standing before the nation in their desire to become Minnesota territory ? IMight not this technicality give the delegate a seat in congress when otherwise he must, as simply the representative of an unorganized area, make his requests in the lobby and to the individual members? John Catlin, who had been secretary of the territory of Wisconsin before the organization of that state, declared that the territory still existed in the area not included in the organized state and that he was the acting governor. Accordingly, the people of the cut-off portion organized as the "Territory of Wisconsin," and named a day for the election of a delegate. In the closely contested election, held October 30, 1848, Sibley won out against Henry M. Rice and accordingly made his way to Washington, technically from the "Territory of AVisconsin," actually as a representative of the proposed territory of Minnesota. As a matter of fact, indeed, Sibley, living at Mendota, had ceased to be a citizen of the territory of Wisconsin in 1838, when Iowa territory was created, and was a resident of the part of Iowa territory which the organization of the state of Iowa had left without a government, rather than of that territory in question (between the Mississippi and the St. Croix) which the admission of Wisconsin as a state had left without a government. Sibley was, however, after much opposition, admitted to congress and given a seat January 15, 1849. He at once set about securing friends for the proposition to create Minnesota territory. December 4, 1848, a few days previous to Sibley's admission to congress, Stephen A. Douglas had announced that it was his intention to introduce anew a bill to establish the territory of Minnesota. Like the previous attempt, this bill underwent various vicissitudes. As passed, March 3, 1849, the act creating the territory read as follows: "Be it enacted, * * * That from and after the passage of this act, all that part of the territory of the United States which lies within tlie following limits, to-Avit : Beginning in the Mississippi river at a point where the line of 43° and 30' of north latitude crosses the same, thence running due west on said line, wliieli is the northern boundary of the state of Iowa, to the northwest corner of the said state of Iowa ; thence southerly along the west- ern boundary of said state to the point Avhere said boundary strikes the Missouri river; thence up the middle of the main cliaunel of the Missouri river to the mouth of the White Earth river ; thence up tlie middle of the main channel of the White Earth river to the boundary line between the possessions of the United States and Great Britain ; thence east and south of east along the boundary line betvi^een the possessions of the United States and Great Britain to Lake Superior ; thence in a straight line to the northernmost point of the state of Wisconsin, in Lake Superior; thence along the vpestern boundary of the state of Wisconsin to the Mississippi river ; thence down the main channel of said river to the place of beginning, and the same is hereby erected into a temporary government by the name of the territory of Minnesota."

The executive power of the territory of IMinnesota was vested in a governor, (appointed by the president, whose term of office was four years, unless sooner removed by the president), who was also superintendent of Indian atfairs. The legislative power was vested in a governor and a legislative assembly, consisting of a council of nine members, whose term of ottice was two years, and a house of representatives of eighteen members, whose term of office was one year. It was provided that the number of members in the council and the house might be increased by the legislative assembly from time to time in proportion to the increase in population, but that the whole number should not exceed fifteen councillors and thirty-nine representatives. It was provided that the first election should be held at such time and place and be conducted in svich manner as the governor should appoint and direct. and that the persons thus elected to the legislative assembly should meet at such place, and on such days as the governor should appoint, but thereafter the time and place and manner of holding and conducting all elections by the people, and the apportioning the representatives in the several counties and districts, to tlie council and house of representatives, according to the population, should be prescribed by law, as well as the day of the commencement of the regular sessions of the legislative assembly, but that no session should exceed sixty days.

Every white male inhabitant above the age of twenty-one, who was a resident of the territory at the time of the passage of the act organizing the same, was entitled to vote and eligible to office at the tirst election. But the qualification of voters and of holding office at all subsequent elections should be such as should be prescribed by the legislative assembly. It was provided by the act that all laws passed by the legislative assembly should bisubmitted to congress, and if disapproved by it. should be null and of no effect. The laws in force in tlie li-rrilory of Wisconsin after the date of the admission of the state of Wisconsin Avere continued to be valid and in operation in the territory of ^Minnesota so far as not incompatible Avith the provisions of the act of organization of the territory of jMinnesota, subject to be altered, modified or repealed by the governor and legislative assembly of said territory. All justices of the peace, constables, sheriffs and all other judicial and ministerial officers who were in office within the limits of the territory at the time of law organizing the territory was approved were authorized and required to continue to exercise and perform the duties of their respective offices as officers of the territory of Minnesota temporarily and until they, or others, should be appointed and qualified in the manner therein described or until their offices should be abolished.

The governor was given the veto power, and the council and iiouse could pass a bill over his veto ])y a two-thirds vote. The judicial power of the territory was vested in a supreme court, district court, probate court and in justices of the peace. Tlie supreme court consisted of a chief justice and two associate justices, appointed by the president, whose term of office was four years and whose salary was $1,800 a year.

The territory was by the act of organization required to be divided into three judicial districts, and the district court to be held therein by one of the judges of the supreme court at such times and places as might be prescribed by law, and the judges thereof were required to reside in the districts assigned to thorn. The clerks of said courts were appointed by the judges thereof.

The United States officers of the territory were a governor, secretary, chief justice, two associate justices, attorney and marshal, appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the senate of the United States. The governor received a salary of -'l!l,500 a year as governor and $1,000 a year as superintendent of Indian affairs. The chief justice and associate justices and secretary received a salary of $1,800 a year, and the members of the legislative assembly $3 a day during their attendance upon the sessions thereof and $3 each day for every twenty miles tniveled going to and returning therefrom.

State of Minnesota. Tlie people of the territory of ]\Ininesota were ]]ot long content with a territorial government. In the wovds of A. N. AVincliell, "December 24, 1856, the delegate from tlie territory of .Minnesota introduced a l)ill to authorize the people of that territory to form a constitution and state govern ment. Tlie l)il] limited tlie proposed state on the west liv tlie ]^-<1 Kiver of file Xortii antl the Big Sioux I'iver. It was I'cferred to the committee on territories, of which Mr. Grow, of Pennsylvania, was eluiiinum. January 31, 1857, the chairman reported a subslitute, whicii dift'ei'ed from the original bill in no essential respect except in regard to the western boundary. The change tliere consisted in adopting a line through Traverse and Big Stom; lakes, due south from the latter to the Iowa line. The altered boundary cut ott' a narrow strip of territory, estimated by Mr. GroAv to contain between five and six hundred square miles. Today the strip contains such towns as Sioux Falls, Watertowu and Brookings. The substitute had a stormy voyage through congress, especially in the senate, but finally completed the trip on February 25, 1857."

The enabling act, as passed and approved February 26, 1857, defined the boundaries of Minnesota as follows: "Be it enac^ted, * * * That the inhabitants of that portion of the territory of Minnesota, which is embraced with the following limits, to-wit : Beginning at the point in the center of the main channel of the Red River of the North, where the boundary line between the United States and the British possessions crosses the same ; thence up the main channel of said river to that of the Bois des Sioux river ; thence (up) the main channel of said river to Lake Travers ; thence up the center of said lake to the southern extremity thereof ; thence in a direct line to the head of Big Stone lake ; thence through its center to its outlet ; thence by a due south line to the north line of the state of Iowa ; thence east along the northern boundary of said state to the main channel of the Mississippi river; thence up the main channel of said river and following the boundary line of the state of AVisconsin, until the same intersects the St. Louis river; thence down said river to and through Lake Superior, on the boundary line of Wisconsin and IMichigan, until it intersects the dividing line between the United States and the British possession ; thence up Pigeon river and following said dividing line to the place of beginning; be and the same are thereby authorized to form for themselves a constitution and state government, by the name of the state of Minnesota, and to come into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, according to the federal constitution."

These boundaries were accepted witliout change and are the boundaries of the state at the present time. The state Avas admitted May 11, 1858.

It will therefore be seen that the territorial claim of title to IMower county was first embraced in the papal gi-ant to Spain, May 4, 1493. It was then included in the indefinite chiiins made by Spain to lands north and northwest of liei- sett leiiieiils in Mexico, Florida and the West Indies; by tiie Englisli to jjinds west of their Atlantic coast settlements, and by tlu^ French to hinds south, west and southwest of their Canadian setllemenls. 'I'he first definite claim to territory now embracing .Mowei- county was made by La Salle cit tlie mouth of the Mississi|)i)i. .Maivli S. 1(1S2. in tin- name of the king of France, and the second (still more definite) by Perrot near the present site of Trempealeau, Wis., May 8, 1689. This was also a French claim. France remained in tacit authority until February 10, 1763, when, upon England's acknowledging the French authority to lands west of the Mississippi, France, by a previous secret agreement, turned her authority over to Spain. October 1, 1800, Spain ceded the tract to France, but France did not take formal possession until November 30, 1803, and almost immediately, December 20, 1803, turned it over to the United States, the Americans having purchased it from Napoleon April 30 of that year.

]\Iarch 26, 1804, the area that is now ]Mower county was included in Louisiana district as a part of Indiana and so remained until March 3, 1805. From March 3, 1805, to June 4, 1812, it was a part of Louisiana territory. From June 4, 1812, until August 10, 1820, it was a part of Missouri territory. From August 10, 1821, until June 28, 1834, it was outside the pale of all organized government, except that congress had general jurisdiction. From June 28, 1834, to April 20, 1836, it was a part of Michigan territory. From April 20, 1836, to June 12, 1838, it was a part of Wisconsin territory. From June 12, 1838, to December 28, 1846, it was a part of the territory of Iowa and was included in the boundaries at first proposed for the state of Iowa. From December 28, 1846, to March 3, 1849, it was again without territorial affiliation. From March 3, 1849, to May 11, 1858, it was a part of Minnesota territory, and on the latter date became an integral part of that sovereign state.

Early Exploration

No Evidence That the French Explorers Ever Saw Mower County - United States Dragoons the First White Men to Leave a Record of Having Visited This Locality - Expedition of 1835 - Four Conipanies Under Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen W. Kearney, with Albert Lea in Command of Company I, Cross Mower County Twice - Major Lawrence Taliaferro, Dr. John Emerson and the Slave, Dred Scott, Visit the County in 1836 - Henry H. Sibley, Alexander Faribault, John C. Fremont and William H. Forbes Here in 1840 - Svxrveying Party in 1852 - Another in 1853 - Township and Section Lines Are Surveyed.

From time immemorial until some time after the coming of the whites, the territory now embraced in Mower county was the hunting ground of the Indians. As there were no permanent Indian villages here, and little of geographic interest in the sweep of prairie now embraced in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa, none of the earlier explorers, so far as we know, visited Mower county. Hennepin with his two companions, Pickard du Guy (Auguelle) and JMiehael Accault (Ako), who explored the upper Mississippi in 1680; Perrot, who had trading posts about Lake Pepin as early as 1685 ; LeSueur, who built a fort near Red Wing on Prairie Island in 1695, and one near ^Mankato in 1700; La Hontau, who wrote marvelous accounts of adventures, and who is now entirely discredited by historians; Jonathan Carver, who ascended the upper ^Mississippi in 1766 ; Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike, who explored the upper jMississippi in 1805-06 ; Colonel Henry Leavenworth, who is 1819 started at IMendota in what is now Dakota county, the fort which was afterward moved across the river and became Fort Snelling; ]Major Stephen H. Long, who explored the upper iMississippi in 1817 and 1823; Governor Lewis Cass, who in 1820 explored the principal sources of the :\Iississippi and then descended the river; William ^Morrison, Avho visited Lake Itasca in 1802 and is usually credited as tlie discoverer of the source of the ^lississippi ; Henry R. Sclioolcraft, who in 1832 explored northern ^Minnesota ; George Featlierstone, who made a geological survey of the ^Minnesota valley in 1835; George Catlin, who made a faitliful study of the Indians of Minnesota; Jean Nicollet, whose activities in the thirties and forties contributed much to ^Minnesota geography, and David Dale Owen, who explored large portions of tlic state in 1847. '48, '4!) ami '50, and whose names are honored as the early explorers of Minnesota, all failed, so far as we know, to make Mower county a visit. The explorers of the rivers of Iowa which have their source in Mower county, also failed to reach this county in the early days.

It is possible that missionaries, renegades, traders or hunters visited this region, in the days of the early exploration, but of this historians have no record or knowledge, although those who enjoy speculation and conjecture think it quite possible the Frenchmen from the posts of Perrot on Lake Pepin, the stockades at Frontenac, or the forts at Prairie Island and Mankato may have come here after game.

The first record that historians have obtained of a visit to Mower county by the whites is contained in a manuscript edited and published by the Iowa Historical Society, and entitled "A Journal of Marches by the First United States Dragoons, 1834- 45," and published in the July, 1909. issue of the "Iowa Journal of History and Politics."

The First United States Dragoons was a military organization created by Congress in March, 1833, for the more perfect defense of the frontier, and was as fine a body of men as had ever been gathered for a similar purpose, having been recruited from especially selected men in every state in the Union in the summer months of 1833. Tlie commanding officer of this regiment of ten companies were Colonel Henry Dodge. The rendezvous of the regiment was Jetiferson Barracks, near St. Louis, where tlie companies were drilled and instructed in the fall of 1833.

The Journal records the four distinct marches or campaigns in which Company I participated. Of these the fourth only is of interest to the people of IMower county. The authorship of the Journal has not yet been determined. At two different places the author has signed himself as "L" and he states that he was a member of Company I, commanded by Captain Browne. At one time the authorship was attributed to Colonel Albert ]\Iiller Lea, but internal evidence in the Journal would seem to prove, hoAvever, that such is not the case, and that it was written either by an officer of lower rank or by a private.

The fourth trip, which has so much interest to the people of Mower county, records the story of a march of 1,100 miles by Companies B, H and I, under Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen AV. Kearney. On June 7, 1835, this detachment left Fort Des ^loines and marched between the Des Moines and Skunk rivers to near the mouth of the Boone river. Then taking a northeastwardly convse across Iowa, they entered what is now ^linnesota. crossed Mower county, and reached AVabashaw's village on the ^lississip])] ;it in-actically the present site of Winona. After remaining tlici'c a})Out a Avcek, the comiianics marclied somewhat to the soutli of westwardly. They crossed the present ]\Io\ver county and continued westward, then turning southward, and entering Iov.\i in what is now Kossuth county, reaching tlie Des Moines river safely. After crossing this river, they descended it on the lower side and reached Fort Des Moines on August 19. 1835. without the loss of a single horse or man. Lieutenant Albert INIiller Lea, commanding Company I, of the expedition, was the ofTicial topographer, and in his honor Nicollet afterward named a previously undesignated lake which the expedition passed in the present Freeborn county.

On the evening of Sunday, June 28, 1835, tlie Dragoons, on their northeasterly course from the Des Moines river, camped on the banks of the Red Cedar river in Mitchell county, Iowa, near Osage. The soldiers killed several buft'alo and captured a buffalo calf. The next day they crossed the Red Cedar and marched twenty-five miles, bringing them well into Mower county. The following entry is found in the Journal: "Tuesday, June 30, 1835, marched twenty-five miles. Land, kind of oak barren. By the appearance of some deserted wigwams, we suppose the Soux (Sioux) have been here lately." The next day's march of twelve miles, carried the soldiers out of the coiinty and toward the present site of Winona.

On the return journey, the expedition reached ]\Iower county on ]\tonday, July 27, 1835. The soldiers crossed the upper Iowa near the present site of Le Roy and the Red Cedar near the present site of Austin, continviing on their way into the present Freeborn county. The entries in the Journal are as follows: "]\[onday, July 27, 1835. An early start. Came only ten miles. Crossed the Iway (the upper Iowa). Spent seven hours in crossing. Bad traveling and bad encampment. Tuesday, July 28. This day we marched fifteen miles. Crossed the south fork of the Iway (now the Red Cedar river). Spent three hours in passing. Marching bad. Encampment good." It will be seen from this that the writer of the Journal underestimated the distance that the Dragoons traveled from the upper Iowa to the Red Cedar river.

In 1836, one year after the trip of the Dragoons, and six years after the ceding of the "Neutral Strip" (just south of Mower county), a party of officers started on a hunting trip from Fort Snelling. They reached the present site of Faribault, came down the source of the Straight river, touched tlu^ head waters of the Zumbro branch east of Blooming Prairie, and then reached the Red Cedar, passing tlirough what is now Slower county. Somewhere after leaving the Zumbro, and l)efore reaching the "Neutral Strip," they camped for the night, and from the locations given in TaliaFcrro's jouiMiiil. tlic ciim]) must have b.'cii somewhere neai' what is now Austin. Tlie party was headed by Major Lawrence Taliaferro, and among the hunters was Dr. John Emerson, the surgeon at Fort Snelling. ' With Dr. Emerson was his slave Dred, who had just been married to Harriett, whom Major Taliaferro had sold to Dr. Emerson. This Dred afterward became world famous in the "Dred Scott case," which was on;.- of the incidents in the train of events which did not end until tlif close of the Civil Avar.

A party of famous pioneer hunters visited IMow^er county in 1840. In the fall of that year Henry H. Sibley, Alexander Faribault, William H. Forbes and John C. Fremont started with a party of Sioux and two Canadian voyageurs for the "Neutral Land" which the government had purchased from the Sioux, the Sax and the Foxes. Jack Eraser joined the party near the present city of Faribault. The party reached the Red Cedar river somewhere in the present ]\Iower county. At some point on this river a camp was made, and Sibley, Eraser and two Canadians accompanied Fremont to Prairie du Chien, where Jean N. Nicollett aw^aited him. Leaving Fremont at that point, the four returned to the camp, being accompanied a part of the way by a hunter named Reed. A few days later the party of white men left the Sioux in camp on the Red Cedar and returned to Mendota.

In October, 1841, H. H. Sibley, then thirty years of age, was agent at Mendota, across the river from Fort Snelling, Minnesota, for the American Fur Company. He was active and vigorous to obtain skins and peltries for the company. He made a feast, invited the Sioux, killed two fat oxen and provided wild rice and other inducements suitable for an Indian holiday. Invitations had been sent out to the neighboring villages, and nearly a thousand men, squaws and children came to the feast. After the Indians had satisfied their hunger and had smoked his tobacco, Sibley explained to them that his object was to enlist a party to go to the south that coming winter and hunt on the neutral ground and around the headwaters of the Red Cedar. Small sticks six inches long and painted red were produced and one was offered to each grown hunter. It had been explained to them that whoever voluntarily accepted one of these red sticks thereby enlisted for the winter's hunt. About one hundred and fifty men thus enlisted. These men then assembled a short distance from the scene of the feast and chose ten of their number, whom they called soldiers, to have control of the hunting. These ten, after consulting together, announced the rules to govern the hunt and notified the enlisted men to appear on the hill south of j\Iendota in six days thereafter with their ponies, squaws, dogs and buffalo skin tcnis ready to start.

At the appointed time the party assembled and started south. The chief Indian of the party was Little Crow, father of the cliiei of the same name who took part in the massacre of 1862. Tlie usual day's progress was about ten miles. They went from j\Iendota south over the prairie until they struck the Cannon river, near Northfield, then up that, and the Straight river, by Faribault and Owatonna, to near Cooleysville, in the southeastern part of Steele county. There they crossed over to the Cedar river and came down its right hand bank to the timber at this place, Austin, or a little south of here, and camped for the winter.

Sibley was with them, clad in Indian costume, with doublebarreled rifle, pistols and two big wolf dogs at his heels. He had with him two French-Canadians and a number of kegs of powder and other goods on carts, to sell to the Indians and hold claim to the furs and skins which the hunt should produce.

On his advice, the Indians built here a stockade. Posts with crotch on their tops were set firmly into the ground. Poles were laid on top from post to post. Then other posts, ten feet or more in length, Avere set, one end on the ground and the other leaning against the poles. Brush and the tops of trees were cut and piled by the squaws with great industry, outside against the line of posts until it was impossible for an enemy to break through without consuming a good deal of time, all the while exposed to the fire, through loopholes, of the good marksmen within. This was the first structure of any kind built in what is now Mower county. Sibley and the Indians alike put small trust in the treaty of amity concluded at Prairie du Chien. They well knew that such treaties between Indians usually end in treachery and bloodshed. Now that they were on the border of their own country and about to hunt over the neutral ground, where in fact they had no right, they deemed it expedient to build this stockade as a safeguard. There was a great abundance of game on this neutral ground, as it had not been hunted over since its relinquishment eleven years before, to the United States, by the treaty of July 15, 1830.

One day Sibley Avent out early with his two wolf dogs for a still hunt, alone. In his absence Little Crow, always reckless and daring, Avent off south, down toward the forks of the Cedar, near Avhere Charles City now stands, for a three days' hunt on the border or even over the line in the enemies' country. He took Avith him nearly all the young men of the camp. "When Sibley returned at sunset, the squaAvs told him of Little CroAv's absence and that a hostile Indian spy had been seen lurking in the vicinity. He at once sallied forth Avith liis dogs to verify the report. There Avas no mistake, for in the light snoAv on the ground he saAv the moccasin tracks of the spy. He armed the old men and boys remaining in the camp, assigned to each his place jind awaited the expected attack. About three o'clock in the morning, the Indian dogs outside began to bark furiously. The women screamed and the old men sang their death songs. Sibley ordered silence and directed that every pistol and gun be shot oft' as rapidly as possible and reloaded. He himself fired five shots from his gun and pistols. The enemy were thereby deceived as to the number of fighting men in camp and made no attack. After sunrise next morning the ground was examined and it was apparent that at least fifty hostile warriors had tied their horses to trees in a grove at some distance away. An Indian boy Avas sent with all speed to Little Crow's camp doAvn the river, to tell the news and order him to return without delay. About midnight the hunters returned and Sibley's tense nervous anxiety abated.

At the close of each day, when the Indians ca-me in, the ten socalled soldiers would announce the direction and limits of the next day's hunt. This limit would be about ten miles away, indicated by a stream or slough or a grove or by some other natural object. Early next morning some of these soldiers would go forward and station themselves along the limit line, to detect and punish anyone who should attempt to pass and frighten away the game beyond. The penalty for violation of the rules was in the discretion of these ten so-called soldiers. In aggravated cases they would slit down and cut up the offender's lodge, break his kettles and do other damage. This enterprising trader (afterward first governor of this state) says, in his narrative of the winter's events, that on one occasion he inadvertently got beyond the line fixed for that day's hunt. One of the soldiers, hid in the tall grass, sprang up and rushed upon him, seized his fine doublebarreled gun, snatched his fur cap from his head and ordered him back to camp, saying lie would cut up his tent when he returned in the evening. It was a cold day and Sibley had to ride bareheaded, ten miles to camp. The soldiers had supreme command of the hunting and all its rules and regulations. It was considered very disgraceful for any one whether hunter, trader or even chief of the tribe to disobey or resist these governors of the hunt. On the M^ay in he devised a plan to mollify the soldiers and save his fine buffalo skin lodge. He got together all the good things he could muster and when the soldiers came in that night, he went out and invited all the ten to have supper with him in his lodge.

The temptation was too strong and they accepted, ate his supper, smoked his tobacco and each accepted a small present and agreed with him to overlook for once, his infraction of the rules. His cap and gun were restored, and as they say in diplomacy, the incident ended. But he fiunigatead that cap before wearing it again.

bears, five panthers and a few buffalo skins Avere ol)taine(l. Tlie fur company sold for $20 guns tliat cost $6 in St. Louis. They got pay not in money but in furs, at their own price. This is a specimen of the profits of the fur trade. The Indians broke camp and returned to Mendota in March, before the spring thaw rendered the sloughs and streams impassable.

From 1849 to 1852 the northern boundary of Iowa was surveyed, the Mower county portion of the line being surveyed by a party under Captain Andrew Talcott in 1852.

The First, Second and Third Guide Meridians, the second being just east of Austin, were surveyed by the late Hon. Thomas Simpson, of Winona, in 1853.

The boundaries of townships 101, 102, 103 and 104 in rajige 14, were siirveyed in 1853 by John Ball, and subdivided into sections the same year by John Tylor.

The boundaries of townships 101, 102, 103 and 104 in range 15, were surveyed in 1853 by John Ball, and subdivided into sections the same year by John Quigley.

The boundaries of townships 101, 102, 103 and 104, in range 17, were surveyed in 1853 and subdivided the same year. In township 101, range 17, John Ball and Andrew Talcott surveyed the boundaries and C. Phipps and E. Fitzpatrock surveyed the sec tion lines. In townships 102 and 103, range 17, the boundaries were surveyed by John Bell and E. S. Morris, and the section lines by AVilliam J. Anderson. In township 104, range 17, E. S. Morris surveyed the township boundaries and John Fitzpatrick surveyed the section lines.

The boundaries of townships 101, 102, 103 and 104, in range 18, were surveyed in 1854 and the section lines drawn the same year. In township 101, range 18, the boundaries were surveyed by J. B. Reymond and E. S. Morris and the section lines by AYilliam A. Anderson and Andrew Talcott. In township 102, range 18, the boundary lines were siu'veyed by J. B. Reyman and E. S. ]\Iorris, and the section lines by AVilliam A. Anderson. In townships 103 and 104, range 18, the boundary and sections lines were surveyed as in township 102, range 18, l)y the same persons.

eio]!t inches in circumference, containing coarse white sand and Avhat was believed to be evidences of black powder. No authoritative theory has ever been advanced to account for the presence of these relies.