Minneapolis City (part 12 of 80)

ONE of the most charming and in¬ structive works concerning the early history of Fort Snelling is that entitled "Three Score Years and Ten," being the personal reminiscences of Mrs. Charlotte O. Van Cleve, of Min¬ neapolis, published in 1888. Mrs. Van Cleve was the daughter of Major (then Lieutenant) Clarke, of the regu¬ lar army, who was the first commis¬ sary of subsistence at Fort Snelling, and, with his wife, accompanied the first troops to the mouth of the St. Peter River in 1819. She was born at Prairie du Chien (or Fort Crawford), July 1st of that year, and spent all the days of her youth at the " Old Fort," witnessing the entire process of the evolution of civilization from the most abject intellectual and moral darkness and barbarism. A brief account of the jourriey of the troops up the river, and their settlement in their new quarters in the temporary canton¬ ment, told in the simply eloquent lan¬ guage of the lady (now more than seventy 3^ears old) will be interesting to the readers of this history: that eventful journey up the Missis¬ sippi, few of the present da}^ can form a clear conception. The keel boats, similar in construction to a canoe boat, were propelled by poles all that three hundred miles in the following man¬ ner: Several men stood on each side of the boat, on what was called a running board, with their faces to the stern, and, placing their long poles on the river bottom, braced them against their shoulders, and pushed hard, walking toward the stern. Then, de¬ taching the poles, they walked back to the bow, and repeated this opera¬ tion hour after hour, being relieved at intervals for rest.

The perfect safety of this mode of travel commends itself to those who are in no hurry, and desire to learn all about the windings of the river and the geological and floral attractions along its hanks. At night the boats were tied up, camp fires were lighted, tents pitched, sentinels posted, and everything made ready in case of an eruption b3^ Indians.

Arriving at Lake Pepin, a few da3='s were spent on its beautiful shores, resting, during which time the stores were overhauled and arranged and the boats regulated and put in perfect order. The sick were growing strong¬ er, and the little baby (Charlotte Quis- cousin Clark, the author of the mem¬ oirs), who was living on pap made of musty flour and sweetened water, tied up in a rag, which did duty for a pat¬ ent nursing bottle, grew wonderfully, and bade fair to be a marvel of size and strength.

Some time in September the Pio¬ neer Regiment arrived in i)rett3^ good condition at - where? No fort, no set¬ tlement, no regular landing, even; simpl3^ at tlie mouth of St. Peter's Riv¬ er, where we had been ordered to halt, and our long march was ended.

For man3'^ weeks the boats were our 01113- shelter, and the sense of en¬ tire isolation, the thought that the nearest white neighbors were three hundred miles away, and that months must elapse before the3- could liope to hear a S3-llable from home, proved, at times, exceedingl3- depressing to these first settlers in Minnesota. I record, with pleasure, what has been often told me, that in that trying time the courage of the ladies of the part3- did not fail them, and that their cheerful wa3- of taking things as the3' came and making the best of them, was a con¬ stant blessing and source of strength to that little comniunit3'.

Without loss of time, a space was cleared ver3- near the site of Mendota; trees were cut down, a stockade built enclo-ing log houses, erected for the accommodation of the garrison ; ever3-- thing being made as comfortable and secure as the facilities permitted. The Indians proved friendl3-and peaceable, and the command entered upon their life at "St. Peter's," as it was first called, cheerfull3- and hopefully. A few da3-s after their arrival. Col. Leav¬ enworth, Major Vose, Surgeon Pur¬ cell, i^Irs. Captain Oooding and my father made a keel boat trij) to the falls of St. Anthon3- and were amazed at the beaut3- and grandeur of the scene.

A prediction at the time that some then living would see these might3' falls turn tlie machinery of the great¬ est mills in the world, and a great and beautiful cit3- arise on tbe adjacent shores, would have been called a vis¬ ionary and impossible dream by those

Mrs. \^an Cleve gave the following names of officers on duty at Fort Snelling in 1820, and as the writer finds them recorded nowhere else the3- art; here inserted for convenient reference in the future:

Josiah Snelling, Colonel Fifth Infantr3-, commanding; S. l^urbank. Brevet Major; D. Gooding, Brevet Captain; R. A. McCabe, Lieutenant; N. Clark, Lieutenant; Joseph Hare, Lieutenant; P. R. Green, Lieutenant, Acting Adjutant; H. Wilkins, Lieu¬ tenant; Dr. Edward Purcell, Surgeon. In addition to these I give the names of some of those who came afterwards. All of them are among my earliest rec¬ ollections, and I can remember each 1)3' some peculiarit3' of sjjeech or char¬ acteristic atiecdote. In m3' old age T find m3'self dwelling upon these recol¬ lections of my early years with pleas¬ ure, till the flight of time is forgotten, and in fancy I am back again at the old fort, a happ3', light-hearted, petted child: Major Hamilton, Captains Rus¬ sell, Garland, Baxle3^ and Martin Scott; Lieutenants Alexander, Hun¬ ter, Harris, St. Clair l)enn3' and John¬ ston; Major Lawrence Taliferro, In¬ dian Agent; Captain Lomard and Mr. Ortle3'.

Soon after the establishment of the fort, m3' father, as commissary, was recjuested 1)3' General Gibson (commissaiy general of the army), to learn bv experiment if wheat could be raised in this part of the world, and the re¬ sult proving that it was a possibilit3', he was ordered to su])pl3' the garrison, at least in ])art, with Hour of their own raising. A letter bearing date August oth, 1828, informs him that having learned 1)3' a letter from Colonel Snelling to the (piarter-master gen¬ eral, dated Aj)ril 2d, that a large cpiantit3' of wheat nia3' be raised this sum¬ mer, the assistant commissar3' of subsistence at St. Louis had been directed to send to St. Peters (as the fort was then called) such tools as should be necessary to secure the grain and manufacture the flour, add¬ ing, "if any flour is manufactured from the wheat raised, please let me know as earU^ as possible, that I may deduct the quantity manufactured at the post from the quantity advertised to be contracted for;" and here follows the bill for the articles ordered for the purpose specified above:

This, then, was the outfit for the first flour mill in that part of the great Northwest which was to be named Minnesota in later years, and to be¬ come the greatest flour manufactory in the world. Keniembering clearly the great complaint of the destruction of grain by black birds, I cannot think that the amount of wheat raised ever made the command independent of outside supplies; but, having played around the old mill many times, I know it was used for the purpose for which it was fitted up.

In the next chapter is given a charming picture of the diversions and recreations of the isolated garri¬ son, which incidently records how two of our beautiful lakes obtained their names.

And we went strawberrying, too, children and mothers and fathers, 3mung men and maidens; and often now when passing through the crowd¬ ed streets of our great city, I feel that I am walking over our old strawberry patch. How sweet those berries were, and how delicious the fish we caught in the pretty lakes Calhoun and Har¬ riet - the one named for the great statesman, the other for Mrs. Leaven¬ worth. We generally carried our treasures from field and lake to the old government mill at the big falls - St. Anthony - and had our feast pre¬ pared and set in order bj^ the miller's wife. And we had games, not croquet.

or any of those inventions, which were then in the far future, but hide-andseek, blind man's buff, hide the hand¬ kerchief, hunt the slipper, and such old-fashioned sports, which all en¬ joyed most heartily, till warned hj' the lengthening shadows that it was time to go home, which we generally reached in time to see the flag low¬ ered to the roll of the sunset drum.

The writer, forty 3^ears later, or in the summer of 1864, while an officer at Draft Rendezvous, Fort Snelling, dur¬ ing the war, in company with a troupe of romping children, gathered wild strawberries over the portion of the same ground as did Mrs. Van Cleve in her childhood - the ground now cov¬ ered by the busy marts of trade, and made sterile to nature's free gifts, b3' the footsteps of men busy with the affairs of life - some of these men the very children who then romped by bis side. For the present let us la3^ aside Mrs. Van Cleve's touching and truth¬ ful story, closing with an accouiTt of the arrival of the first steamboat. In¬ formation had been received that the boat would arrive at the fort duritig the summer (of 1823), but no definite time had been announced. We quote Mrs. Van Cleve's words :

At last, one bright summer morn¬ ing, while amusing m3'seif on the piazza in the rear of the officer's quar¬ ters, there came a sound new and strange. All listened a moment in awe and gratitude, and broke out from many voices, "The steamboat is com¬ ing! The steamboat is coming!" and look ! There is the smoke curling gracefully through the tree.-; hark! the puffing of the steam, startling the echoes from sleep coeval with the cre¬ ation ; now she rounds the point and comes into full view. I stand upon tiptoe but cannot see all I long to, till Lieutenant David Hunter, my special favorite, catches me up and holds me on the balustrade ; and now I clap my hands and almost cry with delight; for there she is, just landing in all her pride and beaut}', as if she felt herself the pioneer steanihoat, and knew she would becotne historie. Officers and soldiers, women and children, are hurrying down the ' hill ; terrified Indians rush from their wigwams and look on in amazement, utterl}' con¬ founded, refusing to go near what they called the Bad Spirit.

Greetings and congratulations, warm and heartfelt are exchanged, and sj^eedil}' the mail is opened, l)apers and letters are distributed ; all search eagerl}' for news from home, and my jo}' is turned to grief, for 1113' friend. Lieutenant Hunter, who learned b}' the ver}' boat whose com¬ ing he hailed with so much pleasure, that he was fatherless. All S3'mpathized dee])!}' with him ; few know how closely drawn together are the occui)ants of a frontier post; but the common joy, although dam])ened, was not destroyed, and civilities were ten¬ dered to the captain and officers of the hoat, who were real gentlemen and became great favorites at the fort. They came again the next year - I)erhaps more than once - and i)leasant excursions on the boat relieved the monotony of fort life.

The steamboat was the topic of con¬ versation for a long time. The day of its arrival became an era from which we reckoned, and those of the first occu])ants of Fort Snelling who still sur¬ vive can hardly recall a more delight¬ ful reminiscence than the arrival of the first steamboat in 1823. Years j)assed away; childhood, with its light¬ heartedness, gave way to youth, and that again to womanhood, and then came middle life with its many cares, its griefs, its joys, too, and its unnum¬ bered mercies, with bright anticijiatioiis of a blessed rest from toil and ])ain - when one pleasant day in 18(54 1 find myself, with a party of friends who have come to visit Fort Snelling and its many interesting surround¬ ings, standing side by side with my mother on the bastion of the fort, re¬ calling days and scenes gone bv. Leaning against the railing and con¬ templating the river, so beautiful from that height, she remarked to me: "Can you remember, my child, when the first steamboat came uj) this river?" I answered, "Y'es, oh yes. Most dis¬ tinctly do I remember it." And tln^n we talk over the event and recall the many pleasant things connected with it, when lo ! a whistle, and the loud l)uffing and snorting of the iron horse. Cai)tain Newson (at this time com¬ missary of subsistence at the fort), standing near and listening to our con¬ versation, exclaimed, pointing over to ^lend* ta: "And there goes the first train of cars that ever started out from Fort Snelling." Hushed and breath¬ less we gaze at the fast vanishing train, feeling as we stand there, we two alone of all who saw that other great event, orer fortv j'enrs a_go, like links connecting the buried |)ast with the living dead.

Mrs. Van Cleve is still an honored resident of i'linneapolis. After an eventful life of more than seventy years, tilled with good works and large and ceaseless charities, she rests in her old age surrounded by the sons she bore and reared, and their families, and by a large circle of the most de¬ voted friends. The hushaiid of her youth, with whom she lived more than fifty years, preceded her "over the river, to rest under the trees," some years ago. Her delightful little hook of memoirs was a most valuable and timely contribution to the earliest pioneer history of the Northwest, of Minnesota and Hennejiin County. All who know the infinite kindness of heart, the persistence in good works, and the strong, almost masculine sense and courage of this noble wo¬ man, will join in the hoi)e that she may have many years of earth life yet before her, and that the good angel of eternal rest may bear her very tenderly across the dark river when the clock of fate shall toll the hour of her de¬ parture.

Close of the First Historic Period - Franklin Steele - Schoolcraft's Expedi¬ tion OF 1831 AND 1832 - BLACKHAWK WAR - FirST LAND MAIL ROUTE ESTAB¬ LISHED - VISIT OF Gatlin and Mather - Nicollet Arrives - The Source of the Mississippi, a Disquisition - Pioneer Squatters - The Faribault Claim to Pike Island.

''pHIS decade practically closes the i. first period in the Histor}" of Hennejiiii County, which, when all is said, is merely the history of an isolated compan3^ of the niilitar}^, together with such traders and adventurers as wan¬ dered away from the restraints of civ¬ ilization and cast their fortunes in the wilds of the then far West. But there are henceforth faint glimmerings of the dawn of that higher and brighter civilization which we of the later gen¬ eration have lived to see. The Chris¬ tian missionaries have arrived, and this bodes well, for a new civilizing influence will thus commence its work. Around the fort small tracts of land are being put under cultivation, and thus the possibilities of our wondrouslj^ fertile soil are being tested. Once, talking with the Honorable Franklin Steele, who came to Fort Snelling in 1837, he said to the writer:

I used to wander out upon the point upon a summer morning and gaze up and down the lovely valle3"S surround¬ ing the fort and wonder - why do they not come? Here was the most beauti¬ ful and perfect climate and country I had ever seen, wanting only the touch of labor to make it a veritable para¬ dise. Wh3^ don't they come? Rolling awa3" to an indefinite distance were the most fertile prairies that the hand of man had ever converted into a gar¬ den spot. Why don't they come? Back in the eastern cities and through¬ out Europe, men, women and children were suffering, starving, living in filth, idleness and all the squalor of abject poverty. Wh3^ don't they, come to this iDeautiful land, and create for them¬ selves and their children homes and independence?

But for 3^ears and 3^ears they lin¬ gered. They would not come; and the heritage of which an emperor might be proud was given over to the Indian and the wolf."

In 1830 the soldiers at the fort com¬ menced building the stone barracks, some portions of which still stand to prove what honest labor was put upon them. [It is to be hoped that in re¬ constructing the post nothing more will be destroyed, but that all the old walls will be permitted to remain, and if the vandal Improvement must he kept busy, that he will build new buildings, and not strive to recon¬ struct the old, but leave some few monuments of the primitive period.]

First Historic Period Closed

The work i)rogressed slowl}-, but the building was done faitlifulh\ The en¬ tire series of stone buildings was not completed until after the Mexican war, though each' successive commanding officer continued to labor at the work.

In the month of April, 1831, H. R. Schoolcraft, Indian agent at the Sault Ste. Marie, was ordered by the author¬ ities in Washington City to proceed to the upper Mississippi River cotnitry and make another effort to effect a treaty that would give a lasting peace to the Sioux and Chippewa tribes. The expedition was composed of twen¬ ty-seven officers and men, and went by waj^ of Lake Superior to the mouth of the Mushkeg River, which enters the lake below Bayfield, Wisconsin, and, after various adv^entures, suc¬ ceeded in patching up the customary temporary peace between the blood¬ thirsty aborigines. Again, in 1832, Major Schoolcraft was ordered b}- the department to visit the headquarters of the Mississipj^i, with a general rov¬ ing commission to make peace be¬ tween the Indians, and also to throw what light might be possible on the geographical situation.

This expedition was one of the most important, from a geograi)hical stand¬ point, that had, uj) to this lime, ever visited the northwestern section of the country. It arrived from Sault Ste. Marie at the mouth of the St. Louis river (now Duluth) on the 23d day of June, 1832, and the latter part of July arrived at St. Anthony Falls and Fort Snelling. Here another council was held with the Sioux chiefs. Little Crow and Black Dog, in rela¬ tion to violations of treaties made with the Chippewas, but the (piestioii was not settled, and these bronzed sons of the forest and prairie were left to slaughter and assassinate each other to their heart's content, which they continued to do with unabated viiror for another full generation, or until the great Sioux massacre in Minne¬ sota, in 1862, finall}" drove the Sioux so far away that the}- could not hunt Chippewas without too great a loss of time and waste of vital enertrv.

The Black Hawk war took place during this year, 1832, but the troops stationed at Fort Snelling appear to have taken no active part in the strug¬ gle - which only lasted a few weeks - and there being an abundance of sol¬ diers at Prairie du Chien and other points to conquer this famous chief and his band. The Sioux of the upj^er Mississip]>i valle3q however, contrib¬ uted their part toward restoring peace, and slaughtered a few of the Sacs and Foxes during the last engage¬ ment, in which Black Hawk was finall^^ conquered and surrendered.

During this year of the Black Hawk war (1832) the first regular United States mail route b^^ land was estab¬ lished to Fort Snelling. It was car¬ ried by a soldier on foot from Prairie du Chien, and took fourteen da3^s to make the I'ound trip, hence the troo[)s and camp followers at the old fort could receive news of what was going on in the world ever}' two weeks. At that period there were no white fami¬ lies within the boundaries of what is now Minnesota, and bnt ver}' few in either Wisconsin or Iowa, Illinois, Michigan and Imliana being frontier States. The entire white population of Minnesota was concentrated at and around Fort vSnelling and comprised soldiers and Indian traders.

In 1835, Fort Snelling was visited by (jeorge Catlin, the landscape [)ainter, and 1)}' Professor Mather, who made a cursor}' and partial geographical sur¬ vey of the Minnesota valley for some distance. The latter was accompanied by an Engdish adventurer named Featherstonhaugh, who, upon his re¬ turn to England, wrote a vulgar and abusive book on the officers of the fort, entitled, "Canoe Voyage up the Minnaysotor."

In July, 1836, the fort was visited by Jean N. Nicollet, a French mathema¬ tician, scholar and savant, who came to explore the sources of the Missis¬ sippi. En passant, it may be remarked that the sources of the Mississippi have been more widely, thoroughly, entirely and persistently discovered than any other geographical point on the known earth, including the source of the Nile. Although there is no published record known to exist, the fact is patent that Lake Itasca was visited more than a century and a-half ago by French voj^ageurs and hois ferules, who were hunting for valuable furs instead of the sources of rivers. Fate last century, William Morrison, an early Minnesota settler and Indian trader, visited this spot and recorded it in a letter to his brother - and he never presumed to set up the claim of being the first white man who had put his foot upon that classic spot. Then came Beltrami, Fieutenant Allen and Schoolcraft. Then Nicollet, and finally, in 1888, the champion geo¬ graphical crank and humbug of all the centuries. Captain Willard Glazier, Fet us hope the ev^erlasting source of the great river has been finally and irrevocably discovered.

The main incident in the career of Monsieur Nicollet in Hennepin Coun¬ ty, was being robbed of all his pro¬ visions by the Indians at St. Anthony Falls. These were replaced by the generosity of the officers at the fort, and the savant proceeded gaily on his voyage of discovery. M. Nicollet ren¬ dered actual and valuable services to the world of science by his visit, and fully deserves all the honors that have been conferred upon his memory by the grateful people of the State. Nicollet Island, in the river within the limits of Minneapolis, Nicollet Ave¬ nue and Nicollet County are cognomiiial monuments to the memory of this astute scholar and adventurous gentleman. M. Nicollet returned to Fort Snelling the early part of Octo¬ ber, 1836. He was given a room at the Stone Agency house, near the garri¬ son, where he employed his time in learning the Dakota language and making astronomical observations. Here he remained all winter, except¬ ing a few weeks in which he was vis¬ iting Hon. H. H. Sibley, agent of the American Fur Company, at Mendota. The full account of Nicollet's explora¬ tions in the Northwest, his tireless energy, his unswerving faith and per¬ fect constancy, is one of the most beautiful and touching chapters in Minnesota and Northwestern history, but it can be touched upon only briefly in a work of this character. He died in Washington City in 1844, and is buried in the congressional cemetery there.

Notwithstanding the treaty made by Fieutenant Pike, in 1805, it was ad¬ judged by the authorities at Washing¬ ton that the Indian title to the Fort Snelling reservation was not extin¬ guished until the treaty of 1837, which did away with the Indian title to all lands east of the Mississippi River, and, h}^ special clause, to this reserva¬ tion, which is west of the river. This treaty was sanctioned b3^ the Senate of the United States in 1835, and the United States entered into full posses¬ sion thereafter.

fort began to discover in what direc¬ tion the linger of manifest destiny pointed. It was believed that some¬ where in the neighborhood of this frontier post would some da3" spring up a great, prosj)erous and 02)ulent city, and so several discharged soldiers Indian traders, citizen-clerks and gen¬ eral camjo hangers-on began to "squat" ujion claims both east and west of the river on the reservation. October 21st, 1839, the President of the United States issued a proclamation h}"^ virtue of the act of March 3d, 1807, "An act to prevent settlement made on lands ceded to the United States, until authorized h^^ law," directing the United States marshal to remove s(iuatters from the Fort Snelling reser¬ vation, giving the marshal i)ower, if found necessar^^ to call ui:)on the mil¬ itary to assist him in such removal. Several of the scpiatters were recalci¬ trant, therefore the marshal, on the 0th da}' of May, 1840, called iq^on the commandant at the fort for trooj)s and jjroceeded to forcibly remove such squatters as had refused or neglected to obey the j^roclamation of the Pres¬ ident. The removal was made with¬ out bloodshed, and the entire reserva¬ tion was restored to uses of the garrison.

In 1837, John Batiste Faribault pre¬ sented a claim to the government for a 2)ortion of Pike Island, based upon a treaty with the Little Crow hand of Dakota Indians in 1820. The claim never was allowed, as the treaty of Lieutenant Pike antedated the Fari¬ bault claim by about fifteen years.

Commencement of the Missionary Period - Mr. Niell's Account - Arrival of the Pond Brothers at Fort Snelling - T. S. Williamson - Organization of the First Religious Society at the Fort - Barbarous Mourning - The Missionary Influence - Its Result With Whites and Indians.

WE HAVE thus far chiefly dwelt upon the slow but certain evolu¬ tion of this particular locality toward assured material prosperity. It has been viewed, first, as the home of the Indian and the wild beast, then of the trader, the voj^agetir and the hois briile, then of the soldier and the government factor and the agent of the great fur companies. It now be¬ comes our duty and privilege to speak of the premonitory whisperings of the spirit - the first struggle of the im¬ mortal part of man to utter its sub¬ lime truth and eternal verities into the dull ear of degraded barbarism.

The earliest efforts toward chris¬ tianizing the Indians in the North¬ west was made in conjunction with the first efforts to trade with the abor¬ iginals, by French Jesuits and priests of the Roman Catholic Church. Here God and mammon seemed, for the mo¬ ment, to enter into partnership, for the priest was often as intent upon mak¬ ing money, by the trade in furs, as he was in saving souls by saying prayers. But there were very many true Chris¬ tians and faithful followers of the . Master aniong the early Catholic clergymen; although, ultimately, their efforts proved abortive; and after the American revolution we find an al¬ most total cessation of Catholic en¬ deavor toward christianizing the Sioux and Chippewas of the Northwest.

"It was not until the year 1834 .that any formal attempt was made to in¬ struct them (the Indians) in the arts, letters or the morality of the Bible. The Rev. Samuel W. Pond, at that time a layman and school teacher in Galena, Illinois, hearing accounts of the Dakotas from Red River emi¬ grants, became interested in their welfare, and wrote his brother, Gideon H. Pond, then a young man in their native place in Connecticut, propos¬ ing that they should cast their lot with this tribe of Indians and try to do them good."

This brother accepted the proposal,) and in the spring of 1834 joined his brother in Galena, and the two came direct to Fort SnellingJ being commis¬ sioned by no missionary society nor other organization, and having no sal-) ary guaranteed from any source.

The Missionary Period

These self-sacrificing young men ar¬ rived at the fort in May, 1831. Thej^ were kindly- received by Major Talia¬ ferro, Indian Agent, and by Major Bliss, commandant of the militar3\ Gaining the consent of these gentle¬ men, without fee or reward, or the hope thereof, further than the approv¬ ing whisperings of conscience, they proceeded to the east shore of Lake Calhotxn, in the neighborhood of which dwelt small bands of the Sioux or Da¬ kota Indians. With their own hands the3" erected rude cabins and estab¬ lished the first religious mission. Here, for years, these devoted jmung men spent their time in striving to enlighten the savage mind b^^ the light borrowed from the sublime teachings of the Christ. During the same sum¬ mer, the Rev. T. S. Williamson, a na¬ tive of South Carolina, educated at Jefferson College, in Pennsylvania, and who, prior to entering the Presb}^- terian ministry, had been a ph3^sician in the state of Ohio, was elected 1)3^ the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to proceed to this section, see what could be done to¬ ward christianizing the Sioux, and to report thereon. After visiting Fort Snelling, he reported that the field was favorable, the harvest ready, but the laborers almost entirel3^ absent.

Acting tipon this report, the Presby¬ terian and Congregational churches, throtigh their joint missionar3" societ3% appointed Rev. Thomas Williamson, M. 1)., missionar3" and ph3^sician; Rev. M. D. Stevens, missionary; Alexander Higgins, farmer; together with the wives of the above, with Miss Sarah Poage and Lucy C. Stevens, teachers. These did not enter upon their labors until the next 3'ear (1835).

but during the winter of 1834-35, one of the officers stationed at the fort (Major Gustavus Loomis), held relig¬ ious services in his quarters, and suc¬ ceeded in creating quite a spiritual revival. In May, 1835, Dr. Williamson arrived at the fort, with his missionary part3q and was most hospitabl3^ wel¬ comed to his new and uncultivated field of labor. On the second Sunda3' of June, 1835, the first regular Protesttaut society ever organized within the boundaries of the present State of Minnesota, was formed in one of the company rooms at Fort Snelling - a Presbyterian society - and the com¬ munion administered to twent3^-two persons of the white race, composed of soldiers, officers and citizen resi¬ dents and emplo3'ees in and around the fort. vVt this meeting is heard almost the first word in history of General Henr3- Hastings Sible3q at that time a 3mung officer of the Ameri¬ can Fur Compan3% who had come to the far Northwest to have charge of the interests of that corporation, and whose home was at Mendota. This gentleman lived to see the country of his heart and home develop into one of the great States of the Union, and died full of 3"ears and honors, at St. Paul in the 3'ear 1889. The mission¬ aries here divided their part3^ Dr. Williamson and wife, Mr. Higgins and wife and Miss Poage proceeded into the wilderness and established a mis¬ sion and school at Lac (pii Parle ; while Mr. Stevens and famil3^ located on the banks of Lake Harriet, in this county, where they long labored at their chosen task of bringing the lost sheep of barbarism into the fold of the Master. In addition to attending to the si)iritual wants of the Indians at his station, and leartiing their lan¬ guage, Mr. Stevens took upon himself

An incident told by Mr. Stevens, as happening with the band with which he was associated at Lake Harriet, will be instructive as well as interest¬ ing. He writes, on January 27th, 1836:

Yesterday a portion of this band of Indians, who had been sometime ab¬ sent from this village, returned. One of the number, a woman, was informed that a brother of hers had died during her absence. He was not at this vil¬ lage, but with another band, and the information had Just reached here. In the evening they set up a most piteous cr3dng, or rather, wailing, which continued with some little ces¬ sation during the night. The sister of the deceased brother would repeat, times without number, words which may thus be translated into English: "Come, my brother, I shall see you no more forever." The night was ex¬ tremely cold, the thermometer stand¬ ing between ten and twenty degrees below zero. About sunrise next morning preparations was made for [lerforming the ceremony of cutting their flesh, in order to give relief to their grief of mind. The snow was removed from the frozen ground over as large a space as would be recjuired to place a small Indian lodge or wigwam {teepee). In the center a very small fire was kindled up, not to give warmth, apparently, but to cause smoke. The sister of the deceased, who was the chief mourner, came out of her lodge, followed by three other women, who repaired to the place prepared. They were all bare-footed and nearly naked. Here they set up a most bitter lamen¬ tation and crying, mingling their wail¬ ings with the words before mentioned. The principal mourner commenced gashing or cutting her ankles and legs up to the knee with a sharp stone, until her legs were covered with gore and flowing blood; then in like man¬ ner her arms, shoulders and breast. The others cut themselves in the same way, but not so severely. On this poor, infatuated woman, I presume, there were more than a hundred long, deep gashes in the flesh. I saw the operation, and the blood instantly fol¬ lowed the instrument, and flowed down upon the flesh. She appeared frantic with grief. Through the pain of her wounds, the loss of blood, ex¬ hausting of strength by fasting, loud and long continued bitter groans, or the extreme cold upon her almost naked and lacerated bodj^, she soon sank upon the frozen ground, shaking as with a violent fit of the ague, and writhing with apparent agony. " Sure¬ ly," I exclaimed, as I beheld the bloody scene, "the tender mercies of the heathen are cruelty"."

Such were the horrible deeds trans¬ acted upon the banks of our lovely suburban lake, now the beauty-spot of this splendid municipalit}^, where ever^^ summer evening thousands and tens of thousands of our citizens are wont to gather to listen to the charm¬ ing music, and where the ynuths and maidens tell "the old, old stor^^, that is ever new," of love, and faith and joy. And this incident happened at Lake Harriet, in the midst of a wild¬ erness, only a little more than half a century ago.

During 1837, S. W. Pond succeeded his brother, G. H. Pond, as teacher of the mission at Lake Harriet. Rev. S. R. Riggs, a graduate of Jefferson Col¬ lege, in Philadelphia, accompanied by his wife, arrived at the Lake Harriet mission during the same year, and after remaining some months, pro¬ ceeded to Lac qui Parle, where thej^ remained for years, or until civiliza¬ tion had usurped the seat of abject barbarism.

This brief and unsatisfactory chroni¬ cle of the earliest struggles of religion to gain a foothold in a land of absolute spiritual darkness, must suffice. The record, everywhere and always, is the same. The mammon of avarice itiv^ariably pioneers all paths into the wil¬ derness. Hnman selfishness and jrreed for jrain will endure an}" ph3"sical hardship, risk all physical evils and disasters, if the promise of mater¬ ial wealth is offered. The way once opened, there follows the spiritual teachers - men and women, whose onl}" object is to instruct their blind and barbarous fellows in the eternal light of the spiritual S3'stem first taught h}" "the Man of sorrows."

The truth of histor}- forces the state¬ ment that the self-sacrificing endeavor of these noble men and women of the pioneer missionar}" period did not directl}" bear the fruits the}" had hoped and pra3"ed for. The Indian, with rare exceptions, has remained barbarous, and generation after generation has dropped into forgotten graves, leav¬ ing but little trace of the spiritual teaching of the men and women who sacrificed all to spend their lives among them. But who shall tell the storv of the indirect and collateral in¬ fluence exerted b}" these earliest sol¬ diers of the spirit? What historian shall write, what poet sing, of the silent power, the still, small swav of righteousness, which has left its im¬ press ever3'where, over, within and around our existing societ}".

Not the least among all the forces for good in founding the modern social S3'stem of Minnesota, is that of the earl}" Christian missionaries to tlie In¬ dians of Minnesota and the Northwest.

K'ev. vS. R. Riggs, from 1837 a tnissionary to the Sioux or Dakota In¬ dians, in his account of the fndian out¬ break of 1802 - the most barbarous and inhuman affair ever known in the his¬ tory of Indian warfare -tlms alludes to the services of the christianized Indians.

The world has a right to know what i)art our Christian Indians took in this emeute. Bishop Whipple tes¬ tifies: "Every Christian Indian was faithful during this terrible war. The lives of white captives were saved by members of the I^resbyterian and Episcopal churches. They rescued more than otie hundred women and children from captivity. The story of their heroism reads like tales of the early church." Let us see how far this statement is true. Laopi, Good Thun¬ der, Owanca-Maze and others breasted the storm of the outbreak at the lower Sioux agency. The next morning John Otherday started with a com¬ pany of white people, sixty-two in numbers, from Yellow Medicine, and brought them safely to St. Paul. Our missionary company, of forty odd per¬ sons, were materially assisted in mak¬ ing our escape by more than a dozen of our Christian men. Peter Big-Fire went with a war party which was likely to follow our trail until they had passed over it, and then returned, having accomplished his object. While General Sibley's force still lay at Fort Ridgely, Lorenzo Lawrence brought down two canoe loads, in one of which was Mrs. Dr. Camp and her children. About the same time Simon Anawangmane brought to our camp, in his one-horse wagon, Mrs. Newman and her children. In the meantime, Paul Mazakootemane, backed by John B. Renville and his noble wife and others, worked in the hostile camps to bring about a counter revolution, got into their possession the white captives, and were ready to deliver them up after the battle of Wood Lake. This was done at Camp Re¬ lease. These were all prominent men in our mission churches. Surely Christianity is sufficiently vindicated. True, Peter Jlig-Fire, Robert Hoi)kins, and one or two other meinhers of our churches were condemned and impris¬ oned, because they had carried their guns, and had been present at some of tlie battles. But tliis imprisonmeut, like the apostle Paul's, at Cesarea and at K*ome, was for the furtherance of the gospel.

This extract is inserted here because many of these christianized Indians - notably John Otherda3^ - had been converted at the missionary stations in Hennepin County. There has, ever since the massacre, been a difference of opinion as to the part taken in the outrages by the educated and semichristianized Indians. Some well in¬ formed people proclaim and believe that the so-called Christian Indians were, in many instances, the head devils in the work of murder and out¬ rage. Others, like Mr. Riggs, seem to have proved, by their personal experi¬ ence, that the converted savages were the agents in saving man3^ lives. We give, therefore, Mr. Riggs' conclusions; but probably the truth here, as else¬ where, lies between the two extremes - some of the Christian Indians act¬ ing the part of humane men and good Samaritans, while others, claimed as members of various church organiza¬ tions, reverted again to their original barbaric type and became, like their surroundings, assassins, robbers and murderers. It would be natural that some of them should prove recreant to their later training, for even among the most enlightened people, civilization is often the thinnest of golden plate to conceal the pewter of the lowest, most depraved and most barbarous instincts.

Gideon Hollister Pond. This early missionary among the Indians of Min¬ nesota showed all the zeal of the earl}?- Christians in his labors in behalf of the heathens, and to which he ungrudgingly devoted the best years of his life. Though he might, at times, have felt discouraged over the results of his work, he never lost an opportunity, whether in season or out of season, to proclaim the glad tidings of the gos¬ pel. He was no philosopher, in the modern sense of the term, and did not perceive the natural law which re¬ quires long years of gradual develop¬ ment to change the habits of life and thought in an ignorant people, whose customs have been ingrained into their very being through centuries of savage living. He expected good re¬ sults from his labor too soon.

Gideon Hollister Pond was born in Washington, Litchfield Count3^, Con¬ necticut, June 30, 1810. His father's name was Blnathan Judson Pond, and his mother's maiden name Sarah Hol¬ lister. His parents were descendants from old English stock, and lived on a farm Gideon remained at home until 1834, when he came west on a proposal from his brother, Samuel W. Pond, who was a teacher at Galena, Illinois, that they should go out as missionaries among the Dakotas. They arrived at Fort Snelling, May 6th, 1834, without means of their own, or influential support, and began their labors at once among the Indians located in the vicinity of lakes Cal¬ houn and Harriet. Here they worked together for three years, when Gideon Pond went to Lac cjui Parle and la¬ bored among the savages there two or three years. At that place, on Novem¬ ber 2d, 1837, he married Miss Sarah Poage, also a missionary, and, after a few years, returned to Lake Harriet. In 1843, the Dakotas moved from the vicinity of the lakes to the banks of the Minnesota River, in what is now known as the township of Blooming¬ ton. Mr. Pond went with them and located on the farm where the family has since resided. He built a dwelling house for himself which is still stand¬ ing (1893), and a school house for the Indians. In 1849 he was elected a representative to the first territorial legislature, which met at St. Paul,

Septenilier 3<1, of that 3'ear. His con¬ stituents wished to send liim back for another term, l)ut he declined the honor. He was a Hepul)lican in poli¬ tics, and served his neig^hhors in vari¬ ous ways, being for a number of 3^ears superintendent of schools, etc.

In 1852, the Sioux were removed from Bloomington, in accordance with a treat3' with the government, hut Mr. Fond did not further follow their for¬ tunes. He settled down permanentl3'^ on his farm in Bloomington and be¬ came the minister of a white Presh3"- terian congregation there, having some 3"ears previoush" returned to Connecti¬ cut to be ordained, as he had begun his missionar3^ labors as a la3unan.

His first wife died in 1853, and in the following 3"ear lie married Mrs. Sarah Hopkins, the widow of a mis¬ sionary who was drowned in the Min¬ nesota River, near St. Peter, July 4, 1851. He had seven children 113^ his first marriage, five daughters and two sons, and six h3' his second, four sons and two daughters. He served his congregation for twent3^ 3'ears, and died Januar3' 20th, 1878.

Mr. Pond was a thorough I3' selfmade man. He had received 01113^ a common school education, but studied Greek, French and Latin in later years, during spare moments in his hus3" life, and became familiar with those languages. He also learned the Da¬ kota tongue, so that he could preach to the Indians in it, and, in conjunc¬ tion with his brother, Samuel \V. Pond, helped to reduce the Dakota language to writing. He was the first editor in Hennepin Count3". In Noveml)er, 1850, he began the publica¬ tion of the Dnkotnh Tnii'nxitku (the

Dakota Friend), a month I3" paper, ])artly in the English and partl3' in the Dakota language. It was published in St. Paul, and was continued for nearl3- two years, but the Indians failed to appreciate this journalistic enterprise for their benefit.

Gideon H. Pond probahl3" worked as hard and persistentl3' to improv^e the condition and the morals of the sav¬ ages as any tnissionar3'^ who ever en¬ gaged in such labors of love in this countr3". He not onU' preached to them, but he worked for them, helped plan their lands, to teach them culti¬ vation of the soil, assisted in the build¬ ing of houses for them, accompanied them on their hunting and war expe¬ ditions, in order to familiarize himself more full3" with their language and customs, but the results were meager when compared to the lavish outlay of time, work, and 3'outhful enthusi¬ asm. Mr. Pond often felt discouraged, and long before he died began to real¬ ize the untamahilit3^ of the Sioux na¬ ture. The massacre of 1862 showed how small was the fruit of all these earl3' efforts to civilize the Dakotas. The earl3" Catholic missionaries had abandoned their work in the same direction, in previous 3'ears, and Mr. Pond finall3^ ceased his direct attempts to convert them to Christianit3^ It is not to be understood, however, that his work was wholl3' un])rofitahle. Although he failed to make Christians of the Dakotas, as a whole, he suc¬ ceeded in winning over man3^ individ¬ uals to a better mode of life. His work as a pioneer had large and lasting re¬ sults, and his personalit3' has been in¬ delibly stamped upon the earl s- histor3" of the state.

The First Saw and Grist Mile - The Indian Battle Ground - The Vendetta of Centuries^A Battle Between Sioux and Chippewas - Removal of the Lake Harriet Band to Oak Grove - The Killing of a Dakota Girl BY Chippewas - The Final Battle - Reflections Upon the War Between the Sioux and Chippewa Indians.

The latest date touched thus far is 1839. The history of Hennepin County still clinj^s to Fort Snelling and its immediate surroundings. A flour and a grist mill - each of the rudest and most primitive pattern - have been built b3^ the soldiers and government agents on the western shore of the Mississippi River at the Falls of St. Anthony. A missionary station has been permanently estab¬ lished on the banks of beautiful Fake Harriet. Only these two insignificant evidences exist within the county of the coming march toward civilization that is so soon to be. Mendota is the headquarters of the American Fur Company, with young Mr. Sibley as their accredited agent. On the south side of the Minnesota (still called St. Peter) River, ten miles from the fort, is the village of Black Dog's band of Sioux Indians. Nine miles below the fort is Kaposia, the home of Tittle Crow and his band of Sioux. The Chippewas are scattered all over the northern portions of the country from Fake Superior almost to the Red River, and the savage warfare of skir¬ mish and midnight assassination be¬ tween the two nations is constant. The strip of country" now embraced in Hennepin, Ramse3^, Washington, Wright and Carver Counties, is to this locality what Kentucky formerly was to the war-like tribes further south: "the dark and bloody ground." It is in this belt that bands of hunters meet and slay each other. It is the locality of murder and reprisal - the place where the terrible vendetta of centuries is being fought out and finished between two of the strong¬ est and most war-like of the Indian nations, who were the primitive in¬ habitants of the continent of North America.

One of the battles occuring in this immediate neighborhood may be men¬ tioned. In the summer of 1839, a small band of Chippewas started on a hunt through the northern section of Hennepin County, and finally found themselves in the vicinit3" of Fake Calhoun, where there was a perma¬ nent village of Sioux, numbering per¬ haps five hundred souls. While sneaking about this camp, the Chip- pewa hunters discovered a Sioux stripling, not yet oxit of his teens, and shot, killed and scalped him, leaving his body where it fell. This created the most intense excitement in the Sioux camp. The boy was a nephew of the chief. Red Bird, and the ties of blood were very strong in the aborig¬ inal breast. A council of war was at once held, on the eastern shore of the Mississippi River, just above the head of Hennepin Island. A Chippewa camp of ver}' considerable size had for da3's existed on Rum River, near the site of the present city of Anoka, ft was determined to attack this camp at dawn the next morning. As soon as darkness had fallen, the Sioux war party took their silent way toward the camp of their hereditar}^ enemies. Just before dawn the attack was made, and with terrible results. The sur¬ prise was complete, and although the Chippewa camp largely outnumbered the Sioux war part3' in fighting men, the3' were completely defeated. The Indian shows no merc3'. Neither the innocence of 3muth, or the helpless¬ ness of womanhood protect their vic¬ tim, and in this attack the spirit of retaliation and revenge called to the ver3^ skies. More than sevent3" scalps were taken, representing all degrees, from the grizzled woman of eight3' 3'ears to the infant in the arms. Excej)ting those who were fortunate or cowardly enough to escape in the darkness of the early morning, the entire camp was annihilated. The victorious Sioux returned next da3' to the Falls of St. Atithon3', and divided the spoils of the excursion, and, hav¬ ing ])rocured whisk3^ from some trader, got drunk, and for three da3^s and nights made the ver3' air hideou.®, on the banks of Fake Calhoun, with their horrible scalp dance. These facts are gleaned from an account written at the time by Mr. Gideon H. Pond, who was domiciled with the band which constituted the main portion of the war part3\ At the same time another part3" of Chippewas was attacked, where Stillwater now stands, 1)3' war¬ riors from the Kaposia band, and al¬ most exterminated.

Soon after these fights, in 1839, the Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun Sioux, with which Mr. G. H. Pond had cast his fortunes, becoming alarmed for fear of a general attack from the Chipl)ewas of the north, removed their per¬ manent camp to the banks of the Minnesota River, at Oak Grove, now in the town of Bloomington. The missionaries, who had resided with these bands for so man3' 3'ears, now took up their quarters near the fort in a stone btiilding known as the "Old St. Louis House," which was placed at their service 1)3' the commanding offi¬ cer. Later, Mr. Pond joined the band at Oak Grove, and again lived with them.

Earl3' in the spring of 1841, in a thicket close to the walls of the fort, three Chippewa warriors concealed themselves, watching for an o])portunit3' to murder and scalp some of their hereditar3' enemies. The occa¬ sion soon presented itself. A Sionx chief, accompanied b3' his son and an¬ other warrior, soon passed. The Chip¬ pewas shot from their place of con¬ cealment, killing the chief and his son. The third escaped uninjured. The assassins hurried to the bank of the river, where they had concealed a canoe, and escape<l to the eastern shore of the Mississi])pi River, un¬ scathed for that time. In retaliation for this atta< k, however, a large band of Sioux organized during this sum¬ mer and attacked the semi-christian- ized Chippewas at Pokegoma Lake, between the St. Croix River and Mille Lacs. Indeed, the entire summer was devoted to war in the Chippewa countr3^ by various bands of Dakota war¬ riors, and innumerable touching and horrible incidents are related by the missionaries and traders among the Chippewas of that season's bloody work.

In a public address of ex-Governor Alexander Ramsey, delivered many years ago, he spoke of the region be¬ tween the St. Croix and Mille Lacs as "a Golgotha" - a place of skulls. With equal force he might have so called all the line that divided the Dakota and Chippewa Indians. Warfare was perennial from the Red River on the northwest, along the entire border southeasterly to Green Bay, on Lake Michigan. War was the trade of these people, hunting and fishing their recreation. When food was plenty among the Sioux, there was nothing so important or so desirable as an in¬ cursion into the Chippewa country in search of scalps. When the season had been propitious with the Chippe¬ was a war part3^ down among the prairies in search of Dakota scalps occupied the season of relaxation and enjoyment. It was, in short, one per¬ petual state of warfare, and all the powers of the government, combined with the limited influence of the mis sionaries, was not sufficient to stop the business of professional assassination.

As late as 1856, a civilized, chris¬ tianized and educated Dakota girl, who had been reared among the whites and was a member of the fam¬ ily of a Mr. Whallon, residing in this count3^, one mile below Bloomington Ferry, on the Minnesota River, was dragged from the house where she was surrounded by friends, and

The last known contest between the two nations, occurred the same year in this county and Scott. A war party of Chippewas had crossed the Minnesota in the night, almost within the city limits of Shakopee, and killed a young Sioux. The alarm was given, and the Dakota braves cut off the retreat of their enemies, who were hasteningto recross the river into Hennepin County; a running fight took place, in which sev¬ eral of both nations were killed and wounded. The main body of Chip¬ pewas succeeded in making their wa3^ across the river, however, and started rapidly toward the north. The Chip¬ pewa corpses left on the south side of the Minnesota were submitted to the most disgusting outrages and finally burned.

This practically closed the warfare of centuries between two of the largest, strongest, most barbarous and bloodthirsty tribes of aborigines on the American continent. Even Indian tradition fails to give an account of the origin of this terrible tribal ven¬ detta - a feud which never terminated so long as they were within killing distance of each other, and which spared neither age, sex nor condition. After the massacre of whites b3^ the Sioux, in 1862, these savages were driven to the plains west of the Red and Sioux Rivers, and afterwards across the Missouri, while the Chip¬ pewas, who had refused to join them in murdering white settlers, remained upon their reservations. This separa¬ tion, and this onl3'^, put an end to the warfare of centuries - a warfare that but for this event would never have ceased until one or the other of these fierce nations had been absolutely annihi¬ lated. It was prosecuted in summer's heat and winter's cold, by daylight and in the darkness - persistently, steadily and remorselessly. It was handed down as a horrible legacy from father to son, from mother to daughter, until it finally came to be the chief part of the religion as well as the daily busi¬ ness of both tribes.

Some writers strive to assign the respon'sihility as well as to fix the de¬ gree of courage upon one or the other of these tribes. In the judgment of the writer, there is no degree of respon¬ sibility possible. These men fought as the lion and the wolf rend and lac¬ erate, as the flowers blossom, as the robins sing - because it was their na¬ ture, and they could not resist the strong impulse to destroy human life. As to courage, they both possessed the same variety and in the same de¬ gree as other wild animals. They were assassins, hnt when brought face to face with wounds or death they en¬ dured - what could not be avoided - with a degree of stoicism which tickled the imagination of white men and provoked their admiration. This was all. Both the Sionx and Chippewas are savages, and hence cowards. They will remain savages and, from a civilized standpoint, cowards, until they either die off or are surrounded by the white race and the savage strain in their natures is modified by breeding and environment.

The Oj'ening of Immigration '^Settlers From the North - Squatters on the Res¬ ervation - The Earliest Agricultural Efforts - Franklin Steele - His Wide Influence Upon the Development of Hennepin County- Other Settlers of Old St. Anthony.

S STATED heretofore, the first im¬ migration coming into Hennepin County, for actual settlement, came from the north. These were the Swit¬ zers, who, in *1826, being driven out from Lord Selkerk's colony by high water and prospective starvation, came south to Fort Snelling, and were kindly received by the officers at the fort. Most of them remained here, or in this vicinity. Two years later other par¬ ties from the same locality joined them, and gradually small farms came to be opened around the fort on both sides of the river, and always on the military reserve. Finally the officers at the fort received strict instructions from the War Department, and the United States marshal was compelled to remove all settlers from the reser¬ vation - some of them by force and arms.

*Iti a former chapter it is stated that the first actual settlers arrived in Hennepin County in 1823. It should he stated that these were but a few scat¬ tering families, and that the date of the first actual settlement may be safely stated as above.

Fort Snelling, cultivated in the sea¬ son of 1820. Corn, potatoes, peas, and, in short, all varieties of garden vege¬ tables, were planted, and all came to maturity. It will be remembered that Gov. Cass, arriving at the fort in July, 1820, after making the tour of North¬ ern Minnesota in the interest of peace between the Sioux and Chippewas, very much to the surprise of himself and party, was regaled with all varie¬ ties of fresh vegetable luxuries. Three years afterward (1823), Lieutenant Camp established a post farm. This "post farm" thereafter became a regu¬ lar yearly feature of this outpost of civilization, the soldiers, under the di¬ rection of the officers, cultivating all the cereals, grains and esculent plants possible in a northern climate.

The first house built by residents, outside the military, in the State was also erected in Hennepin County. This was a log structure on the east¬ ern shore of Lake Calhoun, constructed by the Pond brothers, who came to Fort Snelling as self-appointed mis¬ sionaries in the year 1834, and com¬ menced their unselfish labors with a band of Dakotas, whose permanent home (as much as an Indian can be said to have a permanent home) was in that localit3\ These men also cul¬ tivated the fertile soil to a limited ex¬ tent, raising' most of the cereals and vegetables which have since become the standard productions of the State and the Northwest. In 1830, however. Philander Prescott, Indian farmer, had raised grain and vegetables on the shores of Lake Calhoun.

Others slowly and graduall^^ came to follow these excellent examples, although the process was ver}^ slow, as the earliest settlers were not in an}' sense farmers, either b}' inheritance, education or instinct. The exception to this rule was the Swiss, who came in 1826 from the Selkerk colon}'. Ac¬ customed to the sterile mountain re¬ gions of the Alps, in their early ycmth, and toughened by their experiences in the new Red River colony in the north, they only desired to be permit¬ ted to plant and reap, and make for themselves new homes under the pro¬ tecting guns of the fort, upon their arrival here. At first there was no obstacle placed in their way, but after several years had passed, strict instruc¬ tions were received from the War De¬ partment in Washington command¬ ing the removal of all trespassers upon the military reservation. This was about 1836, and all settlers were com¬ pelled io betake themselves outside the limits controlled by the army authorities. Some of them went to the vicinity of what afterwards be¬ came the St. Paul mission and trad¬ ing i)ost, and others wandered away down toward the new settlements now beginning to be formed in Wisconsin, west of Lake Michigan.

learn that Joseph R. Brown settled upon a claim on Minnehaha Creek (then known as Brown's Creek), below the falls, on the high land. That Mr. Brown did not long retain his domi¬ cile at this point is very apparent, be cause in the year 1839 we find him on a claim on the St. Cioix River, just above where the business center of Stillwater now is - a location he had taken with remarkably clear judg¬ ment for a town site, as he gives it the euphonious title of "Dakotah City." Mr. Brown resided on the St. Croix when he was chosen as a representa¬ tive - the first one in history - to the Wisconsin territorial legislature.

As long as furs were to be purchased cheaply of the Indians, and whisky and cheap glass ornanienis cottld be sold at exorbitant prices, these first settlers preferred the easy life of trad¬ ers to the hard, persistent work of the farm. Hence, in the most beautiful and productive, pastoral and agricul¬ tural country on earth, farming,' as a business, was neglected. But the period was rapidly approaching when the magic touch of labor would make the wilderness "laugh with the har¬ vest." It will be remembered as yet the Indian title to the lands of Minne¬ sota had only been extinguished east of the Mississipjii. The military re¬ serve extended nine miles north from the mouth of the Minnesota River, and nine miles east and west from the Mississippi, and as no settlements were permitted on that reserve, there was little room for farms, under the protection of the guns of the fort, a( any rate. Hence, settlement for agri¬ cultural purj)oses lagged.

During the ten years that elai)sed from 1839 to 1849, we hear of the estab¬ lishment of the Catholic mission and trading post of St. Paul, the founding of the St. Croix lumbering emporium of Stillwater, and the projection of other municipal giants, but nothing of moment in what is now the County of Hennepin.

We now come to consider, briefly, the career of the man, who is most closely identified with the pioneer history of Hennepin County - a gentleman who lived to a comparatively late date, and the impress of whose sturdy and ster¬ ling character everywhere impresses itself upon the social and business evolutions of this particular section of Minnesota. This sketch is not in¬ tended to be in every sense biograph¬ ical, and yet a history of Hennepin County would be incomplete that omitted a brief account of the life of Franklin Steele.*

He was born in Pennsylvania. He came to Minnesota as a sutler at Fort Snellingin 1838, having been appointed to that place by President Van Buren. He had been a favorite of President Jackson, and had come to the North¬ west upon strong encouragement from that great man

Mr. Steele cast his fortunes with the Northwest in the primitive period of its history. Young, intelligent, edu¬ cated, alert, strong in mind and body, and with an ambition that counted "no such word as fail," he became an individual power in shaping the des¬ tinies of this prospective common¬ wealth, equalled by few. His position at Fort Snelling gave him unusual opportunities to assist in the develop¬ ment cf the commonwealth. His in¬ telligent foresight discovered its won¬ derful possibilities, and he was always foremost in every labor for its upbuild¬ ing. Before he had spent his first season at Fort Snelling he was better informed as to the country's possibili¬ ties for material development than other men who had lived here for years. We find him exploring all the surrounding country - the Minnesota and Upper Mississippi valley, the Falls of St. Croix. He hunts buffalo with the Sioux in the Red River val¬ ley, and visits the pine forests of the Upper St. Croix and the Rum River with the Chippewas. His e3^es are open to the hidden wealth of every section, his keen and alert intelligence quick to grasp any possibility of growth anywhere within the range of his vision.

This sketch, however, only has to do with his connection with the early history of Hennepin County, and will, therefore, be confined to that. After the extinguishment of the Indian title to lands east of the Mississippi, some of the officers at the fort (among them Mr. Steele) applied to and received permission from the War Department to make land claims on the reserva¬ tion around the falls. There was a struggle, of course, for the claim ad¬ jacent to and on the east side of the falls, as it was generally assumed that the water power here would, in a few years, be of immense value, and that a city of very considerable proportions must, of necessity, grow up in this vicinity. Mr. Steele secured the cov¬ eted prize against all comers, and was, in 1847, awarded the claim upon which the future city of St. Anthony (now East Minneapolis) was to be built. In 1847, Mr. Steele commenced the erec¬ tion of a sawmill at the falls, in con¬ nection with Boston parties, the im¬ provement being completed the fol¬ lowing year. This mill was supplied with logs from the Rum River lum¬ bering country and furnished the raw material out of which the first homes - ever built in Minneapolis (St. Anthony) were constructed.

The Opening Oe Immigration

The second claim at the falls - on the east side - was taken by R. P. Russell and S. J. Findly, above that of Mr. Steele. T1 lis claim was after¬ wards sold to Pierre Botineau, one of the early mixed bloods who came to this section fcom the Red River rejrion. A French Canadian gained posses¬ sion of the claim next adjoitiing Mr. Steele's on the south, but it soon passed from his ownership to that of Calvin A. Tuttle. The University of Minnesota now occuj)ies a jiortiou of this claim. Mr. Win. A. Cheever secured the claim south of Tuttle's, and, early in the histor\- of the new community, proceeded to build a hotel thereon. He also erected "Cheever's tower," an observatory, which was, for many years, utilized l)y incoming set¬ tlers for looking over the beautiful stirrounding country. Within a yetir or two -or before the close of 18o() - all the lands in Hennepin Count3"east of the Mississipjii River were occu- ])ied by resident claimants, and the actual building of permanent homes had been inaugurated.

Organization of the Territory - Arrival of Governor Ramsey - Colonel Stev¬ ens Arrives in the State - Enters the Service of Franklin Steele - Takes His Claim at the Falls on the West Side - Extracts From Colonel Stevens' "Recollections."

ON THE third day of March, 1849, the Territory of Minnesota was created by act of Congress, and our beautiful commonwealth had taken the first steps in the direction of selfgovernment and independent civil autonomy. On the 27th of May, Alex¬ ander Ramsey, the newly appointed Governor of the Territory, accompan¬ ied by his family, arrived in St. Paul, which had been constituted the cap¬ ital.

In April, 1849, the universally recog¬ nized "old settler" of Hennepin County and Minneapolis, arrived in the Territory. This was Colonel John H. Stevens, the gentleman who has the distinguished record of having taken the claim, and settled upon it, where now pulsates the business heart of the city of Minneapolis. The his¬ tory of our pioneer period cannot be written more entertainingly or more truthfully than by IJberal quotations from the "Personal Recollections of Minnesota and its People," Colonel Stevens' excellent book, and the writer

Colonel Stevens went from the Ter¬ ritory of Wisconsin in the Mexican war, and, returning, found himself broken in health. He had almost de¬ termined to move south to Texas, when a fortunate episode changed his purposes and sent him toward the North Star State, an honored resident of which he has been from that aus¬ picious day until this. Here is the way in which he tells of his start for Minnesota:

On the 20th day of April (1849), the good old steamer Dr. Franklin, Cap¬ tain Pres. Lodwick, with Captain Rus¬ sell Bleakely in the office, entered Fever River and landed at Galena. On going aboard, to secure passage to St, Paul, we found the cabin full of pas¬ sengers. Among them was Honorable Henry H. Sibley, Honorable Henry M. Rice and his bride, the late Joseph Me Alpine, so long bookkeeper of the old St. Anthony Mill Company, and several others who have since become prominent citizens of Minnesota. Messrs. Sibley and Rice were return¬ ing- from Washington, wliere they had put in a good winter's work in behalf of the Territory. Governor Sibley had been admitted during the session as a delegate, and had made many friends in Washington. Mr. Rice was no less active than Governor Sibley, duriug. the session, and to the united efforts of these gentlemen, and those of the late Franklin Steele, who spent a con¬ siderable portion of the year 1849 at the seat of government, is Minnesota indebted for the early organization of the Territory.

Colonel Stevens arrived safely at St. Paul, and on the 27th day of April made his first visit to Hennepin County. Arriving at St. Anthony, he discovered that he could find accom¬ modations for neither man nor beast, and was referred to one John Banfil, who was said to keep a tavern at Rice Creek. Being hungry, the Colonel and his part3^ exhausted every re¬ source before proceeding to Rice Creek, and finally the whole outfit was taken in, and fed upon baked beans and coffee by the mess cook for a gang of hands engaged in building the mill. The object of the part^^ was to take a general survey of the country, with a view to securing claims for settle¬ ment.

After several days, spent in explor¬ ing both east and west of the river, the party returned to St. Paul and dis¬ banded. Earl3^ in Ma3% Colonel Stev¬ ens entered the emplo3^ of Mr. Frank¬ lin Steele (wlio, beside other extensive business interests, was still the i)ost trader at Fort Snelling),as bookkeeper, clerk and accountant. Colonel Stev¬ ens thus speaks of his emplo3'er:

At, the commencement of m3' ac- (luaintance with Mr. Steele, he was the foremost business man in the Northwest, klis numerous enterprises were distributed from the head of

Lake Superior to the Iowa line, and from the Mississippi to the Missouri. Gentlemanly and generous, every member of the community was his friend. He was a philanthropist- a lover of man. His principal business was at Fort Suelling, where he occu¬ pied the position of sutler. His pleas¬ ant home was just outside the walls of the fort, where his accomplished wife presided.

After some reminiscences concern¬ ing the officers and soldiers at that time stationed at the fort, the Colonel begins the story of securing his claim on the west bank of the river at the Falls of St. Anthon3', as follows:

On the morning of the 10th of June, 1849, Mr. Steele came into his counting room in the rear of the sutler's store, and asked if I could spare a day to accompany him to the Falls of St. Anthon3'. He added that he had an object in view, which might possibly be of advantage to me. Having de¬ cided to go with him, I did not impiire at that time in relation to the proposed visit.

On the way up to the falls with Mr. Steele, he said, that from the best in¬ formation he could get, the military reservation of Fort Snellitig would soon be reduced in size; that many valuable claims could be secured on it, provided the Secretar3' of War would grant permission to occup3' them; that Honorable Robert Smith, M.C., from the Alton District, Illi uois, had secured such a permit to hold the old government propert3', which in¬ cluded the west bank of the falls; that the claim immediatel3' north of Mr. Smith's was etjual^' as desirable, and he thought, if 1 wished, there would be no difficult3' in obtaining War Sec¬ retary Marc3''s approval of its occupa¬ tion.

During the journe3' up to the falls we completed our plans, and marked out the claim that became m3' home for many years. I readily obtained ])ermission from the Secretaiy of War to hold the claim, btit was under bonds to maintain a free ferr3' for the cross- ing of government troops. There was constant coiximunication between the government forces at Fort Snelling and Fort Ripley. Thus, through the engagement with Mr. Steele, I became an occupant of the land I had so much admired a few weeks before, on the occasion of my first visit to the falls.

Had anyone intimated such a thing as possible at that time, I should have considered it the most visionary of all earthly matters. The idea of such a result did not enter m}^ mind at my first visit. There, on the bank of the river, just above the rapids, I com¬ menced building my humble house, to which, when finished, I brought my wife as a bride, and in it my first chil¬ dren were born, the eldest being the first born white child in Minneapolis proper.

Under that primitive roof many im¬ portant historical events occurred; among them the organization of the county of Hennepin, and election of the first officers of the county. Indian councils were held in it. Little Crow, Good Road, Grey Eagle, Shakopee and other Dakota chiefs held consultations with the government agents. Major Murphy and Major McLean, in that house, while the Winnebagoes, when residents of the upper country, seemed to think they had a pre-emption right on their old down-country friend when making portage around the falls. Hole-in-the-Day and his Chippewa braves frequently dropped in. The nearer the dinner hour the better it suited the different tribes to make their call. A barrel or two of crackers, and a good supply of salt pork, was a special delight to the red brothers. It was thought advisable that these In¬ dian luxuries should always be on hand and ready for emergency. The3^ prevented depredations on the garden, growing crops and stock. If the Da¬ kotas did not always respect the prop¬ erty of the missionaries - such men as Dr. Williamson, Dr. Riggs and Rev. M. N. Adams - it could hardly be ex¬ pected they would exhibit any greater respect for the possessions of a man who lived almost alone on the borders of their territor}^.

The United States Judges, in the Federal Court, frequently sat "in chambers" in the little parlor of the old house, and decided questions of law that were brought before them - much to the disgust of the officers at Fort Snelling. Sometimes soldiers would be brought before a Federal Judge, in relation to the legality of their enlistment. At one time, when Judge Chatfield occupied the bench, he ordered Colonel Lee, the command¬ ing officer at the fort, to discharge from the army two privates, who had en¬ listed before they were twenty-one years old and without the consent of their parents.

Then, again, the pioneer ministers of the gospel would hold meetings on Sundays, and sometimes on week days, in the lone house. The congre¬ gation would consist pretty much of my family, and those employed to work for Mr. Steele and myself.

Once in a while this old house would be honored with the presence of poli¬ ticians. For instance, when the fourth legislature met in St. Paul, on the 5th of January, 1853, the house failed to secure a majority of votes for any one man for speaker. Two or three weeks were spent in voting, without any choice. Many of the members be¬ came almost discouraged. When it adjourned, one Saturday", without an election, the Whig members' held a caucus, at which it was decided to in¬ vite all the Whig members of both houses to be at the little dwelling un¬ der the hill, up at the falls, on Satur¬ day, to see if measures could not be devised for the election of a speaker, and to effect an organization. They all came. There was Dr. Day, Hon. John D. Ludden, Hon. Justus C. Ram¬ sey, Colonel N. Greene Wilcox, and others of the house; Hon. Martin Mc¬ Leod, D. B. Loomis, George W. Far¬ rington, L. A. Babcock and N. W. Kitt¬ son, of the territorial senate. Messrs. Bass, Brunson, J. P. Owens, and other prominent citizens of St. Paul accom¬ panied them. Suffice it to say, a pro¬ gram was arranged, and on the mor¬ row, at the opening of the session, the

Organization Of The Territory

The permission granted to Colonel Stevens, by the War Department, and his makin^r settlement thereiinder, prompted others to make location upoti the reservation. A perfect raid upon the lands north of iMinnehaha Creek was inaugurated, and before the close of the succeeding 3-ear (1850) every inch of land was occujjied between Minnehaha and Shingle Creeks, and from the Mississippi to Lake Harriet.

Opening of the Third Historical Period - Heavy Immigration - Some of the New Settlers - Formation of the Settlers' Protective Union - Hand Sale Postponed - Visit of a Committee to Washington - Actual Settlers Finally Secure Congressional Endorse¬ ment-Title Secured to Lands.

WE HAVE now arrived at the in¬ augural limit of the first "boom" period of Minneapolis. After years of waiting, public attention has been at¬ tracted to the wonderful possibilities, from an agricultural standpoint, of this newest community - the latest prospective number of the sisterhood of states in the American Union.

Gold had only recently been discov¬ ered in California, and thousands of adventurers, eager for the rapid accu¬ mulation of wealth, were pouring into the new Eldorado of the Pacific Coast. Kansas and Nebraska were on the direct line of overland travel to Cali¬ fornia, and in the Missouri valley, bor¬ dering these two states, sprang up towns and cities as outfitting points for those contemplating a journey across the plains. Even the gold ex¬ citement, however, did not preYent a tremendous and steady influx of people into the new Territory of Minnesota.

The Falls of St. Anthony was a favorite place for location, especially for the hardy immigrants from the State of Maine, who, as one of them expressed it in those pioneer days, had

"Come west to cut off what little pine timber there was in the country, in¬ tending, afterward, to go back home to Maine." They made an assault upon the pine woods all along the line. Rum River was the favorite re¬ sort for the Hennepin County (St. Anthony) lumbermen, the St. Croix for those from Stillwater. Sawmills sprang into existence as if by magic, and were not allowed to rest, day or night, converting the pine timber into lumber for the use of the army of set¬ tlers, who were pouring into the coun¬ try.

Calvin A. Tuttle and John P. Miller, early in 1851, became neighbors to Col¬ onel Stevens, west of the river, build¬ ing houses and occupying them as "squatters," or men holding land with¬ out a permit from the Secretary of War. In 1848, Hon. Robert Smith, M. C., from the Alton, Illinois, district, had, by permission of the Secretary of War, taken the claim south of Col¬ onel Stevens, including the water power. Soon - or before the season of 1850 had passed - quite a little com¬ munity had gathered around "Old

Third Historic Period Opexed

Settler" Stevens, and squatted on the beautiful lands which now constitute the metropolis of Minneapolis. Dr. H. Fletcher, John Jackins, Edward Murph}^ J. B. Bassett, Charles Hoa^, J. H. Canney, and man^- others, are recalled by Colonel Stevens, as among his earliest neighbors.

Manj" of these early settlers still live, some of them yet engaged in the active and useful pursuits of life. And what a sturdy brigade they were - those old settlers of the earlj^ '50's. Nearly all American born, with a large percentage from New England, they brought with them all of the virtues and man}' of the foibles of their Puri¬ tan ancestry. Energetic, prxulent, careful in their business management, enterprising, but forehanded. Liberal wherever the public weal demanded generous expenditure, but excessively cautious in disbursement for their personal pleasure. These men laid the foundation of the new community carefully and prudently, but solidly - so substantial!}' that this succeeding generation is reaping the fruits of that which they sowed and cultivated.

The new settlers on the reserv'ation were merely tolerated. It was a fore¬ gone conclusion that a city must eventually grow up around the Falls of St. Anthony. The pouring thun¬ ders of the mighty cataract had re¬ sounded throughout the nation, and it was known to every one that this tremendous force must sootier or later be utilized to turn the millstones and spindles of one of the great manufac¬ turing centers of the world. Hence the military were lenient. Many of the officers at the fort were themselves silent partners with the citizen stpxatters, and anticipated making some¬ thing outside their salaries out of the infant municipality, which was now

But the forms of law must be com¬ plied with. These scpiatters were in possession of the land against the plain letter of the law, and when the military title was extinguished, the plats must be forwarded, and these lands - now made valuable by actual settlement - must be put upon the market and sold to the highest bidder. These facts were known, and specu¬ lators and land sharks from all the surrounding country, and from cities further south, crowded to the country in hopes of securing a portion of this property, to which the settlers had clung as with a death grip, for months - some of them for years. The head¬ quarters of the speculators - the ene¬ mies of the actual settlers - was, of course, at St. Paul. There they schemed aiid laid plans for purchas¬ ing the valuable realty at the falls, when the military title should be ex¬ tinguished. But the s(}uatters, too, were on the alert. A private meeting was called and an organization formed, composed of actual settlers, called "The Ecpial Rights and Impartial Pro¬ tection Claim Association, of Henne¬ pin County, M. T." The secret under¬ standing between the men comjiosing this organization was that a certain fair and ecpiitable jirice should be fixed upon the lands at the falls, that the actual holder or occupant of the land should bid that amount, and that no outside wolf should be allowed to bid agaitist him. If the speculators made their appearance at the sale, they should first be gently warned not to bid against actual settlers; if this was not sufficient, they were to be remove<l by force from the reservation, and thus not be allowed to disturb the orderly, quiet, dignified and reputable process of purchasing homes in Hen¬ nepin County. This incident seems to have been the incipient commence¬ ment of forty years of unpleasantness between the two communities of bt. Paul and Minneapolis. One hundred and twenty-five determined men com¬ posed this association or league, and a man named Thomas W. Pierce was appointed and constituted the official bidder on the part of the settlers. The speculators were informed of the ar¬ rangement, and notified that their presence as bidders on the day of sale would not be tolerated . They pro¬ tested, but in vain. Public opinion was almost unanimously on the side of the settlers. The officers and sol¬ diers at the fort were all interested in them, and the territorial authorities (General Willis G. Gorman was the Governor) were also determined not to allow the actual people of the new settlement to be cheated out of their rights by a gang of cormorant sj^eculators.

The settlers had figured upon war, and were prepared for it, but circum¬ stances so shaped themselves that there finally was no need for the exer¬ cise of force. The sale had been ad¬ vertised for a certain date, but, for some reason, the plats were not forth¬ coming from the general land office at the time appointed, and it became necessary to postpone the sale. The settlers took advantage of this delay, and sent a delegation to Washington to protest against a public sale. Dr. A. E. Ames, Franklin Steele, Judge Bradley B. Meeker, H. T. Welles, and other leading citizens, composed the delegation. They left the falls for Washington City on the 9th day of October, 1854, proceeding to the Capi¬ tal with all possible speed. Arriving in Washington, they appealed to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, but that official was obdurate, declaring that he had no discretion in the matter; that, according to the let¬ ter and spirit of the law, he was com¬ pelled to sell the lands to the highest bidder. The Secretary of the Interior was appealed to, and he confirmed the decision of the Commissioner. The serious state of affairs was placed be¬ fore the Secretary. It was represented to him that the settlers had been tol¬ erated on the reservation by the military; that they had made homes, cul¬ tivated the land, built houses and ex¬ pended, in the aggregate, a vast sum of money here. That, with the spirit of true Americanism, they were de¬ termined to protect their rights, and that blood would be shed if there was an attempt on the part of the land sharks to rob these men of their homes and their possessions. Finally, after many consultations with these fron¬ tier envoys, the Secretary consented to postpone the sale until after Con¬ gress had assembled and been given an opportunity to untie the Gordion knot.

Congress assembled in December. A portion of the delegation had re¬ mained in Washington, with Dr. A. E. Ames as spokesman and chairman. These appeared before the land com¬ mittee of the House and Senate, and placed clearly before them the condi¬ tion of affairs at St. Anthony Falls. After an entire winter, spent in the most arduous labors, the committee was successful in securing the pass¬ age of a law reducing the reservation, and giving actual settlers the custom¬ ary right of pre-emption, and acquir¬ ing title to all lands at tlie usual price of $1.25 per acre. The settlers were

Third Historic Period Opened

Dr. Ames returned, beariuj? the at¬ tested copy of the law of Congress, and a message from the Commis¬ sioner of the General Pand Office, authorizing the local officers to permit settlers to paj' for their lands and acquire title. In April and May, the settlers proved up on their lands, .'iiul before the 1st day of June, 185;"), the people were rejoicing in having sub¬ stantial titles through which to con vey town h)ts.

Chapter Xlh

Passage of the Act Organizing Hennepin County - St. Anthony Joined to this County - First Officiae Appointment - First County Election - The New City is Christened "Minneapolis" - Colonel Steven's Mansion -

WE HAVE now arrived at the period of rapid settlement and development of Hennepin County, and the phenomenal city at the Falls of St. Anthony. The day of the trader, the voj^ageur and the Indian ap¬ proached its termination ; the hour of the farmer and merchant, the "home¬ maker," had struck.

The law providing for the organiza¬ tion of Hennepin County and estab¬ lishing the boundaries thereof, passed theTerritorial legislature at the winter session of 1852. Before this event, Hennepin County's territory had been included in the County of Dakota, the county seat of which had been Mendota.- Dakota County had been cre¬ ated and organized by the legislative session of 1849. Previously, Fort Snelling, and the lands on the west side of the Mississippi River - includ¬ ing the site of the original city of Minneapolis - had, at different periods, belonged to Des Moines, Dubuque, Alamakee and Clayton counties, of the

Territory of Iowa. Prior to the crea¬ tion of Iowa Territory, it had been a part and parcel of the Territory of Missouri, and of Michigan, and it was also a part of the original "Louisiana Purchase," made by President Jeffer¬ son, in 1804, from the French Emperor, Napoleon the First.

The boundary of Hennepin County, as fixed by the legislature of 1852, was much more extensive than at present. It was confined to the western bank of the river, and included portions of Carver and Wright. Eater, the boun¬ dary line was extended across the Mississippi River, to include the city and township of St. Anthony, and was reduced to its present boundaries on the north and west. These boundaries are probably permanent, unless, at some indefinite period in the future (now extremely improbable), they should be extended to include the county of Ramsey, when the people shall finally determine that it would be wise and profitable to constitute

On the 27th day of August, 1852, (Governor Ramse}' made the first offi¬ cial appointment for Hennepin County - that of Isaac Brown, as County As¬ sessor and Collector. About the same time. Dr. H. Fletcher was appoitited Justice of the Peace. One month later. Congress passed the bill reducing the military reservation of Fort Snelling.

The act, which passed the legisla¬ ture the previous winter, constituting Hennepin Countj^, contained the im¬ portant provisions that upon the re¬ duction of the military reserve by Congress, the citizens of the county should, at the next succeeding annual election, hold an election for county officers. This election was taken, and that fall a full corps of count}" officials were chosen, and the machinery of civil government put in full operation.

This count}" election is notable, as having been the only one ever held in Hennepin County which was unani¬ mous. Only one ticket was in the field, and there was no disposition to create an opposition. Congress, in re¬ ducing the reservation, had made no provision to protect actual settlers, and therefore the holders of claims were thrown upon their own resources to secure and retain their holdings against the omnivorous town site spec¬ ulator. Heuce, the settlers elected a full complement of officials pledged io their interests. Following was the lirst list of officials elected for Henne¬ pin Comity.

Representativ'es, B. H. Randall, of Fort Snelling; Dr. A. E. Ames, of All Saints; County Commissioners, John Jackins and Alex Moore, of All Saints, and Joseph Dean, of Oak Grove (now Bl oomington); vSheriff, Isaac Brown; Judge of Probate, Joel B. Bassett;

Register of Deeds and Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners, John H. Stevens; Coroner, David Gorham; Surveyor, Chas. W. Christmas; Asses¬ sors, Eli Pettijohn, Edwin Hedderly and Win. Chambers; Treasurer, John S. Mann; Justice of the Peace, EH Pet¬ tijohn, of Fort Snelling, and Edwin Hedderly, of All Saints; Constables, E. Stanley and C. C. Jenks; Supervisor of Roads, George Parks.* Each of these gentlemen received twenty-seven votes, none scattering.

It will be seen that the name "All Saints" is used. This name had been selected as a proper one by the St. Paul Pioneer, and, through the per¬ sistency of that enterprising news¬ paper, it had been almost fixed upon the new community west of the Falls of St. Anthony. At the first meeting of the Board of County Commission¬ ers, however, one of the Board sug¬ gested the name "Albion," and another the name "Lowell." A vote was takerj, and Albion was selected. Immedi¬ ately, upon the news going abroad, there was almost a universal disap¬ proval of the name manifested. A

*It may be well to note, briefly, what became of these pioneer officials, or, at least, a portion of them : Dr. A. E. Ames remained in Minneapolis until the day of his death, which occurred nearly twenty years ago (1874) . He continued the practice of med¬ icine, and died in the prime of life, regretted by all. John Jackins removed to California, where he died recently. Joseph Dean removed to Minneapolis, from Bloomington, achieved a large fortune in the lumber and pine land business, and died (May 20, 1890,) a director of the Security Bank, one of the strongest financial institutions of the city. Joel B. Bassett still abides with us, actively engaged in business, one of the wealthiest mill owners and lumber men in the city. John S. Mann sold his beautiful claim on Lake Harriet long years ago, and died, only a few years since, in Mandan, N. I). Maj. B. 11. Kandall, resides at Winona. He has occupied many high positions of honor and trust. Hon. Alex. Moore is a resident of Sauk Centre, in this state. Sheriff Brown dierl, many years since, in Minneap¬ olis. David Gorham died, recently, at Medicine Lake, in this county. Chas. W. Christmas died, several vears since, in Chicago. Eli Pettijohn is a resident of California. Edwin Ilcdderley died, in this city, a few yearssiuce.

History Of Hennepin Couni'Y

public meeting was called, but no name suggested that was immediately^ popular. Meantime the blanks for the new county had been printed, with the name Albion as the county seat. After the adjournment of the Board, the discussion of the name became general. Charles Hoag, who had been a Philadelphia school teacher, lying in bed one night, was struck, as with an inspiration, " Minnehapolis " - a compound of the Dakota word "Minne" (water), and the Greek word " Polls " (city) - Minneapolis - " Water City." Its exceeding fitness was at once universally acknowledged. On the 5th day of November, the St. Anthonj^ Express was issued, and contained a communication from the pen of Mr. Hoag, suggesting this name. The next week, Mr. George D. Bowman, editor of the Express, en¬ dorsed Mr. Hoag's suggestion in the following editorial comment;

When the communication, propos¬ ing this name (Minnehapolis) for the promising town growing on the other side of the river, was last week hand¬ ed us, we were so much engaged as to have no time to comment on it. The name is an excellent one, and de¬ serves much favor by our citizens. The h being silent, as our correspond¬ ent recommends, and as custom would soon make it, it is practical and euphonious, the nice adjustment of the Indian Minne with the Greek Polls, becomes a beautiful com¬ pound; and, finally, it is, as all names should be, when it is possible, admir¬ ably descriptive of the locality. By all means, we would say, adopt this beautiful and exceedingly appropriate title, and do not longer suffer abroad from connection with the meaningless and outlandish name of "All Saints."