Mendota City

Sketch Of Minnesota

The increase in population in the cities has been, within the past three years, in many cases over 100 per cent, of actual residents and men of capital, who have added largely to the wealth and business. The present population of the cities named is estimated trbe about as follows :

Public Schools Of The State

Though comparatively in her infancy, Minnesota has taken long strides in the right direction, in the educational department, and will even at this earh stage of her existence, compare favorably with many of "the older States. Possessing as she does the most munificent endowment for educational purposes of any State in the Union; two sections of land to each town ship in the State are set apart, either for sale or lease, to aid in sustaining common schools - 128(' acres to each township in the whole State, amounting in the aggregate to over two and a half millions ol acres, just one eighteenth of all the land in the State. We give below a few figureo in relation to this de

An act of the Legislature, passed August 2, 1858, provided for the establishment of three State Normal -Schools, one within five years, a second within ten, and a third within fifteen years from the date of the act. For each of these the act provided for an approl^riation of S5,000^whenever a like sum should be donated for that purpose. The citizens of Winona, in -accordance with these requirements, donated the amount, and the first of the Normal Schools w^as estabiished in that city. The second has been located at Mankato, and the third at St. Cloud. The school at Winona is in active operation and is meeting with «iicli success as first class teachers, endowed with energy, perseverance, and a will to succeed usually attain. It ranks among the first literary institutions of the country,

The State University

Legislature of 1851 passed "An act to incorporate the .University of Minnesota, at the Falls of St. Anthony," p roviding that the proceeds of the Congressional land grant shall remain a perpetual fund for its support, and vesting the administration of the fund and trustship of the institution in a hoard of twelve regents to be elected hy the Legislature. The site embraces a block of land, covered with a grove of native oaks, and overlooking the picturesque scenery of St. Anthony Falls, the ''Bridal Yeil," and the cities of St. Anthony and Minneapolis, with all the life and activity of their numerous mills, factories, tfec. and is capable of such embellishn'ient as to make it one of the most beautiful of any of the public institutions either East or "West. The building is not yet entirely completed. The one wing which is completed has cost somewhere between 850,000 and $60,000, and will accommodate about 120 students. For a time after the preyont edifice was built a heavy burden of debt hung over the institution, but judicious management of the present board of regents has removed the indebtedness and ]eil it tree from incumbrance, v/ith some 34,000 acres of land still left to aid. in the completion ot the building and sustain the schools, which at a moderate valuation will soon be worth, in the market, at least $340,000. A school of a high order has been established under the direction of Prof W. W. Washburn, and some eighty or ninety pupils are in attendance anrl receiving the benefits of a thorough collegiate course of instruction- B}^ an act of the Legislature, approved March 9, 1867, the sum of $15,000 was appropriated, "to be expended in repairing and furnisliing the University building, and employing a teacher or teacl.crs, for the purpose of commencing the grammar and normal (U^]xirtments.

Skktcii Of Minnesota

If the State contains 54,000,000 acres, the school lands will amount to $10,888,885, a really magnificent fund for a State not yet in her teens. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction, in his report to the last Legislature, says :

" The youth of Minnesota for the years and generations to come, will owe unceasing gratitude to the federal government for this munificent provision for their education. It is a cause of profound congratulation that the State, at the right time, inaugurated so wise a policy for its management. The most propitious results have come from that policy, and they are largely due to the intelligence and fidelity of the present State Auditor. The time may come in the history of the State when further safeguards to the fund may be needed. I would respectfully recommend that it be made the duty of the State Auditor to make to the Superintendent of Public Instruction an annual report of the condition of the fund, sotting forth the kind and amount of all securities in which the same be invested, giving the amount of each class, cash on hand and amount of notes held lor LitkIs sold."

In addition to this generous fund from the general government, the Legislature of the State has made it the duty of the county comniission(;rs to levy an ann^ual tax of one-fifth of one per cent, on all the taxable property in the State, which sum is appropriated

By an act of the Legislature of 1868, tlie Agricultural College land grant was attached to the State University, and the opening of an agricultural department in that institution becomes the (hity of the regents.

In addition to the facilities already mentioned we must not neglect to mention the establishment in 1857 of an educational journal called the Minnesota Teacher, the design of which is to assist teachers and impress upon them the great importance of keeping thoroughly accjuainted with all the new developments in the art of teaching, and making a higher standard of educational excellence a first and essential qualification for a teacher. Mr. W. W. Payne, the publisher, is an enthusiastic educator, and has made the people of the State feel that the publication of the Teacher is really essential to the educational interests of the State.

The Deaf, Dumb And Blind Institute

is located at Faribault, a beautiful town in the interior of the State, and is very successfully meeting thewants of those for whom the State has made this very liberal provision. aSo benevolent institution more unmistakably marks the Christian character of our population than that which seeks to let the light of science into the minds of those whose physical vision is darkened and whose ears have never heard the sweet sounds tliat make ghad the hearts of those more favored children of nature. It i3 a great pleasure that we can make mention of this institute, one of the educational agencies of our young State, as being in successful operation, and that a large number of the unfortunates of this class are receiving instruction, preparing them for making themselves comparatjlvely independent in the great struggle of life. And the building shall be, so long as it shall stand, one of the State's noblest monuments of love and Christian benevolence to those who never fail to touch the sympathy or receive the iiealing word of the great Worker of Miracles.

Another benevolent institution, "the Hospital for the Insane, is located at St. Peter, and is under JKdicious management and affording relief to a large number of poor unfortunates, whose light ot reason has been darkened or utterly obscured. This is a public institution, founded and supported by the State.

There are various chartered institutions of learning supported by private enterprise, and several of a denominational character, whicli are doing much in advancing the educational interests of the States.

The Minnesota Historical Society

The Minnesota Historical Society was instituted in 1849, shortly after the organization of the Territor}^ and incorporated by the first session of the Territorial Legislature. Its object was to collect and preserve material for the future history of the territory and State; to record the memoirs and accounts of the adventures of the pioneers of this region ; collect curiosities and information relative to the aborisfinal inhabi- tants of Minnesota, ai:d the manners, cnstonis and religion of the present Indian tribes ; a geological and mineral cabinet; and to carefully preserve a copy of every book, pamphlet and newspaper pnblished in the State, or elsewhere, relating to it.

For several years the library of the Society did not increase much, as its resources and membership were small. It is now rapidly increasing, however, and comprises a very valuable collection of rare works, now over 2,000 bound volumes and 3,500 pamphlets, vrith about a hundred volumes of bound newspapers, a number of maps, engravings and manuscripts, about 1,200 articles in the cabinet, and quite a good collection of portraits of the early pioneers of the State. Its rooms and the use of its library is free to all.

The Society comprises about 200 members. It has commodious fire-proof rooms in tlie capital, and the State grants it a small annual appropriation to pay its incidental expenses. With more enlarged means, the Historical Society can soon collect the largest and jnost valuable library in the State. Donations of books, pamphlets, newspapers, Szc, are earnestly solicited. They can be directed to J. Fletcher Williams, Esq., Secretary and Librarian of the Society, St. Paul.

State Government The Sceneky

of Minnesota is imsurpassed for beauty and loveliness by that of any country in the world. The high blufis along the banks of the Mississippi in a northwesterly direction from the south lino of the State to the Falls of St. Anthony, furnish some of the finest and most sublime spectacles that ever inspired poetic ardor or furnished theme for an artist's pencil. Here high, craggy rocks, like the ruins of an embattled tower, hanging over the waters of the Mississippi, as they go flowing downward to the gulf, there a lovely valley stretching backward to the continuous range of hills in the distance, forming a natural site for a quiet village or bustling city, while scattered about over the prairies and woodlands are innumerable lakes of various magnitudes, which when viewed from some hill top or cupola of some high building their waters glistening in the rays of the golden sun appear to the eyes of the enchanted and entlinsiastic beholder like bright stars in the diadem of the queen of beautiful landscapes,, or a necklace of diamonds on filaments of silver, thrown with a graceful abandon over the bosom of our mother earth, or a diadem of pearls to crown the masterpiece of nature's clioicest handiwork.

Gen. Sibley, who was one of the first white settlers west of the Mississippi river, and gazed upon the scenes in all their primitive beauty, and loveliness, speaks enthusiastically of the scenery. We have been kindly allowed the following extract from his journal :

"It has been my fortune to visit at onetime or another almost every part of our widely extended State lying on the west of the Mississippi river. The area nov/ comprised in the southern counties was my hunting ground year after year. I have ascended the Minnesota Yalley to its termination, and have roamed along the shores of the magnificent lakes of the Kandiyohi region, and those northwest towai'ds the Eed river. I have traversed the prairies between Fort Eids^ely and Mankato, south to the boundary of Iowa, and I have stood by the far off iron monuments which mark the boundary between Minnesota and the Territory of Dakota, and yet to this moment I am unable to decide which section is the most beautiful and attractive. Like the individual who finds himself surrounded by a bevy of fair maidens, equal in charms but of different styles of loveliness, and adjudges the palm to the one he looks upon till his eye rests upon another, to be dazzled in turn by her attractions. So I, after gazinrj: at the scenery in different ]>aris of the

State successively, liave asked inyselt each time the question, " Where can a more inviting region be found upon the earth ? -' Each landscape has seemed unapproachable in its perfection, and the symmetry of its proportions, until another, its peer in all respects, haS' extracted the same measure of unqualified admiration."

From St. Paul and Minneapolis lor a distance of many miles the points of interest are very numerous^ The great number of lakes, Calhoun, Harriet, Minnetonka. White Bear, Como and a great many others, in connection with the various other objects ot interest, make those cities noted places of resort for pleasure and health-seekers. It really is not to be wondered at that people worn and weary in body and mind with the cares of business and the dust and noise ot eastern cities, should seek the pure and liealth-giving breezes of Minnesota, and that having once festc-d their freshness and life-inspiring influences they conchide to say good-bye to the land of the pilgrims, and take up their residence in the land of sky-tinted waters.

One cannot look upon the wondrous l-LMiity and sublimity of this portion of God's glorious heritage to man, without drawling nearer to and loving witli a deeper reverence the Divine Original, and still as we gaze, we look with fear and trembling through nature and all of nature's works to see the hand of nature's God.

"Faraway in the west where I lie ' big waters ' ri.se, And the fan- verdant earth meets the bhie-vaulted skie.^, Where the graceful fawn gambols o'er flowery iilain. Or flies from the swift-vine-ed arrow in vain.

As long ago as 1680 Louis Hennepin, a Jesuit missionary, ascended the Mississippi to the Falls of St. Anthony, and struck with awe and astonishment at the multitude of waters plunging down the Cataract which he describes as being sixty feet high, he named them after his patron saint, Anthony of Padua. Doubtless at this time the falls w^ere much lower down the stream than at present, as Carver describes them in 17f6, nearly a century later, as much lower down the river than tkey are now. The following extract from his journal in regard to the appearance of the falls will iipt be uninteresting :

*' This amazinoj body of waters, which are about two hundred and fifty yards wide, form a most pleasing cat-aract. They fall perpendicularly about thirty feet, and the rapids below, in the space of three huiidred yardte more, render the descent much greater, so that when viewed at a distance they appear to be much higher than they really are. In the middle of the falls stands a small Island, about forty feet broad, and somewhat longer, on which grow a few cragged hemlock and spruce trees. These falls vary very much froip. all the others wdiich I have seen, as you may approach close to them without meeting with any obstructions from any intervening hill or precipice. The country around them is very beautiful. It is not an uninterrupted plain, Avhere'the eye finds no relief, but is composed of many gentle ascents, which in the summer are covered with the finest verdure, and interspersed with little groves that give a pleasing variety to the prospect. On the whole, when the falls are included, which may be seen at a distance of four miles, a more pleasing and picturesque view cannot. I believe, be found throughout the universe."

Since that time the action of the w^aters has broke the rocks, so that the falls have receded several rods, and the little island spoken of as in the middle of the falls, is now some distance below.

The Suspension Bridge across the main body of the river, and spanning the waters from the west bank to Nicollet Island is one of the curiosities that pleasure seekers are wont to gaze upon with wonder and admiration. It is a fine structure, and does credit to the enterprise and intelligence of the peoj^le of the dual city.

The Falls Of Minnehaha

THE FALLS OF MINNEHAHA, immortaUzed in song by Longfellow's musical jargon of alliterative, rippling words, is perhaps the most noted of all the pleasure resorts in the Northwest, and is one of the most enchanting waterfalls that ever danced to fairy music, or formed a screen of spray in the golden sunlight. The stream that furnishes the water power for this poetry of motion, and silvery rippling of music, is the outlet of the wood embowered Minnetonka. Born in the bower of beauty, it threads its way along over pleasant prairies, playing witli ^ its mossy banks, till it ar- ^f^T i"ives near the precipice where, like a careless, 'happy child, it glides laughingly along, and in ., one silvery sheet, floats to -^the bottom of the glen cand loses itself in a flood l^of joyous melody. We S^xlo not wonder at the '\nrime, for, according to -:^'^^^s^'^'^''^i&^-^^ ' t^iG eternal fltness of things, Minnehaha is the laughing water.

Come with us to the edge of the chasm, and see the laughing Jlinne, as she kisses the rock good-bye, and, like some fairy sprite, changes to a misty veil, floating, with a ha-ha, to the rocky gorge below. Half way down the defile is a fine stand point, where one may drink in the wondrous beauty of the mystic waterfall.

sighed for the hopes and joys, the pleasures and anticipations of days lang syne^ while memory stands tugging at the door of bygones, which are all faithfully mirrorred in the miniature cataract. Memory rolls backward the chariot wheels of time, and childhood with its gloved '^associations comes floating down the misty cataract, the faces of dear ones long since mingled with^the dust ; and the eye grows dim the while xthe heart holds sweet communion with departed joys, -.and sunshine and^ happiness flow in nj^on and fill to * overflowing the heart, oowed and broken by care and -sadness. I^ot long since two romantic couples were .united in the bonds of matrimony behind the misty -'Sreil of flowing water, and the cascade has become a .bridal veil, mirroring the sunshine of happiness and perrenial joys of wedded bhss. The song of the - " laughing water " is a song of praise as well as triiUmph; the spontaneous outburst of nature's joy ascending to the throne of God. And still the laughing sprite glides on, beneath the rustic bridge, and plays bo-peep among the mosses, the stones and the trees, 'till it finds its way- to the mighty Mississippi, loses iitself in the rushing tide, and is no more the ''laughing water."

'ERHAPS the eye of man never rested on a? spot of land better fitted to supply his material^ wants and meet the necessities of his natnxe since shut out from the original Eden, than are some portions of Minnesota; and some parts of Dakota county cannot be excelled for fertility of soil, beauty of^ landscape, and healthfulness of climate by any country on the face of the globe. A moderate climate, exhil" erating atmosphere, and a soil whose productions arealmost boundless, added to one of the finest commercial locations in the State, make this county one of'- the most prominent and favored in the State.

Persons who possess a reasonably active imagination, and minds somewhat educated to appreciate th& beautiful in nature can picture to themselves a district of country of some six or seven hundred square miles in extent, entirely destitute of lofty mountains or evesr high hills, except along the Mississippi river, yet witt a gently undulating surface covered with rich herbage, and in summer time with the various hued flowers that abound in such profusion on the Western prairies^ - intermingled with blossoming and fruit bearing shruTw - groves of native oaks like some old-time orchard, .with here and there a long stretch or glade of natural meadow land, affording vast quantities of hay for the keeping of stock. Again as far as the eye can reach, until the view is lost in the blue distance beyond, lies spread out a beautiful swelling prairie, whose fruitful soil only needs the caressing care of the husbandman to make it bring forth an hundred fold of all the choice fruits of the earth, and fill his granaries with golden grain and his pockets with material wealth. There seems to be literally no exhaustion to the generous soi], and as the years roll around there comes not only ^' seed time and harvest," but at harvest time a return far in advance of what the most sanguine generally anticipate, and year by year the agricultural, mechanical and commercial operations are doubled and even quadrupled, to meet the wants of the growing prosperity of the country. When we reflect that the germs of the future in latent embryo are contained in the bosom of the present ; that to-day is ever giving color and character and shaping the destinies of tomorrow, we have only to examine the vast resources of wealth and material prosperity that lie hidden in the recesses of nature's great storehouse ; the raw material with which the couuty is supplied and the aptitude of the people to lay hold of these natural advantages and turn them to the most profitable use, to form some conception of what tlie future of this county may realize. Looking backward for only a few short years from the present, and no signs of civilization greet the vision ; no human habitations save the wigwams of the red men, who have imlimited and undisputed sway and control of all those vast prairies ; their trails as they go farther west to their hunting grounds, are the only roads that mark the tread of human feet ; their bark canoes the only craft that cleave the waters of tliQ rivers and lakes ; their council fires lighting up the evening sky, and the savage war-whoop breaking the stillness of the otherwise silent prairies, and we may see a truthful picture of most of Dakota county previous to its settlement by civilized people in 1853. Some fifteen years have passed, and we look again. The magic wand of civilization has been moved over the prairies, the openings, and the timber, and behold the change. Art and science have combined with the spirit of modern energy and enterprise, and covered the face of the country with culti« vated fields and flowering gardens ; has made roads and built bridges, and dotted the prairies with pleasant dwellings for homes, and elegant school houses for the education of the rising generation, and has reduced the wilderness to enclosed fields, thriving villages and the busy bustling city. In looking through the record of these almost present yesterdays we seem to be reveling in a kind of waking dream, the shifting panorama of succeeding days nearly dazes and blinds the comprehension, and were it not for the busy realities that everywhere surround us, we should almost deem it were a dream, for " life is oft so like a dream we know not where we are."

open-eyed wonder, tliey more than half suspect that some powerful geni with his magic wand has passed over the country, and produced these startling results; but the spirit of adventure, combined with first class Yankee ingenuity marked the 2)roblem, and "Western perseverance solved it. Men of independent mind and effort, with hearts throbbing with cheerful hope; men of nerve and muscle, "with a heart for any fate," an invincible determination to conquer all adverse circumstances, and hands wilHng and eager to demonstrate the fact, have looked out and made their homes on the fertile prairies that lie spread out so invitingly to the eye of the beholder. Beneath the tough web of the sward lay one vast garden, pregnant with all the rich fruits and golden grains ; a mine of incomparably greater wealth than the richest veins of golden ore. This capital has been brought into active use by the enerjjies of the toilino- thousands who have turned the waste of wilderness into fertile fields, and the treasures of the earth into channels to contribute to the happiness of man. And yet, the present importance and wealth are but the development of an insignificant portion of its real capacity ; v/hile vast unfurrowed fields still clad in the vestments of nature's primal beauty, invite the tillers of the soil to a closer acquaintanceship, and promise a rich reward for all the labor bestowed in their cultivation. At no time since the first settlement of the country have there been greater inducements to the agriculturist, the artisan, or the capitalist, to make homes within her borders, and it needs no j^rophet's tongue to tell that in the future there awaits unsurpassed prosperity, and a golden harvest for those who labor assiduously for that development. If the exertions and never-ceasing activities of the people are judiciously expended, a brilliant future awaits them. The Great Proprietor has dealt out to them of the garnered treasures of the earth with a more than bountiful liand, in fertility of soil, springs and streams of water, the facilities of communication, that reach nearly every town in the county, and make it one of the most accessible in the State. The natural communication and primal one is by way of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers which bound the county on the north and east, affording rare shipping facilities for all the productions of the soil, and for bringing merchandise to . their homes. The next is the Milwaukee, St. Paul & Minneapolis railroad which enters the county at the northern extremity at Mendota, and runs through the entire length from north to south, having five stations within the limits of the county, viz : Mendota, Westcott, Rosemount, Farmington, and Castle Pock. This road is at present the only one in the State having a direct eastern communication, and is consequently the principal thoroughfare through the State. The Hastings & Dakota Pailroad is a line running from Hastings west through the whole county, and crossing the Milwaukee, St. Paul & Minneapolis road at Farmington. Twenty miles of this road are completed and the cars running thereon. The St. Paul & Chicago Railway also runs through a portion of the county, crossing the Mississippi river at Hastings. The Minnesota Yalley Railroad, starting at St. Paul, runs through the county on the northern line, connecting with the Milwaukee, St. Paul & Minneapolis road at Mendota, and has three stations within the county. Navigable rivers bounding it on the north and east, and four diflerent lines ol railroad running through it, gives commercial communications unsurpassed by any of equal extent of country on the continent.

Dakota county lies on the east side of the Mississippi river, directly opposite where the St. Croix river empties into it, and where the Mississippi river commences the task of dividing the States of Minnesota and Wisconsin, the great river having till this time passed entirely over Minnesota soil. On the north the Minnesota river divides Dakota from Hennepin county, Scott and Rice counties lying on the west, and Rice and Goodhue on the south. These are the general boundaries, though Dakota county is so irregular in form that it would be difficult to give an exact idea of its shape, without giving a map of the county, in the State, aside from the government troops at Fort SnelHng, was made in this county at Mendota in 1S2'6, by Jean Baptiste Faribault, an Indian trader from Canada. jSTo other settlers arrived for some years. In 1834, H. H. Sibley, afterwards the first governor of the State of Minnesota, located at Mendota, and soon had quite a colony of immigrants established at that point, and in his adventurous pioneer life saw very much of interest, and had many adventures that would of themselves form an interesting volume. We can hardly find room for extended notices, but give some extracts from some ot his writings and his journal, which he has kindly permitted us to copy.

" It may seem paradoxical, but it is nevertheless true, that I was successively a citizen of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota Territories, without changing my residence of Mendota. The jurisdiction of the first named terminated when Wisconsin was organized in 1836, and in turn Iowa extended her sway in 1838 over the west of the Mississippi. When the latter was admitted as a State, with very mucli diminished area, the country lying outside of the State bouu' daries was left without any government until the es« tablishment of the Minnesota territorial organization." * *'^ * " " It was my fortune to be the first to introduce the machinery of law into what our legal brethren would have termed a benighted region, having received a commission of Justice of the Peace from the Territorial Governor of Iowa, for the county of Clayton. This county was an empire of itself in extent, reaching from a line some twenty miles below Prairie du Chien on the west of the " Father of Waters" to Pembina, and across to the Missouri River. As I was the only magistrate in this region and the county seat was some three hundred miles distant, I had things pretty much under my own control ; there was little chance of appeal from my decisions. In fact some of the simple minded people firmly believed that I had the power of life and deatli. On one occasion

I issued a warrant for a Canadian who had committed a gross oiitraeje, and then fled from justice. I dispatched a trusty constable, and he overtook the man below Lake Pepin, and brought him back in irons. The friends of the culprit begged hard that he should not be severely punished, and after keeping him in " durance vile " for several days I agreed to release him if he would leave the country, and threatening him with dire vengeance should he ever return. He left in great haste and we never saw him afterwards.''

"A justice, not a hundred miles from Kaposia, was called upon to decide between two adverse claimants, and after hearing the evidence the magistrate decided in favor of the plaintiff, whereupon the defendant accused him of partiality and injustice, and the dignity of the court came very near being seriously compromised by a fisticuff between the court and the party considering himself aggrieved. An appeal was taken to the District Court, by the defendant, and when the writ was served upon the justice ordering him to produce a transcript of his docket and other papers in the case, instead of complying with the mandate of the court, he committed to paper a long and elaborate address to the judge, setting forth that the appellant had abused him ; that he was a mean scamp generally, and concluded by stating to his honor that he had erred in granting an appeal, and if he wanted the papers in the case he might look for them, as he (the justice) would have nothino^ further to do with it. It was duly dispatched to the judge and read by the clerk, but was subsequently abstracted from the files by some person, probably, in search of legal lore,"

Mr. Sibley was foreman of the first grand jury ever empannelled in what is now the State of Minnesota, which consisted of twenty persons, three only of whom could speak or understand English, the rest being all Frenchmen. The court was held at Mendota, Judge Cooper presiding. His Honor delivered a written charge to the jury, of considerable length, which was profoundly listened to, though not a word was understood by more than three of the jurors.

The amount of land under caltivation in the county we have baen unable to accurately obtain. The area of cultivated fields is yearly ijiereaaing and with woiidorful proportions, and the increase in the value of pe'rsonal property, and the nmnber of animals of domestic use is in equal proportion.

The present total valuation of personal property in Dakota county is $1,129,2^4, NumW of animals - horses, 4,901; cattle, 3,527; mrdes ^d asseS, 106; sheep, 4,798 ; hogs, 3,986. At the late sale of school lands, 16,097 acres were purchased for $9,262.42, on which $1,542.35 principal, and $874.60 interest, were paid down, leaving $7,710.07 unpaid. We give the following statement of the amount of land broken during the year 1868, in each of the towns of the county, which we have copied from the Farmingtoii Telegraph :

In 1847 the State of Wisconsin was admitted to the Union, or all that portion east of the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers, leaving those counties west of the rivers without any government. H. H. Sibley was chosen a delegate to Congress to represent that portion of the territory, the inhabitants claiming that the act admittino; the State did not abros^ate the territorial government. After some delay, Mr. Sibley was admitted to his seat, and the territory of Minnesota having been organized at the same session, Mr. Sibley was re-elected in 1849, and again in 1851 - thus serving five consecutive sessions of Congress. In 1854 he was elected to the territorial legislature, and in 1857 to the constitutional convention. The same fall hewaselected as first Governor of the State of Minnesota.

In 1859, Ignatius Donnelly, of Nininger, was elected, to the office of Lieut. Governor of the State, and reelected in 1861. In 1862 he was elected as Represen- tative in Congress from the Second District of Minnesota, and re-elected in 1864, and again in 1866, being the present Eepresentative. In 185Y, L. Smith was chosen as Secretary of the Territorial Council. In 1854: H. II. Sibley and D. M. Hanson represented the northern part of Dakota county and a large district, now several counties, in the Territorial Legislature. In 1855 Henry G. Bailey was chosen Councillor and M. T. MuriDhy and O. C. Gibbs, as Eepresentatives. J. J. McYay and C. Powell Adams as Kepresentatives in 1856 - Mr. Bailey as Councillor having been elected for two years. The Delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1857, were H. H. Sibley, Josiah Burwell, D. J. Burns, H. G. Bailey, Andrew Keegan and Thomas Foster. The members of the Legislature this year were H. G. Bailey D. W. C. Dunwell as Senators and J. C. Dow, Eobert CNeil, James Locke, E. C. Masters and M. T. Murphy as Eepresentatives. Mr. Dow resigned the office and Eli Eobinson was elected to fill the vacancy. For 1858 Eli Eobinson and A. H. Norris were elected to the Senate, and A. M. Hays, Moses Bixley, Henry Kaska and H. G. O. Morrison Eepresentatives. The Eepresentatives for 1859 were I. M. Eay, Michael Waldhier, Ara Barton, Charles McGrorty and M. A; Miller. But there being no session held this year, the election resulted in empty honors and no work. In 1860 A. M. Hays was elected Senator and J. C. Cooper and H. G. O. Morrison Eepresentatives. The following named persons have represented the county since that time :

Couxty Surveyors

Probably no State in the Union responded more liberally and promptly to the call for troops to crush the rebellion than the young State of Minnesota. With, a population of only about 176,000 in 1860, at the breaking out of the war, she sent into the army over 12,000 able-bodied men, who earned a fame second to none in the whole army of the Union. The name of Minnesota troops was everywhere a synonym of victory. Dakota county furnished her full quota, as will be found recorded in the following pages. We have given the rank of all the commissioned officers as far as we could obtain them, at the time of leaving the service. In the following list we have given the names and credit to the different towns just as we found them recorded in the Adjutant's General's office at St. Paul. Those who have held commissions in the army, as far as we could learn, are as follows,

Captains - H. G. Bailey, of Hastings, killed at the battle of Nashville ; L.W.Collins, A. P. French, J. B. Preston, Isaac P. Tichnor, H. D. Pettibone, Thos. M. Smith, Edward Oakford, C. W. I^ash, of Hastings; John King, Nininger, and Ara Barton, of Randolph.