Washington County, Minnesota - Painted Rocks - Battle of Chief8 at Zion's, 1881

It has been so many times remarked as to have become a truism that the sites of cities have al¬ most without exception, been at some former time occupied by Indian villages, or marked by some burial mound or other evidence of special regard by the unerring instinct of the Aborigines.

So universal has this proved that speculators and locators of town sites note as of special im¬ portance the previous occupancy of tribes of In¬ dians.

The valley of the St. Croix was, however, a sort of neutral territory, and though the measures of the government for peace between the Chippewas and Sioux led to the establishment of a definite dividing line at "the old trysting tree," so called, previously described, still permanent villages could not be established by either nation on what was liable at any time to become a battle ground, since the lawless tribes could not be restrained by any treaty from venting their long cherished ha¬ tred. Some evidences still remain near Stillwater and within the limits of the city, to mark this as a battle ground and a point worth fighting for.

A short distance above Stillwater, at a bend in the river, are found the painted rocks, in former years a point of great interest to tourists, who came up the river in large numbers to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Mississippi and St. Croix. Here for several rods the smooth surface of the cliff was decorated with fanciful colors to suit the rude taste of the savages. Figures of animals were clearly delineated and a chapter of Indian history was written in theirstrange hieroglyphics. The Indians, after settlement by the whites be¬ gan, attempted to interpret the text of this strange chapter. It was found to relate to battles and victories won over foes and seemed fully intelli¬ gible to the Indian visitor. As often as they passed the cliff they were in the habit of perform¬ ing ceremonies, which their superstition led them to believe were efficacious in rendering any enter¬ prise in which they might be engaged, successful.

The operations of the Boom company at this point, in blasting the rocks, and the wasting hand of time have nearly obliterated these figures, so that they show but dim outlines of what was once full of meaning.

"Zions Hill," near the center of the presentcity of Stillwater, was, during aboriginal occupation of this region, the scene of Indian tragedy.

A narrative is given, obtained from the manu¬ script of an old Indian trader, named Thomas Connor, who was found at the mouth of Goose creek, Chisago county, by some of the first settlers of the valley. He stated that he had been in the country since childhood. He had his squaw and large family of children, and had become identified with the Indians, whose habits he had partially assumed and whose mode of life fascinated him. In 1831 he was the only licensed trader above the falls of St. Croix on the Minnesota side.

His manuscript states that a celebrated Indian chief, whose name is not given, met his fate on Zion's hill under the following circumstances.

At one time the war between the Chippewas and Sioux, which can almost be said to have had no beginning or end, had culminated in desperate battles, in which many of their braves, squaws and children had fallen under the merciless toma¬ hawk. So dreadful was the slaughter that the chiefs of the two great tribes became alarmed for their future. The tepees of both contestants were filled with scalps and trophies, without proof of decided advantage on either side. Both tribes had become weary of war, and determined that some new policy must be pursued. Finally, by Bigns understood by the tribes, it was determined to end the war by a personal combat between the two great chiefs. The place of meeting was this very point, "Zion's Ilill," where they were to meet in a hand to hand struggle, using only toma¬ hawks and knives.

An hour or more was consumed in mortal com¬ bat, while the braves of each side stood looking on. At one time a general battle seemed immi¬ nent, but the outburst was restrained, and the blows of the con tending chiefs were alone struck. One hour elapsed and both showed signs of weak¬ ness, covered with gashes, blood flowing from head to foot, when a well aimed blow from the Sioux chief nearly ended the battle. This cut off the left cheek of the Chippewa, carrying with it the ear and destroying the eye. The Sioux had just received a visit from his antagon¬ ist's knife, which cut his abdomen completely open, letting his bowels out; but, true to his na¬ tion, lie held them up with one hand and hurled the fatal tomahawk with the other. Although so weak from wounds and loss of blood that they reeled and staggered like drunken men, they again rallied and in a Anal clinch staggered, fell, and lay where they dropped, each unable to do the other further harm. The question alone re¬ mained which could live the longer. The braves on each side now took possession of their chiefs, according to previous agreement. The Sioux chief was carried to Sunflsh hake, now Lily lake, where he died the following day, and was buried on its shore.

The Chippewa chief was removed a few rods from where he had encountered his equal, if not superior, and there received all the attention his braves could render. Before he died, he called his braves around him to tell them of the future, saying: "This is a beautiful spot where I die. The white man is coming and will soon be here; then you must all go away. He will build buildings; one to settle his quarrels in, and not fight like the Indians, another will he build, where the children will learn to be good and not fight as I have done to-day. The Great Spirit will build another for the white man, and he will call it His tepee." solemnity, next day, in what is now known as - Battle Hollow, where the state prison stands. By referring to page 103 an account of the battle of Stillwater will be found which occurred in 1839, and gave the name Battle Hollow to this spot.

This legend recorded by Connor, affords a pleasing introduction to the history of the now thriving town of Stillwater since its prophecy has been so accurately fulfilled. It would be inter¬ esting to extend this chapter by drawing at large upon the rich store of Indian reminiscenses of events that centre here. These events are mostly of a tragic nature, however, and have left their own record in the bones of the actors. Leaving these revolting scenes, which continued to be enacted after Stillwater had become a village of some importance, simply referring to page 838 for the last episode, the history of Stillwater under the whites will now follow.

The history of Stillwater begins with the names Joseph It. Brown, Jacob Fisher, Elias McKean, Calvin F. Leach, Elam Greeley and John Mc- Kusick. In the few years which intervened be¬ tween the consummation of treaties with the In¬ dians in 1837 and the formation of the territory of Minnesota in 1849, parties of explorers, in search of a "golden fleece," were pushing out into the north-west, taking up all available points along the rivers in the country newly opened to settle¬ ment.

Some of these Jasonites did not await the consummation of the treaties but pushed on ahead of licensed settlement, determined to an¬ ticipate all rivals. We find some claims made in 1836, when there no longer existed much doubt but that the lands would soon be open to settlemexxt.

Joseph It. Brown, who was the pioneer of Stillwater, was on hand ready for any opportunity for he came into what is now Minnesota when a boy of fourteen with a detachment of troops, that were sent in 1819 to erect a fort at the junction of the St. Peter's, now the Minnesota, and Mis¬ sissippi rivers. In 1825, being then only twenty years of age, he left the garrison and engaged in the Indian trade. In 1838 he made a claim on Gray Cloud Island, established a trading post and held by appointment the ofllce of justice of the peace. It has been said Brown was about the only man among the Indian traders of that time with sagacity enough to distinguish, in the hub¬ bub of the wild movement of speculation and emi¬ gration that characterized the year 1837, the march of that great westward development which was soon to take in the then remote wilderness of the upper Mississippi.

About two years after this he formed the first settlement or laid out the first townsite at the head of Lake St. Croix, about half a mile above the original site of Stillwater, and called it Dahkotali, and thus became the pioneer town builder of Minnesota. In 1840 he was elected a member of the Wisconsin legislature from Crawford county. Here he succeeded in getting an act passed or¬ ganizing St. Croix county, with his town, Dalikotah, as its county seat. After the session he vis¬ ited his half-sister, Mrs. Paul Carli, now Mrs. Christopher Carli, of this city, who lived on Fox river, Illinois, and persuaded her to move to his claim at Dahkotah. Mr. Paul Carli had gone to Texas for his health. She acquiesced, and ac¬ cepting the plan of her brother, was Boon on her way up the Mississippi by steamboat in company with her three children, brother and brother- in¬ law, Christopher Carli, while Joseph R. Brown, his two brothers, S. F.aud N. B. and one Givens, a hired man, made the trip by land.

These parties met at Gray Cloud Island, June. 13th, 1841. The women stayed with Mr. Brown's family, while the men proceeded to the new town site at Dahkotah, now a part of Schulenberg and Carli's addition to Stillwater. They then com¬ pleted a house begun by Mr. Brown the preceding fall, long after known as the old Tamarack house because built of tamarack logs. The sides were plastered with mud, so that after every rain, it became necessary to replaster the side on which the storm had beaten, and as the occupants did not possess a trowel, it was necessary to do the work with the hands or rude implements.

When the house was partially completed Mr. .Brown returned to Gray Cloud Island and brought the women left behind to the new home, where they arrived June 29tli, 1841. The two families occupied this house jointly for more than one year, when Mr. Brown moved out in pursuit of new business in trading. Mr. Paul Carli came from Texas about the same time, and joined his family. lie soon made a claim at St. Mary's, near Afton, to winch in 1844 he moved his fam¬ ily. lie was drowned in the spring of 1846, when Mrs. Carli returned to the old Tamarack house, to which Mr. Brown, induced by the prospects of business, had also returned in 1844, and the two families were again joint tenants as before.

Thus was made the first settlement and the first house built by one who, under the name of Major Brown, Joe Brown, and a variety of appellations, has exercised an important influence on the for¬ tunes and politics of Minnesota. Leaving this double family in the old Tamarack house, we must now look up the fortunes of another party who have been making a settlement and taking steps more important in their business relations than was the simple building of this first house.

In 1842, while Jacob Fisher was finishing the front of a business house in St. Louis, his em¬ ployer introduced him to a Mr. Hungerford, who hired him to go to the Falls of St. Croix and do carpenter work for the St. Croix Lumber Com¬ pany.

In a few days Mr. Fisher started for the Falls of St. Croix, where he arrived in the early part of June, 1842, but found things in a very un¬ settled condition, so that he could not proceed according to the contract made at St. Louis, and was forced to undertake such work as he could get. His first job was to make a wheelbarrow, then some repairing in the mill of the St. Croix Lumber Company. After spending the summer at the Falls, he and Sylvester Stateler, a black¬ smith, came to Dahkotah, and spent the winter working in the basemeut of the court-house built by Joseph It. Brown. During the early spring, while Mr. Fisher was strolling along the plateau in search of a stick of timber to make an ax handle, he discovered some raccoon tracks, the ground being covered with snow at the time. Mr. Fisher went back, told Mr. Stateler of the prospective game. Both gentlemen started, found the tracks near where the mill was after¬ wards built. Following them they were led up the bluff to what now is McKusick's lake. Mr. Fisher discovered what seemed to him to be a favorable location for a saw-mill. They returned to the Tamarack house, but the thought lingered in Mr. Fishers mind. In a few days he revisited the ground, when his practical eye soon led him to conclude, that Brown's creek, formerly known as Pine creek, could be turned into the lake above, and a canal of about sixty feet in length at the lower end of the lake would conduct the water into the lake, over the bluffs, down a ravine near the shore of Lake St. Croix, where it could be utilized in a mill enterprise. Nothing more was thought of the project till in the month of June, when Elias McKean, Calvin F. Leach, Elam Greeley and Jacob Fisher met at the Tama¬ rack house.

Mr. Elias McKean left his home in Pennsyl¬ vania in 1841, and arriving at St. Louis hired to the "St. Croix Lumber Company." They sent him to St. Croix Falls to work in their mill. He arrived at the falls in the latter part of May, and continued in the employ of this company till fall; then he went to Marine and worked for the "Marine Lumber Company" for one year. In the spring of 1843, having taken part of his pay in lumber, he proceeded to raft it down the river to St. Louis, accompanied by Calvin F. Leach who had also taken lumber in part payment for services of the same company. On their way down the St. Croix they were wind-bound just above where Stillwater is located. They went ashore to spend the night at the old "Tamarack House," the only place that offered entertainment to strangers. Here they met Jacob Fisher and Elam Greeley, who were rafting logs at the head of the lake, which had floated down from the boom at the Falls of St. Croix, broken by the high water following recent heavy rains. During the con¬ versation of the evening, such as speculators are wont to encourage, Mr. Greeley inadvertently said: "I would give more for a saw-mill within a mile of this place than any point at St. Croix Falls." Fisher quickly replied: "What will you give me if I show you a good mill site within a mile of this place?" Mr. Greeley said: "I know all about Brown's creek; it is not possible to use it in that way." After some promiscuous talk all retired for the night. Next morning, after breakfast, the company concluded to visit the prospective mill site. As they passed along the plateau, all engaging in free jokes, Mr. McKean would ask Fisher, as they crossed several small rivulets, if this was his mill site. This hectoring was not calculated to awaken the best of feeling on Mr. Fisher's part. Slowly the company pro¬ ceeded up the ravine till they had gained the summit of the bluff and viewed the surroundings.

All agreed that the outlook was favorable; that Brown's creek could be turned into the lake above, and a canal constructed at a comparatively small expense, which would conduct the water to the desired place for a saw-mill project.

Then and there plans for a mill company were formed, to be carried into effect as soon as arrange¬ ments could be made and means secured. A few days after this Messrs. McKean, Leach and Fisher went down to the lake and staked out a claim, beginning at the south boundary of J. R. Brown's claim, and running south about one hundred rods along the shore, so as to cover all that would be included in a mill site. They never thought of staking out a western boundary line, not dream¬ ing that anyone would ever attempt to farm the country back from the lake. They simply blazed the trees, and on a prominent one, making a flat surface with an axe, marked with red chalk the date of taking the claim in the name of Jacob Fisher.

Messrs. McKean and Leach proceeded to St. Louis with their lumber. Mr. Fisher wrote to John McKusick, who was at this time at Burlington, Iowa, soliciting his co-operation in the enterprise. The next we know of McKean and Leach they are at St. Louis in consultation with John Mc¬ Kusick about the proposed mill speculation. John McKusick left Cornish, Maine, and spent the winter of 1839-'40 in Illinois. Then desiring to see more of the lumber districts in the North¬ west, he proceeded up the Mississippi, spent the summer of 1840 in various pursuits; then in tho fall commenced to work for the St. Croix Lumber Company. After working some time, and then running the mill one season, at settle¬ ment he was compelled to take as part payment a quantity of logs lying some miles above Marine. As there was no market for logs, and no logs had been rafted down the river prior to this date, McKusick thought of building a mill to manu¬ facture the logs spoken of into lumber. Mr. Greeley worked for the company during the same time, and at settlement was compelled to take a quantity of logs in the same boom, on the same conditions as John McKusick had done. This added another factor for a mill enterprise. Messrs. Greeley and McKusick were planning for some feasible way of converting , their logs into lumber, when they learned of Jacob Fisher's

Mr. McKusick went to St. Mary's to see Fisher and in the conversation Fisher stated that lie had heard of a mill project by Greeley and McKusick. Mr. McKusick said: "We will build a mill, if we can find a location of fair prospect, and can effect suitable arrangements." Then Mr. Fisher gave a delineation of his discovery, the steps that had been taken to secure it, etc.; and added that the company, Fisher, Leach and McKean, were not able to proceed with the enterprise. McKusick then said if they could take the claim on favora¬ ble terms they would do so, and pay Fisher some¬ thing for his claim when they got able. This proposal met with Mr. Fisher's approval. In a few'days after this interview, Mr. McKusick went to St. Louis, where he met McKean and Leach. After some deliberation, these parties agreed to secure the necessary outfit for a saw-mill, which was obtained in a few days and on board a steam¬ boat going up the Misissippi, and landed at the site of Stillwater, October 11th, 1848. Then an agreement was effected with Mr. Fisher, by which the company promised to pay him $300 for his claim, which in due time was done, and employ him as mill-wright. These arrangements being understood, all parties concurring, the following agreement was made and entered into on the 20th day of October, 1848. We offer no apology for the insertion of a copy of the first articles of agree¬ ment made on what is now included in the cor¬ porate limits of Stillwater. There was no lawyer or person who was in the habit of drawing legal documents among the company, and hence the parties to the contract dictated and one of the employes committed the agreement to paper, which was afterwards copied.

Then came the question of a name; "What shall we call the place?" All proposed a name, but the name of Stillwater, proposed by John McKusick, was adopted. This name was sug¬ gested by the stillness of the water in the lake, the anomaly of building a mill beside still water, and by fond recollections of Stillwater, Maine. At this date no one thought of a town here, only a saw-mill site was anticipated.

een hundred and forty-three, by the following named individuals, viz: John McKusick, Elias McKean, Elam Greeley and Calvin F. Leach, for the purpose of building a saw-mill near the head of Lake St. Croix, Wisconsin territory, and for carrying on the lumbering business in all its vari¬ ous branches.

Article first. It is understood by this agree¬ ment, that the heretofore named individuals form themselves into a company to continue and exist by the name of the Stillwater Lumber Company.

Article second. It is agreed, too, by the here¬ tofore named individuals, that the whole amount of property owned and business done by the aforesaid company shall be included in fifteen shares, and to be divided and owned by each in¬ dividual of the aforesaid company as follows, viz: John McKusick, five-fifteenths; Elias McKean, three-fifteenths; Elam Greeley, four-fifteenths; and Calvin F. Leach, three-fifteenths.

Article third. It is furthermore understood, that each proprietor of the aforesaid company, shall pay his proportion of all the expenses aris¬ ing from all the business done or transacted by the aforesaid company, and to continue the same ratio, so long a time as said company shall exist and continue to do business under the present form, and likewise any gain or loss, arising or ac¬ cruing, from any or all of the business done by the aforesaid company, shall be shared or sus¬ tained, by each proprietor of the aforesaid com¬ pany, in the same ratio as above named in propor¬ tion to each alnive named proprietor's share of stock owned in the aforesaid company.

Article fourth. It is furthermore agreed to, that the whole amount of money or property that each or either, of the proprietors of the aforesaid company shall invest, advance, or pay for the benefit or use, of the aforesaid company, the same amount shall be credited to the separate credit of the proprietor or either of the proprietors of the aforesaid company making such investments, on the books of accounts kept by the aforesaid com¬ pany.

Article fifth. It is furthermore understood, that for the amount of money or property that any one of the proprietors of the aforesaid com¬ pany, shall invest, advance or pay for the benefit or use, of the aforesaid company, more than his proportional share of the whole amountof money, or property invested, by the aforesaid company, the same amount of money, with interest, shall be paid, or refunded back to said proprietor, by the aforesaid company, out of the first proceeds, arising from the business done by the company aforesaid.

Article sixth. It is furthermore understood, that in case any one of the aforesaid proprietors, should at anytime hereafter be disposed to sell, transfer or dispose of his share of stock owned in the aforesaid company, he shall first pay to said company, all the liabilities, or indebtedness, of said share of stock, and then give said company the preference of purchasing and owning said share of stock, at the same rates by which said proprietor may have an opportunity to sell said shares of stock.

Article seventh. It is furthermore understood, that the proprietors of the aforesaid company in¬ dividually shall have no right, or power, to sign any obligation or duo-bill, make any contract, or transact any business of importance in the name of, or binding on the aforesaid company, except some one proprietor of the aforesaid company should hereafter be fully authorized, by the afore¬ said company, to act and transact business as agent, for the aforesaid company.

This agreement and dates are taken from the original book of records in the possession of John McKusick, and forever settles the question of the date of beginning work on the first mill at this point. The first week after landing was spent in constructing a boarding shed, shops and a place for the safe storing of machinery, sup¬ plies, etc. When these arrangements were per¬ fected, work on the mill proper began. Since no one had been chosen to act as agent for the com¬ pany, and transact its business, it became neces¬ sary, when any arrangements or any purchases were to be made, to call the company together to act in the premises. The business of the com¬ pany was conducted for some time on this plan.

The long hours of winter evenings were rendered cheerful by the association of the following per¬ sons, who spent the winter with this company: Nelson Guodenough, Joseph Brewster, Jesse Taylor, James Patten, Hugh McFadden, Wil¬ liam Middleton, Jack Drake, Edwin Phillips, machinist; Jacob Fisher, mill-wright; and Syl¬ vester Stateler, the blacksmith; in all fourteen persons. The work progressed rapidly, so that the basement story was raised on the first day of January v 1844, and was so far completed by the third day of April following, that two or three logs were sawed with one saw, when by a sudden rising of the lake all operations were stopped. Early in June, work was resumed, and the full capacity of the mill was utilized in reducing the logs on hand to lumber which was sent down the river to market. The description of this mill will appear in the description of mills further on.