Minneapolis City (part 25 of 80)

Improving Tub Water Power

The iuklress to patrons pledges tlie ])aper to advoeate the Whig party, and the interefsts of the village. E. Tyler is announced as pi'oprietor and H. Wood¬ bury pidjlisher. Though not announced, it was no secret that Isaac Atwater was the gifted editorial writer.

The old (joverment mill with the small house on the knoll behind it, had l)een standing since 1822, the onhstructures on the west side of the river, on the site of Minneapolis, except the houses of the missionaries. Pond and Stevens, at the lakes. In 1849, Hon. Robert Smith, then a member of Con¬ gress from the Alton district of Illinois, solicited the privilege from the War De- ])artment first to occupy', and after¬ wards to purchase, the old mill and house, and in connection with the pur¬ chase was permitted to make a claim to 160 acres of land adjacent to it, which covered the riparian rights to the Falls upon the west side of the river. Mr. Smith often visited the property, but never occupied it. Replaced a tenant in possession, and subsequently^ divided his claim with R. P. Russel and George E. Huy' and others, in consideration of making improvements which resulted in the organization of the MinneaiJolis Mill ComjDany' in 1856, and the building of the dam and canal for the iinjirovement of the water power.

The same y'ear (1849) Col. John H. Stevens arrived at Fort Snelling with a colony' of ten other intending settlers. .\ native of Vermont, he had entered the militarv service of the United States in the war with Mexico, as quartermaster, and now sought a home in a clime sim¬ ilar to that of his nativity. While serv¬ ing as ])ost master of the post, he obtained a permit from the military authorities to settle on the reservation, and made his claim of 160 acres next northwesterly' of that which Smith had idready staked out. It extended from Second avenue south to Bassett's Creek, and the site of the Nicollet house was nearly' central in the claim.

On the river bank near the ferry' land¬ ing, he built a house, which he occu])ied with his family', the following sju'ing, crossing the river by' the ferry to the store on the other side which he con¬ ducted in company with Franklin Steele. The house was a one-and-a-half storv frame, clapboarded and painted white, with a veranda looking out towards the river. It remained for morethan twenty' years, until its site was recpiired for rail¬ road uses, when it was removed to the southerly' part of the city', where it still stands.

Others soon followed Colonel Stevens and made claims, and built "claim houses;'' but thev were much annoyed, and often driven off, and their houses pulled down by' the soldiers who were sent from the I-'ort, and whose orders were to prevent unauthorized settle¬ ments to be made on the reservation. But these orders seem not to have been impartially executed; for while many settlers were driven awav, others were permitted to remain. Indeed, the i)ublie records show that at least in one case a portion of a valuable claim was eonvey'ed to an officer in high command at the Fort, after the entry' had been made; and the claimant having been one of those who were left undisturbed, gave occasion for the supi)osition that the immunity' was the consideration for ihe transfer.

History Of Minnneapolis

While these elainis were not onl3' un¬ authorized, but also unlawful, they were, when the militar3' authorities did notintei'fere, maintained. To give them seeurity and settle disputes a Settlers' Protec¬ tive Association was organized, whose decisions had the foi'ce of law, and it \vas understood would be enforced if not acquiesced in.

During the 3'ear 1850 the most desir¬ able tracts of land near the river had been claimed iind were maintained until, b3" the reduction of the reservation in 1855, they were regularly entered.

Dr. Hezekiah P'letcher located in the vicinitv of Elliott Park, and soon after sold his claim to John L. Tenn3', who sold to Dr. J. S. Elliott, and the tract was laid out as Elliott's addition. John Jackins made his settlement adjoining Colonel Stevens on the south, and built his house in the rear of the present S3'ndicate Block, with a well in First ave¬ nue. Warren Bristol took a claim next west of Dr. Fletcher's, and built a shant3" not far from the Franklin Steele square, where he resided for two 3'ears, when he sold the claim and removed to St. Paul. He was afterwards a member successively of both houses of the Legis¬ lature, representing Goodhue count\q and was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of New Mexico, where he died not long since.

The settlements mentioned were made in 1850 and the earh^ part of 1851. In October of the latter year Dr. Alfred E. Ames made a claim covering the site of the Court House, eight3'' acres of which he entered at the land office; the other eighty being entered wkh his tacit con¬ sent 1)3" D. M. Coolbaugh. His house was built at the corner of Fifth street and Ninth avenue, which he occupied until 1857, when he removed- into the large, and for those times, magnificent dwelling which he had erected opposite the Court House.

Doctor Ames was the first practicing physician on the west side. He used his land lil)erall3' for the benefit of the communit3q presenting the town with two lots for a Court House site, and two for the Presb3"terian church.

Edward Murphy claimed the tract adjoining that of J. P. Miller, below and along the river. His right to enter this land being contested before the land office, a compromise was made, which left but eight3" acres to AIurph3q which he laid out as Murph3''s addition. In platting his land he was the onH one of the original settlers who had the fore¬ thought and liberality to provide for the public. He dedicated a square for a public park, and reserved an ample tract on the river for a steamboat landing.

Next came Charles Hoag in 1852, who located the vacant land north of Jackins and west of Stevens. It extend¬ ed nearh" to Bassett's Creek. He built a fine house and brick barn on Fourth street, and opened a brick yard in the vicinit3^ of Fifth street and Second ave¬ nue north, where the yellow brick were made - the material which gave beaut3' to many of the stores and public build¬ ings of the period.

Survey Of The Town

a part of Bassett, Case and Moore's addition. Between Bassett and Hoag lay some fraetional pieces of land which were taken 1)3' David Biekford.

Peter Poncin and Col. Hmanual Case settled upon the tract adjoining Judge Bassett, northerh', and contested the right to enter it before the land office, but it was awarded to Colonel Case who joined with Bassett in laying out the additions last named.

Xorthwesterlv of Case, Jose])h Men¬ ard took a claim. Waterman Stinson took the tract north of Bassett's Creek, which was laid out Iw him as an addi¬ tion bearing his name.

Edwin Hedderh- and Rev. Alfred C. Godfre}' claimed the vacant land l\'ing along the river north of the locations of Hanson and Le Due. Though remain¬ ing vaeant so long, it has ])roved to be a valuable tract, much of it having been ap])ropriated for railroad uses.

Charles W. Christmas loeated a mile north of the creek, upon the river bank. His land was long known as North Minneapolis, and became the nucleus of a settlement which was for manv vears (piitc distinct from Minneapolis.

Other claimants remote from the river were Joseph H. Cannev, John Jackson, .\sa I'letcher, Jose])!! L. Johnson, Robert and John T. Blaisdell, Dennis Peters, Henrv Burlingame, the Gates brothers, and James B\-rnes.

and devoted a ])ortion of his land to 1 Ile¬ uses of a cemeterv, which is still in use, although surrounded by the scpiaresand streets of the citv, and is known by his name.

Deacon John S. Mann took a claim east of Lake Harriet, which after jiassing through several owners, was bought 1)3' John Potts Brown, a retired cotton broker from New York city ; and jiassing from him, became the nucleus of the Lyndale farm of 1,400 acres, accpiired In- Col. W. S. King, where he built ex¬ tensive barns, and had for several years the finest herd of thoroughbred cattle in the counti^-.

Father Gear, the cha])lain at Fort Snelling, made a claim upon the east bank of Lake Calhoun, which was jumped, but which he was in later 3'ears allowed to enter 1)3' a s])ecial act of Congress.

The surve3' of the original town of Minneapolis was made 1)3- William R. Marshall in 1854, but the jilat was not recorded until the following vear, after the titles had been secured. It com¬ prised the land Iving along the Mis¬ sissippi River from Bassett's Creek to Tenth avenue south, and extended southerlv to Seventh street. The lots were sixt3'-six feet front bv one hundred sixty-five feet deep, ten to a l)lock, each block containing two and one-half acres of land, except in the vicinitv of the Falls, where some blocks contained twelve and fourteen lots. Washington and Hennepin avenues were laid out one hundred feet wide, and the streets eighty feet.

The ])atentees of the lands in the twelve sections, comin'ising the greater ])art of the city of Minneapolis, as they ap])ear in the countv records, are shown in the following ])lat and exi)laii.'itorv list :

Areal estate "boom" ensued. Lots were eagerly purehased ; houses, shops and stores were ereeted, and in the fall of 1855 more than one hundred build¬ ings had been ereeted.

None of the proprietors were more liberal in the distrilxution of their lots than Colonel Stevens, to attract settlers and build up the town. A year or two since, the writer casually meeting the Colonel in front of the City Hall, point¬ ing to a fine block then being finished on the opposite corner, he said, "I gave that lot to Martin Farrant to help him along, and he owns it yet." Among other benefactions made by Colonel Stevens, was the lot where the cit\'' mar¬ ket stands, which he gave to Isaac I. Lewis to build a store, and another on First sti'eet he gave to Henry Chambers for a hotel. He presented the First Baptist church with a lot at the corner of Nicollet and Third street, upon which the first edifice of that society was built - a verx^ handsome structure of yellow brick, the tall spire of which was blown down in a toniado. The proceeds of the sale of this lot were invested in a l©t at the corner of Hennepin avenue and Fifth street, where a church was built, which gave way to the Lumber Ex¬ change. This lot having been sold for over $100,000, the society built their elegant edifice on Tenth street with the proceeds, adding something to the fund by personal contributions. Two lots on upper Washington avenue were given by Colonel Stevens to the Free AVill Baptist church, and one upon lower Washington avenue to the Methodists.

town, that most of the lots between the river and the Nicollet House were either given away, or sold for a trifling consid¬ eration, and in some instances liberal contributions of lumber were made Iw him to stimulate improvements. Large interests in these donated lots were owned by Franklin Steele, who con¬ curred in their disposition, and who de¬ serves equal credit for liberalitx^ and public spirit.

The first buildings were erected along "Bridge street," as the lower part of Hennepin and Nicollet avenues was called ; but a new centre soon was established at the intersection of Wash¬ ington avenue and Helen street (Second avenue), where Ivoiw F. Woodman built a large frame building, in the upper part of which was a public hall, and which having been I'emoved still stands on the corner of Sixth avenue and Fourth street.

On the opposite corner Mr. Woodman erected a brick block, which survives to this da\" as the St. James Hotel. In this building the enterprising young mer¬ chants, Kelly Brothers (Anthony and F. H.), had their retail groceiw store.

The residents of "lower town" felt that the Falls ought to be the centre of the town, and disputed the supremacy of " Bridge street." Thex' procured the location of the United States Land office, Washington and Seventh avenixes, the Post Office - ^Dr. Ames being Post¬ master - the Bushnell House - the prin¬ cipal hotel, a story and-a-half brick still standing on lower Fourth street - and finally by the tender of two lots for a site, the Court House.

At last the advantage la\^ with " Bridge Street," when Eustis and Nudd came from Boston, and with the aid of a bonus raised by H. T. Wells, the cham¬ pion of Upper town, and others inter¬ ested with him, built the Nicollet House.

Naming The Infant City

The parLizans of lower town, not to be outdone, organized a eotnpan\', among tlie stoekholdei's of wliieh were I'. K. E. Cornell, Geo. E. Huy, R. P. Rus¬ sell, Edward AInr])hy, Charles Clark and Dr. Ames, and built the " Cataraet House," wliieh is still standing, at the eorner of Washington and Sixth ave¬ nues.

-Vn act of the Legislature was passed in 1856, jiroviding for the incorporation of the town of Minneapolis. Prior to this time, the new town on the west side of the river had been known by several names. Colonel Goodhue of the St. Paul Pioneer had facetiously proposed the name of" All Saints," no doubt fore¬ seeing that it would in time ecliiise, if not absorb both its sainth' neighbors. Others had proposed "Lowell" and ''.\lbion," and some had called it ''.\dasville," after a daughter of Charles Hoag. At last, by common consent the name Minneapolis was agreed upon.

The honor of suggesting the name has been attributed to Geo. D. Bowman, who was projirietor of the St. Anthony Express, and published an editorial article proposing the name; but it has been shown that the article was written by Charles Hoag, who had been a school teacher, and was not unfamiliar with letters.

The town government was not or¬ ganized until 1858, when the first city council met on the 20th of July. H. T. Wells was President, and Isaac 1. Lewis, Charles Hoag, William I). Garland, and Edwin Hedderh', Councillors.

This organization ])roving unaccept¬ able, it was abandoned in 1862, and a simide townshij) organization resumed, which continued, with some added

It was at this period that the present writer first arrived in Minneai)olis, which has ever since that time been his home. sketch of the method of reach¬ ing this region at that time, and the general appearance of the town, written some years ago, is here added ;

He had set out from Central New York on the 7th of May, 1857, and at Milwaukee taken the rail road for Prairie du Chien, exi)eeting to eonnect with a steamboat; but the spring tliaws had raised the streams, and swept awa_v so mueli of the track that the train could proceed no further than the town of Boseobel. The alternatives were then presented of retracing the road to Chicago, and taking the next southerly line to Rock Island, or of iirocuring a team and driving through to the river. On iiupiirv the latter course was found to be impracticable, for the wagon roads were reported washed out as well as the rail road ; so that after a little deliberation it was de¬ cided to attem])t the journey by boat, and with one adventurous fellow traveler, a batteau was obtained, and the two travelers embarked on tlic Wisconsin River. It was not always easy to lollow the channel of the tortuous river, and ollen the boat was found threading a slough, or shoot¬ ing between islands.

.Yt one point a bridge was seen in the distance S])anning the river, and it seemed doubttul whether there was room to admit the boat between the water and the bridge, but by laying flat in the bottom a safe passage was made; but as the boat emerged, a man droj)pcd from the bridge into the boat, and explained that he was looking out for a chance to get to the Mississijjpi.

.Vrriving at Prairie du Chien, a steamboat was found bound uj) the river, and we embarked for St. Paul, but were unable to get state rooms, and contented ourselves with blankets, and the cabin floor, .\rrivingat the foot of Lake Pe|)in, the ice was yet solid, and the boat was forced to tie ni>, and await the moving of the ice.

Impatient at the delay, a farm team was en¬ gaged to take a part}' to the head of the lake ; and at Red Wing a small steamboat was found bound for St. Paid, on whieh we embarked, and arrived several days before the ice-bound steamer.

Arriving at St. Paul in the early morning, we walked from the levee through the straggling street to the Winslow House, which was near the corner of Third and P'ort streets. This was one of several hotels built in various parts of the ter¬ ritory by James M. Winslow, which from their ])eculiar- structure originated that style of archi¬ tecture known in that day as the "Winslow Style" having "a cupola and mortgage on top."

.41ter breakfast, at which were noticed John B. Brisbin and other celebrities of the earh' dai's, we took passage in one of Allen and Chase's fourhorse Concord coaches, with a full load of passen¬ gers inside and out, and in two hours, having meanwhile refreshed the horses with a drink at Desnoyer's, arrived at the top of the hill leadingdown to the Bridal-veil I'alls. The road then passed direct from Desnor-er's b}' the Baker place. At the top of the hill the panorama of Minneapolis was first spread before us, and a lovelier scene rarely falls upon the admiring and expectant gaze of an immigrant. Like many another we then said to ourself, "this is the favored spot, reali¬ zation of many dreams - here we will make our home."

The stage set us down on the 18th dar' of Ma}-, 1857, at the Bushnell House, at that time the crack hotel of the town. The onh' other hotel was the "Minnesota House," a frame building then standing on Third near Oregon street.

The population of Alinneajiolis was then amhitionsly estimated at "2,000, and rapidly growing." There were by actual count at the beginning of this year 198 buildings in the new town, and as many of these were stores and shops, it is evident in the light of sober fact, that thei'e was shelter for less than 1,000. During the t'ear, however, 248 new buildings were added, so that the latter part of the estimate was correct, as it has continued to be to the present time.

Let us look at some of the structui'es of that day. As one crossed the bridge (the old suspension toll bridge) upon the left, close to the river bank, was the white story and a half house of Colonel Stevens. On the light as' one rose the short hill from the bridge was a one story building bristling all over its front with signs signifying that Snyder and MacFarlane did a banking and real estate business. Where the city mai'ket stands was the two stoiw frame store of Alexander Moore & Co., and on the cor¬ ner opjiosite a similar one of Thomas Chambers. A few low buildings were fronting Nicollet street, occupied by C. H. Pettit, banker; Beede and Menden¬ hall, surveyors and real estate; S. Hid¬ den, store; H. T. Wells and others; where are now Centre Block and the City Hall was a quagmire, neither land nor water.

The site of Temple Court was occu¬ pied bj^ a white one story dwelling house of W. J. Parsons, an ambitious and bril¬ liant attorney, and above it on Wash¬ ington avenue was the brick edifice of the Free-Will Baptist cliuixh, the pas¬ torate of which had recenth^ been re¬ signed by Rev. C. G.; Ames, who was then officiating as Register of Deeds. On Washington avenue where the Ros¬ ser Block now stands was a one story dwelling house of R. A. Crowell, soon after bought and occupied Iw J. K. Sidle as a residence.

At the corner of Helen street (Second avenue) and Washingtoii avenue, was the business centre. Here stood in grandeur the three story brick, known as Woodman's Block. The corner store was occupied by Spear & Davison, hard¬ ware. The next by E. L. Elfelt, dry goods, and the last by Kellj' Brothei's, grocers. Above the stores were offices, one occupied by Groh & Phinney, bank¬ ers, and another bj^ Bell & Wilson, attorne\'s and land agents. The junior partner was Hon. E.M. Wilson, recently deceased. The upper story was a public hall, in which the spirited piddic meet- inj>s of the ])eriod were lield, and Sab¬ baths, the Congregational church worshipjjed. On the two opposite corners were frame store buildings also occu¬ pied. Lower down Washington avenue was a frame two story dwelling house owned by J. H. Spear, afterwards, with two and-a-half lots, forfeited to Ur. Kirby S])enceron a mortgage for $2,o()() constituting the bequest made by Dr. Spencer to the Minneapolis Athenaeum, a property still tributary to the Public Library.

No other strvictures were met until the corner of Washington avenue and .Vines street (Eighth avenue) where was another business nucleus. Here was the United States Land Office, M. L. Olds, register, and R. P. Russell, re¬ ceiver; near by, the Post Office, Dr. A. E. .\mes, postmaster, and Wm. B. Cornell, attendant - the law office of Cornell and Vanderburgh, and the land and loan offiee of Carlos Wilson and D.R. Barber. Aeross the avenue from the land office was the frame store of Godfre}' Scheitlin, then keeping a general assortment of elothing and furnishing goods, but soon to become famous as the deposi¬ tory of "sang" as the ginseng was pop¬ ularly called, which he bought from the "Big Woods" region, and after curing, ex'ported to China. Lower down the avenue was the dwelling house of (ieo. E. Hu3', and upon the river bank near the Tenth avenue bridge the magnifieent house of W. D. Garland, afterwards bought by Gov. Washburn, and present¬ ed to the College Hospital, having been removed to Sixth street.

Colonel Cyrus Aldrieh had built and occupied a fine brick house on Eifth street, now the residence of (R'orge .V. Brackett. On one side of him was the church of (jethsemane, D. B. Knicker¬ bocker, rector, and on the other the "Tooth])ick " as it was poi)ularly called, being the I'irst Presbyterian church, Rev. J. C. Wliituey, i)astor. Where the Judd house stands was the i)re-emption house ot D. M. Coolbaugh. Dr. .Vines occupied his pre-emption house on Eifth and Rice street (Ninth avenue), but was building his fine new residence now standing opjKisite the Court House. The Court Hoiise was building and nearly completed and the Cataract House. These were built by Charles Clark, contractor, who received for the Court House the bonds of Hennepin county, bearing twelve jier cent interest, and which were sold in New Vork at eighty -five cents on the dollar.

In the upper jiart of the town was the, then considered , magnificent house of Charles Hoag, a number of neat dwell¬ ings on upper Eourth street where lived David Morgan, J. Serimgeur and T. H. Curtiss. Dr. Hezekiah Eleteher lived on Third street and Kansas; and next to him W. I', .\nkenv, who succeeded Sam¬ uel Hidden as ])ostmaster, and com])romised the ([uestion of location Iw erect¬ ing a post office at the corner of W'ashington avenue and Minnetonka street, (First avenue south). This building after it was partly completed was blown down, and the banker who had loaned $200 on the lot and building hastened to collect his money, thinking that the destruction of the frame building left his security insufficient.

H. T. Welles lived in a small frame tenement, corner ot Henne])in avenue and Eighth street, away out of town. Francis Samson lived on Nicollet and Seventh, where Westminster church stands. Joel B. Bassett lived on h'irst street near the creek, which at that time was a dec]) and broad chasm, s])anned bv a long wooden bridge, which 1ms now disai)pcared.

ract Mill " had been erected In' Eastman &-Gibson, and a saw mill on the dam Iw Leonard and Joseph Day. On the west side of Cataract street was the one story office of H. E. INIann, attorney, and of W. D. Washburn, agent of the Minneapolis Alill Company'. This com¬ pany was incorporated by the Terri¬ torial Legislature, Februaiw 27. 1856, R. P. Russell, M. L. Old's, Geo. E. Huy, Jacob S. Elliott, Robert Smith, and Dorilus Morrison, being the corporators. The capital stock was fixed at $160,000, the land owners conveying to the com¬ pany the land, others furnishing logs for the dam, and others contributing mone}'. For many years the properti' was unremunerative, requiring heavy outlays for improvements, taxes, etc., so that Smith was impoverished, and obliged to re¬ linquish much of his interest, and others allowed their stock to be forfeited. For the last few years, while the capital has been doubled, the property has paid large dividends. It has latel\' become the property' of the Syndicate compaiu', largely of English capitalists, who own in connection with it, the flour mills formerh' built by the Pillsburys and Washburns, and which is the strongest manufacturing corporation in the North¬ west.

In the early part of 1857, Congress passed the land grant act for Minnesota, and the act enabling the Territorv' to form a State government ; and a consti¬ tutional convention was called to meet in July, and it became evident that Min¬ nesota would soon be admitted to the sisterhood of States. Stimulated by these prospects, and the speculative feel¬ ing which prevailed throughout the country, a large immigration set in, and with the opening of navigation in the spring of 1857, eveiw steamboat up the river was crowded with immigrants and speculators.

St. Paul had been regarded as the head of navigation, but the enterprising citizens of Minneapolis made an effort to bring the boats to the Falls. I. F. Woodman made a contract with a Pitts¬ burg line of steamers to come here ; and a warehouse was built on each side of the river. The success of this effort appears from the following announce¬ ments in the Republican :

Aboye The Falls

On the 10th of May the Rosalie ar¬ rived from Pittsburg, and on the 11th the Harmonia arrived from Pittsburg, and departed on the 12th for Ftilton City. June 4th the arrival of the Rosa¬ lie, Denmark, Harmonia and Cremona are chronicled, while the Rice and Star made their regular trips to Sauk Rapids, and the Enterprise is annonnced as about ready to lie ])ut into the same trade. Up to the 18th of June there had been tweuEv-seven arrivals of steam¬ boats from below, bringing 3,000 tons of freight; and yet, savs the Repuhlicnn, " Some of the business men on both sides of the river have not 3-et got over the idea that it is best to have their freight landed at St. Paul."

A view of St. Anthony and IMinneapolis taken about this time represents a steamboat U'ing at Cheever's landing, and another going down the river under full steam, opposite the Universit}'.

busy clanij and datlcr of inacliincrv - new l)nildings ,u;oiiif>; tip on every liand - everybody fjoinjj; at qniek step. Sneh is life just now in St. Antbonv and Minneapolis.

During the year 1857 the Minuea])olis bridge Company eonstrueted a fine truss bridge across the Mississijijii River. Its eastern abutment was ujiou the high bank at the foot of the Univer¬ sity hill, and its western terminus Twentieth avenue south. After a few \-ears the ])iers were undermined by logs carried over the Falls in a spring flood, and the whole structure fell into ruins, and floated off down the river.

Scene On The

BrsiNKSs. - Xcver before did the streets of onr dual city e.xbibit such activity, and life of Inisincss. Steamers screamin'^ at liotb ends of the town - numberless teams and carriages - throngs of strangers - spring goods everywhere arriving and nniiacking - ladies all out to have the first ])iek -

The next yc.'ir ti bridge w.as built across the river from Christmas avenue to Ib'otidwciy, but this .also wtis ctirried c'lwav, its wooden piers resting upon a stuidy bottom, which was washed out by the scouring flood.

The following list comprises the names of many ol the settlers in Mimicajiolis prior to 1860, with the dates ol their settlement so far as att.ainable :

Chapter Yi

Hennepin connt\', the most populous of the state, has such a fortunate loca¬ tion that it combines many of those nat¬ ural attractions for settlement and phys¬ ical combinations of geology which re¬ sult in varied resources and diversified human industr^^; and it has in conse¬ quence taken the lead in all those elements of growth and civilization which distin¬ guish the communities of the Northwest. No other spot, of equal area, can be found for many miles around where so main' of the fundamental elements of power and prosperity are united. There are reasons for looking for a great business and edu¬ cational and social centi'e, at some future time, about the west end of lake Super¬ ior where perhaps as powerful influences combine, but they are of a different char¬ acter, and their development is proble¬ matical and wholly within the uncertain future. In Hennepin count3' this developement is actual and visible. It will be interesting to inquire into the nature of this fortunate location, and to analyze, so far as we can by reference to natural features, the underlying causes of this growth.

great commonwealths of the world which have the greatest national power and the highest development of civilization, ai'e situated wholly or largelj' iq>on the Azoic or Paleozoic rocks. It often so happens that their territorial area in¬ cludes also considerable country' imderlain by Mesozoic or Cenozoic rocks, but in these cases it may truthfully be said that their chief centres of power and growth are situated upon, or are depen¬ dent on areas underlain by the oldest rocks. The Alesozoic and Cenozoic areas have received the overflow' from Paleo¬ zoic and Azoic. The\' usualh' form the fringe for a larger and more iiowerful population . The cause for this predispo¬ sition of power and civilization for the older formations is not far to seek.

The older rocks are firmer than the new'er, and ahva^'s form the nuclei of the continents, the later formations being softer accretions about their borders. The older formations oecup\'thetqflands, the plateaux, the habitable and arable plains. The older fonnations are frequenth' upheaved, presenting their edges, affording access to their mineral con¬ tents, w'hilethe later formations are more likely to remain nearh' or cpiite horizon- tal and to be screened by a covering of clay, or of gravel, or loam, or to be marshy. The older formations prevail in the northern hemisphere and in the northern and central portions of the northern hemisphere, while the later formations are found to have their great¬ est development toward that oceanic ex¬ panse which occupies the southern hem¬ isphere. The older formations are wat¬ ered by rippling brooks and perennial springs, and abound in waterfalls, the later have rivers of great size which wend their way sluggishly, and often through miasmatic regions, to the ocean. The older formations hold the largest part of the mineral wealth of the world, especi¬ ally of iron and coal, the two great arms that sustain modern civilization, and through whose great arteries and mani¬ fold connections flow the productions of human genius to the comfort of man¬ kind. The older formations of the coun¬ try, being most elevated and likewise farthest north, usualh^, in the continental areas, have been those most powerfully acted on by the Glacial epoch, producing those well known and unexcelled drift soils which specially characterize, for in¬ stance, the northwestern prairies of the United States and Manitoba. Thus the intelligence and enterprise andthepower of the world are found to prevail in those regions that are underlain by the azoic and paleozoic rocks.

Now it cannot be said that these fac¬ tors are all centered in Hennepin county; but it must be admitted that Hennepin county started well along toward the front in the probabilities of the race for power and wealth when it is found that it is underlain by the paleozoic rocks, for if it have not all the direct advantages of such a geological structure, indirectly it receives in addition to those which it does possess by association, the benefits that spring from having surrounding neighbors who enjoy directly the other advantages, and of receiving accessions of people who appreciate and who demand all the essentials and accessories that accompany the highest types of mankind.

Having thus started out wdth the best and broadest foundations for pros¬ perity among a prosperous people, there must be some special causes that have operated to bring Hennepin county to the front. The foregoing considerations apply equally to all the counties of Min¬ nesota and to the whole northern por¬ tion of the United States, and, other things being equal, we should expect the power of the countr3i^ would find its permanent seat there. What then are th e s peci al a d vant ages th at h a ve brought Hennepin count3^ conspicuously to the pre-eminence in Minnesota?

If we consider the general situation of the country we find that agriculturallv she is fitrnished with three import¬ ant elements : First, a rich drift-soil which contains the necessary elements of fertility in well-balanced proportions, and of unfailing, well-nigh exhaustless, durability. Second, she is on the border¬ land between forest and prairie, but well within the former, reaping practicalh^, because of other elements which attract the trade of the prairie outside, the advantages of both. Third, a forest¬ covering which affords shelter and fuel in winter and products which are con¬ vertible by industry and enterprise into mone3'' all the year round. These ad¬ vantages, however, are not peculiar to Hennepin county. These alone would only help her fairly along with the average of man3" Minnesota counties.

Further, as to the general situation, she has an average latitude of about 45 degrees north of the equator, and an al¬ titude of about 922 feet above average tide level, with an average annual rain- fall of about 31 inches, and an average annual tenijjerature of about 44 degrees, Fahrenheit. But these facts arecommon to many other counties and cannot have operated to favor Hennepin coxinty. Her ai'ea is 397,739.88 acr< s, but this is less than that of several others.

She is situated on the Mississippi river, and enjor'S all the advantages of sueh a site, but in this respect she has nothing superior to several other coun¬ ties in the Northwest - indeed she has not all the benefits that other counties de¬ rive from such a situation, since she is cut off from the navigable reaches of the river, both below and above, by impas¬ sable rapids. It cannot be simply the fortuitous circumstance of her location on the river that has distinguished her among her equals.

We must search closer, for in every el¬ ement thus far enumerated she has no advantage that gives her any expecta¬ tion above some other counties of the state. It is hardly necessar3^ after this elimination of common elements, to call direct attention to that value which re¬ mains as the sole efficient cause, equiva¬ lent to the known result - the falls of St. Anthony.

The city of Minneapolis, with about 200,000 people, a direct dependency of the falls of St. Anthony, is at once the soul of Hennepin county, and the cause of her superb march among the counties of the state.

It is necessary then, having discovered the main factor in the growth of the country, to examine it more closely. It is distinctively a geological feature. The falls of St. Anthony may be considered from two points of view, both beingbased on geological data, viz:

The underlying geologic structure, not considering the surface deposits, or drift of the region, is very sinqjle. Two very strongly contrasted strata are con¬ cerned. The Trenton limestone (or the Bird's-Eye Trenton, since it contains some Bird's-Eye fossils) overlies the St. Peter sandstone. Limestone is a much firmer rock than sandstone, and, as al¬ ways happens when a river crosses the line of superposition of a firm rock on a soft one, a waterfall results. This line in Minnesota is always thus characterized and in many other places the resulting water-fall has been utilized for mills, and flourishing towns have there grown iqi. It is not alwa3'S the Trenton-St. Peter contact that is thus distinguished, but it also happens with some lower horizons which have the same conjunction of a limestone with an underlying sandstone. It is a law which is exenqilified in man3^ places in Iowa and in Wisconsin. The location of Trenton, N. Y., is at Trenton falls, and of Ottawa is at the falls of the Ottawa, where the river passes from the Trenton limestone.

Geological Section At The Ealls Of St Anthony

1. Impure limestone, crystalline, rough to the touch, hard but splitting to thin lenticular chijis under the weather. This is of a blue color within, but on exposed surfaces becomes a dirty buff. The grain is close, except for the cavities resulting from absorbed fossils. The fragments into which the stone weathers out are brittle and somewhat sonorous. It is veiw fossilferous, esiiecially with Strophoiiieiia niinnesotcnsis. It also has fre¬ quently associated with this Ortliis tricenaris, sjiecies of Murehisonia, Leperditia, Cypricarditics, Bticania, and occasionalh'of .Isap/ius. Thickness, not fully exposed, seen about eight feet.

3. Green shale, calcareous, weathering blue, with but few fossils. Occasionally is found a large spec¬ imen of Endoceras magniventrum, in this shale, the form only be perserved, surronded by a thin black Aim of bituminous matter. Thickness four feet and eight inches.

4. The last passes graduall3' into a calcareous shale resembling the well known building rock of this j)lace, in which still there are a few distinguish¬ able fossils. This stone is sometimes used for rough walls or in protected positions. It is mark¬ edly set off from the rock below b3' a projecting shoulder formed by the tipper portion of No. 5. Thickness two feet, four inches.

5. Argillaceous linieseone, the principal stratum of the Trenton. The fossils that remain in this member are apt to be comminuted so as to be wholly undistinguishable, yet sometimes large specimens of Endoceras magniventrum* are found in the la3'ers. Rarely, also, on separating the layers in quarr3'ing, a rock surface is disclosed that is eminent^ fossiliferous with forms of Rhynehonella capax, Orthis, and other brachiopods and intrusting corals. This is the principal and most constant member of the LowerTrenton. Its thickness is about 15 feet.

6. Blue shale, parting conchoidally under the weather, lying on the St. Peter sandstone, two feet. The total thickness is about thirty four feet.

The St. Peter sandstone is a very homogeneous rock, having a total thick¬ ness of 164 feet at Minneapolis. In the drilling of some deep wells, however, there is found uniformly a thin stratum about 125 feet below its upper surface, of red or "pipestone" clay, which acts as a retaining stratum, and from below it rises pure water to the natural sur¬ face.* The thickness of the St. Peter sandstone at the falls of St. Anthony is greater than at jioints further south. It varies to less than 100 feet before reach¬ ing the southern border of the state, but it extends southward through Illinois and Ohio ( as known by deep wells ) and southward into Missouri, where Prof. Broadhead includes it in his Ozark series.

* Such water reaches the natural surface where it is low at the city of Minneapolis. It other places it falls short of the surface from 2 to 5 feet.

rock in Hennepin county, whether of Trenton or St. Peter, is very small, being confined to the immediate bluffs of the river gorge below the falls. ATt it is known that the Trenton limestone ex¬ tends westward under the drift of the southern part of the country for many miles. The topography indicates that it extends as far west as the west end of lake Minnetonka, and perhaps further. In that case the valley of Purgatory creek, as well as that in which lie the basins of the lakes ( Harriet, Calhoun, Lake of the Isles ) and the lower portion of Bassett's creek valley, were gorges cut through the Trenton and into the St. Peter sandstone in pre-glacial time, for in these valleys, which run north and south, the Trenton limestone is wanting. Toward the northwest from Minneapo¬ lis, the Trenton also extends, under the di'ift, nearly or quite to Medicine lake, but at Wayzata, according to Mr. E. O. Spear, a deep well struck the granite of the Laurentian. It is quite possible also that the Trenton, which is known to continue to Shingle creek, in the northern suburbs of the city, recurs in full strength further north and northwest, and really underlies the flat areas of Brooklyn and about Osseo, and even the flat areas in the towns of Corcoran, Greenwood and northern Medina. The channel of Crow river, in that case, would very naturally lie in the valley which would be formed by the coming to the surface of the St. Peter sandstone - at least along the northwestern boundary of the county. Deep borings, such as the future will probably see throughout the western portion of the county, for one reason or another, will be the only means b^" which eventualljr the westward extension of the Trenton limestone will be ascer¬ tained. Toward the east, however, this rock certainly extends to St. Paul, where it exists in full force in the upper bluffs of the Alississippi, and between Minneapo¬ lis and St. Panl the deep well drilled at the reform school disclosed abont ninety feet of beds, belonging to the Trenton, higher np in the series than any known in Hennepin county, making the total thickness of the formation about 114 feet. Toward the northeast this lime¬ stone appears in some mounds and bluffs not far south from White Bear lake. On the east side of the Mississippi river, near the river, this limestone is known, and quarried nearly on the county line. It must continue further, at some dis¬ tance from the river; but in the vicinity of the river it appears to be wanting, for a deep well at Fridlejq at the mouth of Rice creek, struck the St. Peter sandstone first under the drift.

The surface extent of the St. Peter sandstone in the county, in addition to that known of it in the immediate vicin¬ ity of the river, is wholl3" unknown, but it is likelv not to extend verv far bevond the western or northern limits of the Trenton limestone, and it is quite likeH that its line of outcrop is marked on the northwest by the vallev of the Crow river, and on the northeast b\' thevalle\" of Rice creek, with minor irregularities in its course.

It is not necessar\' here to go into the details of the geology- of the deep wells which have penetrated into the strata lying below the St. Peter. Suffice it to sa\' that below the St. Peter sand¬ stone is the Shakopee limestone, from twent\' to thirty' feet thick. This is burned for quicklime at Shakopee. Next is the Richmond sandstone, from zero to twenty-five feet thick, named from a town in Wisconsin ( New Richmond ) where it was first correcth" placed. This is known in the vicinit\' of Cannon Falls and at Mankato. The great limestone which is seen along the bluffs of the Mississippi at and below Hasting, and on the shores of lake St. Croix, at Still¬ water, largeH wrought for quicklime and for building comes next. The drill finds it under Minneapolis with a thick¬ ness of about 125 feet. Next is found {i white sandstone again (the Jordan), like the St. Peter, 140 feet thick ; then limestone and shaly limestone and green shales ( the St. Lawrence ), 125 feet more or less, and then white sandstone. ( the Dresbach sandstone ) which is several hundred feet thick, with several interstratified beds of shah' rock. The drill then enters into red shales and I'ed sand¬ stones which have developed a great thickness and have never been entireh' penetrated, supposed to be equivalent to the upper beds of the copper-bearing rocks of the region of lake Superior.

In addition to these older rocks, I should mention as one of the formations of the county', certain beds of the Creta¬ ceous, which are known in the vallev' of the Crow river in Hennepin and Wright counties. These are inconsp/cuous out¬ crops of sandstone in the right bank of the river in Hassan township. The\' also occur on the left bank in Wright count\' furtherdown. They are of little account except geologicall}', since the\' simph' show that after Hennepin count\' was dr\' land and had remained so for man}' geological ages - after the Cambrian age, passing through the Silurian, the Devo¬ nian, the Carboniferous, the Permian, the Triassic and the Jurassic, during which it furnished support for the land animals and the plants which ma}' have flotu'ished in those ages, and served for a drainage area for the ancestral Missis¬ sippi river which even then reached an ancestral ocean at a constantl}' recedingdebouchure into an ancestral Mexican gulf - it went down again below the waters of the ocean, x'eceiving its final baptism. This sandstone with itsaccompaiu'ing shales and lignites ( though not seen in plaee in the count j" ), have left their debris in the drift sheet in the west¬ ern part of the county in great abund¬ ance. Even at Minneapolis, on the east side of the Mississippi river, below the University, are occasionally" found frag¬ ments of Cretaceous shale and Creta¬ ceous lignite ; one piece of lignite being about one foot in length.

When we come, however, to consider the drift-deposits of the county, we not only enter upon a complicated problem, whose many elements extend over a larger area than Hennepin county, and reach back in time to the glacial epoch, constituting by far the most interesting chapter in the geology of the county, but we are also at once brought face to face with the second element of the con¬ sideration of the falls of St. Anthony", viz.: the water of the falls, its source, amount and its effects on the geological structure. The falls of St. Anthony are a child of the Pleistocene, although the river itself is hoary with the ages of pre- Pleistocene time. The origin, date, his¬ tory, phenomena and final results of the glacial epoch are all involved in a thorough study" of the drift deposits about the falls of St. Anthony. We can not here reproduce the steps in detail by which important truths have been established concerning the drift deposits of the state, by a study of the falls of St. Anthony.*

We can only" sketch the outlines, leav¬ ing the reader to supply the confirma¬ tory facts in detail by a personal inspec¬ tion of the river valley between Minne¬ apolis and St. Paul, and by a broader survey of the drift feautures of the North¬ west.

That the falls have receded dtiring very recent times can be proven by refer¬ ence to the plainest recent history". Facts to prove it are in print. That they have receded since their discovery July 4, 1680, by father Hennepin is only a fair inference from their recession since 1857. That they were in process of recession prior to their discovery is an inevitable logical consequence of their recession since their discovery. That they have receded at least from that point in the valley" down to which can be traced the same phenomena as are now seen at the falls, and which are the present result of such retrogression, is also a logical con¬ clusion. That they' have also receded from further down the Mississippi valley", as far as the essential elements in the phenomena can be traced, especially if the subordinate attendant phenomena, differing from the phenomena at their site, can be accounted for by known varying subordinate causes, is a farther scientific and logical inference to which we have to give attention. Thus, step by step, if the full significance of the falls themselves be understood and applied to the elucidation of the past history of the gi'eat valley, we can penetratrate far into the geological past, and although we cannot rehearse the particulars of the history that transpired we can prove the fact that there was such a history, and can outline some of its great fea¬ tures.

It may have been supposed by some, without sufficient refiection, that the gorge of the Mississippi river has been excavated within post-glacial time, but a brief examination of the facts is ample to show that it existed before the last ice-age, and indeed before the Cretaceous. And a further examination Avould per¬ haps serve to fix its birth as a distinct gorge as far remote as the Carboniferous age. There is, further, good evidence that the Mississippi river existed and must have had a valley if not a gorge, through which its waters flowed to the sea since the Taconic nge.

The accompanying plates exhibit a series of sections across the Mississippi based on known data in Minnesota, beginning about a mile above the falls of St. Anthony and extending down to Lake City.

It is a well known fact that pre-glac¬ ial gorges cut in rock have been discov¬ ered in nearly all parts of the driftcovered latitudes of the United States, although obscured or entirely hid by the drift sheet. In the "driftless area'' of Minnesota they are very numerous, and can be traced from open valle\'s, in which, perhaps, streams of water now run, but more frecptently dry, up to their com¬ mencements, or to the points at which they disappear under the loam -sheet that is spread over that area. Even further, they are traceable, as subterran¬ ean old valleys, by the occasional collaps¬ ing of the loam, sometimes for a mile above the point where the rock bluffs become invisible. It appears, therefore, that before the ice-age the surface drain¬ age reached the main artery of flow, through innumerable tributary rocky valleys. It follows, therefore, that the main artery itself must have been a deep rock-cut valley excavated to the lowest level. Its existence can be shown uj) to and beyond the falls of St. Anthony, although just at the falls its course is a short distance further west, passing through thecit3^of Minneapolis from the mouth of Bassett's creek to the Minne¬ sota some distance above Fort Snelling. Within the drift latitudes its distinctness becomes less and less, its rock\' outline more and more hid Iw the drift deposits, its width narrower and narrower, and its depth less and less; at last it is lost, and the river runs in a mei'e surface channel excavated in the latest drift de¬ posits and verv rarclv comes in contact with the rocks. The earliest escarpments of this old rivcrchannel arc most remote from the present river, and are as far as 10 or even 20 miles separate from each other. The most evident escarpment no w remaining is that formed by the Trenton- St. Peter, the same that is now being wrought out by the recession of the falls at Minneapolis. Rut when this line of bluffs is followed southward from the falls it is found to recede further and further awa\" from the river, while the general strike of the formations concerned re¬ mains the same. The depth of the river below the top of the bluffs also increases. Its eastern bluff in Wisconsin is man^- miles from its western bluff' in Minne¬ sota. There is no escaping the convic¬ tion not only that these bluff's were once united by an unbroken sheet of Trenton limestone, which extended from one to the other, but that the principal agent which has broken it down and carried it awaj", was the earh' erosive drainage of the Mississippi riv^er. This action was continued upon other limestones under¬ lying the Trenton -St. Peter, and their cut edges can beexamined in many places on both sides of the valley in the suc¬ cessive benches which they form In^ their greater durability".

Now having called attention to one general consideration going to show the great age of the Mississipjji gorge below Fort Snelling, it will be sufficient to men¬ tion the location of the moraines of the glacial epoch which have been traced out in the state, so far as they cross the Mississippi valley. The earlier moraine - that of the first glacial epoch - has not been exactly determined. It probaby was veiw indefinite, and was also so far car¬ ried away" by the accompanying water that its debris is eff'ectually hid by the loams and gravels of later date, viz : those that originated from the second glacial epoch. It would be found, if it exists as a moraine, outside the limits ol the state, crossing the great valley in the neighborhood of St. Louis, Mo. The moraine of the second glacial epoch crosses the Mississijrpi river in the lati¬ tude of the falls of St. Anthony, involv¬ ing in its action on the river the interval between the falls and a point a few miles south of St. Paul. Now it is observable that at all iroints south of FortSnelling, down to the "driftless area," the ancient rock bluffs of the Mississippi gorge are covered more or less, and are sometimes altogether hid from examination for sev¬ eral miles by the drift which was the product of this moraine, or by the gravel ten-aces wdiich were formed within the old gorge by washing from it. It is the most obvious inference that the gorge south of Fort Snelling existed prior to the formation of the moraine and prior to the spreading on the uplaiad of the cotemporary drift-sheet. But northward from Fort Snelling the rock-cut gorge is fresh, and there is one cotemporar}- sec¬ tion including both the rock-ctit and the overlying drift. In other words it is equally obvious that the drift-sheet was spread over the country prior to the ex¬ cavation of that part of the gorge from Fort Snelling to the falls. Again, it has been discovered bj" deep drillings within the gorge that south from Fort Snelling there is a very deep excavation - much deeper than the present river ever could have made (see the plate of sections) - now filled by drift, and that this deep, old gorge extends on up the Minnesota valley past Fort Snelling, instead of turning at Fort Snelling and ascending the present Mississippi valley. There is no such deep excavation in the Missis¬ sippi gorge above Fort Snelling, but it is found that the St. Peter sandrock in which it is cut is near the bottom of the river all the way up, being covered only by a few boulders or by masses of Tren¬ ton limestone fallen from above at the time the falls receded.

Therefore, quee cum ita sint, in the familiar words of Cicero's conclusions, it is only necessary to measure the Miss¬ issippi gorge above Fort Snelling and apph^ to it a common unit expression of the rate of recession to deduce the time elapsed since the last glacial epoch. It was in 1876 that the writer's attention was first given to this problem, and his result, which was published in 1877, (in the fifth annual report of the Geological Survey of the state), differed remarkably from that derived from a similar discus¬ sion of Niagara falls, in bringing the gla¬ cial epoch so near the present that its thousands of years could be counted on the fingers. Not only has this result been accepted by all American geologists, but it has been followed by a recalcula¬ tion (b}^ Mr. G. K. Gilbert) of the reces¬ sion of the falls of Niagara in the light of new ideas as to the relation of differ¬ ent parts of that gorge to the different deposits of the region. This new calcula¬ tion has resulted in bringing about a re¬ markable agreement with the date ob¬ tained by the writer in 1876.

1. The actual distance from the angle of the rock-bluff at Fort Snelling formed by the junction of the Mississippi gorge with that of the Minnesota, is eight miles and thirteen hundi'ed feet, determined by Prof. W. H. Hoag.

2. The rate of recession per year, based on a careful inspection of early descriptions of the falls from the date of their discovery by Hennepin in 1680, till 1857, is 5.53 feet. This is the average of three rates found by three different calculations.

one who is familiar with the Ujjper Mississi])pi valley from Minneapolis to Hast¬ ings will have notieed that the river ehannel, while in general maintaining a south-southeast eourse between those eities yet makes two turns at right an¬ gles, one being at Ft. Snelling where the Alississippi united with the old gorge of the Minnesota in eonsequence of, and eotemporary with, the disturbing aetion of the seeond glaeial epoeh, and the other in the easteni suburbs of St. Paul, where it seems to be shut out of its northeastwai'd eourse by the presenee of Dayton's bluff. Prior to the second gla¬ cial epoch, and at least since the fii'st (as commonly recognized), the Alississippi river turned westward at the mouth of Bassett's creek where a rock-cut gorge, now filled with drift, can be traced up the valle3' to the valle\' of lakes Calhoun and Harriet, extending southward to¬ ward the mouth of Nine-Mile creek. From this old valley' the Mississippi was crowded eastward to its present posit¬ ion bj' the second glacial epoch. But it seems reasonable to suppose the ancestral course of the river, prior to the disturb¬ ance that was introduced b3' the glacial epochs, had alread3' made for itself a gorge through Trenton-St. Peter forma¬ tions from, sa3', the mouth of Rice creek, where it first encountered that obstruc¬ tion, to Da3'ton's bluff, and it is hence reasonable to anticipate the existence of a gorge that antedated even the Bassett's creek -Calhoun -Harriet got'ge. Again, an3' one familiar with the Mississippi river about St. Paul will have noticed that there is a great increase in the width of the gorge immediate^ south of St. Paul, which is in a measure compar¬ able with that which occurs at Fort Snelling. In other words the angle made at Dayton's bluff appears to be due to the entrance of the river there also upon a still older gorge than that between

Fort Snelling and St. Paul, and one which la3" athwart its northeastward direction of flow, and which compelled it to turn aburpth' southeastward. The existence of this right angle, in the light of the explanation which has been given of that at Foi't Snelling, and the widen¬ ing of the valle3' southward from Davton's bluft' are very significant features. If such old valley was excavated bv the river prior to the first glacial epoch it can be sui)posed to have been occupied Iw it since the time the Lower Silurian strata (the Ti'enton and the Hudson River) first rose above the ocean so as to make an addition to the diw land of the state requiring avemtes of surface drainage.

Now it is a fact that the course of the river gorge below Dayton's bluff, if ex¬ tended northerU' in the same direction, wordd pass through a region in Ramse3' count3' which has eveiw appearance of containing such a pre-glacial gorge. It first enters upon a rolling morainic tract, in northern St. Paul, in some of the de¬ pressions of which there is more than an intimation that the Trenton limestone is not there in situ ; it emerges north¬ ward in a low area which is known to be underlain simpl3" 1)3" the St. Peter sandstone, and which is drained north¬ erly 1)3" a stream to the present Missis¬ sippi. Lakes McCarron, Johannah, and Long ai'e in the line of this depression. SoLithwardh' Rice ci'eek runs to St. Paul draining its southern portion, and northwardb" Rice creek drains its northern portion, entering the ])resent Mississippi near Fridle3'. Here is the eonq)lementarv phenomenon, wrought out in nature, so far as can be judged from all the facts we possess, confirmatoi'y of the hvpothesis that the Mississippi river orginallv flowed direeth" from the vieinit3' of I'ridley to the great gorge at and below Dayton's bluff.

What do we have then? It appears to aifbrd us a record of the river between the two great glacial epochs. That is to say, the river Mississippi or the river Mastodon, should it be named from the inhabitant of the country who may have witnessed the scene, was di¬ verted from its original channel b}^ the on-coming of the first glacial epoch, and was compelled to take a more westerly course through the Bassett's creek-Calhoun-Harriet fiassage, the Minnesota itself, likewise embroiled in the events of that da}^ being buried in its lower reaches and finding its easiest exit from Mankato northeastwardly by way of the Cannon valley to the Mississippi river in Goodhue county or perhaps southward to the Des Moines into Iowa. Finally the two rivers, jointlj^, the ice having receded sufficiently, were allowed to take their easiest and natural descent to the Mississippi river, and were precip¬ itated over the limestone brink opposite Dayton's bluff into the pre-glacial gorge. Here began a fall which we shall have to invent a name for, and which receded up stream past St. Paul to the point in the Minnesota valley above Fort Snelling at which the Trenton limestone ceases, or where the then Mississippi reached the then Minnesota. This recession took place in "interglacial" time, but whether it occupied all of "interglacial" time we cannot say. The distance these falls must have receded was about fifteen miles. The conditions which governed the rate of recession, so far as they per¬ tain to the rocky structure, are the same as those which governed the recession of the present falls from Fort Snelling to their pi'esent site. But those that per¬ tain to the river itself were diffei'ent. Thus, as the river was probably larger the recession would have been faster.*

The river may have been twice as large as the Mississippi above Fort Snelling, but that would not have reduced the time by one-half. The distance is nearly twice greater. Pet'haps the greater dis¬ tance would more than balance the greater size of the I'iver, in reaching an estimate of the time needed for such recession. At any rate we maj- say that the timethat elapsed between theglacial epochs, so far as it is expressed by this factor in the problem, coidd not have been much less than ten thousand 3'ears. Such an interval of time, judging from the changes that have taken place in the face of the country- since the date of the last glacial epoch, would have witnessed something more than simply a tempor¬ ary" and local retreat of the ice-border, such as has been supposed by some geo¬ logists to have taken place, followed by greater rigor of cold sufficient to "push out" or "push up " the moraines that have been widely" referred to the second glacial epoch. Such an interval of time would have allowed of the occupancy of the country" by plants and animals, in¬ cluding man, and may have been the prime epoch, in all essential conditions, for the flourishing of the Mastodon, the Castoroides, the Megalonyx, and the hairy elephant.

As to the I'olume of water in the Mississippi and its source, it will be seen from the foregoing discussion, that it is a variable stream. The present is only a moment in the long history it has passed through, and although it appears to be nearly uniform and permanent since post-glacial time began it had been first dried and perhaps exhausted by the sea¬ sons and suns of Carboniferous and Mesozoic time, and again flooded by the excessive precipitation of the successive glacial epochs. Of the exsiccated condi¬ tions of the land we have no reliable data, since they were obliterated by the later flooded stages. But of the late high water stages of the river there remain the terraces which border the valley - un¬ impeachable witnesses of its greater power, as well as records bj' which the dates and successive events of its later history may be deciphered.

We shall enter here but briefly on still more remote epochs of the histor3" of the great Mississippi. Two other distinct stages in this histoiw can be made out, and their boundaries defined by grand geologic movements, anterior to an\"- thing here related, but their scene of action is largely beyond the limits of Minnesota, as are also the physical fea¬ tures b\" which they are indicated.

Of the water stages of its earlier his¬ tory we have only general indications based on the geology of the region, for making some estimates. The great changes in the drainage conditions of the upper Mississippi country in pre¬ glacial time are marked off by the rela¬ tions of its older rocks. Missing forma¬ tions imply dry land. Non-conformities imply resubmergence of land which had been dry, or rapid emergence. The ear¬ liest landmarks which pointed toward the then future valle}' of the Mississippi are the Archfean highlands, which were lifted above the ocean in northern Wis¬ consin, on one side, and the Archaean highlands, which rose in central and northern Minnesota, on the other. The ocean still rolled between, but in the form of an embayment, and in this embayment wei'e deposited the sediments of Taconic, or primordial time, occupying a vast period. These primordial sediments form strata which lie non-comformable on the Archaean all about that old embaytnent. It woidd seem that this em¬ bayment had a narrow connection with the broad Atlantic eastward from Wis¬ consin and northern Michigan through the region where now lake Superior lies, for similar geological relations subsist along the entire old Archaean shore-line from Alinnesota through Canada to New Brunswick. There were islands near the Archaean shore, consisting of the same kinds of rocks as the main land. One was in northern Michigan, several were in the region north from lake Huron, one was probably in the Adirondack region and others were in New England.

At the close of Taconic time there was a large addition to the dr\" land by the upheaval of the Taconic rocks, and the breaking of the Taconic strata by the compressive forces existing within the earth's crust. This narrowed the Minnesota embayment, but did not 3'et shut it off from the connection through the valle\" of lake Superior. It must however have given more size and length to any small streams which flowed from the Archiean highlands on either side. Some one of those streams from the west must be considered the infantile "cradled Hercules," the primordial embr^'o of the father of waters. Where it was located we know not, except that its source was on the Archaean area in the northern part of the state and its waters entered the narrow oceanic channel, which still united the Lake Superior basin with the ocean through the valley of theSt. Croix. This oceanic expanse widened out south¬ ward. Its narrowest place was some¬ what north of the mouth of Snake River. The Mississippi must hence have been lo¬ cated further west. It probabh' joined the post-Taconic ocean somewhere be¬ tween Anoka and St. Cloud.

GradualW the oceanic dei)ths, about the shores of that earh' continental nucleus, became filled with still later sediments - the materials of the Cam¬ brian strata - and in the rijiencss of time another conviilsion brought them to the surface and added larger areas to the drainage basin of the infant Mississii)pi.

This change is also marked in the geo¬ graphical distribution of the Cambrian rocks. Then the Trenton and Hudson River formations gave their increments to the dryland, thus nearly completing the bounds of the state of Minnesota, as well as adding large areas in Wisconsin and Iowa. With this last land-birth the Mississippi fairly assumed fluvial dimen¬ sions. It rose somewhere in northern Minnesota, probably not manr" miles from the spot now occupied by lake Itasca, and passing southwardly sur¬ mounted thedater and later formations ; first the Taconic.then the Cambrian and lastlvthe Lower Silurian (Trenton-Hudson River) strata, and it began at once the excavation of the great gorge which it has occupied, with local and non-important exceptions, till the pi'esent. Its mouth then was about where Dubuque is situated now, and all the lower reaches of the valley were yet concealed in the wide spread waters of the Atlantic, or in that slowly narrowing enclosure which was finalh^ reduced, by a repetition of such changes, to what is now known as the gulf of Mexico.

Now, having seen the Mississippi fairly latmched as the principal stream of the continent, we can safely say that it unquestionably maintained that rank throitghout its subsequent history, and we will revert to some events which must have influenced its size from time to time within Minnesota.

With every inci'ease of the area to be drained the volume of dischai'ge at its mouth must have been increased. If the annual rainfall varied, of course its fluctuations were modified by that ele¬ ment also. All through Upper Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous and the first part of Mesozoic time, Minnesota may be supposed to have been drr' land, sub¬ ject to all the vicissitudes of surface deeay and erosion, as well as faunal and veg¬ etal habitation which the land areas suffered in that immense lapse of time. We know little or nothing of land animals or land plants till Alesozoietime. Some of the articulates began to inhabit the air in Carboniferous time, and some of the vertebrates in Mesozoic time. They basked in the sunshine on the Archaean hillsides, or were sheltered from the tempest by forests of endogenous trees, and fed on the foliage and fruits of cryptogamous mosses or lichens. Occa¬ sionally one's carcass has been preserved b3^ being buried in the sediments of the neighboring ocean, but in all that vast interrml of time we have but the merest intimation of the condition of Minne¬ sota. That the Mississippi existed through it all we are obliged to admit, or else to deny the constancy of nature and impeach the established principles of geological and meteorological science. It must have excavated a deep channel in the land, and its waterfalls, if it could have had any, must have been carried back to the uppermost limits of the strata forming them long before that immense lapse of time terminated. It must then have had at the last a steady and direct descent through a very tin iform channel from its source to its mouth, and all its tributaries must have manifested the same eharacters.

Near the close of Tertiary time, and continuing on into Pleistocene time momentous changes took place in North America, affecting the physical conditions to such an extent that they were fatal to the most of the larger animals. Volcanic eruptions, upheaval of mountain ranges, precipitation of copious rains, and in northeastern North America the accum¬ ulation of vast ice-fields, which at length began to move as glaciers over the country to the south, bi'inging destruc¬ tion to former forests, and compelling the southward migration or the annihi- lation of the characteristic farina and flora - these events must have added materially to the volume and erosive power of the Mississippi. Throughout the first ice epoch the entire state was held in the grip of a long and terrible winter, and the Mississippi existed only at a latitude south of where the ice-sheet extended. In the interglacial epoch the forests and the exiled fauna returned, to a lai'ge extent, and flourished through a long, moist and genial summer. Through this interval the Mastodon, and the Mammoth, the Megalonyx and the Castoroides were co-inhabitants of Minne¬ sota. The river occupied at least a part of this time in dealing out its gorge and in driving a bore through the rocks from the old Minnesota valley, above Fort Snelling, to the mouth of Bassett's creek - an interglacial recession of the Falls of St. Anthony.

Again the ice returned from the north¬ west, but this time with much less thickness and with less dui'ation and less severity of cold. This time it barely ex¬ tended to the latitude of St. Paul,butas an agent in disturbing the river at the falls of St. Anthony it was ecpially pow¬ erful. It drove the river from its inter¬ glacial gorge into its present position, and during the continuance of the iceinvasion the river below St. Paul was swollen to giant proportions. At the same time the ice supplied the gravel which now composes the terraces and gravel plains. This was rapidly spread wherever the almost ubiquitous torrents of the dissolving ice could carry it. Probably within Hennepin county, dur¬ ing the continuance of this epoch in its severity, the volume of the river at Min¬ neapolis was reduced to almost or quite the condition in which it was during the former ice-age, but on the removal of the ice-border some miles further north the Mississippi rOvSe in all its splendor, carry¬ ing a vast flood of cold and muddy water. This high stage continued, aug¬ mented at Fort Snelling by the swollen Minnesota, until the retreat of the ice from the state, and till the outlet of lake Agassiz was opened up to discharge the waters of the Red river valle}- toward the north. The Mississippi then acquired very nearly the stage which it has at the present time, and began the excavation of the post-glacial gorge which extends from the falls of St. Anthonv to Fort Snelling.

The accompanying plates exhibit some of the data upon which this history is based. The3'show seven profile sections across the Mississippi River between Shingle creek, which is in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis, and Lake Citv, which is seventj'-five miles below Min¬ neapolis. They are drawn to the same scale, except figure 3, in plate 2, which has a reduced horizontal scale in order to embrace the bluff of the Trenton-St. Peter, twelve miles west from the Miss¬ issippi at Lake City. Throughout this whole distance the rocks all lie practi¬ cally horizontal, and they maintain the same attitude both east and west from the river for man}' miles. It is plain, therefore, that the\' once extended all over the area considered, and that the valleys have been cut down into and through the strata b}' a long period of atmospheric exposure and fluvial erosion .

These plates show tlie changes which the gorge of the Mississippi takes on be¬ tween Alinneapolis and Lake City, and also exhibit the var^dng relation of the drift to the rock bluffs, as modified bv the two principal epochs of glaciation. Above the falls of St. Anthoiu' the inter¬ glacial channel, from which the river is diverted at the mouth of Bassett's creek, is filled with a fine brick-cla}', which dates at least from interglacial time, for the iqiper portion of the chqv shows the effect of i^ressure and disturb¬ ance due to the ice of the last glacial epoch. This clay-filled channel extends, by way of Bassett's creek and lakes Calhoun and Harriet, as explained in the text, to the Minnesota valley. It thence ascends to Chaska and Carver, and descends to and below St. Paul, showing an uninterrupted channel of uniform characters, all dating at least from interglacial time. Just below St. Paul, and at the mouth of Bassett's creek at Minneapolis, are two great changes in the aspects of the Mississippi's channel. They are, however, changes in contrary directions. The lower point exhibits in descending the river an abrupt transition to greater age, and the upper takes on the characters of youth. In other words the lower change indicates the point of entrance upon the pre-glacial channel, and the upper change indicates the entrance of the river upon its post¬ glacial erosion, within which last period the falls of St. Anthon}" have receded from Fort Snelling to Minneapolis.

The varying relation of the river to its present and past channels, and to the glacial epochs, is an interesting topic for study, but its full presentation cannot be attempted here. It should constitute a chapter by itself

Chapter Yu

Though St. Anthony in 1850 was a dull little town, 3^et it had its incidents and diversions in which all its citizens felt a eominon interest. Brought to¬ gether from different States, East and South, strangers to each other, and of widely var\dng types and conditions, it would not have been strange if a 3'ear or two at least had been neeessarj' to blend the uncongenial elements into social sympathy". But a brief period of winter experience served the purpose effectualh".

There were no railway's, no telegraph, and the Mississippi, its onl\^ medium of conneetion with the outside world, was a drearv", trackless barrier of ice and snow. New Englanders, in their airy houses, hastih' built of unseasoned lum¬ ber, could but sigh for their comfortable old homes, and diseonsolateW compare the scanty' larder of the new land with the ro^ml one left far behind.

Pilgi'ims from "fair Manhada's sea¬ girt-isle," could not fail of heart-aching, memories of the bus\' life of the great eit}" - its churehes, libraries, art galleries, theatres and operas - an especial aggra¬ vation in the fact that at that very time, in Castle Garden, Jennj' Lind was en¬ trancing thousands with her divine gift of song. Farmers from the Ohio vallet', whose prescient ej^es had discovered future vast wheat fields in the fertile soil of Minnesota, could be forgiven if, when the mercurt' went down to 30° below zero, their hearts failed them, and thet^ were homesick for the more genial cli¬ mate and fairer homes down b\' the " Beautiful River."

But all had brave hearts and, moved b\" kind svmpathies, the\' joined efforts to make the most of their scant\^ re¬ sources, and to render their isolated societ\^ as cheerful as possible. Books, magazines and newspapers were not lacking. Harper's Monthly, then in its infancy, found its waj" to them, and the few copies taken in the town went from house to house, as welcome and delight¬ ful a guest then as it has ever been in all the long 3"ears since. A solitar3' cop3' of Alorris' and Willis' charming Home Journal {oWowed a New York subscriber, with its weekh' feast of bright and good things, and perhaps the two dear old poets were never read with keener de¬ light and appreeiation than 1)3' their loving admirers here at that time.

One bright da3' something wonderful happened. Bv the weekh' mail a huge packet came, out of which emerged David Copperfield. "Dickens' new novel has come," flew from lip to lip, and never book received a brighter or warmer welcome. It went the rounds, and, by the time " the ice went out," the book was literally worn to rags.

winter. It proYided a course of lectures, all by home talent, that were quite as good as the average of like efforts in other places. The\" were given b}" Revs. Neil, Brown and Secombe, and lawN'ers North, Hubbard and Atwater. Mr. Brown came to grief, however. His sub¬ ject w'as "Reading and Books," and in his list of condemned fiction he included " Martin Chuzzlewit." Life was made a burden to him for many days, until he finally confessed that he had never read a word of it, and his ear only had been caught be the absurd name. After each lecture a paper, made vip by the ladies, was read, which gave great satisfaction.

If material hnmanit\" had been half as well pro\fided for as the intellectual, there would have been small cause of complaint. . But a glance at the stock laid in for the winter was rather appall¬ ing. The piece de resistance was a huge cask of Chicago salt pork. This was supplemented b\' stacks of dr\' codfish, kits of mackerel, white beans, with per¬ haps a small svipph^ of dried beef by way of luxtir3\ Flour and corn meal, coffee and tea, completed the list, except in the case of the few luck\' families who had come out earl\' enough in the spring to make a garden and raise their own vegetables. No eggs were to be had and almost no milk. One hostess whose guests unreasonabh' insisted on milk for their coffee, 'did succeed in secur¬ ing three quarts a week at fift\' cents a quart.

Before the river closed there had been occasionalh' a small supph- of fresh beef, and thoughtful hotise wives took advan¬ tage of the opportunit\' to prepare a supph' of mince meat for the winter, but nothing fresh appeared again till about the last of Februarrq when a venture¬ some trader drove up from La Crosse with a sledge load of fresh pork, sausage and venison, which was, perhaps, as xVfter all, there were compensations. In the first place, no language can do justice to the rare purity and beauty of the climate. The months of October and November were one long, exquisite Indian summer with scarcelj' a cloud in the sk\' - rain nearlj' alwaj'S falling in the night - the air mild, soft and deli¬ cious. In. a little garden on Nicollet Island surrounded b3^ great maple trees, amid the brush and stumps, squash vines were still green during the first part of November, and beets, turnips and cabbages were daih' taken from the garden. But in the first week in Decem¬ ber winter came with a vengence, the mercurv going down to 30° below zero. The onU' means of passage from the islands to the main land had been by a "dugout," an imp of a boat that malicioush' turned over on the slightest provocation, but which had recenth' been honored b3' carr3-ing Frederica Bremer across - a nervous, timid woman who could hardh' be persuaded to enter the nast3' little rocking boat.

One night of 30° below zero tempera¬ ture closed narfigation, but with ice not strong enough to travel on. The result was that Colonel Stevens and his wife, the onh' inhabitants on the west side, were completeh' isolated, the Fort Snelling people their nearest neighbors. The residents on Nicollet Island were com¬ pelled to ci'oss on the floating logs in the river, a precarious and dangerovis under¬ taking, of which there was ample proof on the first trial. One of the gentlemen stepf)ing incautiously on a slippery log, it turned over, and in a second he was out of sight under a mass of logs and ice. He was fortunateh' rescued, but be¬ fore he could reach the nearest house his

Social Life In The Young City

The severe cold, with frequent snow storms, conlinned for three weeks, and then began our first experience of the charm of a Minnesota winter. The sun came forth in glorious beauty, and, from just before Christmas till the 17th of February, '51, there was not one wholly cloudy day, and this without melting the snow in the least degree. The air, dry and with no wind, was indescrib¬ ably exhilarating. It was like drinking champagne, and was so healthful and invigorating that even the most delicate women could take out of door exercise with comfort and pleasure. To the active and vigorous, with such a sky overhead, such nectar to breathe, and no slush under foot, walking was sim])l\' blissful.

During January an extraordinary display of parhelia occurred. Four mock suns connected by an arc of light surrounded the sun, all nearly as brill¬ iant as the sun itself, and continued all day for two successive da^'S, and at night the full moon had the same shining attendants. Such ''radiancw of glory " is better imagined than described.

The little old school house, occupied by all denominations in turn, was well filled each Sunday with a kindly, genei'- ous people, unconseious of or indifferent to distinctions of sect or station. Men not 3'et emancipated from the thraldom of silk hats, kid gloves and broadcloth overcoats, found themselves "cheek b}- jowl" with green baize blouses, coon skin caps, buffalo shoes or Indian moc¬ casins; ladies in furs, feathers and vel¬ vets, with woollen shawls, ([ nil ted hoods and knitted mittens, but all sociallv on an equality, with a fine independence

An amusing incident associated with the little school house comes to mind. The desk or ]ndi)it was placed between the two entrances, consecpienth' the seats faced the incoming people. A great stove stood on one side of the pul¬ pit, creating the alternative of baking vou if von sat near it, or of freezing 3'ou if more remote. On one ver}' cold Sunda}' a lad\', clad in fnrs, came in late, finding the only unoccupied seat quite near to the stove, and she almost im¬ mediately o])ened the door, letting in a blast of air of 20° below zero. A chill filled the room in a few moments, when a voung woman walked up the aisle and shut the door. It was soon o]jened again, and as quickl v closed Iw the same 3'oung person. The third time she not onh' closed the door, but braced herself against it, and remained there facing the congregation with the most impertur¬ bable coolness till the end of the service. Even the dignified parson found it diffi¬ cult to preserve his gravit}', when invol¬ untary smiles broke out on eveiw face.

A unique feature of Sunda\' was long lines of clothes hung out to dr\' in al¬ most eveiw 3'ard. For some oecult rea¬ son the time-honored custom of doing the family wash on Monday was changed, and Saturda}' had become the festive dav, hence the Sunday disjilav. The articles were entirely safe from thieves, if there had been anv in town, which there were not, for they were frozen so solidly to the lines that an attenqit to remove them would have resulted in ntter destruction, besides making a rattling that would have awakened Kij) Van Winkle himself

NovemiDer passed and week 63' week New Englanders looked for the an¬ nouncement of their ancient and beloved festival, but even the sacred last Thursdav went by without it, and disma3^ and homesickness filled" all hearts. Our good Governor must have been of Scotch or Dutch pedigi'ee to have overlooked a dutN' of such importance; but at last a hint was given him, a brief proclama¬ tion was forthcoming, and the da3' dulv celebrated. Divine service diftered in no wise from old custom, l)ut when it came to the dinners "what a falling off was there!" Txirkev and goose there were none, and chicken jDie existed onh' in visions of past Tlianksgivings. Pump¬ kins abounded, but alack ! there were neither milk nor eggs to " furnish forth " the pies. Some ingenious housewives made pies of chopped cranberries and pumpkin mixed, but ^vith iudifterent siiccess. However, in spite of these di'awbacks, the feasts were excellent, as well as abundant, as the following menu testifies: Stew of eove 03'sters, "boiled dish," minus the eorned beef, but with the most delicious vegetables ever eaten. Baked pork and beans and cranberries galore, (the largest and finest ever seen, onlv ten shillings per barrel.) For des¬ sert, mince and cranberrv pies, cheese, nuts and coffee.

The St. Charles Hotel was opened in the autumn of '50, and in Januaiw, '51, a great house-warmingpart3wvas given, to which was bidden ever3' man, woman and child in the town. All were feasted with the open-handed hospitalit3' that has ever been a happ}^ eharacteristic of this cit3'. The viands were about the same as on Thanksgiving.

The guests were nearh' all 3'oung people in ga3' spirits, and the noveltv of customs, differing from those of the East, were keenh' enjo3'ed.

or indeed an3' where, and grandparents were almost unknown. There was one dear old grandma, who, in a few months, became great-grandma, but, bless her, she had hardlv a gi'e3" hair in her head, and she was as bright and active as a woman of fort3'.

An Indian scare was an added experi¬ ence of the winter of '51, late in Februar\'. Through the neglect or fraud of the eontractor, the supplies .for the In¬ dians north of here were frozen in down the river, and the most frightful distress was the result - over two liundred In¬ dians frozen and starved to death. The remainder, driven to desperation, threat¬ ened vengeance on all the towns on the river, and much alarm prevailed. But Chief Hole-in-the-Da3', a stauneh friend of the whites, though deeph' incensed bv the wrongs done to his people, kept them in check until he could visit St. Paul and St. Anthoii}'. In response to his appeal generous supplies were sent from both towns, and all danger of hos¬ tilities was averted.

The Indians were alwa3's aljout the town, and were friendh" and sociable in their ]5eculiarh' quiet wa}". The\" would enter houses without the least eeremon3'', going up or down stairs as the whim took them, and, as the3" were absoluteh" noiseless in their movements, the}' often produced alarming surprises. The}' rarely, if ever, stole anything, but they seemed to feel a sort of sly satisfactioxi if their involuntary hosts were frightened by them. I was not a bit afraid of having been from childhood fa¬ miliar with tlie friendly Oneidas and Onoudagas, but it was, to say the least, rather startling, to turn from the stove or table over which I was busy, and find one, two or three Indians standing be¬ fore me, when I had not heard the faint¬ est footfall, or to suddenly encounter them in the cellar, or walking about my bedrooms upstairs, when I thought I was alone in the house. I never could quite fathom their motives for visiting us as the3^ did. The^^ would not speak English, and pretended not to under¬ stand it, but after more experience of "their tricks and their manners," I dis¬ covered that the\' did understand more or less of what was said to them. I do not remember that the men ever made gestures for gifts, but if I offered them something the^' liked thev would ac¬ knowledge it with a nod. If it did not please them, the^' rejected it with the coolest grunt of disgust.

The squaws would sta\' about often till invited to leave, and the\' were less modest in the matter of begging. The3" were no more talkative than their lords, but would put their fingers on anvthing the}' wanted, and take eagerh', with evident pleasure, eveiwthing offered to them, though the\' alwa\'s liked mone\' best. Thev had things to sell, such as bead work, feathers, baskets, etc., and sonretimes after food or clothing had been given them, thev would offer a prett}' basket in return, in the nicest manner, always giving it to a child if one were present.

They seemed to look at A'oung chil¬ dren with fond admiration, and a touch of the little white fingers was almost the only thing that woidd kindle a smile on the grave, dusky faces.

Our 3'ear seemed to be divided into two sessions marked b\' two epochs, viz; when " the river closed," and when "the ice went out." Between these, stretched on the one hand, the bright cold winter, when we were shut out from the rest of the world, and, on the other, the long beautiful summer and autumn, when the " Lan"d-of-the-sk\'- . tinted-water," was one of the loveliest of the earth. Another epoch of almost equal significance was when "the logs came down." The success of "the drive" meant the renewal of business, the circxdation of monev, and the pax'- ment of debts, and was consec[uentl_v a matter of universal interest, and in the spring was a])t to be the prominent topic of conversation. It is interesting now to recall how the river then domi¬ nated the town. It was everything. Ever}' enterjxrise depended for its vital¬ ity on what the river could do for it, what it could bring from the north or from the south - in other words, it was the great artery from which more or less remotely, all the ramifications of busi¬ ness drew their sustenance. It is now fondly interwoven in all the associations of those days.

And it was beautiful in that early time - the one picturesque feature in the fair cpiiet .landscape. Only those who saw it, in its pristine grace and loveli¬ ness, before man had laid his defacing hand iqxon it, can have any conception of its surpassing charm. Aly first view of it from a point among the noble oaks which then crowned Cheever Hill, filled my soul with delight, and imprinted on my memory a radiant and unfading pic¬ ture. On the right hand lay the modest little village of St. Anthony, to the left stretched the broad rolling prairie, now covered by the city, but then fair with unbroken turf and scattered groves. Through the entire middle distance from west to east, flowed the bright river, broad and ])lacid in the background, but abreast of Nicollet Island, which lay like a gleaming emerald upon its bosom, its watei's began to flash and ripple in more and tnore swelling waves till, when Hen¬ nepin, another gem of an island, divided its current, it flung itself over the [)recipice to form, not a sublime cataract, but a broad and most beautiful water-fall, characteristically named by the Indians Alinne-ra-ra, "the Smiling Water,"

About midwa}' on the western side stood Spirit Island, a picturesque mass of rock, crowned b\' trees and luxuriant vines, whose comeliness was destro^'ed two \'ears later by an avalanche of logs which a high freshet carried over the falls, and dashed with crushing violence against its sides. The shallow water curled and murmured about its shore, and then, again united in a broad stream, flowed brightly thence in toss¬ ing, noisy rapids, on its journey to the sea. Under the ra^'s of the descending sun, the upper river shone like burnished silver, while in the rapids the dancing waves sparkled with all the tints of the rainbow.