Rice County, Minnesota - Chapter 46: Eakly Settlement Incidents - the Ubd Men, 1882 (part 1 of 2)

Chapter 46: Eakly Settlement Incidents - the Ubd Men

Alexander Faribault, the pioneer of the county, a son of Jean B. Faribault, who had been for years in the employ of the Fur Qompany, started from Fort Snelling iu the fall of 1820, with Joseph Dashner, who remained here until a few years ago, when he went to Dakota, and afterwards died. There were several others in the party; he had a one-horse cart laden with goods, and after a trip of ten days a trading post was established at Te-ton-ka To-nah, or the "Lake of the Village," which is three miles above Faribault. The Indians were got together, and the goods trusted out to them, on their jiromise to pay in furs when tlie party should return in the spring, about the first of April, and to the credit of the red men it may be said, that they, almost without exception, were prompt in meeting their oljligations.

In relation to the prices paid for fu .s by the fur companies, about which there might bj some curiosity, it may be said that there were certain technicalities eouueeted with the trade that was well understood. A certain number of skins of a smaller animal re])i('sented a certain fraction of a larger one. Tbe ])rice of a bearskin, for instance, woulil be a multiple of so many muskrat skinsi and the prices paid were well up, if not equal to the New York price. The object, of course, was to monopolize the trade, the profit Ix'ing mad(! on the goods paid in exchange, which were of two, three, four or more prices. This post was kcjit u]j until removed to the presenf site of Faribault, and Mr. Faribault kept on collecting furs, and sui>i)lying goods up to the time of the settlement of the j)lace, and the removal of the VVaupakutas, that being the name of the baud of Sioux that occupied this region.

The Indians removed from the lake where tlieir village was, and built on the point which is n(.)W occupied by Mr. Faribault's old residence. This was in 1835, and at that time there were about forty of their barl; covered abodes. Their burial ground is enclosed by the dooryard of Mr. Faribault's house. There rest the bones of Visiting Eagle and his family, a prominent chief who was killed at the iLstigatiou of .Jack Frazer, a halfbreed who had a rival trading post, because Visiting Eagle's people traded with Faribault, and the chief refused to restrain them and give him a monopoly.

After the village of Faribault began to be settled, there was chief Rjd Leg, brother to Visiting Eagle, who was a fine red man but very intemperate. A second chief at that time was Pah-pa, or Prick Leg, as he was commonly called, but he was a teetotaler, a sort nf .John B. Gough iu his tribe.

Two log houses were built bv the agents of a trading company, in 1845, and would be occupied iu winter by the whites, and wheuthey left in the spring the red men would take possession. These buildings afterwards served as a residence and hotel which was kept by Mr. Peters Buh and familv, who came in 1853, which date must be set down as the actual beginning of the settlement, which has gone ou with no real interruption until the present time. Mr. Bush afterwards became the proprietor at Lake Te-ton-ka To-nah,

E. J. Crump with his wife crossed Straight River on the 2d of May, 1853. Mr. Crump, in company with Rev. Standish and .John (iekler, under the direction of the Massachnseets Colony,

Mr. J. Wells was au early oue to establish a home here, and he opened a farm on the Cannon bottom just above town, which became one of the finest in the vicinity.

Tljo next important arrivals were Lnke Hulett and family, with Levi Nutting, Mark Wells, Mc- Kiuzie, and Mr. Boyington, with others who will be mentioned further on.

lu relation to the very earliest visits to this region, Mr. Alexander Faribault, who is still alive and most excellent authority, as all will admit who have the honor of his acquaintance, gives the following account, and also furnishes incidents at and subsequent to the actual occupation by the whites. General H. H. Sihley, who knew him long years ago when in the employ of the North American Fur Company, pays an unqualified tribute to his character, integrity, energy, and reliability, as well as his high sense of honor and his unbounded hospitality ; indeed, the exercise of this last quality, more than all else, has left him pecuniarily stranded. He was led into investments in the milling and other interests to which he was not adapted by nature or education, and not having the "almighty dollar" before him as the chief end of man, we find him to-day in his old age, dependent upon his old friends whom, years ago, he himself placed on the road to prosperity. The house in which he lives was furnished by J. D. Greene, and the citizens of the town who are so largely indebted to him for having a city here at all, will see that during his remaining years the few requirements for his support are within easy reach. But, to his relation; as already stated he was an Indian trader who established a jiost near here in 1826, at a time when the North American Fur Company, under the management of John Jacob Astor, was a mammoth institution, employing three thousand men, scattered all through the Northwest. In 18:i5, the post was fixed here, at what was then known as the junction of the Straight with the Cannon Rivers. About the year 1844, he resolved to locate on the very site of the present city of Faribault, and make it a permanent residence, to await the oncoming tide of emigration which had halted at the Father of Waters, but which was absolutely certain to resume its march, not again to halt until the Pacific ocean, with a mandate not to be disobeyed, should say.

So that year Mr. Fariliault sent Joseph Dashner and Hypolite Martin to open a farm and take charge of it for him. Three years afterwards, Alexander Graham, Mr. Faribault's brother-in-law, together with Mr. Brunei, his wife and one child, all of whom were French Canadians, came on here, as they had all been engaged to take care of the farm. About this time JohnRix was employed to cook and help care for the stock, and after a time Peter St. Antoine and his wife came to relieve Mr. Brunei. In 18.53, Peter Bush came out to do the blacksmithing, and his family came along and occupied the Iniilding erected some years before by Mr. Faribault for a trading post, which was near where the mill built by Mr. Faribault now stands. He also had a log house near the Travis place, which he used as a sugar camp. Mr. Faribaidt lived here at intervals every year, after first bringing these people, spending usually several months each summer. At such times he was visited by Gen. Sibley, Major Forbes, and other aci|uaintances, who sometimes brought their families.

In the winter of 1827, Mr. Faribault spent some time at Elysium with his wife. He claims to have been the very first one to open a farm here, and his land, which was broken and cultivated, was on the flat south of the Faribault stone mill, and here he raised wheat, barley, oats, and root crops. On his farm ho had, as he declares, twenty horses, forty head of cattle, three hundred chickens, and fifty or more turkeys, and the Indians never gave him any trouble.

Mr. Faribault was a member of the Territorial Legislature for this county, and had the privilege of naming it, so he selected the name of Rice, in honor of his old friend, Senator Henry M. Rice. When Mr. Hulett came there was (juite a well defined track from St. Paul to this point, made by teams hauling provisions, and at that time there were actually here, Peter Bush and family, Edward Le May, Narcisse Arpan, Henry Millard, Joseph Dashuer, Mr. E. J. Crump, and a Rev. Mr. Standish, with five log shanties all told, such as they were.

At the Old Settlers re-union in 1875, the Hon. Henry M. Rice was present, and delivered an admirable address, full of historical anecdotes, and what will be of especial interest to residents of this county will be here condensed. In 1844, General

Sumuer had command at Fort Atkiusoii, in Iowa, which was theu Indian territory, and he got uj) an expedition to Minnesota, and invited Mr. Hioe to iioeompauy the (larty. They had no wagons along, but only pack mules io carry provisions. Arriving at the confluence of the Straight and Cannon Kivers, they found Mr. A. Faribault, and he was engaged as a guide. U)) to this point they had not met a liuraan being, but they pushed on and swung around to Fort Snelling, up the Minnesota valley to the Blue Earth, ami so west toward the Des Moines, and thence to Shell Hock and Cedar River. At Shakopee there was found a brother of Mr. Faribault, and at St. Peter's there was a polite old Frenchman, "Mons Provincial." Not a soul was theu living at Maukato.

General Sumner kindly allowed Mr. Rice and Mr. Faribault to leave the company and hunt buffalo, and they soon spotted a fine animal and at once gave chase. A shot wounded him, and he became furious and at once reversed the order of things, the pursuers becoming the pursued. Mr. Rice was thrown from his horse, and he began to realize how rapidly his earthly career was drawing to a close, when Mr. Faribault, who was a most admirable marksman, brought down the infuriated brute. On this journey the men had to swim the rivers holding on to the tails of their horses.

In 1817, Mr. Faribault went with Mr. Rice on a trip up the U])])er Mississippi, and he never, as he stated, saw him more than pleasurably excited, under any circumstances.

At this same meeting Sheriir Barton made a few remarks, relating how he came to St. Paul in 1850, when corner lots were selling at SIO. There was a girl east that he thought a good deal of, and he went back to find that some other fellow had got her. He returned to St. Paul and found that some other fellow hatl got that, and this exasperating loss of two good things so discouraged him that he sought the country air, which he has been breathing ever since.

In the spring of 1852, Mr. Luke Hulett, who had already had quite a frontier experience, was living on his farm in Wisconsin, and he read in the "New York Tribune" that the purchase of the lands west of the Mississippi from the Sioux had been effected. He then restilved to carry out his purpose ft)rmed long before, to make his home in Minnesota, and he accordingly started for St. Paul, but on arriving there he saw a letter from

Hon. H. H. Sibley, the delegate in Congress, stating that the treaty had lieen defeated in the Senate, but he concluded not to allow a little circumstance like this to disarrange his plans. Low water, however, in the Wisconsin River, prevented him from getting his family and effects on the rt)ad until the next spring. It seems that he had read in the "Blilwaukee Sentinel" a truthful account of this region, from the pen of a gentleman who had been one of a surveying party to lay out a road from Lake Pepin to Mankato, the junction of the Straight with the Cannon Rivers being a point. The description filled his idea of a place to locate, and he started up the Mississippi, and arrived in St. Paul on Sunday, the 'Jth of May, 1853. He stopped at a tavern, and the landlord, learning that he j)roposed to go to the Straight and Cannon Rivers, advised him to stick to the water communications, but if he must go back into the country, that Maukato was the place. But Blr. Hulett had his mind made up, after a careful survey of the subject, to examine the location of which he had received such glowing account, and while making arrangements he formed the acquaintance of Levi Nutting, which resulted in a lasting friendship.

Mr. Nutting, on learning that Mr. Hulett was going to explore for a location, inquired as to his plans, and informed him that himself and several other young men had just arrived in St. Paul, and desired to find a place to locate, and the result of tlie interview was that a party of six was thus formed, and with an emigrant team of two horses they started from St. Paul, leaving the family there, and made the first attempt to establish a ])ermanent agricultural colony in Rice coimty. On the 13th of May, 1853, the little party crossed the Mississippi at St. Paul, to the bottom opposite that little hamlet. Roads then were mere trails, and whatever facilities for transportation existed in the country anywhere, was due to nature and not art. That spring was wet, and before till y had got out of the bottom the wagon was mired and the horses had to be detached, the wa'gnu unloaded and hauled by luiman mu«cle, assisted by human brain, to high ground. During the journey they saw no more of humanity outside of their own party, except two settlers' cabins near the river. The first night they encanqied in a grove fifteen miles from St. Paul, and a uortheast storm which had been threatening through the night broke upon them in the morning, and its copious stores continued to drench them until they arrived at a slough within a few miles of Cannon City, which seemed to interjjose a'barrier against further progress, as there was ten inches of water on a network of roots for a road bed. The horses were unhitched and taken over, and then the young men hauled the wagon through. As they entered the woods between Cannon City and Faribault, the rain ceased and the clouds began to disperse, and the prospect that opened up before them was most charming, looked upon in a practical way; good timber and good water laying contiguous to good cleared land aggregated the very desideratum for a pioneer settler. Superadd to this a climate where health holds the highest place, and what could be found better after traveling the wide world over? The varieties of timber were familiar, and to say that Mr. Hulett was delighted would be expressing it mildly, and as they reached the brow of the hill opposite the site of the old Barron House, the sun, as it was about to set, broke through the canopy of the clouds, and casting a mellow golden light upon the village of the Wau-pa-ku-ta band of Indians, comprising s^me sixty wigwams, stretched along where Main Street now is, the vision presented was most enchanting, and the newcomers felt that they had arrived in the promised land, which it was ])rupoBed to occupy, whether they had a commission to drive out the aliorigines that inhabited it or not. The view is well described in poetic words :

Ferns and grasses and wild vines grow Close where the waters ripple and flow, And the merry zephyrs the livelong day With the nodding leaves are ever at play; And the? birds are winging their happy Ilight 'Moiigst all things beautiful, free and bright. With a hum of bees in the drowsy air. And a glitter of butterflies everywhere."

The next morning, on the 15th of May, 18.53, the sun rose clear and the air was balmy, and having spaneeled the horses and set them out to feed near where the stone mill now is, our adventurers ascended the hill near the present site of the Catholic Church, "and viewed the landscape o'er," and as they faced to the north, the junction of the two streams and their respective backgrounds were in full view, and the panoroma was most enchanting as there had been no marring of nature's handiwork by the vandal hand of man. The thoughts uppermost in the mind were that hero is a rich and pleasant land, a fit abode for civilization, that has been preserved for this purpose by the various races that have occupied it, the last being the "Ani-chin-a-bees," in tlie vernacular, or the Indian with his animal neighbors. Unnumbered summers had annually renewed the rich vegetation of these lovely valleys to be swept away by autumnal tires. These two smiling rivers mingled their waters unwitaessed by man, except in his hunter state. Man is left to work out his own destiny, and with such facilities there should be no uncertainty as to the result.

Mr. Hulett judged that this country, being known, would be settled as fast as it would be desirable, and here nature had certainly conspired to produce a business center. He therefore came to the conclusion that this should be his future home, and he so informed the young men who were with him, advising them to take a quarter section right here, hold on to it, and go to work and secure, as soon as possible, the two hundred dollars with which to pay for it, for the slave power being dominant then, there was no hope for a homestead law, and that in a few years they would be worth four or five thousand dollars each. Such modest hopes and expectations did not meet the views of a majority of these ambitious young men, and they declared that in a few years they expected to be worth ten or twelve thousand dollars. Mr. Hulett asked them how much they had saved in the last three years, they replied, not a "red cent;" well, said he, "the experience of the past is the prophecy as to the future," but they could not be prevailed upon to embark with the colony here, and so only Mark Wells remained to make a home, although Levi Nutting returned the next year.

Five claims were found staked out in the interest of Alexander Faribault, when Mr. Hulett arrived, who up to this time had never heard of him. While returning to St. Paul fcHiis family, Mr. Hulett ami Mr. Faribault met and talked over the whole business, and although Mr. Faribault had resolved to have a settlement of French Cana- iliuns, he was so favorably impressed with the new comer that he oorJiully invited him to come and they would together work iu tlu; intorest of building up a town.

Iu a few days Mr. Hnlett returned and found Peter Bush, Kdward J. Crump, and James Wells were with the party. Mr. Wells was one of the first members of the Territorial Li'gislaturo. Ho was an eccentric, but sincere and honest man in all his dealings.

Here is a complete list of those who spent the winter of 1853 in Faribault, who had responded in a practicel way to the refraiu so pojjular at that time:

"To the west, to the west, the land of the free, Where the niisjhty JlisRouri rolls down to the sea, Where a man is a man if he's willing to Unl And the poorest may gather the fruits of the soil."

Alexander Faribault and family, Luke Hulett and family, James Wells and family, Frederick Faribault and family, Edward J. Crump and wife, Peter Bush and family, Mr. Sprague and wife, Mr. Springer and wife, and the following young unmarried people, Norbert Paijuiu, Smith Johnson, Orlando Johnson, John Hulett, Hugh Mc- Clelland, Mark Wells, A.McKenzie, Robert Smith, and Theodore Smith.

The spring and summer of 1854 brought the following accessions; John Morris, who subsequently laid out Morristowu, Major Babcock, Truman Bass, Mr. Tripp, who was the first to settle on East Prairie, Dennis O'Brien, Mr. Travis, Mr. Parshall, and James and Henry Scott, who built the first saw-mill in town. The Sears', father and son, in the fall of 1854, located in Cannon City and became formidable competitors for the county seat. Judge Woodman came about this time, and also Mr. William Dunn, who secured a claim east of Cannon City. Mr. Drake and others settled near Northfleld. This is substantially Mr. Hulett's statement as written out for the "Republican"" a few years before his death, tliere is a slight variation, in the personnel of the j)ione',T.s, from other accounts.

General Levi Nutting's account of the first trij) to Faribanlt from St. Paul, and his early experience here is well worthy of perusal. He came with Mr. Hulett, Mark Wells, Mr. McKenzie and others. The boat they got over the Mississip])i on was a little larger than a hogshead ; their stock of provisions consisted of flour, pork, ham, tea, coffee, and a few other thing.s. The first night they encamped one mile from Empire City. A fire was built and they "turneil iu" with their feet toward the embers, and during the night a coal of tire dropped upon Mr. Nuttings blanket, and burned tiirough to his boot and eat a hole tlirougli that. After a while the (Jeneral smelled .somebody's foot l)uruiug, and an investigation revealed the uncomfortable fact that it was his own member, so he proceeded to promptly suppress the impending cremation, as that was before this method of disposing of bodies had been seriously agitated. In the morning the journey was resumed, Castle Rock, in the distance, looked like a meeting house.

At five o'clock in the evening of the 14th of May, 1853, the party reached Faribault and found Peter Bush and wife living near where Riedell ATurner's mill now is. This, with the cal)in of Norbert Paquin, were the only white residents here. He remained three weeks and had a good ajipetite and enjoyed a varied liill of fare, "bread and pork for breakfast, pork and bread for diuner> and some of both for supper."

The stone i(uarry hill was an ludhtn burial ground, if such a name can be given to a place where the cadavers are hung upon trees, after being tied up in blankets. There were from twenty to thirty of these repulsive objects, swaying in the breeze over there at that time. While Mr. Hulett and one or two of the others remained at that time, the General did not come back until April, 1855- He declares the very earliest settlers are entitled to the greatest credit for what they accomplished. He once sold 100 bushels of wheat for .^25, and jiaid it all to the hired man. A steer he had raised was slaughtered, and he sold the fore quarters toR. A. Mott for S4, and he then had so much money in his pocket, more than any other man in town, that he borrowed a musket from Mr. Mott to protect himself on his way home! He says that our dignified Postmaster usud to wear jeans .and work at carpentering with a borrowei.1 hammer, or in a saw-mill.

Four young men kept a boarding house, two of them did the chamber work and waited upon the table, and the other two did the cooking; one of them is now on the supreme bench, another has been a State Senator, a third has been a distinguished Euro|)eau traveler, and the other has been State Senator and City Attorney.

George E. Skinner, who was present, in a Ijanteriug way asked General Nutting how it was that a gentleman like him should go to bed with his boots on? Tlie General at once promj)tl_v rejjlied that it was because he did not come here barefooted as SIvinner did.

Gen. Nutting relates how the town was named. It was soon after the arrival of Mr. Hulett, when a meeting was called at -the Tlolel di: Bush, and as Mr. Faribault was so well known, his name was agreed ui^on and a petition drawn up and given to Gen. Siblev for a Post-office and a post route, with Alexander Faribault as Postmaster and Mr. Davis as mail carrier.

In 1851, he started from Beloit, Wisconsin, to St. Paul, with a load of wagon.s, and while there met several Canadians and trapper.-* who were acquainted with this part of the country, and they told him. that a good place to settle with his family would be at the junction of the Straight and Cannon Rivers, as tLiere was water power, wooil, and prairie there. In August, 18.52, he visited the place and was pleased with it, and saw Mr. Faribault, who was then stopping at Mendota; he told Mr. Bush, however, that he did not intend to remain there long, but proposed to locate here where he had already cultivated a farm, and an agreement was made to come here in April, 1853, and occupy the old trading post, which he did. He was not in the exclusive employ of Mr. Faribault, but did work for him, and also for Mr. Wells. The first settlers after Mr. Bush, according to his recollection, were Mr. Wright, Mr. Lull, E. J. Crump, John Dutch, P. Standish, and ijuite a number of men who had come to work for Mr. Faribault. When Mr. Hulett came, there were two cows here, and he wanted to get board at Mr. Bush's, who had a log house and a blacksmith shop opposite where St. Mary's Hall now is, with some land staked off, but was told that his claim would be jumped unless he Lad plenty of money to defend it, and so he was induced to sell it for $116, and removed to the lake where he lived afterwards.

was read, and a brief resume of its contents will be pi-eseuted : Mr. Alexander Faribault, who was the founder of the city, was for years connected with the American Fur Com25auy, of which the Genercd was the managing partner in this region, and he was always found to be a man of sterling worth and integrity. Jean Baptiste Faribault, the father of Alexander, came to this country when young, and was a fur trader who in the war of 1812, when the extreme Northwest was in the hands of the British, remained true to the American cause; be was of a highly respectable Canadian family. Years ago Mr. Fariliault and Gen. Sibley used to hunt together with Little Crow, and Mr. Faribault pointed out this spot where he proposed to settle as soon as the title of the Sioux was extinguished. Few men have responded as he has done to the demands upon him, to support so many of his wife's I'elations, but whatever his financial condition may be, he will go down to his grave honored and respected by all.

At the meeting of the old settlers in March, 1875, Hon. O. F. Perkins related his ex])erieuce, an abstract of which is here given. He left Vermont in 1854, fell in with the great western bound llood tide of emigration, and traveled by rail to the western terminus of the railroad, at Galena, Illinois, and there took passage for St. Paul, on the Alhambra, which was two weeks making the trip. St. Paul then claimed «4,000 inhabitants. He went to St. Anthony and Minneapolis, spending the winter there. He had no business, but was invited to deliver an address on the Maine liquor law, which he then thought would be most admirable for this new country, which he did with such success that he sujjposed the whole community was converted to his views. About that time the first suspension bridge across the Mississijipi, at Minneapolis, was completed, at Mr. Perkins, at the celebration and banquet which followed this event, was called upon for a speech, and although all the public men there were intensely democratic, he introduced his anti-slavery views, which, had be been a little older he might have been a littl.' more cautious in doing in such a presence. This, however, proved to be a turning point in bis career, for the Hon. J. W. North, hearing of the incident, invited him to go with him to Faribault, whei'e just such daring men were wanted, and he accepted tlio invitation and rode out in a sleigh with him, being two days on thi- road. It was bitter cold, and airiving here the scene was in striking contrast with what woiiM greet a visitor now. He remained a few days in mortal fear of having his scalp lifted, came back the following spring and opened a law office and studied up the claim business, boarded with Mr. Crump, and had bis office up stairs. He afterwards moved into a blacksmith shop, but as business did not open up, he went to farming. He bought a bushel of potatoes forS2.50, and carried them to a spot of ground he had procured north of D. W. Humphrey's house, and i:ilanted them with an axe; did nothing more with them until fall, when the crop was sold to Dr. Charles Jewett for $35. He also planted some corn on the liluff near the stone quarry; it came up two or three times, by the aid of the gophers, but finally got ready to grow, and in due time it was harvested by the cattle, and he concluded that raising com was not his fortf, that potatoes were his "best holt." Law being at a discount, he tried his hand at theology, and preached the first sermon, as far as he knew, in this region, from a book loaui^d him by Truman Nutting, and it was pure, unadulterated Calvinism, without any "sugar coating." He also assisted in the formation of the first Bible S(jciety ; he was the Secretary, and Frank Nutting local agent. According to his recollection, E. J. Crump, Esq., was the first Justice of the Peace, and the first case before him was a replevin case for a gun worth .S2.50. Mr. Perkins was the prosecuting attorney, but the case was sworn out of the jurisdiction of the court. When at work as a horny-handed yeoman, carrying his potatoes to plant, he met John M. Berry and G. W. Batchelder, and with his brother they all went to living together in a little board shanty.

That 4th of July was duly celebrated in Faribault; Dr. Charles Jewett delivered the oration, and Frank Nutting sung one of Ossian E. Dodge's songs, "The Unfortunate Man."

In (Xitober, 18.55, there was a severe snowstorm, but it soon melted, and November was a fine month. In the winter Berry, Batchelder, and the Perkins brothers kept a bachelor's hall, dividing the housework, and the devices r&sorted to, to get rid of washing the dishes, were often original and ingenious. Mr. Perkins went east and got his wife, and returned to remain in the county ever since.

Iowa, in 1854, with a team, in company with Messrs Carter, Kobert Douglass, Sears, and two others, and afttr visiting various other places they finally struck Faribault, and Mr. Tower took a farm where Petitt's place now is; he afterwards built a store opposite the Barron House.

It should be remarked here, that the Old Settlers' Association of Kice county has jjroved to be (]uite a historical "bonanza," and, to add another mining term, has "panned out" well in the interest of preserved reminisoenses.

Hon. G. W. Batchelder arrived and planted himself here in the spring of 1855, coming (m foot with Judge Berry, who was not a judge then, except of a good thing w'hen he saw it. They had traveled around prospecting, visiting St. Paul, Shakopee, Mankato, Cannon Palls, Zumbrota, and finally here, where, enchanted with the country, they resolved to halt. John Cooper was here at the time and there was talk about his jumping the townsite, but his claim proved a good one and became Cooper's addition. At first Berry and Batchelder boarded with Truman Nutting at $4 a week, and afterwards with Bloses Cole at the "Ox Head Tavern."

Reuben Rundell, G. W. Bachelder, Judge Berry, and O. F. and C. C. Perkins afterwards established a hotel on the European plan, north of the meeting house. The great event the next year was the arrival of H. E. Barron, whose fame had preceded him as a man of wealth. He built the hotel, and at its opening there was a great celebration, a procession, dinner, a dance, and speeches. The arrival of Maj. Dike created another sensation, his hair was then black and he was a fine looking young man, and when the people were told that he was going to stay and open a bank they began to feel the importance of the place and to contemplate metropolitan airs. The place above all others at an early day, for generous hospitality, was at the house of Col. J. C. Ide, on East Prairie, whose gates were always ajar, and the constant round of bountiful entertainment enjoyed there was a'l oasis in the experience of those who were fortunate enough to enjoy it, that comj)ensated for the long journey through social deserts which so many at that day were obliged to travel.

aiul stopped awhile in Ited Wing, aud when lie cnme to Faribault, saw and heard a soalp dance where Turner's mill now stands. The Dakotaa had some Chippewa scalps and were skulking through the monotonous contortions of this sanguinary dance, accompanied with the most blood curdling yells. He ])resided over the first deljating club here, went back to Illinois, and securing a wife, returned.

In June, 1854, John 0. Cooper came from St. Paul, in company with the mail carrier, who had the whole mail for the week on his person ; it consisted of one letter and Mr. Hulett's regular copy of the Tribune.

Mr. P. W. Frink relates a story as to the late Lieiit. John C. Whipple, who was commissioned as a Justice of the Peace in and for Rice county, and in a certain case, the first one he had brought before him, he made a ruling to which exception was taken on account of its being directly in conflict with the law, but the irate Justice brought his fist down upon the table and emphatically declared that he did not care a continental whether it was law or not, that he proposed to administer justice. An appeal was taken and sustained, aud in disgust he resigned.

Hon. H. M. Matteson, one of the pioneers, started for this section in February, 18.54, and stopped with John Hojt, where Dundas now is, made a claim of some land and began to improve it by changing work with Mr. Hoyt, giving him a day's work for a day's use of his oxen. He caught a large cat fish that lasted him for meat quit,' a long time.

In a late number of the "Kepublicau," Mr. F. W. Prink related his experience as a pioneer newspaper man, which may not be uninteresting reading, now that such changes in transportation, and in almost all else that pertains to human life, have taken ])lace. An abstract of his story can only be presented here. On the 6th of September, 1856, he arrived at Hastings with a press and material to print a newspaper, and paid $1 a hundred to have it hauled to Faribault, and to save $5 stage fare traveled the distance himself on foot. On unpacking the type it was found to be all pied' except two forms that were left locked up. They had lota of trouble sorting "pi," and it was not until the 22d of October tliat the "Rice County Herald" hashed upon the benighted world. Major Cook, who afterwards fell gallantly fighting for his country, made most of the wooden furniture for the office. Clark Turner, a brother of J. O. Turner, made the iron work, and he also gave his life to his country. Charley Decker paid the first dollar for subscription, and George W. & J. M. Tower paid the first advertising bills. The foreman of the office was Cal. Johnson ; the compositors were Andrews and Cressey. One of them is now a Baptist minister. A young Sioux used to hang around the office, but he oared more for "gosh-paps" - dimes - than for work, and he was afterwards in the massacre business. The "Faribault Republican," the outgrowth of this first attempt at journalism, has for years been one of the best printed and edited sheets in the State, and has never missed a day in its jjublication.

Early Settlement

W. A. Shaw, New York. On the occasion of the centennial celebration of the independence of the country in 187fi, the government requested every county in the country to have a historical sketch prepared up to that date. Kice county was particularly fortunate in this respect, and the sketch of the county was prepared and presented as an address on Independence Day, by F. W. Frink. For the sake of preserving it in this permanent form, and on account of its being a ?-('««?«<' of what had occurred up to that time, and of some facts not found elsewhere in this work, if, is reproduced here entire.

Fellow -Citizens - For an artist who has all his life confined his art to life-size painting to attempt a reproduction of his principal work in miniature, it must require all his skill to prevent his picture from proving a failure. Yet such is the task I attempt to-day. For twenty years, or ever since Rice county first took shape as a separate oiganization, it has been either my duty or my pleasure, and sometimes both, to chronicle its progress and put upon record every forward step it has taken in the march of its destiny, and now I am to try to condense the work of this score of years into the space allotted tor our page of the centennial history of the nation. Under the circumstances it will be a wonder, not if I fail, but if I succeed in reproducing from the abundant material at my command anything which may not be without form, and void.

the western world, is not called by the name of some old hero renowned in song or story, nor lias it assumed the name of anceint or modern place of proportions va.st, or storied fame, lint the Hon. Henry M. Rice, of St. Paul, an early settler in the State, and a warm friend of him who gave to the city of Faribault his local habitation and his name, is the man from whom our county takes its name, and the man who still feels a warm interest in everything pertaining to its welfare.

Although it was not until October, 1.S5.5, that Rice county held an election as a separate organization, electing then for the first time its county officers, Mr. Alexander Faribault had established a trading post at the toot of what is now known as Cannon Lake, but then called by the Sioux, Teton-ka Tonah, or Lake of the Village, as early as 1826. While he was doubtless the first settler of Rice county, and according to the records of the Old Settler's Asscjciation, Mr. Peter Bush the next, it was not until May, 185.3, when the Hon Luke Hulett, who still resides within the limits of the city of Fariliault, removed here with his family, that the history of Rice county properly begins, for the first settlement of a farmer in an agricultural region is the beginning of its history. Alexander Faribault, Luke Hulett, and Peter Bush sliould be considered the founders of the first settlement in Rice county.

The history of the towns and villagi s of this county begins even earlier than that of the county itself, that is to say, before the county existed as a political organization with well defined boundary lines, the towns of Faribault, Northfield, Morristown, and Cannon City were surveyed, platted and recorded in the order named. Alex. Fariliault, F. B. Sibley, John W. North, and Porter Nutting, as proprietors, filed the plat of the town of Faribault in the office of the Register of Deeds in Dakota county, to which Rice county was then attached for judicial purposes, on the 17th day of February, 1855. Previous to this date, however, a preliminary survey had been made, and Walter Morris owned the share afterward represented by John W. NorMi.

In August, 1855, Mr. North having dispo.sed of his interest in Faribault, wliilc in search of fresh fields and pastures new, selected the site of the present city of Northfield, and on the 7th of March, 1856, filed the plat in the office of the Register of Deeds in Rice county, which was then an office a little over two months old. A plat of Cannon Citj had been made almost as early as that of Faribault, bnt owing to the fact that the plat had been made without the usual formality of a preceding survey, it was thought best by the proprietors, after a vain attempt to harmonize confiictiug interests caused by conflicting boundary lines, to have a survey made, the plat of which was not filed for record until the 11th day of November, 185(5, but j)revious to that date it was a town of sufficient force to give Faribault a lively race in a contest for the location of the county seat.

April 1st, 18.56, Mrs. Sarah Morris, mother of Walter Morris, one of the first proprietors of the town of Faribault, and widow of Jonathan Morris, one of the first settlers of Morristown, filed and recorded the plat of Morristown. These were the first born towns of Kice county, but the times were then prolific in the birth of towns and cities, and the eye of the speculator saw lieside every crystal lake or limpid stream a site for a city full of the possibilities of future glory. Numerous additions were surveyed and added to towns already recorded. The new towns of Wheatland, Wedgewood, Warsaw, Waloott, Shieldsville, Dundas, Millersburg, EastPrairieville, and Lake City were added to the list. Of these, some are dead and some are dying, and nearly all remaining have from time to time, by vacations obtained through the courts, contracted their vast circumference in conformity with the request made at an early day to the Territorial Legislature to limit the area of town sites, and reserve certain portions of the public domain for agricultural purposes.

While, however, visionary speculators were creating town sites and multiplying town lots with almost as much facility as farmers increased the number of their pigs or chickens, the agricultural interest was also thriving until the year 1858, when occurred the nearest to a failure of crops that Rice county has ever experienced. The land office had been located in Faribault the year previous, and the little store of money that most of the settlers had brought with them IJ.ad been generally used in payment for their lands. The prospect was gloomy, and many families anticipated actual want before the coming of another harvest; but the silver lining to the cloud was not long obscured, and relief came from a ipiarter as little looked for as was the manna in the wilderness by the Israelites. By somebody the happy discovery was made that our timbered lands were full of ginseng, the sovereign balm for every ill that Chinese flesh is heir to, and forthwith our population was transferred into a community of diggers, and many a man, and even woman, too, who had never earned more than a dollar a day before, received from two to four dollars for their day's labor in the woods. Thus was Rice county's darkest hour tided over, and from that day to this there has never been a time when its citizens have had reason to fear a lack of the necessaries of life.

The statistics of crops for 18(511, previous to which no record is obtainable, show 18,000 acres und&r cultivation in various fruits and grains, with a product of 260,000 bushels of wheat. Five years later the cultivated area had increased to 25,000 acres, with a product of 325,000 bushels of wheat; in 1872, 56,672 acres were cultivated, and 548,000 bushels of wheat produced, while the wheat crop alone, of Rice county, reached nearly 700,000 bushels in the year 1875. Yet, this county must not be judged as an agricultural district by the amount of wheat it raises, although that cereal is still the one the most relied upon by our farmers as a source of income; yet, as more than two-thirds of its area is or has been timbered land, is not so well adapted to growing wheat extensively as a prairie country, its agricultural productions are necessarily more diversified.

The p'ojiulation of the county, as indicated by the number of votes cast at its first election, which, being a county seat contest, j)robably brought out as large a proportion of legal voters as could be summoned on any occasion, was in 1855, between 1,500 and 2,000, the number of votes east being .384. In 1860, the first census, it was 7,88G; in 1865,10,966; in 1870, 16,399, and the census of last year makes the number 20,622.

While Rice county, more fortunately situated than some of her western sisters, never experienced any of the horrors of Indian warfare, yet her history would not be complete without mention of its terrible fi-ight in the winter of 1857. There are doubtless some of the present audience who well remember how panic-stricken we were when the news came through some mysterious channel that the Indians had sacked and destroyed St. Peter, only forty mdes away, and were in rapid march for Faribault. Then "there was running to and fro and gathering in pale distress, and cheeks iill pale that but an liour ago blushed at the tale of tlioir own loveliness." Gen. Shields, by reason of his military experience, was made coniuianderiu-ehief of all the forces in and aronnd Faribault, with hcadcjuarters at the head of the stairs in tlie old Faribault House, and all of our brave young men who could be armed with shot-gnns, rusty pistols, or anything having the appearan.io of firearms, were posted on guard at all the prinei))al thoroughfares leading into town, and in front of the houses of the most timid and defenceless. Tliis state of affaire lasted all of one night and until time of changing guard the next, when the relief, finding that the extreme cold had induced the guards to seek the inside of the houses they were defending, retreated in good order to more comfortable quarters, and our first Indian war was over. The cause of the panic was afterward ascertained to be the Spirit Lake massacre, more than a hTindred miles away, by Inkpadntah and his band of outlawed Sioux. It should be here chronicled, however, that when the war actually came, although it came no nearer than Mason & Dixon's line. Rice county bore its full share of its responsibilities, losses, and calamities right manfully. The war of the Rebellion found us nurtui-ed iu the arts of peace, a happy and home-loving people, and yet, before its close more than a tlionsand of its bravest and best had volunteered to defend the flag they loved so well. How well they boro themselves on the battle field, the nijmber of the Tinreturning brave whose "graves are severed far and wide by mountain, stream, and sea," too well attests. The records show that more than oneeighth of the number shown by the census of the year before the breaking out of the great rebellion as the entire population of the county, had enlisted iu the Union army before its close, a record of which our citizens may well be ]iroud.

If I were asked what, in my opinion, has been the most notable events in the history of Rice county, I should answer that first, in importance was its settlement in the beginning by a class f>f people who were intelligent tillers of the soil, men who came here imbued with the idea that labor, education, and religion are the true foundation stones upon which to build a perfect and permanent social faliric. In accordance with these ideas we find that in three years after its first settlement, and in a little more than one year after the rush of immigration begun, while the grass on the prairie sod had scarcely withered under the newly turned furrow, schoolhouses, churches, and even a printing press had taken their |)lacesas permanent institutions of Rice county. In pursuance of this same idea, in 1858, Rev. Dr. Breck founded the mission schools of the Church of the (rood Shepherd, which were the germ from which has grown Seabury Hall, Shattuck School, and St. Mary's.

In 1SG3, the exertions of its citizens, who bought and paid for the land it occupies, secured the location of the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind within the borders of Rice county.

In 18G8, was opened in Northfield the |)rei)aratory department of what is now known asCarleton College, and what iu the near future will be known as the best college of its denomination in the Northwest. The location, establishment, and prosperity of Carleton College is due entirely to the energy and liberality of the citizens of Northfield. While all the time from the establishment of district No. 1, in 18.56, to that of No. 101, in 187G, the public schools have been nourished and cherished to a degree equalled by few countries in the ITnion. More than one-third of all taxes for all purposes levied in the county being devoted to the use of public education in the common schools.

From this brief sketch it will appear that the history of our county has not been eventful iu the light in which the historian usually regards events. It has been the scene of no fierce cimflict of arms, and within our borders no monumental marble rises to commemorate bloody victories won, or the heroic deeds of knightly chivalry, which contribute so largely to the romance of history. Nevertheless, is our history full of those "victories not less renowned than war," victories which in less than a quarter of a century after the extinguishment of the Indians' title to these lands, witliout blfMidshed, swept away every vestige of their barbarous life, and substituted the school, the church, and on every hand, happy and contented homes; victories which vanquished the hearts of our suffering people on the frontier when Rice county was the first to send relief after the devastation from hail and fli'e in the memorable year 1871. The suffering people of Chicago, northern Wisconsin, and Michigan were subjugated by the munificent donations sent to their relief in that terrible year of fire, and of thf)se donations Rice county gave with no sparing hand. These are the victories not less renowned than war of which our county can boast. Victories over a stubborn soil, turning a wild waste into fruitful fields and hap2:)y homes. Victories over ignorance and superstition best shown by the maintenance and prosperity of a free press and the public school. Victories over the selfishness of human nature in devoting so large a share of otir worldly goods in the relief of suffering humanity at home and abroad, and above all it was a grand and glorious victory when the echoing of Sumter's guns found response in a thousand brave hearts ready to give their lives for their country. These are the victories which give assurance that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, can longest endure supj)orted and defended by a peace-loving, generous, and intelligent people."

The Reb Men

Anything authentic in relation to the race that occupied this laud only a generation ago, is of absorbing interest, especially to those who are now making their entrance upon the stage of active life, and this interest must continue to grow as time recedes and the period of their existence as the rude possessors of the land becomes more distant.

The question as to how these people lived, what they ate, how they cooked their food, how they made their clothes, how they fashioned their hunting weapons and their fishing tackle, how they formed their residences, and in short, how they kept themselves and their children from perishing from ofT the face of the earth during those hard Minnesota winters, with the thermometer thirty or more degrees below zero, and blockading snows all around, is indeed a conundrum difficult to solve.

We do not forget their sparseness, and remi'mlier the abundance of game in the forest and streams, but to offset this advantage we reflect upon their indolence and improvidence. After a careful contemplation of the whole subject we are compelled to the conclusion that they were a decaying race, who had occupied this land, and, in a certain sense, preserved it for the use of the present civilization. The law of creation which begins with the simplest forms of life, is that the inferior must give place to the superior, as the conditions are favorable for its existence, and that the Indian race antedates the Caucasian in its origin, is evident, for while the one, viewed as a whole, is in its senility, the other is just entering its teens, not having yet reached its true manhood.

There were certain things that the red man readily absorbed when coming in contact with the white race. He seemed to take to the "firewater" in a s}3ontaneous way, and very soon learned to use fire arms and hunting traps, and how to make maple sugar, and this seems to have been about the limit of their educational capacity. As to agriculture, the squaws, if the males could be persuaded to stop long enough in a place, would plant a little corn.

It is supposed that the French voyagcurs who first encountered the Dakotas, which word is said to signify the "nation of the seven council fires," gave them the name of Sioux, so that in conversing about them in their presence, tlieir suspicion would not be excited by hearing their name pronounced. When the whites came here the Waupakuta band of this tribe occupied the present site of Main street. It is difficult to learn as to the exact number, but that there were several hundred there can be no doubt. The name of this tribe has been variously spelled by different writers, but there is no reason why there should be any redundant letters, or why it should not be spelled as near as it is pronounced as our imperfect alphabet will admit. In this case the "a" has the broad sound. This name should be preserved in some local way, and it is respectfully suggested at the risk of horrifying the whole community, that, as there is a Faribault county, that the name of "Waupakuta" be given to the city itself! As an instance of the havoc made with Indian names, there is the Chipjiewa, a tribe which must have originated in northern New England and Canada, or perhaps Nova Scotia, and pushing west, north of the great lakes, finally encountered the Dakotas near the Mississippi River. Now this tribe called themselves the O jib way, or Ud-jibe-wa, which the English sj)eaking race at once made into Chippewa. The Chippewas, who hardly reached this point, except on a predatory expediti(m, had, among other things that the Dakotas did not, birch bark canoes, and in form and buUd they were exactly like those made in Old Town, near Bangor, to-day, by the Penobscot Indians. The Sioux had dugouts for canoes, and were lighter colored than the Chip2)ewa8, besides other striking differences.

Iharly Settlement

more wild and less accustomed to tlie presence of the whites, the young, particularly, looked with stolen glances upon the new comers, with a curiosity mingled with apprehension. The first houses they would visit in sciuads, looking over everything and keeping this up all day long, seeming to be totally oblivious to the annoyance and disgust they occasioned. Colonel Fortier, an Indian trader who know the red men perfectly well, told the settlers to locate right in their midst and they would be perfectly safe, so long as they were not roughly treated, which j)roved to be true. Mr.Hulett had a lot of oxen tliat got into the corn that was jilanted by the Indians.and a party of visitors from Efid Dog's band that were visiting here, said that these people and their oxen were trespassers, and should be shot, saying, that is the way our folks do, and so one of the oxeu was laid low. Mr. Hulett then started to lay the case before the Governor, and arriving there the Governor acknowledged that tlie whites were tres|.)assers, and said that he had authority to puuish depredations. As he was about leaving, the chief, accompanied by Mr. Faribault, arrived, and the matter was settled by the payment of |12.5, with which he bought another yoke of oxen, and he had beef and a spare ox as a compensation for this outrage. This was the most serious, and in fact the only thing of the kind that ever happened.

On the 4th of February, 1874, an "Old Settlers' Association" was organized, several reunions were held, and early incidents recited which were most intere><ting and valuable in a historical point of view, and from the publication of these statements much reliable material fur this work has been obtained; the statements of the pioneers are given substantially as they fell from their lips, and it is remarkable that the discrepancies which always exist in such cases are so slight.

To give a very full and comprehensive idea of this region during the early years of its .settlement, copious extracts from au article in the "Faribault Herald," from tlie facUe pen of its editor, R. A. Mott, are here reproduced :

There are thousands of our eastern friends proposing to come west this spring, and the great question with them is, where shall we go? There are many things desirable in seeking a new home: to fin<l good land, gond water, good timber, good healtli and to escajjc the privations of jiioueer life, find good neighl)ors and get all these advantages at comparatively small cost. From our own observation in a number of the western sStates, and knowledge of the advantages offered by other .section.?, we are confident that no other part of the (Country presents so many inducements to settlers as Minnesota and our own Straight and Cannon River valleys. Our soil is a rich sandy loam, yielding the most abundant crops in turn for little care. The county is well watered by streams whose water is equal to the mountain brooks of New England, and wells are easily dug which furni.sh an abnndaiK* of pure water at a depth of from twelve to thirty feet.

The general surface of the country is rolling. The depth of the soil varies from two to four feet, and below that a yellowish loam, and at the depth of from six to ten feet considerable clay is usually found. Our river bottoms are not so fertile as the high prairie; they are more sandy with a gravelly subsoil. Beets, rutabagas, and onions sown broadcast and harrowed in, yield enormously. We have an abundance of excellent grass for hay.

Cattle and horses love it and do well on it. The cattle that run on our prairies are fat enough for excellent beef at any time during the summer.

Our county is, as they say of eastern advertised farms, "suitably divided into pasturing, mowing, tillage, and timber lots." We can safely challenge the West to furnish a like section of the country where all these things are so abundant and so equally distributed. We have the best of timber for finishing houses, an abundance of butternut and black walnut; burnishing shows their beautiful, rich grain, which no painter can begin to rival. Butternut can be bought for from $18 to .$20 per thousand, and black walnut from $20 to $30, and other lumber from $10 to $18. There are at least twenty saw-mills in the county, and a number of douring mills in operation, and others lieing erected. Alnmdance of material for brick is found here, and we have in this town two brickyards. There arc excellent stone quarries, and abundance of lime.

We are not destitute of fruit. Cranberries are "thick as blackberries on the plain;" plums of the most delicious kinds are found in large groves covering acres; strawberries grow wild, and can easily be cultivated. Let any one coining bring a few vines in their trunk, and they soon can have a plentiful supply. Crab-apples, which make excellent sauce and pies, are good baked, and make the very best of jelly, supeiit)r to any other, are to bs had by the bushel for the picking. Gooseberries grow wild, and our streams are bordered with fine grapes, and the Isabella and Catawba are ripened fifty miles north of us.

The thousands of acres of maple forest furnish us with sugar and syrup, e(|ual to the best. The sugar cane was tried here last year, and succeeded admirably. In fact, every needful thing will grow here. Winter wheat succeeds well where tried, and our spring wheat is unsurpassed by any.

Game is abundant enough to jiay for hunting. Our sharp-shooters get deer, and any one that can lire a gun can get prairie chickens enough with very little trouble. They .are in large Jlocks through the tall and winter. Fish are so plenty and so large that the whole truth would sound like a "fish story." All through the winter any one could go up to our lakes, about foiir miles, and get from forty to one hundred pounds in a day. Pickerel are frecpiently caught weighing from six to seventeen pounds each. There are a number of lakes, and all well stocked with the best of fish. In the spring and fall our lakes are covered with ducks and geese, and our woods during the season are alive with pigeons and partridges. Not much danger of starving.

In regard to the healthfulness of the ci>untry it might be enough to say the fever and ague, the curse of the West, is never found here. Proliably a case never originated here, and thousands are cured by coming here. There is no State or Territory south of here that this can be said tnithf ully of. The wonderful salubrity of the climate of Kansas, where there are thousands of New Englanders, with constitutions shattered by disease contracted on its jirairies, pronounce it a humbug. Our climate is very dry. The most reliable statistics in regard to climate, health, or anything requiring a long scries of accurate and impartial observation and records, are always found in the reports connected with the military service. From these reports, even did not the experience of every one here testify to it, abundant proof is furnished that Miiniesota is the heiiUliUst climate in the United States. The dryness of our a(moHj)here is es])ecially favorable to persons inclined to lung complaints.

The average depth of water (rain and melted snow) for a year during the last twenty years has been at Fort Snelling, forty miles from here, 25 J inches; at Cambridge, Massachusetts, 44,V inches, and Muscatine, Iowa, 44.V inches. Yet the character of our soil, our numerous lakes and heavy dews, prevent our crops from drying up, and we are not near so likely to sufl'er with drought as Now England. The army register gives the force of the wind during the year as considerably less here than at any other station in the United States. The average depth of snow is light. The two winters previous to this last were severe, and the amount of snow large, but there was not as much snow, nor was the cold as unendurable, as in the Enstern States. This past winter has been the most delightful one it ever was our lot to experience.

One most blessed thing in regard to us here is that we have good roads, and we are not forced to do penance for pleasant winter weather by dragging through mud three feet deep. Our transition from winter to spring does not include a mouth or two months of mud so deep as to make the roads impassable. While in the States south of us, and in the East, they are waiting for the ground to settle, we are sowing wheat and oats. This spring we sowed wheat the 20th of March. A great deal of land was sown the week commencing the 22d of March, and from that time farm work has gone on raj^idly. A summer shower does not render our roads and soil a mass of jelly for some days, but they quickly dry. The temperature of southern Minnesota, as given by the army register, is the same as central New York.

Faribault, the county seat of Rico county, situated on the Straight Kiver half a mile from its junction with the Cannon River, is a place that has grown within three years from half a dozen log huts to be a town of 2,500 inhabitants, and the center of a large trade. There are twenty-five dry goods and grocery stores, two drug stores, five hardware stores, two meat markets, three bakeries, a cracker factory, four large hotels, two steam saw-mills, one (louring mill, and two large ones being erected, three cabinet shops, a number of joiner shops, a planing mill, two shingle mills, several banks, and printing office, and <.ther things too numerous to mention.

L. Armsby is the minister. The want of religious and Sabbath privileges, so often roared by those coming west, can hardly be felt, while under tlie teachings of one combining the somewhat rare (]nalities of good preaolier and good pastor. The -Baptists and Methodists each have a church organization and a minister. The Baptists have a building lot secured, and will probably proceed to build before long.

We have a numlier of excellent schools. Wo have during the winter a well sustained lyceura, and a library association and a reading room where all the leading papers and periodicals of the day are taken, including four British quarterlys, Little's Living Age, &c. Institute lectures are delivered every fortnight through the winter by star lecturers found this side of the great river. We have an excellent brass band which furnishes fine music.

Many eastern persons think oar stores can be only little shanties with a few hundred dollars worth of goods in them. To correct that impression one would only need walk through our streets and see the goods displayed in the glass fronts of the stores. Two sales of entire hardware stocks have recently been made here, and the inventory of one footed up over .'ifl4,000. The other was large, and in addition, the purchaser is bringing in a new stock of .$8,000. The other hardware stores are very large. The dry goods and groceries are in due proportion, we suppose.

Faribault is the natural center of trade for a very large country. It is now the most important inland place in southern Minnesota, and bids fair to be without a rival. Some idea of our central position may be gathered from the fact that there are niue different mail routes centering in Faribault. Another significant fact is that Congress, in the land grant of 4,.'JOO,000 acres to Minnesota railroads, made one condition of the grant that Faribault should be made a point in the north and south railroad, and our Legislature in a loan of State credit, based on these lands, requires that work shall be commenced here at tlie same time as anywhere else on the road. We want the road, and shall have it.

We are not alone in the belief that there is a bright future before us; every impartial observer, and even those prejudiced and interested against us, can but admit it. With our railroad will

We want now a plow factory and an e,st;iblishment for the manufacture of general agricultur.il implements. Our plows are wrought cast-stool. The number sold is very large and price high, and doubtless the making of them here would be a {)roRtable business. A machine shop and small foundry would do well here. Now all oiu' mills must go from fifty to eighty miles to get the smallest break repaired. If we had conveniences here there are probably thirty or forty mills that Would come here for such work. Power for such a shop might be rented of one of ovir steam mills. We want a cooper's shop; not one is in the county.

Every year thousands of hides are sent off at from two and a half to three cents per pound, and the leather, at a high price, brought back, and the same hair that was carried away on them, comes back at eighty cents a bushel for plastering. An abundance of bark for tanning is in our woods, and no one who understands the business could find a better place to go into it than here.

Every manufactured article is brought uj) from below, and the large, amount of money carried away for these things would largely pay for the establishment of the shops above mentioned, and the demand for all is constantly increasing.

This present time is the best there has ever been, and is the best tliere will be, to come here. Capitalists desirous of investing money can buy property now tor one-half what they can when our railroad is commenced. Many borrowed money, to pre-empt their farms, and now are ready to sell for the want of the means to pay.

The pioneering is over. We have good .schools, good society, a county unsurpassed in healthfulness - yes, unequaled, a good soil, well timbered and watered, and farms to be bought cheaper than one could come here three years ago and pay government price and live until now, and {'"t the improvement on them.

Other Statistics

After the treaty of Marcli, 1853, by which the Sioux vacated their lands for settlement, the Territorial Legislature divided Dakota county and made quite a number of new ones, including Kice, but, as the United States surveyors had not yet run the lines, the description of boundaries could only be indicated by natural objects, and it so liajipened that three counties cornered at the junction of the Straight and Cannon Rivers. This would indeed seem to be a discouraging circumstance in connection with the establishment of a county seat here in Faril)ault, but our pioneers liad views of their own, and while many would have con.sidered tliat the obstacles in the way of securing a readjustment of county lines were too formidable to be overcome, they never for a moment abandoned their firm determination to make this the capital of the county. Besides, it is a matter of history that in the carving out of the State lines, on the admission of the State into the Union, a serious attempt was made to so arrange it as to liring this point so near the center of the new commonwealth as to make it available as the capital of the State itself. Thus it stood, with Rice, Dakota, and Goodhue counties cornering here, until the fall of 1H.')4, when, as the territory to the south was rapidly tilling uj), it became certain that the next legislature would rearrange the counties all through southern Minnesota. While everything was being done to make this a business center, the political aspect of affairs was carefully scrutinized and it was at once determined that it was imperative to have a good strong clear-headed man who would be master of the situation as a representative in the legislature from this district, and Mr. Faribault, who was always quick to see what should be done, and as prompt to act, opened a correspondence with H. H. Sibley, urging him to be a candidate ior the position, and insisting that in the fight over the county's boundaries, which was certain to be a bitter one and the contest for county seats most distressing - to the defeated ones - he was the man to represent the interests of tliis section. Mr. Sibley replied that he would admit that his knowledge of the country might lie of use to tlie .settlers if elected to the position, and intimated that there would be oppo sition to him in the Minnesota v.illey, but, if nom inated in the convention to be held, he could be elected. So the voters held a caucus at Mr. Faribault's house and appointed Alexander Faribault, N. Paquin, William Dunn, James Wells, Jonathan Morris, E. J. Crump, and Walter Morris as delegates to the convention soon to Ije held at Shakopee. Feeling that they might not all attend, Mr. Hnlett wrote a resolution instructing the delegates to vote for Mr. Sibley, and authorizing them to cast the full vote of the delegation. Mr. Dunu, of Cannon City, who with all the othern, was in favor of Mr. Sibley, arose, and with imperial dignity positively declined to be instructed, insisting that be and the others knew enough to go to the convention and do their duty. James Wells also opposed the resolution, and notwithstanding Mr. Hulett urged its necessity in case of a contingency, which actually happened, and that its passage implied no disrespect to the delegation, it was voted down. In due time the convention met, two of the delegates were not there, and the result of the first ballot was a tie between Mr. Sibley and a gentleman up the Minnesota River; so the delegation then asked for the privilege of casting the entire vote for Blr. Sibley, but to this objection was successfully made, as they had not been so instructed by their constituents. But Mr. Wells, who was well up in party methods, was equal to the emergency and retrieved his mistake in seconding Mr. Dunn's objection to Mr. Hulett's resolution, by iinding a man in whose palm a ten dollar gold piece exactly fitted, and the next ballot placed Mr. Sibley in nomintion.

General Sibley was duly elected, and succeeded in making the county lines conform to the wishes f)f his Faribault friends, and the law, establishing the county substantially as it is to-day, contained a provision that the legal voters could at any general election organize the county, provided that there were at least fifty votes cast tor county commissioners, and empowering the first county board to permanently establish the county seat. With this condition of things the people of Faribault were content, as the place was fast filling up.

During the summer of 1854, however, a town had been laid out three miles northeast of the village of Faribault by the Messrs. Sears, and given the name of Cannon City, and town lots were rapidly selling at their office in the "City Hotel."

From representations made to Willis A. Gorman, the county had bci'ii orn;anized by the apj)ointment of ])rovi,sioual oonimissiouers, and the establishment t)f Cannon City as the county seat. The citizens of Faribault, knowing it to be without the warrant of authority, treated the whole thing as a nullity, and at the next general election proceeded to vindicate their rights by organizing the county under the provisions of the territorial law.

There were three voting precincts, one at Faribault, one at Cannon City, and the other at Morristown. Mr. Morris had first located at Faribault, but not securing such an interest as he desired, transferred himself and his retinue to Morristown. He was a man of native ability who had been a Campbcllite preacher, but wholly uneducated as to letters, although he' would read chapters from the New Testament, from memory perhaps, holding the book upside down. He evidently held the balance of power as between Faribault and Cannon City, and it became imperative in the interests of the future county seat, that a compromise should be made with him, which was effected by the preparation of a ticket for county olHcers, with the lion's share of candidates from Morristown. But the most difficult feat in this arrangement was to suppress the aspirations or a numerous horde in Faribault, who could not be led to believe that they were not exactly adapted for these opening positions. They were, however, finally induced to forego the gratification of their ambition to a more convenient sea.sou. The ticket for this combination was headed by C. Ide for Kepresentative in the Legislature; F. W. Frink, Frank Pettitts, and Mr. Storer as the Board of Supervisors; Charles Wood for Sheriff; Isaac Hammond for Treasurer.

Mr. Hulett, who was very anxious, rode over to Morristown, but Mr. Morris assured him that the precinct was solid for Faribault, and as that interested precinct was true to itself, the ticket was successful. Mr. Morris showed his visitor his mill dam, which he had just completed, and exijressed the utmost confidence in its stability, asserting that nothing but the finger of God could remove it, but in a few weeks an inordinate volume of water proved to be one of the agencies he had overlooked, and it went <iut and the mill also was much damaged.

While Minnesota was still a Territory, in the winter of 18.')5-'.'56, Rice couut\' was set apart from D.dvota county, and the first comity eUiction was held in the fall of 1855. Prior to thi.s. as early as 1854, the county of Rice was made a part, by common usage, of Dakota county, but this was never accepted as legal by the citizens of Rice, and they refused to recognize any proceeding of the "consolidated" county as lawful. In 1855, a tax was levied upon personal property in Dakota county, but the citizens of the territory, now of Rice, rebelled and refused to pay the same, and but few in the entire county paid it.

In the latter part of 1855, Dakota county was divided, and Rice county formed. An elec^tion was held in November, 1855, the following otlicers being elected: Register of Deeds, Isaac HanV mond; Sheriff, Charles Wood; Judge of Probate, Isaac Woodman, and board of County Commissioners, F. W. Frink, Andrew Storer, and Ge(jrge F. Pettit. The government of the county was at first vested in this board of County Commissioners, a session of which august body was dignified by the name of "court."

When the county governmental wheels were actually set in motion, and the organization of Rice county a matter of fact, steps were taken to obtain the records when in ctmnection with Dakota county, and the Deputy Register of Deeds, C. C. Perkins, was directed to go to Mendota, which had been the county seat of Dakota county, and copy off all records of deeds, mortgages, and miscellaneous records pertaining to Rice county, and transport the same to the county seat of Rice, l' |)c m this authority Mr. Perkins went to St. Paul and purchased the necessary books, and thence to Mendota, where he transcribed records as directed and returned to Rice county, delivering them into the hands of the Register, Isaac Hammond, in the early part of December, 1855, and made Fariliault the county seat in a practical sense.

On the 7th of January, 185(5, the first court of County Commissioners convened at the office of Berry .t Batchelder, in Faribault, and was composed of the boj,id which had been elected the previous November; the clerk being the Register of Deeds, Isaac Hammond. At this meeting nothing was accomplished except the organiztition, whicli was effected by the electiou of F. W. Frink, Chairman, for the ensuing year, and the board adjourned until the following day, the 8th of January, 1855.

The first business to be laid before the Court was the organization of school district No 1, the first organized in the county. The board declared that it should consist of sections nineteen, thirty, and thirty-one, in township 110, range 20, and sections twenty-four, twenty-live, thirty-six, and the east half of section thirty-five, in township 110, range 21. This embraces most of th'j incorporated limits of the city of Faribault. They also granted a petition for school district No. 2, to embrace territory in township 111, ranges 19 and 20. School districts Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 were formed at this meeting, and their territory jjlaced upon record, and much of the time was consumed by road petitions. The first road business entered upon record was in the form of a petition, and is as follows:

"A petition for a road by Luke Hulett, and twenty-two others, beginning at the quarter post on the north line of the town of Faribault, running thence due north to the center of section nineteen, township 110, range 20, thence in a direct line, as near as may be, toward St. Paul until it shall intersect the Dodd road; and Charles Wood, Levi Nutting, and A. H. Bullis are hereby appointed examiners to view said road and report to the board of Commissioners at their next regular session." Numerous roads were established by the board.

On the 8th of July, 1856, the board, in summing up the assessment rolls from the three assessors districts in the county, found the aggregate assessed valuation $613,364.9.5.

The board met as required by law on the 5th of Janu iry, 1857, the members comprising the body being, Levi Nutting, Franklin Kelley, and Andrew Storer. The board organized by electing Levi Nutting as Chairman for the ensuing year, and then eu^a,ged in routine business.

At the session of the court on the 17th of Febriuiry, reports were received from the various school districts in the county, showing the number of scholars in attendance in each district. The several reports arc given below:

The board then ordered that the sum of $2 be appropriated from the county funds for each scholar, and apportioned to the various school districts for school purposes. The list of districts was then made out, showing the amount due each district, as follows:

The board then took into consideration Assessor's reports from the different districts, and found the total assessed valuation $2,107,770. District No. 1 reporting $722,865; district No. 2, $1,143,353; and district No. 3, $241,552. The total amount of tax raised for Territorial, County, and School purposes, in 1857, was $15,810.42.

During the year 1858, in wliich the territory of Minnesota was admitted as a State, nothing of special interest or note was accomplished by the board. They met on the 5th of January, and organized by electing Levi Nutting, Chairman, the other members being Franklin Kelley and Andrew Storer. Charles Wheeler, the Sheriff' elect, presented his official bond, and it was apjjroved. John Hoover presented his bond as Assessor, and other county officers presented bonds, _ which were duly approved.

Reports were received from the various schools in the county, and it was found that in the thirty schools reported there was an attendance of 1,489

County Ho Vkunmkmt

In the summer of this year the government of the county was subjected to a change by an act of the Legishtture, and the management of county alVairs was vested in a "Board of Supervisors," consisting of the chairman of each board of township supervisors - one member from eacli townsliip. On tlie 14th of September, 18.58, the first meeting of this board was held in the city of Faribault, and was called to order by J. A. Starks. The roll was called, and the followiiig gentlemen representing the towns set opposite tlieir names, answered to tbe roll:

They then proceeded to ballot for Cbairman, and the result was one vote for Isaac Woodman, and eight for .1. A. Starks; the latter was thereupim declared elected and took the chair. .John

C. Gilmore was appointed clerk of the board, and, one of the dissatisfied proposing it, lie was required to give bonds to the amount of $500. The board then proceeded to business by appointing eight or nine committees to attend to the various matters that should come before it.

On the 1.5th of September, the committee appointed to consider a petition tor assistance in building a bridge at Dundas, reported tliat they did not consider the county finances in shape, nor able to assist in building the bridge. The petition was therefore tabled. At the same meeting a note was presented by Nicholls k Buckley, which had been given by the board, but could not be paid. The interest on the same was 2.\ per cent. per month.

.An ap))ortionmi'nt fund of ninety-five cents per scholar was made from the county fund in favor of the school districts Licenses were regulated at S5() for "lii|uor" and !|i25 for "beer." On the 27th of September, the bo.ird appropriated .SlOO for the upper, and SlU.) for the lower bridge at Faribault, over Straight Uiver.

The year 1H.5!) dawned upon the county, and the same board still held the reins of the county government. On tlie 8th of January reports were received frtmi thirty-seven of the school districts, and showed au attendance of 1939 scholars. At a session of the board on the 17th of February, the first coroner was appointed in the person of .1. B. Wheeler, who afterward resigned, and E. J. Crump was appointed in his stead.

From the record of the proceedings it seems that s imethin" was wrong with the management of finances and county orders, for, at a session of the hrdvA. on the 17th of February, it was declared by a resolution that all county orders issued by tbe former board of County Commissioners as void, and repudiated and forbade the County Treasurer paying any of the same. This resolution, however, after investigation of the matter, was rescinded, and the former chairman of the board, Levi Nutting, was requested to deliver up all notes and matters pertaining thereto into the hands of the board.

At the annual election iu the fall of this year a new board was elected, and the newly elected Commissioners took their places and oath of office at a meeting on the 13th of Sriitember, the following being members: A. Anderson, J. D. Hoskins. Isaac Woodman, L. Hulett, J. H. Winter, L N. Safer, Benjamin Lockerby, E. Koberds, J. H. Bartlett, James MeCabe, K. M. Norton, H. Conary, and N. Paquin.

Keports to the board nf Supervisors from forty of the fifty-four school districts in the county showed a total of 2,01G S'bolars iu attendance.

Oo the 7th of January, ISGO, the laut meeting of the board was held and adjourned sine (/«'»;, as the governmental principles of the county reverted to the former ra(!thod, that of Commissioners. Thus was the new method inaugurated, and then discarded, while a mile post in the history of the county was auspiciously passed.

Rice county, iu January, 18G0, was divided into five commissioner districts, each being entitled to on-' representative iu the county board. District

No. 1 comprised the towns of Richland, Wheeling, aud Cannon Citj; district No. 2, Northfleld and Bridgewater; district No. 3, Faribault; district No. 4, Walcott, Sargent, Morristown, and Wells; district No. 5, Shieldaville, Erin, Wheatland, Webster and Forest.

The newly elected board met on the 15th of May, 1860, the following gentlemen representing the various districts: J. H. Parker, G. H. Batchelder, S. Webster, and William Thorp. They organized by electing J. H. Parker Chairman for the ensiling year. The board then appointed G. F.Batchelder County Auditor to serve until the next election, fixing his bond at S5,000. It also decided that his salary should be 8400 per annum. Nothing more of importance came before the board, and the balance of time was spent among the road and school districts, together with other routine business.

In 1861, the board met as required by law, on the .5th of January, with the following members iu attendance: G. H. Batchelder, William Dunn, W. M. Thorp, G. Woodruff, James McCalie, and John Couniff. G. H. Batchelder was elected Oliairman for the year, and the board proceeded to business. They next raised the salary of the County Auditor from $400 to .$600 per year.

Al a session on the 15th of January, from reports sent in to the board from the clerks of school districts it was found that there were 2,2S7 scholars in Rice couuty entitled to apportionment. The total apportionment fund for this year was $3,458.46.

In 1862, the board consisted of the same gentlemen as did the last, except J. B. Wheeler, who was elected Chairman. They fixed the salary of the County Auditor at $600 for the ensuing year, and that of the County Attorney at $400 per annum. The balance of the year was spent in routine business.

At the beginning of the next year, 1863, the board met as required by law, on the 6th of January, and the records state that the full board was present, but as to the personnel of the body, the records ilo not give any information. The Commissioners passed a resolution raising the Auditor's salary from .$(500 to $800 per year. A considerable portion of tlie Commissioners's time in this year was devoted to issues arising from the war, and making appropriations for filling the (juota. An account of tlicir proceedings with regard to

In 1864, the County Commissioners met on the 5th of January for organization, and the record of the meeting says Messrs. Jackson, Adams, Wheaton, and Wilson were in attendance. The board organized by electing H. Wilson, Chairman. A special meeting was held on the 16th of April, for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of appointing a County Superintendent of Schools, under authority of an act of the Legislature to provide for a general system of schools. After consideration they appointed Thomas S. Buckham, and fixed his salary at .$500 a year.

Nothing of partigular importance transpired the following year, 1865, the time being consumed by routine business. The Commissioners met in the early part of Januai-y, substantially the same board being present. They organized by electing Hudson Wilson to the chair. On the 5th of January, the board raised the salary of the County Attorney from $450 to $500. On the Gth of Septemljcr, $400 was appropriated to take care of the county poor, that amount having been deficient in the former year's report. The board closed the year's labors by allowing bills of Commissioners for services, mileage, etc.

In 1866, the newly elected board met on the 2d of January, and was composed of the following gentlemen : Joseph Hagerty, C. A. Wheaton, Hudson Wilson, C. D. Adams, aud John Close. The board organized by electing Hudson Wilson, Chairman. At the January session the matter of a county poor farm was before the board, aud the following is entered upon the records: "The board having in discussion the propriety of procuring a farm in support of the county poor, and as the demands upon the county treasury will not leave sufficient funds to purchase such a farm, in case we should deem it advisable to provide for the poor iu that way at a subsequent session. The County Attorney was requested to prepare a bill to present to the Legislature at this session, authorizing the board of Rice couuty to issue bonds in their discretion to an amount ucjt exceeding $15,000, for the purchase of a couuty poor farm aud the erection of the necessary buildings thereon." The County Superintendent of Schools, Thomas S. Buckham, resigned his position as such, and the board appointed Myron Wheaton to fill the place. At the same meeting the salary of the Auditor was increased to $1,800 per year. At u later sessiou of the Commissioners, in September, 18CG, the board issued bonds, under antht)rity of an act approved by the Legishitiiie the 1st of March, 1866, entitled "An act to authorize the County Commissioners of Rice county to issue bonds to provide for the purchase of a county poor faiTU. ' Forty-three bonds, of dent)minations varying from $50 to .^500, were issued, payable within eight years, with interest at ten per cent.

In January, 1867, the board mot upon the 2d of the month, and consisted of the following members: Hudson Wilson, C. S. Hulbert, C. D. Adams, John Close, and Joseph Hagerty. The organization was effected by the election of H. Wilson, Chairman. They then increased the salary of the Auditor to .'$2,000. At the September session the following resolution was passed by the board: ^-Reiolved, That three members of this board be a committee to purchase, and are hereby instructed to negotiate for and purchase lots 1, 2, and 3, of block 43, town of Faribault, for Rice county, as an addition for the site for county buildings. The committee to consist of Hudson Wilson, John Close, C. S. Hulbert, and the County Auditor." The said committee were also authorized to draw orders on the county treasury in payment for the same.

At the next session of the board it was "Rexdlved. That the Chairman be instructed to present to the next Legislature a bill authorizing the Commissioners of Rice county to issue bonds to an amount not exceeding S50,000 for the erection of county buildings."

In 1868, the board met as usual, in the early |)art of January, and organized by electing Hudson Wilson, Chairman. The members present were: Hudson Wilson, John Close, C. S. Hulbert, and Richard Browne. This year was spent entirely with routine Iiusiness; attending to school districts, tax abatements, and allowing bills.

The year, 1869, was sjjent by tlie Commissioners in much the same manner as the previous year. The board met on the 5th of January, as recjuired by law, and organized by electing Hudson Wilson, Chairman. The members present were : P. Filbert, Hudson Wilson, R. Browne, and Dr. Coe. The regular business coming before the board during the year was disposed of, and the Commissioners closed the year by allowing two pages of bills.

The board elected for 1870, met on the 4th of January, and organized by electing Hudson Wilson, Chairman, the members being E. Ijathrop, R. Browne, P. Filljcrt, and Dr. S. B. Coe. Notliing of importance transpired this year.

The members elected for 1871, as a board of County Commissioners, were as follows: First commissioner's district, Peter Filbert; second district, E. Lathrop; third district, H.Wilson; fourth district, C. 1). Adams; fifth district, Richard Browne. The seat of Petrr Filbert was afterward declared vacant by the board on the ground that he was not a resident of the district at the time of election, and Mr. O. Osmandson was made his successor.

At a meeting of the board on the 2d of January, 1872, Hudson Wilson was re-elected Chairman. The members for the year being J. C. Clossou, E. Lathrop, C. D. Adams, anil Richard Browne. At this session the salary of the County Attorney was fixed at S700 per year. It was also decided that all the county buildings should be insured.