>uLav X^'-> &tf '#> * 'AS' >. ;* ■ ■ H ^H ■ ,u,y ■ ^^H Tut* t ■ ttK,\>-r ■ ■ H ■ qjbh sBSa «! BSD HMWhji H HI I '«£ HE H MHWWW Wsm nil BBS MBflBBnl EBPffl 58$ ww Glass "T^Ofe Book 'f\j4-< L / i f THE HISTORY OF MfflMSOTi: FEOM THE EAELIEST FRENCH EXPLORATIOIS TO THE PRESENT TIME, BY THE REV. EDWARD DOT FIELD NEILL, PRESIDENT OF MACALESTER COLLEGE; corresponding member op massachusetts historical society; author of "Virginia Company of London," "The English Colonization of America," Founders of Maryland," Etc., Etc., Etc " Nescire quid antea quam natus sis acciolerit, id semper esse puerumj* FOURTH EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED MINNEAPOLIS: MINNESOTA HISTORICAL COMPA: 1882. -/ / PREFATORY NOTE. In the preparation of an enlarged edition of the History of Minnesota, great assistance has been received from material which was not accessible when the earlier editions were published. Two years ago tracings were obtained, from some unpub- lished maps, which more fully exhibit the movements of the first explorers of Minnesota than the published charts of De Tlsle and others, and have led to a modification of some statements, in the former editions. These tracings were loaned to the State Geologist, Prof. Winchell, who considered them of sufficient importance to be engraved for his final report on the geology of Minnesota, and by his courtesy two of the maps appear in this work. Appended to this edition will be found a chapter on the published and unpublished maps of the region west of Lake Superior; additional notices of Groselliers and Radisson, the first white men to visit the Sioux; a memoir of Du Luth; a careful examination of the writings of Hennepin; additional notices of Perrot, and Pierre Le Sueur the explorer of the St. Pierre, now Minnesota River; an abstract of La Hontan's fabulous voyage in midwinter, upon a so - called Long River; an extended account of Fort Beauharnois on the shores of Lake Pepin; the explorations of the Verandries; a sketch of David Thompson, the geographer and astronomer of the North- West Company; large extracts from the manuscripts of Alexander Henry, one of the first English traders in the valley of the Red River of the North ; and a history of Fort Snelling. PREFATORY KOTE. An acknowledgment is due to Alpheus P. Tod, the accom- plished librarian of the Parliament Library of the Dominion of Canada, at Ottawa, for the use of manuscripts; to his court- eous assistant, L. P, Sylvain, for repeated favors; and to the Hon. A. S. Hardy, Secretary of the Province of Ontario, for valuable documents, and access to the unpublished journals of David Thompson. Lyman C. Draper, the Secretary, and D. S. Durrie, the Librarian of the Wisconsin Historical Society, have also aided me by sending valuable works ol that Society which I desired to examine. As the last pages were going through the press, my friend, A. F. Spofford, LL. D., Librarian of Congress, forwarded for my inspection, the first sheets of the fifth volume of the Margry Documents now being printed in Paris. Therein is a letter of the Jesuit Engalran, written at Mackinaw on the 23d of August, 1683, to Lefevre de La Barre, the new Governor of Canada. It mentions that Du Luth, who had returned to Mackinaw from France, went with thirty-one men, about the eighteenth of August, by way of Green Bay, to visit the Pot- towattomies, and express the displeasure of the Governor at their manifestation of ill will toward the French,and their sym- pathy with the Iroquois. He was not long absent from Mack- inaw, and upon his return, again began to make preparations for trading with the Sioux and the tribes north of Lake Supe- rior, as is noted in Appendix C, It is not claimed that this history is free from errors, but an attempt has been made to be fair minded, "nee falsa dicere, nee vera reticere", neither to promulgate falsehood, nor to conceal the truth. If, hereafter, it shall be of any service to one competent to write a better history, a great object of its preparation will have been attained, E. D. N. Salktt Paul, October, 1882. CONTENTS INTRODUCTORY. Physical characteristics, Page xxxi Boundaries of the state, . xxxi Climate of Minnesota, . xxxii Eulogy on climate by Maury, xxxii Report of Minnesota and Pacific Railroad, . . xxxiii Temperature of Minnesota, xxxiii Table illustrative of tempe- rature, . . . . xxxiv Annual temperature equal to Central New York, . xxxv Table showing mean fall of rain and melted snow at various places, . . xxxvi Less snow than on the At- lantic border, . . xxxvii Table showing mean force of wind in winter for sev- eral years, . . . xxxviii Minnesota well watered, . xxxix Cascades of Pigeon river, . xl Falls of Kettle river, . . xl Vermillion Falls, . . xl Minne-ha-ha, . . . xli Falls of St. Anthony, . . xlii Early French maps, . . xlv De l'lsle's maps, . . xlvi Jeffery's map, 1762, . . xlvii Pronunciation of certain Indian names, . . xlviii Census of Minnesota, 1857, xlix Rev. Albert Barnes' de- scription of Minnesota scenery, .... 1 Meaning of the word Min- nesota, .... li Dahkotah used in place of Sioux li Dahkotahs, a distinct group, Language difficult, . Mille Lac region, . Dahkotah, its signification, Origin of term Sioux, Divisions of the Dahkotahs, M'dewakantonwans, CHAPTER I. 49 Yanktons, . 52 49 Teetwawns, . 52 50 Assineboines, 52 50 Revolt of the Assineboines, 53 51 Religious characteristics, . 54 51 No idea of a Supreme Being, 54 52 Oanktayhee, . 55 (7) Till CONTENTS. Hayok&h, Takushkankan, Wahkeenyan, Thunder Nest, 56 57 58 58 Poem on Thunder Bird, . . 59 Sun worship, .... 60 Offerings to stones, . . 60 CHAPTER II. Dahkotahs priestridden, . 61 Maternal affection, . 70 Sacred men, . 61 Lament over an infant, . 71 Sacred or medicine dance, 62 Mode of obtaining wives, 72 Initiation as a sacred man, 62 Custom of son-in-law, 72 Ceremonies, . 63 Penalty for adultery, 73 Sacred song, . 64 The woodpecker charm, . 73 Medicine sack, 64 Love of dress, 73 Dahkotah doctors, . 65 Games, plum stones, 74 Vapour bath, . 65 Ball play, 74 Hennepin steamed, 65 Ball play at Oak Grove, 75 Medicine man, signification, . 66 Dog dance, 76 Cause of disease, . 66 Fish dance, . 76 Manner of calling a doctor, 67 Cormorant dance, . 77 Mode of medical practice, 67 Secret clubs, . 77 Fondness for war, . 68 Crow Feather in Cap Club, 78 Vows of a young warrior, 68 Strong Heart Club, 78 The return of a war party, 69 Uncleanness, . 79 Scalp, its preparation, 69 Dog meat, a delicacy, . 80 Scalp dance, . 69 Irregular mode of life, . .. 81 Feathers, signs of prowess, 69 CT [APTER III. Dahkotah women, . . 82 Schiller's poem, 89 Hardships of women, . 82 Translations of Bulwer and I Husbands cruel, . 83 Herschell, . 89 Disposition to be suicides, . 84 Legends, 90 Disguised girl, . 84 Eagle-Eye and Scarlet Dove, 90 Chiefs, no authority, 85 Anpetusapa, . 91 Absence of law, 85 Weenonah, 93 Names of months, . . 86 Hogan-wanke-kin, St. Crois Moon eaten by mice, . 87 River, 94 Looking-glass, . 87 Language of Dahkotahs, 95 Peculiar views, . 87 Hennepin collecting a vocabu Belief in relation to future, . 87 lary, .... 95 Burial ceremonies', . . 88 Riggs's Lexicon, . 96 Death song, . . 89 Dahkotah Alphabet, . 97 CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER IV. Source of St. Lawrence in Min- Hurons at La Pointe, . 106 nesota, .... 99 Guerin, Menard's companion, 106 Cartier discovers the mouth, . 99 Menard lost, . . 107 Champlain in Huron country, 99 Allouez succeeds Menard, . 107 Nicolet, in Wisconsin, 100 Arrives at La Pointe, 108 Le Jeune's mention of Dahko- Grand Council, 108 tahs, 101 Allouez meets Dahkotahs, 109 Jogues and Raymbault at Sault First mention of the " Mes St. Marie, .... 101 sipi" .... 110 Traders west of Lake Superior, 102 Description of Dahkotahs, 110 Garreau and Dreuilletes, 102 Marquette succeeds Allouez, 111 Puritan Eliot, 102 His opinion of the Dahkotahs 111 Two traders visit Dahkotahs, . 103 Number of Dahkotah villages 112 Their description, . 103 La Pointe Mission abandoned 113 Grosellier, .... 103 Dahkotahs killed at Sault St Murder of Garreau, 104 Marie, 113 Rene Menard, 104 Ojibways intermarry with Dah- His farewell letter, 104 kotahs, 113 Arrival in Lake Superior, 105 CHAPTER V. Fur trade Fascination of the business . Licenses granted to old officers, r Clerks Voyageurs, .... Careless and hardy class, Fondness for the frontier, Complaints against coureurs des bois, .... Meaning of the expression, . Number of annual licenses, . Profits of the trade, Nicholas Perrot, 115 Perrot a Canadian, . .119 115 Visits tribes of Lake Michigan, 120 115 Council at Sault St. Marie, . 120 115 French take possession of 116 North-west, . . .121 116 Trading post at head of Lake 117 Superior, .... 121 Du Luth visits Minnesota, . 122 117 Intendant of Canada dis- 117 pleased, . . . .122 118 Mille Lac called Lake Buade, 122 119 Perrot's account attracts La 119 Salle, 123, CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. La Salle at Kingston, Louis Hennepin, His early life, Not a Jesuit, . Embarks for Canada, At the Falls of Niagara Visits Albany, La Salle launches the Griffin, He builds Fort Crevecoeur, Sends Hennepin to Upper Mis- sissippi, Hennepin seized by the Dahko tahs, .... Indians astonished at prayer book, .... First mention of a Dahkotah word, .... Hennepin at Lake Pepin, Old mode of kindling fire, Indians land near St. Paul Journey to Mille Lac, Hennepin's robe, . Sweating cabin, Astonishment at mariner's compass, . . The mystery of an iron pot, Amazement at writing, . 124 Ridicule of the Indians, . 124 First infant baptism in Minne- 124 nesota, .... 125 Arrival of distant Indians, 125 Hope of a Northern Pacific route, 126 Hennepin's falsehoods, . 126 List of editions of his travels, 127 Calliere's opinion of Hennepin, 127 Louis XIV. orders his arrest, Hennepin in Italy, 127 DuLuth,discoverer of Mille Lac Du Luth in France, 128 Du Luth at Mackinaw, . Perrot near the mouth of Wis 129 consin, Droll strategy of Dahkotahs, 129 Miamies bring lead, 130 Du Luth and Perrot obtain 130 allies for Iroquois war, 131 Louis XIV. censures Du Luth 131 Du Luth at a post above De 131 troit, .... 132 Du Luth and Tonty at Detroit, Du Luth captures Englishmen, 132 Du Luth in New York, . 132 Afflicted with gout, 133 Notice of his death, 133 134 134 135 135 136 137 137 137 138 138 138 13a 139 139 139 140 140 141 141 141 142 142 CHAPTER VII. Formal occupation of Minne- sota, First official document, . Boisguillot at the Wisconsin, Mantantons First French post in Minnesota, Frontenac's opposition to Je- suits, Perrot visits Montreal, . Grand feast of Frontenac, Frontenac sings the war song, 147 143 Long-expected furs, 147 143 Le Sueur at La Pointe, . 148 144 Second post in Minnesota, 148 144 First Dahkotah in Montreal, . 148 145 Ojibway chief from La Pointe, 148 His speech, .... 149 145 Dahkotah's speech, 149 146 Dahkotah woman iu Montreal, isa 146 Dahkotah chief dies, 151 CONTENTS. xi Le Sueur goes to France, Perrot about to be burned, Le Sueur's mining project, 151 Louis XIV. revokes his license, 151 Le Sueur's second visit to 152 France 153 153 CHAPTER VIII. D'Iberville Governor of Lour Dahkotahs sue for favour, siana, . 154 Canoes filled with blue earth, 165 Relative of Le Sueur, 154 Mantantons visit the post, 165 Le Sueur arrives with miners, 154 M'dewakantons at Mille Lac, 165 Ascends the Mississippi, 154 Assineboines, 166 Marest's letter to Le Sueur, 154 Ioways and Ottoes moving- Le Sueur meets Dahkotah war- west, 166 riors, 155 Dahkotahs mourn the death of At the mines near Galena, 155 Tioscate, .... 167 Canadians attacked by "Wis Le Sueur makes presents, 168 consin Indians, . 156 Cultivation of the earth pro- Le Sueur at mouth of Wiscon posed, .... 168 sin, 156 Mantantons give a feast, 168 War party returning fron: L M'dewakantons at the post, . 169 Minnesota, . . 157 Catalogue of Dahkotah vil- Le Sueur at Chippeway river 158 lages, .... 170 Lake Pepin, . 159 Le Sueur returns to Gulf of Cannon river, . 159 Mexico, .... 171 La Place, a deserter, killed b} r Acccompanies D'Iberville to Dahkotahs, 160 France, .... 171 Denis, Canadian voyageur, . 160 D'Iberville's manuscript, 171 St. Croix river named after s i State of the tribes, 172 Frenchman, 161 Census of Indians, Mississip- River St. Pierre entered, 161 pi valley, 173 Blue Earth river, . . 162 Frenchmen should not follow Post established, . 162 Indians, .... 173 Dahkotahs desire a post neai Canada and Louisiana govern- Mendota, 162 ments, .... 174 Dahkotahs described, 163 Workmen leave Mahkahto, 175 Fort L'Huillier finished, 164 Le Sueur's death, . 175 164 CHAPTER IX. Westward tendency of Dahko- Sauks and Foxes defeated by tahs, 176 Dahkotahs and Ioways, . 176 Sauk and Fox hostility to Language of the Foxes, not French, . . . .176 Algonquin, . . 176 Foxes attack Detroit, Their repulse, Defeat near Lake St. Clair, . Louvigny invades the Fox country, .... Foxes break their treaty, Licenses to traders renewed, . Prediction of English mastery, Captain St. Pierre sent to La Pointe, .... De Lignery concludes peace with Foxes, Peace between Ojibways and Dahkotahs, .... La Pointe Ojibways at Mon- treal, . . Foxes again faithless, Lake Pepin re-occupied by French, .... Importance of the post urged, DeLignery's expedition against Foxes, .... Foxes leave their country, CONTENTS. 177 Father Guignas captured, 186 177 Returns to Lake Pepin, . 186 178 Establishment at Lake Ouini- pigori, ^ ... 186 178 Veranderie discovers Lake 179 Winnipeg, .... 187 179 Alleged pillars of stone, 187 179 Aiton's letter on stone heaps, 187 Stone heaps near Red Wing, . 188 180 Dahkotahs attack Veranderie, Extermination of Foxes deter- 189 180 mined, .... Moran, captain of the expedi- * 189 181 tion, 189 Moran's strategy, . 190 181 Final defeat of the Foxes, 190 182 De Lusignan visits Dahkotahs, Coureurs des bois refuse to re- 191 183 turn, 191 184 Trading-post burned, 191 St. Pierre at Mackinaw, 191 185 His character, 191 186 Escape of Indian prisoners, . 192 CHAPTER X. Canada and English colonies at war 193 French enlist savages, . . 193 Le Due robbed at Lake Supe- rior, 194 La Ronde, officer at La Pointe, 194 Veranderie at Fond du Lac, . 194 Marin at Green Bay, . . 194 List of Upp^r Indian allies, . 194 St. Pierre in the state of Penn- sylvania, . . . .195 Beaujeu and De Lignery at Fort Duquesne, . . . 195 Beaujeu killed while attack- ing Braddock, . . . 195 St. Pierre killed at Lake Cham- plain, 195 Langlade of Wisconsin, at Ti- conderoga, . Ioways and Ojibways at Ticon deroga, List of Upper Indians, . Rogers and Jonathan Carver at Fort George, . Rogers's amusing note, . Ojibways returning, die of small-pox, . French deliver up their posts English troops at Green Bay, Dahkotahs visit, and make peace, .... Penneshaw a French trader His influence with Dahkotahs Friendly to the English, 196 197 197 198 198 199 199 199 199 199 200 200 CONTENTS. xiii CHAPTER XL Indians partial to French tra- ders, 201 ^Jonathan Carver's early life, . 202 At Fort William Henry, . .202 Visits Mackinaw, . . . 202 Arrives at Green Bay, . . 202 Carver's description of Prairie du Chien, . . . .203 Artificial earth works, . . 203 Lake Pepin, . . . .206 Nehogatawonahs, Mawtaw- bauntowahs, Shashweento- wahs, 206 Carver's Cave in suburb of St. Paul, 207 Indian burial place, . . 207 Minnesota river, . . . 208 Falls of St. Anthony in 1766, 208 Mound near St. Paul opened, . 208 Exploration of Carver's Cave, 208 Dahkotahs at Carver's Cave, . 210 Speech over dead chief, . . 211 Versification, by Schiller, . 212 Sir Wm. Johnson in relation to Ojibways, . . . 212 Rogers makes a treaty with Dahkotahs and Ojibways, . 213 Prediction of speedy route to New York, .... 213 Carver's Pacific route, . . 214 Supposed origin of Dahkotahs, 214 Analogies of language, . . 215 Carver's death, . . . 215 Claim of his heirs, . . . 215 Marriage of Carver's daughter, 216 Alleged deed given at Cave near St. Paul, . . .216 Agent of Carver's heirs mur- dered, ... .216 Rev. Samuel Peters purchases Carver claim, . . . 217 Testimony before Senate com- mittee, . . . .217 General Leavenworth's letter, 218 Indians do not recognise the grant, . . . .218 Frenchmen cut timber on Chip- peway, .... 219 Report of Senate committee in 1823, 219 British government prohibited grants, . . . .220 Lord Palmerston finds no pa- pers about the grant, . . 221 CHAPTER XII. Dahkotahs formerly at Leech Lake, . Driven from Sandy Lake, Fight at mouth of Crow Wing, \ Pillagers, origin of name, Battle of Falls of St. Croix r . Foxes and Dahkotahs defeated, English trader killed by Dah- kotahs, .... Murder near Mendota, . British withdraw their trade, Wapashaw, .... 226 222 Determines to visit Quebec, . 227 222 Delivers himself, . . .227 222 Winters in Canada, . . 227 223 Wapashaw dies an exile, . 228 223 Depeyster commands Mack- 224 inaw, 228 Wapashaw visits him, . . 228 225 Song for Wapashaw, . . 228 225 Troop leaves Mackinaw, . 229 226 Langlade at Prairie du Chien, 229 xiv CONTENTS. Wapashaw at Prairie du Chien, Winters at Pine river, . 234 1780, . . . . 230 Kay stabbed by an Indian, 235 Speech to the Foxes, 230 Perrault and Harris at Leech Peltries taken by British to Lake, .... 236 Mackinaw, 230 Dubuque at Prairie du Chien, 236 M'dewakantonwans in one The lead mines of Dubuque, 236 band, ...... 231 Renville, Grignon, and Dick- Penneshaw's village, 231 son, .... 236 History of North-west Com- Perlier falls in love on the St. pany, 231 Croix, 237 Clerks, 232 North-west Company build al Pork Eaters, .... 232 Sandy Lake, 23& Winterers, .... 232 British do not surrender posts 238 Kay in Minnesota, 233 Jay's treaty, . 239 Kay intoxicated, 233 CHAPTER XIII. Indiana organized, Louisiana transferred, . Territory of Upper Louisiana, Territory of Michigan, . First United States officer in Minnesota, .... Pike's expedition, . Pike at Kaposia, J. B. Faribault, sketch of Sketch of Fisher, the trader, Pike's council on island, Articles of treaty, . Pike's speech to Dahkotahs, . Flag lost, .... Portage at Falls of St. An- thony, .... Sergeant breaks a blood-vessel, Pike's block house, Complaints against Dickson, . Dickson visits Pike, Ascent of the Mississippi, Sled falls into the river, Baggage wet, Ignorance and inattention of voyageurs, .... Ojibway encampment 240 Pike's indignation at British 240 flag, 255 241 Tent on fire, .... 256 241 Sandy Lake, .... North-west Company's post at 256 241 Sandy Lake described, 257 241 Arrival from Fond du Lac, .. 258 242 Leech Lake, .... 259 242 North-west Company's post, . 259 242 American flag hoisted, . 259 243 English flag lowered, 260 243 Council with Ojibway s, . 260 244 Pike at Red Cedar Lake, 261 248 Shabby actions of Pike's ser- geant, .... 262 248 Peculiar hospitality, 265 249 Arrival at mouth of Minnesota, 266 249 Carver's Cave not found, 267 250 Conference with Little Crow, 268 251 Pike at Red Wing, 269 252 The murderer, Roman Nose, . 270 253 Pike ascends the Barn blufF, . 271 253 Pike visits Wapashaw, . 272 Pike at Prairie du Chien, 273 254 Ball play, .... 274 254 Red Thunder, Yankton chief, 275 CONTENTS. CHAPTEK XIV. Traders disregards Pike's in- Zachary Taylor retreats from structions, .... 276 Rock Island, 286 Cameron, principal trader, 276 Daring of Paul Harpole, 286 His grave, .... 276 One-eyed Sioux, 286 Milor, old voyageur, 276 Dickson imprisons him, . 287 His perilous journey, 277 British evacuate Prairie du Indians combine against Uni- Chien, .... 287 ted States, .... 278 Sketch of one-eyed Sioux, 288 Nicholas Jarrot, 278 Dickson at Lake Traverse, 287 Messengers from Tecumseh, . 279 Prejudice against Selkirk, 290 Dickson, his character and in- O'Fallon's letter, . 290 fluence, .... 279 Dickson's character misrepre- Dickson a British partisan, 280 sented, .... 291 Mackinaw surprised, 280 Ramsay Crooks on Dickson, . 291 Rolette and Langlade present, 280 Wapashaw and Little Crow Kaposia and Wapashaw bands visit British, 292 at Fort Meigs, 281 Treaty of Portage des Sioux, 293 Refuse to eat an American, . 282 Astor organizes a fur com- Americans fortify Prairie du pany, 293 Chien, .... 283 History of Astor's company, . 293 Site of Fort Shelby, 283 Lockwood trader in Minnesota, 294 British attack the fort, . 284 Indian trade in 1816, 294 Joseph Rolette, British guide, 284 First grist-mill above Prairie Americans capitulate, 285 du Chien, .... 298 Americans attacked near Rock Saw-mill on Black river, 298 Island, .... 285 Spartan conflict of Ojibways, 298 Fort Shelby called McKay, . 285 CHAPTER XV. Red River difficulties, Early posts on the northern border, Formation of North-west Com pany, .... Earl of Selkirk's project, Selkirk's grant described, Pioneers of Selkirk colony, Winter at Pembina, Colony augmented, Tbe North-west Company op pose, .... 300 Duncan Cameron, . . . 305 Selkirk storehouse broken 300 open, 306 First Selkirk emigrants Pres- 301 byterians, . . . .306 301 Colonists driven away, . . 307 302 Return to Red river, . . 308 303 Earl of Selkirk comes to 303 America, . . . .308 304 Messenger to Red river robbed, 309 Governor Semple attacked, . 310 305 Massacre of his party, . .311 XY1 Selkirk settlers again exiled, . Owen Keveny seized, His murder, .... His trunks opened and papers read, Earl of Selkirk seizes Fort William John Tanner discovered, Sketch of Tanner, . Selkirk's interest in Tanner, . 312 Sufferings at Pembina, 1817, 312 1818, . . . 315 313 Grasshopper invasion, . 316 Complete devastation, 31& 313 Mackinaw boats from Prairie du Chien to Pembina, 317 314 Selkirk's agent visits Switzer- 314 land, 31& 314 Compromise of Hudson Bay 315 and North-west Company, . zm CHAPTER XVI. United States fortify the North- west, Orders to proceed to Mendota, Crawford county, Wisconsin, organized, .... Colonel Leavenworth ascends Primitive mode of living, Troops move to Camp Cold- water, .... Lumber cut on Rum river, Cass expedition, Negro and Indian offspring, . Arrival of Cass at Sandy Lake, At Upper Red Cedar Lake, . This lake the supposed source of Mississippi, . Emaciated and suffering voy- ageur, .... Buffalo hunt above Elk river, Cass at Fort Snelling, . Description of Little Crow, . Red Wing and Wapashaw in 1820, . . Colonel Snelling met by Cass, First infant of European pa- rents, .... Wanata hostile, Chief offers himself as a substi- 319 tute for son, . . . 32a 319 Solemnity of surrender, . 329= Saw-mill in Chippeway valley, 330 320 Columbia Fur Company form- ed, 330 320 Names of partners, . . 330 320 Mill at Minneapolis, . . 331 J. R. Brown visits Minne 321 Tonka, .... 331 322 Family of Hess murdered, . 332 322 Rescue of a daughter, . . 332 322 Swiss come to United States, 323 from Red river, . . . 333 323 First steamboat above Rock Island, .... 334 323 Passengers on board, . . 334 Grand illumination, . . 335 324 Arrival of steamboat at Men- 324 dota, 336 325 Astonishment of natives, . 336 326 Reminiscences of Taliaferro, . 337 Origin of name Lake Calhoun 327 and Harriet, . . .338 327 Flat Mouth at Fort Snelling, . 339' Penneshaw's mother kills Ojib- 327 way girl 340^ 328 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVII. Major Long's expedition to Red river, .... 341 Arrival at Fort Snelling, . 341 Renville, interpreter, . . 342 J. Snelling, assistant, . . 342 Beltrami, Italian refugee, . 342 Arrival at Big Stone Lake, . 342 Wanata's appearance and cha- racter, .... 343 Wanata's vow to the Sun, . 344 Cuttings of the flesh, . . 344 Wanata feasts Long and party, 346 Dog meat presented, . . 347 Origin of word Pembina, . 348 Boundary line at that point fixed, 348 Tanner wounded by an Indian, 349 Beltrami separates from Major Long, 349 Returns by way of Red Lake, 350 Beltrami's characteristics, . 350 Beltrami deserted by his guides, 353 Awkward attempt at paddling, 354 The difficulties of travel, . 355 Indians' astonishment at um- brella, . . . .357 Ludicrous appearance of Bel- trami, .... 357 Fear of the Dahkotahs, . . 358 Beltrami at Red Lake, . . 359 Dogs tear his clothing, . . 360 Ojibways mourn the loss of a brave, . . . .361 Half-breed hut described, . 362 Notice of Red river, . . 363 Topography of Red Lake, . 364 Theory of old geographers in relation to what constitutes the sources of a stream, . 366 Beltrami leaves Red Lake, . 367 Table land of North America, 368 Beltrami discoverer of northern source of Mississippi, . 36$ Beautiful description, . . 370 Indian stories unreliable, . 371 Beltrami suggests western source of Mississippi, . 371 Leech Lake described, . . 372 Interview of the Italian with Pillagers, . . . .373 Pike makes Leech Lake source of Mississippi, . . . 374 Beltrami's tribute to Pike, . 375 William Morrison's letter, . 375 Morrison at Leech Lake, 1802, 375 Morrison at Lake Itasca, 1804, 376 Wintered there in 1811-12, . 375 Beltrami at Sandy Lake, . 377 Government mill, . . . 378 Beltrami returns to Fort Snel- ling, 379 Cordial reception, . . . 380 Accuracy of Beltrami's map, . 380 Underrated by Long and Keat- ing, 380 Findlay and party killed at Lake Pepin, . . .381 Degraded state of traders and Indians, .... 382 Traders among Dahkotahs, 1825-26 382 CHAPTER XVIII. Prairie du Chien treaty of Boundary fixed between Dah- 1825, 383 kotahs and Ojibways, . . 383 2 CONTENTS. Fond du Lac treaty, 1826, Commissioners Cass and Mc- Kenney, .... Aged woman scalped when a girl, Woman in council, Agreement to deliver up mur- derers, .... Cass orders a canoe, Building of birch bark canoe, Murderers surrender them- selves, .... Severe snow storm, 1825, Famine, Freshet in Ked River valley, . Swiss emigrants home-sick, . Swiss move to vicinity of St. Paul, Swiss, the first farmers in Min- nesota, .... Ojibways at Fort Snelling,1826, Slaughtered by the Dahkotahs, Ojibway revenge, . 384 Dahkotah coward, . . .393 Troops removed from Prairie 384 du Chien, . . . .394 Methode and family killed, . 394 385 Red Bird at Prairie du Chien, 395 385 Attempts to kill Mrs. Lock- wood, 395 386 Murders the Gagnier family, . 395 386 Dahkotahs unruly, . . 396 387 Winn ebagoes attack keel-boats, 396 The father's wail, . . .397 387 Fort Crawford put in a state 388 of defence, . . . .397 388 Cass at Buttes des Morts, . 397 389 Soldiers march from Green 389 Bay, 398 General Atkinson starts for the 390 scene, .... 398 Red Bird described, . . 398 390 His dress, . . . .399 391 The surrender, . . .399 391 Death in prison, . . .399 392 CHAPTER XIX. Prairie du Chien treaty, 1830, 400 Half-breed tract of Lake Pe- pin, 400 Attempt to erect a mill, . . 400 Holmes builds a mill on Chip- pewa river, . . . 401 Schoolcraft visits Ojibways in 1831, 401 Snake river chief, . . . 402 Schoolcraft's expedition of 1832, 403 Associates of Schoolcraft, . 403 Child of Rev. S. Hall, first child of pure European stock on Lake Superior, . . 404 Portage of St. Louis river, . 404 Strength of Indian women, . 404 Dahkotah scalp at Cass Lake, 405 Grand scalp dance, . . 406 Indian burial place, . . 406 Elk or Itasca Lake, . . 407 Lieut. Allen surveys and makes a map, .... 407 Allen's canoe upsets, . . 408 Flat Mouth's lodge at Leech Lake, 408 Vaccination of Indians, . 409 Beautiful country, . . . 409 Good soil 410 Falls of St. Anthony, . . 410 Schoolcraft talks with Dahko- tahs, 411 Haste of Schoolcraft, . .411 Hostile intentions of Black Hawk 412 Dahkotahs, allies of United States, . . . .412 CONTENTS. Black Hawk routed by Dodge, Battle of Bad Axe, General Z. Taylor present, Preservation of Indian babe, . Black Hawk surrenders, Alleged speech of that chief, . First land mail to Fort Snel- ling, .... Traders in Minnesota, 1833-34, Missouri Territory attached to Michigan, .... Wisconsin Territory organized, Iowa organized, George Catlin, the artist, Featherstonhaugh, geologist, . Nicollet, the astronomer, 412 Nicollet's early life, . . 417 413 Arrival in Minnesota, . . 417 413 Pillagers molest Nicollet, . 418 414 Rev. Mr. Boutwell assists him,. 418 414 Nicollet visits Itasca Lake, . 418 414 Surveys the sources of Itasca, 418 Explorations beyond Sehool- 415 craft, 419 415 Devotion to science, . . 419 Nicollet's second tour, . . 419 416 J. C. Fremont, his assistant, . 419 416 Valuable map, ... 420 416 Leech Lake Ojibways kill a 416 trader, . . . .421 416 Sibley's tribute to Nicollet, . 421 417 CHAPTER XX. History of missions, Frontispiece of La Hontan's travels, .... Savages no regard for law, Youth trained to war, Error in the teachings of Mar- quette, .... Rev. Dr. Morse visits Macki- naw, . Rev. Mr. Ferry opens mission school, .... On manual labour principle, . Warren trader at La Pointe, . Introduction of missionaries by him, .... Rev. Sherman Hall, Mr. Frederic Ayer, Mode of travel through Lake Superior, .... Rev. S. Hall's arrival at La Pointe, .... Aitkin requests a school at Sandy Lake, Hall's tour to Oakes' trading post, 422 Mode of carrying goods at a portage, .... 429 422 Mr. Ayer arrives at Yellow 422 Lake, • 431 423 Rev. W. T. Boutwell at Leech Lake, 432 423 First mission in Minnesota west of Mississippi, . . . 432 424 E. F. Ely, teacher at Sandy Lake, . . . .432 424 Indian children in missionary's 424 lap, 433 425 Indians laugh at missionary, . 434 Number and locality of Leech 425 Lake Indians, . . . 435 425 Fish of the Lake, . . .436 425 Wild rice, .... 436 Soil around the lake, . . 436 426 Danger of gifts to the Indians, 437 Polygamy common, . . 438 427 Mr. Boutwell married, . . 439 Primitive mode of life, . . 440 428 Jesuits did not stay with Dah- kotahs, .... 441 428 S. W. Pond, .... 441 XX CONTENTS. G. H. Pond, . . . .441 First to labour for the welfare of Dahkotahs, . . . 441 Rev. T. S. Williamson, M. D., 442 Arrives at Fort Snelling, May, 1835, 442 First church and communion in Minnesota, . . . 443 Indian mode of gathering corn, 443 Fondness of Dahkotahs for meat, 444 Rev. J. D. Stevens preaches at Fort Snelling, . . . 44& Indian mourning at Lake Har- riet, 445 Mourners cut their flesh, . 446 Church at Fort Snelling, . 446 Indian school at Lake Harriet, 447 Presbyterian church, Lac qui Parle, 447 Rev. S. R. Riggs joins the mis- sion, 447 CHAPTER XXI. Buffaloes unknown in Lower G. H. Pond buries slaughtered Canada, .... 448 Dahkotahs, 455 Rumour in relation to lions' Ojibways chase lumbermen, . 456 skins, . . . . 448 First steamboat in the St. Marquette's description of the Croix, .... 456 buffalo, .... 448 Ratification of treaty of 1837, 456 First engraving of the buffalo, 449 Marine mills, 456 Hudson Bay Co. buffalo hunters, 449 Dahkotah killed at Lake Har- Carts of the half-breeds, 449 riet, 457 1 Hunters' camp described, 450 Battles of Rum river and 1 Rules of the camp, 450 Stillwater, .... 457 1 Great buffalo hunt in Minne- Settlers on Fort Snelling re- 1 sota, 450 serve, .... 458 1 Last buffalo east of Mississippi, 451 Forcible ejection, . 459 1 Pemmican, .... 451 Death of Arctic explorer in 1 Dickson's proposed invasion, . .452 Minnesota, 460 1 McLeod and Bottineau's peri- Supposed insanity, 461 1 lous journey, 452 J. R. Brown makes a claim 1 Swiss missionaries at Red near Stillwater, . 462 1 Wing, .... 452 St. Croix county, . 463 1 Methodist mission at Kaposia, 452 Lake Pokeguma, . 463 1 Treaty of 1837 with Ojibways, 453 Mission at Pokeguma, . 464 1 Dahkotah treaty of 1837, 453 Pleasing prospect, . 464 1 Faribault's claim to Pike Little Crow's son killed at I Island, .... 453 Falls of St. Croix, 465 1 Baker, Taylor, and Steele at Battle of Lake Pokeguma, 466 1 Falls of St. Croix, 453 Daring feat, .... 467 1 Visit of Captain Maryatt, 453 Scene after the fight, 468 1 Small-pox among Dahkotahs, 454 Christian burial, 468 1 CONTENTS. Ojibway attack below St. Paul, Mr. Ayer visits Red Lake, Governor Doty makes treaties with Dahkotahs, . Stillwater commenced, . Captain Allen's tour to Big Sioux, .... Mill at Little Canada, . Drovers lose their way, . Captain Sumner and dragoons visjt Red River, Murderer of one of the drovers arrested, .... Death of Joseph Renville, Sketch of Renville, One-eyed whiskey-seller, Residence at St. Paul, . His shanty called Pig's Eye, . Henry Jackson settles at St. Paul, 469 Roberts and J. W. Simpson, . 480 470 Little Crow requests a mission- ary, 480 470 Dr. Williamson comes to Ka- 471 posia, . . . .480 Procures a teacher for St. Paul, 481 472 Miss H. E. Bishop, . . 482 472 First school-room in St. Paul, 482 472 First court in St. Croix county, Wisconsin 483 472 Rev. Mr. Boutwell moves near Stillwater, . . . .483 473 H. M. Rice selects a new home, 474 for Winnebagoes, . . 483 474 Winnebago removal, . . 484 475 Halt at Wapashaw, . . 484 476 Excitement, . . . .485 478 Battle array, . • .486 Winnebagoes arrive at Watab, 487 479 CHAPTER XXII. Act for Wisconsin to form a constitution, . . . 488 Bill for organization of Minne- sota, 1846, ." . . .488 Sioux and Red River of North, proposed boundary, . 488 Wisconsin desires to extend to Rum river, .... 488 Remonstrance of citizens of St. Croix, . . . .489 Wisconsin admitted into the Union 490 Debate on the name of Minne- sota Territory, . . . 490 Discussion on territorial organ- ization, .... 490 First meeting in St. Paul, . 490 Public meeting at Stillwater, . 490 Catlin's letter to Holcombe, . 491 Catlin resides at Stillwater, . 492 The delegate from Wisconsin resigns, .... 492 H. H. Sibley elected successor, 492 Minnesota Territory created, March 3, 1849, . . .492 Boundaries of territory, . 492 Sparse settlements, . . 493 St. Paul in 1849, . . .494 Steamer brings news of the ex- istence of Minnesota Terri- tory, ..... 494 Joyful demonstrations, . . 494 Goodhue arrives with press, . 494 Governor Ramsey and family arrive, .... 495 List of early citizens at the capital, .... 495 First newspaper, . . . 495 Sketch of Governor Ramsey, . 496 Anna Earl Ramsey, . . 497 xxn CONTENTS. Sketch of Governor Sibley, . Notice of Mrs. Sibley, . Sketch of H. M. Rice, U. S. Senator, .... Notice of Mrs. Rice, Franklin Steele, Notice of Mrs. Steele, . Fish dance at Kaposia, . Proclamation of Governor Ram- sey, organizing the terri- tory, . C. K. Smith, . A. Goodrich, . D. Cooper, B. B. Meeker, J. L. Taylor, . H. L. Moss, . Temporary judicial districts, . Major Wood's expedition to Pembina, .... Governor Ramsey commences housekeeping at St. Paul, . H. M. Rice and family remove to St. Paul, Fourth of July at St. Paul, . First census, ... Recognition and death of a young chief, . Indian fight in Cheyenne val- ley, . . . Tipsinna or Dahkotah turnip, H. M. Rice transports goods by horse-boats, . First election, A. M. Mitchell, U. S. Marshal, Vote at first election, Newspapers, when established, Old printing press, Court at Stillwater, 497 Court at Minneapolis, . . 509 498 Court at Mendota, . . . 509 Temperance reform among 498 Dahkotahs, . . . 510 500 Session of first legislature, . 511 500 Names, age, and nativity of 501 members, . . . .511 501 Officers of first legislature, . 511 Governor Ramsey's message, . 512 Funeral of child of a member 502 of legislature, . . .512 502 Counties formed, . . . 513 502 Resolution in relation to pipe 502 stone slab, . . . .513 502 Sibley's letter on red pipe 502 stone, 514 502 History of Pipe Stone Quarry, 514 503 Nicollet's description of red pipe stone, .... 515 503 Allusions to pipe stone in Hia- watha, . . . .515 504 Territorial seal described, . 516 Captain and Mrs. Eastman, . 516 504 Poem by Mrs. Eastman, . 517 504 Ramsey and Chambers, com- 504 missioners to treat with In- dians, 518 505 The project unsuccessful, . 518 Organization of Democratic 506 party, 518 506 Death of David Lambert, . 519 Notice of D. Lambert, . .519 507 Meeting in behalf of public 507 schools 520 507 Names of first school teachers, 520 507 County elections, . . . 520 508 St. Anthony Library Associa- 508 ciation, . . . .521 509 CHAPTER XXIII. Historical Society, . . . 522 Carrier Boys' Address, Jan. First public meeting of His- 1, 1850, . • . . .523 iorical Society, . . . 522 Marriage at Fort Snelling, , 523 CONTENTS. Road by land to Prairie du Chien opened, First trial for murder, . Apple river battle, Scalp dance in Stillwater, Captive boy sent back by Gov. Ramsey, .... High water in 1850, ' Hole-in-the-Day" scalps near St. Paul, . First Presbyterian church burned, .... Indian council at Fort Snelling, Description of council ground, Speech of Governor Ramsey, . Dahkotah rudeness, Ojibway gallantry, . Ojibways visit St. Paul, . Navigation on Minnesota be- gun Trip of the Yankee, Steamer at Traverse des Sioux, Passengers on steamer, . Steamer at Blue Earth, . Supposed buffaloes, . . 537 524 Mosquitoes, .... 537 525 Ice fails on board the boat, . 538 526 Uncomfortable night, . .538 526 Return of steamer, . . .538 Traverse des Sioux in 1850, . 539 526 Shokpay's village, . . . 540 527 The ministry needed for the West, 541 527 Election in September, . . 542 Sibley and Mitchell candidates, 543 528 Sibley elected delegate to Con- 528 gress 543 529 Official vote, .... 543 530 Miss Bremer visits St. Paul, . 543 533 Fredrika Bremer's sketch of 533 the capital, . . . 543 534 The Dahkotah Friend pub- lished, . . / . . 544 534 D. A. Robertson, . . .544 534 Minnesota Democrat com- 535 menced, .... 544 536 C. J. Henniss, editor, . . 545 537 First Thanksgiving Day, . 545 CHAPTER XXIV. Legislature of 1851, Age and birth-place of mem- bers of the legislature, Editor stabbed, Bitter party feeling, University of Minnesota, Apportionment bill, Members resign their seats, . Sufferings of Ojibways, . Mortality at Sandy Lake, Hole-in-the-Day addresses le- gislature, .... Alleged cannibalism, Debate on school lands at Washington, Remarks of Stevens, of Penn- sylvania, .... 546 Sibley's reply, . . .555 Chronicle and Register sus- 546 pended, .... 555 547 Murder of Andrew Swartz, . 555 547 Remarkable escape of mur- 547 derers, .... 556 548 First newspaper beyond the 548 capital, .... 556 549 Treaties of 1851, . . .556 550 Lea and Ramsey, commission- ers, 556 551 Rev. Mr. Hopkins drowned, . 557 552 Thunder Bird dance, . . 558 Treaty at Traverse des Sioux 553 concluded, .... 559 Provisions of the treaty, . 559 554 Treaty at Mendota concluded, 560 XXIV CONTENTS. Provisions of the treaty, . 560 Indians as horse purchasers, . 561 Shokpay as it was in 1851, . 562 New paper started at St. Paul, 562 J. P. Owens, editor of Minne- sotian, .... 562 October election, . . . 563 Second Thanksgiving Day, . 563 Governor's Proclamation, . 563 CHAPTER XXV. Legislature of 1852, Names of members, Occupation of members, Liquor law enacted, Memorial to discontinue " St. Peter's" as a name of Min- nesota river, Superintendent of Public In- struction report, Number of school-houses in Minnesota, Rae, Arctic explorer, in St. Paul, Exploration between Watab and Long Prairie, 564 564 564 565 565 565 569 570 570 Birch Bark Fort, . . .571 LakeNeill, .... 572 Special election on liquor law, 572 Vote on liquor law, . . 572 Claims before ratification of treaties, . . . .573 Death of James M. Goodhue, 574 Sketch of pioneer editor, . 574 Editorial hoax, . . . 576 Trial of Yuhazee for murder, . 577 Escort of dragoons, . . 578 Judge Hayner's decision against liquor law, . . 579 CHAPTER XXVI. Legislature of 1853, Officers chosen, Governor Ramsey's last mes- Rapid growth of Minnesota, . Advantages of Minnesota, Hopeful future, . . . Prospective railways, Roman Catholic petitions, Proposed school law, Counties west of Mississippi, . Baldwin School, College of St. Paul, Ojibway and Dahkotah skir- mish at the capital, Burial scaffold at Kaposia, Appointments by President Pierce, .... Governor W. A. Gorman, 580 J. T. Rosser, Secretary, . 589 580 W. H. Welch, Chief Justice, . 589 Moses Sherburne, Associate, . 589 581 A. G. Chatfield, Associate, 589 581 Indian villages below St. Paul, 582 1853 589 583 Villages near Fort Snelling, . 590 584 Alleged fraud of Ramsey and 5s- 5 Sibley, .... 590 586 Presbyterian missionaries 587 among Dahkotahs, 590 587 Honourable exculpation of 687 Ramsey by United States Senate, .... 591 587 Robertson retires from edito- 588 rial duties, .... 591 David Olmsted, 591 588 October election for delegate, . 591 589 Official vote, . 591 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVII. l$ew political coalitions, . 592 Legislature of 1854, . .592 Governor Gorman's message, . 593 Members of legislature, age and birth-place, . . . 593 Mission-house at Lac qui Parle burned, .... 594 Minnesota and North-western Railroad incorporated, . 594 E. S. Goodrich becomes editor of Pioneer, . . . 594 Great railroad excursion, . 595 Names of distinguished visiters, 595 Pursuit of pleasure under diffi- culties, .... 596 Guests at Fort Snelling, . 597 Speeches of Fillmore and Ban- croft, 597 Railroad sermon, . 597 Railways in a religious view, 599 Antidotes to bigotry, 601 Savers of time, 603 Extend Christianity, 605 Land grant of Congress, 606 Repeal of land grant, 607 Debate on the repeal, 607 Rice's letter about the repeal, 610 Minnesota and North-western Railroad suit, 610 Appeal to United States Su- preme Court, 611 Case dismissed, 611 Execution of Yuhazee, . 611 Governor's letter to ladies de- clining to pardon Yuhazee, 612 CHAPTER XXVIII. Legislature of 1855, First bridge over the Missis- sippi, Wire bridge, .... Governor's message, Governor opposes Minnesota and North-western Railroad Company, .... United States Senate refuse to annul charter of Minnesota and North-western Railroad, General illumination, Governor Gorman vetoes an act amending charter of Minnesota and North-west- ern Railroad Company. Act passed by a two-thirds vote, Formation of Republican party, 613 W. R. Marshall nominated delegate to Congress, . . 614 613 David Olmsted candidate for 613 Congress, .... 614 613 H. M. Rice elected delegate, . 614 Votes for delegate enumerated, 614 Express arrives at St. Paul 613 with relics of Sir John Franklin, .... 615 Legislature of 1856, . . 615 613 Railroad discussion, . .615 613 Governor Gorman signs a bill giving extension of time to Minnesota and North-west- ern Railway Company, . 615 614 His message on the subject, . 615 List of members of Council of 614 1856, 617 614 y CONTENTS. Mei \bers of House of Repre- sentatives, 1856, . State organization agitated by J. E. Warren, Ojibways scalp Dahkotah child at a farm-house, Legislature of 1857, Presidin g officers of legislature , Bill removing capital to St. Peter passes the House, Council resolutions of Mr. Bal- combe, .... Rolette, Chairman of Commit- tee of Enrolled Bills, absent, Call of the Council, Sergeant-at-arms ordered to report absent member in his Council remains in session under the call for several days, .... Last night of session proceed- ings under the call dispensed with, Committee on Enrolled Bills report, . Report, Call of the Council again moved, Under the call the session ex- pired, Council adjourned, Massacre at Spirit Lake and Springfield, Inkpadootah, 617 618 618 618 618 618 619 619 619 619 619 620 620 620 621 621 621 621 621 Indians fire house of settlers, The inmates killed, Murder of the Gardners, White women captives, . United States troops and vol- unteers bury the dead, Captive women maltreated, Mrs. Thatcher shot, Two Indian youths rescue Mrs. Marble, .... Paul and party rescue Miss Gardner, .... Killing of Mrs. Noble, . Inkpadootah's son shot, . Outlaws' retreat beyond the Missouri, .... Enabling act passed by Con- gress, Special session of legislature, Election for delegates to form constitution, Meeting of constitutional con- vention, .... Division into two bodies, Compromise, . . . . Constitution adopted by the people, .... Meeting of first state legisla- ture, Election of United States Sen- ators, Admission of Minnesota into the Union, . . . CHAPTER XXIX. Financial embarrassments, Land grant for railways, . Disposition of land grant, . Constitutional amendment loan- ing state credit to railway com- panies, Vote of people on the amend- ment, 629 629 629 630 630 Repeal of the amendment, First state legislature, Gov. Sibley's administration, State railroad bonds issued, Normal school law, . Steamboat on Red river, . Gov. Ramsey's administration, Second legislature, . 622 622 622 623 623 623 624 624 625. 625 626 626. 62ft 626. 63ft- 627 627 627 628 628 628 628 631 631 632 632 633 633 CONTENTS. Educational policy inaugurated, 634 University system, . . 633-637 Memorial for University lands 637-639 Mrs. Bilansky hung, . . . 640 Third state legislature, . . 640 School land policy, . . . 640 Debate on public instruction, . 641 Chancellor of University resigns, 642 Resignation withdrawn by re- quest, 642 Legislature elect Superintendent of Public Instruction, . . 642 CHAPTER XXX. Influence of attack upon Fort Chaplain Neill's letter, . 658, 659 Sumter, 645 Chaplain Neill's circular to Gov. Kamsey offers a regiment, 645 churches, .... 660 Proclamation of Lt.-Gov. Don- Hospital fund contributed, . 661 nelly, 645 Hospital fund distribution, . 662-664 U. S. artillery move to the seat March from Alexandria, . 666-669 of war, 647 Reconnoissance of Capt. Wilkin 669 Major Pemberton joins the rebels, 647 Reconnoissance of Lt.-Col. Miller 670 Capt. Acker raises first company Lt. Thomas brings in a negro, . 671 of first regiment, . . .647 Bull Run battle, . . 672-681 First regiment raised, . . 647 Javan B. Irvine's account, 672-675 Adj.-Gen. Sanborn's order, . 648 Heintzelman's report, . 673-676 Regiment mustered for three Chaplain Neill's Journal, . 675-681 years, 649 Gen. Franklin's report, . 676, 677 Flag presentation, . . . 649 Col. Gorman's report, . 678-681 First regiment's departure, . 650 Col. N. J. T. Dana, . . . 682 Chaplain's address, . . . 650 First regiment near Ball's Bluff, Staff officers first regiment, . 650 682, 683 Departure from St. Paul, . . 651 Second regiment organized, . 683 Opinions of Chicago editors, . 652 Second regiment officers, . 683, 684 First regiment at Alexandria, . 653 Sharp-shooters' company, . . 684 Fourth of July in Virginia, . 655 Third regiment organized, . 684 Runaway slave, .... 656 First battery organized, . . 684 Religious service in camp, . 657 Cavalry companies organized, . 684 Arrest of Rev. Mr. Leftwich, . 657 Second regiment engaged, . Mill Springs battle, . . .685 Col. McCook's report, . . 685 Col. Van Cleve's report, . . 686 Letters of soldiers, . . 686, 687 First battery engaged, . . 688 Battle of Pittsburg Landing, . 688 Capt. Munch's report, . 688, 689 CHAPTER XXXI. . 685 Soldier's letter, . 690 Gorman's brigade, . . . 690 Gorman's brigade before York- town, 691 Yorktown evacuated, . . 692 Cornwallis field, . . .692 Gorman's brigade at West Point, 693 Transports shelled, . . . 693 Lt. Cooke's letter, 689, 690 St. Peter's Church, 694 CONTENTS. Washington's marriage, . . 695 First regiment at Goodly Hole Creek, . Battle of Fair Oaks, . Described in Cincinnati paper, Position of first regiment, . Dana's brigade, . Seven days' battle, . . 699-701 Mechanicsville and Gaines' Mills 699 Peach Orchard and Savage Sta- tion, .... Malvern Hills, . Harrison's Landing, . Antietam battle, . • • Minnesota troops in army of the Mississippi, .... 701 695 695 696 696 697 700 701 701 701 Fifth regiment in battle, . . 701 Staff officers fourth regiment, . 702 Staff officers fifth regiment, . 702 Battle of Iuka, . . . .703 Col. Sanborn's report, . . 703 Battle of Corinth, . . 704-709 Munch's battery, . . . 704 Fourth regiment at Corinth, . 706 Captain Mowers killed, . . 706 Fifth regiment at Corinth, . 710 Col. Hubbard's report, . . 710 Chaplain Ireland's letter, . . 711 Soldier's letter, . . . .712 Second battery at Perryville, . 714 First regiment in Virginia, . 714 Third regiment surrender, . 715 CHAPTEE XXXII. Sioux massacre, . . . 716 Brainerd's opinion of Indians, . 716 Peaceful policy of English, . 716 Early legislation, . . . 717 First Virginia massacre, . . 718 Murder of Thorpe, . . . 718 Influence of Indian priests, . 719 Cause of Virginia massacre, . 719 London company on extermi- nation, . . . . . 719 Presbyterian mission to the Sioux, 720 Books published by mission- aries, .... 721-725 Causes of outbreak, . . 721-725 Young warriors at Acton, . .725 Young warriors kill four persons, 726 Massacre at lower agency, . 726 Geo. H. Spencer's escape, . . 726 Missionaries escape, . . . 727 Fort Kidgley attacked, . . 728 New Ulm attacked, . . .728 New Ulm defended by Col. Flandreau, . . . .728 Capt. Dodd killed, . . .728 Gov. Eamsey appoints Col. Sib- ley head of opposing force, . 728 Difficulties in the way, . . 729 Troops arrive at Fort Kidgley, 730 Major Brown's camp at Birch Coolie attacked, . . . 730 Battle of Wood Lake, . . 731 Lt. Col. Marshall leads a charge, 731 Captives rescued, . . . 732 Camp Kelease, .... 733 Military commission for trial of murderers, .... 733 Execution at Mankahto, . . 734 Col. Sibley made Brig.-General, 734 Second campaign under Gen. Sully and Sibley, . . .736 Little Crow killed, . . .737 Notice of Philander Prescott, . 737 Movements of 1863, Fourth regiment at Kaymond, Champion and Vicksburg, Fifth at Vicksburg, First at Gettysburg, CONTENTS. xxix JHAPTER XXXIII. . 738 Capt. Coates' report, . 740-745 mond, Soldiers' graphic account, . 740-743 rg, . 739 Second at Chickamauga, . . 745 . 739 Second at Mission Ridge, . . 746 . 739 First at Bristow Station, . . 747 CHAPTER XXXIV. Movements of 1864, . Regiments on furlough, First banquetted at Washington, A letter-writer's impressions, Services of First recounted, First battery on furlough, . Third regiment in a skirmish, . Second battery on furlough, First regiment mustered out, 748 Battalion formed, 751 748 Fifth in a skirmish, . 752 748 Fifth, Seventh, Ninth and Tenth 749 near Tupelo, .... 752 749 Col. Alexander Wilkin killed, . 752 751 Fourth at Atlanta, 753 751 Eighth near Murfreesboro', 753 751 Fifth, Seventh, Ninth and Tenth 751 in battle at Nashville, . 753 CHAPTER XXXV. Movements of 1865, . Regiments at siege of Mobile, Regiments with Gen. Sherman, 754 Lee's surrender, , . . 754 754 Table of Minnesota troops, . 755 754 CHAPTER XXXVI. Governors of Minnesota, . . 756 St. Paul and Pacific railway, . 756 Extra session of legislature in Gov. H. A. Swift, . . . 757 1862, 756 Gov. Stephen Miller, . . .757 Hon. H. M. Rice, retiring Sena- Shakpedan and Medicine Bottle tor, 756 hung at Fort Snelling, . . 757 Gov. Ramsey elected U. S. Sena- Gov. W. R. Marshall, . . 758 tor, 756 Gov. Horace Austin, . . 758 XXX* CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXVII. Governor Horace Austin, . 759 Veto of Railroad grant, . . 760 Impeachment of Treas. Seeger, 760 Governor C. K. Davis, . . 760 Railway freight rates, . . 762 Arguments of W. P. Clough, . 762 Women vote for school officers, 763 Governor J. S. Pillsbury, . 764 Validity of railroad bonds, . 765 Rocky Mountain locust, . . 766 Plentiful harvest, . . . 767 State funds for sectarian schools prohibited 768 Flour mills explosion at Minne- apolis, 769 Impeachment of Judge Page, . 769 Death of Rev. G. H. Pond, . 770 Mission life at Lake Calhoun, . 770 Supreme Court decision in His- torical Society case, . . 772 Death of Rev.T. S. Williamson, M.D 774 Gov. Pillsbury elected for the third time, .... 776 Fire at lunatic asylum, . . 776 First biennial session of legis- lature, 776 Senator McMillan re-elected . Act for bond liquidation, . Supreme Court decision on rail- road bond tribunal, Special session of legislature . Governor L. F. Hubbard, . Judge E. St. J. Cox impeached, U.S.Sen'tor Windom re-elected State Capitol burned, CHAPTER XXXVIII. Railway development, . Edmund Rice, President Saint Paul and Pacific R. R., . First railway in operation, Editorial notice, Geo. L. Becker, President R. R. Railroad completed to Red river J. J. Hill, President St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba R. R., • . . . 782 782 782 783 783 783 784 E. F. Drake, President Minne- sota Valley, R. R., W, L. Banning, President of Lake Superior and Miss. R. R. First train to Lake Superior, . Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint PaulR. R., . Winona and St. Peter R. R., . Minneapolis and St. Louis R. R. Northern Pacific R. R., . 777 777 777 777 778- 778 77» 778 784 785- 785 785 786 78& 786 CHAPTER XXXIX. Representatives in Congress, . 787 Territorial delegates, . . 787 Members U. S. House of Rep's. 788 United States Senators, . . 791 Territorial Governors, . . 796 State Governors, . . . 796 APPENDIX A. Early charts of Northwest, . 797 Map by Du Val, A. D. 1664, . 797 Randin's map, . . . 797 Joliet and Franquelin's . . 797 Gravier publishes Joliet's map of A. D. 1674, . . .797 Map of A. D. 1682, . . . 798 Hennepin's map, A. D. 1683, . 798 Franquelin's map, A. D. 1688. 798 Notice of Franquelin, . . 799 Fort La Tourette, " St. Croix, . 799 799 CONTENTS. xxxi* Fort St. Antoine, 799 Verendrye's sketch. . 801 " St. Nicholas, . 799 De la Jemeraye's map, • • 801 Ochagach's map, . 800 APPENDIX B. First white men in Minnesota, 803 Menard visits L. Superior with Grosellier's early life, 803 Groselliers, . 806 His marriage, .... 803 " on the Mississippi before Names of his children, 803 Joliet and Marquette, . 806 Lake Winnipeg not seen by him 804 Flight of the Hurons, 806 Reaches Hudson's Bay, . 804 Tinontates or Petuns, 806 Sails from London with Captain Hurons above Lake Pepin, 807 Gil lam of Boston, 805 " at Black river, Wis., . 807 Mother of the Incarnation's let- " migrate to La Pointe, 807 ter, 805 " at war with Sioux, 808 Radisson, notice of, . 803 " retreat to Mackinaw, . 808 His arrest ordered, . 804 Sioux killed at Sauit St. Marie, 809 Rene Menard, missionary, 805 Jesuits censured, . 809 APPENDIX C. * Du Luth's birth-place, . . 809 Post at Kamamstigoya or Three Rivers, A. D. 1679, . . 809 Supposed visit of Du Luth to Sandy Lake, . . .810 Trade with New England, . 810 LaSalle's disparagement of Du Luth, .... 810—811 Randin's visit to Lake Superior. 813 Faffart, interpreter of DuLuth. 811 DuLuth visits France, . . 813 Letter of DuLuth to the Minister of Marine, . . . 813—819 Notice of DuLuth's early life, . 813 DuLuth' s vindication, . .813 Military career of DuLuth, . 813 Assineboines at the extremity of Lake Superior, . . . 814 DuLuth visits the Sioux, . . 814 DuLuth's descent of the Saint Croix river, . DuLuth meets Hennepin, Design to seek Western Sea, Traders killed, Execution of murderers, . DuLuth at Nepigon, " goes to Niagara, " returns to L. Superior " builds Fort St. Joseph " in battle near Roches ter, N. T., Notice of DuLuth's brother, Fort St. Joseph destroyed, DuLuth opposed to liquor traffic '* in command at Ft. Fron tenac, . " death of; APPENDIX D. Notice of Hennepin's writings, 822-8 LaSalle's account of the Upper Mississippi, .... 822 Hennepin and LaSalle compared 815 815 816 817 818 818 818 818 820 820 820 821 821 821 822 822 823 DuLuth's narrative and Henne- pin's compared, . . . 824 xxiii* CONTENTS. Hennepin's first work, . 824, 825 Tronson on Hennepin, . . 825 Abbe Bernou's estimate of first book, 825 Hennepin's second book, . . 825 LaSalle censured, . . . 826 Mistake as to Archbishop Fen- elon, 827 Voyage to Gulf of Mexico, . 827 Hennepin's exaggerations, . 828 His last volume, . . . 830 Answers to objections, . . 831 APPENDIX E. Sketch of Perrot, . . 832—839 Winter encampment, . . 832 Fort St. Antoine, Lake Pepin. 832 " St. Nicolas, . . .832 Perrot's earlier days, . . 832 Builds Fort St. Antoine, . . 833 Ioways visit Perrot, . . 833 Miamis visited, . . . 834 Perrot's ruse, .... 835 Soleil presented to Jesuits, . 836 Perrot's expedition against Sen- Second visit to Lake Pepin, Captive Chippeway girls, Sioux visit Perrot, . Goods recovered by a cup of brandy and water, Foxes visit Perrot, . Perrot at Montreal, • " escorts Louvigny to Mack inaw, " visits lead mines, Penicaut describes lead mines Perrot's later days, . . 836- 837 837 838 838 838 839 830- APPENDIX F. La Hontan's early life, . . 840 " escorts DuLuth and Tonty. 840 Fort St. Joseph destroyed, . 840 La Hon tan's book, . . . 840 Bobe's letter to De l'lsle, . 840 Long River fabrication, . . 841 Charlevoix criticises LaHontan. 841 Nicollet's opinion, . . . 842 LaHontan 's alleged visit to Eo- koros, , 842' Essanapes, . . , 842 Guacsitares, ■, 84$ Midwinter canoe voyage, . 843. APPENDIX G. Pierre LeSueur, • • . 845 St. Pierre river, • . . 845 LeSueur's marriage, . • 845 His children, .... 845 Sioux chief baptized, . . 845 Order for LeSueur to sail with D'Iberville, .... 846 Preparations to ascend the Mis- - sissippi, .... 846 Penicaut accompanies LeSueur. 847 Penicaut describes supposed copper mine, LeSueur leaves Blue Earth river. D'Evaque in charge of Fort L' Huillier, .... D'Evaque retires, Blue earth shipped to France, . Juchereau St. Denis, . LeSueur Lt. General for Misis- sippi, . D'Iberville's death, 846- 847 847 847 847 847 845 845- CONTENTS. xxxiii* APPENDIX H Fort Beauharnois, Lake Pepin. 849 Father de la Chasse on Sioux mission, .... 849 Father Marest's opinion, . . 849 Father Guignas described as an "able mathematician," . 849 Building of fort described Occupation of fort, . Flood of April, 1728, Fort, removal of, Bellin's statement, . 850 850 8o0 850 850 APPENDIX I. Rene Boucher, Sieur de la Per- riere, 851 Sieur Montbrun, his brother, . 851 Jemeray, his nephew, . . 851 Lake Pepin, occasion of its name suggested, , 851 Father DeGonor returns to Can- ada, 851 Father Guignas captured, . 851 Montbrun escapes from Indians. 851 Boucherville captured, . . 852 Goods given for release, . • 852 APPENDIX J. LaNoue sent to extremity of Lake Superior, . . . 856 Pachot visits the Sioux, . . 856 Verandrie at Lake Nepigon, . 857 Route to Pacific revived, . . 857 Conference with DeGonor, . 857 Ochagach, Indian guide, . . 857 Map of Ochacagh, . . 857 Verandrie' s early life, . . 858 Verandrie's explorations, . 858 De la Jemeraye's map, . . 859 Massacre at Lake of the Woods. 859 Father Ouneau killed, . . 859 Verandrie's son killed, . . 859 Death of De la Jemeray, . . 889 Fort LaReme built, . . 859 Rocky Mountains discovered, . 860 Fort Bourbon, . . .860 Verandrie, Jr., . . . 860 Verandrie, the father, dies, . 860 Father Coquard describes Mis- souri Indians, . . . 860 Bougainville on Verandrie's discovery, .... 863 Jacques Legardeur St. Pierre. 863 Louis Luc La Corne, . . 864 Boucher de Niverville, . . 865 LaMarque de Marin, . . 865 APPENDIX K. Sioux kill Verandrie's son, . 865 Ossiniboia, origin of name . 866 David Thompson, astronomer and geographer of N. W. Co. 866 Early life of Thompson, . . 866 In service of Hudson Bay Co. . 866 Joins North-West Company, . 866 Observations at Grand Portage. 866 Convocation of traders, . . 867 Thompson ascends Saskatche- wan 867 Visits the Mandans, . 807 Ascends the Assineboine. 867 Explores Red River, . . 868 Observations at Pembina. 863 Reaches northern source of the Mississippi, . . 869 Visits Sandy Lake, . . 869 xxxiv* CONTENTS. Descends St. Louis river, . 869 Arrives at Sault St. Marie. 869 Franchere alludes to Thompson. 870 Irving's description, . . 870 Thompson's later years. . . 870 N. W. Company formed, . 870 X. Y. Company organized, . 870 Count Andriani criticises N. W. Company, . . . .871 Alexander Henry of N. W. Co. 871 His manuscripts, . . . 872 Grasshoppers, A. D. 1800, . 882 Hudson Bay Co. boats, . . 872 Names of Henry's voyageurs. 873 Bonga, of African descent, , 874 A wile offered for liquor, . 874 A faithless wife tortured, • 874 Great buffalo crossing, . . 870 Old fort at Pembina, . . 870 Trading post at Park River, . 877 Cheyenne Indians, . . . 877 Nose lost in a fight, . . . 877 Horses sent to Red Lake. . 877 A child torn asunder, . . An effeminate warrior, . . A race for life, . Buffalo abundant, . • Red River cart invented, . . . Fort William commenced, First Red River train, Death of trader's wife, , • Products of trader's garden, . A mare for a wife, . Death of trader Cameron, Hesse, trader, .... Drunken fight, Joseph Rainville, St. Germain accidentally shot. Fight in 1805 between Sioux and Chippeways, . Horrible details, News of Lt. Z. M. Pike, • William Henry's arrival, . Visit to Mandans, . Explorations of Columbia river. 877 878 879 880 881 882 882 884 8*4 884 885 885 886 887 890 APPENDIX L. Early days of Fort Snelling, . 890 A birth in camp, . . . 890 Major Forsyth at Mendota with presents for Sioux, . . . 891 Col. Leavenworth's arrival, . 891 Officers visit St. Anthony Falls. 891 First schoolmaster, . . .811 Old chief stabbed, . . .892 Col. Snelling, arrival of . . 892 Marriage at cantonment, . 892 Complimentary letter to Agent Taliaferro, . . . .892 Sissetons kill traders, . . 893 First occupation of fort, . . 839 Alexis Bailly drives cattle to Selkirk settlement, . . 893 First sawmill, .... 894 Beltrami visits fort, . . . 894 First steamboat arrival, . . 894 First flour mill, . . .895 First Sunday School, Lieut. Alexander's land trip to Prairie du Chien, . Name of fort changed, Gen. Scott's report, . Agent Taliaferro, in 1824 takes a Sioux delegation to Wash ington, Rev. Samuel Peters and the Carver claim, Surgeon Purcell's death, . Indian treaty of 1825 at Prairie du Chien, Lieut. Col. W. Morgan compli- mented, Events of 1826, Indian woman crazed, . Steamboat arrivals, . Indians attack supply boats, General Gaines inspects fort, 895 896 896 897 900 900 901 901 902 CONTENTS. xxxv* Deaths and desertions, 903 Presbyterian missionaries, 907 Fifth regiment relieved, . 903 A bridal tour in canoe, 908 Col. Saelling's death, 903 Drunken and licentious Indians 909 A drover lost, .... 903 Letters of Gale and Taliaferro,909,910 Old Spanish commission, 903 Events of 1831, 911 Jacob Falstrom, 904 Events of 1832, 912 Proposed Huron Territory, 904 Marriages, .... 912 Events of 1829, 904 Dred Scott case, 913 Polish count arrives, 905 Visit of Alex. Hamilton's widow 914 Wahcoota made chief of Red Impudent whisky sellers, 916 Wing Sioux, 905 First church bell in Minnesota. 917 Dog feast. • , 905 Sutlers at Fort Snelling, . 918—920 Little Crow's speech, 906 APPENDIX M. Letter of Agent Taliaferro, 920 Andrews, a Canadian, killed, . 920 Poupon, a hatf-breed, killed, . 920 Council at Fort Snelling, 920 APPENDIX N. Win. Joseph Snelling, 921 "Truth," a poem by Joseph Duel with Lt. Hunter, 921 Snelling, . 922 Lt. W. Alexander fights a duel. 921 Willis' lampoon, 922 General Games' inspection, 921 Snelling's reply. 922 Col. Snel ling's views censured. 921 Other books by Snelling, . 923 • ' Tales of the North-west, " . 922 APPENDIX 0. Treaties of 1837, 923 Pitts cuts lumber in St. Croix Fur company charge tribe with valley 925 debts of individuals. 923 Steele, Russell and others make Exorbitant claim, 924 claims. 925 Chipp'way treaty at Ft.Snelling 924 Steamer Palmyra brings news Sioux treaty at Washington, . 924 of ratification of treaty, 925 Sudden departure of delegation 924 Steamer Gypsy first steamboat Sioux return from Washington 925 at Falls of St. Croix, . 926 Founders of Marine Mills, 926 APPENDIX P. Oapt. Marryatt, R. N., at Men- Notice of Rainville family, 927 dota. ..... 927 Anecdotes of Jack Fraser, 928 Guest of H. H. Sibley, . 927 r xxxvi* CONTENTS. APPENDIX Q. Census of Minnesota for 1880. APPENDIX R. Brief record of the officers of Minnesota regiments. MAPS AND PORTRAITS. Franquelin's map, A. D. 1688, Faces' titie. Part of De l'lsle's Canada, . " page . . . . xlvi- Louisiana, , " " . 164 Discoveries west of Lake Superior, " " . 188 Northern Louisiana, " " . 300 Portrait of Governor Sibley, . " . 488 Franklin Steele, " " . 490 U. S. Senator Rice, " . " . 492- " U. S. Senator Ramsey, . " " , 494 Mrs. Ramsey, " " . 496. " Mrs. Sibley, . . " " . 498 Mrs. Rice, " " . 500 " Mrs. Steele, . " " . 502 Table of railway organizations, . " " . 780 Ochagach's map, „ . 80O I INTRODUCTORY. The physical characteristics of a land should be known, to correctly understand the history of its people. In an important sense, when the skies do change, men also change. Grand scenery, leaping waters, and a bracing atmosphere, produce men of different cast from those who dwell where the land is on a dead level, and where the streams are all sluggards. We associate heroes like Tell and Bruce with the mountains of Swit- zerland and the Highlands of Scotland, and not with regions of country where the outline is unbroken, and the horizon appears as a continuation of the earth. Minnesota occupies the elevated plateau of North America; and from its gently sloping plains descend the rivulets that feed the mighty Mississippi, that flows into the Gulf of Mexico; the noble St. Lawrence, emptying its volume into the Atlantic; and the wind- ing Red River of the North, flowing into Hudson's Bay. It extends from 43° 30' to 49° north latitude, and its boundaries are : on the north, the British Possessions ; (31) xxxii HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. on the south, the state of Iowa ; on the east, Lake Su- perior and the state of Wisconsin ; and on the west Red river, Sioux Wood river, Lake Traverse, and Big Stone Lake, and from the latter a due south line to the north- ern boundary of Iowa. The climate of Minnesota has elicited an eulogy from every observing traveller, and yet erroneous impressions prevail in the public mind. During the summer, the temperature corresponds with that of Philadelphia; and while the thermometer has a high range during the day, the evenings are generally cool and refreshing. Nights, so frequent on the Atlantic border, when the body welters in perspiration, and the individual arises exhausted rather than refreshed by sleep, are unknown. Nor is the winter any more trying to the constitution than the summer. The air is dry and bracing, and the skies are by day generally cloudless, and at night are studded with stars. Maury, the author of the Physi- cal Geography of the Sea, and Superintendent of the National Observatory at Washington, has remarked: — "At the small hours of the night, at dewy eve and early morn, I have looked out with wonder, love, and admiration upon the steel-blue sky of Minnesota, set with diamonds, and sparkling with brilliants of purest ray. The stillness of your small hours is sublime. I feel constrained, as I gaze and admire, to hold my breath, lest the eloquent silence of the night should be broken by the reverberations of the sound, from the seemingly solid but airy vault above. " Herschell has said, that in Europe, the astronomer might consider himself highly favoured, if by patiently watching the skies for one year, he shall, during that MAURY'S ESTIMATE OF MINNESOTA. xxxiii period find, all told, one hundred hours suitable for sat- isfactory observations. A telescope mounted here, in this atmosphere, under the skies of Minnesota, would have its powers increased many times over what they would be under canopies of a heaven less brilliant and lovely." Corroborative of these statements are tables which appear in the report of the Minnesota and Pacific Rail- road Company which we have extracted. No region which at present engages the public mind, as a field for settlement, has been so grossly misrepre- sented, in regard to peculiarities of climate, as Minne- sota. Fabulous accounts of its arctic temperature, piercing winds, and accompanying snows of enormous depth, embellish the columns of the Eastern press. An examination of this subject, and especially in relation to the snows and wdnds of winter, as opposed to the operation of lines of railroad, seems necessary to correct existing prejudices ; and fortunately the means are at hand for conducting this examination with an exactness nearly reaching mathematical precision. The data employed are compiled from the " Army Meteorological Register," and " Blodgett's Climatology of the United States," both standard authorities, based upon the sys- tem of meteorological observations which have been conducted by the surgeons of the United States army, and other scientific gentlemen, through a series of upwards of thirty years. In the following table, illustrative of the temperature of Minnesota, St. Paul is inserted in the place of Fort Snelling (six miles distant), where the observations were made : — XXXIV HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. SPRING. Mean Temperature, 45° St. Paul, Boston, Massachusetts, . Springfield, Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachusetts, Kinderhook, New York, TJtica, New York, . . Cooperstown, New York, Onondaga, New York, Lewiston, New York, . Detroit, Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Battle Creek, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois, . . Beloit, Wisconsin, . . Portage City, Wisconsin, No. of Years.* 35£ 20 2 7 17 9 16 16 18 13 3 5£ 5 6 16 SUMMER. Mean Temperature, 70° St. Paul, ......... Lowell, Massachusetts, . . ' . Trenton, New Jersey, . . . Middletown, New Jersey, . . Flatbush, Long Island, New York Newburg, New York, .... Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, . Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, . . Warren, Pennsylvania, Hudson, Ohio, . . . Oberlin, Ohio, . . . Chicago, Illinois, . . Beloit, Wisconsin, . . Portage City, Wisconsin, Pembina, M. T. lat. 49° No. of Years. 35* 7 5 3 24 18 10 3 14 7 5 5 6 16 7-12th AUTUMN. Mean Temperature, 45° 54'. St. Paul, Portland, Maine, .... Burlington, Vermont, . . . Montreal, Canada, . . . Lake Simcoe, Canada West, Lowville, Lewis County, Now York Plattsburg, New York, . . . Fairfield Academy, New York, Mexico, Oswego County, New York Cherry Valley, New York, Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, Smethport, Pennsylvania, Green Bay, Wisconsin, . Manitowoc, Wisconsin, . Baraboo, Wisconsin, . . No. of Years. 35£ 31 6 15 1 19 11 19 11 15 H 3 21 21 1 WINTER. Mean Temperature. 16° 6'. St. Paul, Houlton, Maine, , . . . Hanover, New Hampshire, . Williamstown, Massachusetts, Montreal, Canada, .... Sault St. Marie, .... No. of Years. 35* 17 3 13 15 31 Taking a map of the United States, and applying to it lines of mean temperature for the seasons and year, passing through the places indicated in the foregoing table, we find that while the winter temperature of St. 1 The column headed " No. of years" gives the duration of the observa- tions at each station. TEMPERATURE COMPARED WITH EASTERN STATES. xxxv Paul does not fall below the average of places on its parallel of latitude, its spring temperature coincides with that of Central Wisconsin, Northern Illinois, Southern Michigan, Central New York, and Massachu setts; its summer with that of Central Wisconsin, Northern Illinois, Northern Ohio, Central and Southern Pennsylvania, and New Jersey ; its autumn with that of Central Wisconsin, Northern New York, a small part of Northern Pennsylvania, Northern Vermont, and Southern Maine ; and its entire year with that of Cen- tral Wisconsin, Central New York, Southern New Hampshire, and Southern Maine. Viewing this subject with reference to the extremes of latitude touched by these isothermal lines, we disco- ver that St. Paul has a temperature in spring equal to Chicago, which is two and a half degrees of latitude south ; in autumn, equal to Northern New York, one and a half degrees south ; and during the whole year, equal to Central New York, two degrees south. These statements do not admit of the slightest doubt or question, no matter how widely they may differ from preconceived opinions, for they are founded on facts of experience which have occupied an entire generation in their development. This condition of temperature not only obtains in Minnesota, but it is a well established fact, that there extends hundreds of miles to the north-west of her an immense area of fertile and arable soil, possessed of a climate hardly inferior in warmth to her own. The closing chapter of Blodgett's Climatology is an admira- ble treatise on the climate and resources of this vast region. The obstruction opposed by snows to the rapid and xxxvi HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. regular passage of trains, is among the chief difficulties of winter operation, and in order to submit in the plain- est and most concise manner possible the magnitude of this obstacle, as found here in comparison with other districts, a table of mean results, compiled from the same sources with the preceding table, is here intro- duced. The results given in the table are all reduced to water, but in order to convert them into equivalents of snow, we have only to consider the figures in the columns as representing feet and decimals of a foot. The rule adopted in the " Register," gives ten inches of snow as equivalent to one inch of water, but the pro- portion of twelve to one is believed to be more correct, particularly as regards snows of our latitude. Mean Fall of Rain and Melted Snow at various places for the different sea- sons and the entire year. Also, the Maximum and Minimum, Fall during the winter months. DEPTH IN INCHES AND DECIMALS OP AN INCH. SPRING. 8UMMER. AUTUMN. WINTER. TEAR. No. PLACES. of Years. Mean. Mean. Mean. Minim. Mean. Maxim. Mean. St. Paul, M. T. . . . 6.61 10.92 5.98 0.35 1.92 3.561 25.43 19 Montreal, Canada . . 11.54 11.18 16.60 7.26 47.28 2 Houlton, Me. . . . 7.62 11.92 9.95 4.02 7.48 10.00 36.97 9* Eastport, Me. . . . 8.88 10.05 9.85 8.91 10.61 11.95 39.39 H Portsmouth, N. H. . . 9.03 9.21 8.95 4.44 8.38 11.08 35.57 13 Hanover, N. H. . . . 9.90 11.40 10.50 9.10 41.00 18 Burlington, Vt. . . . 7.41 10.83 9.82 6.02 34.11 20 Cambridge, Mass. . . 10.85 11.17 12.57 9.89 44.48 12 Worcester, Mass. . . 10.89 10.71 13.51 11.85 46.96 13 New York City . . . 11.69 11.64 9.93 4.99 10.39 19.27 43.65 14 Plattsburg, N. Y. . . 8.36 10.03 10.05 2.90 4.95 9.33 33.39 10 Potsdam, N. Y. . . . 6.20 10.15 8.38 3.90 28.63 20 Utica, N. Y 9.26 12.83 9.76 8.72 40.57 19 Rochester, N. Y. . . 6.82 8.86 9.38 5.38 30.44 19 Fort Niagara, N. Y. . 6.87 9.81 8.68 3.23 6.41 9.24 31.77 5^ Pittsburgh, Pa. . . . 9.38 9.87 8.23 4.39 7.48 11.97 34.96 18 Hudson, 9.76 8.87 6.16 8.00 32.79 7 Cincinnati, 0. . . . 12.14 13.70 9.90 11.15 46.89 20 Detroit, Mich. . . . 8.51 9.29 7.41 2.84 4.86 6.01 30.07 12i Sault St. Marie, Mich. 5.44 9.97 10.76 2.85 5.18 11.57 31.35 16| Athens, 111 12.20 13.30 9.20 7.10 41.80 10 Muscatine, Iowa . . 11.19 15.08 10.34 6.72 44.33 10 Milwaukee, Wis. . . 6.60 9.70 6.80 4.20 27.20 7 Green Bay, Wis. . . 9.00 14.45 7.84 2.90 3.36 4.80 34.65 74 Portage City, Wis. . . 5.58 11.46 7.63 1.92 2.82 3.84 27.49 9 Beloit, Wis 13.16 18.12 10.44 6.43 48.15 4 1 In the winter of 1849. The next less fall was in the winter of 1837—2.96 inches. LESS SNOW THAN ON THE ATLANTIC BORDER. xxxvii Without going into a detailed review of the contents of the foregoing table, which presents the facts in a light that argument cannot strengthen, it may be well to inquire what proportion of the winter precipitation is in the form of snow, and in the absence of positive knowledge we may arrive at general conclusions by other means. Since Houlton, Hanover, Plattsburg, Montreal, and Sault St. Marie, coincide in mean winter temperature with St. Paul, we must infer that the precipitation at those places assumes the form of snow in the same pro- portion as here. Admitting this, and supposing the entire winter precipitation to be a successive accumula- tion of snows, the resulting depths would be as follows, viz., Average annual depth at St. Paul, 3 feet; Houl- ton, 7£ feet; Hanover, 9 feet; Plattsburg, 5 feet; Mon- treal, 7 feet; Sault St. Marie, 11 £ feet. Maximum depth, at St. Paul, 3£ feet; Houlton, 10 feet; Platts- burg, 9i feet ; and Sault St. Marie, Hi feet. It is hardly necessary to add that such immense depths of snow are never known, and it must follow that a great part of the fall at all these localities is dissipated during the higher fluctuations of temperature. This is confirmed by Mr. Blodgett, who estimates the average depth of snow constantly occupying the ground in winter among the elevated and northern districts of New England at two feet, and the experience of the present winter, 1857-8, at St. Paul, is, that, out of a total fall of up- wards of twenty inches of snow, the depth on the ground has at no time exceeded six inches. Although no reliable evidence can be adduced upon this point, it seems entirely safe to assume that the XXXV111 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. average of extreme depths of snow in Minnesota, during the nineteen years through which the observations ex- tend, does not exceed ten inches, and it is certain that the average here falls quite below that in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, or New York, and very far below that in the Eastern States. Table showing the Mean Force of the Wind at Various Places during the Months of January, February, March, and December, in each Tear for a Series of Years. 1 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 O 8 a PLACES. © * a © C © l§ a ® If a © c © jl I! |1 c >• eS o Fort Snelling, M. T., near St. Paul, . . 1.59 1.72 1.63 1.74 1.55 2.05 2.18 2.00 1.S0 2.41 10 1.87 Fort Trumbull, New London, Conn., . . 2.53 2.85 3.41 2.98 2.31 2.45 2.16 7 2.67 Fort Hamilton, New York City, . . . 3.28 3.43 3.18 3.08 3.40 3.14 3.40 3.14 1.90 1.66 10 2.96 Fort Niagara, New York, 3.33 3.28 . . . . . . . . 3.30 3.24 2.59 3.54 2.20 2.57 8 3.01 Plattsburg Barracks, Plattsburg, N. Y. . 2.58 1.69 1.48 1.54 2.19 . . . . 5 1.90 Fort Sullivan, East- port, Maine, . . . 3.29 . . . . .... 2.31 2.37 2.55 2.63 . . . . 5 2.63 Fort Constitution, Portsmouth, N. H. . 2.44 . . . . 2.18 2.53 2.70 2.65 5 2.50 Alleghany Arsenal, Pittsburgh, Pa. . . 2.13 1.85 2.08 1.86 2.08 2.29 2.15 2.74 2.31 2.55 10 2.20 Detroit Barracks, De- ? *>? 2.46 1.72 2.11 2.32 5 2 26 Fort Atkinson, Winne- shiek County, Iowa, 2.88 2.07 2 2.48 Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, . . . . 2.30 2.19 1.70 1.99 2.55 1.45 1.61 2.03 2.07 2.30 .0 2.09 Average force at all places, . . . . 2.63 2.40 2.15 2.17 2.57 2.32 2.30 2.59 2.22 2.30 2.42 1 In this classification signifies a 4 a brisk breeze, and so on to 10, calm, 1 a barely perceptible breeze, 2 which represents a violent hurricane. a gentle breeze, 3 a moderate breeze, NUMEROUS LAKES.— WATERFALLS. xxxix " It appears that the mean force of the wind at Fort Snelling for the whole term is less than at any other station, and twenty-five per cent, less than the average of all stations for the whole term, and that the mean force in any year is below the average at all stations for the year, except in 1854, when it slightly exceeds the average." Like the Garden of Eden, the state is encircled by rivers and lakes. There is " water, water everywhere ;" and in view of this characteristic, Nicollet called the country Undine. To naiads and all water spirits it would be a perfect paradise. The surface of the country is dotted with lakes, and in some regions it is impossible to travel five miles without meeting a beautiful expanse of water. Many of these lakes are linked together by small and clear rivulets, while others are isolated. Their configuration is varied and picturesque ; some are large, with precipitous shores, and contain wooded islands, others are approached by gentle grassy slopes. Their bottoms are paved with agates, carnelians, and other beautiful quartz pebbles. Owens, in his Geological Report, says : " Their beds are generally pebbly, or covered with small boulders, which peep out along the shore, and frequently show a rocky line around the entire circumference. Very few of them have mud bot- toms. The water is generally sweet and clear, and north of the water-shed is as cool and refreshing during the heats of summer as the water of springs or wells. All the lakes abound with various species of fish, of a quality and flavour greatly superior to those of the streams of the Middle or Western States. The country also contains a number of ha-ha, as the Dahkotahs call all waterfalls. As the state of New xl HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. York shares with Great Britain the sublimest cataract, so Minnesota has a joint ownership in a picturesque fall. It is about a mile and a half above the mouth of Pigeon river. The perpendicular descent is sixty feet, after which the river chafes its way for many yards. About one mile below the west end of Grand Portage, the old depot of the North-west Company, are the great cascades of Pigeon river. "The scenery at the cas- cades presents the singular combination of wild grandeur and picturesque beauty, with an aspect the most dreary and desolate imaginable. In the distance of four hundred yards, the river falls one hundred and forty- four feet. The fall is in a series of cascades through a narrow gorge, with perpendicular walls, varying from forty to one hundred and twenty feet, on both sides of the river." 1 The streams in the north-east county of Minnesota nearly all come into Lake Superior with a leap. Half a mile from the lake, the Kawimbash hur- ries through perpendicular walls of stone, seventy-five feet in height, and at last pitches down a height of eighteen or twenty feet. On Kettle river, a tributary of the St. Croix, there are also interesting rapids and falls. The Falls of St. Croix, thirty miles above Stillwater, elicit the admira- tion of the traveller. Between lofty walls of trap rock, the river rushes, "at first with great velocity, forming a succession of whirlpools, until it makes a sudden bend, then glides along placidly, reflecting in its deep waters the dark image of the columnar masses, as they rise towering above each other to the height of a hundred to a hundred and seventy feet." On the Vermillion 1 Owens' Report, p. 409, 4to. THE FALLS OF MINNE-HA-HA. xli river, which is a western tributary of the Mississippi, opposite the St. Croix, there are picturesque falls, about a mile from Hastings. A drive of less than fifteen minutes from Fort Snel- ling, in the direction of St. Anthony, brings the tourist to a waterfall that makes a lifetime impression. " Stars in the silent night Might be enchained, Birds in their passing flight Be long detained, And by this scene entrancing, Angels might roam, Or make their home, Hearing, in waters dancing, 'Mid spray and foam, Minnehaha I" These, within a brief period, have obtained a world- wide reputation, from the fact that " a certain one of our own poets" has given the name of Minne-ha-ha to the wife of Hiawatha. Longfellow, in his vocabulary, says : " Minne-ha-ha — Laughing-water ; a waterfall or a stream running into the Mississippi, between Fort Snell- ing and the Falls of St. Anthony." All waterfalls, in the Dahkotah tongue, are called Ha-ha, never Minne- ha-ha. The "h" has a strong guttural sound, and the word is applied because of the curling or laughing of the waters. The verb I-ha means to curl the mouth ; secondarily to laugh, because of the curling motion of the mouth in laughter. The noise of Ha-ha is called by the Dakhotahs I-ha, because of its resemblance to laughter. A small rivulet, the outlet of Lake Harriet and Cal- houn, gently gliding over the bluff into an amphithea- xlii HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. tre, forms this graceful waterfall. It has but little of " the cataract's thunder." Niagara symbolizes the sub- lime ; St. Anthony the picturesque ; Ha-ha the beauti- ful. The fall is about sixty feet, presenting a parabolic curve, which drops, without the least deviation, until it has reached its lower level, when the stream goes on its way rejoicing, curling along in laughing, childish glee at the graceful feat it has performed in bounding over the precipice. Five miles above this embodiment of beauty, are the rnore pretentious Falls of St. Anthony. This fall was not named by a Jesuit, as Willard says, in her History Df the United States, but by Hennepin, a Franciscan of the Recollect Order. He saw it while returning from Mille Lac, in the month of July, 1680, and named it after his patron Saint, Anthony of Padua. In the last edition of his travels, the adventurous father says, "the navigation is interrupted by a fall, which I called St. Anthony of Padua's, in gratitude for the favours done me by the Almighty through the inter- cession of that great saint, whom we had chosen patron and protector of all our enterprises. This fall is forty or fifty feet high, divided in the middle by a rocky island of pyramidal form." As Hennepin was passing the falls, in company with a party of buffalo hunt- ers, he perceived a Dahkotah up in an oak opposite the great fall weeping bitterly, with a well dressed beaver robe, whitened inside, and trimmed with porcu- pine quills, which he was offering as a sacrifice to the falls, which is in itself admirable and frightful. I heard him while shedding copious tears say, as he spoke to the great cataract : " Thou who art a spirit, grant that FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY. xhn our nation may pass here quietly without accident, may kill buffalo in abundance, conquer our enemies, and bring in slaves, some of whom we will put to death before thee ; the Messenecqz [to this day the Dahkotahs call the Fox Indians by this name] have killed our kindred, grant that we may avenge them." The only other European, during the time of the French dominion, whose account of the falls is pre- served, is Charleville. He told Du Pratz, the author of a history of Louisiana, that, with two Canadians and two Indians, in a birch canoe laden with goods, he pro- ceeded as far as the Falls of St. Anthony. This cata- ract he describes as caused by a flat rock, which forms the bed of the river, and causing a fall of eight or ten feet. It w^as not far from a century after Hennepin saw the " curling waters," that it was gazed upon by a British subject. Jonathan Carver, a native of Connec- ticut, and captain of a Provincial troop, was the Yankee who first looked on this valuable water-power, and began to make calculations for further settlement. His sketch of the falls in 1766 was the first ever taken, and was well engraved in London. Carver, like Hennepin, speaks of a rocky island dividing the falls, and estimates its width about forty feet, and its length not much more, " and about half way between this island and the eastern shore, is a rock, lying at the very edge of the fall, that appeared to be about five or six feet broad, and thirty or forty long." During the two generations that have elapsed, since this description was penned, some changes have taken place in the appearance of the falls. The small island xliv HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. about forty feet broad, which is now some distance in front of the falls, was probably once in its midst. The geological character of the bed of the river is such, that an undermining process is constantly at work. The upper stratum is limestone, with many large crevices, and about fifteen feet in thickness. Beneath is the saccharoid sandstone, which is so soft, that it cannot resist the wearing of the rapid waters. It is more than probable that in an age long passed, the falls were once in the vicinity of Fort Snelling. In the course of two years they have receded many feet. The numbers of pine logs that pitch over the falls, have increased the reces- sion. As the logs float down they are driven into the fissures, and serve as levers, other logs and the water communicating the power, to wrench the limestone slabs from their localities. At length engineering skill has prevented the fall of the limestone ledge The fall of water on the west side of the dividing island, is several rods above that on the east side, and the difference is occasioned by the greater volume of water on the former side, causing a more rapid re- cedence. There are two islands of great beauty in the rapids above the falls. The first juts some feet beyond the falls, and contains about fifteen acres. It is now gene- rally known as Hennepin Island, not, as some blunderer says in Harpers Magazine for July, 1853, because the Jesuit father tvas placed there by the Indians, but in accordance with the following suggestion, in an address before the Historical Society of Minnesota, on January first, 1850 :— " As a town in the state of Illinois has already taken EARLY FRENCH MAPS. xiv the name of Hennepin, which would have been so ap- propriate for the beautiful village of St. Anthony, we take leave of the discoverer of those picturesque falls, which will always render that town equally attractive to the eye of the poet and capitalist, by suggesting that the island which divides the laughing waters, be called Hemiepin." When Du Luth left Minnesota, in 1680, one of the Dahkotah chiefs drew on birch bark a map of the Mississippi, and it was agreed that the French should bring goods to the Mississippi, and that the Dahkotahs would come down and traffic with them. Perrot, in carrying into effect this arrangement, appears to have erected the trading establishment, called Fort St. Nicholas, in the vicinity of Prairie du Chien. When forts are spoken of in connection with the French explorations of the North-west, the reader must divest himself of the idea of massive walls of masonry, and turrets and buttresses, and angles with ordnance protruding their muzzles; — and picture before him a log cabin, surrounded by a few pickets. The early French maps on America, are both curious and instructive* Without their aid it is impossible to trace with certainty the progress of discovery in Minne- sota, and the whole North-west. An early chart representing Minnesota that has been examined is that of Coronellis, corrected by Tillemon, published at Paris, 1688. Mille Lac is called Lac Buade, and the map states that it was named bv Du Luth. «/ The St. Croix river appears as Magdeline, and Snake river is marked Prophet. The second map that attempts a representation of * Appendix A xlvi HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the region now known as Minnesota, is attached to the Utrecht edition of Hennepin's Travels, published in 1 698. Lake Pepin is on this marked Lac des Pleurs, and the St. Croix as Riviere du Tombeau, and Mille Lac is the Lake of the Issati. North-east of this lake are placed the Ouadebaton band of Dahkotahs ; and near by the Chongas-kabions, and Songasquitons. A member of the Franciscan priesthood, Hennepin, was very jealous of the influence of the Jesuits, yet he is frequently by loose writers called a Jesuit. To convey the impression that his order were the pioneers in the evangelization of the North-west, he has marked beyond Sauk Rapids, in a region where a white man's footsteps were not seen for years subsequent, a house which is called Mission of the Recollects. The maps on the North-west that were the basis of the French and English charts, for half a century, were prepared by William de l'lsle, a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris. In his preparation of the chart of Louisiana, he was assisted by the obser- vations of the early explorer of Minnesota, Le Sueur. The map was issued about the year 1700, and as the section of it accompanying another chapter of this work shows, 1 attempted to designate the villages of the Sioux of the East and Sioux of the West. It places a coal mine on the Minnesota river, in the neighbourhood of the present town of Carver, and calls Lake St. Croix, Lake Pepin. The fort built by Le Sueur on the island below Hastings, and by Perrot at an earlier period, above the Chippeway river, and Fort Huillier on the small tributary of the Mahkahto, are clearly designated. 1 See page 164. Section of a Map of Canada SECURITY AND PROSPERITY OF PIONEERS. xlvii In the map of Canada, by the same author, Minnesota is more fully delineated. Pepin is attached to the lake which now bears the name. Mille Lac is called Buade, after the family name of Frontenac. and also by an Ojibway word Missisacaigan, conveying the idea ex- pressed by the French term Mille Lacs. Bum river is called the Mendeouacanton, after the division of Dahkotahs that dwelt in the valley. Snake river bears its present name, and the mines of lead near Galena and Dubuque are noted. In the year 1750, after Veranderie's tour by the chain of lakes that form the northern boundary of Minnesota, Philip Buache 1 revised and improved the maps of De l'lsle. The fort at the Kamanatekwoya river, built by Du Luth, appears, and this locality was afterwards occupied by Fort Wil- liam , and was the great depot of the North-west Com- pany. The post on Rainy Lake, and Lake Winnipeg and Lake of the Woods, are also presented for the first time. Previous to the treaty of peace at Paris, in 1763, Tho- mas JefFerys, Geographer to the King of England, pre- pared a map which embodied all of the latest correc- tions, and exhibits the sites of all the French establish- ments in Minnesota. 2 So recent has been the removal of the Dahkotahs, there is danger, in reading the history of Minnesota, of supposing that the emigrant will be exposed to the scalping knife of the savage. It is true that there was a massacre by some outlaws on the extreme south- western frontier, years ago ; but this barbarity was condemned by the Indian Dands, as much as by Ame- rican citizens. Although the war-whoop has scarcely 1 See page 188. ■ See page 300. xlviii HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. ceased to resound through the vales, and over the prai- ries, yet, since 1863, the Indian population has receded westward several hundreds of miles, and an Indian, when he appears on the site of what was only yesterday his village, is gazed at with curiosity. At Weenonah, 1 so lately the residence of Wapashaw, 2 there is already an embryo city of several thousand in- habitants, and two newspapers ; at Raymneecha, the re- cent village of the Red Wing band, at the head of Lake Pepin, there is a busy town, the seat of a Collegiate Institute, with comfortable church edifices of brick, and an industrious population. At Shokpay, 3 w r hich was one of the largest Dahkotah 4 villages, is a thriving county seat, with a population that is rapidly increasing. Near the old mission-house of Traverse des Sioux, is the town of St. Peter, and a few miles beyond is the city of Mankahto, at the mouth of the Blue Earth river. Notwithstanding the erroneous impressions that have prevailed, that Minnesota was too far north for agricul- tural success, and the emigration to Kansas, Nebraska, and California, its growth has been surprising. In 1849, the population was less than Hwe thousand, in- cluding all of the soldiers of the forts; in 1857, a census that was not fully completed, presented the following fig- ures : — 136,464. Since then there has been great increase. 1 In several places we write s Shokpay or Shakpay, is now Winona as it is pronounced, because written Shakopee, but we prefer the some are beginning to talk of the old method. town of Wyenonay, a barbarism * Dahkotah is also spelled Dakota, that would shock a Dahkotah. Dacota, Dahcotah, and Dakotah. - 2 Wapashaw is used for Wabasha, The accent is emphatic, and on the because more correct and euphonious penult. — See Dahkotah Lexicon, vol. iv. Smithsonian Publications. DESCRIPTION OF FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY, 1848. POPULATION OF MINNESOTA. xlix County. Aitken Anoka Broker 1 eltrsillll Benton Big Stone... Blue Earth., Flown Buch.TKt/i , y- ■u a. ( IlIMigo Clny Cottonwood . Crow Wing.. Dakota Dodge Douglas Faribault Fillmore , Freeborn Goodhue Grant Hennepin.... Houston .mi Itasca Jackson Kanaheck Kandiyohi Lac qui Parle. I.ake Le Sueur Mankahto Manomin Martin McLeod totals... 1870 18GO 1850 178 2 3,940 2,106 308 386 so 1,558 627 418 24 17,302 4,803 79 6,393 2,339 26 286 51 11,586 5,106 380 150 1,467 4,358 1,743 92 534 12 200 269 16,312 9,093 8,598 3,797 4,239 195 9,940 1,335 24.887 13,542 10,578 3,367 22,618 8,977 340 31,566 12.849 14.936 6.64 i 2.d35 284 96 51 97 1,825 181 • 92 30 1.760 76 145 135 248 11,607 5,318 136 "158 3,867 151 5,643 1,286 County. Meeker Mille Lacs Monongalia Morrison Mower Murray Nicollet Nobles Olmsted Otter Tail Pembina Pierce Piue Pipe SUme Polk; Pope Ramsey Redwood Renville Rice Rock Scott Sherburne Sibley Stearns Steele Stevens St. Louis Todd Traverse Wabashaw Wadena Walmata Waseca. Washington | 11 Watonwan 2 Wilkin Winona Wright 1870 1860 1850 648 085 928 73 350 618 3,217 29 3,773 35 9,524 240 1,612 11 91 23 240 12,150 245 7,543 3,595 723 2.609 4.505 2.863 406 2,601 6.123 40 9.208 3.729 1,134 2,227 243 "im 1,056 .439,706 172,023 6,077 For population of Counties in 1880 see Appendix Q. PRINCIPAL TOWNS— 1880. Minneapolis 45.887 St. Paul 41,408 Winona 10,2tA Stillwater 9.054 lied Wing 5,a7o Mankato 5,550 F»ribauit 5,415 Roc. estei 5,lu3 Hastinjra 3,809 St. .feler 3,43b Owatonna 3,161 Du 1 uth 2,*05 Anoka 2,706 St Cloud 2.462 Austin 2.039 In 1848, Minnesota seemed a wilderness to a divine, the Rev. Albert Barnes, of Philadelphia, who visited the country on a tour of pleasure ; and he thus presents his views of a locality, which is spanned by several bridges, the seat of the State University, and a city of above fifty -five thousand active inhabitants : — " I visited the Falls of St. Anthony. I know not how other men feel when standing there, nor how men will feel a century hence, when standing there — then, 1 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. not in the West, but almost in the centre of aur great nation. But when I stood there and reflected on the distance between that and the place of my birth and my home ; on the prairies over which I had passed ; and the stream— the ' Father of Rivers' — up which I had sailed some five hundred miles, into a new and un- settled land — where the children of the forest still live and roam — I had views of the greatness of my country, such as I have never had in the crowded capitals and the smiling villages, of the East. Far in the distance did they then seem to be ; and there came over the soul the idea of greatness, and vastness, which no figures, no description, had ever conveyed to my mind. To an inexperienced traveller, too, how strange is the appear- ance of all that land ! * * * * You ascend the Mississippi amidst scenery unsurpassed in beauty probably in the world. You see the waters making their way along an interval of from two to four miles in width — between bluffs of from one hundred to five hundred feet in height. Now the river makes its way along the eastern range of bluffs, and now the western, and now in the centre, and now it divides itself into numerous channels, forming thou- sands of beautiful islands, covered with long grass, ready for the scythe of the mower. Those bluffs, rounded with taste and skill, such as could be imitated by no art of man, and set out with trees here and there, gracefully arranged like orchards, seem to have been sown with grain to the summit, and are clothed with beautiful green. You look out instinctively for the house and barn; for flocks and herds; for men, and women, and children ; but they are not there. A race that is gone seems to have cultivated those fields, and MINNESOTA, THE SKY-TINTED WATER. li then to have silently disappeared — -leaving them for the first man that should come from the older parts of our own country, or from foreign lands, to take possession of them. It is only by a process of reflection that you are convinced that it is not so." The state of Minnesota derives its name from the principal tributary of the Mississippi within its bounda- ries. The name is a compound Dahkotah word. This nation call the Missouri, Minneshoshay, muddy water, and this stream Minnesota. The precise signification of Sota is difficult to express. Some writers have said it means clear, Schoolcraft bluish green, others turbid. Nicollet remarks : — " The adjective Sotah is of difficult translation. The Canadians translated it by a pretty equivalent word brouille, perhaps more properly rendered into English by blear, as for instance Mimsorah, blear water. I have entered upon this explanation because the word sotah really means neither clear nor turbid, as some authors have asserted, its true meaning being readily found, in the Sioux expression Ishta-sotah, blear eyed." From the fact that the word signifies neither white nor blue, but the peculiar appearance of the sky on certain days, the Historical Society publications, define Minnesota to mean the shy4inted water, which is certainly poetic, and according to Gideon H. Pond, one of the best Dahkotah scholars, correct. Throughout the work, we have called the tribe w r ho were the aborigines of Minnesota, Dahkotahs, a name by which they recognise themselves. The term Sioux is a mere nickname given for convenience by the early voyageurs. Minnesota, as a state, ought to have the highest aspi- lii HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. rations. The birthplace of many rivers, flowing north, south, east, and west ; with varied scenery, the prairie, the forest, the lofty bluff, the placid lake, and the laughing waterfall ; the summit of the central valley of North America ; with an atmosphere peculiarly dry and bracing, it must ever be attractive to emigrants from all regions of the world. If the aims of her citizens only correspond with the elevated natural position and ad- vantages, the cattle upon a thousand hills will soon occupy the old pasture-grounds of the elk and bison, and school-houses will crown the eminences but lately adorned with burial scaffolds ; and the State will become the birth-place of not only majestic rivers, but great men. If the perusal of the following pages shall tend to foster a proper State pride, and interest the generation now springing up in the history of their country, the chief end of the work will have been attained. HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER I. Minnesota is the "land of the Dahkotahs." Long before their existence was known to civilized men, they wandered through the forests, between Lake Superior and the Mississippi, in quest of the bounding deer, and over the prairies beyond in search of the ponderous buffalo. They are an entirely different group from the Algon- quin and Iroquois, who were found by the early settlers of the Atlantic States, on the banks of the Connecticut, Mohawk, and Susquehanna rivers. Their language is much more difficult to comprehend; and, while they have many customs in common with the tribes who once dwelt in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, they have peculiarities which mark them as belonging to a distinct family of the aborigines of America. Winona, Wapashaw, Mendota, Anoka, Kasota, Mah- kahto, and other names designating the towns, hamlets, and streams of Minnesota, are words derived from the Dahkotah vocabulary. Between the head of Lake Superior and the Missis- 4 (49) 50 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. sippi river, above the Falls of Saint Anthony, is a country of many lakes. So numerous are they, and interlaced by clear and sparkling brooks, to an aeronaut they would appear like a necklace of diamonds, on silver filaments, gracefully thrown upon the bosom of Earth. Surrounded by forests of the sugar maple — the neigh- bouring marshes fertile in the growth of wild rice — the waters abounding in fish — the shores once alive with the beaver, the otter, the bear, and the fox — they were sites just adapted for the residence of an Indian popu- lation. When the Dahkotahs were first noticed by the Euro- pean adventurer, large numbers were occupying this region of country, and appropriately called by the voya- geur, " People of the Lakes." * And tradition, asserts that here, was the ancient centre of this tribe. Though we have traces of their warring and hunting on the shores of Lake Superior, there is no satisfactory evidence of their residence, east of the Mille Lac region. 2 The word Dahkotah, by which they love to be desig- nated, signifies allied or joined together in friendly com- pact, and is equivalent to " E pluribus unum," the motto on the seal of the United States. In the history of the mission at La Pointe, Wisconsin, published nearly two centuries ago, a writer, referring to the Dahkotahs, remarks : — " For sixty leagues from the extremity of the Upper Lake, toward sunset; and, as it were in the centre of the western nations, they have all united their force by a general league." 1 Gens du Lac. 2 They have no name for Lake Superior. — G. H. Pond, in " Dahkotah Tawaxitku Kin" THE NAMES SIOUX, AND DAHKOTAH. 51 The Dahkotahs in the earliest documents, and even until the present day, are called Sioux, Scioux, or Soos. The name originated with the early " voyageurs." Fo* centuries the Ojibways of Lake Superior wage I war against the Dahkotahs ; and, whenever they spoke of them, called them Nadowaysioux, which signifies ene- mies. The French traders, to avoid exciting the attention of Indians, while conversing in their presence, were accustomed to designate them by names, which would not be recognised. The Dahkotahs were nicknamed Sioux, a word com- posed, of the two last syllables, of the Ojibway word, for foes. Charlevoix, who visited Wisconsin in 1721, in his history of New France says : " The name of Sioux, that we give to these Indians, is entirely of our own making, or rather it is the last two syllables of the name of Nadouessioux, as manv nations call them." From an early period, there have been three great divisions of this people, which have been subdivided into smaller bands. The first are called the Isanyati, the Issati of Hennepin, after one of the many lakes at the head waters of the river, marked on modern maps, by the unpoetic name of Rum. It is asserted by Dahkotah missionaries now living, that this name was given to the lake because the stone from which they manufactured the knife (isan) was here obtained. The principal band of the Isanti was the M'dewakanton- wan. 1 In the journal of Le Sueur, they are spoken of as residing on a lake east of the Mississippi. Tra- 1 Pronounced as if written Medday-wawkawn-twawn. 52 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. dition says that it was a day's walk from Isantamde or Knife Lake. On a map prepared in Paris in 1703, Hum River is called the river of the M'dewakantonwans, and the Spirit Lake on which they dwelt, was, without doubt, Mille Lac of modern charts. The second great division is the Ihanktonwan^ com- monly called Yankton. They appear to have occupied the region west of the M'dewakantonwan, and north of the Minnesota river. The geographer De Lisle places their early residence in the vicinity of Traverse des Sioux, extending northward. The last division, the Titonwan, hunted west of the Ihanktons, and all the early maps mark their villages at Lac-qui-parle and Big Stone Lake. Hennepin, in August, 1679, in the vicinity of the Falls of Niagara, met the Senecas returning from war with the Dahkotahs, and with them some captive Tin- tonwans (Teetwawns). This division is now the most numerous, and comprises about one-half of the whole nation. They have wan- dered to the plains beyond the Missouri, and are the plundering Arabs of America. Whenever they appear in sight of the emigrant train, journeying to the Pacific coast, the hearts of the company are filled with painful apprehensions. North of the Dahkotahs, on Lake of the Woods and the watercourses connecting it with Lake Superior, were the Assiniboine. These were once a portion of the nation. Before the other divisions of the Dahkotahs had traded with the French, they had borne their pel- tries to the English post, Fort Nelson, on Hudson's Bay. and had received in return British manufactures. Bj DIFFERENT DAHKOTAH BANDS. 53 association with the English, they learned to look upon the French with distrust, and in time to be hostile towards those who had formed alliances with the French. Le Sueur writes, in relation to their separation from the rest of the nation, in these words : — "•The Assinipoils speak Scioux, and are certainly of that nation. It is only a few years since they became enemies. It thus originated : The Christianaux having the use of arms before the Scioux, through the English at Hudson's Bay, they constantly warred upon the Asssinipoils, who were their nearest neighbours. The latter being weak sued for peace, and, to render it more lasting, married the Christianaux women. The other Scioux, who had not made the compact, continued to war, and seeing some Christianaux with the Assinipoils, broke their heads." After this there was alienation. A letter, however, written at Fort Bourbon, on Hudson's Bay, about 1695, remarks : " It is said that the Assini- boins are a nation of the Sioux, which separated from them a long time ago." The Dahkotahs call these alienated tribes Hohays, and make woman the cause of the separation. They are said to have belonged to the Ihanktonwan (Yankton) division of the nation. A quarrel, tradition asserts, occurred between two families hunting at the time in the vicinity of Lake Traverse. A young man seduced the wife of one of the warriors. The injured husband, in attempting to rescue his wife, was killed in the tent of the seducer. His father and some relatives wanted to secure the corpse. On the road, they were met, by some of the friends of the guilty youth, and three of their number were killed. The father then turned back 54 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. and raised a party of sixty warriors, who waged war against the seducer and his friends, which continued until the whole band were involved, and ended in a revolt upon the part of the aggressor and his friends, who in time became a separate people. In the valleys of the Blue Earth, the Des Moines, and the eastern tributaries of the Missouri, within the limits of the territory of Minnesota, there also dwelt in ancient days bands of the Ioways, Ottoes, Cheyennes, Aricarees, and Omahaws, who sought other hunting-grounds as the Dahkotahs advanced westward. The Dahkotahs, like all ignorant and barbarous peo- ple, have but little reflection beyond that necessary to gratify the pleasure of revenge and of the appetite. It would be strange to find heroes among skulking savages, or maidens like " Minnehaha" of the poet, among those whose virtue can be easily purchased. While there are exceptions, the general characteristics of the Dahkotahs, and all Indians, are indolence, im- purity, and indifference to the future. The religion of this people is exceedingly indistinct, and with reluctance do they converse on the subject. That a nation so low in the scale of humanity should have preserved the idea of one great spirit, the' father of all spirits, the supreme and most perfect of beings, is not to be supposed. To attribute to them more elevated conceptions than those of the cultivated Athe- nians, is perfect absurdity. The Dahkotahs, in their religious belief, are polytheists. The hunter, as he passes over the plains, finds a granite boulder : he stops and prays to it, for it is " Wawkawr? — mysterious or supernatural. At another time, he will pray to his dog ; and at another time, to the sun, moon, or stars. DAHKOTAH WORSHIP AND GODS. 55 In every leaf, in every stone, in every shrub, there is a spirit. It may be said of them, as Cotton Mather said of the Massachusetts Indians, in his Life of Eliot : " Ah the religion they have amounts to thus much : they believe that there are many gods, who made and own the several nations of the world. They believe that every remarkable creature has a peculiar god within or about it ; there is with them a sun god or a moon god and the like ; and they cannot conceive but that the fire must be a kind of god, inasmuch as a spark of it will soon produce very strange effects. They believe that when any good or ill happens to them, there is the favour or anger of a god expressed in it." The Dahkotahs have greater and minor deities, and they are supposed to multiply as men and animals, and the superior to have power to exterminate the inferior. The Jupiter Maximus of the Dahkotahs is styled Oanktayhee. As the ancient Hebrews avoided speak- ing the name of Jehovah, so they dislike to speak the name of this deity, but call him " Taku-wakan," or " That which is supernatural." This mighty god mani- fests himself as a large ox. His eyes are as large as the moon. He can haul in his horns and tail, or he can lengthen them, as he pleases. From him proceed in- visible influences. In his extremities reside mighty powers. He is said to have created the earth. Assembling in grand conclave all of the aquatic tribes, he ordered them to bring up dirt from beneath the water, and proclaimed death to the disobedient. The beaver and others for- feited their lives. At last the muskrat went beneath the waters, and, after a long time, appeared at the sur- face nearly exhausted, with some dirt. From this, 56 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Oanktayhee fashioned the earth into a large circular plain. The earth being finished, he took a deity, one of his own offspring, and grinding him to powder, sprinkled it upon the earth, and this produced many worms. The worms were then collected and scattered again. They matured into infants ; and these were then collected and scattered and became full-grown Dahkotahs. The bones of the mastodon, the Dahkotahs think, are those of Oanktayhee, and they preserve them with the greatest care in the medicine bag. It is the belief of the Dahkotahs that the Rev. R. Hopkins, who was drowned at Traverse des Sioux, on July 4th, 1851, was killed by Oanktayhee, who dwells in the waters, because he had preached against him. This deity is supposed to have a dwelling-place beneath the Falls of Saint Anthony. A few years ago, by the sudden breaking up of a gorge of ice, a cabin near Fort Snelling, containing a soldier, was swept off by the flood. The Dahkotahs supposed that this great god was descending the river at the time, and, being hungry, devoured the man. Hay-o-kah (the anti-natural god) . — There are four per- sons in this godhead. The first appears like a tall and slender man with two faces, like the Janus of ancient mythology. Apollo-like, he holds a bow in his hand streaked with red lightning, also a rattle of deer claws. The second is a little old man with a cocked hat and enormous ears, holding a yellow bow. The third, a man with a flute suspended from his neck. The fourth \& invisible and mysterious, and is the gentle zephyr which bends the grass and causes the ripple of the water. Hayokah is a perfect paradox. He calls bitter sweet r HAYOKAH, AND OTHER DEITIES. 57 and sweet bitter ; he groans when he is fr_II of joy ; he laughs when he is in distress ; he calls black, white, and white, black ; when he wishes to tell the truth he speaks a He, and when he desires to lie, he speaks the truth ; in winter he goes naked, and in summer he wraps up in buffalo robes. The little hills on the prairies are called Hayo-kah-tee, or the house of Hay-o-kah. Those whom he inspires, can make the winds blow and the rain fall, the grass to grow and wither. There is said to exist a clan who especially adore this deity, and at times dance in his honour. At dawn of day they assemble within a teepee, in the centre of which is a fire, over which are suspended kettles. With cone- shaped hats and ear-rings, both made of bark, and loins girded with the same material, they look like incarnate demons. On their hats are zigzag streaks of paint — representations of lightning. The company remain seated and smoking around the fire, until the water in the kettle begins to boil, which is a signal for the commencement of the dance. The excitement now becomes intense. They jump, shout, and sing around the fire, and at last plunge their hands into the cauldron, seize and eat the boiled meat. Then they throw the scalding water, on each others backs, the sufferers never wincing, but insisting that it is cold. Taku-shkax-shkax. — This deity is supposed to be invisible, yet everywhere present. He is full of revenge, exceedingly wrathful, very deceitful, and a searcher of hearts. His favourite haunts are the four winds, and the granite boulders strewn on the plains of Minnesota. He is never so happy as when he beholds scalps, warm and reeking with blood. The object of that strange ceremony of the Dahko- 58 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. tahs, in whiuh the performer being bound hand and foot with the greatest care, is suddenly unbound by an invi- sible agent, is to obtain an interview with Taku-shkan- shkan. The name of another one of the superior divinities is Wahkeenyan. His teepee is supposed to be on a mound on the top of a high mountain, in the far West. The teepee or tent has four openings, with sentinels elothed in red down. A butterfly is stationed at the east, a bear at the west, a fawn at the south, and a reindeer at the north entrance. He is supposed to be a gigantic bird, the flapping of whose wings makes thunder. He has a bitter enmity against Oanktayhee, and attempts to kill his offspring. The high water a few years ago was supposed to be caused by his shooting through the earth, and allowing the water to flow out. When the lightning strikes their teepees or the ground, they think that Oanktayhee was near the surface of the earth, and that Wahkeenyan, in great rage, fired a hot thunderbolt at him. By him wild rice, is said to have been created, also the spear, and tomahawk. A bird of thunder was once killed, the Indians assert, near Kaposia. Its face resembled the human counte- nance. Its nose was hooked like the bill of an eagle. Its wings had four joints, and zigzag like the lightning. About thirty miles from Big Stone Lake, near the head waters of the Minnesota, there are several small lakes bordered with oak-trees. This is the supposed birth-place of the Thunder Bird, and is called the Nest of Thunder. The first step the spirit ever took in this world was equal to that of the hero, in the child's story, who wore seven-league boots, being twenty-five miles in length. A rock is pointed out which has a foot-like WAHKEENYAN.— THUNDER BIRD. 59 impression, which they say is his track ; and the hill is called Thunder Tracks. A son of Colonel Snelling, the first commander of the fort of that name, in a poem, which is published in Griswold's collection of American poetry, alludes to the foregoing incidents :-<- " The moon that night withheld her light. By fits, instead, a lurid glare Illumed the skies ; while mortal eyes Were closed, and voices rose in prayer While the revolving sun Three times his course might run, The dreadful darkness lasted ; And all that time the red man's eye A sleeping spirit might espy, Upon a tree-top cradled high, Whose trunk his breath had blasted. So long he slept, he grew so fast, Beneath his weight the gnarled oak Snapped, as the tempest snaps the mast: It fell, and Thunder woke ! The world to its foundation shook, The grizzly bear his prey forsook, The scowling heaven an aspect bore That man had never seen before ; The wolf in terror fled away, And shone at last the light of day. '* 'Twas here he stood ; these lakes attest Where first Waw-kee-an's footsteps press'd. About his burning brow a cloud, Black as the raven's wing, he wore ; Thick tempests wrapt him like a shroud, Red lightnings in his hand he bore ; Like two bright suns his eyeballs shone, His voice was like the cannon's tone ; And, where he breathed, the land became, Prairie and wood, one sheet of flame. "Not long upon this mountain height The first and worst of storms abode, 60 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. For, moving in his fearful might, Abroad the GoD-begotten strode. Afar, on yonder faint blue mound, In the horizon's utmost bound, At the first stride his foot he set ; The jarring world confessed the shock. Stranger ! the track of Thunder yet Remains upon the living rock. " The second step, he gained the sand On far Superior's storm-beat strand : Then with his shout the concave rung, As up to heaven the giant sprung On high, beside his sire to dwell ; But still, of all the spots on earth, He loves the woods that gave him birth. — Such is the tale our fathers tell." After an individual has dreamed in relation to the sun, there are sacred ceremonies. Two persons are the participants, who assume a peculiar attitude. Almost naked, holding a small whistle in their mouths, they look towards the sun, and dance with a strange and awkward step. One of their interpreters remarks, " The nearest and best comparison I can make of them when worshipping, is a frog held up by the middle with its legs half drawn up." During the continuance of the ceremony, which may last two or three days, the parties fast. When a Dahkotah is troubled in spirit, and desires to be delivered from real or imaginary danger, he will select a stone that is round and portable, and, placing it in a spot free from grass and underbrush, he will streak it with red paint, and, offering to it some feathers, he will pray to it for help. The stone, after the ceremony is over, does not appear to be regarded with veneration. If visitors request them, they can be obtained. SACRED MEN INITIATED. 61 CHAPTER II. In all nations where the masses are unenlightened, their spiritual nature is uncultivated, and they believe whatever a class of men pretending to have authority from the spirit world, may impose upon them. All ignorant communities are superstitious and easily priest- ridden. The early Britons looked upon the Druids, as a supernatural, and wonder-working class, and they fed, and feared them. The Wawkawn, or medicine men, hold the same relation to the Dahkotahs as the Druids to the ancient Britons. They are the most powerful and influential of the tribe. They are looked upon as a species of demi-gods. They assert their origin to be miraculous. At first they are spiritual existences, encased in a seed of some description of a winged nature, like the thistle. Wafted by the breeze to the dwelling-place of the gods, they are received to intimate communion. After being instructed in rela- tion to the mysteries of the spirit world, they go forth to study the character of all tribes. After deciding upon a residence, they enter the body of some one about to become a mother, and are ushered by her into the world. A great majority of the M'dewakantonwans are medicine men. When an individual desires to belong to this priest- 62 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. hood, he is initiated by what is termed a "medicine dance." This dance is said to have been instituted by Oanktayhee, the patron of medicine men. The editor of the "Dahkotah Friend," in a description of this dance, remarks : — " When a member is to be received into this society, it is his duty, to take the hot bath, four days in succes- sion. In the mean time, some of the elders of the society instruct him in the mysteries of the medicine, and Wahmnoo-Aah — shell in the throat. He is also provided with a dish (wojute) and spoon. On the side of the dish is sometimes carved the head of some vora- cious animal, in which resides the spirit of Eeyah (glut- ton god). This dish is always carried by its owner to the medicine feast, and it is his duty, ordinarily, to eat all which is served up in it. Gray Iron has a dish which was given him at the time of his initiation, on the bottom of which is carved, a bear complete. The candidate is also instructed with what paints, and in what manner, he shall paint himself, which must always be the same, when he appears in the dance. There is supernatural virtue in this paint, and the manner in which it is applied ; and those who have not been fur- nished with a better, by the regular war prophets, wear it into battle, as a life-preserver. The bag contains besides, the claws of animals, with the toanwan of which they can, it is believed, inflict painful diseases and death on whomsoever, and whenever, they desire. " The candidate being thus duly prepared for initia- tion, and having made the necessary offerings for the benefit of the institution, on the evening of the day pre- vious to the dance a lodge is prepared, and from ten to twenty of the more substantial members pass the night MEDICINE DANCE AND SONGS. 63 in singing, dancing, and feasting. In the morning, the tent is opened for the dance. After a few appropriate ceremonies preliminary to the grand operation, the can- didate takes his place on a pile of blankets which he has contributed for the occasion, naked, except the breech-cloth and moccasins, duly painted and prepared for the mysterious operation. An elder having been stationed in the rear of the novice, the master of the ceremonies, with his knee and hip joints bent to an angle of about forty-five degrees, advances, with an unsteady, unnatural step, with his bag in his hand. uttering, " Heen, keen, keen" with great energy, and raising the bag near a painted spot on the breast of the candidate, gives the discharge, the person stationed in the rear gives him a push forward at the same instant, and as he falls headlong throws the blankets over him Then, while the dancers gather around him and chant, the master throws off the covering, and, chewing a piece of the bone of the OanktayAee, spirts it over him, and he revives, and resumes a sitting posture. All then return to their seats except the maste? he approaches, and, making indescribable noises, pats upon the breast of the novice, till the latter, in agonizing throes, heaves up the Wahmnoo-Aah or shell, which falls from his mouth upon the bag which had been previously spread before him for that purpose. Life being now completely restored, and with the mysterious shell in his open hand, the new-made member passes around and exhi- bits it to all the members and to the wondering by- standers, and the ceremonies of initiation are closed. The dance continues, interspersed with shooting each other, rests, smoking, and taking refreshments, till they have jumped to the music of four sets of singers. Be- 64 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. sides vocal music, they make use of the drum and the gourd-shell rattle. The following chants, which are used in the dance, will hest exhibit the character of this mysterious institution of the OanktayAee : — " Waduta ohna micage. Waduta ohna micage. Miniyata ite wakan de maqu, Tunkanixdan. " He created it for me enclosed in red down. He created it for me enclosed in red down. He in the water with a mysterious visage gave me this, My grandfather. " Tunkanixdan pejihuta wakan micage, He wicake. Miniyata oicage wakan kin maqu ye, Tunkanixdan ite kin yuwinta wo. Wahutopa yuha ite yuwinto wo. " My grandfather created for me mysterious medicine, That is true. The mysterious being in the water gave it to me. Stretch out your hand before the face of my grandfather, Having a quadruped, stretch out your hand before him." The medicine pouch is the skin of an otter, fox, or similar animal, containing certain articles which are held sacred. A warrior leaving his village to hunt, gave his pouch to a friend of the writer, who had dwelt as a missionary among the Dahkotahs for a score of years. The owner having died, he retained it, and, being at his house one day, it was, at my request, opened. The contents were some dried mud, a dead beetle, a few roots, and a scrap of an old letter, which had probably been picked up about the walls of Fort Snelling. Where the science of medicine is not understood, the PRACTICE OF MEDICINE.— VAPOUR BATH. 65 Inhabitants are very superstitious concerning the sick. Those who are prominent in their devotion to the sacred rites of a heathen tribe, generally act as physicians The Druids of the early Britons performed the duties of doctors, and the conjurers, or medicine men, as they -are generally termed, are called to attend the sick Dah- kotahs. This tribe of Indians are well acquainted with the bones of the body ; but no Dr. Hunter has yet risen among them to explain the circulation of the blood, and therefore they have but a single word for nerves, arteries, and veins. When a young man is sick, he is generally well watched; but old persons, and those that have some deformity, are often neglected. To effect a cure, they often practise what is called steaming. They erect a small tent covered with thick buffalo robes, in which they place some hot stones. Stripping the sick person of his blanket, they place him in the tent. Water is then thrown upon the hot stones, which creates considerable vapour. After the patient has been confined in this close tent for some time, and has perspired pro- fusely, they occasionally take him out and plunge him into the waters of an adjacent river or lake. This custom is very ancient. One of the first white men who appear to have resided amongst them, was a Franciscan priest, named Hennepin. He was made their prisoner in the year 1680, while travelling on the Mississippi, above the Wisconsin river. The Dahkotahs took him to their villages on the shores of Rum river, at Mille Lac, where he was quartered in a. chief's lodge, whose name was Aquipaguetin. The chief observing that Hennepin was much fatigued, ordered an oven to be made, which, to use the words of the Franciscan, ■" he ordered me to enter, stark naked, with four 66 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. savages. The oven was covered with buffalo hides, and in it they placed red-hot flint and other stones. They ordered me to hold my breath as long as I could. As soon as the savages that were with me let go their breath, which they did with a great force, Aquipaguetin began to sing. The others seconded him ; and laying their hands on my body began to rub, and at the same time cry bitterly. I was near fainting, and forced to leave the oven. At my coming out, I could scarcely take up my cloak. However, they continued to make me sweat thrice a week, which at last restored me to my former vigour." When a Dahkotah is very sick, the friends call in a conjurer or medicine man. Before we proceed, it is proper to explain the meaning of the term " medicine man." Anything that is mysterious or wonderful, the Dahkotahs call " Wawkawn." The early explorers and traders in Minnesota were French, and they always call a doctor " medecin." As the Indian doctors are all dealers in mysteries, the word "medicine" has at last obtained a local signification, meaning anything that is mysterious or unaccountable. A "medicine man" means, then, a doctor who calls to his aid charms and incantations. The medicine men are divided into var prophets, and conjurers or doctors. A Dahkotah, when he is sick, believes that he is pos- sessed by the spirit of some animal, or insect, or enemy. The medicine men, are supposed to have great power of suction in their jaws, by which they can draw out the spirit that afflicts the patient, and thus restore him to health. They are much feared by all the tribe. The doctor is called to see a sick person by sending some one with a present of a horse or blankets, or something as MEDICAL PRACTICE. 67 valuable. The messenger sometimes carries a bell, and rings around the lodge until the conjurer makes his appearance ; at other times he bears to the doctor's lodge a lighted pipe, and presenting it to him, places his hands on his head and moans. " The person sent to call on the doctor, strips himself for running, retaining only his breech cloth, and carry- ing a bell. He enters the lodge, and without further ceremony, strikes the doctor with his foot, jingles his bell, and suddenly issuing from the lodge, runs with all his might for the sick man's lodge, with the doctor at his heels. If the latter overtakes and kicks him before he reaches the lodge, he does not proceed any further, but returns home. Another person is then despatched, and it is not until one is sent who is too swift for him, that the doctor's services can be secured." The doctor having entered the tent, without touching the patient, begins to strip himself, leaving nothing upon his body but the breech cloth, and moccasins. Having obtained a sacred rattle, which is nothing more than a dried gourd, filled with a few kernels of corn, or beads, he begins to shake and sing in unearthly monotones. He now gets upon his knees, and, to use a vulgarism, " crawls on all fours," up to his patient. After a few moments we see him rise again retching violently, and picking up a bowl of water thrusts his face therein, and begins to make a gurgling noise. Into this bowl he professes 1 to expectorate the spirit which has incited the disease. The doctor having decided what animal has possessed his patient, he has an image of the animal made out of bark, and placed outside near the tent door in a vessel of water. Mr. Prescott, United States Interpreter of the Dahkotahs, in a communication upon this subject 68 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. says : " The animal made of bark is to be shot. Two or three Indians are in waiting, standing near the bowl, with loaded guns, ready to shoot when the conjurer gives the signal. To be sure that the conjuring shall have the desired effect, a woman must stand astride the bowl, when the men fire into it, with her dress raised as high as the knees. The men are instructed how to act by the conjurer ; and as soon as he makes his ap- pearance out of doors, they all fire into the bowl, and blow the little bark animal to pieces. The woman steps aside, and the juggler makes a jump at the bowl on his hands and knees, and commences blubbering in the water. While this is going on, the woman has to jump on the juggler's back, and stand there a moment ; then she gets off, and as soon as he has finished his incantations, the woman takes him by the hair of his head, and pulls him back into the lodge. If there are any fragments found of the animal that has been shot, they are buried. If this does not cure, a similar cere- mony is performed, but some other kind of animal is shaped out." Among the earliest songs, to which a Dahkotah child listens, are those of war. As soon as he begins to totter about, he carries as a plaything, a miniature bow, and arrow. The first thing he is taught, as great and truly noble, is taking a scalp, and he pants to perform an act, which is so manly. At the age of sixteen, he is often on the war path. When a boy is of the proper age to go to war, he is presented with weapons, or he makes a war club. He then consecrates certain parts of animals, which he vows, not to eat. After he has killed an enemy, he is at liberty, to eat of any one of those portions of an animal, from which he agreed to abstain. If he kills CRUELTY TO FOES. 69 another person, the prohibition is taken off from another part, until finally he has emancipated himself from his oath, by his bravery. Before young men go out on a war party, they endeavour to propitiate the patron deity by a feast. During the hours of night, they celebrate the " armour feast," which is distinguished by drumming, singing, and agonizing shrieks. The war prophets or priests, by the narrating of pre- tended dreams, or by inspiring oratory, incite the tribe against an enemy. If a party are successful in securing scalps, they paint themselves black, and return home in mad triumph. As they approach their village, those who are there run forth to greet them, and strip them of their clothes, and supply them with others. The scalp is very carefully prepared for exhibition, being painted red, and stretched upon a hoop, which is fastened to a pole. If the scalp is from a man, it is decked with an eagle's feather, if from a woman, with a comb. At a scalp dance, which we once attended at Kaposia, the braves stood on one side of the circle, drumming and rattling, and shouting a monotonous song, reminding one of a song of chimney sweeps of a city. The women, standing opposite to the men, advanced and retreated from the men, squeaking in an unearthly man ner, a sort of chorus. This is the chief dance, in which the women, engage. If a scalp is taken in summer, they dance until the falling of the leaves ; if in winter, until the leaves begin to appear. When the scalp is freshly painted, as it is four times, it is a great occasion. After their mad orgies, have ceased, they burn or bury it. An eagle's feather, with a red spot, in the head of some of those Indians walking through our settlements, is a badge that the possessor has killed a foe. If the feather is 70 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. notched and bordered with red, or clipped and topped with red, it signifies that a throat has been cut. The red hand on a blanket, shows that the man has been wounded by an enemy ; but the black hand, that he has killed his enemy. The Dahkotahs, like other savages in war, show no sympathy for sex, infancy, or old age. At Pokeguma, the Kaposia band scalped two little girls that attended the mission school ; buried a tomahawk in their brains; severed the hands from the bodies ; and then set them up in the sand. Mr. Riggs narrates an inci- dent of some of the upper bands of Dahkotahs, pursuing a weak Ojibway mother. To save her life she swam a stream. Half naked she reached the opposite bank, and dropped down, too much exhausted to attempt to pro- ceed. With the delight of demons just let loose from hell, her pursuers came over, stabbed and scalped her. Prematurely, ushering her unborn babe into existence, they dashed its brains out, upon the ground. Returning with a poor, sick mother's scalp, they came home as " conquering heroes come," and were received with pride and honour. Such is savage warfare, and the savage idea of what constitutes true glory. But, notwithstanding their horrid mode of warfare, they are not destitute of affection for their own offspring or friends. The Dahkotahs assert that a mother is with her absent children whenever they think of her, and that she feels a pain in her breast (or heart) whenever anything of moment happens to them. When a child dies, like Rachel, they refuse to be comforted. The following paraphrase of the lament of a bereaved Indian mother, prepared for the " Dakota Friend," is full of poetry : ( * Me choonkshee! Me choonhshee ! (my daughter, my daughter,) alas ! alas ! My hope, my comfort has departed, my A MOTHER'S WAIL OVER HER INFANT. 71 heart is very sad. My joy is turned into sorrow, and mv song into wailing. Shall I never behold thy sunny smile ? Shall I never more hear the music of thy voice ? The Great Spirit has entered my lodge in anger, and taken thee from me, my first born and only child. I am comfortless and must wail out my grief. The pale faces repress their sorrow, but we children of nature must give vent to ours or die. Me choonkshee ! me choonkshee ! " The light of my eyes is extinguished ; all, all is dark. I have cast from me all comfortable clothing, and robed myself in comfortless skins, for no clothing, no fire, can warm thee, my daughter. Unwashed and uncombed, I will mourn for thee, whose long locks I can never more braid ; and whose cheeks I can never again tinge with vermillion. I will cut off my dishevelled hair, for my grief is great, me choonkshee ! me choonkshee ! How can I survive thee ? How can I be happy, and you a homeless wanderer to the spirit land ? How can I eat if you are hungry ? I will go to the grave with food for your spirit. Your bowl and spoon are placed in your coffin for use on the journey. The feast for your playmates has been made at the place of interment. Knowest thou of their presence ? Me choonkshee ! me choonkshee ! " When spring returns, the choicest of ducks shall be your- portion. Sugar and berries also shall be placed near your grave. Neither grass nor flowers shall be allowed to grow thereon. Affection for thee will keep the little mound desolate, like the heart from which thou art torn. My daughter, I come, I come. I bring you parched corn. Oh, how long will you sleep ? The wintry winds wail your requiem. The cold earth is 72 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. your bed, and the colder snow thy covering. I would that they were mine. I will lie down by thy side. I will sleep once more with you. If no one discovers me ? I shall soon be as cold as thou art, and together we will sleep that long, long sleep from which I cannot wake thee, Me choonkshee ! me choonkshee !" A Dahkotah obtains his wives (for they are polyga- mists) not by courtship, but by a practice as old as the book of Genesis, that of purchase. A young man, when he wants a wife, announces the fact, and begs his friends to give him an outfit. He then proceeds to the parents and makes a purchase. The ancestors of some of the first families of Virginia, purchased their wives from the London company, for one hundred and twenty or fifty pounds of tobacco, at three shillings a pound, but a Dahkotah pays a higher price for the article, and takes more. Usually they pay a horse, or four or five guns, or six or eight blankets, a value equal to thirty or forty dollars. The chief of the Kaposia band had three wives, who were sisters. His second wife he purchased of her father while he was drunk, and she but ten years of age. It is said that a friend throws a blanket over the bride and bears her to the lodge of the purchaser. Though a son- in-law lives near the parents of his wife, he never names or talks to them, and never looks his wife's mother in the face. He thinks it is respectful to act in this manner. He occupies a large lodge, while his wife's parents frequently live in a small one, in the rear, whom he supplies with game until he has a family of his own. Should the parents accidentally meet him, they hide their faces. If the mother starts for the THE WOODPECKER CHARM.— DRESS. 7a daughter's lodge and perceives her husband inside, she does not enter. If a woman proves faithless to her husband, she is- frequently shot or has her nose cut off. This latter practice was noticed by Le Sueur, in 1700. There is much system in relation to the place in which each should sit in a Dahkotah lodge. The wife always occu- pies a place next to the entrance on the right. The seat of honour, to which a white man is generally pointed, is directly opposite to the door of the lodge. Like the rest of mankind, they are by no means insensible to flattery. When one thinks that he cannot obtain a horse, or some other article that he wishes, by a simple request, he will take a number of wood- peckers' heads, and sing over them in the presence of the individual he hopes to influence, recounting the honourable deeds of the man to whom he gives the birds' heads. This process acts like a charm, and is often successful. A Parisian dandy is known the world over, but he is not to be compared with a Dahkotah fop. An Indian young man passes hours in attiring himself. That green streak of paint upon the cheek; those yellow circles around the eyes, and those spots upon the forehead, have cost him much trouble and frequent gazings into his mirror, which he always keeps with him. That head-dress, which appears to hang so carelessly, is all designed. None knows better than he how to attitudi- nize and play the stoic or majestic. No moustachioed clerk, with curling locks, and kid gloves, and cambric handkerchief, and patent-leather boots, and glossy hat, is half so conscious as he who struts past us with his streaming blanket and ornamented and uncovered head, 74 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. holding a pipe or a gun in the place of a cane, and wearing moccasins in the place of boots. The rain upon his nicely decorated head and face, causes as much of a flutter as it does when it falls upon the hat of the nice young man who smokes his cigar and pro- menades in Broadway. When the Dahkotahs are not busy with war, or the chase, or the feasts and dances of their religion, time hangs heavily, and they either sleep or resort to some game to keep up an excitement. One of their games is like " Hunt the Slipper ;" a bullet or plum-stone is placed by one party in one of four moccasins or mittens, and sought for by the opposite. There is also the play of "plum-stones." At this game much is often lost and won. Eight plum-stones are marked with certain devices. This game is played by young men and females. If, after shaking in a bowl, stones bearing certain devices turn up, the game is won. The favourite and most exciting game of the Dahko- tahs is ball playing. It appears to be nothing more than a game which was often played by the writer in school- boy days, and which was called " shinny." A smooth place is chosen on the prairie or frozen river or lake. Each player has a stick three or four feet long and crooked at the lower end, with deer strings tied across forming a sort of a pocket. The ball is made of a rounded knot of wood, or clay covered with hide, and is supposed to possess supernatural qualities. Stakes are set at a distance of a quarter or half mile, as bounds. Two parties are then formed, and the ball being thrown up in the centre, the contest is for one party to carry the ball from the other beyond one of the bounds. Two or three hundred men are sometimes engaged at once. On FOOT RACING.— DOG AND FISH DANCES. 75 a summer's day, to see them rushing to and fro, painted in divers colors, with no article of apparel, with feathers in their heads, bells around their wrists, and fox and wolf tails dangling behind, is a wild and noisy spectacle. The eye-witnesses among the Indians become more interested in the success of one or the other of the par- ties than any crowd at a horse race, and frequently stake their last piece of property on the issue of the game. On the 13th of July, 1852, the last great ball-play in the vicinity of Saint Paul took place. The ground selected was Oak Grove, in Hennepin county, and the parties were, Shokpay's band, against the Good Road, Sky Man, and Gray Iron bands. The game lasted several days ; about two hundred and fifty were parti- cipants, encompassed by a cloud of witnesses. About two thousand dollars' worth of property was won by Shokpay's band the first day. The second day they were the losers. On the third day Shokpay lost the first game, and the stake was renewed. Shokpay lost again; but while a new stake was being made up, a dispute arose between the parties concerning some of the property which had been won from Shokpay's band, but which they kept back. They broke up in a row, as they usually do. Gray Iron's band leaving the ground first, ostensibly for the reason above named, but really because Shokpay's band had just been reinforced by the arrival of a company from Little Crow's band. During the play four or five thousand dollars' worth of goods changed hands. Like the ancient Greeks, they also practise foot racing. Before proceeding to other topics, it is well to give a brief account of the dog dance and the fish dance. The 76 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. first is seldom performed, and is said to be peculiar to this nation. A dog being thrown into the midst of the crowd of dancers, is speedily " tomahawked" by one of the sacred men. The liver is then extracted and cut into slices, after which it is hung upon a pole. Now the dancers hop around, their mouths apparently water- ing with the desire for a bite. After a time some one dances up to the pole and takes a mouthful of the raw liver. He is then succeeded by others, until the whole is devoured. If another dog is thrown into the circle, the same process is repeated. " Not long since a Dahkotah chief was sick, and the gods signified to him that if he would make a raw fish feast, he would live till young cranes' wings are grown. So he must make the feast or die. Fifteen or twenty others, who, like himself, were inspired by the cormorant, joined with him in the ceremonies of the feast, of which the chief was master. " After one or two days spent in ' vapour baths' and ' armour feasts,' a tent is prepared, opening towards the east. The railing extending from the tent is composed of bushes. Within the enclosure each of those who are to participate in the feast has a bush set, in which is his nest. Early in the morning, on the day of the feast, the master informs two others where the fish are to be taken, and sends them forth to spear and bring them in, designating the kind and number to be taken. On this occasion two pike, each about one foot in length, were taken, and after having been painted with Vermil- lion and ornamented with red down about the mouth and along the back, were laid on soime branches in the enclosure, entire, as they were taken from the water. Near the fish were placed birch-bark dishes filled with CORMORANT DANCE. 77 sweetened water. Their implements of war were sol- emnly exhibited in the tent, and the dancers, who were naked, except the belt, breech-cloth, and moccasins, and fantastically painted and adorned with down, red and white, being in readiness, the singers, of whom there are four ranks, commenced to sing, each rank in its turn. The singing was accompanied with the drum and rattle. " The cormorant dancers danced to the music, having a little season of rest as each rank of singers ended their chant, until the fourth rank struck the drum and made the welkin ring with their wild notes ; then, like starving beasts, they tore off pieces of the fish, scales, bones, entrails, and all, with their teeth, and swallowed it, at the same time drinking their sweetened water, till both the pike were consumed, except the heads and fins and large bones, the latter of which were deposited in the nests. Thus the feast ended, and the chief will of course live till the young cranes can fly. At the close of the ceremony, whatever of clothing is worn on the occasion is offered in sacrifice to the gods." Sufficient has been said to show that the Dahkotahs are Odd Fellows; but not the half has been told. Among the Ojibways there are totems, or family sym- bols, of the name of some ancestor, which is honoured as much as the coat of arms among the nobility of Eu- rope. If a man dies, his totem is marked upon his grave post with as much formality as the heraldic design of an English nobleman. It was this custom among the Algonquin Indians, that led the unscrupu- lous La Hontan to publish engravings of the fabulous coats of arms of the various savage nations of the north- west. That of the " Outchipoues" (Ojibways) is an eagle perched upon a rock, devouring the brain of an 78 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. owl. That of the Sioux, or Dahkotahs, is a squirrel perched upon a citron or pumpkin, and gnawing its rind. While the Dahkotahs do not appear to have totems or family designs, like the Ojibways, yet, from time immemorial, secret clans, with secret signs, have existed among them. It is impossible to force any member of these clans to divulge any of their proceed- ings. Culbertson, who visited the Dahkotahs of the Missouri, at the request of the Smithsonian Institution, was struck with this peculiarity. His remarks, for the entire accuracy of which we do not vouch, are as fol- lows : — " The Sioux nation has no general council, but each tribe and band determines its own affairs. These bands have some ties of interest analogous to the ties of our secret societies. The ' Crow-Feather-in-Cap' band are pledged to protect each others' wives, and to refrain from violating them. If the wife of one of their num- ber is stolen by another of their number, she is returned, the band either paying the thief for returning the stolen property, or forcing him to do it, whether he will or not. ***** The ' Strong-Heart' band is pledged to protect each other in their horses. Should a ' Strong-Heart' from a distance steal some horses, and they be claimed by a brother ' Strong-Heart,' his fellows would tell him that he must give them up, or they would give the robbed man some of their own horses, regarding it as the greatest disgrace to themselves to allow him to go away on foot. And thus I suppose that all these bands have some common object that unites them together, and here we have the origin of this system of banding. In the absence of law, it takes the place of our system of justice." WANT OF CLEANLINESS. 79 The heathen, in their manner of life, are essentially the same all over the world. They are all given up to uncleanness. As you walk through a small village, in a Christian land, you notice many appearances of thrift and neatness. The day-labourer has his lot fenced, and his rude cabin white-washed. The widow, dependent upon her own exertions, and alone in the world, finds pleasure in training the honeysuckle or the morning- glory to peep in at her windows. The poor seamstress, though obliged to lodge in some upper room, has a few flower-pots upon her window-sill, and perhaps a canary bird hung in a cage outside. But in an Indian village all is filth and litter. There are no fences around their bark huts. White-washing is a lost art if it was ever known. Worn-out moccasins, tattered blankets, old breech-cloths, and pieces of leggins are strewn in con- fusion all over the ground. Water, except in very warm weather, seldom touches their bodies, and the pores of their skins become filled with grease and the paint with which they daub themselves. Neither Monday, or any other day, is known as washing-day. Their cooking utensils are incrusted with dirt, and used for a variety of purposes. A few years ago, a band of Indians, with their dogs, ponies, women, and children, came on board of a steamboat on the Upper Mississippi, on which the writer was travelling. Their evening meal, consisting of beans and wild meat, was prepared on the lower deck, beneath the windows of the ladies' cabin. After they had used their fingers in the place of forks, and consumed the food which they had cooked in a dirty iron pan, one of the mothers, removing the blanket from one of her children, stood it up in the same pan, and then, dipping some water out of the river, began to $0 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. wash it from head to foot. The rest of the band looked on with Indian composure, and seemed to think that an iron stew-pan was just as good for washing babes as for cooking beans. Where there is so much dirt, of course vermin must abound. They are not much dis- tressed by the presence of those insects which are so nauseating to the civilized man. Being without shame, a common sight, of a summer's eve, is a woman or child with her head in another's lap, who is kindly killing the fleas and other vermin that are burrowing in the long, matted, and uncombed hair. The Dahkotahs have no regular time for eating. Dependent, as they are, upon hunting and fishing for subsistence, they vacillate from the proximity of star- vation to gluttony. It is considered uncourteous to refuse an invitation to a feast, and a single man will sometimes attend six or seven in a day, and eat intem- perately. Before they came in contact with the whites, they subsisted upon venison, buffalo, and dog meat. The latter animal has always been considered a deli- cacy by these epicures. In illustration of these remarks, I transcribe an extract from a journal of a missionary, who visited Lake Traverse in April, 1839 : — "Last evening, at dark, our Indians chiefly returned, having eaten to the full of buffalo and dog meat. I asked one how many times they were feasted. He said, ' Six r and if it had not become dark so soon, we should have been called three or four times more.' * * * This morning, ' Burning-Earth' (chief of the Sissetonwan Dahkotahs), came again to our encampment, and re- moving we accompanied him to his village at the south- western end of the lake. * * * In the afternoon, I visited the chief; found him just about to leave for IRREGULAR MODE OF LIFE. 81 a do£ feast to which he had heen called. When he had received some papers of medicine I had for him, he left, saying. * The Sionx love dog meat as well as white people do pork.' " In this connection, it should be stated that the Dah- kotahs have no regular hours of retiring. Enter a New England village after nine o'clock, and all is still. Walk through Philadelphia after the State House clock has struck eleven, and evervbodv and thino;. hacks, hack- men. and those on foot, appear to be hastening to rest; the lamp in the store, the entry and parlour, is extin- guished, and lights begin to flicker hi the chambers and in the garrets, and soon all are quiet, except rogues and disorderly persons, and those who watch ; and you can hear the clock tick in the entry, and the watchman's slow step as he walks up and down the street. But there is nothing like this in an Indian village. They sleep whenever inclination prompts ; some by day and some by night. If you were to enter a Dahkotah village, at midnight, you might, perhaps, see some few huddled round the fire of a teepee, listening to the tale of an old warrior, who has often engaged in bloody conflict with their ancient and present enemies, the Ojibways; or you might hear the unearthly chanting of some medicine man, endeavouring to exorcise some spirit from a sick man ; or see some lounging about, whiffing out of their sacred red stone pipes, the smoke of kinnikinnick, a species of willow bark ; or some of the young men sneaking around a lodge, and waiting for the lodge-fire to cease to flicker before they perpetrate some deed of sin : or you might hear a low, wild drumming, and then a group of men, all naked, with the exception of a 82 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. girdle round the loins, daubed with vermillion and other paints, all excited, and engaged in some of their grotesque dances ; or a portion may be firing their guns into the air, being alarmed by some imaginary evil, and supposing that an enemy is lurking around. CHAPTER III. Dahkotah females deserve the sympathy of every tender heart. From early childhood they lead " worse than a dog's life." Like the Gibeonites of old, they are the hewers of wood, and the drawers of water for the camp. On a winter's day, a Dahkotah mother is often obliged to travel five or eight or ten miles with the lodge, camp-kettle, axe, child, and small dogs upon her back. Arriving late in the afternoon at the appointed camping-ground, she clears off the snow from the spot upon which she is to erect the teepee. She then, from the nearest marsh or grove, cuts down some poles about ten feet in length. With these she forms a frame work for the tent. Unstrapping her pack, she unfolds the tent-cover, which is seven or eight buffalo skins stitched together, and brings the bottom part to the base of the frame. She now obtains a long pole, and fastening it to the skin covering, she raises it. The ends are drawn around the frame until they meet, and the edges of the covering are secured by wooden skewers or tent pins. The poles are then spread out on the ground, so as to make as large a circle inside as she desires. Then she, THE HARDSHIPS OF DAHKOTAH FEMALES. S3 or her children, proceed to draw the skins down so as to make them fit tightly. An opening is left where the poles meet at the top, to allow the smoke to escape. The fire is built upon the ground in the centre of the lodge. Buffalo skins are placed around, and from seven to fifteen lodge there through a winter's night, with far more comfort than a child of luxury upon a bed of down. Water is to be drawn and wood cut for the night. The camp-kettle is suspended, and preparations made for the evening meal. If her lord and master has not by this time arrived from the day's hunt, she is busied in mending up moccasins. Such is a scene which has been enacted by hundreds of females this very winter in Minnesota. How few of the gentle sex properly ap- preciate the everlasting obligations they are under to the Son of Mary, after the flesh, who was the first that taught the true sphere and the true mission of woman ! The Dahkotah wife is subject to all of the whims of her husband, and woe unto her when he is in bad humour ! As a consequence, the females of this nation are not possessed of very happy faces, and frequently resort to suicide to put an end to earthly troubles Uncultivated, and made to do the labour of beasts, when they are desperate, they act more like infuriated brutes than creatures of reason. Some years ago a lodge was pitched at the mouth of the St. Croix. The wife, fear- ing her husband would demand the whiskey keg, when he came from hunting, hid it. Upon his return, she refused to tell him where it was, and he flogged her. In her rage, she went off and hung herself. At Oak Grove, a little girl, the pet of her grandmother, was whipped by her father. The old woman, sympathizing with the child, flew into a passion and went off. At 84 ' HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. last, the screaming of the grandchild was heard, for she had discovered her " grandma' " hanging by a portage collar from a burial scaffold. An assistant female teacher in the mission school, being attracted by the noise, went and cut the " old granny" down before life had fled. On another occasion, at the same place, a son-in-law refused to give his mother some whiskey, and in a rage she went on to the burial scaffold, tied the portage strap around her neck, and was about to jump off, when Mr. Pond came up to her and cut the strap. Still she did not relinquish her intention of suicide. At last, he climbed on to the scaffold and told her he would stay there as long as she. Other females from the village then came out, and succeeded in persuading her to live a little while longer. In this connexion, an incident may be told, which, for romantic interest, can- not be surpassed. The girl, since the occurrence, which we substantially narrate as we find it in the " Pioneer," without being responsible for every particular, be- came a pupil in the Rev. Mr. Hancock's mission school at Remnica or Red Wing Village. In the spring of 1850, a young girl, fourteen years of age, shot another girl with whom she was quarrelling. The deceased was a daughter of a sullen man by the name of Black Whistle. The affrighted girl, after she fired the gun, fled to the trader's house, and was by him aided to make her escape down to Wapashaw's village. While stopping at Red Wing's village, some hundred miles from the place where the deed was committed, the incensed father overtook her. His first plan was to carry her home and sacrifice her at his daughter's burial scaffold; but, through the influence of some of the whites, he changed his plan, and resolved to make her THE DISGUISED GIRL.— WANT OF LAW. 85 his slave or his wife. For some time she endured what to her was a living death, but on one night she suddenly disappeared. Not many days after, there appeared at Good Road's village, a young Indian boy, stating that he was a Sisseton, and had just arrived from the plains He was well received, no one dreaming that he was the Indian maid. While in this disguise, she went out one day to spear fish, when her husband and enemy, the revengeful father of the girl she had shot, met her, and inquired for her, and avowed his intention to kill her. She very coolly assented to the justice of what he said, and left. At last, her real sex being suspected, she came down to Little Crow or Kaposia village. Here she passed herself off as a Winnebago orphan, which disguise succeeded for a time. But soon she was sus- pected, and was again obliged to seek safety in flight, and at last took up her residence at Red Wing's village, though for a long time no one knew what had become of her. It is an erroneous idea that chiefs have any authority. Popularity is the source of power, and they resort to measures which vie with those of the modern dema- gogue, to gain the ear of the people. They never express an opinion on any important point, until they have canvassed the band over which they preside, and their opinions are always those of the majority. The Dahkotahs suffer much for want of law. The individual who desires to improve his condition is not only laughed at, but maltreated. Moreover, if he ac- quires any property, there is no law which secures it to him, and it is liable to be taken away at any time by any ill-disposed person. Until this state of things is altered by the interposition of the United States govern SQ HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. ment, or the interposition of Providence in some unfore- seen way, there is little hope of elevating this tribe. Their missionary will be forced to look upon this degra- dation, and say, in view thereof, " My whole head is sick, my whole heart faint." The superstitions and peculiarities of the Dahkotahs are so various that we can but barely glance at them. They count years by winters, and compute distances by the number of nights passed upon a journey; their months are computed by moons, and are as follows : — 1. Wi-teri, January ; the hard moon. 2. Wicata-wi, February ; the raccoon moon. 3. Istawicayazan-wi, March; the sore-eye moon. 4. Magaokadi-wi, April; the moon in which the geese lay eggs : also called Wokada-wi ; and, sometimes, Watopapi-wi, the moon when the streams are again navigable. 5. Wojupi-wi, May ; the planting moon. 6. Wajustecasa-wi, June; the moon when the straw- berries are red. 7. Canpasapa-wi, and Wasunpa-wi, July ; the moon when the choke-cherries are ripe, and when the geese shed their feathers. 8. Wasuton-wi, August; the harvest moon. 9. Psinhnaketu-wi, Sejitember ; the moon when rice is laid up to dry. 10. Wi-wajupi, October; the drying rice moon; some- times written Wazupi-wi. 11. Takiyura-wi, November; the deer-rutting moon. 12. Tahecapsun-wi, December; the moon when the deer shed their horns. They believe that the moon is made of something as good as green-cheese. The popular notion is that when RELIGIOUS RITES AND SUPERSTITIONS 87 the moon is full, a great number of very small mice commence nibbling until they have eaten it up. A new moon then begins to grow until it is full, then it is devoured. Though almost every Dahkotah young man has his pocket mirror, a maid does not look at a looking-glass, for it is " wakan" or sacred. Almost everything that the man owns is wakan or sacred, but nothing that the woman possesses is so esteemed. If one has a toothache, it is supposed to be caused by a woodpecker concealed within, or the gnawing of a worm. Coughs are occa- sioned by the sacred men operating through the medium of the down of the goose, or the hair of the buffalo. It is considered a sin to cut a stick that has once been placed on the fire, or to prick a piece of meat with an awl or needle. It is wrong for a woman to smoke through a black pipe-stem, and for a man to wear a woman's moccasins. It is also sinful to throw gun- powder on the fire. This tribe of Indians believe that an individual has several souls. Le Sueur said that they thought that they had three souls, but the sacred men say that a Dahkotah has four souls. At death one of these re- mains with or near the body ; one in a bundle contain- ing some of the clothes and hair of the deceased, which the relatives preserve until they have an opportunity to throw them into the enemy's country ; one goes into the spirit land ; and one passes into the body of a child or some animal. They have a fear of the future, but no fixed belief in relation to the nature of future punishment. They are generally taciturn on such topics. The more simple- minded believe that a happy land exists across a lake 88 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. of boiling water, and that an old woman sits on the shore holding a long narrow pole, that stretches across the water to the earth. Warriors who can show marks of wounds on their flesh, can walk the pole with security ; also infants, whose blue veins are a passport as good as war marks. Others slip into the boiling water. Their theology makes no difference between the con- dition of the thief and liar and the correct and good man. Those who commit suicide are thought to be unhappy. They believe that a woman who commits suicide will have to drag through another world that from which she hung herself in this, and that she will often break down the corn in another land by the pole or tree which dangles at her feet, and for this will be severely beaten by the inhabitants of the spirit land. When any one dies, the nearest friend is very anxious to go and kill an enemy. A father lost a child while the treaty of 1851 was pending at Mendota, and he longed to go and kill an Ojibway. As soon as an indi- vidual dies, the corpse is wrapped in its best clothes. Some one acquainted with the deceased then harangues the spirit on the virtues of the departed ; and the friends sit around with their faces smeared with a black pig- ment, the signs of mourning. Their lamentations are very loud, and they cut their thighs and legs with their finger nails or pieces of stone, to give free vent, as it would appear, to their grief. The corpse is not buried, but placed in a box upon a scaffold some eight or ten feet from the ground. Hung around the scaffold are such things as would please the spirit if it was still in the flesh — such as the scalp of an enemy or pots of food. After the corpse has been exposed lor some SCHILLER'S POEM.— BULWER, HERSCHELL. 89* months, and the bones only remain, they are buried in a heap, and protected from the wolves by stakes. On the bluff, above the dilapidated cave which forms the eastern limit of Saint Paul, there is an ancient burial place. Here the Dahkotahs formerly brought their dead,' and performed solemn services. Carver, in his Travels, publishes the alleged speech over the remains of a Dahkotah brave — the reading of which so attracted the attention of the great German poet, Schiller, that he composed a poem called the " Song of a Nadowessee Chief." Goethe considered it one of his best, " and wished he had made a dozen such." Sir John Herschell and Sir E. L. Bulwer have each attempted a translation, both of which seem to convey the spirit of the original. SIR E. L. BULWER'S. SIR JOHN HERSCHELI/S. See on his mat — as if of yore, All life-like sits he here! With that same aspect which he wore When light to him was dear. But where the right hand's strength ? and where The breath that loved to breathe, To the Great Spirit aloft in air, The peace-pipe's lusty wreath ? And where the hawk-like eye, alas ! That wont the deer pursue. Hong the waves of rippling grass, Or fields that phone with dew ? See, where upon the mat, he sits Erect, before his door, With just the same majestic air That once in life he wore. But where is fled his strength of limb, The whirlwind of his breath, To the Great Spirit, when he sent The peace-pipe's mounting wreath? Where are those falcon eyes, which late Along the plain could trace, Along the grass's dewy wave, The reindeer's printed pace? Are these the limber, bounding feet That swept the winter's snows? What stateliest stag so fast and fleet? Their speed outstripped the roe's ! These arms, that then the steady bow Could supple from its pride, How stark and helpless hang they now Adown the stiffened side ! Those legs, which once, with matchless speed, Flew through the drifted snow, Surpassed the stag's unwearied course, Outran the mountain roe? Those arms, once used with might and main, The stubborn bow to twang? See, see, their nerves are slack at last, All motionless they hang. 90 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. SIR E. L. BULWERS. Yet weal to him — at peace he stays Where never fall the snows: Where o'er the meadows springs the maize That mortal never sows. Where birds are blithe on every brake — Where forests teem with deer — Where glide the fish through every lake — One chase from year to year ! With spirits now he feasts above ; All left us — to revere The deeds we honour with our love, The dust we bury here. Here bring the last gift! loud and shrill Wail, death dirge for the brave! What pleased him most in life may still Give pleasure in the grave. We lay the axe beneath his head He swung when strength was strong— The bear on which his banquets fed — The way from earth is long! And here, new sharped, place the knife That severed from the clay, From which the axe had spoiled the life, The conquered scalp away ! The paints that deck the dead bestow — Yes, place them in his hand — That red the kingly shade may glow Amid the spirit-land. SIR JOHN HERSCHELL'S. 'Tis well with him, for he is gone Where snow no more is found, Where the gay thorn's perpetual bloom Decks all the field around; Where wild birds sing from every spray, Where deer come sweeping by, Where fish from every lake, afford A plentiful supply. With spirits now he feasts above, And leaves us here alone, To celebrate his valiant deeds, And round his grave to moan. Sound the death-song, bring forth the gifts, The last gifts of the dead,— Let all which yet may yield him joy Within his grave be laid. The hatchet place beneath his head, Still red with hostile blood ; And add, because the way is long, The bear's fat limbs for food. The scalpingknife beside him lay, With paints of gorgeous dye, That in the land of souls his form May shine triumphantly. The legends of the Dahkotahs are numerous, and while many are puerile, a few are beautiful. Eagle-Eye, the son of a great war prophet, who lived more than one hundred years ago, was distinguished for bravery. Fleet, athletic, symmetrical, a bitter foe and warm friend, he was a model Dahkotah. In the ardour of his youth, his affections were given to one who was also attractive, named Scarlet Dove. - A few moons after she had become an inmate of his lodge, they descended the Mississippi, with a hunting party, and proceeded east of Lake Pepin. SCARLET DOVE.— AXPETUSAPA. 91 One day. while Eagle-Eye was hid behind some bushes, watching for deer, the arrow of a comrade found its way through the covert, into his heart. AVith only time to lisp the name Scarlet Dove, he expired. For a few days the widow mourned and cut her flesh, and then, with the silence of woe. wrapping her beloved in skins, she placed him on a temporary burial scaffold, and sat beneath. When the hunting party moved, she carried on her own back the dead body of Eagle-Eye. At every en campment she laid the body up in the manner already mentioned, and sat down to watch it and mourn. When she had reached the Minnesota river, a dis- tance of more than a hundred miles, Scarlet Dove brought forks and poles from the woods, and erected a permanent scaffold on that beautiful hill opposite the site, of Fort Snelling, in the rear of the little town of Mendota, which is known by the name of Pilot Knob. Having adjusted the remains of the unfortunate object of her love upon this elevation, with the strap by which she had carried her precious burden, Scarlet Dove hung herself to the scaffold and died. Her highest hope was to meet the beloved spirit of her Eagle-Eye, in the world of spirits. 1 Many years before the eye of the white man gazed on the beautiful landscape around the Falls of Saint Anthony, a scene was enacted there of which this is the melancholy story : — Anpetusapa was the first love of a Dahkotah hunter. For a period they dwelt in happiness, and she proved herself a true wife. 1 For this legend we are indebted to Rev. G. H. Pond. 92 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. "With knife of bone she carved her food, Fuel, with axe of stone procured — Could fire extract, from flint or -wood ; To rudest savage life inured. "In kettle frail of birchen bark, She boiled her food with heated stones ; The slippery fish from coverts dark She drew with hooked bones." But her heart was at length clouded. The husband, in accordance with the custom of his nation, introduced a second wife within the teepee, and the first wife's eyes began to grow sad, and her form from day to day drooped. Her chief joy was to clasp the little boy, who was the embodiment of hopes and happiness fled for ever. Faithful and unmurmuring, she followed her husband on his hunts. One day the band encamped on the picturesque shores near the Falls of Saint Anthony. With tearless eye, and nerved by despair, the first wife, with her little son, walked to the rapid waters'. Enter- ing a canoe, she pushed into the swift current, and the chanting of her death dirge arrested the attention of her husband and the camp in time to see the canoe on the bank, and plunge into the dashing waves. The Dahkotahs say, that in the mist of the morning, the spirit of an Indian wife, with a child clinging around her neck, is seen darting in a canoe through the spray, and that the sound of her death-song is heard moaning in the winds, and in the roar of the waters. On the eastern shore of Lake Pepin, about twelve miles from its mouth, there stands a bluff which attracts attention by its boldness. It is about four hundred and fifty feet in height, the last hundred of which is a bald, precipitous crag. It is seen at a distance of miles ; and MAIDEN'S ROCK OF THE DAHKOTAHS. 93 as the steamer approaches, the emergence of passengers to the upper deck, and the pointing of the finger of the captain, or some one familiar with the country, evince* that it is an interesting locality — it is the Maiden's Kock of the Dahkotahs. The first version of the story, in connection with this bluff, differs from those more modern, but is preferable. In the days of the great chief Wapashaw, there lived at the village of Keoxa, which stood on the site of the town which now bears her name, a maiden with a lov- ing soul. She was the first-born daughter, and, as is always the case in a Dahkotah family, she bore the name of Weenonah. A young hunter of the same band, was never happier than when he played the flute in her hearing. Having thus signified his affection, it was with the whole heart reciprocated. The youth begged from his friends all that he could, and went to her parents, as is the custom, to purchase her for his wife, but his proposals were rejected. A warrior, who had often been on the war path, whose head-dress plainly told the number of scalps he had wrenched from Ojibway heads, had also been to the parents, and they thought that she would be more honoured as an inmate of his teepee. Weenonah, however, could not forget her first love ; and, though he had been forced away, his absence strengthened her affections. Neither the attentions of the warrior, nor the threats of parents, nor the persua- sions of friends, could make her consent to marry simply for position. One day the band came to Lake Pepin to fish or hunt. The dark green foliage, the velvet sward, the beautiful expanse of water, the shady nooks, made it a 94 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. place to utter the breathings of love. The warrior sought her once more, and begged her to accede to her parents' wish, and become his wife, but she refused with decision. While the party were feasting, Weenonah clambered to the lofty bluff, and then told to those who were below, how crushed she had been by the absence of the young hunter, and the cruelty of her friends. Then chanting a wild death-song, before the fleetest runner could reach the height, she dashed herself down, and that form of beauty was in a moment a mass of broken limbs and bruised flesh. The Dahkotah, as he passes the rock, feels that the spot is Wawkawn. The Dahkotahs call the St. Croix river, Hogan- wanke-kin. The legend is that in the distant past, two Dahkotah warriors were travelling on the shores of Lake St. Croix, one of whom was under a vow to one of his gods not to eat any flesh which had touched water. Gnawed by hunger, the two perceived, as they supposed, a raccoon, and pursued it to a hollow tree. On looking in, the one who could not eat flesh that had touched water, saw that the animal was a fish and not a quadruped. Turning to his companion, he agreed to throw it to the ground if he was not urged to eat. Hunger, however, was imperious, and forced him to break his vow and partake of the broiled fish. After the meal, thirst usurped the place of hunger. He called for water to cool his parched tongue, until the strength of his companion failed, and he was then told to lie down by the lake and drink till his thirst was quenched. Complying with the advice, he drank and drank, till at last he cried to his friend, " come and LANGUAGE AND LEXICON. 95 look at me." The sight caused the knees of his comrade to smite together with fear, for he was fast turning to a fish. At length, he stretched himself across the Lake, and formed what is called Pike Bar. This, tradition says, is the origin of the sand-bar in the Lake, which is so conspicuous at low stage of water. Having full faith in the legend, to this day they call the river, which is part of the boundary between Wis- consin and Minnesota, "the place where the fish lies." (Hogan-wanke-kin.) The Dahkotahs, from the Minnesota to the plains beyond the Missouri, speak essentially the same lan- guage. Though difficult to acquire, it is allied to that of the Ottoes, Winnebagoes, Toways, and Omahaws. 1 After ten years' close study by an observing mis- sionary, he was obliged to confess that he had not mastered it, which admission forms quite a contrast to the vaunting statement of Jonathan Carver, who wintered in Minnesota in 1767. He remarks: "To render my stay as comfortable as possible, I first endea- voured to learn their language. This I soon did, to make myself perfectly intelligible." Hennepin made the first effort to collect a vocabulary of the language, while he was a captive on Rum river, or Mille Lacs. His description of the attempt is very quaint : " Hunger pressed me to commence the forma- tion of a vocabulary of their language, learned from 1 The ancient Arkansas seem to (Minne ska) or White Water." have belonged to the Dahkotah Again : " They place the hand upon family. A letter published in Kip's the mouth, which is a sign of admi- Jesuit Mission, written by a mis- ration among them." Ouakan tague sionary at the mouth of the Arkan- they cry out, " it is the Great Spirit." sas, in October, 1727, speaks of " a They said probably, Wakan de, This river which the Indians call Ni ska is wonderful. ~96 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the prattle of their children. When once I had learned the word Taketchiabein, which means ' How call you this?' I began to be soon able to talk of such things as are most familiar. For want of an interpreter this difficulty was hard to surmount at first. For example, if I had a desire to. know what to run was in their tongue, I was forced to increase my speed, and actually run from one end of the lodge to the other, until they understood what I meant and had told me the word, which I presently set down in my Dictionary." The first printed vocabulary is that appended to Carver's Travels, which is exceedingly incorrect, though it contains many Dahkotah words. The Smithsonian Institution have published, under the patronage of the Historical Society of Minnesota, a quarto Grammar and Dictionary of this language, which will be gazed upon with interest by the " wise men of the East" long after the Dahkotah dialect has ceased to be spoken. This work is the fruit of eighteen years of anxious toil among this people, and is the combined work of the members of the Dahkotah Presbytery, edited by the Rev. S. R. Riggs, of Lac qui Parle ; and should be pre- served in the library of every professional man and lover of letters in Minnesota. The vocabulary is, of course, meagre, compared with that of the civilized European ; for living, as they have until of late, far away from any but those of like habits and modes of thought, they are defective in many words which have their place in the dictionary of a Christian people. Accustomed to cut poles from a forest and spread buffalo skins thereon, under which they pass the night, and then decamp early the next day in quest of game or the scalp of an enemy, they have no word which DAHKOTAH ALPHABET. 97 expresses the comfortable idea of our noble Saxon word " home." Still, in the language of a missionary, " it is in some of its aspects to be regarded as a noble lan- guage, fully adequate to all the felt wants of a nation, and capable of being enlarged, cultivated, and enriched, by the introduction of foreign stores of thought. Nothing can be found anywhere more full and flexible than the Dahkotah verb. The affixes, and reduplications, and pronouns, and prepositions, all come in to make it of such a stately pile of thought as is to my knowledge found nowhere else. A single paradigm presents more than a thousand variations." THE DAHKOTAH ALPHABET. NAME NAME. A ah, sounds as a in far. o, sounds as o in go. B be, «< b in but. P pe, ". P in pea. C che «« ch in cheat. Q qe, indescribable. D de, <« d in deed. R re, high guttural. E a, a a in say. S se, sounds as s in sea. ge, low guttural. T te, t in tea. H he, sounds as h in he. U oo. " oo in noon. I e, " e iu see. W we, 10 in we. J je, " si in hosier. X she sh in sheet. K ke, " k in key. Y ye, y in yeaai. M me, (i m in me. Z ze, z in zeta. N ne, " n in neat. The vowels represent each but one sound. G repre- sents a low guttural or gurgling sound. R represents a rough hawking sound, higher than that of g. Besides their simple sounds, c, Jc, p, s, t, and x, have each a close compound sound, which cannot be learned except from a living teacher. They are printed in italics when they represent these sounds, except Jc, which is never italicised for this purpose ; but q is used instead of it. The last- 98 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. named letter might as well, perhaps, be expunged from the Dahkotah alphabet, and k held responsible for the performance of this service. When n follows a vowel at the end of a syllable, except in contracted words, with very few exceptions, it is not full, but sounds like n in tinkle, ankle. It was intended that the Dahkotah orthography should be strictly phonetic, and it fails but little of being so. To learn the names of the letters is to learn to read it, and no English scholar need spend more than a few hours, or even a few moments, in learning to read the Dahko- tah language. 1 1 G. H. Pond, in " Tawaxitku Kin." CARTIER.— CHAMPLAIN. 99 CHAPTER IV. More than three centuries ago, an enterprising nav r al officer, Jacques Cartier, discovered the mouth of the great river of North America, that empties into the Atlantic, and whose extreme head waters are in the interior of Minnesota, within an hour's w r alk of a tribu- tary of the Mississippi. Having erected, in the vicinity of Quebec, a rude fort, in 1541, more than a half century before the settlement of Jamestown, in Virginia, from that time the river Saint Lawrence became known to the bold mariners of France, and there was an increasing desire to explore its sources. In the year 1608, Champlain selected the site in the vicinity of Cartier's post as the future capital of New France. Burning to plant a colony in the New World, he, with great assiduity, explored the country. In 1609 he ascended a tributary of the Saint Lawrence, till he came to the beautiful lake in New York, which, to this day, bears his name. After several visits to France, in 1615 he is found, with unabated zeal, accompanying a band of savages to their distant hunting-grounds, and disco vering the waters of Lake Huron. 100 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Before the emigrants of the " May Flower" trod on New England soil, and while Massachusetts was an unknown country to the geographers of Europe, he had gained an inkling of the Mediterranean of America, Lake Superior. In a map accompanying the journal of his dis- coveries, this lake appears as " Grand Lac," and a great river is marked flowing from the lake toward the south, intended to represent the Mississippi, as described by the Indians, who, from the earliest period, had been accustomed, by slight portages, to pass from the waters of Lake Superior into those of the " grand" river which flows into the Gulf of Mexico. About the time that Champlain returned from his expedition to the Huron country, there arrived in Canada a youth from France of more than ordinary promise, who, by his aptness in the acquisition of the Indian dialects, became interpreter and commissary of the colony. Determined to press beyond others, he, in 1639, arrived at the lake of the Winnebagoes, in the present state of Wisconsin, which had been described by Cham- plain, though erroneously located on the map accom- panying his narrative. While in this region he concluded a friendly alliance with the Indians in the valley of the Fox river. Paul le Jeune, in a letter to his superior, Vimont, written in the month of September, 1640, alludes to Nicolet, and is also the first writer who makes distinct mention of the Dahkotahs. Speaking of the tribes on Lake Michigan, the father remarks : — " Still further on, dwell the Ouinipegou (Winnebago), a sedentary people and very numerous. Some French- men call them the ' Nation of Stinkers,' because the TRADERS PIONEERS FOR THE TRIESTS. 101 Algonquin word Ouinipeg signifies stinking water. They thus designate the water of the sea, and these people call themselves Ouinipegou, because they come from the shores of a sea, of which we have no knowledge, and therefore we must not call them the nation of 1 Stinkers/ but the nation of the sea. " In the neighbourhood of this nation are the Nadou- essi (Dahkotahs), and the Assinipouars (Assiniboines). * * * * * I will say, by the way, that the Sieur Nicolet, interpreter of the Algonquin and Huron lan- guages for : Messieurs de la Nouvelle France,' has given me the names of these nations, whom he has visited, for the most part, in their own countries." Two years elapse, and, in 1641, Jogues and Raym- bault, of the u Society of Jesus," after a journey of seventeen days, in frail barks, over tempestuous waters, arrive at the barrier of rocks at the entrance of Lake Superior : and then, at Sault St. Marie, met the Potto- wattomies flying from the Dahkotahs, and were told that the latter lived to the west of the Falls, about eighteen days' journey, the first nine across the lake, the other up a river which leads inland, referring, pro- bably, to the stream which interlocks with the head waters of the river Saint Croix. We would not detract from the zeal of the man of God, but it is a fact that those in the service of mam- mon have ever outrun those in the service of Christ. The - insacra fames auri." the unholy thirst for gold, has always made the trader the pioneer of the mis- sionary in savage lands. In a communication made as early as 1654. it was stated that it was only nine days' journey from the Lake of the Winnebago (Green Bay) to the sea that 102 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. separates America from China; and, that, if a person could be found who would send thirty Frenchmen into that country, they would obtain the finest peltries and amass wealth. This year two adventurous Frenchmen went to seek their fortunes in the region west of Lake Michigan; and, in August, 1656, with a flotilla of canoes, laden with treasures, and two hundred and fifty Ojibways, they arrived at Quebec, and interested "voyageurs" with a recital of their hair-breadth escapes — merchants with their packs of valuable furs, and ecclesiastics with narrations of the miserable condition of immortal souls, and of the numerous villages of the " Nadouesiouack" (Dahkotahs) and other tribes. Thirty young Frenchmen, excited by the reports, equipped themselves to trade with the lodges in the distant wilderness ; and, two Fathers, Leonard Garreau and Gabriel Dreuilletes, were summoned by their Supe- rior to return with the brigade, and were rejoiced to find themselves chosen to be the first to carry the name of Jesus Christ into a country alike replete with tribu- lation, darkness, and death. The latter missionary had been a visiter to the house of the Puritan minister, Eliot, in the vicinity of Boston, and they had frequently taken sweet counsel together in relation to the amelioration of the condition of the abo- rigines. This expedition failed to reach its destination, owing to a murderous attack of the Iroquois, in which Gar- reau was killed, and the Ojibways so alarmed that they refused to receive the surviving " black robe." In the year 1659 two traders travelled extensively among the distant tribes. Six days' journey south-west GROSELLIER'S JOURNEY TO HUDSON BAY, BY LAND. 103 of La Pointe, in Black River Valley, they found vil- lages of Hurons, who, retreating across rocky ridges, over deep streams, wide lakes, and dense thickets, had reached the shores of the Mississippi, and found a shelter among the Dahkotahs from the fierce onslaught of the Iroquois. In the vicinity of the Hurons they saw Dah- kotah settlements, "in five of which were counted all of five thousand men." They noticed women with the tips of their noses cut off, and heads partly scalped, and were informed that this was the penalty inflicted upon adulteresses. They also heard of" another warlike nation who, with their bows and arrows, have rendered themselves as formidable to the upper Algonquins as the Iroquois have to the lower. They bear the name of Poualak (Assine- boine), that is to say, the warriors." Continues the rela- tion : — " As wood is scarce and very small with them, nature has taught them to burn stones in place of it, and to cover their wigwams with skins. Some of the most industrious among them have built mud cabins nearly in the same manner that swallows build their nests ; nor would they sleep less sweetly beneath these skins, or under this clay, than the great ones of earth beneath their golden canopies, was it not for the fear of the Iroquois, who come here in search of them from a distance of five or six hundred leagues." On the early French maps of Lake Superior, a tribu- tary from Minnesota is called the River Grosellier. 1 It 1 Grosellier was a native of Tou- Quebec. Returning by Lake Supe- raine, and married Helen, daughter rior, he offered to carry French ships of Abraham Martin, King's Pilot, to Hudson's Bay. Rejected by the who has left his name to the cele- court, he crossed over to England, brated plains of Abraham, near where his offers were accepted. With 104 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. appears to have been named after a French pilot who, about this time, roamed into the Assiniboine country, in the region of Lake Winnepeg, and was conducted by them to the shores of Hudson's Bay. During the summer of 1^60 the traders of the far West returned to Quebec with sixty canoes, manned by Algonquins, and laden with fox, beaver, and buffalo skins. The narrative of these men increased the existing enthu- siasm of the Jesuits, and the Superior at Quebec had a zeal which " caused him to wish that he might be an angel of glad tidings to the far nations; and, at the expense of a thousand lives, to go and search in the depths of the forest the lost sheep for whose welfare he had crossed the sea." The murder of Garreau, four years before, did not intimidate, but his blood increased the courage of the church, and Rene Menard was the one selected to be the cross-bearer to the barbarians in the regions round about Lake Superior toward the Mississippi River. His hair whitened by age, his mind ripened by long experience, and acquainted with the peculiarities of Indian character, he seemed the man for the mission. The night before he started, the eyes of the venerable priest were not closed. He thought much of his friends, and, knowing that he was about to go into a land of barbarians, two hours after midnight he penned a letter, Raddisson, another Frenchmen, he * My Reverend Father— The Peace piloted an English vessel, command- of Christ be with you: ed by Captain Gillam, a Yankee, to I write to you probably the last the River Nemiscau, on the east side word, which I hope will be the seal of "James Bay, where Fort Rupert of our friendship until eternity, was built. See O'Callaghan's note, Love whom the Lord Jesus did not vol. is. p. 707, Paris Doc. : Col. His- disdain to love, though the greatest tory of New York. of sinners, for he loves whom he MENARD AT LAKE SUPERIOR. 105 touching in its simplicity, and which will be embalmed in the literature of the future dwellers on the shores of Lake Superior. Early on the morning of the 28th of August, 1660, he, in company with eight Frenchmen, departed with the Ottawa convoy from ■" Three Elvers." After much ridicule from the wild companions of his voyage, he arrived at a bay on Lake Superior, on the 1 5th of October, St. Theresa's day, on which account he so designated the sheet of water. During the following winter they remained at this point. Their supply of provisions being exhausted, they nearly starved. " At times they scraped up a mess of the ' tripe de roche,' which slightly thickened their water, foaming upon it a kind of foam or slime, similar to that of snails, and which served rather to nourish their imagination than their bodies :" at other times they loads with his cross. Let your have been a little surprised, not be- friendship, my good father, be use- ing able to provide ourselves with ful to me by the desirable fruits of vestments and other things ; but he your daily sacrifice. In three or who feeds the little birds and clothes four months, you may remember me the lilies of the fields, will take care at the memento for the dead, on.ac- of his servants ; and though it should count of my old age, my weak con- happen we should die with want, we stitution, and the hardships I lay would esteem ourselves happy. I under amongst these tribes. Never- am loaded with affairs. What I can theless, I am in peace, for I have do is to recommend our journey to not been led to this mission by any your daily sacrifices, and to embrace temporal motive, but I think it was you with the same sentiments of by the voice of God. I was afraid, heart, as I hope to do in eternity, by not coming here, to resist the My reverend father, your most grace of God. Eternal remorse would humble and affectionate servant in have tormented me, had I not come Jesus Christ, when I had the opportunity. Wo R. Menard. From the Three Rivers, this ") 27th August, 2 o'clock >■ after midnight, 1660. ) 106 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. subsisted on pounded fish-bones and acorns. When the vernal breezes began to blow, ducks, geese, and wild pigeons made their appearance, and their bodies strengthened. The refugee Hurons, and Ottawas hearing that a " black gown" was on the shores of the lake, invited him to visit them. Menard appointed three young Frenchmen to act as pioneers, and reconnoitre the country and make presents. On their journey their canoe was stolen, and after many difficulties they returned. Their report was discouraging, but did not deter the aged enthusiast. His last written sentences, penned in July, 1661, are : — " I hear every day four populous nations spoken of, that are distant from here about two or three hundred leagues. I expect to die on my way to them ; but as I am so far advanced, and in health, I shall do all that is possible to reach them. The route, most of the way, lies across swamps, through which it is necessary to feel your way in passing, and to be in danger every moment of sinking too deep to extricate yourself; provisions which can only be obtained by carrying them with you, and the mosquitoes, whose numbers are frightful, are the three great obstacles which render it difficult for me to obtain a companion." Some Hurons having come to treat with the Ojibways, agreed to act as guides. Selecting John Guerin, a faith- ful man, as his companion, he started, with some dried fish and smoked meat for provisions. The Indians, full of caprice, soon moved off, and left the priest and his friend in an unknown country. Bruised in limb, and faint in body, on the 10th of August, Menard, while DISAPPEARANCE OF MENARD. 107 following his companion, lost himself in "Wisconsin near the sources of Black River.* The agony of Guerin is great when he looks behind and beholds not the aged traveller. He calls at the top of his voice, but he only hears the echo. He fires his gun repeatedly, to lead him to the right path ; at last he wanders to a Huron village, and, by gestures and tears, and the promise of reward, induced a youth to go in search. He soon returned, weary ; and from that day there have been no traces of his body. His camp kettle w~as found in a Sauk's hand, and some years after his disappearance, his robe and prayer book were found in a Dahkotah lodge, and were looked upon as " wawkawn " or supernatural. In the summer of 1663 the mournful intelligence of the loss of Menard reached Quebec, and one v r as soon found to be his successor — Father Claude Allouez, who anxiously awaited the means of conveyance to his scene of labour. In the year 1665 a hundred canoes, laden with Indians and peltries, arrived at Montreal from Lake Superior. A Frenchman, who accompanied them, reported that the Outaouaks (Ojibw r ays) were attacked on one side by the Iroquois, and on the other by the Xadouessioux (Dahkotahs), a warlike people, who carry on cruel wars with nations still more distant. Allouez rejoiced at the sight of the frail barks, and greeted the besmeared savages as if they w r ere visitants from a better land. In a letter written at the time, his full heart thus speaks : " At last it has pleased God to send us the angels of the Upper Algonquins to conduct us to their country." On the 8th of August, 1665, with six Frenchmen * Appendix B 108 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. and four hundred savages, returning from their trading expedition, he embarked. Having made a portage at Sault St. Marie, on the 2d of September their birch canoes glided on the waters of Lake Superior. On the 1st of October they arrived at the Chegoimegon, a beautiful bay (Bayfield, Wisconsin), where were two large villages, one of which was occupied by the Hurons, who had been driven from the Dahkotah country under the following circumstances : — Having claimed superiority, on account of the pos- session of fire-arms, they taunted the Dahkotahs, who had received them when they were outcasts and flying from the Iroquois, on account of their simplicity. At last, provoked beyond endurance, they decoyed a num- ber of Hurons into a wild rice marsh, and killed many with their primitive, but not to be despised, stone-tipped arrows, and drove the remnant to Chegoimegon. . The second village was composed of several bands of Ojibways, whose ancestors had, a long time before, lived east of Lake Michigan, but had been driven westward by the Iroquois. This point was a centre of trade for many nations. Even the Illinois came here to fish and exchange com- modities. Allouez, when he landed at La Pointe, as the French named the place, in consequence of a tongue-like pro- jection of land, found a scene of great confusion. In the language of Bancroft, " It was at a moment when the young warriors were bent on a strife with the war- like Sioux. A grand council of ten or twelve neigh- bouring nations was held to wrest the hatchet from the hands of the rash braves, and Allouez was admitted to an audience before the vast assembly. In the name of ALLOUEZ AT LA POINTU 109 Louis XIV. and his viceroy, he commanded peace, and offered commerce and alliance against the Iroquois — the soldiers of France would smooth the path between the Chippewas and Quebec — would brush the pirate canoes from the rivers — would leave to the Five Nations no choice, but between tranquillity and destruction. On the shore of the bay to which the abundant fisheries at- tracted crowds, a chapel soon rose, and the mission of the Holy Spirit was founded. There admiring throngs, who had never seen an European, came to gaze on the white man, and on the pictures which he displayed of the realms of hell, and of the last judgment. There a choir of Chippewas were taught to chant the pater and the ave. * * * * The Sacs and Foxes travelled on foot from their country, which abounded in deer, beaver, and buffalo. The Illinois also, a hospitable race, unaccustomed to canoes, having no weapon but the bow and arrow, came to rehearse their sorrows. ******* Curiosity was roused by their tale of the noble river on which they dwelt, and which flowed toward the south. Then, too, at the very extre- mity of the lake, the missionary met the wild and impassioned Sioux, who dwelt to the west/ of Lake Superior, in a land of prairies, with wild rice for food, and skins of beasts instead of bark for roofs to their cabins, on the bank of the great river, of which Allouez reported the name to be Messipi." While on an excursion to Lake Alempigon (Saint- Anne), he met, at Fond du Lac, in Minnesota, some Dahkotah warriors ; and, in describing them, he is the first to give the name of the great river of which the Indians had told so many wonderful stories. 110 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. In the relations of the mission of the Holy Spirit, the following remarks are made of the Dahkotahs : — " This is a tribe that dwells to the west of this (Fond du Lac), toward the great river called Messipi. They are forty or fifty leagues from here, in a country of prairies, abounding in all kinds of game. They have fields hi which they do not sow Indian corn, but only tobacco. Providence has provided them with a species of marsh rice, which, toward the end of summer, they go to collect in certain small lakes that are covered with it. They know how to prepare it so well that it is quite agreeable to the taste and nutritive. They pre- sented me with some when I was at the extremity of Lake Tracy (Superior), where I saw them. They do not use the gun, but only the bow and arrow, which they use with great dexterity. Their cabins are not covered with bark, but with deerskins well dried, and stitched together so well that the cold does not enter. These people are, above all other, savage and warlike. In our presence they seemed abashed, and were motion- less as statues. They speak a language entirely unknown to us, and the savages about here do not understand them." After two years passed among the Algonquins at La Pointe and vicinity, Allouez was convinced that his mission would not prosper, unless he had some assist- ance. He determined to go in person to Quebec, and implore labourers for the field. Arriving there on the 3d day of August, 1667, he worked night and day ; and, after two days, the bow of his canoe was again turned towards the far West. His party consisted at first of Father Louis Nicholas, and another Jesuit, with four labourers ; but, when they came to the canoes, the MARQUETTE'S DESCRIPTION OF DAHKOTAHS. Ill whimsical savages only allowed Allouez, Nicholas, and one of their men, to enter. But, notwithstanding the help obtained, the savage hearts could not be subdued ; and, " weary of their obstinate unbelief," he resolved to leave La Pointe. On the loth of September, 1669. the renowned Marquette took his place ; and, writing to his Superior, describes the Dahkotahs in these words : — " The Nadouessi are the Iroquois of this country, be- yond La Pointe, but less faithless, and never attack till attacked. i; They lie south-west of the mission of the Holy Spirit, and we have not yet visited them, having con- fined ourselves to the conversion of the Ottawas. " Their language is entirely different from the Huron and Algonquin ; they have many villages, but are widely scattered; they have very extraordinary cus- toms; they principally use the calumet; they do not speak at great feasts, and when a stranger arrives give him to eat of a wooden fork, as we would a child. "All the lake tribes make war on them, but with small success. They have false oats (wild rice), use little canoes, and keep their word strictly. I sent them a present by an interpreter, to tell them to recog- nise the Frenchman everywhere, and not to kill him or the Indians in his company ; that the black gown wishes to pass to the country of the Assinipouars (Assineboines), and to that of the Kilistinaux (Cnistineaux) ; that he was already with the Outagamis (Foxes), and that I was going this fall to the Illinois, to whom they should leave a free passage. " They agreed ; but as for my present waited till all came from the chase, promising to come to La Pointe 112 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. in the fall, to hold a council with the Illinois and speaK with me. Would that all these nations loved God as they feared the French." The relations of the Jesuits for 1670-71, allude to the Dahkotahs, and their attack on the Hurons and Ojibways of La Pointe : — " There are certain people, called Nadouessi, dreaded by their neighbours, and although they only use the bow and arrow, they use it with so much skill and so much dexterity that, in a moment, they fill the air. In the Parthian mode, they turn their heads in flight, and discharge their arrows so rapidly, that they are no less to be feared in their retreat than in their attack. " They dwell on the shores of, and around the great river, Messipi, of which we shall speak. They number no less than fifteen populous towns, and yet they know not how to cultivate the earth by seeding it, contenting themselves with a species of marsh rye, which we call wild oats. " For sixty leagues, from the extremity of the upper lakes towards sunset, and, as it were, in the centre of the western nations, they have all united their force, by a general league, which has been made against them, as against a common enemy. " They speak a peculiar language, entirely distinct from that of the Algonquins and Hurons, whom they generally surpass in generosity, since they often content themselves with the glory of having obtained the vic- tory, and freely release the prisoners they have taken in battle. " Our Outaouacs and Hurons, of the Point of the Holy Ghost, had, to the present time, kept up a kind LA POLNTE MISSION ABANDONED.— OJIBWAYS DIVIDED. 113 of peace with them, but affairs having become embroiled during last winter, and some murders having been com- mitted on both sides, our savages had reason to appre- hend that the storm would soon burst upon them, and judged that it was safer for them to leave the place, which in fact they did in the spring." La Pointe being abandoned, the nearest French set- tlement is Sault St. Marie, at the foot of the lake. In the year 1674 a party of Dahkotahs arrived there to make an alliance with the French, having been defeated in recent engagements with their foes. They visited the mission-house of Father Dreuilletes, where some of their nation were under religious instruction; and a council of the neighbouring tribes was called to delibe- rate on the proposed peace. A Cree Indian insulted a Dahkotah chief by brandishing his knife in his face. Fired at the indignity, he drew his own stone knife from his belt, and shouted the war cry. A fierce con- flict now took place, in which the ten Dahkotah envoys were scalped and the mission-house burned. The Saulteurs 1 or Ojibways divided into two bands, not far from this period. One remained at the Falls of Saint Mary, and subsisted on the delicious white fish, the other retired towards the extremity of Lake Supe- rior, and settled at two places, making an alliance with the Dahkotahs, who were anxious for French goods, which they strengthened by intermarriages. The Dah- kotahs, who had their villages near the Mississippi, 1 Name applied because they lived called them Pauotig-oueieuhak, In- at Sault St. Marie. The Dahkotahs habitants of the Falls, or Pahoui- call them Ha-ha-twawns, Dweller at tingdachirini, Men of the Shallow the Falls. The Algonquin tribes Cataract. 8 114 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. about the forty-sixth degree of latitude, shared their country with their new allies. During the winter, the Ojibways hunted, and in the spring they returned to the shores of Lake Superior. While in the land of the Dahkotahs, they took care not to assist them in their wars, lest they should be embroiled with surrounding nations. 1 1 In 1 864, Tailhan, a Jesuit, pub- lished at Leipsic and Paris, for the first time, the narrative of Nicolas Perrot. It states that the Hurons, flying from the Iroquois of New York, reached the Mississippi, crossed and ascended the Upper Iowa River. Retracing their steps, they entered the Scioux country, and lived for a time on the prairie island a few miles above Lake Pepin. Having quarrelled with the Sioux, they migrated to the head-waters of the Black River. In 1659 the trader Grosellier visited the Sioux, and found the Hurons in the Black River Valley. After this they again moved, and joined the Hurons at La Pointe. THE FUR TRADE 1 15 CHAPTER V. The trade in furs has produced a class of men of marked peculiarities. Under the French dominion, military officers, and the descendants of a decayed nobility, were licensed, by authority, to trade in a particular district. These men were well educated, polished in their manners, and fond of control. Living in a savage land, surrounded by a few dependents, they acted as monarchs of all they surveyed. The freedom from the restraints of civilized life, and the adulation received from the barbarians, who are so easily im- pressed by tinsel and glare, had a wonderful fascina- tion, so that a " lodge in some vast wilderness" became preferable to the drawing-rooms of ancient France, and the gay assemblies of Quebec. These licensed officers did not harass themselves with the minutiae of the Indian trade. In their employ were a few clerks, chiefly natives of' Canada, who had re- ceived the rudiments of an education. Upon these devolved the task of conducting European articles of merchandise, to the tribes on the various watercourses that radiated from the centre of trade, with whom they wintered, and then returned in the spring or summer with the peltries that had been obtained in exchange for powder, lead, ruin, and tobacco. 11.6 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Under (;ach clerk were a few men of no cultivation, the children of poverty or shame, who from their earliest youth had led a roving life, and who acted as canoe men, hewers of wood, and drawers of water. Mercurial in temperament, and with no sense of responsibility, they were a "jolly set" of fellows, in their habits approximating to the savage, rather than the European. The labours of the day finished, they danced around the camp-fire to the sound of the viol, or they purchased the virtue of some Indian maiden, and engaged in debauch as disgusting as that of sailors sojourning in the isles of the South Sea, or " Worn with the long day's march, and the chase of the deer, and the bison, Stretched themselves on the ground and slept where the quivering fire-light Flashed on their swarthy cheeks, and their forms wrapped up in their blankets." 1 Inured to toil, they arose in the morning " when it was yet dark," and pushing the prow of their light canoes into the water, swiftly they glided away " like the shade of a cloud on the prairie," and did not break fast until the sun had been above the horizon for several hours. Halting for a short period they partook of their coarse fare, and sang their rude songs ; then re-embarking, they pursued their course to the land of the beaver and the buffalo, until the " shades of night began to fall." From early youth accustomed to descend rapids, and ascend lofty bluffs with heavy burdens, they guided 1 Evangeline. HABITS OF THE VOYAGEURS. 117 their canoes, and carried their packs through places that would have been impassable to any but the " cou- reurs des bois." 1 When old age relaxed their sinew}' joints, they returned to Mackinaw, or some other entrepot, and with an Indian woman obtained, after the manner of the country, to mend their moccasins and hoe their gardens, passed the remainder of life in whiffing the pipe and recounting hair-breadth escapes. The " bois brule" 2 offspring naturally became enam- oured with the rover's life, a retrospect of which infused fire into the dim eyes of the old man, and as soon as employment could be obtained they left the homestead to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors. The voyageur seldom remains in a settled country. As civilization advances he feels cramped and uncom- fortable, and follows the Indian hi his retreat. On the confines of Minnesota are many of this class, whose fathers, a generation ago, dwelt at La Pointe, Green Bay, or Prairie du Chien. Before France had taken formal possession of the region of the Lakes, hundreds of " coureurs des bois" had ventured into the distant North- West. The absence of so many from regular pursuits, was supposed to be disastrous to the interests of the colony, and measures were taken by the French government to compel them to return, which resulted in only partial success. Du Chesneau, Intendant of Canada, was worried by the lawlessness of the rovers, and writes to the Minister of Marine 3 and Colonies of France : — 1 So called because they wandered wood/' applied to half-breeds be- through the woods, to obtain peltries cause of their dark complexions, from the savages. 3 Nov. 10, 1679, Paris Documents, 2 This term, meaning "burnt 11. Col. Hist. N. Y. vol. ix. p. 133. HS HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. " Be pleased to bear in mind, my lord, that there was a general complaint, the year previous to my arrival in this country, that the great quantity of people who went to trade for peltries to the Indian country, ruined the colony, because those who alone could improve it, being young and strong for work, abandoned their wives and children, the cultivation of lands, and rear- ing of cattle ; that they became dissipated ; that their absence gave rise to licentiousness among their wives, as has often been the case, and is still of daily occur- rence ; that they accustomed themselves to a loafing and vagabond life, which it was beyond their power to quit ; that they derived little benefit from their labours, because they were induced to waste in drunkenness and fine clothes the little they earned, which was very trifling, those who gave them licenses having the larger part, besides the price of the goods, which they sold them very dear, and that the Indians would no longer bring them peltries in such abundance to sell to the honest people, if so great a number of young men went in search of them to those very barbarians, who despised us on account of the great cupidity we manifested." At one period, three-fourths of the revenue of Canada was derived from the fur trade. Only twenty-five licenses were granted each year; and when a " poor gentleman" or " old officer" did not wish to go West, he disposed of his permit, which was valued at six hundred crowns, to the merchants of Quebec or Montreal. Each license allowed the pos- sessor to send two canoes into the Indian country. Six "voyageurs" were employed for the canoes, and were furnished with goods valued at one thousand crowns, with an addition of fifteen per cent. The losses and PROFITS OF FUR TRADE.— PERROT. 119 risk were great, but when a venture was successful the profits were enormous. The two canoes sometimes brought to Montreal beautiful furs valued at eight thousand crowns. The merchants received from the "coureurs des bois" six hundred crowns for the license, one thousand for the goods, and forty per cent, on the balance of sales ; the residue was divided among the "coureurs," giving to each five or six hundred crowns, which was disposed of as quickly, and much in the same way, as mariners dis- charged from a ship of war spend their wages. During the latter part of the seventeenth century, the name of Nicholas Perrot was familiar, not only to the men of business, and officers of government at Montreal and Quebec, but around the council fires of the Hurons, Ottawas, Otchagras, Ojibways, Pottawota- mies, Miamies, and Dahkotahs. A trader of Canada, accustomed from childhood to the excitement and in- cidents of border life, he was to a certain extent pre- pared for the wild scenes witnessed in after days. If the name of Joliet is worthy of preservation, the citizens of the North- West ought not to be willing to let the name of that man die, who was the first of whom we have any account that erected a trading post on the upper Mississippi. Perrot was a man of good family, and in his youth applied himself to study, and, being for a time in the service of the Jesuits, became familiar with the customs and languages of most of the tribes upon the borders of our lakes. Some years before La Salle had launched the " Griffin" on Lake Erie, and commenced his career of discovery, Perrot, at the request of the authorities in Canada, who 120 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. looked upon him as a man of great tact, visited the various nations of the North- West, and invited them to a grand council at Sault St. Marie, for the purpose of making a treaty with France. Of mercurial tempera- ment, he performed the journey with great speed, going as far south as Chicago, the site of the present city. On the 3d of September, 1670, Talon, the Intendant of Canada, ordered Sieur de St. Lusson to proceed to the "countries of the Outaouais, Nez Perces, Illinois, and other nations discovered" near Lake Superior or the Fresh Sea, and search for mines, particularly cop- per. He was also delegated to take possession of all the countries through which he passed, planting the cross and the arms of France. In May, 1671, there was seen at the Falls of St. Mary, what has been of late, a frequent occurrence. Here was the first convocation of civilized men, with the aborigines of the North- West, for the formation of a compact, for the purposes of trade and mutual assist- ance. 1 It was not only the custom but policy of the court of France to make a great display upon such an occa- sion. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that we should see the ecclesiastic and military officers, sur- rounded "with all of the pomp and circumstance" peculiar to their profession in that age of extravagance in externals. Allouez, the first ecclesiastic who saw the Dahkotahs 1 The Europeans present, besides a soldier of the castle of Quebec ; De Lusson and Perrot, were the Je- Dennis Masse ; Chavigny ; Chevriot- suits, Andre\ Dreuilletes, Allouez, tiere ; Lagillier ; Maysere : Dupuis ; and Dablon ; also Joliet, the ex- Bidaud Joniel ; Po^cet ; Du Prat : plorer of the Mississippi ; Mogras, Vital Oriol ; Guillaume. of Three Rivers, Canada; Touppine, TAKING POSSESSION OF THE NORTH-WEST. 121 face to face, and the founder of the mission among the Ojibways at La Pointe, opened council by detailing to the painted, grotesque assemblage, enveloped in the robes of the beaver and buffalo, the great power of his monarch who lived beyond the seas. Two holes were then dug, in one of which was planted a cedar column, and in the other a cross of the same material. After this the European portion of the assemblage chanted the hymn which was so often heard in the olden time from Lake Superior to Lake Pont> chartrain : — "Vexilla regis prodeunt Fulget cruris mysterium, Qua vita mortem pertulit, Et morte, vitam pertulit." The arms of France, probably engraved on leaden plates, were then attached to both column and cross, and again the whole company sang together the " Exau- diat," of the Roman Catholic sendee, the same as the 20th Psalm, of the King James' version of the Bible. The delegates from the different tribes having signified their approval of what Perrot had interpreted of the speech of the French Envoy, St. Lusson, there was a grand discharge of musketry, and the chanting of the noble " Te Deum Laudamus." After this alliance was concluded, Perrot, in a spirit of enterprise, opened the trade with some of the more remote tribes. The first trading posts on Lake Superior, beyond Sault St. Marie, were built of pine logs, by Daniel Greysolon du Luth. a native of Lyons, at Kamanisti- goya, north east of Pigeon river, Minnesota. On the * Appendix C 122 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. 1st of September, 1678, he left Quebec, to explore the country of the Dahkotahs and Assineboines. The next year, on the 2d of July, he caused the king's arms to be planted " in the great village of the Nadouessioux (Dahkotahs), called Kathio, where no Frenchman had ever been, also at Songaskicons, and Houetbatons, 1 one hundred and twenty leagues distant from the former." On the 15th of September, he met the Assineboines and other nations, at the head of Lake Superior, for the purpose of settling their difficulties with the Dahkotahs, and was successful. On this tour he visited Mille Lac, which he called Lake Buade, the family name of Frontenac, governor of Canada. 2 Du Chesneau, the intendant of Canada, appears to have been hostile to Du Luth, and wrote to Seignelay, Minister of the Colonies, that he and Governor Fronte- nac were in correspondence, and enriching themselves by the fur trade. He also intimated that the governor clandestinely encouraged Du Luth to sell his peltries to the English. From the tone of the correspondence, Du Chesneau was excitable and prejudiced. 3 1 The Chongasketons and Ouade- vernor, having returned this year, batons of the early French maps, and I being advised that he had The former were the same as the traded in two days, one hundred and Sissetoans. fifty beaver robes in a single village 2 Coronellis' map, corrected by of this tribe, amounting in all to Tillemon, published at Paris, 1688. nearly nine hundred beavers, which 3 " The man named La Taupine, is a matter of public notoriety, and a 'famous ' coureur de bois,' who that he left with Du Luth, two men. set out in the month of September whom he had with him, considered of lahc ;* Q ar, 1678, to go to the Ou- myself bound to have him arrested tawacs, with goods, and who has and to question him, but having pre- always been interested with the go- sen ted a license from the governor DU LUTH'S UNCLE. 123 He attempted to imprison several of Du Luth's friends, among others his uncle, named Patron, who was a mer- chant, and his agent for the sale of furs. The account that Perrot gave of his explorations be- yond Lake Michigan, attracted the attention of La Salle, and induced him to project those enterprises which have given distinction to his name. permitting him and his comrades, Lamonde, and Dupuy, to repair to the Outawac nation to execute his secret orders, I had him set at li- berty. Immediately on his going out, Sieur Prevost, Town-Mayor of Quebec, came at the head of some soldiers, to force the prison, with written orders in these terms from the governor : — " ' Count de Frontenac, Councillor of the King in his Council, Governor and Lieutenant-General of His Ma- jesty in New France : "Sieur Prevost, Mayor of Quebec, is ordered, in case the Intendant ar- rest Pierre Moreau, alias La Tau pine, whom we have sent to Quebec as bearer of despatches, upon pre- text of his having been in the bush, to set him forthwith at liberty, and employ every means for this purpose at his peril. Done at Montreal, 5th September, 1679. Frontenac/ " 124 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER VI. Tee same autumn that Du Luth left Montreal for the region west of Lake Superior, La Salle was at Fort Frontenac, the modern Kingston, busily engaged in maturing his plans for an occupation of the Mississippi valley. During the winter and the following spring his employees were occupied in building a vessel to navi- gate the lakes. Among those who were to accompany him on the voyage was Louis Hennepin, a Franciscan priest, of the Kecollect order. Among the first to explore the Mississippi above the mouth of the Wisconsin; the first to name and describe the Falls of Saint Anthony ; the first to pre- sent an engraving of the Falls of Niagara to the literary world ; the Minnesotian will desire to know something of the antecedents and subsequent life of this individual. The account of Hennepin's early life is chiefly ob- tained from the introduction to the Amsterdam edition of his book of travels. He was born in Ath, an inland town of the Netherlands. From boyhood he longed to visit foreign countries, and it is not to be wondered at that he assumed the priestly office, for next to the army, it was the road, in that age, to distinction. For several years he led quite a wandering life. A member HENNEPIN'S FONDNESS OF ADVENTURE. 125 of the Recollect branch of the Franciscans, at one time he is on a begging expedition to some of the towns on the sea coast. In a few months he occupies the post of chaplain at an hospital, where he shrives the dying and administers extreme unction. From the quiet of the hos- pital he proceeds to the camp, and is present at the battle of Senefle, which occurred in the year 1674. His whole mind, from the time that he became a priest, appears to have been on " things seen and tem- poral," rather than on those that are " unseen and eternal." While on duty at some of the ports on the Straits of Dover, he exhibited the characteristic of an ancient Athenian more than that of a professed successor of the Apostles. He sought out the society of strangers " who spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing." With perfect nonchalance he confesses that notwithstanding the nauseating fumes of tobacco, he used to slip behind the doors of sailors' taverns, and spend days, without regard to the loss of his meals, listening to the adventures and hair-breadth escapes of the mariners in lands beyond the sea. In the year 1676 he received a welcome order from his Superior, requiring him to embark for Canada. Un- accustomed to the world, and arbitrary in his disposi- tion, he rendered the cabin of the ship in which he sailed anything but heavenly. As in modern days, the passengers in a vessel to the new world were composed of heterogeneous materials. There were young women going out in search for brothers or husbands, ecclesias- tics, and those engaged in the then new, but profitable, commerce in furs. One of his fellow passengers was the talented and enterprising, though unfortunate, La Salle, with whom he afterwards associated. If he is to be 126 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. credited, his intercourse with La Salle was not very pleasant on ship-board. The young women, tired of being cooped up in the narrow accommodations of the ship, when the evening was fair sought the deck, and engaged in the rude dances of the French peasantry of that age. Hennepin, feeling that it was improper, began to assume the air of the priest, and forbade the sport. La Salle, feeling that his interference was un- called for, called him a pedant, and took the side of the girls, and during the voyage there were stormy discus- sions. Good humour appears to have been restored when they left the ship, for Hennepin would otherwise have not been the companion of La Salle in his great Western journey. Sojourning for a short period at Quebec, the adven- ture-loving Franciscan is permitted to go to a mission station on or near the site of the present town of Kings- ton, Canada West. Here there was much to gratify his love of novelty, and he passed considerable time in rambling among the Iroquois of New York, who hunted as far eastward as the Dutch Fort Orange, now the city of Albany. In 1678 he returned to Quebec, and was ordered to join the expedition of Robert La Salle. On the 6th of December Father Hennepin and a por- tion of the exploring party had entered the Niagara river. In the vicinity of the Falls, the winter was passed, and while the artisans were preparing a ship above the Falls, to navigate the great lakes, the Recol- lect wiled away the hours in studying the manners and THE SHIP GRIFFIN— HENNEPIN. 127 customs of the Seneca Indians, and in admiring the sublimest handiwork of God on the globe. On the 7th of August, 1679, the ship being com- pletely rigged, unfurled its sails to the breezes of Lake Erie. The vessel was named, the " Griffin," in honour of the arms of Front en ac, Governor of Canada, the first ship of European construction that had ever ploughed the waters of the great inland seas of North America. After encountering a violent and dangerous storm on one of the lakes, during which they had given up all hopes of escaping shipwreck, on the 27th of the month, they were safely moored in the harbour of " Missili- mackinack.' , From thence the party proceeded to Green Bay, where they left the ship, procured canoes, and continued along the coast of Lake Michigan. By the middle of January, 1680, La Salle had conducted his expedition to the Illinois river, and on an eminence near Lake Peoria, he commenced, with much heaviness of heart, the erection of a fort, which he called Creve- cceur, on account of the many disappointments he had experienced. La Salle, in the month of February, selected Henne- pin and two traders for the arduous and dangerous undertaking of exploring the unknown regions of the upper Mississippi. Daring and ambitious of distinction as a discoverer, he was not averse to such a commission, though per- haps he may have shrunk from the undertaking at so inclement a season as the last of February is, in this portion of North America. On the 29th of February, 1680, with two voyageurs, named Picard du Gay and Michael Ako, Hennepin em- barked in a canoe on the voyage of discovery * Appendix. D 128 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. The venerable Ribourde, a member of a Burgundian family of high rank, and a fellow Franciscan, came down to the river bank to see him off, and, in bidding him farewell, told him to acquit himself like a man, and be of good courage. His words were, " Viriliter age et confortetur cor tuum." The canoe was loaded with about one hundred and fifty dollars' worth of merchandise for the purpose of trade with the Indians, and in addition La Salle pre- sented to Hennepin ten knives, twelve awls or bodkins, a parcel of tobacco, a package of needles, and a pound or two of white or black beads. The movements of Hennepin, during the month of March, are not very clearly related. He appears to have been detained at the junction of the Illinois with the Mississippi by the floating ice, until near the mid- dle of that month. He then commenced the ascent o" the river for the first time by civilized man, though Marquette had, seven years before, descended from the Wisconsin. Surrounded by hostile and unknown natives, they cautiously proceeded. On the 11th of April, 1680, thirty-three bark canoes, containing a Dahkotah war party against the Illinois and Miami nations, hove in sight, and commenced discharging their arrows at the canoe of the Frenchmen. Perceiving the calumet of peace, they ceased their hostile demonstrations and ap- proached. The first night that Hennepin and his com- panions passed with the Dahkotah party was one of anxiety. The next morning, a chief named Narrhetoba asked for the peace calumet, filled it with willow bark and all smoked. It was then signified that the white men were to return with them to their villages. FRANCISCAN'S ATTEMPT TO PRAY. 129 In his narrative the Franciscan remarks : — " I found it difficult to say my office before these Indians. Many seeing me move my lips, said in a fierce tone, ' Ouak- anche.' Michael, all out of countenance, told me, that if I continued to say my breviary, we should all three be killed, and the Picard begged me at least to pray apart, so as not to provoke them. I followed the latter's advice, but the more I concealed myself, the more I had the Indians at my heels, for when I entered the wood, they thought I was going to hide some goods under ground, so that I knew not on what side to turn to pray, for they never let me out of sight. This obliged me to beg pardon of my canoe-men, assuring them I could not dispense with saying my office. By the word 'Ouakanche,' the Indians meant that the book I was reading was a spirit, but by their gesture they nevertheless showed a kind of aversion, so that to accustom them to it, I chanted the Litany of the Blessed Virgin in the canoe, with my book opened. They thought that the breviary was a spirit which taught me to sing for their diversion, for these people are naturally fond of singing." This is the first mention of a Dahkotah word in a European book. The savages were annoyed rather than enraged, at seeing the white man reading a book, and exclaimed " Wakan-de !" this is wonderful or super- natural. The war party was composed of several bands of the M'dewakantonwan Dahkotahs, and there was a diversity of opinion in relation to the disposition that should be made of the white men. The relatives of those who had been killed by the Miamis, were in favour of taking their scalps, but others were anxious 130 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. to retain the favour of the French, and open a trading intercourse. Perceiving one of the canoe-men shoot a wild turkey, they called the gun Manza Ouackange — iron that has understanding ; more correctly, Maza Wakande, this is the supernatural metal. Aquipaguatin, one of the head men, resorted to the following device to obtain merchandise. Says the Father, " this wily savage had the bones of some dis- tinguished relative, which he preserved with great care in some skins dressed and adorned with several rows of black and red porcupine quills. From time to time he assembled his men to give it a smoke, and made us come several days to cover the bones with goods, and by a present wipe away the tears he had shed for him, and for his own son killed by the Miamis. To appease this captious man, we threw on the bones several fathoms of tobacco, axes, knives, beads, and some black and white wampum bracelets. ******* We slept at the point of the Lake of Tears, 1 which we so called from the tears which this chief shed all night long, or by one of his sons whom he caused to weep when he grew tired." The next day, after four or five leagues' sail, a chief came, and telling them to leave their canoes, he pulled up three piles of grass for seats. Then taking a piece of cedar, full of little holes, he placed a stick into one, which he revolved between the palms of his hands, until he kindled a fire, and informed the Frenchmen that they would be at Mille Lac in six days. On the nineteenth day after their captivity, they arrived in the 1 Lake Pepin. HENNEPIN NEAR ST. PAUL.— MILLE LAC. 131 vicinity of Saint Paul, not far, it is probable, from the marshy ground on which the Kaposia band once lived, and now called " Pig's Eye." The journal remarks, " Having arrived, on the nine- teenth day of our navigation, five leagues below St. Anthony's Falls, these Indians landed us in a bay, broke our canoe to pieces, and secreted their own in the reeds." They then followed the trail to Mille Lac, sixty leagues distant. As they approached their villages, the various bands began to show their spoils. The tobacco was highly prized, and led to some contention. The chalice of the Father, which glistened in the sun, they were afraid to touch, supposing it was " wakan." 1 After five days' walk they reached the Issati (Dahkotah) settlements in the valley of the Rum river. The dif- ferent bands each conducted a Frenchman to their village, the chief Aquipaguetin taking charge of Hen- nepin. After marching through the marshes towards the sources of Rum river, five wives of the chief, in three bark canoes, met them and took them a short league to an island where their cabins were. An aged Indian kindly rubbed down the way-worn Franciscan — placing him on a bear-skin near the fire, he anointed his legs and the soles of his feet with wild- cat oil. The son of the chief took great pleasure in carrying upon his bare back the priest's robe with dead men's bones enveloped. It was called Pere Louis Chinnien — in the Dahkotah language Shinna or Shinnan signifies 1 The word for supernatural, in ed, but pronounced " wakon," or the Dahkotah Lexicon, is thus spell- " wawkawn." Ib2 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. a buffalo robe. Hennepin's description of his life on the island is in these words : — " The day after our arrival, Aquipaguetin, who was the head of a large family, covered me with a robe made of ten large dressed beaver skins, trimmed with porcu- pine quills. This Indian showed me five or six of his wives, telling them, as I afterwards learned, that they should in future regard me as one of their children. " He set before me a bark dish full of fish, and, seeing that I could not rise from the ground, he had a small sweating-cabin made, in which he made me enter naked with four Indians. This cabin he covered with buffalo skins, and inside he put stones red-hot. He made me a sign to do as the others before beginning to sweat, but I merely concealed my nakedness with a handkerchief. As soon as these Indians had several times breathed out quite violently, he began to sing vociferously, the others putting their hands on me and rubbing me while they wept bitterly. I began to faint, but I came out and could scarcely take my habit to put on. When he made me sweat thus three times a week, I felt as strong as ever." The mariner's compass was a constant source of wonder and amazement. Aquipaguetin having assem- bled the braves, would ask Hennepin to show his com- pass. Perceiving that the needle turned, the chief harangued his men, and told them that the Europeans were spirits, capable of doing anything. In the Franciscan's possession was an iron pot with lion paw feet, which the Indians would not touch unless their hands were wrapped in buffalo skins. The women looked upon it as " wakan," and would not enter the cabin where it was. QUERIES OF THE DAHKOTAHS. 133 " The chiefs of these savages, seeing that I was de- sirous to learn, frequently made me write, naming all the parts of the human body; and as I would not put on paper certain indelicate words, at which they do not blush, they were heartily amused." They often asked the Franciscan questions, to answer which it was necessary to refer to his lexicon. This appeared very strange, and, as they had no word for paper, they said, " That white thing must be a spirit which tells Pere Louis all we say." Hennepin remarks : " These Indians often asked me how many wives and children I had, and how old I was, that is, how many winters ; for so these natives always count. Never illumined by the light of faith, they were surprised at my answer. Pointing to our two French- men, whom I was then visiting, at a point three leagues from our village, I told them that a man among us could only have one wife ; that, as for me, I had pro- mised the Master of life to live as they saw me, and to come and live with them to teach them to be like the French. " But that gross people, till then lawless and faithless, turned all I said into ridicule. ' How,' said they, ' would you have these two men with thee have wives ? Ours would not live with them, for they have hair all over their face, and we have none there or elsewhere.' In fact they were never better pleased with me than when I was shaved, and from a complaisance, certainly not criminal, I shaved every week. "As I often went to visit the cabins, I found a sick ohild, whose father's name was Mamenisi. Michael Ako would not accompany me ; the Picard du Gay alone 134 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. followed me to act as sponsor, or rather to witness the baptism. " I christened the child Antoinette, in honour of St. Anthony of Padua, as well as for the Picard's name, which was Anthony Auguelle. He was a native of Amiens, and nephew of the Procurator-General of the Premonstratensians both now at Paris. Having poured natural water on the head and uttered these words : — ' Creature of God, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,' I took half an altar cloth which I had wrested from the hands of an Indian who had stolen it from me, and put it on the body of the baptized child ; for as I could not say mass for want of wine and vestments, this piece of linen could not be put to better use, than to enshroud the first Christian child among these tribes. I do not know whether the softness of the linen had refreshed her, but she was the next day smiling in her mother's arms, who believed that I had cured the child — but she died soon after, to my great consolation. " During my stay among them, there arrived four savages, who said they were come alone five hundred leagues from the west, and had been four months upon the way. They assured us there was no such place as the Straits of Anian, and that they had travelled with- out resting, except to sleep, and had not seen or passed over any great lake, by which phrase they always mean the sea. " They further informed us that the nation of the Assenipoulacs (Assiniboines) who lie north-east of Issati, was not above six or seven days' journey ; that none of the nations, within their knowledge, who lie to the east FALSEHOODS OF HENNEPIN. 135 or north-west, had any great lake about their countries, which were very large, but only rivers which came from the north. They further assured us that there were very few forests in the countries through which they passed, insomuch that now and then they were forced to make fires of buffaloes' dung to boil their food. All these circumstances make it appear that there is no such place as the Straits of Anian, as we usually see them set down on the maps. And whatever efforts have been made for many years past by the English and Dutch, to find out a passage to the Frozen Sea, they have not yet been able to effect it. But by the help of my discovery, and the assistance of God, I doubt not but a passage may still be found, and that an easy one too. " For example, we may be transported into the Paci- fic Sea, by rivers which are large and capable of carry- ing great vessels, and from thence it is very easy to go to China and Japan, icithout crossing the equinoctial line, and. in all probability, Japan is on the same continent as America." It is painful to witness a member of the sacred pro- fession so mendacious as Hennepin. After publishing a tolerably correct account of his adventures in Minne- sota, in 1683, at Paris, fifteen years after he issued another edition greatly enlarged, in which he claims to have descended the Mississippi towards the Gulf of Mexico, as well as discovered the Falls of St. Anthony. As the reader notes his glaring contradictions in this last work, he is surprised that the author should have been bold enough to contend, that the statements were reliable. Though a large portion was plagiarized from 136 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the accounts of other travellers, it had a rapid sale, and was translated into several languages. 1 1 The following will give some idea of the popularity of Hennepin's narrative. It was prepared by Dr. O'Callaghan, for the Historical Ma- gazine, Jan. 1858, and is believed to be nearly a complete list of the seve- ral editions of Hennepin's books : No. 1. Description de la Louisiane. 12mo. Paris, 1683. Meusel. Ter- naux, No. 985. 2. The same. 12mo. Paris, 1684. Rich., in No. 403 of 1683. 3. Descrizione della Luisiana. 12mo. Bologna, 1686. Rib. Belg. Meusel Ternaux, No. 1012. Trans- lated by Casimir Frescot. 4. Description de la Louisiane. 12mo. Paris, 1688. Kicharderie Faribault. 5. Beschryving van Louisiana. 4to. Amsterdam, 1688. Harv. Cat. 6. Beschreibung, &c. 12mo. Nurnberg, 1689. Meusal. Ternaux, No. 1041. 7. Nouvelle Decouverte. 12mo. Utrecht, 1697. Ternaux, 1095. " Nouvelle Description," Meusel. Faribault. 8. The same. 12mo. Amsterdam, 1698. Ternaux, No. 1110. 9. New Discovery. London, 1698. Ternaux, No. 1119, who calls it a 4to. ; all the other catalogues an 8vo. J. R. B. says 2v. ; but see Rich. 10. Another, same title. 8vo. London, 1698. J. R. B. 11. Nouveau Voyage. 12mo. Utrecht, 1698. Ternaux, No. 1111. 2v. Bib. Belg. Hennepin calls this his third vol. ; No. 1 sup., being his first, and No. 7 sup. his second. Rich. 12. An edition in Dutch. 4to. Utrecht, 1698. J. R. B. 13. Nouveau Voyage. Amster- dam, 1698. Faribault. 14. A New Discovery of a Vast Country, &c. 8vo. London, Bon- wick, 1699. t. f. Ded. 4ff. Pref. 2ff. Cont. 3ff. Text, pp. 240 and 216, with tit., pref. and cont. to part II. ; two maps, six plates. [Not in any catalogue.] 15. Relation, de un Pays, &c. 12mo. Brusselas, 1699. Ternaux, 1126. A translation into Spanish by Seb. Fern, de Medrano. 16. Neue Entdekungen vieler grossen Landschaften in Amerika. 12mo. Bremen, 1699. Ternaux, 1049, who gives the date incorrectly, 1690. Translated by Langen. Meu- sel, No. 6 of J. R. B., and an edition in German of No. 7. Supra. 17. Voyage ou Nouvelle Decou- verte. 8vo. Amsterdam, 1704. Meusel, Rich., No. 8. 18. The same. 8vo. Amsterdam, 1711. Meusel. Faribault says " Nouvelle Description/' 19. The same. 12mo. Amster- dam, 1712. J. R. B. 20. A Discovery of a large, rich, &c. 8vo. London, 1720. Rich., No. 12. 21. Nouvelle Description. Am sterdam, 1720. Faribault. 22. Nouvelle Decouverte. 4to. Amsterdam, 1737. Richarderie. In KING OF FRANCE DISSATISFIED WITH HENNEPIN. 137 No doubt much of the information which the author obtained in relation to Minnesota, was obtained from Du Luth, whom he met in the Dahkotah country, i .1 with whom he descended the Mississippi on his return to Canada. Having made a favourable acquaintance with English gentlemen, he dedicated the edition of his work, pub- lished at Utrecht, in 1698, to King William, and the contents induced the British to send vessels to enter the Mississippi river. Callieres, Governor of Canada, writing to Pontchartrain, 1 the Minister, says, " I have learned that they are preparing vessels in England and Holland to take possession of Louisiana, upon the rela- tion of Pere Louis Hennepin, a Recollect who has made a book and dedicated it to King William." After he had earned a reputation, not to £>e coveted, he desired to return to America, and Louis XI V., in a despatch to Callieres, writes, " His majesty has been informed that Father Hennepin, a Dutch Franciscan, who has formerly been in Canada, is desirous of return- ing thither. As his majesty is not satisfied with the conduct of the friar, it is his pleasure, if he return thither, that they arrest and send him to the Intendant of Rochefort." In the year 1701 he was still in Europe, attached to a Convent in Italy. 2 He appears to have died in obscurity, unwept and unhonoured. Histoire des Incas. A translation of l May 12, 1699. See Smith's Hist. Garcilasso de la Vega by Rousseler. Wisconsin, vol. i., p. 318. 23. Neue Entdekungen, &c. Bre- 2 Historical Magazine, Boston, p. men, 1742. The same as No. 15, 316, vol. i. with a new title page. lo8 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Du Luth and not Hennepin was considered the real discoverer of Minnesota. Le Clercq remarks, that " in the last year of M. de Frontenac's first administration, Sieur du Luth, a man of talent and experience, opened a way to the missionaries and the gospel in many dif- ferent nations, turning toward the north of that lake (Superior), where he even built a fort. He advanced as far as the Lake of the Issati (Mille Lac), called Lake Buade, from the family name of M. de Frontenac." In the month of June, 1680, he left his post on Lake Superior, and with two canoes, an Indian, and four Frenchmen, entered a river, eight leagues below, ascend- ing to the sources of which, he made a portage to a lake, which is the head of a river that entered into the Mis- sissippi. Proceeding toward the Dahkotah villages he met Hennepin, with a party of Indians. Keturning to Quebec, Du Luth visited France, and conferred with the Minister of the Colonies, but in 1683, he was at Mackinaw fortifying the post against a threatened attack by the savages, and sending ex- presses to the Indians north and west of Lake Superior, who traded at Hudson's Bay with the English, to come and traffic with the French. In the spring of 1685, Governor De La Barre sent twenty men, under the command of Nicholas Perrot, to establish friendly alliances with the Ioways and Dah- kotah s. Proceeding to the Mississippi, he established a post near the mouth of Lake Pepin in Minnesota, which was known as Fort Perrot. He found the Miamies, Foxes, and Maskoutens, at war TERROT'S INTERVIEW WITH DAHKOTAHS.— LEAD MINES. 139 with the Dahkotahs, who were at that time in alliance with their old foes, the Ojibways.* Frenchmen visited the Dahkotahs during the winter ; and, at the opening of navigation, a deputation of them came down to the post, and carried Perrot with great parade, on a robe of beavers, to the lodge of their chief, chanting songs, and weeping over his head according to custom. He learned from the Dahkotahs a droll adventure. The Hurons, who had fled to them for refuge, at length excited them to war. The Hurons secreted themselves in marshes, keeping their heads only out of water. The Dahkotahs, knowing that they would travel in the night, devised an ingenious stratagem. Cutting up beaver-skins into cords, they stretched them around the marshes, and suspended bells on them which they had obtained from the French. When night came the Hurons marched, and, stumbling over the unseen cords, they rung the bells, which was a signal for the attack of the Dahko- tahs, who killed the whole party with one exception. While they were in the neighbourhood, they pillaged the goods of some Frenchmen ; but, under the threats of Perrot, they were brought back. The Miamies brought to Perrot lumps of lead, which they said were found between the rocks, on the banks of a small stream which flowed into the Mississippi, about two days' journey below that point. These were pro- bably the mines of Galena, which are marked on De ITsle's maps of the Mississippi. In the month of March, 1684, notwithstanding all the attempts of the French to keep the peace, a band of Seneca and Cayuga warriors, having met seven canoes ~ ;: ~ Appendix E 140 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. manned by fourteen Frenchmen, with fifteen or sixteen thousand pounds of merchandise, who were going to trade with the " Scioux," pillaged and made them prisoners; and, after detaining them nine days, sent them away without arms, food, or canoes. This attack caused much alarm in Canada; and Du Luth, who appeared to have been at Fort Kamanatekwoya was ordered by the Governor of Canada to come and state the number of allies he could bring. Perrot, who happened to be engaged in trade among the Outagamis (Foxes), not very far distant from the bay, rendered him great assistance in collecting allies. With great expedition he came to Niagara, the place of rendezvous, with a band of Indians, and would alone have attacked the Senecas, had it not been for an express order from De La Barre, the governor, to desist. When Louis XIV. heard of this outbreak of the Iro- quois, he felt, to use his words, " that it was a grave misfortune for the colony of New France," and then, in his letter to the governor, he adds : " It appears to me that one of the principal causes of the war arises from one Du Luth having caused two Iroquois to be killed who had assassinated two Frenchmen in Lake Superior, and you sufficiently see how much this man's voyage, which cannot produce any advantage to the colony, and which was permitted only in the interest of some private persons, has contributed to distract the repose of the colony." The English of New York, knowing the hostility of the Iroquois to the French, used the opportunity to trade with the distant Indians. In 1685, one Roseboom, with DU LUTH.— ENGLISH CAPTURED. 141 some young men, had traded with the Ottawas in Michi- gan. In the year 1686, an old Frenchman, who had lived among the Dutch and English in New York, came to Montreal, to visit a child at the Jesuit boarding-school ; and he stated that a Major McGregory, of Albany, was contemplating an expedition to Mackinac. Denonville having declared war in 1687, most of the French left the region of the Mississippi. Perrot and Boisguillot, at the time trading near the Wisconsin, leaving a few " coureurs des bois" to protect their goods from the Dahkotahs, joined Du Luth and Duran taye at Mackinaw The Governor of Canada ordered Du Luth to proceed to the present Detroit river, and watch whether the Eng- lish passed into Lake St. Clair. In accordance with the order, he left Mackinaw. Being provided with fifty armed men, he established a post called Fort St. Joseph, some thirty miles above Detroit. In the year 1687, on the 19th of May, the brave and distinguished Tonty, who was a cousin of Du Luth, arrived at Detroit, from his fort on the Illinois. Duran- taye and Du Luth, knowing that he had arrived, came down from Fort St. Joseph with thirty captive English. Here Tonty and Du Luth joined forces and proceeded toward the Iroquois country. As they were coasting Lake Erie, they met and captured Major McGregory, of Albany, then on his way with thirty Englishmen, to trade with the Indians at Mackinac. Du Luth having reached Lake Ontario, we find him engaged in that conflict with the Senecas of the Gene- see valley, when Father Angleran, the superintendent of the Mackinac mission, was severely but not mortally 142 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. wounded.* After this battle, he returned, in company with Tonty, to his post on the Detroit river. 1 1 Baron La Hon tan speaks of Grisolon de la Tourette being at Niagara in August, 1687, and calls him a brother of Du Luth. In 1689, immediately previous to the burning of Schenectady, we find him fighting the Iroquois in the neighbourhood, and there is reason to suppose that he was engaged in the midnight sack of that town. As late as the year 1696, he is on duty at Fort Frontenac ; but after the peace of Ryswick, which occa- sioned a suspension of hostilities, we hear but little more of this man, who was the first of whom we have any account, who came by way of Lake Superior to the upper Missis- sippi. The letter of one of the Jesuit fathers, shows that in some things he was as superstitious as the Dah- kotahs, with whom he once traded. While in command of Fort Fronte- nac, in 1696, he gave the following certificate : "I, the subscriber, certify to all vrhom it may concern, that having been tormented by the gout for the space of twenty-three years, and with such severe pains that it gave me no rest for the space of three months at a time, I addressed myself to Catherine Tegahkouita, an Iro- quois virgin, deceased at the Sault Saint Louis, in the reputation of sanctity, and I promised her to visit her tomb if God should give me health through her intercession. I have been so perfectly cured at the end of one novena which I made in her honour, that after five months I have not perceived the slightest touch of my gout. " Given at Fort Frontenac, this 18th day of August, 1696. "J. De Luth, Capt. of the Marine Corps, Commander Fort Frontenac." He died in 1710. The despatch announcing the fact to the Home Government, is expressive in its sim- plicity : Capt. Du Luth is dead, " he was an honest man." Who would wish more said of him ? His name is spelled Du Luth, Du Lut, Dulhut, and De Luth, in the old documents. * Appendix P FORMAL OCCUPANCY OF MINNESOTA. 143 CHAPTER VII. Eakly in 1689, Perrot, with a party of forty men, returned to his post at the Lake Pepin, and resumed trade with the Dahkotahs. The same year he formally claimed the country for France. The first official document pertaining to Minnesota is worthy of preservation, and thus reads : — " Nicholas Perrot, commanding for the King, at the post of the Nadouessioux, commissioned by the Marquis Denonville, Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of all New France, to manage the interests of commerce among all the Indian tribes, and people of the Bay des Puants, 1 Nadouessioux, 2 Mascoutins, and other western nations of the Upper Mississippi, and to take possession in the King's name of all the places where he has here- tofore been, and whither he will go. " We, this day, the eighth of May, one thousand six hundred and eighty-nine, do, in the presence of the Reverend Father Marest of the Society of Jesus, mis- sionary among the Nadouessioux ; of Monsieur de Borie- 1 Green Bay, Wisconsin. 2 Dahkotahs. 144 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. guillot, 1 commanding the French in the neighbourhood of the Ouiskonche 3 on the Mississippi ; Augustin Legar- denr, Esquire, Sieur de Caumont, and of Messieurs Le Sueur, Hebert, Lemire, and Blein : "Declare to all whom it may concern, that, being come from the Bay des Puants, and to the Lake of the Ouiskonches, and to the river Mississippi, we did trans- port ourselves to the country of the Nadouessioux, on the border of the river St. Croix, 3 and at the mouth of the river St. Pierre, 4 on the bank of which were the Mantantans; 5 and, farther up to the interior to the north-east of the Mississippi, as far as the Menchoka- tonx, 6 with whom dwell the majority of the Songes- kitons, and other Nadouessioux, who are to the north- east of the Mississippi, to take possession for, and in the name of the King, of the countries and rivers inhabited 1 Charlevoix writes Boisguillot. cause they had their village on Rice 2 Wisconsin, (Fort St. Nicholas,) Creek, a stream which empties into Ouiskonche, Mesconsing, Ouiscon- the Mississippi seven miles above sing, Wiskonsan, are some of the the Falls of St. Anthony. The sig- former spellings of this word. nification of the latter name is un- 3 This is not ecclesiastical in its known. It is said that Ta-te-psin, associations, but named after Mons. Wa-su-wi-ea-xta-xni, Ta-can-rpi-sa- Saint Croix, who was drowned at its pa, A-nog-i-na jin, Ru-ya-pa, and Ta- mouth. — La Harpe's Louisiana. can-ku-wa-xte, whose names signify, * Nicollet supposes that this river respectively, Bounding-Wind, Bad- bore the name of Capt. St. Pierre. Hail, Black-Tomahawk, He-stands- 5 The Dahkotahs have a tradition, both-sides, Eagle-Head, and Good- that a tribe called Onktokadan, who Road, are descendants of the Wa-kpa- lived on the St, Croix just above the a-ton-we-dan. — Wa-ku-te, Ta-o-ya-te- lake, was exterminated by the Foxes, du-ta, Ma-za-ro-ta, Ma-rpi-ya-ma-za, At an early date the Mde-wa-kan- Ma-rpi-wi-ca-xta, and Xa-kpe-dan, ton- wan division of the Dahkotah are said to be Ma-tan-ton-wans. The tribe split into two parties, one of respective signification of their names which was denominated Wa-kpa-a- is as follows : Shooter, His-scarlet- ton-we-dan, and the other Ma-tan- people, Grey-Iron, Iron-Cloud, Sky- ton-wan. The former name signifies, Man, and Little-six. — Those-who-dwell-on-the-creek, be- 6 M'daywawkawntwawns. FORT AT LAKE PEPIN. 145 by the said tribes, and of which they are proprietors. The present act done in our presence, signed with our hand and subscribed." 1 The first French establishment in Minnesota was on Me Mississippi river, above the entrance of Lake Pepin 2 . On a map of the year 1700, it was called Fort Bon Secours ; three years later it was marked Fort Le Sueur, and abandoned ; 3 but in a much later map it is correctly called Fort Perrot. 4 The year that Perrot visited Minnesota, Frontenac, who had been recalled seven years before, was recom- missioned as Governor of Canada. He issued orders that the Frenchmen in the upper Mississippi country should return to Mackinaw. Frontenac was dogmatic and overbearing, though deeply interested in the extension of the power of France. During the first term of office he had opposed the ecclesiastics, who deplored the ill effects of rum and licentious " coureurs des bois" upon the morals of the savages, and desired both excluded from the country. He had no interest in Christianity, and still less confi- dence in the Jesuits. In a communication to the government he bluntly said, to Colbert the minister, " To speak frankly to you, they think as much about the conversion of beavers as of souls. The majority of their missions are mere mockeries." Learning that Durantaye, the Commandant at Macki- 1 Then are given the names of 2 Bellin's description of Map of those already mentioned. This re- North America, cord was drawn up at Fort St. 3 De l'Isle's Maps 1700, and 1703 Antoine Lake Pepin This last name appears incorrect See Jeffery's Map, 1762. 10 146 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. naw, was disposed to be friendly to missionary schemes, he superseded him by the appointment of Louvigny. Perrot, who was on a visit to Montreal, conducted the new commander to his post, where he found the Ottawas wavering, and about to carry their peltries to the English; but by his uncommon tact he regained their confidence, and a flotilla of one hundred canoes, with furs valued at one hundred thousand crowns, started towards Montreal. On the eighteenth of August, 1690, the citizens of that city perceived the waters of the Saint Lawrence dark- ened by descending canoes, and supposing that they were filled by the dreaded Iroquois, alarm-guns were fired to call in the citizens from the country ; but this terror was soon turned to joy, by a messenger arriving with the intelligence that it was a party of five hundred Indians, of various tribes near Mackinaw, who had come to the city to exchange their peltries. So large a number from the North- West had not appeared for years ; and, on the twenty-fifth, Count Frontenac gave them a grand feast of two oxen, six large dogs, two barrels of wine, and some prunes, with a plentiful supply of tobacco. The Ottawas in council demanded the meaning of the hatchet Perrot had hung in their cabin. Frontenac told them that they were aware of the tidings he had received, that a powerful army was com- ing to ravage his country ; that all that was necessary to conclude was the mode of proceeding, whether to go and meet this army, or to wait for it with a firm foot ; that he put into their hands the hatchet which had been formerly given them, and had since been kept suspended LONG DESIRED PELTRIES ARRIVE AT MONTREAL. 147 for them, and he doubted not they would make good use of it. He then, hatchet in hand, sung the war song, in which the Indians joined. The increasing Iroquois and English hostility made it a dangerous undertaking to transport in canoes to or from Mackinaw. Lieutenant D'Argenteuil was despatched by Frontenac in 1692, with eighteen Canadians on increased pay to Mackinaw, with an order to Louvigny, the commander, to send down all the Frenchmen that could be spared from the North- West, and the large amount of peltries that had accumulated at his post. On the seventeenth of August two hundred canoes filled with Frenchmen and Ottawas arrived from the upper country at Montreal with the. long-detained furs. " The merchant, the farmer, and other individuals who might have some peltries there, were dying of hunger, with property they could not enjoy. Credit was ex- hausted, and the apprehension universal that the Eng- lish might seize this last resource of the country while it was on the way. Terms sufficiently strong were net to be found to praise and bless him by whose care so much property had arrived." 1 The Indians were entertained at the governor's table, and on Sunday, the sixth of September, there was a grand war dance. The next day they received presents, and during the week returned to their own country. The French soon followed under the direction of Tonty, Commandant of the Illinois. La Motte Cadil- lac, and D'Argenteuil shortly after were ordered to Mackinaw, Louvigny being recalled. Perrot was sta- 1 Paris Doc. vol. ix. N. Y. Col. Hist. 148 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. iioned among the Miamis, at a place called " Malamek," in Michigan ; and Le Sueur was sent to La Pointe of Lake Superior to maintain the peace that had just been concluded between the Ojibways and Dahkotahs. The mission of Le Sueur was important. As the Foxes and Mascoutins had become inimical, the north- ern route to the Dahkotahs was the only one that could be used in transporting goods. In the year 1695, the second post in Minnesota was built by Le Sueur. Above Lake Pepin, and below the mouth of the St. Croix, there are many islands, and the largest of these was selected as the site. 1 The object of the establishment was to interpose a barrier between the Dahkotahs and Ojibways, and maintain the peaceful relations which had been created. Charlevoix speaks of the island as having a very beautiful prairie, and remarks that " the French of Canada have made it a centre of commerce for the western parts, and many pass the winter here, because it is a good country" for hunting." On the fifteenth of July, Le Sueur arrived at Mon- treal with a party of Ojibways, and the first Dahkotah brave that had ever visited Canada. The Indians were much impressed with the power of France by the marching of a detachment of seven hundred picked men, under Chevalier Cresafi, who were on their way to La Chine. On the eighteenth, Frontenac, in the presence of Callieres and other persons of distinction, gave them an audience. The first speaker was the chief of the Ojibway band at La Pointe, Shingowahbay, who said : — 1 Bellin in his description of the Chart of North America. OJIBWAY AND DAHKOTAH CHIEFS' SPEECH. 149 " That he was come to pay his respects to Onontio. 1 in the name of the young warriors of Point Chagoua migon, and to thank him for having given them some Frenchmen to dwell with them ; to testify their sorrow for one Jobin, a Frenchman, who was killed at a feast accidentally, and not maliciously. We come to ask a favour of you, which is to let us act. We are allies of the Sciou. Some Outagamies or Mascoutins have been killed. The Sciou came to mourn with us. Let us act, Father; let us take revenge. "Le Sueur alone, who is acquainted with the lan- guage of the one and the other, can serve us. We ask that he return with us." Another speaker of the Ojibways was Le Brochet. Teeoskahtay, the. Dahkotah chief, before he spoke, spread out a beaver robe, and laying another with a tobacco pouch and otter skin, began to weep bitterly. After drying his tears he said : — "All of the nations had a father who afforded them protection ; all of them have iron. But he was a bas- tard in quest of a father ; he was come to see him, and begs that he will take pity on him." He then placed upon the beaver robe twenty-two arrows, at each arrow naming a Dahkotah village that desired Frontenac's protection. Resuming his speech, he remarked : — " It is not on account of what I bring that I hope he who rules this earth will have pity on me. I learned from the Sauteurs that he wanted nothing ; that he was the Master of the Iron ; that he had a big heart, into which he could receive all the nations. This has 1 The title the Indians always gave to the Governor. 150 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. induced me to abandon my people to come to seek his protection, and to beseech him to receive me among the number of his children. Take courage, Great Captain, and reject me not; despise me not though I appear poor in your eyes. All the nations here present know that I am rich, and the little they offer here is taken from my lands.'" Count Frontenac in reply told the chief that he would receive the Dahkotahs as his children, on condition that they would be obedient, and that he would send back Le Sueur with him. Teeoskahtay, taking hold of the governor's knees, wept, and said : — " Take pity on us ; we are well aware that we are not able to speak, being children ; but Le Sueur, who understands our language, and has seen all our villages, will next year inform you what will have been achieved by the Sioux nations, represented by those arrows before you." Having finished, a Dahkotah woman, the wife of a great chief whom Le Sueur had purchased from captivity at Mackinaw, approached those in authority, and with downcast eyes embraced their knees, weeping and say- ing :— " I thank thee, Father ; it is by thy means I have been liberated, and am no longer captive." Then Teeoskahtay resumed : — " I speak like a man penetrated with joy. The Great Captain ; he who is the Master of the Iron, assures me of his protection, and I promise him that if he conde- scends to restore my children, now prisoners among the Foxes, Ottawas, and Hurons, I will return hither, and bring with me the twenty-two villages whom he has just restored to life by promising to send them Iron.'' DAHKOTAH CHIEF DIES IN CANADA. 151 On the 14 th of August, two weeks after the Ojibway chief left for his home on Lake Superior, Nicholas Per- rot arrived with a deputation of Sauks, Foxes, Meno- monees, Miamis of Maaramek, and Pottowattamies. Two days after, they had a council with the governor, who thus spoke to a Fox brave : — " I see that you are a young man ; your nation has quite turned away from my wishes ; it has pillaged some of my young men, whom it has treated as slaves. I know that your father, who loved the French, had no hand in the indignity. You only imitate the example of your father, who had sense, when you do not co- operate with those of your tribe who are wishing to go over to my enemies, after they grossly insulted me, and defeated the Sioux, whom I now consider my son. I pity the Sioux ; I pity the dead whose loss I deplore. Perrot goes up there, and he will speak to your nation from me, for the release of their prisoners; let them attend to him." Teeoskahtay never returned to his native land. While in Montreal he was taken sick, and in thirty- three days he ceased to breathe ; and, followed by white men, his body was interred in the white man's grave. Le Sueur, instead of going back to Minnesota that year, as was expected, went to France, and received a license, in 1697, to open certain mines supposed to exist in Minnesota. The ship in which he was returning, was captured by the English, and he was taken to England. After his release, he went back to France, and, in 1698, obtained a new commission for mining. While Le Sueur was in Europe, the Dahkotahs waged war against the Foxes and Miamis. In retalia- 152 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. tion, the latter raised a war party, and entered the land of the Dahkotahs. Finding their foes intrenched, and assisted by " coureurs des bois," they were indignant ; and on their return they had a skirmish with some Frenchmen, who were carrying goods to the Dahko- tahs. Shortly after, they met Perrot, and were about to burn him to death, when prevented by some friendly Foxes. The Miamis, after this, were disposed to be friendly to the Iroquois. In 1696, the year previous, the authorities at Quebec decided that it was expedient to abandon all the posts west of Mackinaw, and with- draw the French from Wisconsin and Minnesota. The "voyageurs" were not disposed to leave the country, and the governor wrote to Pontchartrain for instructions, in October, 1698. In his despatch he remarks : — "In this conjuncture, and under all these circum- stances, we consider it our duty to postpone, until new instructions from the court, the execution of Sieur Le Sueur's enterprise for the mines, though the promise had already been given him to send two canoes in advance to Missilimackinac, for the purpose of pur- chasing there some provisions and other necessaries for his voyage, and that he would be permitted to go and join them early in the spring with the rest of his hands. What led us to adopt this resolution has been, that the French who remained to trade off with the Five Na- tions the remainder of their merchandise, might, on seeing entirely new comers arriving there, consider themselves entitled to dispense with coming down, and perhaps adopt the resolution to settle there; whilst, seeing no arrival there, with permission to do what is LE SUEUR'S LICENSE TO MINE REVOKED. 153 forbidden, the reflection they will be able to make during the winter, and the apprehension of being guilty of crime, may oblige them to return in the spring. " This would be very desirable, in consequence of the great difficulty there will be in constraining them to it, should they be inclined to lift the mask altogether and become buccaneers; or should Sieur Le Sueur, as he easily could do, furnish them with goods for their beaver and smaller peltry, which he might send down bv the return of other Frenchmen, whose sole desire is to obey, and who have remained only beeause of the impossibility of getting their effects down. This would rather induce those who would continue to lead a vaga- bond life to remain there, as the goods they would obtain from Le Sueur's people would afford them the means of doing so." In reply to this communication, Louis XIV. answered that — " His majesty has approved that the late Sieur de Frontenac and De Champigny, suspended the execution of the license granted to the man named Le Sueur to pxoceed, with fifty men, to explore some mines on the bfiiks of the Mississippi. He has revoked said license, and desires that the said Le Sueur, or any other person, be prevented from leaving the colony on pretence of going in search of mines, without his majesty's express permission." Le Sueur, undaunted by these drawbacks to the pro- secution of a favourite project, again visited France, but ill December, 1699, he returned to Louisiana. 154 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER VIII. Upon the recommendation of the Governor of Louisiana, Le Sueur, with Penicaut, an intelligent ship- carpenter, and about twenty others, went to search for copper alleged to be in the Sioux country.* On the thirteenth of July, 1700, with a felucca, two canoes, and nineteen men, having ascended the Missis- sippi, he had reached the mouth of the Missouri, and six leagues above this he passed the Illinois. He there met three Canadians, who came to join him, with a letter from Father Marest, who had once attempted a mission among the Dahkotahs, dated July 13, Mission Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin, in Illinois. " I have the honour to write, in order to inform you that the Saugiestas have been defeated by the Scioux and Ayavois (Iowas). The people have formed an alliance with the Quincapous (Kickapoos), some of the Mecou- tins, Renards (Foxes), and Metesigamias, and gone to revenge themselves, not on the Scioux, for they are too much afraid of them, but perhaps on the Ayavois, or very likely upon the Paoutees, or more probably upon * Appendix G LE SUEUR MEETS A WAR PARTY. 155 the Osages, for these suspect nothing, and the others are on their guard. " As you will probably meet these allied nations, you ought to take precaution against their plans, and not allow them to board your vessel, since they are traitors, and utterly faithless. I pray God to accompany you in all your designs." Twenty-two leagues above the Illinois, he passed a small stream which he called the Kiver of Oxen, and nine leagues beyond this he passed a small river on the west side, where he met four Canadians descending the Mississippi, on their way to the Illinois. On the 30th of July, nine leagues above the last-named river, he met seventeen Scioux, in seven canoes, who were going to revenge the death of three Scioux, one of whom had been burned, and the others killed, at Tamarois, a few days before his arrival in that village. As he had pro- mised the chief of the Illinois to appease the Scioux, who should go to war against his nation, he made a present to the chief of the party to engage him to turn back. He told them the King of France did not wish them to make this river more bloody, and that he was sent to tell them that, if they obeyed the king's word, they would receive in future all things necessary for them. The chief answered that he accepted the present, that is to say, that he would do as had been told him. From the 30th of July to the 25th of August, Le Sueur advanced fifty-three and one-fourth leagues to a small river which he called the River of the Mine. 1 At the mouth it runs from the north, but it turns to the north-east. On the right seven leagues, there is a lead 1 This is tne first mention of the Galena mines. 156 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. mine in a prairie, one and a half leagues ; the river is only navigable in high water, that is to say, from early spring till the month of June. From the 25th to the 27th he made ten leagues, passed two small rivers, and made himself acquainted with a mine of lead, from which he took a supply. From the 27th to the 30th he made eleven and a half leagues, and met five Canadians, one of whom had been dangerously wounded in the head. They were naked, and had no ammunition except a miserable gun, with five or six loads of powder and balls. They said they were descending from the Scioux to go to Tama- rois ; and, when seventy leagues above, they perceived nine canoes in the Mississippi, in which were ninety savages, who robbed and cruelly beat them. This party were going to war against the Scioux, and were com- posed of four different nations, the Outagamis (Foxes), Saquis (Sauks), Poutouwatamis (Pottowattamies) , and Pauns (Winnebagoes), who dwell in a country eighty leagues east of the Mississippi from where Le Sueur then was. The Canadians determined to follow the detachment, which was composed of twenty-eight men. This day they made seven and a half leagues. On the 1st of Sep- tember, he passed the Wisconsin river. It runs into the Mississippi from the north-east. It is nearly one and a half miles wide. At about seventy-five leagues up this river, on the right, ascending, there is a portage of more than a league. The half of this portage is shaking ground, and at the end of it is a small river which descends into a bay called Winnebago Bay. It is in- habited by a great number of nations who carry their furs to Canada. Monsieur Le Sueur came by the W is- DAHKOTAHS ROBBED CANADIANS. 157 consin river to the Mississippi, for the first time, in 1683, on his way to the Scioux country, where he had already passed seven years at different periods. The Mississippi, opposite the mouth of the Wisconsin, is less than a half mile wide. From the 1st of September to the 5th, our voyageur advanced fourteen leagues. He passed the river " Aux Canots," which comes from the north-east, and then the Quincapous, named from a nation which once dwelt upon its banks. From the 5th to the 9 th, he made ten and a half leagues, and passed the Kivers Cachee and Aux Ailes. The same day he perceived canoes, filled with savages, descending the river, and the five Canadians recognised them as the party who had robbed them. They placed sentinels in the wood, for fear of being surprised by land ; and, when they had approached within hearing, they cried to them that if they approached farther they would fire. They then drew up by an island, at half the distance of a gun shot. Soon, four of the principal men of the band approached in a canoe, and asked if it was forgotten that they were our brethren, and with what design we had taken arms when we perceived them. Le Sueur replied that he had cause to distrust them, since they had robbed five of his party. Nevertheless, for the surety of his trade, being forced to be at peace with all the tribes, he demanded no redress for the robbery, but added merely that the king, their master and his, wished that his subjects should navigate that river without insult, and that they had better beware how they acted. The Indian who had spoken was silent, but another said they had been attacked by the Scioux, and that if they did not have pity on them, and give them a little 158 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. powder, they should not be able to reach their village. The consideration of a missionary, who was to go up among the Scioux, and whom these savages might meet, induced them to give two pounds of powder. M. Le Sueur made the same day three leagues ; passed a stream on the west, and afterwards another river on the east, which is navigable at all times, and which the Indians call Red river. On the 10th, at daybreak, they heard an elk whistle, on the other side of the river. \A Canadian crossed in a small Scioux canoe, which they had found, and shortly returned with the body of the animal, which was very easily killed, " quand il est en rut," that is from the be- ginning of September until the end of October. The hunters at this time make a whistle of a piece of wood, or reed, and when they hear an elk whistle, they answer it. The animal, believing it to be another elk, ap- proaches, and is killed with ease. From the 10th to the 14th, M. Le Sueur made seven- teen and a half leagues, passing the rivers Raisin and Paquilenettes, (perhaps the Wazi Ozu and Buffalo.) The same day he left, on the east side of the Missis- sippi, a beautiful and large river, which descends from the very far north, and called Bon Secours (Chippeway), on account of the great quantity of buffalo, elk, bears, and deers, which are found there. Three leagues up this river there is a mine of lead, and seven leagues above, on the same side, they found another long river, in the vicinity of which there is a copper mine, from which he had taken a lump of sixty pounds, in a former voyage. In order to make these mines of any account, peace must be obtained between the Scioux and Outa- gamis (Foxes), because the latter, who dwell on the LAKE PEPIN.— CANNON RIVER. 159 east side of the Mississippi, pass this road continually when going to war against the Scioux. In this region, at one and a half leagues on the north- west side, commenced a lake, which is six leagues long and more than one broad, called Lake Pepin. It is bounded on the west by a chain of mountains ; on the east is seen a prairie; and on the north-west of the lake there is another prairie two leagues long and one wide. In the neighbourhood is a chain of mountains quite two hundred feet high, and more than one and a half miles long. In these are found several caves, to which the bears retire in winter. Most of the caverns are more than seventy feet in extent, and three or four feet high. There are several of which the entrance is very narrow, and quite closed up with saltpetre. It would be dangerous to enter them in summer, for they are filled with rattlesnakes, the bite of which is very dangerous. Le Sueur saw some of these snakes which were six feet in length, but generally they are about four feet. They have teeth resembling those of the pike, and their gums are full of small vessels in which their poison is placed. The Scioux say they take it every morning, and cast it away at night. They have at the tail a kind of scale which makes a noise, and this is called the rattle. Le Sueur made on this day seven and a half leagues, and passed another river called Hiambouxecate Ouataba, or the River of Flat Rock. 1 On the" 15th he crossed a small river, and saw. in the neighbourhood, several canoes filled with Indians, descending the Mississippi. He supposed they were 1 This is evidently the Inyanbosndata, or Cannon river. 160 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Scioux, because he could not distinguish whether their canoes were large or small. The arms were placed in readiness, and soon they heard the cry of the savages, which they are accustomed to raise when they rush upon their enemies. He caused them to be answered in the same manner; and, after having placed all the men behind the trees, he ordered them not to fire until they were commanded. He remained on shore to see what movement the savages would make, and perceiving that they placed two on shore, on the other side, where from an eminence they could ascertain the strength of his forces, he caused the men to pass and repass from the shore to the wood, in order to make them believe that they were numerous. This ruse succeeded, for as soon as the two descended from the eminence, the chief of the party came, bearing the calumet, which is a signal of peace among the Indians. They said, that never having seen the French navi- gate the river with boats like the felucca, 1 they had supposed them to be English, and for that reason they had raised the war cry, and arranged themselves on the other side of the Mississippi; but, having recognised their flag, they had come without fear to inform them, that one of their number, who was crazy, had acci- dentally killed a Frenchman, and that they would go and bring his comrade, who would tell how the mischief had happened. The Frenchman they brought was Denis, a Canadian, and he reported that his companion was accidentally killed. His name was Laplace, a deserting soldier from Canada, who had taken refuge in this country. 1 The felucca is a small vessel had never before been seen on the propelled both by oars and sails, and waters of the Upper Mississippi. ST. CROIX DROWNED.— RIVER ST. PIERRE. 161 Le Sueur replied, that Onontio (the name they give to all the governors of Canada), being their father and his, they ought not to seek justification elsewhere than before him ; and he advised them to go and see him as soon as possible, and beg him to wipe off the blood of this Frenchman from their faces. The party was composed of forty-seven men of dif- ferent nations, who dwell far to the east, about the forty-fourth degree of latitude. Le Sueur, discovering who the chiefs were, said the king whom they had spoken of in' Canada, had sent him to take possession of the north of the river; and that he wished the nations who dwell on it, as well as those under his pro- tection, to live in peace. He made this day three and three-fourth leagues ; and, on the 16th of September, he left a large river on the east side, named St. Croix, because a Frenchman of that name was shipwrecked at its mouth. It comes from the north-north-west. Four leagues higher, in going up, is found a small lake, at the mouth of which is a very large mass of copper. It is on the edge of the water, in a small ridge of sandy earth, on the west of this lake. From the 16th to the 19th, he advanced thirteen and three-fourth leagues. After having made from Tamarois two hundred and nine and a half leagues, he left the navigation of the Mississippi, to enter the river St. Pierre, 1 on the west side. By the 1st of October, he 1 The Saint Pierre, like the Saint and prominent in the Indian affairs Croix, just below it, was possibly in that age. Carver, in 1776, on named after a Frenchman. Charle- the shores of Lake Pepin, discovered voix speaks of an officer by that the ruins of an extensive trading name, who was at Mackinaw in 1692, post, that had been under the control 11 162 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. had made in this river forty-four and one-fourth leagues. After he entered into Blue river, thus named on account of the mines of blue earth found at its mouth, he founded his post, situated in forty-four degrees, thirteen minutes, north latitude. He met at this place nine Scioux, 1 who told him that the river belonged to the Scioux of the West, the Ayavois (Iowas), and Otoctatas (Ottoes), who lived a little farther off; that it was not their custom to hunt on ground belonging to others, unless invited to do so by the owners, and that when they would come to the fort to obtain provisions, they would be in danger of being killed in ascending or descending the rivers, which were narrow, and that if they would show their pity, he must establish himself on the Mississippi, near the mouth of the St. Pierre? where the Ayavois, the Otocta- tas, and the other Scioux, could go as well as they. Having finished their speech, they leaned over the head of Le Sueur, according to their custom, crying out, " Ouaechissou ouaepanimanabo," that is to say, " Have pity upon us." Le Sueur had foreseen that the esta- blishment of Blue Earth river, would not please the Scioux of the East, who were, so to speak, masters of the other Scioux, and of the nations which will be hereafter mentioned, because they were the first with whom trade was commenced, and in consequence of which they had already quite a number of guns. As he had commenced his operations, not only with a view to the trade of beaver, but also to gain a of a Captain Saint Pierre, and some Lahontan, Le Sueur, and the Jesuits have asserted that Le Sueur of that period in their relations, and named the Minnesota river in honour it has not been altered to Dahkotah of his fellow explorer and trader. in this chapter. 1 Scioux, is th i orthography of 2 Neighbourhood of Mendota. DAHKOTAHS OF THE PLAINS. 163 knowledge of the mines, which he had previously dis- covered, he told them he was sorry that he had not known their intentions sooner; and that it was just, since he came expressly for them, that he should esta- blish himself on their land, but that the season was too far advanced for him to return. He then made them a present of powder, balls, and knives, and an armful of tobacco, to entice them to assemble as soon as possible, near the fort which he was about to construct, that when they should be all assembled he might tell them the intention of the king, their and his sovereign. The Scioux of the West, according to the statement of the Eastern Scioux, have more than a thousand lodges. They do not use canoes, nor cultivate the earth, nor gather wild rice. They remain generally in the prairies, which are between the Upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and live entirely by the chase. The Scioux generally say they have three souls, and that after death, that which has done well goes to the warm country, that which has done evil to the cold regions, and the other guards the body. Polygamy is common among them. They are very jealous, and sometimes fight in duel for their wives. They manage the bow admirably, and have been seen several times to kill ducks on the wing. They make their lodges of a number of buffalo skins interlaced and sewed, and carry them wherever they go. They are all great smokers, but their manner of smoking differs from that of other Indians. There are some Scioux who swallow all the smoke of the tobacco, and others who, after having kept it some time in their mouth, cause it to issue from the nose. In each lodge there are usually two or three men with their families. 161 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. On the third of October, they received at the fort several Scioux, among whom was Wahkantape, chief of the village. Soon two Canadians arrived who had been hunting, and had been robbed by the Scioux of the East, who had raised their guns against the esta- blishment which M. Le Sueur had made on Blue Earth river. On the fourteenth the fort was finished and named Fort L'Huillier, 1 and on the twenty-second two Cana- dians were sent out to invite the Ayavois and Otoctatas to come and establish a village near the fort, because these Indians are industrious and accustomed to culti- vate the earth, and they hoped to get provisions from them, and to make them work in the mines. On the twenty-fourth, six Scioux Oujalespoitons wished to go into the fort, but were told that they did not receive men who had killed Frenchmen. This is the term used when they have insulted them. The next day they came to the lodge of Le Sueur to beg him to have pity on them. They wished, according to custom, to weep over his head and make him a present of packs of beavers, which he refused. He told them he was surprised that people who had robbed should come to him ; to which they replied that they had heard it said that two Frenchmen had been robbed, but none from their village had been present at that wicked action. Le Sueur answered, that he knew it was the Men- deoucantons and not the Oujalespoitons; "but," con- tinued he, " you are Scioux ; it is the Scioux who have robbed me, and if I were to follow your manner oi 1 The farmer general at Paris who had encouraged Le Sueur in his pro- jects. 0>N ©FA CHA WILLIAM f)E L T ISLE Roy a J Ac a dern y of Sci en c es LE SUEUR FILLS CANOES WITH BLUE EARTH. 165 acting, I should break your heads ; for is it not true, that when a stranger (it is thus they call the Indians who are not Scioux) has insulted a Scioux, Mendeou- canton, Oujalespoitons, or others — all the villages re- venge upon the first one they meet ?" As they had nothing to answer to what he said to them, they wept and repeated, according to custom, " Ouaechissou ! ouaepanimanabo !" Le Sueur told them to cease crying, and added, that the French had good hearts, and that they had come into the country to have pity on them. At the same time he made them a pre- sent, saying to them, " Carry back your beavers and say to all the Scioux, that they will have from me no more powder or lead, and they will no longer smoke any long pipe until they have made satisfaction for rob- bing the Frenchman." The same day the Canadians, who had been sent off on the 22d, arrived without having found the road which led to the Ayavois and Otoctatas. On the 25th Le Sueur went to the river with three canoes, which he rilled with green and blue earth. 1 It is taken from the hills near which are very abundant mines of copper, some of w T hich was worked at Paris in 1696 by L'Huil- lier, one of the chief collectors of the king. Stones were also found there, which would be curious, if worked. On the 9 th of November, eight Mantanton Scioux arrived, who had been sent by their chiefs to say that the Mendeoucantons were still at their lake on the east of 4 he Mississippi, and they could not come for a long time ; and that, for a single village which had no good sense, 1 The locality was a branch of the river, and on a map published in Blue Earth, about a mile above the 1773, the river St. Remi. fort, called by Nicollet Le Sueur 166 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the others ought not to bear the punishment ; and that they were willing to make reparation if they knew how. Le Sueur replied that he was glad that they had a dis- position to do so. On the 15th the two Mantanton Scioux, who had been sent expressly to say that all of the Scioux of the east, and part of those of the west, were joined together to come to the French, because they had heard that the Christianaux and the Assinipoils were making war on them. These two nations dwell above the fort on the east side, more than eighty leagues on the Upper Mis- sissippi. The Assinipoils speak Scioux, and are certainly of that nation. It is only a few years since that they be- came enemies. The enmity thus originated : The Chris- tianaux, having the use of arms before the Scioux, through the English at Hudson's Bay, they constantly warred upon the Assinipoils, who were their nearest neighbours. The latter, being weak, sued for peace, and to render it more lasting, married the Christianaux women. The other Scioux, who had not made the com- pact, continued the war ; and, seeing some Christianaux with the Assinipoils, broke their heads. The Chris- tianaux furnished the Assinipoils with arms and mer- chandise. On the 16 th the Scioux returned to their village, and it was reported that the Ayavois and Otoctatas were gone to establish themselves towards the Missouri river, near the Maha, who dwell in that region. On the 26th the Mantantons and Oujalespoitons arrived at the fort; and, after they had encamped in the woods, Wahkan- tape 1 came to beg Le Sueur to go to his lodge. He 1 Wakandapi or Esteemed Sacred, was the name of one of the head nieu at Red Wing, in 1850. WEEP OVER. THE DEATH OF TEEOSKAIITAY. 107 there found sixteen men with women and children, with their faces daubed with black. In the middle of the lodge were several buffalo skins, which were sewed for a carpet. After motioning him to sit down, they wept for the fourth of an hour, and the chief gave him some wild rice to eat (as was their custom) , putting the first three spoonsful to his mouth. After which, he said all present were relatives of Tioscate, 1 whom Le Sueur took to Canada in 1695, and who died there in 1696. At the mention of Tioscate they began to weep again, and wipe their tears and heads upon the shoulders of Le Sueur. Then Wahkantape again spoke, and said that Tioscate begged him to forget the insult done to the Frenchmen by the Mendeoucantons, and take pity on his brethren by giving them powder and balls whereby r they could defend themselves, and gain a living for their wives and children, who languish in a country, full of game, because they had not the means of killing them. " Look," added the chief, " Behold thy children, thy brethren, and thy sisters ; it is to thee to see whether thou wishest them to die. They will live if thou gives t them powder and ball ; they will die if thou refusest." Le Sueur granted them their request, but as the Scioux never answer on the spot, especially in matters of importance, and as he had to speak to them about his establishment, 4ie went out of the lodge without saying a word. The chief and all those within followed him as far as the door of the fort ; and when he had gone in, they went around it three times, crying with all their strength, " Atheouanan !" that is to say, " Father, have pity on us." (Ate unyanpi, means Our Father.) 1 Teeoskahtay. 168 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. The next day, he assembled in the fort the principal men of both villages ; and as it is not possible to subdue the Scioux or to hinder them from going to Avar, unless it be by inducing them to cultivate the earth, he said to them that if they wished to render themselves worthy of the protection of the king, they must abandon their erring life, and form a village near his dwelling, where they would be shielded from the insults of their ene- mies ; and that they might be happy and not hungry, he would give them all the corn necessary to plant a large piece of ground ; that the king, their and his chief, in sending him, had forbidden him to purchase beaver skins, knowing that this kind of hunting separates them and exposes them to their enemies ; and that in conse- quence of this he had come to establish himself on Blue river and vicinity, where they had many times assured him were many kinds of beasts, for the skins of which he would give them all things necessary; that they ought to reflect that they could not do without French goods, and that the only way not to want them was, not to go to war with our allied nations. As it is customary with the Indians to accompany their word with a present proportioned to the affair treated of, he gave them fifty pounds of powder, as many balls, six guns, ten axes, twelve armsful of tobacco, and a hatchet pipe. On the first of December, the Mantantons invited Le Sueur to a great feast. Of four of their lodges they had made one, in which were one hundred men seated around, and every one his dish before him. After the meal, Wahkantape, the chief, made them all smoke one after another in the hatchet pipe which had been given them. He then made a present to Le Sueur of a slave M'DEWAKANTONWAN CHIEFS AT BLUE EARTH FORT. 169 and a sack of wild rice, and said to him, showing him his men : " Behold the remains of this great village, which thou hast aforetimes seen so numerous ! all the others have been killed in war ; and the few men whom thou seest in this lodge, accept the present thou hast made them, and are resolved to obey the great chief of all nations, of whom thou hast spoken to us. Thou oughtest not to regard us as Scioux, but as French, and instead of saying the Scioux are miserable, and have no mind, and are fit for nothing but to rob and steal from the French, thou shalt say my brethren are miserable and have no mind, and we must try to procure some for them. They rob us, but I will take care that they do not lack iron, that is to say, all kinds of goods. If thou dost this, I assure thee that in a little time, the Mantantons will become Frenchmen, and they will have none of those vices with which thou reproachest us." Having finished his speech, he covered his face with his garment, and the others imitated him. They wept over their companions who had died in war, and chanted an adieu to their country in a tone so gloomy, that one could not keep from partaking of their sorrow. Wahkantape then made them smoke again, and dis- tributed the presents, and said that he was going to the Mendeoucantons, to inform them of the resolution, and invite them to do the same. i On the twelfth, three Mendeoucanton chiefs and a large number of Indians of the same village, arrived at the fort, and the next day gave satisfaction for robbing the Frenchmen. They brought 400 pounds of beaver skins, and promised that the summer following, after their canoes were built and they had gathered their wild rice, that they would come and establish themselves 170 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. near the French. The same day they returned to their village east of the Mississippi. NAMES OF THE BANDS OF SCTOUX OF THE EAST, WITH THEIR SIGNIFICATION. Mantantons — That is to say, Village of the Great Lake which empties into a small one. Mendeoucantons — Village of Spirit Lake. Quiopetons — Village of the Lake with one River. Psioumanitons — Village of Wild Rice Gatherers. Ouadebatons. — The River Village. Ouatemanetons. — Village of the Tribe who dwell on the Point of the Lake. Songasquitons — The Brave Village. the scioux of the west. Touchouasintons — The Village of the Pole. Psinchatons — Village of the Red Wild Rice. Oujalespoitons — Village divided into many small Bands. Psinoutanhhintons — The Great Wild Rice Village. Tintangaoughiatons — The Grand Lodge Village. Ouapetons — Village of the Leaf. Oughetgeodatons — Dung Village. Ouapetontetons — Village of those who Shoot in the Large Pine. Hinhanetons — Village of the Red Stone Quarry. The above catalogue of villages concludes the extract that La Harpe has made from Le Sueur's Journal. 1 1 The " History of Louisiana, by nal, and deposited among the ar- La Harpe," who was a French offi- chives of the American Philosophi- cer, remained in manuscript more cal Society, from which a few ex- than one hundred years. In 1805, tracts were published by Professor a copy was taken from the origi- Keating, in his narrative of Major D'IBERVILLE'S MANUSCRIPT. 171 In the narrative of Major Long's second expedition, there are just the same number of villages of the Gens du Lac or M'dewakantonwan Scioux mentioned, though the names are different. After leaving the Mille Lac region, the divisions evidently were different, and the villages known by new names. Charlevoix, who visited the valley of the Lower Mis- sissippi in 1722, says that Le Sueur spent a winter in his fort on the banks of the Blue Earth ; and that in the following April he went up to the mine about a mile above. In twenty-two days they obtained more than thirty thousand pounds of the substance, four thousand of which were selected and sent to France. Early in the summer of 1701, Le Sueur came back to the post on the Gulf of Mexico, and found D'Iberville absent, who, however, arrived on the eighteenth of the next Feb'y , with a ship from France, loaded with sup- plies. After a few weeks, the Governor of Louisiana sailed again for the old country, Le Sueur being a fellow passenger. On board of the ship, D'Iberville wrote a memorial upon the Mississippi Valley, with suggestions for carry- ing on commerce therein, which contains many facts furnished by Le Sueur. A copy of the manuscript is hi possession of the Historical Society of Minnesota, from which are the following extracts : — " If the Sioux remain in their own country they are useless to us, being too distant. We could have no commerce with them except that of the beaver. M. Long's expedition. In the year 1831, tion of that part which pertains to the original was published at Paris, Minnesota, appeared in a St. Paul for the first time, in the French newspaper in 1850. language. The first English transla- L72 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Le Sueur, who goes to France to give an account of this country, is the proper person to make these movements. He estimates the Sioux at four thousand families, who could settle upon the Missouri. " He has spoken to me of another which he calls the Mahas, composed of more than twelve hundred families, the Ayooues (Ioways) and the Octoctatas their neigh- bours, are about three hundred families. They occupy the lands between the Mississippi and the Missouri, about one hundred leagues from the Illinois. These savages do not know the use of arms, and a descent might be made upon them in a river, which is beyond the Wabash on the west. ********** " The Assinibouel, Quenistinos, and people of the North, who are upon the rivers which fall into the Mississippi, and trade at Fort Nelson (Hudson Bay), are about four hundred men. We could prevent them from going there if we wish." " In four or five years we can establish a commerce with these savages of sixty or eighty thousand buffalo skins ; more than one hundred deer skins, which will produce, delivered in France, more than two million four hundred thousand livres yearly. One might obtain for a buffalo skin four or five pounds of wool, which sells for twenty sous, two pound of coarse hair at ten sous. " Besides, from smaller peltries, two hundred thou- sand livres can be made yearly." In the third volume of the " History and Statistics of the Indian Tribes," prepared under the direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, by Mr. Schoolcraft, a manuscript, a copy of which is in possession of General Cass, is referred to as containing the first enumeration EARLIEST CENSUS OF INDIANS OF MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 173 of the Indians of the Mississippi Valley. The following was made thirty-four years earlier : — Families, 'The Sioux, Mahas, . . . . Oetata and Ayoues, Canses, (Kansas), Missouri, . . Arkansas, &c., Manton, (Mandan) Panis, (Pawnee) . Illinois, of the great village andCamaroua (Tamaroa Meosigainea, (Metchigamias) Kikapous and Mascoutens, Miamis, 4,000 12,000 300 1,500 1,500 200 100 2,000 800 200 450 500 Chicachas, 2,000 Mobiliens and Chohomes, . 350 Concaques, (Conchas) . . 2,000 Ouma, (Houmas) . . . 150 Colapissa, 250 Bayogoula, 100 People of the Fork, ... 200 Counica, &c, (Tonicas) . 300 Caensa, (Taensa) . . . 150 Nadeches, 1,500 Beiochy, (Biloxi) Pascoboula. 100 Total, 23,850 Chactas, 4,000 " The savage tribes located in the places I have marked out, make it necessary to establish three posts on the Mississippi. One at the Arkansas, another at the Wabash (Ohio), and the third at the Missouri. At each post it would be proper to have an officer with a detachment of ten soldiers, with a sergeant and corporal. All Frenchmen should be allowed to settle there with their families, and trade with the Indians, and they might establish tanneries for properly dressing the buffalo and deer skins for transportation. " No Frenchman shall be allowed to follow the Indians on their hunts, as it tends to keep them hunters, as is seen in Canada, and when they are in the woods they do not desire to become tillers of the soil. ***** " I have said nothing in this memoir of which I have not personal knowledge or the most reliable sources. The most of what I propose is founded upon personal reflection, in relation to what might be done for the defence and advancement of the colony. * * * * 174 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. * * * It will be absolutely necessary that the king should define the limits of this country, in relation to the government of Canada. It is important that the commandant of the Mississippi should have a report of those who inhabit the rivers that fall into the Mississippi, and principally those of the river Illinois. " The Canadians intimate to the savages that they ought not to listen to us, but to the governor of Canada, who always speaks to them with large presents ; that the governor of the Mississippi is mean, and never sends them anything. This is true, and what I cannot do. It is imprudent to accustom the savages to be spoken to by presents, for, with so many, it would cost the king more than the revenue derived from the trade. When they come to us, it will be necessary to bring them in subjection, make them no presents, and compel them to do what we wish, as if they were Frenchmen. " The Spaniards have divided the Indians into parties on this point, and we can do the same. When one nation does wrong, we can cease to trade with them, and threaten to draw down the hostility of other Indians. We rectify the difficulty by having mission- aries, who will bring them into obedience secretly. " The Illinois and Mascoutens have detained the French canoes they find upon the Mississippi, saying that the governors of Canada have given them permis- sion. I do not know whether this is so, but, if true, it follows that we have not the liberty to send any one on the Mississippi. u M. Le Sueur would have been taken if he had not been the strongest. Only one of the canoes he sent to the Sioux was plundered." ****** On the third of March, 1703, the workmen left at RETURN OF WORKMEN FROM MAHKAHTO. 175 Mahkahto returned to Mobile, having left Minnesota on account of the hostility of the Indians, and the want of means. Le Sueur, after leaving Mahkahto does not appear to have visited Minnesota. 1 1 Penicaut wrote a journal of his voyage to the Blue Earth, a MS. which has recently been purchased for the Library of Congress. He mentions the Falls of St. Anthony, and says the party visited them, and that their height was 60 feet. Returning, they ascended the Minnesota to the Blue Earth River, and a league up the latter, on a point of land a quarter of a mile from the woods, they built the fort. The mine they worked was three- fourths of a league distant, on the banks of the river, in a bluff. The green earth was a foot and a half in thickness. In May, 1701, Le Sueur left the fort in charge of D'Evaque, a Cana- dian and twelve Frenchmen, and returned to Mobile. D'Evaque, being molested by the Sacs and Foxes, abandoned the fort in the spring of 1702. Return- ing to Louisiana, he met Juchereau, who had been officer of justice in Montreal, with thirty-five men, on his way to establish a tannery at the mouth of the Ohio. Penicaut remained in Louisiana until 1721, when he went to France for treatment of his eyes, and there prepared the account of his ad- ventures which has lately been brought to light. 176 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER IX. At the commencement of the eighteenth century, tl-e Dahkotahs were still dwelling at the Spirit Lake, east of the Mississippi; but influences were beginning to operate, which eventually led to dislodgment from their ancient stronghold. When the French traders first visited Green Bay, they found the Sauks a fierce and haughty people, wandering about the country between the head waters of the Fox and Chippeway rivers. Below them, and above the Illinois, resided the Fox or Outagami nation, 1 with whom they were closely allied by intermarriage. The French, from the first, seemed to be unsuccessful in obtaining their good- will, the early voyageurs having behaved themselves as bandits rather than civilized men. In the year 1700 the Sauks and Foxes were defeated in a contest with the Dahkotahs and Ioways; and 1 The Ojibways assert that the statement. "The Foxes are eighteen Foxes, before their incorporation with leagues from the Sacs, they number the Sauks, spoke a different Ian- five hundred men, abound in women guage, and they called them "O-dug- and children, are as industrious as j.uni-eeg," or people of the opposite they can be, and have a different side. language from the Ottawas. An A French memoir on the Indians Ottawa interpreter would be of no between Lake Erie and Mississippi, use with the Foxes/' Paris Doc. prepared in 1718, confirms this vii. in N. Y. C. H. vol. ix. ATTACK OF FOXES OX DETROIT. 177 shortly after this they began to manifest open hostility against the French. Under the direction of the noted warriors Lamina and Pemoussa, they marched to the post at Detroit, which was the key to the commerce of the upper lakes, with the intention of exterminating the small garrison of thirty men. and delivering the post to the English, who, from the year 1687, had been looking wistfully towards the beautiful peninsula which now comprises the commonwealth of Michigan. For days they prowled around the rude stockade, watching every opportunity for insult and murder. To prevent the burning of the post, Du Buisson, the commander, ordered the chapel, storehouse, and other outbuildings to be destroyed. After a few days De Vincennes and eight Frenchmen arrived, but brought no news that was cheering ; and the commander, in his despatch to the governor of Canada, admits his alarm, and writes, " I did not know on what saint to call." The hour now came for decided action. The gates of the little fort were closed ; the garrison divided into four companies ; arms and ammunition duly inspected ; two swivels, mounted on logs, loaded with slugs; all were waiting, with anxious impatience, for the attack to commence, when the commander, ascending the bastion, descried a friendly force uf Osages, Missouris, Illinois, and other allies, issuing from the forest. The gates being thrown open, they were warmly greeted. A moment's silence, a terrific war-whoop, that made the very earth tremble, and the battle began in earnest, and murderous missiles Hew like hail-stones. To pro- tect themselves from the fire of the fort, the Sauks and Foxes dug holes in the ground, but they were soon 12 178 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. besieged. After being surrounded for nineteen days, they succeeded in making their escape, on a dark and rainy night, after the attacking party were asleep. The discovery was not made till morning, when they were found at Presque Isle, near Lake St. Clair. The fight was here renewed, and the Foxes were thoroughly de- feated, losing about one thousand men, women, and children. 1 Maddened by their want of success, they came back with the portion of the Sauks who were their allies to their residence in Wisconsin, and revenged themselves by scalping every French trader they could find, and waging war on the Ojibways and other tribes who had aided the French. Travel to Louisiana by way of the Wisconsin river was entirely cutoff; and in 1714 the governor of Ca- nada determined to subdue or exterminate them. A force of eight hundred men marched to their villages, and the Foxes, under the pressure of necessity, formed a friendly alliance with their old foes, the Dahkotahs of Minnesota. The invading army found the foe, to the number of five hundred men and three thousand women, strongly intrenched. De Louvigny, the com- mander, planted his field pieces and a grenade mortar, and began the attack ; but the Foxes soon capitulated, and six hostages were given by them as security for the presence of their deputies at Montreal, to perfect the terms of the treaty. While at Montreal, Pemoussa, the great warrior, and others of the hostages, died of small- pox. Fearing that this calamity might defeat the arrange- 1 This must be an exaggeration of the French report, from which the facts were obtained. PREDICTION IN RELATION TO ENGLISH MASTERY. 179 ments for the final treaty, De Louvigny was sent to Mackinaw with one of the hostages, who had recovered from the small-pox with the loss of one eye. Arriving in May, 1717, he despatched the one-eyed chief with suitable presents to cover the dead. The Fox chiefs promised to comply with the provisions of the original capitulation, and the pock-marked warrior departed for Mackinaw, with the interpreter, but he soon eloped, and in a little while the truce-breaking Foxes were again shedding blood. They not only harassed the French, but leagued with the Chickasaws of the south, as well as the fierce Dahkotahs of the north. For a number of years the French government had discountenanced traders dwelling with the Indians west of Mackinaw, and the old license system was abolished. But, in 1726, it was observed that the English were obtaining such an influence over the distant nations, that, to counteract it, the licensing of traders to dwell among the upper tribes was renewed. A despatch on this point, made a prediction, which has been fully verified : — " From all that precedes, it is more and more obvious, that the English are endeavouring to interlope among all the Indian nations, and to attach them to them- selves. They entertain constantly the idea of becoming masters of North America, persuaded that the European nation which will be possessor of that section, will, in course of time, be also master of all America, because it is there alone that men live in health, and produce strong and robust children." To thwart them it was j)roposed to restore the twenty- five licenses for trading, which had been suppressed, by which seventy-five " coureurs des bois" would proceed 180 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. annually to the upper tribes, and be absent eighteen months ; also, to abolish the prohibitory liquor law, which had been enacted through the influence of the mission- aries. The argument in favour of this measure was in these words : — " 'Tis true, that the Indians are crazy when drunk, and when they have once tasted brandy, that they give all they possess to obtain some more, and drink it to excess. " Missionaries will complain that this permission de- stroys the Indians and the religion among them. But, apart from the fact that they will always have rum from the English, the question is, whether it be better that the English penetrate into the continent by favour of that rum, which attracts the Indians to them, than to suffer the French to furnish them with liquor in order to preserve these nations, and to prevent them declaring eventually in favour of the English." 1 In view of the troubles among the tribes of the north- west, in the month of September, 1718, Captain St. Pierre, who had great influence with the Indians of Wisconsin and Minnesota, was sent with Ensign Linctot and some soldiers to re-occupy La Pointe on Lake Supe- rior, now Bayfield, in the north-western point of Wis- consin. The chiefs of the band there and at Keweenaw, had threatened war against the Foxes, who had killed some of their number. On the seventh of June, 1726, peace was concluded by De Lignery with the Sauks, Foxes, and Winneba- goes, at Green Bay ; and, Linctot, who had succeeded Saint Pierre in command at La Pointe, was ordered, by 1 Written May 7th, 1726. LINCTOT AT LA PODsTE. 181 presents and the promise of a missionary, to endeavour to detach the Dahkotahs from their alliance with the Foxes. At this time Line tot made arrangements for peace between the Ojibways and Dahkotahs, and sent two Frenchmen to dwell in the villages of the latter, with a promise that, if they ceased to fight the Ojib- ways, they should have regular trade, and a "black robe" reside in their country. The Ojibways, after the treaty, came down to Mon- treal, and were thus addressed by Longeuil, 1 the gover- nor : — " I am rejoiced, my children of the Sauteurs, at the peace which Monsieur De Linctot has procured for you with the Sioux, your neighbours, and also on account of the prisoners you have restored to them. I desire him, in the letter which I now give you, my son Cabina, for him, that he maintain this peace, and support the happy reunion which now appears to exist between the Sioux and you. I hope he will succeed in it, if you are attentive to his words, and if you follow the lights which he will show you. " My heart is sad on account of the blows which the Foxes of Green Bay have given you, of which you have just spoken, and of which the commandant has written in his letter. It appears to me that Heaven has revenged you for your losses, since it has given you the flesh of a young Fox to eat. You have done well to listen to the words of your commandant to keep quiet, and respect the words of your Father. " It would not have been good to embroil the whole land in order to revenge a blow struck by people with- 1 The Baron Longeuil, was Charles Le Moyne, a native of Canada. He died in 1729. 182 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. out sense or reason, who have no authority in their own villages. " I invite you by this tobacco, my children, to remain in tranquillity in your lodges, awaiting the news of what shall be decided in the council at the bay (Green Bay), by the commandant of Mackinaw. " There is coming from France a new Father, who will not fail to inform you, as soon as he shall be able to take measures and stop the bad affair which the Foxes wish to cause in future. " And to convince you, my children, of the interest I take in your loss, here are two blankets, two shirts, and two pairs of leggings, to cover the bodies of those of your children who have been killed, and to stop the blood which has been spilled upon your mats. I add to this, four shirts to staunch the wounds of those who have been hurt in this miserable affray, with a package of tobacco to comfort the minds of your young men, and also to cause them to think hereafter of good things, and wholly to forget bad ones. " This is what I exhort you all, my children, while waiting for news from your new Father, and also to be always attentive to the words of the French command- ant, who now smokes his pipe in security among you." The Foxes again proved faithless, having received belts from the English, and determined to attack the French. The authorities at Quebec now determined to send a regular army into their country. Their prepara- tions were kept secret; for, says Beauharnois, "they already had an assurance of a passage into the country of the Sioux of the Prairies, their allies, in such a man- ner, that if they had known of our design of making war, it would have been easy to have withdrawn in FRENCH RE ESTABLISHED AT LAKE PEPIN. 183 that direction, before we could block up the way and attack them in their towns." To hem in the Fox nation as much as possible, it was determined to build a fort on the point of land that juts into Lake Pepin, in sight of Maiden's Rock, and traders and missionaries resolved to accompany the expedition. On April 20, 1727, the Governor of Canada wrote to France, that the Fathers appointed for the projected Sioux mission desired a case of mathe- matical instruments, a universal astronomic dial, a spirit- level, chain and stakes, and a telescope of six or seven feet tube. On the 16th of June the party left Montreal under the command of De la Perriere Boucher, the officer who gained an unenviable notoriety as the leader of the brutal savages who sacked Haverhill, Massachusetts, a few years before, and exultingly killed the Puritan minister of the town, scalped his loving wife, and then dashed out her infant's brains against the rocks. On the 17th of September, Lake Pepin was reached. The stockade when completed was one hundred feet square, within which were three buildings, one, thirty by sixteen feet, one, thirty-eight by sixteen, and the last, twenty-five by sixteen feet in dimensions. There were also two bastions, and the whole was surrounded by twelve-foot pickets. The fort, in compliment to the Governor of Canada, was called " Beauharnois," and the mission was known as that of " St. Michael the Archangel." Guignas writes, " On the morning of the 4th of November [1727] we did not forget it was the general's birthday. Mass was said for him in the morning, and they were w^ell disposed to celebrate in the evening, but * Appendix H 184 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the tardiness of the pyrotechnist caused them to post- pone the celebration to the 14th, when they set off some very fine rockets, and made the air ring with a hundred shouts : ' Vive le Roy/ and ' Vive Charles de Beau- harnois.' .... What contributed much to the amuse- ment was the terror of some lodges of Indians who were at that time around the fort. When these poor people saw the fireworks in the air, and the stars fall down from heaven, the women and children began to fly, and the most courageous of the men to cry for mercy and implore us very earnestly to stop the surprising display of that wonderful medicine." The spring of 1728 was remarkable for floods, and the water covered the floors of the fort. Early in the season the traders and Father Guignas were obliged to leave on account of the hostility of the Foxes. This year the Governor of Canada wrote to France relative to the reinforcement of the post on Lake Pepin as follows: "The Foxes will, in all proba- bility, come or send next year to sue for peace; therefore, if it be granted to them on advanta- geous conditions, there need be no apprehension when going to the Scioux, and another company could be formed, less numerous than the first, through whom, or some responsible merchants able to afford the outfits, a new treaty could be made whereby these difficulties would be soon obviated. One only trouble remains, and that is, to send a commanding and sub-officer, and some soldiers up there, which are absolutely necessary for the maintenance of good order at that post ; the mission- aries would not go there without a commandant. This article, which regards the service, and the expense of * Appendix I DE LIGNERYS EXPEDITION AGAINST THE FOXES. 185 which must be on his majesty's account, obliges them to apply for orders. They will, as far as lies in their power, induce the traders to meet that expense, which will possibly amount to 1000 livres or 1500 livres a year for the commandant, and in proportion for the officer under him ; but, as in the beginning of an establishment the expenses exceed the profits, it is improbable that any company of merchants will assume the outlay, and in this case they demand orders on this point, as well as his majesty's opinion as to the necessity of preserving so useful a post, and a nation which has already afforded proofs of its fidelity and attachment. " These orders could be sent them by way of He Eoyale, or by the first merchantmen that will sail for Quebec. The time required to receive intelligence of the occurrences in the Scioux country, will admit of their waiting for these orders before doing anything." On the fifth of June, 1728, an army of four hundred Frenchmen and eight or nine hundred savages, em- barked at Montreal, on an expedition to destroy the Fox nation and their allies, the Sauks. De Lignery 1 was the head of the expedition — a man like Braddock at Fort Duquesne, who moved his army with precision and pomp, as if the savages were accustomed to fight in platoons, and observe the laws of war, recognised by all civilized nations. On the seventeenth of August, in the dead of night, the army arrived at the post at the mouth of Fox river. Before dawn the French crossed over to the Sauk vil- lage, but all had escaped with the exception of four. Ascending the stream on the twenty-fourth, they came 1 Taught by experience, he afterwards became an able officer in the French war. 186 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. to a Winnebago village which was also deserted. Pass- ing over the Little Fox Lake, on the twenty-fifth, they entered a small river leading to marshy ground, on the borders of which there was a large Fox village. Here again was another disappointment, for the swift-footed savages had gone many miles on their trail long before the army came in sight. Orders were then given to advance upon the last stronghold of the enemy, near the portage of the Wis- consin, and on their arrival they found all as still as the desert. On the return of the army from this fruit- less expedition, the Indian villages on the line of march were devastated, and the fort at Green Bay abandoned. The Foxes, having abandoned everything, retired to the country of the Ioways and Dahkotahs, and probably at this time they pitched their tents and hunted in the valley of the Sauk river in Minnesota. During the year of this badly managed expedition, Father Guignas visited the Dahkotahs, and would have remained there if there had not been hostility between the Foxes and French. While travelling to the Illinois country he fell into the hands of the Kickapoos and Masco utens, allies of the Foxes, in the month of October. He was saved from being burned to death by an aged man adopting him as a son. For five months he was in captivity. In the year 1736, while St. Pierre was the commander at Lake Pepin, Father Guignas was also there, and thought that the Dahkotahs were very friendly. About the period of the revival of the post on Lake Pepin, an establishment was built on Lake Ouinipigon, west of Lake Superior. *Apendix J VERANDERIE'S TOUR TOWARDS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 187 Veranderie, a French officer, was, at this early date, commissioned to open a northern route to the Pacific. Proceeding westward from the Grand Portage of Lake Superior, he followed the chain of lakes which form the boundary line of Minnesota and British America, to Lake Winnipeg. Ascending the Assiniboine, he struck out on the plains, and for several days journeyed towards the Kocky Mountains. Kalm, the Swedish traveller, who saw him in Canada, says that he found on the prairies of Rupert's Land, pillars of stone. At one place, nine hundred leagues from Montreal, he discovered a stone with characters inscribed, which the learned at Paris, where it was sent, supposed were Tartarean ; but probably it was a pictograph set up by some passing war or hunting party. 1 1 Stone heaps are seen on the prai- ries of Minnesota. Having written to a gentleman some years ago, to in- quire of the Dahkotahs " what mean ye by these stones?" I received an interesting reply : — Dear Sir: Your letter of the third instant, relating to the stone heaps near Red Wing, was duly received. I am happy to comply with your request, hoping that it may lead to an accurate survey of these mounds. In 1848 I first heard of stone heaps on the hill-tops, back of Red Wing. But business, and the natural suspi- cion of the Indian, prevented me from exploring. The treaty of Men- dota emboldened me to visit the hills, and try to find the stone heaps. Accordingly, late last autumn, I started on foot and alone from Red Wing, following the path marked P. on the map, which I herewith trans- mit. I left the path after crossing the second stream, and turning to the left, I ascended the first hill that I reached. This is about a mile distant from the path that leads from Fort Snelling to Lake Pepin. Here, on the brow of the hill, which was about two hundred feet high, was a heap of stones. It is about twelve feet in diameter and six in height. The perfect confusion of the stones and yet the entireness of the heap, and the denuded rocks all around, convinced me that the heap had been formed from stones lying around, picked up by the hand of man. But why and when it had been done, were questions not so easily decided. For solving these I re- solved to seek internal evidence. Prompted by the spirit of a first explorer, I soon ascended the heap ; and the coldness of the day, and the 188 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. He established some six commercial posts on the line of his route, some of which are in existence to this day, and bear the same names. His journey was ended by difficulties with the Indi- ans, and he was obliged to return. The Dahkotahs were suspected of having molested this expedition. The king of France, writing to the proximity of my gun, tended to sup- press my dread of rattlesnakes. The stones were such that I could lift, or roll them, and soon reached a stick about two feet from the top of the heap. After descending about a foot further, I pulled the post out ; and about the same place found a shank bone, about five inches long. The post was red cedar half decayed, i. e. one side, and rotted to a point in the ground; hence I could not tell whether it grew there or not. The bone is similar to the two which you have. I left it and the post on the heap, hoping that some one better skilled in osteology might visit the heap. The stones of the heap are magnesian limestone, which forms the upper stratum of the hills about Red Wing. Much pleased, I started over the hill top, and was soon greeted by an- other silent monument of art. This heap is marked B. on the map. It is similar to the first which is marked A., only it is larger, and was so co- vered with a vine, that I had no suc- cess in opening it. From this point there is a fine view southward. The valleys and hills are delightful. Such hills and vales, such cairns and bushy glens, would, in my father's land,have been the thrones and playgrounds of fairies. But I must stick to facts. I now started eastward to visit a coni- cal appearing hill, distant about a mile and a half. I easily descended the hill, but to cross the plain and ascend another hill, " hie labor est." But I was amply repaid. The hill proved to be a ridge with several stone heaps on the summit. Near one heap there is a beautiful little tree with a top like " Tarn O'Shanter's" bonnel. In these heaps I found the bones which I left with you. I discovered each about half-way down the heaps. I then descended northward about two hundred feet, crossed a valley, passed some earth mounds, and as- cended another hill, and there found several more stone heaps similar to the others. In them I found no bones, nor did I see anything else worthy of particular notice at pre- sent. If these facts should, in any mea- sure, help to preserve correct infor- mation concerning any part of this new country, I shall be amply re- warded for writing. Your obedient servant, J. F. Aiton. Kaposia, Jan. 17, 1852. CARTE M$ NOtfVCitfS fil^OVVlRTiS Dressee sur les Me/no ir&f ckAfTDe/Ts/e, Pro/ess eur a /'/lea de'mie Jtoyale Jes Jciericej* . far ffuAji/ie BuacAe . //SO. — v> •< Drawn from iAe Original 6y J?.0r/njbi/ J'a^eeny . FINAL ATTACK ON THE FOXES. 189 governor of Canada, under date of May tenth, 1737, says : — " As respects the Scioux, according to what the com- mandant 1 and missionary 2 have written to Sieur de Beauharnois, relative to the disposition of these Indians, nothing appears to be wanting on that point. But their delay in coming down to Montreal since the time they promised to do so, must render their sentiments some- what suspected, and nothing but facts can determine whether their fidelity can be absolutely relied on. But what must still further increase the uneasiness to be entertained in their regard, is the attack on the convoy of M. de la Veranderie." The Foxes having killed some Frenchmen in the Illinois country, in 1741, the governor of Canada, Mar- quis de Beauharnois, assembled at his house, some of the most experienced officers in the Indian service, the Baron de Longeuil, La Corne, De Lignery, and others, and it was unanimously agreed, that the welfare of the French demanded the complete extermination of the Foxes, and that the movements against them should be conducted with the greatest caution. Louis XV. was glad to hear of the determination of the governor of Canada, but he was afraid that it would not be conducted with sufficient secrecy. He, with great discernment, remarks, " If they foresee their inability to resist, they will have adopted the policy of retreating to the Scioux of the Prairies, from which point they will cause more disorder, in the colony, than if they had been allowed to remain quiet in their village." The officer in charge of the incursion, was Moran, 3 1 Saint Pierre. 2 Gui^nas. * Probably Sieur Marin, of the French Documents. 190 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. who once had charge of the post St. Nicholas near the mouth of the Wisconsin, on the Mississippi. His strategy was not unlike that of the besiegers of ancient Troy. At that time the Fox tribe lived at the Little Butte des Morts, on the Fox river of Wisconsin. When- ever a trader's canoe hove in sight, they lighted a torch upon the bank, which was a signal for Frenchmen to land, and pay for the privilege of using the stream. Moran having placed his men in canoes, with their guns primed, had each canoe covered with canvas, as if he was bringing into the country an outfit of mer- chandise, and desired to protect it from storms. When near Little Butte des Morts the party was divided, a portion proceeding by land to the rear of the Fox vil- lage, and the remainder moving up the stream. The oarsmen having paddled the canoes within view of the Foxes, they, according to custom,^ planted the torch, supposing it was a trader's " brigade." 1 Curiosity brought men, women, and children to the river's bank, and as they gazed, the canoes were suddenly uncovered, and the discharge of a swivel, and volleys of musketry, were the presents received. Before they could recover from their consternation, they received " a fire in the rear" from the land party, and many were killed. The remnant retreated to the Wisconsin, twenty-one miles from Prairie du Chien, where, the next season Moran and his troops, on snow shoes, sur- prised them while they were engaged in a game, and slew nearly the whole settlement. 2 During the winter of 1745-6, De Lusignan visited 1 In the North-West a collect on Recollections. Vol. Hi., Wis. His. of traders' canoes is called a brigj le. Soc. Col. 2 Snelling's North-West, Grignon's LUSIGNAN VISITS THE DAHKOTAHS. 391 the Dahkotahs, ordered by government to hunt up the "eoureurs des bois," and withdraw them from the country. They started to return with him, but learn- ing that they would be arrested at Mackinaw, for viola- tion of law, they ran away. While at the villages of the Dahkotahs of the lakes and plains, the chiefs brought to this officer nineteen of their young men, bound with cords, who had killed three Frenchmen at the Illinois. While he remained with them they made peace with the Ojibways of La Pointe, with whom they had been at war for some time. On his return, four chiefs accompanied him to Montreal, to solicit pardon for their young braves. The lessees of the trading post lost many of their peltries that winter, in consequence of a fire. English influence produced increasing dissatisfaction among the Indians that were beyond Mackinaw. Not only were voyageurs robbed and maltreated at Sault St. Marie, and other points on Lake Superior, but even the commandant at Mackinaw was exposed to insolence, and there was no security anywhere. The Marquis de Beauharnois determined to send St. Pierre to the scene of disorder. In the language of a document of the day, he was " a very good officer, much esteemed among; all the nations of those parts — none more loved and feared." On his arrival, the savages were so cross, that he advised that no Frenchman should come to trade. By promptness and boldness, he secured the Indians who had murdered some Frenchmen, and obtained the respect of the tribes. While the three murderers were being conveyed in a canoe down the St. Lawrence to Quebec, in charge of a 192 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. sergeant and seven soldiers, the savages, with character- istic cunning, though manacled, succeeded in killing or drowning the guard. Cutting their irons with an axe, they sought the woods, and escaped to their own country. " Thus," writes Galassoniere, in 1748, to Count Mau- repas, " was lost in a great measure the fruit of Sieur St. Pierre's good management, and of all the fatigue T endured to get the nations who surrendered these rascals to listen to reason." INDIAN ENLISTMENT.— FRENCH WAR. 193 CHAPTER X. Canada was now fairly involved in the war with New York and the New England colonies. The Home Governments were anxious lookers on, for momentous issues depended upon the failure or success of either party. The French knew that they must enlist the Upper Indians on their side, or lose Detroit, Mackinaw, and indeed all the keys of the valley of the Mississippi, and the region of the lakes. They, therefore, sent officers with presents to Mackinaw, to induce the tribes of the far West to unite with them in expelling the English. It was impossible to form regiments of the North American savages, as the French of modern days have done in Algeria, or as the British with the Sepoys. Indians can never be made to move in platoons. From youth they have marched in single file, and have only answered to the call of their inclinations, and over them their chiefs have not the slightest authority. To their capricious natures enlistment for a fixed time is repugnant, At the same time, under the guidance of colonial officers who humoured them in their whims, they frequently rendered efficient service. They were conversant with the recesses of the forest, and walked through the tangled wilderness with the same ease that " 13 194 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the French military officers promenaded the gardens of Paris. They discovered the trail of men with the instinct that their dogs scented the tracks of wild beasts. Adroit in an attack, they would also, amid a shower of musket balls, feel for the scalp of an enemy. With such allies it is no wonder that New England mothers and delicate maidens turned pale when they heard that the French were coming. 1 On the twenty-third of August, 1747, Philip Le Due arrived at Mackinaw from Lake Superior, stating that he had been robbed of his goods at Kamanistigoya, 2 and that the Ojibways of the lake were favourably disposed toward the English. The Dahkotahs were also becom- ing unruly in the absence of French officers. In the few weeks after Le Due's robbery, St. Pierre left Montreal to become commandant at Mackinaw, and Vercheres was appointed for the post at Green Bay. On the twenty-first of June of the next year, La Ronde started for La Pointe, and La Veranderie for West Sea 3 — Fond du Lac, Minnesota. For several years there was constant dissatisfaction among the Indians, but under the influence of Sieur Marin, who was in command at Green Bay in 1753, tranquillity was in a measure restored. 1 The following are some of the Aug. 6, 40 Ottawas of the Fork, arrivals in a few weeks at Montreal, " 10, 65 Mississagues. in 1746. July 23—31 Ottawas of " " 80 Algonkins and Nepis- Detroit. sings. July 31, 16 Folles Avoines for war. " " 14 Sauteurs. " " 14Kiskakons " " " 22, 38 Ottawas of Detroit. " " 4 Scioux, to ask for a " " 17 Sauteurs commandant. " " 24 Huron s. Aug. 2, 50 Potto wattamies for war. " " 14 Poutewatamis. " " 15 Puans " " 2 Pigeon river, part of northern " " 10 Illinois " " boundary of Minnesota. " 6. -50 Ottawas of Mackinaw. 3 Carver's map calls it West Bay. BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT.— ST. PIERRE'S DEATH. 195 As the war between England and France, in America became desperate, the officers of the north-western posts were called into action, and stationed nearer the enemy. Legardeur de St. Pierre, whose name it is thought was formerly attached to the river from which the state of Minnesota derives its name, was in command of a rude post in Erie county, Pennsylvania, in December, 1753, and to him Washington, then just entering upon manhood, bore a letter from Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia. 1 On the ninth of July, 1755, Beaujeu and De Lignery, who had pursued so unsuccessfully the Foxes, in the valley of the Wisconsin, in 1728, were at Fort Duquesne, and marched out of the fort with soldiers, Canadians, and Indians, to seek an ambush, but about noon, before reaching the desired spot, they met the enemy under Bracldock, who discharged a galling fire from their artil- lery, by which Beaujeu was killed. The sequel, which led to the memorable defeat of Braddock, is familiar to all who have read the life of Washington. Under Baron Dieskaw, St. Pierre commanded the Indians, in September, 1755, during the campaign on Lake Champlain, where he fell gallantly fighting the English, as did his commander. The Reverend Claude Cocquard, alluding to the French defeat, in a letter to his brother, remarks : — " We lost, on that occasion, a brave officer, M. de St. Pierre, and had his advice, as well as that of several other Canadian officers been followed, Jonckson 2 was irretrievably destroyed, and we should have been spared the trouble we have had this year." 1 St. Pierre's reply was manly and dignified. See Pennsylvania Colo- nial Records, v. 715. 2 Joh ■ 196 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Other officers who had been stationed on the borders of Minnesota, also distinguished themselves during the French war. The Marquis Montcalm, in camp at Ticon- deroga, on the twenty-seventh of July, 1757, writes to Yaudreuil, Governor of Canada. a Lieutenant Marin, of the Colonial troops, who has exhibited a rare audacity, did not consider himself bound to halt, although his detachment of about four hundred men was reduced to about two hundred, the balance having been sent back on account of inability to follow. He carried off a patrol of ten men, and swept away an ordinary guard of fifty, like a wafer; went up to the enemy's camp, under Fort Lydius (Edward), where he was exposed to a severe fire, and retreated like a warrior. He was unwilling to amuse himself making prisoners ; he brought in only one, and thirty-two scalps, and must have killed many men of the enemy, in the midst of whose ranks it was neither wise nor prudent to go in search of scalps. The Indians generally all behaved well. ****** The Outaouais, w T ho arrived with me, and whom I designed to go on a scouting party towards the lake, had conceived a pro- ject of administering a corrective to the English barges. * * * * On the day before yesterday, your brother formed a detachment to accompany them. I arrived at his camp on the evening of the same day. Lieutenant de Corbiere, of Colonial troops, was returning in conse- quence of a misunderstanding, and as I knew the zeal and intelligence of that officer, I made him set out with a new instruction to rejoin Messrs. de Langlade 1 and Hertel de Chantly. They remained in ambush all day 1 This officer has relatives in Wis- his life is in Grignon's Recollections, consin, and an interesting sketch of Wis. Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. iii. IOW AYS AT TICONDEROGA. 197 and night yesterday; at break of day the English appeared on Lake St. Sacrament (Champlain) , to the number of twenty-two barges, under the command of Sieur Parker. The whoops of our Indians impressed them with such terror that they made but feeble resist- ance, and only two barges escaped." After De Corbiere's victory on Lake Champlain, a large French army was collected at Ticonderoga, with which there were many Indians from the tribes of the North-west, 2 and the Ioways appeared for the first time in the east. It is an interesting fact that the English officers who 1 INDIANS OF THE UPPER COUNTRY. Tetes de Boule 3 Outaouais Kiskakons 94 " Sinagos 35 " of the Forks 70 " of Mignogan 10 DO " of Beaver Island 44 of Detroit 30 " of Saginau 54 Sauteurs of Chagoamigon 33 of Beaver 23 " of Coasekimagen 14 of the Carp 37 ofCabibonke 50 Poutouatamis of St. Joseph 70 of Detroit 18 Folles Avoines of Orignal 62 of the Chat 67 Miamis 15 Puans of the Bay 48 Ayeouais (Ioways) 10 Foxes 20 Ouillas 10 Sacs 33 Loups 5 OFFICERS. De Langlade. Florimont. Herbin. Abbe Matavet. Sulpitian. La Plante. De Lorinier. Chesne, Interpreter. De Tailly, Interpreter Marin, Langus. Reaume, Interpreter. 198 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. were in frequent engagements with St. Pierre, Lusignan, Marin, Langlade, and others, became the pioneers of the British, a few years afterwards, in the occupation of the outposts on the Lakes, and in the exploration of Minne- sota. Rogers, the celebrated captain of rangers, subse- quently commander of Mackinaw, and Jonathan Carver, the first British explorer of Minnesota, were both on duty at Lake Champlain — the latter narrowly escaping at the battle of Fort George. On Christmas eve, 1757, Rogers approached Fort Ticonderoga, to fire the out-houses, but was prevented by discharge of the cannons of the French. He contented himself with killing fifteen beeves, on the horns of one of which he left a laconic and amusing note, addressed to the commander of the post. 1 On the thirteenth of March, 1758, Durantaye, for- merly at Mackinaw, had a skirmish with Rogers. Both had been trained on the frontier, and they met "as Greek met Greek." The conflict was fierce, and the French victorious. The Indian allies, finding a scalp of a chief underneath an officer's jacket, were furious, and took one hundred and fourteen scalps in return. When the French returned, they supposed that Captain Rogers was among the killed. At Quebec, when Montcalm and Wolfe fell, there were Ojibways present, assisting the French. The Indians, returning from the expeditions against 1 " I am obliged to you, Sir, for the my compliments to the Marquis du repose you have allowed me to take ; Montcalm. Rogers, Commandant 1 thank you for the fresh meat you Independent Companies." have sent me, I request you to present ENGLISH AT GREEN BAY.— DAHKOTAH EMBASSY. 199 the English were attacked with small-pox, and many died at Mackinaw. On the eighth of September, 1760, the French de- livered up all their posts in Canada. A few days after the capitulation at Montreal, Major Bogers was sent with English troops, to garrison the posts of the distant North-west. On the eighth of September, 1761, a year after the surrender, Captain Belfour, of the eightieth regiment of the British army, left Detroit, with a detachment, to take possession of the French forts at Mackinaw and Green Bay. Twenty-five soldiers were left at Macki- naw, in command of Lieutenant Leslie, and the rest sailed to Green Bay, where they arrived on the twelfth of October. The fort had been abandoned for several years, and was in a dilapidated condition. In charge of it, there was left a lieutenant, a corporal, and fifteen soldiers. Two English traders arrived at the same time — McKay from Albany, and Goddard from Mon- treal. On the first of March, 1763, twelve Dahkotah war- riors arrived at the fort, and proffered the friendship of the nation. They told the English officer, with warmth, that if the Ojibways, or other Indians, wished to obstruct the passage of the traders coming up, to send them a belt, and they would come and cut them off, as all Indians were their slaves or dogs. They then produced a letter written by Penneshaw, a French trader, who had been permitted, the year before, to go to their country. On the nineteenth of June, Penneshaw re- turned from his trading expedition among the Dahkc- tahs. By his influence the nation was favourably affected toward the English. He brought with him a 200 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. pipe from them, with a request that traders might he sent to them. 1 1 Extracts from the journal of Lt. Gorell, an English officer at Green Bay, Wis. His. Coll. vol. i. " On March 1, 1763, twelve war- riors of the Sous came here. It is certainly the greatest nation of Indians ever yet found. Not above two thousand of them were ever armed with fire-arms, the rest de- pending entirely on bows and arrows, which they use with more skill than any other Indian nation in America. They can shoot the wildest and largest beasts in the woods at seventy or one hundred yards distant. They are remarkable for their dancing, and the other nations take the fashions from them. * * * * This nation is always at war with the Chippewas, those who destroyed Mishamakinak. They told me with warmth that if ever the Chippewas or any other Indians wished to ob- struct the passage of the traders coming up, to send them word, and they would come and cut them off from the face of the earth, as all Indians were their slaves or dogs. I told them I was glad to see them, and hoped to have a lasting peace with them. They then gave me a letter wrote in French, and two belts of wampum from their king, in which he expressed great joy on hearing of there being English at his post. The letter was written by a French tra- der, whom I had allowed to go among them last fall, with a promise of his behaving well, which he did, better than any Canadian I ever knew. * * * * With regard to traders, I told them I would not allow any to go- amongst them, as I then understood they lay out of the government of Canada, but made no doubt they would have traders from the Missis- sippi in the spring. They went away extremely well pleased. ' June- 14th, 1763, the traders came down from the Sack country, and confirmed the news of Landsing and his son being killed by the French. There came with the traders some Puans and four young men, with one chief of the Avoy (Ioway) nation to de- mand traders/ * * * * "On the nineteenth, a deputation of Winnebagoes, Sacs, Foxes, and Me- nominees arrived with a Frenchman named Pennensha. This Pennen- sha is the same man who wrote the letter the Sous brought with them in French, and at the same time held council with that great nation in favour of the English, by which he much promoted the interest of the latter, as appeared by the behaviour of the Sous. He brought with him a pipe from the Sous, desiring that as the road is now clear, they would by no means allow the Chippewas to obstruct it, or give the English any disturbance, or prevent the traders from coming up to them. If they did so they would send all their warriors and cut them off." NO ENGLISH POSTS BEYOND MACKINAW. 201 CHAPTER XL Though the treaty of 1763, made at Versailles, be- tween France and England, ceded all the territory comprised within the limits of Wisconsin and Minne- sota to the latter power, the English did not for a long time obtain a foothold. The French traders having purchased wives from the Indian tribes, they managed to preserve a feeling of friendship towards their king, long after the trading posts at Green Bay and Sault St. Marie had been dis- continued. The price paid for peltries by those engaged in the fur trade at New Orleans, was also higher than that which the British could afford to give, so that the Indians sought for French goods in exchange for their skins. Finding it useless to compete with the French of the lower Mississippi, the English government established no posts of trade or defence beyond Mackinaw. The country west of Lake Michigan appears to have been trodden by but few British subjects, previous to him who forms the subject of the present chapter, and whose name has become somewhat famous in consequence of his heirs having laid claim to the site of St. Paul, and many miles adjacent. 202 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Jonathan Carver was a native of Connecticut. It has been asserted that he was a lineal descendant of John Carver, the first governor of Plymouth colony ; but the only definite information that the writer can obtain concerning his ancestry is, that his grandfather, William Carver, was a native of Wigan, Lancashire, England, and a captain in King William's army during the cam- paign in Ireland, and for meritorious services received an appointment as an officer of the colony of Connecticut. His father was a justice of the peace in the new world, and in 1732, at Stillwater, or Canterbury, Connecticut, the subject of this sketch was born. At the early age of fifteen he was called to mourn the death of his father. He then commenced the study of medicine, but his roving disposition could not bear the confines of a doctor's office, and feeling, perhaps, that his genius would be cramped by pestle and mortar, at the age of eighteen he purchased an ensign's commission in one of the regiments Connecticut raised during the French war. He was of medium stature, and of strong mind and quick perceptions. In the year 1757, he was present at the massacre of Fort William Henry, and narrowly escaped with his life. After the peace of 1763, between France and Eng- land, was declared, Carver conceived the project of ex- ploring the North-west. Leaving Boston in the month of June, 1766, he arrived at Mackinaw, then the most distant British post, in the month of August. Having obtained a credit on some French and English traders from Major Rogers, the officer in command, he started with them on the third day of September. Pursuing the usual route to Green Bay, they arrived there on the eighteenth. CARVER'S DESCRIPTION OF PRAIRIE DU CHIEN. 203 The French fort at that time was standing, though much decayed. It was, some years previous to his arrival, garrisoned for a short time by an officer and thirty English soldiers, but they having been captured by the Menominees, it was abandoned. In company with the traders he left Green Bay on the twentieth, and ascending Fox river, arrived on the twenty-fifth at an island at the east end of Lake Win- nebago, containing about fifty acres. Here he found a Winnebago village of fifty houses. He asserts that a woman was in authority. In the month of October the party was at the portage of the Wisconsin, and descending that stream, they arrived, on the ninth, at a town of the Sauks. While here he visited some lead mines about fifteen miles distant. An abundance of lead was also seen in the village, that had been brought from the mines. On the tenth they arrived at the first village of the " Ottigaumies" (Foxes) , and about five miles before the Wisconsin joins the Mississippi, he perceived the rem- nants of another village, and learned that it had been deserted about thirty years before, and that the inhabit- ants, soon after their removal, built a town on the Mis- sissippi, near the mouth of the " Ouisconsin," at a place called by the French La Prairie les Chiens, which signified the Dog Plains. It was a large town, and contained about three hundred families. The houses were built after the Indian manner, and pleasantly situated on a dry rich soil. He saw here many horses of a good size and shape. This town was the great mart where all the adjacent tribes, and where those who inhabit the most remote branches of the Mississippi, annually assemble about 204 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the latter end of May, bringing with them their furs to dispose of to the traders. But it is not always that they conclude their sale here. This was determined by a general council of the chiefs, who consulted whether it would be more conducive to their interest to sell their goods at this place, or to carry them on to Louisiana or Mackinaw. At a small stream called Yellow river, opposite Prairie du Chien, the traders who had thus far accompanied Carver took up their residence for the winter. From this point he proceeded in a canoe, with a Canadian voyageur and a Mohawk Indian, as com- panions. Just before reaching Lake Pepin, while his attend- ants were one day preparing dinner, he walked out and was struck with the peculiar appearance of the surface of the country, and thought it was the site of some vast artificial earth-work. It is a fact, worthy of remembrance, that he was the first to call the attention of the civilized world to the existence of ancient monuments in the Mississippi valley. We give his own description : — " On the first of November I reached Lake Pepin, a few miles below which I landed, and, whilst the ser- vants were preparing my dinner, I ascended the bank to view the country. I had not proceeded far before I came to a fine, level, open plain, on which I perceived, at a little distance, a partial elevation, that had the appearance of entrenchment. On a nearer inspection, I had greater reason to suppose that it had really been intended for this many centuries ago. Notwithstanding it was now covered with grass, I could plainly see that it had once been a breast-work of about four feet in SUPPOSED EARTH WORKS NEAR LAKE PEPIN. 205 height, extending the best part of a mile, and sufficiently capacious to cover five thousand men. Its form was somewhat circular, and its flanks reached to the river. " Though much defaced by time, every angle was distinguishable, and appeared as regular and fashioned with as much military skill as if planned by Vauban himself. The ditch was not visible ; but I thought, on examining more curiously, that I could perceive there certainly had been one. From its situation, also, I am convinced that it must have been designed for that purpose. It fronted the country, and the rear was covered by the river, nor was there any rising ground for a considerable way that commanded it ; a few straggling lakes were alone to be seen near it. In many places small tracks were worn across it by the feet of the elks or deer, and from the depth of the bed of earth, by which it was covered, I was able to draw certain conclusions of its great antiquity. I examined all the angles, and every part with great attention, and have often blamed myself since, for not encamping on the spot, and drawing an exact plan of it. To show that this description is not the offspring of a heated imagination, or the chimerical tale of a mistaken travel- ler, I find, on inquiry, since my return, that Mons. St. Pierre and several traders have, at different times, taken notice of similar appearances, upon which they have formed the same conjectures, but without exa- mining them so minutely as I did. How a work of this kind could exist in a country that has hitherto (according to the generally received opinion) been the seat of war to untutored Indians alone, whose whole stock of military knowledge has only, till within two centuries, amounted to drawing the bow, and whose 206 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. only breastwork, even at present, is the thicket, I know not. I have given as exact an account as possible of this singular appearance, and leave to future explorers, of those distant regions, to discover whether it is a pro- duction of nature or art. Perhaps the hints I have here given, might lead to a more perfect investigation of it, and give us very different ideas of the ancient state of realms, that we at present believe to have been, from the earliest period, only the habitations of savages." Lake Pepin excited his admiration, as it has that of every traveller since his day, and here he remarks : "I observed the ruins of a French factory, where it is said Captain St. Pierre resided, and carried on a very great trade with the Naudowessies, before the reduction of Canada." Carver's first acquaintance with the Dahkotahs com- menced near the river St. Croix. It would seem that the erection of trading posts on Lake Pepin had enticed them from their old residence on Hum river and Mille Lac. He says : " Near the river St. Croix, reside bands of the Naudowessie Indians, called the River Bands. This nation is composed at present of eleven bands. They were originally twelve, but the Assinipoils, some years ago, revolting and separating themselves from the others, there remain only at this time eleven. Those I met here are termed the River Bands, because they chiefly dwell near the banks of this river; the other eight are generally distinguished by the title of Naudowessies of the Plains, and inhabit a country more to the westward. The name of the former are Nehogatawonahs, the Mawtawbauntowahs, and Shashweentowahs. CAVE AND BURIAL TLACE NEAR ST. PAUL. 207 Arriving at what is now a suburb of the capital of Minnesota, he continues, "about thirteen miles below the Falls of St. Anthony, at which I arrived the tenth day after I left Lake Pepin, is a remarkable cave of an amazing depth. The Indians term it Wakon-teebe (Wa- kan-tipi) . The entrance into it is about ten feet wide, the height of it five feet. The arch within is near fifteen feet high, and about thirty feet broad ; the bottom consists of fine clear sand. About thirty feet from the entrance, begins a lake, the water of which is transparent, and ex- tends to an unsearchable distance, for the darkness of the cave prevents all attempts to acquire a knowledge of it. I threw a small pebble towards the interior part of it with my utmost strength ; I could hear that it fell into the water, and, notwithstanding it was of a small size, it caused an astonishing and terrible noise, that reverbe- rated through all those gloomy regions. I found in this cave many Indian hieroglyphics, which appeared very ancient, for time had nearly covered them with moss, so that it was with difficulty I could trace them. They were cut in a rude manner upon the inside of the wall, which was composed of a stone so extremely soft that it might be easily penetrated with a knife ; a stone every- where to be found near the Mississippi. " At a little distance from this dreary cavern, is the burying-place of several bands of the Naudowessie Indians. Though these people have no fixed residence, being in tents, and seldom but a few months in one spot, yet they always bring the bones of the dead to this place. 1 1 The cave has been materially and the atmosphere. Years ago the altered by nearly a century's work top fell in, but on the side walls, not of those effective tools, frost, water, covered by debris, pictographs gray 208 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. " Ten miles below the Falls of St. Anthony, the river St. Pierre, called by the natives Wadapaw Menesotor, falls into the Mississippi from the west. It is not men- tioned by Father Hennepin, though a large, fair river. This omission, I consider, must have proceeded from a small island (Faribault's), that is situated exactly in its entrance." When he reached the Minnesota river, the ice became so troublesome that he left his canoe in the neighbour- hood of what is now the ferry, and walked to St. Anthony, in company with a young Winnebago chief, who had never seen the curling waters. The chief, on reaching the eminence some distance below Cheever's, began to invoke his gods, and offer oblations to the spirit in the waters. " In the middle of the Falls stands a small island, about forty feet broad, and somewhat longer, on which grow a few cragged hemlock and spruce trees, and about half way between this island and the eastern shore, is a rock, lying at the very edge of the Falls, in an oblique position, that appeared to be about five or six feet broad, and thirty or forty long. At a little distance below the with age, are visible. In 1817, the It is now walled up and used as a present mouth of the cave was so root-house by the owner of the land, covered up, that Major Long, to use On the bluff above are numerous a vulgarism, was obliged to "creep mounds. Under the supervision of on all fours" to enter. In 1820, it the writer, one eighteen feet high and seems to have been closed, as School- two hundred and sixty feet in cir- craft describes another cave three cumference at the base, was opened miles above, as Carver's. Feathers- to the depth of three or four feet. tonhaugh made the same mistake. Fragments of skull, which crumbled " In 1837 Nicollet the astronomer on exposure, and perfect shells of and his assistants, worked many human teeth, the interior entirely hours and entered the little cavity decayed, were found, that remained. FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY IN 1766. 209 Falls, stands a small island of about an acre and a half, on which grow a great number of oak trees." From this description, it would appear that the little island, now some distance in front of the Falls, was once in the very midst, and shows that a constant recession has been going on, and that in ages long past, they were not far from the Minnesota river. A century hence, if the wearing of the last fixe years is any criterion, the Falls will be above the town of St. Anthony. No description is more glowing than Carver's, of the country adjacent : — " The country around them is extremely beautiful. It is not an uninterrupted plain, where the eye finds no relief, but composed of many gentle ascents, which in the summer are covered with the finest verdure, and interspersed with little groves that give a pleasing variety to the prospect. On the whole, when the Falls are included, which may be seen at the distance of four miles, a more pleasing and picturesque view I believe cannot be found throughout the universe." He arrived at the Falls on the seventeenth of Novem- ber, 1766, and appears to have ascended as far as Elk river. On the twenty-fifth of November, he had returned to the place opposite the Minnesota, where he had left his canoe, and this stream as yet not being obstructed with ice. he commenced its ascent, with the colours of Great Britain flying at the stern of his canoe. There is no doubt that he entered this river, but how far he explored it cannot be ascertained. He speaks of the Rapids near Shokopay. and asserts that he went as far as two hundred miles beyond Mendota. He remarks : — " On the seventh of December, I arrived at the utmost 14 210 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. extent of my travels towards the West, where I met a large party of the Naudowessie Indians, among whom I resided some months." After speaking of the upper bands of the Dahkotahs and their allies, he adds that he " left the habitations of the hospitable Indians the latter end of April, 1767, but did not part from them for several days, as I was accompanied on my journey by near three hundred of them to the mouth of the river St. Pierre. At this season these bands annually go to the great cave (Day- ton's Bluff), before mentioned." When he arrived at the great cave, and the Indians had deposited the remains of their deceased friends in the burial-place that stands adjacent to it, they held their great council, to which he was admitted. When the Naudowessies brought their dead for inter- ment to the great cave (St. Paul), I attempted to get an insight into the remaining burial rites, but whether it was on account of the stench which arose from so many bodies, or whether they chose to keep this part of their custom secret from me, I could not discover. I found, however, that they considered my curiosity as ill-timed, and therefore I withdrew. * * * One formality among the Naudowessies in mourning for the dead, is very different from any mode I observed in the other nations through which I passed. The men, to show how great their sorrow is, pierce the flesh of their arms above the elbows with arrows, and the women cut and gash their legs with sharp broken flints till the blood flows very plentifully. * * * * * * * After the breath is departed, the body is dressed in the same attire it usually wore, his face is painted, and he is seated in an erect posture on a mat or skin, placed ALLEGED BURIAL SPEECH AT ST. PAUL. 211 in the middle of the hut, with his weapons by his side. His relatives seated around, each harangues in turn the deceased ; and, if he has been a great warrior, recounts his heroic actions nearly to the following purport, which in the Indian language is extremely poetical and pleas- ing :— " You still sit among us, brother, your person retains its usual resemblance, and continues similar to ours, without any visible deficiency, except it has lost the power of action! But whither is that breath flown, which a few hours ago sent up smoke to the Great Spirit ? Why are those lips silent that lately delivered to us expressions and pleasing language ? Why are those feet motionless that a short time ago were fleeter than the deer on yonder mountains ? Why useless hang those arms that could clhnb the tallest tree, or draw the toughest bow ? Alas ! every part of that frame which we lately beheld with admiration and wonder, is now become as inanimate as it was three hundred years ago ! We will not, however, bemoan thee as if thou wast for ever lost to us, or that thy name would be buried in oblivion — thv soul yet lives in the great country of Spirits with those of thy nation that have gone before thee; and, though we are left behind to perpetuate thy fame, we shall one day join thee. •• Actuated by the respect we bore thee whilst living, we now come to tender thee the last act of kindness in our power; that thy body might not lie neglected on the plain and become a prey to the beasts of the field or fowls of the air, we will take care to lay it with those of thy predecessors who have gone before thee ; hoping at the same time that thy spirit will feed with their 212 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. spirits and be ready to receive ours when we shall also arrive at the great country of souls." For this speech Carver is principally indebted to his imagination, but il is well conceived, and suggested one of Schiller's poems. 1 It appears from other sources that Carver's visit to the Dahkotahs was of some effect in bringing about friendly intercourse between them and the commander of the English force at Mackinaw. The earliest mention of the Dahkotahs, in any public British documents that we know of, is in the correspond- ence between Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Colony of New York, and General Gage, in command of the forces. On the eleventh of September, less than six months after Carver's speech at Dayton's Bluff, and the de- parture of a number of chiefs to the English fort at Mackinaw, Johnson writes to General Gage : — " Though I wrote to you some days ago, yet I would not mind saying something again on the score of the vast expenses incurred, and, as I understand, still incurring at Michi- limackinac, chiefly on pretence of making a peace between the Sioux and Chippeweighs, with which I think we have very little to do, in good policy or other- wise." Sir William Johnson, in a letter to Lord Hillsborough, one of his Majesty's ministers, dated August seventeenth, 1768, again refers to the subject: — " Much greater part of those who go a trading are men of such circumstances and disposition as to venture their persons everywhere for extravagant gains, yet the 1 For translations of Schiller, see Chapter III. p. 89. PROPOSED PACIFIC ROAD. 213 consequences to the public are not to be slighted, as we may be led into a general quarrel through their means. The Indians in the part adjacent to Michilimackinac have been treated with at a very great expense for some time previous. " Major Rodgers brings a considerable charge against the former for mediating a peace between some tribes of the Sioux and some of the Chippeweighs, which, had it been attended with success, would only have been interesting to a very few French, and others, that had goods in that part of the Indian country, but the con- trary has happened, and they are now more violent, and war against one another." Though a wilderness of over one thousand miles inter- vened between the Falls of St. Anthony and the white settlements of the English, Carver was impressed with the idea that the state now organized under the name of Minnesota, on account of its beauty and fertility, would attract settlers. Speaking of the advantages of the country, he says that the future population will be " able to convey their produce to the seaports with great facility, the current of the river from its source to its entrance into the Gulf of Mexico, being extremely favourable for doing this in small craft. This might also in time be facilitated by canals or shorter cuts, and a communication opened by water with New York, by way of the Lakes!' The subject of this sketch was also confident that a route could be discovered by way of the Minnesota river, which " would open a passage for conveying intelligence to China, and the English settlements in the East Indies." Carver, having returned to England, interested Whit- 214 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. worth, a member of Parliament, in the Northern route. Had not the American Revolution commenced, they proposed to have built a fort at Lake Pepin, to have proceeded up the Minnesota, until they found, as they supposed they could, a branch of the Missouri, and from thence journeying over the summit of lands, until they came to a river which they called Oregon, they expected to descend to the Pacific. Carver, in common with other travellers, had his theory in relation to the origin of the Dahkotahs. He supposed that they came from Asia, He remarks, " But this might have been at different times and from various parts — from Tartary, China, Japan, for the inha- bitants of these places resemble each other. * * * * "It is very evident that some of the names and cus- toms of the American Indians resemble those of the Tartars, and I make no doubt but that in some future era, and this not very distant, it will be reduced to certainty that during some of the wars between the Tartars and the Chinese, a part of the inhabitants of the northern provinces were driven from their native country, and took refuge in some of the isles before mentioned, and from thence found their way into Ame- rica. ****** " Many words are used both by the Chinese and In- dians which have a resemblance to each other, not only in their sound but in their signification. The Chinese call a slave Shungo; and the Naudowessie Indians, whose language, from their little intercourse with the Europeans, is least corrupted, term a dog Shungush (Shoankah). The former denominate our species of their tea Shoushong ; the latter call their tobacco Shous- as-sau (Chanshasha) . Many other of the words used EXAMINATION OF THE CARVER CLAIM. 215 by the Indians contain the syllables die, chaw, and chu, after the dialect of the Chinese." The comparison of languages has become a rich source of historical know- ledge, yet very many of the analogies traced are fanciful. The remark of Humboldt in " Cosmos" is worthy of re- membrance : — " As the structure of American idioms appears remarkably strange to nations speaking the modern languages of Western Europe, and who readily suffer themselves to be led away by some accidental analogies of sound, theologians have generally be- lieved that they could trace an affinity with the Hebrew, Spanish colonists with the Basque and the English, or French settlers with Gaelic, Erse, or the Bas Breton. I one day met on the coast of Peru, a Spanish naval officer and an English whaling captain, the former of whom declared that he had heard Basque spoken at Tahiti; the other, Gaelic or Erse at the Sandwich Islands.'" Carver became very poor while in England, and was a clerk in a lottery office. He died in 1780, and left a widow, two sons, and five daughters, in New England, and also a child by another wife that he had married in Great Britain. After his death a claim was urged for the land upon which the capital of Minnesota now stands, and for many miles adjacent. As there are still many persons who believe that they have some right through certain deeds purporting to be from the heirs of Carver, it is a matter worthy of an investigation. Carver says nothing in his book of travels in relation to a grant from the Dahkotahs, but after he was buried, it was asserted that there was a deed belonging to him in existence, conveying valuable lands, and that said 216 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. deed was executed at the cave now in the eastern suburbs of Saint Paul. 1 The original deed was never exhibited by the assignees of the heirs. By his English wife Carver had one child, a daughter Martha, who was cared for by Sir Richard and Lady Pearson. In time she eloped and married a sailor. A mercantile firm in London, thinking that money could be made, induced the newly married couple, the day after the wedding, to convey the grant to them, with the understanding that they were to have a tenth of the profits. The merchants despatched an agent by the name of Clarke to go to the Dahkotahs, and obtain a new deed ; but on his way he was murdered in the State of New York. 1 Deed purporting to have been given at the cave in the bluff below St. Paul. " To Jonathan Carver, a Chief under the most mighty and potent George the Third King of the Eng- lish, and other nations, the fame of whose warriors has reached our ears, and has now been fully told us by our good brother Jonathan, aforesaid, whom we rejoice to have come among us, and bring us good news from his country. "We, Chiefs of the Naudowessies, who have hereunto set our seals, do by these presents, for ourselves and heirs forever, in return for the aid and other good services done by the said Jonathan to ourselves and allies, give, grant, and convey to him, the said Jonathan, and to his heirs and assigns forever, the whole of a certain tract of territorv of land, bounded as follows, viz : from the Falls of St. Anthony, running on east bank of the Mississippi, nearly south-east, as far as Lake Pepin, where the Chippewa joins the Mississippi, and from thence eastward, five days tra- vel accounting twenty English miles per day, and from thence again to the Falls of St. Anthony, on a direct straight line. We do for ourselves, heirs, and assigns, forever give unto the said Jonathan, his heirs and assigns, with all the trees, rocks, and rivers therein, reserving the sole liberty of hunting and fishing on land not planted or improved by the said Jonathan, his heirs and assigns, to which we have affixed our respec- tive seals. " At the Great Cave, May 1st, 1767." " Signed, Hawnopawjatin. Otohtongoomlisheaw. CARVER'S CLAIM BEFORE CONGRESS. 217 In the year 1794, the heirs of Carver's American wife, in consideration of fifty thousand pounds sterling, conveyed their interest in the Carver grant to Edward Houghton of Vermont. In the year 1806, Samuel Peters, 1 who had been a tory and an Episcopal minister during the Revolutionary war, alleges, in a petition to Congress, that he had also purchased of the heirs of Carver their rights to the grant. Before the Senate Committee, the same year, he testified as follows : — "In the year 1774, I arrived there (London), and met Captain Carver. In 1775, Carver had a hearing before the king, praying his majesty's approval of a deed of land dated May first, 1767, and sold and granted to him by the Naudowissies. The result was his majesty approved of the exertions and bravery of Captain Carver among the Indian nations, near the Falls of St. Anthony, in the Mississippi, gave to said Carver 1373Z. 13s. Sd. sterling, and ordered a frigate to be prepared, and a transport ship to carry one hundred and fifty men, under command of Captain Carver, with four others as a committee, to sail next June to New Orleans, and then to ascend the Mississippi to take possession of said territory conveyed to Captain Carver, but the battle of Bunker Hill prevented." 2 In 1821, General Leavenworth, having made inqui- ries of the Dahkotahs, in relation to the alleged claim, addressed the following to the commissioner of the land office : — 1 Said to have been the author of the great-grandson of Governor John a fictitious work called " Connecticut Carver, the first Chief Magistrate of Blue Laws." Plymouth Colony. 2 Peters also testified that he was 218 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. " Sir : — Agreeably to your request, I have the honour to inform you what I have understood from the Indians of the Sioux Nation, as well as some facts within my. own knowledge, as to what is commonly termed Car- ver's Grant. The grant purports to be made by the chiefs of the Sioux of the Plains, and one of the chiefs uses the sign of a serpent, and the other a turtle, pur- porting that their names are derived from those animals. " The land lies on the east side of the Mississippi. The Indians do not recognise or acknowledge the grant to be valid, and they among others assign the follow- ing reasons : — " 1. The Sioux of the Plains never owned a foot of land on the east side of the Mississippi. The Sioux Nation is divided into two grand divisions, viz : The Sioux of the Lake, or perhaps more literally Sioux of the River, and Sioux of the Plain. The former subsists by hunting and fishing, and usually move from place to place by water, in canoes, during the summer season, and travel on the ice in the winter, when not on their hunting excursions. The latter subsist entirely by hunting, and have no canoes, nor do they know but little about the use of them. They reside in the large prairies west of the Mississippi, and follow the buffalo, upon which they entirely subsist ; .these are called Sioux of the Plain, and never owned land east of the Mis- sissippi. " 2. The Indians say they have no knowledge of any such chiefs, as those who have signed the grant to Carver, either amongst the Sioux of the River, or Sioux of the Plain. They say that if Captain Carver did ever obtain a deed or grant, it was signed by some foolish young men who were not chiefs, and who were not LEAVENWORTH'S LETTER ON THE GRANT. 219 authorized to make a grant. Among the Sioux of the River there are no such names. " 3. They say the Indians never received anything for the land, and they have no intention to part with it, without a consideration. From my knowledge of the Indians, I am induced to think they would not make so considerable a grant, and have it go into full effect, without receiving a substantial consideration. "4. They have, and ever have had, the possession of the land, and intend to keep it. I know that they are very particular in making every person who wishes to cut timber on that tract, obtain their permission to do so, and to obtain payment for it. In the month of May last, some Frenchmen brought a large raft of red cedar timber out of the Chippewa river, which timber was cut on the tract before mentioned. The Indians at one of the villages on the Mississippi, where the prin- cipal chief resided, compelled the Frenchmen to land the raft, and would not permit them to pass until they had received pay for the timber ; and the Frenchmen were compelled to leave their raft with the Indians until they went to Prairie du Chien, and obtained the necessary articles, and made the payment required." On the twenty-third of January, 1823, the Committee of Public Lands made a report on the claim to the Senate, which, to every disinterested person, is entirely satisfactory. After stating the facts of the petition, the report continues : — " The Rev. Samuel Peters, in his petition, further states that Lefei, the present Emperor of the Sioux and Naudowessies, and Red Wing, a Sachem, the heirs and successors of the two grand chiefs who signed the said deed to Captain Carver, have given satisfactory and 220 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. positive proof, that they allowed their ancestors' deed to be genuine, good, and valid, and that Captain Carver's heirs and assigns are the owners of said territory, and may occupy it free of all molestation. " The committee have examined and considered the claims thus exhibited by the petitioners, and remark that the original deed is not produced, nor any compe- tent legal evidence offered, of its execution ; nor is there any proof that the persons, whom it is alleged made the deed, were the chiefs of said tribe, nor that (if chiefs) they had authority to grant and give away the land belonging to their tribe. The paper annexed to the petition, as a copy of said deed, has no subscribing wit- nesses; and it would seem impossible at this remote period, to ascertain the important fact, that the persons who signed the deed comprehended and understood the meaning and effect of their act. " The want of proof as to these facts, would interpose in the way of the claimants insuperable difficulties. But, in the opinion of the committee, the claim is not such as the United States are under any obligation ta allow, even if the deed were proved in legal form. " The British government, before the time when the alleged deed bears date, had deemed it prudent and necessary, for the preservation of peace with the Indian tribes under their sovereignty, protection, and dominion, to prevent British subjects from purchasing lands from the Indians ; and this rule of policy was made known and enforced by the proclamation of the king of Great Britain, of seventh October, 1763, which contains an express prohibition. " Captain Carver, aware of the law, and knowing that such a contract could not vest the legal title in him,. REPORT OF SENATE COMMITTEE. 221 applied to the British government to ratify and confirm the Indian grant, and though it was competent for that government then to confirm the grant, and vest the title of said land in him, yet, from some cause, that govern- ment did not think proper to do it. " The territory has since become the property of the United States, and an Indian grant, not good against the British government, would appear to be not binding upon the United States government. " What benefit the British government derived from the services of Captain Carver, by his travels and resi- dence among the Indians, that government alone could determine, and alone could judge what remuneration those services deserved. " One fact appears from the declaration of Mr. Peters, in his statement in writing, among the papers exhibited, namely, that the British government did give Captain Carver the sum of one thousand three hundred and seventy-five pounds six shillings and eight pence ster- ling. 1 To the United States, however, Captain Carver rendered no services which could be assumed as any equitable ground for the support of the petitioners' claim. " The committee being of opinion that the United States are not bound, in law or equity, to confirm the said alleged Indian grant, recommend the adoption of the following resolution : — " ' Resolved, that the prayer of the petitioners ought not to be granted." ' 1 Lord Palmerston stated in 1839, papers, showing any ratification of that no trace could be found in the the Carver grant, records of the British office of state 222 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER XII. Sustained by French influence and fire-arms, the Ojibways began to advance into the Dahkotah country. Carver found the two nations at war in 1766, and was told that they had been fighting forty years. Pike, when at Leech Lake, in 1806, met an aged Ojibway chief, called " Sweet," who said that the Dahkotahs lived there when he was a young man. Ojibway tradition says that about one hundred and twenty-five years ago, a large war party was raised to march against a Dahkotah village at Sandy Lake ; the leader's name was Biauswah, grandfather of a well known chief of that name at Sandy Lake. Some years after Sandy Lake had been taken by this chief, sixty Ojibways descended the Mississippi. On their return, at the confluence of the Crow Wing and Mississippi, they saw traces of a large Dahkotah party that had ascended to their village, and probably killed their wives and children. Digging holes in the ground they concealed themselves, and awaited the descent of their enemies. The Dahkotahs soon came floating down, singing songs of triumph and beating the drum, with scalps dangling from poles. The Dahkotahs were Hve times as many as the Ojibways, but when the latter ORIGIN OF THE NAME PILLAGER. 223 beheld the reeking scalps of their relatives they were nerved to fight with desperation. The battle soon com- menced, and when arms and ammunition failed, they dug holes near to each other and fought with stones. The bravest fought hand to hand with knives and clubs. The conflict lasted three days, till the Dahkotahs at last retreated. The marks of this battle are still thought to be visible. The band of Ojibways, living at Leech Lake, have long borne the name of " Pillagers," from the fact that, while encamped at a small creek on the Mississippi, ten miles from Crow Wing river, they robbed a trader of his goods. Very near the period that France ceded Canada to England, the last conflict of the Foxes and Ojibways took place at the Falls of the St. Croix. The account which the Ojibways give of this battle is, that a famous war chief of Lake Superior, whose name was Waub-o-jeeg, or White Fisher, sent his war club and wampum of war to call the scattered bands of the Ojibway tribes, to collect a war party to march against the Dahkotah villages on the St. Croix and Mississippi. Warriors from St. Marie, Keweenaw, Wis- consin, and Grand Portage joined his party, and with three hundred warriors, Waub-o-jeeg started from La Pointe to march into the enemy's country. He had sent his war club to the village of Sandy Lake, and they had sent tobacco in return, with answer that on a certain day. sixty men from that section of the Ojibway tribe would meet him at the confluence of Snake river with the St. Croix. On reaching this point on the day designated, and the Sandy Lake party not having arrived as agreed upon, Waub-o-jeeg, not confident in 324 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the strength of his numbers, continued down the St. Croix. They arrived at the Falls of St. Croix early in the morning, and, while preparing to take their bark canoes over the portage, or carrying place, scouts were sent in advance to reconnoitre. They soon returned with the information that they had discovered a large party of Foxes and Dahkotahs landing at the other end of the portage. The Ojibways instantly prepared for battle, and the scouts of the enemy having discovered them, the hostile parties met as if by mutual appointment, in the middle of the portage. The Foxes, after seeing the compara- tively small number of the Ojibways, and over confident in their own superior numbers and prowess, requested the Dahkotahs not to join in the fight, but to sit by and see how quickly they could rout the Ojibways. This request was granted. The fight between the contend- ing warriors, is said to have been fiercely contested, and embellished with many daring acts of personal valour. About noon the Foxes commenced yielding ground, and at last were forced to flee in confusion. They would probably have been driven into the river and killed to a man, had not their allies the Dahkotahs, who had been quietly smoking their pipes and calmly viewing the fight from a distance, at this juncture, yelled their war whoop, and rushed to the rescue of their discomfited friends. The Ojibways resisted their new enemies manfully, and it was not until their ammunition had entirely failed that they in turn showed their backs in flight. Few would have returned to their lodges to tell the sad tale of defeat, and death of brave men, had not the party of sixty warriors from Sandy Lake, who were to DEFEAT OF FOXES AT FALLS OF ST. CROIX. 225 have joined them at the mouth of Snake river, arrived at this opportune moment, and landed at the head of the portage. Eager for the fight and fresh on the field, this band withstood the onset of the Dahkotahs and Foxes, till their retreating friends could rally again to the battle. The Dahkotahs and Foxes in turn fled, and it is said that the slaughter in their ranks was great. Many were driven over the rocks into the boiling flood below ; and every crevice in the cliffs contained a dead or wounded enemy. From this time the Foxes retired to the south, and for ever gave up the war with their victorious enemies. Tradition says that, while the English had possession of what is now Minnesota, and while they occupied a trading post near the confluence of the waters of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, the M'de-wa-kan-ton- wan Dahkotahs sent the " bundle of tobacco" to their friends, the Wa-rpe-ton-wan, Si-si-ton-wan, and I-han- kton-wan bands, who joined them in an expedition against the Ojibways of Lake Superior. Notwithstand- ing the great strength of the party, they found and scalped only a single family of their enemies. Soon after their return to their own country, a quar- rel arose between a M'dewakantonwan named Ixkatape (Toy) and their trader. The Indian name of the trader was Pagonta, Mallard Duck. The result of the quarrel was, that one day as the unsuspecting Englishman sat quietly smoking his Indian pipe in his rude hut near Mendota, he was shot dead. At this time some of the bands of the Dahkotahs had learned to depend very much upon the trade for the means by which they subsisted themselves. At an 15 226 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. earlier period it would have been to them a matter of trifling importance whether a white man wintered with them or not. In consequence of the murder, the trade was tempo- rarily withdrawn. This was at that time a severe .measure, and reduced these bands to sufferings which they could not well endure. They had no ammunition, no traps, no blankets. For the whole long dreary winter, they were the sport of cold and famine. That was one of the severest winters that the M'dewakantonwans ever experienced, and they had not even a pipe of tobacco to smoke over their unprecedented misery. They hardly survived. On the opening of spring, after much deliberation, it was determined that the brave and head men of the band should take the murderer, and throw themselves at the feet of their English Fathers in Canada. Accord- ingly, a party of about one hundred of their best men and women left Mendota early in the season, and de- scended the Mississippi in their canoes to the mouth of the Wisconsin. From thence they paddled up the Wisconsin, and down the Fox river to Green Bay. By this time, however, more than half their number had meanly enough deserted them. While they were en- tamped at Green Bay, all but six, a part of whom were females, gave up the enterprise, and disgracefully re- turned, bringing the prisoner with them. The courage, the bone and sinew of the M'dewakantonwan band might have been found in that little remnant of six men and women. Wapashaw, the grandfather of the present chief who bears that name, was the man of that truly heroic little WAPASHAW AT MONTREAL. 227 half-dozen. With strong hearts, and proud perseverance, they toiled on till they reached Quebec. Wapashaw, placing himself at the head of the little deserted band, far from home and friends, assumed the guilt of the cowardly murderer, and nobly gave him- self up into the hands of justice for the relief of his suffering people. After they had given him a few blows with the stem of the pipe through which Pagonta was smoking when he was killed, the English heard Wapashaw with that noble generosity which he merited. He represented the Dahkotahs as living in seven bands, and received a like number of chiefs' medals; one of which was hung about his own neck, and the remaining six were to be given, one to each of the chief men of the other bands. It would be highly gratifying to know who were the persons who received those six chiefs' medals; but, although not more than one century, at the longest, has passed, since Wapashaw's visit to Canada, it cannot now be certainly ascertained to which divisions of the Dahkotah tribe they belonged ; it seems most probable, however, that the following were the seven divisions to which Wapashaw referred, viz. : — M'de-wa-kan-ton-wan, Wa-rpe-kute, Wa-rpe-ton-wan, Si-si-ton-wan, I-han-kton- wan, I-han-k ton-wan-nan, and Ti-ton-wan. The names of this little band of braves are all lost but that of Wapashaw. They wintered in Canada, and all had the small-pox. By such means Wapashaw re- opened the door of trade, and became richly entitled to the appellation of the Benefactor of the Dahkotah tribe. Tradition has preserved the name of no greater nor better man than Wapashaw. 228 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Wapashaw did not, however, end his days in peace. The vile spirit of the fratricidal Cain sprung up among his brothers, and he was driven into exile by their mur- derous envy. To their everlasting shame be it recorded, that he died far away from the M'dewakantonwan vil- lage, on the Hoka river. It is said that the father of Wakute was his physician, who attended on him in his last illness. The Dahkotahs will never forget the name of Wapashaw. 1 During the war of the Revolution, De Peyster was the British officer in command at Mackinaw. Having made an alliance with Wapashaw, the chief desired that, on his annual visit, he should be received with more distinction than the chiefs of other nations. This respect was to. be exhibited by firing the cannon charged with ball, in the place of blank cartridge, on his arrival, so that his young warriors might be accustomed to fire- arms of large calibre. On the sixth of July, 1779, a number of Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Ojibways were on a visit to the fort, when Wapashaw appeared; and great was their astonishment when they beheld balls discharged from the cannons of the fort flying over the canoes, and the Dahkotah braves lifting their paddles as if to strike them, and crying out, u Taya ! taya !" De Peyster, who was fond of rhyming, composed a rude song, suggested by the scene, which is copied as a curiosity : — " Hail to the chief! who his buffalo's back straddles, When in his own country, far, far, from this fort ; Whose brave young canoe-men, here hold up their paddles, In hopes, that the whizzing balls, may give them sport. 1 G. H. Pond. EXPEDITION TO PRAIRIE DU CHIEN IN 1780. 229 Hail to great Wapashaw ! He comes, beat drums, the Scioux chief comes. " They now strain their nerves till the canoe runs bounding, As swift as the Solen goose skims o'er the wave, While on the Lake's border, a guard is surrounding A space, where to land the Scioux so brave. Hail ! to great Wapashaw ! Soldiers ! your triggers draw ! Guard ! wave the colours, and give him the drum. Choctaw and Chickasaw, Whoop for great Wapashaw ; Raise the portcullis, the King's friend is come. 1 When the news reached Mackinaw that Colonel George R. Clark, in command of Virginia troops, was taking possession of the Wabash and Mississippi settle- ments, and establishing the jurisdiction of Virginia, the English traders became uneasy lest the Americans should advance to the far North-west. As a precau- tionary measure they formed themselves into a militia company, of which John McNamara was captain, and a trader by the name of J. Long lieutenant. In the month of June, 1780, the intelligence was received from the Mississippi that the traders had depo- sited their furs at the Indian settlement of Prairie du Chien, and had left them in charge of Langlade, the king's interpreter ; and also that the Americans were in great force in the Illinois country. By request of the commanding officer at Mackinaw, Long went to Prairie du Chien, with twenty Canadians, 1 These uncouth lines are from a he seems to have been popular with volume of miscellanies published by the traders. When he was ordered De Peyster, at Dumfries, Scotland, in to another post, they presented him 1812, in the possession of Hon. L. C. with a silver punch bowl, gilt inside, Draper, Secretary of the Wisconsin holding a gallon and a half, and a Historical Society. De Peyster's wife silver ladle, as a mark of regard, accompanied him to Mackinaw, and 230 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. and thirty-six Fox and Dahkotah Indians, in nine large birch canoes. One day, while camping on the Wisconsin river, they discovered a small log hut, in which was a trader, with his arms cut off, lying on his back, who had been mur- dered by the Indians. The next day the expedition arrived at the " Forks of the Mississippi," where two hundred Fox Indians, on horseback, armed with spears, bows, and arrows, awaited them. Among the Dahkotah Indians of the party was Wapashaw, by whose order the birch canoes were brought to the shore. Upon landing the Foxes greeted Wapashaw and his party, and invited them to a feast of dog, bear, and beaver meat. After the feast a council was called, when the chief of the Foxes addressed Wapashaw to this effect : — " Brothers, we are happy to see you ; we have no bad heart against you. Although we are not the same nation by language, our hearts are the same. We are all Indians, and are happy to hear that our Great Father has pity on us, and sends us wherewithal to cover us, and enable us to hunt." To which Wapashaw replied : — " It is true, my children, our Great Father, has sent me this way to take the skins and furs that are in the Dog's Field (Prairie du Chien), under Captain Lang- lade's charge, lest the Great Knives (Americans) should plunder them. I am come with the white men to give you wherewithal to cover you, and ammunition to hunt." - Arriving at Prairie du Chien, the peltries were found in a log-house, guarded by Captain Langlade and some Indians. After resting a short period, the canoes were FORMATION OF NORTH-WEST COMPANY. 231 filled with three hundred packs of the best skins, and the balance burned to keep them from the Americans, who a few days afterwards arrived for the purpose of attacking the post. At this period the M'dewakantonwan Dahkotahs had retired from the region of Mille Lac, and were residing at Penneshaw's 1 post, on the Minnesota, a few miles above its mouth. After the disturbance of commerce, incident to the cession of Canada, had ceased, the trade in furs began to revive. In the year 1766, traders left Mackinaw, and proceeded as far as Kamanistigoya, thirty miles east of Grand Portage. Thomas Curry shortly after ventured as far as the valley of the Saskatchewan, and his success in obtaining furs induced a Mr. James Fin- lay to establish a post in the same valley, as high as the forty-eighth and a half degree of latitude. The Hudson Bay Company were uneasy at this en- croachment of private enterprise upon the territory, and endeavoured to counteract it, though without success. About the year 1780, two establishments on the Assiniboine river were destroyed by the Indians, and a plot laid to extirpate the traders, but that "noisome pestilence," the small pox, breaking out among the tribes, their attention was diverted. During the winter of 1783-4, there was a partnership formed by a number of traders, which was called the North-west Company. There were at first but sixteen shares, and the management of the whole was entrusted to the brothers Frobisher and McTavish, at Montreal. A few that were dissatisfied, formed an opposition 1 The same individual called Penneshon and Pinchon. 232 HISTORY OP MINNESOTA. company, one of the members of which was the explorer and author Alexander Mackenzie. After a keen rivalry, this company was merged with the North-west in 1787, and the number of shares was increased to twenty. From that time the fur trade of the north-west was systematized. The agents at Montreal received the goods from England, and two of them went every year to the Grand Portage of Lake Superior, to receive packs and ship the furs for Europe. In 1798, the company was re-organized, new partners admitted, and the shares increased to forty-six. The magnitude of the operations of the company sur- prise us. At the close of the last century, they em- ployed fifty clerks, seventy-one interpreters, eleven hundred and twenty canoe-men. Eive clerks, eighteen guides, and three hundred and fifty canoe-men were employed between the head of Lake Superior and Mon- treal. The others were in Minnesota, and the country above. The canoe-men were known as " Pork Eaters," or " Goers and Comers," and " Winterers," the latter so called because they entered the interior and passed the winter in traffic with the Indians, received double wages, and were hired from one to three years. The clerks were a kind of apprentices, and received a salary of one hundred pounds, with their board and clothing, with the prospect of being taken into partnership, if they proved good business men. The guides and interpreters were paid in goods. In July the " Winterers" began to assemble at Grand Portage to settle their accounts and receive new outfits, and at times more than one thousand were congregated. The mode of living at the Portage was truly baronial. The proprietors, clerks, guides, and interpreters all ate in TRADERS AT SANDY LAKE AND PINE RIVER. L'oo one large hall, at different tables, and, the labours of the day over, the fiddlers were brought in and there was a merry time. The trader in his lonely outpost, con- sidered the reunions at Lake Superior halcyon days, and was buoyed up by anticipating the annual visit. The love of adventure has often led educated young men "into the woods," as well as "before the mast." Sailor life and Indian trade, unless there is strong reli- gious principle, are apt to render one " earthly, sensual and devilish." There have been scenes enacted in Min- nesota which will never be known till the judgment day, for ignorance of which we should be grateful. The history of one trader at an outpost, is substan- tially the history of all. In the year 1784, Alexander Kay visited Montreal to obtain an outfit for the purpose of trading at Fon du Lac, Leech Lake, and vicinity in Minnesota. A young -man, educated at the College of Quebec, named Perrault, became his clerk. They arrived at La Pointe on the first of November. On the little lake at the entrance of the St. Louis river, they found the quarters of Default, a clerk of the North-west Company. Kay while here was mad, in consequence of intoxica- tion, and with obstinacy pushed up the St. Louis river, with only a bag of flour, a keg of butter, and of sugar, while his party consisted of his squaw mistress, Perrault, and fourteen employees. At the portage of the river he met his partner, Mr. Harris, also without food, except some salt meat. The men now remonstrated with Kay about proceed- ing inland, with no provision for the winter ; but draw- 234 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. ing a pistol, he threatened to shoot those that did not follow. Taking Mr. Harris, an Indian named Big Marten, and seven men, he pushed on in advance, and the next day sent back word that he had gone on to Pine River, 1 and desiring his clerk to winter at the Savanne portage if possible. After eleven days' hard toil amid ice and snow, sub- sisting on the pods of the wild rose, and the sap of trees, Perrault and the men reached the point designated. For a time they lived there on a few roots and fish, but about Christmas, hunger compelled them to seek their employer at Pine River. Weak in body, they passed through Sandy Lake, descended the river, and at last arrived at Kay's post at Pine River. After he was recruited, Perrault was despatched to the Savanne portage, where, with his men, he built a log hut. Toward the close of February, Brechet, Big Marten, and other Ojibway Indians, brought in meat. Mr. Kay shortly after visited his clerk, and told the troubles he had with the Indians, who exceedingly hated him. In April Kay and Perrault visited Sandy Lake, where Bras Casse, or Broken Arm, or Bo-koon-ik, was the Ojibway chief. On the second of May, Kay went out to meet his partner Harris coming from Pine River. During his absence, Katawabada, 2 and Mongozid, and other Indians, came and demanded rum. After much entreaty Perrault gave them a little. Soon Harris, Kay, and Pinot arrived, all intoxicated. The Indians were ripe for mischief. An Indian, named Le Cousin - l Pine River is a tributary of the possible to reach Leech Lake by this Mississippi, about a day's journey stream. in a canoe from Sandy Lake. It is 2 Katawabada or Parted Teeth, died at Sandy Lake 1828. KAY WOUNDED IN A DRUNKEN REVEL. 235 by the French, came to Kay's tent, and asked for rum, Kay told him " No," and pushed him out ; the Indian then drew a concealed knife, and stabbed him in the neck. Kay, picking up a carving knife, chased him, but before he could reach his lodge, the passage was blocked up by Indians. The assailant's mother, approaching Kay, said, " Eng- lishman ! do you come to kill me ?" and, while implor- ing for her son, with savage cruelty stabbed him in the side. Le Petit Mort, a friend of the wounded trader, took up his quarrel, and sallying forth, seized Cul Blanc, an Ojibway, by the scalp lock, and, drawing his head back, he plunged a knife into his breast, exclaiming "Die, thou dog !" The Indian women, becoming alarmed at this bac- chanal, went into the lodges and emptied out all the rum they could find. On the fifth of May, Kay's wound was better, and sending for Harris and Perrault to come to his tent, he said : — " Gentlemen, you see my situation ; I have determined to leave you at all hazards, to set out for Mackinaw, with seven men, accompanied by the Bras Casse* and wife. Assort the remainder of the goods, ascend to Leech Lake, and wait there for the return of the Pil- lagers, who are out on the prairies. Complete the inland trade." Kay, then takmg hold of Perrault's hand, Harris having retired, said : — " My dear friend ! you understand the language of the Ojibway s. Mr. Harris would go out with me. but he must accompany you. He is a good trader, but he 236 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. has, like myself and others, a strong passion for drink ing, which takes away his judgment." In the afternoon Kay left, in a litter, for Mackinaw Perrault and Harris proceeded to Leech Lake, where they had a successful trade with the Pillagers. Returning to the Savannah river, they found J. Reaume there, and a Mr. Piquet. The former had wintered at the fort of Red Lake, at its entrance into Red River. They all proceeded by way of the Fond du Lac to Mackinaw, where they arrived on the twenty-fourth of May, and found Kay in much pain. The latter soon after this started for Montreal, but his wound suppurated on the journey, and he died at the Lake of the Two Moun- tains, August twenty-eighth, 1785. 1 About the period of this occurrence, Prairie du Chien made its transition, from a temporary encampment of Indians and their traders, to a hamlet. Among the first settlers were Giard, Antaya, and Dubuque. In the year 1780, the wife of Peosta, a Fox warrior, discovered a large vein of lead, in Iowa, on the west bank of the Mississippi. At a council held at Prairie du Chien, in 1788, Julien Dubuque obtained permission to work the lead mines, on and near the site of the city that bears his name, and the bluff, on which is the little stone house that covers his remains. Towards the close of the last century we find Dick- son, Renville, Grignon, and others, trading with the Ojibways and Dahkotahs of Minnesota. In the employ- 1 " History, condition, and pros- Mr. Schoolcraft says that Harris pects of the Indian Tribes of the was a native of Albany, and was United States," vol. iii. alive in 1830. JUDGE PERLIER, TRADER IN MINNESOTA. 237 ment of the latter, at his trading-house on the river St. Croix, was James Perlier, a youth, who in the next century became one of the most useful citizens of Green Bay, Wisconsin. He was a native of Montreal, and arrived at Green Bay in 1791. Two years after he was employed by an old trader. Pierre Grignon, to act as clerk, at his trading post on the St. Croix. While there he found, with a band of Menomonees, an inte- resting girl, the daughter of a woman that had been abandoned by a French trader, with whom he fell in love, and married. In the year 1797, in company with Dickson, he wintered near Sauk Kapids. When Pike visited the country he was still engaged in trading above the Falls of St. Anthony, and he gave this young officer much information, which he deemed valua- ble. Returning to Wisconsin he acted as chief justice of Brown county, for a period of sixteen years, and died in 1839, much respected. While Perlier was wintering on the St. Croix, a broken-down merchant of Montreal, who had married a lady of wealth in that city, a pompous and ignorant man, full of eccentricity, by the name of Charles Reaume, was his companion. To the early settlers of Green Bay he was known as Judge Reaume. While on the St. Croix the following anecdote is related of him : — " One day he invited Perlier and other traders in the vicinity to dine with him. The guests had arrived, and the venison, cooked in bears' oil and maple sugar was prepared, when Amable Chevalier, a half-breed, told Reaume that there were not plates enough on the table, as there was none for him. ' Yes, there are enough,' said Reaume. sternly ; when the half-breed tore from 238 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Eeaume's head his red cap, and spreading it upon the table, filled it with the hashed venison. Reaume, in retaliation, seizing a handful of meat, threw it into the half-breed's face. Becoming much excited, it was neces- sary for the guests to part the belligerents." 1 In the year 1794, the North-west Company built an establishment at Sandy Lake, with bastions, and aper- tures in the angles for musketry. It was enclosed with pickets a foot square and thirteen feet in height. There were three gates, which were always closed after the Indians had received liquor. " The stockade enclosed two rows of buildings, containing the provision store, workshop, warehouse, room for clerks, and accommoda- tion for the men. On the west and south-west angles of the fort were four acres of ground, enclosed with pickets, and devoted to the culture of the potato." The British -posts were not immediately surrendered after the treaty of 1783 between Great Britain and America, and led to some ill-feeling upon the part of the United States. When Baron Steuben was sent by Washington, in 1784, to Detroit, to take possession of the fort, the British commandant informed him that he had no authority to deliver up the post, as it was on Indian territory. By the presence of British officials among the Indian tribes, a hostile feeling was main- tained towards the citizens of the United States, which led to the wars with the Indians toward the close of the last century. In the treaty effected by Mr. Jay, Great Britain agreed to withdraw her troops from all posts and places within the boundary lines assigned by the treaty of 1 Wisconsin Historical Society Collections, vol. iii. NORTH-WEST CO. ESTABLISH POSTS IN MINNESOTA. 239 peace to the United States, on or before the first day of June, 1796. The treaty also provided that all British settlers and traders might remain for one year, and enjoy all their former privileges without being com- pelled to be citizens of the United States. Taking advantage of this clause, the North-west Company, through the Fond du Lac department, dotted every suitable place in Minnesota with trading posts. They not only encircled the lakes, but did not pay duties nor apply for licenses. At these posts the British flag was hoisted; and they frequently created civil chiefs among the Indians, to whom they presented the colours and medals of his Britannic majesty. 240 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER XIII. On the seventh of May, 1800, the North-west terri- tory, which included all of the western country east of the Mississippi, was divided. The portion not desig- nated as Ohio was organized as the Territory of Indiana. On the twentieth of December, 1803, the province of Louisiana, of which that portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi was a part, was officially delivered up by the French, who had just obtained it from the Spaniards, according to treaty stipulations. To the transfer of Louisiana by France, after twenty days' possession, Spain at first objected; but in 1804 withdrew all opposition. President Jefferson now deemed it an object of para- mount importance for the United States to explore the country so recently acquired, and make the acquaint- ance of the tribes residing therein ; and steps were taken for an expedition to the upper Mississippi. Early in March, 1804, Captain Stoddard, of the United States army, arrived at St. Louis, the agent of the French Eepublic, to receive from the Spanish authorities the possession of the country, which he immediately transferred to the United States. ORGANIZATION OF TERRITORIES. '241 As the old settlers, on the tenth of March, saw the ancient flag of Spain displaced by that of the United States, the tears coursed down their cheeks. On the twentieth of the same month the territory of upper Louisiana was constituted, comprising the present states of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and a large portion of Minnesota. On the eleventh of January, 1805, the territory of Michigan was organized. The first American officer who visited Minnesota, on business of a public nature, was one who was an ornament to his profession, and in energy and endu- rance a true representative of the citizens of the United States. We refer to the gallant Zebulon Montgomery Pike, who afterwards fell in battle at York, Upper Canada, and whose loss was justly mourned by the whole nation. When a young lieutenant, he was ordered by General Wilkinson to visit the region now known as Minnesota, and expel the British traders who were found violating the laws of the United States, and form alliances with the Indians. With only a few common soldiers, he was obliged to do the work of several men. At times he would precede his party for miles to reconnoitre, and then he would do the duty of hunter. During the day he would perform the part of sur- veyor, geologist, and astronomer, and at night, though hungry and fatigued, his lofty enthusiasm kept him awake until he copied the notes, and plotted the courses of the day. On the fourth of September, 1805, Pike arrived at Prairie du Chien, from St. Louis, and was politely 16 242 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. treated by the traders, Fisher, 1 Frazer, 2 and Woods, who were there at that time. On the eighth, in two batteaux, with Joseph Renville and Pierre Rosseau as interpreters, he continued his ascent of the river. On the twelfth he was at the Prairie La Crosse, so called from the Indian game of ball, where he noticed some earth works, and holes that had been dug by the Dahkotahs to screen their wives and children during battle. At this place, Mr. Frazer, of Prairie du Chien, overtook him. Amid terrific thunder claps, forked lightning, and torrents of rain, he reached, on the seventeenth, Point de Sable, on Lake Pepin, where he took shelter, and remained the rest of the day. He here found a trader by the name of Cameron, and his son, also a young man, John Rudsdell. The next day he, in company with Cameron, came to Canoe river, where he found a small band under Red Wing, the- second war chief of the Dahkotahs. On the twenty-first he breakfasted at the village of the Kaposia band, which was on the site just below Saint Paul, now known as Pig's Eye. The same day he passed the encampment of a trader, J. B. Faribault, 3 1 Fisher was a trader at Prarie du 3 " Jean Baptist Faribault is the Jhien until 1815. He then went to the last survivor of the old traders. He Red River of the North in the service is now more than eighty years of age, of the Hudson Bay Company. From and resides at Faribault, in Rice 1824 to '26, he was at Lake Traverse, county, with his sons. He is a the source of the Minnesota. One native of Canada, and removed to this of his daughters is the mother of country, in 1798, fifty-seven years •Joseph Rolette of Pembina, by a ago. He enjoyed considerable ad- former husband, and afterwards vantages of education in early youth, married H. L. Dousman, Esq. His career in this region has been 2 The father of Jack Frazer of marked with more of adverse fortune Mendota? than usually occurs, even in the- SALUTE FROM LITTLE CROW. 243 which was three miles below Mendota. Arriving at the confluence of the Minnesota and the Mississippi, he pitched his camp on the north-east point of the island. The next day was Sunday, and Little Crow, of the Kaposia village, arrived with one hundred and fifty warriors, ascending the hill which is now covered by Fort Snelling, they saluted him with balls according to their custom. During the day he went up to the Dah- kotah village, just above Mendota, to visit Mr. Cameron. On Monday he held a council with the Dahkotahs, and obtained a grant of land for the use of the United States. 1 His speech will always be interesting, as the perilous life of an Indian trader. Shortly after the close of the war with Great Britain he was robbed by the Winnebagoes at Prarie du Chien, of a large stock of goods, for which he never received any remu- neration. Some years subsequently he fixed his residence upon Pike's Island, near Fort St. Anthony (now Snelling), and had barely established himself in his vocation of trader when he was forced by the mandate of the commandant of the fort to abandon his buildings, and to betake himself, with his movable property, to the bottom land on the east side of the Mississippi, where he erected new tenements. The following spring, the water, which was unusually high, carried off his houses and live stock, he and his family escaping in boats, by means of which he was fortunately enabled to save his goods and furs from destruction. Still not discouraged, he built a house at the poin*i now known as Mendota, where he resided many years, except during the winter months, when he assumed charge of his trading post at Little Rapids, on the Minnesota river." — Sibley's Address. 1 Whereas, at a conference held be- tween the United States of America, and the Sioux Nation of Indians, Lieutenant Z. M. Pike, of the army of the United States, and the chiefs and the warriors of said tribe, have agreed to the following articles, which, when ratified and approved of by the proper authority, shall be binding on both parties : Art. 1. That the Sioux Nation grant unto the United States, for the purpose of establishment of military posts, nine miles square, at the mouth of the St. Croix, also from below the confluence of the Missis- sippi and St. Peters, up the Missis- sippi to include the Falls of St. Anthony, extending nine miles on each side of the river, that the Sioux Nation grants to the United States 244 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. first expression of the views of the United States to the Dahkotahs : — "Brothers — I am happy to meet you here at this council fire, which your father has sent me to kindle, and to take you by the hands as our children. We halving but lately acquired from the Spanish the exten- sive territory of Louisiana, our general has thought proper to send out a number of his warriors to visit all his red children; to tell them his will, and to hear what request they may have to make of their father. I am happy the choice has fell on me to come this road, as I find my brothers, the Sioux, ready to listen to my words. " Brothers — It is the wish of our Government to esta- blish military posts on the Upper Mississippi, at such places as might be thought expedient. I have, there- fore, examined the country, and have pitched on the mouth of the river St. Croix, this place, and the Falls of St. Anthony, I therefore wish you to grant to the United States, nine miles square, at St. Croix, and at this place, from a league below the confluence of the St. Peters and Mississippi, to a league above St. Anthony, the full sovereignty and power over undersigned, have hereunto set our said district forever. hands and seals, at the mouth of the Art. 2. That, in consideration of river St. Peters, on the 23d day of the above grants, the United States September, 1805. shall pay (filled up by the Senate Z. M. Pike. [l. s.] with 2,000 dollars). 1st Lieut, and agent at the above Art. 3. The United States pro- conference. mise, on their part, to permit the his Sioux to pass and re-pass, hunt, or Le Petit Corbeau. M [l. s.] make other use of the said districts mark as they have formerly done, without his any other exception than those Way Ago Enagee, X [l. s.J specified in article first. mark In testimony whereof, we, the PIKE'S SPEECH AT MOUTH OF MINNESOTA. 245 extending three leagues on each side of the river ; and as we are a people who are accustomed to have all our acts written down, in order to have them handed to our children, I have drawn up a form of an agreement, which we will both sign in the presence of the traders now present. After we know the terms, we will fill it up, and have it read and interpreted to you. " Brothers — Those posts are intended as a benefit to you. The old chiefs now present must see that their situation improves by a communication with the whites. It is the intention of the United States to establish at those posts factories, in which the Indians may procure all their things at a cheaper and better rate than they do now, or than your traders can afford to sell them to you, as they are single men, who come far in small boats. But your fathers are many and strong, and will come with a strong arm, in large boats. There will also be chiefs here, who can attend to the wants of their brothers, without their sending or going all the way to St. Louis, and will see the traders that go up your rivers, and know that they are good men. " Brothers — Another object your father has at heart, is to endeavour to make peace between you and the Chippeways. You have now been a long time at war, and when will you stop ? If neither side will lay down the hatchet, your paths will always be red with blood ; but if you will consent to make peace, and suffer your father to bury the hatchet between you, I will endea- vour to bring down some of the Chippeway chiefs with me to St. Louis, where the good work can be completed, under the auspices of your mutual father. I am much pleased to see that the young warriors have halted here to hear my words this day; and as I know it is hard 246 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. for a warrior to be struck and not strike again, I will send (by the first Chippeway I meet) word to their chiefs : — That if they have not yet felt your tomahawk, it is not because you have no legs, nor the hearts of men, but because you have listened to the voice of your father. " Brothers — If the chiefs do not listen to the voice of their father, and continue to commit murders on you and our traders, they will call down the vengeance of the Americans ; for they are not like a blind man walk- ing into the fire. They were once at war with us, and joined to all the Northern Indians, were defeated at Roche de Bceuf, and were obliged to sue for peace — that peace we granted them. They know we are not children, but, like all wise people, are slow to shed blood. " Brothers — Your old men probably know, that about thirty years ago we were subject to, and governed by the king of the English ; but he, not treating us like children, we would no longer acknowledge him as father — and after ten years war, in which he lost one hundred thousand men, he acknowledged us a free and inde- pendent nation. They know that not many years since, we received Detroit, Michilimackinac, and all the posts on the lakes, from the English, and now but the other day, Louisiana from the Spanish ; so that we put one foot on the sea at the east, and the other on the sea at the west ; and, if once children, are now men ; yet, I think the traders who come from Canada are bad birds amongst the Chippeways, and instigate them to make war on their red brothers, the Sioux, in order to prevent our traders from going high up the Mississippi. PIKE'S SPEECH AT MOUTH OF MINNESOTA. 2¥ This I shall inquire into, and, if so, warn those persons of their ill conduct. " Brothers — Mr. Choteau was sent by your father to the Osage Nation, with one of his young chiefs. He sailed some days before rne, and had not time to pro- cure the medals which I am told he promised to send up, but they will be procured. " Brothers — I wish you to have some pf your head chiefs to be ready to go down with me in the spring. From the head of the St. Pierre, also, such other chiefs as you may think proper, to the number of four or five. When I pass here, on my way, I will send you word at what time you will meet me at the Prairie des Chiens. " Brothers — I expect that you will give orders to all your young warriors to respect my flag and pi-otection which I may extend to the Chippeway chiefs who may come down with me in the spring ; for was a dog to run to my lodge for safety, his enemy must walk over me to hurt him. i: Brothers — Here is a flag, which I wish to send to Gens de Feuilles, to show them they are not forgotten by their father. I wish the comrade of their chief to take it on himself to deliver it with my words. " Brothers — I am told that hitherto the traders have made a practice of selling rum to you. All of you, in your right senses, must know that it is injurious ; and occasions quarrels and murders amongst yourselves. For this reason, your father has thought proper to pro- hibit the traders from selling you any rum. Therefore, I hope my brothers, the chiefs, when they know of a trader to sell an Indian rum, will prevent that Indian from paying his credit. This will break up the perni- 248 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. cious practice, and oblige your father. But I hope you will not encourage your young men to treat our traders ill from this circumstance, or from a hope of the indul- gence formerly experienced; but make your complaints to persons in this country, who will be authorized to do you justice. "Brothers — I now present you with some of your father's tobacco, and some other trifling things, as a memorandum of my good will, and before my departure I will give you some liquor to clear your throats." On the morning after the council it was discovered that the flag, which had been hoisted from his boat, was gone. Calling the guard he had one whipped for his negligence. The next day, before he was out of his bed, Little Crow came bustling up from his village, flag in hand, which had been found floating down the river, and he supposed that the whites had all been killed. On Friday, the twenty-sixth of September, he had transported all of his goods to a post above the Falls of St. Anthony, and then occupied a few leisure hours in writing to his general, and to his wife, whom he thought might not see him return from the land of savages. All the next day and Sunday the soldiers were hard at work dragging the barge over the portage, and when night came they were so fatigued that they could not cook their suppers, and went to sleep. On Monday he encamped on what is now known as Hennepin Island. Opposite the mouth of Crow river, on the fourth of October, a bark canoe, cut to pieces with tomahawks, and paddles broken, was seen, which appeared as if there had been a fight between Ojibways and Dahko- tahs. The next day he passed fortifications, and found BLOCK-HOUSE NEAR SWAN RIVER. 249 live litters in which wounded had been carried, at a place, where five years before there had been fought a severe battle- On the sixteenth of October, when they awoke in the morning, they were astonished to find that snow had fallen during the night. Pike desired, if possible, to reach Crow Wing, the highest point ever made by traders in their bark canoes, that day, but after the soldiers had worked four hours their linibs were be- numbed by the cold. Going ashore they built a fire, and found the boats were leaking. The sergeant, remarkable for strength, by over exertion burst a blood-vessel, and a corporal also gave evidence of internal injuries. In view of the unforeseen difficulties, he determined to leave the large boats, and a portion of the men. By the last day of the month a block-house was erected near Swan river, and in his journal 1 he writes :■ — " October thirty-first, Thursday. — Enclosed my little work completely with pickets. Hauled up my two boats and turned them over on each side of the gate- ways; by which means a defence was made to the river, and had it not been for various political reasons, I would have laughed at the attack of eight hundred or a thousand savages, if all my party were within. For, except accidents, it would only have afforded amuse- ment, the Indians having no idea of taking a place by storm. Found myself powerfully attacked with the 1 The journal and letters of Pike Since his day Major Long, Fre- convey so correct an idea of the con- mont, Allen, Pope, Marcy, Stans- dition of Minnesota, at the com- bury, and other military officers, by mencement of this century, that we their published journals have made have thought it advisable to give known the region west of the Missis- many extracts. sippi. 250 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. fantastics of the brain, called ennui, at the mention of which I had hitherto scoffed; but my books being packed up, I was like a person entranced, and could easily conceive why so many persons who have been confined to remote places, acquired the habit of drink- ing to excess, and many other vicious practices, which have been adopted merely to pass time. " November twenty-ninth, Friday. — A Sioux (the son of a warrior called the Killeur Kouge, of the Gens des Feuilles) and a Fols Avoin came to the post. He said that having struck our trail below, and finding some to be shoe tracks, he conceived it to be the esta- blishment of some traders, took it, and came to the post. He informed me that Mr. Dickson had told the Sioux 'that they might now hunt where they pleased, as I had gone ahead and would cause the Chippeways, wher- ever I met them, to treat them with friendship ; that I had barred up the mouth of the St. Peter's, so that no liquor could ascend that river ; but that, if they came on the Mississippi, they should have what liquor they wanted ; also, that I was on the river and had a great deal of merchandise to give them in presents.' This information of Mr. Dickson to the Indians, seemed to have self-interest and envy for its motives ; for, by the idea of having prevented liquor from going up to St. Peter's, he gave the Indians to understand that it was a regulation of my own, and not a law of the United States ; and by assuring them he would sell to them on the Mississippi, he drew all the Indians from the traders on the St. Peter's, who had adhered to the restriction of not selling liquor, and should any of them be killed, the blame would all lie on me, as he had (without autho- rity) assured them they might hunt in security. I took DICKSON VISITS PIKE. 251 care to give the young chief a full explanation of my ideas on the above. He remained all night. Killed two deer. ■• December third, Tuesday. — Mr. Dickson, with one engagee and a young Indian, arrived at the fort. I re- ceived him with every politeness in my power, and after a serious conversation with him on the subject of the information given me on the twenty-ninth ultimo, was induced to believe it, in part, incorrect. He assured me that no liquor was sold by him, nor by any houses under his direction. He gave me much useful information relative to my future route, which gave me great encour- agement as to the certainty of my accomplishing the object of my voyage, to the fullest extent. He seemed to be a gentleman of general commercial knowledge, and possessing much geographical information of the Western country, of open, frank, manners. He gave me many assurances of his good wishes for the prosperity of my undertaking. " December sixth, Friday. — I despatched my men down to bring up the other peroque with a strong sled, on which it was intended to put the canoe about one- third, and to let the end drag on the ice. Three families of the Fols Avoins arrived and encamped near the fort : also, one Sioux, who pretended to have been sent to me, from the Gens des Feuilles, to inform me that the Yanctongs and Sussitongs (two bands of Sioux from the head of the St. Peter's and the Missouri, and the most savage of them) had commenced the war dance, and would depart in a few days, in which case he conceived it would be advisable for the Fols Avoins to keep close under my protection ; that making a stroke on the Chippewa vs would tend to injure the grand object of 252 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. my voyage, &c, &c. Some reasons induced me to be- lieve he was a self-created envoy; however, I offered to pay him, or any other young Sioux, who would go to those bands and carry my word. He promised to make known my wishes upon his return. My men returned in the evening without my canoe, having been so unfor- tunate as to split her in carrying her over the rough hilly ice in the ripples below. So many disappoint ments almost wearied out my patience ; but, notwith- standing, I intend to embark by land and water in a few days. "December ninth, Monday. — Prepared to embark. Expecting the Sioux, I had two large kettles of soup made for them. Had a shooting-match with four prizes. The Sioux did not arrive, and we eat the soup ourselves. Crossed the river and encamped above the rapids. Wind changed, and it grew cold. " December tenth, Tuesday. — After arranging our sleds * and peroque commenced our march. The sleds on the prairie, and the peroque towed by three men. Found it extremely difficult to get along, the snow being melted off the prairie in spots. The men who had the canoe were obliged to wade and drag her over the rocks in many places. Shot the only deer I saw. It fell three times, and after made its escape. This was a great disappointment, for upon the game we took now we depended for our subsistence. This evening disclosed to my men the real danger they had to encounter. Dis- tance five miles. " December fourteenth, Saturday. — "We departed from 1 Sleds were such as are frequently weight, in which two men were seen about farmers' yards, calculated geared abreast, to hold twc barrels, or four hundred SLED FALLS INTO THE RIVER.— BAGGAGE WET. 253 our encampment at the usual hour, but had not ad- vanced one mile when the foremost sled, which hap- pened unfortunately to carry my baggage and ammuni- tion, fell into the river. We were all in the river up to our middles in recovering the things. Halted and made a fire. Came on to where the river was frozen over. Stopped and encamped on the west shore in a pine wood. Upon examining my things, found all my baggage wet, and some of my books materially injured; but a still greater injury was that all of my cartridges, and four pounds of double battle Sussex powder for my own use, was destroyed. Fortunately my kegs of pow- der were preserved dry, and some bottles of common glazed powder, which were so tightly corked as not to admit water. Had this not been the case, my voyage must necessarily have been terminated, for we could not have subsisted without ammunition. During the time of our misfortune, two Fols Avoin Indians came to us, one of whom was at my stockade, on the twenty-ninth ultimo, in company with the Sioux. I signified to them by signs the place of our intended encampment, and invited them to come and encamp with us. They left me, and both arrived at my camp in the evening, hav- ing each a deer which they presented me. I gave them my canoe to keep until spring ; and, in the morning, at parting, made them a small present. Sat up until three o'clock, A. M., drying and assorting my ammunition and baggage. Killed two deer. Distance four miles. " December twenty-first, Saturday. — Bradley and my- self went on ahead and overtook my interpreter, who had left camp very early in hopes that he would be able to see the river De Corbeau, where he had twice wintered. He was immediately opposite to a large 254 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. island, which he supposed to have great resemblance to an island opposite the mouth of the above river; but finally he concluded it was not the island, and returned to camp. But this was actually the river, as we disco- vered when we got to the head of the island from which we could see the river's entrance. This fact exposes the ignorance and inattention of the French and traders; and, with the exception of a few intelligent men, what little confidence is to be placed on their information. We ascended the Mississippi about five miles above the confluence; found it frozen; but in many places, not more than one hundred yards over; mild and still. Indeed all the appearance of a small river of a, low country. Returned and found my party, having broke sleds, had only made good three miles, while I had marched thirty-five. " December thirty-first, Tuesday. — Passed Pine river about eleven o'clock. At its mouth there was a Chip- peway's encampment of fifteen lodges ; this had been occupied in the summer, but is now vacant. By the significations of their marks we understood that they had marched a party of fifty warriors against the Sioux ; and had killed four men and four women, which were represented by images carved out of pine or cedar. The four men painted and put in the ground to the middle, leaving above ground those parts which are generally concealed; by their sides were four painted poles, sharpened at the end to represent the women. Near this were poles with deer skins, plumes, and silk hand- kerchiefs. Also a circular hoop of cedar with something attached representing a scalp. Near each lodge they had holes dug in the ground, and boughs ready to cover INDIGNATION AT SIGHT OF BRITISH FLAG. 255 them, as a retreat for their women and children if attacked by the Sioux. " January second, 1806, Thursday. — Fine warm day. Discovered fresh sign of Indians. Just as we were en- camping at night, my sentinel informed us that some Indians were coming full speed upon our trail or track. I ordered my men to stand by their guns carefully. They were immediately at my camp, and saluted the flag by a discharge of three pieces ; when four Chippeways, one Englishman and a Frenchman of the North-west Com- pany presented themselves. They informed us that some women having discovered our trail gave the alarm, and not knowing but it was their enemies, they had departed to make a discovery. They had heard of us and revered our flag. Mr. Grant, the Englishman, had only arrived the day before from Lake De Sable ; from which he marched in one day and a half. I presented the Indians with half a deer, which they received thank- fully, for they had discovered our fires some days ago, and, believing it to be the Sioux, they dared not leave their camp. They returned, but Mr. Grant remained all night. "January third, Friday. — My party marched early,, but I returned with Mr. Grant to his establishment on the Ked Cedar Lake, having one corporal with me. When we came in sight of his house, I observed the flag of Great Britain flying. I felt indignant, and cannot say what my feelings would have excited me to, had he not informed me that it belonged to the Indians. This was not much more agreeable to me. " January fourth, Saturday. — We made twenty-eight points in the river; broad, good bottom, and of the usual timber. In the night I was awakened by the cry 256 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. of the sentinel, calling repeatedly to the men ; at length he vociferated, " will you let the lieutenant be burnt to death ?" This immediately aroused me ; at first I seized my arms, but, looking round, I saw my tents in flames. The men flew to my assistance and we tore them down, but not until they were entirely ruined. This, with the loss of my leggins, moccasins, and socks, which I had hung up to dry, was no trivial misfortune, in such a country, and on such a voyage. But I had reason to thank God that the powder, three small casks of which I had in my tent, did not take fire ; if it had, I must certainly have lost all my baggage, if not my life. January eighth, Wednesday. — Conceiving I was at no great distance from Sandy Lake, I left my sleds, and with Corporal Bradley, took my departure for that place, intending to send him back the same evening. We walked on very briskly until near night, when we met a young Indian, one of those who had visited my camp near Red Cedar Lake. I endeavoured to explain to him, that it was my wish to go to Lake De Sable that evening. He returned with me until we came to a trail that led across the woods ; this he signified was a near course. I went this course with him, and shortly after found myself at a Chippeway encampment, to which I believe the friendly savage had enticed me with an expectation that I would tarry all night, knowing that it was too late for us to make the lake in good season. But, upon our refusing to stay, he put us in the right road. We arrived at the place where the track left the Mississippi at dusk, when we traversed about two leagues of a wilderness, without any very great difficulty, and at length struck the shore of Lake De Sable, over a branch of which our course lay. The SANDY LAKE POST.— HORSES FROM RED RIVER. Zbl snow having covered the trail made by the Frenchmen, who had passed before with the rackets, I was fearful of losing ourselves on the lake; the consequence of which can only be conceived by those who have been exposed on a lake or naked plain, a dreary night of January, in latitude 47° and the thermometer below 0. Thinking that we could observe the bank of the other shore, we kept a straight course, and some time after discovered lights, and on our arrival were not a little surprised to find a large stockade. The gate being opened, we entered and proceeded to the quarters of Mr. Grant, where Ave were treated with the utmost hospitality. "January ninth, Thursday. — Marched the corporal early, in order that our men should receive assurance of our safety and success. He carried with him a small keg of spirits, a present from Mr. Grant. The estab- lishment of this place was formed twelve years since, by the North-west Company, and was formerly under the charge of a Mr. Charles Brusky. It has attained at present such regularity, as to permit the superintend- ent to live tolerably comfortable. They have horses they procured from Red River, of the Indians; raise plenty of Irish potatoes, catch pike, suckers, pickerel, and white fish in abundance. They have also beaver, deer, and moose ; but the provision they chiefly depend upon is wild oats, of which they purchase great quanti- ties from the savages, giving at the rate of about one dollar and a half per bushel. But flour, pork, and salt, are almost interdicted to persons not principals in the trade. Flour sells at half a dollar ; salt a dollar ; pork eighty cents ; sugar half a dollar ; and tea four dollars 258 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. fifty cents per pound. The sugar is obtained from the Indians, and is made from the maple tree. "January nineteenth, Sunday. — Two men of the North-west Company arrived from the Fond du Lac Superior with letters; one of which was from their establishment, in Athapuscow, and had been since last May on the route. While at this post I eat roasted beavers, dressed in every respect as a pig is usually dressed with us ; it was excellent. I could not discern the least taste of Des Bois. I also eat boiled moose's head, which when well boiled, I consider equal to the tail of the beaver; in taste and substance they are much alike. " January twentieth, Monday. — The men with the sleds took their departure about two o'clock. Shortly after I followed them. We encamped at the portage between the Mississippi and Leech Lake river. Snow fell in the night. "January twenty-fifth, Saturday. — Travelled almost all day through the lands, and found them much better than usual. Boley lost the Sioux pipe stem, which I carried along for the purpose of making peace with the Chippeways ; I sent him back for it ; he did not return until eleven o'clock at night. It was very warm, thaw- ing all day. Distance forty-four points. "January twenty-sixth, Sunday. — I left my party in order to proceed to a house (or lodge) of Mr. Grant's, on the Mississippi, where he was to tarry until I overtook him. Took with me my Indian, Boley, and some trilling provisions; the Indian and myself marched so fast, that We left Boley on the route, about eight miles from the lodge. Met Mr. Grant's men on their return to Lake De Sable, having evacuated the house this morning, and BRITISH FLAG SHOT AT, AND BROUGHT DOWN. 259 Mr. Grant having marched for Leech Lake. The Indian and I arrived before sundown. Passed the night very uncomfortably, having nothing to eat, not much wood, nor any blankets. The Indian slept sound. I cursed his insensibility, being obliged to content myself over a few coals all night. Boley did not arrive. In the night the Indian mentioned something about his son. "February first, Saturday. — Left our camp pretty early. Passed a continued train of prairie, and arrived at Lake La Sang Sue, 1 at half-past two o'clock. I will not attempt to describe my feelings, on the accomplish- ment of mv vovage, for this is the main source of the Mississippi. The Lake Winipie branch is navigable from thence to Eed Cedar Lake, for the distance of five leagues, which is the extremity of the navigation. Crossed the lake twelve miles to the establishment of the North-west Company, where we arrived about three o'clock ; found all the gates locked, but upon knocking were admitted, and received with marked attention and hospitality by Mr. Hugh McGillis. Had a good dish of coffee, biscuit, butter, and cheese for supper. " February second, Sunday. — Remained all day within doors. In the evening sent an invitation to Mr. Ander- son, who was an agent of Dickson, and also for some young Indians at his house, to come over and breakfast in the morning. " February seventh, Friday. — Remained within doors, my limbs being still very much swelled. Addressed a letter to Mr. McGillis on the subject of the North-west Company trade in this quarter. "February tenth, Monday. — Hoisted the American flag in the fort. The English yacht still flying at the 1 Leech Lake. 260 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. top of the flagstaff I directed the Indians and my rifle- men to shoot at it, who soon broke the iron pin to which it was fastened, and brought it to the ground. Reading Shenstone. " February sixteenth, Sunday. — Held a council with the chiefs and warriors at this place 1 and of Red Lake ; but it required much patience, coolness, and manage- ment, to obtain the objects I desired, viz. That they should make peace with the Sioux; deliver up their medals and flags ; and that some of their chiefs should follow me to St. Louis. As a proof of their agreeing to the peace, I directed that they should smoke out of the Wabasha's pipe which lay on the table ; they all smoked, from the head chief to the youngest soldier ; they generally delivered up their flags with a good grace ; except the Flat Mouth, who said he had left both at his camp, three days' march, and promised to deliver them up to Mr. McGillis, to be forwarded. With respect to their returning with me, the old Sweet thought it most proper to return to the Indians of the Red Lake, Red River, and Rainy Lake River. The Flat Mouth :said it was necessary for him to restrain his young war- riors. The other chiefs did not think themselves of consequence sufficient to offer any reason for not fol- lowing me to St. Louis, a journey of between two and three thousand miles through hostile tribes of Indians. I then told them, 'that I was sorry to find that the hearts of the Sauteurs of this quarter were so weak, that the other nations would say : what, are there no soldiers at Leech, Red, and Rainy Lakes, who had the hearts to carry the calumet of their chief to their father?' This had the desired effect. The Bucks and 1 Leech Lake. RED LAKE.— McGILLIS, TRADER. 261 Beaux, two of the most celebrated young warriors, rose and offered themselves to me for the embassy ; they were accepted, adopted as my children, and I installed their father. Their example animated the others, and it would have been no difficult matter to have taken a company ; two, however, were sufficient. I determined that it should be my care, never to make them regret the noble confidence placed in me ; for I would have protected their lives with my own. The Beaux is brother to the Flat Mouth. Gave my new soldiers a dance, and a small dram. They attempted to get more liquor, but a firm and peremptory denial convinced them I was not to be trifled with. "February eighteenth, Tuesday. — We marched for Red Cedar Lake about 11 o'clock, with a guide provided for me by Mr. McGillis; were all provided with snow shoes ; marched off amidst the acclamations and shouts of the Indians, who generally had remained to see us take our departure. Mr. Anderson promised to come on with letters; he arrived about twelve o'clock, and remained all night. He concluded to go down with me to see Mr. Dickson. " February twenty-fifth, Tuesday. — We marched, and arrived at Cedar Lake before noon; found Mr. Grant and De Breche (chief of Sandy Lake) at the house. This gave me much pleasure, for I conceive Mr. Grant to be a gentleman of as much candour as any with whom I had made an acquaintance in this quarter ; and the chief (De Breche) is reputed to be a man of better information than any of the Sauteurs. "March third. Monday. — Marched early; passed our Christmas encampment at sunrise. I was ahead of my party in my cariole. Soon afterwards, I observed smoke 262 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. on the west shore. I hallooed, and some Indians ap- peared upon the bank. I waited until my interpreter came up ; we then went to the camp. They proved to be a party of Chippeways, who had left the encamp- ment the same day we left it. They presented me with some roast meat, which I gave my sleigh dogs. They then left their camp and accompanied us down the river. We passed our encampment of the twenty- fourth December, at nine o'clook; of the twenty-third, at ten o'clock, and of the twenty-second, at eleven o'clock ; here the Indians crossed on to the west shore ; arrived at the encampment of the twenty-first Decem- ber, at twelve o'clock, where we had a barrel of flour. I here found Corporal Meek, and another man from the post, from whom I heard that the men were all well. They confirmed the account of a Sioux having fired on a sentinel, and added, that the sentinel had first made him drunk, and then turned him out of the tent, upon which he fired on the sentinel and ran off, but promised to deliver himself up in the spring. The corporal in- formed me that the sergeant had used all the elegant hams and saddles of venison which I had preserved to present to the commander-in-chief, and other friends; that he had made away with all the whiskey, includ- ing a keg I had for my own use, having publicly sold it to the men, and a barrel of pork; that he had broken open my trunk and sold some things out of it, traded with the Indians, gave them liquor, and this, too, con- trary to my most pointed and particular directions. Thus, after I had used, in going up the river with my party, the strictest economy, living upon two pounds of frozen venison a day, in order that we might have pro- vision to carry us down in the spring, this fellow was MEAN CONDUCT OF PIKE'S SERGEANT. -63 squandering away the flour, pork, and liquor during the winter, and while we were starving with hunger and cold. I had saved all our corn, bacon, and the meat of six deer, and left it at Sandy Lake with some tents, my mess boxes, salt, and tobacco, all of which we were obliged to sacrifice by not returning the same route we went, and we consoled ourselves at this loss by the flat- tering idea that we should find at our little post a hand- some stock preserved; how mortifying the disappoint- ment ! TTe raised our barrel of flour and came down to the mouth of a little river on the east which we had passed on the twenty-first December. The ice covered with water. " March fifth, Wednesday. — Passed all the encamp- ments between Pine Creek and the post, at which we arrived about ten o'clock. I sent a man on ahead to prevent the salute I had before ordered by letter ; this I did from the idea that the Sioux chiefs would accom- pany me. Found all well. Confined my sergeant. About one o'clock, Mr. Dickson arrived with the Kil- leur Rouge, his son, and two other Sioux men, with two women, who had come up to be introduced to the Sauteurs they expected to find with me. Received a letter from Reinville. " March fifteenth, Saturday. — This was the day fixed upon by Mr. Grant and the Chippeway warriors for their arrival at my fort ; and I was all day anxiously expect- ing them, for I knew that should they not accompany me down, the peace partially effected between them and the Sioux would not be on a permanent footing ; and upon this I take them to be neither so brave nor gener- ous as the Sioux, who, in all their transactions, appear to be candid and brave, whereas, the Chippeways are 264 v HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. suspicious, consequently treacherous, and, of course, cowards. a March seventeenth, Monday. — Left the fort with my interpreter and Roy, in order to visit Thomas, the Fols Avoin chief, who was encamped, with six lodges of his nation, about twenty miles below us, on a little river which empties into the Mississippi, on the west side, a little above Clear river. On our way down,, killed one goose, wounded another, and a deer that the dogs had driven into an air hole ; hung our game on the trees. Arrived at the creek, took out on it ; as- cended three or four miles on one bank, and descended on the other. Killed another goose. Struck the Mis- sissippi below . Encamped at our encampment of the of October, when we ascended the river. Ate our goose for supper. It snowed all day, and at night a very severe storm arose. It may be imagined that we spent a very disagreeable night, without shelter, and but one blanket each. " March eighteenth, Tuesday. — : We marched, deter- mined to find the lodges. Met an Indian, whose track we pursued, through almost impenetrable woods, for about two and a half miles, to the camps. Here there was one of the finest sugar camps I almost ever saw, the whole of the timber being sugar tree. We were conducted to the chief's lodge, who received us in the patriarchal style. He pulled off my leggins and mocca- sins, put me in the best place in his lodge, and offered me dry clothes. He then presented us with syrup of the maple to drink, then asked whether I preferred eating beaver, swan, elk, or deer ; upon my giving the preference to the first, a large kettle was filled by his wife, of which soup was made ; this being thickened with SO CHASTITY AMONG SAVAGES. 265 flour, we had what I then thought a delicious repast. After we had refreshed ourselves, he asked whether we would visit his people at the other lodges, which we did ; and in each were presented with something to eat ; by some with a bowl of sugar, by others, with a beaver's tail. After making this tour, we returned to the chief's lodge, and found a berth provided for each of us. of good soft bear skins, nicely spread, and on mine there was a large feather pillow. I must not here omit to mention an anecdote which serves to characterize more particularly their manners. This, in the eyes of the contracted moralist, would deform my hospitable host into a monster of libertinism ; but, by a liberal mind, would be considered as arising from the hearty genero- sity of the wild savage. In the course of the day, ob- serving a ring on one of my fingers, he inquired if it was gold ; he was told it was the gift of one with whom I should be happy to be at that time. He seemed to think seriously, and at night told my interpreter, 'that perhaps his father (as they all called me) felt much grieved for the want of a woman ; if so, he could furnish him with one.' He was answered, that with us, each man had but one wife, and that I considered it strictly my duty to remain faithful to her. This he thought strange (he himself having three) , and replied that ' he knew some Americans at his nation who had half a dozen wives during the winter.' The interpreter ob- served that thev were men without character, but that all our great men had each but one wife. The chief acquiesced, but said he liked better to have as many as he pleased. This conversation passing without any appeal to me, as the interpreter knew my mind on those occasions, and answered immediately, it did not 266 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. appear as an immediate refusal of the woman. Con- tinued snowing very hard all day. Slept very warm. u April eleventh, Friday. — Although it snowed very hard, we brought over both boats, and descended the river to the island at the entrance of the St. Peter's. I sent to the chiefs and informed them I had something to communicate to them. The Fils de Pinchow immediately waited on me, and informed me that he would provide a place for the purpose. About sundown I was sent for and introduced into the council-house, where I found a great many chiefs of the Sussitongs, Gens des Feuilles, and the Gens du Lac. The Yanctongs had not yet come down. They were all waiting for my arrival. There were about one hundred lodges, or six hundred people; we were saluted on our crossing the river with ball as usual. The council-house was two large lodges, capable of con- taining three hundred men. In the upper were forty chiefs, and as many pipes set against the poles, along side of which I had the Sauteurs' pipes arranged. I then informed them in short detail, of my transactions with the Sauteurs ; but my interpreters were not capable of making themselves understood. I was therefore obliged to omit mentioning every particular relative to the rascal who fired on my sentinel, and of the scoundrel who broke the Fols Avoins' canoes, and threatened my life; the interpreters however informed them that I wanted some of their principal chiefs to go to St. Louis; and that those who thought proper might descend to the prairie, where we would give them more explicit information. They all smoked out of the Sauteurs' pipes, excepting three, who were painted black, and were some of those who lost their relations last winter. I invited the Fils FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR CARVER'S CAVE. 267 de Pinchow, 1 and the son of the Killeur Rouge, to come over and sup with me ; when Mr. Dickson and myself endeavoured to explain what I intended to have said to them, could I have made myself understood; that at the prairie we would have all things explained ; that I was desirous of making a better report of them than Captain Lewis could do from their treatment of him. The former of those savages was the person who remained around my post all last winter, and treated my men so well ; they endeavoured to excuse their people. "April twelfth, Saturday. — Embarked early. Al- though my interpreter had been frequently up the river, he could not tell me where the cave (spoken of by Carver) could be found ; we carefully sought for it, but in vain. At the Indian village, a few miles below St. Peter's, we were about to pass a few lodges, but on receiving a very particular invitation to come on shore, we landed, and were received in a lodge kindly; they presented us sugar. I gave the proprietor a dram, and was about to depart when he demanded a kettle of liquor ; on being refused, and after I had left the shore, he told me, that he did not like the arrangements, and that he would go to war this summer. I directed the interpreter to tell him, that if I returned to the St. Peter's with the troops, I would settle that affair with him. On our arrival at the St. Croix, I found the Petit Corbeau with his people, and Messrs. Frazer and Wood. \Ve had a conference, when the Petit Corbeau made many apologies for the misconduct of his people; he represented to us the different manners in which the young warriors had been inducing him to go to war ; 1 Probably the son of the French trader Penneshaw. 268 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. that he had been much blamed for dismissing his party last fall ; but that he was determined to adhere as far as lay in his power to our instructions ; that he thought it most prudent to remain here and restrain the warriors. He then presented me with a beaver robe and pipe, and his message to the general. That he was determined to preserve peace, and make the road clear ; also a remem- brance of his promised medal. I made a reply, calculated to confirm him in his good intentions, and assured him that he should not be the less remembered by his father, although not present. I was informed that, notwith- standing the instruction of his license, and my particular request, Murdoch Cameron had taken liquor and sold it to the Indians on the river St. Peter's, and that his partner below had been equally imprudent. I pledged myself to prosecute them according to law ; for they have been the occasion of great confusion, and of much injury to the other traders. This day met a canoe of Mr. Dickson's loaded with provisions, under the charge of Mr. Anderson, brother of the Mr. Anderson at Leech Lake. He politely offered me any provision he had on board (for which Mr. Dickson had given me an order), but not now being in want, I did not accept of any. This day, for the first time, I observed the trees beginning to bud, and indeed the climate seemed to have changed very materially since we passed the Falls of St. Anthony. "April thirteenth, Sunday.- — We embarked after breakfast. Messrs. Frazer and Wood accompanied me. Wind strong ahead. They out-rowed us ; the first boat or canoe we met with on the voyage able to do it, but then they were double manned and light. Arrived at the band of the Aile Rouge at two o'clock, where we were saluted as usual. We had a council, when he PIKE SPENDS A DAY AT RED WING. 269 spoke with more detestation of the rascals at the mouth of the St. Peter's, than any man I had yet heard. He assured me, speaking of the fellow who had fired on my sentinel and threatened to kill me, that if I thought it re- quisite, he should be killed ; but that, as there were many chiefs above with whom he wished to speak, he hoped I would remain one day, when all the Sioux would be down, and I might have the command of a thousand men of them, that I would probably think it no honour; but that the British used to flatter them they were proud of having them for soldiers. I replied in general terms, and assured him it was not for the conduct of two or three rascals that I meant to pass over all the good treatment I had received from the Sioux nation ; but that in general council I would explain myself. That as to the scoundrel who fired at my sentinel, had I been at home the Sioux nation would never have been troubled with him, for I would have killed him on the spot. But that my young men did not do it, appre- hensive that I would be displeased. I then gave him the news of the Sauteurs, that as to remaining one day, it would be of no service ; that I was much pressed to arrive below; as my general expected me, my duty called me, and that the state of my provision demanded the utmost expedition; that I would be happy to oblige him, but that my men must eat. He replied that Lake Pepin being yet shut with ice, if I went on and en- camped on the ice, it would not get me provision. That he would send out all his young men the next day ; and that if the other bands did not arrive, he would depart the day after with me. In short, after much talk, I agreed to remain one day, knowing that the lake was 2/0 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. closed, and that we could proceed only nine miles if we went; this appeared to give general satisfaction. "I was invited to different feasts, and entertained at one by a person whose father was enacted a chief by the Spaniards. At this feast I saw a man (called by the French the Roman Nose, and by the Indians the Wind that Walks) who was formerly the second chief of the Sioux, but being the cause of the death of one of the traders, seven years since, he voluntarily relinquished the dignity, and has frequently requested to be given up to the whites. But he was now determined to go to St. Louis and deliver himself up where he said they might put him to death. His long repentance, the great confidence of the nation in him, would perhaps protect him from a punishment which the crime merited. But as the crime was committed long before the United States assumed its authority, and as no law of theirs could affect it, unless it was ex post facto, and had a retrospective effect, I conceived it would certainly be dispunishable now. I did not think proper, however, to inform him so. I here received a letter from Mr. Rollet, partner of Mr. Cameron, with a present of some brandy, coffee, and sugar. I hesitated about receiving those articles from the partner of the man I intended to prosecute; their amount being trifling, however, I accepted of them, offering him pay. I assured him that the prosecution arose from a sense of duty, and not from any personal prejudice. My canoe did not come up in consequence of the head wind. Sent out two men in a canoe to set fishing lines ; the canoe overset, and had it not been for the timely assistance of the savages, who carried them into their lodges, undressed them, and treated them with the greatest humanity and ATTEMPT TO TAKE PIKE'S LIFE. 271 kindness, they must inevitably have perished. At this place I was informed, that the rascal spoken of as hav- ing threatened my life, had actually cocked his gun to shoot me from behind the hills, but was prevented by the others. "April fourteenth, Monday. — Was invited to a feast by the Roman Xose. His conversation was interesting, and shall be detailed hereafter. The other Indians not vet arrived. Messrs. Wood, Frazer, and mvself. ascended a high hill called the Barn, from which we had a view of Lake Pepin : the valley through which the Missis- sippi by numerous channels wound itself to the St. Croix ; the Cannon river, and the lofty hills on each side. ••April fifteenth. Tuesday. — Arose very early and embarked about sunrise, much to the astonishment of the Indians, who were entirely prepared for the council when they heard I had put off; however, after some conversation with Mr. Frazer, they acknowledged that it was agreeably to what I had said, that I would sail early, and that they could not blame me. I was very positive in my word, for I found it by far the best way to treat the Indians. The Aile Rouge had a beaver robe and pipe prepared to present, but was obliged for the present to retain it. Passed through Lake Pepin with my barges ; the canoe being obliged to lay by. did not come on. Stopped at a prairie on the right bank descending, about nine miles below Lake Pepin. \Vent out to view some hills which had the appearance of the old fortifications spoken of; but I will speak more fully of them hereafter. In these hollows I discovered a flock of elk. took out fifteen men. but we were not able to kill any. Mr. Frazer came up and passed on about 272 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. two miles. We encamped together. Neither Mr. Wood's nor my canoe arrived. Snowed considerably. "April sixteenth, Wednesday. — Mr. Frazer's canoes and my boats sailed about one hour by sun. We waited some time expecting Mr. Wood's barges and my canoe, but hearing a gun fired first just above our encamp- ment, we were induced to make sail. Passed the Aile Prairie, also La Montagne qui Trompe a L'eau, the prairie De Cross, and encamped on the west shore, a few hundred yards below, where I had encamped on the day of September, in ascending. Killed a goose flying. Shot at some pigeons at our camp, and was answered from behind an island with two guns ; we re- turned them, and were replied to by two more. This day the trees appeared in bloom. Snow might still be seen on the sides of the hills. Distance seventy-five miles. " April seventeenth, Thursday. — Put off pretty early and arrived at Wabasha's band at eleven o'clock, where I detained all day for him; but he alone of all the hunters remained out all night. Left some powder and tobacco for him. The Sioux presented me with a kettle of boiled meat and a deer. I here received information that the Puants had killed some white men below. Mr. Wood's and my canoe arrived. " April eighteenth, Friday. — Departed from our en- campment very early. Stopped to breakfast at the Painted Kock. Arrived at the Prairie Des Chiens at two o'clock ; and were received by crowds on the bank. Took up my quarters at Mr. Fisher's. My men received a present of one barrel of pork from Mr. Campbell, a hag of biscuit, twenty loaves of bread, and some meat GREAT BALL PLAY AT PRAIRIE DU CHIEN. 273 from Mr. Fisher. A Mr. Jearreau, 1 from Cahokia, is here, who embarks to-morrow for St. Louis. I wrote to General Wilkinson by him. I was called on by a num- ber of chiefs, Reynards, Sioux of the Des Moyan. The Winnebagoes were here intending, as I was informed, to deliver some of the murderers to me. Received a great deal of "news from the States and Europe, both civil and military. " April nineteenth, Saturday. — Dined at Mr. Camp- bell's in company with Messrs. Wilmot, Blakely, Wood, Rollet, Fisher, Frazer, and Jearreau. Six canoes arrived from the upper part of the St. Peter's with the Yanctong chiefs from the head of that river. Their appearance was indeed savage, much more so than any nation I have yet seen. Prepared my boat for sail. Gave notice to the Puants that I had business to do with them the next day. A band of the Gens du Lac arrived. Took into my pay as interpreter Mr. Y. Rein- ville. " April twentieth, Sunday. — Held a council with the Puant chiefs, and demanded of them the murderers of their nation ; they required till to-morrow to consider on it ; this afternoon they had a great game of the cross on the prairie, between the Sioux on the one side, and the Puants and Reynards on the other. The ball is made of some hard substance and covered with leather, the cross sticks are round and net-work, with handles of three feet long. The parties being ready, and bets agreed upon (sometimes to the amount of some thou- sand dollars), the goals are set up on the prairie at the distance of half a mile. The ball is thrown up in the middle, and each party strives to drive it to the opposite 1 Or Jarrot. 18 274 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. goal; and when either party gains the first rubber, which is driving it quick round the post, the ball is again taken to the centre, the ground changed, and the contest renewed ; and this is continued until one side gains four times, which decides the bet. It is an inter- esting sight to see two or three hundred naked savages contending on the plain who shall bear off the palm of victory; he who drives the ball round the goal is much shouted at by his companions. It sometimes hap- pens that one catches the ball in his racket, and depend- ing on his speed endeavours to carry it to the goal, and when he finds himself too closely pursued, he hurls it with great force and dexterity to an amazing distance, where there are always flankers of both parties ready to receive it ; it seldom touches the ground, but is some- times kept in the air for hours before either party can gain the victory. In the game I witnessed, the Sioux were victorious, more I believe from the superiority of their skill in throwing the ball, than by their swiftness, for I thought the Puants and Reynards the swiftest runners. I made a written demand of the magistrates to take deposition concerning the late murders. Had a private conversation with Wabasha. "April twenty-fifth, Monday. — Was sent for by La Feuille, and had a long and interesting conversation with him, in which he spoke of the general jealousy of his nation towards their chiefs ; and that although he knew it might occasion some of the Sioux displeasure, he did not hesitate to declare that he looked on the Nez Corbeau as the man of most sense in their nation ; and that he believed it would be generally acceptable if he was reinstated in his rank. Upon my return I was sent for by the Red Thunder, chief of the Yanctongs, the RED THUNDER'S (YANKTON CHIEF) SPEECH. 275 most savage band of the Sioux. He was prepared with the most elegant pipes and robes I ever saw ; and shortly he declared, that i That white blood had never been shed in the village of the Yanctongs, even when rum was permitted ; that Mr. Murdoch Cameron arrived at his village last autumn ; that he invited him to eat, gave him corn as a bird ; that he (Cameron) informed him of the prohibition of rum, and was the only person who afterwards sold it in the village.' After this I had a council with the Puants. Spent the evening with Mr. Wilmot, one of the best informed and most gentle- manly men in the place. " April twenty-second, Tuesday. — Held a council with the Sioux and Puants, the latter of whom delivered up their medals and flags. Prepared to depart to-morrow." 27tJ HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER XIV. The traders of the North-west Company, though they treated Lieutenant Pike with the respect due his commission, and extended to him their hospitality, did not approve of the policy that the United States govern- ment were intending to inaugurate. They were well aware if the system of establishing central depots of trade, with goods furnished by the government at low rates, was successful, that " their occupation was gone." Influence was consequently employed to prevent the tribes from patronizing the United States factories, and cultivating friendly inter- course with the Americans. Pike had scarcely disappeared from the waters of the Mississippi, before Dickson, Kolette, and Cameron dis- regarded the regulations which had been established. At the commencement of the century Cameron was the principal British trader on the Upper Minnesota, and the spot where he was buried in 1811, is known among voyageurs as " Cameron's Grave." He was a shrewd and daring Scotchman. One of his employees was an old Canadian, familiarly called Milor, who has recently died at Mendota. He related a circumstance which occurred while in the service of Cameron, which well exhibits the hard- T SUFFERINGS OF CAMERON'S VOYAGEURS. 277 ships to which the engagees of the fur trade are often exposed. While at one of the outposts of Cameron, on a tribu- tary of the Minnesota, the winter suddenly set in, and it was impossible to use the canoe. Hoping that there would be a thaw, he and his companions waited from day to day, until their provisions were exhausted. The weather remaining cold, their only alternative was to place their packs of furs beneath the upturned canoe, and seek the shelter of the woods, in the hope that Cameron would send relief. With their last meal in their pockets, they com- menced their journey through the deep snow. Meeting with no game, when they encamped on the evening of the second day, they were compelled by hunger to eat of the bark of a tree. During the third day two of the party began to fail in strength, and to beg the others to stop and show that they were losing their judgment. Milor gave no heed to their entreaties, but pushing ahead came at dusk to a place sheltered from the piercing wind, and there found an Indian frozen to death beside the remnants of a small fire. Milor now shouted to his fellow voyageurs, and told them that to stop was to secure a similar fate. Frightened by the scene, they quickened their pace, until late at night. Milor and another succeeded in catching two muskrats, and, building up a good fire, they feasted on one of the rats, and rested till the break of day. Making a breakfast on the remaining rat, the party resumed their march, Milor encouraging them by saying that they would soon come to a place where there was an abundance of muskrats, and that as soon as they had 278 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. laid in a supply of them, they would strike for Traverse des Sioux, when they would be sure to hear of Cameron and obtain food. For several days they found but one muskrat ; but on the morning of the eighth day, after they had been marching an hour, Milor, looking attentively in a south- east direction, declared that he saw smoke, and that there must be a fire. This, for a time, had the exhila- rating effect of wine ; but after two or three hours the sign disappeared, and they began to despond ; when the thought came to Milor that if there was a party coining to their relief, they would be on the lookout also. In less than half an hour he had ascended a bluff, and descried a thick column of smoke, about three miles distant. Waving his cap to his companions, and shout- ing for joy, he hurried in that direction, and found a party who had come to their aid. Two men were there, each with a pack of pork and biscuit, which had been despatched from Traverse des Sioux, while Cameron and three others were expecting to start with an addi- tional supply. When the fatigued party came into camp, they literally danced for joy. Feathers tonhaugh, who relates the story, remarks : " This incident is very much to the credit of Cameron, who made so resolute an attempt to relieve his poor engagees, when the chances of success were so few." As early as the year 1807, it was evident that under some secret influence the Indian tribes of the North- west were combining with hostile intentions towards the United States. In the year 1809, a trader by the name of Nicholas Jarrot, who frequently visited Prairie du Chien, made an affidavit at Saint Louis, that the British traders at that place were furnishing the Indians DICKSON— HIS CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE. 279 with guns for hostile purposes. Messengers from the Prophet, brother of Tecuinseh, painted black, were sent among the Ojibways, and in solemn council they told the astonished natives that the Prophet who sent them had been told by one of the great spirits that it was the will of the gods that Indians should live independent of the whites, and return to primitive usages. The flint and steel were to be discarded ; and fire obtained as of old, by the friction of two sticks. To those who believed the message, blessings were promised. They also claimed that the Prophet could resuscitate the dead. The late William Warren asserts that a dead child was taken from Lake Ottawa to Keweena, on Lake Superior, for the purpose of having it brought to life by the Pro- phet ; but putrefaction having taken place, the project was abandoned. At this period, a red-haired Scotchman, of strong intellect, good family, and ardent attachment to the crown of England, was at the head of the Indian trade in Minnesota. Pike, who visited him in 1806, at one of his trading posts near Sauk Rapids, describes him as " a gentleman of general commercial knowledge, and of open, frank manners." Governor Edwards of Illinois, writing to the secretary of war, says : " The opinion of Dickson, the celebrated British trader, is, that, in the event of a war with Great Britain, all the Indians will be opposed to us, and he hopes to engage them in hos- tility by making peace between the Sioux and Chippe- ways, and in having them to declare war against us." A source of influence among the Dahkotahs of Minne- sota was the fact that he had married a sister of Red Thunder, one of their bravest chiefs, and that the 280 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. British government had appointed him agent and super- intendent of the western tribes. On the first of May, 1812, two Indians were appre- hended at Chicago, who were on their way to meet Dickson at Green Bay. They had taken the precaution to put their letters in their moccasins, and bury them in the ground, and were allowed to proceed. A Mr. Frazer, of Prairie du Chien, who was present at the portage of the Wisconsin, when the Indians deli- vered the letters, stated that Dickson was informed that the British flag would soon be flying on the American garrison at Mackinaw. About this time, Cadotte, Deace, and John Askin were at Fond du Lac, Minnesota, collecting Ojibway warriors. At Green Bay, Black Hawk was formally created commander-in-chief of the Indian forces, by Dickson presenting him with a medal and certificate, a British flag of silk. The garrison at Mackinaw was composed of fifty-seven soldiers, with a lieutenant in command. Before Lieu- tenant Hanks was aware that war had been proclaimed by the United States, he was surprised by a force of British soldiers and Indians landing from a ship that belonged to the North-west Company, and numerous batteaux and birch canoes. With the British army were traders who had long been familiar with the tribes of Wisconsin and Minnesota, Askin, Langlade, Michael Cadotte, and Joseph Kolette. The American officer, perceiving the overwhelming force of the enemy, which consisted of forty regulars of the royal veteran batta- lion, two hundred and sixty Canadians, with their bour- geois or employees, and several hundred Dahkotah, Ojib way, Winnebago, and Menomonee Indians, capitulated withou t firing a single gun on July the seventeenth, 1812. INVITATION TO EAT AN AMERICAN. 281 An American gentleman, who had been made pris- oner, writes from Detroit on August sixth, to the Sec- retary of War : — " The persons who commanded the Indians are Robert Dickson, Indian trader, and John Askin, Jr., Indian agent, and son. The latter two were painted and dressed after the manner of the Indians. Those who com- manded the Canadians are John Johnson, Crawford, Pothier, Armitinger, La Croix, Rolette, Franks, Living- ston and other traders, some of whom were lately con- cerned in smuggling British goods into the Indian country, and, in conjunction with others, have been using their utmost efforts, several months before the declaration of war, to excite the Indians to take up arms. The least resistance from the fort would have been attended with the destruction of all the persons who fell into the hands of the British, as I have been assured by some of the British traders." The next year Dickson, Renville, and other Minne- sota traders, are present with the Kaposia, Wapashaw,. and other bands of Dahkotahs, at the siege of Fort Meigs. While Renville was seated one afternoon with Wapa- shaw, and the then chief of the Kaposia band, a deputa- tion came to invite them to meet the other allied Indians, with which the chiefs complied. Frazer, an old trader in Minnesota, came and told Renville that the Indians were about to eat an Ame- rican. On repairmg to the spot, the flesh was found carved up, and apportioned in dishes, one for each nation present. The bravest man of each tribe was urged to step forward and partake of the heart and 282 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. head, and only one warrior of a tribe was allowed to partake of these rarities. Among those assembled there was a nephew of the Kaposia chief, known among the traders as the Grand Chasseur, who was pressed by a Winnebago to partake of the human flesh. In a moment his uncle told him to leave the feast, and, arising, made a speech creditable to his humanity : — " My friends," said he, " we came here not to eat Americans, but to wage war against them; that will suffice for us ; and could we do that if left to our own forces ? We are poor and destitute, while they possess the means of supplying themselves with all that they require ; we ought not therefore to do such things." Wapashaw then spoke in these words, " We thought that you, who live near to white men, were wiser and more refined than we are who live at a distance ; but it must indeed be otherwise if you do such deeds." Col. Dickson, sending for the Winnebago, who origi- nated the disgusting feast, asked what impelled him to such a course. To which the savage replied, that it was better for him to kill the American and eat him, than it was for the Americans to burn his house, ravish and murder his wife and daughters. The citizens of the United States, in the valley of the Mississippi, now began to feel uneasy ; and in the Mis- souri Gazette of July thirty-first, 1813, published at St. Louis, there is a plea by the editor, for the defence of Prairie du Chien : — " Last winter," he says, " we endeavoured to turn the attention of the government toward Prairie du Chien, a position which we ought to occupy by establishing a military post at the village, or on the Ouisconsin. For FIRST AMERICAN FORT AT PRAIRIE DU CHIEN. 283 several months we have not been able to procure any other than Indian information from the prairie, the enemy having cut off all communication ; but we are persuaded that permanent subsistence can be obtained for one thousand regular troops in the upper lake coun- try. At Prairie du Chien there are about fifty families, most of whom are engaged in agriculture. Their com- mon field is four miles long by half a mile in breadth. Besides this field they have three separate farms, and twelve horse-mills to manufacture their produce." In February, 1814, the Americans captured St. Jo- seph's, in Lake Huron, not far from Sault St. Marie, and Mr. Bailly and five others connected with the Mackinaw Company were taken prisoners. On the first of May, 1814, Governor Clark, with two hundred men, left St. Louis, to build a fort at the junc- tion of the Wisconsin and Mississippi. Twenty days before he arrived at Prairie du Chien, Dickson had started for Mackinaw with a band of Dahkotahs and Winnebagoes. The place was left in command of Captain Deace and the Mackinaw Fencibles. The Dahkotahs refusing to co-operate, when the Americans made their appearance they fled. The Americans took possession of the old Mackinaw house, in which they found nine or ten trunks of papers belonging to Dick- son. From one they took the following extract : — " Arrived, from below, a few Winnebagoes with scalps. Gave them tobacco, six pounds powder, and six pounds ball." A fort was immediately commenced on the site of the residence of H. L. Dousman, which was composed of two block-houses in the angles, and another on the bank of the river, with a subterranean communication. In 284 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. honour of the governor of Kentucky it was named. " Shelby." The fort was in charge of Lieutenant Perkins, and. sixty rank and file, and two gun-boats, each of which carried a six-pounder; and several howitzers were com- manded by Captains Yeiser, Sullivan, and Aid-de-camp Kennerly. The traders at Mackinaw, learning that the Ameri- cans had built a fort at the Prairie, and knowing that as long as they held possession they would be cut off from the trade with the Dahkotahs, they immediately raised an expedition to capture the garrison. The captain was an old trader by the name of McKay, and under him was a sergeant of artillery, with a brass six-pounder, and three or four volunteer companies of Canadian voyageurs, commanded by traders and officered by their clerks, all dressed in red coats, with a number of Indians. The Americans had scarcely completed their rude fortification, before the British force, guided by Joseph Rolette, Sr., descended in canoes to a point on the Wis- consin, several miles from the Prairie, to which they marched in battle array. McKay sent a flag demand- ing a surrender; Lieutenant Perkins replied that he would defend it to the last. At three o'clock, on the afternoon of July seventeenth, the British and Indians attacked the gun-boat of Captain Yeiser ; the Indians firing from behind the houses and pickets. The boat moved up toward the head of the village, discharging volleys, which were quickly an- swered by the British. The enemy now crossed the river, and commenced an attack from the opposite side, AMERICANS RETREAT FROM PRAIRIE DU CHIEN. 285 which caused Captain Yeiser to run his boat through the enemy's lines to a point a few miles below. Lieutenant Perkins, in the meantime, fought bravely in the fort for three days and nights. Pi ) visions, am- munition, and water, began to fail, and the enemy were approaching the pickets by mining. He therefore wisely surrendered, capitulating that they were to retain their private property, and not to serve until duly exchanged. After placing them on parol, the British commander escorted them to the gun-boat "Governor Clark," in which they had arrived only a month before, and sent them down the river. In their descent they were followed by a party of the blood-thirsty savages in canoes, who did not turn back until they reached Rock Island. About the time of the capture, a detachment of troops were on their way from St. Louis, under the command of a Lieut. Campbell, to strengthen the garrison. Ar- riving at Rock Island, he held a conference with Black Hawk at his village. A few moments after his depar- ture, runners, by way of Rock River, brought the news to the Sauk village that the Americans had been de- feated at Prairie du Chien. Immediately they started in pursuit of Campbell's party, which they overtook at a small island near the Illinois shore, about three miles above their village. A fierce encounter took place, in which the Americans were worsted. The officer was wounded, several men were killed, and one of their boats captured, so that it became necessary to retreat to St. Louis. Fort Shel- by, after the capture, was called Fort McKay. After the attack of Black Hawk on Campbell, the commander of Fort McKay erected a battery, with two twelve- 286 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. pounders and six painted wooden guns, near Kock Island, on the east side of the river. Late in August, 1814, Major Zachary Taylor, the late president of the United States, proceeded in some gun-boats to punish the Indians who had attacked Campbell ; but on his arrival he was astonished to find the British there with a large force of Indians. It was a bright, beautiful morning in September when the engagement began, and the first cannon ball fired from the British battery passed through one of Taylor's gun- boats, commanded by Captain Hempstead. Taylor, like Campbell, soon had his boats disabled, and was obliged to drop down the stream about three miles to repair, and attend to the wounded. During the conflict it became necessary for some one to carry a cable from a disabled boat which was drifting towards the Indians to one commanded by Captain Whiteside. A youth of twenty-three, named Paul Harpole, per- formed the undertaking successfully, but having done this, he lingered and fired fourteen guns which were handed him at the enemy, when he himself was shot. His body, floating down the stream, was seized by yell- ing savages and cut into many pieces. In the engage- ment eleven Americans were badly wounded. Among those who came in Captain Yeiser's gun-boat to St. Louis, after the surrender of Prairie du Chien, was a friendly " one-eyed Sioux," who had behaved gallantly when the boat was attacked by British artil- lery. In the fall of the same year, this one-eyed Sioux, with another of the same nation, ascended the Missouri under the protection of the distinguished trader, Manual Lisa, as far as the Au Jacques river, and from thence he struck across the country, enlisting the Sioux in DICKSON AND THE "ONE-EYED SIOUX." 287 favour of the United States, and at length arrived at Prairie du Chien. On his arrival, Dickson accosted him, and inquired from whence he came, and what was his business ; at the same time rudely snatching his bundle from his shoulders, and searching for letters. The " one-eyed warrior" told him that he was from St. Louis, and that he had promised the white chiefs there that he would go to Prairie du Chien, and that he had kept his promise. Dickson then placed him in confinement in Fort Mc- Kay, as the garrison was called by the British, and ordered him to divulge what information he possessed, or he would put him to death. But the faithful fellow said he would impart nothing, and that he was ready for death if he wished to kill him. Finding that con- finement had no effect, Dickson at last liberated him. He then left, and visited the bands of Sioux on the Upper Mississippi, with which he passed the winter. When he returned in the spring, Dickson had gone to Mackinaw, and Captain Bulger was in command of the fort. While there, on May twenty-third, 1815, the British evacuated the fort, the news of peace having arrived. As they retired, they fired the fort with the American colours flying ; and the brave Sioux, exposing himself to the flames, rushed in and bore off the American flag and an American medal. This one-eyed Sioux, if Dr. Foster of Hastings is correct, is still living. In an article published in the Minnesota Democrat, May, 1854, he speaks of the sign- ers of the treaty between Pike, on the part of the Uni- ted States, and the Dahkohtahs, and says : — " I have omitted till the last, mention of Le Orig- 288 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. nal Leve, who, next to Little Crow, appears to have been the most prominent individual present. Pike calls him c my friend/ and seems to have made him some marked presents — indeed, the Indian relationship and tie of comradeship was probably adopted between them. Pike says he 'was a war chief, and that he gave him my [his] father's tomahawk/ though what he means by that, passes my comprehension. In the table of Indian chiefs, in the appendix to Pike's Journal, he is set down as belonging to the Meday wokant'wans ; his Indian name is given as Tahamie, his French as L'Orignal Leve, and his English as the ' Rising Moose,' which is stated to be literally translated. "I believe this war chief to be identical with the aged Indian, with whom most of the old settlers are familiar by the name of Tah-mah-haw, whose character- istics are one eye, and his always wearing a stave-pipe hat. He is remarkable among the Sioux — and it is his greatest pride and boast, that he is the only American in his tribe. This is explained by the fact, that in the war with Great Britain in 1812, when the rest of the Sioux sided with the British, and when Little Crow, with Joseph Renville, led on a war party to join the British army against us, he refused to participate on that side, and joined the Americans at St. Louis, where he was employed by General Clarke, in the American service. " He has now in his possession, and carefully keeps a commission from General Clarke, dated in 1814, as a chief of the Sioux; the commission says of the Red Wing band of Indians — which was originally part of Wabashaw's band. "If he is the same person as L'Orignal Leve, then FOSTER'S ACCOUNT OF TAMAHAW. 289 Pike and his Indian comrade fought in the same ranks, and the friendship the latter imbibed at Pike's visit for the Americans, stood the test of time and vicissitudes. " He deserves on this account to receive from the go- vernment authorities, special and marked attention. "Joseph Mojou, an old Canadian of Point Prescott, told me that Tamahaw was called by the voyageurs, the 'Old Priest,' because he was a great talker on all occasions. In Sioux, tamwamda means to talk earnestly ; to vociferate ; and this bears some resemblance to his Indian name as at present pronounced. " My friend Mr. Hatch informs me, when he traded with the Winnebagoes and with the Sioux of Wabashaw band, he knew him, and has seen his commission from General Clarke. The Winnebagoes, who were ac- quainted with him, translated his name to mean the pike fish, and therefore called him Nazeekah — though tah-mah-hay and not tah^mah-liaw, is the word for i pike' in the Dakotah tongue. " It may be thought more pains are taken to elucidate this personal history of an old Indian, than the subject warrants. But when we reflect that this old Indian was the contemporary, if not personal friend of Pike; that he and one other Sioux were of all his tribe who sided with the Americans in the war of 1812 ; there is an interest justly attached to his identity and history, which deserves more than ordinary attention. The other Sioux who, like Tamahaw, joined the Americans in 1812, was Hay-pee-dan, who belonged to Wakootay's band. He is now deceased." As late as 1817, Colonel Dickson was living in Min- nesota, at Lake Traverse, and the Indian agent at Prairie du Chien suspected that he was alienating the 19 290 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Dahkotahs from the United States, and in company with Lord Selkirk, striving to secure their trade, as the fol- lowing extract from his letter of February sixteenth, 1818, to the governor of Illinois will show: — " What do you suppose, sir, has been the result of the passage through my agency of this British nobleman V Two entire bands, and part of a third, all Sioux, have deserted us and joined Dickson, who has distributed ta them large quantities of Indian presents, together with flags, medals, etc. Knowing this, what must have been my feelings on hearing that his lordship had met with a favourable reception at St. Louis. The newspapers announcing his arrival, and general Scottish appearance, all tend to discompose me ; believing as I do, that he is plotting with his friend Dickson our destruction — sharpening the savage scalping knife, and colonizing a tract of country, so remote as that of the Red River, for the purpose, no doubt, of monopolizing the fur and peltry trade of this river, the Missouri and their waters ; a trade of the first importance to our Western States and Territories. A courier who had arrived a few days since, confirms the belief that Dickson is endeavouring to undo what I have done, and secure to the British government the affections of the Sioux, and subject the North-west Company to his lordship. ***** Dickson, as I have before observed, is situated near the head of the St. Peter's, to which place he transports his goods from Selkirk's Red River establishment, in carts made for the purpose. The trip is performed in five days, sometimes less. He is directed to build a fort on the highest land between Lac du Traverse and Red 1 Earl of Selkirk. The agent's fears were entirely groundless. DICKSON'S TRUE CHARACTER. 291 River, which he supposes will be the established line be- tween the two countries. This fort will be defended by twenty men, with two small pieces of artillery." It is said that after this, Dickson was arrested be- tween the Minnesota and St. Croix, and carried to St. Louis. Dickson, though an active partisan, is believed to have been a humane man. The American papers were naturally prejudiced against him, and all the cruelties of the savages were charged upon him. Says one editor at that day : " How will the English government, and their agent, Eobert Dickson, a native of Scotland, appear when it is announced to the world, that he employed a Sauk warrior to assassinate Governor Clarke at Prairie du Chien ? The governor's timely shifting of his sword alarmed and deterred from the commission of the act." There appears to have been no real foundation for any such impression. On the contrary, when Black Hawk expressed a desire to attack the defenceless settlements on the Mississippi, Dickson remonstrated, saying " that he had been a trader on the Mississippi many years ; had always been kindly treated ; and could not consent to send brave men to murder women and children. That* there was no soldiers there to fight, but where he was going to 'send the Indians there were a number of soldiers, and if they defeated them, the Mississippi country should be given up to them." 1 1 Ramsay Crooks of New York Lakes to the Missouri, and from the city, in a letter to Hon. H. M. Rice, Wabash to the boundary between October 16, 1857, writes. the United States and Great Britain. " I first went to Mackinaw in Dickson's connection as a trader 1805, as a clerk to Kobert Dickson with the Indians was almost entire- 's Co., who were then engaged in the ly with the Scioux, (Dahcotahs) of trade with the Indians from the St. Peters, (Minnesota) ***** 292 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. In 1815, Wapashaw and Little Crow, of the Kaposia band, visited the British post at Drummond's Island in Lake Huron, at the request of the commanding officer, who desired to thank them in the name of his majesty, for the services the Dahkotahs had rendered during the war. After his remark, he pointed to a few presents on the floor, which called forth the following speeches : — " My Father," said Wapashaw, " what is this I see before me ? A few knives and blankets ! Is this all you promised at the beginning of the war ? Where are those promises you made at Michilimackinac, and sent to our villages on the Mississippi? You told us you would never let fall the hatchet until the Americans were driven beyond the mountains ; that our British Father would never make peace without consulting his red children. Has that come to pass ? We never knew of this peace. We are told it was made by our Great Father beyond the water, without the knowledge of his war chiefs ; that it is your duty to obey his orders. What is this to us ? Will these paltry presents pay for the men we have lost both in the battle and in the war ? Will they soothe the feelings of our friends ? Will they make good your promises to us ? For myself I am an old man. I have lived long and always found the means of subsistence, and I can do so still !" The Little Crow, whose residence at that time was just below St. Paul, on the east side of the river, was more indignant. With vehemence he said, " After we have fought for you, endured many hardships, lost some I was proud to call Robert Dickson ferocity of the Indians on the fron- my friend, and I shall ever cherish tier, in the war of 1812, although he his memory as a man who exerted was branded as the worst of savages, himself in restraining the natural at the very time." FORMATION OF THE AMERICAN FUR COMPANY. 293 of our people, and awakened the vengeance of our power- ful neighbours, you make a peace for yourselves, and leave us to obtain such terms as we can ! You no longer need our services, and offer these goods as a compensa- tion for having deserted us. But no ! we will not take them; we hold them and yourselves in equal contempt!" So saying, he spurned the presents with his foot, and walked away. On the nineteenth of July, at Portage des Sioux, a treaty was concluded between the Dahko- tahs of the Mississippi, Minnesota, and the Yankton division, and the United States, in which it was stipu- lated that there should be perpetual peace between them, and that all previous acts of hostility should be mutually forgiven and forgotten. After the fame of the North-west Company was esta- blished, another association of traders was formed, called the Mackinaw Company. In 1809 Astor organized the American Fur Company, and after two years bought out the Mackinaw Company, and created a new com- pany distinguished as the South-west. During the winter of 1815-16 Congress enacted a law, that no foreigner should engage in the Indian trade who did not become a citizen. Astor, after this, established a company with a former title, the American Fur Com- pany. The Indian trade of the North-west was so completely in the hands of British subjects, that it was discovered that the trade could not be carried on without their aid, and the Secretary of the Treasury issued a circular, allowing the Indian agents to license interpreters and voyageurs, who might be employed by the American traders. Under the new arrangements, American citizens began 294 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. to identify themselves with the fur trade of Minnesota. As early as 1816 the late Judge Lockwood of Prairie du Chien, in the capacity of clerk, took charge of a trading post, near the sources of the Minnesota. His remarks, in relation to the Indian trade, which are given in his personal reminiscences, 1 show an intimate acquaintance with the trader's life : — " Tradition says that many years since, when there were many wintering traders in both the Upper and Lower Mississippi, it was the custom of every trader visiting Prairie du Chien, to have in store a keg of eight or nine gallons of good wine for convivial purposes when they should again meet in the spring, on which occasions they would have great dinner parties, and, as is the English custom, drink largely. But, when I came into the country, there were but few of the old traders remaining, and the storing of wine at Prairie du Chien had become almost obsolete, although the traders were then well supplied with wine, and that of the best kind, of which they made very free use. It was then thought that a clerk in charge of an outfit must have his keg of wine ; but, after the American Fur Company got fairly initiated into the trade, they abolished the custom of furnishing their clerks with this luxury at the expense of the outfit. As I have already said, the Indian trade of the Mississippi and Missouri and their tributaries was carried on from Mackinaw as the grand dep6t of the trade of the North-west. . " The traders and their clerks were then the aristo- cracy of the country ; and, to a Yankee at first sight, presented a singular state of society. To see gentle- 1 Wis. His. Soc. Collections, vol. ii. YOYAGEURS' FOOD, DRESS, SALARY. 295 men selecting wives of the nut-brown natives, and raising children of mixed blood, the traders and clerks living in as much luxury as the resources of the country would admit, and the engagees or boatmen living upon soup made of hulled corn with barely tallow enough to season it, devoid of salt, unless they purchased it them- selves at a high price — all this to an American was a novel mode of living, and appeared to be hard fare; but to a person acquainted with the habits of life of the Canadian peasantry, it would not look so much out of the way, as they live mostly on pea soup, seasoned with a piece of pork boiled down to grease ; seldom eating pork except in the form of grease that seasons their soup. With this soup, and a piece of coarse bread, their meals were made; hence the change from pea soup to corn is not so great, or the fare much worse than that which they had been accustomed to, as the corn is more substantial than peas, not being so flatu- lent. These men engaged in Canada generally for five years for Mackinaw and its dependencies, transferable like cattle to any one who wanted them, at generally about five hundred livres a year, or, in our currency, about eighty-three dollars and thirty-three cents; fur- nished with a yearly equipment or outfit of two cotton shirts, one three point or triangular blanket, a portage collar, and one pair of beef shoes ; being obliged, in the Indian country, to purchase their moccasins, tobacco, pipes, and other necessaries, at the price the trader saw fit to charge for them. Generally, at the end of five years, these poor voyageurs were in debt from fifty to one hundred and fifty dollars, and could not leave the country until they had paid their indebtedness ; and the policy of the traders was to keep as many of them in 296 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the country as they could ; and to this end they allowed and encouraged their engagees to get in debt during the five years, which of necessity required them to remain. " These new hands were by the old voyageurs called in derision, mangeurs de lard — pork-eaters — as on leaving Montreal, and on the route to Mackinaw, they were fed on pork, hard bread, and pea soup, while the old voya- geurs in the Indian country ate corn soup, and such other food as could conveniently be procured. 1 These mangeurs de lard were brought at considerable expense and trouble from Montreal and other parts of Canada, frequently deserting after they had received some ad- vance in money and their equipment. Hence it was the object of the traders to keep as many of the old voyageurs in the country as they could, and they gene- rally permitted the mangeurs de lard to get largely in debt, as they could not leave the country and get back into Canada, except by the return boats or canoes which brought the goods, and they would not take them back if they were in debt anywhere in the country, which could be easily ascertained from the traders at Macki- naw. But if a man was prudent enough to save his wages, he could obtain passage, as he was no longer wanted in the country. " The engagements of the men at Montreal were made in the strongest language ; they bound themselves not to leave the duties assigned them by their employers or assigns either by day or night, under the penalty of for- feiting their wages ; to take charge of, and safely keep, the property put into their trust, and to give notice of any portending evil against their employers, or their 1 The experienced voyageurs are ing to Snelling's work on the Nortti* called hivernans or winterers, accord- west. CHARACTER OF EARLY TRADERS. 297 interests, that should come to their knowledge. It was the practice of the traders, when anything was stolen from the goods during the voyage, whether on the boat or on shore, to charge the boat's crew with a good round price for it ; and, if anything not indispensable was ac- cidentally left on shore at the encampment, they did not return for it, but charged it to the crew, as it was understood to be their duty, not the employer's, to see that everything was on board the boat. These people in the Indian country became inured to great hardships and privations, and prided themselves upon the distance they could travel per day, and the small quantity of pro- visions they could subsist on while travelling, and the number of days they could go without food. They are very easily governed by a person who understands something of their nature and disposition, but their burgeois or employer must be what they consider a gentleman, or superior to themselves, as they never feel much respect for a man who has, from an engagee, risen to the rank of a clerk. " The traders in this country, at the time I came into it, were a singular compound ; they were honest so far as they gave their word of honour to be relied upon ; and, in their business transactions between themselves, seldom gave or took notes for balances or assumptions. It rarely happened that one of them was found who did not fulfil his promises ; but when trading in the In- dian country, any advantage that could be taken of each other in a transaction was not only considered lawful — such as trading each other's credit — but an in- dication of tact and cleverness in business. Two traders having spent the winter in the same neighbourhood, and thus taken every advantage they could of each "298 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. other, would meet in the spring at Prairie du Chien, and amicably settle all difficulties over a glass of wine." After the war with Great Britain, enterprise made a few attempts to develope the resources of the Upper Mississippi. In 1818 the first grist-mill was built at Fisher's Coulee, four miles above Prairie du Chien. The next year the first saw-mill in the country was erected at the Falls of Black river, which was soon burned by the Indians. While the Ojibways and Dahkotahs now acknow- ledged the authority of the United States, they still continued their destructive warfare upon each other. Toward the close of the year 1818 one of their terrible conflicts took place, between Lac Traverse and the head waters of the Mississippi. During the summer a Yank- ton chief, called by the French the Grand, held a coun- cil with some Ojibways, and smoked the pipe of peace. When the latter were returning home, some of the Dahkotahs sneaked after them, scalped a few, and took a woman prisoner. When the receipt of the intelligence reached Leech Lake, thirteen young warriors, whose leader was Black Dog, started for the Dahkotah land, having vowed that they would not return until they had avenged the insult. For four weeks they travelled without meeting any of their foes; but at length, on the Pomme de Terre river, on a very foggy morning, they thought a buffalo herd was in sight, which proved to be a large Dahkotah camp. Some of the latter, who were on horseback, saw them, and gave the alarm. The Ojibways, finding that they were discovered, and that their enemies were nume- rous, sent one of their number to their homes east of the Mississippi, to announce their probable death. The SPARTAN BRAVERY. 299 twelve who remained now began to dig holes in the ground, and prepare for the conflict, from which they could not hope to escape. Soon they were surrounded by the Dahkotahs ; but as they drew nigh many were mortally wounded by the Spartan band. The leader of the Dahkotah party, exasperated by their continual loss, gave orders for a general onset, when the whole Ojibway party were tomahawked in their holes. The thirteenth returned home, and related the circumstances; and though their friends mourned their death, they delighted in their bravery. On July 9th, 1817, Major S. H. Messrs. Gun and King, grandsons Long and his friend, Mr. Hemp- of Carver, visited the cave a few stead, left Prairie du Chien in a six- days after, to find some basis for oared boat for Falls of St. Anthony, urging the alleged land grant to They reached Carver's Cave on the Carver by the Indians, but they 16th, and found the entrance so could find but one Indian disposed low that they had to lie down and to know anything relative to the creep in. Its greatest width was claim, eight, and its height seven feet. 300 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER XV. While citizens of the United States and Great Bri- tain, speaking the same language, and having many common associations, were engaged in war near the southern limits of Minnesota, a disgraceful strife was beginning between the employees of the Hudson Bay and North-west Companies, on the northern border. The channel of trade, west of Lake Superior, followed the line of the Algonquin settlements, and entered the interior chiefly by way of Pigeon river, and the chain of lakes that separates the British possessions from Minnesota. Yeranderie, the French officer, as we have seen in a previous chapter, was the first that pushed his way to- ward the Rocky Mountains, and is said to have built a fort at the junction of the Assineboine and Red River. As soon as 1762 maps designate Fort la Reine at the confluence, and here at an early period coureurs des bois, from the French establishment at Mackinaw, used to trade with the Omahaws and Assineboines. On the east side of Lake Winnipeg, before the cession of Canada to the English, there was a French post called Maure- pas. On the Lake of the Woods there was Fort St. Charles, and in the lake was an island, near the south- KcAuad from the original ty 7C Omsby J»^"V MASSACRE IN LAKE OF THE WOODS. 301 eastern extremity, called Massacre Island, from the fol- lowing circumstance :— About the year 1736, a birch canoe with eight French- men, left the post on the shores of the Lake of the Woods, and had proceeded to this island, which is not far from the mouth of the river which leads to Kainy Lake. It was quite early when they arrived, and there was not a breeze perceptible. Kindling a fire to cook their repast, the smoke rose like a lofty column, and attracted a war party of the Dahkotahs, who, landing on the opposite side of the isle, surprised the French and massacred them. At the junction of Rainy Lake river with the lake, there was Fort St. Pierre, and at the grand portage of Lake Superior there was the trad- ing establishment of Kamanistigoya. This region of country was claimed by the Hudson Bay Company, under a charter granted to them by Charles II. on May second, 1670 ; but during the eighteenth century they did not establish posts in the region bordering on Min- nesota. Before the American Revolution, private traders, who obtained their outfits at Mackinaw, gained possession of the trade, and, after the consolidation of several com- panies with the North-west Company of Montreal in 1783, there was a larger business transacted with the Indians who lived in this region so abundant in furs. At the commencement of the nineteenth century, the Earl of Selkirk, a wealthy, Knd-hearted, but visionary nobleman of Scotland, wrote several tracts, urging the importance of colonizing British emigrants in these dis- tant British possessions, and thus check the disposition to settle in the United States. In the year 1811, he * Appendix K 302 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. obtained a grant of land from the Hv ..son Bay Com- pany, described as follows : — " Beginning on the western shore of Lake Winipie, at a point in 52° 30' north latitude, and thence running due west to the Lake Winipig ,shish, otherwise called Little Winipie, thence in a southerly direction, through the said lake, so as to strike its western shore in lati- tude 52°, thence due west to the place where the par- allel 52° intersects the western branch of Red river, otherwise called Assiniboine river, thence due south from that 'point of intersection, to the height of land which separates the waters running into Hudson's Bay from those of the Missouri and Missisippi rivers, thence in an easterly direction along the height of land to the source of the river Winipie, meaning by such last-named river the principal branch of the waters which unite in the Lake Saginagas, thence along the main stream of those waters, and the middle of the several lakes through which they pass, to the mouth of the Winipie river, and thence in a northerly direction through the middle of Lake Winipie, to the place of beginning, which territory is called Ossiniboia" or Assiniboia. Previous to this time the only inhabitants besides the Indians, were Canadians, who, by long intercourse with savages, had learned all their vices, and imitated none of their admirable traits. Unwilling to return to the restraints of well-ordered society, from which they had fled in youth, they were fond of " Vast And sudden deeds of violence, Adventures wild, and wonders of the moment." SUFFERINGS OF HIGHLANDERS. 303 They were p*Ljud of the title "Gens Libres," the free people. The offspring oi, their intercourse with Indian females was numerous. Tn^ "bois brules" were athletic, ex- pert hunters, good boatmen, fine horsemen, and able to speak the native language of both father and mother. Their chief delight and mode of subsistence was in fishing and snaring the buffalo. In the autumn of 1812, a small advance party of colonists proceeded to a point in latitude 50° north near the confluence of the Assineboine, on the banks of the Red river, whose head waters after heavy rains inter- lock with those of the Minnesota river, and commenced the erection of houses and preparations for the expected colonists. But their work was soon stopped by a party of men of the North-west Company, attired in Indian costume, ordering them to desist. The affrighted emi- grants were persuaded to take refuge at Pembina, Min- nesota, by a company of men that they thought were savages. The latter agreed to carry the children, but the men and women were obliged to walk. The exac- tions of the guides were cruel. One Highlander had to relinquish a gun that had been carried by his father at the battle of Culloden, and which was prized next to the family Bible, and a shrinking woman had to part with the marriage ring which had been placed upon her finger in the bloom of her youth, by a devoted lover in the Highlands. For the sake of creating alarm, the guides would run off with the babes and children, and the distracted mothers refused to be comforted, because their children were not to be seen any more, as they supposed. 1 1 " Red River Settlement, by Alexander Ross. London, 185G." 304 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. This sport, more worthy of bears than of men, so shocked the nervous system of the more delicate that they never recovered, and found an early and cold grave. At Pembina the more hardy lived during the winter in tents, and in the spring returned to the colony to resume their labours. Returning in the spring to the site of the colony, they in the sweat of their brow cultivated the soil, but the fowls of the air anticipated the harvest, and the winter of 1813-14 was again passed at Pembina. 1 Their success in the chase was however limited, and when they returned to their settlement in the spring they were in appearance half starved, and all tattered and torn. By the month of September, 1815, the number of settlers was about two hundred, and the colony was called Kildonan, after the old parish in Scotland in which many were born. With increased numbers all things seemed auspicious. Houses were built, a mill was erected, imported cattle and sheep began to graze on the undulating plains. The Highlander was pleased when he discovered that " Here no stony ground provokes the wrath of the farmer. Smoothly the ploughshare runs through the soil, as a keel through the water. Here, too, numberless herds run wild, and unclaimed in the prairies ; Here, too, lands may be had for the asking, and forests of timber With a few blows of the axe, are hewn and framed into houses." 1 This word is pronounced as if name of a red berry that grows in written Pembinnaw, and is a con- the vicinity, traction of an Ojibway word, the CAMERON PRODUCES DISCONTENT. 305 The employees of the North-west Company were however exceedingly restive under the march of im- provement, and the proprietors of the company sus- pected that it was a ruse of their powerful rival, the Hudson Bay Company, to oust them from the lucrative posts they were occupying. As early as 1813 the clerks and engagers of the Mon- treal traders endeavoured to excite the suspicions of the Indians, but without success. At a meeting of the partners of the North-west Company, held at Fort William, at the head of Lake Superior, in the summer of 1814, Duncan Cameron and Alexander McDonell were appointed to concert mea- sures to stop the progress of the colony. 1 About the last of August, they arrived at the North- west Company's post, about a half mile from the Kil- donan settlement, at the forks of the Red and Assine- boine rivers. Cameron, during the winter and spring of 1815, with great art obtained the confidence of the Highlanders. He spoke their native Gaelic tongue, extended hospi- tality to their families, and insinuated rather than evinced direct hostility to the plans of Selkirk. To give the air of authority, he wore a suit of regimentals that belonged to a disbanded corps of voyageurs, and in his communications, subscribed himself " D. Cameron, Captain Voyageur Corps, Commanding Officer, Red 1 Alexander McDonell, in a letter ties against the enemy in Red river. * written to a friend at Montreal, from * * * * Nothing but the complete one of the portages west of Lake downfall of the colony will satisfy Superior, says, " You see myself and some by fair or foul means. So here our mutual friend Mr. Cameron, so is at them with all my heart and far on our way to commence hostili- energy." 20 306 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. River." The fair promises he made unsettled the minds of the colonists, and seduced many to leave the spot. As soon as the free Canadians and half-breeds learned that their employers were not favourable to the colony, they grew insolent. One of the disaffected Selkirkers, by the name of George Campbell, one Sunday, immedi- ately after a sermon had been read in accordance with a venerable Scotch custom 1 to the assembled settlement,, rose and read an order issued by Cameron, and directed to the temporary superintendent of the colony, demand- ing the surrender of their brass field-pieces. On Monday morning, the governor's house being guarded, the employees of the North-west Company went to the store-house, broke it open, and carried off to their post, field-pieces, swivel, and a small howitzer; in all amounting to nine. This was a signal for the desertion of the disaffected Selkirkers, who repaired to the quarters of the North-west Company. In the spring of 1815, McKenzie and Morrison, of the North-west Company at Sandy Lake, Minnesota, told the chief Kawtawabetay, that they would give him and his people all the goods or merchandise and rum they 1 The first emigrants were all the governor-in-chief of the country, Presbyterians. Their expected min- as well as by the governor of the ister having been delayed, a worthy colony. These men with their fol- and pious elder, James Sutherland, lowers gladly heard him expound "was appointed to marry and bap- the Scriptures. * * * * Of all men, tize, from which functions he was clergymen or others, that ever en- never released by the arrival of the tered this country, none stood higher ordained minister, in consequence in the estimation of the settlers, both of the difficulties in which the colony for sterling piety, and Christian con- was placed. * * * On his arrival duct, than Mr. Sutherland." — Red at York Factory, the right hand of River Settlement, p. 31. fellowship was held out to him by THE MARCH OF THE EXILES. 307 had at Leech Lake, Sandy Lake, and Fort William, if they would declare war against the settlers on Eed river. 1 On the morning of Sunday, June the eleventh, a party of North-west employees, armed with loaded muskets, stationed themselves in a grove near the governor's house, and commenced an attack, wounding four in- mates, one of whom died. After this unprovoked assault, they demanded Miles McDonell, the governor, who was delivered, and subsequently carried to Mon- treal. This step did not at all satisfy the traders of the North-west Company, but as soon as the governor was carried off toward Canada by Duncan Cameron, his partner, Alexander McDonell, commenced new aggres- sions, such as seizing the horses, driving off the cattle, and pillaging the farms of the colonists. Opposite the settlement he erected a battery, upon which he mounted two of the Selkirk field-pieces, and established a camp of about fifty or sixty of the Canadian servants, clerks, and bois brules. Dispirited by constant annoyance, the broken-hearted settlers sent word to the head of the North-west Com- pany, that they would leave their farms and homes in a few days. About this time, toward the latter part of the pleasant month of June, two Ojibway chiefs arrived with forty braves, and strange as it may seem, they offered to escort the persecuted colonists with their pro- perty to Lake Winnipeg. Guarded by the grim children of the forest from the assault of their foes, they, like the Acadian peasants in Evangeline, were " friendless, hopeless, homeless. " 1 Earl of Selkirk's statement. 308 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. " Driving in ponderous wains, their household goods to the sea-shore, Pausing, and looking back to gaze once more on their dwellings, Ere they were shut from sight, by the winding road, and the woodland ; Close at their sides, their children ran, and urged on the oxen, While in their little hands they clasped some fragments of playthings." After they had embarked in the boats, "sheeted smoke with flashes of flame intermingled," announced that the mill and their houses were fired by the torch of the incendiary. When the fugitives from persecution had been some- time at the northern extremity of Lake Winnipeg, Colin Eobertson, of the Hudson Bay Company, arrived, and offered to lead them back to the settlement from which they had been expelled. Accepting his proposal, they returned, and were soon augmented by a party of emigrants just arrived from the Highlands of Scotland. During the winter of 1816, a majority remained at the mouth of the Pembina river, in Minnesota, for the purpose of hunting the buffalo. But early in the spring they returned to the Kildonan settlement. In the spring of 1816, Duncan Cameron, who had returned, was arrested by Colin Robertson, and taken towards the coast of Hudson's Bay, for the purpose of being sent to England for trial. The Earl of Selkirk, hearing of the distressed condi- tion of his colony, sailed for America, and on his arrival at New York, in the fall of 1815, heard that they had been bribed or compelled to leave the settlement. Proceeding to Montreal, he found some of the settlers who had been under the influence of the North-west Company, in great poverty. While here he gained the information that a remnant of the colony had returned and re-established themselves, and immediately sent an express to announce his arrival and determination to be SELKIRK SENDS AN ARMED FORCE. 309 with them in the spring. These glad tidings were sent by Laguimoniere, who, in the depths of winter, had tra- velled on foot from the Red River, by way of Red Lake and Fond du Lac, Minnesota, to bring the intelligence to Montreal that the colony had reoccupied their settlement. The messenger never reached his destination with the kind words of Selkirk. In the night he was way-laid near Fond du Lac, brutally beaten, and robbed of his canoe and despatches. At a council held by the super- intendent of Indian affairs, at Drummond's Island, on the twenty-second of July, 1816, an Ojibway chief of Sandy Lake, Minnesota, stated that Grant, oue of the North-west Company, offered him two kegs of rum, and two carrots of tobacco, if he would send some of his young men in search of some persons taking despatches to Red River, and pillage the letters and papers. Shortly after this, the chief testified that Laguimoniere was brought in by a negro and a party of Ottawas. Failing to obtain military aid from the British autho- rities in Canada, Selkirk made an engagement with four officers and eighty privates, of the discharged Meuron regiment, twenty of the De Watteville, and a few of the Glengary Fencibles, which had served in the late war with the United States, to accompany him to Red River. They were to receive monthly wages for navi- gating the boats to Red River, to have lands assigned them, and a free passage if they wished to return. When he reached Sault St. Marie, he received the intelligence that the colony had again been destroyed. In the spring of 1816, Semple, a mild, amiable, but not altogether judicious man, the chief governor of the factories and territories of the Hudson Bay Company, arrived at Red River. In the month of April he sent 310 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. a Mr. Pambrun to a trading post on a neighbouring river, and as he was returning with five boats, a quan- tity of furs, and six hundred bags of pemmican, he was attacked, on the twelfth of May, by an armed party of the adherents of the North-west Company, and cap- tured. This act was in retaliation for the attack made by Robertson on their post, at the junction of the Red and Assineboine rivers, during the previous autumn. On the eighteenth of June a portion of this party left Fort Qui Appele, under the guidance of Cuthbert Grant, Lacerte, Frazer, Hoole, and Thomas McKay, and went toward Red River. Information had been brought by friendly Indians and others, that an attack was intended, and an almost constant watch was kept up night and day, to discover the approach of any of the parties of the enemy. About five o'clock in the afternoon, on the' nineteenth of June, a man in the watch-house of the fort of the Selkirkers, called out to Governor SempM that horsemen were approaching. The governor, per- ceiving with a spy-glass sixty or seventy men, ordered twenty men to accompany him, and meet them. After Semple had proceeded half a mile, some of the settlers were met moving toward the fort, saying that a party was coming with cannon. One of the governor's party was requested to go back and obtain a field-piece from the fort. As the messenger was returning with the cannon, Governor Semple was surrounded. The hostile party first sent forward the reckless son of a Montreal tavern-keeper, to inquire what the governor was about. Semple inquired what his party wanted? Boucher insultingly asked, " Why did you, rascal ! destroy our fort ?" The governor, laying hold of his horse's bridle, said, " Scoundrel ! do you talk thus to me ?" Instantly GOVERNOR SEMPLE KILLED. 311 Boucher sprang from his horse, and the firing com- menced. Semple was soon wounded, and called to his men to take care of themselves ; but they gathered in a knot around their bleeding leader, and while they collected, the North-west party firecf a volley, by which the greater part were instantly killed. The remnant called for mercy, but in vain; all were massacred but four or five. Among those who were spared, was John Pritchard. In his narration he remarks, that "the knife, axe, or ball put an end to the existence of the wounded, and on the bodies of the dead were practised all those horrible barbarities, which characterize the in- human heart of the savage. The amiable and mild Mr. Semple, with broken thigh, lying on his side, supporting his head upon his hand, said to Grant, the leader of the attacking party, 'I am not mortally wounded, and if you could get me conveyed to the fort, I think I should live.' Grant promised he would do so, and immediately left him in the care of a Canadian, who afterwards told, that an Indian of their party came up and shot Mr. Sem- ple in the breast. I entreated Grant to procure me the watch or even the seals of Mr. Semple, for transmitting them to his friends, but I did not succeed. Our force amounted to twenty-eight persons, of whom twenty-one were killed." The Indian who killed the kind-hearted Semple was an Ojibway of Minnesota. Schoolcraft, in 1832, says, he saw, at Leech Lake, Majegabowi, the man who had killed Governor Semple, after he fell wounded from his horse. The morning after the massacre, Grant and Bourassa, with sixteen or seventeen others, insisted upon the abandonment of Fort Douglas, and the settlement. 312 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Two days afterwards the settlers, to the number of two hundred, including women and children, were compelled to embark in boats, to be conveyed to the sea-coast. On the second day's voyage they were met by Norman McLeod, a partner of the North-west Company, with nine or ten canoes, and a batteau with two pieces of artillery, formerly belonging to the Selkirk settlement, and a hundred armed men. As his party perceived the settlers they raised the warwhoop, and McLeod inquired whether Robertson or Semple was in the boats. In- formed of the death of the governor, they broke open his trunks, and took his papers. On his way to Red River, McLeod held a council with the Ojibways at Rainy Lake, and persuaded the Round Lake Chief and some fifteen or twenty others to join his party. Among those who accompanied Mc- Leod in the capacity of clerk was Charles de Reinhard, once a sergeant in the De Meuron regiment. He was sent to a station of the company, at " Bas de la riviere Winipic." In August some deserters from the employ of Owen Keveny, a Hudson Bay trader, arrived there. They told McLeod that they had been badly treated, and he deputed Reinhard to act as constable and seize seize Keveny. Six bois brules accompanied him, and he soon re- turned with the trader, who was then placed in a canoe with three half-breed voyageurs, and consigned to Fort William on Lake Superior. On their way they were met by a partner of the North-west Company, who re- moved the half-breeds and substituted two Canadians and an Indian, who was to act as guide. The canoe was again met by traders of the company, who ordered them back. The two Canadians, on their return, quar- THE MURDER OF KEVENY. 313 reled with the Indian who left them, and losing their way, they landed Keveny on a small island and de- serted him. Mr. McLellan now started in search of the missing party, and first found the Indian and two Canadians, and at last Keveny, who was with an encampment of Indians. McLellan apprehended him, and purchasing a canoe placed him alone in company with Reinhard, a bois brule, and an Indian. He then told Reinhard to put Keveny to death at the first favourable spot. A short distance above a deep gorge of granite through which the Winnipeg river rushes, the traveller used to pass a cross, which marked the spot where Keveny's life was taken. It seems, from the confession of Reinhard, that he had desired to go on shore for a few moments, and when he was returning to the canoe, the half-breed took aim and shot him through the neck. As he fell against the canoe, Reinhard, seeing that he wished to speak, drew his sword, and twice plunging it in his back, soon rendered him speechless. Joining their employer McLellan, they detailed the circumstances, and a distribution of his bloody clothes and other effects took place. McLellan, opening the writing desk of the murdered man, spent the night in reading and burning his letters and papers. Reinhard, after a protracted trial in Canada, was convicted and executed. During the trial stress was laid upon the question, whether the scene of the murder was in the province of Upper Canada. After much testimony from the best geographers in the country, it was decided that the limits of Canada did not extend to that point. Previous to the intelligence of the death of Governor 314 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Semple, the Earl of Selkirk had made arrangements to visit his colony by way of Fond du Lac, the St. Louis river, and Ked Lake of Minnesota ; but he now changed his mind, and proceeded with his force to Fort William, the chief trading post of the North-west Company on Lake Superior; and apprehending the principal part- ners, warrants of commitment were issued, and they were forwarded to the attorney-general of Upper Ca- nada. While Selkirk was engaged at Fort William, a party of emigrants in charge of Miles McDonnel, governor, and Captain D'Orsomen, went forward to reinforce the colony. At Rainy Lake they obtained the guidance of a man who had all the characteristics of an Indian, and yet had a bearing which suggested a different origin. By his efficiency and temperate habits, he secured the respect of his employers, and on the Earl of Selkirk's arrival at Red river, his attention was called to him, and in his welfare he became deeply interested. By repeated conversations with him, memories of a differ- ent kind of existence were aroused, and the light of other days began to brighten. Though he had forgot- ten his father's name, he furnished sufficient data for Selkirk to proceed with a search for his relatives. Visiting the United States in 1817, he published a cir- cular in the papers of the Western States, which led to the identification of the man. It appeared from his own statement, and those of his friends, that his name was John Tanner, the son of a minister of the gospel, who, about the year 1790, lived on the Ohio river, near the Miami. Shortly after his residence there a band of roving Indians passed near the house, and found John Tanner, then a little boy, JOHN TANNER CARRIED OFF BY INDIANS. 315 filling his hat with walnuts which he had picked from a tree. Seizing him, they kept him quiet by threats, gether. 1 Sibley's Historical Society Address. UNITED STATES TROOPS STATIONED IN MINNESOTA. 310 CHAPTER XVI. The rumour that Lord Selkirk was founding a colony on the borders of the United States, and that the Hud- son Bay Company had posts within the region of country comprised within the boundaries of Minnesota, did not fail to reach the authorities at Washington. Under the administration of Mr. Monroe, the head of the war department was the intellectual and dis- tinguished John C. Calhoun. At that period he was deeply interested in developing the resources of every section of the Union. During his term of office, the efficiency of the army was increased ; the condition of the aborigines noted, and the power of the United States felt in remote regions where it had not been acknowledged. On the tenth of February, 1819, an order was issued from the war department, concentrating the Fifth Regi- ment of Infantry at Detroit, with a view to transporta- tion by way of Fox and Wisconsin rivers to Prairie du Chien. After garrisoning that post and Rock Island, the remainder were to proceed to the mouth of the Minnesota, then designated the Saint Peter's, to esta- blish a post at which the head-quarters of the regiment were to be located. About the time of this order, the 320 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. portion of Illinois territory not included within the state of that name, was attached to Michigan, of which Lewis Cass was governor. In the spring of 1819, the county of Crawford was organized, which included a large portion of Minnesota. Colonel Leavenworth, with the troops on their way to build the new post at the junction of the Minnesota, brought blank commissions for county officers to be filled up by the inhabitants. With difficulty officers were obtained. Johnson, United States factor, was made Chief Justice of the County Court, and his asso- ciates were Michael Brisbois and Francis Bouthillier ; Wilfred Owens was appointed Judge of Probate ; John S. Findley, Clerk of the Court, and Thomas McNair, Sheriff. Colonel Leavenworth, having attended to his duties at the Prairie, ascended the Mississippi with his soldiers in keel-boats. The water was so low at that period, that for weeks they "dragged their slow length along," not reaching Mendota until September, the contem- plated site for temporary barracks, the remains of which are visible above the present village of Mendota, on the south side of the river. The officers with their wives lived in the boats until rude huts and pickets were erected. Before the quarters were completed, the rigour of winter was felt, and the removal from the open boats to the log cabins, plastered with clay, was con- sidered a privilege. Though the first winter was ex- tremely cold, the garrison remained cheerful, and the officers maintained pleasant social intercourse. 1 During 1 Mrs. Ellet, in a sketch of the wife " Huts had also to be built, though of the first commissary of this post, in the rudest manner, to serve as a says : shelter during the winter, from the CANTONMENT AT MENDOTA. 321 the winter, that dreadful disease, scurvy, appeared among the troops, and raged so extensively, that for a few days military duty was suspended. It is said that "so sudden was the attack, that soldiers apparently in good health when they retired at night, were found dead in the morning. One man who was relieved from his tour of sentinel duty, and stretched himself upon a bench, when he was called four hours after to resume his duties, was found lifeless." 1 The colonel at this time displayed his humanity, and, with a few friends, spent several days searching the country for antiscorbutics.* In the month of May, 1820, they entered into summer encampment at a spring not far from the old Baker trading house. The camp was named Cold Water. On the tenth of September the corner stone of Fort Snel- ling was laid. The winter of 1820-21 found them again at the cantonment on the south side of the river ; the present fort not being sufficiently advanced for occupation by the troops. The first pine lumber ever rigours of a severe climate. After was no protection for the inmates, living with her family in the boat but the baby in the cradle was for a month, it was a highly apprecia- pushed under the bed for safety, ted luxury for Mrs. Clark to find Notwithstanding these discomforts herself at home in a log hut, plastered and perils, the inconveniences they with clay, and chinked for her re- had to encounter, and their isolated ception. It was December before situation, the little party of emi they got into winter quarters, and grants were not without the social the fierce winds of that exposed enjoyments ; they were nearly all region, with terrific storms now and young married persons, cheerful, (hen, were enough to make them and fond of gayety, and had their keep within doors as much as possi- dancing assemblages once a fort- ble. Once in a violent tempest, the night." roof of their dwelling was raised by l Sibley's Address before Minne the wind, and partially slid off; there sota Historical Society. 21 * Appendix L 322 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. cut on Rum River was by soldiers for the use of the for- tifications. On the eighteenth of November, 1819, Governor Cass addressed a communication to Mr. Calhoun, secretary of war, proposing an exploration of the territory recently attached to Michigan, for the purpose of becom- ing better acquainted with the Indian tribes, and its mineral and agricultural resources. The suggestions were approved, and on the morning of July fifth, 1820, the expedition, on the forty-third day of their journey by the lakes from Detroit, entered the St. Louis river of Minnesota. The expedition consisted of Governor Cass, Dr. Wolcott, Indian agent at Chicago and surgeon, Captain Douglass, military engineer, H. R. Schoolcraft, mineralogist, Lieutenant Mackay, James Doty, Esq., secretary, Major Forsyth, private secretary to the governor, C. C. Trowbridge, topographer, besides the voyageurs, soldiers, and Indians, amounting in all to about forty persons. Three miles above the mouth of the St. Louis they came to an Ojibway village of fourteen lodges. Among the residents were the children of an African, by the name of Bungo, the servant of a British officer who once commanded at Mackinaw. Their hair was curled and skin glossy, and their features altogether African. A short distance above there was the abandoned esta- blishment of the old North-west Company. On the evening of the first day's ascent of the stream, the expedition lodged at the American Fur Company's houses, twenty-four miles from the lake. The establish- ment consisted of a range of log buildings, enclosing three sides of a square, open towards the river, and contained the warehouse, canoe and boat yard, and GENERAL CASS AT SANDY LAKE. 323 dwelling-house of the resident clerk. The company had also three horses, two oxen, three cows, and four bulls at this post. On the fifteenth of the month they arrived at Sandy Lake, and were received at the post of the American -Company, in the temporary absence of the trader Morrison, by two of his clerks. They occupied the establishment of the old North-west Company, which was built in 1794, and has been described in a previous chapter. On the appearance of the exploring party, in accordance with custom, the Sandy Lake Ojibways saluted them with a discharge of fire-arms loaded with balls. The population of the Indian village at that time was one hundred and twenty, and their principal men were Broken Arm and De Breche. On the sixteenth a council was held, and Governor Cass proposed that they should send a deputation of their best men to the mouth of the Minnesota, and con- clude a peace with the Dahkotahs, to which they cheer- fully consented. The next day the officers of the expe- dition, with nineteen voyageurs and Indians, and pro- visions for twelve days, left the post with a view to exploration of the Upper Mississippi. On the nine- teenth, the atmosphere in the region of Pokeguma Rapids was so cold that the canoes in the morning were coated with a scale of ice. On the twenty- first of July they reached Upper Red Cedar Lake, which they considered the true source of the Mississippi, and named Cass Lake. On the north shore of the lake was a village of sixty Ojibways, of whom Wiscoup, or the Sweet, was the chief. Here were found two employees of the Fur 324 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Company, one of whom, during the previous winter, having been caught in a snow storm, had his feet frozen so badly that they had sloughed off. For a time his Indian wife felt an interest in his sad condition, and supported him by catching fish ; but at last he became a weariness to her, and she deserted. For months, as he was unable to walk, he had subsisted upon the coarse weeds about his hut. The expedition discovered him seated on a mat of rushes, in a cabin of bark, with the stumps of his legs wrapped in deer skins. With long beard, sunken eyes, hollow cheeks, and bones ready to protrude through the skin, he was more to be pitied than Job. In the words of the patriarch, his "flesh was clothed with worms and clods of dust; his skin was broken and loathsome ; by night he was full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day." The sympathies of the whole party were aroused, and Governor Cass took means to make him comfortable, and have him trans- ported to the Fur Company's post at Sandy Lake. The next day they commenced the descent of the river, and returned to Sandy Lake on the afternoon of the twenty-fourth. On the twenty-fifth, with a delega- tion of Ojibways, they entered the canoes once more, and steered towards the fort at the mouth of the Min- nesota. The twenty-eighth was passed in hunting buf- falo, between Elk river and the Little Falls. Having spent several hours in hunting, they descended the river until three o'clock, when they landed again to hunt at the site of a recent Dahkotah encampment. In the centre of the deserted camp, on a long pole, was a letter of birch bark, addressed to the Ojibways, in which they were informed that a peace party, at the solicita- CASS AT FORT SNELLING.— RAPID VEGETATION. 325 tion of the commander of the fort, had proceeded to that spot, but not finding any of their nation, had re- turned. On the afternoon of the thirtieth, they reached the garrison at " Camp Cold Water," near the present St. Louis House, near Fort Snelling, and Governor Cass was received with the customary national salute. They found here a busy scene : officers and their men were all occupied. In addition to building the fort, ninety acres of ground were under cultivation, and the soil proved very fertile. Green peas had been ready for the table on the fifteenth of June ; the corn was ripe on the fifteenth of July, and the wheat was now ripe for the harvest. On the first of August, at the winter barracks on the south side of the Minnesota, which were then being occupied by Taliaferro as an Indian agency, a council was held with the Dahkotahs and Ojibways. Go- vernor Cass, Colonel Leavenworth, and other officers represented the United States. Shokpay and other chiefs spoke for the Dahkotahs, and Babasikumsiba for the Ojibways. Though the Dahkotahs agreed to a ces- sation of hostilities against the Ojibways, they were very indifferent, and some of the chiefs and braves re- fused to smoke the pipe of peace. On the second of August, the party continued their descent of the Mississippi, and visited the cave near the upper limits of the city of Saint Paul, which they were erroneously told was "Carver's Cave." 1 Four miles be- low, at a point now called Pig's Eye, they found the village of Little Crow. "Here," says Schoolcraft, in lus narrative of the expedition, is a " Sioux (Dahkotah) 1 Carver's cave, is in the lower suburb. 326 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. band of twelve lodges, and consisting of about two hun- dred souls, who plant corn on the adjoining plain, and cultivate the cucumber and pumpkin. They sallied from their lodges on seeing us approach, and manifested the utmost satisfaction in our landing. Le Petit Cor- beau was among the first to greet us. He is a man be- low the common size, but brawny and well proportioned ; and although rising of fifty years of age, retains the looks and vigour of forty. There is a great deal of fire in his eyes, which are black and piercing. His nose is prominent and has the aquiline curve, his forehead fall- ing a little from the facial angle, and his whole counte- nance animated, and expressive of a shrewd mind. We were conducted into his cabin, which is spacious, being about sixty feet in length and thirty in width, built in a permanent manner of logs, and covered with bark. Being seated, he addressed Governor Cass in a speech of some length, in which he expressed his satisfaction in seeing him there, and said that in his extensive journey, he must have experienced a good many hard- ships and difficulties, and seen a great deal of the In- dian way of living. He said he was glad that the go- vernor had not, like many other officers and agents of the United States, who had lately visited those regions, passed by without calling. He acquiesced in the treaty which had lately been concluded with the Chippeways, and was happy that a stop had been put to the effusion of human blood. He then adverted to a recent attack of a party of Fox Indians upon some of their people towards the sources of the river Minnesota, in which nine men had been killed. He considered it a dastardly act, and said that if that little tribe should continue to haunt their territories in a hostile manner, they would SPELLING ARRIVES.— WANATA ARRESTED. 327 at length drive him into anger, and compel him to do a thing he did not wish." The next day they arrived at the village of Rem- nichah. or Red Wing. Tatankimani, or the Walking Buffalo, one of the signers of the treaty of friendship at Portage des Sioux, in 1815, was the principal man, and about sixty years of age. One of his granddaughters married a Mr. Crawford, who was a prominent British trader during the Avar of 1812. On the afternoon of the fourth, they stopped a few minutes at Wapashaw village, the site of the town of Winona ; and on the evening of the fifth, their canoes grated on the pebbly banks of the village of Prairie du Chien. At this point Colonel Snelling was met on his way to relieve Lieutenan1>Colonel Leavenworth of the command of the troops at Camp Cold Water, opposite Mendota. His wife, a few days after her arrival at the post, gave birth to the first infant of white parents in Minnesota, which, after a brief existence of thirteen months, departed to a better land. The dilapidated monument which marks the remains of the " little one," is still visible in the grave-yard of the fort. Beside Mrs. Snelling, the wife of the Commissary, and of Cap- tain Gooding, were in the garrison, the first American ladies that ever wintered in Minnesota. Shortly after Colonel Snelling assumed command of the garrison, the Dahkotahs appeared unfriendly. A large body of warriors under the leadership of the cele- brated Yankton Wanata, hovered around the barracks for some time, and at last the chief presented himself at the gates, ostensibly desiring to have a friendly talk with the commander. The gates were opened, and suf- ficient information having been obtained to warrant the 328 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. suspicion that they meditated an attack, he and his companions were seized, and marched to the council hall under a guard of glittering bayonets. In the council chamber his treachery was fully exposed, and he was deprived of his badges and medals which he had received from the British, and they were destroyed in his presence. In their mortification, the Indians with the chief gashed their flesh with knives. By this decided step, Wanata was impressed with the folly of opposing the United States troops, and from that time showed himself friendly to all American officers with whom he was brought in contact. Not far from this period two persons were shot by a party of Sissetoan Dahkotahs, near Council Bluffs, on the Missouri.* The United States authorities, to compel the surrender of the murderers, notified the Sissetoan bands, that no traders should visit them till the guilty ones were delivered. Deprived of blankets, powder, and tobacco, they held a council, at Big Stone Lake, to determine what should be done, and listened to the arguments of a trader named Colin Campbell. Mahzah Khotah, and another of the band, announced themselves as the guilty ones, and expressed a willingness to deliver themselves to the soldiers, at the mouth of the Minnesota. The aged father of the latter then offered himself as a substitute, which was agreeable to the council. The next day Mahzah Khotah, and the old man, started for the gar rison, accompanied by friends and relatives. - On the twelfth of November, 1820, when about a mile distant, the party halted, smoked, and the death dirge was chanted. Blackening their faces, and gashing their arms, as a token of grief, they formed a proces- * Appendix M A FATHER'S ATONEMENT FOR HIS SON. 329 sion, and marched to the centre of the soldier's parade ground. First came a Sissetoan, bearing a British flag, and then one of the murderers and the aged chief, who had become an atonement for his only son. Their arms were secured by ropes of buffalo hair, and large splinters of oak were thrust through the flesh, above the elbows, to indicate their contempt of death. As they approached, singing death-songs, a company of soldiers was drawn up, and Colonel Snelling came out to meet them. A fire was then kindled, and the British flag burned, after which the medal of the murderer was given up, and then both surrendered themselves. The old chief was detained as a hostage, and the murderer sent to St. Louis, for trial. 1 Placed in a boat, he was rowed by 1 The following letter addressed to the secretary of war, contains most of the facts narrated. "Cantonment St. Peter's, November 13, 1820. " Sir — when I had the honour to address you on the tenth, from the disposition then manifested by the Sussitongs, I had no hope of obtain- ing the surrender of the murderers of our people on the Missouri, but contrary to my expectation, one of the murderers, and an old chief self- devoted in the place of his son, were voluntarily brought in and delivered up yesterday. " The ceremony of delivery was conducted with much solemnity. A procession was formed at some dis- tance from the garrison, and marched to the centre of our parade. It was preceded by a Sussitong bearing the British flag ; the murderer and de- voted chief followed with their arms pinioned, and large splinters of wood thrust through them above the el- bows, to indicate as I understood their contempt of pain and death. The relatives and friends followed, and on their way joined them in singing their death-song. When they ar- rived in front of the guard the British flag was laid on a fire, pre- pared for the occasion, and consumed ; the murderer gave up his medal, and both the prisoners were surrendered. The old chief I have detained as a hostage, the murderer I have sent to St. Lewis, under a proper guard, for trial, presuming it is a course you will approve. " I am much indebted to Mr. Colin Campbell, the interpreter, for his great exertions in bringing this affair to a speedy issue. The delivery of the murderer is to be solely attri- buted to his influence over the Sussi tongs." 330 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. poldiers to the place of destination, but no witness appearing against him, he was discharged, and while returning, is said to have been killed by a frontiersman, in Missouri. In 1822 a man by the name of Perkins, of Kentucky, obtained permission of Taliaferro, the agent for the Dah- kotahs, to build a saw-mill in the Chippeway valley. His partners were Lockwood and Rolette, of Prairie du Chien. For the privilege of cutting timber they agreed to pay Wapashaw's band, who claimed the country, one thousand dollars annually, in goods. The spot selected for the mill, was on a small stream running into the Menomonee, about twenty miles from its mouth. After the coalition of the two great British Fur Com- panies, some of those who had been in their service, Renville, Jeffries, McKenzie, and others, in company with a few American traders, formed a new company called the Columbia, whose central establishment was at Lake Traverse. They were licensed by the proper authorities, to trade with the Indians south of the British boundary line. The only rival in the trade, was the American Fur Company. 1 They also had a trading-post on the Minnesota, about a mile above Fort Snelling. 1 One of their number furnished of furs formerly obtained in this to the historian of Long's expedition, region, the following statement of the amount Names. No. of packs. Beaver 10 . Bear, 20 . -Buffalo, .... 400 . Martin, .... 10 . Otter 10 . Fisher 25 . Elk, 40 . No. of skins, or wt. of each pack. 100 lbs. weight 12 skins 10 skins . 100 lbs. . . 100 lbs. . . 16 skins Value of pack. $400 . 75 . 40 . 300 . 600 . 450 . 80 . Total. $4000 1500 16,000 3000 6000 11,250 3200 FIRST MILL IN MINNESOTA. 331 It was during this year, the fort being sufficiently completed for occupancy, that the first mill in Minnesota was erected. It was built under the supervision of officers of the fort, on the site of Minneapolis, and was guarded by a sergeant and a few privates. Joseph R. Brown, who afterwards was a noted citizen, at this time a soldier in the army, in company with a son of Colonel Snelling. and one or two others, explored the rivulet that supplies the cascade of Minne Ha-Ha, as far as Lake Minne Tonka. The settlers at the Selkirk colony were, as has been seen, reduced to great straits. Owing to their fratricidal strife agriculture had been neglected, and at one time they were forced to live upon salt and lettuce. Among others at Pembina was a trader by the name of Hess, who, finding provisions scarce, determined to go and join a party who had gone out on a buffalo hunt. He commenced his journey with two daughters and two other settlers. As he had married an Ojibway woman, he travelled through the Dahkotah country with the greatest precaution, knowing the hereditary feud that existed between the nation of his mother's children and Name. No. of packs. No. of skins. Value of pack. Total. Mynx, . . . Muskrat, . . , , . 10 . $2000 8000 . 40 . . 500 skins 200 . Lynx, . . . . 20 . . 280 . . 5600 Swan, . . . . 2 . i 60 skins 60 . . 120 Rabbit, . . . Wolverine, . 4 . . 1 . . 400 skins . 400 skins 8 . 32 75 Cowskins, . . . 20 . 16 skins 80 . 1600 Wolves, . . , . 10 . 40 . 400 Moose, . . • . . 10 . 80 . 260 . 800 Fox, .... . 5 1300 637 $64,877 332 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the Dahkotahs. On the sixth day of the journey he left his companions to chase some buffaloes that were in sight. He did not return for some time, but after a long ride across the prairie he saw the primitive cart in which his family had travelled, and hoped to find them and recount his success in the hunt. On his approach he found one of his companions scalped, and deprived of both his feet. A few steps beyond, lay one of his beloved daughters with a knife lodged in her heart. He then discovered the lifeless form of his other fellow- traveller, but could not find his second daughter. Horrified and helpless he returned to Pembina, after travelling three days and three nights on foot, without a morsel of food. Reciting his melancholy story, the settlers were seized with a panic, and not one would accompany him to the scene of slaughter and bury the dead. Obtaining an intimation that one daughter yet lived, a captive in a Yankton lodge, with the energy of despair he started for the camp, determined to rescue her or to die in the attempt. After a long tramp he descried the cone-shaped teepee, and before he reached the spot a Yankton accosted him and asked whether he was a friend or foe. Hess, nerved to the highest physical courage, said, " You know me as your foe ; you know me by the name of Standing Bull ; you know you have killed one of my daughters and taken the other prisoner." The Dahkotah was impressed by his fearlessness, and extended his hand, and, taking him to the camp, all complimented him. Finding his daughter, he was cheered to learn that she had been treated with kind- ness. Her owner was at first unwilling to release her, but at last consented for a certain ransom. HESS'S DAUGHTER RANSOMED. 333 Seeking the neighbouring trading posts of the Columbia Fur Company, the traders sympathized with him, and furnished him the necessary amount of goods on a long credit, and bearing the merchandise to the camp, the Dahkotah, true to his word, delivered the daughter ; but now the maiden had become attached to those with whom she had been dwelling, and reluctantly left their lodges. On the appearance of spring in the year 1823, a num- ber of emigrants who had been induced by the prospec- tus of the Earl of Selkirk's agent to leave their mountain homes in Switzerland, and settle in the valley of the Red river, determined to seek the United States. After a long journey from Pembina, by way of Lake Traverse, they reached what is now Fort Snelling, in a state of great destitution, and were there aided by the officers of the garrison. 1 1 " In 1823, news was brought by the traders that two white children were with a party of Sioux on the St. Peter's. It appeared from what they could learn, that a family from Red river — Selkirk's settlement — had been on their way to the fort, when a war party of Sioux met them, murdered the parents and an infant, and made the boys prisoners. Col. Snelling sent an officer with a party of soldiers to rescue the children. After some delay in the ransom, they were finally brought. An old squaw, who had the youngest, was very unwilling to give him up, and indeed the child did not wish to leave her. The oldest, about eight years old, said his name was John Tully, and his brother, five years old, Abra- ham. His mother had an infant, but he saw the Indians dash its brains out against a tree, then killed his father and mother. Because he cried they took him by his hair, and cut a small piece from his head, which was a running sore when he was retaken. Col. Snelling took John into his family, Major Clark the other, but he was afterwards sent to an orphan asylum in New York. The eldest died of lockjaw, occasioned by a cut in the ankle while using an axe. His death-bed conversion was affecting and remark- able. One day, after he had been ill several weeks, he said, ' Mrs. Snel- ling, I have been a very wicked boy ; I once tried to poison my father be- cause he said he would whip me. I 334 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. It was during this year that it was demonstrated that it was practicable to navigate the Mississippi from St. Louis to the junction of the Minnesota river. Pre- viously it had been supposed that the rapids at Rock Island would prove an insurmountable barrier. On the second of May, according to a printed announce- ment, the Virginia, a steamer one hundred and eighteen feet in length and twenty-two in width, drawing six feet of water, left her moorings at the St. Louis levee destined for Fort Snelling. Among the passengers were Major Taliaferro, the agent of the Dahkotahs; Beltrami, an Italian Count, once a judge of the Royal Court, then a political refu- gee j 1 Great Eagle, a Sauk chief, returning to his stole a ring from you which you valued much, and sold it to a soldier, and then I told you a lie about it. I have given you a great deal of trouble. I have been very wicked. I am going to die the day after to- morrow, and don't know where I shall go. Oh, pray for me.' " His benefactress answered, 'John, God will forgive you, if you repent ; but you must pray too, for yourself. God is more willing to hear than we are to pray. Christ died to save just such a sinner as you are, and you must call upon that Saviour to save you/ All his sins appeared to rise before him as he confessed them, and he seemed to feel that he was too great a sinner to hope for pardon. Mrs. Snelling read to him, and in- structed him. He never had re- ceived any religious instruction, ex- cept in the Sunday school taught by Mrs. Clark and herself, and being accustomed to say his prayers with her children, and always be present when she read the church service on Sundays. The next morning after the above conversation, when she asked him how he had rested during the night, he said, 'I prayed very often in the night ; I shall die to* morrow, and I know not what shall become of me.' For several hours he remained tranquil, with his eyes closed, but would answer whenever spoken to ; then suddenly he ex- claimed, 'Glory! glory!' His friend said, 'John, what do you mean by that word ?' ' Oh ! Mrs. Snelling, I feel so good — I feel so good ! Oh ! I cannot tell you how good I feel.' " — Mrs. Snelling's Reminiscences in " Pioneer Women of the West." 1 " An Italian gentleman came on the boat, who professed to be travel- ling for the purpose of writing a book, and brought letters of introduction from Mrs. Snelling's friends in St. Louis. The colonel FIRST STEAMBOAT ON UPPER MISSISSIPPI. 335 village from a conference with Governor Clark ; and a family from Kentucky, with their children, guns, chests, cats, dogs, and chickens, emigrating to Galena, which was then the extreme frontier. At Dubuque, the In- dians held possession of their mines, and watched all who visited them with a jealous eye. After the steamer had passed the mouth of the Upper Iowa, a grand illumination greeted the appearance of the " great fire canoe," as it glided along the confines of Minnesota. An eye-witness writes: "It was per- fectly dark, and we were at the mouth of the river Ioway, when we saw at a great distance all the com- bined images of the infernal regions in full perfection. I was on the point of exclaiming with Michael Angelo, 6 How terrible ! but yet how beautiful !' invited him to his house to remain as long as he pleased, and he was with them several months. He could not speak English, but spoke French fluently, and seemed much pleased when he found his fair hostess could speak the language, she having learned it when a child at St. Louis. A French school was the first she ever attended, and she thus early acquired a perfectly cor- rect pronunciation. She lamented on one oceasion to Mr. Beltrami, that her teacher had received his discharge, and was about leaving, and he politely offered his services in that capacity. She was then translating the life of Caesar in an abridged form, and from the emotion betrayed by the foreigner at a por- tion of the reading, it was concluded he had been banished from the Pope's dominions at Rome, and that the lesson reminded him of his mis- fortunes. The passport he showed, gave him the title of ' Le Chevalier Count Beltrami/ "When at the fort he was busy in collecting Indian curiosities. One day he brought a Sioux chief into Mrs. Snelling's room, who had on his neck a necklace of bears' claws highly polished, saying, ' I cannot tempt this chief to part with his necklace ; pray see what you can do with him, he will not refuse you.' ' He wears it/ answered the lady, as a trophy of his prowess, and a badge of honour ; however, I will try/ After some time, Wanata said, ' On one condition I will consent : if you will cut off your hair, braid it, and let it take the place of mine, you may have the necklace/ All laugh- ed heartily at the contrivance to gel rid of further importunity." — Mrs. Snelling's Reminiscences in " Pio- neer Women of the West." 336 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. "The venerable trees of these eternal forests were on fire, which had communicated to the grass and brushwood, and these had been borne by a violent north- west wind to the adjacent plains and valleys. The flames towering above the tops of the hills where the wind raged with most violence, gave them the appear- ance of volcanoes at the moment of their most terrific eruptions ; and the fire, winding in its descent through places covered with grass, exhibited an exact resem- blance to the undulating lava of Etna or Vesuvius. Almost all night we travelled by the light of this su- perb torch." The arrival of the Virginia at Mendota, is an era in the history of the Dahkotah nation, and will probably be transmitted to their posterity as long as they exist as a people. They say that some of their sacred men, the night before, dreamed of seeing some monster of the waters, which frightened them very much. As the boat neared the shore, men, women, and children beheld with silent astonishment, supposing that it was some enormous water spirit coughing, puff- ing out hot breath, and splashing water in every direc- tion. When it touched the landing their fears prevailed, and they retreated some distance, but when the blowing off of steam commenced they were completely unnerved : mothers forgetting their children, with streaming hair, sought hiding-places ; chiefs, renouncing their stoicism, scampered away like affrighted animals. The peace agreement between the Ojibways and Dahkotahs, made through the influence of Governor Cass, was of brief duration, the latter being the first to violate the provisions. TALIAFERRO, UNITED STATES AGENT FOR DAHKOTAHS. 337 On the fourth of June, Taliaferro, 1 the Indian agent among the Dahkotahs, took advantage of the presence of a large number of Ojibways to renew the agreement for the cessation of hostilities. The council hall of the agent was a large room of logs, in which waved con- spicuously the flag of the United States, surrounded by 1 Mr. Taliaferro was the first Indian asent in Minnesota, and what is re- markable, he held the office for twenty-one years. Having left the country in 1840, he visited it in 1856, and contributed the annexed reminis- cences to the Pioneer and Democrat newspaper, published at St. Paul : — "It may not be deemed out of place at this period in the rapid and un- precedented growth of cities, towns, hamlets, and population in Minne- sota, to refer to, and present date in reference to some of the historical reminiscences of the past. " There were two expeditions or- ganized — that for the ' Yellow Stone,' in 1818, under Colonel Atkinson, and the second in 1819, under Lieu- tenant-Colonel Leavenworth, of the Fifth Infantry, to the Falls of St. Anthony, which latter expedition cantoned at the entry of the river St. Peter's, and their first monthly report was dated September thirtieth, 1819. The object of these military move- ments during the administration of President Monroe, was to open the country to the fur trade, and extend protection to our hitherto defenceless frontiers, north and west. Your hum- ble writer was selected by the presi- dent from the army, on the twenty- seventh of March, 1819, and appoint- ed the pioneer Agent for Indian Af- 22 fairs for the North-west, and estab- lished his agency near the Minnesota, , and continued his arduous, delicate, and responsible duties under several successive administrations of the Ge- neral Government, down to the year 1840, when — though appointed for the sixth term — he declined longer ser- vice, from a rapid decline in health. " In the summer of the year 1820, Colonel Snellingrelieved Lieutenant- Colonel Leavenworth from the com- mand of what was then called ' Fort St. Anthony,' though not a stone had been set for the permanent work. This was left for the action of the gallant Snelling, who, as acting As- sistant Quartermaster, set all hands at work, and laid the corner stone of Fort Snelling on the tenth day of September, 1820, with due ceremo- nies, in presence of the civil and military officers of the post and several citizens. It is known that in 1805, Pike procured from the Sioux (the chief, 'Little Crow' being present) a cession of nine by eighteen miles, wintered his men below the Sauk Rapids, and returned to St. Louis in the spring of 1806. In excavating the foundation of the circular battery in rear of the com- manding officer's quarters, at the foot of a small oak tree, a workman found a black bottle, and upon being 338 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. British colouis and medals that had been delivered up from time to time by Indian chiefs. Among the Dahkotah chiefs present were Wapashaw, Little Crow, and Penneshaw ; of the Ojibways there were Kendouswa, Moshomene, and Pasheskonoepe. After mutual accusations and excuses concerning the placed in the hands of Colonel Snelling it was found to contain a 'synopsis of the grant made to the United States by the Indians. "To recount all those thrilling inci- dents, which occurred in the course of the first twenty-one years on this then remote frontier, would fill a vol- ume from our seventeen manuscript journals, in the hands of a ready wri- ter. We would remark upon the ever memorable days the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth of May, 1827, when the Sioux, shortly after night- fall, fired into the lodges of a party of Chippewas encamped below, and in front of the Agency, killing and wounding some eight or nine — and for this unprovoked attack we caused the offenders to be forthwith given up for this outrage, and insult to our flag and neutrality — and four Sioux were shot, within two hundred paces from the spot on which we now pen this sketch of facts. " We thought nothing of taking a crew of brave Medawakantons, with Mr. Alexander Farribault as a com- panion, and passing down to Du- buque, and rescuing a Yankton Sioux prisoner the Sacs and Foxes had captured in 1823, — performing this act of humanity in a few days ; evad- ing the vigilance of a party of the Sac brakes despatched to intercept and cut us off. It was a dangerous effort, but we determined to risk our lives to save that of a human being, and we landed safely at St. Peter's, and in due season, despatched her off safely to her friends and family on the Des Moines. " Some are curious to learn how certain locations received designated names. Minnehaha was first indi- cated as the Little Falls, then as Brown's Falls, in honour of Major General Brown. Lake Calhoun for the distinguished Secretary at the head of the War Department, and other smaller lakes, Harriet, Eliza, Abigail, Lucy, &c, after the ladies of the civil and military officers of the post. " The first measured distance from Fort Snelling to Fort Crawford (Prairie du Chien), was measured in February, 1822, by Quartermaster Sergeant Heckle, with a perambula- tor on a wheel, which reported the distance by a sharp crackling every few hundred yards ; it was invented by this good old German soldier. The distance was 204 miles. " Could we write without the use of the personal pronoun, a more con- nected history of former years might be noted; but in conclusion, it is due the Sioux of your territory to record one fact as to them, and that is, from "FLAT MOUTH" AT FOR^T SNELLING. 339 infraction of the previous treaty, the Dahkotahs lighted the calumet, they having been the first to infringe upon the agreement of 1820. After smoking, and passing the pipe of peace to the Ojibways, who passed through the same formalities, they all shook hands as a pledge of renewed amity. The morning after the council, Flat Mouth, the dis- tinguished Ojibway chief, arrived, who had left his lodge vowing that he would never be at peace with the Dah- kotahs. As he stepped from his canoe, Penneshaw held out his hand, but was repulsed with scorn. The Dah- kotah warrior immediately gave the alarm, and in a moment runners were on their way to the neighbour- ing villages to raise a war party. On the sixth of June, the Dahkotahs had assembled, stripped for a fight, and surrounded the Ojibways. The latter, expecting the worst, concealed their women and children behind the old barracks which had been used by the troops while the fort was being erected. At the solicitation of the agent and commander of the fort, the Dahkotahs desisted from an attack and retired. On the seventh, the Ojibways left for their homes ; but, in a few hours, while they were making a portage at St. Anthony, they were again approached by the the commencement of our agency to twenty-fourth of June, the ■ widow's its close, our frontier pioneers were son' was Irving's Rip Van Winkle ; never even molested in their homes, after a nap of fifteen years, we awoke nor did they shed one drop of Araer- in the midst of fast times. We ican blood; while the Chippewas, truly felt bewildered when we found Winnebagoes, and Sacs and Foxes, all the haunts and resting-places of were in the yearly habit of the most the once noble sons of the forest, revolting and foul murders on all covered by cities, towns, and hamlets, who unfortunately fell in their war We asked but few questions, being path. to our mind received as a strange •'We were in St. Paul on the animal, if nothing worse." 340 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Dahkotahs, who would have attacked them, if a detach- ment of troops had not arrived from the fort. A rumour reaching Penneshaw's village that he had been killed at the falls, his mother seized an Ojibway maiden, who had been a captive from infancy, and, with a tomahawk, cut her in two. Upon the return of the son in safety he was much gratified at what he con- sidered the prowess of his parent. LONG'S EXPLORATION OF MINNESOTA RIVER. 341 CHAPTER XVII. The interesting information procured by the expedi- tion of Lewis and Clarke to the tributaries of the Mis- souri and Rocky Mountains, and that of Governor Cass through the north-eastern district of Minnesota, induced the United States government to send an expedition to explore the Minnesota river, and the country situated on the northern boundary of the United States between the Red river of Hudson's Bay, and Lake Superior. The command of the expedition was intrusted to Major Stephen H. Long, and the scientific corps attached were Thomas Say, zoologist and antiquary, William H. Keating, mineralogist and geologist, Samuel Sey- mour, landscape painter and designer. Late at night, on the second of July, 1823, they arrived at Mendota opposite the fort, and slept in the open air. On the morning of the third, Colonel Snelling and the five companies of the 5th Infantry, within the fort, were much surprised by the appearance of the exploring party ; and, on the afternoon of the ninth of July, they commenced the exploration of the valley of the Min- nesota. Joseph Renville, a bois brule, after whom one of the counties of the state is named, acted as interpreter and ."542 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. guide ; and Joseph* a son of Colonel Snelling, was assistant interpreter, and Beltrami, the Italian refugee, was permitted to accompany the party. To make the examination as accurate as possible, a portion proceeded by land, and a portion in canoes. On the first evening the river detachment encamped near Oanoska, the vil- lage known as Black Dog's. The next morning they breakfasted at Penneshaw's. At dinner time they were at Shokpay, called by the French Prairie des Franc, ais ; this, as well as the other villages, was tenantless, the inhabitants being absent on a hunt. On the fourteenth, at Traverse des Sioux, the land and river detachments met, and after a reduction of the number of soldiers they united and proceeded by land, having in possession twenty-one horses. They travelled on the south side of the Minnesota, and at the mouth of the Mahkahto passed the residence of the Sissetoan band, one of whose number, in 1820, had been sent to St. Louis to be tried for murdering a white man. On the twenty-second they arrived at Big Stone Lake, which is considered the source of the Minnesota. Fol- lowing up the bed of a dried-up stream, they found Lake Traverse, three miles distant. Here they were impressed by beholding within sight the sources of two vast streams, the one discharging its waters in Hudson's Bay, the other in the Gulf of Mexico. At Big Stone Lake, for the first time since leaving the fort, they dis- covered a large party of Dahkotahs, and, by invitation, the expedition visited their lodges at the lower end of the lake. Upon an island in the lake this band culti- vated corn. After being feasted, the party proceeded in the afternoon to a trading post of the American Fur Company, in charge of Mr. Mooers, where presents of * Appendix N WAHNAHTAH'S APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER. 343 tobacco were distributed. The traders of the Columbia Fur Company, at Lake Traverse, received the party with a salute, and exhibited the most hospitable dis- position. Keating, the historian of the expedition, remarks : — " The principal interest which we experienced in the neighbourhood of Lake Travers, was from an acquaint- ance with Wanotan, 1 the most distinguished chief of the Yanktoanan tribe, which, as we were informed, is sub- divided into six bands. He is one of the greatest men of the Dahkotah nation, and although but twenty-eight years of age, he has already acquired great renown as a warrior. At the early age of eighteen, he exhibited much valour in the war against the Americans, and was wounded several times. He was then inexperi- enced and served under his father, who was chief of his tribe, and bore a mortal enmity to the Americans. Wanotan has since learned to form a better estimate of our nation. He is aware that it is the interest of his people to remain at peace with us, and would, probably, in case of another war between the United States and England, take part with the former. Those who know him well, commend his sagacity and judgment, as well as his valour. He is a tall man, being upwards of six feet high ; his countenance would be esteemed hand- some in any country; his features being regular and well shaped. There is an intelligence that beams through his eye, which is not the usual concomitant of Indian features. His manners are dignified and re- served ; his attitudes are graceful and easy, though they appear to be somewhat studied. When speaking of the 1 This chief 8 name is spelled Wahnahtah, Wanata, Wanotan. 344 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Dahkotahs, we purposely postponed mentioning the fre- quent vows which they make, and their strict adherence to them, because, one of the best evidences which we have collected on this point, connects itself with the character of Wanotan, and may give a favourable idea of his extreme fortitude in enduring pain. In the sum- mer of 1822, he undertook a journey, from which, ap- prehending much danger on the part of the Chippewas, he made a vow to the Sun, that, if he returned safe, he would abstain from all food or drink, for the space of four successive days and nights, and that he would dis- tribute among his people all the property which he pos- sessed, including all his lodges, horses, dogs, etc. On his return, which happened without accident, he celebrated the dance of the Sun; this consisted in making three cuts through his skin, one on his breast, and one on each of his arms. The skin was cut in the manner of a loop, so as to permit a rope to pass under the strip of skin and flesh which was thus divided from the body. The ropes being passed through, their ends were secured to a tall vertical pole, planted at about forty yards from his lodge. He then began to dance round this pole, at the commencement of his fast, frequently swinging him- self in the air, so as to be supported merely by the cords which were secured to the strips of skin cut off from his arms and breast. He continued this exercise with few intermissions, during the whole of his fast, until the fourth day about ten o'clock, A. M., when the strip of skin from his breast gave way. Notwithstanding which, he interrupted not his dance, although supported merely by his arms. At noon the strip from his left arm snapped off. His uncle then thought that he had suf- fered enough ; he drew his knife and cut orT the skin WAHNAHTAH'S SUN DANCE. d45 from his right arm, upon which Wanotan fell to the ground and swooned. The heat at the time was ex- treme. He was left exposed in that state to the sun until night, when his friends brought him some pro- visions. After the ceremony was over, he distributed to them the whole of his property, among which were five fine horses, and he and his two squaws left his lodge, abandoning every article of their furniture. " As we appeared upon the brow of the hill which commands the company's fort, a salute was fired from a number of Indian tents which were pitched in the vi- cinity, from the largest of which the American colours were flying. And as soon as we had dismounted from our horses, we received an invitation to a feast which Wanotan had prepared for us. The gentlemen of the company informed us that as soon as the Indians had heard of our contemplated visit, they had commenced their preparations for a festival, and that they had killed three of their dogs. We repaired to a sort of pavilion which they had erected by the union of several large skin lodges. Fine buffalo robes were spread all around, and the air was perfumed by the odour of sweet scent- ing grass which had been burned in it. On entering the lodge we saw the chief seated near the further end of it, and one of his principal men pointed out to us the place which was destined for our accommodation : it was at the upper end of the lodge ; the Indians who were in it taking no further notice of us. These con- sisted of the chief, his son, a lad about eight years old, and eight or ten of the principal warriors. The chief's dress presented a mixture of the European and abori- ginal costume ; he wore moccasins and leggings of splen- did scarlet cloth, a blue breech-cloth, a fine shirt of 346 HTSTORY OF MINNESOTA. printed muslin, over this a frock coat of fine blue cloth with scarlet facings, somewhat similar to the undress uniform coat of a Prussian officer ; this was buttoned and secured round his waist by a belt. Upon his head he wore a blue cloth cap, made like a German fatigue cap. A very handsome Mackinaw blanket, slightly orna- mented with paint, was thrown over his person. His son, whose features strongly favoured those of his father, wore a dress somewhat similar, except that his coat was party- coloured, one half being made of blue, and the other half of scarlet cloth. He w r ore a round hat, with a plated silver band, and a large cockade. From his neck were suspended several silver medals, doubtless presents to his father. This lad appeared to be a great favourite of Wanotan's, who seems to indulge him more than is customary for the Indians to do. As soon as we had taken our seats, the chief passed his pipe round, and while we were engaged in smoking, two of the In- dians arose and uncovered the large kettles which were standing over the fire, they emptied their contents into a dozen of wooden dishes which were placed all round the lodge. These consisted of buffalo meat boiled with tepsin, also the same vegetable boiled without the meat, in buffalo grease, and finally, the much esteemed dog meat, all which were dressed without salt. In compli- ance with the established usage of travellers to taste of everything, we all partook of the latter with a mixed feeling of curiosity and reluctance. Could we have divested ourselves entirely of the prejudices of educa- tion, we should doubtless have unhesitatingly acknow- ledged this to be among the best meat that we had ever eaten. It was remarkably fat, was sweet and palatable. It had none of that dry, stringy character, which we MAJOR LONG RELISHES DOG MEAT. 347 had expected to find in it, and it was entirely destitute of the strong taste which we had apprehended that it possessed. It was not an unusual appetite, or the want of good meat to compare with it, which led us to form this favourable opinion of the dog, for we had, on the same dish, the best meat which our prairies afford ; but so strongly rooted are the prejudices of education, that, though we all unaffectedly admitted the excellence of this food, yet few of us could be induced to eat much of it. We were warned by our trading friends that the bones of this animal are treated with great respect by the Dahkotahs ; we therefore took great care to replace them in the dishes; and we are informed that, after such a feast is concluded, the bones are carefully col- lected, the flesh scraped off from them, and that, after being washed, they are buried in the ground, partly, as it is said, to testify to the dog species, that in feasting upon one of their number, no disrespect was meant to the species itself; and partly also from a belief that the bones of the animal will rise and reproduce another one. The meat of this animal, as we saw it, was thought to resemble that of the finest Welsh mutton, except that it was of a much darker colour. Having so far overcome our repugnance as to taste of it, we no longer wonder that the dog should be considered a dainty dish by those in whom education has not created a prejudice against this flesh. In China it is said that fattened pups are frequently sold in the market place ; and it appears that the invitation to a feast of dog meat is the greatest distinction that can be offered to a stranger by any of the Indian nations east of the Rocky Mountains." On the morning of the fifth of August, the expedi- 348 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. tion arrived at Pembina, a corruption of Anepeminan, an Ojibway word, 1 and were kindly received by Mr. Nolen. This had been the upper settlement of the Selkirk colony, and the Hudson Bay Company had maintained a post here until a few months before the visit of Major Long. Observations made by their own astronomers, led to the supposition that it was within the American boundary line. At the time of the ex- ploration, there were about three hundred and fifty half- breeds residing in fifty or sixty log huts. The next day after the arrival of the expedition, the buffalo hunters returned from the chase. " The proces- sion consisted of one hundred and fifteen carts, each loaded with about eight hundred pounds of the finest buffalo meat ; there were three hundred persons includ- ing the women." The number of horses was about two hundred. Twenty hunters mounted on their best steeds rode in abreast, firing a salute as they passed the Ame- rican camp. Major Long and his party remained several days, de- termining the boundary line of the United States. " A flag-staff was planted, which after a series of observations, made during four days, was determined to be in latitude 48° 59' 57i", north. The distance to the boundary line was measured off, and an oak post fixed on it, bearing on the north side the letters G. B., and on the south side those of U. S." On the eighth of August the United States flag was hoisted on the staff, a national salute fired, and a pro- clamation made in the presence of all the inhabitants, that all the country on the Red river, above that point, 1 Pronounced as if written Pembin- known to botanists as Viburnim naw. Anepeminan, is a red berry, oxycoccos. JOHN TANNER SHOT. 349 was within the territory of the United States. As far as practicable the expedition commenced their return, along the northern boundary line of what is now Min- nesota. At Eainy Lake they found John Tanner, of whom mention has been made in another chapter, and the father of that erratic bois brule James Tanner, so well known to the older residents of Minnesota, severely wounded, and in a tent attended by two half-breed daughters. An Indian had shot him, and the ball had passed through the right arm and breast. At his re- quest he was transferred to the camp of the expedition. The evening preceding the departure from Eainy Lake, his daughters went over to the Hudson Bay trading- post, to visit an old half-breed woman ; but they never returned. All efforts to find them were unavailing, and the father, who was taking them to Mackinaw, to attend a mission school, seemed much distressed. After travel- ling a few miles with the party, the pain from his wounds was so great, that it was necessary to leave him in the care of one of the employees of the trading-post. It is a little remarkable that Tanner should also have disap- peared as mysteriously as his daughters. 1 At Pembina, Joseph Snelling left the expedition and returned to the fort, his services as interpreter not being needed beyond that point. Beltrami, the Italian, who had become obnoxious, also detached himself, and conceived the bold project of striking for the most northern point of the Mississippi river. With a " bois brule," a mule, dog train, and two 1 It is said that, on the day Mr. and Tanner disappeared. If rightly Schoolcraft's brother was found informed, he had not long before killed at Sault St. Marie, the log threatened Mr. Schoolcraft, cabin of Tanner was burned down, 350 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Ojibways who were going to Red Lake to raise a war party to avenge the death of a companion who had been murdered by the Dahkotahs, he commenced his adven- turous journey. On the fifth day they arrived at Thief river, so called, it is said, from a Dahkotah who for years lurked in the marshes, robbing and scalping his foes as they would pass alone. At this point the half-breed returned with the mule and train to Pembina ; and the Italian, finding no trading post here as anticipated, was obliged to pro- ceed with the two Ojibways. There is much egotism and gasconade in the writings of Beltrami, but it cannot be denied that the Italian was the first to make known to the world the most northern source of the Mississippi, and the region around Red Lake. As the work written by this foreigner is little known, and not accessible to the general reader, large extracts will be given from his letters to a lady whom he addresses as the Countess : — " I had been informed at Pembenar that a number of Bois-bruiles had proceeded to this confluence in order to erect huts for their winter-hunting establishment, and that some one of them would certainly be able to accom- pany me, and act as my interpreter, as far as Red Lake ; and, if I desired it, still farther; but we found none there. The Cypowais had driven them away, as we were informed by one of the latter, and they were gone to establish themselves about a hundred miles lower down. On the other hand, my interpreter from Pem- benar could not possibly continue with me : besides his having to conduct back the mule, other powerful reasons operated to prevent him. I was therefore compelled to BELTRAMI VISITS RED LAKE. 351 decide ; and I delivered myself over to the care of my two Indians. " We had not again proceeded up the river more than two miles before they stopped, and presented an offering of dry provisions and tobacco to Miciliki, the Manitou of Waters. This was a stake painted red, and fixed under a kind of sacellum, like those of anti- quity, and the ceremony is by no means modern. They were, for this once, more generous towards their deities than Indians in such circumstances generally are : the reason is, that their offering was at my expense. " The frequent rapids which we had met with in the course of five or six miles, and which had compelled us to walk continually in the water, and over pointed and cutting rocks, in order to preserve our canoe from injury, had very much fatigued us, and our appetite also induced us to make a halt : we accordingly did so, and, after eating my repast, I went to sleep beneath a tree, recommending myself to the care of Providence. " I was awakened by discharges of fire-arms, and, on starting up, perceived five or six Indians on the oppo- site bank of the river, apparently desirous to cross it. On seeing me they seemed struck with astonishment and terror, and fled with precipitation ; one of our In- dians was wounded. Those who had fired at them were Sioux. I was already known among the Indians of that nation as the Tonka- Wasci-cio-honsca, or the Great Chief from a far country ; and my tall stature and noble horse had rendered me the more remarked by them, as these are two things of which they are extreme admirers. When they again saw me on this spot, they concluded that the whole expedition was there, and lied with all haste for fear of being recog- 352 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. nised. This was the idea that first presented itself to my mind, and I instantly acted upon it. We jumped immediately into our canoe ; I performed to the best of my power the labours of the wounded Indian, who had his left arm shot completely through, and his right shoulder grazed. The ball, however, had not touched the bone of the arm, and the wound in the shoulder had injured only the integuments. The juice of some boiled roots was applied as the healing balsam; the down of a swan-skin, which I had purchased at Pem- benar, was substituted for lint, my handkerchief served for a bandage, and the bark of a tree called owigobinigy, or white wood, answered the purpose of securing the arm in a sling. We kept on our course till evening, and saw nothing more of them. " My intrepid champions saw nothing but Sioux. The slightest sound from wind or water, the shadow of a tree or of a rock, everything was the Sioux. I disco- vered that they were plotting against me, for they care- fully avoided my looks. I had not the slightest doubt that they meant to leave me on the spot, and deter- mined therefore to make them re-embark, it being more easy to guard them in the canoe. About midnight we stopped. I had but little to fear, being left without my canoe, for I was already well aware that their intention must be to continue their course by land, by a route which would conduct them in two or three days to Eed Lake ; whereas, were they to proceed by the river they would require more than six. However, I considered that no precaution ought to be neglected by me ; I therefore drew the canoe to land, and fastened it to a tree by a cord, one end of which I tied to my leg, and then laid myself down by the side of them in such a BELTRAMI DESERTED BY INDIAN GUIDES. 353 manner that they could not rise, even if I should be able to sleep, without waking me. These precautions, and my musket and my sword between my legs, ready tor immediate use, kept them quiet the whole night. " On the following morning they embarked withou. difficulty. But this was only with a view of reaching a certain point, whence the route by land was shorter. I might have used violence against them if I had chosen, for certainly I had no fear of them ; I had even taken the precaution of putting water into their musket barrels : but I should only have exasperated their nation, in a territory where it was now absolute and despotic, and where I could expect no assistance but from my own energies and the care of Providence ; I therefore suffered them quietly to go off. They intimated to me, what I was before well aware of, that they were going to leave me. They invited me to follow them, and to leave the canoe, provisions, and baggage, concealed in the brush- wood. I deliberated with myself on the subject for a moment : I considered that the river was my best and surest way, that I was in possession of a canoe, provi- sions, a musket, a sword, and ammunition ; whereas, by accepting their invitation, I should be following barba- rians who had the cowardice to abandon a stranger, con- fided to their guardianship at Pembenar by their most intimate friends, one who had treated them as brothers, saved them from the hands of the enemy, healed their wxmncls, and assisted them kindly with all his means. I should, with wretches of this description, be exposing myself in inextricable forests, in the midst of swamps and lakes, and abandoning to the mercy of a thousand accidents, my baggage, my provisions, and materials for the presents, which are indispensable passports through 23 354 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. a savage country. My determination, therefore, was soon fixed : after having vainly endeavoured to make them comprehend that both Manitous and men would punish such atrocity, I commanded them by words and signs peremptorily to be gone. " I imagine, my dear Countess, that you will feel the ^rightfulness of my situation at this critical moment more strongly than I can express it. I really can scarcely help shuddering, as well as yourself, whenever I think of it. Fortunately, I was not at the time over- powered and confounded. Woe be to us, if in exigen- cies like this, despair takes possession of our minds. In that case all is completely over with us ! * * "The solitude I now experienced, which romance- writers would not have found so pleasant and delightful as that which they have been pleased to exhibit in their fictions, impressed me at first with ideas the most dread- ful. I must, said I to myself, leave this place some way or other ; and I jumped into my canoe and began row- ing. But I was totally unacquainted with the almost magical art by which a single person guides a canoe, and particularly a canoe formed of bark, the lightness of which is overpowered by the current, and the con- duct of which requires extreme dexterity. Frequently, instead of proceeding up the river, I descended ; a cir- cumstance which by no means shortened my voyage. Renewed efforts made me lose my equilibrium, the canoe upset, and admitted a considerable quantity of water. My whole cargo was wetted. I leaped into the water, drew the canoe on land, and laid it to drain with the keel upwards. I .then loaded it again, taking care to place the wetted part of my effects uppermost, to be dried by the sun. I then resumed my route. BELTRAMI'S EMBARRASSMENTS. 355 " You sympathize with the embarrassment in which you conceive I must have been involved, with all my difficulties and want of means for continuing my course. I bore all, however, with great philosophy, and with a resignation which I believe you will readily admit is not very natural to me. I could scarcely help inces- santly smiling. I threw myself into the water up to my waist, and commenced a promenade of a rather un- usual kind, drawing the canoe after me with a thong from a buffalo's hide, which I had fastened to the prow. The first day of my expedition, the fifteenth of the month, was employed in this manner, and I did not stop till the evening. ****** " The weather on the second day of my progress was very disagreeable. A storm which commenced before mid-day continued till night. Notwithstanding this, however, I did not relax an instant but to take my food. I saw the hand of providence in the physical and moral vigour which supported me during this dreadful conflict. In the evening I had no access to a more com- fortable hearth than on the preceding one. My bear skin and my coverlid, which constituted the whole of my bed, were completely soaked ; and, what was worse, the mould began to affect my provisions. I was almost tempted to think that it was all over with my pro- menades, and that I began to travel, and that not very comfortably. " On the morning of the seventeenth of August, the sun's beams gilded the awful solitude by which I was surrounded, and I eagerly availed myself of their in- fluence. I laid out my provisions, baggage, gun, and sword, and stretched myself also at full length under his rays. The powder, which had fortunately been 35b HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. closely confined in tin canisters, was the only thing that escaped the water. " Necessity makes man industrious, and the necessity I was now under to become so, was great indeed, as otherwise it was impossible for me to continue my pro- gress. The river became narrower and deeper the farther I ascended it, as is the case with all rivers origi- nating in lakes. It was thus absolutely indispensable for me to learn how to guide the canoe with the oar. I set myself, therefore, to study this art in good earnest ; and in the afternoon, when I struck my tent, I exerted myself first to pass several deep gulfs, and afterwards to traverse short stages or distances of the river ; but the fatigue I endured was extreme, and I preferred re- turning to my drag-rope whenever the river permitted my walking in it. As appearances seemed to threaten rain, I covered my effects with my umbrella, stuck into the bottom of my canoe. It was singular enough to see them conveyed thus in the stately style and manner of China, while I was myself condemned to travel in that of a galley slave ; nor could I help reflecting on those unfortunate victims of despotism which the resto- ration has condemned to drag the vessels on the Dan- ube. As it was of consequence for me to avail myself of everything that could promote cheerfulness and keep up my spirits, I could not help smiling, which I am sure, my dear Countess, you would yourself have done, at the sight of my grotesque convoy. * . * ■ * " The morning of the eighteenth awakened me to my active duties, and I proceeded in my course ; and before mid-day fell in with two canoes of Indians. Being alone in a canoe of their nation, with three muskets (for those of my two Indians were in my possession), I INDIANS' ASTONISHMENT AT UMBRELLA. 357 might naturally have been apprehensive of exciting their most dangerous suspicions. But, heaven be praised, I entertained no apprehension whatever. I called to them with confidence, while they, struck with wonder at so extraordinary an object, halted on the opposite bank of the river. What astonished them most was my superbly conveyed baggage. They could form no idea of what that great red shin (my umbrella) could possibly be, nor of what was placed beneath it; and, observing me walking in the water, they perhaps ima- gined me to be their Miciliki. ***** " I made them comprehend what had occurred to me, and that I wanted one of them to accompany me as far as Ked Lake. At first they started immense difficul- ties ; but a woman was captivated by the beauty of my handkerchief, which was hanging from my pocket ; a lad was fascinated with the one I had about my neck, and an old man muffled up in a miserable ragged rug, which through its innumerable holes displayed nearly one-half of his person, had already cast his rapacious glance on mine ; pretending to search for something in my portmanteau, a bit of calico which casually came to hand excited the full gaze of one of the young girls ; and my provisions, which they had already tasted, strongly stimulated their gormandizing appetite : I satis- fied the whole of them, and the old man decided to accept my proposal. He took the helm of my vessel, and we set off. " This assistance extricated me from a situation which certainly was by no means pleasant, and it was so much the more valuable, as it would have been impossible for me to proceed alone, because the river was constantly increasing in depth. Notwithstanding this, however. 358 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. my mind was in a state of incessant agitation as I pro- ceeded, and I perceived its attention completely occu- pied about something which it left behind it with regret. It was no difficult matter for me to detect this secret. My mind was, in fact, adverting to the four days of its solitude and independence. I, at that moment, fully comprehended why the Indians consider themselves happier than cultivated nations, and far superior to them. "It is difficult to meet with a rower as strong as my patriarchal companion, and we advanced at a rapid rate, without stopping, till the evening. Our table was fur- nished with a couple of ducks : I had fire to make a roast, and I shot them accordingly. Though my bed was without a coverlid (the cunning old fellow having left in his own canoe the one which I had given him), yet wrapping myself, like the Indians, in the skin I wore about me, I lay down to rest very comfortably. In the course of the night I was waked by my caution- ary cord ; and, at first, I imagined that my pilot was also going to desert me, but ,it turned out to be occa- sioned by some large animal who had taken a fancy to my provisions. I gently seized my gun, which I always keep at my side, and in an instant brought him down. " My Indian, confounded by the report of fire-arms, thought he had been attacked by the Sioux, about whom, not improbably, he had been dreaming, and im- mediately betook himself to flight. I called out to him, I ran towards him to convince him of his error and restore his confidence, but the forest and darkness con- cealed him from my view, and thus in a moment my solitude and independence were renewed. However, I ARRIVAL AT RED LAKE. 359 could still have smiled at the adventure, if such an expression of feeling had been at all seasonable. " I waited for him in vain for the remainder of the night, Two discharges of the gun, however, which I fired off immediately, one after the other (considered by them as a signal of friendship) , brought him back to his quarters with the dawn of day. " We searched for the animal I had fired at, which it seems retained strength sufficient to drag itself to a few paces distance among the brushwood, to which traces of blood guided us ; it proved to be a wolf. My com- panion refused to strip the animal of its skin, a superb one, viewing it at the same time with an air of respect, and murmuring within himself some words, the mean- ing of which will probably surprise you. In fact, the wolf was his Manitou. He expressed to it the sincerity of his regret for what had happened, and informed it that he was not the person who had destroyed it. a 0n the 19th, my Mentor wanted to play me the trick of handing me over to the charge of another Indian whom he fell in with ; but I gave him a frown, and he went on with me. We again made a good day's progress, to which I contributed by rowing to the best of my ability. " Night arrived without his pausing in his exertions. He gave me to understand that it was indispensable for him to reach the destined place without delay, and appeared excessively eager to rejoin his canoes. " Much fatigued, and shivering under a cold moist air, with which the night-dews in this country pierce to the very bones, I lay down under my bear skin to sleep. A distant sound awoke me, and I found myself alone in my canoe, in the midst of rushes. On turning my head, 360 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. I observed three or four torches approaching me. My imagination had at first transported me to the enchanted land of fairies, and I was in motionless expectation of receiving a visit from their ladyships, or of being ad- dressed, like Telemachus, by the nymphs. They proved, however, to be female Indians, who came to convey my effects, and to guide me to their hut. My Charon, who from purgatory had conducted me to Hell, had applied to them for this purpose, and then hastened his return to his family, who were waiting for him where he first met with me. I was now at Red Lake, at the marshy spot whence the river springs, and about a mile from an Indian encampment. " I was conducted to a hut covered with the bark of trees, like those which I have already described to you as belonging to the Cypowais, but on a larger scale. I there found fourteen Indians, male and female, nineteen dogs, and a wolf. The latter was the first to do the honours of the house ; however, as he was fastened, he could not attack me so effectively as he was evidently desirous of doing, and merely tore my pantaloons, which were, indeed, the only pair I had still serviceable. This wolf was one of their household gods. " The first two of the Indians that my eyes glanced on were my former treacherous companions : I appeared not to observe them. I desired the women to hang up my provisions to the posts which supported the roof, to preserve them from the voracity of the dogs ; and, not having any power to help myself, I lay down in the corner assigned to me in this intolerably filthy stable. When I got up again, you will easily believe that I did not rise alone : thus I incurred an addition of wounds and inflictions on a body which the pointed flints and INDIAN MOURNING. 361 cutting shells of the river, and the boughs of treej r thorns, brambles, and mosquitoes, had previously co:i verted into a Job. " On the morning of the twentieth, I desired to I »e conducted to a bois brule, for whom I had brought a letter from Pembenar. I was told that he resided at a distance, and that the waters of the lake were in a sta te of great agitation. I could not even obtain the favo ur of having him sent for, for this happened to be the d xy when it was the bounden duty of all the members of the hut to devote themselves to yelling, eating, drink- ing, and dancing, in commemoration of the Indian killed at the river Cayenne. I quitted the place, and offered the only handkerchief that I had remaining to the first Indian whom I met, and he immediately went off with my letter. " The funeral ceremony presented nothing more extra- ordinary than what we have already seen, excepting the pillaging of my provisions in honour of the hero of the fete ; and the convulsions of the father and mother composed to quietude by the blowings and exorcisms of the priests, and the wounds inflicted on the arms and legs, the contortions, yellings, and howlings of his rela- tives. ******* " A party of the relatives and friends was gone on an expedition for discovering whether the Sioux had left no remains whatever on the spot where the tragedy had been acted, while my old friend the pilot, as herald- at-arms, had proceeded to rouse the vengeance and im- plore the succour of some Cypowais Jumpers, who were scattered in various spots about the forests. The doc- trine of these Indians is strikingly singular : it is per- haps held by them only, of all mankind. For they 362 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. seem to recognise rather the immortality of the body than of the soul. ik My bois brule had now arrived. He was one of the numerous progeny scattered over the country by the vice and immorality of the fur traders. He is the son of a Canadian and a female Indian of the tribe of the Cypowais. * * * * * "My bois brule resides about twelve miles distant from this encampment to the south of the lake. The wind was too high for a canoe made of bark, and the lake too violently agitated ; we were compelled, there- fore, to disembark, and passed the night under an im- mense plane tree. This plane is, perhaps, the Colossus of the whole vegetable kingdom. The Indians adore it as a Manitou; the ancients would have done the same; and though I am myself a modern, I admire it as one of the most prodigious and most beautiful productions of nature. " We arrived at his hut on the morning of the twenty- first. Misery might be said to be personified in his family, and in all by which he was surrounded ; a wife (the daughter of a father she has never seen) nourishing an infant at her breast, but nearly destitute of nourish- ment herself, and five naked and famine-struck children, constituted the whole of his property. The uncertain fishery of the lake, and a small quantity of maize, in its green and immature state, furnish the whole means of their subsistence. They are neither civilized nor savage, possessing the resources of neither state, but every inconvenience and defect of both. The worst part of the case is, that this bois brule has a great deal of natural talent, which serves only to render him more dangerous. He has been taught both to read and write. RED RIVER OF RED LAKE. 363 and has obtained that species of education which just serves to strengthen the innate evil propensities of the man, when unaccompanied by that moral training which is their proper curb and correction : in fact, the obliquity of his character has quite ruined him in the opinion of the traders who have successively employed him ; and his crimes obliged him to abscond from Pem- benar, where I was informed that I ought to be more on my guard against him than against the Indians themselves. I mention all these circumstances to you, my dear Countess, because, with the truest and noblest friendship, you are desirous of participating, as it were, in every description of danger incurred by me, and in order that those of our mutual friends who may be inclined to engage in the field of adventure like myself, may learn how to meet and overcome the various ene- mies they may have to encounter. * * " But we will now return to the Red river, from which we have somewhat, though not unnaturally, digressed, and which we have surveyed hitherto rather through the imagination than the senses. " It presents no other extraordinary feature than the very frequent winding of its course, in which perhaps it is scarcely exceeded by the Meander itself. It waters a country uniformly level, and the rapids which we have seen do not lower its level but by the height of its banks. After Robber's river, as you ascend, no other river flows into it. This is more particularly to be noticed, because the English Hudson's Bay Company, according to their theories, have created on their map other Red rivers, with many more tributary streams flowing into it than this has. " At the distance of about forty miles from the lake, 364 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. its banks are lined with impenetrable forests; above, the view is agreeably varied by smiling meadows and handsome shrubbery. On flowing from the lake it passes among rushes and wild rice. It is an error of geographers, founded on the vague information of In- dians, that it derives its source from this lake ; indeed, a lake which is formed by five or six rivers which flow into it can never be considered as itself the source of any single river. We shall soon have occasion to look farther for this source. " The lake, by means of a strait, is divided into two ports, one to the north-east and the other to the south-west. Let us proceed to make the circuit of the last, which is certainly the most interesting. " It receives on the western side the river Broachers (Kinougeo-sibi) , and that of the Great Rock (Kiscicu- cinabed-sibi) ; to the south, the river Kaliasinilague-sibi, or Gravel river, near which the hut of my Bois-brule guide is situated ; that of Kiogokague-sibi, or Gold-fish river ; and that of Madaoanakan-sibi, or Great Portage river ; on the south-east, Cormorant river ( Cacahisciou- sibi) . A large tongue of land on the E. N. E. forms a peninsula about four miles in length, and of varying breadth, ending in a point towards the west. At a little distance, towards the north, there is another en- campment of Indians, consisting of about three hundred persons, the chief of whom is the Grand Carabou (Kisci- Adike). The strait is situated to the N. N. E., and there is a small island in the midst of its waters dividing them into two. To the north we find another tongue of land, which serves also to separate the two lakes, and reaches as far as the strait, commencing at the spot whence, as we have seen, Red river, or (more pro- NUMEROUS LAKES. 365 perly speaking) Bloody river, proceeds. The other lake receives, on the east, Sturgeon river {Amenikaninssibi) . By the channel of this river, and by means of two portages, there is a communication with Bain river, from whence one can easily communicate with Lake Superior, to the south ; and with the waters of Hud- son's Bay, by the Lake of Woods, to the north. The waters which flow- into Lake Superior on this side, may be considered as the sources of the river St. Lawrence. " These two lakes are about one hundred and thirty miles in circumference ; and Red river traverses about three hundred from the lake to Pembenar; but in a straight line the whole distance scarcely amounts to one hundred and sixty. "How much has it cost me, my dear Countess, to write you these details ! Perhaps as much as it will you to peruse them ; for, like all women of spirit, you are fond of the brilliant and romantic. But our geo- graphical friends would accuse me of negligence if I forgot them in a country completely unknown to them, and where no white man had previously travelled. * * " In the course of an excursion which I made to the south-west, I discovered eight small lakes, undistin- guished by names, which all communicate with each other, and of which Gravel river is the outlet. These lakes seem to have been negligently scattered by nature through a territory sometimes gloomy and sometimes gay. varied with hills and dales, and presenting to the eye landscapes the most delightful and enchanting. I resolved to pass a night amidst scenes so uncommonly charming, that I might enjoy as long as possible the exquisite impressions they made upon my mind and senses. I dedicated these lakes to the family to which 366 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. I am united by the most cordial friendship ; and accord- ingly gave them the names of Alexander, Lavinius, Everard, Frederica, Adela, Magdalena, Virginia, and Eleonora. The purity of the waters of these lakes I considered a correct* image of that of their minds ; and their union reminded me of the affection by which the members of this happy family are so tenderly connected. "I returned to the encampment of Great Hare, to engage an Indian to attend me, together with my bois brule guide, during the continuance of my excursion, and to purchase the canoe which was the scene of my tragi-comedy on Red river; for I was desirous of hav- ing it conveyed, if possible, to my rural cottage, and preserve it with my other Indian curiosities as a memo- rial and trophy of my labours in these my transatlantic promenades. ******** " The river of Great Portage is so called by the In- dians because a dreadful storm that occurred on it blew down a vast number of forest trees on its banks, which encumber its channel, and so impede its navigation as to make an extensive or great portage in order to reach it. The river thus denominated, however, is the true Red, or rather Bloody river. It enters the lake on the south, and goes out, as we have seen, on the north- west. This is the opinion of the Indians themselves, and it is not difficult to find arguments in support of it. " According to the theory of ancient geographers, the sources of a river which are most in a right line with its mouth should be considered as its principal sources, and particularly when they issue from a cardinal point and flow to the one directly opposite. This theory appeals conformable to nature and reason; and upon this prin- ciple we should proceed in forming the sources of the SOURCES OF RED RIVER. 367 river of Great Portage. By the name Portage, is meant a passage which the Indians make over a tongue of land, from one river or lake to another, carrying with them on their backs their light canoes, their baggage, and cargoes. "I left Red Lake on the morning of the twenty-sixth. The commencement of Portage is between the river so called and Gold-fish river. It is about twelve miles long ; and I therefore engaged another Indian, with his horse, to effect it more conveniently. The country is delightful, but at times almost impenetrable. * "On the ensuing day, the twenty-seventh, I dis- charged the supernumerary Indian, with his horse ; for, having no provisions but what we could procure by means of our guns, we were already three too many. We crossed the small lake strictly in the direction from north to south; and here we commenced another port- age of four miles. ******* " At the end of this corvee we found the Great Port- age river. We embarked and proceeded up its current, crossing two lakes which it forms in its course, each about five or six miles in circumference, and containing patches of wild rice — unfortunately for us not yet ripe. We gave these lakes the name of Manomeny-Kany-aguen, or the Lakes of Wild Rice. " After proceeding upwards of five or six miles, always in a southerly direction, we entered a noble lake, formed like the others by the waters of the river, and which has no other issue than the river's entrance and dis- charge. " Its form is that of a half-moon, and it has a beauti- ful island in the centre of it. Its circumference is about twenty miles. The Indians call it Puposhy- W'tza~ 368 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Kany-aguen, or the End of the shaking Lands ; an ety- mology very correct, as nearly all the region we have traversed from the Lake of Pines may be almost con- sidered to float upon the waters. * * * * " I passed on this spot a part of the day of my arrival and the whole of the succeeding night. On the morn- ing of the twenty-eighth, we resumed our navigation of the river, which enters on the south side of the lake. " About six miles higher up we discovered its sources, which spring out of the ground in the middle of a small prairie, and the little basin into which they bubble up is surrounded by rushes. We approached the spot within fifty paces in our canoe. " But now, my dear Countess, let me request you to step on quickly for a moment, pass the short portage which conducts to the top of the small hill, which over- hangs these sources on the south, and transport your- self to the place where I am now writing. Here, re- posing under the tree, beneath whose shade I am rest- ing at the present moment, you will survey with an eager eye, and with feelings of intense and new delight, the sublime traits of nature ; phenomena which fill the soul with astonishment, and inspire it at the same time with almost heavenly ecstasy ! This is a work which belongs to the Creator of it alone to explain. We can only adore in silence his omnipotent hand. " We are now on the highest land of North America, if we except the icy and unknown mountains which are lost in the problematical regions of the pole of that part of the world, and in the vague conjectures of vi- sionary mapmakers. Yet all is here plain and level, and the hill is merely an eminence formed, as it were, for an observatory. NORTHERN SOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 3b9 '•' Casting our eye around us, we perceive the flow of waters — to the south towards the Gulf of Mexico, to the north towards the Frozen Sea, on the east to the Atlantic, and on the west towards the Pacific Ocean. * * * " You have seen the sources of the river which I have ascended to this spot. They are precisely at the foot of the hill, and filtrate in a direct line from the north bank of the lake, on the right of the centre, in descend- ing towards the north. They are the sources of Bloody river. On the other side, towards the south, and equally at the foot of the hill, other sources form a beautiful little basin of about eighty feet in circumference. These waters likewise filtrate from the lake, towards its south- western extremity : and these sources are the actual sources of the Mississippi ! This lake, therefore, sup- plies the most southern sources of Red, or, as I shall in future call it (by its truer name), Bloody river; and the most northern sources of the Mississippi — sources till now unknown of both. " This lake is about three miles round. It is formed in the shape of a heart ; and it may be truly said to speak to the very soul. Mine was not slightly moved by it. It was but justice to draw it from the silence in which geography, after so many expeditions, still suf- fered it to remain, and to point it out to the world in all its honourable distinction. I have given it the name of the respectable lady whose life (to use the language of her illustrious friend the Countess of Albany) was one undeviating course of moral rectitude, and whose death was a calamity to all who had the happiness of knowing her; and the recollection of whom is inces- santly connected with veneration and grief by all who can properly appreciate beneficence and virtue. I have 24 370 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. called the lafce, accordingly, Lake Julia ; and the sources of the two rivers, the Julian sources of Bloody river, and the Julian sources of the Mississippi, which, in the Algonquin language, means the Father of Rivers. Oh ! what were the thoughts which passed through my mind at this most happy and brilliant moment of my life ! The shades of Marco Polo, of Columbus, of Americus Yespucius, of the Cabots, of Yerazani, of the Zenos, and various others, appeared present, and joyfully assist- ing at this high and solemn ceremony, and congratu- lating themselves .on one of their countrymen having, by new and successful researches, brought back to the recollection of the world the inestimable services which they had themselves conferred on it by their own peculiar discoveries, by their talents, achievements, and " I find it impossible to become weary of examining and admiring the least objects of attention furnished by this scene. The majestic river, which embraces a world in its immense course, and speaks in thunder in its cataracts, is at these its sources nothing but a timid Naiad, stealing cautiously through the rushes and briars which obstruct its progress. The famous Mississippi, whose course is said to be twelve hundred leagues, and which bears navies on its bosom, and steamboats supe- rior in size to frigates, is at its source merely a petty stream of crystalline water, concealing itself among reeds and wild rice, which seem to insult over its hum- ble birth. *** * * * * * * " Neither traveller, nor missionary, nor geographer, nor expedition-maker, ever visited this lake. A great many of the stories which find their way into books are invented by the red men, either to deceive the whites, INDIANS DISPOSED TO MISLEAD. 371 or to conceal their own belief or their own weaknesses. The Indians themselves have confessed to me that, when they go down to the traders' settlements, they amuse themselves with gulling their credulity by a number of fables, which afterwards become the oracles of geographers and book-makers. * * * * tt On the fourth of September we struck our tents very early, and arrived in the evening at Red Cedar Lake, so called on account of the number of those beau- tiful trees, whose dark green foliage overshadows its islands and banks. * * * * " This lake is the non plus ultra of all the discoveries ever made in these regions before my own. No tra- veller, no expedition, no explorer, whether European or American, has gone beyond this point ; and it is at this lake that Mr. Schoolcraft fixed the sources of the Mis- sissippi in 1819. For the more complete celebration of this fortunate discovery, this illustrious epoch, he rebap- tized it by the name of Lake Cassina, from the name of Mr. Cass, Governor of Michigan territory, who was at the head of the expedition. Mr. Schoolcraft was the historiographer. * * * * " At the bottom of this last lake, on the west, is found the entrance of a considerable river, which the Indians call Demizimaguamaguensibi, or the river of Lake Tra- verse. It issues from the lake (the second of that name), twenty miles above its mouth, on the north- west. This lake communicates, in the same direction, by a strait of two or three miles in length, with another lake, which the Indians call Moscosaguaiguen, or Bitch 1 Lake, which receives no tributary stream, and seems to draw its waters from the bosom of the earth. It is here, 1 La Biche Lake, or Elk Lake. 6iZ HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. in my opinion, that we shall fix the western sources of the Mississippi. 1 * * * * " On the night of the seventh I slept at the mouth of Leech river. The lake whence it issues is a new Colchis, where a second Jason found, like the first, a golden fleece ; where Mr. Pike fixed the sources of the Missis- sippi, fourteen years before Mr. Cass fixed them at Red Cedar Lake. This circumstance could not fail of excit- ing my curiosity, and I determined, in consequence, to go and view the scene which had given birth to the con- jectures of the first of my two predecessors. * * " On the ninth we arrived at Leech Lake (Kaza-gas- guaiguen), at Macuwa, or Bear Island, where we found a considerable band of Cypowais plunderers, so denomi- nated from their plundering and murdering the first Canadians who pushed their commerce to such a dan- gerous distance. " This band is very numerous and warlike. I found it divided into two factions, one of which is actuated by the spirit of legitimacy, the other by its opposite. The Pokes Jeononepe, or Cloudy Weather, a usurper, contests ihe crown and empire with the chief Esquibusicoge, or Wide Mouth, who possesses them by hereditary right : but as these Indians, beyond all others, require for their liead a daring and active man, who can conduct them to victory over the Sioux, by whom they are frequently harassed, instead of an idle and profligate poltroon, always reposing under the shade of his genealogical tree, and destitute of all merit but that allowed him by his flatterers, Cloudy Weather has the majority on his side. The government of the United States acknow- 1 Nine years after this suggestion, Allen and Schoolcraft visited the western sources of the Mississippi. BELTRAMI AT LEECH LAKE. 373 ledges both: Cloudy Weather, because he declaims in their favour ; and Wide Mouth, in order to detach him from the English, to whom he is friendly ; but princi- pally, I imagine, from the policy of keeping alive divi- sion in a band powerful in force but precarious in attachment. * * * * " On my arrival among them they were in no little commotion on another subject, involving the two parties in new contention. Cloudy Weather's son-in-law had been killed a few days before by the Sioux, and they had at the same time received intelligence of the affair at Cayenne river, and of what had happened to my two Indians on Bloody river. Wide Mouth demanded an immediate war, and was desirous of forming an army, of which he himself never constituted any part. Cloudy Weather, who is not deficient in sense, suspected that this warlike ardour, this extraordinary eagerness and zeal, were assumed with a view to remove him out of the way, and turn his absence to his injury; and there- fore, although the principal person aggrieved, strongly recommended prudence and moderation. * * " I was a spectator of the funeral ceremony performed in honour of the manes of Cloudy Weather's son-in-law, whose body had remained with the Sioux, and was sus- pected to have furnished one of their repasts. What appeared not a little singular, and indeed ludicrous in this funeral comedy, was the contrast exhibited by the terrific lamentations and yells of one part of the com- pany, while the others were singing and dancing with all their might. I was scarcely able several times to refrain from laughing; but the ceremony having some resemblance to the usages of the ancients, who also on such occasions paid and employed together Tlbiceucs 374 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. and Prceficce, my respect for antiquity and antiquaries enabled me to preserve my gravity. At another fune- ral ceremony for a member of the Grand Medicine, and at which, as a man of another world, I was permit- ted to attend, the same practice occurred. But, at the feast which took place on that occasion, an allowance was served up for the deceased out of every article of which it consisted, while others were beating, wounding, and torturing themselves, and letting their blood flow both over the dead man and his provisions, thinking possibly that this was the most palatable seasoning for the latter which they could possibly supply. His wife furnished out an entertainment present for him of all her hair and rags, with which, together with his arms, his provisions, his ornaments, and his mystic medicine bag, he was wrapped up in the skin which had been his last covering when alive. He was then tied round with the bark of some particular trees which they use for mak- ing cords, and cords of a very firm texture and hold (the only ones indeed which they have), and instead of being buried in the earth, was hung up to a large oak. The reason of this was, that as his favourite Manitou was the eagle, his spirit would be enabled more easily from such a situation to fly with him to Paradise. Here again we perceive another trait of antiquity, and a rich relish for our antiquarian amateurs, whom, I think, I must at length have completely satisfied. The oak is also among the Indians the tree consecrated to the eagle, that is to say, to Jupiter. " Mr. Pike, who was at the head of the expedition, despatched by the government of the United States in 1805, to discover the sources of the Mississippi, fixes them at this lake, although the river Leech which flows MORRISON AT ITASCA LAKE IN 1804. 375 into it on the N.N.W., ascends more than fifty miles higher up ; and although various other rivers, the courses of which are as yet unknown, equally flow into this lake. But it was in winter ; the cold was excessively severe, and it is no pleasant or easy matter to discover sources through ice. It is impossible to doubt, that, at a differ ent season of the year, and with a less embarrassing party, Mr. Pike would have pushed his discoveries far- ther. He was a bold and enterprising man ; and his expedition to New Mexico, and his glorious death in the field of honour, merit a place in history. He will always be entitled to the distinction of having been the first who extended his researches so far in regions so wild and repulsive, and that at a time when there ex- isted no fort whatever on the Mississippi." The following letter, written by William Morrison, an old trader, to his brother, Allan Morrison, published in the Annals of the Minnesota Historical Society for 1856, shows that the lakes of the Upper Mississippi were visited early in the present century by those en- gaged in Indian commerce : — " Dear Brother, — In answering your favour of the tenth January, I will pass several incidents that I pre- sume you are well informed of, and give you the time and circumstances that led me to be the first white man that discovered the source of the great Mississippi river. I left Grand Portage, on the north shore of Lake Superior, now the boundary line between the United States and the British Possessions, in the year 1802, and landed at Leech Lake in September or October, the same year. I wintered on one of the streams of the Crow Wing, near its source. Our Indians were Pilla- gers. In 1803 and 1804, I went and wintered at Rice 376 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Lake. I passed by Red Cedar Lake, now called Cass Lake, followed up the Mississippi to Cross Lake, and then up the Mississippi again to Elk Lake, now called Itasca Lake, the source of the great river Mississippi. A short distance this side, I made a portage, to get to Rice river, which is called the Portage of the Heights of Land, or the dividing ridge that separates the waters of the Mississippi and those that empty into the Red River of the North ; thence to Hudson's Bay, the port- age is short. I discovered no traces of any white man before me r when I visited Itasca Lake in 1804. And if the late General Pike did not lay it down as such, when be- came to Leech Lake, it is because he did not happen to meet me. I was at an outpost that winter. The late General Pike laid down Cass Lake on his map as the head of the Mississippi river. In 1811-12, I went the same route, to winter on Rice river, near the plains. There I overtook a gentleman with an outfit from Mackinac, by the name of Otesse, with whom I parted only at Fond du Lac, he taking the southern route to Mackinac, and I the northern to head-quarters, which had been changed from Grand Portage to Fort William. This will explain to you that I visited Itasca Lake, then called Elk Lake, in 1803-4, and in 1811-12, and five small streams that empty into the lake, that are short, and soon lose themselves in the swamps. " By way of explanation, why the late General Pike,, then Captain Pike, in 1805, who had orders to stem the Mississippi to its source, and was stopped by the ice a little below Swan river, at the place since called Pike's Rapids, or Pike's Block House, and had to proceed from there to Leech Lake on foot. He had to learn there MORRISON'S LETTER ABOUT PIKE. 377 where the source of the Mississippi was. He went to Cass Lake, and could proceed no further. He had been told that I knew the source, but could not see me, T being out at an outpost. This want of information made him commit the error; some person, not knowing better y told him there was no river above Cass Lake. Cass Lake receives the waters of Cross Lake, and Cross Lake those of Itasca Lake, and five small streams that empty into Itasca Lake, then called Elk Lake. Those streams I have noted before, no white man can claim the dis- covery of the source of the Mississippi before me, for I was the first that saw and examined its shores." From this digression, let us return to the narrative of Beltrami : — " On the morning of the fourteenth, I landed at the establishment of the South-west Company, near the exit of the Leech river, in hopes of replacing in some mea- sure my Bois brute. But we found only a single person there, left to take care of the place ; and it was quite impossible for him to leave it ; I was therefore obliged to go on with Cloudy Weather only. However, I ob- tained all the instructions that were necessary to enable me to proceed with information as far as Sandy Lake \ and I found myself gradually more intelligible to my new Indian associate. * * * " On the evening of the seventeenth we arrived at Sandy Lake, on the east, which is about one hundred and twenty miles from the last^mentioned place, about three hundred from Red Lake, and about three hundred also from Leech Lake. * * " All the maps, whether of former or recent date, even those constructed conformably to expeditions ', are exceed- ingly incorrect with respect to the situation of Sandy 378 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Lake. They place it at the south-east of Lake Leech, thougk it is nearly at the east ; and this error draws after it others respecting its latitude and longitude. I have observed this mistake by the due application of my com- pass, the result of which corresponds with the opinions of the Indians on the subject, who, indeed, are very seldom deceived in their geographical statements. * * " After passing the confluence of the Missay-guani- sibi, or River Brandy, on the east, and that of another river, which is unknown, on the west, I approached that grand and interesting spectacle — the Falls of St. Anthony. 1 * * The strength of the current hurried forward our canoe with alarming rapidity ; and at length I discerned between the trees, and in a pleasant back- ground, the roof of a house, indicating of course civilized habitation. This was the mill for the garrison at the fort. On reaching this place, my mind, still dwelling on all the grand and terrible scenes which had occurred to me in the course of three months, while traversing eternal deserts, among barbarous tribes and unknown regions, was agitated with emotions which I could scarcely describe or discriminate. " The sight of this object, which announced my ap- proach to the residence of cultivated man, produced in me a conflict of opposite feelings. I regretted the inde- pendence of savage life, while at the same time I expe- rienced a thrill of delight at returning within the sphere of civilized society. " After having cleared the portage, I completed my Indian toilet for the last time ; that is, I shaved myself without either soap or glass, and with razors which were much like saws. I took my bath in the river, and 1 September thirtieth. BELTRAMI IN TATTERS AT FORT SNELLING. 379 dressed myself as well as I was able, in order to appear at the fort as decently as possible. But I was beset on all sides with dirt and squalidnesss : these perhaps have in fact formed the greatest of my sufferings. My head was covered with the bark of a tree, formed into the shape of a hat and sewed with threads of bark ; and shoes, a coat, and pantaloons, such as are used by Cana- dians in the Indian territories, and formed of orignal skins sewed together by thread made of the muscles of that animal, completed the grotesque appearance of my person. I am indebted for my new wardrobe to the fair Woascita, who had compassion on the nakedness to which the thorns and brambles of the forest had reduced me. The Indians attach a high value to the skins of the orignal, which is the most beautiful of quadrupeds, the monarch of reindeer, and only very rarely to be met with. ***** " My Indians announced their approach in the cus- tomary manner, that is, by the discharge of guns loaded with ball, and with shouts and chants accompanied by the sound of their harmonious drums. " Melancholy rumours respecting my safety had been circulated at the fort, and young Snelling, on his return to it, having expressed the apprehensions he felt on my account when we parted at Pembenar, had thus strengthened the belief in them. These gentlemen in fact supposed me to be dead. " On the arrival of the flotilla all the officers hastened down to inquire about me. They were answered by the supposed dead man himself. While replying to their kind questions I divested myself of the skin covering which I had on, in the disguise of an Indian ; a character which my countenance and general appear- 380 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. ance greatly contributed to my supporting. I saw in the expression of their physiognomies both a movement of surprise, and sentiments of affection and friendship. The excellent Mr. Tagliawar embraced me in the most cordial manner, and the colonel, his respectable wife,, and his children, received me with demonstrations of the most lively joy. I was much moved, and could not help shedding tears of gratitude and attachment. This was the first time since fate began to steep my exist- ence in anguish that I beheld a gleam of those happy moments which, in Italy, friendship always procured for me whenever I returned from my occasional absences. And during the short time that I remained among them I experienced nothing of the constraint, nothing of the cold and formal politeness which Americans in general are accustomed to affect, particularly towards strangers, and which, like a moral rust, tarnishes their natural benevolence and impairs the value of their hospitality." Dr. Norwood, who was the assistant of Dr. Owens, in the United States' Geological Survey of Minnesota, speaking of his route from Cass Lake, says : — " Our route from this place led through Turtle river, and the chain of lakes described by Mr. J. C. Beltrami, in 1823, as the ' Julian sources of the Mississippi.' * * * * * The ma p sketched by him is a tolerably correct one, and appears to have been the source from which Mr. Nicollet derived his information with regard to the route between Cass and Red Lakes." * In the language of Nicollet, the last explorer of the extreme western source of the Mississippi, " I may be mistaken, but it strikes me that American critics have been too disdainful of Mr. Beltrami's book." 1 Owens' Geological Survey of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, pp. 322-3. FINDLAY KILLED AT LAKE PEPIN. 381 In the year 1824, a Mr. Findlay left Prairie du Chien in a canoe, and ascended the Mississippi in company with a Canadian named Barrette, and two others. On their arrival at Lake Pepin, they were met by an Ojib- WB,y war party from Lac du Flambeau. The Canadian thought he recognised in' the party an Indian, who, the the previous winter, had come to the place on Black river where he was cutting lumber, and stole his horse. Both Findlay and Barrette had partaken freely of whiskey, and, quarrelling with the Indians, they were all killed, and their goods and provisions stolen. Until the American Fur Company systematized the trade in Minnesota, and Congress took measures to exclude whiskey dealers from the Indians, trade was carried on in a way to make humanity blush. The fol- lowing letter of Colonel Snelling, addressed to the secre- tary of war, exhibits the disgraceful condition of affairs at that time : — " In former letters addressed to the department of war, I have adverted to the mischievous consequences resulting from the introduction of whiskey, and other distilled spirits, into the Indian country. The pretext Is, that our traders cannot enter into successful compe- tition with the British traders without it. If the sale of whiskey could be restricted to the vicinity of the British line, the mischief would be comparatively trivial, but, if permitted at all, no limits can be set to it. A series of petty wars and murders, and the introduction of every species of vice and debauchery, by the traders and their engagees, will be the consequence. It be- comes, also, a fruitful source of complaint with those engaged in the same trade from the West. The traders who obtain their supplies from St. Louis, pass Fort Snel- •Inur. where, in obedience to the orders I have received 382 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. from the president, their boats are searched, and no spirituous liquors are permitted to be taken further. " The traders who are licensed for the lakes, spread themselves over the whole country between Lake Supe- rior and the Upper Mississippi ; their whiskey attracts a large proportion of the Indians to their trading-houses ; and the Western traders not only have to complain of the loss of custom, but, in many instances, the Indians who have obtained their goods of them, are seduced by whiskey to carry their winter's himt to others. This has long been one of the tricks of the trade. The traders, who are not generally restrained by any moral rules, after they pass the boundary, practise it without scruple, whenever opportunity occurs, and he who has the most whiskey generally carries off the furs. They are so far from being ashamed of the practice, that it affords them subject for conversation by their winter fires. I have myself frequently heard them boast of their exploits in that way. The neighbourhood of the trading-houses where whiskey is sold presents a disgust- ing scene of drunkenness, debauchery, and misery. In my route I passed Prairie du Chien, Green Bay, and Mackinac ; no language can describe the scenes of vice which there present themselves. Herds of Indians are drawn together by the fascinations of whiskey, and they exhibit the most degraded picture of human nature I ever witnessed." * 1 Licensed Indian traders among Duncan Campbell, Falls St. Croix. Dahkotahs in 1826 : — John Campbell, Mouth of Chippe- P. Prescott, Leaf River. way. P. Lamont, Mouth of Minnesota. Francis Grandin, Traverse des J. Renville, Lac qui Parle. Sioux. Wra. Dickson, Lac Traverse. Hagan Moores, Lao Traverse. B. F. Baker, Crow Island, Upper Louis Provencalk, Traverse des Mississippi. Sioux. PRAIRIE DU CHIEN TREATY OF 1825. 383 CHAPTER XVIII. For more than a century there had been a westward tendency in the emigration of the Indian nations, and a frequent source of war among the North-western tribes, was the encroachment upon each other's hunting ground. In the hope that good might result from well defined boundary lines, on the nineteenth of August, 1825, by order of the authorities at Washington, Governor Clark, of Missouri, and Cass, of Michigan, convened at Prairie du Chien, a grand Congress of Dahkotahs, Ojib- ways, Sauks, and Foxes, Menomonies, Ioways, Winne- bagoes, Pottawottami.es, and Ottawas. After some discussion, it was agreed between the Dahkotahs and Ojibways, that the line dividing their respective countries, should commence at the Chippewa river, half a day's march below the falls, and from thence to Red Cedar river just below the falls, and thence to the Standing Cedar, a day's paddle above the head of Lake St. Croix; thence between two lakes called by the Ojibways, "Green Lakes," and the Dah- kotahs, the "Lakes of the Buried Eagles;" and from thence to the Standing Cedar that the Dahkotahs split; thence to Rum river, crossing at Choking Creek, a day's 384 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. march from its mouth ; thence to a point of woods that projects into the prairie a half day's march from the Mississippi ; thence in a straight line to the mouth of the first river above the Sauk; thence up that river to a small lake at its source ; thence to a lake at the head of Prairie river, a tributary of Crow Wing ; thence to the portage of Otter Tail Lake ; thence to the outlet of said lake; thence to the Buffalo river, midway between its source and mouth, and down said river to Red river, and down Red river to the mouth of the Outard creek. The eastern boundary of the Dahkotahs, was to com- mence opposite the Ioway river, running back to the bluffs, and along the bluffs to Bad Axe river; thence to mouth of Black river; and thence to half a day's march below the falls of the Chippewa. A few months after the treaty of Prairie du Chien, it was very evident that neither Dahkotah nor Ojibway were willing to be pent up by any boundary lines. As the Ojibways were dispersed over a great extent of country, it was agreed at Prairie du Chien, that the government of the United States should convene them in 1826, at some point on the shores of Lake Superior. The place selected, was Fond du Lac ; and Lewis Cass and T. L. McKenney were the commissioners to assemble the Indians, and conclude tne first formal treaty on the soil of Minnesota. On the twenty-eighth of July, the expedition ap- proached in their barges, with flying colours and mar- tial music, the trading post of Fond du Lac; and for the first time the ears of the Indians of that region were greeted with the tune of "Hail Columbia." On the thirty-first, the commissioner, McKenney, went over to the island opposite the Fur Company's post, to visit an VISIT TO A WOMAN SCALPED WHEN A GIRL, 385 Ojibway woman who had been scalped when a child, under these circumstances : Having accompanied a band of sixty men, women, and children to the vicinity of the falls of the Chippeway river, they were surprised by a Dahkotah war party which rushed down from the bluffs, and fired into their lodges. The woman, who was then only fourteen years of age, ran towards the woods, and was pursued by a Dahkotah brave, who captured and bound her. Just then another Dahkotah approached, and struck her with a war club, scalped her, and was about to cut her throat, when he was shot. In the contest for the child, each warrior had taken off a portion of her scalp, and, while they were wrangling, her father had ap- proached and fired his gun, which killed both. When the shades of night came, he went to the spot where he had last seen his daughter, recovered the pieces of her scalp, and, after some search, found her senseless on the snow, about a half mile from the scene of conflict. By proper attention she was restored, and at the time of the treaty of Fond du Lac, she was the mother of ten children, and her skull still bore the marks of violence. On the second of August the council met, and con- tinued several days. Among those who took a seat was an aged Ojibway woman, from Montreal river. She wore around her neck her husband's medal, and, being very poor, in the place of wampum she laid on the com- missioners' table some grass and porcupine quills. In pre- senting them, she said : " I come in the place of my hus- band. He is old and blind, but he yet has a mouth and ears. He can speak and hear. He is very poor. He hopes to receive a present from his fathers." 25 386 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. After the usual feastings and speeches, and exhaust- ing of patience, a treaty was concluded on the fifth da} of August, which, with some modifications, was ratified by the United States Senate, on the second day of Feb- ruary of the next year. By an article of the treaty the Ojibways fully dis- claimed all connexion with Great Britain, and acknow- ledged the authority of the United States. At the council there were present deputations from the Min- nesota bands at Fond du Lac, river St. Croix, Rainy Lake, Sandy Lake, Leech Lake, Snake River, and Crow Wing. Supplementary to the treaty was inserted the follow- ing clause. " As the Chippeways who committed the murder upon four American citizens, in June, 1824, upon the shores of Lake Pepin, are not present at this council, but are far in the interior of the country, so that they cannot be apprehended and delivered to the proper authority before next summer ; and as the com- missioners have been specially instructed to demand the surrender of those persons, and to state to the Chippe- way tribe the consequence of suffering such a flagitious outrage to go unpunished, it is agreed that the persons guilty of the aforementioned murder shall be brought in, either to the Sault St. Marie, or Green Bay, as early next summer as practicable." Governor Cass, having determined to return in a bark canoe, contracted with a son of the scalped woman to build one of suitable dimensions, about five feet in width, and thirty-six in length. Immediately a large company of squaws and children commenced the work, for they are the mechanics of every Indian village. Stakes were driven into the ground, the desired length of the canoe,, CASS ORDERS A BIRCH CANOE. 387 and then rolls of birch bark stripped from the trees unbroken, and stitched together with the roots of the larch, were placed within the enclosure and secured to the stakes. Cross pieces of cedar are now inserted, pro- ducing the desired form, and constituting the ribs or framework. The birch bark properly secured to the frame, the stakes are pulled out of the ground, and the seams covered with resin that the water should not enter. After some ornamenting of the sides, it was ready for delivery to Mr. Cass. " Thus the birch canoe was builded, In the valley, by the river, In the bosom of the forest ; And the forest's life was in it, All its mystery, and its magic. All the lightness of the birch tree, All the toughness of the cedar, All the larch's supple sinews ; And it floated on the river, Like a yellow leaf in Autumn, Like a yellow water lily." Not long after the treaty, twenty-nine Ojibways sur- rendered themselves at Sault St. Marie. After an exa- mination, seven were committed for trial, and confined at Mackinaw. At the next term of court, the judge declined trying the prisoners, in consequence of doubts of jurisdiction; and, during the next winter, they cut their way out of the log jail, and escaped to their dis- tant home. The year of the treaty of Fond du Lac, was another remarkable year to the Selkirk colony, known to this day as the year of the flood. In the month of Januarv, it was rumored at the Selkirk settlement, that the hunters who were on the 388 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. plains of Minnesota in quest of buffalo were starving. The sufferers were from one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles from Pembina, and the only way to carry provisions to them was by dog sleds. The sym- pathy for their welfare was very great; and even the widow contributed a mite to their relief. It appears from a statement made by one who was m the colony at the time, that in the month of Decem- ber, 1825, a snow storm raged with violence for several days, and drove the buffalo out of the hunter's reach. As this was an unexpected contingency, they had no meat as a substitute, and famine stared them in the face. Says an eye-witness i 1 " Families here, and families there, despairing of life, huddled themselves together for warmth, and in too many cases, their shelter proved their grave. At first the heat of their bodies melted the snow ; they became wet, and being without food or fuel, the cold soon penetrated, and in several instances froze the whole body into solid ice. Some again were in a state of actual delirium, while others were picked up frozen to death; one woman was found with an infant on her back within a quarter mile of Pembina. This poor creature must have travelled at the least, one hundred and twenty-five miles in three days and nights. Those that were found alive, had devoured their horses, their dogs, raw-hides, leather, and their very shoes. So great were their sufferings, that some died on the road to the colony after being relieved at Pembina. One man with his wife and three children were dug out of the snow where they had been buried for five days and 1 Alexander Ross. FLOOD AT RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 389 nights without food, fire, or light of the sun, and the wife and two of the children recovered." When the spring came, the melting of the winter's snow produced a still greater calamity. On the second day of May, in twenty-four hours, the Red river rose nine feet; and by the fifth, the plains were submerged. A panic now seized every living thing ; dogs howled, cattle lowed, children cried, mothers wept and wrung their hands, and fathers called out to their families to escape to the hills. The water continued to rise until the twenty-first, and houses and barns floated in the rushing waters. On one night a house in flames moved over the waters amid logs and uprooted trees, house- hold furniture, and drowning cattle, reminding one of the day when "the heavens being on fire, shall be dissolved." The waters began to abate in June; and such is the, surprising quickness with which vegetation matures five degrees of latitude north of St. Paul, that barley, potatoes, and wheat sowed on the twenty-second of June, came to maturity. Misled by the florid representations of one of Lord Selkirk's agents, a number of Swiss arrived in the colony, in 1821. Their occupations had been mechani- cal, chiefly that of clock making, and they were not adapted for the stern work of founding a colony in the interior of the North American continent. From year to year their spirits drooped, and, when the Switzers' song of home was sung, they could not keep back their tears. After the flood, they could no longer remain in the land of their adversity, and they became the pioneers in emigration and agriculture in the state of Minnesota. 390 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. At one time a party of two hundred and forty-three de- parted for the United States, who found homes at dif- ferent points on the banks of the Mississippi. Before the eastern wave of emigration had ascended beyond Prairie du Chien, the Swiss had opened farms on and near St. Paul/ and should be recognised as the first actual settlers in the country. The spring of 1826 was very cold. On the 20th of March, at Fort Snelling, snow fell to the depth of one and a half feet on a level and drifted into heaps ten or twelve feet in height. On the 5th of April, there was a violent snow storm, and on the 10th of April, the thermometer was 4 degrees below zero. On the 21st the 1 Stevens, in an address on the early history of Hennepin county, " Strange as it may appear, the immigrants were from the north, all from the Hudson Bay Territory, from which they had been driven by high water. This colony consisted of Louis Massey, Mr. Perry, Pierrie, G-arvas, and others. Most of them are now citizens of different parts of the territory and Wisconsin. They settled near where the St. Louis house now stands, and in the vicinity of Kittson's and Baker's landing. Owing to the arbitrary and tyranni- cal power which then held sway in the territory, they were driven from their homes in 1836 and '37. At that time, and both before and since, the commanding officers at the fort were the lords of the north. They ruled supreme. The citizens in the neighbourhood of the fort were liable at any time to be thrust into the guard-house. While the chief of the fort was the king, the subordinate officers were princes, and persons have been deprived of their liberty and imprisoned by those tyrants for the most trivial wrong or some imaginary offence. Some had their houses torn down ; others were more unfortunate, and had their buildings burnt. To the latter class Mr. Garvas belonged. Mr. Perry was the Abraham of Hennepin county. He resided in front of the slaughter-house, near the landing. He pitched his tent after being driven off of his first home on the bank of the brook be- tween the cave and St. Paul. Here he attended to his numerous flocks and cultivated a field, and I think died below St. Paul, near where the large hotel was burnt a year or two since. He was a Swiss by birth. At one time he owned more cattle than all the rest of the inhabitants of what is now Minnesota, if we ex- cept Mr. Renville." DASTARDLY ATTACK OF DAHKOTAHS. 391 ice moved at the Fort, and for several days the river was twenty feet above low water mark. On the 2d of May every white person was full of joy, at the arrival of Captain Reeder with the steamboat St. Lawrence, and he proposed the first pleasure trip in a steamer, above the Fort, on the Mississippi. The offi- cers and their wives, after the long, cold, dreary winter, were glad to accept the invitation, and once on board, they made themselves merry with music and dance. After reaching a point within three and a half miles of the Falls of St. Anthony, the Captain found the cur- rent so strong that he deemed it prudent to return, being entirely unacquainted with the channel. Major Taliaferro had some slaves at the fort, whom the Indians called " black Frenchmen." On the 26th of May, he writes, " Capt. Plimpton wishes to purchase my servant girl." A few years later that girl became the wife of the historic Dred Scott, then a servant of Surgeon Emerson. On May 28, 1827, the Ojibway chief Flatmouth, of Sandy Lake, with seven warriors, and women and children, the whole party amounting to twenty-four, arrived at Fort Snelling in the morning at day-break Walking to the gates of the garrison, they asked the protection of Colonel Snelling and Taliaferro, the In- dian agent. They were told, that as long as they re- mained under the United States flag, they were secure, and were ordered to encamp within musket shot of the high stone walls of the fort. During the afternoon a Dahkotah, Toopunkah Zeze, from a village near the first rapids of the Minnesota, with eight others, visited the Ojibway camp. They were cordially received, and a feast of meat, and corn, 392 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. and sugar, was soon made ready. The wooden platters emptied of their contents, they engaged in conversation, and whiffed the peace pipe. About nine o'clock in the evening they rose and de- parted ; but as soon as they were outside, turned and discharged their guns with deadly aim upon their enter- tainers, and ran off with a shout of satisfaction. The report was heard by the sentinel of the fort, and he cried, repeatedly, " Corporal of the guard !" and soon at the gates, were the Ojibways, with their women and the wounded, telling their tale of woe in wild and incoherent language. Among others, was a little girl about seven years old, who was pierced through both thighs with a bullet. Flat Mouth, the chief, reminded Colonel Snelling that he had been attacked while under the protection of the United States flag, and early the next morning, Captain Clark, with one hundred soldiers, proceeded toward Land's End, a trading-post of the Columbia Fur Com- pany, on the Minnesota, a mile above the present resi- dence of Franklin Steele, where the Dahkotahs were supposed to be. The soldiers had just left the large gate of the fort, when a party of Dahkotahs, in battle array, appeared on one of the prairie hills. After some parleying they turned their backs, and being pursued, thirty-two were captured near the trading-post. Colonel Snelling ordered the prisoners to be brought before the Ojibways, and two being pointed out as par- ticipants in the slaughter of the preceding night, they were delivered to the aggrieved party to be dealt with in accordance with their customs. They were led out to the plain in front of the gate of the fort, and when placed nearly without the range of the Ojibway guns, OJIBWAY RETALIATION. 393 they were told to run for their lives. With the rapidity of deer they bounded away, but the Ojibway bullet new faster, and after a few steps, they fell gasping on the ground, and were soon lifeless. Then the savage nature displayed itself in all its hideousness. Women and children danced for joy, and placing their fingers in the bullet holes, from which the blood oozed, they licked them with delight. The men tore the scalps from the dead, and seemed to luxuriate in the privilege of plung- ing their knives through the corpses. After the execu- tion, the Ojibways returned to the fort, and were met by the colonel. He had prevented all over whom his authority extended from witnessing the scene, and had done his best to confine the excitement to the Indians. The same day a deputation of Dahkotah warriors re- ceived audience, regretting the violence that had been done by their young men, and agreeing to deliver up the ringleaders. At the time appointed, a son of Flat Mouth, with those of the Ojibway party that were not wounded, es- corted by United States troops, marched forth to meet the Dahkotah deputation, on the prairie just beyond the old residence of the Indian agent. With much solemnity two more of the guilty were handed over to the assaulted. One was fearless, and with firmness stripped himself of his clothing and ornaments, and distributed them. The other could not face death with composure. He was noted for a hideous hare-lip, and had a bad reputation among his fellows. In the spirit of a coward he prayed for life, to the mortification of his tribe. The same opportunity was presented to them as to the first, of running for their lives. At the first fire the coward fell a corpse ; but his brave com- 394 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. panion, though wounded, ran on, and had nearly reached the goal of safety, when a second bullet killed him. The body of the coward now became a common object of loathing for both Dahkotahs and Ojibways. Colonel Snelling told the Ojibways that the bodies must be removed, and then they took the scalped Dah- kotahs, and dragging them by the heels, threw them off the bluff, into the river a hundred and fifty feet beneath. The dreadful scene was now over ; and a detachment of troops was sent with the old chief Flat Mouth, to escort him out of the reach of Dahkotah vengeance. In the fall of 1826, all the troops at Prairie du Chien had been removed to Fort Snelling, the commander taking with him two Winnebagoes that had been con- fined in Fort Crawford. After the soldiers left the Prairie, the Indians in the vicinity were quite insolent. About this period a bois brule* from Red river, named Methode, came to the Prairie to reside. In the month of March, 1827, he went to Painted Rock creek, a few miles above on the Iowa side, accompanied by his family, for the purpose of making maple sugar. He not re- turning as soon as was expected, search was instituted by his friends, when they found him, his children, and his wife with an unborn infant, nearly burned to cin- ders in their camp — the work of hostile savages. At the time of the shooting of the Dahkotahs at Fort Snelling, Red Bird, a distinguished Winnebago chief, whose residence was often on Black river, Wisconsin, was on a war party against the Ojibways, in which he was unsuccessful. In some way the Winnebagoes gained the impression that two of their own numbei who were confined at Fort Snelling, had been delivered to the RED BIRD'S VIOLENCE AT PRAIRIE DU CHIEN. 395 Ojibways and scalped ; and from that hour the}' becamt hostile to the whites. On the 26th of June, 1827, Red Bird, with two other Indians, entered the dwelling of a trader at Prairie du Chien by the name o'f Lockwood, who was absent, and loading their guns in the kitchen, proceeded to the bed- room of his wife. On their entrance, she crossed the hall into the store, where she found Duncan Graham, a man of influence with the Indians, who induced them to leave. Thirsting for blood, they proceeded in an easterly direction to a place called McNair's Coulee, where there was an isolated log cabin, in which dwelt a man of mulatto and French extraction, named Gagnier. As Eed Bird and his companions entered, Gagnier was sitting on a chest, and near the window ; his wife, of French and Dahkotah extraction, was washing; while on the bed lay an infant sleeping. In the cabin there was also a discharged soldier. Treated with civility, they were asked if they would have something to eat. While the wife was procuring refreshments, she heard the click caused by the cocking of Eed Bird's rifle, and in the twinkling of an eye there was a discharge and her husband was dead. One of the other two Indians shot the soldier, and the third, named Wekaw, had his rifle wrested from him by the desperate wife. Unable to cope with three furious savages, she ran to the village and gave the alarm. Returning with a company of armed men, she found her infant with its head scalped, and neck cut, in the bed and still alive. Recovering from these wounds, the daughter still lives, and is now a grandmother. A little while before this murderous assault two keel- boats had passed Prairie du Chien, on their way to Fort 396 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Snelling with provisions. When they reached Wapashaw village, on the site of the present town of Winona, they were ordered to come ashore by the Dahkotahs. Com- plying, they found themselves surrounded by Indians, with hostile intentions. The boatmen had no fire-arms, but assuming a bold mien, and a defiant voice, the cap- tain of the keel-boats ordered the savages to leave the decks, which was successful. The boats pushed on, and at Red Wing and Kaposia the Indians showed that they were not friendly, though they did not molest the boats. Before they started on their return from Fort Snelling, the men on board, amounting to thirty-two, were all provided with muskets, and a barrel of ball cartridges. When the descending keel-boats passed Wapashaw, the Dahkotahs were engaged in the war dance, and menaced them but made no attack. Below this point one of the boats moved in advance of the other, and when near the mouth of the Bad Axe the half-breeds on board descried hostile Indians on the banks. As the channel neared the shore the sixteen men on the first boat were greeted with the war whoop, and a vol- ley of rifle balls from the excited Winnebagoes, killing two of the crew. Rushing into their canoes, the Indians made the attempt to board the boat, and two were successful. One of these stationed himself at the bow of the boat, and fired with killing effect on the men below deck. An old sailor of the last war with Great Britain, called Saucy Jack, at last despatched him, and began to rally the fainting spirits on board. During the fight the boat had stuck on a sand-bar. With four companions, amid a shower of balls from the savages, he plunged into the water and pushed off the boat, and thus moved out of reach of the galling shots of the ATTACK ON KEEL-BOATS. 397 Winnebagoes. As they floated down the river during the night, they heard a wail in a canoe behind them, the voice of a father mourning the death of the son, who had scaled the deck, and was now a corpse in pos- session of the white men. The rear boat passed the Bad Axe river late in the night, and escaped an attack. It was the day after the murder of Gagnier and Lip- cap, the soldier, that the first keel-boat arrived at Prairie du Chien, with two of their crew dead, four wounded, and the Indian that had been killed on the boat. The two dead men had been residents of the Prairie, and now the panic was increased. On the morning of the twenty-eighth of June the second keel- boat appeared, and among her passengers was Joseph Snelling, a talented son of the colonel, who wrote a story of deep interest, based on the facts narrated. At a meeting of the citizens it was resolved to repair old Fort Crawford, and Thomas McNair was appointed captain. Dirt was thrown around the bottom logs of the fortification to prevent its being fired, and young Snelling was put in command of one of the block- houses. On the next day a voyageur named Loyer, and the well known trader Duncan Graham, started through the interior, west of the Mississippi, with intelligence of the murders, to Fort Snelling. A company of volunteers soon arrived from Galena, and a few days after four companies of the fifth regiment from Fort Snelling, with Colonel Snelling in command. The citi- zens had seized De-kau-ray, a Winnebago chief, and re- rained him as a hostage. Governor Cass, at the time of these occurrences, was at Butte des Morts, for the purpose of negotiating a treaty, and, proceeding immediately to Jefferson Bar- 398 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. racks, a large body of troops, under General Atkinson, were soon on their way to the scene of excitement. A detachment from Green Bay, under Major Whistler, also moved up to the portage of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. The Winnebagoes were not prepared to engage in war with the United States, and it was decided in council that Eed Bird and We-Kaw should surrender themselves to Major Whistler. Colonel McKinney describes the scene in this lan- guage : " On the right was the band of music, a little in advance of the line. In front of the centre, about ten paces distant, were the murderers. * * * * All eyes were fixed on Eed Bird, and well they might be, for of all the Indians I ever saw, he is, without excep- tion, the most perfect in form, in face, and gesture. In height he is above six feet; straight, but without re- straint. His proportions are of the most exact sym- metry ; his very fingers are models of beauty. I never beheld a face that was so full of all the ennobling, and, at the same time, the most winning expression. " During my attempted analysis of his face, I could not but ask myself, Can this man be a murderer ? Is he the same who shot, scalped, and cut the throat of Gagnier ? There was no ornamenting of the hair after the Indian fashion, but it was cut after the civilized manner. His face was painted ; one side red, the other intermixed with green and white. Around his neck he wore a collar of blue wampum, beautifully mixed with white, which was sewed to a piece of cloth, the width of the wampum being about two inches, — while the claws of the wild-cat, distant from each other about a quarter of an inch, with their points inward, formed the rim of the collar. He was clothed in a Yankton IMPRISONMENT AND DEATH OF RED BIRD. 399 dress, new and beautiful. The material is of dressed elk or deer skin, almost a pure white. ***** Across his breast, in a diagonal position, and bound tight to it, was his war pipe, brightly ornamented with dyed horse-hair, the feathers and bills of birds. In one of his hands he held the white flag, in the other the calumet of peace. There he stood. Not a muscle moved, nor was the expression of his face changed a particle. He and We-Kaw were told to sit down. His motions as he seated himself were no less graceful and captivating, than when he stood or walked. At this moment the band struck up Pleyel's Hymn. Every- thing was still. It was a moment of intense interest to all." The ceremony of surrender now took place. The Winhebagoes asked kind treatment of the prisoners, and begged that they might not be ironed. Major Whistler said in reply that he would treat them with considera- tion,, and Red Bird standing up said: "I am ready," and was immediately marched off with his accomplice to a tent in the rear and placed under guard. The prisoners having been handed over to General Atkinson, who had arrived, w T ere conveyed to Prairie du Chien, and delivered to the civil authorities. There they were chained and placed in close confinement, which so chafed the proud spirit of Red Bird, that he soon drooped, and at last died with a broken heart. In September, 1829, Rev. A. Coe and J. D. Stevens arrived at Fort Snelling. Agent Taliaferro treated them kindly, and offered the old mill and buildings at the Falls of St. Anthony for a Presbyterian mission school for the Dahkotahs, as well as the Indian farm opened at Lake Calhoun, and called Eatonville. 400 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA CHAPTER XIX. In the year 1830, steps were taken for another con- gress of tribes at Prairie du Chien. A few weeks pre- vious to the convocation, a party of Dahkotahs and Menomonees surprised a band of Foxes, who were eat- ing their dinner on an island in the Mississippi, a short distance below the Wisconsin, and killed eight of their chief men. On this account the Fox tribe refused to be present at the council at Prairie du Chien. The M'dewakantonwan Dahkotahs, in a treaty made on this occasion, bestowed on their relatives of mixed blood that tract about Lake Pepin known as the half-breed tract. 1 During this year another attempt was made to erect a mill on the Chippeway river, Wisconsin. In the month of May, workmen proceeded to the old site on the Menomonee. Three or four Ojibways arrived one night and told them if they did not leave they would kill them. The superintendent (Armstrong) was so much alarmed that he took a canoe and floated down 1 The tract is described in said Lake Pepin and the Mississippi, treaty as follows : " Beginning at a about thirty-two miles to a point place called the Barn, below and opposite Beef or O'Beuf river, thence near the village of the Red Wing fifteen miles, to the Grand Encamp- Ohief. and running back fifteen ment, opposite the river aforesaid." miles, thence in a parallel line with HOLMES BUILDS A SAW-MILL. 401 the river the same evening, and the workmen followed the next day. In August, one of the proprietors at Prairie du Chien started with other workmen ; among others, a discharged soldier by the name of Holmes, 1 under whose supervi- sion the mill was at last constructed ; and, by the sum- mer of the next year, had sawed about one hundred thousand feet of lumber. After the unprovoked attack on the part of the Dah- kotahs, which has been related, a continual border war- fare prevailed between them and the Ojibways until 1831. War parties of the latter, descending the Chip- peway river, constantly lurked around the shores of Lake Pepin, in the hope of obtaining Dahkotah scalps, and endangered the lives of white men ascending or de- scending the Mississippi. During the month of April, 1831, the authorities at Washington instructed H. R. Schoolcraft, Indian agent at Sault St. Marie, to proceed to the Upper Mississippi, and use his influence to make peace between the Dah- kotahs and Ojibways. The expedition was composed of twenty-seven men, beside a few soldiers under Lieu- tenant Clary. Ascending the Mushkeg river, which enters Lake Superior below Bayfield, they passed Lake Kagino, and a chain of small lakes, until they came to the Name- kagon, a tributary of the St. Croix. Descending this stream to Lake Pukwaewa, they found a village of fifty-three persons under Odabossa. At this point the expedition divided, a part going to Ottawa Lake by a direct route, and a portion accompanying Mr. School- T his gentleman has since become an active pioneer in Minnesota. 26 402 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. craft down the Namekagon to its junction with the St Croix, and down that stream to a trading post at Yellow river. On the first of August, Mr. Schoolcraft held a council with the Ojibways at this point. The Indians, through one of their speakers, referred to an attack that had been made the previous year by the Dahkotahs, on a band of Ojibways and bois brules, in which four of their friends had been killed, and that the Ojibways had not been in the habit of crossing the boundary line mentioned in the treaty of Prairie du Chien. At the solicitation of Mr. Schoolcraft, Kabamappa, and Shakoba (the war chief of Snake river), consented to bear wampum and tobacco to the Dahkotah chiefs at Kaposia and Wapashaw village, and invite them ta renew the league of friendship. On the fifth of August, the two detachments of the expedition were re-united at Ottawa Lake, when an- other council was held at the trading-post with the Indians. At Lake Chetac, they found the trading-house burned, and village deserted; and while breakfasting on the shores of a little lake below this, eight canoes filled with a returning war party floated into the lake. They \ were young braves from Ottawa Lake, and had been in. pursuit of Dahkotahs near the mill which had recently been erected. On the seventh of August, the expedi- tion arrived at Rice Lake, the residence of a band of warlike Ojibways, much exposed to the Dahkotahs. because they were on the verge of the Dahkotah pos~ sessions. The young chief Neenaba claimed that the saw-mills just erected on the Red Cedar branch of the Chippeway NEENABA'S SPEECH. 403 were on their lands, though the Dahkotahs had granted permission, for a certain consideration, to the owners. At the request to drop his war club, he was confused, and would not receive the proffered presents of a medal and flag until he was pressed by his young warriors. On the next day he came, followed by his braves, with the flag on one arm and the war club in the other hand, and stated that while he accepted the one, he did not drop the other. "He had reflected upon the advice sent by the President, and particularly that part of it which counselled them to sit still upon their lands, but while they sat still, they wished also to be certain that their enemies would sit still." After this interview, Mr. Schoolcraft visited the mills on the Red Cedar river, which were then in charge of Mr. Wallace. In 1832, instructions were again issued, ordering Mr. Schoolcraft to visit the tribes toward the sources of the Mississippi. Attached to the expedition, was the late Dr. Douglass Houghton, as botanist, geologist, and sur- geon, and the Rev. W. T. Boutwell, now of Washing- ton county, who was appointed by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, to explore the field, to observe the condition of the Indians, and the practicability of establishing mission stations. The military escort was in command of Lieutenant James Allen. On the afternoon of the twenty-third of June, the Fond du Lac trading-house on the St. Louis river, about twenty miles from the mouth, was reached. This was formerly the head-quarters of the fur trade west of Lake Superior ; but the American Fur Company re- moved their depot to Sandy Lake, because of its more 404 HISTOP r OF MINNESOTA. central situation. Tlr.s department of the Indian trade, included the posts at Fond du Lac, Grand Portage, Rainy Lake, Vermillion Lake, Red Lake, Pembina, Red Cedar, Leech, and Sandy Lakes. The value of furs from all these posts in 1832, was about twenty-five thousand dollars. On the twenty-first of June, the party were at La Pointe. The chief trader of the place, was the father of the late Mr. Warren, who had thirty or forty acres under cultivation. Among other residents, was the father of his wife, Cadotte, an old French trader, and the Rev. Sherman Hall, for some time beceasebthen a missionary among the Ojibways. His child was said to have been the first child of pure European parents born on the shores of Lake Superior. On the twenty-fifth of June, the first portage on the St. Louis river was made. The entire length of it is nine miles, and it was necessary to commence carrying the baggage and provisions up a very steep bluff; while the experienced voyageurs ascended with ease, bearing a bag of flour and a keg of pork, the raw recruits of the expedition had stumbling work. On the twenty-sixth, in the midst of a drenching rain, the men with heavy loads on their backs, waded through mud and water. Some Indian women who were assisting in the portage, carried at once a bag of flour, a trunk, and soldier's knapsack, surmounted by a nursing infant in an Indian cradle. 1 About noon of the next day the end of the difficult portage was reached. 1 " When we stopped at night my were disabled, and all of them were men, and even the Canadians, were galled in the back by the kegs in literally fagged out. Two of the such a degree as to make their load* soldiers had snagged their feet, and very painful. It requires an expe r ENDURANCE AND STRENGTH OF SQUAWS. 405 Heavy rains fell on the first and second of July, and in reaching the portage of the Savannah, some lost their moccasins, and some a leg of their pantaloons, and all were covered with mud to their waists, so that they were perfect "sans culottes" when they camped at the end of the carrying place. On the afternoon of July third, reached the trad- ing-post of Mr. Aitkin at Sandy Lake, where they were welcomed by the discharge of muskets, and the hoisting of the American flag. On the ninth, the ex- pedition was at Lake Winnibigoshish, and found a trading-post in the charge of Mr. Belanger, made of logs, with windows of deer skin, surrounded by a little garden, in which were growing tobacco, corn, peas, and potatoes. On the tenth they entered Cass Lake, which Mr. Schoolcraft visited in company with the present secretary of state in 1820. Here were several fine corn fields, which had been cultivated by Indian women. In one of the lodges were three Dahkotah scalps, one of which had been lately taken by the Leech Lake Band. Flat Mouth and one hundred warriors had gone forth to chastise the Dahkotahs for encroaching on his hunt- ing grounds, and meeting a party of the enemy had killed three and wounded others. In the affray a Cass rience of years to habituate men to tomed to it. I saw a small young carrying in this way, and the life Indian woman at the close of the and habits of soldiers by no means day, carry a keg of one thousand fit them for such labour. I had musket ball cartridges, fur a distance four or five Indian women, and as of one mile without resting, and many Indian men carrying for me, most of the distance through swamp and without these I could not have that was frequently over her knees, made half the distance. The Indian and this too, after having carried women carry better than the men, heavy loads all day." — Lt. Allen's being less indolent and more accus- Journal. 406 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Lake Ojibway was killed, and when night came there was a grand scalp dance, which an eye-witness has de- scribed : — " Before I had returned to our tent, which is pitched but a few yards from two graves, the greater part of the Indians had here collected, and begun the scalp dance. It was led by three squaws, each bearing in her hand one of the recent scalps. Two or three men sat beating drums and singing, while old and young, male and female, all joined in the song. Occasionally all would become so animated that there would be one general hop, and all at the same time, throwing their heads back, would raise a most horrid yell, clapping the mouth with the hand, to render it, if possible, more terrific. Here were seen little boys and girls, not six years old, all looking on with the most intense interest, imitating their fathers and mothers, and participating in their brutal joy. Thus early do they learn, by pre- cept and example, to imbibe the spirit of revenge and war, which is fostered in their bosoms, and in after life stimulates them to go and perform some deed of daring and blood, which shall gain for themselves the like ap- plause. "A circumstance which rendered the scene not a little appalling, is, it was performed around the graves of the dead. At the head of those graves hangs an old scalp, some ten feet above the ground, which the winds have almost divested of its ornaments and its hair. The grass and the turf for several yards around, are literally destroyed, and, I presume, by their frequent dancing. One of the scalps I examined. The flesh side had apparently been smoked and rubbed with some material till it was pliant, after which it was painted ALLEN'S FIRST MAP OF ITASCA LAKE. 407 with vermillion. A piece of wood is turned in the form of a horse-shoe, into which the scalp is sewed, the threads passing round the wood, which keeps it tight. Narrow pieces of cloth and ribands of various colours, attached to the bow, were ornamented with beads and feathers. A small stick, which serves for a handle to shake it in the air when they dance, was attached to the top of the bow by a string. While examining it, a lock of hair fell from it, which the Indian gave me, and which I still preserve." 1 At two P. M., on July thirteenth, they reached Elk Lake, named Itasca by Mr. Schoolcraft. 2 With the ex- ception of traders, no white men had ever traced the Mississippi so far. The lake is about eight miles in length, and was called Elk by the Ojibways, because of its irregularities, resembling the horns of that ani- mal. Lieutenant Allen, the commander of the mili- tary detachment, who made the first map of this lake, thus speaks : — "From these hills, which were seldom more than two or three hundred feet high, we came suddenly down to the lake, and passed nearly through it to an island near its west end, where we remained one or two hours. We were sure that we had reached the true source of the great river, and a feeling of great satisfaction was manifested by all the party. Mr. Schoolcraft hoisted a flag on a high staff on the island, and left it flying. The lake is about seven miles long, and from one to three broad, but is of an irregular shape, conforming to 1 Boutwell. syllable of the first and the final syl- 2 It is asserted that this is a name lable of the last word, Itasca is ob- made up by Mr. Schoolcraft from tained; but Mrs. Eastman says, two Latin words, Veritas caput. It that it is the name of an Indian is true, that by dropping the first maiden. i08 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the bases of pine hills which, for a great part of its cir- cumference, rise abruptly from its shore. It is deep, cold, and very clear, and seemed to be well stocked with fish. Its shores show some boulders of primitive rock, but no rock in place. The island, the only one of the lake, and which I have called Schoolcraft Island, is one hundred and fifty yards long, fifty yards broad in the highest part, elevated twenty or thirty feet, over- grown with elm, pine, spruce, and wild cherry. There can be no doubt that this is the true source and fountain of the longest and largest branch of the Mississippi." Soon after sunrise, on the next day, the expedition turned the bows of their canoes towards the region of civilization. In a little while the canoes were whirling amid splashing rapids, and Allen's capsized. Kegs of pork, loaves of bread, notes of travel, compass, and apparatus, were soon swept out of sight. When the canoe-men are experienced, there is a pleasurable ex- citement attending the descent of such rapids. On the afternoon of this day they passed the Dahko- tah embankments, which are holes in the earth, where a war party lay in wait for Ojibways descending the rapids,, to wmich allusion has been made in a previous chapter. At ten o'clock at night Leech Lake was reached. In the morning they were welcomed by a salute from the Indians. The chief of the band was Aishkebuggekozh, or Flat Mouth, whose party suffered the dastardly assault at Fort Snelling in 1827. He occupied a log-cabin, twenty by twenty-five feet, which had been presented to him by a trader. He possessed cups, saucers, knives, and forks of European manufac- ture. At one end of the eating-hall were hung his flags, medals, gun, and scalping knife. Bare-legged and with BOUTWELL'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION. 409 bare feet, the old chief received his visiters with dignity. He was surrounded by about forty warriors, with stand- ing feathers around their head, and fox tails around their heels. The whole band consisted at that time of over seven hundred men, women and children, and many were vaccinated by Dr. Houghton. On the twenty-second of July, it being Sunday, the party remained at Baker's trading-post, about fifteen miles below the mouth of the Crow Wing, and here they learned from a small newspaper, which here reached them, concerning the Black Hawk difficulties in Wisconsin. At eight, on Monday morning, they arrived at Little Falls. Says the Rev. Mr. Boutwell, in his journal : — " At eight we reached the Little Falls. Instead of making a short portage here, as is usual, the water being sufficiently high to clear the canoe from stones, we only put into the current and let her drive. The stream is full of small islands, many of which are covered with a beautiful growth of elm, maple, butternut, and white walnut. The country here is prairie, extending as far as the eye can reach, with here and there a clump of oaks, which at a distance looks like some old New England orchard. It is the most interesting and inviting tract of country I have ever seen. If there is anything that can meet the wishes, and fill the soul of man with gratitude, it is found here. What would require the labour of years, in preparing the land for cultivation in many of the old states, is here all prepared to the hand. As far as the eye can reach, is one continued field of grass and flowers, waving in the passing breeze, exhibit- ing the appearance of a country which has been culti- vated for centuries, but now deserted of its inhabitants. 4iU HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. The gentle swells, which are seen here and there, give a pleasing variety. The soil is apparently easy of cul- tivation, — a black earth and a mixture of black sand. Nothing can be more picturesque or grand, than the high banks at a distance, rising before you as you de- scend. The islands, in the stream, are most of them alluvial, a soil of the richest quality. " We have marched thirteen hours and a half to-day, at the rate of ten miles per hour, and are encamped this evening in the dominions of the Sioux, though we have as yet seen none. " Embarked at five next morning, and marched till twelve, when we reached the Falls of St. Anthony, nine miles above the mouth of the St. Peter's. Our govern- ment have here a saw-mill and grist-mill on the west bank of the Mississippi, and also have a large farm. The soldiers are here cutting the hay. For beauty, the country around exceeds all that I can say. These falls are an interesting object to look at, but there is nothing about them that fills one with awe, as do the Falls of Niagara. The stream is divided in about its centre by a bluff of rocks covered with a few trees. The perpen- dicular fall is perhaps twenty feet on each side of this bluff, at the foot of which there is a shoot of some ten or fifteen feet more in a descent. " A short portage was made around the falls, when we again embarked in the rapids, and in about an hour reached Fort Snelling. This post is located at the junc- tion of the St. Peter's with the Mississippi. It stands on a high bluff, rising on the north, nearly three hun- dred feet above the water. The walls of the fort, and of most of the buildings, are of stone. The tower com- mands an extensive and beautiful view of the adjacent EXPEDITION ARRIVES AT FORT SNELLING. 411 country, and of the Mississippi and St. Peter's rivers. The officers visited us at our tents, invited us to their quarters, and treated us with much kindness and attention. " After Mr. Schoolcraft had stated to three or four of the principal Sioux chiefs who had been requested to visit him, the object of his tour, and mentioned the complaints which the Ojibwas brought against them for breaking the treaties of Prairie du Chien and Fond du Lac, Little Crow rose and replied, that he recollected those treaties, when they smoked the pipe, and all agreed to eat and drink out of the same dish. He wished the line to be drawn between them and the Ojibwas ; the sooner it was fixed the better. He alluded to the late war party from Leech Lake, which had killed two of his nephews, and were now dancing around their scalps ; but he did not complain, nor would he go and revenge their death. He denied that the Sioux were in league with the Sacs and Foxes. Black Dog, and the Man- who-floats-on-the-water, also spoke in much the same manner." After the expedition left Fort Snelling Mr. School- craft pushed ahead, and proceeded without the military escort, by way of the St. Croix to Lake Superior. Near the Falls of St. Croix he met Joseph E. Brown, who had been trading at that point, but was now on his way to establish a new post at the mouth of the river. Lieutenant Allen was sorely displeased with the sum- mary manner in which Mr. Schoolcraft left him, and in his published report gives full expression to his senti- ments. Early in the spring of 1832, the noted Sauk chief, Black Hawk, raised the British flag, and ascended the 412 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Mississippi with hostile intentions against the frontier settlers. General Atkinson, in the latter part of May, sent an express from Dixon, Illinois, to Prairie du Chien, requesting the Indian agent to procure the services of the Dahkotahs as allies of the United States troops. On the thirtieth of May, John Marsh, who had accom- panied the troops to Fort Snelling in 1819, and Burnett, sub-agent at Prairie du Chien, left that place in a canoe paddled by eight men, to secure the aid of the Dahko- tahs. On their way they stopped at the Winnebago village at La Crosse, to inquire if any were willing to join General Atkinson's army on Rock River ; Winnie- shiek opposed the measure, but the young men agreed to accompany them on their return. On the first of June, Marsh and Burnett were at Wapashaw Prairie, and found the Dahkotahs fully pre- pared to go to war against their old enemies. In six days the commissioners returned to the Prairie with eighty Dahkotah and twenty Winnebago warriors. Marsh, the Dahkotah interpreter, and W. S. Hamilton, marched with the Dahkotahs toward the Pecatonica, and, arriving there the day of the skirmish between General Dodge and the Sauks and Foxes, they gloated over the corpses of their enemies, and, dancing the scalp dance, cut them to pieces. On the twenty-first of July General Dodge met Black Hawk near an old Sauk village on the Wisconsin and routed him, he retreating north of the Wisconsin, in direction of the Mississippi. As soon as the intelligence of Black Hawk's retreat reached Prairie du Chien, Cap- tain Loomis, now colonel of the 5th regiment United States Infantry, hired the steamboat Enterprise, to pro- ceed to La Crosse, and bring down any Winnebagoes BATTLE OF BAD AXE. 413 that might be there, lest they should assist Black Hawk in crossing the river. On the thirtieth of July the Win- nebagoes and their canoes were at Fort Crawford. On the first of August, Loomis, one of the officers at Fort Crawford, hired a faster steamboat, called the " Warrior," to ascend the Mississippi. When they came to the mouth of the Bad Axe they discovered Black Hawk's party, who had just arrived with wearied limbs, and diseased and famished bodies. As the steamer approached he told his braves not to shoot, and taking a piece of white cotton placed it on a pole, and signified a desire to come on board ; but about this time there was a discharge from the six-pounder on board of the boat, which was returned by Black Hawk's braves. The steamboat returned that evening to Prairie du Chien, but arrived again the next day, and found that a battle had commenced between the Indians and the regular troops, who had come up to them by land a few hours before. Some of the Indians had fled to the islands of the Mississippi near the Bad Axe, and they were fired at by those on the steamboat. Batteaux were also sent to the main land to receive and transport the troops of Colonel Z. Taylor and Major Bliss to one of the islands, where a severe fight took place, during which every Indian was killed but one, who made his escape by swimming. 1 During the fight. General Atkinson came on board of the steamer and remained until the close of the battle. After three hours the battle ended, which was a slaugh- ter rather than a victory. A writer, in the nearest newspaper, 2 four days after, 1 Narrative of Captain Este, Black Hawk, and others. 2 Galena Gazette. 414 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. says, " When the Indians were driven to the bank of the Mississippi, some hundreds of men, women, and children, plunged into the river, and hoped by diving to escape the bullets of our guns. Very few, however, escaped our sharp-shooters." Among those killed on the Wisconsin shore was a mother. Her infant was feeding on her breast, and the bullet had passed through and broken the arm of the child, and penetrated to the heart of the parent. When discovered, the child was alive ; it survived the wound, which was attended to by one of the surgeons of the volunteer troops. Those Indians that escaped the fire from the main shore and steamboat, were met on the west side of the Mississippi by the scalping knife of the Dahkotahs. Wapashaw, with a party of warriors, had arrived during the fight, and they were ordered to pursue those who should escape. Black Hawk, perceiving that all was lost, in forlorn condition fled to the Winnebago village at La Crosse, where the squaws gave him a dress of white deer skin. He was accompanied by the Winnebago chief, One-eyed Dekorrah, to Prairie du Chien, and delivered up to the Americans on the morning of August twenty- seventh. Black Hawk, on that occasion, is said to have made the following speech : — " My warriors fell around me ; it began to look dis- mal. I saw my evil day at hand. The sun rose clear on us in the morning, and at night it sunk in a dark cloud, and looked like a ball of fire. This was the last sun that shone on Black Hawk. He is now a prisoner to the white man. But he can stand the torture. He is not afraid of death. He is no coward. Black Hawk BLACK HAWK'S SPEECH. 415 is an Indian; he has done nothing of which an Indian need to be ashamed. He has fought the battles of his country against the white men, who came year after year to cheat them and take away their lands. You know the cause of our making war — it is known to all white men — they ought to be ashamed of it. The white men despise the Indians, and drive them from their homes. But the Indians are not deceitful. The white men speak bad of the Indian, and look at him spite- fully. But the Indian does not tell lies. Indians do not steal. Black Hawk is satisfied. He will go to the world of spirits contented. He has done his duty — his Father will meet him and reward him. The white men do not scalp the head, but they do worse, they poison the heart — it is not pure with them. Farewell to my nation ! Farewell to Black Hawk !" During the year of the Black Hawk war, the first regular land mail was carried between Fort Crawford and Fort Snelling. The mail carrier was a soldier of the United States' army, and his journeys were on foot. Leaving Prairie du Chien, he crossed to the Iowa side, and then continued on the western side till he came to Fort Snelling. He occupied fourteen days in going and returning, and carried the mail for a period of twelve months. 1 At that time there were no white families in the country. The entire population, beside the soldiers of the fort, were Indian traders. 2 1 Smith's History of Wisconsin, Louis Provenqalle, Traverse des- vol. i. p. 289. Sioux. 2 Licensed Indian Traders in J. B. Faribault, Little Rapids of Minnesota, 1833-1834:— Minnesota. Alexis Baillv, Mendota. Hazen Moores, Lac Traverse. J. R. Brown, Oliver's Grove, Joseph Renville, Lac qui Parle. Mouth of the St. Croix. B. F. Baker, Fort Snelling. 416 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. In the year 1805, Upper Louisiana was organized as Missouri Territory ; and, after the state of that name, was, in 1820, admitted into the Union, the territory beyond its northern boundary, comprising Iowa, and all of Minnesota west of the Mississippi river, was without any organized government. In 1834, the inhabitants petitioned Congress to give them a territorial organi- zation, or attach them to Michigan. For the present it was thought better to pursue the latter course. In 1836, the territory of Wisconsin was organized, comprising all of Michigan west of the lake of that name ; and, in 1838, Iowa was formed, embracing all of the old Missouri Territory beyond the north line of the state of that name. During the year 1835, an artist of some notoriety, George Catlin, visited Minnesota, and made many sketches which were truthful, and subsequently pub- lished many statements which were unreliable. Featherstonhaugh, in company with Professor Mather, under the direction of the United States government, made a slight geological survey of the valley of the Minnesota. After Featherstonhaugh returned to England, his native land, he published a work entitled " Canoe voy- age up the Minnaysotar," which is only remarkable for its J. Renville, Jr., Little Rock. P. Prescott, Traverse des Sioux. James Welles, Little Rapids. Joseph R. Brown, Mouth of Chip- peway. W. A. Aitkin, Fond du Lac. Alfred Aitkin, Sandy Lake. -John Aitkin, Prairie Percee. Ambrose Devenport, Gull Lake. Wm. Devenport, Leech Lake. A. Morrison, Mille Lac. George Bonga, Lac Platte. J. H. Fairbanks, Red Cedar Lake. Louis Dufault, Red Lake. Wm. Stitt, Lower Red Cedar Lake. L. M. Warren, La Pointe, Wis. Chas. Wolfborup, Yellow Lake. NICOLLET ARRIVES IN MINNESOTA. 417 vulgarity, and its attack upon the character of gentle- men who did not show him the attention which he thought he should have received. The next year, another foreign gentleman visited the country, who was the antipodes to him whom we have just noticed. His name will always be honoured in the university and colleges of the state ; and his career will incite others to the culture of those exact sciences, which are so useful in their results to the practical man. Jean N. Nicollet, 1 with letters of introduction, having arrived in Minnesota, on the twenty-sixth of July, 1836, 1 Jean N. Nicollet was born in the year 1790, at Cluses, a small town, capital of Fansigny in Savoie. His parents were poor, and he was con- sequently reduced to the necessity of gaining a subsistence by playing upon the flute and violin, before he had reached the tender age of ten years. He was then apprenticed to a watchmaker, and remained with him until he was eighteen years old, when he removed to Chambry, the capital of Savoie, where he followed his occupation, at the same time prosecuting his studies in mathe- matics, for his proficiency in which science he received a prize. From Chambry he returned to Cluses, and there gave lessons in mathematics, he himself receiving instruction in Latin and other languages. He continued this course of life for about two years, when he weDt to Paris and was admitted in the first class of L'Ecole Normale, and soon after- wards he was placed in charge of the mathematical course in the col- lege of " Louis Le Grand." It was in 1818 that Nicollet pub- 27 lished his celebrated letter to M. Outrequin Banquier, "on assurances having for their basis, the probable duration of human life." From 1819 and 1820, may be dated the commencement of his astronomi- cal labours. On the twenty-first of January, 1821, between six and seven in the evening, he discovered a comet in the constellation of Pegasus (seen on the same day and at the same hour by Pons at Marseilles), and from his own observations, and those of the astronomers and the observa- tory, he completed its parabolic elements. Previous to 1825, M. Nicollet re- ceived the decoration of the Legion of Honour, and had also been at- tached as Professor, to the Royal College of " Louis Le Grand." Having been unfortunate in spec- ulations which involved others in pecuniary loss, he came to the United States in 1832 ; poor, but honest. — See sketch in Annals Minnesota Hist. Soc, No. iv. 1853. 418 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. left Fort Snelling with a French trader, named Fron- chet, to explore the sources of the Mississippi. While at the Falls of St. Anthony, the Dahkotahs pilfered some of his provisions, but writing back to the fort for another supply, he ascended the Mississippi, telescope in hand, and with a trustful, child-like spirit, hoped with Sir Isaac Newton, to gather a few pebbles from the great ocean of truth. After reaching Crow Wing river, he entered its mouth, and by way of Gull river and lake, he reached Leech Lake, the abode of the Pillagers. When the savages found that he was nothing but a poor scholar, with neither medals, nor beef, nor flags to present, and constantly peeping through a tube into the heavens, they became very unruly. The Rev. Mr. Boutwell, whose mission house was on the opposite side of the lake, hearing the shouts and drumming of the Indians, came over as soon as the wind which had been blowing for several days, would allow the passage of his canoe. His arrival was very grateful to Nicollet, who says: "On the fourth day, however, he arrived, and although totally unknown to each other previously, a sympathy of feeling arose, growing out of the precarious circumstances under which we were both placed, and to which he had been much longer exposed than myself. This feeling, from the kind attentions he paid me, soon ripened into affec- tionate gratitude." Leaving Leech Lake with an Indian, Fronchet aud Francis Brunet, a Canadian trader of that post, " a man six feet three inches in height, a giant of great strength, and at the same time full of the milk of human kind- ness," he proceeded toward Itasca Lake. With the sex- tant on his back, thrown over like a knapsack, a ba~ THE ASTRONOMER IN THE WILDERNESS. 419 rometer and cloak on his left shoulder, a portfolio under his arm, and a basket in hand holding thermometer, chronometer, and compass, he followed his guides over the necessary portages. After the usual trials of an inexperienced traveller, he pitched his tent on School- craft's Island, in Lake Itasca, and proceeded to use his telescope and instruments. Continuing his explorations beyond those of Lieut. Allen and Schoolcraft, he entered on the twenty-ninth of August, a tributary of the west bay of the lake, two or three feet in depth, and from fifteen to twenty feet in width. While the previous explorers had passed but one or two hours at Itasca Lake, he stayed three days with complete scientific apparatus, and sought the sources of the rivulets that feed the lake. With great appropriateness has his claim been recognised by the people of Minnesota, as the individual who completed the exploration of the Mississippi, by giving his name to a county. Keturning to Fort Snelling in the beginning of Octo- ber, he occupied a room at the stone agency house, a quarter of a mile beyond the gate, where he passed the time in studying the Dahkotah. The latter portion of the winter Nicollet was a guest of Mr. Sibley, at Men- dota. That gentleman says : — " A portion of the winter following was spent by him at my house, and it is hardly necessary to state that I found in him a most instructive companion. His devo- tion to his studies was intense and unremitting, and I frequently expostulated with him upon his imprudence in thus over-tasking the strength of his delicate frame, but with little effect. When the weather was auspi- cious, telescope in hand, he would spend hours of the 420 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. cold winter nights of our high latitude in astral observa- tions. He continued his labours until the opening of spring called him to encounter the privations and suf- ferings necessarily attendant upon a long sojourn in the wilderness. Such was the enthusiasm of his nature, that he submitted to all physical inconveniences with- out murmuring, and as of no moment when compared with the magnitude of the enterprise in which he was engaged." Going to Washington, after his tour of 1836-37, he was honoured with a commission from the United States government, and John C. Fremont was detailed as his assistant. Ascending the Missouri river in a steamboat, to Fort Pierre, he travelled through the interior of Min- nesota Territory, visiting the Red Pipe Stone Quarry, which he accurately describes, Minne Wakan, or Devil's Lake, and other important localities. The map which he constructed, and the astronomical observations which he made, were invaluable to the country.^ 1 Hon. H. H. Sibley, in his notice of Nicollet, says : — "His health was so seriously affected after his return to Washing- ton in 1839, that from that time for- ward he was incapacitated from de- voting himself to the accomplishment of his work as exclusively as he had previously done. Still he laboured, but it was with depressed spirits and blighted hopes. He had long as- pired to a membership in the Aca- demy of Sciences of Paris. His long continued devotion and valuable contributions to the cause of science, and his correct deportment as a gentleman, alike entitled him to such a distinction. But his enemies were numerous and influential, and when his name was presented in accord- ance with a previous nomination, to fill a vacancy, he was black-balled and rejected. This last blow was mortal. True, he strove against the incurable melancholy which had fastened itself upon him, but his struggles waxed more and more faint, until death put a period to his sufferings on the eighteenth Sep- tember, 1844. " Even when he was aware that his dissolution was near at hand, his NICOLLET'S DEATH.— AITKIN KILLED. 421 The Leech Lake Ojibways this year killed the trader 1 in charge of the American Fur Company's post, at that point, and many threatened to drive away the Rev. Mr. Boutwell, and manifested bitter hostility. thoughts reverted back to the days when he roamed along the valley of the Minnesota river. It was my fortune to meet him for the last time in the year 1842 in Washington City. A short time before his death I re- ceived a kind but mournful letter from him, in which he adverted to the fact that his days were numbered, but at the same time he expressed a hope that he would have strength sufficient to enable him to make his way to our country, that he might yield up his breath and be interred on the banks of his beloved stream. " It would have been gratifying to his friends to know that the soil of the region which had employed so much of his time and scientific re- search, had received his mortal re- mains into his bosom, but they were denied this melancholy satisfaction. He sleeps beneath the sod far away, in the vicinity of the capital of the nation, but his name will continue to be cherished in Minnesota as one of its early explorers, and one of its best friends. The astronomer, the geologist, and the christian gentle- man, Jean N. Nicollet, will long be remembered in connection with the history of the North-west. " Time shall quench full many A people's records, and a hero's acts. Sweep empire after empire into nothing ; But even then shall spare this deed of thine. And hold it up, a problem few dare imitate, And none despise." 1 Alfred Aitkin. 422 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER XX. The history of missions among the roving tribes of Minnesota and the regions adjacent, must necessarily be a dark and saddening page. They are all bands with- out law. The frontispiece of the first volume of the voyages of Baron La Hontan to the Lakes of the West, pub- lished more than one hundred and fifty years ago, is an engraving of an Indian, attired for war, with a bow in one hand and arrow in the other, a statute book under one foot, and a crown and sceptre beneath the othei. Over his head is the appropriate motto " Et leges, et sceptra terit :" On laws and sceptres he tramples. The savages of the north-west, as has been shown, have nothing that corresponds to a civilized government. Their chiefs hold their influence by a trimming and somersaulting which would put the most adroit politi- cian to the blush. Society takes no • cognisance of offences, and each man revenges his real or imaginary wrongs. If one is killed, the relative in return goes and kills the person who committed the act. They also hold their property in common. If, on a hunting expe- dition, a man shoots a deer, he does not claim it as pri- vate property, but it is shared with all present. If an JESUITS PERMITTED HEATHEN SACRIFICES. 423 industrious person should settle down and cultivate a field of corn and potatoes, custom requires that he should share it with the idler and the passer-by. The aversion to labour is such that the men ordi- narily feel it an insult to be urged to work. Toil is only becoming to women. In addition to these preju- dices, when not hunting for wild beasts, they, with the ferocity of wild beasts, hunt for the scalps of their wild neighbours. There is scarcely a large plain in Minne- sota that has not been an Aceldama. The youth from his earliest childhood is trained to delight in war. Bancroft, catching the enthusiasm of the narratives of the early Jesuits, depicts, in language which glows, their missions to the North-west ; yet it is erroneous to suppose that they exercised any permanent influence on the Aborigines. Fond of novelty and attention, the untutored children of the forest for a little while were interested in the pictures and vestments and tales of the " black gown," but they at length grew weary. Marquette, while at La Pointe on Lake Superior, made a fatal mistake as a minister of Christianity. In his narrative he says that he allowed the Ojibways to retain such sacrifices to ima- ginary spirits as he thought were harmless, as if it was possible to serve God and Manitou. After he was driven from the shores of Lake Superior, no further attempt was made to elevate the Aborigines of that region, until the arrival of Protestant missionaries more than a century subsequent. The devout Romanist, Shea, in his interesting history of Catholic missions, speaking of the Dahkotahs remarks that, " Father Menard had projected a Sioux mission; Marquette, Allouez, Druilletes, all entertained hopes of 424 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. realizing it, and had some intercourse with that nation, but none of them ever succeeded in establishing a mis- sion." After the American Fur Company was formed, the island of Mackinaw became the residence of the principal agent for the North-west. In the month of June of the year 1820, the Kev. Dr. Morse, father of the inventor of the Morseograph, 1 visited the spot, and preached the first Protestant ser- mon ever delivered in this portion of the North-west. He became quite interested in the condition of traders and natives; and in consequence of his statements, a Presbyterian Missionary Society in the state of New York, sent a graduate of Union College, the Rev. W. M. Ferry, in 1822, to explore the field. In October, 1823, with his wife, he commenced a school, which,, before the close of the year, contained twelve Indian children. Mackinaw being easy of access to the Indians of the Upper Lakes, and the Upper Mississippi, the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, who had assumed the expense, determined to make it a central station, at which there should be a large boarding-school, composed of children collected from all the North-west- ern tribes, who were expected to remain long enough to acquire a common school education, and a knowledge of manual labour. Mechanics' shops and gardens were provided for the lads, and the girls were trained for household duties. The school, for many years, succeeded admirably; and gained the confidence of traders and chiefs. At times there were nearly two hundred pupils present, representatives of the Ottawas, Ojibways, Dah- 1 This word is a novelty found at the head of the telegraphic reporta of the Philadelphia Public Ledger. HAPPY INFLUENCE OF MACKINAW SCHOOL. 425 ko talis, Winnebagoes, Pottowatt amies, Knistenoes, Sauks, Foxes, and Menomonees. There are those now in Minnesota, surrounded by all the comforts of civiliza- tion, who are indebted to this school for their entire education. After a series of years, the plan was modi- fied, the school limited to fifty, and smaller stations commenced in the region between Lake Superior and the Mississippi. During the summer of 1830, Mr. Warren, the father of the late bois brule William Warren, came to Macki- naw, with an extra boat, for the purpose of taking a missionary to his post at La Pointe. As there were no ordained ministers that could be spared, the teacher of the boys' school, Mr. Frederic Ayer, now of Belle Prai- rie, with one of the scholars as an interpreter, returned with the trader to La Pointe, for the purpose of explor- ing the field. After surveying the country, Mr. Ayer returned to Mackinaw ; but in August of the next year, in com- pany with a graduate of Dartmouth College, the Rev. Sherman Hall and wife, left with the intention of estab- lishing a permanent mission among the Ojibways. The brigade with which they travelled consisted of five boats and about seventy persons. The following ex- tracts from the journal 1 of the first Protestant minister among the Ojibways of the far west, may be perused with interest : — "August fifth, 1831. The manner of travelling on the upper waters of the great lakes, is with open canoes and batteaux. The former are made in the Indian style, the materials of which are the bark of the white birch, and the wood of the white cedar. The cedar 1 Rev. Sherman Hall. 426 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. forms the ribbing, and the bark the part which comes in contact with the water. These are made of various sizes, from ten to thirty feet in length. The largest are sufficiently strong to carry from two to three tons of lading. They are propelled with the paddle; and when well built and well manned, without lading, will go from eighty to one hundred miles in a day, in calm weather. " Batteaux are light-made boats, about forty feet in length, and ten or twelve feet wide at the centre, capa- ble of carrying about five tons burden each, and are rowed by six or seven men. They have no deck. Upon articles of lading, with which the boat is filled, is the place for the passengers, who have no other seats than they can form for themselves, out of their travel- ling trunks, boxes, beds, etc. On these they place themselves in any position which necessity may require, or convenience suggest, with very little regard to grace- fulness of position. Such is the vehicle which is to convey us to the place of our destination. In the small compass of this boat we have to find room for eleven persons, including our family and our men, one of whom is an Indian, and four are Frenchmen. " A person travelling in this region, is obliged to sub- mit to many inconveniences. Here the traveller must take his bed, his house, his provisions, and his utensils to cook them with, along with him, or consent to sleep in the open air on the ground, and to subsist on what the woods and the waters may chance to afford. In short, if he would have anything to make himself com- fortable, he must provide himself with it before he leaves home. There are no New England taverns here, at which the traveller can rest when he is weary, and CAMPING FOR THE NIGHT. 427 find supplies for all his wants. Journeys are frequent. In this country, people think those near neighbours who live two hundred or three hundred miles distant. A journey of this length, even in the dead of winter, is no more accounted of here, than a ride from one city to another on the sea-coast of the United States, though he who performs it must take his provision and his snow shoes, and march without a track through the unbroken wilderness. "At night our tent is pitched at some convenient place on the shore. After the tent is raised, a painted cloth is spread within it on the ground. This forms a kind of flooring. On this a carpet of Indian mats, made of a kind of coarse grass or rush, which answers the triple purpose of a carpet, a table, and a bedstead. The bed is composed of several thicknesses of blankets, coverlets, or anything else one may choose to carry for this purpose, with a sufficient quantity of other clothes for covering. Each family of travellers has a willow basket, with a lock and key, sufficiently capacious to hold from one to two bushels, of close texture, which is covered with a swinging lid. This basket answers the purpose of a pantry. This is divided into various de- partments in the inside, for meat, tea, bread, coffee, and dishes. The cooking is done without, in the open air. With such accommodations a journey of several hun- dred miles may be performed with tolerable comfort, though at the expense of some inconveniences. " August thirtieth. After sailing thirty leagues in a day and a half, we arrived at La Pointe, the place of our destination, about noon to-day, all heartily glad to find a resting place, and a shelter from the storm and cold. We were agreeably disappointed on finding the 428 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. place so much* more pleasant than we had anticipated. As we approached it, it appeared like a small village. There are several houses, stores, barns, and out-build- ings about the establishment, and forty or fifty acres of land under cultivation. " September first. This evening we cooked our first meal, and united together around the family altar in our new abode. We returned thanks to God for his goodness in preserving us and bringing us to this place, as we had prayed, and besought his blessing on our future labours." Mr. Hall immediately established a school for child- ren, and placed it in charge of Mr. Ayer. The next year, at the urgent solicitation of the trader, Mr. Aitkin, Mr. Ayer went to Sandy Lake and opened a school for the children of voyageurs and Indians. The Kev. Mr. Boutwell, a graduate of Dartmouth ; in the summer of 1832, after his tour with H. K. School- craft, became a colleague of Mr. Hall at La Pointe, and took charge of the school. In the month of September, 1832, the Kev. Sherman Hall made an exploring tour to Lac du Flambeau, in North-western Wisconsin, and reached the trading-post of Charles H. Oakes, at that place, on the twentieth of the month. His journal is instructive : — " September eleventh, 1832. I left La Pointe for Lac du Flambeau, accompanied by one man to carry my provisions and baggage. Our journey was partly by water and partly by land, and much of the way through dense forests of tall and heavy timber. Our road was a small foot-path, which has been formed by those who make this wilderness their highway to the interior. The ground in this great forest is not as level as much of the REV. S. HALL VISITS OAKES' TRADING HOUSE. 429 western country. We crossed no high hills, but the surface of the country was continually undulating. The soil appeared to be of excellent quality, and capable of furnishing the means of subsistence for a dense popula- tion, if it should be cleared of its present heavy burden of timber, and suitably tilled. It is not stony, though stones are to be found nearly all the way. The country seems to be well watered with clear transparent streams." Crossing Forty-five Mile Portage, between Montreal river and Portage Lake, at the same time that the gen- tleman engaged in the fur trade at Lac du Flambeau was conveying his goods to that post, Mr. Hall describes the laborious method of transportation, which is neces- sarily resorted to in those uncultivated and almost deso- late regions. "All the goods for this department of the Indian trade, together with a considerable quantity of provi- sions, are carried across this portage on the backs of men. Not a pound of flour, or salt, or butter, or pork, or scarcely any other article of living consumed at the post, except vegetables, a little corn, wild rice, and fish, and a small quantity of wild meat, can be obtained in any other manner. All the tobacco, powder, shot, and balls, used in the trade, and every heavy utensil for household use, and implements for cultivating the ground, which cannot be made by unskilful mechanics on the spot, all the nails and glass for building, and the tools necessary for mechanical purposes, must all find their way through these forests in the same manner. On the other hand, all the furs and peltries collected in the department, many of which are brought some hun- dreds of miles before they reach Lac du Flambeau, are 430 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. conveyed to market over the same road, and by the same kind of conveyance. " The goods are obtained at Mackinaw, and brought through the lake, till they enter the Montreal river, a distance of five or six hundred miles, in boats rowed by men. At the commencement of the portage, they are put up into packs or bales, convenient for carrying, which, in the language of the country, are termed pieces. Each piece is allowed to weigh eighty pounds. A barrel of flour is put into two bags, and each is con- sidered a piece. A keg of pork or a keg of gunpowder is considered also a piece, and a bushel and a half of corn. Two of these pieces constitute each man's load. The carrier uses a collar, which is composed of a strap of leather about three inches wide in the middle, to which smaller straps are attached of a sufficient length to tie round the object to be carried. These straps are tied round each end of the piece, which is then swung upon the back, the lower part resting about on the loins, and the collar is brought over the top of the head. The person, when he takes his load, inclines a little forward, so that it rests considerably on the back, and draws but gently on the collar suspended across the head. After the first piece is thus swung on the back, the second is taken up and laid on the top of it, reaching, if it be large, nearly to the top of the head. I was surprised to see with what ease these men, after they had sus- pended the first piece, would raise up the second and place it on the top of it. The party consisted of ten men, and each man had ten pieces, or five loads to carry across the portage. They keep the whole of the goods together ; that is, each one takes one load and marches with it, the distance of one-half or one-third of a mile, REV. MR. BOUT WELL'S MISSION AT LEECH LAKE. 431 and then returns for a second. This they repeat till all their loads are brought up to this point. Each man's pieces are allotted to him at the commencement of the portage, and he keeps the same through. There are in all one hundred and twenty-two poses, or stopping places, on this portage. The carriers march very rapidly when loaded. About two hundred of these pieces, in goods and provisions, are required for this department annually. When we passed these men, they had been sixteen days on the portage, and had got about two-thirds of the way across it. After they cross this, they have two other portages to make before they reach Lac du Flambeau, one of which is one hundred and fifty or two hundred rods, and the other about three miles in length. " September twenty-third. I reached the trading- post of Mr. Oakes, by whom I was very kindly received, on the twentieth. The village of the Indians is two or three miles distant from his post. This morning three men, having heard that I had arrived, came, as they said, to see me, and to hear what I had to say to them. Two of them were young men, and the other I should judge to be about fifty, of a straight, well proportioned body and limbs, not very tall, a countenance rather dignified, a keen, arch-looking eye, and a carriage that told him to be a man who claimed some title to chief- tainship among his band. I greeted them in a friendly manner, and told them I was glad to see them, and if they would listen, I would tell them something about God and his word." On the fifteenth of September, 1833, Mr. Ayer arrived at Yellow Lake, also in the extreme north-western por- tion of Wisconsin, for the purpose of commencing a mis- 432 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. sion station. In October of the same year the Rev. W. T. Boutwell proceeded to Leech Lake, and established the first mission in Minnesota west of the Mississippi. Mr. E. F. Ely 1 became a teacher during this year, at the trading-post of Mr. Aitkin, at Sandy Lake, Minnesota ; but the next year opened a school at Fond du Lac, on the St. Louis river. Calvinism is frequently represented, by those who do not embrace its tenets, as a mere abstract system, only anxious to impress upon the race stern theological for- mulas ; but the journals of its missionaries among the savages are always eminently cheerful, hopeful, and practical. They came to the untutored Indians of Min- nesota, not with a long-drawn countenance, and severe exterior, but they came singing songs for the little ones, and teaching the men to plough, and the women to sew and knit. The following letter, written in 1833, by Rev. Mr. Boutwell, is full of sunshine from one of the dark places of earth, Leech Lake, the abode of the Pillagers, the most savage of all the bands of Minnesota : — " I arrived at this place October third. Passing for the present in silence the particulars of my voyage, I will proceed directly to give you some account of my reception. When I arrived, the men, with few excep- 1 Letter from Mr. Ely, at Sandy with the outlet of the lake running Lake, September twenty-fifth, 1833. within eighty feet of the house ; the " I arrived at this post September Mississippi is about the same dis- nineteenth, and am happily disap- tance on the west ; and their conflu- poin ted in the appearance of the place, ence is about ten rods below. On I occupy a large chamber in Mr. Ait- the twenty-third Mr. Boutwell left kin's house, which is both a school- us for Leech Lake. My school was room and lodging-room, commanding commenced on the same day with an eastern view of Mr. A.'s fields six or eight scholars. To-day I and meadows, and of the lake and have had fifteen." hills covered with pines, together LITTLE CHILDREN ATTRACTED BY SONGS. 433 tions, were making their fall hunts, while their families remained at the lake, and in its vicinity, to gather their corn and make rice. A few lodges were encamped quite near. These I began to visit for the purpose of read- ing, singing, etc., in order to interest the children, and awaken in them a desire for instruction. I told them about the children at Mackinaw, the Sault, and at La Pointe, who could read, write, and sing. To this they would listen attentively, while the mother would often reply, c My children are poor and ignorant.' To a per- son unaccustomed to Indian manners and Indian wild- ness, it would have been amusing to have seen the little ones, as I approached their lodge, running and scream- ing, more terrified, if possible, than if they had met a bear robbed of her whelps. It was not long, however, before most of them overcame their fears ; and in a few days my dwelling (a lodge which I occupied for three or four weeks) was frequented from morning till eve- ning by an interesting group of boys, all desirous to learn to read and sing. To have seen them hanging, some on one knee, others upon my shoulder, reading and singing, while others, whether from shame or fear I know not, who dared not venture within, were peeping in through the sides of the cottage, or lying flat upon the ground and looking under the bottom, might have provoked a smile, especially to have seen them as they caught a glance of my eye, springing upon their feet and running like so many wild asses' colts. The rain, cold, and snow were alike to them, in which they would come day after day, many of them clad merely with a blanket and a narrow strip of cloth about the loins. " The men at length returned, and an opportunity was presented me for reading to them. The greater 28 434 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. part listened attentively. Some would come back and ask me to read more. Others laughed and aimed to make sport, both of me and my book. I heeded as if I understood not. I had been laughed at and called a fool before. Besides, I remembered to have read, ' the servant is not above his master.' The second chief (Kiji Osaie), the Elder Brother as he is called, now re- turned. This chief, though nominally second, is really the first in the affections of the band. He is a man who courts neither the favour, nor fears the frown of his fellow, but speaks independently what he thinks. One morning, after breakfasting with us, I said to him, e I have come to pass the winter with your trader, and I thought I would teach some of the children to read if their parents were pleased.' ' It is a good thing to in- struct the children, and I do not think an Indian in the whole band can be displeased or say a word against it,' replied he. A higher object than this, even this man could not appreciate at present. This was all and even more than I anticipated from him, knowing as I did something of the past history, as well as present dispo- sition of the band. A few days after, as an Indian was leaving with his family for his winter hunt, he came and asked me if I should be pleased to have his little boy, a lad of ten years, remain with me. ' Certainly,' replied I, 'if I had the means of feeding him.' The trader sit- ting by kindly offered to feed the boy, and the father left him in my care, saying, ' If you will teach him to read as the whites do, I should be so glad I do not know what I could do for you.' He is a lad of much promise, enthusiastically fond of his books, and often expresses a strong desire to learn to read English. It is but about six weeks since he first saw a book in his own language ; NOTICE OF LEECH LAKE OJIBWAYS. 435 yet he now reads and spells in two syllables, counts one hundred in Indian, and forty in English, repeats and sings several hymns in Indian, and is committing the ten commandments. The like request was made by one or two others, but I had no means of my own of either feeding or sheltering them. "You are now prepared to hear me say from what I have seen, and so far as I am able to judge, the Lord hath opened a door, and apparently preparing the way for you to occupy this field as soon as you can furnish the men and the means. In my opinion the sooner you occupy it the better. The question has often been put to me by the Indians, ' Will you leave in the spring?' ' Will you come back again ?' The only reply I could make (but to an Indian of ambiguous interpre- tation), 'the Lord willing, I will return or send some other person.' That there are individuals who would be unwilling to have their children instructed at present, I have no doubt. I am not without hope, however, that by kindness and a judicious course of conduct, their prejudices would soon give way. I am equally confident also, that there are individuals in the band, and I trust a goodly number, who would be highly pleased to have a kind and judicious missionary located here. " In relation to their numbers and locality, my jour- nal, now in your possession, may perhaps give you all necessary information. Including the small band on Bear Island, excluded from the estimate, there are at least eight hundred souls belonging to Leech Lake. The Winnipeg and Upper-Red-Cedar Lake bands are distant but a day's march, which in this country and by an Indian is not a matter of reckoning. " The means of subsistence which the country affords 436 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. are not inconsiderable. These are fish, corn, and rice, and they are the almost entire dependence of the traders. Fish is the principal. Not less than thirty thousand were taken this fall for the winter supply of the four houses here. They are called tullibees, the only name save the Indian (Etonibins) that I have ever heard. They will average from one to three pounds as they are taken from the water. The manner of curing them is merely to hang them in the air to freeze — a simple rather than a safe way. The trader with whom I pass the winter has now upon the scaffold about ten thou- sand. For two weeks past the weather has been quite warm, and he fears, as do his neighbours, that we shall not be able to use them. If fish fail, to say the least, we shall all grow poor, if we do not some of us grow hungry. There was comparatively little corn raised the past season by the Indians, perhaps one hundred and fifty bushels. They are now in the habit of exchanging corn and rice with their traders for strouds and blankets, which, happily for the Indians, have taken the place of liquor, which is now a prohibited article in the trade. I am credibly informed that the exceptions were rare in which an Indian would not give his last sack of provi- sions for whiskey. Wild rice, an article of much de- pendence among the Indians, nearly failed the past season on account of high water. Hundreds of bushels of this excellent food are often gathered from the small lakes in the vicinity, and from the deep bays of this lake. Nowhere between Lake Superior and the head waters of the Mississippi has the God of providence so bountifully provided for the subsistence of man as here. In addition to rice and several species of fish which this lake affords, the soil is also of a rich quality and highly FERTILITY OF SOIL AT LEECH LAKE. 437 susceptible of cultivation. All the English grains, in my opinion, may be cultivated here. At present an Indian's garden consists merely of a few square rods in which he plants a little corn and a few squashes. Very few as yet cultivate the potato, probably for want of seed. Fish, instead of bread, is here the staff of life. " The traders here have found it impracticable to keep any domestic animal save the dog and cat. For the least offence an Indian here will sooner shoot a horse or cow for revenge than a dog. Still a missionary by the second or third year will be better able to judge than I now can, with how much security he could make the experiment. " If the Indians can be induced by example and other helps (such as seed and preparing the ground), to culti- vate more largely, they would, I have no doubt, furnish provisions for their children in part. If a mission here should furnish the means of feeding, clothing, and in- structing the children, as at Mackinaw, I venture to say there would be no lack of children. But such an esta- blishment is not only impracticable here ; it is such as would ill meet the exigencies of this people. While a mission proffers them aid, they should be made to feel that they must try at least to help themselves. It should be placed on a footing that will instruct them in the principles of political economy. At present there is among them nothing like personal rights, or individual property, any further than traps, guns, and kettles are concerned. They possess all things in common. If an Indian has anything to eat, his neighbours are all allowed to share it with him. While, therefore, a mission extends the hand of charity in the means of instruction, and occa- sionally an article of clothing, and perhaps some aid in 438 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. procuring the means of subsistence, it should be only to such individuals as will themselves use the means so far as they possess them. This might operate as a stimulus with them to cultivate and fix a value upon corn, rice, etc., at least with such as care to have their children instructed, rather than squander it in feasts and feeding such as are too indolent to make a garden themselves. It will require much patience, if not a long time, to break up and eradicate habits so inveterate. An Indian cannot eat alone. If he kills a pheasant, his neighbours must come in for a portion, small indeed, but so it is. As it respects furnishing them with seeds and imple- ments of husbandry, this may be done, but only to a certain extent. An Indian would most surely take advantage of your liberality. Every one would come, the last expecting to be served as well, if not better, than the first. The mention of a single fact may throw sufficient light upon this trait in Indian character. While at Sandy Lake, on my way here, I presented a little boy with a shirt. Not half an hour after he had gone out, no less than half a dozen others came for the game favour. But more, I have known boys who had a shirt pull it off and throw it aside, while they would come expecting to get a new one, in case you had made a present to one who had none. They are so jealous, that the utmost precaution must be observed in making a present of the least article to one that you cannot make to another. " So far as my observation extends, polygamy is more common among this band than any other with which I am acquainted. Not only the chiefs, but all the best hunters who are able to clothe, in their miserable man- ner, more than one woman, keep from two to five. One HOUSEKEEPING OF LEECH LAKE MISSIONARY. 439 individual keeps three who are sisters; and this not being sufficient, has a fourth woman." In the year 1834, Mr. Boutwell was married at Fond du Lac, to an interesting and educated Anglojibway lad}', who died a few years ago. The experiences of married life at Leech Lake, are narrated in his journal published in the Missionary Herald, and are probably the first housekeeping of a couple married according to the rites of Christianity, beyond the walls of Fort Snelling, in Minnesota. " The clerk very kindly invited me to occupy a part of his quarters, until I could prepare a place to put myself. I thought best to decline his offer; and on the thirteenth instant, removed my effects, and commenced housekeeping in a bark lodge. Then, here I was, with- out a quart of corn or Indian rice to eat myself, or give my man, as I was too late to purchase any of the mere pittance which was to be bought or sold. My nets, under God, were my sole dependence to feed myself and hired man. I had a barrel and a half of flour, and ninety pounds of pork only before me for the winter. But on the seventeenth of the same month, I sent my fisherman ten miles distant to gather our winter's stock of provisions out of the deep. In the mean time, I must build a house, or winter in an Indian lodge. Rather than do worse, I shouldered my axe and led the way, having procured a man of the trader to help me ; and in about ten days had my timbers cut and on the ground ready to put up. " On the twelfth of November, I recalled my fisher- man, and found on our scaffold nearly six thousand tulibees (a kind of fish found in the north-western lakes), for our winter supplies. 440 HISTORY OP MINNESOTA. " On the second of December, I quit my bark lodge for a mud-walled 4 house ; the timbers of which, I not only assisted in cutting, but also carrying on my back, until the rheumatism, to say the least, threatened to double and twist me, and I was obliged to desist. My house, when I began to occupy it, had a door, three windows, and a mud chimney ; but neither chair, stool, nor bedstead. A box served for the former, and an In- dian mat for the two latter. A rude figure, indeed, my house would make in a New England city, with its deer-skin windows, a floor that had never seen a plane, or a saw, and a mud chimney; but it is, nevertheless, comfortable. " When I arrived, the Indians, as I expected, were mostly off for their fall hunt. As their gardens were nearly destroyed last summer by the worm, and rice again failed, their families were obliged to go to the deer country, ten days' march from us. This circum- stance has tended to remove them, for the time being, from our intercourse and influence. March will bring them back and settle them down around us, at least the major part of them, as they make sugar and cultivate little gardens here and there, where each family chooses. "Among those whom I have seen, is the Elder Bro- ther, the second chief, who expressed his satisfaction! that I had returned, and regretted that he was not 1 present at my arrival, while there remained a few meni with whom he would have smoked and spoken on the occasion. The first chief, a few days since, sent me word that he would call his young men together in the spring, when he returns from his hunt. Thus far these two men have taken an honourable and decided course, so far as precept can go, and have given assurance that FIRST MISSIONS ESTABLISHED AMONG DAHKOTAHS. 441 this should be followed by practice, in case a permanent missionary was located here. What, however, the spring will decide, when the good, bad, and indifferent all meet together, I do not pretend to foretell. The cause is God's, and he will order all things well." The Jesuits considered the Dahkotahs as the most fierce of all the tribes, and did not venture their lives in their midst, except for a few months by the side of a French officer. It was not till the year 1834, that any formal attempt was made to instruct them in the arts, letters, or in the morality of the Bible. The Rev. Samuel W. Pond, at that time a layman and school teacher in Galena, Illi- nois, hearing accounts of the Dahkotahs from Eed river emigrants, became interested in their welfare, and wrote to his brother Gideon H. Pond, then a young man in their native place in Connecticut, proposing that they should cast their lot with the Dahkotahs, and try to do them good. The proposition was accepted, and in the spring of 1834, provided with neither brass, nor scrip, nor purse, he joined his brother at Galena, and embarking on board of a steamer, they arrived at Port Snelling in May. They stated their plans to Mr. Taliaferro, the Dah- kotah agent, and were treated with kindness by him and Major Bliss, the commander of the fort. Without aid or encouragement from any missionary society, they proceeded to the east shore of Lake Calhoun, on the banks of which and Lake Harriet, dwelt small bands of Dahkotahs, and with their own hands erected a rude cabin on the site of a building in recent times occupied by Charles Musou. About this period, a native of South Carolina, and 442 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. graduate of Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, the Rev. T. S. Williamson, M. D., who, previous to his ordina- tion, had been a respectable physician in Ohio, was appointed by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions to visit the Dahkotahs, with the view of ascertaining what could be done to introduce Christ- ian instruction. Having made inquiries at Prairie du Chien and Fort Snelling, he reported that the field was favourable. The Presbyterian and Congregational churches, through their joint missionary society, ap- pointed the following persons to labour in Minnesota : Eev. Thomas S. Williamson, M. D., missionary and phy- sician ; Rev. J. D. Stevens, missionary ; Alexander Hug- gins, farmer ; and their wives ; Miss Sarah Poage, and Lucy C. Stevens, teachers ; who were prevented during the year 1834, by the state of navigation, from entering upon their work. During the winter of 1834-35, a pious officer of the army exercised a good influence on his fellow officers, and soldiers under their command. In the absence of a chaplain or ordained minister, he, like General Have- lock of the British army in India, was accustomed not only to drill the soldiers, but to meet them in his own quarters, and " reason with them of righteousness, tem- perance, and judgment to come." 1 In the month of May, 1835, Dr. Williamson and mission band arrived at Fort Snelling, and were hospita- bly received by the officers of the garrison, the Indian agent, and Mr. Sibley, then a young man, who had re- 1 The growling Englishman Fea- as he thought sufficiently notice him, therstonhaugh, whose book has and vents his spleen by calling him been noticed, became very much a long, lean, canting, " psalm-singing offended because this officer did not major/' FIRST CHURCH AND COMMUNION IN MINNESOTA. 443 cently taken charge of the trading-post at Mendota. On the second Sabbath in June, a Presbyterian church was organized in one of the company rooms of the fort, and the communion was administered for the first time in Minnesota to twenty-two persons of European extraction, composed of officers and soldiers of the army, those engaged in the fur trade, and the mission families. The late Major Ogden, of the army, who died at Fort Riley, here professed his faith in Christianity. Two posts were selected by the missionaries as stations. The Rev. Mr. Stevens and family proceeded to Lake Harriet, in Hennepin county, and erected a house near the property of Eli Pettijohn ; and the Rev. Dr. Wil- liamson and wife, Mr. Huggins, the farmer, and wife, and Miss Poage, proceeded to Lac qui Parle. After a fatiguing journey of seventeen days, without meeting man or beast, they arrived at the lake on the ninth of July, and were warmly welcomed by the well known trader, Renville, whose name is attached to one of the counties of Minnesota. Immediately after their arrival at the stations, the missionaries began to study the language of the Dahko- tahs, and teach the children what they could. In a letter to the Cincinnati Journal, written in November, 1835, Dr. Williamson describes Dahkotah habits as follows : — " Gathering the corn, as well as whatever else pertains to cultivating the earth, is considered to be the business of the women. They gather it in their blankets, and carry it to the scaffold, on which they stand to drive off the birds. Here it is thrown in a heap exposed to the sun, till the husks begin to wilt. These husks are then stripped from the corn, but most of them still left 444 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. attached to the cob. The husks of many ears, still fast to the ear, are then platted together into a long string, by which the corn is suspended over a hole to dry. After hanging for several weeks, exposed to the weather till it is entirely freed from moisture, the corn is threshed off the cobs, and put in bags made of skins of small fibres of lynn bark woven together with the fingers. " The smallest and most unrij^e ears are prepared in a different way. The husks being entirely torn off, they are boiled. Then the corn is shelled, and dried by being strewed thin where it will be exposed to the direct rays of the sun. When thoroughly dried it is put in bags same as the other. When the corn is sufficiently dried it is put in sacks containing from one to two bushels each, and put away in what are called caches by the traders. These are made by digging a circular hole about eighteen inches in diameter, perpendicularly one or two feet deep, and then enlarging it in the form of an earth oven till of sufficient size to contain what they have to put into it. They are usually five or six feet in diameter at the bottom, and as much in depth. The bottom and sides are lined with dry grass, on which the sacks of corn are placed. Dry grass is also put on top of the corn till it is filled, except the perpendicular part. This is filled with earth which is stamped down firmly. Corn thus laid away keeps dry and good from September till April under ground. " Flesh of every kind is such a rarity with the Dah- kotahs of these parts, that they eat every kind of quad- rupeds and fowls they can obtain. Not only deer, bear, and squirrels, grouse, ducks, and geese, but muskrats, otters, wolves, foxes and badgers, cranes, hawks, and owls. They eat not only what is properly called the WEEPING AND WAILING AT LAKE HARRIET. 445 flesh of these animals, hut every part which can be supposed to contain nutriment, — the heads, feet, en- trails, and the skins, if they be not valuable as an article of traffic. After picking the flesh off the larger bones, they break them and boil them to get any little oil they may contain to mix with their corn. Exclusive of their corn, their food consists in winter chiefly of muskrats, badgers, otters, and raccoons ; in the spring, of fish, and roots which the earth produces spontaneously, with some ducks; in the summer, roots, fish, wild pigeons, and cranes ; in autumn, wild ducks, geese, and muskrats." As there had never been a chaplain at Fort Snelling, the Rev. J. D. Stevens, the missionary at Lake Harriet, preached on Sundays to the Presbyterian church, re- cently organized. Writing on January twenty-seventh, 1836, he says, in relation to his field of labour : — " Yesterday a portion of this band of Indians, who had been some time absent from this village, returned. One of the number (a woman) was informed that a brother of hers had died during her absence. He was not at this village, but with another band, and the in- formation had just reached here. In the evening they set up a most piteous crying, or rather wailing, which continued, with some little cessations, during the night. The sister of the deceased brother would repeat, times without number, words which may be thus translated into English : c Come, my brother, I shall see you no more for ever/ The night was extremely cold — the thermometer standing from ten to twenty below zero. About sunrise, next morning, preparation was made for performing the ceremony of cutting their flesh, in order to give relief to their grief of mind. The snow was removed from the frozen ground over about as large a 446 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. space as would be required to place a small Indian lodge or wigwam. In the centre a very small fire was kindled up, not to give warmth apparently, but to cause a smoke. The sister of the deceased, who was the chief mourner, came out of her lodge followed by three other women, who repaired to the place prepared. They were all barefooted, and nearly naked. Here they set up a most bitter lamentation and crying, ming- ling their wailings with the words before mentioned. The principal mourner commenced gashing or cutting her ankles and legs up to the knees with a sharp stone, until her legs were covered with gore and flowing blood ; then in like manner her arms, shoulders, and breast. The others cut themselves in the same way, but not so severely. On this poor infatuated woman I presume there were more than a hundred long deep gashes in the flesh. I saw the operation, and the blood instantly fol- lowed the instrument, and flowed down upon the flesh. She appeared frantic with grief. Through the pain of her wounds, the loss of blood, exhaustion of strength by fasting, loud and long-continued and bitter groans, or the extreme cold upon her almost naked and lacerated body, she soon sunk upon the frozen ground, shaking as with a violent fit of the ague, and writhing in apparent agony. ' Surely/ I exclaimed, as I beheld the bloody scene, 'the tender mercies of the heathen are cruelty!' " The little church at the fort begins to manifest something of a missionary spirit. Their contributions are considerable for so small a number. I hope they will not only be willing to contribute liberally of their substance, but will give themselves, at least some of them, to the missionary work. " The surgeon of the military post, Dr. Jarvis, has G. H. POND.— S. W. POND.— S. R. RIGGS. 41? been very assiduous in his attentions to us in our sick- ness, and has very generously made a donation to our board of twenty-five dollars, being the amount of his medical services in our family. " On the nineteenth instant we commenced a school with six full Indian children, at least so in all their habits, dress, etc. ; not one could speak a word of any language but Sioux. The school has since increased to the number of twenty-five. I am now collecting and arranging words for a dictionary. Mr. Pond is assidu- ously employed in preparing a small spelling-book, which we may forward next mail for printing. " Since the Indians have returned to their village, I have felt it important to spend the Sabbath at the sta- tion generally. I have determined on going to the fort only on one Sabbath in each month. We have not yet been able to collect the Indians together, to give them religious instructions on the Sabbath, for want of an interpreter." During the year 1836 a Presbyterian church was organized at Lac qui Parle, and the bois brule trader, Renville, became a member, and subsequently his wife, the first pure Dahkotah that ever professed, and the first that ever died in the Christian faith. During the year 1837 Mr. G. H. Pond offered his ser- vices as farmer and teacher at Lac qui Parle, and Mr. S. W. Pond became a teacher in the mission at Lake Harriet. The mission was also strengthened by the arrival of Rev. Stephen R. Riggs, a graduate of Jeffer- son College, Pennsylvania, and his wife. After remain- ing some time at Lake Harriet, Mr. and Mrs. Riggs went to Lac qui Parle. 4 IS HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. 41 CHAPTER XXI. Minnesota has ever been a favourite ranging-ground of the buffalo. This animal does not appear to have roamed in what is now called Canada, and, previous to the visit of Perrot to the region of Lake Michigan, but little was known concerning its habits. Two centuries ago, in a description of New York, it is said "traders who come from a great distance make mention of lions' skins, which will not be bartered because they are used for clothing, being much warmer than others." These supposed lions' skins were evidently buffalo robes. Joliet and Marquette, descending the Mississippi, in 1673, saw these animals; and the latter, in his journal, says : — " We call them wild cattle because they are like our domestic cattle ; they are not longer, but almost as big again, and more corpulent ; our men having killed one, three of us had considerable trouble in moving it. The head is very large, the forehead flat, and a foot and a half broad between the horns, which are exactly like our cattle, except that they are black and much larger. Under the neck there is a kind of large crop hanging down, and on the back a pretty high hump. The whole head, the neck, and part of the shoulders are covered RED RIVER CARTS.— HUNTERS. 44& with a great mane like a horse's ; it is at least a foot long, which renders them hideous, and, falling over their eyes, prevents their seeing before them. The rest of the body is covered with a coarse, curly hair like the wool of our sheep, but much stronger and thicker. It falls in summer, and the skin is then as soft as velvet. At this time the Indians employ the skins to make beautiful robes, which they paint with various colours." The first engraving of the buffalo is found in the book of travels of Hennepin. In 1677 La Salle was in France, and represented to Colbert, the minister, that he wished to continue discoveries where commerce in the skins and wool of the buffalo might establish a great trade and support powerful colonies. For many years the half-breeds of the Hudson Bay Company have subsisted by hunting the buffalo on the plains of Minnesota, and their encroachments on the territory of the United States have been a just ground of complaint. 1 With the commencement of each spring these hunters commence preparations for their campaign, and about the month of June they march forth to the plains. Their carts are truly primitive, having the appearance of being made before the days of Tubal Cain. Not a particle of iron fastens them together. The wheels are without tires, and wooden pegs take the place of iron spikes. Into the shafts an ox is harnessed with gearing made of raw hide, and with this vehicle they travel hundreds of miles. Women and children 1 The following list gives an idea In 1825, there were 680 carts, of the extent of the hunting by British half-breeds in Minnesota. The number of carts for the first trip of each year is given : — 29 1830, " • " 820 1835, " " 970 1840, " " 1210 450 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. accompany the hunters, and, as they wind over the* prairies in their gay hunting attire, they appear like bold crusaders on a pilgrimage. When they halt for the night, the carts are arranged in the form of a circle, with the shafts projecting outward, and within this wooden cordon the tents are pitched at one end, and the animals tethered at the other extremity — when danger is anti- cipated. The camp is under complete organization. At a meeting of the hunters, chiefs are nominated, one of whom acts as chief captain. The rules formed by the council of captains are implicitly obeyed. 1 At the hoist- ing of the flag in the morning all hands are " up and doing," and at the lowering of the flag all halt for the night and pitch their tents. The flag, to these modern sons of Ishmael, is what the pillar of cloud was to the camp of the children of Israel. On the fourth of July, 1840, there was a grand buffalo chase near the Cheyenne river in Minnesota. An eye- witness 2 describes the scene : — "At eight o'clock, the whole cavalcade made for the buffalo; first at a slow trot, then at a gallop, and lastly at full speed. Their advance was on a dead level; the 1 In 1840, the following were some these laws, the offender to have his of the rules of the camp, as deter- saddle and bridle cut up. mined at Pembina : — 6. For the second offence, the coat 1. No buffalo to be run on the to be taken off the offender's back,. Sabbath day. and cut up. 2. No party to fork off, lag be- 7. For the third offence, offender hind, or go before, without permis- to be flogged. sion. 8. Any person convicted of theft, 3. No person to run buffalo before even to the value of a sinew, to be- the general order. brought to the middle of the camp, 4. Every captain with his men, in and the crier to call out his or her turn to patrol the camp and keep name three times, adding the word guard. " Thief," at each time. 5. For the first trespass against 2 Alexander Ross. BUFFALO HUNT IN 1840. 451 plain having no hollow or shelter of any kind to con- ceal their approach. When within four or five hundred yards, the bulls began to curve their tails and paw the ground, and in a moment more the herd take flight, and the hunters burst in among them and fire. Those who have seen a squadron of horse dash into battle may imagine the scene. The earth seemed to tremble when the horses started; but when the animals fled, it was like the shock of an earthquake. The air was darkened, and rapid firing at last became more faint, as the hunters became more distant." During the day, at least two thousand buffaloes must have been killed, for there were brought in to the camp that evening 1375 tongues. The hunters are exceed- ingly expert ; with their mouth full of balls, they load and fire on the gallop. The carts follow out after the hunters and bring in the carcasses, and for several days there is a busy scene in camp. Much of the meat is useless in consequence of the heat of the season; but the skins are dressed, the tongues cured, and pemmican prepared. 1 The last buffalo seen below St. Paul east of the Mis- sissippi, was in 1832, in the neighbourhood of Trempe a l'Eau. The history of Minnesota is now beginning to be identified with those who are its citizens, and still in the vigour of life. The duty of the historian is simply to narrate facts; 1 Pemmican is a staple to the Sacks of raw hide are then made, hunter and voyageur. It is made by into which the preparation is poured boiling the tallow of the buffalo, and in a fluid state, mixing with it shreds of meat. 452 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. and his views concerning living men, and their public acts, are not to be expected. During the year 1836, a Mr. Dickson, styling himself General of the Indian Liberating Army, with several others, appeared in the Red River settlement, and endeavoured to enlist the settlers in a project to unite all the Indian nations under a common government, of which he was to be the head, with the title of Monte- zuma the Second. His officers were dressed in showy uniforms and glittering epaulettes. 1 Before they arrived at Red river, the cold weather came, and the leader had his toes frozen off, which crippled him as well as the whole enterprise. The latter part of the following winter, one of the expedition, Martin McLeod, who has since become one of our most active citizens, and whose name is attached to a county, left Red river for the United States, on snow shoes. His two companions, a Polander and an Irishman, both perished in a snow storm near Cheyenne river. He and his guide, Pierre Bottineau, 2 were twenty- x -.gjx days without seeing a living soul ; and after being- five days without food, ate one of their dogs, and at last reached the trading-post of the Hon. Joseph R. Brown, at Lake Traverse. In the month of February, 1837, missionaries sent out by the Evangelical Society at Lausanne, Switzer- land, arrived and located at Red Wing and Wapashaw villages; but after a few years of toil, they abandoned the attempt to ameliorate the condition of the Dahko- tah. About the same time a Methodist mission was 1 Martin's Hudson's Bay, London. IMPORTANT TREATIES IN 1837. 453 commenced at Kaposia, afterwards moved to Red Rock, after a large expenditure, was finally abandoned. The year 1837, forms an era in the history of Min- nesota, as the first steps were then taken for the intro- duction of the woodman's axe, and the splash of the mill-wheel. Governor Dodge, of Wisconsin Territory, convened the Ojibways at Fort Snelling, and made a treaty by which the pine forests of the valley of the St. Croix and its tributaries were ceded to the United States. A deputation of Dahkotahs the same year proceeded to Washington, and in the month of September, con- cluded a treaty by which they ceded all their lands east of the Mississippi, including all of Washington and Ramsey counties, to the United States. J. B. Faribault and Pelagie, his wife, presented a claim to the United States government for the island in front of Fort Snelling, which Pike had purchased. The claim was based upon a grant made by the Dahkotahs in 1820. 1 After the treaties with the Indians were concluded, Messrs. Baker, Taylor, and Franklin Steele made a claim, and commenced the improvement of the valuable water-power at the Falls of St. Croix. Among visiters of note this year was the distinguished novelist, Maryatt. Like all mere tourists, he has been I Extract from papers presented to bault, and to her heirs for ever, the the secretary of war by Alexis Bailly, island at the mouth of the river St. and S. C. Stambaugh, prosecutors Pierre, being the large island, con- of the claim. Grant confirmed by taining by estimation, three hundred Indians August ninth, 1820: — and twenty acres. ****** II Also we do hereby reserve, give, The said Pelagi Farribault being the grant and convey, to Pelagi Farri- daughter of Francois Kinie, by a bault, wife of John Baptist Farri- woman of our nation." 454 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. betrayed into inaccuracies; and yet it is interesting to note the impression produced by an intelligent mind at that period — when the country was still in possession of savages. The winter of 1837-38 was one of suffering among the Dahkotahs of the Upper Minnesota. Famine, and the loathsome disease small-pox, made its appearance at Lake Traverse, and produced wailing, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. The disease was communicated by some who had been on a steamboat on the Missouri, and they were swept off by scores. In addition to famine and pestilence, the war whoop was again raised. On the first of April, 1838, a small hunting party left Lac qui Parle, accompanied by Mr. Gideon H. Pond, who was desirous of becoming more thoroughly ac- quainted with Dahkotah modes of life. In the fall of 1837, Hole-in-the-day, a distinguished Ojibway chief, father of the young man who now bears that name, had smoked the calumet with the Dahkotahs, and promised to meet them the next spring, and make them presents for the privilege of hunting on their lands. After travelling for a few days, the hunting party separated, and a portion proceeded in advance. Three lodges of men, women, and children remained. The afternoon of the day of the division of the party, eleven Ojibway s came to the advance lodges. They were re- ceived as friends : two dogs were killed, and they feasted. Hilarity ended, the Dahkotahs lay down to sleep. When al I was silent, the guests arose and scalped men, women, children, and infants, nearly the whole camp. Among those who escaped, was a mother. While fleeing, her babe was shot in her arms, and she was wounded. G. H. POND BURIES SLAUGHTERED INDIANS. 455 Hastening behind a tree, she eluded the enemy, and matched them in their fiendish work. After they left the scene, she returned to the lodges, and remained till the dawn of day. Fastening two poles, after the manner of Indians, to a horse, she placed on them a wounded boy, and her scalped little ones, and proceeded in search of the party that had gone ahead. At length finding them, she told her tale of woe. Mr. Pond, in company with an Indian, imme- diately repaired to the scene of carnage, and found several bodies who had passed from the sleep of life to the sleep of death, without opening their eyelids. Hastily digging a grave, the severed limbs, heads, and mangled bodies of eleven Dahkotahs were interred, and covered with a buffalo skin teepee. On the fourteenth of April the survivors returned to Lac qui Parle, and the intelligence caused " wailing and weeping." In the month of August, a war party left Lac qui Parle to retaliate for the April slaughter. Discovering five or six Ojibways, they attempted to scalp them, but all escaped their hands but a woman. About to become a mother, she swam a stream with difficulty, and sank down on the opposite bank exhausted. Her pursuers soon tore her scalp from her head, and then, ripping open her body, dashed the unborn babe to pieces. The Ojibways, at Pokeguma, became very much afraid' that the Dahkotahs of the Mississippi would now attack them. Dancing the war dance, they were unfriendly to the mission at their lake ; shooting cattle, and dashing a canoe to pieces. They also threatened to drive the missionaries and all others from the country. Finding some lumbermen, in anticipation of the rati- fication of the treaty of 1837, cutting trees at the mouth 456 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. of Snake river, they pursued them. The men fled down the St. Croix in their canoes, and, at the imminent risk of their lives, floated over the falls, where their canoe sunk, but they were unhurt. A few miles below the falls they were met by the first steamboat that had ever ascended the St. Croix, bring- ing the welcome news of the ratification of the treaty, which had been made at Fort Snelling the year before, and ratified by the Senate on the fifteenth of June, 1838. The Palmyra, Capt. Holland, arrived at Fort Snelling on the 15th, but did not reach Fall of St. Croix until the 17th of July. She brought men and machinery for the projected mills. After the unprovoked attack of Hole-in-the-Day, be- yond Lac qui Parle, some Dahkotahs met an Ojibway, near the grave-yard, at Fort Snelling, and killed him. The murderers were for a time confined in the guard- house of the fort, but at last set at liberty. During the month of June, 1839, hundreds of Ojibways arrived at Fort Snelling, under the erroneous impression that they were to receive their annuities there. While there, the neighbouring Dahkotahs visited them. They drank, they feasted, they danced together. Two sons of the Ojibway, murdered near the grave-yard the year before, took the occasion to go and weep over the burial-place of their father. The thought of their murdered parent excited a desire for revenge ; and, that night secreting themselves near a frequented trail at Lake Harriet, at the next day's dawn they shot and scalped one of that band named " Badger," who was starting to hunt. The friends of the murdered one soon brought him home, wrapped in his blanket. Yeetkadootah, or Bed Bird, a near relative, approach- BATTLES OF STILLWATER AND RUM RIVER. 457 ing, removing the ornaments from the corpse, kissed it, and said he would die for it. His voice was now lifted up for war. Raising a party, he crossed the Mississippi at Fort Snelling, in pursuit of the Ojibways, who had departed for their country the day before. While assembled on the east bank of the Mississippi they bound themselves to kill all. The Ojibways had gone partly by the St. Croix, and partly by the Mississippi, to their villages. Red Bird deter- mined to follow the party that had ascended the Mis- sissippi. The same day warriors from Kaposia, and the other villages in the vicinity of the fort, followed the trail leading through St. Paul, in search of the Ojibways that had gone in that direction. Travelling until night, they found the Ojibways sleeping in the ravine near the penitentiary at Stillwater. Perceiving that there was a white man, an old trader (Mr. Aitkin), in the enemy's camp, they postponed their attack until dawn of the next day, as they did not wish to injure him. At daybreak, the first intelligence of the presence of the Dahkotahs was a volley of musket balls poured from the bluffs into the midst of the Ojibway camp. The Ojibways, fighting bravely, retreated to the shore of the lake, and endeavoured to escape in their canoes ; but, before the conflict was over, forty or fifty of their number were slain. Ten or fifteen Dahkotahs were killed and wounded. 1 About the time that the battle of Stillwater ended, Yeetkadootah's party came up to the women and child- 1 The one-legged Indian, known to lost his leg by a wound in this bat- the citizens of St. Paul as Lame Jim, tie. 458 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. ren of the Ojibway s, who were making a portage on Rum river, while the men were absent hunting deer. With lance, scalping knife, and tomahawk, in a brief period they made bloody work. In their haste to take scalps, it is said they scalped one of their own number. Yeetkadootah, on horseback, approaching a wounded Ojibway, who still held his gun in his hand, was shot through the neck, just as he was alighting to scalp him. It is said that while the Ojibways were at Fort Snel- ling, a young Dahkotah brave had wooed an Ojibway maiden, and was loved in return. In the heat of the battle he found his tomahawk raised to strike a woman, &nd behold, it proved to be her whom he had loved. She begged to be his captive, but it had been agreed that there should be no quarter. As he could not save her he passed on, and in an instant, one in the rear cleft her skull with the sharp tomahawk. From these two engagements the Dahkotahs brought back ninety- one scalps, and were frantic with glory. In 1836, before the Indian title was extinguished, settlers located on the tract of land on the east side of the Mississippi, Between St. Paul and Fort Snelling. By the treaty of September, 1837, made by the Dah- kotahs with the United States, which was ratified by the Senate on the fifteenth of June, 1838, the Indian title to the tract in question ceased. In March, 1838, the commander at Fort Snelling selected this land as a part of a military reservation. Consequently, it was withheld from sale. Those who had made claims upon it, were much dissatisfied, and evinced a disposition to resist. Orders were issued from the war department, to the United States Marshal of REMOVAL OF SQUATTERS. 459 Wisconsin, to remove the intruders. 1 The greater por- tion of the settlers were Swiss, and after all of their migrations from Switzerland, via Hudson Bay Com- pany's possessions, to the present desirable location, they were loath to depart. The troops were sum- marily called out from the fort on the sixth of May, 1840, and the settlers with undue haste removed, and on the next day the troops destroyed their cabins, to prevent re-occupation. 1 Order for removal of squatters on Military Reserve, Fort Snelling : — " War Department, Oct. 21, 1839. " Sir — The interests of the service, and the proper and effective main- tenance of the military post at Fort Snelling, requiring that the intruders on the land recently reserved for military purposes, opposite to that post east of the Mississippi river be removed therefrom, the President of the United States directs that when required by the commanding officer of the post you proceed there, and remove them under the provi- sions of the act of March third, 1807, entitled 'An act to prevent settlements being made on lands ceded to the United States, until authorized by law/ " You will satisfy yourself of the shortest period within which the intruders can make their arrange- ments for removal, and depart from the reservation without serious loss or sacrifice of the property which they may have to take with them, and you will promptly make known to them that it is expected they will not delay beyond that period ; as should they do so, it will become your duty to remove them by military force. It is hoped, however, that a resort to such force for this purpose which by the Act above-mentioned the Presi- dent is authorized to employ, will not be necessary ; but that they will promptly depart, on being informed of the determination of the execu- tive, not to permit them to remain. Should you however be unfortunate- ly obliged to use force in order to ac- complish the object, you are author- ized to call for such as you may deem necessary on the commanding officer at Fort Snelling. In this event you will act with as much forbearance, consideration, and deli- cacy as may be consistent with the prompt and faithful performance of the duties hereby assigned to you, first fully and mildly explaining the folly of resistance on their part, and your own want of discretion in the matter. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. R. Poinsett. Edward James, Esq., United States Marshal for the Territory of Wiskonsan, Peru." 460 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. During the summer of 1840, a tragic and melancholy occurrence took place on the plains of Minnesota. On the sixth of June,. Thomas Simpson, the youthful, educated, and adventurous explorer, who had disco- vered and named Victoria Land, in the Arctic Eegions, left Fort Garry, in the Red River settlement, to visit England, by way of the traders' route through Minne- sota. He left the settlement with quite a number, but anxious to behold Great Britain, from which he had been absent for years, they travelled too slow, and he moved on in advance with a Canadian, two half-breeds, and a lad, the son of one of the latter. His movements were those of one whose mind was excited, and in two days he had advanced one hundred miles. He then complained of sickness, and said he would never recover ; and when told that there was a physician at the mission-house of Lac qui Parle, he replied " that he did not wish a doctor." At his urgent solicitation, his guides turned back on the fourteenth of June, and an hour and a half after the setting of the sun, they encamped near Turtle river. While two of the men and the lad were busy in raising the tent, one of them, named Bird, was shot, and instantly died, and on turning around, the others saw Simpson fire at a half- breed, named Legros, father of the boy, and in a few minutes he expired. The boy and surviving guide ran off, when Simpson called out that their lives were safe, and that he had shot the others because they intended to murder him on that night, and take the papers on his recent Arctic explorations. Before Legros died, he called his son and kissed him. Bruce, the remaining guide, and lad, that night mounted their horses, and proceeded toward the main camp that INSANITY AND SUICIDE OF THOMAS SIMPSON. 461 they had left a few days before. Relating their strange story, five accompanied them to the scene of the disaster. As they approached the cart the next day, on their re- turn, a shot was fired, as they at first supposed at their party. Drawing nigh with great caution, crawling through the grass on their stomachs, they discovered Mr. Simpson stretched out, with one leg across the other, the butt end of his gun between his legs, the right hand with the glove off directed to the trigger, all the head above the nose blown off, and his night- cap some yards distant with a bullet hole in it, and some of his hair attached. Since Bruce and the son of Legros left the night before, the body of one of the guides had been covered with the tent, and the poles laid on the top, and the body of the other had been covered with a blanket, and a pillow placed beneath the head. From the beaten path it was supposed that he had passed the whole night in walking between these two dead bodies. It was a tragic scene. The moon that night shone brightly. The faithful dog of one of the party remained watching, and Simpson, with his over-tasked mind, gibbered over the corpses, and wrapped them up, filled with some strange fancy. On the fifteenth of June, Simpson, only thirty-two years of age, and his two guides, were wrapped up in the same winding-sheet, the cover of the tent, and de- posited in the same grave. The news of this tragedy did not reach Red river until the party returned from Fort Snelling, in the month of October. A medical gentleman with some men then proceeded to the grave, and disinterring the bodies, made a post mortem exami- nation, which corresponded with the deposition of 462 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Bruce, as given before Mr. Sibley at Mendota in July. His body was conveyed to Red river, and there re-in- terred. 1 The Dahkotahs in the neighbourhood of Lakes Harriet and Calhoun, through fear of their enemies, after the troubles of 1839, began to reside on the banks of the Minnesota, near Oak Grove. On the seventeenth of June, 1840, four Ojibways who had secreted themselves about two miles below Mendota, on the Mississippi, killed and scalped a Dahkotah man and woman. Joseph R. Brown, who since 1838 had lived at Chan Wakan, on the west side of Grey Cloud Island, this year made a claim near the upper end of the city of Stillwater, which he called Dahkotah, and was the first to raft lumber down the St. Croix, as well as the first to represent the citizens of the valley in the legislature of Wisconsin. On the second of September, of this year, the Rev. Mr. Riggs, of the Lac qui Parle mission, accompanied by the mission farmer, Mr. Huggins, made a tour to the Missouri, in company with a party of Indians on a buffalo hunt. 2 Until the year 1841, the jurisdiction of Crawford county, Wisconsin, extended over the delta of country between the St. Croix and Mississippi. Joseph R. Brown, having been elected as representative of the 1 Alexander Simpson, in " Life who was a justice of the peace, and and Travels of T. Simpson/' Bentley, examined the eye-witnesses, thinks London, 1845, conveys the impres- he became deranged, and shot his sion that he was murdered by the guides and himself, half-breeds. Ballantyne, in " Hud- 2 An interesting account of this son's Bay," has the same opinion, but journey is published in the Mission- Ross, in " Red River Settlement," ary Herald, Boston, 1841. 7;:: Jiirlli^ z ~ £zi:^n i= Lt ?: I . .> E: ai: ';•:;;;,"_. i ~ ~ ■ ;_ir: — ::'_ Lis >:n. n: . " : 464 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. tahs resided in this vicinity, for a long period it has been the abode of their enemies, the Ojibways. In the year 1836, missionaries of the American Board of Foreign Missions connected with the Congre- gational and Presbyterian denominations, came to re- side among the Ojibways of Pokeguma, to promote their temporal and spiritual welfare. Their mission-house was built on the east side of the lake ; but the Indian village was on an island not far from the shore. In a few years, several Indian families, among others that of the chief, were induced to build log houses around the mission. The missionaries felt, to use the language of one of them, that " the motives of the gospel had no more influence over the Indian, in themselves consid- ered, than over the deer that he follows in the chase." They therefore first encouraged the Indian to work, and always purchased of him his spare provisions. By aiding them in this way, many had become quite industrious. In a letter written in 1837, we find the following : " The young women and girls now make, mend, wash, and iron after our manner. The men have learned to build log houses, drive team, plough, hoe, and handle an American axe with some skill in cutting large trees, the size of which, two years ago, would have afforded them a sufficient reason why they should not meddle with them." On May fifteenth, 1841, two young men had gone, by order of Mr. Russell, now of Sauk Rapids, then In- dian farmer at Pokeguma, to the Falls of St. Croix, after a load of provisions. On the next day, which was Sunday, the news arrived there, that a Dahkotah war party, headed by Little Crow, of the Kaposia band, whose face is so familiar to the older citizens of St. BATTLE OF LAKE POKEGUMA. . 465 Paul, was on the way to their village. Immediately they started back on foot to give the alarm to their relatives and friends. They had hardly left the Falls, on their return, be- fore they saw a party of Dahkotahs, stripped and be- daubed with vermillion, and preparing themselves for war. The sentinel of the enemy had not noticed the approach of the young men. A few yards in front of the Ojibway youth sat two of the sons of Little Crow, behind a log, exulting, no doubt, in anticipation of the scalps in reserve for them at the lake. In the twink- ling of an eye, these two young Ojibways raised their guns, fired, and killed both of the chief's sons. The sentinel, who had by his carelessness allowed them to pass, was a third son. The discharge of the guns re- vealed to him that an enemy was near, and as the Ojib- ways were retreating, he fired, and mortally wounded one of the two. Fiendish was the rage of the Dahkotahs at this disastrous surprise. According to custom, the corpses of the chief's sons were dressed, and then set up with their faces towards the country of their ancient enemies. The wounded Ojibway was horribly mangled by the infuriated party, and his limbs strewn about in every direction. His scalped head was placed in a kettle, and suspended in front of the two Dahkotah corpses, in the belief that it would be gratifying to the spirits of the deceased, to see before them the bloody and scalpless head of one of their enemies. Little Crow, disheartened by the loss of his two boys, returned with his party to Kaposia. But other parties were in the field. The Dahkotahs had divided themselves into three bands ; and it was the understand- 30 466 * HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. mg that one party was first to attack Pokeguma, and then retire. After the Ojibways supposed that the attack was over, the second party was to commence their fire, and after they had ceased to fight, the third party was to begin to slaughter. The second party proceeded as far as the mouth of Snake river, but, supposing that the Ojibways had dis- covered them, they turned back, and upon their arrival at the Falls of St. Croix, they were still more chagrined, by hearing of the death of the sons of the Kaposia chief. It was not till Friday, the twenty-first of May, that the death of one of the young Ojibways sent by Mr. Russell, to the Falls of St. Croix, was known at Poke- guma. The murdered youth was a son of one of those families who had renounced heathenism, and whose parents lived on the lake shore, in one of the log build- ings, by the mission-house. The intelligence alarmed the Ojibways on the island opposite the mission, and on Monday, the twenty-fourth, three young men left in a canoe to go to the west shore of the lake, and from thence to Mille Lac, to give intelligence to the Ojibways there, of the skirmish that had already occurred. They took with them two Indian girls, about twelve years of age, who were pupils of the mission school, for the pur- pose of bringing the canoe back to the island. Just as the three were landing, twenty or thirty Dahkotah war- riors, with a war whoop emerged from their conceal- ment behind the trees, and fired into the canoe. The young men instantly sprang into the water, which wast shallow, returned the fire, and ran into the woods, esca- ping without material injury. The little girls, in their fright, waded into the lake ; BATTLE OF LAKE POKEGUMA. 467 and as in Indian warfare it is as noble to kill an infant as an adult, a delicate woman as a strong man, the Dahkotah braves, with their spears and war clubs, rushed into the water after the children and killed them. Their parents upon the island, heard the death cries of their children ; and for a time the scene was one of the wildest confusion. Some of the Indians around the mission-house jumped into their canoes and gained the island. Others went into some fortified log huts. The attack upon the canoe, it was afterwards learned, was premature. The party upon that side of the lake were ordered not to fire, until the party stationed in the woods near the mission commenced. There were in all one hundred and eleven Dahkotah warriors, and the fight was in the vicinity of the mis- sion-house, and the Ojibways mostly engaged in it were those who had been under religious instruction. The rest were upon the island. During the engagement, an incident occurred, as worthy of note as some of those in Grecian history. The fathers of the murdered girls, burning for re- venge, left the island in a canoe, and drawing it up on the shore, hid behind it, and fired upon the Dahkotahs and killed one. The Dahkotahs advancing upon them, they were obliged to escape. The canoe was now launched. One lay on his back in the bottom; the other plunged into the water, and, holding the canoe with one hand, and swimming with the other, he towed his friend out of danger. The Dahkotahs, infuriated at their escape, fired volley after volley at the swimmer, but he escaped the balls by putting his head under water whenever he saw them take aim, and waiting till 468 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. he heard the discharge, when he would look up and breathe. After a fight of two hours, the Dahkotahs retreated with a loss of two men. At the request of the parents, Mr. E. F. Ely, now of Oneota, from whose notes the writer has obtained these facts, being at that time a teacher at the mission, went across the lake, with two of his friends, to gather the remains of his murdered pupils. He found the corpses on the shore. The heads cut off and scalped, with a tomahawk buried in the brains of each, were set up in the sand near the bodies. The bodies were pierced in the breast, and the right arm of one was taken away. Eemoving the tomahawks, the bodies were brought back to the island, and in the afternoon were buried in accordance with the simple but solemn rites of the Church of Christ, by members of the mission. It is usual for Indians to leave their murdered on or near the battle-field, with their faces looking towards the enemy's country; and on Wednesday the Ojibways started out in search of the Dahkotahs that had been killed. By following the trail, they soon found the two bodies, and scalped them. One of the heads was also cut off, and brought to the island, to adorn the graves of the little girls. To a North-western savage, such a head-stone at a daughter's grave is more gratifying than one of sculptured Italian marble. Strips of flesh were fastened to the trees. A breast was also taken, and cooked and eaten by the braves to express their hatred to the Dahkotahs. - The mother and wife of the young man who had been killed by Little Crow's third son, were each pre- sented with a hand. These women had been accustomed ATTACK BELOW ST. PAUL. 469 to attend preaching at the mission-house, and knew the principles of the Prince of Peace. Though they had, in 1839, lost many relatives by an attack from the Dah- kotahs, on Kum river, they engaged in no savage orgies, but, withdrawing to their wigwam, they placed the hands of their foes upon their knees, gazed in silence, then wrapped them in white muslin and interred them. Such is one of the many similar scenes that have occurred in our own territory within ten years. Governor Ram- sey, the president of the Historical Society, in his address of 1851, well remarked that the region between the Falls of St. Croix and Mille Lac, was a "Gol- gotha" — a place of skulls. The sequel to this story is soon told. The Indians of Pokeguma, after the fight, deserted their village, and went to reside with their countrymen near Lake Supe- rior. In July of the following year, 1842, a war party was formed at Fond du Lac, about forty in number, and pro- ceeded towards the Dahkotah country. When they reached Kettle river they were joined by the Ojibways of St. Croix and Mille Lac, and thus numbered about one hundred warriors. Sneaking, as none but Indians can, they arrived unnoticed at the little settlement below St. Paul, commonly called " Pig's Eye," which is oppo- site Kaposia, or Little Crow's village. Finding an Indian woman at work in the garden of her husband, a Canadian, by the name of Gamelle, they killed her; also another woman, with her infant, whose head was cut off. The Dahkotahs, on the opposite side, were mostly intoxicated ; and, flying across in their canoes but half prepared, they were worsted in the encounter. They lost thirteen warriors, and one of their number, 470 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. known as the Dancer, the Ojibways are said to have skinned. The year of the Pokeguma battle, Governor Doty visited the Dahkotahs, and negotiated a treaty with the several bands at Wapashaw, Mendota, and Traverse des Sioux, by which the country west of the Mississippi would have been ceded, but the United States Senate did not ratify it. During the winter of 1842-3, Mr. Ayer visited Red Lake, whose waters flow into the Red River of the North, with the view of ascertaining the practicability of missionary operations there. The chief received the proposition with favour, and thus addressed his warriors : — " My braves ! I should be ashamed to suffer one who has come so far to visit us to turn back again. We should not turn him away. We would not treat our trader in this way ; we should run to meet him. My braves ! you have listened to what he said. I believe what he says. Let us try him four years, and if we do not find him true, then we will send him away." On the 17th of April he made a second visit, accom- panied by Mr. Spencer, and Mr. E. F. Ely. The latter two immediately commenced assisting the Indians in their ploughing and in preparations for putting in a crop. The months of February and March, 1843, were exceedingly severe, the thermometer ranging lower than ever before recorded. The snow had fallen to such depths that the snow shoe was not very serviceable, and the waters were so troubled by high winds that it was difficult for the Indians to spear the fish through the holes cut in the ice. The Dahkotahs were brought to the verge of starvation, some bands being reduced to SETTLEMENT OF STILLWATER. 471 the necessity of subsisting on a syrup made of hickory chips, or boiled bitter sweet. The United States government, in view of their peculiar necessities, granted them twenty-five hundred dollars worth of pro- visions, powder, and clothing. During the summer the Rev. Mr. Riggs, on his return from a visit to Ohio, commenced a mission station at Traverse des Sioux. His family and the Rev. Mr. Hopkins and wife proceeded to Lac qui Parle. While drawing to the close of their last day's journey, three young Dahkotahs, who had been on a visit to Ohio, hurried on in advance. Shortly two Indian lads said that, while drinking at a little stream, they had heard the report of fire-arms, and had seen Ojibways. The intelligence was confirmed by the return of one of the three who had gone ahead, who said that he had con- versed with the Ojibways, and had been saved by his white man's dress. In a little while the travellers beheld on an eminence fifteen or twenty Ojibway war- riors, who retreated as they approached. Crossing the Maya-wakan, they found the two corpses of the young Dahkotahs. Taking the wagon cover for a winding- sheet, the missionaries wrapped one of the bodies and proceeded toward Lac qui Parle. The Indians there having gained intelligence of the attack, rushed forth to meet them, and were enraged because the whites had not pursued the Ojibways. On the tenth of October, 1843, was commenced a settlement which has become the town of Stillwater. The names of the proprietors were John McKusick from Maine, Calvin Leach from Vermont, Elam Greeley from Maine, and Elias McKean from Pennsylvania. They immediately commenced the erection of a saw- 472 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. mill, and made improvements which fixed the point as the centre of the lumbering interests of the valley of the St. Croix. On the eleventh of August, 1844, Captain Allen, with fifty United States dragoons, left Fort Des Moines, Iowa, and passed through the south-western portion of Minne- sota; but, the guide having left them soon after they commenced their march, they wandered through the country in great uncertainty. After floundering through marshes, they came, as they supposed, to a tributary of the Minnesota ; and, on the tenth of September, about latitude 45°, they found the Big Sioux, and there, for the first time since they started, met a party of Dah- kotahs. B. Gervais, during this year, moved to a point five miles north-east of St. Paul, known as Little Canada, and erected the first mill in Minnesota beyond the mili- tary reservation of Fort Snelling. In the summer of this year, a party of drovers, on their way from the South to Fort Snelling with cattle, lost their way, and were captured and maltreated by the Sissetoan Dahkotahs. As soon as the intelligence reached the fort, troops were despatched in pursuit of the offenders, who were captured, but subsequently escaped. The United States, having learned that the half-breed hunters of Ked River settlement were killing thousands of buffalo annually in Minnesota, sent a military expe- dition to the valley of the Red river, under the charge of Captain Sumner of the dragoons. They left Fort Atkinson, Iowa, on the third of June, 1845, and, march- ing through the interior, reached Traverse des Sioux on the twenty-fifth. Proceeding to Lac qui Parle, a council SUMNER ARRESTS MURDERERS OF A DROVER. 473 was held with the Dahkotahs of that vicinity. Although they had difficulty with the half-breeds of the North, in consequence of hunting buffalo in their country, they did not wish the United States to interfere. On the fifth of July, another council was held at Big Stone Lake, but it was unsatisfactory. The next day they marched northward, and, on the eighth, while Captain Sumner was holding an informal council in the saddle, three of the murderers of the drover. (Watson) and party, who had escaped the pre- vious autumn from Colonel Wilson's detachment of the First Infantry, boldly walked into council. Immediately they were recognised and arrested. The excitement for a few moments was intense, but Sumner told them that it was useless to talk at that time, as he would be there again in about a month. The prisoners then accom- panied the troops to Minne Wakan ! Lake, about the 48 th degree of latitude, which was reached on the eighteenth. In this vicinity they struck the trail of the hunters, and soon met a deputation of them with an interpreter. The next morning Captain Sumner proceeded to their camp, which was composed of one hundred and eighty men. In his interview with them he found them frank and sensible. They told him that they had been trained to the hunters life from childhood, and knew no other occupation, and that the buffalo was their only subsist- ence, and they desired to know whether they would be received as citizens, if they moved within the American lines. The officer told them that he was not authorized to express any opinion on such points, but advised them to write a letter to Washington. 1 Devil's Lake. 174 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. The expedition returned to Traverse des Sioux on the seventh of August, and was surprised at seeing two fine horses, that belonged to the officers of Captain Allen's company, and some mules, among the Indians. The thieves were arrested and sent down to Fort Snelling. In the spring of 1845, one of Good Road's band of Dahkotahs was killed by Pillagers at Otter Tail Lake. Not long after, a party of Ojibways came to Fort Snel- ling, and to protect them from the exasperated Dahko- tahs, Captain Backus quartered them within the walls. In the month of March, 1846, Joseph Renville, of Lac qui Parle, whose name one of the counties of the State bears, died. Previous to the ratification of the treaty of 1837, he was, perhaps, the most prominent citizen in Minnesota. 1 1 Joseph Renville was of mixed descent, and his history forms a link between the past and the present history of Minnesota. His father was a French trader of much repu- tation. His mother was a Dahkotah, connected with some of the principal men of the Kaposia band. He was born just below the town of St. Paul, about the year 1779, during the war of the American Revolution. At that time, there was probably not a white family residing in the whole of that vast territory that now com- prises Northern Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, excepting offi- cers of the British army. Accustomed to see few European countenances, in sports, habits, and feelings he was a full Dahkotah youth. As often happens, his mo- ther deserted her husband, and went to live with one of her own blood. The father, noticing the activity of his son's mind, took him to Canada before he was ten years of age, and placed him under the tuition of a priest of Rome. His instructor ap- pears to have been both a kind and good man, and from him he received a slight knowledge of the French language, and the elements of the Christian religion. Before he at- tained to manhood, he was brought back to the Dahkotah land, and was called to mourn the death of his father. At that time, there was a British officer by the name of Dickson, who lived in what is now Minnesota, and the head of an English Fur Com- pany. Knowing that young Ren- ville was energetic, he employed him as a " coureur des bois." While ONE-EYED CANADIAN, EARLY SETTLER AT ST. PAUL. 475 The year that the Dahkotahs ceded the land east of the Mississippi, a Canadian Frenchman, by the name of Parant, the ideal of an Indian whiskey-seller, erected a mere stripling, he had guided his canoe from the Falls of Pokeguma to the Falls of St. Anthony, and fol- lowed the trails from Mendota to the Missouri. He knew by heart the legends of Winona, and Ampato Sa- pawin, and Hogan-wanke-kin. He had distinguished himself as a brave, and also became identified with the Dahkotahs more fully by following in the footsteps of his father and purchasing a wife of that nation. In 1797, he wintered, in company with a Mr. Perlier, near Sauk Ra- pids. The late General Pike was introduced to him at Prairie du Chien, and was conducted by him to the Falls of St. Anthony. This officer was pleased with him, and recommended him for the post of United States Interpreter. In a let- ter to General Wilkinson, written at Mendota, September ninth, 1805, he says : " I beg leave to recommend for that appointment, a Mr. Joseph Pvenville, who has served as inter- preter for the Sioux last spring at the Illinois, and who has gratuitous- ly and willingly served as my inter- preter in all my conferences with the Sioux. He is a man respected by the Indians, and I believe an honest one." At the breaking out of the last war with Great Britain, Col. Dickson was employed by that government, to hire the warlike tribes of the North-west to fight against the United States. Renville received from him, the appointment and rank of captain in the British army, and with warriors from the Wapashaw, Kaposia, and other bands of Dahko- tahs, marched to the American fron- tier. In 1822 he became a member of the Columbia Fur Company. Shortly after, the American Fur Company of New York, of which John Jacob Astor was one of the directors, not wishing any rivals in the trade, pur- chased their posts, and good-will, and retained the " coureurs dea bois." Under this new arrangement, Renville removed to Lac qui Parle, and erected a trading-house, and here he resided until the end of his days. Living as he had done, for more than a half century among the Dahkotahs, over whom he exercised the most unbounded control, it is not surprising that in his advanced age he sometimes exhibited a domi- neering disposition. As long as Min- nesota exists, he should be known as one given to hospitality. He invariably showed himself to be a friend to the Indian, the traveller, and the missionary. Aware of the improvidence of his mother's race, he used his influence towards the raising of grain. He was instru- mental in having the first seed corn planted on the Upper Minnesota. An Indian never left his house hungry, and they delighted to do him honour. He was a friend to the traveller. His conversation was in- telligent, and he constantly commu- 476 HISTORY OP MINNESOTA. a shanty at what is now the principal steamboat land- ing in St. Paul. Ignorant and overbearing, he loved money more than his soul. Destitute of one eye, and nicated facts that were worthy of re- cord. His post obtained a reputation among explorers, and their last day's journey to it was generally a quick march, for they felt sure of a warm welcome. His son was the interpreter of Nicollet, that worthy man of science who explored this country in connection with Fremont. This gentlemen, in his report to Congress, pays the following tribute to the father and son : — " I may stop a while to say, that the residence of the Renville family, for a number of years back, has afforded the only retreat to travellers to be found between St. Peter's and the British posts, a distance of seven hundred miles. The liberal and untiring hospitality dispensed by this respectable family, the great influence exercised by it over the Indians of this country in the main- tenance of peace and the protection of travellers, would demand, besides our gratitude, some especial acknow- ledgment of the United States, and also from the Hudson's Bay Com- pany." The only traveller that has ever given any testimony opposed to this is Featherstonhaugh, a dyspeptic and growling Englishman, whose book, published in London in 1847, and styled a ' Canoe Voyage up the Minnay Sotor,* betrays a filthy im- agination. He remarks : — " On reaching the fort, Renville advanced and saluted me, but not cordially. He was a dark, Indian- looking person, showing no white blood, short in his stature, with strong features and coarse black hair. ***** I learnt that Renville entertained a company of stout Indians to the number of fifty, in a skin lodge behind his house, of extraordinary dimensions, whom he calls his braves, or soldiers. To these men he confided various trusts, and occasionally sent them to distant points to transact his business. No doubt he was a very intriguing per- son, and uncertain in his attach- ments. Those who knew him inti- mately, supposed him inclined to the British allegiance although he pro- fesses great attachment to the Amer- ican government, a circumstance, however, which did not prevent him from being under the surveillance of the garrison at Fort Snelling." He was also a friend to the Mis- sionary of the Cross. Until the year 1834, no minister of the church, made arrangements to devote his life to the spiritual and temporal welfare of the Dahkotahs. The Rev. T. S. Williamson, M.D., of the Presbytery of Chilicothe, ar- rived at Fort Snelling in 1834 ; then returned to the East, and in 1835 came back with assistant mission- aries. Renville warmly welcomed him, and rendered him invaluable assistance in the establishment of the missions. Upon the arrival of the missionaries at Lac qui Parle, he provided them with a temporary home. He acted as interpreter, he ORIGIN OF THE TERM "PIG'S EYE. 47 the other resembling that of a pig, he was a good repre- sentative of Caliban. In the year 1842, some one writing a letter in his assisted in translating the Scrip- tures, and removed many of the pre- judices of the Indians against the teachers of the white man's religion. His name appears in connection with several Dahkotah books. Dr. Watts' second Catechism for child- ren, published in Boston, in 1837, by Crocker & Brewster, was partly translated by him. In 1839, a volume of extracts from the Old Testament, and a volume containing the Gospel of Mark, was published by Kendell & Henry, Cin- cinnati, the translation of which was given orally by Mr. Renville, and penned by Dr. Williamson. Crocker &, Brewster, in 1842, published Dah- kotah Dowanpi Kin, or Dahkotah Hymns, many of which were com- posed by the subject of this sketch. The following tribute to his ability as a translator, appeared in the Mis- sionary Herald of 1846, published at Boston : — " Mr. Renville was a remarkable man, and he was remarkable for the energy with which he pursued such objects as he deemed of primary im- portance. His power of observing and remembering facts, and also words expressive of simple ideas, was extraordinary. Though in his latter years he could read a little, yet in translating he seldom took a book in his hand, choosing to depend on hearing rather than sight, and I have often had occasion to observe, that after hearing a long and unfa- miliar verse read from the Scrip- tures, he would immediately render it from the French into Dahkotah, two languages extremely unlike in their idioms and ideas of the words, and repeat it over two or three words at a time, so as to give full opportu- nity to write it down. He also had a remarkable tact in discovering the aim of a speaker, and conveying the intended impression, when many of the ideas and words were such as had nothing corresponding to them in the minds and language of the addressed. These qualities fitted him for an interpreter, and it was generally admitted he had no equal." It would be improper to conclude this article without some remarks upon the religious character of Ren- ville. Years before there was a clergyman in Minnesota, he took his Indian wife to Prairie du Chien, and was married in accordance with Christian rites by a minister of the Roman Church. Before he became acquainted with missionaries, he sent for a large folio Bible in the French language, and requested those connected* with him in the fur trade to procure for him a clerk who could read it. This Bible was pro- bably the first Bible in Minnesota, and in itself valuable for its anti- quity. It was printed at Geneva, in 1588, and had a Latin preface by John Calvin, the great Reformer. The writer, in 1853, requested Dr. Williamson, of the Dahkotah Mis- sion, to procure this same copy for the Historical Society. At his soli- 478 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. groggery, for the want of a more euphonious name, designated the place as "Pig's Eye/' referring to the peculiar appearance of the whiskey-seller. The reply citation, one of the sons of the late Mr. Kenville, brought it to the Mis- sion House at Lac qui Parle, to be forwarded to St. Paul. Before an opportunity occurred, the Mission House, with all of its contents, was consumed by fire. After the commencement of the mission at Lac qui Parle, his wife was the first full Dahkotah that join- ed the Church of Christ, of whom we have any record. She was also the first Dahkotah that died in the Christian faith. Before she had ever seen a teacher of the religion of Christ, through the instruction of her husband she had renounced the gods of the Dahkotahs. The following is an extract from a trans- lation of Mr. Kenville's account of his wife's death : — " Now, to-day, you seem very much exhausted, and she said ' yes ; this day, now God invites me. I am remembering Jesus Christ who suffered for me, and depending on him alone. To- day I shall stand before God, and will ask him for mercy for you, and for all my children, and all my kinsfolk." Afterwards, when all her children and relatives sat round her weeping, she said, " it is holy day, sing and pray." From very early in the morning, she was speaking of God, and telling her husband what to do. Thus she died "when the clock struck two." Like Nicodemus, one of the rulers of Israel, he loved to inquire in relation to spiritual things. Of independent mind, he claimed and exercised the right of private judg- ment in matters of faith. In 1841, he was chosen and or- dained a ruling elder, and from that time, till his death, discharged the duties of his office in a manner acceptable and profitable both to the native members of the church and the mission. After a sickness of some days, in March, 1846, his strong frame began to give evidence of speedy decay. He was aware he was soon to take " his chamber in the silent halls of death," but he knew "in whom he had believed," and went, " Not like the quarry slave, at night Scourged to his dungeon; but sustained and soothed, Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams!" Dr. "Williamson thus narrates the death-scene: "The evening before •his decease, he asked me what be- came of the soul immediately after death? I reminded him of our Saviour's words to the thief on the cross, and Paul's desire to depart and be with Christ. He said, ' That is sufficient/ and presently added, ' I have great hope I shall be saved through grace.' Next morning ( Sun- day) about eight o'clock, I was called to see him. He was so evidently in the agonies of death, I did not think of attempting to do anything for him. After some time, his breathing; be- coming easier, he was asked if he FIRST STORE AT ST. PAUL. 479 to the letter was directed in good faith to " Pig's Eye," and was received in due time. In 1842, the late Henry Jackson, of Mahkahto, settled at the same spot, and erected the first store on the height just above the lower landing ; and shortly wished to hear a hymn. He replied, 'Yes/ After it was sung he said, 1 It is very good/ As he reclined on the bed, I saw a sweet serenity settling on his countenance, and I thought that his severest struggle was probably past, and so it proved. The clock striking ten, he looked at it and intimated that it was time for us to go to church. As we were about to leave, he extended his withered hand. After we left, he spoke some words of exhortation to his family, then prayed, and before noon calmly and quietly yielded up his spirit." Sixty-seven years passed by, before he closed his eyes upon the world. The citizens of Kentucky delight in the memory of Daniel Boone; let the citizens of Minnesota not forget Joseph Renville, though he was a " bois brule." His descendants are still living among the Dahkotahs. The son who bore his name, died on February eighth, 1856, in the neighbourhood of the mission at Payutazee. The Rev. S. R. Riggs, in a communica- tion to the St. Paul Daily Times, remarks : — " The deceased was about forty- seven years of age, a son of Joseph Renville, who died at Lac qui Parle some years since, and whose memory is identified with the past history of Minnesota. Inheriting from his father many noble and generous qualities, unfortunately for himself and family, the habits of the Indian trade in which the deceased was educated, were not such as enabled him to gain a comfortable livelihood by labour. After the death of his father, he removed with his family to the Mississippi, and resided for some time at Kaposia, with Little Crow's band, many of whom were his mother's relatives. Soon after the cession of this Minnesota country to the United States, he with a younger brother, and cousin of the same family name, removed up to the neighbourhood of Fort Ridgley. When they attended the payment at Yellow Medicine, he was already far gone in the disease which has just terminated his earthly career. Here, in the house of a younger brother, and with other relations, he with his family found a temporary home, and a place to die. Through the kindness of friends and neighbours, they have not wanted. It has been pleasant to see that former kind- nesses received from the family when his father was a prince in wealth among them, have not been entirely forgotten by the Dahkotahs, but have been returned now to the son in his sickness." 480 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. after, Eoberts and Simpson followed, and opened small Indian trading shops. In the year 1846, the site of St. Paul was chiefly occupied by a few shanties, owned by "certain lewd fellows of the baser sort," who sold rum to the soldier and Indian. It was despised by all decent white men, and known to the Dahkotahs by an expres- sion in their tongue, which means, the place where they sell minne-wakan. 1 The chief of the Kaposia band in 1846, was shot by his own brother in a drunken revel, but surviving the wound, and apparently alarmed at the deterioration under the influence of the modern harpies at St. Paul, went to Mr. Bruce, Indian agent, at Fort Snelling, and requested a missionary. The Indian agent in his report to government, says : — "The chief of the Little Crow's band, who reside below this place (Fort Snelling) about nine miles, in the im- mediate neighbourhood of the whiskey dealers, has requested to have a school established at his village. He says they are determined to reform, and for the future, will try to do better. I wrote to Doctor Williamson soon after the request was made, desiring him to take charge of the school. He has had charge of the mis- sion school at Lac qui Parle for some years ; is well qualified, and is an excellent physician." In November, 1846, Dr. Williamson came from Lac qui Parle as requested, and became a resident of Ka- posia. While disapproving of their practices, he felt a kindly interest in the whites of Pig's Eye, which place was now beginning to be called, after a little log chapel 1 Supernatural water. ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF CITY OF ST. PAUL. 481 which had been erected by the voyageurs, St. Paul's. 1 Though a missionary among the Dahkotahs, he was the first to take steps to promote the education of the whites and half-breeds of Minnesota. In the year 1847, he wrote to Ex-Governor Slade, President of the Na- tional Popular Education Society, in relation to the condition of what has subsequently become the capital of the state. 2 1 St. Paul was then called St. Paul's, because at that time refer- ence was had to the chapel of St. Paul, the designation of the log church. 2 The letter of Dr. Williamson gives, probably, the first description of the hamlet of St. Paul as it was in 1847 :— " My present residence is on the utmost verge of civilization, in the north-western part of the United States, within a few miles of the principal village of white men in the territory that we suppose will bear the name of Minnesota, which some would render ' clear water/ though strictly it signifies slightly turbid or whitish water. "The village referred to has grown up within a few years in a romantic situation on a high bluff of the Mis- sissippi, and has been baptized by the Roman Catholics, by the name *f St. Paul. They have erected in it a small chapel, and constitute much the larger portion of the inha- bitants. The Dahkotahs call it Im- ni-ja-ska (white- rock), from the colour of the sandstone which forms the bluff on which the village stands. 31 This village has five stores, as they call them, at all of which intoxicat- ing drinks constitute a part, and I suppose the principal part, of what they sell. I would suppose the vil- lage contains a dozen or twenty fa- milies living near enough to send to school. Since I came to this neigh- bourhood I have had frequent occa- sion to visit the village, and have been grieved to see so many children growing up entirely ignorant of God, and unable to read his Word, with no one to teach them. Unless your Society can send them a teacher, there seems to be little prospect of their having one for several years. A few days since, I went to the place for the purpose of making inquiries in reference to the prospect of a school. I visited seven families, in which there were twenty-three child- ren of proper age to attend school, and was told of five more in which were thirteen more that it is sup- posed might attend, making thirty- six in twelve families. I suppose more than half of the parents of these children are unable to read them- selves, and care but little about hav- ing their children taught. Possibly 482 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. In accordance with his request, Miss H. E. Bishop came to his mission-house at Kaposia, and, after a short time, was introduced by him to the citizens of St. Paul. The first school-house in Minnesota besides those con- nected with the Indian missions, stood on the site of the First Presbyterian Church, and is thus described by the teacher: — " The school was commenced in a little log hovel, covered with bark, and chinked with mud, previously used as a blacksmith shop. It was a room about ten by twelve feet. On three sides of the interior of this humble log cabin, pegs were driven into the logs, upon which boards were laid for seats. Another seat was made by placing one end of a plank between the cracks of the logs, and the other upon a chair. This was for the priest might deter some from at- tending, who might otherwise be able and willing. " I suppose a good female teacher can do more to promote the cause of education and true religion than a man. The natural politeness of the French (who constitute more than half the population) would cause them to be kind and courteous to a female, even though the priest should seek to cause opposition. I suppose she might have twelve or fifteen scholars to begin with, and if she should have a good talent of winning the affections of children (and one who has not should not come), after a few months she would have as many as she could attend to. "-One woman told me she had four children she wished to send to school, and that she would give boarding and a room in her house to a good female teacher, for the tuition of her children. " A teacher for this place should love the Saviour, and for his sake should be willing to forego, not only many of the religious privileges and elegances of New England towns, but some of the neatness also. She should be entirely free from preju- dice on account of colour, for among her scholars she might find not only English, French, and Swiss, but Sioux and Chippewas, with some claiming kindred with the African stock. " A teacher coming should bring books with her sufficient to begin a school, as there is no book ^tore- within three hundred miles." FIRST SCHOOL-HOUSE IN WHITE SETTLEMENTS. 483 visiters. A rickety cross-legged table in the centre, and a lien's nest in one corner, completed the furniture." 1 St. Croix county, in the year 1847, was detached from Crawford county, Wisconsin, and reorganized for judicial purposes, and Stillwater made the county seat. In the month of June the United States District Court held its session in the store-room of Mr. John McKusick : Judge Charles Dunn presiding. A large number of lumbermen had been attracted by the pineries in the upper portion of the valley of St. Croix, and Stillwater was looked upon as the centre of the lumbering interest. The Kev. Mr. Boutwell, feeling that he could be more useful, left the Ojibways, and took up his residence near Stillwater, preaching to the lumbermen at the Falls of St. Croix, Marine Mills, Stillwater, and Cottage Grove. In a letter, speaking of Stillwater, he says, " Here is a little village sprung up like a gourd, but whether it is to perish as soon, God only knows." For a long time it had been thought expedient to change the location of the Winnebago Indians, from the neutral ground of Iowa, to a point more remote from white men. By the terms of a treaty, made at Wash- ington in October, 1846, they agreed to recede from their possessions, in Iowa, in the year 1848. Hon. Henry M. Rice had selected for them a new home, and with difficulty obtained it from the Ojibways, between the Sauk and Long Prairie, and Crow Wing rivers. In the spring of 1848 their agent, Mr. J. E. Fletcher, discovered that a large portion of the tribe were desirous of emigrating to the Missouri, and grumbled at the pre- parations to remove northward. The treaty granted 1 " Floral Sketches," by Miss II. E. Bishop, p. 87. 484 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. twenty thousand dollars to the Indians, to pay the ex- penses of their removal to their new location, to be paid after they arrived there. As no one was willing to trust Indians, for large amounts, Mr. Kice, and a few others, were obliged to advance the supplies necessary for the support of the tribe. The difficulty in relation to subsistence being over- come, it was agreed that the tribe should move in two parties, one in canoes and boats up the Mississippi, in charge of Mr. Rice, the other by land, under the direc- tion of Agent Fletcher. When the appointed time came to start, June the sixth, 1848, the Indians dallied, and the agent grew impatient, and, in the hope of hurrying them, had their baggage placed in the wagons, which was as quickly thrown out again by the savages. The agent sent for the troops at Fort Atkinson, and the Indians made ready for battle. The troops remained drawn up in hostile array until dark ; the next day an appeal was made to the stomach of the Winnebagoes, always potent : beef was plentifully distributed, and a calm ensued. The land party now agreed to move, provided they could join the river detachment at Wapashaw Prairie. At Wapashaw they arrived without any trouble, and found Mr. Rice, with his division of the tribe, and the company of volunteers that had accompanied him, wait- ing for their appearance. Almost the entire nation, with the exception of Little Hill, instead of encamping on the river bank, near the whites, sought the land beneath the bluffs, thus causing a creek and slough to intervene. Pleased with the appearance of the prairie, where the town of Winona now stands, they purchased it of Wapa- WINNEBAGOES DESIRE TO SETTLE AT WINONA. 4b5 shaw, the Dahkotah chief, and expressed their deter- mination not to move a step further. Wapashaw and his band uniting with them, they made war speeches, prepared for battle, and worked themselves into frenzy Mr. Rice, perceiving that this was a critical juncture, chartered a steamboat that happened to be there, and it was hurried to Fort Snelling. By request, Captain S. H. Eastman came down with a company of infantry, and a party of Dahkotah s from the Minnesota river, who came to welcome the Winne- bagoes, and say that they would be pleased to have them, in the place of the Ojibways, for their neighbours on the north. The company of volunteers from Crawford county, the United States dragoons from Fort Atkinson, and the infantry from Fort Snelling, and sixty armed teamsters, were now placed under the command of Eastman. The Indians, arrayed on the other side of the slough, numbered about twelve hundred. The next day was appointed for a council, between the Winnebagoes and the Dahkotahs of the Minnesota river. The day was one of those beautiful days in June which so charm the resident of Minnesota, and the troops were all drawn out ready for service at a mo- ment's warning ; the teamsters, near the wagons, under Mr. Culver, now deceased on the right, the infantry in the centre, with two six-pounders charged with grape ; the dragoons on the left. About ten o'clock in the morning, the Indians, chiefly on horseback, painted and decked with all their war ornaments, marched around the head of the slough toward the camp. A mile from the council ground they halted, and sent forward a deputation to ask " Why the array of glitter- 486 ' HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. ing muskets, as they supposed they were coming to council, and not to fight ?" Captain Eastman replied, " that he was prepared for either : if they wished to hold a council, they would not be molested.' ■ Permis- sion being granted, they rode around the arranged council ground and returned. In a moment the whole cavalcade, twelve abreast, were in motion toward the United States troops ; and as the terrific war whoop was sounded, the Americans began to think that they might feel the scalping knife. Everything was made ready for the worst : the cannon were loaded, and soldiers stood by with the lighted matches, waiting for the voice of command. While the council was proceeding between the Dah- kotahs and Winnebagoes, an Indian and a soldier met, and were about to fight. Should either party fire, the slaughter would be instantaneous, as both sides knew ; and the excitement for a moment was intense. By the timely interposition of Mr. Eice and others, the Indian and soldier were led away, and the danger passed. During the rest of the day the Indians were in coun- cil, but, sustained by Wapashaw, they still remained firm in their determination not to leave that prairie. Little Hill, and a small band of Winnebagoes, had never sympathized in the revolt ; and at last, Agent Fletcher, taking them on board of a steamboat, carried them up to Fort Snelling, leaving matters at Wapashaw in charge of Mr. Kice. This sudden movement was a great surprise to the disaffected, and by the efforts of Mr. E. A. Hatch, S. B. Lowry, George Culver and others, they began to waver, and by the time the boat came back seventeen hundred were ready to embark ; the remainder retreat- H. M. RICE ARRESTS WAPASHAW. 487 Ing towards the Missouri river or into Wisconsin. Mr. Rice, with a lieutenant and two soldiers, now proceeded to the lodge of Wapashaw, and arresting him, he was sent a prisoner to Fort Snelling. About the first of July, the Winnebagoes began to move again ; but on their route, those who had charge of the Indians were much annoyed by creatures that were destitute of the instincts of manhood, selling liquor to them. As a precaution against further difficulty, orders were given to destroy all the whiskey that was discovered on the line of march. About the first of August they arrived at Watab in their new country, on the west side of the Mississippi, above St. Cloud. 1 1 For the facts concerning the re- George Culver, of St. Paul, and ' to moval, I am indebted to a manu- conversations with Hon. Henry M script kindly furnished me by Mr. Rice. 488 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER XXII. Three years elapsed from the time that the Territory of Minnesota was proposed in Congress to the final pas- sage of the organic act. On the sixth of August, 1846, an act was passed by Congress authorizing the citizens of Wisconsin Territory to frame a constitution, and form a state government. The act fixed the St. Louis river to the rapids, from thence south to the St. Croix, and thence down that river to its junction with the Mississippi, as the western boundary. On the twenty-third of December, 1846, the delegate from Wisconsin, Morgan L. Martin, introduced a bill in Congress for the organization of a territory of Minne- sota. This bill made its western boundary the Sioux and Red River of the North. On the third of March, 1847, permission was granted to Wisconsin to change her boundary, so that the western limit would proceed due south from the first rapids of the St. Louis river^ and fifteen miles east of the most easterly point of Lake St. Croix, thence to the Mississippi. A number in the constitutional convention of Wis- consin were anxious that Rum river should be a part of her western boundary, while citizens of the valley of St. Croix were desirous that the Chippeway river MtlKIG&V (Hla^DISdllVo GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA. REMONSTRANCE AGAINST PROPOSED BOUNDARY. 489 should be the limit of Wisconsin. The citizens of Wis- consin Territory, in the valley of the St. Croix, and about Fort Snelling, wished to be included in the pro- jected new territory, and on the twenty-eighth of March, 1848, a memorial signed by H. H. Sibley, Henry M. Rice, Franklin Steele, William R. Marshall and others, was presented to Congress, remonstrating against the proposition before the convention to make Rum river a portion of the boundary line of the contemplated state of Wisconsin. The petitioners remark : — " Your memorialists conceive it to be the intention of your honourable bodies so to divide the present terri- tory of Wisconsin as to form two states nearly equal in size as well as other respects. A line drawn due south from Shagwamigan Bay, on Lake Superior, to the inter- section of the main Chippeway river, and from thence down the middle of said stream to its debouchure into the Mississippi, would seem to your memorialists a very proper and equitable division, which, while it would secure to Wisconsin a portion of the Lake Superior shore, would also afford to Minnesota some countervail- ing advantages. But if the northern line should be changed, as suggested by the convention, Minnesota would not have a single point on the Mississippi below the Falls of St. Anthony, which is the limit of steam- boat navigation. This alone, to the apprehension of your memorialists, would be a good and sufficient reason why the mouth of Rum river should not be the bound- ary, as that stream pours its waters into the Mississippi uearly twenty miles above the Falls. Besides this, the Chippeway and St. Croix valleys are closely connected in geographical position with the Upper Mississippi, while they are widely separated from the settled parts 490 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. of Wisconsin, not only by hundreds of miles of mostly waste and barren lands, which must remain uncultivated for ages, but equally so by a diversity of interests and character in the population." On the twenty. ninth of May, 1848, the act to admit Wisconsin changed their boundary line to the present, and as first defined in the enabling act of 1846. After the bill of Mr. Martin was introduced into the House of Representatives in 1846 it was referred to the Com- mittee on Territories, of which Mr. Douglas was chair- man. On the twentieth of January, 1847, he reported in favour of the proposed territory with the name of Itasca. On the seventeenth of February, before the bill passed the House, a discussion arose in relation to the proposed names. Mr. Winthrop of Massachusetts proposed Chippeway as a substitute, alleging that this tribe was the principal in the proposed territory, which was not correct. Mr. J. Thomson of Mississippi dis- liked all Indian names, and hoped that the territory would be called Jackson. Mr. Houston of Delaware thought that there ought to be one territory named after the " Father of his country," and proposed Washington. All of the names proposed were rejected, and the name in the original bill inserted. On the last day of the session, March third, the bill was called up in the Senate and laid on the table. When Wisconsin became a state the query arose whether the old territorial government did not continue in force west of the St. Croix river. The first meeting on the subject of claiming territorial privileges was held in the building at St. Paul, known as Jackson's store, near the corner of Bench and Jackson streets, on the bluff. This meeting was held in July, and a convention " J J CSELD K3 @Tf[EE[L(I PUBLIC MEETING AT STILLWATER. 491 was proposed to consider their position. The first pub- lic meeting 1 was held at Stillwater on August fourth, and Messrs. Steele and Sibley were the only persons present from the west side of the Mississippi. This meeting issued a call for a general convention to take steps to secure an early territorial organization, to assemble on the twenty-sixth of the month at the same place. Sixty-two delegates answered the call, and to the con- vention a letter 2 was presented from Mr. Catlin, who 1 Among those present, were W. D. Phillips, J. W. Bass, A. Larpen- teur, J. McBoal, and others from St. Paul. 2 " Madison, August 22, 1848. Hon. Wm. Holcombe : " Dear Sir : I take the liberty to -write you briefly for the purpose of ascertaining what the citizens of the present Territory of Wisconsin desire in relation to the organization of a territorial government. Congress adjourned on the fourteenth instant, without taking any steps to organize the Territory of Minnesota, or of amending the act of 1836, organizing Wisconsin, so that the present go- vernment could be successfully con- tinued. " I have given Mr. Bowron, by whom I send this, a copy of Mr. Buchanan's opinion, by which he gives it as his opinion that the laws of Wisconsin are in force in your territory; and if the laws are in force, I think it is equally clear that the officers necessary to carry out those laws are still in office. After the organization of the State of Michigan, but before her admission, Gen. G. W. Jones was elected by the Territory of Michigan (now State of Wisconsin), and was allowed to take his seat. " It is my opinion that if your peo- ple were to elect a delegate this fall, he would be allowed to take his seat in December, and then a government might be fully organized: and unless a delegate is elected and sent on, I do not believe a government will be organized for several years. You are aware of the difficulty which has prevented the organization of Oregon for two years past ; and the same difficulty will prevent the organization of Minnesota. If Mr. Tweedy were to resign, (and he would if requested), I do not see anything to prevent my issuing a proclamation for an election to fill the vacancy, as the acting governor ; but I should not like to do so unless the people would act under it, and hold the election. " If a delegate was elected by co- lour of law, Congress never would in- quire into the legality of the election. " It is the opinion of almost all this way that the government of the Territory of Wisconsin still conti- nues, although it is nearly inopera- 492 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. claimed to be acting governor, giving his opinion that the Wisconsin territorial organization was still in force. The meeting also appointed Mr. Sibley to visit Wash- ington and represent their views ; but the Hon. John H. Tweedy having resigned his office of delegate to Congress on September eighteenth, 1848, Mr. Catlin, who had made Stillwater a temporary residence, on the ninth of October issued a proclamation ordering a special election at Stillwater on the thirtieth, to fill the vacancy ' occasioned by the resignation. At this election Henry H. Sibley was elected as delegate of the citizens of the remaining portion of Wisconsin Territory. His credentials were presented to the House of Repre- sentatives, and the committee to whom the matter was referred presented a majority and minority report ; but the resolution introduced by the majority passed, and Mr. Sibley took his seat as a delegate from Wisconsin Territory on the fifteenth of January, 1849. Mr. H. M. Rice, and other gentlemen, visited Wash- ington during the winter, and, uniting with Mr. Sibley, used all their energies to obtain the organization of a new territory. On the third of March, 1849, a bill was passed or- ganizing the Territory of Minnesota, 1 whose boundary tive, for want of a court and legisla- " I shall be pleased to hear from ture. you at your earliest convenience. "I write in haste, and have not " Yours very respectfully, time to state further the reasons " John Catlin." which lead me to the conclusion that * Boundaries of the Territory of the territorial government is still Minnesota: — in being; but you can confer with "Beginning in the Mississippi Mr. Bowron, who, I believe, is in river, at the point where the line of possession of the views and opinions forty-three degrees and thirty mi- entertained here on the subject. nutes of north latitude crosses the boek"; TERRITORY OF MINNESOTA CREATED. 493 on the west extended to the Missouri river. At the time of the passage of the bill, organizing the Territory of Minnesota, the region was little more than a wilder- ness. The west bank of the Mississippi, from the Iowa line to Lake Itasca, was unceded by the Indians. At Wapashaw was a trading-post in charge of Alexis Bailly, of whom mention has been made, and here also resided the ancient voyageur, of fourscore years, A. Rocque. At the foot of Lake Pepin was a store-house kept by Mr. F. S. Richards. On the west shore of the lake lived the eccentric Wells, whose wife was a bois brule — a daughter of the deceased trader, Duncan Gra- ham. The two unfinished buildings of stone, on the beautiful bank opposite the renowned Maiden's Rock, and the surrounding skin lodges of his wife's relatives and friends, presented a rude but picturesque scene. Above the lake was a cluster of bark wigwams, the Dahkotah village of Raymneecha, now Red Wing, at which was a Presbyterian mission-house. The next settlement was Kaposia, also an Indian village, and the residence of a Presbyterian missionary, the Rev. T. S. Williamson, M. D. same, thence running due west on United States and Great Britain ; said line, which is the northern thence east and south of east along boundary of the State of Iowa, to the boundary line between the pos- the north-west corner of the said sessions of the United States and State of Iowa, thence southerly along Great Britain, to Lake Superior; the western boundary of said State thence in a straight line to the north- to the point where said boundary ernmost point of the State of Wis- strikes the Missouri river, thence up consin in Lake Superior ; thence the middle of the main channel of along the western boundary line of the Missouri river, to the mouth of said State of Wisconsin, to the Miss- White Earth river, thence up the issippi river ; thence down the main middle of the main channel of the channel of said river to the place of White Earth river to the boundary beginning." line between the possessions of the 494 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. On the east side of the Mississippi, the first settle- ment, at the mouth of the St. Croix, was Point Douglas, then, as now, a small hamlet. At Red Rock, the site of a former Methodist mission station, there were a few farmers. St. Paul was just emerging from a collection of Indian whiskey shops, and birch-roofed cabins of half-breed voyageurs. Here and there a frame tene- ment was erected ; and, under the auspices of the Hon. H. M. Rice, who had obtained an interest in the town, * some warehouses were being constructed, and the foun- dations of the American House were laid. In 1849, the population had increased to two hundred and fifty or three hundred inhabitants, for rumours had gone abroad that it might be mentioned in the act, creating the ter- ritory, as the capital. More than a month after the adjournment of Con- gress, just at eve, on the ninth of April, amid terrific peals of thunder and torrents of rain, the weekly steam- packet, the first to force its way through the icy barrier of Lake Pepin, rounded the rocky point, whistling loud and long, as if the bearer of glad tidings. Before she was safely moored to the landing, the shouts of the ex- cited villagers announced that there was a Territory of Minnesota, and that St. Paul was the seat of govern- ment. Every successive steamboat arrival poured out on the landing men big with hope, and anxious to do something to mould the future of the new state. Nine days after the news of the existence of the Ter- ritory of Minnesota was received, there arrived Jame& M. Goodhue with press, types, and printing apparatus. A graduate of Amherst College, and a lawyer by pro- fession, he wielded a sharp pen, and wrote editorials, which, more than anything else, perhaps, induced immi- ALEXANDER RAMSEY, FIRST GOVERNOR. 49i> gration. Though a man of some glaring faults, one of the counties properly bears his name. On the twenty- eighth of April, he issued the first number of the "Pioneer." 1 On the twenty-seventh of May, Alexander Ramsey, the governor, and family arrived at St. Paul, but, owing to the crowded state of the public-houses, immediately proceeded in the steamer to the establishment of the fur company known as Mendota, at the junction of the Min- nesota and Mississippi, and became the guest of the Hon. H. H. Sibley. For several weeks there resided, at the confluence of these rivers, four individuals who, more than any other men, have been identified with the public interests of Minnesota, and given the state its present character. Their names are attached to the thriving counties of Ramsey, Rice, Sibley, and Steele. " As unto the bow, the cord is, So unto the man is the woman, Though she bends him, she obeys him, Though she draws him, yet she follows, Useless each without the other ;" Therefore we venture, fully aware of the extreme delicacy of the undertaking, to attempt a portrait, not only of these citizens, but of those who are their wives, 1 By advertisements in its columns, John J. Dewey, as doctor ; Miss Bi- David Lambert, deceased, and Wil- shop as school teacher; and Rev. E. liam D. Phillips, of Washington City, D. Neill, as a resident clergyman ; appear as the only lawyers ; J. W. W. H. Nobles, and D. C. Taylor, as Bass and Lott Moffett, keepers of blacksmiths ; John R. Irvine, as plas- houses of entertainment ; Forbes, terer ; C. P. Lull, as house builder ; Myrick, Simpson, Fuller & Brother, B. W. Brunson, surveyor, and David Olmsted, as traders; 496 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. and who must always be considered as among the pro- minent early settlers. Alexander Ramsey is still in the prime of life, and was born near the city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. - Blessed with worthy and industrious parents, he was not trained to habits of idleness. From an early period, he betrayed a fondness for reading, and amid difficulties which would have deterred many, he persevered until he succeeded in entering Lafayette College, at Easton, Pennsylvania. Circumstances were such that he re- mained but a brief period. A correspondent of the Public Ledger, of Philadelphia, under date of April fourth, 1849, thus writes : — " By untiring industry and perseverance, he struggled through the study of law, and was admitted to the bar of Dauphin county. The first public office ever held by him, was that of Secretary of the Harrison Electoral College of 1840. A month afterward, in January, 1841, he was elected Clerk of the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania. In 1843, he was nominated by the Whig Conference as a candidate for Congress, to repre- sent the district, embracing the counties of Dauphin, Lebanon, and Schuylkill. He was elected by a decisive majority; and in Harrisburg, his place of residence, which before had given a Democratic majority, there was a large vote in his favour. His course in Congress was marked rather by a practical business devotion to his duties, than by any effort at oratorical display. He was nominated and re-elected for a second term ; and in 1846, declined in favour of another. He is social and good-humoured, but cool, cautious, shrewd, and perse- vering. He is a man of very large perceptive powers, and of much grasp of intellect ; altogether what might ANNA E. RAMSEY. 497 be termed a man of a good deal of force of character. He speaks well, not eloquently; but to the point, quite as fluently in German as in English." No longer " In the land of the Dahkotahs, Lives the arrowmaker's daughter, Minnehaha, Laughing Water, Handsomest of all the women ;" Yet the first governor of the territory appears to have received from some one, as good advice as Old Nokomis gave to Hiawatha: — " Bring not here an idle maiden, Bring not here a useless woman, Hands unskilful, feet unwilling. Bring a wife with nimble fingers, Heart and hand that move together, Feet that run on willing errands." His wife is Anna E., the daughter of Hon. Mr. Jenks, of Newtown, a former member of Congress from Bucks county, Pennsylvania. At the time of his marriage in 1845, she was eighteen years of age. Accompanying her husband to Minnesota, when it was chiefly occupied by savages, removed from the associations of her child- hood, she with great cheerfulness adapted herself to her new position. Queenly and attractive in appearance, she well fulfilled the duties of a governor's wife. Affa- ble, open-hearted, and well informed, she immediately became a favourite, not only with " those in authority," but also with the plain frontiersman. Domestic in her tastes, she is best appreciated by those who know her most intimately. Henry Hastings Sibley was born in Detroit, in 1812. His father was a native of Massachusetts, and one of 32 498 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the early settlers of Michigan, having been a member of the first Legislative Assembly of the North-west Ter- ritory, which met at Cincinnati. Subsequently he was delegate to Congress, and Judge of the Supreme Court of Michigan. His mother was a native of Rhode Island, who removed with her parents at an early age to Ohio. Educated at the celebrated Moravian School at Bethle- hem, and in the city of Philadelphia, she was refined and accomplished, and trained her children well. When the subject of this sketch was eighteen years of age, he became a clerk of Mr. Stewart, a gentleman of probity and intelligence, who had charge of the depot of the American Fur Company at Mackinaw. In the year 1834, when but twenty-two years of age, Mr. Sibley commenced his residence at Mendota, as agent of the American Fur Company's establishment. After this company failed in 1842, the inventory was pur- chased by P. Chouteau, Jr., and Co., of St. Louis, and Mr. Sibley continued the business until he became a delegate to Congress in 1848-49, which post he held for several years, and faithfully discharged its duties. After a long delay, in 1858 was declared by the board of canvassers the governor of the state. Mr. Sibley's wife was a native of Pennsylvania, and the sister of Mr. Franklin Steele. Married at an early age, she also gracefully accommodated herself to the novelty of frontier life, although, living immediately op- posite to Fort Snelling, she found some congenial society among the families of the officers. Sprightly in disposi- tion, and devoted to her children, her venerable mother and her husband her death was a great loss. Henry M. Rice, was the first to represent the state in the Senate of the United States, is a native of 1 Died May 21, 1869. SKETCH OF HENRY M. RICE. 499 Vermont, although his life, from youth, has been passed in the far West. With much foresight, and quick in execution, he has always been prominent in develop- ing the resources of the state he represents. The fol- lowing sketch, published a few years ago, gives the views of one of Mr. Rice's friends : — " He settled here when there were no white men in the territory, except Indian traders, missionaries, and soldiers ; and during his long residence, has been noted as the promoter of every enterprise tending to develop the hidden wealth of Minnesota, and attract hither im- migration from other portions of the country. Two years ago, he was elected to Congress by an overwhelm- ing vote ; and then commenced a series of labours on his part which will make him long remembered in the territory as the most efficient of representatives. The pre-emption system he caused to be extended to un sur- veyed lands ; the military reserves opened to actual settlers; land offices to be established; post routes opened out and offices established ; millions of acres of lands to be purchased from Indians, and thrown open to settlers ; and thousands of dollars to be appropriated to the construction of government roads. Nor was this all : legislation for the benefit of individuals entitled to it, was secured, and no exertion ever spared, in Congress and out of it, at the executive departments or elsewhere, that would benefit the territory. The heavy immigra- tion of the past two years is as strong proof as could be desired that Minnesota is regarded as the chosen spot of the West, either for immigrants seeking to estab- lish themselves, or capitalists desiring investments ; and for much of this heavy immigration, we cannot help thinking our territory is indebted to the late delegate; 600 HISTORY OF xMINNESOTA. the beneficial legislation he procured for us, rendered Minnesota indeed a land of promise. " Mr. Rice possesses in a great degree the qualities necessary to make a good delegate. His winning man- ners secure him hosts of friends, and enable him to acquire great influence ; his business habits, industry, and perseverance, insure the accomplishment of what- ever he undertakes, while his perfect knowledge of the wants of the territory, prevents his efforts from being misdirected. His political opinions are those of a Na- tional Democrat — coinciding with those of the president and heads of departments, a majority of the Senate, and a respectable and united minority in the House — which will successfully combat a divided majority." In the year 1849 Mr. Rice was married to Miss Matilda Whitall, whose family reside in the vicinity of Richmond, Virginia. Youthful, graceful in bearing, and with warm impulses, her houses in Washington and St. Paul have always been an agreeable resort to her hus- band's friends. With a disposition to be identified with whatever will promote the interests of her husband, she proves a valuable wife as well as attentive mother. Franklin Steele wasa native of Chester county, Penn- sylvania, and, when a youth, was advised by Andrew Jackson, late President of the United States, to identify himself with the West. John H. Stevens, Esq., of Glencoe, formerly a clerk of Mr. Steele's, in a lecture before Hennepin County Lyceum, says : — " The day he landed at Fort Snelling, the Indians had concluded a treaty with the whites, by which the St. Croix Falls were ceded to the latter. Mr. Steele went over ; like*d the place much, made a claim, hired a large crew of men, put Calvin A. Tuttle, Esq., now of St. Anthony, MAtro ■:. MR. FRANKLIN STEELE AND WIFE. 601 at their head, and commenced in earnest to build mills. Upon being appointed sutler to the army at Fort Snel- ling, he disposed of the St. Croix property, and became interested on the east side of St. Anthony's Falls. He has continued to make this county his home ever since his first arrival in the territory. Mr. Steele has been a good friend to Hennepin, and as most of the citizens came here poor, they never had to ask Mr. Steele a second time for a favour. Fortune has favoured him, and while many a family has reason to be thankful for his generosity and kindness, he has constantly made money.'* On the tenth of September, 1880, he died Mrs. Franklin Steele is a native of Maryland, and was a Miss Barney, a relative of the naval officer whose name is associated with the glory of our marine. Com- manding in person, and well educated, she had been much admired in society. In January, 1881, she died. About the last of May, 1 849, the Dahkotahs of the Ka- posia band, just below St. Paul, performed one of their peculiar ceremonies. A short distance from their lodges they formed an elliptical enclosure with willow bushes stuck in the ground. In the centre was placed a large buffalo fish on some green fern, and a cat-fish on a bunch of dry grass. A small arbour was placed over the fish. At one end of the enclosure was a teepee, in which were men singing Hah-yay, Hah-yay, Hoh, Hoh, Hoh, Hoh-ah. Soon six men and three boys issued with bent bodies and long, dishevelled hair, who moved around the enclosure, keeping their faces as much as possible in the direction of the fishes. Then a tall man, of threescore years, painted entirely black, appeared with a small hoop in each hand, walking " on all fours," and howling like a bear. Entering within the enclosure of 502 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA willow branches, he moved around as if scenting some- thing. While thus occupied, two more made their appearance smeared all over with white clay, one repre- senting a grizzly bear, the other, with a tail suspended from his breech cloth, and body bent, represented a wolf. The other Indians danced and sang for two or three hours, while these men as beasts prowled around the fishes, pawing, snuffing at them, and then retreating. At last one of the bears crept up to one of the fish, and, after much growling, bit off a piece, and went round the ellipse chewing. The other bear then bit the remaining fish. These signals caused all the dancers to follow, and flesh, fins, bones, and entrails were all devoured without being touched by the hands. The sacred men also prayed to the spirits of the fish, and the object of the feast, was supposed to be, to induce a change of weather. On the first of June, Governor Eamsey, by proclama- tion, declared the territory duly organized, with the fol- lowing officers : Alexander Ramsey, of Pennsylvania, Governor ; C. K. Smith, of Ohio, Secretary ; A. Good- rich, of Tennessee, Chief Justice; D. Cooper, of Penn- sylvania, and B. B. Meeker, of Kentucky, Associate Judges; Joshua L. Taylor, Marshal; H. L. Moss, At- torney of the United States. 1 l A Proclamation, by Alexander Ram- a government was erected over all sey, Governor of the Territory of the country described in said act to Minnesota. be called " The Territory of Minne- to all whom it may concern. sota ;" and whereas the following Whereas by an act of the Congress named officers have been duly ap- of the United States of America, pointed and commisssioned under entitled " An act to establish the the said act as officers of said govern- Territorial Government of 'Minnesota " ment, viz : approved March third, 1849, a true Alexander Ramsey, Governor of sopy whereof is hereto annexed, said Territory, and Commander-in £[E(LH. JUDGES GOODRICH, MEEKER, AND COOPER. 503 On the eleventh of June, a second proclamation was issued, dividing the territory into three temporary judi- cial districts. The first comprised the county of St. Croix ; the county of La Pointe, and the region north and west of the Mississippi, and north of the Minnesota, and of a line running due west from the headwaters of the Minnesota to the Missouri river, constituted the second ; and the country west of the Mississippi, and south of the Minnesota, formed the third district. Judge Goodrich was assigned to the first, Meeker to the second, and Cooper to the third. A court was ordered to be held at Stillwater on the second Monday, at the Falls of St. Anthony on the third, and at Mendota on the fourth Monday of August. On the sixth of June, Major Wood left Fort Snelling, charged with the duty of making a military examina- tion of the country in the vicinity of Pembina, in view of establishing a military post there. Captain Pope, of the topographical engineers, accompanied the expedi- tion, and his report, published by Congress, is valuable Chief of the Militia thereof, and tively assumed the duties of their Superintendent of Indian affairs said offices according to law, said therein, territorial government is declared Charles K. Smith, Secretary of to be organized and established, and said territory, all persons are enjoined to obey, Aaron Goodrich, Chief Justice, conform to, and respect the laws and David Cooper and Bradley B. thereof accordingly. Meeker, Associate Justices of the Given under my hand, and the Supreme Court of said territory, and r„_. T -i seal of said Territory, this to act as Judges of the District Court first day of June, a. d. 1849, of said territory, and of the Independence of the Joshua L. Taylor, Marshal of the United States of America the seventy- United States for said territory, third. Henry L. Moss, Attorney of the By the Governor, Alex. Ramsey. United States for said territory, Chas. K. Smith, Secretary. And said officers having respee- 504 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. in information, concerning the adaptation of the Eed River valley for agricultural purposes. Until the twenty-sixth of June, Governor Ramsey and family had been guests of Hon. H. H. Sibley, at Mendota. On the afternoon of that day they arrived at St. Paul, in a birch-bark canoe, and became perma- nent residents at the capital. The mansion first occu- pied as a gubernatorial mansion, is the small frame building, on Third, between Robert and Jackson streets, subsequently known as the New England House. A few days after, the Hon. H. M. Rice and family moved from Mendota to St. Paul, and occupied the house he had erected on St. Anthony street, near the corner of Market. On the first of July, a land office was established at Stillwater, and A. Yan Vorhees, after a few weeks, be- came the register. The anniversary of our National Independence, was celebrated in a becoming manner at the capital. The place selected for the address, was a grove that stood on the sites of the City Hall and the Baldwin School Building. In pursuance of a requirement in the organic act, the sheriff of St. Croix was ordered to take a census of all inhabitants. 1 1 The result was as follows : — Names of Places. Males. Females. Total. Stillwater, 455 154 609 Lake St. Croix, 129 82 211 Marine Mills, 142 31 173 St. Paul, 540 300 840 Little Canada and St. Anthony, 352 219 571 Crow Wing and Long Prairie, 235 115 350 Osakis Rapids, 92 41 133 Falls of St. Croix, 15 1 16 GOVERNOR RAMSEY RECOGNISES A CHIEF. 505 On the seventh of July, a proclamation was issued, dividing the territory into seven council districts, and ordering an election to be held on the first day of August, for one delegate to represent the people in the House of Representatives of the United States, for nine councillors, and eighteen representatives to constitute the Legislative Assembly of Minnesota. Shortly after his arrival, Governor Ramsey recognised a new hereditary chief of the Wahk-pay-koo-tay band of Dahkotahs, named Wa-min-di-yu-ka-pi, by investing him with a sword and a soldier's medal. He was a fine looking youth, and a few weeks after this honour he and seventeen others were slaughtered in broad day- light, by a party of Indians they met near the head- waters of the Des Moines river. The Dahkotahs took four scalps, and the citizens of St. Paul, during the quiet nights of that summer, could hear the noise of the scalp dance at Kaposia. Names of Places. Males. Females. Total. Snake River, 58 24 82 La Pointe County, 12 10 22 Crow Wing, . . 103 71 174 Big Stone Lake and Lac qui Parle, 33 35 68 Little Rock, 20 15 35 Prairieville, 9 13 22 Oak Grove, 14 9 23 Black Dog Village, 7 11 18 Crow Wing, east side, 35 35 70 Mendota, 72 50 122 Red Wing Village 20 13 33 Wabeshaw and Root River, 78 36 114 Fort Snelling, 26 12 38 Soldiers and women and children in forts, . . 267 50 317 Pembina, 295 342 637 Missouri River 49 37 86 3067 1713 4680 506 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. During the latter part of July, a band of Sissetoan Dahkotahs, near Big Stone Lake, proceeded to a buffalo hunt. Unsuccessful, they were obliged to eat their dugs and tipsinna. 1 One day they were startled by a horse- man galloping across the plain in the direction of their camp. On his approach, they saw he was a Red River half-breed, who had formerly lived in their country. He had come to tell them that the Ojibways were in the neighbourhood, and contemplated an attack. The Dah- kotahs had just hid their women and children in holes, and covered them with brush-wood, when the enemy came in sight. A few of the bravest Dahkotahs went out to meet the foe, and the fight commenced near a rivulet, in the valley of the Cheyenne. The leader, after fighting bravely, found himself surrounded by the Ojibways, who had concealed themselves in the grass. While in the act of raising his head to draw the stopper from his powder-horn, he was shot through the brain. His little son, not ten years of age, seeing his father fall, rushed to the corpse, and after clasping it, he lay by its side, and fired at the enemy until aid came from 1 The Tipsinna, or Dahkotah tur- cnce on the tipsinna. They eat it nip, grows only in the high and dry both raw and cooked. This root prairie. It seeks the high points has lately acquired a European and gravelly hills, where it continues reputation. Mr. Lamare Picot, of to grow in size from year to year, France has, within a few years past, increasing with every summer that introduced it into his native country, passes over it. The root is roundish and the Savans of Paris, it is said, or oval, and of various sizes, according have given it the name of " Picoti- to its age. It has a thick, hard rind, anna." It has been supposed that which the Dahkotah usually remove this dry prairie root might yet take with their teeth. During the months an important place among the of June and July, when the top can vegetables which are cultivated for be easily discovered in the grass, the support of human life ; but this the Indians of the Upper Minnesota expectation will probably end in depend, very much, for their subsist- disappointment. FIRST ELECTION IN MINNESOTA. 507 the Dahkotah camp, and his corpse was cared for by friends. After skirmishing till dusk, the Ojibways re- treated with three killed. The Dahkotahs lost the same number. 1 In this month the Hon. H. M. Rice despatched a boat laden with Indian goods from the Falls of St. Anthony to Crow "Wing, which was towed bv horses after the manner of a canal boat. The election on the first of August, passed off with little excitement, Hon. H. H. Sibley being elected delegate to Congress without opposition. 2 David Lam- bert, on what might, perhaps, be termed the old settlers' ticket, was defeated in St. Paul, by James McBoal. The latter, on the night of the election, was honoured with a ride through town on the axle and fore-wheels of an old wagon, which was drawn by his admiring, but somewhat undisciplined friends. J. L. Taylor having declined the office of United States Marshal; 3 A. M. Mitchell, of Ohio, a graduate of 1 Communication in Minnesota Pioneer, September 19, 1849. 2 The vote in St. Paul was : — Delegate to Congress, H. H. Sibley, ..... 188 Councillors, W. H. Forbes, 187 J. McBoal, 98 " . D. Lambert, 91 House of Representatives, . . . B. Brunson, 168 .... P. K. Johnson, .... 104 .... H.Jackson, 165 .... J.J.Dewey, 171 . . . . J. R. Brown 84 . . . . A. G. Fuller 24 Unsuccessful in Italics. 3 The following exhibits the result under the counties into which the of the first census, along with the territory was subsequently divided vote cast for the Delegate to Congress by the first Legislature : — on the first August, 1*40, arranged 508 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. West Point, and colonel of a regiment of Ohio volun- teers in Mexico, was appointed, ajid arrived at the capi- tal early in August. There were three papers published in the territory soon after its organization. The first was the Pioneer, 1 issued on April twenty-eighth, 1849, under most dis- couraging circumstances. It was at first the intention of the witty and talented editor to have called his paper u The Epistle of St. Paul." About the same time there was issued, in Cincinnati, under the auspices of the late Dr. A. Randall, of California, the first number of the Regis- ter. The second number of the paper was printed at St. Paul, in July, and the office was on St. Anthony, between Washington and Market Streets. About the first of June, James Hughes, now of Hudson, Wisconsin, arrived with a press and materials, and established the Minnesota Chronicle. After an existence of a few weeks these papers were discontinued ; and, in their place, was Co. Seats. Counties. Males. Females. Vote for Del. St. Paul, . Ramsey, 976 564 273 Stillwater,. Washington, ...... 821 291 213 Sauk Rapids, Benton, 249 108 18 Mendota, . Dahkotah, 301 167 75 Wahnatah, .344 182 70 Wabashaw, Wabashaw, .246 84 33 Pembina, . Pembina, 295 342 — Itasca, 21 9 — Mankato, • . — — — 3253 1687 682 1687 Total population, June 30, 1849, . . . 4940 1 The press used in printing the purchased in Cincinnati in 1836, " Pioneer" is said to have been the and first used in printing the Du- first ever used north of Missouri, and buque Visitor, published by John west of the Mississippi. It was King. SESSIONS OF THE FIRST COURTS. 509 issued the " Chronicle and Register," edited by Nathaniel McLean and John P. Owens. The first courts, pursuant to proclamation of the governor, were held in the month of August. At Still- water, the court was organized on the thirteenth of the month, Judge Goodrich presiding, and Judge Cooper, by courtesy, sitting on the bench. On the twentieth, the second judicial district held a court. The room used was the old government mill at Minneapolis. The presiding judge was B. B. Meeker; the foreman of the grand jury, Franklin Steele. On the last Monday of the month, the court for the third judicial district was organized in the large stone warehouse of the fur com- pany at Mendota. The presiding judge was David Cooper. Governor Ramsey sat on the right, and Judge Goodrich on the left. Hon. H. H. Sibley was the foreman of the grand jury. As some of the jurors could not speak the English language, W. H. Forbes acted as interpreter. The charge of Judge Cooper was lucid, scholarly, and dignified. At the request of the grand jury it was afterwards published. R. G. Murphey, the United States' agent for the Dah- kotahs, used commendable diligence during this year in checking the whiskey traffic, and in inducing the In- dians to renew their temperance pledges. Under the influence of a vile class of whiskey sellers that infested the neighbourhood of what is now the capital of Min- nesota, the Dahkotahs, a few years before this, were a nation of drunkards. Men would travel hundreds of miles to the " place where they sell Minne-wakan," as they designated St. Paul, to traffic for a keg of whiskey. The editor of the Dahkotah Friend says : — " Twelve years ago they bade fair soon to die, all to- jIO HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. gether, in one drunken jumble. They must be drunk — the}' could hardly live if they were not drunk. Many of them seemed as uneasy when sober as a fish does when on land. At some of the villages they were drunk months together. There was no end to it. They would )iave whiskey. They would give guns, blankets, pork, lard, flour, corn, coffee, sugar, horses, furs, traps, any- thing for whiskey. It was made to drink — it was good — it was wakan. They drank it — they bit off each other's noses — broke each other's ribs and heads — they knifed each other. They killed one another with guns, knives, hatchets, clubs, fire-brands — they fell into the fire and water, and were burned to death and drowned — they froze to death, and committed suicide so fre- quently that, for a time, the death of an Indian, in some of the ways mentioned, was but little thought of by themselves or others. Some of the earlier settlers of St. Paul and Pig's Eye remember something about these matters. Their eyes saw sights which are not exhibited now-a-days." The reform was commenced through the influence of the missionaries, Mr. Sibley, and Mr. Murphey's prede- cessor. On one occasion Agent Murphey met a Sissetoan Dahkotah, a few miles above Mendota, returning home with a supply of "fire water:' A wagon happening to pass at the time, he secured the fellow, and returned with him in the vehicle toward Fort Snelling ; but, in passing a wooded ravine, the Indian, a most active and athletic man, succeeded, by a desperate exertion, in leaping from the wagon, and, dashing into the woods, made his escape. During the summer a steamboat landed in the night at Raymneecha (Red Wing), and a MEETING OF FIRST LEGISLATURE. 511 son of one of the chiefs, told his father that the band were obtaining whiskey at the boat. The chief was in- dignant, and, awaking the Indian farmer, he went to the landing, and told the crew that he would cut the boat loose unless they immediately removed. On Monday, the third of September, the first Legis- lative Assembly convened in the "Central House," a building which answered the double purpose, of capitol and hotel. On the first floor of the main building was the secretary's office and Representative chamber, and in the second story was the library and Council chamber. As the flag was run up the staff in front of the house, a number of Indians sat on a rocky bluff in the vicinity, and gazed at what to them was a novel, and perhaps saddening scene; for if the tide of emigration sweeps in from the Pacific as it has from the Atlantic coast, they must diminish. The legislature having organized, elected the follow- ing permanent officers : David Olmsted, President of Council; 1 Joseph R. Brown, Secretary; H. A. Lambert, Assistant. In the House of Representatives, Joseph W. Furber was elected Speaker; W. D. Phillips, Clerk; L. B. Wait, Assistant. On Tuesday afternoon, both houses assembled in the 1 Councillors. No. of District. Residence. Age. Place of Nativity. James S. Norms, . . . 1 . Cottage Grove, . . 38 Maine. Samuel Burkleo, . . 2 Stillwater, .... 45 Delaware. William H. Forbes, . 3 . St. Paul, .... 38 Montreal, C. James MeC. Boal, . . 3 . " .... 38 Pennsylvania. David B. Loomis, . 4 . Marine Mills, . . 32 Connecticut. John Rollins, . . . 5 . Falls of St. Anthony, 41 Maine. David Olmsted, . . . 6 . Long Prairie, . . 27 Vermont. William Sturges, . 6 . Elk River, .... 28 Up. Canada. Martin McLeod, . . . 7 . Lac qui Parle, . . 36 Montreal, C. 512 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. dining hall of the hotel, and after prayer was offered by Rev. E. D. Neill, Governor Ramsey delivered his mes- sage. The message was ably written, and its perusal afforded satisfaction at home and abroad. The members of the first legislature were generally acquainted with each other previous to their election, and there was but little formality manifested in their proceedings. A child of one of the members having died, the House of Representatives : adjourned to attend the little one's funeral. 2 i Representatives. No. of District. Residence. Age. Place of Nativity. Joseph W. Furber, . . 1 . Cottage Grove, . 36 N. H. James Wells, .... 1 . Lake Pepin, . . . 46 N. Jersey. M. S. Wilkinson, . . . 2 . Stillwater, . 30 New York. Sylvanus Trask, . . . 2 . « . — << Mahlon Black, . . . 2 . <( . — Ohio. Benjamin W. Brunson, 3 . St. Paul, . . . 25 Michigan. Henry Jackson, . . . 3 . tt . . 42 Virginia. John J. Dewey, . . . 3 . « . — New York. Parsons K. Johnson, 3 . <« . — Vermont. Henry F. Setzer, . . . 4 . Snake River, . . — Missouri. William R. Marshall, . 5 . Falls of St. Anthony, 25 William Dugas, . . . 5 . Little Canada, . . 37 L. Canada. Jeremiah Russell, . . 6 . Crow Wing, . . . — L. A. Babcock, . . . 6 . Sauk Rapids, . . 29 Vermont. Thomas A. Holmes, 6 . << . 44 Pennsylvania. Allen Morrison, . . . 6 . Alexis Bailly, . . . 7 . Mendota, . . . * 50 Michigan. Gideon H. Pond, . . . 7 . Oak Grove, . . . 39 Connecticut. 2 Extract from the Journal of the House, October fourth, 1849 : — Mr. Wilkinson offered the follow- ing :— "Whereas, by the sudden and mysterious dispensation of Provi- dence, one of our brother members of this house, has been painfully bereaved by the death of a beloved member of his family, and feeling a deep sympathy for our worthy brother in his bereavment, therefore Resolved, That when this house adjourn, that it adjourn until to- morrow morning at ten o'clock, and that the members be requested by the speaker to attend the funeral of the daughter of the Hon. B. W. Brunson, at one o'clock." FIRST COUNTIES.— RED PIPE STONE. 513 The first session of the legislature adjourned on the first of November. Among other proceedings of in- terest, was the creation of the following counties* Itasca, Waubashaw, Dahkotah, Wahnahtah, Mahkahto, Pembina, Washington, Ramsey, and Benton. The three latter counties comprised the country that up to that time had been ceded by the Indians on the east side of the Mississippi. Stillwater was declared the county seat of Washington ; St. Paul, of Ramsey; "and the seat of justice of the county of Benton, was to be within one-quarter of a mile of a point on the east side of the Mississippi, directly opposite the mouth of Sauk river." The day of elections after the year 1849, was ap- pointed to be on the first of September. A warm interest was manifested in the common school system, and an able report on the subject was made to the Council by the Hon. M. McLeod, chairman of the committee. A joint resolution was passed, ordering a slab of the red pipe stone to be forwarded to the Washington Monument Association. 1 1 Mr. McLeod submitted the fol- Association, to the effect that a por- lowing communication from the Hon. tion of rock from each state, would Henry H. Sibley, which be received to be used in the con- On motion of Mr. McLeod, was struction of the monument, has ordered to be read and entered on caused to be procured from the the minutes of the council : — quarry, about two hundred miles distant, a specimen of the Red or Mexdota, Sept. 11, 1849. Pipe stone, which is peculiar to our To the Honourable, the Legislative territory, to be proffered for that Council of Minnesota Territory : purpose. Believing it to be meet The undersigned having seen a and proper that Minnesota should notice in the public journals some not be backward in her contribution time since, signed by the general to a work which is intended to per- agent of the Washington Monument petuate the memory of the " Father 33 514 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. The stone for ages has been used by the Dahkotahs and other tribes for the manufacture of pipes, and is esteemed "wakan." In the State Cabinet of Albany there is a very ancient pipe of this material, which was obtained in the Seneca country, and the tradition is that it was taken from the Dahkotahs. Charlevoix, in his History of New France, speaking of the pipe of peace, says : " It is ordinarily made of a species of red marble, very easily worked, and found beyond the Mississippi among the Aaiouez (Ioways)." Le Sueur speaks of the Yanktons, as the village of the Dahkotahs at the Red Stone-quarry. It is asserted that in days gone by hostile nations used to assemble at this quarry, and obtain the material for pipes without mo- of his Country," and that the offer- ing should be that of the constituted authorities of the territory, rather than the act of a private individual, I have hereby the honour to present the specimen of rock to your honour- able body, for your acceptance, to be disposed of in such manner as your wisdom may suggest. The slab is about two and a half feet in length, and a little over one and a half in breadth, and two inches in thickness. In the last particular it does not meet the requirements of the Association ; but, apart from the impracticability of transporting a huge mass of stone, weighing nearly, if not quite, half a ton, if of the di- mensions stated, to so remote a point as Washington City, it is known that the strata of pipe stone rarely, if ever, exceed three inches in thick- ness. In length and breadth, it is believed, the specimen will come up to the standard, and can be so used as to face a solid block of granite or other material, and thus answer the proposed end. In conclusion, I would beg leave to state, that a late geological work of high authority, by Dr. Jackson, designates this formation as Catli- nite, upon the erroneous supposition that Mr. George Catlin was the first white man who had ever visited that region ; whereas, it is notorious that many whites had been there and examined the quarry long before he came to the country. This designa- tion is therefore, clearly improper and unjust. The Sioux term for the stone is Eyanskah, by which, I con- ceive, it should be knowD and classi- fied. I have the honour to be, Very respectfully, Your obedient servant, H. H. Sibley. RED PIPE STONE QUARRY DESCRIBED. 515 testation. Whether facts will sustain the tradition may be doubtful. The first canto of the " Song of Hiawatha" gives an impressive picture of the conclave of natives at " the great Red Pipe Stone Quarry." 1 Nicollet, in his admirable report, remarks : " This red pipe stone, not more interesting to the Indian than it is to the man of science, by its unique character, de- serves a particular description. In the quarry of it which I had opened, the thickness of the bed is one foot and a half, the upper portion of which separates in thin slabs, whilst the lower ones are more compact. As a mineralogical species it may be described as follows : compact; structure, slaty ; receiving a dull polish; having a red streak ; colour, blood red, with dots of a fainter shade of the same colour ; fracture, rough ; sextile, fat, somewhat greasy ; hardness, not yielding to the nail ; 1 '• Down the rivers, o'er the prairies, Came the warriors of the nations, Came the Delawares and Mohawks, Came the Choctaws and Camanches, Came the Shoshonies and Blackfeet, Came the Pawnees and Omahaws, Came the Mandans and Dacotahs, Came the Huron and Ojibways, All the warriors drawn together, By the signal of the Peace-Pipe, To the mountains of the prairie, To the great Red Pipe Stone Quarry. * * * * ♦ Gitche Manito, the mighty, The creator of the nations, Looked upon them with compassion, With paternal love and pity; ***** Spake to them with voice majestic As the sound of far off waters, ***** my children! my poor children ! Listen to the words of wisdom, Listen to the words of warning, From the lips of the Great Spirit, From the Master of Life, who made you ; 1 have given you lands to bunt in, I have given you streams to fish in, I have given you bear and bison, I have given you roe and reindeer, I have given you brant and beaver, Filling the marshes full of wild fowl, Filled the rivers full of fishes; Why then are you not contented ? Why then will you hunt each other? I am weary of your quarrels, Weary of your wars and bloodshed, Weary of your prayers for vengeance, Of your wranglings and dissensions; All your strength is in your union, All your danger is in discord ; Therefore be at peace henceforward, And as brothers live together, Bathe now in the stream before you, Wash the war paint from your faces, Wash the blood stains from your fingers, Bury your war clubs and your weapons, Break the red stone from this quarry, Mould and make it into peace-pipes, Take the reeds that grow beside you, Deck them with your brightest feathers, Smoke the calumet together, And as brothers live henceforward I" 516 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. not scratched by selenite, but easily by calcareous spar; specific gravity, 2.90. The acids have no action upon it ; before the blow-pipe it is infusible, per se ; but with borax gives a green glass." The committee on seal recommended as a device an Indian family, with lodge and canoe, encamped, a single white man visiting them, and receiving from them the calumet of peace. The report was accepted, and the committee discharged. During the following winter, Governor Kamsey and the delegate to Congress devised at Washington the territorial seal. The design was : Falls of St. Anthony in the distance ; an emigrant ploughing the land on the borders of the Indian coun- try, full of hope, and looking forward to the possession of the hunting-grounds beyond. An Indian, amazed at the sight of the plough, and fleeing on horseback towards the setting sun. The motto of the Earl of Dunraven, " Quae sursum volo videre," " I wish to see what is above," was most appropriately selected by Mr. Sibley, then delegate in Congress, but by the blunder of an engraver it appeared on the Territorial seal " Quo sursum velo videre," which no scholar could translate. At length was substituted " L'Etoile du Nord," " Star of the North," while the de- vice of the setting sun remained, and this is objection- able, as Maine had already placed the North Star on her escutcheon, with the motto "Dirigo," "I guide." Perhaps some future Legislature may direct the first motto to be restored, and correctly engraved. The wife of Captain S. Eastman, who was formerly in command of Fort Snelling, a lady of fine literary qualifications, who, with her husband, has done more than any one to illustrate Dahkotah-land and Dahko- EFFORT TO EXTINGUISH INDIAN TITLE. 517 tah-life, prepared a poem on the " Seal of Minnesota," about the time it was designed. 1 When the Territory of Minnesota was organized, the Indian title had been extinguished of but a small por- tion of the country. The ceded region was chiefly east of the Mississippi, being bounded on the north by a line extending east from the mouth of the Crow Wing river to the western boundary line of Wisconsin. The lands above were occupied by the Ojibways. It therefore seemed very desirable to make room for the rushing emigration to procure the right of occu- pancy to the lands in possession of the Dahkotahs west 1 Give way, give way, young warrior, Thou and thy steed give way — Rest not, though lingers on the hills The red sun's parting ray. The rocky bluff and prairie land The white man claims them now, The symbols of his course are here, The rifle, axe, and plough. Not thine, the waters bright whose laugh Is ringing in thy ear; Not thine the otter and the lynx, The wolf and timid deer. The forest tree, the fairy ring, The sacred isle and mound Have passed into another's hands— Another claimant found. Give way, give way, young Warrior— Our title would you seek ? 'Tis " the rich against the poor, And the strong against the weak." We need thy noble rivers, Thy prairies green and wide, And thy dark and frowning forests That skirt the valley's side. The red man's course is onward — Nor stayed his footsteps be, Till by his nigged hunting ground Beats the relentless sea 1 We claim his noble heritage, And Minnesota's land Must pass with all its untold wealth To the white man's grasping hand. Give way, give way, young warrior, Thy father's bones may rest No longer here, where earth has clasped Them, closely to her breast — Here, were thy fiercest battles fought — Here, through the valleys rung The voices of the victors brave, As they their triumph sung. Here, too, with long and braided hair, Thy maidens in the dance Rivalled the wild deer's fleetest step, The wild deer's brightest glance. And here they gathered oft at eve From aged lips to hear How flowed the warrior's heart's best blood, How fell the maiden's tear. Give way — I know a thousand ties Most lovingly must cling, I know a gush of sorrow deep Such memories must bring. Thou and thy noble race from earth Must soon be passed away, As echoes die upon the hills, Or darkness follows day. Yet hear me still, young warrior, Thou and thy steed give way- Rest not, though lingers on the hills The red sun's parting ray. The rocky bluff and prairie land The white man claims them now, The symbols of his course are here— The rifle, axe, and plough. 518 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. of the Mississippi, and in the valley of the Minnesota. Governor Ramsey and Ex-Governor Chambers of Iowa were appointed Commissioners to treat with the Dahko- tahs. They repaired to Mendota during the session of the legislature; but in consequence of the absence of many Indians on their fall hunt, and other circum- stances, they did not wholly comply with their instruc- tions. They however made a treaty for the purchase of what is known as the half-breed tract of Lake Pepin. Previous to the session of the legislature, there had been no organization of any political party in the ter- ritory. On the evening of September twenty-fourth, a Democratic caucus was held at the house of H. M. Rice, at St. Paul, on St. Anthony near Market street, and it was determined to call a mass meeting of Democrats. On October twentieth, 1 the first party convention assem- bled in the ball-room of the American House. Henry Jackson was Chairman, pro tern., and as permanent officers were chosen James S. Norris, President ; John A. Ford, S. Trask, W. Dugas, H. N. Setzer, James Wells, John Rollins, and A. Morrison, Vice-Presidents ; B. W. Lott, A. Larpenteur, H. A. Lambert, and John Morgan, Secretaries. The Minnesota Pioneer was de- 1 " At a Democratic caucus held at in all parts of the territory, to as- the house of Henry M. Rice, on Mon- semble in mass meeting at St. Paul, day evening, September twenty- on Saturday, the twentieth day of fourth, 1849, the undersigned were October, to take measures to secure appointed a committee to call a Mass a permanent and thorough organiza- Meeting of the Democracy of the tion. Territory of Minnesota. W. D. Phillips, 3d Dist. " Believing that the safety and inte- John Rollins, 5th " grity of our party, and the perma- J. S. Norris, 1st " nent interests of our infant territory, S. Trask, 2d " demand that the party lines be hence- H. N. Setzer, 4th " forth drawn, we extend a cordial in- T. A. Holmes, 6th " n vitation to our Democratic brethren DEATH OF DAVID LAMBERT. 519 clared to be the organ of the party, and from that period there was manifest a different spirit in the conduct of public affairs. On Friday evening, David Lambert, Esq., who had been prominent in the meetings that led to the organization of the territory, under the influence of that mania, which hurries so many of our public men to the grave, jumped from a steamer, on which he was returning from Galena, and was drowned. 1 During the session of the legislature, considerable dis- cussion arose in relation to the right of the territory, to expend the twenty thousand dollars appropriated in the organic act for a capitol, at the temporary seat of govern- ment. Joseph R. Brown, desiring information, wrote to the secretary of the treasury, who decided that the money could only be appropriated at the permanent seat of government. 2 1 His friend, the editor of the 2 Treasury Department, Pioneer, in his paper of November Oct. 30, 1849. eighth says : Sir : — Your letter of the eleventh " Mr. Lambert was about thirty inst., is received, inquiring whether years of age, was prosperous in " the twenty thousand dollars appro- business, and acknowledged to be a priated for the erection of public man of superior abilities. He had buildings in Minnesota can be ex- suffered some wounds in his domestic pended previous to the location of relations, which made him misan- the permanent seat of government thropic, reckless, and miserable. We by a vote of the people ?" should characterize him as a man It is provided by the thirteenth of very remarkable conversational section of the act to establish the talent, and when he devoted himself territorial government of Minnesota, to literary pursuits he was considered approved third of March, 1849, that a very promising writer. Mr. L. the Governor and Legislative Assem- graduated at Washington (Trinity) bly shall, at such time as they shall College, Hartford, Ct. He published see proper, prescribe by law, the a newspaper at Little Rock, Ark., manner of locating the permanent and, afterwards published the Wis- seat of government of said territory consin Inquirer at Madison." by a vote of the people. " And the 620 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. On the fourth Monday of November, the elections for the officers of the new counties took place. 1 In the month of November, the first meeting in rela- tion to the establishment of public schools, was held in the small school-house that stood on St. Anthony street, near the First Presbyterian Church. Previous to this, the English schools, in the white settlements, had chiefly been taught by teachers who had been sent out by the National Society of Popular Education : Misses Bishop and Scofield having taught at St. Paul, Miss A. Hos- ford 2 at Stillwater, and Miss Backus at St. Anthony. sum of twenty thousand dollars out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, is hereby appropriated and granted to said Territory of Minnesota, to be applied by the Governor and Legislative Assembly to the erection of suitable public buildings at the seat of go- vernment." In view of the antecedent, and the object of this appropriation, the Department cannot doubt that the public buildings in question, can only be erected at the permanent seat of government, located as pre- scribed. Of course the reply to your inquiry must be, that nothing can be expended from this appropri- ation until after the location shall be duly made. Very respectfully, Your obedient servant, W. M. Meredith, Secretary of the Treasury. Joseph R. Brown, St. Paul, M. T. 1 The vote in Ramsey county was as follows : — St. Anthony. St. Paul. Total. Register, . Dav. . 39 172 211 tt . . Phillips, . . 30 69 99 Sheriff, . . . . Lull, . . . 17 172 189 (< Irvine, . . 33 . . 19 . 69 60 2 240 93 <« . Brisette, 21 Treasurer, Simpson, . 309 Commissioners, . . . Roberts, . . 57 202 259 <« . . Godfrey, . . . 19 123 142 << . . Gervais, . 31 167 198 «« . . . Banfill, . . 37 70 107 <« . . . Russell, , . 54 108 162 .Judge of Probate , . . Lambert, . . 34 149 183 «< . . Lott, . . . . 33 93 126 2 Mrs. H. L. Moss. ST. ANTHONY LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 521 In the month of December, the St. Anthony Library Association, which had been incorporated by the legis- lature, commenced a series of lectures. The intro- ductory was delivered by the Rev. Mr. Neill, and part of it was published, as a supplement, in the annals of the Historical Society for 1850. Among other lecturers, were the Rev. Mr. Gear, Chaplain of Fort Snelling, and Wm. R. Marshall, Esq. The association was the first institution of the kind, excepting the Historical Society, in Minnesota; and had a small library of valuable standard works. 522 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER XXIII. By the active exertions of the secretary of the terri- tory, C. K. Smith, Esq., the Historical Society of Min- nesota l was incorporated at the first session of the legis- 1 The Chronicle and Kegister of January fifth, 1850, has the following editorial : — " The first public exercises of the Minnesota Historical Society, took place at the Methodist Church, St. Paul, on the first inst., and passed off highly creditably to all concerned. The day was pleasant, and the at- tendance large. At the appointed hour, — the President and both Vice- Presidents of the society being ab- sent; on motion of Hon. C. K. Smith, Hon. Chief Justice Goodrich was called to the chair. The same gen- tleman then moved that a committee, consisting of Messrs. Parsons K. Johnson, John A. Wakefield, and B. W. Brunson, be appointed to wait upon the Orator of the day, Rev. Mr. Neill, and inform him that the audience was in waiting to hear his address. " Mr. Neill was shortly conducted to the pulpit ; and after an eloquent and appropriate prayer by the Bev. Mr. Parsons, and music by the band, he proceeded to deliver his discourse upon the early French Missionaries and voyageurs into Minnesota. It was a highly creditable production ; and we hope the society will provide for its publication at an early day. In truthfulness to history — candour and liberality of sentiment — and strength, and beauty of composition, it commended itself to all present. "After some brief remarks by Bev. Mr. Hobart, upon the objects and ends of history, the ceremonies were concluded with a prayer by that gentleman. The audience dis- persed highly delighted with all that occurred. " The occasion owed much of its interest to the presence of the far- famed ' Sixth Infantry Band/ now stationed at Fort Snelling. They ' discoursed most eloquent music' at appropriate intervals throughout the exercises. We have never heard a band anywhere that appeared more NEWSPAPER CARRIERS' ADDRESS. 523 lature. The opening annual address was delivered in the Methodist church at St. Paul, on the first of Janu- ary, 1850. At this early period the Minnesota Pioneer issued a Carrier's New Years Address, which was amusing dog- gerel. The reference to the future greatness and igno- ble origin of the capital of Minnesota is as follows : — The cities on this river must be three, The workshop of the nation it shall be. Two that are built and one that is to be. Propelled by this wide stream, you'll see One, is the mart of all the tropics yield ; A thousand factories at St. Anthony : The caDe, the orange, and the cotton-field ; And the St. Croix a hundred mills shall drive, And sends her ships abroad and boasts And all its smiling villages shall thrive ; Her trade extended to a thousand coasts ; But then my town — remember that high bench The other, central for the temperate zone, With cabins scattered over it, of French? Garners the stores that on the plains are grown ; A man named Henry Jackson 's living there, A place where steamboats from all quarters, Also a man — why every one knows L. Robair ; range, Below Fort Snelling, seven miles or so, To meet and speculate, as 'twere on 'change. And three above the village of Old Crow? The Viird ivid be, where rivers confluent flow Pig's Eye? Yes ; Pig's Eye! That's the spot! From the wide spreading north through plains A very funny name ; is't not ? of snow; Pig's Eye 's the spot, to plant my city on, The mart of all that boundless forests give To be remembered by, when I am gone. To make mankind more comfortably live, Pig's Eye, converted thoa shalt be, like Saul: The land of manufacturing industry, Thy name henceforth shall be St. Paul. On the evening of New Year's day, at Fort Snelling, there was an assemblage which is only seen on the out- posts of civilization. In one of the stone edifices belonging to the United States there resided an unas- suming gentleman of integrity who had dwelt in Min- nesota since the year 1819, and for many years had been in the employ of the government. In youth he had been a member of the Columbia Fur Company, and conforming to the habits of traders, had purchased a Dahkotah wife who was wholly ignorant of the English complete masters of their profession, be carried forward energetically, and t.ie celebrated Styermarkieh not its good results will be felt and excepted. appreciated by generations that will 11 The Society has made a most occupy our place centuries to come." auspicious commencement. Let it 524 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. language. As a family of children gathered around him he recognised the relation of husband and father, and conscientiously discharged his duties as a parent. His daughter at a proper age was sent to a boarding- school of some celebrity, and on the night referred to was married to an intelligent young American farmer. Among the guests present were the officers of the garri- son in full uniform, with their wives, the United States Agent for the Dahkotahs, and family, the bois brules of the neighbourhood, and the Indian relatives of the mother. The mother did not make her appearance, but, as the minister proceeded with the ceremony, the Dahkotah relatives, wrapped in their blankets, gathered in the hall and looked in through the door. The marriage feast was worthy of the occasion. In consequence of the numbers, the officers and those of European extraction partook first ; then the bois brules of Ojibway and Dahkotah descent; and, finally, the native Americans, who did ample justice to the plenti- ful supply spread before them. The union has been blessed, and the bride, now a mother, in the fear of God, is training up her little ones, who bid fair to be useful and industrious citizens. Until the close of the year 1849 the only roadway in winter to the settlements of Wisconsin and Iowa was the ice of the Mississippi. Late in December, after five weeks' work, a road was marked out from Prairie du Chien to Hudson, Wisconsin, and the hauling of supplies by land was commenced. The mail service l during the 1 Proposals for carrying mail in By Lake St. Croix, Nelson's Land- Minnesota, 1850 : — ing, La Cross, Wis., and Lansing;; From St. Paul at 6 a. m., once a To Prairie du Chien by 6 p. m. next week, Monday : Sunday, 270 miles ; FIRST TRIAL FOR MURDER. 525 year 1850 was very meagre. The first murder case was brought before Judge Cooper, at the February term of the court, at Stillwater. On the afternoon of the twelfth of September, a num- ber of boys were playing on the bluff in St. Paul, near the corner of St. Anthony and Franklin streets, oppo- site the stone block, now occupied by the carpet rooms of 0. King. One of the number, Isaiah McMillan, see- ing another, by the name of Heman Snow, approaching with a press-board before his face, said he would shoot him, and taking aim with a gun, he had in his hands, fired. The shot entered the right eye and left cheek of Snow, who was a lad about twelve years of age, and after a few hours he expired. The counsel for the prose- cution were Messrs. Bishop and Wilkinson, and for the defendent Messrs. Ames and Moss. From the testi- mony adduced, it was not clear that there was malice prepense, and the jury brought in a verdict of man- slaughter, with a recommendation that the court would inflict the least possible penalty under the law. The boy was sentenced to one year's imprisonment. As there was no prison in which to confine him, he was sent up to Fort Snelling, and subsisted at the expense of the soldiers, and by permission of the colonel, was And back between 6 a. m. Monday of departure and arrival, will be and 6 p. m. next Sunday. considered. Proposals for more frequent supply From St. Paul at 6 a. m., once a •will be considered. -week, Monday ; From St. Paul at 6 a. m., once a By Stillwater and Marine Mills ; week, Monday ; To Falls of St. Croix by 12 m. next To Fort Snelling by 8 a. m., 6 miles ; day, 49 miles ; And back between 10 a. m. and And back between 2 p. m. Tuesday 12 m. and 6 p. m. next day ; Proposals for more frequent supply, With one additional weekly trip stating the number of trips, times from St. Paul to Stillwater. 526 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. occasionally allowed to make himself useful by sawing wood. In the month of April, there was a renewal of hostili- ties between the Dahkotahs and Ojibways, on lands that had been ceded to the United States. A war prophet at Red Wing, dreamed that he ought to raise a war party. Announcing the fact, a number expressed their willingness to go on such an expedition. Several from the Kaposia village also joined the party, under the leadership of a worthless Indian, who had been confined in the guard-house at Fort Snelling, the year previous, for scalping his wife. Passing up the valley of the St. Croix, a few miles above Stillwater, the party discovered on the snow the marks of a keg and foot-prints. These told them that a man and woman of the Ojibways had been to some whiskey dealer's, and were returning. Following their trail, they found on Apple river, about twenty miles from Stillwater, a band of Ojibways encamped in one lodge. Waiting till daybreak of Wednesday, April second, the Dahkotahs commenced firing on the unsus- pecting inmates, some of whom were drinking from the contents of the whiskey keg. The camp was composed of fifteen, and all were murdered and scalped, with the exception of a lad, who was made a captive. On Thursday, the victors came to Stillwater, and danced the scalp dance around the captive boy, in the heat of excitement, striking him in the face with the scarcely cold and reeking scalps of his relatives. The child was then taken to Kaposia, and adopted by the chief. Governor Ramsey immediately took measures to send the boy to his friends. At a conference held at the governor's mansion, the boy was delivered up, and FRIGHT OF THE CAPTIVE BOY AT THE GOVERNOR'S. VZi on being led out to the kitchen, by a little son of the governor, since deceased, to receive refreshments, he cried bitterly, seemingly more alarmed at being left with the whites than he had been while a captive at Kaposia. From the first of April the waters of the Mississippi began to rise, and on the thirteenth, the lower floor of the warehouse, once occupied by William Constans, at the foot of Jackson street, St. Paul, was submerged. Taking advantage of the freshet, the steamboat Anthony Wayne, for a purse of two hundred dollars, ventured through the swift current above Fort Snelling, and reached the Falls of St. Anthony. The boat left the fort after dinner, with Governor Ramsey and other guests, also the band of the sixth regiment on board, and reached the falls between three and four o'clock in the afternoon. The whole town, men, women, and children, lined the shore as the boat approached, and welcomed this first arrival, with shouts and waving handkerchiefs. On the afternoon of May fifteenth, there might have been seen, hurrying through the streets of St. Paul, a number of naked and painted braves of the Kaposia band of Dahkotahs, ornamented with all the attire of war, and panting for the scalp of their enemies. A few hours before, the youthful and warlike head chief of the Ojibways, " Hole in the Day," having secreted his canoe in the retired gorge which leads to the cave in the upper suburbs, with two or three associates had crossed the river, and, almost in sight of the citizens of the town, had attacked a small party of Dahkotahs, and murdered and scalped one man. On the receipt of the news, Governor Ramsey granted a parole to the thirteen Dahkotahs confined in Fort Snelling, for participating 528 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. in the Apple river massacre. On the morning of the sixteenth of May, the first Protestant church edifice completed in the white settlements, a small frame building, built for the Presbyterian Church, at St. Paul, was destroyed by fire, it being the first conflagration that had occurred since the organization of the territory. One of the most interesting events of the year 1850, was the Indian council, at Fort Snelling. Governor Ramsey had sent runners to the different bands of the Ojibways and Dahkotahs, to meet him at the fort, for the purpose of endeavouring to adjust their difficulties. We give the account of the proceedings, as reported in the Minnesota Pioneer : — " Tuesday morning, June eleventh, was one of the sweetest days of the month. By nine o'clock in the morning, a large concourse of persons had assembled at Fort Snelling, from various quarters, and especially from St. Paul, to witness the council. Fort Snelling is at the extreme angle of a high table land, between the Mississippi and the St. Peter's — a beautiful elevated plain, covered with grass as far as the eye can extend. Near the bank of the Mississippi, and distant from the fort a few hundred yards, are the stables of the garri- son, and on the open space between the garrison and the stables were the encampments of the Chippewas, and there was the council ground. Captain Monroe was present with a small detachment of infantry, and a few troops were ready for service in the fort, as well as artillery. The Chippewas were lying about their tents, seeming quite contented, laughing, talking, playing together, and some gambling in various ways. There seemed nothing surly or stoical in their countenances. A message was at length sent by the governor to notify DAHKOTAHS ADVANCING TO THE COUNCIL. 529 the Sioux that they would be expected in half an hour, if at all. " At length they made their appearance a mile distant, upon a brow of the hill across the St. Peter's. The few infantry present, on the approach of the Sioux, were extended in an open line, nearly from the Fort to the stables, so as to form a separation between the Chippe- was in their rear and the advancing band of the Sioux, numbering perhaps three hundred, a large portion on horseback, armed and painted, who by this time were rushing up on the plateau, screaming and whooping horribly, themselves loaded with jingling arms and orna- ments, and their horses with bells on, the whole of them rushing on at full speed and making a feint as if they would pass around the stable, turn the right flank of the infantry, and attack the Chippewas ; but they were only showing off; having, in fact, all due respect for those ugly cast iron orators of Uncle Sam's. The line of Chippewas remained where it was at the time of the grand entree (for we can compare it to nothing it so much resembled as a grand entree into a stupendous circus), they continuing to dance and shout, and bran- dish their weapons as if aching for an onslaught. Among them, conspicuous as Achilles in the battle of Troy, stood the young Pillager chief, Sitting-in-a-row, standing six and a half feet in his moccasins, well pro- portioned, and weighing two hundred and twenty pounds, who takes his name, perhaps, from the fact that he is equal to a man or two beside himself. The Sioux soon fell back and formed a line ; they discharged their pieces in a scattering fire along the line. The Chippe- wa line returned their salute ; after which Uncle Sam replied by the mouth of one of his cast iron orators, 530 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. who were so persuasive in Mexico. The representation of a white flag then appearing between the two oppos- ing lines, the Chippewas first and next the Sioux, marched away and stacked their arms. Then return- ing, the two lines advanced until they reached the file of infantry which separated them, when the chiefs and braves met at the centre between the lines, and, advanc- ing, went through the ceremony of shaking hands. The governor then took his seat in a marquee, with Captain Todd, Captain Monroe, Mr. McLean, Mr. Preseott, Sioux Interpreter, Mr. Warren, Chippewa Interpreter, W. B. White, Esq., Secretary of the Council, and the Sioux chiefs occupying one side, while the Chippewas occupied the other side of the marquee ; besides which some small space was occupied by several ladies who were present, just in front of the Sioux. " His excellency, the governor, having given notice that the council was now open, then made substantially the following speech, through the interpreters, who both seemed very prompt and accurate in translating. Mr. Preseott speaking the harsh, guttural, clucking language of the Sioux, and Mr. Warren, an educated half-breed Chippewa, rolling off the euphonious sentences in the Chippewa tongue, with the utmost fluency : — "Chiefs, braves, and head men of the Chippewa nation, and chiefs, braves, and head men of the Sioux nation : You are here, under the flag of our Great Father, the president, to see if you can settle your diffi- culties and bury the hatchet. I hope this will be done, and that peace will be made, for the sake of your poor bleeding wives and children. Long ago, the white children of your Great Father, lived far off and only heard of the outrages you committed upon each other; GOV. RAMSEY'S SPEECH IN COUNCIL. 531 but now they live amongst you, and all around you. They see the reeking scalps of your victims. Things are now changed. The whites are upon the Mississippi, the Missouri, the St. Peter's, every where. They witness what you do. They will not suffer these atrocities ; if they did, the Great Spirit would not smile upon them. To many of you, this may seem harsh. If we only wanted your lands, we would give you firearms and let you kill each other. You know at what trouble and expense your Great Father has been to keep ardent spirits away from you, which would, if not thus pre- vented, soon destroy you, if we wanted only your lands. You well know the power of your Great Father ; that he has ten thousand villages, each larger than all the villages together of either of your tribes; and that his people not only live upon the land, but upon the ocean, sailing upon long voyages; that all you see here of the Great Father's villages, are few and small, but that it is not so elsewhere. Your white brethren are proud to be the children of so great a Father, and no doubt, you, his red children, are proud of it. Your Father is not only great, but good. He loves his red children as well as his white, or he would let them go to war. He regards both of your tribes with equal favour. Under his flag he has red, white, and black children, all whose differ- ent interests he protects. Numerous as you are, yet when compared to all the tribes under his protection, you are but as a single blade of grass to a whole prairie. [Here some interruption occurred by the Sioux outside, riding about on horseback. They were required to dis- mount.] I do not say these things by way of boast, but to let you know that your Great Father is able to enforce any treaty you may make. I am aware that 532 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. complaints are made on both sides, that the treaty has not been enforced ; but as I told you, his business ex- tends so far that he has to do it by agents and officers, who sometimes neglect to do their duty ; that the Great Father has now sent an agent, who thinks as I do, that it is right that your old troubles should be buried. A treaty between you, made in 1843, is now in full force, but it has been so long neglected, that we do not like to make it a rule of redress. Your Great Father prefers that you settle these troubles yourselves. If you say you are hereditary foes and cannot make a permanent peace, it is not true. The two nations next in power to this, France and Great Britain, were foes for many hundreds of years, but are now friends, peaceful and happy, without wars. You should leave off wars and learn that a bushel of potatoes is worth more to one who is hungry than a pile of eagle plumes. Long ago the white race had your notions about labour, but now they are changed. Your Great Father knows that when you strike, you often kill those who have treated you as friends ; that three-fourths of the scalps you take are those of women and children, who could not and would not hurt you. Amongst the whites, he who should kill a woman or a child would be considered less than a dog. Your Great Father is determined that you shall not scalp women and children. You have a treaty in force, but your Great Father prefers that you settle matters and make a new treaty. I should be glad to send him word that you had buried the hatchet. There are many bleeding hearts here, but you must forgive and forget. To assist in shaping a treaty, I recommend that each nation appoint a committee of three or five men to DAHKOTAHS RUDE.— HOLE-IN-THE-DAY'S GALLANTRY. 533 assist — submitting it afterwards to yourselves to decide upon. " Hole-in~the-day. — All men that live have minds of their own, and had better settle their own affairs. "After some explanation, the committee was agreed to. The following gentlemen were appointed : On the part of the Sioux, W. H. Forbes, 0. Faribault, and Captain Monroe, United States Army; on the part of the Chippewas, Mr. Warren, Mr. Beaulieu, and Captain Todd. Bad-Hail, a saucy-looking Sioux orator, then stepped up and asked that another commissioner, Mr. Alexander Faribault, might be appointed on their part. The governor replied, that he would submit their pro- position to the magnanimity of the Chippewas. At this time the Sioux arose, with a great deal of talk, and left the council en masse. Upon inquiry, it seems that their highnesses had taken offence at the presence of the ladies in council; and word came in that 'they thought they were to meet Chippewas in council, not women.' Hole-in-the-day adroitly turned the matter to his own advantage, saying very politely, that lie was happy to see so many sweet women there, and that they were all wel- come with their angelic smiles, to a seat on his side of the council. The ladies, however, chose to withdraw, the young Chippewa chief shaking each one cordially by the hand. The Sioux having returned, the governor rebuked them sharply for their act of disrespect to the council, saying, that if they withdrew again in that manner, he would enforce the treaty of 1843. Bad- Hail said they wanted time to consider, and that a treaty could not be made in a day. After this little interlude, the council proceeded, the Chippewas con- senting to the appointment of the fourth commissioner 534 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. on each side. Rev. Mr. Gear was appointed on the part of the Chippewas; for the Sioux, A. Faribault. The council then adjourned to meet at ten o'clock on "Wednesday morning." On Wednesday, after much talking, as is customary at Indian councils, the two tribes agreed as they had frequently done before, to be friendly, and Governor Ramsey presenting to each party an ox, the council was dissolved. On Thursday, the Ojibways visited St. Paul for the first time, Hole-in-the-Day being dressed in a coat of a captain of United States infantry, which had been presented to him at the fort. On Friday, they left in the steamer Governor Ramsey, which had been built at St. Anthony, and just commenced running between that point and Sauk Rapids, for their homes in the wil- derness of the Upper Mississippi. The summer of 1850 was the commencement of the navigation of the Minnesota river by steamboats. With the exception of a steamer that made a pleasure excur- sion as far as Shokpay, in 1842, no large vessels had ever disturbed the waters of this stream. In June, the "Anthony Wayne," which a month previous had ascended to the Falls of St. Anthony, made a trip. On the eighteenth of July she made a second trip, going almost to Mahkahto. The " Nominee" also navigated the stream for some distance. On the twenty-second of July the officers of the " Yankee," taking advantage of the high water, deter- mined to navigate the stream as far as the size of the boat would allow. The author was one of the numer- ous party of exploration, and he here inserts impressions in the form they were written at that time, when the FIRST STEAMBOAT ABOVE MAHKAHTO. 535 whole country west of the Mississippi was in possession of the barbarians. As there was some danger in navigating a stream, whose waters had never been disturbed for any distance by the paddles of the " fire canoe," we did not ascend on the first evening more than twenty-five miles above the fort, At early dawn on Tuesday, the steamer was again in motion, and curved around the numerous short bends of this zig-zag stream, with wonderful ease. The scenery, the farther we advanced, became more varied and beautiful. Here there was an extensive prairie, " stretching in graceful undulations far away ;" there a wide amphitheatre encircled by cone-shaped hills, and inviting the agriculturist to seek shelter for himself and his cattle ; owing to the high tide of water, we passed quite early in the morning some rapids without any difficulty. During the day we met with little to excite us. Now and then, we would pass an Indian in his canoe, who, frightened by the puffing and novel appear- ance of the boat, had crouched behind the overhanging boughs of the w r eeping willow. Upon the south bank of the river, eighty-five miles from Fort Snelling, within a few yards of some ledges of fawn-coloured limestone, there enters a little stream of clear and pure water, which Featherstonhaugh, who explored the country some years ago, named "Abert's Run." In the afternoon, we passed a bluff of sand and limestone, similar to those so frequent on the Upper Mississippi, which is called White Rock. About twelve miles beyond this, we came to Traverse des Sioux, where we did not stop, as we were anxious to ascend as far as possible by sun- set. The wood we had taken with us began to grow scarce, and a little distance above this point the boat 536 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. stopped y and the crew and many of the passengers began to chop wood. While engaged in this occupation, some two or three Dahkotah Indians, painted and plumed, and covered with perspiration, galloped up on their Indian ponies. To pacify them, and pay for the wood which it was necessary to take from their lands, the party presented them with some sacks of corn, and treated them to a glass of fire water, which was entirely unnecessary. At dusk the boat tied up, in front of a beautiful prairie, elevated some seventy feet above the river ; and there those whose tastes and principles permitted, danced until the heat and the mosquitoes forced them back to the boat. The view from this prairie was exceedingly interesting. It was bounded by a belt of woodland, and upon the opposite side, were slopes most beautifully rounded. Upon its surface, jutting from the green sward, were boulders of every size and shape, looking in the dark as if the cattle had come down from a thousand hills, and were in repose. As the writer sat upon the deck, he could but be interested in looking over the party and seeing how well they harmonized, born, as they had been, in va- rious parts of the continent, and educated under diverse influences. Among the party was one who had been an aid of General Harrison, and at a later day our am- bassador at the court of Russia ; another who had grad- uated at West Point and the Yale Law School, and who had been wounded while in command of a regiment at Monterey. Among the half-breeds was one who had been the guide and interpreter of Nicollet, while engaged in sci- entific explorations in the valley of the Minnesota; SUPPOSED BUFFALOES— MOSQUITOES. 537 also one by the name of Renville, the son of one of the most intelligent and benevolent half-natives who ever dwelt in the Dahkotah country. Before sunrise on Wednesday morning, the boat had left her moorings, and was proceeding onward. At breakfast time we had reached the highest point to which a steamboat had ever ascended, a feat that was accomplished the week previous by the "Anthony Wayne." About nine and-a-half, A. M., we passed the Blue Earth river. The latitude of this point is about forty- four degrees, being nearly one degree lower than the mouth of the Minnesota. Our course until now was south-westerly, but henceforward it is north-westerly. After passing the Blue Earth, the Minnesota is much narrower, and the bends so numerous that the boat did not go in one direction at any one time for more than five minutes. During the morning, the report was raised that some buffaloes were grazing in the distance, and, for a time, there was quite an excitement ; but the nearing of the boat, and the use of the spy-glass, dis- pelled our hopes, and exhibited in their stead huge boulders scattered among the prairie grass. At night, we arrived near the mouth of the Cotton Wood river, about two hundred miles from Fort Snelling. The day had been intensely hot, the thermometer having been at one hundred and four degrees in the shade ; and as soon as the sun had set a cloud of mosquitoes enveloped us. The cabins were smoked, and the mosquitoes beat with green boughs, but they could not be forced to re- treat. They looked upon us as intruders, and seemed determined to make us smart, and leave their impres- sion. 538 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. The ice, too, had failed, and the ladies of the party began to feel that there was more reality than poetry in an exploring expedition into an uncivilized country. A meeting was called to see if the captain should turn back, but the majority decided to go on. That night few of the male members of the party entered their state-rooms, but nearly all wrapped in mosquito-bar were stretched upon the hurricane deck, vainly endea- vouring to sleep. When Thursday's sun arose, the boat was not in motion. The crew were worn out by their extra labours, and even those of the passengers who had been anxious to navigate farther, had been brought to terms by the severe wounds that had been inflicted upon them by the mosquito. It is quite a coincidence that Major Long and his party, twenty-seven years before, suffered the same in- convenience, near the same place, by the same insect. Says his narrative : " We never were tormented at any period of our journey, more than when travelling in the vicinity of the St. Peter's. The mosquitoes rose all of a sudden. We have been frequently so much an- noyed by these insects, as to be obliged to relinquish an unfinished supper, or to throw away a cup of tea which we could not enjoy. To protect our feet and legs we were obliged to lie with our boots on." While at breakfast, to the satisfaction of all parties concerned, the prow of the boat turned once more to- wards the land of civilization and comfort. At dinner time we turned into the Blue Earth river. This is a rapid stream, with pebbly banks, and the principal tributary of the Minnesota. The scenery around it is picturesque, and it will always be viewed with interest because of a French fort or trading-post having been TRAVERSE DES SIOUX. 539 built here one hundred and fifty years ago. Upon the banks of the Blue Earth, the party gathered some tol- erable specimens of agate and carnelian, and a dark substance resembling cannel coal, but probably lignite. It was the discovery of this mineral, no doubt, that led some of the old travellers to mark on their maps a coal mine on the Minnesota, a few miles above Fort Snelling. Just at dark, the boat reached Traverse des Sioux. This is one of those spots which nature has marked out for a town of some importance. It derives its name from the fact, that for a long period it has been a cross- ing-place of the Sioux or Dahkotahs. The landing here is easy, the soil is fertile, woodland is convenient, and from a ridge of two hundred feet in elevation, there is a creek affording a great amount of water power, and easily accessible from the river. The spot is now occu- pied by an Indian village of a portion of the Dahko- tahs, a trading-house, and three neat and plain white buildings occupied for mission purposes by the mission- aries. There are many acres of land in cultivation, presenting quite an air of comfort and of civilization. As it had been some time since we had any ice, most of the passengers left the boat, and walked to the mis- sion premises, where they found a well of clear and cool water, and to which they did ample justice. Instead of returning to the boat, the writer passed the evening with the Rev. Mr. Hopkins, the missionary of the American Board in charge of this station. His wife, in the course of conversation, mentioned that the Indians could not conceive of the object that led the white men to navigate a stream which was not theirs ; and that the children had been in through the day, to tell her how terribly frightened they had been by the 540 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. steam-whistle ; and to inquire whether it was a human being or the boat that made such an unearthly noise. Leaving Traverse des Sioux early on Friday morning, we passed during the day some ancient mounds of the same kind as those scattered through Wisconsin and Illinois. Inasmuch as the Smithsonian Institution has volunteered to publish a description of the earth- works near Lake Pepin, and mounds in other parts of Minne- sota, it is to be hoped that some gentleman of leisure will sketch and prepare descriptions of them. In the middle of the afternoon, we stopped at Six Village, the largest village of the Dahkotahs. About three hundred warriors, squaws, and children were on the bank, eager to see the wonder. As the steam-whis- tle screeched it was amusing to see the boys and girls tumbling over each other in their haste to escape. The chief soon stepped on board and demanded a present, for the privilege of navigating the river. He also con- tended that a canoe had been broken ; but as he did not give the company ocular evidence of the fact, they did not pay him ; but presented him with some pieces of calico, provisions, and a box of Spanish green. Since 1847, the American Board has had a missionary resid- ing here, the Rev. S. W. Pond. The population around him, within four or five miles, is about six hundred ; and at a little distance is another band of two hundred and fifty. Sixteen miles below this is a fourth mission station. The missionary in charge is the Rev. G. Pond- He has resided with the Indians for many years, and is one of the best speakers of their language. Though there are four stations on the Minnesota river, and two on the Mississippi below St. Paul, the prospects of the Dahkotah mission are not bright. The OPPOSITION TO MISSIONARIES. 541 male portion of the nation, with but few exceptions, have an inveterate hatred of the Christian religion, and look upon the missionaries as intruders who drink their water and plough their soil, but give nothing in return. The few that would gladly listen to instruction are de- terred from the fear of ridicule and persecution. After a rapid run of nine miles from the village at which the Rev. Gideon Pond resides, we came once more in sight of the stars and stripes floating from the walls of Fort Snelling. At an early bed hour, on Friday night, the steamboat was moored at the landing of St. Paul. It had been demonstrated that steamboats of light draught could navigate the Minnesota, by the removal of a few obstructions, at all stages of water, to Traverse des Sioux, and even to the Blue Earth river. In a year or more the Dahkotahs will make a treaty and leave the land of their ancestors, and then, in an incredibly short period, the war whoop, the scalp dance, the skin lodge, and the canoe, of the red man, will give place to the lowing of cattle, the hum of children conning their lessons in the school-house, the neat village church, with its spire pointing heavenward, and a frugal and indus- trious American husbandry. The foreign missionary will soon give way to the home missionary, and what a field is the Territory of Minnesota for the latter to work in ! Like the people of the northern latitudes of Europe, the future population of Minnesota will be hardy and intelligent. They will crave a learned and zealous ministry. The towns now settled are like what Stock- bridge, Massachusetts, was a century ago, filled with Indians and white land speculators, and a few church members. We would have labour here in the home 542 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. field, just such missionaries as Jonathan Edwards and his wife, the beautiful and holy Sarah Pierpont, who was such a valuable helpmeet in spiritual as well as temporal things, Whitfield is said to have offered up a prayer that God would send him just such a daughter of Abraham to be his wife. Minnesota does not desire ministers that will leave the East, because they possess narcotic properties; she does not want men who will love New England or any other section so as to be un- fitted to construct society out of the " rude and jostling materials" which will here abound ; she does not want heralds of salvation to come here and sow wheat upon a quarter-section, but to sow the seed of God beside all waters ; she does not want firm partisans of any school or ism, but men who will advocate a broad and com- prehensive Christianity ; she does not want young men to come within her borders, because they think that to their friends they will appear more comely and bril- liant, upon the principle that " distance lends enchant- ment to the view;" but she desires, in view of the fact that Indian claims will be soon extinguished, scholars who have bathed themselves in the learning of the in- spired writings ; gentlemen like Paul who will be high- minded, willing to work with their own hands rather than cringe, glorying in being able to visit some rude cabin, to whisper consolation, and thinking themselves happy when they can gain the ear of an Agrippa, Felix, Drusilla, or Bernice. In fine, Minnesota desires for her future population a ministry who, in the true sense, can be " all things to all men." As the time for the general election in September approached, considerable excitement was manifested. As there were no political issues before the people, ELECTION FOR DELEGATE— MISS BREMER. 543 parties were formed based on personal preferences. Among those nominated for delegate to Congress, by various meetings, were H. H. Sibley, the former dele- gate to Congress, David Olmsted, at that time engaged in the Indian trade, and A. M. Mitchell, the United States' marshal. Mr. Olmsted withdrew his name be- fore election day, and the contest was between those interested in Sibley and Mitchell. The friends of each betrayed the greatest zeal, and neither pains nor money were spared to insure success. Mr. Sibley was elected by a small majority. 1 For the first time in the terri- tory, soldiers at the garrisons voted at this election, and there was considerable discussion as to the propriety of such a course. Miss Fredrika Bremer, the well known Swedish novelist, visited Minnesota in the month of October, and was the guest of Governor Eamsey. 2 1 The following are the returns of the late election for Delegate, as filed in the office of the Secretary : — Precincts. Sibley. Mitch St. Paul, . . . 151 153 St. Anthony, . . 64 110 Little Canada, . 44 8 Stillwater, . . . 117 59 Marine, . . . 17 4 Falls St. Croix, . 17 Snake River, . 10 Prairie, . . . 54 24 Sauk Rapids, . . 3 60 Swan River, . . 22 56 Crow Wing, . 8 48 Elk River, . . 16 8 Nokaseppi, 36 26 Lac qui Parle, 12 Mendota, . . . 78 3 649 559 2 St. Paul, as described by the novelist of Sweden, in 1850, and St. Paul in 1858, with its gas lamps and public edifices, are very differ- ent places : — " Scarcely had we touched the shore, when the governor of Minne- sota, and his pretty young wife, came on board and invited me to take up my quarters at their house. And there I am now; happy with these kind people, and with them I make excursions into the neighbour- hood. The town is one of the youngest infants of the Great West, scarcely eighteen months old : and yet it has in a short time increased to a population of two thousand persons, and in a very few years it will certainly be possessed of twen- ty-two thousand ; for its situation is 544 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. During November, the Dahkotah Tawaxitku Kin, or the Dahkotah Friend, a monthly paper, was commenced, one-half in the Dahkotah and one-half in the English language. Its editor was the Rev. Gideon H. Pond, and its place of publication at St. Paul. It was published for nearly two years, and, though it failed to attract the attention of the Indian mind, it conveyed to the English reader much correct information in relation to the habits, the belief, and superstitions, of the Dahkotahs. On the tenth of December, a new paper, owned and edited by Daniel A. Robertson, late United States' mar- shal, of Ohio, and called the Minnesota Democrat, made its appearance. as remarkable for its beauty and healthiness, as it is advantageous for trade. "As yet, however, the town is but in its infancy, and people ma- nage with such dwellings as they jan get. The drawing-room at Go- vernor Ramsey's house is also his v ffice, and Indians and workpeople, and ladies and gentlemen, are all alike admitted. In the mean time, Mr. Ramsey is building a handsome, spacious house upon a hill, a little out of the city [now in the middle of the west end of the city], with beautiful trees around it, and com- manding a grand view of the river. If I were to live on the Mississippi, I would live here. It is a hilly re- gion, and on all sides extend beauti- ful and varying landscapes. " The city is thronged with In- dians. The men, for the most part, go about grandly ornamented, with naked hatchets, the shafts of which serve them as pipes. They paint themselves so utterly without any taste, that it is incredible. Here comes an Indian who has painted a great red spot in the middle of his nose ; here another who has painted the whole of his forehead in lines of black and yellow ; there a third with coal black rings round his eyes. * * * * The women are less painted, with better taste than the men, generally with merely one deep red little spot in the mid- dle of the cheeks ; and the parting of the hair on the forehead is dyed purple. There goes an Indian with his proud step, bearing aloft his plumed head. He carries only his pipe, and when he is on a journey, perhaps a long stajff in his hand. After him, with bowed head and stooping shoulders, follows his wife, bending under the burden which she bears. Above the burden peeps forth a little round-faced child, with beautiful dark eyes." FIB£ I THANKSGIVING DAY. 546 During the summer there had been changes in the editorial supervision of the "Chronicle and Register. " For a brief period it was edited by L. A. Babcock, Esq., who was succeeded by W. G. Le Due. About the time of the issuing of the Democrat, C. J. Henniss, formerly reporter for the United States Gazette, Philadelphia, became the editor of the Chronicle. The first proclamation for a thanksgiving day was issued in 1850 by the governor, and the twenty-sixth of December was the time appointed, and it was generallv observed. 35 546 HISTORY OF MiHN£S • • 39 Maine. Samuel Burkleo, . . 2 . Stillwater, . . . . 46 Delaware. "William H. Forbes, . 3 . St. Paul, . 35 Montreal, C. James McC. Boal, . 3 . " . 39 Pennsylvania. David B. Loomis, . 4 . Marine Mills, , 33 Connecticut. John Rollins, . . 5 . Falls of St. Anthony, 42 Maine. David Olmsted, . . 6 . Long Prairie, . 28 Vermont. William Sturges, . 6 . Elk River, . . 32 Up. Canada. Martin McLeod, . . . 7 . Lac qui Parle, • • 36 Montreal, C. Representatives. James Wells, . . . . 1 . Lake Pepin, . 47 N. Jersey. John A. Ford, . . . 1 . Red Rock, . • • . 38 New York. M. E. Ames, . . . 2 . Stillwater, . > . . 30 Vermont. Sylvanus Trask, . . . 2 . «< . 30 New York. Jesse Taylor, . . . . 2 . « . . 45 Kentucky. Benjamin W. Brunsc n, 3 . St. Paul, . . . . 26 Michigan. J. C. Ramsey, . . . . 3 . <( . . 29 Pennsylvania. Edmund Rice, . . . 3 . «« . 30 Vermont. H. L. Tilden, . . . . 3 . Marine Mills, • • 32 32 Connecticut. John D. Ludden, . . . 4 . Massachusetts John W. North, . . . 5 . Falls of St. Ae thony, 35 New York. Edward Patch, . . . 5 . (< 27 et S. B. Olmstead, . . . 6 . Belle Prairie, . 36 «« W. W. Warren, . . . 6 . Gull Lake, . . 26 L. Superior. BITTER PARTY FEELING. 547 ing, since destroyed by fire, that stood on St. Anthony street, between Washington and Franklin. D. B. Loomis was chosen speaker of the Council, and M. E. Ames speaker of the House. 1 This assembly was cha- racterized by more bitterness of feeling than any that has since convened. The previous delegate election had been based on personal preferences, and cliques and fac- tions manifested themselves at an early period of the session. On the morning of January sixteenth, an editorial appeared in the Pioneer grossly attacking the character of one of the judges of the territory. Every word was barbed, and naturally irritated the brother of the judge, who was then absent at Washington. Meeting the editor near the building used as the capitol, a ren- contre took place in which Mr. Goodhue was severely stabbed in the abdomen, and the other party was shot. Among other exciting topics was the election of public printer. The candidates were the editors of the Pioneer, Democrat, and the Chronicle and Register; the Whig members coalescing with the friends of Mr. Sibley, the editor of the Pioneer was elected. The locating of the penitentiary at Stillwater, and the capitol building at St. Paul gave some dissatisfac- tion. By the efforts of J. W. North, Esq., a bill creat- ing the University of Minnesota at or near the Falls of St. Anthony was passed and signed by the governor. This institution, by the constitution afterwards adopted Representative?. No. of District. Residence. Age. Place of Nativity. D. T. Sloan, .... 6 . Little Rock, ... 36 Xew York. David Gilman, . . . 6 . Watab 39 Alex. Faribault, . . . 7 . Mendota, .... 46 Minnesota. B. H. Randall, . . . 7 . Fort Snelling, . . 27 Vermont 548 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. by the vote of the people, is now the state university, and has obtained the two townships of land granted for that purpose. The apportionment bill, based on the census of 1850, led to a bitter personal discussion, but was passed on Saturday, March twenty-ninth. The opponents of the biU in the House of Representatives, seven in number, on the same day resigned their seats. They contended that the census was incorrect ; that Benton county, with four thousand acres under cultivation, by the bill had but one half the representation that Pembina county had, where there were but seventy acres under cultiva- tion, and more than one-half of that belonging to one individual. They also urged the fact that, excepting soldiers, at least seven-eighths of the population were Indians, and that the legislature had no authority over the unceded lands. 1 1 Correspondence in relation to weight in the settlement of the points in dispute : — points referred to. I have the honour, "House of Representatives, therefore, to request that you will " Washington, Feb. 27, 1851. reply to the following queries, to "Hon. James Thompson, Chairman wit: — of the Judiciary Committee: "First: Does, or does not the or- "Dear Sir: — There are questions ganic act of Minnesota, grant to the mooted among the people of Minne- Legislative Assembly full jurisdic- sota, as to the extent of the authority tion over all the country embraced conferred by the Organic Act, upon within the limits of the territory, the Legislative Assembly of the ter- restricted solely by provisions of ritory, and other matters connected Indian treaties conflicting with it, with the exercise of that jurisdic- should such exist? tion on the Indian country, which "Second: Does, or does not the comprises all the region west of the organic act secure to all the peo- Mississippi. The distinguished po- pie, living as well on the unceded as sition you occupy as the head of the the ceded lands, the right of repre- Judiciary Committee, and your ac- sentation in the Assembly, and of knowledged eminence as a lawyer, voting at all elections, subject only will invest your opinion with great to the restriction} of the laws to SUFFERING AND SICKNESS OF OJIBWAYS. 549 The Ojibways of Ked, Cass, Leech, and Sandy Lakes suffered much during the winter of 1850-51. About the first of October, 1850, the Indians collected at the new agency at Sandy Lake, to receive their annuities. regulate the qualifications of voters, and are not elections held on the unceded lands made equally valid and legal by the provisions of the organic law, with those held on the ceded country ? " An early reply to the questions will be gratefully acknowledged by, " Yours, very respectfully, "H. H. Sibley." " Washington, Feb. 28, 1851. "Hon. H. H. Sibley, Delegate from the Territory of Minnesota : "Dear Sir: — I have examined, though briefly, the law organizing the Territory of Minnesota, in rela- tion to the questions you propound in your note of yesterday. I was surprised that any question of the kind could arise in the mind of any one. I had been one of the com- mittee that framed the law in ques- tion, and I presume that no one of that committee ever doubted that the legislative power of the terri- tory extended to the entire limits of the territory, restricted only to ' rightful subjects of legislation, con- sistent with the Constitution of the United States, and the provisions of this act/ and subject to the approval of Congress. Nothing of course could be done by the legislature of the territory in regard to the Indian tribes, as this subject belongs ex- clusively to Congress, but that the territory, in all its parts, was devoted to the same legislative control, is proved by the provision that every free white citizen of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been a resident of the territory at the time of the passage of the act, shall be entitled to vote at the first election. All could vote; the conse- quence of which is apparent — that all, in contemplation of law, were to be represented. Subsequent legis- latures could regulate the qualifica- tions of voters, but in the territory, and in any part of it, the right of voting would remain, and of course the right of representation. "This short view of the subject answers the points made in your note. The organic law of the terri- tory regarded the entire territory in precisely the same light — all parts of it entitled to representation — all male citizens of twenty-one years of age, being free, no matter where situated or living, being entitled to vote. The legislation over the whole territory is a complete right in the territorial legislature, subject only to the restrictions implied in the ex- clusive right of Congress to regulate the intercourse between the Indian tribes. Excuse the imperfections of this note, written in the midst of a boisterous debate. "With great respect, " I am truly yours, "James Thompson." 550 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. supposing that they would be immediately paid. To their disappointment they were kept waiting for seven or eight weeks, and while there measles and dysentery carried off hundreds. Some of the provisions received at the payment appear in some way to have been damaged, and this increased the mortality. The wife of a missionary, writing from Red Lake, on the first of February, says : — " Many of the Indians who attended the payment last fall at Sandy Lake, will remember the place for a long time as the burying-place of their friends. The Indians gathered there to receive their annuities about the first of October, expecting payment to take place in a few days ; but they were put off from time to time for two long months, and then were obliged to leave, hav- ing received but a part of their dues. During their stay there, the dysentery and measles prevailed, and carried off great numbers of them ; many others were attacked, and in this state were obliged to start for their respec- tive homes. Provisions were so scarce that they could not procure food for their journey home, and many of them died on the way. It is reported that more than five hundred have died since the sickness commenced. " To give you an idea of their suffering, I will furnish you with an account of one family, near neighbours of ours. " This family consisting of a man and his wife, two children, and his wife's brother, started from Sandy Lake in health, with food enough for their journey, if they had not been detained on their way. About half- way from Sandy Lake to Leech Lake, the wife's brother was taken sick, and detained them several days, when he died; they buried him and came on. Three days' MORTALITY AMONG OJIBWAYS. 551 march from Leech Lake, the two children were taken sick, the oldest a boy of twelve years old (who, by the way. was the best boy we have known in the country, a member of our school, one we had hoped to educate), the other a girl two years old. At this time their food was all gone. The father was obliged to carry his sick son, and the mother the daughter, until the last night before they reached Leech Lake, when the boy died. The next morning they set off again, the father carry- ing the corpse of his son, and the mother a sick child. About noon the girl died, but they came on until they reached Leech Lake, bringing the dead bodies of their children on their backs. "Another man started from Sandy Lake for Cass Lake with his sister, in company with another family. He was taken sick soon after he left Sandy Lake, but travelled on until about half-way to Leech Lake, and died. The next morning the family went on. The sister remained by the body alone, one night and two days, when some Indians came along and buried it. "There are more Indians about us this winter than there have been any winter before, since I have been m the country. Many have come here from Leech Lake, Cass Lake, and Lake Winnepec, to live by begging, having nothing to eat at home. Probably not less than forty families are wintering here from other bands. Many of them were intending to go to the plains, but so many are sick, and the snow so deep, that they dare not start out. This band last fall, had provision enough to make them comfortable for the year, but having so many beggars to live upon them, they will all be out by sugar-making." Hole-in-the-day. the Ojibway chief, addressed the 552 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. legislaturu in relation to the wants of his people. The .speech at the First Presbyterian Church, attracted a great crowd. He in true Indian style narrated the suf- fering of his people, and begged in the inimitable manner of his race; and a committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions for their relief. During the winter, hunger is said to have driven some to cannibalism. 1 1 Extract from Minnesota Demo- crat, July 29, 1851 :— " Last winter an old man and wo- man of the Pillager Band of Chip- pewa Indians, with two married daughters, went from Leech Lake to Lake Itasca, to spend the winter. The husbands of the daughters were not with them — one had four and the other five children, varying in age from one to eighteen years. " They were reduced to a starving condition, and the mothers com- menced killing and eating their children ! They fed voraciously upon the flesh of their children, and be- came passionately fond of it. All of the children were despatched and eaten, but one, a boy about eighteen years of age. " In the latter part of winter his mother called him to her, and re- quested him to put his head in her lap, under pretence of desiring to look for vermin, as is the custom among the Indians. The boy com- plied. The mother had some molten lead at hand, which she poured into his ear, and killed him. His cries of agony alarmed the old people. The old man told his wife to go and see what was the matter. She went and looked into tre door of the lodge, and there saw the woman with the body of the boy on the fire, singeing his hair off. She said to her, ' Come in, and get some — it is good ;' and narrated to her mother how she had killed the boy. " The old woman returned, and informed the old man what had taken place. He went to the lodge with his gun, and shot her. He did not kill her immediately, but despatched her with an axe. Before this hap- pened, there were two men with their wives encamped in the same vicinity. One of the men was led to mistrust that they were eating the children, from the fact of their being missed, and also from the signs of plenty indicated by the personal ap- pearance of the women. He told the other what he suspected, and expressed a desire to go to some other place, and asked him to raise camp, and leave with him. " He agreed to leave, and request- ed the other to go and encamp at a spot named, saying that he would join him next day. He waited at the place appointed several daye, and ultimately moved on without him. The man and wife, who re- mained, have never been heard from. " A blanket, recognised as belong- DEBATE ON SCHOOL LANDS. 553 A spirited debate occurred on February sixth, 1851, in the House of Representatives of the United States, previous to the passage of the bill granting two town- ships of land for the use and support of a University hi Oregon and Minnesota, and authorizing the legislatures of those territories to make necessary laws to protect the school sections. The bill before the House also granted to Oregon and Minnesota the privilege of leasing their school lands for four years before they were sold. Mr. Bowlin, of Missouri, chairman of the committee on public lands, moved that all relating to the leasing of the lands should be stricken out. Mr. Sibley, in reply, contended that the provision in the bill was almost an exact transcript of acts that had been passed in relation to Michigan and Wisconsin. The second section of the bill provided, that when a bond fide settlement was made on any school sections previous to survey, that the settler should have the right to enter the land. Mr. Wentworth, of Illinois, was opposed to touching the school lands. He remarked : — "When a man squats upon the school lands, there is a higher law that takes him off. So far as I am con- cerned, whenever a territorial bill comes up here con- taining a provision in relation to school lands similar to that contained in this, I shall feel compelled to oppose it. I would leave the matter to the townships. If ing to them, was found near the winter, and finding out what had place. It is supposed that they met been done with his children, killed the same fate as the children. his wife with his knife and toma- " The husband of the surviving hawk. The old people, and the man woman returned to his lodge, at who killed his wife, returned to Itasca Lake, in the latter part of Leech Lake, where they now are." 554 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. when the townships are organized they choose to let men squat on their school lands, it is their business, not the business of Congress. I remember well, that in order to encourage education in the Territory of Min- nespta, we gave them another section, twice as much as other states have received; and now they come here and ask us to give settlers the privilege of squatting on those lands. I should have been willing to have given them twice as much land as they have received for school purposes; but I would not have voted to give them any, if I had thought squatters should settle on the lands before they were surveyed." Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, moved to strike out the word "Minnesota" from the section. He said: — " I make this motion, for the purpose of destroying the section. I understand the law to be, that any man who squats upon the public land, in any of the new states or territories, before it is surveyed, is entitled to no pre-emption right. He is a wrongdoer, a trespasser. But if he settles down after the land is surveyed, he gets his pre-emption right. This section proposes to give to this wrongdoer a right to take possession of the lands devoted to sacred charity, if I may call it charity, for school purposes. * * * * I believe there is no law which gives a right of pre-emption to settlers upon unsurveyed lands. I may be wrong in this." Mr. Fitch — "You are decidedly wrong." Mr. Stevens — "I am informed by a gentleman be- hind me, who, I believe, is right, that there is no law which gives a right to unsurveyed land but the ' higher law,' which the gentleman from Minnesota speaks of, the law of the bowie-knife. Now, I think that we ought not to recognise that kind of higher law at any MR. SIBLEY ON THE HIGHER LAW. 555 rate. If we are to recognise a higher law above, we are not at any rate to recognise a higher law below. I cannot go for that. I hope the whole bill will be killed." Mr. Sibley, in reply, said : — " That the ' higher law' to which he had referred was not any law of violence, nor that of the bowie knife, as stated by the gentleman from Pennsylvania, nor a law from below, but the law of public opinion, of public sentiment ; a higher law which he believed existed else- where in this country as well as in Minnesota." Mr. Stevens's motion prevailed. Mr. Bowlin of Mis- souri moved to strike out all in the bill relative to the leasing of the lands, which was agreed to, and the bill passed in a modified form. In the winter of 1851, the publication of the " Chroni- cle and Register " ceased. About the middle of May a war party of Dahkotahs discovered near Swan river an Ojibway with a keg of whiskey. The latter escaped with the loss of his keg. The war party, drinking the contents, became intoxi- cated, and, firing upon some teamsters they met driving their wagons with goods to the Indian Agency, killed one of them, Andrew Swartz, a resident of St. Paul. The news was conveyed to Fort Ripley, and a party of soldiers, with Hole-in-the-Day as a guide, started in pursuit of the murderers, but did not succeed in captur- ing them. Through the influence of Little Six, the Dah- kotah chief, whose village was at, and named after him, Shokpay, five of the offenders were arrested and placed in the guard-house at Fort Snelling. On Monday, June ninth, they left the fort in a wagon guarded by twenty- five dragoons, destined for Sauk Rapids for trial. As they departed they all sung their death song, and the 556 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. coarse soldiers amused themselves by making signs that they were going to be hung. On the first evening of the journey the five culprits encamped with the twenty- five dragoons. Handcuffed, they were placed in the tent, and yet at midnight they all escaped, only one being wounded by the guard. What was more remark- able, the wounded man was the first to bring the news to St. Paul. Proceeding to Kaposia, his wound was examined by Dr. Williamson, and then fearing an arrest, he took a canoe and paddled up the Minnesota. The excuse offered by the dragoons was, that all the guard but one fell asleep. Had they lived in ancient Rome they would all have slept the sleep of death for their negligence. The first paper published in Minnesota, beyond the capital, was the St. Anthony Express, which made its appearance during the last week of May. The most important event of the year 1851 was the treaty with the Dahkotahs, by which the west side of the Mississippi and the valley of the Minnesota river were opened to the enterprise of the hardy emigrant. The commissioners on the part of the United States were Luke Lea, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and Governor Ramsey. The place of meeting for the upper bands was Traverse des Sioux. The commis- sion arrived there on the last of June, but were obliged to wait many days for the assembling of the various bands of Dahkotahs. Steps had been taken for the observance of the fourth of July, by those associated with the commissioners, but that day proved to be one of sadness. Mr. Goodhue, who was on the spot, writes to the " Pioneer," of which he was the editor : — REV. MR. HOPKINS' DEATH BY DROWNING. 557 " Instead of the joyous festivities we had this day anticipated, the sudden death, by drowning, this morn- ing, before breakfast, of the Rev. Mr. Hopkins, resident missionary here, has thrown over our whole encampment a shadow of gloom. A multitude of men and women of both races ran to the spot to search the water for his body. His clothes were found upon the bank of the river, or, rather, the bank of a slough, near the bed of a pretty strong current of water. A little Indian girl says she saw him wading breast deep toward shore, and that looking again, after filling her pail with water, she saw only his hands above water. As he could not swim, he was, doubtless, drowned by wading into a deep hole. Search has been made all day with nets and hooks, and by Indians diving, but, as yet, in vain. Mr. Hopkins was a good man, and left a most amiable wife, and four children." Under date of July seventh, he writes : — " Suddenly, news arrives in camp that the body of the lamented Mr. Hopkins is caught in a drag-net; and, instantly, the most of our company, and hundreds of Indians, are running from all directions to the spot. The body being washed was removed to the mission- house, amid much silent grief, while a very aged squaw indulged in piteous lamentations, which affected every listener, saying, 6 He was my son ; he was very kind to me ; he provided for me when I was hungry and needy.' This afternoon we are engaged in the mournful duty of burying this good man, who, buried in the seclusion of savage life, spent the flower of his days in a work as disinterested as that which made Howard immortal." For several days there had been violent rains and thunderstorms, and the Dahkotahs supposed that the Great Thunder Bird had dashed his wing upon the head 558 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. of the Blue Earth river, and broken up fountains which had caused the rise in the waters. One day there was a propitiatory dance to Wahkeenyan, the God of Thunder. On the afternoon of July twelfth the dance was com- menced. The spot selected was nearly a half mile from the river bank. The commissioners and their party, and perhaps one thousand Dahkotahs, were present. The dance was performed within a circular enclosure made of the limbs of the aspen stuck in the ground, interwoven with four arched gateways, forming an area like a large circus. A pole was planted in the middle of the area, with an image cut out of bark, designed to represent the Thunder Bird, suspended by a string at the top. At each of the arched gateways stood another pole and image of the same description, but smaller than the one in the centre. Near the foot of the cen- tral pole was a little arbour of aspen bushes, in which sat an ugly-looking Indian with his face blackened, and a wig of green grass over his head, who acted as sorcerer, and uttered incantations with fervent unction, and beat the drum, and played on the Indian flute, and sung by turns, to regulate the various evolutions of the dance. Before this arbour, at the foot of the central pole, were various mystical emblems ; the image of a running buf- falo cut out of bark, with his legs stuck in the ground, also a pipe and a red stone shaped something like a head, with some coloured down. At a given signal by the conjurer, the young men sprang in through the gate- ways, and commenced a circular dance in procession around the conjurer, who continued to sing and beat his drum. After fifteen or twenty minutes, the dancers ran out of the ring, returning after a short respite. The THUNDER BIRD CEREMONIES. 559 third time a few horsemen, in very gay fantastic costume, accompanied the procession of dancers who were within, by riding outside of the enclosure. The last time a multitude of boys and girls joined the band of dancers in the area, and many more horsemen joined the caval- cade that rode around the area, some dressed in blue embroidered blankets, others in white. Suddenly seve- ral rifles were discharged at the poles upon which th( Thunder Birds were suspended, knocking them down, and the sacred dance ended. On the eighteenth of July, all those expected having arrived, the Sissetoans and Wahpaytoan Dahkotahs as- sembled in grand council with the United States com- missioners. After the usual feastings and speeches, a treaty was concluded on Wednesday, July twenty-third. The pipe having been smoked by the commissioners, Lea and Kamsey, it was passed to the chiefs. The 1 The treaty is in substance as ten miles on each side to Lac Tra- follows : — verse. Perpetual peace. The Indians are to receive The cession of all the Sioux lands $1,665,000, as follows : east of Sioux river and Lac Traverse. To be paid after their removal to The line then runs up the head the reservation, $275,000, and waters of Otter Tail Lake, thence To be expended in breaking land, down from the headofWatab river erecting mills, and establishing to the Mississippi. manual labour schools, $30,000, The cession embraces the entire amounting to $305,000. valley of the Minnesota, and the The balance of $1,360,000 to be in- eastern tributaries of the Sioux vested at five per cent, for fifty years, river, and is estimated to contain which will give an annual income 21,000,000 acres. of $68,000, to be paid as follows : The Indians reserve a tract on In cash, annually $40,000 the Minnesota, about one hundred Goods and provisions, 10,000 miles in length, and twenty in Civilization fund, 12,000 breadth. This reserve commences Education, 6,000 at the mouth of Yellow Medicine river, and extends up the Minnesota 68,000 560 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. paper containing the treaty * was then read in English, and translated into the Dahkotah by the Rev. S. R. Riggs. This finished, the chiefs came up to the secre- tary's table and touched the pen ; the white men pre- sent then witnessed the document, and nothing remained but the ratification of the United States Senate to open that vast country for the residence of the hardy emi- grant. During the first week in August, a treaty was also concluded beneath an oak bower, on Pilot Knob, Men- dota, with the M'dewakantonwan and Wahpaykootay bands of Dahkotahs. About sixty of the chiefs and principal men touched the pen, and Little Crow, who had been in the mission-school at Lac qui Parle, signed his own name. Before they separated, Colonel Lea and Governor Ramsey gave them a few words of advice on various subjects connected with their future well-being, but particularly on the subject of education and tempe- rance. The treaty was interpreted to them by the Rev. G. H. Pond, a gentleman universally conceded to be the most correct speaker of the Dahkotah tongue of any who are not natives. The day after the treaty these lower bands received thirty thousand dollars, which, by the treaty of 1837, was set apart for education ; but, by the misrepresenta- tions of interested half-breeds, the Indians were made to believe that it ought to be given to them to be em- ployed as they pleased. The next week, with their sacks filled with money, After fifty years all payments to relates to the introduction and sale cease, and the principal of $1,360,000 of ardent spirits, shall be continued to revert to the government. in full force, until changed by legal The intercourse laws, so far as authority. INDIANS AT THE HORSE MARKET. 561 they thronged the streets of St. Paul, purchasing what- ever pleased their fancy. Many desired horses. Now an Indian always purchases a horse on a different prin- ciple from a white man. If he desires a white horse, all other considerations are secondary. He may be awkward in gait, or slow in motion ; these are all out- weighed by the colour that he desires. Another one will want a long-tailed horse, and, if such an animal can be found, but few questions are asked in relation to his age or freedom from trick. The week subsequent to the treaty there was a general clearing out of worn-out nags from the livery stables of the capital ; and, when the cavalcade started for the Indian country, in John Gilpin style, it was a scene to excite the laughter of a stoic. Many departed empty-handed, and, if they had not given a kingdom, had given their all for a horse that would die, under Indian treatment and grooming, in a few months. 1 1 By the treaty signed at Mendota, expenses of their removal, and settle August fifth, the above-named bands their affairs generally, ceded to the United States all their In opening farms, erecting mills, lands in Minnesota and Iowa. smith-shops, and school-houses, is to A reserve is granted them on the be expended thirty thousand dollars. Minnesota river, commencing at In annuities to be continued fifty Little Rock, which is about fifty years : miles by land from Traverse des In agricultural fund . $12,000 Sioux, and extending up the river In goods and provisions 10,000 ten miles wide on each side to Yel- In education .... 6,000 low Medicine and Chatanba rivers, In cash 30,000 to which they are to remove within By the two treaties concluded be- one year after the ratification of the tween the United States and four treaty. divisions of the Dahkotah tribe, On the ratification of the treaty, about thirty millions of acres of the chiefs were paid the sum of two land have been added to the posses- nundred and twenty thousand dol- sions of the United States, and most lars, to be used by them in the pur- of it is in Minnesota. Much of it is chase of provisions, to defray the of an excellent quality, well tim- 36 562 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. A few days before the treaties, one of the Dahkotah missionaries at Shokpay's village, now a flourishing town, the county seat of Scott county, writes : — " Our situation is in many respects unpleasant. We have no persons residing with us, and no white neigh- bours within sixteen miles. This is much the largest band of the Dahkotah s, on the Minnesota or Mississippi, and they all dwell within a hundred rods of our door, some of them much nearer. We have great reason to be thankful for the degree of peace and security we enjoy whilst living in the midst of so many savages ; but we are continually annoyed in a thousand ways. They are almost universally thieves and beggars ; and, though we endeavour to have as little property exposed as possible, we are obliged to be continually on the watch. My wife has been only a mile from home in three years, and, when the Indians are here, I seldom go out of sight of the house, unless I am obliged to do so. Few days pass in which they do not commit some depredation. I do not mention these things by way of complaint. We are annoyed much less than we might reasonably expect in such circumstances ; and we should feel contented and cheerful in our situation, if the In- dians would only listen to the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." On the seventeenth of September, a new paper was commenced in St. Paul, under the auspices of the "Whigs," and John P. Owens became editor, which relation he sustained until the fall of 1857. The election for members of the legislature and be'red and well watered. It is an the rocks and hills. Here is room inviting country to cramped-up New enough, a rich soil, and healthy England farmers, who dig among climate. FIRST DEMOCRATIC TICKET. 563 county officers occurred on the fourteenth of October*, and, for the first time, a regular Democratic ticket was placed before the people. The parties called themselves Democratic and Anti-organization, or Coalition. In the month of November Jerome Fuller arrived, and took the place of Judge Goodrich as Chief Justice of Minnesota; and, about the same time, Alexander Wilkin was appointed secretary of the territory in place of C. K. Smith. The eighteenth of December, pursuant to proclama- tion, was observed as a day of thanksgiving. 1 X A Proclamation, by Alexander Ram- sey, Governor of the Territory of Minnesota. " The Harvest is past, the Sum- mer is ended ;" the corn and the wheat that stood thick upon our fruitful soil, have been " gathered into the garner." Once more, "cold out of the North" has come ; " frost is given, and the breadth of the wa- ters is straitened." Before the year closes, it seems a becoming act for the people of Minnesota, by public assembly and solemn observance, to unite in giving thanks to Him " who crowneth the year with goodness," and whose blessings " are more in number than the sand." In accordance, therefore, with a time-honoured, and now general cus- tom of the states of the Republic, I respectfully recommend to the peo- ple of this territory the observ- ance, in the way that to them is most appropriate, of Thursday, the eighteenth day of December, as a day of Praise and Thanksgiving. Given under my hand, and the r -I great seal of the Territory, L ' J at St. Paul, this third day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one. Alex. Ramsey. By the Governor: Alexander Wilkin, Secretary, 564 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER XXV. The third Legislative Assembly commenced its ses- sions in one of the edifices on Third below Jackson street, which now forms a portion of the Merchants' Hotel, on the seventh of January, 1852. 1 * Councillors. No. of District. Residence. Occupation. Elam Greeley, . . . . 1 . Near Stillwater. I). B. Loomis, . . . 1 Marine, .... Lumber Merchant G. W. Farrington, . . 2 . St. Paul Merchant. William H. Forbes, . 2 (< Indian Trader. W. L. Lamed, . . 3 , St. Anthony. L. A. Babcock, . . . 4 St. Paul, .... Lawyer. S. B. Lowry, . . . . 5 Watab, Indian Trader. Martin McLeod, . . . 6 Oak Grove, . . . Indian Trader. N. W. Kittson, . . . 7 Pembina, .... Indian Trader. Representatives. Mahlon Leavitt, . . 1 . Stillwater, .... Lumber Dealer. Mahlon Black, . , . 1 «< Lumber Dealer. Jesse Taylor, . . . . 1 " John D. Ludden, . . 1 Marine, .... Lumber Dealer. Charles S. Cave, . . 2 St. Paul, .... Saloon Keeper. W. P. Murray, . . 2 a Lawyer. S. D. Findlay, . . . 2 Near Fort Snelling, Indian Trader. J. W. Selby, . . . 2 St. Paul, .... Farmer. J. E. Fullerton, . . 2 <« Merchant. S. W. Farnham, . . 3 St. Anthony, . . . Lumberman. J. H. Murphy, . . . 3 a Physician. F. S. Richards, . . . 4 . Lake Pepin, . . . Trader. ST. PETER'S DISCONTINUED IN PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 565 This session, compared with the previous, formed a contrast as great as that between a boisterous day in March and a calm June morning. The minds of the population were more deeply interested in the ratifica- tion of the treaties made with the Dahkotahs, than in political discussions. Among other legislation of interest was the creation of Hennepin county, the passage of an act punishing trespassers on school lands, and the post- ponement of the election of delegate to Congress until October, 1853. An important liquor law was also passed, subject to a vote of the people, similar in its provisions to what is known as the Maine Liquor Law. The election was ordered to be held on the first Monday of April, and if the majority of citizens were in favour, it was to be in force after the first of May. Among the memorials to the Congress of the United States, was one relative to the name of the Minnesota river. Ever since the acquisition of this country by the United States, it had been called the St. Pierre by the French voyageurs, and Anglicized by the Americans into St. Peter's. The memorial states that the stream was named after Mons. St. Pierre, who was never in this country, which is incorrect. It then asserts " that Minnesota is the true name of this stream, as given to it in ages past, by the strong and powerful tribes of Representatives. No. of District. Residence. Occupation. James Beatty, . . 5 . Itasca, . . . . . Farmer. David Day, . . . . . 5 . Long Prairie, . . Physician James McBoal, . . . 6 . Mendota, . . . . Painter. B. H. Randall, . . . 6 . Fort Snelling, . Clerk. Juseph Rolette, . . . 7 . Pembina, . . . . Clerk. Antoine Gingras, . . . 7 . . . Hunter. 566 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. aborigines, the Dahkotahs, who dwelt upon its banks, and, that not only to assimilate the name of the river with that of the territory and future state of Minnesota, but to follow what we conceive to be the dictates of a correct taste, and to show a proper regard for the memory of the great nation whose homes and country our people are soon to possess, we desire that it should be so designated." The memorial was considered by the Senate, and a law passed ordering the word St. Peter's to be discontinued in public documents, and Minnesota employed in its place. The first report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction was presented at this session. As a portion of it may be interesting to the future educators of the state, we insert extracts. " Owing to the rapid increase of population in dis- tricts Nos. 2 and 3, in the county of Ramsey, the pre- sent school accommodations have proved wholly inade- quate. About the close of the past year, it became necessary for the trustees of each district to rent a room and employ a female assistant teacher to instruct the less advanced pupils. " Before another year elapses, it may be found that the present school-houses in Stillwater, St. Anthony, and St. Paul, are too contracted ; but it is hoped that there will be no unnecessary multiplication of school districts in these towns. The money necessary to build two small school-houses in different parts of a town, can be much more advantageously employed in erecting a single edifice upon some central and commanding site, containing several rooms. "In this way, a town not only secures a building REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF INSTRUCTION. 567 that is attractive to the sight, but, by employing a male principal, with a female assistant or assistants, consi- derably reduces the expenses of education. " As there are already towns that have more than one district, your attention is called to the propriety of introducing a section in the school law, allowing pri- mary school districts in the same town, the privilege of establishing a grammar school for the older and more advanced children of their several districts. •• And in this connexion it may be well to suggest the repeal of all laws granting to school districts the power of conferring degrees or granting diplomas. To grant such high powers to the trustees of a common school district, who are elected annually, not by those who feel a lively interest in education, but ' by ever}' inhabitant over the age of twenty-one years, who shall have resided in any school district for three months immediately pre- ceding any district meeting, and who shall have paid, or shall be liable to pay, any taxes, except road taxes,' is to degrade education, and burlesque the University of Minnesota, to whose regents such powers more pro- perly belong. " The buildings that have been erected for school pur- poses are far in advance of the log huts that were for- merly erected by pioneer settlers, as school-rooms for their ' little ones,' and which even the cows of the farmer might blush to own as their resting place. " In saying this, however, it is not to be understood that they can receive no improvement. Nearly all, like the barns, remain unpainted, and are destitute of all those surrounding conveniences which are so necessarv to cultivate neat and modest habits in youth. The 568 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. trustees have, in almost every instance, neglected to plant shade and ornamental trees, and, unless some care is shown, it will not be long before the school-houses will look as dilapidated as the drunkard's dwelling. " It is strange that ' fathers who know how to give good gifts to their children,' almost invariably neglect to furnish their offspring with a school-house that is cal- culated to make the associations with their studies plea- sant, or to teach them the principles of correct architec- ture, or give them a single idea of beauty. " ' Barnard's School Architecture' is a book that a trifling sum will purchase, and, in the erection of school- houses in our new settlements and villages, it is desir- able that the trustees should follow some of the plans there detailed. It is, therefore, suggested that the trus- tees of each school district purchase a copy for the school library. Before we pass from the subject of school architecture, it is proper to call your attention to the importance of trustees securing larger lots for school buildings. " One of the largest school lots in the territory is that of district No.' 5, in Bamsey county, and yet the build- ing appears to be squeezed into the back ground by the pressure of a building on each side. " To make a full man, the boy must be developed physically as well as intellectually; and the village which would have its youth prosper most in school hours, should take care in this new country, where land is not held at an exorbitant price, that the school-house be situated in the centre of at least an acre lot. No- thing raises a population so much in the estimation of a traveller or emigrant, as to see a crowd of boys issuing SCHOOL TEACHERS.— SCHOOL-HOUSES. 569 from a pleasant school-house, to play during the recess upon a capacious lawn. 1 "The vocation of teacher is a noble one. He is far from being a drone in society, but is eminently one of the class of producers. His duties are such as often to require ' an angel's wisdom ;' " For he does the work Deputed by the parent, still uncheered By that rich filial love, whose magic makes All burdens light." " In many states he is forbidden the social position to which, if competent, he is entitled, and looked upon as a servant, rather than an equal, and therefore receives but a servant's wages. 1 Table representing the condition of School Districts in the Territory of Minnesota, January, 1852. School-House — by whom owned. When built. Cost, Dimensions. Size of Lot. Washington Co. Point Douglas, Cottage Grove, Priv. property 16 by 18 ft. [No school building erected, or school kept.] Stillwater, Mariue Mills, District do. 1848 now building 20 by 30 ft. 20 by 30 ft. 50 by 150 ft. 75 by 150 ft. Benton County. [No returns received.] Ramsey County. District, No. 1. St. Paul, " 2. do. " 3. do. « 4. District Priv. individual [No returns.] 1850 1848 $600 $400 18 by 36 ft. 20 by 24 ft. 50 by 150 ft. St. Anthony, " 5. do. ' " 6. District " 7. do. " 8. District None [No returns.] 1849 $600 24 by 34 ft. l-4th acre. 570 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. '" Immediately after the organization of our school dis- tricts, the ground was taken by the friends of education, that so valuable a member of society as the faithful teacher should receive at least the wages of an ordinary day labourer. " On Saturday, the fourteenth of February, a dog-train arrived at St. Paul from the north, with the dis- tinguished Arctic explorer, Dr. Ray. He had been in search of the long-missing Sir John Franklin, by way of the Mackenzie river, and was now on his way to England. During the same month, Captain Simpson, of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, United States Army, made the first reconnoissance of the country between Watab and the Winnebago Agency at Long Prairie. One of the party gives a sketch of the exploration in the Minnesota Pioneer : — " Securing for guides the noted old Ojibway, of Crow Wing, White Fisher, and a half-breed, Johnson, the party and guides started from Sauk Rapids, on Monday, February second. On the next Thursday evening they camped on a little branch of Two Rivers. The next Friday, the fifth day out, came into a high maple region, and one large marsh, which they crossed on the ice; but on examination, discovered where two points of high timber ground approximated each other; and here one hundred and fifty feet of log-way might be neces- sary. After this, it was all maple high land until they camped. " The next day, Saturday, they only proceeded three miles, crossing one little stream, and encamped at the Birch Bark Fort Lake, on a singular neck of land be- tween the lake and a succession of marshes extending COUNTRY BETWEEN WATAB AND LONG PRAIRIE. 571 far to the northward. Here they remained until Tues- day, one of the number returning to Sauk Rapids with the team for further supplies. They found here a camp of ten lodges of Chippewas, who were living fat on plenty of white fish, and a bear they had just killed. The country on this part of the route seemed alive with game — deer tracks and other tracks in every direction. So far from the Winnebago country being destitute of game, it is full of it; but the tribe are too indolent to hunt it. Birch Bark Fort they calculated was from twenty to twenty-four miles from the Rapids; while it was about fifteen miles further to the Agency. It is a noted Indian pass — the remains of two war forts con- structed of birch trees being seen in the vicinity. One was erected a great many years ago by the Sioux ; and the other more recently by Strong Ground, the brother of old Hole-in-the-Day. " Starting again on Tuesday, their route that day was over high rolling dry land, all the way, with occasion- ally a little run to cross ; they made but six miles and camped. The next day, Wednesday, the route con- tinued good — only meeting one place, where log-waying, about one hundred feet, will be required. They now came to a magnificent and beautiful sheet of water, some fifteen miles in length, and five or six wide, the northern shore rising almost into mountainous height; the water clear and transparent, and abounding in luscious white-fish; and beautified by several islands with bluff shores, one of them booming mountain-like out of the water more than one hundred feet ; and all wooded to the tops with red cedar. The only name the Chippewas have for this fine lake, is 'The Lake where there is Red Cedar;' but there being a dozen lakes of this 572 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. name, besides the great Red Cedar Lake up the Missis- sippi, this amounts to no distinctive name at all ; and we have, therefore, called it Neill's Lake, in honour of the Rev. Edward D. Neill, of St. Paul, Territorial Superintendent of Common Schools. A large unnamed lake, with islands in it, which is, perhaps, intended to represent Neill's Lake, is set down in Nicollet's map (from reports of Indians merely — he never was there), as discharging its water into the Watab river. This is discovered to be an error. It really empties into Sauk river. " The party passed to the northward of Neill's Lake. The next day, Thursday, they found small, open, dry prairies, for four miles before reaching the south-east corner of Round Prairie, and thence continuing north- ward, they arrived without further difficulty at the Agency." The election on the first Monday in April for the approval or rejection of the Liquor Law interested all classes of citizens. It w^as a theme of conversation with mothers and daughters, and the subject of discourses in the pulpits of both the Protestant and Roman' Catholic clergy, all heartily co-operating. When it was disco- vered that Ramsey county had voted in favour of the law, all the church bells at the capital about nine o'clock at night, rang a simultaneous peal of joy. 1 Before the ratification of the treaties with the Dah- kotahs, impatient pioneers had gone in and possessed the land. Among the earlier settlements commenced 1 The Vote on the Liquor Law : — Counties. For. Atrah'st. Counties. For. Against. Ramsey, .... 528 496 Chisago, .... 13 3 Washington, ... 218 68 Benton and Cass, . 62 91 Dahkotah, ... 32 4 853 662 ROLLING STONE COLONY.— LAND SLIDE. 573 on the Minnesota, were those of Mahkahto, Traverse des Sioux, Kasota, Louisville, and Shokpay. A pioneer, bv the name of Mackenzie, had a claim on Eden Prairie, and near bv, on a lake in the woods, were other claim- ants. The first settlement of any magnitude, on the west bank of the Mississippi, was made on Boiling Stone Creek, just above Winona. The colony was from New York city and vicinity. Inexperienced in frontier life, with theoretical rather than practical views, many of them shrunk from the hardships which every pioneer must endure, others sickened and died, and what was begun in so much hope soon dwindled away. The place for the town was not judiciously selected, though the name, " Rolling Stone," in view of the results, was not wholly insignificant. On the fourteenth of May, an interesting lusus naturae occurred at Stillwater. On the prairies, beyond the ele- vated bluffs which encircle the business portion of the town, there is a lake which discharges its waters through a ravine, and supplies McKusick's Mill. Owing to heavy rains the hills became saturated with water, and the lake very full. Before daylight the citizens heard the " voice of many waters," and looking out, saw rushing down through the ravine, trees, gravel, and diluvium. Nothing impeded its course, and as it issued from the ravine it spread over the town site, covering up barns and small tenements, and continuing to the lake shore, it materially improved the landing, by a deposit of many tons of earth. One of the editors of the day, alluding to the fact, quaintly remarked, that " it was a very extraordinary movement of real estate." During the summer, Elijah Terry, a young man who had left St. Paul the previous March, and gone to 574 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Pembina, to act as teacher to the mixed bloods in that vicinity, was murdered under distressing circumstances. With a bois brule he had started to the woods on the morning of his death, to hew timber. While there he was fired upon by a small party of Dahkotahs ; a ball broke his arm, and he was pierced with arrows. His scalp was wrenched from his head, and was afterwards seen among Sissetoan Dahkotahs, near Big Stone Lake. About the last of August, the pioneer editor of Minnesota, James M. Goodhue, died. The deceased was born in Hebron, N. H., March thirty-first, 1810. His parents possessed the strong faith and stern virtue of the Puritans, and felt that an education was the greatest treasure they could give their children. After passing through preparatory studies, he entered Amherst College, where he listened to the lectures of the distin- guished geologist, Hitchcock, and other devout men of science. In the year 1832, he received a diploma from that institution. It was his desire to have attended a meeting of his surviving classmates in the halls of his " Alma Mater ;" but another summons came to take " his chamber in the silent halls of death." Having studied law, he entered upon the practice of the profession. He became an editor unexpectedly to himself. Having been invited to take the oversight of a press, in the lead region of Wisconsin, during the temporary absence of its conductor, he discovered that he increased the interest of the readers in the paper. From that time he began to pay less attention to the legal profession, and was soon known among the citizens of the mines as the editor of the Grant County Herald, published at Lancaster, Wisconsin. While residing at this place, he became interested in the territory "of SKETCH OF JAMES M. GOODHUE. 575 sky-tinted waters" (Minnesota). With the independ- ence and temerity of one Benjamin Franklin, he left Lancaster as suddenly as the ostensible editor of the New England Courant left Boston, and he arrived at the landing of what is now the capital of Minnesota, with little more money and few more friends than the young printer who landed at Market street wharf, in the capital of the then youthful territory of Penn sylvania. In April, 1849, he found St. Paul nothing more than a frontier Indian trading settlement, known by the savages as the place where they could obtain Minne Wakan, or whiskey, and wholly unknown to the civil- ized world. When he died, with the sword of his pen he had carved a name and reputation for St. Paul, and he lived long enough to hear men think aloud and say, that the day was coming when school-boys would learn from their geography that the third city in commercial importance, on the banks of the mighty Mississippi, was St. Paul. His most bitter opponents were convinced, whatever might be his course towards them, that he loved Minnesota with all his heart, all his mind, and all his might. When, in the heat of partisan warfare, all the quali- ties of his mind were combined to defeat certain mea- sures, the columns of his paper were like a terrific storm in midsummer amid the Alps. One sentence would be like the dazzling arrowy lightning, peeling in a moment the mountain oak, and riving from the topmost branch to the deepest root; the next like a crash of awful thunder ; and the next like the stunning roar of a tor- rent of many waters. The contrarieties of his character often increased his 576 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. force. Imagining his foes to be Cossacks, he often dashed among them with all the recklessness of Murat. The fantastic magnificence of his pen, when in those moods, was as appalling in its temerity as the white ostrich feather and glittering gold band of Napoleon's famed marshal. His prejudice was inveterate against sham and clap- trap. He refused to publish many of the miserable advertisements of those quacks, who seek to palm off their nostrums upon young men, diseased through their own vices. When a " stroller" for a living, or a self- dubbed professor, came to town, he sported with him as the Philistines with blind Samson. By sarcasm and ridicule, " Jarley, with his wax works," was made to decamp. 1 1 His love for a joke frequently led him to sacrifice truth. In his paper of February twentieth, 1850, with all gravity he has a paragraph, headed Singular Petrifaction, and adds, that " at*the mouth of Crow River there are several petrifactions in the shape of men and horses." A man in St. Louis about establishing a museum, saw the paragraph, and wrote a letter to the editor. The letter appeared in the paper of May 16th, with an editorial, entitled " Stone Cavalry Wanted." " We have received the following letter from a gentleman in St. Louis. In answer to it, we can only say, that it is generally understood here in St. Paul, that the secre- tary of the territory had all the petrifactions in question (four horses and riders, beside a few fragments), raised at the expense of the trea- sury, and put in a small new stable, erected for the purpose, in the rear of the Central House, St. Paul, at an expense of four hundred and thirty-one dollars to the government, which has been duly audited and allowed in his accounts. Secretary C. K. Smith, who is also secretary of the Minnesota Historical Society, is now absent. On his return, a few weeks hence, a letter addressed to him on the subject, will no doubt re- ceive prompt attention. Crow Wing river is one hundred and twenty- eight miles above Saint Paul. To prompt further search for similar petrifactions at the mouth of the Crow Wing, we will now make an offer of fifty dollars for each sound petrified horse, mare, or gelding, the same for each perfect petrified man or woman, and half that price for ponies and children, delivered in STORY OF THE PETRIFIED HORSES. 577 When untrammelled by self-interest or party ties, his sentiments proved that he was a man that was often ready to exclaim : — " Video meliora proboque ; Deteriora sequor." At the November Term of the United States District Court, for Kamsey county, a Dahkotah, named Yu-ha- boxes on the bank of the river, ready -to be shipped down to St. Anthony, on the steamboat Governor Ramsey, in good condition. "St. Louis, April 27, 1850. " Sir: — You will, I hope, excuse the liberty I take of addressing this let- ter to you, being an entire stranger to you. My object in writing it is to inquire of you some particulars with respect to a notice I observed in the St. Louis Union of the twenty-ninth inst., copied from your paper, of a number of petrifactions, in the shape of men and horses, which are said to be at the bottom of Crow river, near its mouth. If not too much trouble, will you be good enough to let me know, at your earliest con- venience, more about the matter, and if there is any possibility of getting at them? " I am about establishing a museum in this city, and am desirous of col- lecting all the natural curiosities I can get for the same. If there are any specimens of fossils, minerals, or in fact anything in the way of curiosities in your neighbourhood, that could be sent to this city, I mrould pay liberally for them. 37 "Trusting that I may, at some future time, have it in my power to reciprocate the favour, I remain, dear sir, Yours most respectfully." The Philadelphia North Ameri- can, receiving the hoax, writes : — " The Crow River Petrifactions. — The petrified men and horses, re- cently discovered at the bottom of Crow river, Minnesota, near its mouth, have been housed in a build- ing near St. Paul, erected for the purpose, and are under the care of the territorial officers. There are four horses with their riders." Goodhue, feeling that he had car- ried his joke far enough, publishes the above paragraph in his paper of June twentieth, and adds : — "Yes ; but as oats in St. Paul are scarce at one dollar per bushel, the secretary enlisted them in the new company of dragoons, and they were shipped down on the Dr. Franklin, No. 2, last week, under command of Captain Garland, U. S. A., to hunt the Sacs and Foxes out of Iowa." And thus ended the Horse Marine Story. 578 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. zee, was tried for the murder of a German woman. With others she was travelling above Shokpay, when a party of Indians, of which the prisoner was one, met them -> and, gathering about the wagon, were much excited. The prisoner punched the woman first with his gun, and, being threatened by one of the party, loaded and fired, killing the woman and wounding one of the men. On the day of his trial he was escorted from Fort Snelling by a company of mounted dragoons in full dress. It was an impressive scene to witness the poor Indian half hid in his blanket, in a buggy with the civil officer, surrounded with all the pomp and circum- stance of war. The jury found him guilty. On being asked if he had anything to say why sentence of death should not be passed, he replied, through the interpreter, that the band to which he belonged would remit their annuities if he could be released. To this Judge Hay- ner replied, that he had no authority to release him ; and, ordering him to rise, after some appropriate and impressive remarks, he pronounced the only sentence of death ever pronounced by a judicial officer in Min- nesota. The prisoner trembled while the judge spoke, and was a piteous spectacle. By the statute of Min- nesota, one convicted of murder cannot be executed until twelve months have elapsed, and he was confined until the governor of the territory should by warrant order his execution. Judge Hayner, having been appointed chief justice in the place of Fuller, whose nomination was not confirmed by the United States Senate, on an appeal of Alexis Cloutier, who had been fined twenty-five dollars for vio- JUDGE HAYNER'S DECISION ON LIQUOR LAW. 579 lating the liquor law, decided that the legislative power was vested by the organic act, in the Governor and Legislative Assembly alone, and that they had no power to delegate their authority to the people ; that the act in question was an attempt at such transfer of power, and was consequently null and void. 580 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER XXVI. The fourth Legislative Assembly convened on the fifth of January, 1853, in the two story brick edifice at the corner of Third and Minnesota streets. The Council chose Martin McLeod as presiding officer, and the House Dr. David Day, Speaker. Governor Ramsey's message was an interesting document, and thus eloquently con- cluded : — " In concluding this my last annual message, per- mit me to observe that it is now a little over three years and six months since it was my happiness to first land upon the soil of Minnesota. Not far from where we now are a dozen framed houses, not all completed, and some eight or ten small log buildings, with bark roofs, constituted the capital of the new territory, over whose destiny I had been commissioned to preside. One county, a remnant from Wisconsin territorial organiza- tion, alone afforded the ordinary facilities for the execu- tion of the laws ; and in and around its seat of justice resided the bulk of our scattered population. Within this single county were embraced all the lands white men were privileged to till ; while between them and the broad rich hunting grounds of untutored savages, rolled the River of Rivers, here as majestic in its north- GOVERNOR RAMSEY'S LAST MESSAGE. 581 em youth, as in its more southern maturity. Empha- tically new and wild appeared everything to the in comers from older communities ; and a not least novel feature of the scene was the motley humanity partially filling these streets — the blankets and painted faces of Indians, and the red sashes and moccasins of French voyageurs and half-breeds, greatly predominating over the less picturesque costume of the Anglo-American race. But even while strangers yet looked, the elements of a mighty change were working, and civilization with its hundred arms was commencing its resistless and beneficent empire. To my lot fell the honourable duty of taking the initial step in this work by proclaiming, on the first of June, 1849, the organization of the terri- torial government and consequent extension of the pro- tecting arm of law over these distant regions. Since that day, how impetuously have events crowded time ! The fabled magic of the eastern tale that renewed a palace in a single night, only can parallel the reality of growth and progress. " In forty-one months the few bark-roofed huts have been transformed into a city of thousands, in which com- merce rears its spacious warehouses, religion its spired temples, a broad capitol its swelling dome, and luxury and comfort, numerous ornamented and substantial abodes : and where nearly every avocation of life pre- sents its appropriate follower and representative. In forty-one months have condensed a whole century of achievements, calculated by the old world's calendar of progress — a government proclaimed in the wilderness, a judiciary organized, a legislature constituted, a compre- hensive code of laws digested and adopted, our popula- tion quintupled, cities and towns springing up on every 582 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. hand, and steam with its revolving wings, in its season, daily fretting the bosom of the Mississippi, in bearing fresh crowds of men and merchandise within our borders. " Nor is that the least among the important achieve- ments of this brief period, which has enabled us, by extinguishing the Indian title to forty million acres of land, to overleap the Father of Waters, and plant civi- lization on his western shore. Broad and beautiful, by universal concession, are these newly acquired lands — the very garden spot of the north-west, as explorers have pronounced them — and it is scarcely surprising, though less than six months have elapsed since the rati- fication of the treaties by the Senate, that the keen-eyed enterprise of our race has within them already planned towns, built mills, opened roads, commenced farms, the nucleus of many a happy home. "But it is, however, in their initiatory stages only, we can consider the present growth and advancement of our territory in all the constituents of national and individual prosperity. Our brief, though energetic past, foreshadows but faintly the more glorious and brilliant destiny in store for us in the future ; nor is prophetic inspiration necessary to foretell it. It is written so plainly that he who runs may read it. It is written in the advantages nature has so liberally bestowed upon us ; by a beautiful country, unqualified by the drawback of much waste land, with an universally fertile soil, where prairies, ' that blossom as the rose,' with groves and woods are proportionately intermingled ; while dot- ting it over, in refreshing profusion, are gem-like lakes, and intersecting its map, at convenient distances, are crystal streams whose precipitous waters afford elements out of which to create future Lowells and Manchesters. FUTURE GREATNESS OF MINNESOTA. 583 "It is written in our geographical position, in the centre of our continent, at the head of the Mississippi valley, and enfolding either bank of the great river with its very head springs, even as its delta is embraced on both sides by our sister Louisiana. It is written in our proximity to Superior's inland sea, and the abund- ant mines of rich ores possessed alike by its northern, as by its southern shores — mines, whose workmen it will be our inevitable lot to feed and clothe. "And it is written likewise, on a thousand features of interest and advantage incident to our territory ; in our extensive pineries, the livelihood of hardy lumber- men, and a future chief resource for building purposes of the people of the great valley below us ; in the many opportunities for manufacturing establishments offered by our magnificent water powers, and the ease with which the Mississippi enables us to procure the material, and export the products of factory labour ; in our salu- brious climate, insuring a healthy, hardy, and numer- ous population, and in the immediate advantage to our early growth and prosperity, which follows the expendi- ture of a quarter of a million of dollars annually by the national government, for the benefit of the Indian tribes in our midst. " That which is written is written — the life of a short generation will realize it. In ten years a state — in ten years more half a million of people, are not extravagant predictions. In our visions of that coming time, rise up in magnificent proportions, one or more capitals of the North, Stockholms, and St. Petersburgs, with many a town besides, only secondary to these in their trade, wealth, and enterprise. Steam on the water and steam 584 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. on the land, everywhere, fills the ear and the sight. Steamboats crowd our waters, and railroads intersecting in every direction, interlink remotest points within and without our territory. The blue waters of Lake Supe- rior and the red-tinged floods of the Mississippi are united by iron bands, and a south-eastern line connects St. Paul direct with Lake Michigan. "The great New Orleans and Minnesota Railroad pours into its depot, somewhere on the Upper Minnesota river, passengers and products from the far sunny South, to receive in return, for ultimate ocean transit perhaps, furs and merchandise from the polar circle, which steam- boats on the Red River of the North, or a railroad on its banks, have just brought from Selkirk, or the plains of distant Athabasca. Let none deem these visions improbable, or their foreshadowing impracticable. Man, in the present age, disdains the ancient limits to his career; and in this country, especially, all precedents of human progress, growth of states, and march of empires, are set aside by an impetuous originality of action, which is at once both fact and precedent. Doubt- less an overruling Providence, for inscrutable purposes, has decreed to the American nation this quicker transi- tion from the wilderness of nature to the maturity of social enjoyments — this shorter probation between the bud and green tree of empire ; and it well becomes us therefore, in our gratulations upon present prosperity, and in our speculations upon greater power and happi- ness in the early future, to render humble, yet fervent thanks • unto Him who holdeth nations in the hollow of his hand,' and shapes out the destinies of every people." Two subjects came before the legislature affecting PROPOSED ALTERATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. 585- domestic happiness. The large majority of citizens peti-' tion that a liquor law might be enacted that would be free from the objections existing against the law of the previous session. A bill was proposed by the friends of temperance, but it failed to pass. During this session, an estimable citizen, the late Bishop Cretin, in accordance with an understanding with the other bishops of the Roman Catholic branch of the Church in this country, caused petitions to be presented, asking a division of the common school fund. Mr. Murray, from the select committee to which was referred sundry petitions for a change in the school law,, made the following report : — "A majority of the committee to whom was referred sundry petitions from the citizens of St. Anthony, St. Paul, and Little Canada, praying a modification of the present school law, beg leave to report : " That while they have been unable to give the mat- ters set forth in the petitions, that attention and investi- gation which their importance as affecting the rights and interests of so large and respectable a number of the citizens of this territory, would demand, it is evi- dent to them that the petitioners have just grounds of complaint, and that the present school law is defective in this : that while a revenue is derived from every tax- payer of this territory, to support and maintain common schools, more than one-third of the entire population of this territory have never derived any benefit from the large amounts paid for that purpose. " Your committee believing that duty demands a con- ciliation of law with individual liberty and freedom of conscience; and where any law does not, by reason of its imperfections, meet the wants and situation, and the 586 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. thousand circumstances which diversify human cha- racter and pursuits, or where it fails to benefit commu- nities or denominations, by reason of a conscientious belief in opposition thereto, in common with their fellow- citizens, their case, of right, ought to be provided for by such legislation as is consistent with the welfare of every other citizen, and of the whole. "Your committee, therefore, ask leave to introduce the accompanying bill, and recommend its passage." 1 The moderate of all denominations, and the friends of the American system of public instruction, were sur- prised at the introduction of a bill with such features as 1 The following is the bill as originally introduced by the Com- mittee : — "No. 18, {H. of B.)— Introduced by Mr. Murray, from Select Com- mittee to which was referred sundry petitions on the subject, February sixteenth, 1853. Read first and second times, and laid on the table to be printed, February sixteenth, 1853 : — A Bill Amendatory of the School Law : " Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Minne- sota : — Sec. 1. That all communities •of any denomination, willing to have a school of their own, in which religious instruction will be taught .as well as other branches of educa- tion, be authorized to do so, and their schools shall be entitled to all the benefits accruing to district schools. "Sec. 2. All schools well organ- ized, and composed of at least twenty- five -children, shall receive a part of the school money, according to the number of children regularly at- tending the said school. " Sec. 3. It shall be the duty of the trustees of any school district to issue warrants upon the treasurer for the proportionate share of money coming to any school as aforesaid, on application of the teacher or trustees of said school. Provided, that said teacher or trustees shall prove by the affidavit of at least one person, the number of scholars in regular attendance, which number shall be at least twenty-five. "Sec. 4. Such schools as only are composed of at least twenty-five child ren, and are kept in operation at least four hours every day, during five days of every week, shall be con- sidered well organized schools, and entitled to a share of the school fund. " Sec. 5. All acts and parts of acts, contravening the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed. " Sec. 6. This act to be in force from and after its passage." BALDWIN SCHOOL INCORPORATED. 587 that introduced by Mr. Murray, and it led to consider- able discussion. 1 The region west of the Mississippi was divided, by the legislature, into the following counties : Dahkotah, Goodhue, Waupashaw, Fillmore, Scott, Le Sueur, Bice, Blue Earth, Sibley, Nicollet, and Pierce. The Baldwin School, founded by the Bev. Edward D. Neill, Bev. Albert Barnes, and M. W. Baldwin of Philadelphia, Pa., was also incorporated at this session of the legislature, and was opened the following June. On the ninth of April, a party of Ojibways killed a Dahkotah, at the village of Shokpay. A war party, from Kaposia, then proceeded up the valley of the St. Croix, and killed an Ojibway. On the morning of the twenty-seventh, a band of Ojibway warriors, naked, decked, and fiercely gesticulating, might have been seen in the busiest street of the capital, in search of their enemies. Just at that time a small party of women, and one man, who had lost a leg in the battle of Stillwater, arrived in a canoe from Kaposia, at the Jackson street landing. Perceiving the Ojib- ways, they retreated to the building now known as the " Pioneer" office, and the Ojibways discharging a volley 1 "No. 18, (H. of R.) 'A bill "Messrs. Lott, Murray, Noot, amendatory of the School Law/ Oliver, and Rolette — 5. "Was taken up. "Those who voted in the negative " The question then recurring on were, ordering the bill to a third reading, "Messrs. Ames, Dutton, Ludden, "And the ayes and noes being McKee, Randall, Russell, Ramsey, called for and ordered, there were Stimson, Truax, Wells, Wilcox and ayes 5, noes 12. Speaker — 12. " Those who voted in the affirm- " So the House refused to order ative were, the bill to be read a third time." 588 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. through the windows, wounded a Dahkotah woman who soon died. For a short time, the infant capital pre- sented a sight similar to that witnessed in ancient days in Hadley and Deerfield, the then frontier towns of Mas- sachusetts. Messengers were despatched to Fort Snel- ling for the dragoons, and a party of citizens mounted on horseback, were quickly in pursuit of those who with so much boldness had sought the streets of St.. Paul, as a place to avenge their wrongs. The dragoons soon followed, with Indian guides scenting the track of the Ojibways, like bloodhounds. The next day they disco- vered the transgressors, near the Falls of St. Croix. The Ojibways manifesting what was supposed to be an insolent spirit, the order was given by the lieutenant in command, to fire, and he whose scalp was afterwards daguerreotyped, and appeared in Graham's Magazine, wallowed in gore. During the summer the passenger, as he stood on the hurricane deck of any of the steamboats, might have seen, on a scaffold on the bluffs, in the rear of Kaposia,. a square box covered with a coarsely fringed red cloth. Above it was suspended a piece of the Ojibway's scalp, whose death had caused the affray in the streets of St. Paul. Within was the body of the woman who had been shot in the " Pioneer" building while seeking refuge. A scalp suspended over the corpse is supposed to be a consolation to the soul, and a great protection in the journey to the spirit land. On the accession of Pierce to the Presidency of the United States, the officers appointed under the Taylor and Fillmore administrations were removed, and the following gentlemen substituted: Governor W. A. NEW TERRITORIAL OFFICERS. 589 Gorman, of Indiana; 1 Secretary, J. T. Rosser, of Virginia; Chief Justice, W. H. Welch, of Minnesota ; Associates, Moses Sherburne, of Maine, and A. G. Chatfield, of Wis- consin. One of the first official acts of the secona governor, was the making of a treaty with the Winne- bago Indians at Watab, Benton county, for an exchange of country. At the close of the summer the Dahkotahs began to leave their ancient villages, and move to the reserve on the Upper Minnesota. Their locations on the Missis- sippi and Minnesota, previous to this period, was as follows : — The Kiyuksah band, called by that name, signifying " relationship overlooked," because they disregard the Dahkotah custom, and marry their relatives, lived below Lake Pepin. Their chief Wapashaw lived in the vici- nity of Winona, and they hunted on the Chippeway river and branches. At the head of Lake Pepin, where the town of Red Wing now stands, was the Raymneecha band. They were so designated because their village was near a hill (Ha), water (min), and wood (chan). The chief was Wah-koo-tay, the uncle of the celebrated half-breed Jack Frazer. Four miles below St. Paul dwelt the Kaposia band. The signification of Kaposia is " light," and applied be- cause of the agility with which they travelled. Their chief was called by the whites Little Crow, after his an- cestor. His real name is Tahohyahtaydootah, " His 1 Governor Gorman was born in Buena Vista, he commanded the Fleming Co., Ky., but for many years Rifle Battalion, and in 1849 he was was a resident of Indiana. During elected as a member of Congress the Mexican war, at the battle of from the sixth Indiana district. 590 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Scarlet People." The first village on the Minnesota was on the south side, and known as Black Dog's, about four miles above Mendota. At Oak Grove and vicinity lived Good Road's band, and the band driven by the Ojibways from Lake Calhoun. The Tintatonwan band occupied the site of Shokpay, and their principal chief was Shokpaydan, or Little Six. 1 During the year 1853 an exciting topic of conversa- tion was an alleged fraud, said to have been perpetrated by Governor Ramsey, H. H. Sibley, H. L. Dousman, Franklin Steele, and others, in the payment of the Dah- kotahs tit Traverse des Sioux, in the autumn of 1852. Charges were made against Governor Ramsey by an Indian trader named Madison Sweetser, who had come into the country after the treaty, and was not satisfied with the mode of payment. At the request of Mr. Sibley, then a delegate to Congress, Senator Gwin moved that the Senate of the United States investigate the alleged fraud. Commissioners were appointed to proceed to Minnesota, and examine all the facts in the case. A large number of witnesses testified, and on the twenty-fourth of February, 1854, the Committee of 1 Presbyterian missionaries and Shokpay. — Samuel W. Pond, Mis- assistants among the Dahkotahs, in sionary; Mrs. Cordelia F. Pond. 1850-53:— Oak Grove.— Gideon H. Pond, Lac qui Parle.— Stephen R.Riggs, Missionary; Mrs. Sarah P. Pond. Moses N. Adams, Missionaries; Kaposia. — Thomas S.Williamson, Jonas Pettijohn, Assistant; Mrs. M. D., Missionary and Physician; Mary Ann C. Riggs, Mrs. Mary A. Mrs. Margaret P. Williamson, Miss M. Adams, Mrs. Fanny H. Pettijohn, Jane S. Williamson. Miss Sarah Rankin. Red Wing. — John F. Aiton, Mis- Traversedes Sioux. — Rev. Robert sionary ; Joseph W. Hancock, Licen- Hopkins and Mrs. Agnes Hopkins, tiate ; Mrs. Nancy H. Aiton, Mrs Alexander G. Huggins, Assistant; Hancock. Mrs. Lydia P. Huggins. ELECTION FOR DELEGATE TO CONGRESS. 591 Indian Affairs of the Senate, to whom the testimony taken by the commissioners appointed by the President of the United States was referred, reported " that they have carefully examined all the testimony taken by the commissioners during nearly three months in session at St. Paul, and have arrived at the conclusion that the conduct of Governor Ramsey was not only free from blame but highly commendable and meritorious. Not one of the charges preferred against him has been sus- tained by the testimony. On the contrary, the wit- nesses of the complainants themselves, in almost every instance, have negatived them, proving conclusively that he neither violated the stipulations of the treaties as understood by the parties to them, nor was governed in his conduct by motives other than such as entitle him to commendation, both as a man and an officer." On the twenty-ninth of June, D. A. Robertson, who by his enthusiasm and earnest advocacy of its princi- ples had done much to organize the Democratic party of Minnesota, retired from the editorial chair and was succeeded by David Olmsted. At the election held in October, Henry M. Rice and Alexander Wilkin were candidates for delegate to Con- gress. The former was elected by a decisive majority. 1 1 The official vote was:- Rice. Wilkin. Rice. Wilkin Ramsey, . . . 880 292 Fillmore, . . . 161 12 Benton and Cass, 233 38 Nicollet, . . . 81 00 Hennepin, . . . 160 30 Chisago, . . . 41 8 Sibley, . . . . 13 2 Washington, . . 288 147 Wabasha, . . . 10 24 Itasca, . . . . 18 00 Dahkotah, . . . 114 46 Pembina, . . . 60 68 Scott, . . . . 51 9 Blue Earth, . . 16 12 Total, 2149 696 Le Sueur, . . , 23 8 £92 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER XXVII. With the advent of a new governor, a different arrangement of parties in a territory naturally fol- lows. During the early periods of a territorial government, citizens are so much occupied with local and personal interest, as not to feel the interest in national politics which is witnessed in the Atlantic States. From the previous chapters it appears that the excit- ing question of the year 1851 was the apportionment bill of the legislature of that year, allowing citizens on the unceded lands a representation. The year 1852 was characterized by the discussion on the liquor question, and the passage of a law prohi- biting the sale of intoxicating beverages, except for medicinal, mechanical, and sacramental purposes. The year 1853 was one of bitter personal controversy, and parties were known as Fur Company and Anti-Fur Com- pany. The year 1854 witnessed entirely new coalitions. Those who had previously stood shoulder to shoulder were found withstanding each other to the face. On the one side are ranged Ramsey, Rice, and Robertson ; on- the other side, Sibley and Gorman. The fifth session of the legislature was commenced in LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, 1854. 593 the building just completed as the Capitol, on January fourth, 1854. The President of the Council was S. B. Olmstead. 1 Governor Gorman delivered his first annual message on the tenth, and with his predecessor urged the importance of railway communications, and dwelt upon the neces- sity of fostering the interests of education, and of the lumbermen. The exciting bill of the session was the act incorpo- 1 Council. Age. S. B. Olmstead 41 J. R. Brown, 48 I. Van Etten, 27 N.W.Kittson, 40 A. Stimson, 37 W. P. Murray, 28 W. Freeborn, 37 J. E. Mower, 36 House. R. Watson, 28 Cephas Gardner, .... 53 W. A. Davis, 31 Levi Sloan, 31 W.H.Nobles 36 Wm. McKusiek, .... 28 D. G. Morrison, 27 C. P. Stearnes, 46 N. C. D. Taylor 42 Peter Roy, 26 John Fisher, 29 H. Fletcher, 35 R. M. Richardson, .... 36 J.H.Day, 33 0. M. Lord, 27 Louis Bartlette, 33 H. S. Plumer, 25 Wm. Noot, 43 Joseph Rolette, 32 Birth-place. Otsego Co., N. Y. York Co., Penn. Orange Co., N. Y. Sorel, Canada. York Co., Me. Butler Co., Ohio. Richland Co., Ohio. Somerset Co., Me. Scotland. N. H. St. Louis, Mo. Schoharie Co., N. Y. Genesee Co., N. Y. Maine. Fond du Lac, M. T. Berkshire Co., Mass. Belknap Co., N. H. Rainy Lake, M. T. Canada West. Maine. Pickaway Co., Ohio. Virginia. Wyoming Co., N. Y. Montreal, C. E. Sheffield Co, N. H. Prussia. Prairie du Chien. 594 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. rating the Minnesota and. North-western Railroad Com- pany, introduced by Joseph R. Brown. It was passed after the hour of midnight on the last day of the ses- sion. Contrary to the expectation of his friends, the governor signed the bill. On Friday, the third of March, the Presbyterian mis- sion-house at Lac qui Parle was burned. Two of the children of the Rev. Mr. Riggs went into the cellar to procure some vegetables for their mother; bearing a lighted candle, they unintentionally communicated fire to the hay, and soon the house was in flames. Nearly everything was destroyed. The missionary, in a letter, says : " A few books were thrown out of the window, Gesenius' Hebrew Lexicon and a few others, but neither my Hebrew Bible, Septuagint, Yulgate, French Bible, nor Greek Testament, nor a single copy of the English Scriptures, were saved. A short time since I had, at the request of Dr. Williamson, obtained of Mr. M. Renville his father's large French Bible, for the library of the Minnesota Historical Society. It was printed at Geneva, Switzerland, in 1588, if I remember correctly, and was not only the oldest, but probably the first Bible in Min- nesota. For its historical value we all very much regret its loss. * * * * * When Paul and those who sailed with him were shipwrecked on the island of Melita, he says, ' The barbarous people showed us no little kindness.' How often have I thought of this within a few days ! While some of the Dahkotahs came, both during and after the fire, to steal, the majority exerted themselves to save for us what could be saved." During the same month Joseph R. Brown, who had been editor of the Pioneer, was succeeded by Earle S, Goodrich, the present conductor of the paper. GREAT RAILROAD EXCURSION. 595 Tuesday, the eighth of June, is a day that will long be remembered by the early settlers of Minnesota. Mr. Farnham, the builder of the Rock Island Railroad, to mark the era of its completion, with princely libe- rality, extended an invitation to hundreds of " the wise men of the East," to accompany him, via the Chicago and Rock Island Road, on a pleasure excursion to the Upper Mississippi. At the wharf at Rock Island, the company found five large steamers ready to receive them. Among the guests were some of the prominent statesmen, divines, scholars, editors, and merchants of the land. 1 Passing through Lake Pepin, on a beautiful night, the steamers quietly approached each other, and being fastened together, the signal was given for a gene- ral exchange of visits from boat to boat. The scene of grandeur and excitement, as these boats moved through the lake, side by side, with their precious freight, will probably never be repeated. Arriving near St. Paul a day sooner than was anticipated, the firing of a cannon on board of the steamer in advance, created considerable surprise and confusion, as the preparations for the proper reception of one thousand guests were not completed. All felt that they could not return without beholding the Falls of St. Anthony, and yet appropriate vehicles were very scarce. Though a man could have given a king- dom, he could' not have obtained a horse for himself. The ride to St. Anthony was however accomplished, 1 Ex-President Fillmore. Professor H. B. Smith, New York. George Bancroft. Rev. Dr. Vermilye. Professor Silliman. Rev. Dr. Spring. Edward Robinson, LL. D. Rev. Dr. Bacon. Professor Gibbs, Yale College. Charles Sedgwick. Professor Larned, Yale College. Miss Catharine Sedgwick, and Professor Parker, Harvard. many others. 596 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. after a fashion. A Galena editor thus described the scene :--- "The c March to Finchley' was nothing compared to our motley cavalcade. Here was a governor astride a sorry Rozinante of which even the great Don would have been ashamed; here an United States Senator, acting the' part of footman, stood bold upright in the baggage boot of a coach, holding on by the iron rail surrounding the top ; here the historian of whom the country- is justly proud, squatted on the top of a crazy van, unmindful of everything but himself, his book, hat, and spectacles ; there a hot-house flower, nursed in some eastern conservatory, so delicate and fragile that a fall- ing leaf might crush it, but a beautiful specimen of the feminine gender withal, would be seated over the hind axle of a lumber wagon, supported on each side by opera glass exquisites, who only wondered i why the devil the people in this country didn't send to New York for better carriages ?' and whose groans between every jolt, furnished amusement for the more hardy of the party ; Jiere some corpulent madame, whose idea of a ride is bounded by luxuriant cushions, shining hammer cloths, spirited horses, and obsequious flunkies, was seated in a hard bottom chair, in an open one-horse wagon, first cousin to her husband's vegetable drag, or perhaps his pedlar's cart, before riches came to bless them (about which she has forgotten of course), here she was, sur- rounded perhaps by the canaille whom she has learned in latter days to despise, dragged along at a snail's pace by one old mare, with a crazy, foolish, wickering colt alongside, to torment her and to make the driver curse ; there a politician who has ridden successfully more than SPEECHES OF FILLMORE AND BANCROFT AT CAPITOL. 59"; cue easy hobby, would have been glad to ride a rail. The scene was animated and amusing !" In the afternoon the steamers proceeded to Fort Snelling, and the gates being thrown open, the fort was completely stormed. As the fair company retired from the green sward, within the walls, the fort never seemed so lonely to the young lieutenants, and that night memory brought the light of other days around them. Eeturn- ing to St. Paul before dark, the citizens and the guests repaired to the Capitol. The more grave listened to speeches in the Senate Chamber, from Ex-President Fillmore, and Bancroft the historian, while the more gay tripped it, in the Supreme Court Room. At mid- night the guests embarked on their respective steamers, whose bows were soon turned towards the homes of the visiters. On the following Sunday, Rev. E. D. Neill, who had not been able to give his usual attention to study, preached a discourse suggested by the occasion, which was pub- lished in one of the St. Paul papers, and was severely criticised by the Daily Times of New York city, as in- appropriate to the pulpit. From the fact, that it led to some profitable discussion on what a sermon should be, we give an abstract. The texts were : — u Isaiah xl. 3. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low ; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. " Judges v. 6. In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccu- pied and the travellers walked through byways." 598 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. The introduction was in these words : — " The Prophet Isaiah, in uttering this language, fore- told in figurative expressions, the pioneer work of John the Baptist, yet it primarily was applied to the return of the Hebrews from their captivity in Babylon. " Not only in the days of Shamgar, but during all of the earlier periods of the history of the world, there was but little international intercourse. The means of trans- portation were exceedingly limited, and there were few roads that were common thoroughfares for nations. " Here and there, over the mountains and through the valleys, there were the trails of the hunter and rest less adventurer, and pathways of sheep and their shep- herds, but seldom was there a highway of any costliness extending beyond the national boundaries. It was the policy of the day to intrench or wall themselves around, and cut off the intercommunication of the people. When, therefore, great bodies of men were necessitated to move toward some distant land, a preparatory work was needed. Pioneers preceding the army or caravan, made highways for their passage, smoothing down the rough hills and filling up the marshy valleys. " Diodorus, an ancient historian, in giving an account of Semiramis, Queen of Babylon, says : ' In her march to Ecbatane, she came to the Zarcean mountain, which, extending many furlongs, and being full of craggy pre- cipices and deep hollows, could not be passed without taking a great compass. Being therefore desirous of leaving an everlasting memorial of herself, as well as shortening the way, she ordered the precipices to be digged down and the hollows to be filled up, and at a great expense she made a shorter and more expeditious RAILWAYS IN THEIR RELIGIOUS ASPECTS. 599 road, which to this day is called from her the road of Semiramis. , " Babylon was separated from Judea by a wide and dreary country, and no doubt pioneers w r ere literally sent on before to i make straight in the desert a high- way.' " Since the advent of the year eighteen hundred and fifty-four, the community in which we dw r ell have been greatly interested in the propositions for making a straight iron highway from the head of Lake Superior to this point on the Mississippi, and from hence to the waters of the Pacific, connecting with bracelets of iron the Naiads of the St. Lawrence, Mississippi, and Columbia. " Every mail is watched with eagerness, in the hope that it may bring the intelligence that the National Congress has taken measures for exalting the valleys and lowering the hills and mountains that He between our Mediterranean and Pacific. " The week that has passed has been signalized by the arrival of hundreds of our fellow-countrymen on an excursion in boats as far excelling in splendour the re- nowned barges of the luxurious Cleopatra, as those sur- passed the osier vessels of the Briton, or the birchen canoe of the Ojibway, — who have been gratified and astonished by a continuous journey in a steam vehicle from the shores of the Atlantic to the head of naviga- tion of the mighty Mississippi, in the brief space of a few days. " ' To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven,' saith Ecclesiastes. •• Fatigued with the multiplied duties of last week, unfitted for severe thought, and believing that the 600 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. theme can be appropriately discussed, without infring- ing upon the sacredness of the day, or deviating from the dignity of the pulpit, we enter upon the considera- tion of railways and other modes of international com- munication, in the higher and religious aspects." The preacher proceeded to show that they decrease idleness ; expand the mind of the nation ; were aids to- con ten tment; rode over sectional prejudices; promoted a common healthful public sentiment ; and lastly, were agencies in the promotion of pure and undefiled religion. Under this head the clergyman remarked : — " First : They draw the emigrant population to cer- tain localities. Before the mountains were depressed,, and the valleys exalted, and the rough places made plain, the roads were so unbroken that the farmer mov- ing into a new land, was not attracted by the beaten path, but he branched off in the direction inclination prompted. Settlements consequently were much scat- tered, and it was difficult for him who longed to pro- claim the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ to discover the abiding places of the lost sheep of Israel. It was almost impossible in the first period of the settlement of a new country to pass from house to house, on ac- count of the impassable state of the road. But the condition of affairs has changed. " The emigrant population of the Atlantic and Euro- pean states are drawn as if by magnetic influence along the great iron railway leading from the eastern cities of commerce to the remotest west. In this way, made acquainted with the sections of land in the vicinity, and knowing the advantages of a railway in finding a mar- ket for produce, they settle along the line of the great inland road, and the labourer in Christ's cause, finds the RAILROADS ANTIDOTES TO BIGOTRY. § 601 fields white for the harvest, and numbers in the same neighbourhood to whom the gospel should be preached. By these highways he is enabled to advance along with, or before the wave of emigration, and commence turn ing the wilderness into the garden of the Lord, before the rank weeds of error have taken deep root. "Had the means of conveyance to this town not been expeditious, the ministers of Jesus Christ, would not have been here at the laying of the foundation stones of our territorial existence, and years would have probably elapsed before so many temples erected to the worship of the true and living God would have been visible, or the community reached its present position in the scale of civilization. 6i Secondly : They aid religion by proving antidotes to bigotry. When the wagon drawn by oxen was the mode of conveyance to a new country, but few penetrated the wilds of the west, except those who had been driven away from the homestead of their fathers by poverty or other misfortune. u Far away from all refining influences, they rapidly degenerated; their children, debarred the knowledge of the common school, grew up without education, and were semi-barbarous. The only religious teachers they possessed were those who came to them because they knew they were ignorant and ripe for error, or because their own ignorance had rendered them unfit for the exercise of the ministry where there was intelligence. Under the guidance of these, they grew up with strong prejudices towards those who attempted to present the truth in a different light, or a more polished dress, or wore a blacker coat. The religion they possessed was tinctured with the quintessence of bigotry. 602 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. " Thi ough the influence of railways and steam car- riages, this state of things has been almost dissipated. " The very year a town starts into existence, the in- habitants are visited by religious teachers of various schools of belief. The student who has been disciplined in the college, and who has studied the Bible systemati- cally, as well as he who has hurried from the work-bench into the pulpit, stand side by side. " He who defends the general teachings of Calvin, and he who eulogizes Wesley, appear before the same audi- ence, perhaps upon the same Sabbath. It will not do for either to show an improper spirit, or an unwise sectarian zeal. Men who listen to the herald of salva- tion in such circumstances are not won to Christ by a minister of the gospel depreciating his fellow-ministers. They are impenitent under discourses in which there is an attempt to prove that none are safe out of the line of a certain succession, or off of certain platforms of faith. They demand that those truths shall be preached which will convince them that religion is adapted to expand the mind, and promote man's highest well-being. They become acquainted with the writings of Fenelon and Pascal, Leighton and Taylor, Edwards and Chal- mers, Wesley and Fletcher, and love them not because of denominational peculiarities, but because of their likeness to Jesus. The contractedness that in days gone by was manifested in places that were settled almost exclusively by Scotch Presbyterians, English Puritans, and Wesleyan Methodists, in this progressive age will now disappear, and religion will assume a higher and more effective, because a more scriptural type. " Thirdly : Religion is promoted by the construction of expeditious routes of travel, because there is a great RAILWAYS SAVE TIME. 603 saving of time. The days that were once lost by a minister in passing from preaching station to preaching station, are saved upon a line of railway, or a river navigated by regular steamers. He can accomplish in a few hours what once occupied as many days, and thus he has more time for study, prayer, and meditation. "Under the improved system of travelling, a man like the eloquent Dr. Duff, can cross the ocean, and one Sunday hold the attention of thousands on the Atlantic coast, and on the next be discoursing to an audience equally interested far away in the valley of the Missis- sippi, and ere long a divine can pass his third Sabbath with the future dwellers On the mountain tops of Oregon, and the fourth Sabbath, address a congregation on the Pacific coast. "Finally, our great thoroughfares are destined to facilitate intercourse with the Pagan world of Asia, and hasten the approach of Millennial glory. ' Coming events cast their shadows before/ " For more than two centuries an impression has pre- vailed that the welfare of the whole globe would be promoted by a channel of travel through North America, connecting the western settlements of Europe with the eastern nations of Asia. The island of Montreal was named by Robert de La Salle, 6 China,' to commemorate his cherished plan of civilizing and evangelizing the great empire of that name, by establishing a channel of communication through this continent. Hennepin, the tirst European that ever ascended the Mississippi, and the discoverer of the Falls of St. Anthony, was a Fran- ciscan priest, despatched by the adventurous La Salle 604 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. to explore a route to Japan, which he thought could be found in this direction. % "The first British subject that entered Minnesota, about a century ago, predicted that there would be 'a short cut made from New York to Green Bay/ and had no doubt, to use his own words, c that mighty kingdoms would emerge from these wildernesses, and stately palaces and solemn temples with gilded spires rending the skies, supplant the Indian huts, whose only decorations are the barbarous trophies of their vanquished enemies/ Returning to London, he formed a plan, with the aid of a member of Parliament, 'that would disclose new sources of trade, promote many useful discoveries, and open a passage for conveying intelligence to China and the English settlements in the East Indies, with greater expedition than a tedious voyage by the Cape of Good Hope or the Straits of Magellan/ " Had not the American Revolution taken place, it. was designed to have built a fort at Lake Pepin, to have proceeded up the river St. Pierre (now known by it& original name, Minnesota), then up a branch of the Missouri, till they discovered, as they supposed they could, the river Oregon, down which they expected to sail into the Pacific. " One year ago, we witnessed a civil and military expedition start forth from our vicinity, by order of the United States, in search of the long-desired thoroughfare to the Pacific. The commander of that expedition 1 has returned to Washington, by the way of San Francisco, and reports that such a route is entirely practicable. " On Thursday of the last week, men distinguished in the professional, scientific, and commercial circles of the country, visited us, and felt that the day was not 1 Governor Stevens. PACIFIC RAILROAD PROMOTER OF CHRISTIANITY. 605 far distant when the waters of Superior and Pacific would be bound together. Let this only occur, and who can doubt that the Redeemer's kingdom will be extended, that — 11 From Java to the furthest West The heavenly light shall reach, And truth divine its power attest In every clime and speech." " A Pacific Railroad would be a voice in the wilder ness, saying, ' Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low ; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth ; and all flesh shall see the salva- tion of God.' " In view of the good results, it becomes Christians to watch with interest the enterprises of the day* Every great invention is an aid to the cause of religion. The telescope, the printing press, the telegraph, the ocean steamers, a Pacific Railway, are ordained by God, not for the pulling down but the upbuilding of religion — they are all working together to produce the grand consummation of giving the kingdoms of this world to €hrist — of bringing about the day when all will cry : — " Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us ; The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks Shout to each other, and the mountain tops From distant mountains catch the flying joy; Till, nation after nation taught the strain, Earth rolls the rapturous hosanna round." " With a few remarks we close the discourse. "" In such a fast age every Christian must be up and 606 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. doing. It is high time to awake out of sleep. We must gird ourselves up for the race, and pray earnestly that we may not as a Church of Christ be found lag- ging when all things else are advancing with accele- rated speed. This one thing we ought to do — ' Forget- ting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things that are before, we should press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.' " It would be doing violence to my own feelings, and a neglect of ministerial duty, if I should conclude this discourse without reminding this audience that this world is a great station-house, in which we are await- ing the approach of the cars that lead to 6 that bourne from whence no traveller returns,' but through which every traveller passes to regions of bliss or despair. " My hearers ! some of you have tickets that will lead you to hell. The car of death is hastening on, swifter than an eagle hasteneth to its prey, or any 6 lightning train.' Before it arrives we urge you to change that ticket. Christ is always in his office. He says, ' If any man knocketh, the door shall be opened.' If any man asketh, he will change his ticket, and that ' without money and without price.' u Hasten before it is too late. Now ! now ! now ! ' is the accepted time, and now is the day of salvation.' " On the twenty-ninth of the month of this excursion, Congress passed an act to aid the Territory of Minne- sota in the construction of a railroad therein, which was approved by the President, and directions were issued from the General Land Office to the offices in Minnesota, withdrawing from sale a city, certain townships on the line of the proposed road. The citizens of Minnesota REPEAL OF LAND GRANT BY CONGRESS. 607 received the intelligence with joyful enthusiasm, but the Greek proverb, there's many a slip between the cup and the lip, was soon fulfilled. On the twenty-fourth of July, in the House of Repre- sentatives of the United States, Mr. Washburne, of Illinois, rose to a question of privilege. He said the House, on the twenty-ninth of June, passed the bill granting lands to Minnesota, to aid in the construction of railroads, and a material alteration had been made since its engrossment. The bill was introduced here by the Committee on Public Lands. It was drawn up by a gentleman from Minnesota, who was well acquainted with the subject, and who had frequent consultations with him (Mr. Washburne) concerning its provisions. Minnesota had chartered a company with most extra- ordinary powers, granting to it all the lands which have been or may hereafter be donated to that territory for the construction of railroads. The House, to avoid this, added a proviso that said lands shall be subject to the disposition of any future legislature for the purpose aforesaid. Nor shall they inure to the benefit of any company hereafter to be constituted or organized. This was the way the bill was originally framed, to prevent the company from receiving the benefit of the grant. The first alteration he noticed was the striking out of the word " future," but this he believed was made by the committee. The second alteration, which he charged with being made after the bill was engrossed, was the changing of the word " or" to the word " and," so as to read " constituted and organized company." This com- pany, not being constituted and organized, expects to 308 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. hold these lands under the bill, and hence he charged this object in the alteration. The word was in a hand different from that of the engrossment. This was a matter affecting deeply the proceedings of the House, and it was due that an examination should be made, as the records of this House have been mutilated. Mr. Washburne said he understood the bill was altered after it was sent from the House to the Senate. He offered a resolution for the appointment of a select committee to inquire into the fact which he brought before the House, with power to send for persons and papers, and to examine witnesses under oath. Mr. Stevens, of Michigan, rose to make a personal explanation with reference to the subject on which the special committee had a short time since been ordered to be appointed. He intended to make his statement on honour. After the Minnesota Land Bill had been sent to the Committee on Public Lands, of which he is a member, it was referred to him for his individual action on it. Gentlemen who were connected with the bill called on him, and requested that certain alterations should be made in the third section before he returned the bill to the committee. The alterations desired were explained. One of them was to affect the subject of legislation in Minnesota in relation to lands granted by Congress, and he, with his own hands, struck from the original bill the word "future." The other was the alteration of the word " or" to " and," and he thought proper it should be made, and he supposed he had made it. He presented the bill with some explanation to the Committee on Public Lands, which approved of it. He then reported it to the House. It passed, and was sent to the Senate. After getting there, his attention was DISCUSSION IN U. S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 609 called to the bill. It was remarked that the alteration which he said he had made, he did not make, or that the bill did not contain the alteration. He conferred with one or two gentlemen of the Senate, and told them frankly that when he reported the bill to the Committee on Public Lands, he made the alterations, or intended to do so. Subsequently one of the Senate clerks came to him in the lobby fronting the centre door. He met General Patton, who held out the bill, and pointing out the third section, asked him whether it was right. To which he (Mr. Stevens) replied it was not right as it passed from the Committee on Public Lands, and ac- cording to his recollection, he further said, " You will find, if you look at the original draft, the word ' and' instead of 6 or' is there." He went to the desk of the House engrossing clerk (Mr. Sperle), where the matter was talked over. He there stated he had supposed he had made the alteration in the original draft, and thought he voted for the bill thus amended. The ques- tion came up as to whether the alteration could be made, and several Senators said it was a mere verbal alteration, and they had frequently made such. Mr. Forney said he did not know whether the bill could be altered. But Mr. Patton said, " We frequently make such alterations." Whereupon Colonel Forney re- marked, " Then perhaps it would be better the alteration should be made." He (Mr. Stevens) left, and he sup- posed the alteration was made in consequence of what had taken place. He wished to withhold nothing, but to state the facts. However much he may have erred, he wished to state them frankly. If he had sinned, it was an error of judgment, nothing more. He was per- fectly certain that Colonel Forney, in giving his sanction 39 610 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. to the alteration, supposed he was right and justified in so doing. He wished here to say, this was the first and last interview he had with Colonel Forney on the sub- ject. So help him God, he did not then know of any design in having the bill changed from its original form ; he said the only interest he had in the bill was to con- nect the waters of the Mississippi with the lake and steamboat navigation, and thereby benefit other states, and the substitution of the word " and" for " or" could not affect the original purpose. On the morning of August the third the bill was re- pealed, and the news was quickly transmitted by the energetic delegate of Minnesota, Hon. H. M. Rice. 1 The Minnesota and North-western Railroad Com- pany contended that the} 7 had complied with the pro- visions of the act of Congress, and that that body had no right to repeal. A complaint was brought before 1 Washington, Aug. 3, 1854, the clerk of the House, Col. For- 1 o'clock, p. m. ney. Dear Sir: — This morning the se- The vote to repeal was 109 to 56. lect committee reported that the The vote for expelling Col. Forney word " and" between the words was ayes 18, nays 154. " constituted" and "organized" had The Senate must now act in re- been substituted for the word " or," gard to the repeal of the grant — its but exonerated Gen. Stevens and the non-concurrence will save the grant clerk of the House — and recommend- — but it is impossible for me to now ed that the word "or" be reinstated, give a conjecture of its probable ac- Mr. Letcher's (of Virginia) repeal tion. To-morrow will tell the tale: bill was introduced and carried by the result will be forwarded by tole- a large majority — so the House has graph. Many able lawyers are of repealed the Minnesota land grant, the opinion that Congress has not The testimony taken by the commit- the power to repeal the act. That, tee will be printed — a copy of which however, is a question to be settled I will send you as soon as possible — hereafter. then the people of Minnesota can In haste, respectfully yours, judge for themselves. A motion is H. M. Rick. now before the House to discharge D. Olmsted, Esq. DECISION OF JUDGE WELCH ON RAILROAD TRESPASS. 6U Judge Welch, at a session of the United ,States District Court, in Goodhue county, against the company. The complaint alleged that the company had cut and carried off five hundred trees, the property of the United States, in Goodhue county. On the fourth of November, Chief Justice Welch gave judgment in favour of the railroad company. The case was carried up to the Supreme Court of Minnesota, on December sixth, which con- firmed the decision of Chief Justice Welch. Chancellor Walworth, and other jurists of New York, furnished written opinions that Congress had no right to repeal the act. The case was then taken to the Supreme Court of the United States. 1 On the afternoon of December twenty-seventh, the first public execution in Minnesota, in accordance with the forms of law, took place. Yuhazee, the Dahkotah who had been convicted in November, 1852, for the murder of a German woman, above Shokpay, was the individual. The scaffold was erected on the open space, between the Franklin House and the rear of Mr. J. W. Selby's enclosure. About two o'clock, the prisoner, dressed in a white shroud, left the old log prison, near the court house, and entered a carriage with the officers of the law. Being assisted up the steps that led to the scaffold, he made a few remarks in his own language, and was then executed. A disgraceful rabble sur- rounded the scaffold, and none of the decencies of law were manifested on the occasion. Says an editor, " liquor was openly passed through the crowd, and the last moments of the poor Indian were disturbed by baccha- 1 At the December Term, 1855, continue the case, which motion Supreme Court of the United States, was granted, the attorney-general moved to dis- 612 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. nalian yells angl cries. Kemarks too heartless and de- praved, in regard to the deceased, to come from men, were freely bandied. A half-drunken father could be seen holding in his arms a child eager to see well; giddy and senseless girls chatted with their attendants, and old women were seen vying with drunken ruffians for a place near the gallows." Numerous ladies sent in a petition to the governor, asking the pardon of the Indian, to which that officer made an appropriate reply. 1 1 Executive Department, M. T., } St. Paul, Dec. 28, 1854. j Ladies : — I have the honour to ac- knowledge the receipt of your peti- tion, asking me, as the executive of the territory, to pardon the Indian mow under sentence of death, or to commute his punishment to impris- onment for life in the penitentiary. I cannot conceal the sympathy I feel, in common with each of you, on this melancholy subject ; and I Und it even more difficult to reject the prayer of those whose hearts are .always first in missions of mercy ; those who are always first to imitate the divine character and forgive. 'Those whose gentle hands smooth the brow of the sick and afflicted. Those who are first to console even in the last hours of trial. And this petition is a high compliment to these many virtues, and even a still higher one to the benevolence of your hearts. " To forget is a vir- tue; but to forgive is divine." But, ladies, I deeply regret, that, in ac- cordance with what I deem to be my -duty to the country, and the general peace of society, I cannot consistently grant the prayer of your petition. The murder for which this unfor- tunate child of nature is condemned, was without a shadow of excuse. It was seemingly deliberate, and his victim was of your sex, innocent and defenceless. She was murdered by the side of a poor, but no doubt fond and devoted husband, while in the public highway, wending their course to a new home. If such criminals should be al- lowed to escape the stern demands of the law, others of his savage tribe might be tempted to hope for a like release, and commit a like of- fence ; and the danger of such re- sults would be far greater from In- dians than from civilized man. Every effort that can be has been made to save him by the law. An impartial jury of the country gave him a fair trial, and found him guil- ty. And there is no just reason known to stay the execution of the penalty of the law. With sentiments of the highest personal regard, I am, most respectfully, Your ob't serv't, W. A. Gorman. To Mrs. Julia E. Fillmore, Mrs. An- na E. Ramsey, Mrs. E. R. Hol- linshead, and others. FIRST BRIDGE ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI. 613 CHAPTER XXVIII. The discussion concerning the charter of the Min- nesota and North-western Railroad Company did not terminate with the year 1854. The sixth session of the legislature convened on the third of January, 1855. S. B. Olmstead was elected President of the Council, and J. S. Norris Speaker of the House. About the last of January, the two houses adjourned one day to attend the exercises occasioned by the open- ing of the first bridge of any kind over the mighty Mississippi ever completed, from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. It is made of wire, and at the time of its opening, the patent for the land on which the west piers were built had not been issued from the Land Office, a striking evidence of the rapidity with which Minnesota is being developed. The governor, in his message to the legislature, took strong ground against the railroad charter, and in the United States House of Representatives a resolution was passed declaring the charter of the Minnesota and North- western Company null. On the twenty-seventh of Feb- ruary, the United States Senate refused to approve of the resolution that had passed the House, annulling the charter of the company. The news that the charter was not annulled caused great rejoicing among the friends of the railroad, and on Saturday night, March 614 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. twenty-fourth, there was a general illumination of the principal stores and residences of the capital. Governor Gorman having vetoed a bill passed by the Minnesota legislature, amending the act incorporating the Minnesota and North-western Railroad Company, it was again passed in the legislature on February twenty- first, by a two-thirds vote, and became a law. On the twenty-ninth of March, a convention was held at St. Anthony, which led to the formation of the Repub- lican party of Minnesota. This body took measures for the holding of a territorial convention at St. Paul, which convened on the twenty-fifth of July, and William R. Marshall was nominated as delegate to Congress. Shortly after the friends of Mr. Sibley nominated David Olmsted and Henry M. Rice, the former delegate was also a candidate. The contest was animated, and resulted in the election of Mr. Rice. 1 1 Vote for Delegate : — Counties. Rice. Marshall. Olmsted. Counties. Rice. Marshall Olmsted Blue Earth, . 54 52 12 Nicollet, . . 85 34 39 Brown,* . 30 Olmsted,* . 100 Benton, . . 195 52 121 Pierce, . . . Carver, . . . 37 28 33 Pembina, . 46 Cass, . . . 57 Rice, . . . 50 226 48 Chisago, . 104 61 11 Renville, Dahkotah, . . 153 161 331 Ramsey, 735 510 529 Dodge, . . . 48 49 1 Scott, t . . 190 125 127 Doty,* . . . 100 Stearns, . . 125 - 7 42 Davis, . . . Sibley, . . 96 4 1 Fillmore, . 185 151 9 Superior,* . 200 Freeborn, . Steele, . . Faribault, Todd, . . 9 Goodhue, . 184 126 1 Wabashaw, 18 103 30 Hennepin, . 358 415 80 Winona, 132 134 57 Houston,* . 115 16 Washington, 292 121 37 Itasea, . Wright, . . 11 63 18 Le Sueur,* . 56 55 19 Mower,* . . . 40 3705 2493 1746 * Incomplete. SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.— LEGISLATURE OF 1856. 615 About noon of December twelfth, 1855, a four horse vehicle was seen driving rapidly through St. Paul ; and deep was the interest when it was announced that one of the Arctic exploring party, Mr. James Stewart, was on his way to Canada with relics of the world-renowned and world-mourned Sir John Franklin. Gathering to- gether the precious fragments found on Montreal island and vicinity, the party had left the region of icebergs on the ninth of August, and after a continued land journey from that time had reached St. Paul on that day en route to the Hudson Bay Company's quarters in Canada. The seventh session of the Legislative Assembly was begun on the second of January, 1856, and again the exciting question was the Minnesota and North-western Railroad Company. John B. Brisbin was elected President of the Council, and Charles Gardiner, Speaker of the House. Governor Gorman, in his annual message, devoted much space to railroad projects, and expressed his oppo- sition to the Minnesota and North-western Railroad. Contrary to what the community had anticipated, on the last night of the session, the governor signed a bill giving an extension of time to the company. With the announcement of the approval, he submitted the follow- ing message : — " I have this day approved and signed an act, entitled i An act granting an extension of time to the Minnesota and North-western Railroad Company, and for other purposes.' " This bill is satisfactory so far as the resulting in- terest is concerned, yet there are not such guards as in 616 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. my judgment should be thrown around so important an interest as is involved in this company's charter. " I have, from the beginning of this railroad question,, earnestly sought the permanent welfare of Minnesota, and in conjunction with many faithful and upright men in public and private life, finally succeeded in procuring two per cent, upon the gross proceeds, receipts, and income of said road. " This percentage, if the road is ever built, is to be applied to the governmental expenses of our future state, and must yield ample means in a few years to relieve our fellow-citizens from all state taxes for state pur- poses, and must be admitted by all as an important event to the tax-payers of our country. "If, on the other hand, said company shall not con- struct the road nor get the land, nothing can be lost to> the people. I have yielded other objections, because three several legislatures have passed favourably upon this company's charter and amendments, and I feel that each favourable amendment should not be lost, because others are desirable. Strong professions of ample capa- city to build this road have been made ; we shall now see how far they are to be realized ; I confess that my confidence in these professions is still feeble. "The means used to accomplish ends by this com- pany have never met my approval, and I trust never will^ but if they shall fairly and legally get possession of the lands granted by Congress to aid in constructing said road, I trust we shall have no cause to regret having urged the demands of the people for the interest and guards we have succeeded in throwing around their corporate powers. Trusting to the calm and consider- ate judgment of my fellow-citizens, and especially to- LIST OF LEGISLATORS OF 1856. 61' the members of the legislature, I leave the future to- develop its results." * 1 List of Members of the Seventh Session of the Legislative Assembly of Minnesota. COUNCIL. Balcomb, Saint A. D. Bailley, Henry G. Dooley. Samuel Flandrau, Charles E. Freeborn. William Hanson. D. M. Ludden. John D. Lowry, William D. Rollins, John Rolette, Joseph Setzer, Henry N. Stone, Lewis Tillotson, Benj. F. Thompson, C. W. Brisbin, John B., ) President, j COUNTY. Winona Dahkotah Scott Nicollet Goodhue Hennepin Chisago Olmsted Ramsey Pembina Washington Benton Fillmore Houston Ramsey POST-OFFICE. Winona Hastings Louisville Traverse d'Sioux Red Wing Minneapolis Taylor's Falls Rochester St. Anthony Pembina Stillwater Royal ton Richland Hokah St. Paul AGE CONDI'N. NATIVITY New York Minnesota Kentucky New York Ohio Maine Massachusetts Pennsylvania Maine Wisconsin Missouri New York Ohio Canada New York OCCUPATION. Farmer Merchant Farmer Lawyer Farmer Lawyer Lumberman Farmer Farmer Indian trader Lumberman Farmer Farmer Miller Lawyer HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. NAMES. Boutillier, C. W. Le Bradlev, James T. Buck, C. F. Burdick. R. C. Cleaveland, Arba Covel, Wm. B. De La Vergne, A. F. Dunbar, Wm. F. Farnham, Sumner F. Galbraith, Thos. J. Gere. William B. Gibbs, 0. C. Grant, Charles Hartenbower, J. H. Haus, Reuben Holland, J. M. Hubbell, J. B. Hull. Samuel, Hunt, Thomas B. Ide. J. C. Jackman, H. A. Johnson, Parsons K. Kirkman, James Kuauft, Ferdinand Lott. B. W. McLeod. George A. Murphy. M. T. Nobles, Wm. H. Norris, James S. Pierce. T. W. Sturgis, William Taylor, Nathan C. D. Thompson, M. G. Thorndike. F. Van Yorhes, A. Wilkinson, Ross Wilson. John L. Gardiner, Charles, ) Speaker, j COUNTY. POST-OFFICE. Ramsey St. Anthony Hennepin Minneapolis Winona Winona Pembina Pembina Carver Chanhassen Mower Frankfort Le Sueur Le Sueur Houston Caledonia Kamsey St. Anthony Scott Shakopee Fillmore Chatfield Dahkotah St. Paul Pembina St. Joseph Olmsted Pleasant Grove Ramsey St. Paul Scott Shakopee Dodge Mantorville Fillmore Carimona Carver Chaska Rice Farribault Washington Stillwater Blue Earth Mankato Wabashaw Wabashaw Ramsey St. Paul Ramsey St. Paul Nicollet Traverse d'Sioux Dahkotah Mendota Ramsey St. Paul Washington Cottage Grove Hennepin Minneapolis Benton Little Falls Chisago Tavlor's Falls Houston Brownsville Hennepin Elm Creek Washington Stillwater Ramsey St. Paul ?tearn< St. Cloud Goodhue Westervelt AGE CONDI'N. married married married single married single married married married married single married married married married single married married married married married married married married single married single married married married married single married married married married married married NATIVITY. IsFd of Jersey Connecticut New York Michigan Massachusetts New York New York Rhode Island Maine Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Vermont Red River, b.p. Kentucky Pennsylvania Maryland New York Pennsylvania Canada Vermont Maine Vermont Canada Prussia New Jersey Canada Ireland New York Maine Pennsylvania | Canada I N. Hampshire j New York Maine ; Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Maine New York OCCUPATION. Physician Carriage m'kr Lawyer Indian trader Farmer Surveyor Shoemaker Farmer Lumberman Lawyer Farmer Farmer Indian trader Farmer Carpenter Lawyer Farmer Farmer Lawyer Mechanic Lumberman Tailor Blacksmith Carpenter Lawyer Merchant Farmer Miller Farmer Carpenter Farmer Lumberman Lawyer Farmer Gunsmith Farmer Architect Lawyer 618 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. During the session of 1856, there was some conversa- tion about the division of the territory by an east and west line, and forming a new territory north of the forty-sixth degree of latitude, but no definite action was taken. But in the summer the question of a state organization was for the first time formally agitated in a series of earnest articles in the newspaper, from the pen of John E. Warren. This year was comparatively devoid of interest. The citizens of the territory were busily engaged in making claims in newly organized counties, and in enlarging the area of civilization. On the twelfth of June, several Ojibways entered the farm house of Mr. Whallon, who resided in Hennepin county, on the banks of the Minnesota, a mile below the Bloomington ferry. The wife of the farmer, a friend, and three children, besides a little Dahkotah girl, who had been brought up in the mission-house at Ka- posia, and was so changed in manners that her origin was scarcely perceptible, were sitting in the room when the Indians came in. Instantly seizing the little Indian maiden, they threw her out of the door, killed and scalped her, and fled before the men who were near by in the field could reach the house. The procurement of a state organization, and a grant of lands for railroad purposes, were the topics of politi- cal interest during the year 1857. The eighth Legislative Assembly convened at the capitbl on the seventh of January, and J. B. Brisbin was elected President of the Council, and J. W. Furber, Speaker of the House. A bill changing the seat of government to St. Peter, on the Minnesota river, passed the House. LONG SESSION OF COUNCIL. 619 On Saturday, February twenty-eighth, Mr. Balcombe offered the following resolutions : — "Resolved, That the Hon. Joseph Rolette be very respectfully requested to report to the Council, Bill No. sixty-two Council File, entitled ' A Bill for the removal of the Seat of Government for the Territory of Min- nesota,' this day ; and that should said Rolette fail so to do before the adjournment of the Council this day, that the Hon. Mr. Wales, who stands next in the list of said Committee on Enrolled Bills, be respectfully requested to procure another truly enrolled cop}' of the said bill, and report the same to the Council on Monday next. "And be it further Resolved, That the secretary of the Council is very respectfully requested to give said bill, after it has been signed by the Speaker of the House, and President of the Council, to the Hon. Mr. Wales, to deliver to the Governor for his approval." Mr. Setzer, after the reading of the resolutions, moved a call of the Council, and Mr. Rolette was found to be absent. The chair ordered the sergeant-at-arms to report Mr. Rolette in his seat. Mr. Balcombe moved that further proceedings under the call be dispensed with, which did not prevail. From that time until the next Thursday afternoon, March the fifth, a period of one hundred and twenty-three hours, the Council re- mained in their chamber without recess. At that time a motion to adjourn prevailed. On Friday, another motion was made to dispense with the call of the Coun- cil, which did not prevail. On Saturday, the Council met, the president declared the call still pending. At seven and a half p. m., a committee of the House was announced. The chair ruled, that no communication from the House could be received while a call of the 620 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Council was pending, and the committee withdrew. A motion was again made during the last night of the session, to dispense with all further proceedings under the call, which prevailed, with one vote only in the negative. Mr. Freeborn, from the committee on enrolled bills, made the following report : — u The Committee on Enrolled Bills would respectfully report, that owing to the absence of the chairman of this committee, Bill No. (62) sixty-two, Council File,, being a bill for the removal of the seat of government of the Territory of Minnesota, introduced by Mr. Lowry on the sixth of February, 1857, has not been reported by this committee back to the Council. Your com- mittee would further state that the above-named bill might have been reported back to the Council at this time, but that after examining the enrolled copy of said bill, which was delivered to this committee with the engrossed bill, by the secretary of the Council, in pre- sence of the enrolling clerk of the Council, and care- fully comparing the same, we find numerous errors in the enrolled copy — some portions of the engrossed bill being left out of the enrolled copy, and matter being inserted in the enrolled copy which is not in the en- grossed bill. Your committee cannot, therefore, report the said Bill No. 62, C. F., as correctly enrolled, but retain the same in our possession, subject to the order of the Council. " All which is respectfully submitted." Mr. Ludden moved that a committee be appointed to wait on the governor, and inquire if he had any fur- ther communication to make to the Council. Mr. Lowry moved a call of the Council, which was EXCITEMENT ON REMOVAL OF CAPITAL. 621 ordered, and the roll being called, Messrs. Rolette, Thompson, and Tillotson were absent. At twelve o'clock at night the president resumed the chair, and announced that the time limited by law for the continuation of the session of the territorial legis- lature had expired, and he therefore declared the Coun- cil adjourned without day. The excitement on the capital question was intense, and it was a strange scene to see members of the Coun- cil, eating and sleeping in the hall of legislation for days, waiting for the sergeant-at-arms to report an ab- sent member in his seat. During the spring and early summer, the public mind was indignant at an atrocity perpetrated in the extreme south-western frontier of Minnesota, the recital of which causes the blood to curdle, and the mind to revert to the border scenes of the past century, which occurred in the valley of Wyoming. In the north-western corner of Iowa, a few miles from the Minnesota boundary, there is a lake known as Spirit Lake. In the spring of 1856, persons from Red Wing had visited this place, and determined to lay off a town. In the winter of 1857, there were six or seven log cabins on the borders of the lake. About fifteen or twenty miles north, in Minnesota, there was also a small place called Spring- field. For several years, Inkpadootah, a Wahpaykootay Dahkotah, had been roving with a few outlaws, being driven away from their own people by internal diffi- culties. These Indians were hunting in north-western Iowa, when one was bitten by a white man's dog, which he killed. The whites then proceeded to the Indian ■camp, and disarmed them, but they soon supplied them- 622 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. selves again. After this, they arrived on Sunday, the eighth of March, at Spirit Lake. They proceeded to a cabin, where only men dwelt, and asked for beef. Understanding, as they assert, that they had permission to kill one of the cattle, they did so, and commenced cutting it up, when one of the white men came out and knocked down the Dahkotah. For this act the settler was shot, and another one coming out of the cabin, he was also killed. Surrounding the house, the Indians now fired the thatched roof, and as the men ran out all were killed, making the whole number eleven. About the same time, the Indians went to the house of a frontiersman, by the name of Gardner, and de- manded food, and all the food in the house was given to them. The son-in-law, and another man, left to go and see if all was right at the neighbouring cabin, but they never came back. Toward night, excited by the blood they had been spilling through the day, they came back again to Mr. Gardner's house, and soon killed him, and despatching his wife, and two daugh- ters, and grandchildren, carried off Abby, the surviv- ing daughter. The next day, they continued their fiendish work, and brought into camp Mrs. Thatcher and Mrs. Noble. That day a man by the name of Markham visited the house of Gardner, and saw the dead bodies. Secreting himself till night, he came to the Springfield settlement in Minnesota, and re- ported what he had seen. Three miles above the Thatcher family on the lake, there lived a Mr. Marble. On Thursday, the twelfth of March, an Indian, who had been on friendly terms with Marble's family, called at his house, and (as near as Mrs. Marble, with her im- perfect knowledge of the language, could make out) SPIRIT LAKE AND SPRINGFIELD MASSACRE. 623 told them that the white people below them on the Lake had been nippoed (killed) a day or two previously. This aroused the suspicion of the Marbles, and none the less that the great depth of the snow made it almost impossible to get out and ascertain the truth of the story. The next day (the thirteenth), quite early in the forenoon, four Indians came to Marble's house and were admitted. Their demeanour was so friendly as to disarm all suspicion. They proposed to swap rifles with Marble, and the terms were soon agreed upon. After the swap, the chief suggested that they should go out on the lake and shoot at a mark. Marble assented. After a few discharges they turned to come in the direction of the house, when the savages allowed Marble to go a few paces ahead, and immediately shot him down. Mrs. Marble, who was looking out of the cabin, saw her husband fall, and immediately ran to him. The Indians seized her and told her that they would not kill her, but would take her with them. They carried her in triumph to the camp, whither they had previously taken three other white women, Mrs. Noble, Mrs. Thatcher, and Miss Gardner. Inkpadootah and party now proceeded to Springfield, where they slaughtered the whole settlement, about the twenty-seventh of March. 'When the United States troops arrived from Fort Ridgely, they buried two bodies, and the volunteers from Iowa buried twenty-nine others. Besides these, others were missing. The outlaws, per- ceiving that the soldiers were in pursuit, made their escape. The four captive women were forced by day to carry heavy burdens through deep snow, and at night-fall they were made to cut wood and set up the tent, and, after dark, to be subject to the indignities that suggested ^24 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. themselves to savages. When food began to fail, the white women subsisted on bones and feathers. Mrs. Thatcher was in poor health in consequence of the recent birth of a child, and she became burdensome. Arriving at the Big Sioux river, the Indians made a bridge by felling a tree on each side of the river bank. Mrs. Thatcher attempted to cross, but failed, and, in despair, refused to try again. One of the men took her by the hand, as if to help her, and, when about midway, pushed her into the stream. She swam to the shore, and they pushed her off, and then fired at her as if she was a target, until life was extinct. " In the early spring it was next to impossible to make any considerable efforts for their rescue ; and it was not known what direction the captors had taken. Time passed on. Two military expeditions reached the place where the massacre took place, but did nothing, except to bury the slain. Early in the month of May, two young men from Lac qui Parle, who had been taught by the mission to read and write, and whose mother is a member of our church, 1 while on their spring hunt, found themselves in the neighbourhood of Inkpadoota and his party. Having heard that they held some American women in captivity, the two brothers visited the camp, — though this was at some risk of their lives, since Inkpadootah's hand was now against every man, — and found the outlaws, and succeeded in bargain- ing for Mrs. Marble, whom they first took to their mother's tent," and then brought her to a trading-house at Lac qui Parle, when she was visited by those con- nected with the mission at Hazel wood, and clothed once more in civilized costume. On her arrival at the hotel at St. Paul, the citizens welcomed her, and presented 1 Letter of Dr. Williamson. RESCUE OF WHITE WOMEN FROM*CAPTIVITY. 625 her with a thousand dollars. The desire to rescue the two surviving white women now became intense. One night a good Indian, named Paul by the whites, an elder of the mission church, came into the mission- house and said : — " If the white chief tells me to go, I will £0." " I tell you to go," replied Mr. Flandrau, then Dahkotah Agent. With two companies he started next day, with a wagon and two horses, and valuable presents. After a diligent search the outlaws were found on the James river with a band of Yanktons. A few days before Mrs. Noble had been murdered, a Yankton, who had lost his legs by disease, had pur- chased the two women. One night Mrs. Noble was ordered to go out, and be subject to the w r ishes of the party. She refusing to go, a son of Inkpadootah dragged her out by the hair and killed her. The next morning a Dahkotah woman took Miss Gardner, the sole surviv- ing captive, to see the corpse, which had been horribly treated after death. Paul, by his perseverance and large presents, at length redeemed the captive, and she was brought to the mis- sion-house, and from thence she visited St. Paul, and was restored to her sister in Iowa. For some days previous to the first of July it had been reported that one of Inkpadoot all's sons was in a camp on the Yellow Medicine river. A message was sent to the agent, Flandrau, w^ho, with a detachment of soldiers from Fort Ridgely, and some Indian guides, soon arrived and surrounded the lodges. The alarm being given, Inkpadootah's son, said to have been the murderer of Mrs. Noble, ran from- his lodge followed by his wife. .He concealed himself for a short period in the brush by 40 626 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the water, but was soon ferreted out and shot by United States soldiers. The rest of the outlaws are said to be west of the Missouri, and that they may yet meet the punishment which they so richly deserve for their horrible barbarity, is the wish of every righteous man. On the twenty-third of February, 1857, an act passed the United States Senate, to authorize the people of Minnesota to form a constitution, preparatory to their admission into the Union on an equal footing with the original states. And at the close of the session another act passed, making a grant of land in alternate sections, to aid in the construction of certain railroads in the ter- ritory. Governor Gorman called a special session of the legis- lature, to take into consideration measures that would give efficiency to these acts. The extra session con- vened on April twenty-seventh, and a message was transmitted by Samuel Medary, 1 who had been appointed governor in the place of W. A. Gorman, whose term of office had expired. An act was passed to execute the trust created by Congress; and the lands, under certain conditions, were given to certain chartered rail- road companies. The extra session adjourned on the twenty-third of May ; and in accordance with the pro- visions of the enabling act of Congress, an election was held on the first Monday in June, for delegates to a con- vention which was to assemble at the capital on the second Monday in July. The election resulted, as was thought, giving a majority of delegates to the Republi- can party. At midnight previous to the day fixed for the meet- 1 He acted as governor for a few months only. ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 627 ing of the convention, the Eepublicans proceeded to the capitol, because the enabling act had not fixed at what hour on the second Monday the convention should assemble, and fearing that the Democratic delegates might anticipate them, and elect the officers of the body. A little before twelve, A. m., on Monday, the secretary of the territory entered the speaker's ros- trum, and began to call the body to order ; and at the same time a delegate, J. W. North, who had in his pos- session a written request from the majority of the dele- gates present, proceeded to do the same thing. The secretary of the territory put a motion to adjourn, and the Democratic members present voting in the affirmative, they left the hall. The Republicans, feel- ing that they were in the majority, remained, and in due time organized, and proceeded with the business specified in the enabling act, to form a constitution, and take all necessary steps for the establishment of a state government, in conformity with the Federal Constitu- tion, subject to the approval and ratification of the people of the proposed state. After several days the Democratic wing also organized in the Senate chamber at the capitol, and, claiming to be the true body, also proceeded to form a constitution. Both parties were remarkably orderly and intelligent, and everything was marked by perfect decorum. After they had been in session some weeks, moderate coun- sels prevailed, and a committee of conference was ap- pointed from each body, which resulted in both adopting the same constitution, on the twenty-ninth of August. According to the provision of the constitution, an election was held for state officers and the adoption of the con- stitution, on the second Tuesday, the thirteenth of Oc- 628 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. tober. The constitution was adopted by almost a unani- mous vote. It provided that the territorial officers should retain their offices until the state was admitted into the Union, not anticipating the long delay which has been experienced. The first session of the state legislature commenced on the first Wednesday of December, at the capitol, in the city of St. Paul; and during the month elected Henry M. Eice and James Shields as their Representa- tives in the United States Senate. On the twenty-ninth of January, 1858, Mr. Douglas submitted a bill to the United States Senate, for the admission of Minnesota into the Union. On the first of February, a discussion arose on the bill, in which Sena- tors Douglas, Wilson, Gwin, Hale, Mason, Green, Brown, and Crittenden participated. Brown, of Mississippi, was opposed to the admission of Minnesota, until the Kansas question was settled. Mr. Crittenden, as a Southern man, could not endorse all that was said by the Senator from Mississippi ; and his words of wisdom and modera- tion during this day's discussion, are worthy of remem- brance. On April the seventh, the bill passed the Senate with only three dissenting votes ; in a short time the House of Representatives agreed to the action of the Senate, one hundred and fifty-eight out of one hundred and ninety-six votes being cast in favor of admission, and on May 11th the President approved the Act, and Minnesota became one of the United States of America. FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE NEW STATE. 629 CHAPTER XXIX. FINANCIAL EMBARRASSMENT FROM 1858 TO 1861, AND EDU- CATIONAL POLICY. The transition of Minnesota, from Territorial depend- ency, to the position of an organized and self-support- ing Commonwealth, equal in dignity and privilege with the then thirty-one United States of America, occurred under adverse circumstances. The great commercial cities of the Atlantic coast were suffering from financial embarrassment, and the stringency of the money market seriously cramped those who had hoped to develop the resources of a fertile and healthful State, by the aid of borrowed capital. The exigencies of the pioneer settlers were such, that they were ready to lend a willing ear to any one who would present plans, ostensibly for the relief of a community that was literally without money. By an act of Congress approved March fifth, 1857, lands had been granted to the Territory amounting to 4,500,000 acres, for the construction of a system of railways. Immediately a number of shrewd and energetic men combined to procure the control of the land grant, and during an extra session of the Legislature an act was passed on May twenty-second, 1857, giving the 630 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. entire Congressional grant to certain chartered railroad companies. A few months only elapsed, before the citizens dis- covered that those who obtained the lands had neither the money nor the credit to carry on these great internal improvements. In the winter of 1858 the Legislature again listened to the siren voices of the railway corporations, until their words to some mem- bers seemed like " apples of gold in pictures of silver," and another act was passed, submitting to the people an amendment to the Constitution, which provided for the loan of the public credit to the land-grant railroad companies to the amount of $5,000,000, upon condi- tion that a certain amount of labour on the projected roads was performed. The time specified in the act for the voting of the people upon the amendment was April fifteenth. Some of the more prudent citizens saw in this mea- sure a "cloud no larger than a man's hand" which would lead to a terrific storm, and a large public meet- ing was convened at the Capitol and addressed by Ex- Governor Gorman, D. A. Robertson, William R. Mar- shall, and others, deprecating the engrafting of such a peculiar amendment upon the Constitution; but the people would not listen, their hopes and happiness seemed to be bound up in railway corporations, and on the appointed day of election 25,023 votes were cast in favour of, while only 6733 were deposited against, the amendment. Before the amendment was ratified, the Constitution prohibited the State from loaning its credit to any in- dividual or corporation; but by its adoption, section 10, article 9, was made to read as follows: AMENDMENT OF THE CREDIT ARTICLE. 631 "The credit of this State shall never be given or loaned in aid of any individual, association, or corpo- ration; except that for the purpose of expediting the construction of the lines of railroads, in aid of which the Congress of the United States has granted lands to the Territory of Minnesota, the Governor shall cause to be issued and delivered to each of the companies in which said grants are vested by the Legislative As- sembly of Minnesota, the special bonds of the State, bearing an interest of seven per cent, per annum, pay- able semi-annually in the city of New York, as a loan of public credit, to an amount not exceeding twelve hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or an aggregate amount to all of said companies not exceeding five millions of dollars, in manner following, to wit," etc. The good sense of the people soon led them to amend this article, and on November sixth, 1860, the section was made to read as follows: "The credit of the State shall never be given or loaned in aid of any individual association or corpora- tion; nor shall there be any further issue of bonds de- nominated Minnesota State Railroad Bonds, under what purports to be an amendment to section ten (10) of article nine (9; of the Constitution, adopted April fif- teenth, eighteen hundred and fifty -eight, which is hereby expunged from the Constitution, saving, ex- cepting and reserving to the State, nevertheless, all rights, remedies, and forfeitures accruing under said amendment." The first State Legislature had assembled on December second, 1857, before the formal admission of Minnesota into the Union, and on March twenty-fifth, 1858, ad- journed until June second, when it again met. 632 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Hon. H. H. Sibley, who had been declared Governor after the election of the previous October, on the next day delivered his inaugural address. His term of office was arduous, growing out of the peculiar position of the State in consequence of her loan of credit to the railway corporations. On August fourth, 1858, he expressed his determination not to deliver any State bonds to the railway com- panies, unless they would give first mortgage bonds with priority of lien upon their lands, roads, and fran- chises in favour of the State. One of the companies applied for a mandamus from the Supreme Court of the State, to compel the issue of the bonds without the restriction of the Governor. In November the court, Judge Flandrau dissenting,, ordered the Governor to issue State bonds as soon as the company delivered their first mortgage bonds, as provided by the Constitution. But, as was to be expected, bonds put forth under such peculiar circumstances were not sought after by capitalists. After over $2,000,000 of bonds had been issued, not an iron rail had been laid, and only about 250 miles of grading were completed. In his annual message to the second Legislature in December, 1859, Governor Sibley said of the loan of State credit : « i regret to be obliged to state that the measure ha& proved a failure, and has by no means accomplished what was hoped from it, either in providing means fo the issue of a safe currency, or of aiding the con - panies in the completion of the work upon the road©. ' Notwithstanding the pecuniary complications of the State during Governor Sibley's administration, the Legislature did not entirely forget that there were ELECTION OF GOVERNOR RAMSEY. 635 some interests of more importance than railway con- struction, and on August second, 1858, largely through the influence of the late John D. Ford, M.D., a public- spirited citizen of Winona, an act was passed for the establishment of three normal schools for the training of public school teachers. In the month of June, 1859, an important route of travel was opened between the Mississippi and Red River of the North. The enterprising firm of J. C. Burbank & Co. having secured from Sir George Simpson, the governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, the transportation of their supplies by way of St. Paul, which had hitherto been carried by tedious and tortuous routes from York River or Lake Superior, purchased a little steamer that had been built by Anson North rup and was on the Red River of the North, and commenced the carrying of goods and passengers by land to Breckinridge, and from thence by water to Pembina. At an election held in the fall of 1859, Alexander Ramsey was elected Governor, and in his inaugural message to the second Legislature, on January second, 1860, he devotes a large space to the complications arising from the loan of the State credit to railroad companies. He argued that something should be done relative to the outstanding $2,300,000 of State rail- road bonds, and suggested several methods which might be adopted for withdrawing them. In the course of his argument he remarked : " It is extremely desirable to remove as speedily as possible so vexing a question from our State politics, and not allow it to remain for years to disturb our elections, perhaps to divide our people into bond and anti-bond parties, and introduce 634 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. annually into our legislative halls an element of dis- cord and possibly of corruption, all to end just as similar complications in other States have ended : the men who will have gradually engrossed the possession of all the bonds, at the cost of a few cents on the dol- lar, will knock year after year at the door of the Legis- lature for their payment in full; the press will be sub- sidized ; the cry of repudiation will be raised ; all the ordinary and extraordinary means of procuring legis- lation in doubtful cases will be freely resorted to ; until finally the bondholders will pile up almost fabulous fortunes. * * * It is assuredly true that the present time is, of all others, alike for the present bondholders and the people of the State, the very time to arrange, adjust, and settle these unfortunate and deplorable railroad and loan complications." Initiatory steps were taken during the session of the second Legislature for securing an efficient system of public instruction. An act for the regulation of the State University, in place of the Territorial University, was passed ; and in a report of the joint committee of Senate and House of Representatives on the University, largely written by the recently elected head of the in- stitution, the following views were presented: " A University is necessarily of slow development. It is the outgrowth of the common school system. Ten years must sometimes elapse before there is suffi- cient strength to make a good beginning, and then in twice ten years its influence will begin to have its due effect. A University in a new and sparsely settled State must not precede, but succeed the common schools. When these nurseries of education are fairly established, and begin to have their full measure of in- REPORT ON THE UNIVERSITY. 635 fluence, then follows a demand for a style of education which no one locality can afford to give, and which it is the peculiar province of the University to furnish. By a premature organization of State institutions, the seeds of decay have been sown in the beginning. In- cipient consumption takes place, and in a decade of years they dwindle down to large infant schools, or at best to academies no more respectable than can be found in other localities of the State. " From a provision in the enactment of the present session in relation to donations to the State University, the committee are very hopeful of results. u The universities of our Western States have gen- erally excited but little interest among the friends of education. The Legislature has been the only ' alma mater' to which they could look for nutrition, and too often they have been made to feel, in the literal signification of the word, that they were ' alumni/ Good men, fearing constant and hasty changes in policy by succeeding Legislatures, have preferred to endow institutions of learning under the supervision of some branch of the church. Alreadv in our Commonwealth, «/ 7 Baldwin, the distinguished manufacturer of locomo- tives, and public-spirited citizen of Philadelphia, has given thousands of dollars to an institution of learn- ing at St. Paul, and Hamline, an honored bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, has given a large sum to the college at Red Wing. " Such security is given to the philanthropist, in the fifth section of the act providing for the government and regulation of the University of Minnesota, that it is believed that in the course of three or four years, the State may expect similar endowments from indi- 636 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. viduals who love to build up establishments for sound learning, the greatest ornaments a republic can possess. " Indeed, we do not see, with the guards thrown around donations by the provisions of the sections alluded to, why men of every school of philosophy, and shade of religious belief, should not become zealous supporters of one great university, which shall be known far and wide as the University of the State. " The framer of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, at the close of his life, looked back with the greatest pleasure to the share he had in the foundation of the University of Virginia, and he de- sired that a record of the fact should be engraved on the marble that marks his grave. There can be no« doubt that it is a wise policy for every State so to con- ciliate all of her best citizens as to enlist their sympa- thies in behalf of her eleemosynary institutions. " Nothing so cultivates a proper State pride as an in- stitution of learning, in which the youth of the State can be educated, and feel that their advantages have been inferior to none. " Time, toil, and great patience will be needed to per- fect a university system. The oaks of California, ma- jestic in appearance now, required centuries for de- velopment after the acorn was buried in the soil. For five years nothing may be done by the Regents, which is visible or tangible, and yet these silent and invisible processes are necessary to permanent growth. " The general government for years employed skilful engineers in throwing vast rocks into the ocean, at the entrance of Delaware Bay. To the class of men who looked for results in a day, it seemed a foolish and ex- pensive work, but little better than c building castles MEMORIAL FOR GRANT OF LAND. 637 in the air;' but now that these piles of rock have reached the surface of the waters, and are surmounted by massive walls behind which ships nestle in the fiercest storm, with the security of the brood under the shadow of the mother's wing, the humblest mari- ner appreciates the work, and as he sails along, prays ' God save the Commonwealth.' Let us lay the foun- dation stones of the University, and the generation which follow us, when they behold the superstructure, will be sure to bless the foresight and the persevering labour which has secured to them the priceless boon of a complete education ; a breakwater against the waves of anarchy, superstition, and ' science falsely so called.' " For the sake of economy, as well as procuring unity of development during the State's infancy, an act was passed by the second Legislature making the Chan- cellor of the University also Superintendent of Public Instruction. At the first meeting of the Regents of the State University, on April fifth, 1860, the following memo- rial was adopted, relative to a grant of land, which, after long delay, was secured : "His Excellency Alex. Ramsey, Gov. of Minnesota : " Dear Sir, — In February, 1851, the Territorial Leg- islature passed an act incorporating ' a Territorial In- stitution of learning under the name of the University of Minnesota,' to which were granted ' the proceeds of all lands that may hereafter be granted by the United States to the Territory for the support of a university.' On February nineteenth, of the same year, it was enacted by Congress: "'That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he 638 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. hereby is, authorized and directed to set apart and re- serve from sale, out of the public lands, within the Territory of Minnesota, to which the Indian title has been or may be extinguished, and not otherwise ap- propriated, a quantity of land not exceeding two entire townships, for the use and support of a University in said Territory, and for no other use and purpose what- ever, to be located in legal subdivisions of not less than one entire section.' " Shortly after this Congressional enactment the Re- gents of the Territorial University organized, obtained a site, erected a building thereon, and commenced in- struction therein, — the first instance on record of a Territorial University going into operation at so early a period in the history of a Territory. " The Regents also, with the approbation of the Sec- retary of the Interior, proceeded to select a large por- tion of the lands granted for the Territorial institution. Subsequently they erected a costly edifice and mort- gaged it, by virtue of a power granted by the Terri- torial Legislature of 1856, for $15,000, to secure the payment of certain bonds, and by another act passed in 1858, on the eighth day of March, before the ad- mission of Minnesota into the Union, mortgaged lands that had been selected by the Regents, to secure the payment of a further sum of $40,000 borrowed by the Regents for the Territorial institution. "Heretofore Congress has made grants to Territories not having organized any Universities, and the lands being free from all prospective incumbrances, the En- abling Acts of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa have used the following similar phraseology : " 'Seventy-two sections of land, set apart and reserved MEMORIAL FOR GRANT OF LAND. 639 for the use and support of a University by an Act of Congress approved on day of are hereby granted and conveyed to the State, to be appropriated solely to the use and support of such University in such manner as the Legislature may prescribe.' " The condition of Minnesota being different, so far as a Territorial University was concerned, we expect and find different language in the Enabling Act. There is no reference, as in acts alluded to, to previous reserves, but it is prospective. It says, if certain provisions are accepted: " * That seventy-two sections of land shall be set apart and reserved for the use and support of a State Uni- versity to be selected by the Governor of said State, sub- ject to the approval of the Commissioner of the Gen- eral Land Office.' " Although a Territorial University had been in ex- istence for years, and the Regents had selected lands, there is no reference thereto, but the language pre- scribes selections for a future State University. u Certainly it was not the intention of Congress to turn over the debts and prospectively encumbered lands of an old and badly managed Territorial institu- tion, but to give the State, that was to be, a grant for a State University, free from all connections with Ter- ritorial organizations. " Will you, therefore, take the steps indicated in the Enabling Act, and appoint, at an early day, some one to select two townships of land for the State Univer- sity, incorporated by the last Legislature. " In behalf of the Regents of the University of the State of Minnesota, " E. D. Neill, Chancellor." <640 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. On March twenty-third, I860, the first white per- son 1 executed under the laws of the State was hung, and, from the fact that the one who suffered the penalty was a woman, attracted considerable attention. Michael Bilansky died on March eleventh, 1859, and upon examination was found to have been poisoned. Anna, his fourth wife, was tried for the offence, found guilty, and on December third, 1859, sentenced to be hung. The opponents of capital punishment secured the passage of an act by the Legislature to meet her case, which was vetoed by the Governor as unconstitutional. Two days before the execution the unhappy woman requested her spiritual adviser to write to her father and mother in North Carolina, but not to state the cause of her death. The scaffold was erected in St. Paul near the county jail. The third State Legislature assembled on January eighth, and adjourned on March eighth, 1861. As Minnesota was the first State which received 1280 acres of land in each township for school purposes, the Governor, in his annual message, occupied several pages in an able and elaborate argument as to the best methods of guarding and selling the school lands, and protecting the school fund. The comprehensive views set forth made a deep impression, and were embodied in appropriate legisla- tion, and the School Land policy of the State has called forth the highest commendation from educators in other States. The educational policy of the State was freely dis- 1 A.n Indian was hung in December, 1851. See p= 611. OFFICE OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 641 ■cussed during the third session of the Legislature. The Senate Committee, in presenting a bill prescribing the salary of Chancellor of the University, ex-officio Super- intendent of Public Instruction, made the following report : " That in Wisconsin the Chancellor of the University receives for services rendered to the State the annual compensation of three thousand dollars, while the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, with an assistant and one clerk, receives thirty-six hundred dollars ; also that in Iowa the Chancellor of the State University receives two thousand dollars, and the office of Public Instruction twenty-four hundred dollars. Our own State, profiting by the counsels of experienced edu- cators in other States, has recognized the unity of educational interests, and the fact that there must be a thorough and efficient system of primary, secondary, and high schools before there can be a proper university, and therefore the last Legislature made the Chancellor of the State University ex-officio Superintendent of Public Instruction. Thus one of the most delicate and responsible departments of the State government is entrusted to one who is presumed to be and ought to be acquainted with the educational systems of the past and present, and who is also lifted above the din of party strife and the influences which so often lead to a caucus nomination and an election by a political party, or their representatives assembled in joint conven- tion." The views of the Committee were clamorously assailed by a small minority. That no personal prejudices against the head of the educational system might endanger the important cause of public instruction, the Chancellor of 41 642 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the University resigned. 1 The result of the discussion was that a law was passed creating a separate office of public instruction, and in joint convention the Legis- lature, five members only dissenting, elected the late Chancellor of the University as the head of the new office. The Regents of the University at their next meeting having requested Mr. Neill to withdraw his resignation, he again became chancellor, and so con- i « St. Paul, Feb. 25, 1861. "Hon. Alex. Ramsey: "Dear Sir: — In tendering my resignation as Chancellor of the University of Minnesota, it is proper that a brief allusion should be made in relation to my connection with the educational affairs of the State. " In the year 1858, during the administration of your predecessor, and at the instance of Hon. H. M. Eice, I was elected chancellor. After several weeks of deliberation I ac- cepted the office ; for although I dis- covered that by poor management the institution had incurred a heavy debt by the erection of a building in advance of the wants of the insti- tution, yet I supposed that by strict watchfulness the debt might in years be liquidated, and the University serve its purpose at its proper time. The last Legislature repealed the old charter of the Territorial Univer- sity, and passed a new act by which the old Regents as well as myself were displaced. They also enacted that the chancellor under the new arrangement should be ex-officio State Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion. The new Board, with one ex- ception, were of different political opinions from a majority of the old Board, but at their first meeting they re-elected me chancellor. " The action of the last Legislature commended itself to me, for it made a unit of educational interests too often separated. Believing that a State University should be kept in the closest sympathy with the normal and public schools, and that there never could be a 'university worthy of the name unless the public schools were made efficient, I entered upon the duties of the office with enthu- siasm, and the hearty ' God-speed,' as I supposed, of men of all creeds and parties. The correspondence on file in the office gives abundant evi- dence that the position has not been a sinecure. But a respectable number of the present Legislature desire to modify the system lately inaugu- rated, and which has been com- mended by distinguished educators abroad, and bring the office of Su- perintendent of Public Instruction nearer to political influences. In order that they may have no ob- stacles to the reconstruction of the educational system as their wisdom and matured experience may sug- gest, I think it better that I should retire. " Since 1858 I have performed the UNIVERSITY CHANCELLORSHIP. 643 tinued until, during his absence in the public service, his office was vacated by legislation. duties of the chancellorship, and since March, 1860, those of the State superintendence, without any compensation, and have been obliged to furnish the office with desks, postage, stationery, and a part of the time employ a clerk, and also pay all my travelling expenses while in the service of the State. " By law the Legislature is re- quired to provide suitable compen- sation, and I have no doubt that if this Legislature, owing to the extreme poverty of the State, fail to remu- nerate me for the services performed and money expended in behalf of the Commonwealth, that the day will come when I will be paid in full, with interest. Assure the .Regents of my high personal regard, and that, while no longer holding any official connection, I am still, as ever, ready to co-operate in any movement that will tend to give our State a name for intelligence. " Yours truly, "Edw. D. Neill." 644 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTEE XXX. Minnesota's part in suppressing slaveholders' rebellion: occurrences oe 1861. The people of Minnesota had not been as excited as those of the Atlantic States relative to the ques- tions that were discussed previous to the presidential election of November, 1860. A majority had calmly declared their preference for Abraham Lincoln as President of the republic. The sources of the Mississippi River being in the State, its waters, after rolling by the capital, also wash the borders of the former slave States of Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana, and passing the city of New Orleans, are lost in the Gulf of Mexico. Living upon the banks of the same river, in the summer-time, the slaveholder would leave his plantation and breathe the bracing atmosphere of the valley of the Upper Mississippi, and while he dis- covered that the citizens of Minnesota, with but few exceptions, considered the holding of persons of Afri- can descent in slavery as a foul blot upon the repu- tation of States that belonged to a so-called free re- public, yet he was treated with kindness, and was convinced that there was no disposition upon the part of the inhabitants to use unlawful measures for the abolition of slavery. ATTACK ON FORT SUMTER. 645 But the blood of her quiet and intelligent population was stirred on the morning of April fourteenth, 1861, by the intelligence communicated in the daily papers of the capital, that the insurgents of South Carolina had bombarded Fort Sumter, and that after a gallant resistance of thirty-four hours, General Anderson and the few soldiers of his command had been obliged to haul down their country's flag and evacuate the fort. The sad, thoughtful countenances of the congrega- tions worshipping in the churches, the groups of earnest men talking at the corners of the streets on that event- ful Sunday, indicated their conviction that the existence of the nation was imperilled, and that the honour of the flag must be sustained by the expenditure of life and much treasure. Governor Ramsey was in Washington at this period, and on Sunday called upon the President of the re- public with two other citizens from Minnesota, and was the first of the State governors to tender the services of the people he represented in defence of the republic. The offer of a regiment was accepted, and the Gov- ernor sent a dispatch to Lieutenant-governor Donnelly, which caused the issuing on Tuesday, the sixteenth, of the following proclamation: "Whereas, the govern- ment of the United States in the due enforcement of the laws has for several months past been resisted by armed organizations of citizens in several of the South- ern States, who precipitating the country into revolu- tion, have seized upon and confiscated the property of the nation to the amount of many millions of dollars; have taken possession of its forts and arsenals; have 646 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. fired upon its flag, and at last consummating their treason, have, under circumstances of peculiar indignity and humiliation, assaulted and captured a Federal fort, occupied by Federal troops. And whereas, all these outrages, it is evident, are to be followed by an at- tempt to seize upon the national capital and the offi- cers and archives of the government. And whereas, the President of the United States, recurring in this extremity to the only resource left him, the patriot- ism of a people who through three great wars, and all the changes of eighty-five years, have ever proved true to the cause of law, order and free institutions, has issued a requisition to the governors of the seve- ral States for troops to support the government. ■" Now therefore, in pursuance of law and of the re- quisition of the President of the United States, I do hereby give notice that volunteers will be received at the city of St. Paul for one regiment of infantry, com- posed of ten companies, each of sixty-four privates, one captain, two lieutenants, four sergeants, four cor- porals, and one bugler. The volunteer companies al- ready organized, upon complying with the foregoing requirements as to numbers and officers, will be en- titled to be first received. " The term of service will be three months, unless sooner discharged. Volunteers will report them- selves to the adjutant-general, at the capital, St. Paul, by whom orders will at once be issued, giving all the necessary details as to enrollment and organ- ization." Business during the week was almost suspended. The national flag displayed over the stores and the roofs of private residences evinced that there was a TROOPS QUICKLY RAISED. 64f determination to preserve what, with all of its blem- ishes, was still the best of earthly governments. All political party ties were obliterated, and the public meetings at the capital and at St. Anthony, Minneapolis, Red Wing, Winona, and in all the prin- cipal towns, indicated a surprising unanimity and re- solve to use every effort to conquer the slaveholders' rebellion. Under the call issued by the lieutenant-governor, acting in the absence of the Governor, recruiting was begun with alacrity. On Monday morning, the six- teenth, companies of the artillery of the regular army arrived at St. Paul from Fort Ridgley in charge of Major Pemberton, hastening to Washington to aid in protection of the capital ; but this officer, before he reached the destination, resigned his command, and, although a native of one of the free States, offered his sword in defence of the confederacy of slave States. The first company raised under the call of the State was composed of the most energetic of the young men of St. Paul, and its captain was the esteemed William H. Acker, who had been the adjutant-general of the State militia. Other companies quickly followed in tendering their services. On the last Monday of April a camp for the 1st Regiment was opened at Fort Snelling, and Captain Anderson D. Nelson, U. S. A., in two or three days mustered in the companies, and on the twenty-seventh of the month Adjutant-General John B. Sanborn, in behalf of Governor Ramsey, ex-qfficio commander-in- chief of State troops, issued the following order : " The commander-in-chief expresses his gratification at the prompt response to the call of the President of 648 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the United States upon the militia of Minnesota, and his regret that under the present requisition for only ten companies it is not possible to accept the services of all the companies offered. " The following companies, under the operation of General Order No. 1, have been accepted : Company B r 2d Regiment, Capt. Lester ; Company A, 6th Regiment, Capt. Pell ; Company A, 7th Regiment, Capt. Colville \ Company A, 8th Regiment, Capt. Dike ; Company A, 13th Regiment, Capt. Adams; Company A, 16th Regi- ment, Capt. Putnam; Company A, 17th Regiment, Capt. Morgan; Company A, 2:3d Regiment, Capt. Wilkin; Company B, 23d Regiment, Capt. Acker ; Company A, 25th Regiment, Capt. Broomley. Each officer and private is recommended to provide himself with a blanket. Captains of the above companies will report their respective commands to the adjutant-general at Fort Snelling. " The commander-in-chief recommends the com- panies not enumerated above to maintain their organi- zation and perfect their drill, and that patriotic citizens throughout the State continue to enroll themselves and be ready for any emergency." More companies having offered than were necessary to fill the quota of the 1st Regiment, on May third the Governor sent a telegram to the President offering a second regiment. The authorities at Washington were soon convinced of the magnitude of the rebellion, and on May seventh Mr. Cameron, secretary of war, sent the following telegram to Governor Ramsey: " It is decidedly preferable that all the regiments mustered into the service of the government from your FLAG PRESENTATION. 649' State not already actually sent forward should be mus- tered into service for three years or during the war. If any persons belonging to the regiments already mustered for three months, but not yet actually sent forward, should be unwilling to serve for three years or during the war, could not their places be filled by others willing to serve?" On May eleventh Lieutenant-governor Donnelly telegraphed to Governor Ramsey, then in Washington on official business : " The entire 1st Regiment, by its commissioned officers, is this day tendered to the President for three years or during the war. The men will be mustered in to-day by Capt. Nelson. In case of deficiency in the ranks, what course would you re- commend ? Answer." The same day the Governor replied: "Adjutant- General Thomas authorizes me to say that Captain Nelson may muster in Colonel Gorman's regiment at once for three years or during the war. Do this at once under dispatch of May seventh." The ladies of St. Paul having purchased a hand- some silk flag for the regiment, on May twenty-fifth they came to receive the present. After a six miles' march from Fort Snelling, the regiment arrived in the suburbs of the city about 10 o'clock in the morning. Before they reached the capitol the grounds surround- ing and adjacent streets were crowded with spectators. The troops having been formed in hollow square in front of the building, the wife of the Governor appeared on the steps with the flag in her hand, and Captain 'Stansbury, of U. S. A. Topographical Engineers, made the presentation speech in behalf of the ladies, after which Colonel Gorman replied most appropriately. 650 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. On June fourteenth, the Governor received a dis- patch from the secretary of war ordering the regiment to Washington. Messengers were immediately sent by Colonel Gorman to the companies temporarily garrison- ing Forts Ripley and Ridgley to report at Fort Snelling. On the twenty-first, at an early hour they embarked in the steamers Northern Belle and War Eagle. 1 Before marching out of the fort to the boats, their chaplain delivered the following address : "Soldiers of Minnesota! This is not the hour for many words. The moment your faces are turned toward the South you assume a new attitude. Gray- haired sires, venerable matrons, young men and fair maidens will look upon you with pride as you glide by their peaceful homes. From week to week they will eagerly search the newspapers to learn your posi- tion and condition. " To-day the whole State view you as representative men, and you no doubt realize that the honour of our Commonwealth is largely entrusted to your keeping. " Your errand is not to overturn, but to uphold the most tolerant and forbearing government on earth. 1 Staff Officers. Jacob H. Stewart, Surgeon. Pris- "Willis A. Gorman, Colonel. Promo- oner of war at Bull Eun, July 1861. ted to Brigadier-General by advice of Paroled at Kichmond. General Winfield Scott, Oct. 7, 1861. Charles W. Le Boutillier, Assistant- Stephen Miller, Lieutenant-Col- Surgeon. Prisoner of war at Bull onel. Made Colonel of 7th Kegi- Run. Surgeon 9th Begiment. Died ment, Aug. 1862. April 1863. William H. Dike, Major. Re- Edward D. Neill, Chaplain. Re- signed Oct. 22, 1861. signed July 13, 1862, and commis- William B. Leach, Adjutant. Made sioned by President Lincoln as Hos- €aptain and A. A.-G. Feb. 23, 1862. pital Chaplain U. S. A. In 1864 Mark W. Downie, Quartermaster, resigned, and commissioned as one Promoted Captain Company B, July of the secretaries to President. 16, 1861. DEPARTURE OF FIRST REGIMENT. 651 You go to war with misguided brethren, not with wrathful, but with mourning hearts. Your demeanour from the day of enlistment shows that you are fit for something else than ' treason, stratagem, and spoils/ " To fight for a great principle is a noble work. We are all erring and fallible men ; but the civilized world feel that you are engaged in a just cause, which God will defend. " In introducing myself to you, I would say, I come not to command, but to be a friend, and to point to you the ' Friend of friends,' who sticketh closer than a brother, who pities when no earthly eye can pity, and who can save when no earthly arm can save. " As far as in me lies, I am ready to make known the glad tidings of the gospel, the simple but sublime truth as it is in Christ Jesus. The religion I shall in- culcate will make you self-denying, courageous, cheerful here, and happy hereafter. " Soldiers ! if you would be obedient to God, you must "honour him who has been ordained to lead you forth. The colonel's will must be your will. If, like the Roman centurion, he says, ' go,' go you must. If he says 6 come,' come you must. God grant you all the Hebrew's endur- ing faith, and you will be sure to have the Hebrew's valor. Now with the Hebrew benediction I close. " The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen !" At 7.30 a.m. the troops arrived at the upper landing of St. Paul, and amid the tears and cheers of its citizens, marched through the city to the lower landing, and again embarked for the seat of war. 652 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. While this regiment did not contain any braver or better men than those which were subsequently raised,, yet because it was the First, and also the only one, from Minnesota, in the Army of the Potomac engaged in de- fence of the national capital, its course during the war was watched with deep interest. Their journey to Wash- ington so soon after the call for troops, and their fine, healthful appearance, were commended by the public press. The Chicago Tribune, June twenty-third, said : " Gal- lant Minnesota deserves high credit for her noble sons and their appearance yesterday. They have enjoyed in their make-up that rare and excellent process of selec- tion and culling from the older States which has thrown into the van of civilization the hardy lumbermen and first settlers of the wilds. There are few regiments we ever saw that can compete in brawn and muscle with these Minnesotians, used to the axe, the rifle, the oar r the setting pole, and thus every way splendid material for soldiers." Another paper of the same city, in an editorial with the caption "Northern Hive," thus descants: "The advent of the Minnesota regiment on Sunday on their way to the seat of war was suggestive of many curious reflections. It carried the mind back to the twilight of modern civilization, to the days when not hireling mercenaries, but companions in arms, free men of northern Europe, burst from their icy homes and over- whelmed their effeminate southern neighbors. The old story of the world's history seemed to be repeated ; and chronicle and tradition alike teach us what the result must be. As we beheld the men march by, their stal- wart forms, wild dress, martial bearing, and healthy FIRST REGIMENT AT ALEXANDRIA. 653 complexions gave reality to the reflection, that this, after all was repetition of the scene, — that these were forms as brawny, faces as intelligent, expressions as resolute, as in the days of old issued from the Northern Hive to plant the foundations of all that we now know of free- dom and civilization." After remaining a few days encamped at Washington, the regiment was ordered to cross the Potomac. A correspondent of the St. Paul Press writes as follows from 11 Camp Minnesota, rear of Alexandria, " Fourth of July night. " The Minnesota Regiment, since yesterday after- noon, has not been ' in clover,' but in a field of timothy. " On the morning of the 3d we pulled up stakes in the rear of the Capitol, and, marching down to the Washington Navy Yard, were received by Commodore Dahlgren, a noble specimen of Philadelphia, and a true patriot, who had two staunch steamers all ready to convey us to Alexandria. As I renewed acquaintance with the commodore, I could but realize the painful estrangements that have taken place in a few months. The last time I had met him was at a small evening party, at the hospitable house of Senator Toombs, then recognized as a patriot, and particularly as a friend of our young State, now known the world over as one of a few fanatics who have conspired to overthrow the most beneficent government ever devised by man. "Arriving at Alexandria in less than an hour, we marched to General McDowell's head-quarters, and received directions to retire to our camping- ground, and were reviewed by him and other military officers. ^54 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. "The reception in Alexandria formed the widest contrast to that in Chicago. "The latter was enthusiastic, and the filled streets, although it was the peaceful Sabbath eve, waved with a forest of clapping hands ; but, in the former, vacant houses, with here and there a half-opened shutter, re- vealing a curious, peeping female, and in the streets a knot of sullen or expressionless faces, were all the manifestations witnessed. "The spot selected for our encampment was a large field of waving timothy, yesterday belonging to a man of secession proclivities, but to-day it has withered under the Alaric heel of our Northmen. " It was after night before all the tents arrived, and it was pleasant to see the cheerfulness with which the soldiers bore the loss of their usual meals. " During the afternoon we had ocular evidence that we were in ' Ole Virginny,' as the negroes say. Our arrival was soon chronicled among the sable popula- tion, and soon a small army of venders of gingerbread made their appearance. " Lads of all hues, from the darkest ebony to the lightest cinnamon, basket in hand, grinned at you in the bewitching, good-humoured way peculiar to negro boys, that is irresistible and forces you to buy a cake and dispense with any change that is due. Fat, shining, waddling, turbaned, composed, thick-lipped Dinahs stop in front of you so graciously and courtesy so low that you must take their glass of lemonade, which is only three cents. Toward night, dealers in large craft, — Sambo, who is too big a gentleman to carry bundles, has harnessed up master's large horse to the heavy wood-cart, and has driven out with the ponderous load. FOURTH OF JULY IN VIRGINIA. £55 of two or three baskets of pies and sweet things, and, with a due sense of importance, awaits customers. " The Fourth of July, with more than one thousand Minnesotians near Alexandria, with the Massachusetts 5th on the other side of the road, and Ellsworth's Zouaves adjoining them, and a Pennsylvania and Michigan regiment on a hill near by, shows that the times are sadly out of joint, and that ' there is some- thing rotten in Virginia.' " Yet, all day long, we have felt as if the spirit of Washington was with us, and if he was to arise from his tomb at Mount Vernon, and move with his wonted stately step through the streets of Alexandria, once so familiar to him, that he would look around as Jesus once gazed on the Jews, with righteous indignation. "He lived not for Virginia, nor for the South, but denied and sacrificed to make one great nation out of several petty, jealous, and insignificant colonies. As he urged the suppression of the Shays rebellion by the force of arms, so we feel sure that he approves of the occupancy of Virginia soil on this Fourth of July by government troops to suppress the Davis insurrection. "Being dead, he yet speaks to us and tells us that our nation is one, and that the people of the United States have formed a perpetual Union, which no State authority can abrogate. "But I must restrain my patriotism, as I am writing a familiar letter on the top of a trunk, and not deliver- ing a Fourth of July oration. " This morning about 3 o'clock the camp was called to arms by the rapid beat of the drum, as the discharge of musketry indicated that the rebel pickets were firing upon ours some two or three miles distant. 656 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. " Chaplain Da Costa, of the 5th Massachusetts Regi- ment, visited us this evening. He is a member of the Episcopal branch of the church catholic, and a genial Christian gentleman. He has to-day received what he has long waited for, a piece of contraband property, a first-rate black servant, trained in all the arts and mysteries of his profession. " His master's residence was near by, but he has been some time absent as captain of a rebel troop. A few days ago he wrote to have his man sent to him. Two constables to-day went out from Alexandria to see Sambo at his master's place, and convey him to a 6 lock-up' for safe-keeping until there was a favourable opportunity to forward the chattel. " Sambo liked his master well enough, but did not relish leaving the old home and going into a strange country among a people who were doing very strange things. So, watching his opportunity, he turned a short corner, and, dodging his pursuers, threaded the lanes and alleys of Alexandria, and, with the speed of a deer, bounded into the Massachusetts camp, and is now the happy drawer of water and blacker of boots of Chaplain Da Costa. " Would that some other injured individual would take to his heels and fly to the tent of the Minnesota chaplain, who is sadly in need of a Gibeonite!" The same correspondent again writes : 11 Camp Gorman, near Alexandria, "July 10, 1861. "Last Sunday, our first in Virginia, was to me a calm, pleasant, holy day. At the appointed hour the regiment formed, and, preceded by the band, marched SUNDAY SERVICE. 657 to a clump of oaks a short distance from the camp, which formed a Bethel in the original Hebrew signifi- cation, and would have delighted a Ruskin, or any other lover of the aesthetic. " The trees were not more than twenty in number, but lofty and venerable, and so arranged as to leave an open and shady centre just sufficient to accommo- date the regiment. While the companies under their respective officers were filing into the grove, the birds, poised amid the graceful arches of nature's leafy temple, sang a cheerful voluntary, which sounded far more like an anthem of praise than the artistic performances of mere heartless hirelings on the solemn-toned organ in some modern sanctuaries. " The prayers, the hymns, and the discourse were conformed to the occasion, and it is said that the audience was not weary. While the chaplain was invoking the blessing of Heaven upon our nation's arms, the Rev. Mr. Leftwich, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, in his own pulpit offered earnest prayer for the success of those in armed rebellion against the government. " After the services were over, Colonel Heintzelman, the commanding officer in Alexandria, sent for and re- monstrated with him. He acknowledges the charge, and says he must obey God rather than man. The church had a military guard around it that night, and evening services were postponed. In the Washington Star of to-night Mr. Leftwich has a note, in which he com- plains of the interference with him as tyrannical; but he forgets that if he conscientiously uses the privilege of publicly praying for treason in the face of a govern- ment order, he must, like Daniel, who only prayed in 42 658 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. his own home, be ready to suffer the penalty, and be ready to go to the prison-house. The concluding sen- tences of his letter, while beautiful, show how the people of this vicinity are estranged. I send them for your readers : " ' As to the alleged division of sentiment in my church, all that I shall say is, that, unless the signs are strangely deceptive, my prayers carry weekly to God the earnest and honest desires of a united and devoted people. If there be more than one supporter of the Administration in my congregation, I am yet to learn his name. I am not alone in this kind of offence, if offence it can be called. As I look at these hills, now whitened with tents, I feel assured that beyond them there is scarcely a brook-side on which some Jacob is not wrestling for the results which I have invoked, and in all those sweeping ranges scarcely a mountain from which good men, with eyes rapt as were Moses' upon Nebo, are not fondly beholding visions of success/ " How changed is this neighbourhood since the days following the Revolution! It is difficult to realize, after reading the sentiments we have just quoted, that it was in Alexandria, in the spring of 1785, that com- missioners from Maryland and Virginia met to devise remedies to overcome the acknowledged defects arising from thirteen independent States, and that their recom- mendations induced Virginia, in 1786, to ask the other States to appoint delegates to assemble and, among other subjects, consider 'how far a uniformity of their commercial regulations may be necessary to their common interest and permanent harmony,' which re- commendation resulted in the memorable Convention A CONTRABAND IN CAMP. 659 of 1787, which framed the glorious Constitution which Virginians now wish to subvert. " When I hear of Brent, a native of this city, formerly a lawyer in St. Paul, now a major of rebel cavalry, I can but say with Washington, at the time of the civil discord in Massachusetts : " ' What, gracious God, is man, that there should be such inconsistency and perfidiousness in his conduct? It was but the other day that we were shedding our blood to obtain the constitutions under which we now live, — constitutions of our own choice and making, — and now we are unsheathing the sword to overturn them ! The thing is so unaccountable that I hardly know how to realize it, or to persuade myself that I am not under the illusion of a dream/ "But, as usual, I am branching off into a disqui- sition, while your St. Paul readers, like the ancient Athenians, are continually inquiring of you 'for some new thing/ Alas! news is scarce with us just now. We are expecting to move every day, but as yet we remain. "This morning I was in the Massachusetts camp, and saw the contraband who arrived there on the Fourth of July, an Independence Day he will never forget. His name is Henry, and, to use the language of Southern advertisements, ' he is a likely lad, sound in body, well disposed, and a capital house servant/ His face is black as an ace of spades, his lips are as thick as a buffalo's, and his grin forces you to do likewise. He has no fault to find with old friends, but he is very happy with his new ones, and anxious to see the in- stitutions of Massachusetts. May Henry not be dis- appointed in his expectations, is my only wish. Too 660 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. many have fled from servitude, to find themselves wholly unprepared for the toils and trials incident to freedom." After the army crossed the Potomac the following circular, at the suggestion of the surgeons, was prepared on the ninth of July, at Camp Gorman, near Alexan- dria : " To the churches of Christ in Minnesota, of every name, greeting. " Grace be with you, mercy and peace from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. "By the request of Surgeon Stewart and Assistant Surgeon Le Boutillier I send this circular. A regiment during the first months of its organization is necessarily destitute of adequate hospital funds, and owing to the pressure on the department at Washington, ordinary medical supplies are limited. Soldiers exposed to the heat of the noon-day sun and the malaria that walketh in darkness, frequently find their way, after the night's watch, to the hospital. Careful nursing, and food more delicate than army rations, are the remedies prescribed for recovery. " The surgeons feel that the various branches of the church in Minnesota, whose children are all represented in the regiments, will esteem it a privilege to contribute something, even the widow's mite, to procure a lemon, or orange, or cup of cold water or other refreshment, for a soldier debilitated by exposure to Southern suns, and they have selected the writer as a medium of communication. " Contributions should be made for the Hospital Fund HOSPITAL FUND. 661 of the 1st Minnesota Regiment, and forwarded in Eastern exchange. All receipts will be publicly ac- knowledged by Edward D. Neill, Chaplain, The response to this circular was so prompt, hearty, and abundant that it was necessary to request the citi- zens to refrain from further contributions. 1 The funds received were sacredly guarded by the appointed cus- todian. Upon his resignation as chaplain, he placed in the State Treasurer's hands, for safe-keeping, the unexpended balance, 2 and in a communication to " Washington, Aug. 13. 11 To Governor Ramsey : "Don't kill us with kindness. Tell liberal men and noble women to send no more money nor clothing. God bless them. "£. D. Neill." 'Some of the reports, as showing the sources of the Hospital Fund and its expenditures, may not be un- interesting. "HOSPITAL FUND OF THE FIRST MINNESOTA REGIMENT. 11 Camp Stone, near Edward's Ferry, Md. "Monday Night, Feb. 24, 1862. u His Excellency Alex. Kamsey, 11 Governor or Minnesota: "Dear Sir, — It seems proper that, through you, a semi-annual report on the condition of the noble Hospital Fund of the 1st Regiment, contrib- uted with many kindly words and blessings, should be rendered to the donors resident in different localities. ""We would recall the origin of this fund. "While encamped near Alexandria, Surgeon Stewart and Assistant Surgeon Le Boutillier re- quested the chaplain to appeal to the various branches of the church in Minnesota, for a small fund that would enable them to aid the sick without the delay incident to a re- quisition on the Medical Bureau. 11 The appeal was limited to the organizations of the church, not to exclude others, but because these are necessarily benevolent, and widely distributed throughout the State. "Shortly after its publication, the battle and repulse of July 21st oc- curred, and the 1st Minnesota being in the extreme right of our army and in the closest proximity to the extreme left of the rebels, our brave soldiers were by scores either killed or wounded. 11 As soon as our citizens recovered from the shock of the sad intelligence, they manifested tender sympathy, and contributions for our Hospital Fund were forwarded from all parts of the State by churches and associa- tions, and men of different 1 "lief and nationality. HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Governor Swift made the suggestion that it should be expended in procuring a monument with appropriate "The chaplain has of course been Aug. 17th. Roman Catholic Cathedral a simple treasurer, making disburse- T Congregation $30.00 r . . ,' , July 27th. Hope Engine Company 20.00 ments by order of the surgeons, and „ 29th Germa n S> per Chas. Leinau.... 47.60 they have husbanded the fund with « « Morris Lamprey, Esq 100.00 great care, not knowing how soon it A «g. 1st- Citizens, per Mrs. Rodney may be before an engagement will „ Parker 67.00 ' , . -i « -ii Sept. 1st. Citizens, per same 75.00 occur, when heavy drafts on it will «, „ M rs. D. A. Robertson 10.00 be necessary. •« ■« Mrs. W. L. Bannings' domes- " It is believed that all the funds tics 50 forwarded have been received, with A "* 8th Philip Rohr's Concert 67.15 „ ' " " St. Paul Female Seminary 7.00 the exception of fifty dollars from „ „ w . C. Thompson, Esq 10.00 Northfield; and this we have been told was used for the benefit of one Stillwater. of the companies, by the gentleman Aug. 2d. Citizens, per Messrs. Burt and to whom it was entrusted. Robertson 225.00 "Mr. Scheffer forwarded from Still- gT ANTH0NY water $44.07, which, by request of xoj • „ „ " . ~„« , , . August 2d.. Citizens, per O.C.Merriman.. 22.00 the donors, was subsequently given „ 3d.. Congregational Church 9.00 to Lieutenant Muller for the benefit « « Methodist Church 10.00 of Company B. ISov. 2d. Citizens, per Major Morgan... 8.10 " This brief report has been written r . MINNEAPOLIS. in a tent, with a strong spring gale ' , .', ■„*, n ■ July 29th. Plymouth Church 17.00 blowing, and amid all the confusion Aug< 3d . Methodist Church 16>40 incident to an order to march early « 5th. Baptist Church 21.00 to-morrow; but I hope and believe " 7th. Ladies' Aid Society 71.30 that the figures are correct, and you ttasttn-os will confer a favor bv having it pub- ,. , , . ,. ,. n Aug. 1st. Citizens, per J. L. Thorne 50.00 hshed in the newspapers, to satisfy . „ u tt Follet & Eenick 50>00 the contributors. " Edward D. Neill, Chaplain." red wing. July 29th. Citizens, per C. Gurnee 51.00 Voluntary Contributions to Hospital Aug. 5th. Methodist Church 22.64 Fund, 1st Minnesota Regiment. " " Collected by T. McCord 1.75 " " Sands' Circus, per F.Sandford. 42.25 ST. PAUL. " " Cash for freight 7.00 July 29th. Market Street Method- WINONA. istChurch $25.00 Aug> 2d. Methodist Church 27.55 Aug. 1st. Scandinavian Church... 3.00 « « Baptist Church 20.35 " Jackson Street Church. 23.00 « 17th. Presbyterian Church 7.30 $51.00 July 29th. First Presbyterian Ch.. $27.58 FARIBAULT " " Central " ;{ 20.00 " " House of Hope Church. 11.00 ^°S- lst - Citizens, per 0. Brown and $58.58 Bishop Whipple 140.00 July 27th. Plymouth Congregation 25.00 " " Episcopal Mite Society 20.00 Aug. 3d. Trinity Lutheran 5.00 « 21st. Methodist Church 10.10 MONUMENT AT GETTYSBURG. 663 designs, to designate the spot in the Gettysburg Ceme- tery where the honored dead of the 1st Regiment who fell in battle have been interred. July 29th. it a Ang. 1st u II 5th. 6th MANKATO. Sept.2Sth. Ladies' collection $52.00 SHAKOPEE. Aug. 1st. Citizens, per James Ashley.... 53.40 " " Presbyterian Church 10.30 ST. CLOUD. Aug. 6th. Presbyterian Church 12.80 «' " Citizens 12.00 MISCELLANEOUS. Baptist Church,West St. Paul. 1.20 Citizens of Anoka 11.50 , Congregational Church, Lake City 6.00 Citizens of Morristown 32.00 , Citizens of "Wilton, Dodge county 5.00 Citizens of Elgin, "Wabasha county 35.00 Congregational and Methodist Churches, and Citizens of Princeton 17.20 Citizens of Spring Lake, Scott county Baptist and Methodist Chs. and citizens of Lebanon 3.30 Citizens of Newport and Cot- tage Grove 22.00 Cottage Grove, per Rev. H. Welford 7.30 Congregational Church at Clearwater 7.00 Bloomington Presbyterian Church, Rev. G. H. Pond.... 13.00 Belle Prairie Congregational Church 10.00 Citizens of Little Falls 13.25 Stockton Sunday School 6.55 Rockford,perRev. N.Lathrop 1.00 East Prairie, per D.N. Russell 30.65 S. A. Goodrich, Bloomington. 1.25 Stockton E. Society 6.00 Preston Church, perRev. Bur- bank 18.80 Lower Quincy, Olmsted co 15.00 Northfield, per D. H. Frost... 13.67 Mr. Pettijohn, Pajutazee 1.00 Ladies of Cannon Falls 40.48 Citizens of Henderson, per Pendergast 14.75 Sept. 3d. Chaska, Carver co., per War- ner u 7th ■ 8th. ■ 10th " 12th. (i ii ■ 15th. ' 17th. 1 20th. ' 21st. ■ 23d. ■ 26th. Sept. 3d. 818.50 RECAPITULATION. St. Paul 8573.83 Stillwater 225.00 St. Anthony 49.10 Minneapolis 125.70 Hastings 100.00 Red Wing 124.64 "Winona 55.20 Faribault 170.10 Mankato 52.00 Shakopee 63.70 St. Cloud 24.80 Miscellaneous 353.65 July 29th. " 31st. Aug. 1st. ' 6th 7th. 8th. 10th. 12th. 13th. ii 14th. 15th. U II ■ 16th. M II " 17th. ■ 19th. Total 81917.72 EXPENDITURES. Wm. Colling in Columbian Hospital $2.00 Ambulance drivers .50 A. G. Scofield, Company F, Alexandria Hospital 10.00 Theodore "Wood, Company F.. 5.00 Martin Healy, discharged soldier 2.50 Chas. E. Hest, woynded 5.09 Exchange paid by G. W. In- gersoll 85 Hospital Steward, for tea 1.00 John H. Jones, debilitated.... 2.50 Freight paid by D. W. Inger- soll 31.50 Hospital cook, for bread 1.00 Samuel Dayton, Company H. 10.00 Hospital Steward 3.00 Telegram to Governor 4.95 Charles Dorothy, Alexandria Hospital 2.50 Express charges on package to Mrs. Scofield 1.00 Dr. Hand, for hospital stores. 25.00 Hotel and traveling expenses, visiting wounded at W T ash- ington and Alexandria 11.00 Dinner for sick soldier 50 Dinner for ambulance driver. .50 Hospital Steward, for bread... 1.00 Dr. Hand, for medicines and expenses 8.00 Hospital Steward ... 3.00 664 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. On July sixteenth, the regiment began to take part in the movement that culminated in the battle of Aug. 20th. M 21st. u 26th. Sept 1st. 5th. « 6th. M u « 8th. 10th. 16th. 17th. 23d. 27th. Not. 4th. " 5th. 7th. 21st. Expenses for DuBois and McMullen $1.03 B. C. Knapp, Company K 10.00 Gum Bougies 2.00 Expenses to Washington and Annapolis 15.95 Brandy and provisions fur- nished to fatigued soldiers after battle, by Sutler King. 43.60 Repairing truss 1.00 Chickens for Biddle 1.00 Dinner for ambulance horses and driver 2.00 Driver's board in Washin gton. 2.00 Horse-doctor and medicine.... 1.50 Mending harness 75 Ambulance livery bill 3.00 Vaccine virus ". 3.00 Medicines 4.25 Wines and liquors 12.00 Hospital Steward 1.66 Charges on box, care of Co. D. 6.65 Chickens for hospital 1.00 Wounded at Alexandria 20.00 Hospital Steward 66 Ten hospital cots, per Major Dike 25.00 Hospital Steward 1.00 Chickens for hospital 3.00 Postage Stamps 2.00 Oscar Gross, Company G, per Capt. Messick 5.00 Ten hospital cots, per Oscar King 25.00 Hospital Cook 2.25 Hospital Nurse 50 Hardware, washing, and ne- cessaries 4.00 Board of Drs. Murphy and Hand, to be refunded when paid for services 56.08 Broom for hospital 25 Chas. Ricketts, Alexandria, per Capt. Downie 10.00 Randolph, Company C, per Lieut. Hoyt 2.50 Sundries, per Dr. Hand 3.50 Ruler and blank book 2.50 Livery bill 6.00 Medicines 2.00 Brandy 50 Expenses of ambulance driver 1.50 Chickens 50 Candles 1.50 Nov. 21st. Oysters for Cummings $ .50 " " Hardware 1.25 " " Wine for Cummings 1.00 " " Hardware 1.00 ** " Ambulance and horses in Washington 5.00 " " Repair of cots 1.00 " M Blank book 1.00 " " Stove and pipe 7.50 " 25th. Chickens J75 " 26th. Second Stove 12.17 Dec. 10th. Richmond prisoners of war... 100.00 " " Hiram Wentworth, per Capt. Coates 25.00 1862. Jan. 24th, " 24th, " 30th Chickens 2.50 Hospital steward 1.00 Milk 1.00 " " C. C. Marr, Richmond pris- oner 5.00 " " Dr. Morton, for hospital use.. 5.00 Feb. 18th. James Scurry, sick soldier on furlough 30.00- " " David Marshall, wounded sol- dier 30.00 Counterfeit bill contributed... 5.00 Hospital washing, 261 pieces. 10.44 24th. Total expenditures 665.98 Cash on hand 1251.74 $1917.72. For want of space two reports that were published are omitted. 11 United States Army Hospital, 11 South Street, Phila., "Oct. 16, 1863. " Governor H. A. Swift: "Dear Sir,— Shortly after tha wounded of the 1st Minnesota were received in the hospitals of this city from the field of Gettysburg, I wrote to the Surgeon of the Kegi- ment, proposing that I should give to each of the wounded five dollars of the Kelief Fund that was forwarded to me by the churches and citizens of Minnesota, just after the first battle of MARCH TO BULL RUN. 66& Bull Run. We continue, as more graphic than the sober words of the historian, the views of a letter- writer, July seventeenth, at Sangster's Station : Bull Run — the unexpended balance of which had been placed by me in the hands of the State Treasurer for safe keeping, after my resignation as regimental chaplain. " Two or three weeks ago I received a letter from Dr. Le Blond, approving the proposition, and a draft was drawn on the State Treasurer for two hun- dred and fifty dollars. "Since the first of the month the following soldiers have each received five dollars, and in one case, by mis- take, a payment of ten dollars was made : Chas. Muller, Company A $5.00 Adam Marty, F. P. Schonbach, E. F. Neystadt, Fred. Marty, Andrew P. Quist, Barth. Carigalt, Peter Everson, G. L. Squires, Andrew Kreiger, J. W. Kautz, E. P. Perkins, Jas. Walsh, Benj. F. Noel, Chas. W. Geer, L. B. Geer, W. C. Smith, Henry Fisher, G. Weaver, Marion Abbott, Romulus Jacks, Geo. Magee, G. S. Hopkins, Killion Drindle, Lewis Breisch, John H. Docker, P. Hess, C. B. Berk, J. Donovan, Wm. D. Howell Ernest Miller, 0. H. Knight, W. K. Richard, 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 10.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 D. S. Wearts, Company I $5.00 D. Barton, " 1 5.00 J. S. Eaton, " K 5.00 Wm. Kinyon, " K 5.00 C. B. Boardman, " K 5.00 V. B. Baker, " L 5.00 W. M. Coleman, " L 5.00 Julian Rauch, 1st Company Sharp- shooters 5.00 $210.00 RECAPITULATION. Draft on Charles Scheffer $250.00 Paid soldiers $210.00 Telegram for soldiers 2.63 Exchange 2.50 Expenses of delivery 50 215.63 Balance on hand $34.37 " Before this you will have proba- bly received the ofiicial announce- ment of the contemplated dedication of the battle-field cemetery at Gettys- burg on November nineteenth ; and,, feeling' assured that it will meet a hearty response from every donor of the fund, I would respectfully suggest that you forward a draft for $500 (presuming that there still re- mains that amount in the hands of the State Treasurer) to be expended in procuring a monument^ with ap- propriate designs, to designate the spot in that cemetery where the hon- ored dead of the 1st Minnesota are interred. 11 Yours, very respectfully, " Edward D. JSTeill, " Chaplain XJ. S. A.» " Philadelphia, Dec. 30, 1863. " To the Governor of Minnesota "Dear Sir, — Expecting in a few days to resign my position as chap- lain in the army, I forward my final report of the funds entrusted to me €66 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. "On the top of an old, and I am glad to say empty, whisky barrel, I write that after a* tramp of sixteen miles by all sorts of ways, highways, by-ways, and no ways, we are, not encamped (for we have no tents), but are reclining in a field near a saw- and grist-mill, which was to-day suddenly deserted. " Yesterday, about ten o'clock, we marched from our camp near Alexandria, and in a few hours there was a column, under Colonel Heintzelman, moving in a direction to leave Fairfax Court-House on our right; General McDowell marching at the same time, by another road, for that point, now become so familiar to every one interested in the war. " The regiments of Heintzelman's division marched yesterday in the following order: Colonel Franklin's Brigade, consisting of the Massachusetts 5th, Pennsyl- vania 4th, Minnesota 1st, and Ricketts' United States Artillery ; then followed Michigan 1st, United States Cavalry, New York Zouaves, Michigan 4th, New York 38th, Maine 4th, Vermont 2d, Maine 5th, and Maine 3d. " All day yesterday we marched through a country by the churches, etc., for relief of Steen, Company A, York, $5. Total, soldiers. $16. " A reference to my last report, " The amount left in my hands is published in the papers of St. Paul, therefore eighteen dollars and thirty- dnd dated October sixteenth, will seven cents, for which a check in favor show that then the sum of thirty-four of the State Treasurer is enclosed, dollars and thirty-seven cents re- "For the information of the donors mained in my hands. to the fund, and for my own protec- " Since that period I have presented tion, you will confer a favor by pub- the following sums : Charles Drake, lishing this, as all previous reports Company A, South Street Hospital, have been, in the Press and Pioneer. $3 ; Dana Barton, Company G, Chest- M Yours truly, nut Hill (additional), $3 ; Chas. Ely, " Edward D. Neill, Company K, Broad Street, $5; Chas. " Chaplain U. S. A." POOR WHITES OF VIRGINIA. 667 diversified by pine forests and a few valleys, but sparsely settled. Toward night the country became more broken, and the valley of the Accotink Creek was quite pleasing. After sunset we reached the Pohick, a small stream, and on the hillside of the valley, toward the west, we rested for the night. " After sleeping under the hospital ambulance, with a horse tied to each hind wheel, who stood as a body- guard all night, I arose quite refreshed, and after a cup of coffee with some pilot bread soaked therein, was ready to follow the fortunes of war. During the night, another regiment, the 11th Massachusetts, joined our column. Before sunrise we were all 'on our winding way,' the ponderous artillery immediately in front of our regiment. " The face of the country is now more broken. Travelled all the forenoon through a wooded country, with here and there a clearing, with a poor log farm- house and an apology for a barn, in the shape of a few pine logs loosely put together and half decayed. The inmates are what the Virginians call 'poor whites/ The mother stands at the door, a tall, vacant, gaunt, care-worn woman; the children pale and buttonless ; the father ill clad, and looking as if he was half ashamed to hold his head up in the presence of decent people. " About two miles on our march we passed an aguish- looking, badly frightened man, whose horse had been shot last night by our pickets, and who had received a wound on his own head, not very serious. " Two women were by his side, one white and coarse featured, the other, more refined, a plump matronly quadroon, who seemed to show quite a conjugal interest in the captured man. She told me that he was hunting 668 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. for a colt when the soldiers challenged, and not un- derstanding them, he did not stop, and they fired. " Our march to-day was truly cautious. Like a serpent (and with our different uniforms as variegated) we have crept through the thick woods by unfrequented paths, and with serpent wisdom, determined not to be caught by the enemy. At midday we reached an improved country, and the farm of an intelligent person, originally from Rensselaer county, New York. The aged grand- father, his son and son's wife, a pretty granddaughter of sixteen, and a grandson of twelve years, stood at the gate, and their* eyes beamed and every feature was bright with joy as we passed. They shook hands, they talked, they laughed, for they felt that the hour of deliverance had come. During the week some of their neighbors had been drafted and unwillingly forced into the rebel army, but now they knew that the reign of terror must soon cease. "While standing at the farm gate, the news comes down the road that the enemy are at Fairfax Station,, and the pickets near by. Orders are soon given for the axemen to go forward to cut out the obstructions the enemy has placed in the road. The work is speedily executed. The New York Zouaves are hurried up, and go by us, jumping like squirrels, to strike the railway near the supposed rebel camp, while we move along with the Massachusetts 5th and U. S. Artillery, ta attack the, left flank. "Deserted pickets now appear, and in a little while we discover at a camping ground of a detachment of rebels, half a mile distant, a dense smoke, and learn that they had left in haste this morning, and, as they could not carry them, had burned up all their stores. MARCH TO CEXTREVILLE. 669 u On we hasten till we reach a high plateau, looking into the valley through which the railways pass, and over toward the Blue Ridge, when we perceive smoke again, and in a half hour arrive at Sangster Station, six miles southwest of Fairfax Court-House, and only eight from Manassas Junction, and find that the rebels as usual have retreated, and in passing down from Fairfax Court-House to-day have burned all the railroad bridges. "Could we have been here but four or five hours sooner we could have caught them all. " After a tramp of sixteen miles in the hot sun, we reached here at four o'clock, and officers and men are all well." The same person wrote, July nineteenth, to the St. Paul Pioneer and Democrat from Centreville, Va. : "A three days' march has brought us to this place, where we found the rear of General McDowell's di- vision. "The first day, without peril or obstruction, we ad- vanced from Alexandria to Pohick Creek, and on the second day tramped by a roundabout road sixteen or seventeen miles, to a station on the Orange Railway, twenty miles from Alexandria, where we arrived about 4 P.M. " General McDowell had reached Fairfax Court-House before dinner, and a number of Alabama and other troops passed by this station, flying to Manassas Junc- tion, two hours before we reached the spot, and in their rear left burning bridges, to prevent pursuit. "'Yesterday morning Captain Wilkin was sent up the railway with twenty men, to scout. He returned in about two hours and a half with intelligence that three 6T0 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. miles distant he perceived about five hundred of the enemy on a hill commanding the road. " In the afternoon Lieutenant-Colonel Miller, with companies A and B, was ordered to proceed on the railway, and discover if the bridge at Union Mills was burned. They proceeded about the same distance, and with the aid of a glass Lieutenant-Colonel Miller and Lieutenants Downie and Thomas all distinctly saw a battery of five or six guns at the point seen by Captain Wilkin in the morning. "While they were absent the long roll was sounded, and the brigades of Colonel Heintzelman's division were quickly on the march again. Just at dark, not far from this place, we heard that there had been a bloody engagement at Bull Run, where a detachment under General Tyler had been mowed down by a masked battery. " Shortly after this rumor, it began to rain, and we were drenched by a nice little shower. Without provisions, surrounded by twenty hungry and wet regiments, and with nothing but the bad news of the afternoon fight to digest, we went supperless to bed, if sleeping in the open air can be thus designated. " This morning the rumor of last night is confirmed. Yesterday about midday, Sherman's Artillery, the 12th and another New York regiment, marched into the mouth of a masked battery. The men behaved bravely, but they could not stand before the galling and unexpected fire, and after a time they retreated, with at least sixty killed. " It is hinted, by those who profess to know, that this mishap was occasioned by Tyler, who is an officer of the regular army, not strictly following orders. REBEL PICKET CAPTURED. 671 " A negro who escaped from the rebel army, and was picked up by Lieutenant Thomas yesterday afternoon towards dusk, says that his master, a captain, was killed, and hundreds of others by the fire of our artil- lery. He also states that Beauregard was there, and that a shot struck a white house, in the porch of which the general was viewing the engagement, and knocked out one end. "This morning, amidst anathemas fierce and loud from long lines of Zouaves and others, a band of eight rebel soldiers was marched through the camp up to General McDowell's tent. They were a picket sta- tioned near Fairfax Court-House, which the rebels in their haste had forgotten to call in. "Their uniform was rather Falstaffian. Their heads were covered with apologies for caps and hats. Two wore dark brown blouses, and the rest were dressed in iron-gray satinet, with green trimmings, and belong, I believe, to an Alabama regiment. " To-day I had the pleasure of meeting General Burn- side, one of the most gentlemanly and efficient officers. Having resigned the army several years ago, he engaged in the manufacture of small arms, which he had im- proved. About six years ago the firm with which he was connected failed. An industrious man, he came out to St. Paul, and passed a short period in the hope of identifying himself with some of our then projected railways. Finding insufficient encouragement, he be- came, through the influence of McClellan, first, assist- ant treasurer, and then treasurer of the Illinois Central Railroad. "The war breaks out, and these two friends and noble men leave situations yielding them an income of thou- 672 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. sands of dollars, to serve their country. Their services have been appreciated, — McClellan ranking as major- general of the United States army, and Burnside as brigadier in command of the Rhode Island forces. " To-day we are at a 'stand-still/ probably awaiting more troops, to render success more sure, and save the shedding of more blood." As it is impossible for any person to see the entire battle-field, it is always better to present the statement of several eye-witnesses, made from different stand- points. Using the reports of the division, brigade, and regi- mental commander on the conduct of the 1st Minne- sota Regiment in battle on Sunday, July twenty-first, at Bull Run, we have added thereto in footnotes 1 the statements of others. 1 Javan B. Irvine, of St. Paul, ar- rived a few days before the battle on a visit to his brother-in-law, Mr. Halsted , of Company A. In civilian's dress, he took a musket and went into action, and captured the officer of the highest rank among all the prison- ers taken by the various brigades. For his bravery, he was made First Lieutenant 13th United States In- fantry on October twenty-sixth, 1861. He is still a captain in the regular army. Mr. Irvine's letters to his wife, published in one of the St. Paul papers, were among the best written after the fight, and are worthy of preservation. He says: " We took a circuitous route through the woods, and arrived in vicinity of the enemy at about ten o'clock in the morning. While on the march, the battle was commenced by the artillery who were in the ad- vance, and the roar of which we could distinctly hear some three or four miles off", and the smoke rising at every discharge of the same. "You can form some idea, per- haps, of our forces, when I tell you that our lines were some five or six miles in length, and the Minnesota Regiment was as difficult to find as it would be to find a single person in a very large crowd of men. " At about eleven o'clock we halted in a ravine, to give the men an op- portunity to fill their canteens with water. At this time the firing had become pretty general, and the roar of artillery and the rattle of mus- ketry was heard only about a mile distant. You have, no doubt, read of the agitation and fear which come over individuals on the approach of battle, but I must say, and I say it not in the spirit of braggadocio either, BULL RUN BATTLE. 673 Colonel S. P. Heintzelman, of 17th United States In- fantry, was the commander of the division to which the Minnesota Regiment was attached. He says in his report of the battle : " At Sudley's Springs, while waiting the passage of the troops of the division in our front, I ordered forward the 1st brigade to fill their canteens. Before this was ac- complished the leading regiments of Colonel Hun- that I experienced no such fears or agitation during the conflict. I was surprised at this myself, for I cer- tainly thought that I should feel as writers have so often described. " While halting here, I, together with others of the hoys, coolly went to picking blackberries, with which the whole country abounds. We soon took up our line of march, and drew near to the battle-field (at double- quick time), and were stationed in a field, sheltered by a strip of woods, about one-half mile from where our forces were fighting. Here we di- verted ourselves of our blankets, and haversacks of provisions, and what- ever might impede us in fighting, retaining however, of course, our arms and ammunition. "You have no idea how desperate men will act while approaching or retiring from a battle-field. They appeared to have no care or anxiety for anything except their arms; all else was thrown off and strewn along the road. "Wo did not remain long in the field where we were stationed, before the order came to advance, which we did through the woods at double- quick, and soon came up to the field where the conflict was raging. Here we halted in the edge of the woods, in the presence of the dead and wounded, who were lying all around us, until about 5000 troops filed past us to take their position. " As they passed the general offi- cers and staff they cheered in the wildest and most enthusiastic man- ner. After they had passed, we took our position in the open field in sight of the enemy's batteries. We were soon, ordered to advance from this position and file around to the left, for the purpose of outflanking and taking them. "While doing this the cannon-balls and bomb-shells flew around us thick and fast. Fortu- nately they were most of them aimed too high, and we passed unharmed, but not without frequent dodging by some of the boys as the balls and shells whistled by. Our battery had engaged them by this time in front while we were passing to the left. We ran down a hill and crossed a small stream. I being a little in ad- vance, stopped to pick a few black- berries to quench my thirst while the regiment came up. We soon came to a road where we were met by an aid to the commanding officer, who desired us to follow him and take up a position where he could get no other troops to stand. We told him we would follow him, and he 674 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. ter's division became engaged. General McDowell, who, accompanied by his staff, had passed us a short time before, sent back Captain Wright of the engineers, and Major McDowell, one of his aids, to send forward two regiments. * * * * Captain Wright led forward the Minnesota Regiment to the left of the road which crossed the run at this point. * * * * I accompanied this regiment. At a little more than a mile from the gave us a position to the left of the battery and directly opposite to it. Here we formed in line of battle, with a strip of woods between us and about four thousand secessionists. We had just formed when we were ordered to kneel and fire upon the rebels, who were advancing under cover of the woods. "We fired two volleys through the woods, when we were ordered to rally in the woods in our rear, which all. did except the first platoon of our own company, who did not hear the order and stood their ground. The rebels soon came out from their shelter between us and their battery. Colonel Gorman mis- took them for friends and told the men to cease firing upon them, although they had three secession flags flying directly in front of their advancing columns. This threw our men into confusion, some declaring they were friends, others that they were enemies. I called to our boys to give it to them, and fired away myself as rapidly as possible. The rebels themselves mistook us for Georgia troops, and waved their hands at us to cease firing. I had just loaded to give them another charge when a lieutenant-colonel of a Mississippi regiment rode out be- tween us, waving his hand for us to stop firing. I rushed up to him and asked if he was a secessionist. He said 'he was a Mississippian.' I presented my bayonet to his breast and commanded him to surrender, which he did after some hesitation. I ordered him to dismount, and led him and his horse from the field, in the meantime disarming him of his sword and pistols. I led him off about two miles and placed him in charge of a lieutenant, with an escort of cavalry, to be taken to General McDowell. He requested the officer to allow me to accompany him, as he desired my protection. The officers assured him that he would be safe in their hands, and he rode off. I re- tained his pistol, but sent his sword with him." In another letter, on July twenty- fifth, Mr. Irvine writes: " I have just returned from a visit to Lieutenant-Colonel Boone, who is confined in the old capitol. I found him in a pleasant room on the third story, surrounded b} 7- several southern gentlemen, among whom was Sena- tor Breckinridge. He was glad to see me, and appeared quite well after the fatigue of the battle of Sunday. "There were with me Chaplain Neill, Captains Wilkin and Colville, and Lieutenant Coates, who were in- HEIXTZELMAN'S REPORT. 675 ford we came upon the battle-field. Ricketts's Battery was posted on a hill to the right of Hunter's Division, and to the right of the road. After firing some twenty minutes at a battery of the enemy placed just beyond the crest of a hill, the distance being too great, it was moved forward to within about one thousand feet of the enemy's battery. Here the battery was exposed to a heavy fire of musketry, which soon disabled it. troduced to the colonel. We had a very pleasant interview, and invited the colonel to call on us at our camp when he obtained his parole. He is a fine-appearing and pleasant man. I also saw the two other prisoners. They are fine-looking fellows, and one, Mr. Lewis, of the Palmetto Ki- fles of South Carolina, very much of a gentleman. The other man's name is Walker, of Mississippi. * * * * As to the fighting qualities of the 1st Minnesota, Company A took its position as you will see on the plan, and the first platoon never moved from it until ordered to retreat. Captain Wilkin fought like a hero. He seized a rifle and shot down four or £ve of the rebels, and took one prisoner. The drummer boy Hines [Company A] took an officer's horse, with sword, pistol, and trappings. • ; Much praise is awarded to Lieu- tenant Welch, of Ked Wing, for the gallantry and intrepidity he dis- played in rallying and cheering his men. •• Lieutenant Harris, of the same company, also behaved nobly. 11 Captain McKune, of the Fari- bault Company, while leading his men, was shot dead. " The regimental flag presented by the ladies of Winona was pierced by thirteen balls, one a cannon-ball through the blue field, making a hole about a foot long. ****** " I have not been mustered in yet, and think I shall not be. I shall fight on my own hook, always, how- ever, going into the field with Com- pany A, and sticking to them.''' EXTRACTS FR01T CHAPLAIN'S JOURNAL. "Saturday, July twentieth. — In company with Chaplain Da Costa and Assistant-Surgeon Keen of the Massachusetts 5th, walked to the scene of Thursday's engagement. When we came in sight of the ene- my's hospital, our advance pickets stopped us, as it was dangerous to proceed nearer. 11 Captain Adams, of Company H, afterward obtained permission to pass the picket, and was fired upon by the enemy. " This afternoon a flag taken at Fairfax was paraded under an escort of Fire Zouaves and Michigan 1st. It is of silk, and bears the inscrip- 676 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Franklin's Brigade was placed on the right of the woods near the centre of our line, and on ground rising toward the enemy's position." Colonel W. B. Franklin of the regular army, brigade commander, in his report, after stating that Ricketts's Battery in its second position was soon disabled, says he ordered the 5th and 11th Massachusetts Regiments to save the battery, but that it was impossible to get tion, 'Tensas Kifles,' — a Louisiana corps. On the central stripe is a representation of a cotton-bale. "General McDowell has issued orders directing us to be ready to march at six o'clock p.m. After all things were ready, an aid came with an order postponing the march until two o'clock to-morrow. " Sunday, July twenty-first. — Ser- geant Young came and told me that it was time to rise. The night was cold, and after I rose I has- tened to one of the few camp-fires that had been lighted, to warm my- self. The moon shone brightly, and men moved about without much speaking, feeling that this might be their last Sunday on earth. " About three o'clock a.m. we left camp, and wound up the hill to Cen- treville. At the end of the village we halted until daylight, being de- layed by the passage of Colonel Hunter's column, which had pre- ceded us by another road to this point. ' ' Following the column of Hunter, we passed a bridge near Centreville, I believe on the Warrenton road. ■While Tyler's division kept on this road, those of Hunter and Heintzel- man soon turned. For several miles we passed through woodlands of oak and hickory, where no springs could be found that were serviceable, and the men suffered much for water and were quite fatigued, as it was warm; many of them had neither had breakfast nor supper the night before. " Emerging into an open country and looking to our left, we could see the smoke of artillery rising from the woods about a mile or two dis- tant, indicating that the action with the enemy had fairly commenced. About eleven o'clock we crossed a small branch which I supposed was Bull Kun. As Company A was crossing, Colonel Gorman, who was on the other side, in a loud voice urged the regiment to close up and hurry on. With alacrity the men obeyed, and with double-quick step they ran up the hill-side, which was through woodland. Just before we reached the summit, we met ambu- lances and soldiers carrying down wounded and dying men to a church called Sudley Church, which was on the roadside between the scene of action and the ford. As we turned into the wood near the battle-field an officer in uniform, and wounded badly in the neck, passed in a vehicle. With a smile of enthusiasm he threw out his arms and urged us on ; he was said to be Hunter. After pass- BULL RUN BATTLE. 677 the men to draw off the guns." He then continues: "The Minnesota Regiment moved from its position on the right of the field to the support of Ricketts's Bat- tery, and gallantly engaged the enemy at that point. It was so near the enemy's lines that friends and foes were for a long time confounded. The regiment be- haved exceedingly well." Colonel Gorman, in his report to General Frank- ing through the woods several rods, we came to a clearing, and our regi- ment formed in column and stood alone, the other regiments of the brigade having passed at a later period directly up the road from the ford. As the regiment waited for a few moments, Colonel Heintzelman, the commander of our division, and another officer, went to an eminence near by, and with a telescope took a view. As the wounded men of the regiments began to appear on the edge of the woods, Surgeon Le Boutil- lier requested me to go and ask Dr. Stewart to come up with the hospital attendants and the litters. I went back as requested, and saw the doctor ; he told me that the medical director had requested him to stay at and near Sudley Church. With privates Dengle and Williams, attached to the assistant-surgeon, I hurried back with the litters, and found the regi- ment had left the clearing. Passing through a narrow strip of woods, I came to open and cultivated land, and found the regiment. They occu- pied ground lately occupied by the enemy, who had been driven back by the Rhode Island Brigade. The enemy's batteries were planted on the heights on the opposite side of the open valley. Captain Ricketts's U. S. Battery, belonging to our bri- gade, was ordered to engage the enemy, and the Minnesota Regiment to support it. As they hurried through an old gate-way to take position opposite the enemy's rifled cannon, it was difficult for the sol- diers to push through, and I busied myself in pulling down fence rails, so they could move faster and not break column. "After Ricketts's U. S. Artillery began to fire I did not follow our regiment, but remained on the field at the point where the artillery un- limbered. " As I stood, General Burnside, of Rhode Island, whose acquaintance I had made in the winter of '59-'G0, at the house of General McClellan, in Chicago, rode up on horseback, anl I learned from him the history of tbt engagement of the Rhode Island A ■■ tillery with the enemy. He suppose that the enemy's battery was on tht. opposite side of the road from where he found it, and when he came in sight, he was obliged to reply, and at half- wheel engage them. After a hot contest, he dislodged them from their position. "While talking with General Burn- side, General McDowell rode on to the elevated field on the left hand 618 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. lin, remarks: "Immediately upon Kicketts's Battery coming into position and we in line of battle, Colonel Heintzelman rode up between our lines and that of the enemy, within pistol-shot of each, which circumstance staggered my judgment whether those in front were friends or enemies, it being equally manifest that the enemy were in the same dilemma as to our identity; but a few seconds, however, undeceived both, they side of the road, and with several members of the staff, sat in their saddles and viewed the action. Eick- etts's Battery now ceased firing, and, attaching their caissons came out of the field where they were first posted, and wheeling into the road, descended to a position nearer the regiment and the enemy, and while there suffered severely. One of his lieutenants, Douglas Eamsey, a nephew of one with whom I was acquainted, had his head shot off. " As I stood I could see the locality where the Minnesota 1st and the Fire Zouaves were fighting. With a piece of woods on their right, they had reached the ascent of the slope, on the crest of which was the principal battery of the Confederates ; but the woods, as the clouds of dust indi- cated, were fast being filled with fres^ troops of the enemy. As the cam m-balls flew past me I changed my position from time to time, and once came to a small one-story house on our left filled with wounded of other regiments. Even here the shots from the rifled cannon came. Just before the retreat from the field, I went into the woods that skirted over near where stood the ambu- lances. One of these attached to our brigade was foremost, and a horse with saddle on, that was next the ambu- lance, was shot while I was talking to the driver. I had been here but a few minutes when a young man named Workman, a member of the Kegimental Band, came up and told me that there were several of our regiment wounded and on the field not far distant, and that he feared unless we could reach them soon they would be captured. In the absence of the surgeons, I told the driver of the ambulance to take Workman and myself to the spot indicated. Drove up to a fence of a small farm-house, and into the yard of a house, where lay numbers of wounded men ; all were eager to be placed in the ambulance, but I was obliged to tell them it wa? reserved for the wounded of thb Minnesota Regiment. Eeceiving four of our men, I drove off the field to Sudley Church, which was used as a hospital. " Here was a scene baffling all de- scription. The benches from this rude country church had all been removed, and its floor was strewn with wounded and dying. The gal- lery also was full. Ascending, I found Dr. Stewart. Stretched on his back was an elderly man of Company B, begging for water; his look was irresistible, and picking up a cup GORMAN'S REPORT. 6T9 displaying the rebel, and we the Union flag. Instantly a blaze of fire was poured into the forces of the com- batants, each producing terrible destruction, owing to the close proximity of the forces, which was followed by volley after volley, in regular and irregular order as to time, until Ricketts's Battery was disabled and cut to pieces, and a large portion of its officers and men had fallen, and until Companies H, J, K, C, G, besmeared with blood, I went to a brook some distance off and brought him what was mud and water ; but this impure potion was eagerly quaffed. Finding John T. Halsted, of St. Paul, I led him up-stairs to the doctor, as the fingers of his left hand were shattered by a ball. While his right arm was round my neck, he manifested some feeling, and when I told him his wound was not serious he said, { OA, I am not thinking of that, but of how many of our brave men have been cut down by the enemy V " Captain Acker, of St. Paul, slightly wounded in the eye, was lying on the church floor near the pulpit. As the groans of those mor- tally wounded were dreadful, he walked out to the open air leaning on my arm. As I sat with him near •a tree, I noticed my trunk containing my entire wardrobe not far distant, also those of Doctors Stewart and Le Boutillier, all of which became spoil of the enemy. While under the tree a private of Company K called my attention to a prisoner he had taken, a soldier of a Mississippi regiment. The prisoner first addressing me as captain, I told him I was a chaplain ; he grasped my hand, and said he hoped 'he was a Christian, and had enlisted from conscientious motives, as he thought Southern rights hadbeen infringed upon. ' He then begged me to protect him from ill-usage, and not force him to fight against his brethren. I assured him there was neither danger of ill-treatment from our troops, nor compulsion by the U. S. government to make him bear arms on our side. " Captain Acker, fearing capture, told me he would like to find our re- giment. Taking my arm we walked down to the ford, not far from the church, and there learned that Col- onel Gorman, with such officers and soldiers as he could find, had re- turned towards Centreville. Meeting Gates Gibbs, a son of Justice Gibbs of St. Paul, and one of my Sunday- school scholars when I preached in the First Presbyterian Church, driv- ing an empty ambulance, I placed therein Captain Acker. Had not proceeded far before I found soldiers carrying Lieutenant Harley, of Cap- tain Pell's company, on a litter. He was taken up, and in a few min- utes had our ambulance full of our wounded, and among others, Kobert Stephens, who, in 1849, when a lad, assisted in plastering my house, the first brick edifice built in Minnesota, now occupied by John W. Bond, at St. Paul. 680 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. and those immediately surrounding my regimental flag r were so desperately cut to pieces as to make it more of a slaughter-house than an equal combat. * * * * I feel it due to my regiment to say that, before leaving the extreme right of our line, the enemy attempted to make a charge with a body of cavalry, who were met by my command and a part of the Fire Zouaves and repulsed with considerable loss to the enemy, but with- " While on the Warrenton Turn- pike, in the woods, about two miles south of the bridge over Cub Kun, the soldiers in foot of the ambulance appeared to be in great confusion ; was told that the enemy had flanked us. Fearing that a charge might be made, I asked the driver for some- thing red to hang out of the ambu- lance as a hospital flag. A youth of the Faribault Company, by the name of Kerrot, hearing my question, although lying in the bottom of the ambulance, wounded in the leg, and very weak, sat up and tore off his red flannel shirt and gave it to me. Placing it on a sabre bayonet, I held it for a time over the ambulance. As we neared Cub Run Bridge, there was evidence of a panic. Baggage- wagons were overturned, muskets and blankets strewn on the road, and cavalry and infantry mingled to- gether without any officers to restore confidence. Just at the bridge were broken artillery wagons, and a horse lying on the road with a wound in the breast. When we crossed at dusk by the ford adjoining the bridge, which was done with difiiculty, we saw in an open field a regiment drawn up in line, and the stars and stripes indicated they were a reserve of friends "Just after dark reached old camp- ing-ground at Centreville. Met Ad- jutant Leach, and was told that the field-officers and a portion of the re- giment was in the field near the old quarters of General McDowell. Pre- pared to go to sleep on some blankets I had borrowed, when an order was given for us to retire to Washington. By the kindness of the wagon-mas- ter, the well-known old settler, An- son Northrop, I obtained a tin cup of coffee, with some pilot bread, and I think it was the most refreshing meal I ever had. About half-past nine o'clock the regiment formed and began its march to Washington,. be} r ond Fairfax Court-House ; a por- tion, by mistake, took the Vienna road. This was the front with the field officers. Reached Vienna about half-past three Monday morning. li Monday morning, July twenty- second. — As the men had been on their feet twenty-four hours, halted at Vienna until five o'clock. Major Dike and I lay on the grass, with his saddle for a pillow, but as it rained I did not sleep half an hour. Began to march for Georgetown, fifteen miles distant ; when ten or eleven miles off hired a blacksmith, with a rickety one-horse wagon, for six dol- lars, to take Captain Putnam, Lieu- GORMAN'S REPORT. 681 out any to us. * * * * I regard it as an event of rare occurrence in the annals of history that a regi- ment of volunteers, not over three months in the service, marched up without flinching to the mouth of batteries supported by thousands of infantry, and opened and maintained a fire until one-fifth of the whole regi- ment was killed, wounded, or made prisoners, before retiring, except for purposes of advantage of position. " My heart is full of gratitude to my officers and men for their gallant bearing throughout the whole ot this desperate engagement, and to distinguish the merits of one from another would be invidious, and injustice might be done. " Major Dike and my adjutant bore themselves with coolness throughout. My chaplain, Rev. E. D. Neill,. was on the field the whole time, and, in the midst of danger, giving aid and comfort to the wounded. Dr. Stewart while on the field was ordered to the hospital by a medical officer of the army. Dr. Le Boutillier continued with the regiment." After the battle, the regiment returned to Washing- ton to recruit. On the second of August they marched tenant Coates, and Zeinrenberg to Gorman and Major Dike. The corn- Georgetown. He drove so slow it manding officer, W. T. Sherman, was was some time before we reached not very obliging. With some diffi- Captain Putnam ; by the time the culty the guard allowed me to pass r wagon reached Falls Church, a under an order from Colonel Gorman, wounded Zouave and a soldier of to Georgetown Ferry. Taking an om- the New York Highland Regiment nibus at Georgetown went to Wash- begged a place, and it was impossible ington, called and informed Mrs. to refuse them. Finding Captain Dike and Mrs. Leach that their hus- Putnam, I relinquished my seat to bands were safe, and in the afternoon the driver, and was glad to be on my went to Philadelphia to replenish my feet again. own wardrobe, and procure supplies "About eleven o'clock, in the rain, for our wounded." called at Fort Corcoran, with Colonel ^82 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. \o the Upper Potomac, and on the seventh went into camp near Seneca Mills, where they remained until the fifteenth, and then moved to a point between Pooles- ville and Edward's Ferry, which proved to be their winter quarters. They were attached to Gorman's Brigade, in Stone's Division, and commanded by Colonel N. J. T. Dana, 1 who, on October second, was mustered in as colonel. No event of importance occurred during the remainder of the year except in connection with the movement on October twenty-first, toward Leesburg, which resulted in the death of Colonel E. D. Baker, late U. S. Senator from Oregon. About one p.m. on Sunday, October nineteenth, the regiment was ordered to Edward's Ferry, and Colonel Dana was directed to send two companies to the Vir- ginia side in three flat-boats. The companies of Cap- tain Morgan and Captain Lester crossed, protected by the fire of our artillery, but in fifteen minutes were recalled, and the regiment was sent back to camp. A little after midnight Colonel Dana received orders to move again to the Ferry at daybreak. By half-past eight A.M. the whole regiment had crossed the Potomac, and was formed in line of battle, its left resting on Goose Creek. For three days, exposed to cold rains, this position was held. On Monday night other troops that had followed were ordered back to their camps, and, while they were recrossing, the 1st Minnesota 1 Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh Gordo, in Mexico. Captain and as- Dana, son of an army officer, was sistant quartermaster, March, 1848. born in Maine. Cadet 1838 ; second Eesigned commission in Kegular lieutenant, 7th Infantry, July, 1842 ; Army, 1855. Brigadier-general of first lieutenant, February, 1847. April volunteers, 1862. Major-general of 18, 1847, severely wounded at Cerro volunteers, November, 29, 1862. COLONEL DANA'S REPORT. 633 were kept in line and protected them. On Tuesday afternoon Company I, commanded by Second Lieu- tenant Halsey, was attacked by the enemy, and one killed and one wounded. On Wednesday night, at half-past nine o'clock, General Stone appointed Colonel Dana to superintend the withdrawal of our troops from Goose Creek, to the east side of the Potomac. Colonel Dana in his report says : "As the first streak of dawn made its appearance, Minnesota again alone, with General Stone, stood upon the Virginia shore, and everything else having been placed on board, the men were ordered to follow. I coveted the honor to be the last man upon the bank, but the gallant general would not yield his place, and I obeyed his order to go on board and leave him alone." 1 Other troops from Minnesota began to enter the field about this time. The 2d Regiment, 3 which had 1 A writer in the Faribault Bepub- period of stormy adversity must be lican speaks of a Sunday in camp j f.^sed through to prepare the' nation after Ball's Bluff disaster : for greater excellency. Nations must " To-day the chaplain preached to be baptized in blood, and subjected us out in tho woods. The cold winds to defeat, before sufficient strength brought the dead leaves down in of purpose and character is obtained showers and swept them in heaps, to ensure permanent prosperity.' " The chaplain could scarcelv raise his voice above the rustling of the leaves, ' Staff °™ers 2d Regiment. but we heard him say : '• That death Horatio P. Van Cleve, Colonel. was essential to life and prosperity. Promoted Brigadier-General, March It was so in the natural world. We 21, 1862. could see around us that these trees, James George, Lieutenant- Colonel. late densely covered with verdure, Promoted Colonel; resigned June 29, were now sapless and naked. But 1864. after the storms of the coming winter Simeon Smith, Major. Appointed life would clothe with brighter ver- Paymaster U. S. A., September, dure these same trees. So would it 1861. be with our nation. Dangers and Alex. Wilkin, Major. Colonel 9th difficulties must be met. A long Minnesota, August, 1862. 634 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. been organized in July, left Fort Snelling on the thir- teenth of October, and, proceeding to Louisville, were incorporated with the Army of the Ohio. A company of sharp-shoo ters, under Captain F.Peteler, proceeded to Washington, and on the eleventh of Octo- ber was assigned as Company A, 2d Regiment U. S. Sharp-shooters. On the sixteenth of November, the 3d Regiment 1 left the State and proceeded to Tennessee. In December, the 1st Battery Light Artillery left and reported for duty at St. Louis, Mo. In October and November, three companies of cavalry were organized, and proceeded to Benton Barracks, Mis- souri, and were ultimately incorporated with the 5th Iowa Cavalry. The following paragraph of Gorman's Report should have appeared on page 681. " A portion of the right wing, owing to the configuration of the ground, became detached, under Lieut. Col. Miller, whose gallantry was conspicuous * * * and who contested every inck of the ground/' Eeginald Bingham, Surgeon. Dis- Benjamin F. Smith, Lieutenant- nissed May 27, 1862. Colonel. Kesigned May 9, 1862. M. C. Tollman, Assistant-Surgeon. John A. Hadley, Major. Pro- Promoted Surgeon. moted Lieutenant-Colonel, May 29 r Timothy Cressey, Chaplain. Be- 1862. iigned October 10, 1863. R. C. Olin, Adjutant. Daniel D. Heaney, Adjutant. Pro- C. H. Blakeley, appointed January noted Captain Company C. 9, 1862. William S. Grow, Quartermaster. Levi Butler, Surgeon. Resigned Resigned January, 1863. September 30, 1863. Prancis R. Milligan, Assistant- 1 Staff Officers 3d Regiment. Surgeon. Resigned April 8, 1862. Henry C. Lester, Colonel. Dis- missed December 1, 1862. SECOND MINNESOTA REGIMENT. 685 CHAPTER XXXI. MINNESOTA TROOPS IN 1862 — THEIR POSITION AND SERVICES. Before the month of January, 1862, expired, the 2d Minnesota Regiment won a distinguished reputation. On Sunday, the nineteenth, not far from Somerset, about forty miles from Danville, Kentucky, they were engaged in the battle of Mill Springs. Colonel Robert L. McCook, the brigade commander, says : "The position of the Minnesota regiment covered the ground formerly occupied by the 4th Kentucky and 10th Indiana, which brought their flank within about ten feet of the enemy, when he had advanced upon the 4th Kentucky. * * * * On the right of the Minnesota regiment the contest was almost hand to hand, and the enemy and 2d Minnesota were poking their guns at each other through the fence." Colonel Yan Cleve made the following report: " I have the honour to report the part taken by the 2d Minnesota Regiment in the action of the Cumber- land, on the nineteenth inst. About seven o'clock in the morning of that day, and before breakfast, I was informed by Colonel Manson, of the 10th Indiana, com- manding the Second Brigade of our division, that the enemy were advancing in force, and that he was hold- ing them in check, and that it was the order of General 686 HISTOKY OF MINNESOTA. Thomas that I should form my regiment and march immediately to the scene of action. 1 " Within ten minutes we had left our camp. Arriv- ing at Logan's Field, by your order we halted in line of battle, supporting Standards Battery, which was re- turning the fire of the enemy's guns, whose balls and shells were falling near us. " As soon as the 9th Ohio came up, and had taken its position on our right, we continued the march, and 1 A correspondent of Cincinnati Commercial writes : " General Zolli- coffer's body lay upon the ground in front of one of the Minnesota tents surrounded by some twenty soldiers. Two soldiers were busy washing off the mud with which it had been cov- ered. It was almost as white and transparent as wax. The fatal wound was in the breast, and was evidently made by a pistol-ball. This was Zollicoffer I He whose name had so long been a terror to men who loved •their country on the banks of the Cumberland." Geo. D. Strong, of Company D, writes: " We were just in the edge of the woods, close to a fence, the other side of which were the rebel forces resting their guns on the fence. My position was next to the regi- mental colors, and only fifteen to twenty feet from the foe. "We all dropped on our knees and behind rotten logs, loading and firing as rapidly as possible, pouring in a fearful fire, which told upon them. A momentary silence caused me to look round, when I saw one of our company, W. H. H. Morrow, wounded. I assisted in carrying him to a safe place. He was shot in the right shoulder, the ball turning towards the breast. He died two hours after I left him." W. S. Welles, of Company I, writes: "Lieutenant Bailie Peyton was shot by Adam Wichet, a Ger- man, in Company I. Peyton stood exactly in front of the flag, while Company D was on the right, and Company I on the left of it. " Peyton stood about two rods from our line, firing right oblique into Company I. A bullet from his revolver had just severely wounded Lieutenant Stout. At this moment Lieutenant Uline caught a glimpse of him through the smoke, and as his revolver was useless, he ordered Wichet, who stood by, to shoot him. Wichet fired, and Peyton breathed his last. The whole charge, a bullet and three buckshot, entered the left side of his face, taking out the eye, and coming out just below the left ear." A correspondent of the St. Paul Press says: " Wm. H. Blake, the little drummer-boy of Company H, dropped his drum and seizing the gun of a wounded man, fought it out with us stoutly." A DEAD BROTHER. "Dear Parents, — I am weary and lonesome, and hardly know what BATTLE OF MILL SPRINGS. 68T after proceeding about a half- mile came upon the enemy, who were posted behind a fence along the road, beyond which was an open field broken by ravines. The enemy opening upon us a galling fire, fought desperately, and a hand to hand fight ensued, which lasted about thirty minutes. The enemy, met with so warm a reception in front, — and afterwards being flanked on their left by the 9th Ohio, and on their right by a portion of our left, who had, by their well-directed fire, driven them from behind their hid- ing-places — that they gave way, leaving a large number of their dead and wounded on the field. We joined in the pursuit, which continued till near sunset, when we arrived within a mile of their intrenchments, where we rested upon our arms during the night. The next morning we marched into their works, which we found deserted. Six hundred of our regiment were in the engagement, twelve of whom were killed and thirty- three wounded." to write to you. We have had a great the surgeon, but he said, ' If you call battle with Zollicoifer's forces, one him he will leave some poor fellow mile and a half from this camp, but that will die, and it may as well be I am safe and well. Ten of our poor me as any one.' When he was laid boys are killed, and some ten or in his grave he looked as if asleep. I fifteen wounded. Dear father and cannot write you the particulars of mother, how can I tell you, — but you the battle, for I am so lonesome and will hear of it before this gets to you, sad that I have no mind to do any- — Samuel has gone to his God. He thing. I have a board at the head now sleeps the sleep that knows no of his grave, with his name, regi- waking on this earth, beneath the ment, and company cut upon it. Oh, cold soil of Kentucky. He died dear father and mother, may God charging boldly on the enemy, from help us to bear up under this our a bayonet wound in the left groin, affliction ! Good-bye, my dear pa- which passed through the kidneys, rents. He died in about fifteen minutes after " From your sorrowing son, receiving the thrust. He died calmly "Albert. and easily, without much pain. One "Camp Logan, January 20, 1862." of the drummer-bovs offered to call 688 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. The 1st Minnesota Battery was present at the great battle of Pittsburg Landing, which occurred on Sun- day, the sixth of April. Lieutenant W. Pfaender, com- manding the battery, in a communication to Governor Ramsey, says : " The people of our State are probably anxious to learn the fate of the Minnesota volunteers who fought at the late battle of Pittsburg, Tennessee ; and as the 1st Minnesota Battery was the only representative of our State in the terrible fight, I deem it my duty to send you a short account. "■ At our arrival here, on the eighteenth of March, we were attached to the Fourth Brigade of General Sherman's Division, but afterward we were attached to General Prentiss's Division ; and on Saturday, the fifth, removed to our new camp, immediately on the right of General Prentiss's head-quarters. " At our arrival at the scene of action, our infantry were already retreating. * * * * One of our men and two horses were already killed before we com- menced firing; another, and third one, all belonging to my section, were killed in quick succession. " Now Captain Munch's horse was shot in the head, and immediately afterward the captain was severely wounded in the leg. My horse was wounded in both fore-legs. Several other horses had received injuries, and our position became critical. * * * * Our division now fell back behind the line coming to our support under General Hurlbut, and after a short rest General Prentiss formed the remainder of our division again on the left centre of our line. * * * * Lieu- tenant Peebles maintained his position on our left nobly, and at a charge of a Louisiana regiment com- BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING. 689 pletely mowed them down with canister. The enemy, however, also took good aim ; two of our cannoniers were here killed, Lieutenant Peebles severely wounded in the jaw, Sergeants Clayton and Conner severely wounded, and a number of horses killed. * "Arriving at the bluffs of Pittsburg Landing, I tried to get the whole battery in the best possible condition again, and succeeded, by dismounting and changing pieces, to get five pieces in good shape, at least able to open fire again. * * * * We located our five pieces, together with Margreff's Ohio Battery, on a hill commanding a long ravine. * * * * The rebels knew that this last attack would decide the day, and, about six o'clock in the evening, opened on us again. * * * * The 1st Minnesota Battery poured in such a cannonade as has never before been witnessed on this continent. It was really majestic, and no army would have been able to take that posi- tion. * * * * A heavy rain-storm had drenched us thoroughly during Sunday night, yet the Minnesota Battery was ready for another trial; and being without an immediate commander, as General Prenjtiss had been taken prisoner, I reported to General Grant, who ordered me to keep position until further orders; and as Monday's fighting was mostly done by General Buell's forces, which had been crossing all night, and steadily poured in, we remained there until we were removed to our old camp again." 1 1 Lieutenant Cooke writes to a was asked by hundreds of anxious friend : voices. Who could answer ? * * ' ; Our buttery took breakfast ear- But hark I the long roll beats The lier than usual, and had just finished bugle sounds 'to arms,' 'to ho#se.' when we heard occasional firing A mounted orderly then rode to our in front. What does this mean? head-quarters, and the battery re- 44 690 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. The 1st Minnesota Regiment, after remaining in camp near Edward's Ferry during the winter, moved, with Gorman's Brigade, to Harper's Ferry, and crossing the Potomac on a pontoon, were attached to Sedg- wick's Division, and on the thirteenth of March, marched to the suburbs of Winchester, 1 when an order came to return, and by the last of the month they had ceived orders to repair to the front and commence firing immediately. In less time than I give you the de- tails we were flying to the scene of action, which was not five hundred yards distant. * * * We poured a galling fire into them, until they were nearly close enough to make a charge and capture our pieces. " ' Limber to the front,' and away we went into another position. By the way, our captain and one corpo- ral were wounded as we were exe- cuting the above command. We had one man killed before we fired a gun. Brave boy 1 one of the men picked him up, and he remarked, 'Don't stop with me — stand to your posts like men.' He expired soon after. He was from Minneapolis. * * * * j us t about noon I was struck on the thigh by a six-pound spent ball. It hit the ground about twenty or thirty feet from me, then rising, came near taking me off the saddle. It struck me right on the joint, making me sick and causing me to vomit. I sat down by a tree, and was called by Lieutenant Pee- bles to get some ammunition. I could not use my limb. Two of the boys helped me, I hobbled to the caisson, and, sitting down on the trail, issued ammunition. * * * Soon after, Johnson was wounded se- verely by a musket-ball. A moment or two afterwards Tilson was killed^ shot through the head. Then Ser- geant Clayton was wounded ; then Saxdale was killed ; then Sergeant Conner was wounded, and immedi- ately after Lieutenant Peebles." The St. Anthony News publishes letter of J. F., to his mother : ' ' Sunday morning, j us t after break- fast, an officer rode up to our captain's tent and told him to prepare for ac- tion. * * * We wheeled into battery and opened upon them. * * * The first time we wheeled one of our dri- vers was killed ; his name was Colby Stinson. Hey wood's horse was shot at almost the same time. The second time we came into battery the captain was wounded in the leg, and his horse shot under him. They charged on our guns, and on the sixth platoon howitzer, but they got hold of the wrong end of the gun. We then lim- bered up and retreated within the line of battle. While we were re- treating they shot one of our horses, when we had to stop and take him out, which let the rebels come up rather close. When within about six rods, they fired and wounded Corporal Davis, of the gun detach- ment, breaking his leg above the ankle." 1 While on the march, Col. Alfred Sully took command in place of Dana, promoted. SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 691 joined the Army of the Potomac, near Fortress Monroe, and, by the middle of April, were taking part in the siege of Yorktown, and stationed on a road that led from Warwick Court-House to Yorktown. The chaplain of the regiment, in one of the St. Paul papers, gave the following account of the gradual ad- vance from Yorktown to within sight of the spires of Richmond : "As the telegraph informed you from day to day, the Army of the Potomac advanced toward Yorktown during the first week in April. Our line extended in front of the enemy's works, which were a continued chain from the Warwick to York River. " Until near the middle of April the soldiers were busily employed in cutting new roads through the woods, so as to enable our wagons and artillery to move without being exposed to the enemy's fire. By the last of April the preparation for a siege was fast being com- pleted, gabions had been platted, trenches dug, and batteries erected. Sedgwick's Division occupied a posi- tion midway between Warwick Court-House and York- town, on the old Warwick Road. " Smith's Division was on our immediate left, and watched the enemy at Lee's Mills while we annoyed them with our artillery and sharp-shooters at Wynne's Mills. " Battery No. 8 was erected by our engineers to com- mand the enemy's fortifications at Wynne's Mills, and would have opened fire in a day or two had they not fled. While for two weeks there were frequent dis- charges of artillery during the night, on the evening of Saturday the 3d of May there was an incessant booming of cannon, which suddenly ceased just before the day- 692 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. break of Sunday. The pickets of General Dana's Brigade, noticing the stillness and perceiving no move- ment, cautiously approached, and were astonished to find that an evacuation had taken place. By sunrise the whole of the brigade was within the works of the enemy or bivouaced on the fields in the rear. After breakfast they were relieved by Gorman's Brigade, who passed the day in searching for some memento of the place to send home to friends. The correspondence left by the troops excited much attention, and was of every description, ' from grave to gay, from lively to severe,' and very much of it was not fit to be read in the presence of ears polite. " It was distressing to see a spirit of vandalism mani- fested on the part of the troops in searching the houses of rebels ; officers in some cases showed neither the dig- nity nor discretion of ordinary boys. One major of a New York regiment rode into camp on Sunday night with a large looking-glass, which could be of no manner of use ; and another from the same State, and of similar rank, brought in a mahogany rocking-chair, trimmed with red velvet, to be lolled in for the night and aban- doned or destroyed in the morning. " On Monday in a soaking rain the whole division pro- ceeded to Yorktown, and bivouaced on the field where, in 1781, the troops of Cornwallis surrendered to the allied American and French forces. " The fortifications near and about Yorktown im- press you with trieir magnitude. For months hun- dreds of negroes had toiled under task-masters as hard as the Egyptians, in throwing up these walls of earth. " All day Monday we could hear the discharge of BATTLE OF WEST POINT. 693 artillery, indicating that our advance was in proximity to the rebel rear. Just before dusk an order came for the division to march toward Williamsburg, but the troops had not proceeded a half-mile before a halt was ordered. The wagon train had blockaded the road for miles, and the increasing rain and Egyptian dark- ness of the night made it impossible to move. Hour after hour, drenched to the skin, the soldiers stood in the mud, but no advance, and toward midnight the order came to return to camp. " The next afternoon the division began to embark in transports for the bend of York River, for the pur- pose of intercepting the retreat of the enemy, if pos- sible. " Dana's Brigade first moved off, and then Gorman's, and last Burns's. About eleven o'clock on Wednesday, Gorman's Brigade came in sight of West Point. The sound of musketry, and smoke arising above the woods on the south side of the Pamunky, indicated that a portion of Franklin's Division, which had preceded Sedgwick's, was engaged with the enemy. The 1st Minnesota was ordered to leave their transports and land in batteaux as soon as possible. The wide plain on the lower side of the Pamunky was soon filled with regiments drawn up in the line of battle, ready to sup- port Franklin's troops if necessary. About one o'clock p.m., the enemy, with three cannon, began to fire from the wooded heights on the transports, but three United States gunboats quickly took position, and their heavy guns in thunder notes soon silenced the battery on the hill. "As one travels through this peninsula, he con- stantly meets with places, rich in historic interest. 694 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. " West Point, the terminus of the York and Rich- mond Railway, was originally called West's Point, after a gentleman, a near relative of Lord Delaware, whose plantation was on the promontory caused by the junc- tion of the Pamunky and Mattapony Rivers. " To give room for the stores and troops that were moving. Sedgwick's Division, during the second week of May, moved their camp to Eltham, on the Pa- munky, a few miles above. " This, like West Point, proved to be a place of his- torical associations. The huge though dilapidated brick mansion, with its extensive wings, and the hand- some sepulchre in the garden, showed that once no mean person had lived here. " The inscription upon the large and handsome mon- ument in the high-walled graveyard tells us that on this plantation lived the Hon. William Bassett, who died in 1727, 'a loss to his country, county, and family.' On Sunday morning, the eighteenth of May, the di- vision was at New Kent Court-House. " For several days we remained on the plantation of a Dr. Mayo, the brother-in-law of General Scott, but now a rebel and fugitive. This place is about two miles from Cumberland. Departing from here on Wed- nesday, we passed the old St. Peter's Church. "It is an antique brick structure, with open porch and tower in front, giving it a quaint appearance, al- though conformed to no particular order of archi- tecture. " Here, for forty years, as a tablet on the wall near the chancel, with Latin inscriptions, informs us, preached the Rev. David Mossom, a graduate of St. John's Col- lege, Cambridge, and the second to few in learning, the GORMAN'S BRIGADE. 695 first presbyter of the Church of England specially or- dained to preach in Virginia. " The building is without pews, and filled with single heavy seats, but every one that could draw made a sketch of it, because it was in this church that George Washington did take for his lawfully wedded wife that lovely and dignified young widow, Martha Custis, whose estate was near by. In the corner, by the front door of the church, there is a little table with old- fashioned legs, not much larger than a small card-table, from which the newly married pair are said to have taken their first breakfast. " That evening we arrived at the Savage Farm, the fourteen-mile station on the Richmond and York Railroad, and a mile and a half from Bottoms Bridge. " On Friday, the twenty-third, we encamped at Goodly Hole Creek, in Hanover County, a short distance from the Chickahominy. " The next week Gorman's Brigade moved up to Cold Harbor, but on Thursday they returned to Goodly Hole Creek. "About noon on Saturday, the thirty-first of May, we heard rapid musketry firing, and at three o'clock a message came for Sedgwick to move, as Casey's and Couch's Divisions were being driven by the enemy. By a road that had just been cut through the swamp, we hastened to the rescue, and, crossing a rude bridge of logs, both ends submerged by the waters of the swollen Chickahominy, reached the battle-field just in time to save defeat. " Our regiment, as at Bull Run, was placed on the right, and before we were fairly in line of battle the 696 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. enemy were seen advancing. A crash of musketry, like the snapping of limbs in a hurricane, greeted us. " In a few minutes the whole of Gorman's Brigade was drawn up in a field within a few hundred feet of the rebels, who were concealed in the woods. " For two or three hours, until it became perfectly dark, the brigade stood solid as a stone wall, and with a roar of musketry really terrific, kept the foe from advancing one foot." A correspondent of a Cincinnati paper graphically describes the action : " At about six o'clock the head of Sedgwick's column, Gorman's Brigade, deployed into line of bat- tle, in the rear of Fair Oaks, upon the crest of a hill r which was in the centre of an open field, a farm-house (Adams's) bisecting his line, which stretched from the north-west, on a line which if prolonged in a south-east- erly direction, would have cut the railroad at an acute angle on his left. The hill sloped gently towards the station. Colonel Sully's 1st Minnesota, and the 2d New York, Lieutenant-Colonel Hudson, composed the right wing, on one side of the house, the 34th New York, Colonel Senter, constituting the left, the 15th Massa- chusetts, Lieutenant-Colonel Kimball commanding, sup- porting Kirby's Battery, which was posted at the right, of the line, and trained at a point of woods a little to the left of the railway station, this being the field to which the enemy had driven General Abercrornbie. Two of his regiments were still stubbornly contesting the field. Colonel Cochrane's 1st U. S. Chasseurs (N. Y.) r and Colonel Neill's 23d Pennsylvania Regiment, and a Pennsylvania battery, were in line of battle at Gor- man's right, forming an obtuse angle projecting towards. BATTLE OF FAIR OAKS. 69T the battery. General Burns formed his brigade in line of battalions in mass, forming the second line in sup- port of Gorman. But one of the regiments had not formed, when the enemy opened a furious enfilading fire of musketry on our right, in a direction from which fire was not expected, indicating an effort to turn our right flank. Meantime part of Dana's Brigade had come up. His 19th Massachusetts and 42d New York had been detached for picket duty and artillery guards. His 7th Michigan and 20th Massachusetts deployed into line on Gorman's left, and the line of battle com- menced, moving to the right, delivering terrific volleys at the enemy, who were sweeping in force to their left. Again and again they pushed forward. Masses of them gathered in the forest, attempting to dash at the bat- tery, but were as often swept back by murderous hur- ricanes of lead and canister. The battle raged for two hours with unremitting fury. The rebels found it impossible to break our inflexible lines, and we found it difficult to shake him off. Dana's wing was finally swung around almost on the hypothenuse of an angle to the original line of battle, his gallant Michigan and Bay State lads sweeping the perimeter of the circle they were describing with irresistible fury. Gorman's line had extended itself on the right, until his left rested in front and in advance of the first position of his right, his line being swung round at right angles with the crest of the hill, and Burns's two regi- ments, executing the order of Sedgwick, found them- selves lapping over Gorman's extreme right; the enemy was fighting perpendicular to our old front. " The officers were all in their places, animating and encouraging the men by their example, and the 698 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. men moving unflinchingly towards the foe. Dana, on the left, narrowly escaped death. His dashing gray received a bullet in his head, which he cast off with a snort of despair. The next instant three balls struck him in the body. Rearing and plunging with col. vulsive agony, he dismounted his rider, fled frantically up the field, and fell dead in front of Kirby's Battery. Gorman was moving up and down his glorious line, exhibiting fiery enthusiasm, and enjoying the proudest hours of his life. The men were delivering their fire with admirable coolness and regularity, and with a quick, nervous energy, which indicated their determi- nation to decide the conflict. The enemy, too, fought rapidly and well. "Sedgwick was gallantly moving to the right and left, reckless of personal hazard; and Burns held his forces firmly in hand on the right, waiting the decisive moment. The sun had set grimly, flinging his last rays feebly through the thick smoke hovering over the field. Darkness had enveloped the fearful spectacle, only to add gloom to its horrors. The enemy still clung in masses to the thick woods, now and then dashing out at the battery, only to be driven back with cruel punishment. Thousands of muskets in streaming volleys, with the sonorous roar of the can- non and the hoarse screams of the combatants, created an uproar as if fiends had been unleashed to prey upon each other. Storms of bullets and canister tore wide passages through the trees, and mangled bodies of men. Baleful fires gleamed among the foliage, as if myriads of huge fireflies were flitting among the boughs, and there was a fringe of flame blazing on the skirts of the thickets, while outside another and a fiercer flame SEVEN DAYS' BATTLES. 699 girdling the centre seemed burning into the hedge which screened our enemy. It was past eight o'clock before the carnage ceased. Knowing that the foe was in superior force, and menacing our flank, we were compelled to meet his point of attack without attempt- ing to envelope him with our wings ; but finding our steady lines invulnerable, and having suffered wretch- edly, he finally fell back, and by half-past eight o'clock he was driven clear back to his own defensive line. The splendid conduct of the division elicited the plaudits of the whole army. General Sumner held his troops well in hand ; Sedgwick exhibited perfect ■coolness and courage ; Gorman was as enthusiastic as a boy, and firm as a rock; Burns's quick judgment and admirable conduct, at the most critical moment of action, undoubtedly had an inspiring influence, and it was acknowledged with frenzied acclamations by the stout regiments wherever he exhibited himself. No more could have been asked of Dana. He proved him- self a fearless soldier. Colonel John Cochrane, Colonel Neill, Colonel Sully, Colonel Senter, and indeed nearly every field officer in all the divisions engaged, except- ing Casey's, showed themselves good soldiers and brave officers." On Thursday, the twenty-sixth of June, the soldiers of Sumner's corps were made anxious by the continual firing at Mechanicsville, and on Friday occurred the disastrous conflict at Gaines's Mill. At daylight on Saturday morning, the serious face of General Sedg- wick told the soldiers of the division that a crisis had been reached. All that day the sick of Sumner's corps were hurried to the rear, and in the afternoon soldiers were employed in emptying all surplus ammunition 700 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. into the vats of a tannery near the Fair Oaks battle* field, showing that a rapid change of base was con- templated. Just before daylight, on Sunday, June twenty-ninth, Sedgwick's Division left the position that it had held since the battle of Fair Oaks, and proceeding less than two miles the enemy made their appearance, and after a brief and sharp fight, in a peach orchard, retired. About five p.m., at Savage Station, 1 on the York Railroad, the enemy again gave battle. Until dark the conflict, raged, but by the valour and coolness of our men the foe were held in check, with a loss of about eighty killed and wounded. On Monday, between White Oak Swamp and Wil- lis's Church, the enemy again appeared, and in the skirmish Captain Colville was slightly wounded. The 1 Sergeant Harmon, Company D, from the battle field at Bull Kun ; writes : he was a fine fellow as well as- " About 4 p.m. the rebels came upon brave. Every man in the regiment us and commenced shelling us; several was his friend. He was shot by a of the boys in our regiment were minie ball through the lungs, and wounded by them. "We laid down on killed instantly, and the colors fell the ground. McCaslin had his knap- to the ground. They were raised by sack torn from his back by a piece one of the guard. Our company was- of a shell. "We moved forward to the very fortunate not to lose any one. left into the woods, out of range of Joseph McDonald, a son of McDon- the battery in that direction, to sup- aid that lives opposite Elk Eiver, was port another regiment that was fight- wounded, but not seriously. Judson ing on the left. The fight lasted here Jordan, a brother of C. B. Jordan, until after dark, the whole division was killed ; he was a member of the being engaged, besides the Vermont 1st Michigan. This was Sunday's Brigade in Smith's Division. The fight at Savage's Station. About rebels got driven back. We lost out 10 p.m. we started on the march, of our regiment in this fight about leaving the wounded, that could thirty killed and wounded. not walk, in old buildings ; sur- " Sergeant Burgess, the color- geons and hospital stewards stopped bearer, was shot dead: he was the with them." man that brought the colors off MALVERN AND ANTIBTAM. 701 next day, July first, the 1st Regiment was drawn up at the dividing line of Charles City and Henrico coun- ties, in sight of James River, and although much ex- posed to the enemy's batteries was not actually engaged. At midnight the order was given to move to James River, and early on the second of July they encamped on the Berkeley plantation, where President Harrison was born. After Pope's repulse, General McClellan resumed command of the army, and Sumner's corps, with others, were advanced north of Washington to meet Lee, who had crossed the Potomac with the insurgent army. By forced marches Sedgwick's Division arrived near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and took part in the great battle of seventeenth of September. After an active contest the 1st Regiment was flanked by the enemy, and they were obliged to fall back. Captain Russell's company of sharp-shooters was attached to the regiment during this fight. The 4th Regiment and 2d Minnesota Battery, on April twenty-first, left St. Paul for Benton Barracks, Missouri. They were both assigned to the Army of the Mississippi. The 5th Regiment also departed on the thirteenth of May, and on the twenty-third took posi- tion with their comrades of the 2d and 4th Regiments near Corinth, Mississippi. In less than a week they were brought into action, and Second Lieutenant David Oakes was killed. A correspondent writes : " On Wednesday, the twenty-eighth, there was heavy cannonading during the entire day. At ten o'clock in the morning a force of Federal infantry was thrown out to plant a 24-pound Parrott gun upon an eminence commanding a piece of timber on our left, which shel- 702 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA, tered the rebel regiment who so continually annoyed us. The enemy discovering our intentions advanced a body of troops to take the gun. Our forces were im- mediately drawn up in line of battle. Not a man stirred from the ranks until the enemy approached within fifty yards of our line, when Colonel Purcell, of 10th Iowa, acting brigadier, ordered the 5th Minnesota to charge bayonets. * * * * Terribly did they re- venge their fallen comrades. The casualties to the 5th Minnesota did not exceed forty killed and wounded. This is a new regiment, and this is the first occasion they have been able to show the material of which they have been made." 1 On the eighteenth of September, Colonel Sanborn, acting as brigade commander in the Third Division of the Army of the Mississippi, moved his troops, includ- ing the 4th Minnesota Regiment, to a point on the 1 STAFF OFFICERS OF 4TH REGIMENT. STAFF OFFICERS OF 5TH REGIMENT. John B. Sanborn, Colonel. Made Kudolph Borgensrode, Colonel. Brigadier-General. Kesigned Aug. 31, 1862. Minor T. Thomas, Lieutenant' Lucius F. Hubbard, Lieutenant- Colonel. Made Colonel 8th Kegi- Colonel. Promoted Colonel Aug. 31, ment, August 24, 1862. 1862. A. Edward Welch, Major. Died William B. Gere, Major. Pro- t Nashville, Feb. 1, 1864. moted Lieutenant-Colonel. John M. Thompson, Adjutant. Alpheus K. French, Adjutant. romoted Captain Company E, Kesigned March 19, 1863. Nov. 20, 1862. Wm. B. McGrorty, quartermaster. Thomas B. Hunt, Quartermaster. Kesigned Sept. 15, 1864. Made Captain and Assistant Quarter- Francis B. Etheridge, Surgeon. master April 9, 1863. Kesigned Sept. 3, 1862. John H. Murphy, Surgeon. Ke- Vincent P. Kennedy, Assistant- signed July 9, 1863. Surgeon. Promoted Surgeon Sept. 3, - ElishaW. Cross, Assistant-Surgeon. 1862. Promoted July 9, 1863. James F. Chaffee, Chaplain. Re- Asu S. Fiske, Chaplain. Kesigned signed June 23, 1862. Oct. 3, 1864. John Ireland, Chaplain. Appointed June, 1862. Kesigned April, 1863. BATTLE OF IUKA. 703 Tuscumbia road, and the next day advanced towards Iuka, driving pickets to enemy's position. Under the fire of the enemy's battery he placed his troops in line of battle, and the 4th Minnesota was stationed on the crest of a ridge. Captain Legro, in command of the regiment, reported as follows : " At five p.m. I moved my command at double-quick to a position on the left of the 48th Indiana, which regiment was in support of the 11th Ohio Battery, commanded by Lieutenant Sears. Shortly after, the battle was opened by the battery, and raged fiercely along the line for half an hour, when the 48th Indiana, being ^compelled to give way, fell back to the edge of the woods, leaving my regiment exposed to an oblique fire in the rear from the advancing enemy. " I then ordered the right wing to fall back ten rods to the timber, which was accomplished in good order, notwithstanding the galling and incessant fire of the " I was then ordered to move by the right flank about forty rods up the road, at nearly a right angle to- my former position, then by the left flank to a point near the battery, which I did immediately. * u Throughout the whole, both officers and men be- haved with coolness and courage, conducting them- selves in a manner highly commendable. " Too much praise cannot be awarded to Surgeon J. H. Murphy and his assistants for their unceasing at- tention to the wounded through the action and during the night. I enclose a list of the killed, wounded, and missing." The battle of Iuka was but the beginning of the movement that in a few days culminated at Corinth, 704 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA in which conflict the 1st Minnesota Battery and the 4th and 5th Regiments participated. At Corinth the Union army faced northward. On the left centre the ground was quite hilly, and here the Chevally road entered the town. Fort Robinett with Fort Williams enfiladed the Chevally and Bolivar roads, and another fort on the extreme left, near the seminary, protected the left and strengthened the centre. Hamilton's Division, to which the 4th Regiment w r as attached, was on the extreme right, and Stanley's Division, to which the 5th belonged, was on the left. Captain Munch, in a communication to Governor Ramsey, says : " On the first [of October] the battery, then stationed in town, was ordered out to take up camp at Fort No. F, one of the forts on our western line of defence, about two miles from town. Not yet fairly in camp there, we received orders to send two of the pieces (two 12- pound howitzers) to Chevally to support a brigade of infantry then at that place. * * * * As I was not legally reinstated in my command yet, and almost too lame for any hard work, Lieutenant Clayton was sent with that section, I retaining the other in the fort. They went as far as Chevally that evening, when they found the enemy entering the town from the opposite side. Not strong enough to offer much resistance, our forces fell baok about a mile, and took up camp for the night. On the second day there was skirmishing all day along the road, no artillery engaged on the same. " Early on Tuesday morning, the third, our boys opened the ball with the two howitzers, and to judge from the rapid succession of reports, they must have BATTLE OF CORINTH. Y05 been well to work, and by their cool and unflinching attention to their duty earned the praise of the com- manding general. Lieutenant Clayton has shown good judgment in taking positions, and by the general man- agement of affairs gave evidence that he well earned the confidence you kindly reposed in him. u In the meantime I was placed in command of the remaining section of our battery, together with a sec- tion of the 3d Ohio Battery. I planted them all in the fort. At eight o'clock p.m., a report was sent in that one of the howitzers was disabled, not by the fire of the enemy, but by the weakness of the carriage, which broke by the recoil of the piece. As they could not drag it along fast enough, the enemy then being in hot pursuit, with greatly superior numbers, they spiked the piece, throwing it into a deep creek, rendering it useless to 'the enemy. " Another piece was immediately sent to replace it. This after a few rounds was disabled and brought to the rear, when the last piece of the battery was sent forward. The battery then had an excellent position across the railroad, and did great execution. By and by. the little command became so exhausted by heat, thirst, and hard work, that it became necessary to order them to the rear, and replace them by new troops. But the enemy soon became so numerous that it made any further resistance at that place useless, and a general retreat was ordered, which was carried out in good shape. The musketry became general along the lines, and we could discover heavy columns moving forward. The enemy planted a battery in range for our fort, and commenced throwing shells, which were well directed, but could not injure us much behind the breastworks; 45 706 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. we of course were not lazy to answer, and our second shot silenced their battery. " At four o'clock p.m., all the forces were drawn into the inner line of defences, and both armies rested for the night. Our battery took a good position near the seminary, and during the second day of the fight as- sisted the big guns of the forts to clear the woods across the abattis. After the enemy were so deadly repulsed in their effort to take the town, they commenced re- treating in their common way, by sending in a flag of truce purporting to bury their dead." Colonel J. B. Sanborn, in his report to his superior officer, says : " At about a quarter before five o'clock I advanced my line by your order across the field in my front, to- wards a heavy growth of timber, where our skirmishers had encountered the enemy in some force. Company K was again deployed forward as skirmishers, and had advanced but a short distance in a westwardly direction, before they drew a very heavy musketry fire from the enemy concealed in the timber. In the meantime I had wheeled my battalion to his left, so that I was fronting the southwest. At this time, the fire of the enemy was brisk and enfiladed nearly my whole line. At this moment Captain Mowers beckoned to me with his sword, as if he desired to communicate important information, and I started towards him upon a gallop, but had rode but a few steps when I saw him fall dead — shot through the head. From the course of the balls and the position the enemy seemed to occupy, I interpreted the informa- tion that Captain Mowers desired to give, to be that the enemy were passing to my rear by my right, my com- mand at this time holding the right of the infantrv in COLONEL SANBORN'S REPORT. 70"? the whole army. These impressions were immediately communicated to the general commanding the brigade, and I received orders to dislodge the enemy from the woods on my right. I at once changed the front of my battalion to the rear on the tenth (10th) company ; this was done under a heavy fire of musketry, in ' double- quick' time, but with as much coolness and precision as if on ordinary battalion drill. " This movement completed, I ordered the regiment forward at ' quick time' until within about one hundred and fifty paces of the enemy's line of battle at this point, when I gave the further command, 'forward one hun- dred and fifty paces, double-quick.' This was executed in the most gallant and splendid manner. The regiment, in perfect line and with triumphant shouts, rushed for- ward against a most murderous fire, and w T hen within fifty yards of the enemy's line, he fled to the rear with the greatest precipitancy, receiving two or three volleys from my regiment as he retired. Immediately after this was accomplished, I received your order to fall back and join Colonel Alexander (59th Indiana) on his right, which order was at once obeyed, and skirmishers thrown forward one hundred paces to my front, and around my right flank. " It was now night. We were exhausted, and obe- dient to orders, I moved to the first position held in the morning and bivouaced there at 11 P. >r. During the day my loss was one commissioned officer and one private killed, and four men wounded. The heat during the engagement of my command was most in- tense, said to be 108° in the shade, and more men were carried off the field on litters from the effect of sunstroke than from wounds. »708 , HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. " Ammunition was distributed to the men, so that each had seventy-five rounds, between eleven and one o'clock at night, and at half-past one I received your order to move my command to the right, across the Pittsburg and Hamburg road, and about one hundred yards to the rear, which was done at once, and the regiment stood to arms, fronting the north, for the re- maining part of the night. "■ My command remained in this position until half- past ten o'clock on the following morning, when I re- ceived your order to move by the left flank into position on the ridge at my left, in support of the 11th Ohio Battery. This order was at once executed and my front changed to the west. I formed my regiment about fifty feet in rear of this battery, which masked the six centre companies. These six companies were ordered by me to fix bayonets, and charge the enemy whenever he should charge upon the battery. Two companies on the right and two on the left were moved forward on the line of the guns of the battery, with instructions to engage the enemy with musketry wherever he might ap- pear, and meet him with the bayonet in case of a charge. " The enemy retired from the ground covered by the valley, and from the front of my regiment, in about forty minutes after the firing commenced. I maintained the same relative position to the battery in its movements upon the field, to get in rear of the enemy, until your orders came to occupy again the ground left, when I went into action. I at once reoccupied that position, where I remained until the morning of the 5th inst., at four o'clock, when the pursuit commenced. " In the engagement on the fourth I lost one commis- sioned officer, and five privates wounded. FOURTH REGIMENT AT CORINTH. 709 u Of the pursuit it is enough to report that it was commenced on Sunday morning, the fifth inst., and continued without cessation or delay, except such as was absolutely necessary to rest the men temporarily, until the following Saturday night, the troops having marched during the time about one hundred and twenty miles. K I cannot speak too highly of the patient endurance and valor of my command. During a period of nine days of the most heated and most uncomfortable weather, my regiment marched one hundred and thirty miles, and for two days and nights of that time were engaged in one of the most extensive and desperate battles of the war. The conduct of all officers was satisfactory. Captains Tourtellotte and Edson conducted themselves with most extraordinary coolness and determination. " My commissioned staff, First Lieutenant Thomas B. Hunt, Eegimental Quartermaster, and First Lieu- tenant John M. Thompson, Adjutant, behaved with coolness and judgment, and in the absence of other field officers rendered me efficient service, repeating com- mands and communicating orders. " Quartermaster-Sergeant Frank E. Collins, for dis- tinguished valor and services on the field in aiding me in every movement, and in arresting and bringing pris- oners from the field near the close of the engagement, deserves special mention. Commissary-Sergeant T. P. Wilson remained under fire all the time, directing litter carriers to the wounded, and furnishing water to the famishing soldiers, as well as repeating my com- mands when near the lines. Sergeant-Major Kittredge was among the coolest men on the field, and most efficient until he was overcome by sunstroke. 710 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. " Surgeon Dr. J. H. Murphy, and second Assistant Surgeon Dr. H. R. Wedel, conducted their department with perfect order and method. Every wound was dressed in a few moments after it was received, and the wounded cared for at once in the most tender manner." Colonel L. F. Hubbard, of the 5th Regiment, reported as follows : " We were aroused before dawn on the morning of the fourth inst. by the discharges of the enemy's guns, and the bursting of his shells in the immediate vicinity of where we lay. One man of my regiment was quite severely wounded here by a fragment of a shell. At about 9 A. M., I was ordered by General Stanley to de- ploy one company, as skirmishers, into the edge of the timber towards the front and right ; in obedience to which Company A was sent forward under command of Captain J. R.^Dart. A few moments later the advance of the enemy along our entire line was made. I soon observed that the part of our line running from near my right towards the rear was giving way, and that the enemy was rapidly gaining ground towards the town. I immediately changed front, moving by the right flank by file right, and took a position at right angles to my former one. The movement was but just completed, when I was ordered by General Stanley, through Major Coleman, to support a battery which had been in posi- tion about four hundred yards towards the front and right, but which was being driven from the field. I moved by the right flank at double-quick, a distance of perhaps two hundred yards. By this time the battery mentioned had retired from the field entirely. Captain Dee's Michigan Battery, occupying the crest of a ridge near the Mobile and Ohio Railroad towards the left, had BATTLE OF CORINTH. 711 been abandoned and fallen into the hands of the enemy. Our line for the distance of several hundred yards had been repulsed, became scattered, and was rapidly re- treating. The enemy, in considerable numbers, had already entered the streets of the town from the north, and was pushing vigorously forward. 1 His flank was presented to the line I had formed, which exposed him to a most destructive fire, and which the 5th Min- 1 Rev. John Ireland, appointed, on twenty -second of June, chaplain, writes : ' ; On the night of the third we quietly took our rest in one of the central squares of Corinth, on a line parallel with the Mobile and Colum- bus Railroad. There we remained, while the shells were bursting over our heads before daybreak on the morning of the fourth ; from there we were at full liberty to contemplate the fight going on in our centre, and on the extreme part of our right, there j»**a|«M&£H*&a^ between us and these portions of our lines. * * * * * * " We turn around, and great is our surprise. At the lower end of the square the artillery are skedaddling with an astounding rapidity ; the in- fantry rush in through every inlet; the citizens and all idle gazers-on disappear in a second ; the Butternuts emerge from the streets leading into the square. It was a solemn moment ; then, indeed, as one of our generals remarks, the fate of the day hung in the balance, and little time was left for reflection. What were we able to do ? Were we to join in, allow ourselves to be carried off by the torrent, and turn ingloriously our backs to the enemy? For any not prodigal of their blood in the per- formance of their duty, such was the course to be taken. But far from the minds of our brave boys was the thought of assuring their safety in flight. Of them it may verily be said, as of another gallant band of yore, ' They can fight or die, but neither surrender or run!' Our men in- stinctively rush to their arms ; Col- onel Hubbard, with the most re- markable presence of mind, at one glance sees all the danger. Imme- diately his voice is heard, amid all --the-ku*Ue And ucoifusion ; ,he gives orders to move and to take up a po- sition at right angles with his former one ; it was then that an aid-de-camp of General Stanley rode by and shouted out, ' Support that battery at the right ! ' Perplexing order ! for at that moment, of the two batteries that were stationed to the right, one was abandoned and the other was being driven from the field. Our colonel, not in the least dismayed, fronts his men towards where he perceives the enemy rushing into the town. Oh, what an admirable spectacle, to gaze then on our brave boys ! With what unanimity, with what rapidity, what visible coolness and unflinching cour- age, they poured in volley after volley into the ranks of their opponents! 712 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. nesota delivered with deadly effect. After receiving and returning a number of volleys, the enen.y began to fall back. I then moved forward in line, at a run, pressing hard upon the enemy, who was flying in great confusion." I moved on outside the town, and halted on the crest of a ridge to the left of, and on a line with, the former position of the battery I was ordered to sup- port, regaining, meantime, possession of the abandoned The latter, who, doubtless, a few mo- ments before, elated by their previous success, had thought that Corinth was once more theirs, and had emitted a contemptuous smile when a hand- ful of men proposed to contest their passage, staggered, broke ranks and turned. And hotly were they pur- sued through a narrow street, until they reached the limits of the town, and concealed themselves in the woods. Our men then halted, and wondered at what they had accom- plished. Had we not encountered the rebels, the town was in their hands, they might have destroyed it together with all our stores, and taken our other forces in the rear, placing them between two fires, and triumphed: — and by whom was Corinth saved ? by the 5th Minne- sota alone, by six companies, Com- pany A having been sent out skir- mishing in another direction. " I am proud of the 5th Eegiment, and every one here feels proud of it. Great is our renown in this army. The other regiments fully appreciate our valor ; our praise is on every tongue. Privates and officers are of the same sentiment, when the Min- nesota Fifth is mentioned." A private in the regiment writes : " Noxt morning [October fourth] we were awoke by a shell from one of the enemy's guns, which had been adroitly planted very near us. It came so near where I was sleeping that when it struck it dashed the earth all over me. The fire continued for about fifteen minutes, when one of our batteries put a stop to it. One hour later the enemy advanced on all sides, and the cannonading became general, and the fight became close, fierce, and bloody. The rebels charged a battery and succeeded in getting inside of cannon range, and it was left between a large force of rebels and a smaller number of federal sol- diers hand to hand. Many of our brave boys fell, but the clay-colored ruffians were repulsed. " When the rebels made the charge on the north side, the 63d Ohio gave way, and finally all our forces on that side skedaddled in every direction. We were held as a reserve, but at that moment were called on by one of General Stanley's aids to save the town. We marched double-quick into the very face of the advancing enemy and formed in line of battle. Just before we formed some of our half-breeds fired on and killed three rebel color-bearers in plain sight, and one of our men was killed. We then gave them our best, and after firing FIFTH REGIMENT AT CORINTH. 713 guns of the Michigan Battery. The enemy continued his retreat under a galling fire from our guns and the artillery of the forts on the left, until lost sight of in the woods in our front, when he re-formed, and again advanced in considerable force. I at once opened upon him a hot fire, which, with the fire from along the line upon my right, which had now rallied and was re-form- ing, arrested his progress, and soon drove him back under cover of the timber. five or six rounds the enemy gave way, and the little Fifth followed them up so fast that they were com- pelled to skedaddle in the quickest manner that their long legs could invent. They, however, met their re- serves and re-formed in the edge of the woods. We did the same. They advanced while we stood firm as a wall, and after we opened fire on them the\- came to a dead halt. We could hear their officers exhort them to ' for- ward,-' but they knelt lower and lower behind the logs and brush. Their fire slackened and their colonel was shot from his saddle. (This was Col- onel Johnson, of the 15th Arkansas.) Their color-bearer placed himself behind a large oak-tree, and waved his flag on one side, but took care not to show his precious body. " After remaining for some time under our rifle range, they returned, leaving many of their number on the field, dead or wounded, besides some who would not follow any longer. Our loss was six killed and thirty- three wounded. When we charged on the enemy, General Eosecrans asked what little regiment that was, and on being told, said that the 5th Minnesota had saved the town. Major Coleman, General Stanley's assist- ant adjutant-general, was with us when he received his death wound, and his last words were, ' Tell the gen- eral that the 5th Minnesota fought nobly, God bless the 5th!' Some of the boys of the 11th Missouri call us General Stanley's bully regiment. "Colonel Hubbard is now com- manding the brigade, Colonel Mower being in the hospital. It was an awful sight to pass over the battle- field, — men lying on their heads, others with their heads blown off, arms, hands, and feet scattered about, and dead and dying lying all around, some in heaps. It was a sight that I do not want to see again, but God only knows how soon it will again happen. On Sunday, when we started to follow retreating Price, the stench was rising from some parts of the battle-field. We had a hard time running after Price, took a great many prisoners, and had to march night and day. I was so sleepy sometimes that I could go to sleep walking if I would allow m\-self, We went as far as Ripley, but have at last been allowed to rest. I cap- tured two secesh swords. " Lieutenant-Colonel Gere is very 7U HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. " About forty prisoners fell into our hands, and large numbers of killed and wounded marked the line of the enemy's retreat. The regiment expended near fifty rounds of ammunition. I feel authorized in referring especially to the coolness and courage of the officers and men of my command, and their general good conduct during the action." A few days after the battle of Corinth, Buell's army attacked Bragg at Perryville, Kentucky, and here the 2d Minnesota Battery, Captain W. A. Hotchkiss, did good service. A correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette, describing the conflict, says : " The 2d Minnesota Battery, Captain Hotchkiss, came up nearly at the same time with the 2d Missouri Infantry, and by delivering a well-directed fire upon the flank of the rebels, assisted materially in driving them from the woods." In the battle of Fredericksburg, on the thirteenth of December, the 1st Regiment supported Kirby's Bat- tery, and retired to camp near Falmouth, Virginia, with- out serious loss. The position of the 3d Regiment during this year was most unfortunate. much liked. He is commanding the familiar. He asked me what my regiment. We are getting veryanx- name was, and I told him. He told ious about the three companies in me he was one of General Kosecrans' Minnesota, because the authorities spies. His name is Conger. He used threaten to unite us with some other to work on Bromley's farm, near St. regiment, on account of our small Paul. He has been in the Southern size ; but if they arrive I do not think jails for a long time, and is now suf- there is any danger of our being fering from a severe wound. He united with some other United States was present when Pierre Dufort and militia. We always had to do the Baptiste Charette were hung for try- duty of a full regiment. ing to escape to their homes in "I was talking with a secesh the Minnesota." other day whose face appeared to be THIRD REGIMENT SURRENDER. 7 15 On the morning of the thirteenth of July, neir Mur- freesboro', Kentucky, the rebels attacked the 7th Michi- gan, and after their commanding officer was wounded, and they lost nearly half their number, they surrendered. The 3d Minnesota, which was a little more than a mile off, and a battery of four guns, as soon as they heard of the attack, marched up the turnpike and took position in an open field, and in a little while fell back a half- mile. The colonel called a council of officers to decide whether they should fight, and the first vote was to fight; a subsequent vote being taken, by ballot, was in favour of surrender. Lieutenant-Colonel C. W. Griggs, Captains Andrews and Hoyt, voted on both occasions to fight. In September the regiment returned to the State humiliated by the lack of judgment upon the part of their colonel, and was assigned to duty in the Indian country. 716 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER XXXII. THE SIOUX MASSACRE. More than a hundred years ago, the missionary John Brainerd wrote from the valley of the Delaware to Wheelock, President of the Indian Academy at Han- over, New Hampshire : " I am greatly distressed often. There is too much truth in that common saying, 6 Indians will be Indians.' " The past generations of white men have not been indifferent to the welfare of the American savage. One of the objects of English colonization was to " bring the infidels and savages living in those parts to human civility and a settled and quiet government." Our forefathers, at the outset, shrank from the cruel coercive policy of the Spaniards in South America, and in their own language 1 employed "fair and loving means suited to our English natures." The author of the " New Life of Virginia," printed in 1612, says : " This is the work that we first intended and have published to the world, to be chief in our thoughts, to bring (hose infidel people from the worship of devils to the service of God. And this is the knot that you must untie, or cut asunder, before you can conquer those sundry 1 Nova Britannia. London, 1609. EARLY PEACE POLICY. 717 impediments that will surely hinder all other proceed- ings, if this be not first preferred. " Take their children and train them up with gentle- ness ; teach them our English tongue and the principles of religion ; win the elder sort by wisdom and discre- tion ; make them equal with your English in case of wealth, protection, and habitation, doing justice on such as shall do them wrong. Weapons of war are needful, I grant, but for defence only, and not in this case. If you seek to gain this victory upon them by stratagems of war, you shall utterly lose it and never come near it, but shall make their names odious to all their posterity. Instead of iron and steel, you must have patience and humanity to manage their crooked nature to your form of civility, for as our proverb is, ' Look ; how you win them so you must wear them.' If by way of peace and gentleness, then shall you always range them in Jove to your wards, and in peace with your English people ; and by proceeding in that way shall open the springs of earthly benefits to them both, and of safety to yourselves." Before the passengers of the May Flower landed at Plymouth Rock, collections were taken in the churches of England, for training the children of savages of Virginia in virtue and civility. Among the enactments of the first legislative assembly in America, convened at Jamestown, on July thirty, 1619, was the following : "Be it enacted by this present Assembly, That for lay- ing a surer foundation for the conversion of the Indians to the Christian religion, each town, city, borough, and particular plantation do obtain unto themselves by just means a certain number of the natives' children to be educated by them in true religion and a civil course of 718 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. life; of which children the most towardly boys in wit and graces of nature to be brought up by them in the first elements of literature, so as to be fitted for the college intended for them, that from thence they may be sent to that work of conversion." A wealthy person in London, as early as 1620, gave a large sum of money to teach Indian youth to read, and " then to be brought up in some lawful trade, with all humanity and gentleness, until the age of twenty- one years ;" and George Thorpe, a person of piety, cul- ture, and social position, came to Virginia to carry out this beneficent idea ; but in less than a year after his arrival this good man was scalped by the very chief for whom he had caused a white man's house to be built, and all the plantations on the upper James River were made desolate by the torch and arrows of the warriors under his influence. The slaughter had been universal, if God had not put it into the heart of an. Indian converted to Christianity to give the alarm. The authorities, in a letter sent to London, said : " Though three hundred and more of ours died by many of these pagan infidels, yet thousands were saved by means of one of these alone who was made a Christian." While white men engaged in trade with the Indians at that early period were sometimes unjust and violent toward the natives, yet the majority of the settlers were friendly, and the Indians had no fear as they passed from plantation to plantation. Their priests or sacred men had, however, viewed the advent of the European to their shores with sadness. They foresaw that their occupation would be gone should industry and intel- ligence prevail among their tribes, and it was their de- light to foment suspicions, and stir up ill-feeling toward INDIAN SACRED MEN. 719 the planters. Powhatan, persuaded by his priests, slaughtered the first plantation of white men at Koan- oke, in North Carolina, 1 and his successor, under the same stimulus, fearing that he would lose his power over the tribe if his people became landholders and fellow-citizens with the new-comers, resolved to exter- minate the pale-faces from the valley of the James River. The divines and public men of the London Company were so shocked and surprised when the intelligence of the Indian atrocities was received, that they abandoned their mild policy, and felt that it was a Christian duty to cast out the heathen, and wrote- to the colonial authorities to urge a war of extermination. 2 A letter- 1 Strachey, who was secretary of Lord Delaware, in " History of Trav- aile into Virgin] His Ma- jesty hath been acquainted that the men, women, and children of the first plantation at Koanoak were, by com- mandment of Powhatan , he pursuaded thereto by his priests, miserably slaughtered without any offence given by the first planted, who 20 and odd years had peaceably lived intermix t with those savages, and were out of his territory." — HakLuyt Publications, vol. vi. p. 85. 2 On August 1, 1622, the London Company wrote : " As for the actors thereof, we can- not but with much griefe proceed to the condemnation of their bodies, the saving of whose soules we have so zealously affected ; but since the inocent blood of so many Christians doth in justice crie out for revenge, and the future securitie in wisdom require, we must advise you to roote out from being any longer a people so cursed, a nation ungratefull to all benefitts, and uncapable of all good- nesse ; at least to the removall of them so farr from you as you may not only be out of danger, but out of feare of them, of whose faith and good mean- ing you can never be secure. Where- fore, as they have merited, let them have a perpetual warre without peace or truce ; and, although they have desired it, without mercie, too. Yet, remembering who we are, rather than what they have been, we cannot but advise not only the sparing but the preservation of the younger people of both sexes, whose bodies may by labor and service become profitable, and their minds not overgrowne with evill customes, be reduced to civilitie, and afterwards toChristianitie." For the entire letter see Neill's " Virginia Company of London," pp. 330, 331. Published by Joel Munsell, Albany^ 1869. 720 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. writer, also of that day, used the following strong language : " We have sent boys among them to learn their lan- guage, but they returned worse than they went; but I am no statesman, nor love to meddle with anything but my books, but I can find no probability by this course to draw them to goodness ; but I am persuaded if Mars and Minerva go hand in hand, they will effect more good in an hour, than those verbal Mercurians in their lives, and till their priest and ancients have their throats cut there is no hope to bring them to conversion." 1 Two hundred and forty years after the first great massacre in the valley of the James River, another occurred in the valley of the Minnesota just as unex- pected, accompanied by barbarities as revolting, and which would have been more extensive had it not been for the influence of a converted Indian, Paul Mnzakutainani, a member of the Presbyterian Mission Church. 2 1 Smith's General History. of August, 1862, were dark weeks * * 2 At the time of the outbreak there White men said the Dakota mission was a small Presbyterian church was a failure, that if our teachings had composed of Indians, at the Lower been right they would have prevented Agency, and also churches of the such an outbreak. But the vindication same denomination at Payutazee and was coming. Even now, John Other Hazlewood. At the latter station Day, a member of Dr. Williamson's was also an Indian boarding-school, church, helped away sixty-two per- The aggregate number of members sons from the agency at Yellow of the Presbyterian churches before Medicine. And while the troops the outbreak was only sixty-five, but under General Sibley were making since the removal of the Indians to preparations to advance, Simon Ana- the Missouri the Presbyterian mis- wanymane came into our lines with sionaries have been greatly blessed, a white woman and three children and there are now eight hundred who had been taken captive by the Dahkotahs belonging to their hostile Sioux. Simon was an elder in churches. Rev. S. R. Riggs says : the Hazlewood church. A few days ; ' r lhe weeks that followed the 18th after this, Lorenzo Lawrence, a mem- CAUSES OF OUTBREAK. 721 There have been many theories advanced to account for the Sioux outbreak of 1S62, but they are for the most part superficial and erroneous. Little Crow, in his written communications to Colonel Sibley, explain- ing the causes which had provoked hostilities on the part of the Indians, makes no allusion to the treaties, but stated that his people had been driven to acts of violence by the suffering brought upon them by the ber of the same church, brought down 40. Cincinnati : Kendall and Henry, Mrs. De Camp and her children." for the A. B. C. F. AT. 1839. The following list of works pre- Extracts from Genesis and the pared by the Presbyterian mission- Psalms: with the Third Chapter of aries among the Dahkotahs, until the Proverbs, and the Third Chapter of year 1869, is taken from vol. iii., part Daniel, in the Dakota Language. 1, of Minnesota Historical Society Translated from the French Bible Collections, and shows their active as published by the American Bible Society, by Joseph Kenville, Sr. Compared with other translations, and prepared for the press by Thomas S. Williamson, M.D., Missionary. Cincinnati: Kendall and Henry, for the A. B. C. F. M. 18mo : pp. 72. 1839. Wotaxix Waxte Mark us Owa KIN. The Gospel according to Mark, in the Language of the Dakotas. Translated from the French by Joseph Renville, Sr. : written out and pre- pared for the press by Dr. Thomas S. Williamson, Missionary. Cincin- nati : Kendall and Henry, for the A. B. C. F. M. ISmo : pp. 96. 1839. Extracts from the Gospels of Matthew, Luke and John, from the Acts of the Apostles, and from the First Epistle of John, in the Lan- guage of the Dakota or Sioux Indians. Translated from the French as pub- lished by the American Bible Society, by Joseph Renville, Sr. Written and prepared for the press by Thomas S. Williamson, M. D.. Missionary. interest for the welfare of the Indians : DAHKOTAH BIBLIOGRAPHY. Siorx Spelling Book, designed for the use of native learners. By R'-v. J. D. Stevens, Missionary. 12mo : pp. 22. Boston : Crocker and B:-'-wster, for the A. B. C. F. M. 18-V, TA'icoxi Owihaxke Wanin Taxix kix. 12mo:pp. 23. Boston: Crocker and Brewster, for the A. B. C. F. M. 1837. - little tract contains Dr. Watts' Second Cateuhisin fur Children, translated into the Dalikotah Language by .Ti.geph Renville, Sr., anu Dr. T. S. Williamson.] Thk Dakota First Reading Book. By Gideon H. Pond and •n R. Riggs. 18mo : pp. 50. Cincinnati, Ohio: Kendall and Henry, for the A. B. C. F. M. 1839. Joseph Otakapi kin. The Story of Joseph and his Brethren, trans- lated from Genesis by Revs. Gideon H. and Samuel W. Pond. 18mo : pp. 46 T22 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. delay in the payment of their annuities, and by the bad treatment they had received from their traders. In fact, nothing has transpired to justify the con- clusion that when the bands first assembled at the agency, there was anything more than the usual chronic discontent among them, superinduced by the failure of the government, or its agents, faithfully to carry out the stipulations of the different treaties. 12mo : pp. Cincinnati: Kendall and Henry. 18mo:pp. 48. 1839. Wowapi Mitawa: Tamakoce kaga. My Own Book. Prepared from Rev. T. H. Gallaudet's " Mo- American Tract Society. 12. 1842. Wicoicage Wowapi qa Odowan Wakan, etc. The Book of Genesis, a Part of the Psalms, and the Gospels ther's Primer," and "Child's Picture of Luke and John. Cincinnati, Ohio: Defining and Reading Book," in the Dakota Language. By S. R. Riggs, A. M., Missionary of the A. B. C. F. M. Boston: Crocker and Brewster. Square 12mo : pp. 64. 1842. Wowapi Inonpa. The Second Dakota Reading Book. Consisting of Bible Stories from the Old Testa- ment. By Rev. S. W. Pond. Boston: Crocker and Brewster, for the A. B. C. F. M. 18mo : pp. 54. 1842. Dakota Dowanpi kin. Dakota Hymns. Boston : Crocker and Brew- ster, for the A. B. C. F. M. 18mo : pp. 97. 1842. [These Hymns -were composed in the Dakota Language by Mr. Joseph Renville and sons and the Missionaries of the American Board.— S. R. R.] WOAHOPE WlKCEMNA KIN. (Sheet.) The Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer, in the Da- kota Language. Boston. 1842. Eliza Marpi-cokawin, Raraton- Kendall and Barnard, for the A. B. C. F. M. 12mo : pp. 295. 1842. [These translations were made partly from the original Hebrew and Greek, and partly from the French, by Dr. T. S. Williamson, Rev G. H. Pond, S. R. Riggs, and Joseph Renville, Sr.-S. R. R.] Jesus Ohnihdewicaye cin Ara- nyanpi qon ; qa Palos Wowapi kage ciqon ; nakun, Jan Woyake ciqon dena cepi. Tamakoce okaga. The Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles of Paul; with the Revelation of John; in the Dakota Language. Translated from the Greek, by Stephen R. Riggs, A. M. Published by the American Bible Society. Cincinnati : Kendall and Barnard. 12mo : pp. 228. 1843. Dakota Wiwangapi Wowapi. Catechism in the Dakota or Sioux Language. By Rev. S. W. Pond, Missionary of the A. B.C. F. M. New Haven, Conn. Printed by Hitchcock wan Oyato en Wapiye sa: qa Sara and Stafford. 12mo : pp. 12. 1844. Warpanica qon. A Narrative of Dakota Tawoonspe. Wowapi I. Pious Indian Women. Prepared in Tamakoce kaga. Dakota Lessons. Dakota by Mrs. M. A. C. Riggs. Book I. By S. R. Riggs, A. M., Boston : Crocke and Brewster, for che Missionary of A. B. C. F. M. Louis- CAUSES OF DISSATISFACTION. 723 During the trial of the prisoners before the military commission hereinafter mentioned, every effort was made to elicit evidence bearing upon the outbreak and the motives which actuated the leaders in inaugurating the bloody work. The only inference that can be drawn from all of these sources of information is, that the movement was not deliberate and predetermined, but was the result of various concurrent causes, to wit : ville, Ky. : Morton and Griswold. in this smaller form for the use of Square 12mo : pp. 48. 1850. Dakota Tatvoonspe. AVowapi II. Dakota Lessons. Book II. By S. R. Riggs, Missionary, etc. Louis- ville, Ky. : Morton and Griswold. Square 12mo : pp. 48. 1850. Dakota Tawaxitku Kin. The Dakota Friend, a small monthly paper in Dakota and English, pub- lished at St. Paul by the Dakota Mission. Rev. G-. H. Pond, Editor. 1850-52. [In all 20 numbers were published. The first 12 (Vol. I.) were in a small three-column size. The second volume was enlarged to four col- umns. The first number was issued in No- vember, 1S50. It is asserted that there is but one other instance known of a periodical being pub- lished in an American aboriginal tongue, viz., among the Cherokees. — W.] Grammar and Dictionary of the Dakota Language, collected by the members of the Dakota Mission. By Rev. S. R. Riggs, A. M., Missionary of A. B. C. F. M. Under the pa- tronage of the Historical Society of Minnesota. Printed by R. Craig- head, 53 Vesey Street, New York, 1852 ; for the Smithsonian Institu- tion, Washington City. 4to : pp. 34 ; 338. An English and Dakota Vo- cabulary. By Mrs. M. A. C. Riggs. 8vo:pp. 120. 1852. [This material is included in the larger work, put Dakota schools.] [Having lived twenty-eight years in Minne- sota, twenty-five of which were among the Da- kotas, Mrs. Riggs died in Beloit, Wisconsin, March twenty-second, 1869.] Dakota Odowan. Hymns in the Dakota Language, with Tunes. Ed- ited by S. R. Riggs, Missionary of A. B. C. F. M. Published by the American Tract Society, New York. 1855. 12mo: pp. 127. The Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan ; in the Dakota Language ; translated by Stephen R. Riggs, A. M., Missionary of A. B. C. F. M. Published by the American Tract Society, 150 Nassau Street, New York. 18mo:pp. 264. 1857. [A second edition has been printed. From this on, our books have been nearly all stereo- typed.— S. R. R.] The Constitution of Minne- sota, in the Dakota Language ; translated by Stephen R. Riggs, A. M. By order of the Hazlewood Republic. Boston: Press of T. R. Marvin & Son, 42 Congress Street. 12mo : pp. 36. 1858. Wowapi Nitawa. Your Own Book. A Dakota Primer for Schools. By S. R. Riggs. Square 12mo: pp. 32. Minneapolis. 1863. Dakota Odowan. Hymns in the Dakota Language. Edited by 124. HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. long delay in the payment of the annuities after the Indians were assembled, and an insufficient supply of food in the interim ; dissatisfaction with the traders ; alleged encroachment of settlers upon the Indian reser- vation; ill-feeling of the pagan Indians against the missionaries and their converts ; and predictions of the Stephen R. Riggs and John P. Wil- liamson, Missionaries of the A. B. C. F. M. Published by the American Tract Society, New York. 1863. 18mo : pp. 162. [This book is electrotyped. Four editions have been printed. To the last, published in 1869. twenty pages of new matter were added. The book now has pp. 182, and contains 170 Hymns and Chants. The initials of the authors are appended — "Mr. R.," "J. E.," " A. It." " T. S. W.," " G. H. P.," " S. W. P.," " J. P. W.," "A. W. H.," "L. L.," and "A. D. F."] Dakota Wiwicawangapi kin. Dakota Catechism. Prepared from the Assembly's Shorter Catechism. By S. R. Riggs, Missionary of A. B. C. F. M. Published by the Ameri- can Tract Society, ISTew York. 24mo : pp. 36. 1864. [Two editions have been printed.] Woonspe Itakihna. Ehakeun okaga. "Precept upon Precept," translated into the Dakota Language by John B. Renville. Prepared for the press by S. R. Riggs. Published by the American Tract Society, Boston. 18mo: pp.228. 1864. Oowa Wowapi. The Book of Letters ; an illustrated school book. By John P. Williamson, Missionary of A. B. C. F. M. Printed for the mission by the American Tract So- cioty, New York. 12mo: pp. 84. 1865 Dakota Wowapi Wakan kin. The New Testament in the Dakota Language ; translated from the origi- nal Greek, by Stephen R. Riggs, A. M., Missionary of the A. B. C. P. M. New York: American Bible Society. 16mo : pp. 408. 1865. Wicoicage Wowapi, Mowis owa : qa Wicoie Wakan kin, Solo- mon kaga. Pejihuta Wicashta Da- kota iapi en kaga. The Books of Genesis and Proverbs in the Dakota Language ; translated from the origi- nal Hebrew by Thomas S. William- son, A. M., M. D. New York: American Bible Society. 1865. 16mo: p. 115. Dakota ABC Book. By S. R. Riggs. Chicago : Dean and Otta- wary. Square 12mo : pp. 40. 1866. Dakota A. B. C. Wowapi kin. The Dakota Primer. By S. R Riggs, Missionary of A. B. C. F. M. New York : American Tract Society. Square 12mo : pp. 64. 1868. The Book of Psalms. Trans- lated from the Hebrew into the Dakota language, by S. R. Riggs, Missionary of the A. B. C. F. M. New York: American Bible Society. 16mo : pp. 133. 1869. The Books of Exodus and Le- viticus. Translated from the He- brew into the Dakota language, by T. S. Williamson, M.D., Missionary of A. B. C. F. M. New York: American Bible Society. 16mo : pp. 65 and 47. 1869. BEGINNING OF SLAUGHTER. 725 medicine-men that the Sioux would defeat the Ameri- cans in battle, and then reoccupy the whole country after clearing it of the whites. Add to these the facts, well known to the Indians, that thousands of young and able-bodied men had been despatched to aid in sup- pressing the rebellion, and that but a meagre force re- mained to garrison Forts Kidgely and Abercrombie, the only military posts in proximity to their country, and it will be perceived that, to savages who held fast to their traditional attachment to the British crown, and were therefore not friendly to the Americans, the temptation to regain their lost possessions must have been strong. It was fresh in their minds, also, and a frequent subject of comment on their part, that the government had taken no steps to punish Ink-pah- du-tah and his small band, who had committed so many murders and other outrages upon citizens of the United States, in 1856, at Spirit Lake. 1 It is, however, by no means certain that all of these considerations combined would have resulted in open hostilities, but for an occurrence which proved to be the application of the torch to the magazine. Five or six young warriors, wearied of the inaction of a stationary camp life, made an excursion along the outer line of the Big Woods in a northern direction, with the avowed intention of securing the scalp of a Chippewa, if practicable. Being unsuccessful in their search, they retraced their steps to Acton, a small settlement in Meeker County, on the seventeenth of August, 1862, and through some means they obtained whiskey, and drank freely. They made a demand for more liquor from a man named Jones, and were refused, where- ] See chapter xxyiii. pp. 621-622. 726 . HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. upon the infuriated savages fired upon and killed not only him but two other men, Webster and Baker by name, and an elderly lady and a young girl. Terrified at their own violence, and fearful of the punishment due to their crimes, these wretches made their way back to the camp at the Lower Agency, confessed their guilt to their friends, and implored protection from the vengeance of the outraged laws. They all belonged to influential and powerful families, and when the whole affair had been discussed in solemn conclave in the " Soldiers' Lodge," it was determined that the bands should make common cause with the criminals, and the following morning was fixed upon for the extermi- nation of the unsuspecting whites at the agencies, and of all the white settlers within reach. How secretly and how faithfully the orders of the " soldiers" were executed, remains briefly to be told. About six o'clock a.m. on the eighteenth day of August, 1862, alarge number of Sioux warriors, armed and in their war paint, assembled about the buildings at the Lower Agency. It had been rumored purposely in advance that a war-party was to take the field against the Chippewas, but no sooner had the Indians assumed their several positions, according to the programme, than an onslaught was made indiscriminately upon the whites, and with the exception of two or three men w^ho concealed themselves, and a few of the women and children who were kept as captives, no whites escaped destruction but George H. Spencer, a respect- able and intelligent young man, who, although twice .seriously wounded, was saved from instant death by the heroic intervention of his Indian comrade, named " Wak-ke-an-da-tah," or the " Ked Lightning." A number ESCAPE OF MISSIONARIES. 727 of persons were also slaughtered at the Upper Agency, but through the agency of "Other Day," a Christian Indian, the missionaries, and others, including Rev. Messrs. Riggs and Williamson, and their families, — in all about sixty persons, — were saved, being conducted safely through the Indian country to the white settle- ments. Their escape was truly providential. The massacre of the people, the pillage of stores and dwell- ings, and the destruction of the buildings having been consummated, parties weie despatched to fall upon the settlers on farms and in villages along the entire fron- tier, extending nearly two hundred miles. The scenes of horror consequent upon the general onslaught can better be imagined than described. Fortunate, com- paratively speaking, was the lot of those who were doomed to instant death, and thus spared the agonies of lingering tortures, and the superadded anguish of wit- nessing outrages upon the persons of those nearest and dearest to them. The fiends of hell could not invent more fearful atrocities than were perpetrated by the savages upon their victims. The bullet, the tomahawk, and the scalping-knife spared neither age nor sex, the only prisoners taken being the young and comely women, to minister to the brutal lusts of their captors, and a few children. In the short space of thirty-six hours, as nearly as could be computed, eight hundred whites were cruelly slain. Almost every dwelling along the extreme frontier was a charnel-house, containing the dying and the dead. In many cases the torch was applied, and maimed and crippled sufferers, unable to escape, were consumed with their habitations. The alarm was communicated by refugees to the adjacent settlements, and soon the roads leading to St. Paul were 728 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. crowded by thousands of men, women, and children, in the wild confusion of a sudden flight. Domestic animals, including hundreds and even thousands of cattle, were abandoned, and only those taken which could expedite the movements of the terror-stricken settlers. The savages, after accomplishing their mission of death, assembled in force, and attempted to take Fort Ridgely by a coup de main. In this they were foiled by the vigilance and determination of the garrison, aided by volunteers who had escaped from the surrounding settlements. The attack was continued at intervals for several days, but without success. The town of New Ulm was also assailed by a strong force of the savages, but was gallantly defended by volunteers from the neighbouring counties under the command of Colonel C. H. Flandrau. Captain Dodd, an old and respectable citizen of St. Peter, was among the killed at this point. Fort Abercrombie, on the Red River, also suffered a long and tedious siege by the bands of Sioux from Laequi Parle, until relieved by a force despatched by Governor Ramsey, from St. Paul. The first advices of the outbreak reached St. Paul on the day succeeding the massacre at the Lower Agency. Instant preparations were made by Governor Ramsey to arrest the progress of the savages. At his personal solicitation, Henry H. Sibley, a resident of Mendota, whose long and intimate acquaintance with Indian character and habits was supposed to render him peculiarly fitted for the position, consented to take charge of military operations. He was accordingly commissioned by the Governor, colonel commanding, and upon him devolved the conduct of the campaign in person. COLONEL SIBLEY ADVANCES. 729 Unfortunately, the State of Minnesota was lament- ably deficient in the means and appliances requisite to carry on successfully a war of the formidable character which this threatened to assume. The Sioux allied bands could bring into the field from eight hundred to a thousand warriors, and they might be indefinitely re- inforced by the powerful divisions of the prairie Sioux. Those actually engaged in hostilities were good marks- men, splendidly armed, and abundantly supplied with ammunition. They had been victorious in several en- counters with detachments of troops, and had over- whelming confidence in their own skill. On the other hand, the State had already despatched five thousand, more or less, of her choicest young men to the South, her arsenal was stripped of all the arms that were effective, and there was little ammunition on hand, and no rations. There was no government transporta- tion to be had, and the prospect was not by any means favourable. Governor Ramsev, notwithstanding, acted with promptness and vigour. He telegraphed for arms and ammunition to the War Department, and to the governors of the adjoining States. He authorized also the appropriation for the public use of the teams be- longing to individual citizens, and adopted such other measures as the emergency demanded. There were at Fort Snelling. happily, the nuclei of regiments that had been called into service. Colonel Sibley left Fort Snelling with four hundred men of the 6th Regiment Minnesota Volunteers, early on the morning of August twentieth. Upon an inspection of the arms and cartridges furnished, it was found that the former comprised worthless Austrian rifles, and the ammunition w r as for guns of a different and larger cali- •730 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. bre. The command was detained several days at St, Peter, engaged in swedging the balls so as to fit the arms, and in preparing canister-shot for the six-pounders. Meantime arms of a better quality were received, re- inforcements of troops arrived, and the column took up the line of march for Fort Ridgley, which was reached without interruption, and the troops went into camp a short distance from the post, to await the reception of rations and to make the final preparations for an advance upon thp hostile Indians, who had drawn in their detached parties, and were concentrating for a decisive battle. Scouts were despatched to ascertain the location of the main Indian camp, and upon their return they re- ported no Indians below Yellow Medicine River. A burial-party of twenty men, under the escort of one company of infantry and the available mounted force, in all about two hundred men, under the command of Major J. R. Brown, was detailed to proceed and inter the remains of the murdered at the Lower Agency and at other points in the vicinity. This duty was per- formed, fifty-four bodies buried, and the detachment was en route to the settlements on Beaver River, and had encamped for the night near Birch Coolie, a long and wooded ravine debouching into the Minnesota River, when, about dawn the following morning, the camp was attacked by a large force of Indians, twenty- five men killed or mortally wounded, and nearly all the horses, ninety in number, shot down. Providen- tially, the volleys of musketry were heard at the main .camp, although eighteen miles distant, and Colonei Sibley marched to the relief of the beleagured de- tachment, drove off the Indians, buried the dead, BATTLE OF WOOD LAKE. 731 and the weary column then retraced its steps to the camp. The period spent in awaiting necessary supplies of provisions was made useful in drilling the men and bringing them under discipline. So soon as ten days' rations had been accumulated, Colonel Sibley marched in search of the savages, and on the twentv-third of September, 1862, w r as fought the severe and decisive battle of Wood Lake. The action was commenced by the Indians, and was bravely contested by them for more than two hours, when they gave way at all points, and sent in a flag of truce, asking permission to remove their dead and wounded, which was refused. A message was sent back to Little Crow, the leader of the hostile Indians, to the effect that if any of the white prisoners held by him received injury at the hands of the sav- ages, no mercy w r ould be shown to the latter, but they would be pursued and destroyed without regard to age or sex. The success at Wood Lake w r as not achieved without serious loss. Major Welch, of the 3d Minnesota Vol- unteers, commanding, was severely wounded in the leg ; Captain Wilson, of the 6th Regiment, badly contused in the breast by a spent ball ; and nearly forty non- commissioned officers and privates w r ere killed or wounded. The loss of the enemy was much greater, a half-breed prisoner stating it at thirty killed and a larger number wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Marshall and Major Bradley, of the 7th Regiment, distinguished themselves, the former leading a charge of five com- panies of his own and two companies of the 6th Regi- ment, which cleared a ravine of the enemy, w r here thev had obtained shelter. Lieutenant-Colonel Averill 732 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. i and Major McLaren, of the 6th Regiment, also per- formed signal service, as did all the officers and men of both regiments. The 3d Regiment, composed of fractions of six companies, fought gallantly, having for a time, in conjunction with the Renville Rangers, borne the brunt of the fight, and their loss was great in propor- tion. One of the main objects of the campaign, the deliver- ance of the white captives, was yet to be accomplished, and required the exercise of much judgment and cau- tion. There was good reason to fear that, in the ex- asperation of defeat, they might fall victims to the savages. Colonel Sibley, therefore, delayed his march towards the great Indian camp until the second day after the battle, to allow time to the friendly element to strengthen itself, and to avoid driving the hostile Indians into desperate measures against their prisoners. On the twenty-fifth of September, the column, with drums beating and colors flying, filed past the Indian encampment, and formed the camp within a few hun- dred yards of it. Colonel Sibley, with his staff and field officers, then proceeded to the lodges of the In- dians, and directed that all the captives should be de- livered up to him, which was forthwith done. A sight was then presented which sufficed to suffuse the eyes of strong men with tears. Young and beautiful women, who had for weeks endured the extremity of outrage from their brutal captors, followed by a crowd of chil- dren of all ages, came forth from the lodges, hardly realizing that the day of their deliverance had arrived. Convulsive sobbings were heard on every side, and the poor creatures clung to the men who had come to their relief, as if they feared some savage would drag them WHITE CAPTIVES RELEASED. 733 away. They were all escorted tenderly to the tents prepared for their reception, and made as comfortable as circumstances would admit. The number of pure whites thus released amounted to about one hundred and fifty, including one man only, Mr. Spencer. The latter expressed his gratitude to Colonel Sibley that he had not made a forced march upon the camp after the battle, stating emphatically that if such a course had been pursued, it was the determination of the hos- tile Indians to cut the throats of the captives, and then disperse in the prairies. There were delivered also nearly two hundred and fifty half-breeds, who had been held as prisoners. Two of the principal objects of the campaign, the defeat of the savage and the release of the captives, having now been consummated, there remained but to punish the guilty. Many of these, with Little Crow, had made their escape and could not be overtaken, but some of the small camps of refugees were surrounded and their inmates brought back. The locality where these events transpired was appropriately called Camp Release, and the name should be perpetuated. At the proper time, the Indian camp was surrounded by a cordon of troops, and four hundred of the warriors were arrested, chained together in pairs, and placed in an enclosure of logs made by the troops, under strong guard. Others who were known to be innocent were not interfered with. Colonel Sibley constituted a mili- tary commission, with Colonel Crooks, commanding 6th Regiment, as president, for the trial of the prisoners. A fair and impartial hearing was accorded to each, and the result was, the finding of three hundred and three guilty of participation in the murder of the whites, and 73 t HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the sentence of death by hanging was passed upon them. Others were convicted of robbery and pillage and condemned to various terms of imprisonment, and a few were acquitted. The witnesses were composed of the released captives, including mixed bloods, and of Christian Indians who had refused to join Little Crow in the war. A full record was kept of each case that was tried. The preparations for the execution of the guilty In- dians were brought to a summary close, by an order from President Lincoln prohibiting the hanging of any of the convicted men without his previous sanction. The people of the State were highly indignant at this suspension, and an energetic protest was made by their Senators and Representatives in Washington. Finally, after much delay, Colonel Sibley was directed to carry out the sentence of the commission in certain cases specified, and on December twenty-sixth, 1862, thirty- eight of the criminals were executed accordingly at Mankato, on the same scaffold, under the direction of Colonel Miller, commanding that post. The remainder of the condemned were sent to Davenport, Iowa, early in the spring, where they were kept in confinement for more than a year, a large number dying of disease in the mean time. Those that remained were eventually despatched to a reservation on the Upper Missouri, where the large number of prisoners taken by Colonel Sibley, principally women and children, had already been placed. The President testified his approbation of the conduct of Colonel Sibley by conferring upon him, unasked, the commission of brigadier-general of volunteers, and the appointment was subsequently confirmed by the Senate. INDIAN CAMPAIGN ENDED. .oO Thus happily terminated the Indian campaign of IS 62. entered upon without due preparation, against an enemy formidable in numbers, completely armed and equipped, and withal confident of their own powers and strength. It was a critical period in the history of the State, for it was then suspected, and has since been con- firmed, that if the column of troops under Colonel Sibley had met with a reverse, there would have been a rising of the Chippewas and Winnebagoes against the whites, and many of the counties west of the Mis- sissippi would have been entirely depopulated. Indeed, in a speech to his warriors the night previous to the battle of Wood Lake, Little Crow stated the pro- gramme to be, first, the defeat and destruction of the old men and boys composing, as he said, the command under Colonel Sibley, and second, the immediate de- scent thereafter of himself and his people to St. Paul, there to dispose summarily of the whites, and then establish themselves comfortably in winter quarters. That the people of Minnesota succeeded, without ex- traneous aid, in speedily ending an Indian war of such threatening and formidable proportions, while they continued to bear their full share of the burdens im- posed on the Northern States in the suppression of the great rebellion, constitutes an epoch in their history of which they may be justly proud. It was deemed requisite by the military authorities at Washington, and by Major-General Pope, command- ing the Department of the Northwest, that a second campaign should be entered upon against the refugees who had been concerned in the massacres, and had tied to the upper prairies, where they had been hospitably received and harbored by the powerful bands of Sioux 736 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. in that remote region. Accordingly, General Sully, commanding the District of the Upper Missouri, and General Sibley, commanding the District of Minnesota, were summoned to the head-quarters of the depart- ment at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to confer with General Pope. It was finally decided that a large force under the district commanders mentioned should march as early in the summer of 1863 as practicable, from Sioux City on the Missouri, and from a designated point on the Minnesota River respectively, the objective-point of the two columns being Devil's Lake, where it was supposed the main body of Indians would be encoun- tered. The force under General Sully was to be com- posed entirely of cavalry, and that under General Sib- ley of three regiments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry, and two sections of light artillery. The Min- nesota column reached the point of rendezvous after a most weary and indeed distressing march, the summer being exceedingly warm, and the prairies parched with the excessive drought. Learning from the Red River half-breeds that the large Indian camps were to be found on the Missouri coteau, in the direction from which General Sully was to be expected, General Sib- ley left the sore-footed and weary of his men and animals in an entrenched camp on the Upper Sheyenne River, and marched rapidly towards the Missouri River. He succeeded in falling in with the camp in which many of the refugees were to be found, and which con- tained several hundred warriors, attacked and defeated them with considerable loss, and followed them as they retreated upon other and stronger camps, the tenants of which were driven back in confusion successively, until the Missouri River was interposed as a barrier to the LITTLE CROW KILLLED. 737 advance of the pursuing column. The command of General Sully, delayed by unexpected obstacles, was not fallen in with, and the Minnesota troops having accomplished more than was allotted to them in the co-operative movement, and secured their own frontier from apprehensions of further serious raids on the part of hostile Sioux, returned to their quarters in their own State. The year 1863 was also signalized by the death of Little Crow, who, with a small party of seventeen men, made a descent upon the frontier w r ith the object of stealing horses, and after committing a few murders and depredations, he was fatally shot by a man named Lamson, in the Big Woods, and his son, who was with him, was subsequently taken prisoner near Devil's Lake, by a detachment from General Sibley's column, condemned to death by military commission, but sub- sequently pardoned on account of his extreme youth. 1 1 Among the first massacred by ice and guarded by Lieutenant Oliver the Indians was Philander Prescott, and a few soldiers. Toward the close one of the oldest citizens and traders of the year 1819, Mr. Prescott arrived of Minnesota. He was the son of a at the cantonment, then in command physician, and born on seventeenth of Colonel Leavenworth, and from September, 1801, at Phelpstown, On- that time until his murder he was tario County, New York. In the identified with the region now known winter of 1819 he visited a brother, a as Minnesota, clerk in a sutler's store at Detroit. The winter of 1824—5 Mr. P. With Mr. Devotion, the sutler, traded with the Indians near Fort ho proceeded to the Upper Mississippi, Snelling, living at Land's End, and stopped at Mud Hen Isle, the Isle purchased the Indian wife with Pelee, where the French, in 1695, whom he lived in his last years, hod erected an establishment about For three years after this he was an midway between Lake Pepin and the employee of the Columbia Fur Com- mouth of the St. Croix. At this point pany, and then he passed a short time Mr. Faribault then had a trading- in Louisiana; but in the spring of house. Xext they stopped at Olive 1828 he returned, and soon after this Grnve, now Hastings. Here he found the Indian agent Taliaferro era- a keel boat loaded with stores for the ployed him to open a farm for the troops at Minnesota, stopped by the Indians at Lake Calhoun. 47 738 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER XXXIII. SERVICES OF REGIMENTS IN THE SOUTH DURING THE YEAR 1863. On the first of March the 4th Regiment embarked at Memphis and entered the Yazoo Pass, and on the fifteenth of April returned to Milliken's Bend. A few- days after, Colonel Sanborn was temporarily placed in command of Quinby's Division. On the thirtieth of April the regiment was opposite Grand Gulf, and in a few days they entered Port Gibson, and here Colonel Sanborn resumed the command of a brigade ; and on the tenth of May the regiment, which was a part of his brigade, was present at the battle of Raymond, and on the fourteenth took part in the battle of Jackson. A newspaper correspondent says : " Captain L. B. Martin, of the 4th Minnesota, A. A. G. to Colonel San* born, seized the flag of the 59th Indiana Infantry, rode rapidly beyond the skirmishers (Company H of 4th Minnesota, Lieutenant George A. Clark), and raised it over the dome of the capitol. Lieutenant Donaldson of the 4th, also riding in advance, captured a flag made of silk ; on one side was inscribed ' Claiborne Rangers, f and on the other ' Our Eights.'" On the sixteenth the regiment was in the battle of Champion Hill, and took one hundred and eighteen pri- soners. Four days later it was in the rear of Vicksburg. Lieutenant-Colonel Tourtellotte reports as follows: AROCXD VICKSBURG. 739 " On the morning of the twenty-second, by order of General Grant, an assault was made on Vicksburg. My regiment, with the 48th Iowa for reserve and sup- port, was ordered to charge upon one of the enemy's forts just in front as soon as I should see a charge made upon the fort next on my right." This order being modified, the report continues : " No sooner had we taken position than General Burbage withdrew his brigade from the action. Under the direct fire from the fort in front, under a heavy cross-fire from a fort on our right, the regiment pressed forward up to and even on the enemy's works. In this position, contend- ing for the possession of the rebel earthwork, the regi- ment remained for two hours, when it became dark, and I was ordered bv Colonel Sanborn to withdraw the regiment. Noticing a field-piece which had been lifted up the hill by main strength and which had appa- rently been used by General Burbage in attempting to batter down the walls of the fort, I sent Company C to withdraw the piece from the ground and down the hill. * * * * In this action the regiment suf- fered severely, losing some of its best officers and men." The 5th Regiment, attached to the 3d Division of loth Army Corps, reached Grand Gulf on the seventh of May. On the thirteenth they were at Raymond, and the next day in action near Jackson. On the twenty-second it was before Vicksburg and exposed to a galling fire, but lost only two men. The 1st Regiment left Falmouth, Virginia, and by hurried marches reached Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the first of July. The next morning Hancock's Corps, to which it was attached, moved to a ridge, the right 140 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. resting on Cemetery Hill, the left near Sugar Loaf Mountain. The line of battle was a semi-ellipse, and Gibbon's Division, to which the regiment was attached, occupied the centre of the curve nearest the enemy. 1 Captain H. C. Coates, commanding the regiment after the battle, writes: 1 As the battle at Gettysburg was one of the decisive battles of the Ke- bellion, we give the following ex- tracts from a most graphic account, writen by one signing himself " Ser- geant," which appeared in the St. Paul Pioneer, August 9, 1863. He says : " General Hancock rode up to Colonel Colville, and, pointing to the smoke-covered masses of the advancing foe, said, 'Colonel, ad- vance and take their colours !' ' For- ward!' shouted our colonel, and as one man we commenced to move down the slope towards a little run at its foot, which the enemy evidently wished to gain. Now their cannon were pointed to us, and round shot, grape, and shrapnel tore fearfully through our ranks, and the more deadly Enfield rifles were directed to us alone. Great heavens, how fast our men fell ! Marching as file-closer, it seemed as if every step was over some fallen comrade. Yet no man wavers ; every gap is closed up, and, bringing down their bayonets, the boys press shoulder to shoulder: and disdaining the fictitious courage pro- ceeding from noise and excitement, without a word or cheer, but with silent, ' desperate determination, stop firmly forward in unbroken line, within a hundred — within fifty steps of the foe. Three times their colours are shot down, and three times, arising, go forward as before. One-fourth of the men have fallen, and yet no shot has been fired at the enemy, who paused a moment to look upon that line of leveled bayonets, and then, panic-stricken, turned and ran ; but another line took their place and poured murderous volleys into us, not thirty yards distant. 'Charge!' cried Colonel Colville; and with a wild cheer we ran at them. We fired away three, four, five, irregular volleys, and but little ammunition is wasted, when the muzzles of opposing guns almost meet. The enemy seemed to sink into the ground. They are checked and staggered; one division came up at this instant, and before we recov- ered from the bewilderment of the shock, we scarcely know how, but the rebels are swept back over the plain. But, good God! where was the 1st Minnesota? Our flag was carried back to the battery, and seventy men, scarce one of them unmarked by scratches and bullet holes through their clothing, are all that formed around it. The other two hundred, alas! lay bleeding under it. Our field officers, rendered conspicuous by their great personal statures and cool and dashing gallantry, had all fallen, each pierced by several balls, and the com- mand devolved upon Captain Mes- sick. Tired and weary, we might not sleep, or even build fires to make coffee, but rested on our arms all the BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 741 "At three o'clock on the morning of the second instant, we were ordered into position in the front and about the centre of our line, just to the left of the town. The battle commenced at daylight and raged with fury the entire day. We were under a severe artillery fire, but not actively engaged until about five o'clock, p.m., when we were moved to support Battery I, 4th United States Artillery. Company F had long, dump, drizzling night, in wake- ful anticipation of an attack. Bed and fiery through the morning mists at length arose the sun on the third of July. The forenoon passed as did the previous one. About noon two guns were fired as a sort of signal, and immediately after one hundred and eighty pieces of cannon opened on our line. When you remember our formation, and that of the enemy conformed to it, you will see that their cannon were on three sides of us, and that their converging lines of fire crossed each other in all direc- tions over us. Many of their shot, fired from batteries to the west of us, passed clear over our ' horse shoe,' and fell among their own men, facing us from the east. Imagine our posi- tion in the centre ! Our artillery opened as vigorously in return, and now the scene became sublime. Two long, weary hours, and then came the lull. We knew their infantry was advancing, and we rose for the death- struggle with a feeling of relief, for it was at worst but man to man, and we could give as well as take. And now they emerged from the woods, Longstreet's whole corps, near thirty thousand strong. General Pickett's division, of about twelve thousand, fresh from the rear, was in front of, and advanced upon, our shattered division of less than four thousand. We had reserves behind, though, to go to our assistance if needed. Over the plain, still covered with the dead and wounded of yesterday, in three beautiful lines of battle, preceded by shirmishers with their arms at right shoulder shift, and with double-quick step, right gallantly they came on. What was left of our artillery opened, but they never seemed to give it any attention. Calmly we awaited the onset, and when within two hundred yards we opened fire. Their front line went down like grass before the scythe; again and again we gave it to them, when they changed direc- tion and followed a small ravine up towards our right. To the right we went also, marching parallel with them and firing continually, and no man seemed to shrink from his duty. Three or four brigades of the enemy closed together near a cave, when, changing again, they rushed forward and planted their colours on one of our batteries. Our brigade rushed at them. The tattered colours of the 1st, in advance, were now shot down, the ball passing through John Dehn's (the colour-bearer) right hand, and cutting the staff in two where he grasped it. Corporal 742 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. been detached from the regiment as skirmishers, and Company L as sharpshooters. Our infantry, who had advanced upon the enemy in our front and pushed him for a while, were in turn driven back in some con- fusion, the enemy following them in heavy force. To check them, we were ordered to advance, which we did, moving at double-quick down the slope of the hill, right upon the rebel line. The fire we en- countered here was terrible, and, although we inflicted severe punishment upon the enemy, and checked his advance, it was with the loss in killed and wounded of more than two-thirds of our men who were engaged. Here Captain Muller, of Company E, and Lieutenant Farrer, of Company I, were killed, and Captain Peri am, of Company K, mortally wounded. Colonel Colville, O'Brien raised the flag and bore it on. Generals Hancock and Gibbon were both wounded here while cheer- ing us on. Orders were unnecessary. The fight had become a perfect melee, and every man fought for himself, or under the direction of his company officers. Here that noble soldier, Captain Messick,* was killed, and Captain Parrel, who had gallantly brought up the provost guard, Com- pany C, to reinforce his shattered regiment, mortally wounded. The enemy had halted, and were firing on us from behind some bushes. We pushed on ; they fired till we reached the muzzles of their guns, but they could not stand the bayonet, and broke before the cold steel in disor- der and dismay. Our division took more colours than it had regiments. Marshall Sherman, of Company C of this regiment, took those of the 28th Virginia. Not daring to run, their officers and men surren- dered in scores and hundreds. At this moment of victory, Corporal O'Brien was shot down and the colours fell. Corporal Irvine imme- diately raised that tattered but sacred flag of Minnesota, and again it waved in glorious triumph over her gallant dead, while the ringing shouts of victory along the front of our whole corps proclaimed that the magnifi- cent army which Lee had launched like a thunderbolt to break our centre, was shattered, broken and defeated by the old 2d, scarcely eight thousand strong. The reserves were not called upon and did not fire a gun, and twenty-eight battle-flags were added to the trophies gathered on the Peninsula and Antietam by that corps, which, in the words of Sumner, ' never yet lost a gun or colour, and never turned back in battle before the enemv.' " DEARLY BOUGHT VICTORY. 743 Lieutenant-Colonel Adams, Major Downie, Adjutant Peller, and Lieutenants Sinclair, Company B, Demerest, Company E, De Gray, and Boyd, Company I, were severely wounded. Colonel Colville is shot through the shoulder and foot; Lieutenant-Colonel Adams is shot through the chest and twice through the leg, and his recovery is doubtful. Fully two-thirds of the en- listed men engaged were either killed or wounded. Companies F, C, and L, not being engaged here, did not suffer severely on this day's fight. The command of the regiment now devolved upon Captain Nathan S. Messick. At daybreak the next morning the enemy renewed the battle with vigor on the right and left of our line, with infantry, and about ten o'clock a.m., opened upon the centre, where we were posted, a most terrible fire of artillerv, which continued without intermission until three o'clock, p.m., when heavy columns of the enemy's infantry were thrown suddenly forward against our position. They marched resolutely in the face of a withering fire up to our line, and suc- ceeded in planting their colours on one of our batteries. They held it but a moment, as our regiment, with others of the division, rushed upon them, the colours of our regiment in advance, and retook the battery, cap- turing nearly the entire rebel force who remained alive. Our regiment took about five hundred prisoners. Sev- eral stands of rebel colours were here taken. Private Marshall Sherman, of Company C, captured the colours of the 28th Virginia Regiment. " Our entire regiment, except Company L, was in the fight, and our loss again was very severe. Captain Messick, while gallantly leading the regiment, was killed early. Captain W. B. Farrel, Company C, was 744 HISTORY OP MINNESOTA. mortally wounded and died last night. Lieutenant Mason, Company D, received three wounds, and Lieu- tenants Harmon, Company C, Heffelfinger, Company D, and May, Company B, were also wounded. The enemy suffered terribly here, and is now retreating. Our loss of so many brave men is heartrending, and will carry mourning into all parts of the State ; but they have fallen in a holy cause, and their memory will not soon perish. Our loss is 4 commissioned officers and 47 men killed, 13 officers and 162 men wounded, and 6 men missing. Total 232, out of less than 330 men and officers engaged. " Several acts of heroic daring occurred in this battle. I cannot now attempt to enumerate them. The bearing of Colonel Colville and Lieutenant-Colonel Adams, in the fight of Tuesday, was conspicuously gallant. Heroically urging them on to the attack, they fell very nearly at the same moment, their wounds comparatively disabling them, so far in the advance that some time elapsed before they were got off the field. Major Downie received two bullets through the arm before he turned over the command to Captain Messick. Colour-Sergeant E. P. Perkins and two of the colour-guard successively bearing the flag, were wounded in Thursday's fight. On Friday, Corporal Dehn of Company A, the last of the colour-guard, when close upon the enemy, was shot through the hand and the flag-staff cut in tw T o; Corporal Henry D. O'Brien, of Company D, instantly seized the flag by the remnant of the staff, and, waving it over his head, rushed right up to the muzzles of the enemy's muskets ; nearly at the moment of victory he too was wounded in the hand, but the flag was instantly grasped by Corporal CHICKAMAUGA, AND MISSION RIDGE. 745 "W. N. Irvine, of Company D, who still carries its tattered remnants. Company L, Captain Berger, sup- ported Kirby's Battery throughout the battle, and did very effective service. Every man in the regiment did his whole duty." On the nineteenth of September, the 2d Regiment, now under Colonel George for the first time since the fight at Mill Spring, was engaged at Chickamauga. It was in the 2d Brigade, 3d Division, 14th Army Corps, and at ten o'clock in the morning was placed next to Battery I, 4th United States Artillery, com- manded by Lieutenant Frank G. Smith. 1 The enemy charged desperately, and after a sharp contest was repulsed. The regiment lost eight killed and forty- one wounded. The next day the fight was resumed and lasted until dark. 2 On the afternoon of the twenty-third of November the 2d Regiment marched from its encampment at Chattanooga, and was drawn up in line of battle in front of Fort Negley, and on the twenty-fifth it took a posi- 1 Son of Franklin Smith, M. D., of A friend writing to Lieutenant G. St. Paul. W. Preseott, says: " General R. W. 2 New York Herald correspondent Johnson fought splendidly. * * * * wrote: " In Branian's Division there I heard on Sunday that he was are the old famous regiments of which wounded and a prisoner, but after- the late General Robert McCook and wards learned that he was safe. I General Van Cleve were formerly called on him yesterday. He is not colonels. This was the first fight well, and thinks of taking a trip to since Mill Spring. * * * * The Minnesota. * * * * General Van big-hearted Minnesotians, whom Van Cleve lost ten out of eighteen pieces Cleve had enlisted two years before, of artillery. * * * * Murdoch, of sprang from their position in re- his staff, son of the actor and a bril- serve, and with loud yells, as if the liant fellow, was mortally wounded, sight had infuriated them, rushed Lieutenant Woodbury, commanding forward with fixed bayonets, drove 2d Battery, had his left arm badly the enemy from their guns before shattered on Saturday." they could be turned on us.*' f46 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. tion to the east, forcing the enemy at the foot and on the crest of Mission Ridge. With the whole brigade about three o'clock in the afternoon it advanced and came in full view of the enemy's works. Lieutenant-Colonel Bishop, commanding the regi- ment, says: "After remaining in front of this part of the enemy's lines for some twenty minutes, I received an order from Colonel Van Derveer commanding the brigade to advance. * * * * With bayonets fixed, the whole line commenced the advance. The enemy opened fire with musketry from the breastworks and artillery from the main ridge as soon as our line emerged from the woods, but in the face of both the men moved silently and steadily forward across the creek and up the slope, until within about one hundred paces of the breastworks, when, as the pace was quickened, the enemy broke from behind the works and ran in some confusion. * * * * About twenty minutes after the capture of the first work, my regiment moved for- ward with the others of the brigade, assembling on the colours as far as it was possible, until ascending the steepest part of the slope, where every man had to find or clear his own way through the entanglement and in the face of a terrible fire of musketry and ar- tillery. * * * * Hardly had a lodgement in the enemy's works been gained, when the enemy's reserves made a furious counter-attack upon our men, yet in confusion. The attack was promptly met. * * * * Of seven non-commissioned officers in the colour-guard, all but one were killed or wounded." The 4th Regiment was also at Chattanooga, assigned to the 15th Army Corps, but suffered no losses. The 1st Regiment, at Bristow Station, Virginia, FIRST REGIMENT IN VIRGINIA. 747 on the fourteenth of October was the head of the column of the 2d Division of the 2d Corps, and as skirmishers in the woods, held the enemy in check until our troops could form behind the railroad. After the enemy was repulsed, the regiment again advanced and captured three hundred and twenty prisoners and six rebel cannon. 748 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER XXXIV MOVEMENTS OF REGIMENTS DURING THE YEAR 1864. As the term of the regiments first organized ap- proached expiration, the men were allowed to re-enlist and return to the State on furlough. On the eighth of January, 1864, the 2d left Chattanooga for Fort Snel- ling, and on the twenty- fourth arrived at St. Paul, with the exception of the companies that belonged to Fill- more and Olmsted Counties, which stopped at Winona. The 1st left their camp near Culpepper on the fifth of February, and after partaking of a banquet at the National Hotel in Washington, given by members of Congress and other citizens of Minnesota in the city, proceeded westward, and were finally welcomed at St. Paul on the fifteenth of February. A correspondent of the Springfield (Mass.) Repub- lican beautifully alludes to their march down the broad Pennsylvania avenue of the nation's capital. "Sunshine and shadow! coming down from the capitol in the street cars the other day, by us, with sound of fife and drum, and gay floating banner, passed the 1st Minnesota Regiment. It made for the gay avenue a pretty pageant. Its war-worn veterans, snuff- ing from afar the hospitalities of the city, quickened their steps. Its officers were proudly mounted. There is something enlivening in the array of battle, out of RETURN OF REGIMENTS. 749 danger's reach ; the sight of it yields a cheap-bought patriotism and taste of martial glory. Men and women on the pavement stopped to look; little children clapped their hands, keeping time with the lively mu- sic ; and out of the car windows women's eyes looked tenderly on the brave defenders of their country. A stilled sob came from a pretty little woman in black, who sat opposite ; then tear after tear trickled down her pale cheeks. Every one noticed, but no one in- truded upon her grief. Some great sorrow had inter- woven her own life with the fortunes of that regiment. A father or brother, or, judging from her weeds, more likely a husband, had made of fearful import to her the name of Gettysburg, or Yorktown, or West Point, or some other of the twenty-one names engraven upon the blue banner. There is told, on one of those battle- fields, her hard, simple, common story, by a nameless grave or a few bleaching bones. Tears came into other eyes than those of the mourner, tears of tender com- passion; and one rough man whispered huskily, 'God bless her!' Yet this sorrow is only one of' the many — all too many— born of the valour and vicissitudes of that regiment. Stern statistics give us its sad story. When organized, it numbered 1040 men. It afterwards re- ceived 400 recruits; 309 sat down to the banquet pre- pared for them at the National Hotel. Where are the 1141 ? * Dead, wounded, sick, and missing.' The fields of Gettysburg, Bull Kun, Ball's Bluff, Yorktown, West Point, Fair Oaks, Peach Orchard Station, Savage Sta- tion, White Oak Swamp, Nelson's Farm, Malvern Hill, South Mountain, Antietam, Sharpsburg, Charlestown, Ashby's Gap, Fredericksburg, twice-fought, Haymarket, Bristow Station and Flint Hill will be greener and 750 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. their country's fame fairer, by the spilling of their blood. First, from their native State, to meet their country's need ; second, in Washington, from the north- west after the Baltimore riot, mustered in, April twenty-ninth, 1861, it has been ever since a brave and faithful portion of the Potomac Army. The pro- motion of its officers has been commensurate with its valour. One major-general and three brigadier-generals have gone from it. Colonel Morgan, with, I think, seven wounds, is in the invalid corps ; Colonel Colville, who is now commanding officer of the regiment, is dis- abled by wounds gotten at Gettysburg. He was borne on Saturday to the banque ting-room in the arms of four stalwart comrades. Lieutenant-Colonel Adams, now acting colonel, has made his country his debtor by nine scars, six of which were gotten at Gettysburg. The rags of what was the old flag of the regiment, clinging vigorously to their staff", told of the dangers past and victories won. They were handsomely wel- comed, these veterans, with viands and courtly speeches at the National, and with warmly throbbing hearts all through the city, and everywhere where hath reached the story of their deeds and ' the dangers they have passed.' And truly the story of that one regi- ment is the story of the whole war, the sunshine and shadow, side by side, — one-quarter here, with music and feasting, and well-earned honour; three-quarters out there, somewhere in the night, and cold, and hun- ger. One heart made joyous by the fame of a gallant soldier ; three more wailing over desolate hearthstones. At first sight these workings of Providence seem one- sided, jangled, and out of tune, the sunshine too narrow and the shadow too black ; but, in the lofty courage, POSITION OF REGIMENTS. 751 the endurance and heroic purpose of this maimed little band, come home, not to stay, but to rest and recruit and go back, one catches a glimpse of a purpose lifting us above the exigencies of mortality. A few hand- shakes with old neighbours, a few sacred hours by their own firesides, a few days' nursing for their maimed leader, a few more stalwart shoulders abreast of their own, and that devoted band rushes back again to mingle its blood, if need be, with that of comrades gone before. May God speed them, and the cause which such men die for !" The 1st Battery, that had been attached to the 17th Army Corps, now commanded by Captain William T. Clayton, arrived early in March, and on the twentieth the 4th returned on furlough. The 3d Regiment, which, after the Indian expedition had been ordered to Little Rock, Arkansas,, on the thirtieth had an engagement with McRae's forces, near Augusta, at Fitzhugh's Woods. Seven men were killed and sixteen wounded. General C. C. Andrews, in command of the force, had his horse killed by a bullet. The 2d Battery, Captain W. A. Hotchkiss, having re-enlisted, left Chattanooga on the twelfth of April and returned on furlough. By order of the War Department, the 1st Regiment was mustered out at the expiration of its three years term of service. On the twenty-eighth of April it held its last evening dress-parade in the presence of Governor Miller, who had once commanded them, and a large number of spectators. A portion of its members were organized into a battalion, and in May proceeded to Washington, and 752 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. from thence went to Virginia and joined the Army of the Potomac, and participated in engagements near Petersburg, Jamestown, Plank Road, Deep Bottom, and Reams Station. The 6th Regiment, which had been actively engaged in the Indian expedition of 1862, was ordered to the South in October, 1863, and in June, 1864, was assigned to the 16th Army Corps. The 7th at the same time was assigned to this corps, and also the 9th and 10th Regiments. The 5th Regiment, which had been attached to the corps since January, was in the expedition up the Red River of Louisiana during the spring, and on the sixth 'of June was un- der Major Becht, in Hubbard's Brigade, engaged in battle with General Marmaduke's forces at Lake Chicot, Arkansas. On the thirteenth of July the insurgents, under Forrest, opened fire upon General A. J. Smith's Divi- sion, near Tupelo, Mis'sippi, in which were portions of the 5th, the 7th, the 9th, and 10th Regiments. During the first day's fight, Surgeon Smith of the 7th was shot through the neck and killed. On the morning of the 14th the battle began in earnest, and the 7th, under Colonel Marshall, made a successful charge. Colonel Alexander Wilkin, of the 9th, while gallantly leading a brigade, was shot and fell dead from his horse. 1 1 Alexander Wilkin will always be teers in the Mexican War. In 1849 remembered as among the bravest he came to Minnesota, and succeeded of the officers who gave their lives C. K. Smith as Secretary of the Terri- for their country. tory. As soon as Fort Sumter was He was the son of Hon. Samuel J. fired upon he began to raise a com- . Wilkin, formerly a member of Con- pany, and when the 1st Kegiment gress from New Yt>rk, and was born was organized he was captain of in Orange County. After studying Company A. For gallantry at Bull law he became a captain of volun- Eun he was made captain in the REGIMENTS BEFORE NASHVILLE. 753 On the fifteenth of October the 4th Regiment, with other troops under General Corse, were attacked near Altoona, Georgia, by a superior force of insurgents under General French, and after six hours' fight the latter retired. On the seventh of December, the 8th Regiment, with other troops under General Milroy, met the insurgents near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and drove them from their position. In rushing up to the enemy's batteries fourteen of the regiment were killed and seventy-six wounded. In the great battle before Nashville in the same month, the 5th, 7th, 9th, and 10th Regiments were engaged. The 1st Brigade, 1st Division, of General A. J. Smith's force, was commanded by Colonel Hub- bard of the 5th, and the 2d Brigade by Colonel W. R. Marshall of the 7th. All the Minnesota Regiments distinguished themselves. Colonel Hubbard, after he had been knocked off his horse by a ball, rose and on foot led his command over the enemy's works. Colonel Marshall also made a gallant charge, and Lieutenant- Colonel Jennison of the 10th was one of the first on the enemy's parapet, and received a severe wound. regular army, and then appointed was giving his orders as coolly as he major of the 2d, and subsequently ever did on dress-parade. He was in- colonel of the 9th Minnesota. The stantly killed. He was shot under the manner of his death is thus de- left arm, the ball passing through the scribed by Captain J. K. Arnold, of body and coming out under the right the 7th Regiment, who was hid ad- arm. I had left him but a moment jutant: before with an order. He never "The bullets and shells were flying spoke after being hit, but fell froni thick and fast. Colonel Wilkin sat his horse and was dead before reach, on his horse, and when he was struck ing the ground." 48 754 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER XXXV. SUPPRESSION OF THE REBELLION IN 1865. In the spring of 1865, the 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 10th Minnesota Regiments, attached to the 16th Army Corps, took part in besieging the rebel works at Spanish Fort opposite Mobile, and at Blakely, near the terminus of the Mobile and Montgomery Railroad. The final and victorious assault was begun about six o'clock on Sunday afternoon, the ninth of April, by two brigades of the loth Army Corps, commanded by General C. C. Andrews, formerly colonel of the 3d Minnesota Regiment. On this day General Lee had also surrendered his army to General Grant, and the rebellion ended. The 2d and 4th Regiments and 1st Battery had accom- panied General Sherman in his wonderful march through Georgia, South and North Carolina, and the 8th Regiment in March had moved to North Caro- lina from Tennessee by the way of Washington. The battalion that was the outgrowth of the 1st Regiment was active in the last campaign of the Army of the Potomac, commencing in March and resulting in the surrender of Lee's army. Arrangements were soon perfected for the disbanding of the Union army, and before the close of the sum- mer all the regiments that had been in the South had returned, and were discharged. SYNOPSIS OF REGIMENTS. 75S SYNOPSIS OF REGIMENTS. Organized. First April, 1861. Second July, 1861. Third October, 1861. Fourth December, 1861. Fifth May, Sixth August, Seventh " Eighth " Ninth " Tenth " Eleventh August, Infantry Battalion May, 1862. 1862. 1864. 1864. Discharged. May 5, 1864. July 11, 1865. September, 1865. August, 1865. September, 1865. August, 1865. July, 1865. Artillery. Organized. Discharged. First Regiment Heavy Artillery April, 1865. September, 1865. Batteries. Organized. Discharged. First October, 1861. June, 1865. Second December, 1861. July, 1865. Third February, 1863. February. 1866. Cavalry. Organized. Rangers March, 1863. Brackett's Oct. and Nov., 1861. Second Regiment January, 1864. Hatch's Julv, 1863. Discharged. Oct. to Dec. 1863. May to June. 1866. Nov. to June, 1866. April to June, 1866. Company A. Company B. Sharpshooters. Organized. 1861 1862. On duty with First Regiment in the Army of the Potomac. 756 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER XXXVI. ADMINISTRATION OF CIVIL AFFAIRS DURING AND SINCE THE REBELLION. In consequence of the Indian outbreak in the Valley of the Minnesota, Governor Ramsey called an extra session of the Legislature, which convened on Septem- ber 9, 1862, and in his message urged prompt and severe measures to subdue the savage cat-throats. As long as Indian hostilities continued, the flow of immigration was checked and the agricultural interests suffered; but notwithstanding the disturbed condition of affairs within the borders of the State, the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company completed ten miles of the first railway from the capital. Governor Ramsey, having been elected for a second term, delivered his annual message before the fifth State Legislature on January seventh, 1863, and during the session was elected to supply the vacancy about to take place in the United States Senate by the expiration of the term of office of the Hon. Henry M. Rice, 1 who had been a 1 Mr. Kice has been for years iden- and Watab Eivers. In 1853 he was tified with the public interests of a delegate to Congress ; re-elected in Minnesota. He was one of the com- 1855. Took his seat in United States -niissioners in 1847 who met the Pil- Senate 1858. In 1860 was on the lagers at Leech Lake and negotiated special committee on the Condition for the cession of the country be- of the Country. During his term he tween the Mississippi, Long Prairie, was also a member of the commit- GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA. 757 member of that body from the time that Minnesota was admitted into the Union. He continued to act as Governor until he took his seat in the Senate, when the Lieutenant-Governor, Henry A. Swift, 1 became Governor by constitutional provision, and held the office until the inauguration, on January eleventh, 1864, of Stephen Miller, 2 who had been duly elected by the people at the regular elec- tion of the previous fall. During Miller's adminis- tration Shakopee, or Little Six, and Tahta-e-chash- nah-marme, or Medicine Bottle, were tried by a military commission at Fort Snelling for participation in the massacre of white citizens during the year 1862, and found guilty and sentenced to be hung. The execution took place on the tenth of November, 1865, in the presence of the soldiers at the fort and a number of civilians. 3 tees on Military Affairs, Finance, In 1856 he removed to St. Peter. Public Lands, and Post Office. From 1861 to 1865 he was a State While in Washington he united Senator, and in 1865 was appointed with Senators Douglas and Breckin- by the President Kegister of United ridge in building three elegant man- States Land Omce at St. Peter. He sions on H Street, still called Min- died on February 26, 1869, respected nesota Row ; and in one of these he and beloved by all. lived, and used an elegant hospi- 2 Stephen Miller was born in 1816 tality to the citizens of Minnesota in Perry County, Pennsylvania. In without regard to their political 1849 was prothonotary of Dauphin opinions. County, and in 1855 flour inspector 1 Henry A. Swift was born in 1823 of Philadelphia. He came in 1858 at Eavenna, Ohio. Graduated at to Minnesota. Was lieutenant-colo- Western Eeserve College, studied nel of 1st, and colonel of 7th Eegi- law at Eavenna, and in 1845 ad- ment, and on October twenty-sixth, mitted to practice. 1863, was made brigadier-general. In 1846-7 he was assistant clerk 3 Shakopee, or Shakpedan, was born of House of Eepresentatives of Ohio, about 1811, and was the son of the and during the next two sessions was blustering, thieving chief of the same chief clerk. In 1853 he came to name, who died at the village of Sha- Minnesota and settled at St. Paul, kopee in 1860. He was a mean In- ?58 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. William R. Marshall 1 succeeded Governor Miller on the eighth of January, 1866, and after serving two terms was followed by Horace Austin, the present Gov- ernor, on the seventh of January, 1870. The prosperity of the State during the last decade has surpassed the expectations of the most sanguine. In 1862 there were not twenty miles of railway in operation, while at the close of 1872 there were nearly two thousand, with many miles in process of construc- tion. The increase in population and agricultural produc- tions has been correspondingly great, and there is every reason to suppose that Minnesota will always continue to be one of the most important States in the Valley of the Mississippi. . dian, of but little mental capacity. Medicine Bottle was born about It is said that when the first loco- 1831, at Mendota, and was head sol- motive passed on the railway just dier of his brother, the chief Grey completed beneath the walls of Fort Eagle. Snelling, he pointed to it from X W. R. Marshall was born October his prison window and said, with a seventeenth, 1825, in Boone County, touch of sentiment: "There! that Missouri. Came to Minnesota in is what has driven us away." July, 1847, and was in 1849 member of His body was forwarded to Jeflfer- the first legislature of the Territory, son Medical College, in Philadelphia, In 1855 was nominated by the first and after being placed upon an ana- convention of the Republican party tomical table, Prof. Pancoast gave a as delegate to Congress. For several brief sketch of his career, and then years was engaged in banking and proceeded to expose his body for the mercantile pursuits. During the war benefit of science to the gaze of the was lieutenant-colonel, then colonel, students. of 7th Regiment. ENTBaHAL IMPROVEMENT LANDS. 759 CHAPTER XXXVLL ADMIXISTR AHOIf OF GOVERNORS AUSTEN", DAVIS, AND PILLSBUEY. Horace Austin 1 in January. 1872, entered upon a second term as Governor of Minnesota, having been re-elected to the office by a large majority. 2 The important event of his admin- istration was the veto of an act passed by the Legislature of IS 71. dividing the Internal Improvement Lands of the State among several railway companies. Wisconsin, admitted as a State in 18^8. in her Constitution provided that the grant of 500,000 acres under the act of Con- gress approved Sept. 1. 1841, and also the five per cent, of net proceeds of the public lands should be used for the support of schools. Iowa and California made similar provision, but the framers of the Constitution of Minnesota paid no attention to these precedents, which have since been followed by Kansas, Oregon, and other States. As soon as the legislature acquired control over these lands under the act of 1S11, they were sought for by railroad corpo- 1 Horace Austin was, in 1831, born in in 1869 was nominated as Governor by Connecticut. He received a common the Republican party, and eiected. He school education, and for a time worked is now an Auditor of the U. S. Treasury at the trade of his father. After spend- at Washington. Lag some time in the law office of Brad- 2 Vote for Governor, 1869. bury and Merril. Augusta. Maine, in 1854 Horace Austin, Republican 27,348 he came West, and in 1855, removed to George L. Otis. Democrat 25,401 Minnesota, and the next year became a Daniel Cobb. Temperance i,764 resident of the town of Saint Peter. Vote for Governor. 1871. During Gen. Sibley's expedition of 1863, Horace Austin, Republican 45,833 against the Indians, he served as a Cap- Winthrop Young, Democrat 30.092 tain of Cavalry. In 1864 he was elected Samuel Mayall, Temperance 846 Judge of the Sixth Judicial District, and 760 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. rations, and a bill was passed in 1871 giving to them, that which other States had appropriated to the support of schools. It failed, however, to receive the approval and signature of the Governor, and this led to the adoption, in November, 1873, by a vote of the people, of an amendment to the Consti- tution which forbids all moneys belonging to the Internal Improvement Land fund to be appropriated " for any purpose whatever, until the enactment for that purpose shall have been approved by a majority of the electors of the State, voting at the annual general election following the passage of the act/' During the second term of Governor Austin's administration the House of Representatives, through a committee, appeared before the Senate of 1873, and impeached William Seeger, Treasurer of the State of Minnesota, for misuse of the public funds, and embezzlement. The Senate, sitting as a Court of Impeachment, adjourned on the 7th of March, to meet on the 20th of May, 1873. Upon the re-assembling of the Court it was informed that Mr. Seeger had resigned the office of Treasurer; but it was resolved to receive no evidence on this point. On the 22d of May the Treasurer entered the plea of guilty, but denied that he had acted with corrupt or willful intent. The Court found him guilty of all the charges, and the following was unani- mously adopted: ' ' Ordered, As the judgment of this Court, that William Seeger be and he is hereby disqualified to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit in this State." Cushman K. Davis, 1 on the 9th of January, 1874, delivered his inaugural message as Governor. 2 He called the attention 1 Cushman K. Davis was born in the General, and served upon the staff of State of New York in 1838, and in hoy- Gen. Willis A. Gorman. In 1864 he set- hood removed with his parents to Wau- tied in St. Paul, and in 1866 was a mem - kesha, Wisconsin. He graduated in 1857, berofthe Legislature. In 1868 he was at the University of Michigan. After appointed U. S. District Attorney, studying law with Ex-Gov. Alex. Ean- 2 Vote for Governor, 1873. dall, of Wisconsin, in 1859, he was admit- Cushman K. Davis, Republican . . .40,741 ted to the bar. In 1852 he enlisted in the Samuel Mayall, Temperance 1,036 28th Wisconsin Volunteers, and was Ara Barton, Democrat, 35,245 afterwards appointed an Ass't Adj't CASE BEFORE U. S. SUPREME COURT. 761 of the Legislature to the importance of the State checking a tendency upon the part of railroad corporations to make an abatement of freight rates in favor of their friends at the expense of farmers and other customers. His language upon this subject was emphatic: "The expense of moving products has become the great expense of life, and it is the only disbursement over which he who pays can exercise no control whatever. He has a voice in determining how much his taxes shall be. In the ordinary transactions of life he can buy and sell where he chooses, and competition makes the bargain a just one; but in regard to his crops, he is under duress as to their carriage, and under dictation as to their price. In the very nature of things, the occasion must be rare which will justify any advance in the rates for moving grain from Minnesota. In September, 1873, however, when a wheat crop of unexampled abundance was overcrowding the means of transportation, and when there was every reason why there should be a reduction instead of an advance of rates, the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company, and the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company? simultaneously imposed upon our wheat crop a tax of three cents per bushel, by an advance of that amount in charges. If any administration should commit such an act as this in performing the functions of taxation, it would be deposed by an indignant constituency. No less deserving of condemna- tion is the policy of the companies in regard to freights which are moved wholly within the State." A case involving the power of the State to regulate the rates of railways, reached the Supreme Court of the United States during the 1874 term. It was that of the Winona & St. Peter Railroad, plaintiff in error, against John D. Blake and others, defendants. The argument for the defendants was made by W. P. Clough of Saint Paul. In concluding his plea Mr. Clough said: " That the plaintiff in error, or any other railroad corpora- tion, should be subject to legislative control in respect to the 762 HISTORY OE MINNESOTA. rates of its tolls, or in respect to its dealings generally with the public, is not a proposition at all startling in its nature. On the contrary it is one in accord with the highest degree of public policy and interest; a proposition the truth of which should occasion satisfaction and not regret. "The experience of the world has demonstrated, that to regulate the compensation of all public employments is absolutely necessary for the protection of the public against imposition, inconvenience, and extortion. And such regula- tions are rigidly imposed everywhere and in all countries. u In Europe, where competition between carriers is much greater than in America, and where, on that account, the public are better protected than here by the natural laws of business, a system ^of control over the business of carriers, descending to the minutest detail thereof, has everywhere been deemed necessary, and everywhere been instituted. And this power, while it has benefited and protected the public, has not been found at all oppressive or injurious to the carrier. Nor will it be found so it this country. Mistakes on the part of the law making power may sometimes happen in the prac- tical use of its authority ; but such mistakes, when discovered, it is confidently believed, will be speedily and completely rectified. " The theory that the public would derive protection against extortion and imposition committed by railroad carriers, through the rule insisted upon by the plaintiff in error in this case, is as complete and utter a fallacy as could be devised. Such extortions in any individual case are small and petty in amount. It is the number and frequency of them that renders them great public evils. No individual could afford to enter into a legal contest with a powerful railroad corporation, for a few dollars, with the burden upon himself to make out an overcharge, however plain the fact of extortion might be to him. Unless the State interposes its authority and determines by law what is a proper charge and what is an WOMEN - VOTE FOR SCHOOL OFFICERS. 763 improper one, the public will have no rights against railroad companies worth preservation or vindication. " A vested right in a railroad company to charge such rates of tolls as a court and jury shall declare to be proper in each individual case, is practically a vested right in the company to charge such tolls as it shall see fit; for nobody could afford to litigate the question with it." In October, 1876, the Supreme Court of the United States sustained the judgment of the Supreme Court of Minnesota, and decided that there was nothing in the charter of the rail- road company limiting the power of the State to regulate the rates of charge. By an act of the Legislature approved on March 5th, 1874, the Baldwin School 1 founded by private munificence early in the year 1853, was made the Preparatory Department of Mac- alester College. During the administration of Gov. Davis, the people, at the election of November, 1875, sanctioned amend- ments to the Constitution relative to judicial districts, and terms of office, the investment of funds from the sale of school lands, and permission of women to vote for school officers. The last amendment is in this language: '* The Legislature may, notwithstanding any thing in this article [Article 7, Sec- tion 8] provide by law, that any woman at the age of twenty- one years and upward, may vote at any election held for the purpose of choosing any officers of schools, or upon any measure relating to schools, and may also provide that any such women shall be eligible to hold any office solely pertaining to the management of schools/' l See Page 587. 764 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. John S. Pillsbury, 1 on the 7th of January, 1876, delivered his inaugural message as Governor. 2 At the outset of his administration he called the attention of the Legislature to the importance of making some equitable settlement with the holders of the State Railroad Bonds. In language which called forth a hearty response from every intelligent citizen who had dispassionately investigated the subject, he said — ' No duty surely can be more obligatory upon those entrusted with the highest public interests than the vigilant mainte- nance of a sensitive public credit. Without that, indeed, little is left worthy of public preservation. The fact that the hold- ers of these obligations are debarred the ordinary remedy pro- vided by courts of justice, and are forced to rely wholly upon the honor of the State, should deepen rather than weaken the sense of such obligation in the minds of honorable men. " I will not insult your understanding or sense of justice so far as to attempt a serious argument in support either of the validity or equity of this claim upon the State. The purpose to evade a just obligation is never, indeed, without a pretext, either in public or private affairs. In this case it will suffice to say that there is, if possible, less than the customary excuse for a resort to subterfuge. The measure providing for the issue of these bonds underwent an unusually protracted and searching discussion, during the longest legislative session ever held in the Territory or State. Its various provisions were subjected to close inspection and criticism by the people, con- vened in public meetings, and by a jealous and watchful public Uolm S. Pillsbury was born on July came one of the most respected mer- 29. 1828, at Sutton, New Hampshire, chants of Minneapolis. Since 18^3, he After a common school education, at has been a faithful regent of the State the age of sixteen he entered a store, University, and for nine sessions repre- and at the age of twenty-one formed a sented Hennepin county as Senator, in partnership with Walter Harrimon, who the Legislature of Minnesota, became Governor of New Hampshire. 2 Vote for Governor, Nov. 1875. In June, 1855, he came to Minnesota, J. S. Pillsbury, Eepublican 47.073 and established a hardware store at D. L. Buell, Democrat 35,275 St. Anthony, and after a few years be- VALIDITY OF RAIL ROAD BOJsiDS. 765 press, and, finally, following the maturity of the scheme, ample time was given for its further discussion prior to its submission to the people; whereupon it received the popular approval by an affirmative vote of nearly four to one, and thus became, not by hasty and inconsiderate action, but by successive deliberate steps, a part of the Constitution, entrenched within the impreg- nable sanction of organic law. Moreover, the bonds thus provided for, were finally issued only upon the most rigid compliance by the obligees with every legal pre-requisite, insisted upon by a faithful and vigilant Executive. 14 The bonds thus deliberately issued are held by persons in all parts of the country. The}' express an unmistakable obli- gation, attested by the great seal of the State, but they convey no hint of qualified payment, nor intimation that could, by any possibility, serve as a warning to innocent purchasers. Every day they thus remain dishonored threatens the lasting dishonor of our State. But the conclusive estopple of the last plea for non-payment, whether upon legal or equitable grounds, is the fact that the State long ago obtained by foreclosure the property which was the consideration for her assumption of the debt to secure which such property was pledged. Except for her obligation to pay such debt, she had no right to the property securing it. And moreover, this property, thus obtained, consisting of lands, road-beds and franchises, by are- grant from the State, served to forward the construction of the existing railroads, whose benefits we have since enjoyed. Can there remain a possible plea for the non-payment of a debt thus honestly contracted, and where. the object for whieh it was contracted, has been attained and enjoyed?" On the sixth of September, 1876, the quiet inhabitants of Minnesota were excited by a telegraphic announcement, that at midday, a band of outlaws from another State had ridden into the town of Northfield, recklessly discharging firearms, while a portion proceeding to the bank, killed the acting Cashier, in an attempt to take out the funds. Two of the desperadoes were shot in the streets, by firm citizens, and in a 766 HISTOKY OP MINNESOTA. brief period, parties from the neighboring towns were in pur- suit of those who made their escape. After a long and weary search, four were surrounded in a swamp, and one was killed and the others captured. At the November term of the Fifth District Court at Faribault, the culprits were arraigned, and under an objectionable statute, by pleading guilty, secured an imprisonment for life, in place of the death they had so fully deserved. In 1874, in some of the counties of Minnesota, the Rocky Mountain Locust, of the same genus, but a different species from the European and Asiatic locust, driven eastward by a failure of the succulent grasses on the high plains of the Upper Missouri and Saskatchewan valleys, appeared as a short, stout-legged, devouring army, and in 1875, the myriads of eggs deposited were hatched out and these insects born within the State, taking unto themselves wings, flew to new camping grounds to deposit their ova. In consequence of their devastations, many farmers were deprived of successive crops. As other States between the Mississippi and Rocky Mountains were suffering from these pests, at the suggestion of Governor Pillsbury, a confer- ence of Governors was convened on the 25th of October, at Omaha, Nebraska, to devise measures by which there might be a diminution of their vast numbers. A circular was also prepared and distributed by the Governor, through the infested and other counties, giving directions as to the best methods of extermination. By visiting the suffering, pledging his personal credit before the assembling of the Legislature, and inciting the charitable to send clothing and provisions, he did much to sustain the desponding. In his annual message to the Legislature of 1877, Governor Pillsbury again urged upon the legislators to take steps which would relieve Minnesota from being any longer classed in the money markets of the world, with those States which repudi- ated obligations, to which were affixed the seal of their com- monwealths. PLENTIFUL HARVEST. 767 An act was passed, and approved on the first of March, providing for the pajmient of bonds known as the " Minnesota State Railroad Bonds." The efficiency of the law, however, was conditioned upon the assent of voters, to the appropriation of the 500.000 acres of Internal Improvement Lands, towards the liquidation of these obligations; and a special election, on the 12th day of June, was held to adopt an amendment to the Constitution, to allow of the disposal of the lands for the pur- poses indicated. To the surprise, as well as mortification of those who were sensitive as to the honor of the State, the pro- position was rejected by a very large vote. The summer of 1877 lifted a burden from the hearts of the farmers of Minnesota. In the spring, the locusts began to appear in some counties, but by an ingenious contrivance of sheet iron covered with coal tar, their numbers were rapidly reduced. It was soon seen that the area occupied by the locusts was limited, and before the harvest time arrived they were devoured by parasites, or had flown away, and weeping was turned into joy. By observation and comparison it also was ascertained that usually only one hatching of eggs took place in the same district, and it was evident that the crops of 1877 were to be very large. When the National Thanksgiv- ing Day was observed, on the 29th day of November, nearly forty millions of bushels of wheat had been garnered, and many devoutly thanked Him who had again given plenty, and med- itated upon the expression of the Psalmist, " He maketh peace within thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat." Governor Pillsbury, in November, 1877, was elected by the people for another term of two years. 1 At this election amendments to the Constitution were adopted relative to the election and term of Senators and Representatives; the canvassing of election returns; biennial 1 Vote for Governor, Nov., 1877. J. S. Pillsbury, Republican 57,071 W. L. Banning, Democrat 39,241 768 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. sessions of the legislature, 1 and the prohibition of the use of State funds for sectarian schools. 2 At the opening of the Legislature of 1878, the Governor used these words relative to the action of the voters at the special election on the 12th of June, 1877, in refusing the pro- posed settlement of the Railroad Bonds: " The measure proposed for this purpose by the last Legis- lature, and submitted to the people in June last, was rejected, as you are aware, by an overwhelming popular vote. This resulted, I am persuaded, from a prevalent misapprehension respecting the real nature and provisions Of the proposed plan of adjustment. I should be sorry, indeed, to be foiced to the conviction that the people by this act intended other than their disapproval of the particular plan of settlement submitted to them. For in my opinion no public calamity, no visitation of grasshoppers, no wholesale destruction or insidious pesti- lence, could possibly inflict so fatal a blow upon our State as the deliberate repudiation of her solemn obligations. It would be a confession more damaging to the character of a govern- ment of the people than the assaults of its worst enemies. With the loss of public honor little could remain worthy of preservation. Assuming, therefore, as I gladly do, that this vote of the people indicated a purpose not to repudiate the debt itself, but simply to condemn the proposed plan for its payment, I shall be happy to co-operate in any practicable measure looking to an honorable and final adjustment of this vexed question.^ For several years, the scientific men of Germany had been puzzled to account for the sudden explosions within flouring 1 Amendment to Section 1, Articled. 2 Amendment to SectUn 3, Article 8. "The legislature of the State shall " But in no case shall the moneys de- consist of a Senate and House of Repre- rived as aforesaid, or any portion there- sentatives, who shall meet biennially, of, or any public moneys or property, be at the seat of government of the State, appropriated or used for the support of at such time as shall be prescribed by schools wherein the distinctive doc- law, but no session shall exceed the trines, creeds, or tenets of any particu- term of sixty days. lar Christian or other religious sect, are promulgated or taught." EXPLOSION" IN FLOUR MILLS. 769 mills, and a prize was offered for the best essay upon the sub- ject. A professor in Berlin was the successful essayist, and he contended that there was always a liability to explode when particles of dust of any kind were thickly distributed in the atmosphere of narrow ducts or poorly ventilated rooms. 1 An explosion which occurred in Minneapolis, between seven and eight o'clock of the evening of the 2d of May, has renewed investigation, which will no doubt lead to an improvement in mill machinery and architecture. One of the largest mills in the world, known as the Wash- burn "A," suddenly exploded, which was followed in the twinkling of an eye by the explosion of two mills in the imme- diate vicinity, and by the conflagration of three other mills, the loss of eighteen lives, and the destruction of much val- uable property. The concussion was so great in the first mill that all the walls fell, and hardly one stone was left upon another. The personal unpopularity of Judge Page, which had existed for several years, culminated in the presentment of charges by the House of Representatives, at the session of 1878. On Wednesday, the sixth of March, the Senate of Minnesota organized as a Court of Impeachment, to consider articles against Sherman Page, Judge of the Tenth Judicial Dis- trict. On the 8th the Court adjourned until the 22d of May. 2 1 Prof . McAdam of Great Britain, re- feed in one case, and led to a violent lates that a spider's web stopped the explosion in an English flour mill. 2 Managers upon the part of the House of Representatives. S. L. Campbell, F. L. Morse. C. A. Gilman, Henry Hinds, W. H. Mead, W. H. Feller. J. P. West, Attorneys for Respondent. Officers of the Court. C. K. Davis, President, J. B. Wakefield, J. W. Losey, Secretary, Chas, W. Johnson, J. W. Lovely. Sergeant-at-Arms, M. Anderson. 49 770 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. The articles charged that his conduct had been arbitrary, abusive to a grand jury, and that he subjected a deputy sheriff to humiliating treatment. On the 28th of June the court voted on the several articles of impeachment, and the Judge was acquitted. During the year 1 878, one of the first men to labor for the welfare of the Sioux, and one of the oldest citizens of Minne- sota, the Rev. Gideon H. Pond, departed this life on the 20th of January, at his home in Bloomington, Hennepin county. 1 1 The following letter written in 1856 to the author of this work, by the Rev. G. H. Pond, is worthy of preservation : " After the arrival of my brother and myself at Fort Snelling, in May, 1834, we ascertained to our satisfaction that our first move should be to assist the Indians about their cornfields, as by this we could show our good will, conciliate their favor, and the better acquire their language. Invited by the father of the present chief of Kaposia, my brother spent about one week at that village, helping them plow. The oxen were Indian property kept at the Fort Snelling agency. At that time the Indians appeared anxious that we should locate at that place, but after- wards the chief and some of the soldiers treated us coldly. It was not long before the agent [Major Lawrence Taliaferro] returned from the East, where he had spent the winter. He was from the day of his return our warm friend, and treat- ed us kindly. Major Bliss, then in com- mand at this post, was so much our friend as to surprise us. " Major Loomis had not then arrived. Mr. Sibley came the following Septem- ber. By advice of the agent we went to the Lake Calhoun band without consult- ing the Indians. I spent a few days with them, immediately after my brother re- turned from Kaposia, helping them plow. With a yoke of oxen and chain (I have it now) and some other necessary tools, we commenced to chop timber in a beautiful grove on the highest ground on the east bank of Lake Calhoun, to build a cabin. The village was on the lower ground, south or down the lake, toward Lake Harriet. We erected a log hut, and ob- tained boulders from the lake shore to build a fireplace and chimney. For our supplies we purchased a barrel of pork and a barrel of flour. We were unable to plant any thing this year'except some beans, which the pigeons rooted up. Till our hut was enclosed we left our effects at the agency house, carrying on our backs occasionally such things as we needed. At times I took my load 01 pork and flour on my back, and carried it to the lake to be stolen by Indians or dogs, and lay me down to sleep empty. More than once, rather than make another trip immediately for provisions, we dined on muscles from the lake ; sometimes on fish, but not often, for it took too long to take them. Cooking at first Ave found very unpleasant business, as well as our washing ; indeed, we found no change in this respect as long as we baked and washed. We did not attempt to bake bread but a few times. By degrees we adopted the habit of frying our pork at each meal very thoroughly, and then ad- ding a little water, we stirred in (lour. For a change we made it thicker or thin- ner. This was our food, and this our uniform manner of cooking for more than a year and a half. We disliked cooking so much that we did not cat till we were hungry, seldom more than tw jee aday,and often but once. During the sum- mer we had learned to talk considerably, and had adopted the alphabet to write the language which is now used, except we used v instead of r and / instead of g. " During the winter of 1834—35 we had taught one young man to write and read; for he had to write first, as there were no books. HISTORICAL SOCIETY CASE. 71 On the 11th of January, 1879, the Supreme Court of the State filed a decision in relation to the charter of the Historical Society of Minnesota, in which important principles relative to eleemosynary corporations are discussed. This society is the oldest incorporation of the literary class in the commonwealth. Its charter was prepared by the first Secretary of the Territory, who desired to establish an associ- ation for historical purposes. The charter of the New York Historical Society, granted in A. D. 1806, constitutes certain " In the summer of 1835, Dr. William- son and associates, and Rev. J. D. Stevens arrived. Mr. Stevens located himself on the west shore of Lake Harriet, about midway, on land now owned by Mr. Eli Pettijohn. He labored to draw the In- dians to him, but succeeded with only two or three families. Out of respect to the feelings of Mr. Stevens, we left Lake Calhoun in the tall of the same year. My brother went with the Indians and I re- mained at the Mission. After my broth- er's return with the Indians, in mid- win- ter, we opened a school at the home of Mr. Stevens. He prepared lessons in manuscript. The young Indians showed a great desire to learn. It was not long before the Indians expressed an earnest desire that brother and I should return to our old place on Lake Calhoun and teach them near their village; and brother made arrangements to do so, but Mr. Ste- vens did not approve, and we abandoned the plan. " In the spring of 1836 I left Lake Har- riet and went to Lac qui Parle, where I remained three years, and where, in No- vember, I was married. " About the time that I left for Lac qui Parle, my brother left for Connecticut, to study for a year. He was ordained a min- ister of the gospel during his absence. He returned to Lake Harriet. Mr. Ste- vens remained at the place till the sum- mer of 1838, and while there he opened a school, which resulted in some good to quite a number of mixed bloods. She who is now Mrs. Pettijohn is one of them, but for some reason the school fell through. " In September, 1837, the land east of the Mississippi was ceded to the United States. In April. 1838, with my wife and eldest daughter, I floated down in a ca- noe from Lac qui Parle to Mendota, and returned to Lake Harriet, at the earnest solicitation of the Indians of the Lake Calhoun band and their agent, and re- ceived the appointment of farmer for that band. I held that appointment til* I was satisfied thoroughly that I could turn it to no good account to the I ndians and then resigned and put myself under the Dakota Presbytery as a candidate for the ministry. This I had long before been urged to do, and I had already made some progress in Latin, Greek and French. " When we returned to Lake Harriet from Lac qui Parle, immediately the Indians sent some of their children to us for instruction ; which they continued to do till routed by the Chippeways from that place and they fled for safety to the banks of the St. Peters (Minnesota). " In April of 1837, the celebrated Hole- in-the-Day butchered thirteen Dakotas of Lac qui Parle, as you know. These butch- ered ones had friends living at Lake Cal- houn, and the next time they saw Hole- in-the-Day at Fort Snelling, they vowed they would kill him. Through mistake they killed another man, in consequence of which the son-in-law of the Lake Cal houn chief, the step-father of Mrs. Jan e Titus, was killed, and the Rum River and Stillwater massacres followed. This drove the band from Lake Calhoun, be- cause that was a place of peculiar danger. When the band left that place it split, and a part held with us, and the anti-mission- ary went away. Those who clung to us 772 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. persons, whose names are mentioned, "and their associates", a body corporate and politic. The charter of the Minnesota Historical Society uses the same phraseology, and on the 20th of October, 1849, the act of incorporation was approved by Alexander Ramsey, first Governor of the Territory. The same year, with others, Governor Ramsey was associated with the persons mentioned in the act of incorporation, in or- ganizing the society, was chosen its first President, held the office continuouslv for nearly fifteen years, and until his ab- sence as United States Senator suggested a successor. For more than a quarter of a century most of the contribu- tions to the treasury, and also to the printed collections of the society, were by persons who were elected associates and mem- bers, but whose names were not mentioned in the charter. On the 2d of May, 1877, eleven of the nineteen whose names hap- pened to be in the act of 1849, having died, five of the eight survivors met in the office of H. H. Sibley, and elected eleven persons as corporators to fill vacancies, claimed to be the His- torical Society, and filed a record of their proceedings with the Secretary of State. As Alexander Ramsey, the first President of the Society, and many of the most valuable members were, by these five suddenly declared to have no membership, an unpleasant con- troversy arose, and the legislature of 1878, in making the annual appropriation to the society, enacted that none of it should be drawn from the treasury until a competent tribunal decided who were the rightful custodians, and managers of the trust and assets of the society. settled here, and some went to the other gave substantial expression. He soon bank of the river The chief, a sensible commenced to distribute tracts in the man, has alwayo been a decided friend of companies' quarters, and early in the the missionaries. If he had not, J think winter to collect as many of the soldiers he would still have been chief, whereas as would consent, and read to them a ser- a little more than a year ago he was de- mon. About that time Finney's lectures posed and his rival, a bitter enemy of all came out in the New York Evangelist, good, was advanced to the head of the and he read them in the meetings. My band. brother or myself generally attended* " Major Loomis came to this post soon Major talked, and we talked and prayed, after we arrived here, and we soon made Soldiers began to talk, and on the 11th of his acquaintance, and from the first June a Presbyterian church was formed formed an intimacy with him. He was a at Fort Snelling with twenty-two mem- man of much good feeling to which he bers." SUPREME COURT DECISION. 773 The Executive Council of the Historical Society, therefore, in the name of the State, by the Attorney General, earned a quo warranto to be issued against H. H. Sibley, Aaron Good- rich and others, for the determination of this question. The case was heard by the Supreme Court, and the result was that H. H. Sibley and those he represented were, in legal language, "ousted." The court, in relation to the force of the word "associates," in the charter, remarked, "That the term as here used is not meaningless, as claimed by respondents, is further apparent from the language and the whole tenor of the act itself. It is first enacted 'that the nineteen persons therein designated and their associates be and they are hereby constituted a body cor- porate and politic, by the name of the Minnesota Historical Society,' and then, in proceeding to enumerate the specific powers and franchises which are conferred, and how and by whom they shall be exercised, this significant language is used: ; And by that name they (the corporators and their associates) and their successors shall be, and they are hereby made capable in law to contract and be contracted with, sue and to be sued,' etc. The legislature could scarcely have chosen more plain and unequivocal language in which to express an intention that the continuous artificial body it was about to create should consist of a membership comprising the grantees named in the charter, their associates, and the successors of both these classes instead of the successors of the original grantees alone, and that the powers and franchises vested in the corporation, should belong to it as representing for the time being the entire body of the existing members of whatever class." As to the validity of an amendatory act in 1856 the Court said : " That there has been an unqualified acceptance by the society in this case of all the provisions of the act of March 1, 1856. is beyond any reasonable controversy upon the evi- dence before us. At a special meeting held soon after its passage, a resolution was adopted and spread upon the records of the society, declaring an acceptance in express terms, and that it would then proceed to the election of an executive council under its provisions, to take charge of the affairs of 774 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the corporation, as was therein provided,and such council was there and then unanimously elected by the members there present. Conceding the irregularity and even the inva- lidity of these proceedings, as claimed by respondents, on the ground that the requisite notice of such meeting had not been properly served upon all the members, it is clearly shown that their validity has remained unquestioned, and been distinctly and repeatedly recognized and acted upon by the society at various subsequent regular meetings and by various corporate acts for over twenty years. The entire administration of the affairs of the society for that whole period has been conducted by the executive council then chosen and ever since continued under the provisions of section two of the amendatory act, by the exercise, on its part, of the corporate powers of the society, and by the selection of its agents and officers, as therein provided, and this without any protest whatever from any one until quite recently. The additional privileges and powers granted by that act have also been used by the society in acquiring and holding, exempt from taxation, a large amount of real and personal property in excess of the limit prescribed by the original charter. Under these circumstances, there would seem to be no ground for any serious controversy on the question of acceptance. "For the reasons above stated the Court awards judgment against the respondents." On the 24th of June, 1879, the venerable Sioux missionary, the Rev. Thomas S. Williamson, M. D., died at the age of seventy-nine years at Saint Peter. He was the son of the Rev. William Williamson, and born in March, 1800, in Union District, South Carolina. His father had inherited slaves, but to give them their freedom, in 1805 he removed to Adams County, Ohio. The son, Thomas, was sent to Jefferson College at Canonsburg, Pa., where, in 1820, he graduated. He then commenced the study of medicine, and in the spring of 1824 received the decree of M. D. from Yale College, For eight years he practised as a physician at Ripley, Ohio . In the spring of 1833, from a sense of duty, he commenced the NOTICE OF REV. T. S. WILLIAMSON, M. D. 775 study of theology, and the next year was licensed to preach by the Piesbytery of Chillicothe, and was soon appointed by the Foreign Mission Board " to proceed on an exploring tour among the Indians of the Upper Misissippi, with special reference to the Sacs and Foxes, but also to collect what in- formation he could in reference to the Sioux, Winnabagos and other Indians." He visited Fort Snelling in 1834, and there found th e brothers Pond, who were erecting a log house at Lake Cal- houn. Returning to Ohio, he made his report, and on the 18th of September was ordained by the Presbytery of Chilli- cothe as an Indian missionary. In April, 1835, with his wife and family, accompanied by a farmer assistant, Alexan- der G. Huggins, and his family, he left Ripley, Ohio, and on the 16th of May landed at Fort Snelling. He remained here for a few weeks, and in June organized at the Fort a Presby- terian church of twenty-two members. On the 9th of July, he established a mission on the north side of Minnesota River in sight of Lac-qui-Parle. In the fall of 1839 he went to Cin- cinnati to superintend the printing of the Gospel of Mark in the Dakotah language. In the year 1842, assisted by his associates there was prepared for the press the Book of Gen- esis, a part of the Psalms, and about two-thirds of the New Testament. In 1846 he was invited, through the Indian Agent, to establish a mission among the Kaposia Sioux, four miles below where is now the city of Saint Paul. While there, as has been noticed on the 481st page, he procured a school teacher for the insignificant hamlet, which, in 1849, was designated as the capital of Minnesota. After the treaty of 1851 he established a mission at Yellow Medicine, in the upper Minnesota Valley, and there he labored until the Sioux outbreak of 1862, and with difficulty escaped from the scalping knives of those for whom he had toiled and prayed. After this he passed two years with the Sioux who were in prison at Davenport, Iowa. In 1866 he followed the Sioux to the Missouri river, and superintended the establish- ment of missions among them. His last years on earth were passed in translating the Sacred Scriptures. He lived to read, 776 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the proofs of the entire Bible in Dakota, although it was not published until after his death. His beloved colleague, Rev, S. R. Riggs, LL. D., the editor of the Dakota Lexicon, wrote of his death: "Perhaps it was most fitting that he should die as he lived, with no exalted imagery of the future, but a stern faith which gives hope and peace in the deepest waters." Patient, capable of enduring hardship, fond of study, plain in manner, slow to form, but decided in the expression of his opinions, a gentleman in his instincts, to those who knew him he appeared a calm Christian warrior, ever ready to do the bidding of his Master. In the fall of 1879 the Republican party nominated John S- Pillsbury, as Governor for a third term, and at the election in November, he received 57,741 votes, while 42,444 were given for Edmund Rice, the candidate of the Democratic party. On the night of the 15th of November, 1880, a fire was dis- covered in the north wing of the State Lunatic Asylum, at St. Peter, and it was entirely destroyed. The shrieks of the lunatics, and wanderings over the snow-covered prairies, can never be forgotten by the witnesses of the scene. Twenty- seven of the patients lost their lives, and it is supposed that the building was set on fire in the cellar, by a patient who had been employed in the kitchen. The twenty-second session and the first biennial session of the State Legislature convened on the 4th of January, 1881, and Governor Pillsbury, in his message read on the 6th, again urged the settlement of the State railroad bonds. In his argu- ment he said: "The liability having been voluntarily incurred, whether it was wisely created or not is foreign to the present question. It is certain that the obligations were fairly given for which consideration was fairly received; and the State having chosen foreclosure as her remedy, and disposed of the property thus acquired unconditionally as her own, the conclusion seems to me irresistible that she assumed the payment of the debt rest- ing upon such property by every principle of law and equity.f And, moreover, as the State promptly siezed the railroad pro- perty and franchises, expressly to indemnify her for payment SETTLEMENT OF RAILROAD BONDS. 777 of the bonds, it is difficult to see what possible justification there can be for her refusal to make that payment." On the 19th of January the legislature, in joint convention, re-elected S. J. R. McMillan United States Senator for the term which on March 4, 1887, expires. Selah Chamberlain, in behalf of a majority of the holders of the State railroad bonds, having expressed a willingness to ac- cept new bonds to one-half of the amount of the old, an act was approved on March 2, 1881, for the purpose of effecting a liquidation of bonds which had been a source of controversy for so many years. The act provided that the Supreme Judges should hear ar- guments, and decide whether the legislature had power to provide for the payment of the bonds without submitting the matter to a vote of the electors of the State, and this tribunal was ordered on March 22, 1881, to convene. Provision was also made that in case any of the Supreme Judges declined to be a member of this tribunal, the Governor could appoint a District Judge. After some delay a tribunal was appointed composed wholly of District Judges, and about the time they were to enter upon their duties, David A. Secombe, of Minneapolis, one of the oldest lawyers of the State, asked the Supreme Court to issue a writ of prohibition restraining the tribunal from taking any action. Able arguments were heard on both side, and on the 9th of September the Supreme Court decided that the amendment of 1860 to the Constitution was invalid as it impaired the obligation of contracts, also that the act of March 2, 1881, was null and void, because it delegated legislative power to the tribunal created by the act. A writ of prohibition restraining the tribunal was therefore issued. Legal difficulties having been removed by this decision, Governor Pillsbury caused an extra session of the legislature for the settlement of the bond question, which convened in October, and provision was made for cancelling bonds, the ignoring of which, for more than twenty years, had been a humiliation to the more thoughtful citizens, and a blot upon the otherwise fair name of Minnesota. 778 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Lucius F. Hubbard, 1 who had been Colonel of the Fifth Regiment, was nominated by the Republican party for Gov- ernor, and at the election in November, 1881, received 65,025 votes, while 37,168 votes were polled for Richard W. Johnson, the nominee of the Democratic party. The House of Representatives of the legislature of 1881 impeached E. St. Julien Cox, Judge of the ninth District for conduct unbecoming his position, resulting from the intemperate use of intoxicants, and the Senate, sitting as a Court, after a long trial, found him guilty, and he was deposed. The legislature had elected William Windom United States Senator for the term which, on March 4th, 1883, would expire, but in March, 1881, having been appointed by President Gar- field as the head of the U. S. Treasury Department, he resigned, and Governor Pillsbury appointed A. J. Edgerton to fill the vacancy until there was an election by the legislature. After the death of President Garfield, in September, 1881, from the bullet fired by an assassin, Mr. Windom resigned the Secretaryship of the Treasury, having been, on the 26th of October, by the Minnesota legislature again elected to fill a vacancy which had been caused by his own acceptance of the Secretaryship of the Treasury. A. J. Edgerton, who had been appointed U. S. Senator, ad interim, by the Governor, before this election, was in a few months made Chief Justice of Dakota Territory. On the morning of the 1st of March, 1881, the Capitol, first occupied in 1853, was destroyed by fire. About nine o'clock m the evening, two gentlemen who lived opposite discovered the roof was on fire, and immediately notified the occupants, The flames rapidly covered the cupola, and licked the flag fly- 1 Lucius Frederick Hubbard was born private in the 5th Minnesota regiment, January 26th, 1836, at Troy, N. Y. His and in less than a year was its colonel^ father died sheriff of Rensselaer county. For military record, see page 10. At the age of sixteen he left North Gran- He was made Brevet Brig. General for ville Academy, N. Y., and learned the services in the battle of Nashville, tinner's trade. After living four years in After the war he returned to Red Wing, Chicago, in 1857 he came to Minnesota, and has been engaged in the flour and and established at Red Wing a paper commission business. He was State Sen- called the " Republican," which he con- ator 1871 to 1875. ducted until 1861, when he enlisted as a CAPITOL DESTROYED BY FIRE. 779 ing from the staff on top. One of the reporters of the Pio- neer Press, who was in the Senate Chamber at the time, graphically describes the scene within. He writes : " The senate was at work on third reading of house bills ; Lieutenant Governor Gilman in his seat, and Secretary Jennison reading something about restraining cat- tle in Rice county ; the senators were lying back listening carelessly, when the door opened, and Hon. Michael Doran announced that the building was on fire. All eyes were at once turned in that direction, and the flash of the flames was visible from the top of the gallery, as well as from the hall, which is on a level with the floor of the senate. The panic that ensued had a different effect upon the different persons, and those occupying places nearest the entrance, pushing open the door, and rushing pell mell through the blinding smoke. Two or three ladies happened to be in the vicinity of the doors, and happily escaped uninjured. But the opening of the door produced a draft, which drew into the senate chamber clouds of smoke, the fire in the meantime having made its appearance over the center and rear of the gallery. All this occurred so suddenly that senators standing near the reporters' table and the secretary's desk, which were on the opposite side of the chamber from the entrance, stood as if paralyzed, gazing in mute astonishment at the smoke that passed in through the open doors, at the flames over the gallery, and the rushing crowd that blocked the doorways. The senate suddenly and formally adjourned. President Gilman. how- ever, stood in his place, gavel in hand, and as he rapped his desk loud and often, he yelled, 'Shut that door!' Shut that door! 1 u The cry was taken up by Colonel Crooks and other sena- tors, and the order was finally obeyed; after which, the smoke clearing away, the senators were enabled to collect their senses and decide what was best to be done. President Gilman, still standing up in his place, calm and collected, as if nothing un- usual had happened, was encouraging the senators to keep cool. Colonel Crooks was giving Orders as if a battle was raging around him. 780 HISTORY OP MINNESOTA. " Other senators were giving such advice as occurred to them, but, unfortunately, no advice was pertinent except to keep cool, aud that was all. Some were importuning the Secretary and his assistants to save the records, and General Jennison, his hands full of papers, was waiting a chance to walk out with them. But that chance looked remote indeed, for there, locked in the senate chamber, were at least fifty men walking around, some looking at each other in a dazed sort of way, others at the windows looking out at the snow- covered yard, now illuminated from the flames, that were heard roaring and crackling overhead. From some windows men were yelling to the limited crowd below, ' Get some ladders! Send for ladders!' Other windows were occupied. About this time terror actually siezed the members, when Senator Buck remarked that the fire was raging overhead, and at the same moment burning brands began to drop through the large ventilators upon the desks and floor beneath. " Then, for a moment, it seemed as if all hopes of escape were cut off. ******* But, happily, the flames having made their way through the dome, a draught was created strong enough to clear the halls of smoke. The dome was almost directiy over the entrance of the senate chamber, and burning brands and timbers had fallen down through the glass ceiling in front of the door, rendering escape in that direction impossible. "But a small window looking from the cloak room of the senate chamber to the first landing of the main stairway fur- nished an avenue of escape, and through this little opening every man in the senate chamber managed to get out. " The window was about ten feet high, but Mr. Michael Doran and several other gentlemen stood at the bottom, and nobly rendered assistance to those who came tumbling out, some headlong, some sideways, and some feet foremost. " As the reporter of the Pioneer-Press came out and landed on his feet, he paused for- a moment to survey the scene over- head, where the flames were lashing themselves into fury as LAW LIBRARY LARGELY DESTROYED. 781 they played underneath the dome, and saw the flag-staff burn- ing, and coals dropping down like fiery hail. " It took but a few minutes for the senators to get out; after which they assembled on the outside, and they had no sooner gained the street than the ceiling of the senate chamber fell in, and in ten minutes that whole wing was a mass of flames." Similar scenes took place in the hall of the house of repre- sentatives. A young lawyer, with a friend, as soon as the fire was noticed, ran into the law library, and began to throw books out of the windows, but in a few minutes the density of the smoke and the approach of the flames compelled them to desist, and a large portion of the law library was burned. The portraits of Generals Sherman and Thomas, which were hung over the stairway, were saved. The books of the Historical Society, in the basement, were removed, but were considerably damaged. In three hours the bare walls alone remained of the capitol which for thirty years had been familiar to the law- makers and public men of Minnesota. Steps were immediately taken to remove the debris and build a new capitol upon the old site, which is rapidly approaching completion. 782 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. CHAPTER XXXVIII. MINNESOTA RAILWAY SYSTEM. The History of Minnesota would not be complete without at least a brief notice of the development of its far - reaching railway system. For the construction of the first railroad within the borders of the State, its citizens will always acknowledge their indebt- edness to Edmund Rice 1 and his associates. In 1860 the State had foreclosed the mortgages it held against certain railroads as security for bonds issued under the seal of Minnesota, and in March, 1862, the legislature incor- porated the Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad, and assigned to them certain franchises of a company chartered in 1857 as the Minnesota and Pacific. Mr. Rice, as the first President of the Saint Paul and Pacific, visited New York and other cities, and was successful in securing funds for the use of the road. A contract was made with Elias F Drake and other gentlemen from Ohio for the immediate construction of ten miles, to the town of Saint Anthony, now the east division of the city of Minneapolis. On the 28th of June, 1862, at the hour when the citizens were filled with anxiety by the news passing over the tele- graphic wires that a battle was raging in front of Richmond, Edmund Rice, on February 14th, 1819, linshead and Becker, was a successful was born in Waitsfield, Vermont. In 1842 lawyer. In 1857 he became President of he was admitted to the bar at Kalama- Minnesota and Pacific R. R. He has fre- zoo, Michigan, and became clerk of the quently been in both branches of the Supreme Court. During the Mexican legislature. In 1879 he was the Democrat- war he was 1st Lieutenant of Co. A, 1st ic candidate for Governor, and in May, Michigan regiment. In July, 1849, he 1881, was elected Mayor of St. Paul by a came to St. Paul, and for six years, as the large majority, senior member of the firm of Rice, Hoi- FIRST RAILWAY IN MLN-NESUTA. 783 and the day before the two sharp conflicts of the First' Minne- sota Regiment, the first locomotive in Minnesota with a train of cars left Saint Paul for Saint Anthony. The editor of the St. Paul Press, in the issue of the 29th, wrote, u An important event in the history of Minnesota transpired yesterday. The first division of the Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad is finished, and trains have commenced to run from Saint Paul to Saint Anthony. " Let it he recorded for the benefit of the fut re historian of the vast Northwest, that on the 28th of June, 1862, the first link in the great chain of railroad which will, in the course of a few years, spread all over this State, from the valley of the Mississippi to the Red River of the North, and from Lake Superior to the Iowa boundary line, was completed, and a passenger train started in the direction of Pugets' Sound. 1 ' Early in 1864 this railway corporation was divided into two companies. The line from Saint Paul to Breckenridge, called the " First Division," was under the presidency of George L. Becker, 1 and the other portion remained under the presidency of Edmund Rice, who several times visited London. M:. Rice in 1864, gave his attention to the construction of a branch line from Saint Paul to Winona, and in 1867 the directors gave this the name of the Saint Paul and Chicago Railway. Slowly but steadily the Saint Paul and Pacific company laid its rails to the banks of the Red River of the North. In 1864 the road was completed to Elk River, 34 miles from Saint Paul, and in 1866 to Saint Cloud, 74 miles, a branch line. On the main line it was, in 1867, completed to Wayzata, on Lake Minnetonka, 25 miles; in 1869, to Willmar, 104 miles; in 1870, to Benson, 134 miles, and in October, 1871, to Breckenridge, on the Red River, 217 miles. lGeorge L. Becker was born February of St. Paul and Pacific R, R., and in Feb- 4th, 1829, in Locke, Cayuga county, N. Y. ruary, 1864, President of its First Division. In 1841, his father's family having re- In 18-6 was Mayor of St. Paul ; in 1857 a moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, he, in member of the Constitutional Conven- 1846, graduated at the University of Mich- tion ; in 1859 elected to Congress, on the igan. He studied law with George Sedg- supposition that the State was entitled to wick, and on the 29th of October, 1849, three members. In 1857 he was the arrived in St. Paul, and formed a law Democratic candidate for Governor. He partnership with Edmumd Riee, and has also served four terms in the State subsequently with William Hollinshead Senate, and is President of the West- In 1862 he was the Land Commissioner em Railroad Company. 784 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. In September, 1872, trains began to run on the Chicago and St. Paul, by way of Winona, to a point opposite the city of La Crosse. In 1873, the Saint Paul and Pacific became involved in a difficulty with the bondholders, and in time the court appointed J. P. Farley, receiver. The road subsequently was purchased by a syndicate of capitalists, and George Stephens, of Mon- treal, became President, and James J. Hill, of Saint Paul, Manager, and the name of the road was changed to Saint Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba. On the 22d of August, 1882, Mr. Hill was chosen President. The Pioneer Press the next day, in an editorial, wrote : u The promotion of James J. Hill to the presidency of the Saint Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway Company, at the Di- rectors 7 meeting yesterday, was an appropriate recognition oi his practical primacy in the administration of its affairs. The whole scheme of acquiring possession of the magnificent property of the bankrupt Saint Paul and Pacific railroad, with its splendid possibilities of future development, originated with Mr. Hill. He went to work to investigate the financial condition of the road, and was thoroughly master of the sub- ject, in all its details, when he finally laid the whole projeet before his Canada friends, and with the aid of Norman W. Kittson, whose active support he had early enlisted, secured their co-operation and the capital necessary to purchase the outstanding bonds at the prices then current. If Mr. Hill was the master spirit of this grand enterprise in its inception and earlier days,he has been equally its master spirit ever since. 1 ' The road stretches in two lines toward Lake Winnipeg, and the line through the valley of the Red River of the North to the town of St. Vincent near the line of the Dominion of Canada is 393 miles in length. In 1864, the legislature incorporated the Minnesota Valley Railroad, whose first President and guiding mind was Elias F. Drake. 1 In November, 1865, its trains ran to Shakopee, E. P. Drake was born in Ohio, and for way in Minnesota, for the St. Paul and several years was Cashier of the Ohio Pacific P. R., extending to St. Anthony. State Bank, and at one time Speaker of For two years, 1874 and 1875, he was a the Ohio Legislature. In June, 1862, State Senator in Minnesota, and is one of with his associates, he completed the con- the most energetic of the citizens of St. tract to build the first ten miles of rail- Paul. MINNESOTA RAILROAD CORPORATIONS. 785 28 miles from Saint Paul ; in November, 1866, to Belle Plaine, 46 miles ; in December, 1867, to Le Sueur, 62 miles; in August, 1868, to Saint Peter, 74 miles ; in October to Mankato ; in December, 1869, to Lake Crystal ; in Septem- ber, 1870, to Madelia, 109 miles ; in November, 1870, to Saint Jame«, 122 miles ; in 1871, to Worthington, 178 miles, and the next year, bj r a branch called the Sioux City and Saint Paul R. R., it reached the bank ot the Missouri River. On the first of June, 1881, this road was consolidated with the West Wisconsin, and is now known as the u Chicago, Saint Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha R. R." The Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad was in 1861 incorporated, but nothing of importance was done toward the linking of the waters of the Misissippi to Lake Superior, until 1865, when William L. Banning 1 was elected Presi- dent, who enlisted J. Edgar Thompson, Moorhead, Hinckley, Felton and other capitalists of Philadelphia in the building of the road. On the 22d of August. 1870, the cars, through the winding valley of the St. Louis River, reached the docks of Duluth, on Lake Superior, and it has been the great inlet of fuel to Minnesota from the coal fields of Pennsylvania, and an im- portant outlet for the wheat of the Northwest. Among those on the first train from Saint Paul was Chief Justice S. P. Chase, of the U. S. Supreme Court. It is now known as the Saint Paul and Duluth Railroad. The Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul is an outgrowth of the Minnesota Central, which was sold in 1867 to the Mil- waukee and Saint Paul. The line to the Iowa boundary, was, in 1867, completed by way of Northfield, Faribault and Austin, and in 1872 this company obtained possession ot the Chicago and Saint Paul the river route by way of Hastings, Red Wing and Winona, to La Crosse. It is one of the most picturesque 1 William L. Banning was born in Wil- sota legislature. In 1861 he was appoint- mington, Delaware, but at an early age ed a Captain and Commissary of U. S. removed to the city of Philadelphia, and Volunteers, and for two years of the last studied law. He was in 1845 a member war, was on duty in Missouri. For about of the Pennsylvania legislature. In 1855 seven years he was President of the St. he came to St. Paul, and became a bank- Paul and Duluth R. R., when he resigned. er. In 1860 he was elected to the Minne- 786 HISTOBY OF MINNESOTA. and best managed roads in the State, and controls the Hast- ings and Dakota, and the Southern Minnesota. Its central depot is at Minneapolis. The Winona and Saint Peter, organized in 1860, was the outgrowth oi the '* Transit" that in 1855 had been chartered. In 1864, the rails were laid to Rochester; in 1867, the road reached Waconia; in 1870, Janesville; in 1871, Saint Peter; in 1872, NewUlm; in 1874, the boundary of Dakota Territory. The Minneapolis and Saint Louis, under the efficient presi- dency of W. D. Washburn, was in 1877, completed to Albert Lea, and in 1879 to the Iowa State line. The Northern Pacific was chartered by U. S. Congress, on the 21st of July, 1861, and was completed on September 2, 1871, to Moorehead, on the Red River, two hundred and fifty miles from Duluth. Owing to financial difficulties, the -com- pany was reorganized in 1875, and during the last year has made rapid strides, and soon expects to reach the gates of the Rocky Mountains, at Helena, Montana. We append a page from the last report of the Commissioner of Statistics of 1881, which is an admirable condensation. in w lofitsio I rn ■ C5COCO ■ IO C5CM • CNCO • o co co t— ».— i ^ti> t~ cn imoio iooi"r^rat- rara m co ce m 1 r-c cn die 00530 ^t»< co d cn Tt< cc in — rt< -# d co cn cod d> m -h o ©cN o I £2 O'S- CO t- — I ? SP-S 42 = 5q^ ►« X C oi -&>\1<±, c3 • -i o S oo >. so c3 . ' *» o 73 > cd e ™ . 8a1Sp.2gJp : isg-Slggflg SOU •O oo c S « aJ .So -2 5^2 - ° * J. « 85 vT- u - co J* s ■'« s li| 2*« S3 >Sfe ! o S - ,r - 2 •- cd ? oo r n S • C " ' 'Q iOaj>J'/2 0«3 o «2 5^25 n ==1 si* lays CP CD 10 CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION. 787 CHAPTER XXXIX. Minnesota's representatives in congress of united states of america. From March, 1819, to May, 1858, Minnesota was a Territory, and entitled to send to the Congress of the United States one delegate with the privilege of representing the interests of his constituents, but not allowed to vote. TERRITORIAL DELEGATES. Before the recognition of Minnesota as a separate Territory, Henry H. Sibley 1 sat in Congress, from January, 1819, as a delegate of the portion of Wisconsin Territory which was beyond the boundaries of the State of Wisconsin, in 1818, admitted to the Union. In September, 1850, he was elected delegate, by the citizens of Minnesota Territory, to Congress. Henry M. Rice 2 succeeded Mr. Sibley as delegate, and took his seat in the thirty-third Congress, which convened on Dec. 5, 1853, at Washington. He was re-elected to the thirty-fourth Congress, which assembled on the 3d of December, 1855, and expired on the 3d of March, 1857. During his term of office, Congress passed an act extending the pre-emption laws over the unsurveyed lands of Minnesota, and Mr. Rice obtained valuable land grants for the construction of railroads. William W. Kingsbury 3 was the last Territorial delegate. He took his seat in the thirty-fifth Congress, which convened 1 For notices of Mr. Sibley, the reader is referred to General and Military Index. 2 For notices of Mr. Rice, see General Index. 3 William W. Kingsbury, in 1828, was a member of the Minnesota Legislature, born in Towanda, Bradford Co., Pa., and in 1857, a member of the Constitu- and was self-educated. He was, in 1856, tional Convention. 788 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. on the 7th of December, 1857, 1 and the next May his seat was vacated by the admission of Minnesota as a State. STATE REPRESENTATION IN U. S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. William W. Phelps was one of the first members of U. S. House of Representatives from Minnesota. Born in Michigan, in 1826, he graduated in 1846, at its State University. In 1854 he came to Minnesota as Register of the Land Office at Red Wing, and in 1857, was elected a Representative to Con- gress. 2 James M. Cavanaugh was of Irish parentage, and came from Massachusetts. He was elected to the same Congress as Mr. Phelps, and subsequently removed to Colorado. William Windom was elected in the fall of 1859, to the thirty-sixth Congress, 3 and was continuously re-elected, and occupied a seat in the House of Representatives until 1870^ when he entered the U. S. Senate. Mr. Windom was born on May 10, 1827, in Belmont Co., Ohio. He was admitted to the bar in 1850, and was in 1853, eleeted Prosecuting Attorney for Knox Co., Ohio. The next year he came to Minnesota, and has represented the State in Congress longer than any other person. He has occupied a responsible position upon some of the most important com- mittees, and acquitted himself with honor. 1 Vote for Delegate, 1857. Kingsbury, Democrat 15,188 MoClure, Republican 12,999 2 At the first Congressional Election of two members of Congress were elect- of the State, by mistake, three instead ed. The vote was as follows : W. W. Phelps, Democrat 18,218 H. A. Swift, Republican 16,937 J. M. Cavanaugh, Democrat 18,064 Cyrus Aldrich, Republican 16,955 Geo. L. Becker, Democrat 18,019 M. S. Wilkinson, Republican 16,938 3 Congressional Vote, Nov., 1859. 1st Dist., William Windom, Rep. .21,016 C. Graham, Dem 17,417 2d Dist., Cyrus Aldrich, Rep 21,300 J. M. Cavanaugh. Dem 17,668 ALDRICH, D0NELLY, WILSON. 789 Cyrus Aldrich, 1 of Minneapolis, Hennepin county, was elected a member of the thirty-sixth Congress, which convened Dec. 5th, 1859, and was re-elected to the thirty-seventh Con- gress. During his last term he was chairman of the Commit- tee on Indian Affairs. Ignatius Donnelly was born in Philadelphia in 1831; grad- uated at the high school of that city, and in 1853 was admitted to the bar. In 1857 he came to Minnesota, and in 1859 was elected Lt. Governor, and re-elected in 1861. He became a representative of Minnesota in the U. S. Congress which con- vened on Dec. 7th, 1863, and was re-elected to the thirty-ninth Congress, which convened on Dec. 4th, 1865. He was also elected to the fortieth Congress, 2 which convened in Dec, 1867. Since 1873 he has been an active State Senator from Dakota County, in which he has been a resident, and is editor of the Anti-Monopolist. Eugene M. Wilson, of Minneapolis, was elected to the forty- first Congress, which assembled in December, 1869. He was born Dec. 25, 1833, at Morgantown, "Virginia, and graduated at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania. From 1857 to 1861, he was U. S. Dist. Attorney for Minnesota. During the civil war he was Captain in First Minnesota Cavalry. While in 1 Cyrus Aldrich was born in 1808, at 1849 became Receiver of U. S. Land Smithfield, E. I. In boyhood he worked Office at Dixon, 111., which he held four on a farm and went to sea. At the age years. In 1855 he removed to Minnesota, of 29 he came to Alton, 111., and in 1842 and in 1857 was a member of the Con- came to Galena, and became a propri- stitutional Convention. In 1865 he was etor of stage coaches. In 1845 and 1846 a member of the Minnesota Legislature, he was a member of the Illinois Legis- and in 1867 became Post Master at Min- iature. In 1847 he was elected Register neapolis, and held the office four years, of Deeds for Jo Daviess Co., 111., and in He died Oct. 5, 1871. 2 Congressional Vote, Nov., 1862. W. Windom, Republican 8,663 A. G. Chatfield, Democrat 6,423 I. Donnelly, Republican 7,091 W. J. Cullen, Democrat 5,019 Congressional Vote, 1864. W. Windom, Republican, 13,965 H. W. Lamberton, Democrat 9,092 I. Donnelly, Republican, 10,874 J. M. Gilman, Democrat 8,212 Congressional Vote, 1866. W. Windom, Republican 13,961 J. R. Jones, Democrat 8,021 I.Donnelly, Republican 12,022 W. Colville, Democrat 7,754 790 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Congress he was a member of the Pacific Railroad Committee, and introduced a bill by which the State University obtained the lands which had long been claimed. Mr. Wilson's father, grandfather, and maternal great grand- father were members of Congress. M. S. Wilkinson, of whom mention will be made as U. S. Senator, was elected in 1868 1 a representative to the Congress which convened in Dec, 1869. Mark H. Dunnell. of Owatonna, in the fall of 1870, was elected from the First District to fill the seat in the House of Representatives so long occupied by Mr. Windom. Mr. Dunnell, in July, 1823, was born at Buxton, Maine. He graduated at the college established at Waterville, in that State, in 1849. From 1855 to 1859 he was the State Superin- tendent of Schools, and in 1860 commenced the practice of law. For a short period he was Colonel of the 5th Maine regiment, but resigned in 1862, and was appointed U. S. Consul at Yera Cruz, Mexico. In 1865 he came to Minnesota, and was State Superintendent of Public Instruction, from April, 1867, to August, 1870. Mr. Dunnell still represents his district. John T. Averill was elected in November, 1870, from the Second District, to succeed Eugene M. Wilson. 2 Mr. Averill was born at Alma, Maine, and completed his studies at the Maine Wesleyan University. He was a member of the Minnesota Senate in 1858 and 1859, and during the rebellion was Lieut. Colonel of the 6th Minnesota regiment. He is a member of the enterprising firm of paper manufac- turers, Averill, Russell, and Carpenter. In the fall of 1872 2 he was re-elected as a member of the forty-second Congress, which convened in December, 1873. 1 Congressional Vote, 1868. M. S. Wilkinson, Republican 23,724 G. W. Batchelder, Democrat 14,646 C.C.Andrews, Republican 8,595 E.M.Wilson, Democrat 13,506 I. Donnelly, Iadependent 11,229 2 Congressional Vote, 1870. Mark H. Dunnell, Republican ....19,606 C. F. Black, Democrat 14,904 John T. Averill, Republican 17,133 Ignatius Donnelly 14,491 791 Horace B. Strait was elected to the 43d and 44th Congress, and is still a representative. He was born on the 26th of January, 1835, and in 1846 removed to Indiana, In 1855 he came to Minnesota. In 1862 he was made Captain of the 9th Minnesota regiment, and became Major. William S. King of Minneapolis, was born, Dec. 16, 1828, at Malone, New York. He has been one of the most active citizens of Minnesota, in developing its commercial and agri- cultural interests. For several years he was Postmaster of the U. S. House of Representatives, and was elected to the 44th Congress, which convened in 1875. 1 Jacob H. Stewart, M. D. was elected to the 45th Congress,2 which convened in December, 1877. He was born Jan. 15th, 1829, in Columbia Co., N. Y., and in 1851, graduated at the University of New York. For several years he practiced medicine at Peekskill, N. Y., and in 1855 removed to St. Paul. In 1859 he was elected to the State Senate, and was Chairman of the Railroad Committee. In 1864 he was Mayor of St. Paul. He was Surgeon of First Minnesota, and taken prisoner at first battle of Bull Run. From 1869 to 1873 he was again Mayor of St. Paul. UNITED STATES SENATORS. Henry M. Rice, who had been for four years delegate to the House of Representatives, was on the 19th of December, 1857, elected one of two U. S. Senators. 3 During his term the civil Congressional Vote, 1872. 1st Dist— M. H. Dunnell, Eep 20,371 M.S. Wilkinson, Ind. Rep 10,841 2d Dist— H. B. Strait, Rep 15,287 C. Graham, Democrat 10,832 4d Dist— J. T. Averill, Rep 19,182 G. L. Becker, Democrat 12,609 1 Congressional Vote of 1874. Horace B. Strait, Rep 13,742 E. St. J, Cox, Democrat 13.521 W. S. King, Rep 17,177 E. M. Wilson, Democrat 15,060 2 Congressional Vote of 1876. J. H. Stewart, Rep 22,823 McNair, Dem 20,727 H. B. Strait, Rep 19,730 Wilder, Dem 14,990 M. H, Dunnell, Rep 25.910 Stacy, Dem 16,065 3 Vote for TJ. S. Senator, Dec. 19, 1857. Henry M. Rice, Democrat 66 David Cooper, Republican 50 James Shields, Democrat 66 H. D. Huff, Republican 54 792 history or Minnesota, war began, and lie rendered efficient service to the Union and the State he represented. For notices of Mr. Rice, see Gen- eral Index. James Shields, elected at the same time as Mr. Rice to the U. S. Senate, drew the short term of two years. 1 Morton S. Wilkinson 2 was chosen by a joint convention of the Legislature, on Dec. 15, 1859, to succeed General Shields. During the rebellion of the Slave States he was a firm sup- porter of the Union. He served as Chairman of the Commit- tee on Revolutionary Claims, and was one of the Committee on Indian Affairs. Alexander Ramsey 3 was elected by the Legislature, on the 14th of January, 1863, 4 as the successor of Henry M. Rice. He served on Naval, Post Office, Pacific Railroad, and other im- portant committees. The Legislature of 1869 5 re-elected Mr* Ramsey for a second term of six years, ending March, 1875. Daniel S. Norton 6 was on January 10, 1865, elected 1 James Shieids came from Ireland in 1868 he was elected to the XL S. House 1826, a lad of sixteen years of age. In of Representatives, and since then he 1832 he opened a lawyer's office at Kas- has represented Blue Earth county, in kaskia, 111. In 1843 he was appointed which he resides, in the State Senate. Judge of the Illinois Supreme Court, 3 Alexander Ramsey : for notices of and in 1845 was made Commissioner see General Index., of the U. S. Land Office, Washington. 4 Vote for U. S. Senator. During the Mexican War he was a Brig- Alexander Ramsey, Republican 45- adier General, and distinguished him- A. G. Chatfield, Democrat 17 self by gallant services. In 1849 he was 5 Vote for U. S. Senator, 1869. elected United States Senator from Illi- Alex. Ramsey, Rep 52 noi8, and served six years. In 1856 he C. W. Nash, Dem 14 came to Minnesota. After his brief 6 Daniel S. Norton, on April 12, 1829, term as its representative, General was born in Mt. Vernon, Knox County, Shields removed from Minnesota. He Ohio, and was educated at Kenyon Col- was for a time a General in the Army of lege. He served with the 2d Ohio regi- the Union during the rebellion of the ment in the Mexican War. In 1848 he Slavo States, and is now a resident of became a law student, and in 1850 went Missouri. to California, and from thence to Nica- 2 Morton S. Wilkinson, on January 22, ragua. Returning to Ohio, he was ad- 1819, was born at Skaneateles, N. Y. mitted to the bar in 1852, and in 1855 After studying law, he settled at Eaton removed to Minnesota. In 1857, i860, Rapids, Michigan, and in 1847, came to 1863, and 1864, he was a member of the Minnesota. He was a member in 1849, Minnesota Senate, and of the Minne- of the first Territorial Legislature. In sota House of Representatives in 1862. NORTON", WLNDOM, m'mILLAN. 793 to the United States Senate, as the successor of Mr. Wilkinson. 1 Mr. Norton, having offended the party by whom he was elected, its members manifested their dis- pleasure, in the Legislature of 1867, by the passage of resolutions requesting him to resign, which were unnoticed by the Senator, who felt that he did not go to Washington to be a blind instrument. Mr. Norton, who had been in feeble health for years, died in June, 1870. 0. P. Stearns 2 was elected on January 17, 1871, for the few weeks of the unexpired term of Mr. Norton. William Windom, so long a member of the U. S. House of Representatives, was elected U. S. Senator for a term of six years, ending March 4, 1877, and has been re-elected for a second term ending March 4, 1883. 3 S. J. R. McMillan* of St. Paul, on the 19th of February, 1875, was elected 5 U. S. Senator for the term expiring March 4th, 1881. 1 Vote for United States Senator. 3 Vote for U.\S. Senator, 1877, Daniel S. Norton, Rep 46 William Windom, Rep 98 James C. George, Dem 13 M. S. Wilkinson, Dem 36 2 0. P. Stearns, on January 15, 1832, 4 S.J.R.McMillan was born at Browns- was born at De Kalb, St. Lawrence Co., ville, Pa., and in 1846 completed his aca- Kew York. In 1858 he graduated in demic education at Duquesne College, literature at University of Michigan, Pittsburg. He studied law in the office and in i860 finished his studies in the of Edwin M. Stanton, late Secretary of Law School of that institution. The War, and in 1849 was admitted to the same year he settled at Rochester, bar. In 1852 he settled at Stillwater, and Minnesota. He entered as a private in 1857 was elected Judge of 1st Judicial soldier of the 9th Minnesota Regiment, District. From 1864 to 1874 he was an and was appointed in April, 1864, Colo- Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, nel of 39th Regt, U. S. Colored Troops, and at the time of his election to the and was present at the attack on Fort U. S. Senate, was Chief Justice. Fisher, and Petersburg. 5 Vote for U. S. Senator, 1875. S. J. R. McMillan, Rep 82 Wm. Lochren, Dem 61 794 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Henry Poehler was born at Lippe Detmold, Germany, on the 22d of August, 1833, and came, in 1848, to the United States. After living in Iowa for some time, he removed to Minnesota, and settled at Henderson, Sibley County. Twice he was elected to the Minnesota House of Represent- atives, and twice to the State Senate. In November, 1878, he was nominated by the Democratic party for the U. S. House of Representatives, and elected. 1 William Drew Washburn was born on January 14th, 1831, at Livermore, Maine. In 1854 he graduated at Bowdoin Col- lege, and in 1857 was admitted to the bar, and this year was appointed Agent of the Minneapolis Mill Company. In 1861 he was commissioned U. S. Surveyor General for Minnesota. In November, 1878, he was elected, for the Third District, a member of the U. S. House of Representatives. At the election in November, 1880, MarkH. Dunnell, Henry B. Strait, and William D. Washburn were elected members of the U. S. House of Representatives 2 for the Congress which on the 4th of March, 1883, expires. HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS OF IT. S. GOVERNMENT. Alexander Ramsey, appointed Secretary of War by Presi- dent Hayes, to take the place of Judge McCrary, and in office until March 4, 1881. William Windom, appointed Secretary of the Treasury by President Garfield. The tall of 1881 he resigned, having been returned to the U. S. Senate by the Minnesota Legislature. I. CONGRESSIONAL VOTE, 1878. First District— M. H. Dunnell, Rep...l8,613 Third Districtr-W. D. Washburn, R.20,942 — Meighen, Dem 12,845 ' I. Donnelly, D 17,929 Second District— H. Poehler, Dem ...14,467 H. B. Strait, Rep 13,743 II. CONGRESSIONAL VOTE, 1880. First District— M. H. Dunnell 22,392 Second District— H. B. Strait 24,588 Wells 13,768 H. Poehler 18,707 Ward 7,650 Third District— W. D. Washburn 36,428 H. H. Sibley 23,804 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. RECAPITULATION. 795 TERRITORIAL DELEGATES. Henry H. Sibley, - Henry M. Rice, W, W. Kingsbury, - 1849 to December, 1853 - 1853 to December, 18^7 - 1857 to May, 1858 U. S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. W. W. Phelps, J. M. Cavanagh. - William Windom, - Cyrus Aldrich, Ignatius Donnelly, Morton S. Wilkinson, Eugene M. Wilson, M. H. Dunnell, J. T. Averill, H. B. Strait, W. S. King, Jacob H. Stewart, - Henry Poehler, W.D.Washburn, - Dec. 1858 to " 1858 to " 1859 to " 1859 to " 1863 to " 1869 to " 1869 to " 1871 " 1871 to '* 1871 " 1875 to " 1877 to " 1879 to " 1879 Dec. 1859 " 1859 " 1870 " 1863 " 1869 " 1871 " 1871 (in office) Dec. 1875 (in office) Dec. 1877 " 1879 " 1881 (in office) U. S. SENATORS. Henry M. Rice, James Shields,. Morton S. Wilkinson, - Alexander Ramsey, Daniel S. Norton, - 0. P. Stearns, William Windom - A. J. Edgerton, S. J. R. McMillan, - 1857 to 1863— 6 years. - 1857 to 1859— 2 years. - 1859 to 1865— 6 years. - 1863 to 1875—12 years. 1865 to 1870— died in June. - 1871 — a few weeks. - 1871— in office. - 1881 — a few months, - 1875— in office. 796 HISTOBY OP MINNESOTA. GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA. Alexander Ramsey, Willis A. Gorman, Samuel Medary, TERRITORIAL. - March, 1849, to May, 1853 - May, 1853, to April, 1857 - April, 1857, to May, 1858 STATE. Henry H. Sibley, Alexander Ramsey, - Henry A. Swift, Stephen Miller, William R. Marshall, Horace Austin, Cushman K. Davis, - John S. Pillsbury, L. F. Hubbard, May, 1858, to January, 1860 January, 1860, to July, 1863 July, 1863, to January, 1864 January, 1864, to Jan. 1866 January, 1866, to Jan. 1870 January, 1870, to Jan. 1874 January, 1874, to Jan. 1876 January, 1876, to Jan. 1882 January, 1882, (in office) EAELT MAPS OF UPPER MISSISSIPPI. 7i)7 APPENDIX A. PAGE XLV EARLY CHARTS OF LA.KE SUPERIOR AND UPPER MISSISSIPPI. In the Parliament library at Ottawa, there are tracings of several now rare maps in the archives at Paris. One by Du Val, based upon Charuplain's, prepared in 1664, shows an isle of copper between the isles St. Joseph and St. Ignace, in the upper extremity of Lake Huron, and places the Nadouessis about the Falls of Saint Mary. Randin, an engineer in the service of Governor Frontenac, visited the western extremity of Lake Superior before Du Luth, and had interviews with the Sioux and Ojibways. At the request of Frontenac he prepared a map of the country, and Harrisse mentions that he called the river Mississippi, after the family name of the Governor of Canada, "Buade," and the region west of Lake Superior, also in compliment of the Governor, " Frontenacie." There is also a tracing in the Parliament library at Ottawa of an unpublished map in the archives of the French Govern- ment, prepared, apparently, before A. D. 1673, by Joliet and Franquelin, which calls the Wisconsin the Riviere Miscou, and above, on the east side of the Mississippi, marks " Mine de fer," then a river with an island, and thereon the word " Siou." Above this, on the same side, are marked the following tribes: Thanetsa, Pintoua, Napapat8, Sapik8ti, Chaiena, Agalomit8, 8ssit8a, Alempigouak. To the north of Lake Superior is marked Lac Assinibonels. This is the only map which repre- sents the Cheyennes at their old home, and is the first attempt to trace the Mississippi above the Wisconsin. The sign like a figure 8, in the names, is a contraction for ou. Gravier in 1880, published, at Paris, an original map of Joliet (often written Jolliet), prepared in 1674, which marks the Assiniboels as north of Lake Superior, and the Nadoues- 798 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. siz between that lake and the Mississippi, which is called, " Riviere de Buade," In Lake Superior Isle Royale and those at La Pointe appear, but without any names, and the whole region north of the Wisconsin Rivpr. is marked, " La Fron- tenacie." Harrisse also states that in the library of the " Depot de Cartes de la Marie," Paris, there is a map *of 1682, with the discoveries of Du Luth. The Mississippi is represented as rising in the country of the Tintonha, not far from which is marked a tree with the inscription, l ' Arms of the king graven on this tree in the year 1679." Harrisse mentions that there is a beautiful oval drawing in the corner of this map, with the Virgin Mary hovering above, holding a cross with the motto, " In hoc Signo Vinces." The next year, A. D. 1683, a map appeared with Hennepin's " Description of Louisiana," which appears to have been the former, with a few alterations. The same tree appears with the arms of the king of France, but the year 1679 is omitted. In the same vicinity appears a house, marked, u Missions des Recollects," far beyond where Hennepin claimed to have been, and a region which no priest had ever visited. The cartouche on this map is also an oval, within which is the inscription, " Carte de la Nouvelle France et de la Louisiana, nouuellement decou- urte, dediee au Roy, An. 1683, Par le Reuerend Pere, Louis Hennepin, Missionaire Recollect et Notaire Apostolique." The inscription is surrounded by an embellished design. In the place of a virgin carrying a cross with the motto, '* In hoc Signo Vinces/' as in the map of 1682, appears a cross with "La Triomphe de la Louisiane" printed above, and at a right angle with the feet on the cross, a flying angel with flaming sword expelling the Evil One, the demon of unbelief. franquelin's map, a. d. 1688. One of the most complete of the unpublished maps in the French archives is that of J. B. Franquelin, and was prepared in A. D. 1688, for Louis the Fourteenth. Before this he had made several other charts, as the hydrographer of France, re- siding at Quebec. As early as A. D. 1683, Governor de la fkakquelin's map. 799 Barre wrote to the Minister of Marine, u The map of the country I have had prepared for you, will give you a perfect knowledge of every thing, and the means of interesting his Majesty therein. The young man who made these maps is named Franquelin. He is as skillful as any in France, but exceedingly poor, and in need of a little aid from his Majesty as an engineer; he is at work on a very correct map of the country, which I shall send you next year, in his name/' The map of 1688, a section of which is reduced, and accom- panies this edition of the History of Minnesota, has this title: ik Carte de V Amerique, Septentrionale, depuis le 25 jusqu'au 65 degre de latitude e environ 140 et 235 degre de longitude, con- tenant le pays de Canada, ou la Nouvelle France, la Louisiane, la Floride, Virginie, Nouvelle Suede, Neuvelle York, Nouvelle Angleterre, Acadie, et ile de Terre Neuve. 4 feuilles. 1688." An examination of the part presented will show that the term Kamanistigouian was applied to the Three Rivers, the outlets of the chain of lakes which form the northern boundary of Minnesota. It is the only map we have seen which marks Du Luth's post on Lake Nepigon, Fort La Tourette, estab- lished after his first post at Kamanistigouia. It differs from the early printed maps in making one of the small streams below the Grand Portage the Grosilliers River. It also shows the trading post at the headwaters of the Saint Croix River, to which Bellin alludes, as abandoned. It names the post estab- lished by Perrot, at the time of his first visit to Lake Pepin, Fort St. Antoine, and correctly marks its situation on the Wis- consin side, a short distance above the Chippeway River. It also marks where the first party of Perrot wintered above Black River, and the first trading post at Prairie du Chien, called, in compliment to Perrot's baptismal name, Fort St. Nicholas, and marks the trail by which voyageurs at that early period came from Lake Superior, by way of the Montreal River, to the portage of Wisconsin. In notices of Du Luth and Perrot, further allusion will be made to this interesting chart, which settles several hitherto doubtful points. LATKR MA2TCTSCRIPT MAPS. From the published u Transactions of the Department of 800 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. American History of the Minnesota Historical Society" for 1879, is extracted the following from the November pro- ceedings : "Rev. Edward D. Neill deposited tracings of several maps, and read a brief description. The maps deposited are copies ot unpublished tracings in the archives of the French govern- ment, which illustrate the genesis of the northern route to the Pacific, west of Lake Superior. ochagach's map. fc * Ochagachs, an intelligent Indian, assured Pierre Gaultier de Varenne, known as the Sieur Verendrye, in 1728, while he was stationed at Lake Nepigon, north of Lake Superior, that there was a communication, largely by water, west of Lake Superior to the great sea, the Pacific Ocean. " The route rudely drawn by this Indian and others, was placed before the Governor of Canada, and about 1730, sent to France. The map places the French post, Kamanestigouia, first established by DuLuth and reopened in 1717 by Robertel de la Noue, where Fort William now stands. Pigeon river is called Mantohavagane. Lac Sasakanaga appears, and Rainy Lake is marked Tecamemiouen. The river St. Louis, of Min- nesota, is called the R. fond du L. Superieur, and the Indians appear to have passed from the headwaters of the St. Louis by portages to Rainy Lake. The western extremity of the map shows a river called the River of the West and a ridge called Montagnes de Pierres Brillantes. "The French geographer, Bellin, in his 'Remarks upon the Map of North America,' published in 1755, at Paris, alludes to this unpublished sketch of Ochagach, or Otchaga, and states that it was the earliest drawing of the region west of Lake Superior, in the Depot de la Marine, verendrye's sketch, a. d. 1737. "This unpublished chart shows Red Lake, of Northern Minnesota, and the point of the Big Woods in the Red River valley. The source of the Mississippi is a lake southwest of Red Lake. It also marks Fort St. Pierre, on the west shore of Rainy Lake, established by Jemeraye, the nephew of Veren* DE LA JEMERAYE'S MAP. 801 drye, in the fall of 1731; Fort St. Charles, on the west shore of the Lake of the Woods, established the next year, and Fort Maurepas. established in 1731. near the entrance of Lake Winnipeg. West of the Mississippi appears the great river of the nation of the Coahatchalle, intended for the Missouri, and beyond this is the country of the Hiattcheriting. " The map was prepared under the direction of Pierre Va- rennes, the Sieur Verendrye, and was sent to France by Gov. Beauharuois, of Canada. 14 The map drawn by De la Jemeraye contains the names of posts established after Verendrye's sketch was sent to France, De la Jemeraye, or Gemerais, was a brother of Mary Marga- ret, the widow of Francis Youville, the devout woman who founded the order of the Grey Sisters and a hospital at Mon- treal, and their mother was a sister of Sieur Verendrye. Under his uncle's direction, he was, in 1731, among the first to ad- vance from the Grand Portage of Lake Superior by way of the Nalaouagon, Groselliers or Pigeon River, to Rainy Lake, and from thence the next year to the Lake of the Woods. a In addition to the posts on Verendrye's sketch, is marked Fort Rouge, on the south bank of the Assinniboine, at its junction with the Red River, opposite the present Fort Garry; and on the Assinniboine, not many miles westward, is Fort la Reine, which was established as an advanced post on the third of October, 1738; and at the head of Lac des Prairies, now Manitoba, is marked" Fort Dauphin; and on the northwest shore of Lake Winnipeg, near the mouth of the Riviere aux Biches, is Fort Bourbon. " The Sioux are marked as dwelling at the headwaters of Fond du Lac, now St. Louis river, and the Tkonachipouans around Red Lake, in Minnesota, with the Assinniboines k> the west of Red River. The Assinniboine is marked St. Charles, in compliment to Charles Beauharnois, Governor of Canada, and a tributary, St. Pierre, after Pierre Verendrye. "At the bottom of the map, in French, is a statement to this effect : 8)2 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. " i Chart of one part of Lake Superior, with the discovery from the Grand Portage, marked A, up to the 'barriers' (on the Winnipeg River.) Fort St. Charles is built at Lake of the Woods, and at Rainy Lake, a fort whieh bears the name of the lake. " ' The fort at Rainy Lake is about 47 deg. 21 mm. lat. 11 ; The Grand Portage is about 47 deg. 21 min. lat. " ' Fort at Camanestigouia is about 47 deg. 27 min. lat. " ; Fort Lake of the Woods is about 48 deg. 27 min. lat. " ' The Barriers of Winnipeg is about 49 deg. lat. " ' The river from the Grand Portage to the Falls of Win- nipeg, lately discovered, is marked in color, the other rivers, upon the report of Indians, was drawn by M. De la Jemeraye.' " The additions beyond Lake Winnipeg appear to have been subsequently added. ANOTHER MAP. " The fourth map exhibited is called a 'Chart of the western portion of Canada, showing the recent discoveries of French officers west of Lake Superior, with the rivers and lakes alluded to by Jemeraye in his Relation of Hudson Bay.' " It is more extended and prepared at a later period than the others, and is similar to those published before A. D. 1750. It shows Sau It Ste. Marie on the east, and the Sea of the West as the western boundary. Its northern limit is Hudson Bay, and the southern portion shows Ouisconsing and Moingona rivers. Pigeon river is called the Nalaouagon, and the Red River flows from Red Lake. The Poskoyac River, now Sas- katchewan, is marked with mountains around its supposed source. All the forts appear which are on the Jemeraye map. The Bourbon, now Nelson River, is marked as flowing into Hudson Bay near the mouth of St. Theresa, named, says Char- levoix, after Grosellier's wife, now called Hayes' river. One hundred leagues southeasterly, enters the New Severn, or St. Huite's River." GKOSELLIERS, RADISSON, MENARD. 803 APPENDIX B. PAGE 107. GKOSELLIERS AND RADISSON — THE ROUTE OF FATHER MENARD — REFUGEE HURONS. The first white men in Minnesota, of whom we have any record, were according to Garneau, two persons of Huguenot affinities, Medard Chouart, known as Sieur Groselliers and Pierre d'Esprit, called Sieur Radisson. Groselliers (pronounced Gro-zay-yay) was born near Ferte- sous-Jouarre, eleven miles east of Meaux, in France, and when about sixteen years of age, in the year 1641, came to Canada. The fur trade was the great avenue to prosperity, and in 1646 he was among the Huron Indians, who then dwelt upon the eastern shores of Lake Huron, bartering for peltries. On the second of September, 1647, at Quebec, he was married to Helen, the widow of Claude Etienne, who was the daughter of a pilot, Abraham Martin, whose baptismal name is still attached to the suburbs of that city, the "Plains of Abraham," made famous by the death there, of General Wolfe, of the English army, in 1759, and of General Montgomery, of the Continental army, in December, 1775, at the beginning of the " War for Independence. 1 ' In 1619, he visited France. His son, Medard, was born in 1651, and Tanguay gives the same year as the date of his mother's death. After her death, the father went to Acadia, where he met the celebrated La Tour. Upon his return, on the 21th of August, 1653, he married at Quebec, another widow, Grand -Menil, only twenty -one years old, whose maiden name was Margaret Hayet Radisson, the sister of his associate in the exploration of the Sioux country. His first child by this wife, was born at Three Rivers, July 25th, 1654 ; the second, Maria Anna was born August 7th, 1657 ; the third, Marguerite, was born April 15th, 1659 ; the fourth, Marie Antoinette, June 7th, 1661, and the fifth, Marie Jeane, in 1662. These births show, that his visits to the Indian country were periodic. radisson. Pierre d'Esprit, the Sieur Radisson was born at St. Malo, and came to Paris when a boy, and from thence to Canada, 804 HI&TORY OF MINNESOTA. and at Three Rivers, in 1656, married Elizabeth, the daughter of Madeleine Hainault, and after her death, the daughter of Sir John Kirk, or Kertk, a zealous Huguenot, became his wife. In 1654. as Sergeant-Major, he was residing at Three Rivers, on the St. Lawrence. While in 1659-60 Groselliers had intercourse with the Assin- niboines. and heard of the chain of lakes reaching to Winni- peg, there is no evidence that he ever ascended the rivers that flow into Lake Superior at its western extremity. In August. 1660, Groselliers returned trom the region southwest of Lake Superior, and on the 28th of the same month again departed from Three Rivers with his companion, Radisson, and six Frenchmen besides the Jesuit, Menard, and his servant, Jean Guerin. During the fall of 1660, or the winter of 1661, he seems to have been at Nepigon, and Perray, a Frenchman, about this time found the tributaries of a river which led north- easterly to Hudson's Bay. In the spring of 1662, Groselliers was at Qnebec, ?nd left on the 2d of May, with a party of ten men, on an overland expedition to the Sea of the North, as Hudson's Bay was called. Returning from Hudson's Bay, he made suggestions which appeared chimerical. A disagreement, in consequence occur- ring between Groselliers and his partners in Quebec, he pro- ceeded to Paris, and from thence to London, where he was introduced to Prince Rupert, the nephew of Charles L, who led the cavalry charge against Fairfax and Cromwell at Naseby, afterwards commander of the English fleet. The prince lis- tened with pleasure to the narrative of travel, and endorsed the plans for prosecuting the fur trade and seeking a north- west passage to Asia. The scientific men of England were also full of the enterprise, in the hope that it would increase a knowledge of nature. The Secretary of the Royal Society wrote to Robert Boyle, the distinguished philosopher, a too sanguine letter. His words were, " Surely I need not tell you from hence what is said here, with great joy, of the discovery of a northwest passage, and by two Englishmen and one Frenchman represented to his Majesty at Oxford, and an- CAPTAIN GILLAM OF BOSTON. 805 swered by the grant of a vessel to sail into Hudson's Bay and channel into the South Sea." The ship Nonsuch was fitted out, in charge of Captain Zach- ary Gillam, a son of one of the early settlers of Boston, and in this vessel Groselliers and Radisson left the Thames in June, 1668, and in September reached a tributary of Hudson's Bay. The next year, by way of Boston, they returned to England, and in 1670, a trading company was chartered, still known among venerable English corporations as " The Hudson's Bay Company." The Reverend Mother of the Incarnation, Superior of the Ursulines of Quebec, in a letter of the 27th of August, 1670, writes thus: "It was about this time that a Frenchman of our Touraine, name Les Groselliers, married in this country, and, as he had not been successful in making a fortune, was seized with a fancy to go to New England to better his condition. He excited a hope among the English that he had found a passage to the Sea of the North. With this expectation, he was sent as envoy to England, where there was given to him a vessel, with crew and every thing necessary for the voyage. With these advantages he put to sea, and, in place of the usual route, which others had taken in vain, he sailed in another direction, and searched so wide that he found the grand Bay of the North. * * * * * He has taken possession of this great region for the king of England, and for his personal benefit. A publication for the benefit of this French adven- turer has been made in England." Gov. Denonville wrote on the 12th of February, 1668, that he had appointed De Trois to go to the Bay of the North to establish posts, and especially to arrest Radisson and associ- ates, and in November, 1681, Gov. Frontenac alludes to Radis- son, "who is married in England." RENE MENARD, JESUIT MISSIONARY. When in August, 1660, Groselliers and Radisson left Mont- real to return to trade in the Lake Superior region, they were accompanied by eight persons, one of whom was the devoted $06 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. priest, Rene Menard, who appears to have stopped near what is still called Huron Bay, in the vicinity of Keweenaw. An examination of Franquelin's map of A. D. 1688, shows an Indian trail from Lake Superior by the Menomonee River to Green Bay, and another from the headwaters of the Mont- real River to the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. Nicholas Perrot, who was a young man at this time, gives the following description of Menard's journey to the Hurons by way of the Mississippi: '" Father Menard, who was sent as missionary among the Outaouas, accompanied by certain Frenchmen who were going to trade with that people, was left by all who were with him except one, who rendered to him until death, all of the services and help he could have hoped. u The Father followed the Outaouas to the Lake of the Illi- noets [now Michigan], and in their flight to the Louisiane [Mississippi] to above the Black River, There the missionary had but one Frenchman for a companion. This Frenchman carefully followed the route, and made a portage at the same place as the Outaouas 1 ' ! If this statement is correct, Menard's canoe floated on the Mississippi twelve years before it was disturbed by the paddles of Joliet and Marquette, THE FLIGHT OF THE HURONS. About the year 1650 the Iroquois, of New York, drove the Hurons from their villages, and they were merged with their friends the Tinontates, called by the^ French, Petuns, because they cultivated tobacco. In time the Hurons and Ottawas were again driven by the Iroquois, and found a temporary residence on the isles of Lake Michigan at Green Bay. After- wards they came to the Mississippi, and ascending above the Wisconsin, they went west to the Ayoes [Ioway] villages, but were not pleased with a treeless region. Retracing their steps, they ascended the Mississippi, and were met by some of the Sioux, who were much pleased with the axes and knives of European manufacture which they re- HURONS IK WISCONSIN. 807 ceived from them, and allowed them to settle upon an island about nine miles below the site of Hastings. Possessed of fire-arms the Hurons and Ottawas asserted their superiority, and incurred the enmity of the Sioux, and were compelled to leave. Descending the Mississippi, below Lake Pepin, they reached the Black River, and the Hurons made a retreat in the lake and marsh region between the sources of that and the Chippeway River, while the Ottawas advanced to Lake Superior, and settled at Chagouamikon, near the modern Bayfield, and there cultivated Indian corn and squash, and engaged in fishing. They hunted along the lake towards Kioncouan (Keweenaw) and traded with the Nepissings and Amikouets at Lake Almibegon (Nepigon). On one occasion, about A. D. 1662, the Ojibways and Otta- was and their allied bands, went toward Sault St. Marie, to catch white-fish, and perceived smoke, which the Ojibways ascertained ascended from a camp of one hundred Iroquois. Carefully approaching, the Ojibways and their associates com- pletely defeated their ancient foes, and the point where they were camped is to this day known as Iroquois Point, which is seen by the traveler on a steamboat after he passes around the Falls of St. Mary and enters Lake Superior. After the defeat of the Iroquois, the Ojibvvays and Ottawas returned in triumph to Keweenaw and La Pointe. and here they quietly remained until some Hurons went to hunt in the territories of the Sioux, fifty or sixty leagues to the westward. The Sioux captured some and took them to their villages, but did not kill them, but sent them away with presents, and asked them to come again. The invitation ^was accepted, and the Sinagos Chief of the Ottawas, with four Frenchmen and a number of his band entered the Sioux country, and were re- ceived with honor and cordiality, and they came back to La Pointe well pleased with their visit. After this some Hurons went again to hunt in the Sioux country, and were taken prisoners by some of the Sioux young men. The Chief who had entertained the Sinagos Chief was indignant, demanded their release, and went in person to La Pointe to make explanations. With five men and one woman 808 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. he reached the Sinagos village, and then the Hurons proved tricky and treacherous, and persuaded the Chief of the Sinagos band of Ottawas to put him to death. Fear now compelled the Hurons to fly to Mackinaw. The next year they went down to Montreal and sold their furs for the munitions of war, and returning to Lake Superior with the Sinagos Chief and the Chief of the Sauks, of Green Bay, and some Foxes and Pottawattomies, they pushed into the Sioux country, and destroyed some small villages. The Sioux afterwards rallied in force, routed them and took the Sinagos and Sauk Chief prisoners. Sinagos was reproached for his perfidy, and in bitter irony he was told that he would not be put to death, as he had killed their Chief, while on a friendly visit. They then took slices from his own body, broiled them, and fed him upon his own flesh until he died. A Pawnee slave which was taken, was returned to his own tribe. About A. D. 1670 these events occurred. Traders and missionaries followed the Hurons and their allies to Keweenaw, Sault St. Marie and Mackinaw. In 1674, some Sioux warriors came down to Sault St. Marie, to make a treaty of peace with adjacent tribes. A friend of the Abbe de Gallinee wrote that a council was had at the fort, to which "the Nadouessioux sent twelve deputies, and the others forty. During the conference, one of the latter, knife in hand, drew near the breast of one of the Nadouessioux, who showed surprise at the movement, when the Indian with the knife reproached him for cowardice. The Nadouessioux said he was not afraid, when the other planted the knife in his heart, and killed him. All the savages then engaged in con- flict, and the Nadouessioux bravely defended themselves, but overwhelmed by numbers, nine of them were killed. The two who survived rushed into the chapel and closed the door. Here they found munitions of war, and fired guns at their enemies, who became anxious to burn down the chapel, but the Jesuits would not permit it, because they had their skins stored between its root and ceiling. In this extremity, a Jesuit, Louis De Boeme, advised that a cannon should be DECLIKE OF JESUIT MISSIONS. 809 pointed at the door, which was discharged, and the two brave Sioux were killed. 11 Governor Frontenac, of Canada, was indignant at the occur- rence, and in a letter to Colbert, one of the ministers of Louis the Fourteenth, speaks in condemnation of this discharge of a cannon by the consent of a brother attached to the Jesuit mission. From this period, the missions of the Church of Rome near Lake Superior began to wane. Shea, a devout historian of that church, writes: "In 1680, Father Enjalran was appa_ rently alone at Green Bay, and Pierson at Mackinaw; the lat- ter mission still comprising the two villages, Huron and Kiskakon. Of the other missions, neither Le Clerq nor Hen- nepin the Recollect, writers of the West at this time, makes any mention or in any way alludes to their existence, and La Hontan mentions the Jesuit missions only to ridicule them. 11 APPENDIX C. PAGE 121. DANIEL GRETSOLON DU LUTB. Upon the authority of La Hontan in the Fifth Chapter, Lyons is mentioned as Du Luth^ birth place, but Harrisse writes that he was born at St. Germain en Laye, a few miles from Paris. Du Luth's first post was built fifteen leagues northeast of Grosellier's river, at Kamanistigoya, or Three Rivers. Baraga, in his dictionary, defines the modern Ojibway word, Ningita- witieweiag as " The place where the river divides into several branches. 11 On the 5th of April, 1679, while in the woods on the south shore of Lake Superior, nine miles beyond Sault St. Marie, he writes to Governor Frontenac, that he "will not stir from the Nadouessioux until further orders, and peace being concluded, 810 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. he will set up the king's arms, lest the English and other Europeans, settled towards California, take possession of the country." Reaching the head of Lake Superior, he probably entered the Sioux country by the Fond du Lac, or St. Louis River, and visited the great village of the Sioux Kathio, perhaps at Sandy Lake. An account of his explorations will be found on the one hundred and twenty-second page. Upon his return to Canada he continued in trade with his uncle Patron. Du Chesneau, the Intendant of Justice for Canada, on the 13th of November, 1631, wrote to the Marquis de Siegnelay, in Paris, u Not content with the profits to be derived from the king's dominion, the desire of making money everywhere, has led the Governor [Frontenac], Boisseau, Dulut, and Pat- ron, his uncle, to send canoes loaded with peltries, to the English. It is said sixty thousand livres' worth has been sent thither;" and he further stated that there was a very general report that within five or six days, Frontenac and his associates had divided the money received from the beavers sent to New England. At a conference in Quebec of some of the distinguished men in that city, relative to difficulties with the Iroquois, held on the 10th of October, 1682, Du Luth was present. The discovery of the water route from Lake Superior to the Mississippi, through the Saint Croix River by DuLuth caused La Salle to look upon him as a rival, and in a letter written to France in August, 1682, he sought to disparage the discov- erer. After narrating that Aecault, or Ako, and his associates, Hennepin and Du Gay, in ascending the Mississippi, passed the Ouisconsin, or " Meschets Odeba," perhaps intended for Meshdeke Wakpa, River of the Foxes, and the " Black River, called by the Nadouessioux, Chabadeba," (Chapa Wakpa, or Beaver River) and the Buffalo, now Chippewa River, he con- tinues : " Thirty-eight or forty leagues above you find the river by which Sieur Du Luth discovered the Mississippi. He had been LA SALLE JEALOUS OF DULUTH. 811 for three years, contrary to orders, on Lake Superior, with a band of coureurs des bois; he had borne himself bravely, pro- claiming everywhere that at the head of his brave fellows he did not fear the Grand Prevost, and that he would compel an amnesty. The coureurs des bois, whom he was the first to induce to raise the mask, have been and have returned to the settlements several times, loaded with goods and peltries, of which, during that time, they drained Lake Superior, every entrance to which they besieged, und this year they have pre- vented the Outaouacs from descending to Montreal. " While he was at Lake Superior, the Nadouesioux, enticed by the presents that the late Sieur Randin had made on the part of Count Frontenac, and the Sauteurs [Ojibways], who are the savages who carry the peltries to Montreal, and who dwell on Lake Superior, wishing to obey the repeated orders of the Count, made a peace to unite the Sauteurs and French, and to trade with the Nadouesioux situated about sixty leagues to the west of Lake Superior. Du Luth, to disguise his deser- tion, seized the opportunity to make some reputation for him- self, sending two messengers to the Count to negotiate a truce, during which period the comrades negotiated still better for beaver. '* Several conferences were held with the Nadouesioux, and as he needed an interpreter, he led off one of mine, named Faffart, formerly a soldier at Fort Frontenac. During this period there were frequent visits between the Sauteurs [Ojibways] and Nadouesioux, and supposing it might increase the number of beaver skins, he sent Faffart by land, with the Nadouesioux and Sauteurs [Ojibways]. The young man on his return, having given an account of the quantity of beaver in that re- gion, he wished to proceed thither himself, and, guided by a Sauteur and a Nadouesioux and four Frenchmen, he ascended the river Nemitsakouat, where, by a short portage, he de- scended that stream, whereon he passed through forty leagues of rapids [Upper St. Croix River] and finding that the Nadoue- sioux were below with my men and the Father who had come down again from the village of the Nadouesioux, he discov- ered them. They went up again to the village, and from 812 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. thence they all together came down. They returned by the river Ouiseonsing, and came back to Montreal, where Du Luth insults the commissaries, and the deputy of the 'procureur general/ named d' Auteuil. Count Frontenac had him arrested and imprisoned in the castle of Quebec, with the intention ot returning him to France unless the amnesty accorded to the coureurs des bois did not release him. " To know the said Du Luth, it is only necessary to inquire of M. Dalera. He pretends to have made a remarkable dis- covery, and asks this country, as above the Illinois in advan- tage, which is very laughable, that he expects a reward for his rebellion. "Secondly, there are only three routes to go there; one by Lake Superior, another by the Baye des Puans, the third by the Islinois, and the lands of my commission. Tlie first two are doubtful, and it would be unnecessary to open the third to him to my disadvantage, he having without expense and risk gained much, while I have been exposed to great hardship, peril and loss; by the Islinois there is for him a detour of three hundred leagues. " Moreover, the country of the Nadouesioux is not a country which he has discovered. It has been long known, and the Rev. Father Hennepin and Michael Accault were there before him. The first, one of my soldiers, whom he enticed away. Besides, the region is not habitable, unfit for cultivation, there being only marshes full of wild rice on which the people live, and no advantage can be had from this discovery, whether it is attributed to my men or Du Luth, because the streams are not navigable. "But the king having granted us the trade in buffalo skins, it would be destroyed by coming and going to the Nadoue- sioux by any other way than Lake Superior, through which the Count de Frontenac can send to procure beaver, according to the power which he has to grant licenses." du luth's reply to this disparagement. Du Luth determined to meet the charges which had been made against him, and in the fall of 1682 went to France. He DU LUTHS VISIT TO PARIS. 813 was in Paris in the winter of 1683, when Hennepin's first book appeared, and there, prepared an account of his explora- tions in Minnesota, for the Marquis de Seignelay, the Minister of Marine, which remained in manuscript until published by Harrisse, in IS 73, in his k ' Notes pour servir a l'Historie," etc. The following translation is appended to Shea's Hennepin, and in several particulars directly contradicts the Recollect Father as well as La Salle. Harrisse gives A. D. 1685, as the date of the letter, and is followed by Shea, which is a mistake. It was written in 16S3, when Du Luth was in France; in 1685 he was in the Lake Superior region. Moxseigxeur: After having made two voyages from here to New France, when all the people there were then, did not believe it possible to discover the country of the Nadouecioux nor have any trade with them, both on account of their remoteness, which is more than 800 leagues from our settlements, and because they were generally at war with all kinds of nations. This difficulty made me form the resolution to go among them, a project which I could not then carry out, my affairs having compelled me to return to this country, when, after having made the campaign of Franche Comte and the battle of Senef, where I had the honor of being a gendarme in his Majesty's guard, and squire of the Marquis de Lassay, our ensign, I set out to return to Quebec, where I had no sooner arrived than the desire which I had already had to carry out this design increased, and I began to take steps to make my- self known to the Indians, who, having assured me of their friendship, and in proof thereof given me three slaves, whom I had asked from them only to accompany me, I set out from Montreal with them and three Frenchmen, on the first of September in the year 1678, to endeavor to make the discovery of the Nadouecioux and Assenipoulaks, who were unknown to us, and to make them make peace with all the nations around Lake Superior, who live under the sway of our invincible monarch. I do not think that such a departure could give occasion to any one whatever to charge me with having contravened the 814 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. orders of the king in the year 1676, since he merely forbid all his subjects to go into the remote forests there to trade with the Indians. This I have never done, nor have I even wished to take any presents from them, although they have repeatedly thrown them to me, which I have always refused and left, in order that no one might tax me with having carried on any indirect trade. " On the 2d of July, 1679, 1 had the honor to plant his Majesty's arms in the great village of the Nadouecioux called Izatys, where never had a Frenchman been, no more than at the Songaskitons and Houetbatons, distant six score leagues from the former, where I also planted his Majesty's arms, in the same year, 1679. " On the 15th of September, having given the Agrenipoulaks as well as all the other northern nations a rendezvous at the extremity of Lake Superior, to induce them to make peace with the Nadouecioux. their common enemy, they were all there, and I was happy enough to gain their esteem and friendship, to unite them together; and in order that the peace might be lasting among them, I thought that I could not cement it better than by inducing the nations to make recip- rocal marriages with each other. This I could not effect with- out great expense. The following winter I made them hold meetings in the woods, which I attended, in order that they might hunt together, give banquets, and, by this means con- tract a closer friendship. " The presents which it cost me to induce the Indians to go down to Montreal, who had been diverted by the Apenagaux aud Abenakis at the instigation of the English and Dutch who made them believe that the plague raged in the French Settlements, and that it had spread as far as Nipissingue^ where most of the Nipissirinians had died of it, have also entailed a greater expense. " In June, 1680, not being satisfied with having made my discovery by land, I took two canoes, with an Indian, who was my interpreter, and four Frenchmen, to seek means to make it by water. With this view I entered a river which empties eight leagues 'frorn the extremity of Lake Superior on DU LUTH MEETS HENNEPIN". 815 the south side; where, after having cut some trees and broken about a hundred beaver dams, I reached the upper waters of the said river, and then I made a portage of half a league, to reach a lake the outlet of which fell into a very fine river, which took me down to the Mississippi. Being there, I learned from eight cabins of Nadouecioux whom I met, that the Rev- erend Father Louis Hennepin, Recollect, now at the convent of St. Germain, with two other Frenchmen, had been robbed and earned off as slaves for more than 300 leagues, by the Nadouecioux, themselves. " This intelligence surprised me so much that, without hesi- tating, I left two Frenchmen with these said eight cabins of Indians, as well as the goods which I had to make presents, and took one of the said Indians, to whom I made a present, to guide me, with my interpreter and two Frenchmen, to where the said Reverend Father Louis was; and as it was a good 80 leagues, I proceeded in a canoe two days and two nights, and the next day at ttn o'clock in the morning, I found him with about 1000 or 1100 souls. The want of respect which they showed to the said Reverend Father provoked me ; and this I showed them, telling them that he was my brother. And I had him placed in my canoe, to come with me into the villages, to the said Nadouecioux; whither I took him, and in which, a week after our arrival there, I caused a council to be convened exposing the ill treatment which they had been guilty of. both to the said Reverend Father and to the other two Frenchmen who were with him; having robbed them and carried them off as slaves, and even taken the priestly vestments of the said Reverend Father. I had two calumets which they had danced to them, returned to them on account of the insult which they had offered to them, being what they hold most in esteem among them to appease matters; telling them 1 did not take calumets from people, who, after they had seen me and received my peace presents, and been for a year always with French- men, robbed them when they went to visit them. 14 Each one in the council endeavored to throw the blame from himself, but their excuses did not prevent my telling the Reverend Father Louis that he would have to come with me 816 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. towards the Outagamys, as he did; showing him that it would strike a blow at the French nation, in a new discovery, to suf- fer an insult of this nature without manifesting resentment, although my design was to push on to the sea in a west north- westerly direction, which is that which is believed to be the Red Sea [Gulf of California], whence the Indians who had gone warring on that side gave salt to three Frenchmen whom I had sent exploring, and who brought me said salt, having reported to me that the Indians had told them that it was only twenty days' journey from where they were to find the great lake of which the waters were worthless to drink. This has made me believe that it would not be absolutely difficult to find it, if permission would be given to go there. However, I preferred to retrace my steps, manifesting to them the just indignation which I felt against them rather than to remain after the violence which they had done to the Reverend Father and the other two Frenchmen who were with him, whom I put in my canoes, and brought them back to Michelimakinak, a mission of the Reverend Jesuit Fathers; where, while winter- ing together, I learned that, far from being approved for what I was doing, consuming my property and risking my life daily, I was regarded as the chief of- a band; although I never had mote than eight men with me. u It was not necessary to tell me more to induce me to set out over the ice, on the 29th of March in the year 1681, with the said Reverend Father and two other Frenchmen, having our canoe and provisions dragged along, in order to reach our settlements as soon as possible, and to make manifest the up- rightness of my conduct, having never been in a humor to wish myself withdrawn from the obedienee which is due to the king's orders. " I accordingly proceeded to our settlements three months before the amnesty, which it has pleased his Majesty to grant to his subjects who might have contravened his orders, had arrived; but the Intendent was unwilling to hear any request that I might have been able to present to him. " As to the manner in which I lived on that voyage, it would be superfluous for me to expatiate on the subject, and to annoy DC LUTH STATIONED AT MACKINAW. 817 your Grace by a long story, being convinced that thirteen original letters from the Reverend Nouvel, Superior of the Ontaonais missions; the Reverend Father Enjolran, missionary of Saint Francis de Borgias; the Reverend Father Biilloquet. missionary of Sainte Marie du Sault, and the Reverend Father Pierson, missionary of the Hurons, at St. Ignace, all Jesuits will suffice, on the whole, to inform your Grace amply and' fully." Early in the spring of 1683, DuLuth had returned to America, and he was stationed at Mackinaw, where he was sent by Gov. De la Barre, with thirty men and six canoes, to visit the Illi- nois country; which La Salle considered an infringement upon his rights. During the summer of this year he formed alli- ances with the Indians who came down to the west and north shores of Lake Superior. On the 9th of November, the Gov- ernor of Canada wrote to the French Government that these Indians, "when they heard by expresses sent them by DuLhut, on his arrival at Missilimakinak, that he was coming, they sent him word to come quickly, and they would unite with him to prevent all others going thither. ***** The English of the Bay [Hudson's | excite against us the savages, who Sieur Du Lhut alone can quiet." During the summer of 1683, two traders, Colin Berthot and Jacques Le Maire, while on their way to Keweenaw, on Lake Superior, were robbed and murdered. On the 24th of October, Du Luth, still at Mackinaw, was informed that one of the ac- complices had arrived at Sault St. Marie with fifteen families of Ojibways who had fled from La Pointe, to escape from the 44 Xadouecioux," who meditated revenge for an attack they had made upon them, which they had made that spring. The next day after Du Luth received this information, he left Mackinaw in a canoe, accompanied by Father Engelran and six Frenchmen, the Chevalier de Fourcelle, Cardonniere, Baribauld, Le Mere, La Fortune and Macons, aud at Sault St. Marie, took steps for the arrest of the other murderers, who were near Keweenaw. On the 21th of November, Perray, at ten o'clock at night, arrived with the intelligence that he had brought the assas- 818 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. sins, and left them at a point four leagues distant. The next day at day-break he returned with four men to the prisoners, who were under a guard of twelve Frenchmen, and at two o'clock the same afternoon they were brought to Sault St. Marie, and confined in a room of the house Du Luth occupied. After a fair trial they were found guilty, and sentenced to death. One was pardoned, and on the 29th of November, the other two were led out by Du Luth, at the head of forty-two Frenchmen, and shot. During the winter of 1683-4, Du Luth was at a post fifteen leagues above what is known as the Grand Portage, the site of what is now Fort William, at the extremity of Lake Supe- rior, La Hontan, in "Memoires de 1'Amerique Septentrionale," printed at La Have, 1702, writes, U M. Dulhut had established a fort with pickets, in which he bad a store -house filled with goods, and the fort was called ' Camanistigoyan,' and inter- cepted the trade with English of Hudson's Bay." In March, 1684, a band of Senecas and Cayugas attacked seven canoes filled with goods and manned by fourteen French- men, in the Illinois country, and Governor De la Barre, of Canada, determined to punish them, and sent to the Lake Superior region for Indian allies. In June, of this year, Du Luth was at Lake Nepigon, making presents to the Indians, to prevent their trading with the English at Hudson's Bay, and while there, M. de la Croix, with two companions, arrived with dispatches from the Gov- ernor of Canada, and letters to be forwarded to the son of Gcxq- selliers stationed at Nelson River. In the month of July, by way of Green Bay, he came to Mackinaw, and from thence went to Canada, with Indian allies for the Iroquois war. On the 10th of September, 1684, having arrived at the Portage below the Teragon, he wrote to Gov. De la Barre: " As I was leaving lake Almepigon, I made in June, all the presents necessary to prevent the savages carrying their bea- vers to the English. " I nave met the Sieur de la Croix, with his two comrades who gave me your dispatches, where you tell me to omit nothing in forwarding your letter to the Sieur Chouart [Gro FORT AT LAKE NEPIGON". 819 selliers' son], at Nelson River. To carry out your instruc- tions there was but Mons. Pere' [Perray] who will have to go, himself, the savages having all, at that time, withdrawn into the interior, to secure their blueberries. The said Mons. Pere' will have left in August. During the month of August he will have remitted your letter to the said Sieur Chouart. "It remains for me to assure you that all the savages of the North have great confidence in me, and this enables me to promise you that, before the lapse of two years, not a single savage will visit the English at Hudson's Bay. This they have all promised, and have bound themselves thereto by the , presents which I have given or caused to be given. u The Klistinos, the Assenipoulacs, the people from the Sapiniere, the , Dachiling, the Outouboulys and Tabitibis, which comprise all the nations to the west of the Northern Sea, have promised to be next spring at the fort which I have constructed near the River a la Maune, at the bottom of Lake Almepigon, and next summer I will construct one in the country of the Kilistinos, which will be an effectual barrier. Finally, sir, I wish to lose my life if I do not abso- lutely prevent the savages from visiting the English. * * * It is necessary, to cany out my promises, that my brother, in the early spring, should go up again, with two canoes loaded with powder, lead, fusils, hatchets, tobacco, and necessary presents." In the fall of 1684, Du Luth returned to the Lake Superior region, and Denonville, the Governor of Canada, the successor of De la Barre, under date of the 12th of November, 1685, wrote, " I likewise wrote to M. De la Durantaye, who is at Lake Supe- rior, under orders from M. De la Barre, and to Sieur Du Luth, who is also at a great distance in another direction, and all so far beyond reach that neither the one nor the other can have news from us this year. * * * In regard to Sieur Du Luth, I sent him orders to repair here, so that I may learn from him- self the number of savages on whom I may depend; he is ac- credited among them, and rendered great services to M. De la Barre, by a considerable number of savages he brought to Niagara." 820 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. In the early autumn of 1686, English traders appeared in the waters of Lake Huron, and were captured by the French, and Duluth was sent to the narrows between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, to build the post Fort St. Joseph, as a barrier to New York traders. During the month of May, lb87, Henry Tonty, a cousin of Du Luth, arrived with allies from Illinois, near the site of the present city of Detroit, where he was soon joined by Du Luth and Durantaye, who came down from Fort St, Joseph, the site of the modern Fort Gratiot, with allies and also some English prisoners. From this point they journeyed together to Niagara, and on their way captured more English traders, under Major McGregory, from Albany. After participating in the battle with the Senecas, on the 13th of July, near the site of the town of Victor, twenty miles southeast of Rochester, New York, preparations were begun for the return voyage. Late in 1686, the Governor of Canada wrote to DuLuth, 4 " If you can so arrange your affairs that your brother can be near you, in the spring, I shall be very glad. He is an intelli- gent lad, and might be of great assistance to you; he might, also be very serviceable to us." This lad, Greysolon de la Tourette, reached Canada from the Northwest, after the conflict with the Senecas. Governor Denonville, on the 25th of August, wrote, " Du Luth's brother, who has recently arrived from the rivers above the Lake of the Allempigons [Nipegon], assures me that he saw more than fifteen hundred persons come to trade with him, and they were very sorry he had not goods sufficient to satisfy them. They are of the tribes accustomed to reporf to the English at Port Nelson and River Bourbon, where they say they did not go this year, through Sieur Du Lhu's influence." Upon Franquelin's map of 1688 (facing title page). Fort La Tourette is marked at the northeastern extremity of Lake Alepimigon. In September, DuLuth returned to Fort St. Joseph, and Lahontan appears to have been in charge of the soldiers who accompanied him. Lahontan, in one of his letters, writes, " I am to go along with M. Dulhut, a Lyons gentleman, and a DU LUTH AT FORT FRONTENAC. 821 person of great merit, and has done his king and his country very considerable services. M. de Tonti makes another of our company." On the 14th of September, the fort was reached, which La- hontan describes as " built by Du Luth, and garrisoned at his own charges, by the coureurs des bois, who had taken care to sow some bushels of Turkey wheat." Du Luth did not remain at his fort, and he probably accompanied his cousin, Henry Tonty, to the Illinois country. Joutel, in his journal, men- tions that Tonty, on the 27th of October, 1687, returned with one of his cousins and some Frenchman from an expedition against the Iroquois. After Denonville evacuated Niagara, Fort St. Joseph, on the 27th of August, 1688, was abandoned, and the buildings de- stroyed by fire. In 1693, Du Luth applied for a concession of Fort Kamanistigoya. A certificate still preserved among the French archives shows that he was iu favor of prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquor to the Indians. It reads: " I certify- that at different periods, I have lived almost ten years among the Ottawa nation; from the time that I made an exploration to the Nadouecioux people, until Fort Saint Joseph was estab- lished by order of the Monsieur Marquis Denonville, Governor General, at the head of the Detroit of Lake Erie, which is in the Iroquois country, and which I had the honor to command. "During this period, I have seen that the trade in eaude vie (brandy) produced great disorders; the father killing the son, and the son throwing his mother into the fire; and I maintain that, morally speaking, it is impossible to export brandy to the woods and distant missions, without danger of its producing misery/' On the 19th of July, 1695, with forty men, he was placed in charge of Fort Frontenac, now Kingston, Canada, as the suc- cessor of Marquis Crisafy, deceased, and in about four weeks he erected a new building, one hundred and twenty feet in length, for officers' quarters, chapel, bakery, and store-rooms. While in command of this post, he thought he was perfectly cured of the gout by the intercession of a deceased Iroquois maiden, Saint Catharine. His statement upon this subject, dated the 822 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. 18th day of August, 1696. has already been printed upon the one hundred and forty -second page. But he had a relapse, as one writing from the post uses these words: u Every body was then in good health, except Captain Dulhut, the com- mander, who was unwell of the gout." The Governor of Canada, i - May 1, 1710, wrote to France, " Captain Du Lud died this winter." APPENDIX D. PAGE 127. notice of hennepin's writings. The first account of Ako and Hennepin's ascent of the Mississippi was written by La Salle in August, 1682, who must have obtained his information from Ako or Hennepin. It was first published in Paris, in 1877, in the 2d volume of the Mar- gry Documents. Among the differences in the narrative of Hennepin and La Salle are the following: HENNEPIN, A. D. 16S3. On the 11th of April, 1680, at two o'clock in the afternoon, we sud- denly perceived thirty - three bark canoes, manned by a hundred and twenty Indians. * * * These brutal men were leaping from their canoes, some on land, others into the water, with frightful cries and yells approached us, and as we made no resistance, * * * one of them wrenched a calumet from our hands. * * * These savages would not smoke our peace calumet. * * * Two head chiefs approaching showed us by signs that the warriors wished to tomakawk us. This compelled me to go to the war chiefs with one of my men, leaving the other by our property, and threw into their midst LA 8ALLE, A. D. 1682. Three o'clock. One hundred Indians. Michael Accault, who was the conductor, had the calumet present- ed to them. They received it and smoked, after having made a circle on land covered with straw, in which they made the Frenchmen sit. * * * * On landing, Michael Ac- tault made them a present of twenty knives and a fathom and a half of tobacco, which they accepted. * * * They then marched ten days together without showing any mark of discontent or ill will. HENNEPIN" AND LA SALLE COMPARED. 823 six axes, fifteen knives, and six fath- oms of tobacco, then bowing my head, I showed them, with an axe, that they might tomahawk us, if they thought proper. After five days' march by land, suffering hunger and outrages, marching all day long without rest, fording lakes and rivers, we descried a number of women and children coming to meet our little army. All the elders of this nation assem- bled on our account, and as we saw cabins and bundles of straw hanging from the posts of them, to which these savages bind those whom they take as slaves, and burn them, and seeing that they made the Picard du Gay sing, * * * we not unrea- sonably thought that they wished to kill us, as they performed many ceremonies usually practised when they intend to burn their enemies. The worst of it was, too, that not one of us three could make himself understood by these Indians. * * * * * On the 25th of July, 1680, we met the Sieur DuLuth, * * * as we had some knowledge of their language, they begged ********* Having arrived, on the nineteenth day of our navigation, five leagues below the Falls of St. Anthony, these Indians landed us in a bay. On the 25th of July, 1680, we met the Sieur de Luth * * * as we had some knowledge of their lan- guage, they begged us to accom- pany them. They were well received there, and at first feasted Accault, who was in a different village from that in which the Rev. Father Louis and the Picard were, who were also well re- ceived, except that some wild young fellows having told the Picard to sing, the fear which he felt made him commit an act of cowardice, as it is only slaves who sing on reach- ing a village. Accault, who was not there could not prevent it, but they had sub- jected them to no treatment like that given to slaves. They were never tied, and payment was at once promised for what the young men had broken, because Accault having found some by whom he could make himself understood, made them feel the importance of doing so. * * * * * They were n0 {. t rea t e( j as slaves, and that DuLuth is wrong in boasting that he relieved them from bondage. ********* When they were eight leagues below the Falls of St. Anthony, they resolved to go by land to their vil- lage. La Salle writes that Du Luth had an interpreter, named Faffart, once a soldier at Fort Frontenac, and that he had also a Sioux guide with him when he came down the Saint Croix. The discrepancies of Hennepin's account and that of Du Luth, both written in the same year, by comparison will be readily seen. 824 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. hennepin's narrative. "On the 25th of July, 1680, as we were ascending the river Colbert, after the Buffalo hunt, to the Indian village, we met the Sieur de Luth, who came to the Nadouessious with five French soldiers. They joined us about two hundred and twenty leagues distant from the country of the Indians who had taken us. As we had some knowledge of their language, they begged us to accompany them to the villages of those tribes; to which I readily agreed, knowing that these Frenchmen had not ap- proached the sacraments for two years. The Siour De Luth, who acted as Captain, seeing me tired of tonsuring the children and bleeding thmatic old men to get a mouthful of meat, told the Indians that I was his elder brother, so that, having my subsistence secured, I labored only tor the salvation of these Indians. We arrived at the villages of the Issati, on the 14th of August, 1680." DU LUTH S NARRATIVE. Du Luth having reached the Miss- issippi by way of the Saint Croix, writes : "Being there, I learned from eight cabins of the Nadouecioux whom I met, that the Rev. Father Louis Hennepin, Recollect, now at the convent of St. Germain, with two other Frenchmen had been robbed and carried off as slaves for more than 300 leagues, by the Nadoue- cioux, themselves. "The intelligence surprised me so much, that without hesitating, I left two Frenchmen with these said eight cabins of Indians, as well as the goods I had to make presents, and took one of the said Indians to guide me, with my interpreter, and two Frenchmen, to where the said Reverend Father Louis was, and as it was a good 80 leagues, I proceed- ed in canoe two days and two nights, and on the next day at ten o'clock in the morning. I found him with about 1000 or 1100 souls. "The want of respect which they showed to the said Reverend Father provoked me; and this I showed them r telling them that he was my brother y and I had him placed in my canoe, to- come with me into the villages of the said Nadouecioux, whither I took him." The full title of Hennepin's first book was, " Description de la Louisiane, Nouvellement Decouverte au Sud 'Ouest de la Nouvelle France, par ordre du Roy. " Avec La Carte du Pays; les moeurs and la maniere de vivre des Sauvages. " Dediee a sa Majeste, par le R. P. Louis Hennepin, Mis- sionaire Recollect & Notaire Apostolique. FRENCH WRITERS. 825 " A Paris, Chez la veuve Sebastian Hure ; rue Saint Jacques, a rimage S. Jerome, pres S. Severin. M. DO. LXXXIII. Avec privilege du Roy." In the dedication of his book to Louis the Fourteenth, he writes, " We have given the name of Louisiana to this great discovery." Documents, however, prepared before the book was printed, call the region " Louisiana." On the map accom- panying his first book, he boldly marks a Recollect mission many miles north of the point he had visited. In the Utrecht edition of 1697, this deliberate fraud is erased. Chagrined that this book was not considered trustworthy by some, he wrote the following to the Abbe Renau dot, "at his house in Paris:" " Sir; You know that I gave to you the first intelligence of our discovery, at my arrival, and made you aware of the troubles I had endured for four years. Never- theless, I perceive that M. l'Abbe Bernou has not acted as he should. He will know in time and eternity, the sincerity of my intentions, and yon will one day see that I am, in all pos- sible respect, the most humble and devoted of your servants. F. LOUIS HENNEPIN, Pauvre esclave des barbars." Tronson, an ecclesiastic of high character in Paris, wrote on March 13th, 1683, to Abbe Belmont, of Montreal, relative to Hennepin's book, which had just been published: " I have interviewed the P. Recollect, who pretends to have descended the Mississippi river to the Gulf of Mexico. I do not know that one will believe what he speaks any more than that which is in the printed relation of the P. Louis, which I send you that you may make your own reflections." Abbe Bernou, on the 29th of February, 1684. writes from Rome about the "paltry book" (meschant livre) of Father Hennepin: "nouvelle decouverte," a. d. 1697. The second work of Hennepin, an enlargement of the first, appeared in Utrecht in the year 1697, ten years after LaSalle's death. Its full title reads: " Nouvelle Decouverte d'un tres Grand Pays, situe dans TAmerique, entre le Nouveau Mexique, 826 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. et la Mer Glaciale, Avec les cartes et les figures necessaries et de plus l'Histoire Naturelle et Morale, et les avantages qu' on en puet tirer par l'etablissement des colonies. u Le tout dedie a la Majestie Guillaume III. par le R. P. Louis Hennepin, Missionaire Recollect et Notaire Apostol- ique. A Utrecht; Chez Guillaume Broedelet, Marchand Libraire. MDCXCVII." During the interval between the publication of the first and second book, he had passed three years as Superintendent of the Recollects at Reny, in the province of Artois, when Father Hyacinth Lefevre, a friend of La Salle, and Commissary Pro- vincial of Recollects at Paris, wished him to return to Canada. He refused, and was ordered to go to Rome, and upon his coming back, was sent to a convent at St. Omer, and there received a dispatch from the Minister of State in France, to return to the countries of the king of Spain, of which he was a subject. This order he asserts he afterwards learned was forged. In the prefaee to the English edition of the New Discovery, published in 1698, in London, he writes: " The pretended reasons of that violent order, was because I refused to return into America, where 1 had been already eleven years, though the particular laws of our Order oblige none of us to go beyond sea against his will. I would have, however, returned very willingly, had I not sufficiently known the malice of M. La Salle, who would have exposed me to make me perish, as he did one of the men who accompanied me in my discovery. God knows that I am sorry for his unfortunate death ; but the judgments of the Almighty are always just, for the gentleman was killed by one of his own men, who were at last sensible that he exposed them to visible dangers without any necessity and for his private designs." After this he was for about five years at Gosselies, in Bra- bant, as Confessor in a convent, and from thence removed to his native place, Ath, in Belgium, where, according to his narrative in the preface to the " Nouveau Decouverte," he was again persecuted. Then Father Payez, Grand Commissary of Recollects at Louvain, being informed that the King of Spain FRENCH WRITERS. 827 and the Elector of Bavaria reconmiended the step, consented that he should enter the service of William the Third of Great Britain, who had been very kind to the Roman Catholics of Netherlands. By order of Payez he was sent to Antwerp to take the lay habit in the convent there, and subsequently went to Utrecht, where he finished his second book known as the " New Dis- covery." His first volume, printed in 1683, contains 312 pages, with an appendix of 107 pages, on the Customs of the Savages, while the Utrecht book, of 1697, contains 509 pages, without an appendix. In the first chapter of this work, Hennepin writes, that on his way to Canada, near Rochelle, he acted as curate, '* being invited so to do by the pastor of the place, who had occasion to be absent from his charge.'" Some have thought that no one who was a priest of the Church of Rome, would have used the word "pasteur," but these forget that in the days of Archbishop Fenelon, who lived at this period, a priest of the Church of Rome was sometimes called a "pasteur." In this chapter there is a sentence which, however, needs correction. It alleges that while Hennepin was in Canada, " Abbe Fenelon, present Archbishop of Cam- bray, resided there/' It is true that Francis de Salignac de la Motte Fenelon was a priest in Canada when Hennepin was there, but, with the same name, he was only the half-brother of Francis de Salignac de la Motte Fenelon, the celebrated Archbishop of Cambray. Living beyond France, in a time of war, Hennepin could easily have made the mistake, as the priest he had known in Canada had returned to France. On page 249 of the " New Discovery/' he begins an account of a voyage alleged to have been made to the mouth of the Mississippi, and occupies over sixty pages in the narrative. The opening sentences give as a reason for concealing to that time his discovery, that La Salle would have reported him to his superiors for presuming to go down instead of ascending the stream toward the north, as had been agreed, and that the two with him threatened that if he did not consent to deseend 828 HISTORY OE MINNESOTA. the river, they would leave him on shore, during the night, and pursue their own course. He asserts that he left the Gulf of Mexico, to return, on the 1st of April, and on the 24th left the Arkansas; but a week after this he declares that he landed with the Sioux at the marsh a few miles below the city of Saint Paul. The account has been and is still a puzzle to the historical student. In our review of his first book we have noticed that as early as 1683, he claimed to have descended the Mississippi. In the Utrecht publication he declares that while at Quebec, upon his return to France, he gave to Father Valentine Roux, Commissary of Recollects, his journal, upon the promise that it would be kept secret, and that tbis Father made a copy of his whole voyage, including the visit to the Gulf of Mexico; but in his Description of Louisiana, Hennepin wrote, " We had some design of going to the mouth of the river Colbert, which more probably empties into the Gulf of Mexico than into the Red Sea, but the tribes that siezed us gave us no time to sail up and down the river." DU LUTH AND HENNEPIN - . The additions in the Utrecht book to magnify his impor- tance and detract from others, are many. As Sparks and Parkman have pointed out the plagiarisms of this edition, a reference here is unnecessary. Du Luth, who left Quebec in 1678, and had been in northern Minnesota with an interpreter for a year, after he met Ako and Hennepin, becomes of secondary importance in the eyes of the Franciscan. In the Description of Louisiana, on page 289, Hennepin speaks of passing the Falls of St. Anthony, upon his return to Canada, in these few words: "Two of our men seized two beaver robes at the Falls of St. Anthony of Padua, which the Indians had in sacrifice fastened to trees." But in the Utrecht edition, commencing on page 416, there is much added con- cerning Du Luth. After using the language of the editio i of 1683, already quoted, it adds: " Hereupon there arose a dispute FRENCH WRITERS. 829 between the Sieur du Luth and myself. I commended what they had done, saying, 4 The savages might judge by it that they disliked the superstition of these people/ " The Sieur du Luth, on the contrary, said that they ought to have left the robes where the savages placed them, for they would not fail to avenge the insult we had put upon them by this action, and that it was to be feared they would attack us on the journey. " I confessed he had some foundation for what he said, and that he spoke according to the rules of prudence. But one of the two men flatly replied that the two robes suited them, and they cared nothing for the savages and their superstitions. u The Sieur du Luth, at these words, was so greatly enraged that he nearly struck the one who uttered them ; but I inter- vened and settled the dispute. The Picard and Michel Ako ranged themselves on the side of those who had taken the robes in question, which might have resulted badly. " I argued with the Sieur du Luth that the savages would not attack us, because I was persuaded that their great chief, Ouasicoude, would have our interests at heart, and he had great credit with his nation. The matter terminated pleas- antly. 11 When we arrived near the river Ouisconsin, we halted to smoke the meat of the buffalo we had killed on our journey. During our stay three savages of the nation we had left came by the side of our canoe to tell us that their great chief, Ouasi- coude, having learned that another chief of these people wished to pursue and kill us, entered the cabin where he was con- sulting, and had struck him on the head with such violence as to scatter his brains upon his associates, thus preventing the execution of this injurious project. " We regaled the three savages, having a great abundance of food at that time. The Sieur du Luth, after the savages had left, was as enraged as before, and feared that they would pursue us and atta2k us on our voyage. He would have pushed the matter further, but seeing that one man would resist, and was not in the humor to be imposed upon, he moderated, and I appeased them in the end with the assurance that God would 830 HISTOEY OF MINNESOTA. not abandon us in distress, and. provided we confided in Him, he would deliver us from our foes, because he is the protector of men and angels." * ******** After describing a conference with the Sioux, he adds : "Thus the savages were very kind, without mentioning the beaver robes. The chief Ouasicoude told me to offer a fathom of Mar- tinico tobacco to the chief Aquipaguetin, who had adopted me as his son. This had an admirable effect upon the barbarians, who went off shouting several times the word Louis,* which, as he said, means the sun. Without vanity, I must say that my name will be for a long time among these people. " The savages having left us to go to war against the Mes- sorites, the Maroha, the Illinois, and other nations which live toward the lower part of the Mississippi, and are irreconcilable foes of the people of the North, the Sieur duLuth, who upon many occasions gave me marks of his friendship, could not forbear to tell our men that I had all the reason in the world to believe that the Vice Roy of Canada would give me a favor- able, reception, should we arrive before winter, and that, he wished with all his heart that he had been among as many natives as myself." The style of Louis Hennepin is unmistakable in this extract, and it is amusing to read his patronage of one of the fearless explorers of the Northwest, a cousin of Tonty, favored by Frontenac, and who was in Minnesota a year before his arrival. In the second volume of his last book, which is called " A Continuance of the New Discovery of a Vast Country in America," etc., he noticed some criticisms. To the objection that his work was dedicated to William *The Sioux/or Dakotahs, call the sun by a word which a Frenchman would write, "oui," pronounced, "wo." The Daitotah Lexicon, published by the Smithsonian Institution, writes the word for sun "wi," pronounced, "we." The moon the Sioux call the night-sun, "Hanyetu Wi." Hennepin's discrepancies. 831 the Third of Great Britain, he replies: " My King, his most Catholic Majesty, his Electoral Highness of Bavaria, the con- sent in writing of the superiors of my Order, the integrity of my faith, and the regular observance of my vows, which his Britannic Majesty allows me, are the best warrants of the uprightness of ruy intentions/' To the query, how he could travel so far upon the Mississ- ippi in so little time, he answers with a bold face, " That we may with a canoe and a pair of oars go twenty, twenty-five, or thirty leagues every day. and more too, if there be occasion. And though we had gone but ten leagues a day, yet in thirty days we might easily have gone three hundred leagues. If during the time we spent from the River of the Illinois to the mouth of the Meschasipi, in the Gulf of Mexico, we had used a little more haste, we might have gone the same twice over." To the objection that he said that he had passed eleven years in America when he had been there but about four, he evasively replies, that ''reckoning from the year 1671, when I first set out, to the year 16SS, when I printed the second edition of my Louisiana, it appears that I have spent fifteen years either in travels or printing my Discoveries." To those who objected to the statement in his first book, in the dedication to Louis the Fourteenth, that the Sioux always call the sun "Louis," he writes: "I repeat what I have said before, that being among the Issati and Nadouessans, by whom I was made a slave in America, I never heard them call the sun any other than ' Louis/ It is true these savages call also the moon ' Louis,' but with this distinction, that they give the moon the name of l Louis Basatche,' which in their lan- guage signifies, " the sun that shines in the night/ " 832 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. APPENDIX E. PAGE 139. NTCOIAS PERROT, FOUNDER OF FIRST FORT ON UPPER MISSISSIPPI. With the aid of the tracing from Franquelin's map, of 1688, the first engraving of which is found in this history, it is pos- sible to give a more accurate description of Perrot's visits to the Upper Mississippi. The winter of 1685-86 was not spent, as has been supposed, at the lower end of Lake Pepin, but the map shows that their encampment was on the east side of the Mississippi, and above the Black River. La Potherie says they found a spot which was wooded, which was suitable for the establishment of a fort. It was at the foot of a mountain, in the rear of which there was a large prairie. The bluff was, probably, the " Montague Trempe l'eau," which Major Long^ in 1817, estimated at eight miles above the upper mouth of Black River. He speaks of u high bluff lands at this point, tower into precipices and peaks, completely insulated from the main bluffs by a broad, flat prairie." Subsequently he established another post just above the mouth of Lake Pepin, on the Wisconsin side, which Franquelin in his map calls Fort St. Antoine, and here, in May, 1689, the Proces Verbal was duly signed. The same map shows Perrot's post on the site of Prairie du Chien, called for his baptismal saint, Fort St. Nicolas, The following memoir of Perrot is based upon La Potherie, Margry, and his own work, edited by Taithan, and in 1874, published at Paris and Leipsic. Nicolas Perrot, sometimes written Pere, was one of the most energetic of the class in Canada known as "coureurs des bois," or forest rangers. Born in 1644, at an early age he was identi- fied with the fur trade of the great inland lakes. As early as 1665, he was among the Outagamies [Foxes], and in 1667 was at Green Bay. In 1669 he was appointed bj^ Talon to go to the lake region in search of copper mines. In October, 1670, he left Montreal and wintered near Green Bay. On the 5th of May, 1671, he went with Indians to the great council at Sault St. Marie, and there, at the formal taking possession of that country in the name of the King of France, on the 14th of May, 1671, he acted as interpreter. In 1677, he seems to have been employed at Fort Frontenac. La Salle was made very sick the next year, from eating a salad, and one Nicolas Perrot, called Joly Coeur (Jolly Soul) was suspected of having mingled poison with the food. When Da Luth, on his way to Mackinaw, in the summer of J 684, stopped at Green Bay, Perrot was there. In the spring of 1685, he was appointed by De la Barre the Governor of Canada, Commandant for the West, and left Montreal with twenty men. Arriving at Green Bay in Wisconsin, some Indians told him that they had vis- ited countries toward the setting sun where they obtained the blue and green stones suspended from their ears and noses, and tba u they saw horses and men like Frenchmen ; probably the Spaniards of New Mexico. And others said that they had obtained hatchers from persons who lived in a house that walked on the water, near the mouth of the river of the Assi- niboines; alluding to the English established at Hudson's Bay. Proceeding to the portage between the Fox and Wis- consin, thirteen Hurons were met, who were bitterly opposed to the establishment of a post near the Sioux. After the Mississippi was reached, a party of Winnebagoes was em- ployed to notify the tribes of Northern Iowa that the French had ascended tho river, and wished to meet them. It was further agreed that prairie fires would be kindled from time to time, so that the Indians could follow the French. Above the Black River, as has been mentioned, he wintered, and in the spring of 1686, he probably erected Fort St. Antoine, on Lake Pepin. Penicaut, who, in 1700, in company with LeSueur, visited the Upper Mississippi, in writing of Lake Pepin, uses these words: u To the right and left of its shores there are also prairies. In that on the ri^ht, on the bank of the lake, there is a fort, which was built by Nicholas Perrot, whose name it yet [1700] bears." Soon after he established his first encampment, it was an- nounced that a band of Aiouez [Ioways] was encamped about twenty-five miles above, and on the way to visit the post. The French ascended in canoes to meet them, but as they drew nisrb. the Indian women ran up the bluffs, and hid in the I 834 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. woods; but twenty of the braves mustered courage to advance and greet Perrot, and bore him to the chief's lodge. The chief, bending over Perrot, began to weep, and allowed the moisture to fall upon his visitor. After he had exhausted himself, the principal men of the party repeated the slabbering process. Then buffalo tongues were boiled in an earthen pot, and after being cut into small pieces, the chief took a piece, and, as a mark of respect, placed it in Perrot's mouth. During the winter of 1685-86, the French traded in Min- nesota. At the end of the beaver hunt the Ayoes [Ioways] came to the post, but Perrot was absent visiting the Nadouassioux, and they sent a chief to notify him of their arrival. Pour Illinois met him on the way, and were anxious for the return of four children held by the French. When the Sioux, who were at war with the Illinois, perceived them, they wished to seize their canoes, but the French voyageurs who were guard- ing them, pushed into the middle of the river, and the French at the post coming to their assistance, a reconciliation was effected, and four of the Sioux took the Illinois upon their shoulders and bore them to the shore. An order having been received from Denonville, Governor of Canada, to bring the Mi amis, and other tribes, to the rendez- vous at Niagara, to go on an expedition against the Senecas, Perrot, entrusting the post at Lake Pepin to a few Frenchmen, visited the Miamis, who were dwelling below on the Mississ- ippi, and with no guide but Indian camp fires, went sixty miles into the country beyond the river. Upon his return, he perceived a great smoke, and at first thought that it was a war party proceeding to the Sioux country. Fortunately he met a Maskouten chief, who had been at the post to see him, and he gave the intelligence, that the Outagamies [Foxes], Kikapous | Kickapoos], Mascoutechs [Mascoutens], and others, from the region of Green Bay, had determined to pillage the post, kill the French, and then go to war against the Sioux. Hurrying on, he reached the fort, and learned that on that very day three spies had been there and seen that there were only six Frenchmen in charge. perrot's ruse. 835 The next day two more spies appeared, but Perrot had taken the precaution to put loaded guns at the door of each hut, and caused his men frequently to change their clothes. To the query, " How many French were there?" the reply was given, 11 Forty, and that more were daily expected, who had been on a buffalo hunt, and that the guus were well loaded and knives well sharpened." They were then told to go back to their camp, and bring a chief of each nation represented, and that if Indians in large numbers came near, they would be fired at. In accordance with this message six chiefs presented them- selves. After their bows and arrows were taken away they were invited to Perrot's cabin, who gave something to eat and tobacco to smoke. Looking at Perrot's loaded guns, they asked if he was afraid of his children. He replied, he was not. They continued, " You are displeased." He answered, " I have good reason to be. The Spirit has warned me of your designs. You will take my things away, and put me in the kettle, and proceed against the Nadouaissioux. The Spirit told me to be on my guard, and he would help me." At this they were astonished, and confessed that an attack was meditated. That night the chiefs slept in the stockade, and early the next morn- ing a part of the hostile force was encamped in the vicinity, and wished to trade. Perrot had now only a force of fifteen men, and seizing the chiefs, he told them he would break their heads if they did not disperse the Indians. One of the chiefs then stood up on the gate of the fort, and said to the warriors, " Do not advance, young men, or you are dead. The Spirit has warned Metaminens [Perrot] of your designs/' They followed the advice, and afterwards Perrot presented them with two guns, two kettles, and some tobacco, to close the door of war against the Nadouaissioux, and the chiefs were all permitted to make a brief visit to the post. Returning to Green Bay in 1686, he passed much time in collecting allies for the expedition against the Iroquois in New York. During this year he gave to the Jesuit chapel at De- pere, five miles above Green Bay a church utensil of silver, fifteen inches high, still in existence. The standard, nine inches in height, supports a radiated circlet closed with glass 836 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. on both sides, and surmounted with a cross. This vessel, weighing about twenty ounces, was intended to show the con- secrated wafer of the mass, and is called a soleil, monstrance, or ostensorium. Around the oval base of the rim is the fol- lowing inscription: ..0 y "% &' 9> ***** < ^° & ^ Prof. J. D. Butler, in the eighth volume of the Wisconsin Historical Society Collections has given a full account of this soleil. In 1802,osome workman in digging at Green Bay, Wisconsin, on the old Langlade estate, discovered this relic, which is now k^pt in the vault of the Roman Catholic bishop of that diocese. During the spring of 1687, Perrot, with DuLuth and Tonty. was with the Indian allies and the French in the expedition against the Senecas of the Genessee Valley in New York. Afterwards Denonville, Governor of Canada, again sent Perrot, with forty Frenchmen, to the Sioux, who, says Poth- erie, "were very distant, and who would not trade with us as easily as the other tribes, the Outagamis [Foxes] having boasted of having cut off the passage thereto." Arriving at the portage be ween the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, they were impeded by ice, but with the aid of some Pottawattomies they transported their goods to the Wisconsin which they found no longer frozen. The Chippeways were informed that their daughters had been taken from the Foxes, aud a deputation came to take them back, but being attacked by the Foxes, who did not know their errand, they fled with- PERROT ASCENDS THE MISSISSIPPI. 837 out securing the three girls. Perrot then ascended the Mis- sissippi. As soon as the rivers were navigable, the Nadouaissioux came down and escorted Perrot to one of their villages, where he was welcomed with much enthusiasm. He was carried upon a beaver robe, followed by a long line of warriors, each bearing a pipe, and singing. After taking him around the village, he was borne to the chief's lodge; when several came in to weep over his head, with the same tenderness that the Ayoes [Ioways] did when Perrot several years before arrived at Lake Pepin. " These weepings," says an old chronicler? "do not weaken their souls. They are very good warriors, and reported the bravest in that region. They are at war with all the tribes at present except the Saulteurs [Chippeways] and Ayoes | Ioways], and even with these they have quarrels. At the break of day the Nadouaissioux bathe, even to the youngest. They have very fine forms, but the women are not comely, and they look upon them as slaves. They are jealous and suspicious about them, and they are the cause of quarrels and blood-shedding. " The Sioux are very dextrous with their canoes, and they fight unto death if surrounded. Their country is full of swamps, which shelter them in summer from being molested One must be a Nadouassioux to find the way to their villages." While Perrot was absent in New York, fighting the Sene- cas, a Sioux chief knowing that few Frenchmen were left at Lake Pepin, came with one hundred warriors, and endeavored to pillage it. Of this complaint was made, and the guilty leader was near being put to death by his associates. Amicable relations having been formed, preparations were made by Per- rot to return to his post. As they were going away, one of the Frenchmen complained that a box of his goods had been stolen. Perrot ordered a voyageur to bring a cup of water, and into it he poured some brandy. He then addressed the Indians and told them he would dry up their marshes if the goods were not restored, and then ne set on fire the brandy in the cup. The savages were astonished and terrified, and sup- posed that he possessed supernatural powers; and in a little 838 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. while the goods were found, and restored to the owner, and the French descended to their stockade. The Foxes, while Perrot was in the Sioux country, changed their village and settled on the Mississippi. Coming up to visit Perrot, they asked him to establish friendly relations between them and the Sioux, At the time some Sioux were at the post trading furs, and at first they supposed the French were plotting with the Foxes. Perrot, however, eased them by presenting the calumet, and saying that the French con- sidered the Outagamis [FoxesJ as brothers, and then adding, ''Smoke in my pipe; this is the manner with which Onontio [Governor of Canada] feeds his children." The Sioux replied that they wished the Foxes to smoke first. This was reluc- tantly done, and the Sioux smoked, but would not conclude a definite peace until they consulted their chiefs. This was not concluded, because Perrot, before the chiefs came down, re- ceived orders to return to Canada. About this time, at the post St. Antoine, in the presence of Father Joseph James Marest, a Jesuit missionary; Boisguillot, a trader on the Wisconsin and Mississippi; Le Sueur, who afterward built a post below the St. Croix River, about nine miles from Hastings, the document was prepared taking formal possession of the country, which is printed upon the one hun- dred and forty-third page. On the 22d of May, 1690, with one hundred and forty-three voyageurs and six Indians, Perrot left Montreal as an escort of Sieur de Louvigny La Porte, a half-pay captain appointed to succeed Durantaye at Mackinaw, by Frontenac, the new Governor of Canada, who, in October of the previous year, had arrived to take the place of Denonville. Perrot, as he approached Mackinaw, went in advance to notify the French of the coming of the commander of the post. As he came in sight of the settlement he hoisted the white flag, with the fleur de lis, and the voyageurs shouted, "Long live the king! 1 ' Louvigny soon appeared and was re- ceived by one hundred u coureurs des bois" under arms. From Mackinaw, Perrot proceeded to Green Bay, and a party of Miamis there, begged him to make a trading estab- PENICAUT DESCRIBES LEAD MIKES. 839 lishrnent on the Mississippi, towards the Ouiskonsing [Wis- consin]. The chief mad^ him a present of a piece of lead from amine which he had found in a small stream which flows into the Mississippi. Per rot promised to visit him within twenty days, and the chief then returned to his village below the d'Ouiskonche [Wisconsin] River. In accordance with his promise, he visited the lead mines, and found the ore abundant u but the lead hard to work, because it lay between rocks which required blowing up. It had very little dross and was easily melted." Penicaut, who ascended the Mississippi in 1700, wrote that twenty leagues below the Wisconsin, on both sides of the Mississippi, were mines of lead called " Nicolas PerrotV" Early French maps indicate as the locality of lead mines, the site of modern towns, Galena, in Illinois, and Dubuque, in Iowa. In August, 1693, about two hundred Frenchmen, from Mackinaw, with delegates from the tribes of the West, arrived at Montreal, to attend a grand council called by Governor Frontenac, and among these was Perrot. On the first Sunday in September the Governor gave the Indians a great feast, after which they and the traders began to return to the wilderness. Perrot was ordered by Frontenac to establish a new post for the Miamis in Michigan, in the neighborhood of the Kalamazoo River. Two years later he is present again, in August, at a council in Montreal; then returned to the West, and in 1699 is recalled from Green Bay. In 1701 he was at Montreal, acting as in- terpreter, and appears to have died before 1718. His wife was Madeline Raclos, and his residence was in the Seigneury of Becancourt, not far from Three Rivers, on the St. Lawrence. 840 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. APPENDIX F. PAGE 142. La Hontan, a Gascon by birth and in style of writing, when about seventeen years of age arrived in Canada, in 1683, as a private soldier, and was with Governor De la Barre in his ex- pedition of 1684 toward Niagara, and was also in the battle near Rochester, New York, in Jaly, 1687, at which Du Luth and Perrot, explorers of Minnesota, were present. He was one of the soldiers who, on the 14th of September, came to Fort St. Joseph at the narrows below Lake Huron, as an escort of DuLuth and his cousin, Henry Tonty. During the winter he appears to have remained as one oi a small gar- rison at this post, but on the 1st of April, 1688, provisions being scarce, he left, and on the 18th arrived at Mackinaw and was there in May, when the brother of LaSalle and Father Anastase, the Recollect, arrived from Texas, by way of Fort St. Louis, in the Illinois region. On the 1st of July he re- turned to Fort St. Joseph, and made a trip to Niagara, and on the 24th of August came back once more to the fort, which, three days after, was destroyed by order of the Governor of Canada. On the 15th of September he had again reached Mackinaw, and on the 24th, he alleges, he started on a voyage to the Mississippi, which he reached on the 23d of October, 1688. It is possible he may have been one of Perrot's men, who came into the country about that time, on a second visit to Lake Pepin. In 1703, his " Travels" appeared both at Lon- don and at The Hague, and his wonderful story as to the discovery of the Long River, which is appended to this article, was for a time believed, and geographers hastened to place it upon their maps. But in time the voyage up the Long River was discovered to be a fabrication. There is extant a letter of Bobe, a priest of the Congregation of the Mission, dated Ver- sailles, March 15, 1716, and addressed to De L'Isle, the Geo- grapher of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, which exposes the deception. He writes: "It seems to me that you might give the name Bourbonia to these vast countries which are between the Missouri, Miss- LA HON TANS FABRICATION". 841 issippi and the Western Ocean. Would it not be well to efface that great river which La Hontan says he discovered ? All the Canadians, and even the Governor General, have told me that this river is unknown. If it existed, the French who are on the Illinois and at Ouabache, would know of it. The last volume of the ' Lettres Edifiantes 1 of the Jesuits, in which there is a very fine relation of the Illinois Country, does not speak of it, any more than the letters which I received this year, which tell wonders of the beauty and goodness of the country. They send me some quite pretty work made by the wife of one of the principal chiefs. 14 They tell me that among the Scioux of the Mississippi, here are always Frenchmen trading; that the course of the Mississippi is from north to west, and from west to south that it is known that toward the source of the Mississippi there is a river in the highlands that leads to the Western Ocean; that the Indians say that they have seen bearded men witn caps, who gather gold dust on the seashore, but that it is very far from this country, and that they pass through many nations unknown to the French. " I have a memoir of La Motte Cadillac, formerly Governor of Missilimackinack, who says that if St. Peters [Minnesota] River is ascended to its source, they will, according to all ap- pearance, find in the highlands another river leading to the Western Ocean. " For the last two years I have tormented exceedingly the Governor -General, M. Raudot, and M. Duche, to move them to discover this ocean. If I succeed, as I hope, we shall hear tidings before three years, and I shall have the pleasure and the consolation of having rendered a good service to geography, to religion and to the state. 1 '' Charlevoix, in his History of New France, alluding to La Hontan's voyage, writes: " The voyage up the Long River is as fabulous as the island of Barrataria, of which Sancho Panza was governor. Nevertheless, in France, and elsewhere, most people have received these memoirs as the fruits of the travels of a gentleman, who wrote badly although quite lightly, and who had no religion, but who described sincerely what he had 842 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. seen. The consequence is, that the compilers of historical and geographical dictionaries have almost always followed and cited them in preference to more faithful records." Even in modern times, Nicollet, employed by the United States to explore the Upper Mississippi, has the following in his report: " Having procured a copy of La Hontan's book, in which there is a roughly made map of his Long River, I was struck with the resemblance of its course, as laid down, with that of Cannon River, which I had previously sketched in my own field-book. I soon convinced myself that the principal state- ments of the Baron in reference to the country, and the few details he gives of the physical character of the river, coincide remarkably with what I had laid down as belonging to Can_ non River. Then the lakes and swamps corresponded. Traces of Indian villages mentioned by him, might be found by a growth of wild grass that propagates itself around all old Indian settlements." LONG RIVER DESCRIBED. The abstract of La Hontan's description of Long Riyer will show the reader that it is a work of the imagination. On the 23d of October, 1688, he writes that he camped upon an island in the Mississippi opposite the Wisconsin River. Ascending the Mississippi, he alleges that on the 3d of No- vember, he u entered the mouth of the Long River, which looks like a lake full of bulrushes." La Hontan writes: "About ten o'clock next morning, the river became pretty narrow, and the shore was covered with lofty trees." On the 8th, about two in the afternoon, they descried some huts of the Eokoros Indians, a quarter of a league from the river. The next day he ascended the stream to the chief village of this tribe. On the 12th he departed and ascended the stream. At length he came to the last village of the Eokoros, where he was informed that the Essanapes were sixty leagues above, which they reached on the 27th of the month, and were received with acclamation, and on the 3d of la hontan's voyage. 843 December he had pushed on to the chief village of the Essa- napes. The chief here agreed to give him an escort to the Guacsitares, and on the 19th of December his canoes arrived in sight of the Guacsitares, and he and his men were supposed to be Spaniards from New Mexico. On the 9th of January La Houtan writes: " The cacique came to see me, and brought with him four hundred of his own subjects and four Mozemleek savages, whom I took for Spaniards. My mistake was occasioned by the great differ- ence between these two American nations. The Mozemleek savages were clothed, they had a thick bushy beard, and their hair hung down under their ears, their complexion was swarthy. * * * The Mozemleek nation is numerous and powerful. The four slaves of that country informed me, that at the distance of 150 leagues from the place where I then was, their principal river empties itself into a great salt lake of three hundred leagues in circumference, the mouth of which is about two leagues broad; that the lower part of the river is adorned with six noble cities surrounded with stone cemented with fat earth; * * * that the people made stuffs, copper axes, and several other manufactures. * * * One of the four Mozemleek slaves had a reddish sort of a copper medal banging about bis neck. I had it melted by M. De Ponti's gunsmith, who understood something of metals, but it became thereupon heavier, deeper colored, and withal somewhat tract- able. I desired the slaves to give me a circumstantial account of these med°Js, and they gave me to understand that they are made by the Tahuglak, who are excellent artisans. On the 26th of January be began his return voyage, and "had much pleasure in sailing down that river/' If La Hontan were not a liar, the climate of Minnesota in January has greatly changed. On the 2d of March, 1689, he reached the Mississippi. 84:4 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. APPENDIX G. PAGE 154. ADDITIONAL NOTICES OF LE SUEUR AND PENICAUT. Pierre Le Sueur, born in 1657, was the son of a Frenchman from Artois, who emigrated to Canada. LaHarpe asserts that Le Sueur saw the Mississippi for the first time by way of the Wisconsin, in 1683, probably a misprint for 1685, when he may have been with Perrot, on his first visit. His name ap- pears as a companion of Perrot, on his second visit, in 1689, at Fort St. Antoine, Lake Pepin. In the Proces Verbal made at the fort, this time, Le Sueur's name appears, and the Minnesota River is called Saint Pierre. In the Map of the Mississippi River, prepared in 1703 by De l'lsle, largely from information given by Le Sueur, the river is marked, for the first time, as Saint Pierre. The statement that this river may have been named after Legardeur St. Pierre, which appears on the 195th page, is erroneous. As the Assineboine, on the early French maps, is called St. Charles, in compliment to Charles Beauharnois, Governor of Canada, so the Minnesota may have been called St. Pierre, after Pierre Le Sueur, in compliment to its first explorer. Returning from Lake Pepin, on the 29th of March, 1690, he married Marguerite Messier, the maiden name of whose mother was Anne Lemoyne, the aunt of Pierre Lemoyne, the Sieur D'Iberville, first Governor of Louisiana; thus the Governor was the first cousin of Le Sueur's wife. He was sent in 1693 to LaPointe, to make a treaty with the Sioux and Chippeway, and in 1695 established the fort below Hastings. Le Sueur's children were Marie Anne, born February 15th, 1693; Louise Marguerite, born June 4th, 1694; Marie, born April 21st, 1696; Jean Paul, born June, 1697, and Marguerite, born July 4th, 1699. Teeoskahtay, the Sioux chief referred to on page 151, was buried on the 3d of February, 1696. An ecclesiastical register has the following entry: "Siou, age 40 years, deputy of that nation, who had the happiness to be baptized, and died at M. LeScieur's, the interpreter of this Indian. Buried 3 Feb., 1696, at Montreal." LE SUEUR ACCOMPANIES d'iBERYILLE. 845 In the 4th volume of Marge's "French Discoveries,'" pub lished in 1SS0, at Paris, there are some notices of Le Sueur which are worthy of preservation. The Minister of Marine writes to DTberville from Versailles, on the 26th of August, 1699, as follows: 14 The Sieur Le Sueur, of Canada, having induced certain persons in Paris to take an interest with him in the seeking for certain mines, which he claims to have discovered in the Sioux country, his Majesty, two years ago, gave him permis- sion to go thither with some Canadians, but afterwards, hav- ing thought fit to revoke the permit, the Sieur Le Sueur requested to go to the north of the. Mississippi, and to ascend it as far as the Sioux country. His Majesty very willingly- acceded to his request, and it is his wish that you receive him on the ship which you command, with the men required for the equipment of two canoes, some laborers, and necessary munitions; and in case he should not have enough men with him for the two canoes, he desires that you allow him some of the Canadians which you take with you." Bernard de la Harpe says that Le Sueur arrived in Louisi- iana, with his wife's kinsman DTberville, on the 7th of De- cember, 1699, but it was the 8th of January, 1700, when the vessel reached the Bay of Biloxi. By the 19th of February, 1700, Le Sueur by a short portage from Lake Ponchartrain, had reached the Mississippi, and, at the village of Bayogoules, began to prepare canoes for his voyage. DTberville gave for his use a u felouque,"a long boat with sails, when on his way to visit the Natches, and return- ing, on the 21th of March, he met Le Sueur six leagues above the Houmas village, with the felucca he had given him, and there he also presented him with a large birch bark canoe, and allowed him five men, besides the one who had been master of the felucca. One of those who became a member of LeSueur's expedition, had come to Louisiana with DTberville, on his first visit, and in his journal lately printed (see page 175), he writes: U I was ordered by M. de Sauvolle to go on this expedition which M. Le Sueur was going to make, and repair shallops. After he 846 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. had got together all the necessary supplies and tools, he set out, in the month of April of this year [1700 J with a single shallop, in which were but twenty-five persons." Penicaut's account, in some particulars, varies from the account taken from LaHarpe, which is found in the eighth chapter of this History. Speaking of the supposed copper mine on the Blue Earth, he writes: " When spring arrived, we went to work in the copper mine. This was the beginning of April of this year [1701], We took with us twelve laborers and four hunters. Tin's mine was situated about three-quarters of a league from our post. We took from the mine, in twenty days, more than twenty thousand pounds 1 weight of ore, of which we only selected four thousand pounds of the finest, which M. LeSueur, who was a very good judge of it, had carried to the fort, and which has since been sent to France; though I have not learned the result. " This mine is situated at the beginning of a very long mountain, which is upon the bank of the river, so that boats can go right to the mouth of the mine itself. At this place is the green earth, which is a foot and a half in thickness, and above it is a layer of earth as firm and hard as stone, and black and burnt like coal by the exhalation from the mine. The copper is scratched out with a knife. There are no trees upon this mountain. * * * After twenty- two days' work, we returned to our fort. When the Sioux, who belong to the nation of savages who pillaged the Canadians, came, they brought us merchandise of furs. " They had more than four hundred beaver robes, each robe made of nine skins sewed together. M. Le Sueur purchased these and many other skins which he bargained f3r, in the week he traded with the savages. * * * We sell in return wares which come very dear to the buyers, especially tobacco from Brazil, in the proportion of a hundred crowns to the pound; two little horn-handled knives and four leaden bullets are equal to ten crowns, in exchange for skins; and so with the rest. " In the beginning of May, we launched our shallop in the penicaut's travels. 847 water, and loaded it with green earth that had been taken out of the river, and with the furs we had traded lor, of which we had three canoes full. M. Le Sueur, before going, heid coun- cil with M. D'Evaque, the Canadian gentleman, and the three great chiefs of the Sioux, three brothers, and told them that as he had to return to the sea, he desired them to live in peace with M. D'Evaque, whom he left in command at Fort L'Huillier, with twelve Frenchmen. M. Le Sueur made a considerable present to the three brothers, chiefs of the savages, desiring them to never abandon the French. Afterward we, the twelve men whom he had chosen to go down to the sea with him, em- barked. In setting out, M. LeSueur promised to M. D'Evaque and the twelve Frenchmen who remained with him to guard the fort, to send up munitions of war from the Illinois country, as soon as he should arrive there; which he did, for on getting there, he sent off to him a canoe loaded with two thousand pounds of lead and powder, with three of our people in charge." The canoe, when it was opposite the lead mine of Nicolas Perrot, on the upper Mississippi, broke in two, and the cargo was lost. Le Sueur aud Penicaut reached Fort Biloxi, near Mobile, in a long boat, and found that D'Iberviile had just returned from France. In a few weeks D' Iberville again sailed for France, and Penicaut writes: " The ore we brought with us from the mines we placed on board the ships, for the purpose of being assayed in France, but we never after discovered what became of it." During the latter part of March, 1702, D'Evaque reached Fort Biloxi, and reported to D'Iberville, who on the 18th of the month had come back from France, that he had been at- tacked by the Foxes and Maskoutens, who killed three French- men who were working near Fort L'Huillier, and that, being out of powder and lead, he had been obliged to conceal the goods which were left, and abandon the post. At the Wis- consin River he found Juchereau St. Denis, formerly criminal judge in Montreal, with thirty-five men, on his way to estab- lish a tannery for buffalo skins at the Wabash, and at the Illinois he met the canoe of supplies sent by Bienville, D'lber- ville's brother. 848 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. B. de la Harpe makes Le Sueur arrive on the 10th of Feb- ruary, 1701. at the Gulf of Mexico, with the blue or green earth from the Sioux country, and on the 28th of May Dlber- ville went to Prance. He has also fallen into an error in say- ing that the men left by Le Sueur came back to the Gulf of Mexico on the 30th of March, 1703. D'lberville had returned to the colony on the 18th of March, 1702, and on the 30th of April departed again for France, ac- companied by Le Sueur. During the summer of this year, Count Pontchartrain wrote to the Intendent of Canada, " One need not be surprised if M. D'Iberville proposes the appointment of Le Sueur to go among the tribes, he having married his first cousin, and also one of the most active from Canada in the trade of the woods, having been engaged therein fourteen years." D'Iberville having been appointed commander in chief for Louisiana, wrote to the Minister of Marine in behalf of Le Sueur as lieutenant general of justice for that region, and thought he should have a yearly salary of five hundred crowns. The minister, under date of 24th of January, 1703, replied that he did not think the king would approve of this salary, but would give him proper compensation for any service rendered among the Sioux and Illinois. On the 15th of February D'Iberville writes from Rochelle to the French government, that if they contemplate an expe- dition to New Mexico, Le Sueur should in the month of August, be sent with eight or ten men among the Sioux, to bring them down to a common rendezvous. The Minister of Marine informs him, on the 17th of June, that if he thinks that the Sieur Le Sueur is the proper person for lieutenant general of the jurisdiction of Mobile, he will be appointed by his Majesty. On the 14th of November, as D'Iberville was about to sail for Louisiana, he was detained by sickness, and in 1705, on his way to the colony, he died of yellow fever. Le Sueur is also said to have died while returning from France. SrEUR DE LA PERRIRE. 849 APPENDIX H. PAGE 183. FORT BEAUHARNOIS, ON LAKE PEPIN". Charlevoix, in 1721, was sent by the French government to examine the condition of Canada and Louisiana, and upon his return to France he suggested an expedition to the Pacific Ocean, either by the valley of the Missouri River or through the Sioux country. It was thought better to attempt to find a route through the Sioux country, and to establish an initial post on the shores of Lake Pepin, and in 1722 an allowance was made by the French government of twelve hundred livres for two Jesuit missionaries to accompany those who should establish the new post. D'Avagour, Superintendent of Mis- sions, in May, 1723, requested the authorities to grant a sepa- rate canoe for the conveyance of the goods of the proposed mission, and as it was necessary to send a commandant to persuade the Indians to receive the missionaries, he recom- mended Sieur Pachot, an officer of experience, who knew the Sioux. A dispatch from Canada to the French government, dated October 14, 1723, announced that Father dela Chasse, Supe- rior of the Jesuits, expected that the next spring Father Guy- moneau, and another missionary, from Paris, would go to the Sioux, but that they had been hindered by the Sioux a few months before, killing seven Frenchmen on the way to Louis- iana. The aged Jesuit, Joseph J. Mai est, who had been on Lake Pepin in 1689, with Perrot, and who was now in Mont- real, sa : d that it was the wandering Sioux who had killed the French, but he thought the stationary Sioux would receive Christian instruction. The hostility of the Foxes had also prevented the establishment of a fort and mission among the Sioux. It was not until June, 1727, as has been related upon the one hundred and sixty-third page, that the expedition left Montreal to build a fort on the shores of Lake Pepin. The Jesuit priests who accompanied the party, were Guignas, "an able mathematician", and De Gonor. The fort was first built ou thp north side of Lake Pepin. A letter from the Brevoort 54 850 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. manuscripts, published in Shea's " Early Voyages, 1 ' written by Guignas in May, 1728, has these words: 14 On the 17th of September, 1727, at noon, we reached this lake, which had been chosen as the bourne of our voyage. We planted ourselves on the shore, about the middle of the north side, on a low point where the soil is excellent. The wood is very dense there, but is already thinned in consequence of the rigor and length of the winter, which has been severe for the climate, for we are here on the parallel of 43 deg. 41 miu. It is true that the difference of the winter is great compared with that of Quebec and Montreal, for all that some poor judges say. 44 From the day of our landing we put our axes to the wood: on the fourth day following the fort was entirely finished.*** 44 Before the end of October [1727] all the houses were finished and furnished, and each one found himself tranquilly lodged at home. They then thought only of going out to explore the hills and rivers, and to see those herds of all kinds of deer of which they tell such stories in Canada. They must have retired or diminished greatly since the time the old voy- ageurs left the country; they are no longer in such great num- bers, and are killed with difficulty. u All would go well there if the spot were not inundated," but this year [1728], on the 15th of the month of April, we were obliged to camp out, and the water ascended to the height of two feet and eight inches in the houses, and it is idle to say that it was the quantity of snow that fell this year. The snow in the vicinity had melted long before, and there was only a foot and a half from the 8th of February to the 15th of March; you could not use snow-shoes. " I have great reason to think that this spot is inundated more or less every year. I have always thought so, but they were not obliged to believe me, as old people who said that they had lived in this region fifteen or twenty years, declared that it was never overflowed. We could not enter our much- devastated houses until the 30th of April, and the disorder is even now scarcely repaired." The fort, if at first on the Wisconsin side, was removed to the other side of Lake Pepin. Bellin, in 1755, speaks of Per- KICKAPOOS CAPTURE FRENCHMEN. 851 rot's first fort above the mouth of the Chippeway, and of an other fort on the other side of the lake. See Appendix I for additional information. APPENDIX I. PAGE 184. SIEUR DE BOUCHER YILLE AND FATHER GUIGNAS CAPTURED. Capt. Rene Boucher, Sieur de la Perriere, the builder of Fort Beauharnois, was the eighth son of Pierre de Boucherville, and at the time of the expedition to Lake Pepin, was fifty-five years of age. His brother, the Sieur Montbrun, and La Jemeraye, a nephew of himself and Verandrie, are mentioned as being at the Fort Beauharnois, or Pepin, After this period, the lake took the name of Pepin. May it not have been named after Pepin, the Sieur de la Fond, who married La Perriere's aunt? About the time that Father Guignas wrote his narrative, Father de Gonor left Lake Pepm, and, by way of Mackinaw, returned to Canada. Early in October, 1728, the fort being left in charge of Sieur de la Jemeraye, the Sieur de Boucher- ville, Montbrun, the Jesuit Guignas, and other Frenchmen, eleven in all, left lake Pepin to go to Montreal by way of the Illinois river, and at the river " Au Boeuf," twenty-two leagues above that stream, on the 12th of October, they were captured by the Mascoutens and Kickapoos. The following correspondence upon the subject from the Paris Documents in the Parliament Library, Ottawa, alludes to this capture. De Tilly, under date of 29th of April, 1729, writes "that eleven Frenchmen and Father Guignase, having left the Fort Pepin to descend the Riviere Mississippi as far as the Illinois, and to go from thence to Canada, were captured by the Mas- coutens and Quicapous, and brought to the Rivere au Bceuf, with the intention to deliver them to the Renards, and that the Sieur de Montbrun and his brother, with another French- man, escaped from their hands the night before they were tc bo surrendered to these Indians. The Sieur de Montbrun left 852 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. his brother sick among the Tamaroides [Tamarawas of Illi- nois] and brought the intelligence to M. le General, avoiding certain posts on the road, to escape the Mascoutens and Quic- apous." Governor Beauharnois, on the 29 th of October, wrote to the French Colonial Minister, " I have the honor to report upon what has passed upon the part of the Quickapous and Mas- coutens who arrested the French coming from the post of the Sioux, and the enterprise of Sieur de Montbrun, after his es- cape from the village of the savages, to bring us the news of the affair. " He is a person zealous in the service of his Majesty, and T cannot refuse the request he has made to write to you to pro- cure his promotion. He is Cadet of the Troop and a most excellent officer. " The Sieur de la Jemeraye, who remained among f he Sioux with some Frenchmen, and brought the Renard's chief to the River St. Joseph, also deserves the honor of your protection." Sieur de Boucherville and Guignas remained prisoners for several months, and the former did not reach Detroit until June, 1729. The account of expenditures made during his captivity is interesting as showing the value of merchandise at that time. It reads as follows: " Memorandum of the goods that Monsieur de Boucherville was obliged to furnish in the service of the king, from the time of his detention among the Kikapou, on the 12th of October, 1728, until his return to Detroit in the year 1729, in the month of June. On arriving at the Kikapou village, he made a present to the young men, to secure their opposi- tion to some evil minded old warriors: Two barrels of powder, each fifty pounds, at Montreal price, valued at the sum of . 1501iv. One hundred pounds of lead and balls making the sum of oOliv. Four pounds of vermillion at 12 francs the pound, . 48fr. Four coats, braid, at twenty francs, 80fr. Six dozen knives at four francs the dozen, .... 24fr. Four hundred flints, one hundred gun-worms, two hun- dred ramrods and one hundred and fifty files, the total at the maker's prices, 901 iv. PRESENTS TO INDIANS. 853 After the Kikapou refused to deliver them to the Renards [Foxes] they wished some favors, and I was obliged to give them the following, which would allow them to weep over and cover their dead. Two braid coats @ 20 francs each, 40fr. Two woolen blankets @ 15 francs each, . . , . . 30 fr. One hundred pounds of powder @ 30 sous, .... 75fr. One hundred pounds of lead @ 10 sous, 25fr. Two pounds of vermillion @ 12 francs, 24fr. Moreover, given to the Renards, to cover their dead and prepare them for peace, 50 pounds of powder making, 75 fr. One hundred pounds of lead @ 10 sous, 50fr. Two pounds of vermillion @ 12 francs, 24fr. During the winter a considerable party was sent to strike hands with the Illinois. Given at that time. Two blue blankets @ 15 francs, 30h\ Four men's shirts @ 6 francs, ........ 24fr. Four pairs of long-necked bottles @ 6 francs, , . . 24fr. Four dozen of knives @ 4 francs, 16fr. Gun-worms, files, ramrods and flints, estimated, . . 40fr. Given to engage the Kickapou to establish themselves upon a neighboring isle, to protect from the treachery of the Renards. Four blankets @ 15 francs, 60fr. Two pairs of bottles, 6 francs 24fr. Two pounds of vermillion, 12 francs, 24fr. Four dozen butcher knives, 6 francs 24fr. Two woolen blankets @ 15 francs, 30fr. Four pairs of bottles @ 6 francs, 24fr. Four shirts @ 6 francs, 24fr. Four dozen of knives @ 4 francs, 16fr. The Renards having betrayed and killed their brothers the Kickapou, I seized the favorable opportunity, and to encour- age the latter to avenge themselves, I gave — Twenty-five pounds of powder @ 30 sous, . . . . 37f. 10s. Twenty-five pounds of lead @ 10 sous, 12f. 10s. Two guns at 30 francs each, 60f. One half pound of vermillion, 6f. Flints, gun - worms and knives, 20f. 854 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. The Illinois coming to the Kiekapou's village, I sup- ported them at my expense, and gave them powder, balls and shirts, valued at, 50f. In departing from the Kikapou village, I gave them the rest of the goods for their good treatment, esti- mated at, 80f. In a letter written by a priest at New Orleans, on July 12, 1730, is the following exaggerated account of the capture of Father Guignas: "We always felt a distrust of the Fox Indians, although they did not longer dare to undertake any thing, since Father Guignas has detached from thuir alliance the tribes of the Kikapous and Maskoutins. You know, my Reverend Father, that being in Canada, he had the courage to penetrate even to the Sioux near the sources of the Mississippi, at the distance of eight hundred leagues from New Orleans and five hundred from Quebec. Obliged to abandon this important mission by the unfortunate result of the enterprise against the Foxes, he descended the river to repair to the Illi- nois. On the 15th of October in the year L728, he was arrested when half way, by the Kikapous and Mascoutins. For four months he was a captive among the Indians, where he had much to suffer and every thing to fear. The time at last came when he was to be burned alive, when he was adopted by an old man, whose family saved his life and procured his liberty. " Our missionaries who are among the Illinois were no sooner acquainted with the situation than they procured him all the alleviation they were able. Every thing which he re- ceived he employed to conciliate the Indians, and succeeded to the extent of engaging them to conduct him to the Illinois, to make peace with the French and Indians of this region. Seven or eight months after this peace was concluded, the Mas- koutins and Kikapous returned again to the Illinois country, and took back Father Guignas, to spend the winter, trom whence, in all probability, he will return to Canada." After peace was established with the Foxes, Legardeur Saint Pierre was in command at Fort Beauharnois, and Father Guignas again attempted to establish a Sioux mission. In a coiijmunication dated 12th of October, 1736, by the Canadian authorities', is the following: "In regard to the Scioux, Saint ST. PIERRE AT LAKE PEPIN". 855 Pierre, who commanded at that post, and Father Guiguas, the missionary, have written to Sieur de Beauharnois, on the tenth and eleventh of last April, that these Indians appeared well intentioned toward the French, and had no other fear than that of being abandoned by them. Sieur de Beauharnois annexes an extract of these letters, and, although the Scioux seem very friendly, the result only can tell whether this fidelity is to be absolutely depended upon; for the unrestrained and inconsistent spirit which composes the Indian character may easily change it. They have not come over this summer as yet, but M. de la St. Pierre is to get them to do so next year, and to have an eye on their proceedings." The reply to this communication from Louis XV., dated Versailles, May 10th, 1737, was in these words: "As respects the Scioux, according to what the commandant and missionary at that post have written to Sieur de Beauharnois relative to the disposition of these Indians, nothing appears to be want- ing on that point. k * But their delay in corning down to Montreal since the time they have promised to do so, must render their sentiments somewhat suspected, and nothing but facts can determine whether their fidelity can be absolutely relied on. But what must still further increase the uneasiness to be entertained in their regard is the attack on the convoy of M. de Verandrie, especially if this officer has adopted the course he had informed the Marquis de Beauharnois he should take to have revenge therefor." APPENDIX J. PAGb 186. VERANDRIE AND OTHER OFFICERS EMPLOYED TO FIND A ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. Groselliers, in 1660, had intercourse with the Assineboines at the Grand Portage, the western extremity of Lake Superior, and then by Lake Nepigon, found his way to Hudson's Bay, but not to Lake Winnipeg, as das sometimes been asserted. 856 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. In the year 1716, the Canadian authorities determined to attempt to reach, the Pacific Ocean by way of the lakes west of Lake Superior. The French government alludes to the project in the following communication, dated December 7th, 1717: " Messrs. de Yaudreuil and ^Regon having written last year that the discovery of the Western Ocean would be advan- tageous to the colony, it was approved, that, as a means of succeeding in that enterprise, M. de Vaudreuil should establish three posts which he had proposed, and it was noted in the meantime, that to found these establishments would cost noth- ing to the king, while the commerce should indemnify those by whom they were founded, and to send a detailed estimate of what it would cost to continue the discovery. They stated in reply, that in the month of July kst, M. Vandreuil had caused Sieur Noue, lieutenant, with eight canoes, to set out on this discovery. He was ordered to estab- lish the first post on the river Kamanistiguoya, on the north of Lake Superior; after which he was to go to Takamanigen [Rainy LakeJ, toward the Christeneaux, to establish the sec- ond, and obtain from the savages the information necessary for establishing a third at the Lake of the Assinipoelles." Lt. Robertel la Noue arrived very late in 1617 at Kamanis- tiguoya, found few Indians, and was unable to send his canoes to Rainy Lake. During the winter he wrote through a French- man at LaPointe, to the chief of the Sioux nation, urging that they should make peace with the Christeneaux; as then there would be less risk in searching for a route to the Western Ocean. The Governor of Canada, on the 14th of November, 1719, wrote, "The Sieur de Vandreuil has not received any letter from Sieur de la Noue; he has only learnt by way of Chagoa- mion [La Point], which is on the south extremity of Lake Superior, where Sieur St. Pierre has been in command since last year, that Sieur Pachot had passed there on his way to the Scioux, where he was sent by the Sieur de la Noue, on the subject of the peace which he was trying to bring about between this nation and that of the Christeneaux, but that Pachot not having returned to Chogoamion when the ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 857 last canoes left, there was no intelligence of the success of his voyage. " The silence of Sieur la Noue gives reason for believing that he has determined to wait the return of Sieur Pachot, before giving an account to Sieur Vaudreuil of what he has done for the execution of the orders he was charged with, and that he had not been able to do it when Pachot had arrived at Kainanistiguoya, on account of the season being too far advanced. " The Sieur Vaudreuil supposes that the absence of Sieur Pachot has prevented Sieur de la Noue from sending this year to Takamaniouen, but that his officer will have found the means of attracting to his post the Indians who are accustomed to trade at Hudson's Bay/' La Noue failed to accomplish any thing in the way of open- ing a route to the Pacific Ocean, but the subject was revived with enthusiasm by Pierre Gualtier Yarennes, the Sieur Ve- randrie -(also written Verendrye), who, in 1727 was stationed at Lake Nepigon. In the spring of 1728 he was fortunate in meeting Father De Gonor, a Jesuit returning from the fort established by his relative, La Perriere Boucher, the year be- fore, on the shores of Lake Pepin, who informed him that Father Guignas, his colleague at the lake, was firm in the belief that a route could be opened to the Western Ocean. Yerandrie transmitted by De Gonor, a communication to Beauharnois, Governor of Canada, in which he related that Pacco, of Lake Nepigon, an Indian chief, while at the river Camanistigoya, on a war party, had found a great lake with three distinct outlets; one flowing to the English, at Hudson's Bay; the second south, to the Mississippi, and the third toward the setting sun. In another letter he informs the authorities that he has chosen a savage named " Ochaka," living at his post, to guide an expedition to the west, and that there were two routes; one by Mantveiangan or Kamanistigoya, and the other by the River Fond du Lac, now St. Louis. Ochagachs or Ochakah drew a rude map of the country, which is still preserved at Paris, a reduced copy of which faces page 800, for the first time published. Yerandrie was the son of Rene Gaultier Yarennes, who, for 858 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. twenty-two years was the chief magistrate at Three Rivers, whose wife was Marie Boucher, the daughter of his predeces- sor, whom, he had married when she was twelve years of age. He became a cadet in 1697, and in 1704 accompanied an expe- dition to New England. The next year he was in Newfound- land, and the year following he went to France, joined a regi- ment of Brittany, and was in the conflict at Malplaquet, when the French troops were defeated by the Duke of Marlborough. When he returned to Canada he was obliged to accept the position of ensign, notwithstanding the gallant manner in which he had behaved. Charles de Beauharnois, the Governor of Canada, gave Ve- randrie a respectful hearing, and carefully examined the map of the region west of the great lakes, which had been drawn by Ochagachs (Otchaga), the Indian guide. Orders were soon given to fit out an expedition of fifty men. It left Montreal in 1731, under the conduct of his three sons and nephew De la Jemeraye, who had been in 1728, at the fort, on Lake Pepin, he not joining the party till 1738, in consequence of the detentions of business. In the autumn of 1731, the party reached Rainy Lake, by the Nantouagan, or Groselliers river, now called Pigeon. Fa- ther Messager, who had been stationed at Mackinaw, was taken as a spiritual guide. At the foot of Rainy Lake a post was erected and called Fort St. Pierre, and the next year, having crossed Minittie, or Lake of the Woods, they estab- lished Fort St. Charles on its southwestern bank. An un- published map of these discoveries by De la Jemeraye still exists at Paris. The river Winnipeg, called Maurepas, in honor of the minister of France in 1734, was protected by a fort of the same name. De la Jemeraye visited the Governor of Canada in 1733, and represented that the expedition was at Lake Winnipeg, but that they eould not proceed further at their own charges, as 43,000 francs had been expended by their associates, and that the voyageurs would not work any longer unless they were paid. The French government refused to allow any money, jind wrote that Verandrie and partners must be satisfied with. the furs they would secure. Cast down but not in despair, VERANDRIE S SON MASSACRED. 859 Verandrie in 1735, resolved to push on, and directed his fourth son, eighteen years of age, to study drawing and surveying, so that he might the next year join his father and three brothers. The Governor of Canada allowed him to farm out to traders for three years the posts he had established. In Jane, 1736, as twenty-one of the expedition were camped upon an isle in the Lake of the Woods, they were surprised by a band of Sioux hostile to the French allies, the Christeneaux and all killed. The island, upon this account, is called Mas- sacre Island. A few days after a party of five Canadian voya- geurs discovered their dead bodies and scalped heads. Father Ouneau, the missionary, was found upon one knee, an arrow in his head, his breast bare, his left hand touching the ground and the right hand raised. The priest's name may have been Guymonneau. There was among the Ottawas, in 1721, a Jesuit, J. C. Guymonneau. Among the slaughtered was also a son of Verandrie, who had a tomahawk in his back, and his body adorned with gar- ters and bracelets of porcupine quills, The father was at th e foot of the Lake of the Woods when he received the news of his son's murder, and about the same time heard of the death of his enterprising nephew, Dufrost de la Jemeraye, the son of his sister Marie Reine de Varennes and brother of Madame You- ville, the foundress of the Hospitaliers at Montreal. When the many difficulties of the three and a quarter leagues of Nantouagan (Pigeon) portage disheartened the voy- ageurs, Jemeraye kept up his courage, and in 1731, was the first to pass beyond, and commence the fort at Rainy Lake. On the 3d of October, 1738, they built an advanced post, Fort La Reine, on the river Assiniboels, which they called St. Charles, and beyond was a branch called St. Pierre. These two rivers received the baptismal name of Verandrie, which was Pierre, and Governor Beauharnois, which was Charles, The post became the centre of trade and point of departure for explorations either north or south. It was by ascending the Assiniboine, and by the present trail from its tributary, Mouse river, they reached the country of the Mantanes, and in 174-2, came to the Upper Missouri, passed the Yellowstone, and at length arrived at the Rocky 860 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Mountains. The party was led by the eldest . son and his brother, the chevalier. They left the Lake of the Woods on the 29th of April, 1742, came in sight of the Rocky Mountains on the 1st of January, 1743, and on the 12th the chevalier ascended them, his brother being left some distance behind. On the route they fell in with the Beaux Homines, Pioya, Petits Renards, and Arc tribes, and stopped among the Snake tribe, but could go no farther in a southerly direction, owing to a war between the Arcs and Snakes, On the 19th of March, 1743, they returned to the upper Missouri, and in the country of the Petite Cerise tribe, they planted on an eminence a leaden plate of the arms ot France, and raised a monument of stones, which they called Beauhar- nois. They returned to the Lake of the Woods on the 2d of July. North of the Assiniboine they proceeded to Lake Dauphin, Swan's Lake, explored the river " Des Biches," and ascended even to the fork of the Saskatchewan, which they called Pos- koiac. Two forts were subsequently established; one near Lake Dauphin and the other on the river "Des Biches," called Fort Bourbon. The northern route, by the Saskatchewan* was thought to have some advantage over the Missouri, be- cause there was no danger of meeting with the Spaniards. In 1743, Verendrye the father returned to Quebec, and to the charge that he had enriched himself, he answered, " If the 40,000 livres of debt that I have over my head were an advan- tage, I can compliment myself on being very rich." Governor Beauharnois having been prejudiced against Ve- randrie by envious persons, De Noyelles was appointed to take command of the post. During these difficulties we find Sieur de la Verandrie, Jr. engaged in other duties. In August, 1747, he arrives from Mackinaw at Montreal, and in the au- tumn of that year he accompanies St. Fierre to Mackinaw, and brings back the convoy to Montreal. In February, 1748, with five Canadians, five Christenaux, two Ottawas, and one Sauteur, he attacked the Mohawks near Schenectady, and returned to Montreal with two scalps, one that of a chief. On June 20th, 1748, it is recorded that Chevalier de la Veran- drie departed from Montreal for the head of Lake Superior. DEATH OF SIEUR VERANDRIE. 861 Ma gry states that he perished at sea in November, 1764, by the wreck of the "Auguste." Fortunately, Galissioniere the successor of Beauharnois, although deformed and insignificant in appearance, was fail minded, a lover of science, especially botany, and anxious to push discoveries toward the Pacific. Verandrie the father was restored to favor, and made Captain of the Order of St. Louis, and ordered to resume explorations. He expected to leave Montreal in May, 1750, and reach by December, Fort Bourbon, where he would await the navigation of the Saskatchewan, the next spring, and proceed to cross the Rocky Mountains to the great lake [perhaps Puget's Sound J of which the Indians had spoken. A little while after he formed this plan, on the 6th of December, 1749, he died. The Swedish Professor Kalm met him in Canada, not long before his decease, and had interesting conversations with him about the furrows on the plains of the Missouri, which he conjectured indicated the former abode of an agricultural people. These ruts are familiar to modern travelers, and may be only buffalo trails. Father Coquard, who had been aasociated with Verandrie, says that they first met the Mantanes, and next the Brochets* After these were the Gros Ventres, the Crows, the Flat Heads' the Black Feet and Dog Feet, who were established on the Missouri, even up to the falls; and that about thirty leagues beyond they found a narrow pass in the mountains. Bougainville gives a more full account. He says, '' He who most advanced this discovery was the Sieur Veranderie. He went from Fort la Reine to the Missouri. He met on the banks of this river the Mandans or White Beards, who had seven villages, with pine stockades strengthened by a ditch- Next to these were the Kinongewiniris or the Brochets, in three villages, and toward the upper part of the river were three villages of the Mahantas. All along the mouth of toe Wabeik or Shell River, were situated twenty-three villages of the Panis To the southwest of this river, on the banks of the Ouanaradeba or La Graisse, are the Hectanes or Snake tribe. They extend to the base of a chain of mountains which 862 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. runs north-northeast. South of this is the river Karoskiou or Cerise Pelee, which is supposed to flow to California. t; He found in the immense region watered by the Missouri and in the vicinity of forty leagues, the Mahantas, the Owili- niock or Beaux Hommes, four villages; opposite the Brochets the Black Feet, three villages of a hundred lodges each; oppo- site the Mandans are the Ospekakaerenousques or Flat Heads, four villages; opposite the Panis are the Arcs or Christinaux, and Utasibaoutchatas or Assiniboels, three villages; following these the Makesch or Little Foxes, two villages; the Piwassa or Great Talkers, three villages; the Kakokoschena or Gensde la Pie, five villages; the Kiskipisounouini or the Garter tribe^ seven villages." Galassoniere was succeeded by Jonquiere in the governor- ship of Canada, who proved to be a grasping, peevish and very miserly person. For the sons of Yerandrie he had no sym- pathy, and forming a clique to profit by their father's toils, he determined to send two expeditions toward the Pacific Ocean ; one by the Missouri and the other by the Saskatchewan. Father Coquard, one of the companions of Verandrie, was consulted as to the probability of finding a pass in the Rocky Mountains through which they might in canoes reach the great lake of salt water; perhaps Puget's Sound. The enterprise was at length confided to two experienced officers, Lamarque de Marin and Jacques Legardeur de Saint Pierre. The former was assigned the way by the Missouri, and to the latter was given the more northern route. But Saint Pierre in some way excited the hostility of the Christi- naux, who attempted to kill him, and burned Fort la I'eine. His lieutenant, Boucher de Niverville, who had been sent to establish a post toward the source of the Saskatchewan, failed on account of sickness. Some of his men, however, pushed on to the Rocky Mountains, and in 1752 established Fort Jon- quire. Henry says Saint Pierre established Fort Bourbon. Bellin, in " Remarks upon the Map of North America," published in 1755 at Paris, upon the authority of the journal of M. le Gardeur St. Pierre, written in 1750, mentions that Fort La Reine was built upon the north side of the Assineb»ine, and that by a portage of three leagues Swan Lake would be LEGARDEUR SAINT PIERRE KILLED. 863 readied; and he states, further, that the fort on Red River had been abandoned because of its nearness to La Reine. In 1753 Saint Pierre was succeeded in the command of the West, by De la Corne, and sent to French Creek, in Pennsyl- vania. He had been but a few days there when he received a visit from Washington, just entering upon manhood, bearing a letter from Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia, complaining of the encroachments of the French. Soon the clash of arms between France and England began, and Saint Pierre, at the head of the Indian allies, fell near Lake George, in September, 1755, in a battle with the English. After the seven years' war was concluded, by the treaty of Paris the French relinquished an their posts in the Northwest and the work begun by Verandrie was, in 1805, completed by Lewis and Clarke, and the Northern Pacific Railway is fast approaching the passes of the Rocky Mountains, through the valley of the Yellowstone, and from thence to the great land- locked bay of the ocean, Puget's Sound. NOTICE OF FRENCH OFFICERS. Jacques Legardeur St. Pierre, born on the 24th of October, 1701, was the son of Paul Legardeur, the Sieur St. Pierre who was born in 1661, whose father, J. Baptiste Legardeur, on the 11th of July, 1656, had married Marguerite, the daughter of the brave explorer, Jean Nicolet, the first white man, who, about A. D. 1635, reached the valle} r of the Wisconsin River. His father, Capt. St. Pierre, in 1719 was sent to La Pointe. The son, in 1746, was engaged in fighting the Mohawks near Montreal, and in the fall of 1746 he arrived at Mackinaw with one hundred canoes of supplies. The next year he was in command at that post, with his brother, Louis Legardeur, the Chevalier de Repentigny, as second officer. From Mackinaw he appears to have been ordered to the Winnipeg region, and from there, in 1753, to a rude post in Erie county, Pa., where he had an interview with young George Washington. His last conflict was in September, 1755, at Lake George, under Baron Dieskau. He was in command of the Indian 864 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. allies, and on the 24th of August he received the following from his superior officer: "Mr. de St. Pierre will have the goodness to make the Indians understand reason on that point [pillaging], especially not to amuse themselves scalping until the enemy be entirely defeated; inasmuch as ten men can be killed while one is being scalped." At 10 o'clock of the 8th of September, in the battle of Lake George, Legardeur St. Pierre was killed, and the Indians on that account, became furious, and seized the Englishman by whom he had been killed, and dispatched him with their tom- ahawks. That his name was given to the St, Peter's River is an error. It is more probable that it was so named after the baptismal name of Le Sueur, its first explorer. LOUIS LUC LA. CORNE. M. de la Corne, who succeeded St. Pierre in the Winnipeg region, was the son of Louis La Corne. He was born on the 6th of June, 1713, and on December 10th, 1742, married Marie Anne Hervieux. In the summer of 1745 Lt. Luc de la Corne reinforced St. Pierre, who was approaching Lake George, and about this time his father was at Mackinaw, and known as Capt. de la Corne, who died April 2d, 1762, aged 96 years, at Terrebonne. Louis Luc distinguished himself at the battle of Ticonderoga, and was engaged in the battle of the Plains of Abraham. After Canada was ceded to England he was still active, and in the war of the Revolution he was in charge of Burgoyne's Indian troops at the battle of Saratoga. Burgoyne spoke slightingly of him in 1778, in a speech in the House of Commons; to which LaCorne replied in a spirited letter. In it he writes, " Notwithstanding my advanced age sixty-seven years, I am ready to cross the ocean to justify my- self before the king, my master, and before my country, from the ill-founded accusation that you have brought against mei although I do not at all care what you personally think of me." BOUCHER DE NIVERVILLE, "Boucher de Niverville, Chevalier, was the son of Ni'vervflTe NOTICE OF FRENCH OFFICERS. 865 and the nephew of La Perriere Boucher, and Montbrun Bou- cher, and the Sieur Verandrie. In 1746 he left Montreal to annoy the New England frontier. In August, 1748, he was alarming the settlers at Fort Massachusetts, now Williaras- town. In 1757 he made a raid to the banks of the Potomac. He was with Montcalm, and is supposed to be the Ensign Boucher ville who was wounded at Quebec. LE MARQUE DE MARIN". A satisfactory notice of Le Marque de Marin can not be given. His name and age in A. D. 1732, probably appears in the following list of Ensigns given by Daniel. Le Gardeur, . . . age 37 Gaultier Varennes, age 54 Le Gardeur St. Pierre, " 31 De Ligneris, , . " 31 De Boucherville, . " 41 Niverville, . . "48 Hertel Rouville, . " 27 Marin, . ,. . . "41 Joncaire, ... u 24 In 1753 there is a Marin associated with St. Pierre in north- western Pennsylvania. Sieur Marin established in 1753, the French post at Presque Isle, Erie county, and he died on the banks of Riviere de Bceuf, seven leagues from Lake Erie. Tanguay, in his Genealogical Dictionary, mentions a Paul Marin, born in 1692, married March 24th, 1718, who died at Fort Duquesne, Pa., October 24th, 1753. APPENDIX K. PAGE 30i. NOTES ON RED RIVER OF THE NORTH — MASSACRE ISLAND. In June, 1736, while twenty-one of Verandrie's expedition were camped upon an island in Lake of the Woods, they were surprised and killed by a band of Sioux. A party of five voy- ageurs a few days after discovered their bodies. Among the slaughtered was a son of Verandrie, who was found with a tomahawk in his back, and his body adorned with garters and and bracelets of porcupine. Father Ouneau, a missionary, had 55 866 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. an arrow sticking in his head, his breast bare, his left hand touching the ground, and his right hand raised. At this time the Sioux were still dwelling at Sandy Lake, but the attack led the French to favor the Ojibways, who soon occupied the shores of Red, Leech, and Sandy Lakes. OSSINIBOIA. PAGE 302. Lt. Edw. Chappell of the British navy, asserts that Ossini- boia is a Gaelic compound word, Osna Boia, Ossian's Town, and selected to please the Gaelic immigrants, and because of its resemblance to the name of the Assineboine tribe, often pro- nounced Asnaboyne. DAVID THOMPSON, ASTRONOMER AND GEOGRAPHER OF THE NORTHWEST COMPANY. PAGE 239. David Thompson was for seven years in the school of Christ's Hospital, London, known as the Blue Coat School. In May, 1784, he was appointed a clerk to the Hudson's Bay Company, and was- sent to Fort Churchill, then in charge of Samuel Hearne, a native of London, who had published the account of a Voyage to the Arctic Regions under the auspices of the North West Company. In the summer of 1795, with an Irishman and two Indians for companions, he went from the shores of Hudson's Bay to Lake Athabasca. After his term expired with the Hudson's Bay Company he entered the service of the North West Com- pany, and was appointed to visit the Missouri and the sources of the Mississippi, and make geographical and astronomical observations. In pursuance of this object he reached the south side of Sault St. Marie of the 1st of June, 1797, and on the 17th reached the post of J. Baptiste Cadotte, at Fond du Lac. From thence he went to the Grand Portage, and there met Harmon, a trader, whose travels have been published, and found the North West's Company's vessel, the Otter, Captain Bennett,' on the 24th, ready to sail with furs to Sault St. Marie. On the 25th of June he ascertained the height northeast of Grand Portage to be seven hundred and fifty -one feet. This DAVID THOMPSON, GEOGRAPHER. 867' day a man came over with a letter from Daniel McGillivray, one of the partners of the N. W. Co., who had received a bad wound in one of his legs. The next day at 9^ a. m. the wounded man arrived in a litter borne by four persons. On the 29th the traders, McDonnel, Hughes, Chabouiller, Mcintosh, Rich- ards and Velco arrived, and their canoes, loaded with the winter's furs, were expected the next day. On Sunday, July 1st, Roderick McKenzie arrived from be- low, in a light canoe, with letters. The next day there came to the annual convocation William McKay from the Winni- peg region, and Cuthbert Grant, McLeod, McTavish and James McKenzie, from the Athabasca district. The sloop, Otter, on the 4th of July returned from Sault St. Marie, and in four days again sailed with furs, and Todd and Chabouiller passengers. On the 7th, the trader Sayers, with two canoes, went to Fond du Lac. Thompson left the Grand Portage with a brigade of four canoes in charge of Hugh McGilli; , and took with him an achromatic telescope, a sextant of ten inches radius, and other instruments made by the celebrated Dolland, and on the 18th of August reached Cumberland House, on the Saskatchewan River. He spent the autumn in visiting the posts in that vicinity, and on the 28th of November, 1797, left McDonnel's post in lat. 49 deg. 40 min. 56 sec, on the Assiniboine, for a journey to the Missouri River. His companion's were A. Brossman, servant; Rene Jnssome, as interpreter; Hugh McCracken, an Irishman, and seven French Canadians. After thirty-three days he reached the Missouri River, and visited the Mandan villages, where they lived in houses sunk below the surface, with mud roofs, which looked like muskrat hills, and made their own earthenware. In returning he went to Dog Tent Hill, north 28 degrees, east fifty miles; thence to Turtle Hill, fourteen miles; thence to the Ash House on Mouse River, twenty -four miles; thence to house of John McDonnell, north 69 deg. east forty-five miles. On the 26th of February, 1798, he left McDonnell's with three Canadians, an Indian guide, and three sleds drawn by six dogs. The junction of the Mouse River was about half a mile from the trading post. The snow was found to be very 868 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. deep, and the guide became so fatigued that he had every two or three hours to be relieved. On the 7th of March the party readied the junction of the Assineboine with the Red River, and began its survey. On that day the sleds fell into the river, so that at 3 o'clock in the afternoon they were obliged to stop. At 4 o'clock the next morning he arose to make siderial observations. The next day was very snowy and difficult to travel. The Indian guide was soon exhausted, and he was obliged to take the lead. When night came he was obliged to sleep in the open air, the trains being behind. On Saturday the 10th of March it was clear but cold, and at Si o'clock in the morning the men arrived with the trains, and the whole day was passed in drying clothes and goods. The next day at 7:30 a. m. set off and walked by the compass to the cent poles of three lodges of Chippeways, who had passed, a week before. This trail was followed to the river, where it was lost in the snow drift. At noon the party break- fasted, and at li p. m. again found the Chippeway tracks. On Monday, March 12th, started at 6;40 a. m. and found the Chippeways, and two agreed to go with Thompson to the house at the Summer Berry (Pembina) River. The Pembina River called by Thompson " Summer Berry", was named after a red berry which the Chippeways call, Nepin (summer) Mi- nan (berry), and this by the voyageurs has been abbreviated to Pembina, which is more euphonious. On the 14th he reached the North- West Company's post, in charge of Charles Chabouillier; and here he remained six days, to re2ruit after his exhausting journey through deep snow and slush. While there he ascertained that the post was in 48 deg. 54 min. 24 sec. of north latitude, in longitude 97 deg. 16 min. 40 seconds, and within the boundary of the United States of America. On the 21st of March began to ascend the Red River, and to proceed southwest and after four days reached the post of Baptiste Cadotte, in lat. 47 deg. 54 min. 21 sec, long. 96 deg. 19 min., where he remained until the breaking up of the ice. THOMPSON VISITS RED LAKE. 869 On the 9th of April he began his journey to survey the northerniost source of the Mississippi. For fear of meeting ice he did not ascend Red Lake River, but proceeded up Clear Water River. In two days he reached the junction of the Wild Rice River, and the next day he came to the four mile portage which leads to Red Lake River. Reaching this river he ascended thirty-two miles to Red Lake. Here he found an old Chippewa chief, She-she-she-pas-kut, with six lodges of Indians. By nine o'clock at night on the 23d of April, 1798, he reached by a six mile portage Turtle Lake, the northern source of the Mississippi, and about four miles square with arms which gave it the shape of a turtle. At the time of the treaty of 1783, it was supposed to be north of Lake of the Woods. Twenty-five years before the Italian, Beltrami, Thompson reached this lake, and by an observation on its bank found its latitude 47 deg, 38 min. 28s. On the 27th of April he met two canoes of Ojibways, and as his was leaky, he took a seat in one of them. By several portages, on the 29th he reached the North- west Company's trading post, in charge of John Sayer, and ascertained its latitude. He began the descent of the Mississippi on the 3d of May, and in three days reached Sandy Lake post, in charge of Mr. Brus- key. Here he learned that on the 19th of February, one and a half days' journey from Sandy Lake, a party of Sioux, Sauks, and Menomonees killed about forty Chippeways. From this point on the 7th, he proceeded by that route eastward to Lake Superior. Near the mouth of the St. Louis River, on the 11th of May, he reached the N. W. Co. post in charge of Lemoine, At the lake he repaired a northern canoe twenty-eight feet in length, and with two oars and three men, navigated the lake, and on the 28th of May, reached Sault St. Marie, where he found Stuart, McCleod and Alexander Mackenzie. In 1808 Thompson made a journey to the Athabasca region? and after this explored beyond the Rocky Mountains. Franchere, in his narrative of the Astoria expedition, men- tions the descent of a canoe on July loth, 1811, near the mouth of the Columbia, and writes: " The flag she bore was 870 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the British, and her orew was composed of eight boatmen or voyageurs. A well dressed man, who appeared to be the com- mander, was the first to leap ashore, and address us without ceremony, and said that his name was David Thompson, and that he was one of the partners of the North- West Company. Mr. Thompson kept a regular journal, and travelled, I thought, more like a geographer than a fur trader. He was provided with a sextant, thermometer and barometer." Irving in his '' Astoria," gives the following description: " On coming to the land, one of the crew stepped on shore and announced himself as Mr. David Thompson, astronomer, and partner of the North- West Company. According to his account, he had set out in the preceding year with a tolerably strong party and a supply of Indian goods, to cross the Rocky Mountains. A part of his people had, however, deserted him on the eastern side, and returned with the goods to the near- est North-West post. He had persisted in crossing the moun- tains with eight men who remained true to him. They had traversed the higher regions, and ventured near the source of the Columbia, where in the* spring, they had constructed a cedar canoe, the same in which they had reached Astoria.*** Mr. Thompson was, no doubt, the first white man who de- scended the northern branch of the Columbia from so near its source." Until 1821 he remained in the service of the North-West Company, and then was employed in the boundary survey, under the treaty of Ghent. In 1837 he made a survey of Georgian Bay. About 89 years of age, in 1857, he is said to have died. EARLY FUR TRADE OF THE RED RIVER VALLEY AND EXTRACTS FROM MSS. OF ALEXANDER HENRY, PAGE 301. The fur fcradeof the Red River Valley was chiefly controlled by the North West Company. This company was not char- tered as the Hudson's Bay Company, but an association formed in 1782, consisting of private traders, which in 1787 was en- larged by the absorption of minor companies. In 1798 the number of shares was increased to forty-six, which caused dis- satisfaction and led to the formation of the X. Y. Company, ANDRIANI DESCRIBES FUR-TRADERS. 8YI but in 1803 the two were united and the erection of Fort William (named after William McGillivray) begun. Count Andriani, of Milan, who in 1791 was at the Grand Portage of Lake Superior in his journal quoted by the Duke De la Rochefoucault Liancourt remarks: "The North West Company beins: more opulent than the rest, made use of its wealth to ruin its competitors. * * * * This petty war- fare which cost several lives and large sums of money at length opened the eyes of the rival companies. They became sensi- ble of the necessity of uniting in one body, and the North West Company made several sacrifices to attain this end * * * * The method observed by the agents in their traffic with the Indians is this, that they begin with intoxicating them with rum, to over-reach them with more facility in the intended business * * * * All the men employed in this trade are paid in merchandise which the Company sells with an enormous profit, it is obvious at how cheap a rate these people are paid. They purchase of the Company every arti- cle they want. It keeps with them an open account, and as they winter in the interior, and beyond Lake Winnipeg, they pay of consequence excessively dear for the blankets and the clothes which they bring with them for their wives. "These menial servants of the Company are generally extrav- agant, given to drinking to excess, and these are exactly the people the Company wants. The speculation in the excesses of these people is carried so far, that if one of them happens to lead a regular, sober life, he is burthened with the most laborious work, until by continued ill-treatment he is driven to drunkenness and debauchery, which vices causes the rum, blankets, and trinkets to be sold to greater advantage. In 1791, nine hundred of these servants owed the Company more than the amount of ten or fifteen years pay." EXTRACTS FROM UNPUBLISHED JOURNALS OF HENRY. Alexander Henry was the nephew of the Alexander Henry, one of the first British subjects who traded at La Pointe be- fore the war of the Revolution, and whose book of travels is well known in the literary world. The nephew was one of the partners of the North- West Company, and although his 872 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. education was limited, his perceptions were quick, descriptive power great, and his pen that of a ready writer. Few jour- nals contain so many important statements, and his notes on a residence among the Mandans ought to be printed. One of the prominent citizens of St. Paul, once a member of the Legislature from Pembina, Hon. Norman W. Kittson, is a relative of the writer of this journal. In 1799 he left Montreal in the service of the North- West Company to compete with the X. Y. Company and the Hudson Bay Company west of Lake Superior. In the summer of 1800 he was at Lake Winnipeg at the time of a grasshopper inva- sion. In his journal he writes: GRASSHOPPERS AT WINNIPEG, A. D. 1800. " The beach here was covered with grasshoppers which had been thrown up by the waves, forming one continued line as far as the eye could see. In some places they lay from six to nine inches in depth, and were in a state of petrification, which caused a horrid stench/' "August 18, 1800. — Arrived at the Forks, where the Assine- boine River formed a junction with the Red River. * * [Near the site of the City of Winnipeg], "I found about forty Saulteurs waiting my arrival. They were well provided with a plentiful stock of dried buffalo meat for us, and anx- iously expecting to get a dram. I accordingly made them a present of liquor. In return, they fell to and kept drinking all night, during which we were plagued with mosquitoes, and prevented from sleeping, by the howling of the Indians and their dogs all night. "Tuesday, 19th. — We began early this morning to inspect the goods, and to divide them ; one-half being intended for Portage la Prairie, and the remainder for the Red River. * * * * At 12 o'clock, five Hudson Bay Company boats for Albany Factory, or rather Martin's Falls, arrived here. Mr. Robert Goodman, master, assisted by Mr. Brown. They pull ashore and remained with us until 4 o'clock, when they proceeded up the Assineboine. HUDSON" BAY COMPANY BOATS. "Their boats carry about 45 packages, averaging about 80 RBD RIVER BRIGADE. S73 pounds each, conducted by 4 oars, and a steersman ; they are neatly built, and pointed sharp at both ends. * * * * Upon this spot, in time of the French, there was a trading establishment, of which are still to be seen where their chim- neys and cellars stood. "Wednesday. 20th. — Early this morning Mr. J. McDonnel of the North- West Company, with his hazard, left us. and soon after I sent off my canoes, while I remained myself to get the Indians, who were yet scarcely sober. "At 12 o'clock the opposition X Y Company brigade of nine canoes and a boat arrived and proceeded directly up the As- sinebonie. I then embarked and proceeded about six miles. * * * Thursday. 21st. — Early this morning examined the baggage of my people and embarked, my brigade now reduced to four canoes and twenty-six packages per canoe. On board are the following men and families, viz : JACQUE BARKE, DBUCBHT. First Canoe: Etienne Charbonnais. (garcon) P. Joseph Dubois (ararcon). Angus McDonnell (marie). Antonie La France (marie). Pierre Bonga (negro). Second Canoe: Andre La Grossers, D. Jochim Daisvilie (garcon). Andre Beauchuiin (marie). J. Baptise Benoit (marie). Michael Coleret, wife and daughter, (commis). Third Canoe. J. Baptiste Rocque Sr.. D. J. Baptiste Rocque Jr. (garcon). Etienne Roy (marie). Francais Sini (marie) J. Desmarrais, guide and interpreter, wife, two children. 874 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Fourth Canoe: Joseph Maceon, D. Charles Bellegarde (garcon) Joseph Hamel (marie). Nicholas Rubrette (marie)/' BONGA, THE NEGRO. From 1782 to May 10th, 1787, Capt. Daniel Robertson was the British officer in command at Mackinaw, and one of his slaves brought from the West Indies, was Bonga. His de- scendants are numerous. There was a Bonga, or Bungo, in 1820, an interpreter for Gov. Cass, on his visit to the upper Mississippi, and another Bonga, an interpreter at the treaty with the Chippeways in 1837, at Fort Snelling, HORSE BOUGHT WITH LIQUOR. 'Friday, 22d * * * This afternoon the Indians brought me a horse, which I purchased for liquor, and about sunset the Indians all arrived and camped with us. Old Buffalo, still half drunk, brought me his eldest daughter, a girl about nine years of age, and would insist upon my taking her for a wife, in hopes I would give him a keg of liqnor, but I declined the offer. * * * A FAITHLESS WIFE TORTURED. " Friday, 29th, * * * In course of the night I was troubled by the visits of a young woman from the other side of the fRed] river, which was nearly an ugly affair. About 10 o'clock she came into my tent, without any solicitation on my part. She awoke me and asked for liquor. I knew her voice, and that her husband was the greatest scoundrel among all the Indians present, and exceedingly jealous. I therefore advised her to return instantly over the river to her husband, that he might not perceive that she had been here. She re- quested a dram, although she was sober. I offered her a little pure liquor, which she refused, telling me she wanted Augne- manebane. I was obliged to open my case, and give her a glass of strong French brandy, which I made her swallow at one draught, but whether it actually suffocated her, or whether A DEGRADED INDIAN WOMAN. 875 it was through affectation, she fell down and to all appearances seemed and lay like a corpse. u I was anxious to get her away, but all my endeavors were in vain. It was totally dark and I began to believe her dead. I thought to draw her to the tent door and wake up my ser- vant, whom I desired to assist. I sent him for a bottle of water, which I poured over her head, while he held her up; a second bottle was applied in the same manner, but to no pur- pose. I was very uneasy, and sent for a third bottle, the con- tents of which, dashed in her face with all my strength, when she groaned and then began to speak. " I lost no time, but sent my man to conduct her away. In about a half hour she returned, having changed her clothes, and now was dressed very fine; her husband being an excellent hunter and had no children, she had always a superabundance of finery. She now told me, in plain terms, that she had left her husband and came to live with me. This was a piece of news I neither expected nor wished. I represented to her the impropriaty in doing so; her husband was fond of her and jealous in the extreme. " Her answer was that she did not care for her husband, nor any other Indian, that she was fully determined to remain with me at the risk of her life. Just at this moment I heard a great bustle on the other side of the river, and the Indians bawling out to take care, that we were going to be fired on ; when, instantly, the flash of a gun was seen, but it appeared to have missed fire. I had no doubt the woman was the cause, and I insisted upon her return to her husband, but she would not go. I observed that the men had now made up a fire, when I called my servant man. I desired him to conduct her to the fire. This he did, much against his inclination. He had then the good luck to get her on board of a canoe that was crossing. " I was informed that the noise we heard on the other side was occasioned by the husband having notice of his wife's in- tention, had determined to fire at my tent. On his wife's re- turn he asked her where she had been. She made no secret of the matter, but said she was determined to go along with 876 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. me. "Well, then/' said he, if you are determined upon leaving me, I wiil at least have the satisfaction of spoiling your pretty face!" He instantly caught up a large fire-brand, threw her upon her back, and held it to her face, rubbing with all his might until the fire extinguished, then letting her go. "Now," says he, "go and see your beloved, and ask him if he likes you as well ae he did before." I am told that her face was in a most horrid condition. I am sorry for it. She was really the handsomest woman of the River, and not more than eighteen years of age." On the 3d of September, leaving half of his goods with M. Langlois, Mr. Henry went up to the Red River, accompanied by Desmarrais, Bellagard, Roger, Benoit, La Rocque, Beauch- man, Le France, Barbe, Charbonneau, McDonnell, Parais [Pierre Bonga, negro ?J In his journal he writes under date of "September 5th, Friday: Early this morning I sent off the canoes, when Desmarrais and myself proceeded by land. We came to Pambian [Pembina] River and crossed over OLD FORT to the old fort which was built in 1797-8 by M. Chabouiller, opposite the entrance of the Red River. On the east side of the Red River are the ruins of the old fort, built by Mr. Peter Grant some years ago, and was the first established upon Red River. * * * * BUFFALO CROSSING AND TRAIL, " September 6th. —At the Bois Perie, near where we are en- camped, has been a great crossing for many years. The ground on both sides is beaten as hard as a pavement and the numerous roads leading to the river, a foot deep, are surpris- ing, and when I consider the hard sod through which these tracks are beaten, I am entirely at a loss and bewildered in attempting to form any idea of the numerous herds of buffalo which must have passed here. * * * * " Monday, 8th. — At 8 o'clock sent the canoes off, while Des- marrais and myself hurried off on horseback. We saw here the buffalo, all in motion, crossing from the east to west side, FORT BUILT AT PARK RIVER, 877 directing their course to the Hair Hills. We chased several herd, and had fine sport, hut killed only two tat cows, and took a small load down to the river, for the canoes to take in as they passed. " Here I lost one of my spurs. Having brought the meat near the river, we set out and did not stop until we reached the Park River, at 2 o'clock. POST AT PARK RIVER. " We tied our horses at the entrance to the little river, and went out to search for a proper spot to build, as the Indians would not ascend the Red River any higher. My men also began to murmur very much, and even Desmarrais. who is an old veteran, one of the first who ever came up this river. "We went up the river about a mile and attempted to drink, but found the water a perfect brine. * * * * I now find it impossible to build here, even if the wood had been proper. " Tuesday, 9th. — Early this morning I went out in search of a proper place to build. I found none so well situated for defense, and wood at hand, as a point of woods on the west side [of the Red River], within a quarter of a mile of the lit- tle [Park] river, a beautiful level plain which divides us from that river. A NOSE BITTEN" OFF. "December 19th, * * * Some of the Red Lake Indians having been here and traded for some liquor, which they took to their camp, a quarrel arose among them, when Cantoquince jumped upon Terre Grasse, and bit his nose off close to his face. It was some time before the piece could be found. At last, by tumbling the straw about, it was found and applied to the face in the best manner that drunken people could do, and a bandage tied over it, in the hopes it would grow again. The quarrel proceeded from jealousy. * * * 11 December 21st. Sunday. Sent off two men with an Indian to take a stallion and a mare to the Red Lake, and from thence M. Cadotte will forward them to Rainy Lake, to Mr. Grant. They are both in high order, and no sore back. " December 26th. Very cold. The Crow [a Chippeway] in with his brother Charlo, lying in a traville at the point of death. 878 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. HORRID AFFAIR AT RED LAKE. "December 28th. I sent two men to make salt near the en- trance of the little river. I was informed of a most cruel affair which happened two years ago at Red Lake. The woman is now here to whom the affair happened. It seems she had a young Indian for her husband, by whom she had one child; but he thought proper to have two wives, and the mother ol the child not liking this, she left him, and joined anothei camp, where she soon took another husband. Not many days after the two camps were at the same place, and a drinking match occurred. The first husband went to his rival, and insisted upon having his child, and telling him he might keep the woman, as he did not care for her. They were both known scoundrels. The child was not many months old. The fathei caught hold of one of its legs, saying he would have him, and the second husband of the woman canght hold of the other leg, saying he should not take him away. Suddenly the father gave a jerk, and, the other resisting, the child was torn asunder. AN EFFEMINATE MAN. "January 2, 1801. — Beardash, a son of Sucrie, arrived here from the Assinboine River, where he had been in company with a young man to carry tobacco. This person is a curious compound. He is a man in every respect, both as to courage and dress and manners. His walk and mode of sitting down, his manners and occupations and language are those of a wo- man. All the persuasiveness of his father, who is a great chief among the Saulteaux, cannot induce him to behave like a man. About a month ago, in a drinking match, he got into a quarrel, and had one of his eyes knocked out with a club. He is very fleet, and a few years ago was reckoned the best runner among the Saulteaux. A RUNNING FIGHT. u Both his fleetness and courage were fully put to the test a few years ago on the banks of the Schain (Cheyenne), when Monsieur Reaume attempted to make peace. He accompa- nied a party of Saulteux to the Scieux camp. They at first appeared reconciled to each other, through the intercession A RACE FOR LIFE. 879 of the white people, but on the return of the Saulteux the Scieux pursued them. Both parties were on foot, and the Scieux had the name of beiug very swift. The Saulteux very imprudently dispersed themselves in the open plains and sev- eral of them were killed, but the party in which Beardash was, all escaped without any accident, in the following man- ner: " One of them had a bow which he got from the Scieux, but only a few arrows. On their first starting and finding they were pursued, they ran a considerable distance, until they perceived the Scieux were gaining fast, when Beardash took the bow and arrows from his comrades and told them to run as fast as possible and not to mind him, as he apprehended no danger. " He then stopped and turned about and faced the enemy and began to let fly his arrows. This checked their course and they returned the compliment with interest, but he says it was nothing, but only long shot, and only a chance arrow could have hurt him. " They had nearly lost their strength when they drew near him. His own stock was soon expended, but he lost no time in gathering up those of the enemy which fell near him. Seeing his friends at some distance ahead, and the Sioux mov- ing to surround him, he turued about and ran away to join his comrades, the Sioux hard after him. Beardash again stopped, faced them and with his bow and arrow kept them at bay until his friends got away a considerable distance, when he again ran off to join them. Thus did he continue to maneuvre and keep them at bay, until a spot of strong woods was reached, and the Sioux did no longer follow." A portrait of the Chief Sucrie appears in McKenney & Hall's North American Indians, and it is there stated that his singular son was killed while on a war expedition. " January 7. My two men returned from Red Lake, having got safely through with the horses in eight days. They were forwarded immediately to Rainy Lake. * * * "17th. We had a terrible snow storm. I can now, daily count from the top of my oak tree, from twenty to thirty 880 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. BUFFALO ABUNDANT. herds of buffalo feeding out on the plains. It is surprising how the cow buffalo resist the cold, piercing north winds which at times blow with such violence over these bleak plains, which causes such a drift that it is impossibte to face it for any time. Still these animals will stand grazing in the open field. " February 20th, * * * A party of Red Lake Indians and a considerable number of Saulteux, are decamping for Red Lake, to prepare for sugar season, which generally commences about the latter end of March. * * * "April 1st, Wednesday. The river clear of ice, but the drowned buffalo continue to drift down by entire herds. Sev- eral of them were lodged upon the banks of the river near the fort. The Indian women have cut up some of the fattest for their own use. The flesh appears to be fresh and good. It really is astonishing what vast quantities must have perished, as they form one continual line in the middle of the river for two days aud two nights." On the 4th of May, 1801, Mr. Henry began his voyage down to Grand Portage on Lake Superior with the winter's hunt, and that day sent off three canoes, with forty-five packs of ninety pounds each. On the 15th he planted a garden on the north side of the Pambian (Pembina) River, where he estab- lished a new post, at a point between the stream and the Red River, and slept that night in the old fort on the south side- On the 29th he proceeded on his journey, leaving M. Langlois as trader, Desmarrais in charge of the garden and horses, Le Diec, Raimville and others in constructing a new post here* He did not return to Pembina until September. The extracts from his journal are contiuued: "On the 15th of September, I arrived at the Pambian River, and found everything in order at my camp, and sixty Saulteux camped. My canoes arrived some time before, and the Indians anxiously awaited my arrival to taste the new milk which they generally call rum. FIRST RED RIVER CART. 881 INTENTION OF RED RIVER CARTS. " September 20. We now have a sort of cart which facili- tates our transportation very much. They are about four feet high and perfectly straight, the spokes being placed perpen- dicular without the least leaning outwards, and only four in each wheel; these carts will convey about five pieces and each drawn by one horse. * * * 11 October 27. Sucrie and ten other Indians from Leech Lake, Connoyer of X. Y., started off to build near M, Langlois. CHEAP LABOR. 14 November 26. One of my men who was much in debt to the Compan3 r offered me his services as long as he could per- form any duty, on condition that I would clothe, and allow him to take a woman he had fallen in love with. As for him- self he wished nothing but dressed leather to make shirts, capote and trousers all the year round, and a small quantity of tobacco. He is a stout, able young man. This proposal did not much surprise me, having seen others of these people as foolish as he, who would not hesitate in signing an agree- ment of perpetual bondage on condition of our permitting them to have an Indian woman who struck their fancy. "Neither of my neighbors have a horse. All their trans- portation is on the men's backs. The Hudson Bay Company people started to build at the Grand Passage on the Pambian River. I sent off to the Hair Hills for white earth to white- wash my houses, there being none nearer to the Red River. * * * "May 5, 1802. — I sent M. Cadotte with a man for Riviere aux isle de bois, with one of our new carts. This invention is worth four horses to us, as it would require five horses to briug as much on their backs as one horse will bring in one of these carts. * * * * INVITATION DECLINED. " May 12. — Beau Pere [an Indian] was anxious I should take his second daughter, saying one woman was not suffi- cient for a chief ; that all great men should have a plurality 56 HISTOKY OF MINNESOTA. of wives, the more the better ; provided, they were all of the same family. In this he had given me a striking example, as he had three sisters at that time. * * * * May 21. — Mr. Cameron arrived from Red Lake with a cargo of sugar. June 7. — There arrived twenty Indian canoes from Red Lake with furs and sugar. ''During this month he made his usual visit to Lake Supe- rior, and on the 3d of July arrived at Kamanistiquia, and found two sail vessels, the Otter and the Invincible, unload- ing supplies which they had brought for Sault St. Marie, and brick kilns burning, in charge of R. McKenzie, for the erec- tion of the new post, Fort William in compliment to William McGillivray. On the 29th day of July, 1802, he began the return voyage with eight canoes, each containing twenty- six pieces, by way of the Grand Portage, and arrived, on the 27th of August, at Pembina. In his journal he writes: "August 27. — Early in the morning we arrived at Pambian River, myself very unwell, scarcely able to keep my saddle; found my house nearly finished. Sixty Indians camped at the fort waiting my arrival. Buffalo in abundance. October 1. — Mr. Cameron off with a boat in pursuit of X Y Duchaene. * * * October 3. — M. Langlois started for Hair Hills. THE FIRST RED RIVER CART TRAIN, A. D. 1802. " This caravan demands notice to exhibit the vast difference it makes in a place where horses are introduced. It is true they are useful animals, but if we had but one in the North- west we should have less laziness, for men would not be burdened with families, and so much given to indolence and insolence. * * * * But let us now take a view of the bustle and noise which attends the present transportation of five pieces of goods. The men were up at the break of day, and their horses tackled long before sunrise, but they were not in readiness to move before 10 o'clock, when I had the curiosity to climb up to the top of my house to examine the movements and observe the order of march. Anthony Payet, guide, and second in command, leads off. RED RIVER TRAIN. 883 with a cart drawn by two horses, and loaded with his own private baggage, casse-tetes, bags and kettles. Madame Payet follows the cart with a child one year old on her back, any very merry. C. Bottineau, with two horses and a cart loaded with one and a half packs, his own baggage, two young children, with kettles and other trash hanging to his cart. Madame Bottineau with a young squalling child on her back, with she scolding it and tossing it about. Joseph Dubord goes on foot, with his long pipestem and calumet in his hand. Madame Dubord follows her husband, carrying his tobacco pouch. Anthony Thelliere, with a cart and two horses loaded with one and a half packs of goods and Dubord's baggage. Anthony La Point, with another cart and two horses loaded with two pieces of goods and baggage belonging to Brisbois, Jessemin and Poulliote, and a kettle suspended on each side. Mr. Jessemin goes next to Brisbois with gun, and pipe in his mouth, puffing out clouds of smoke. Mr. Poulliote, the greatest smoker in the Northwest, has nothing but pipes and pouch. These three fellows, having taken the farewell dram and lighting fresh pipes, go on, brisk and merry, playing numerous pranks. Dom. Livermore, with a young mare, the property of M. Langlois, loaded with weeds for smoking, and an old Indian bag, Madame's property, and some squashes and potatoes, and a small keg of fresh water and two young whelps. Next comes the young horse of Livermore, drawing a tra- ville with his baggage, and a large worsted mashqueucate belonging to Madame Langlois. Next appears Madame Cameron's young mare, kicking and roaring and , hauling a traville which was loaded with a bag of flour and some cabbage, turnips, onions, a small keg of water and a large bottle of broth. M. Langlois, who is master of the band, now comes, lead- ing a horse that draws a traville nicely covered with a new painted tent, under which is lying his daughter and Mrs. 884 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Cameron extended full length, and very sick. This covering or canopy has a pretty effect. Madame Langlois now brings up the rear, following the tra- ville with a slow step and melancholy air, attending to the wants of her daughter, who, notwithstanding her sickness, can find no other terms for expressing her gratitude to her parents than by calling them dogs, fools and beasts. The rear guard consisted of a long train of dogs, twenty in number. The whole forms a string nearly a mile long, and appears like a large band of Assineboines." Three days after the departure from Pembina, two men returned with the dead body of Mrs, Cameron, who died on the 5th of October at the Grand Passage, and on the 9th she was buried at the post. PRODUCTS OF POST GARDEN. "October 16. Hesse arrived in a small canoe from Red Lake. 18th. * * * Note of my vegetables gathered from the post garden, 300 head cabbages, 8 bushels carrots, 16 bushels of onions, 10 of turnips, and some beets and parsnips. 20th. I took in my potatoes, 420 bushels from 7 bushels of seed. The circumference of one onion was 22 inches, of a car- rot 18 inches long, and the upper end 14 inches in circum- ference. A turnip with the leaves weighs 25 pounds, and 15 without. A MARE FOR A WIFE. u Livermo;s exchanged his mare for a young wife about eight years of age. This is a common circumstance in the North- West to give a horse for a woman. Caravan below at Riviere aux Marais near Park River. a trader's death. "December 24, 1803. — I set out early with horse and carriole, Lambert also in the same manner, on a visit to Mr. Cotton at the Riverie aux Liards with the Riviere Lac Rouge [Red Lake J, that establishment being under my direction. I arrived at Mr. Cotton's; he was unwell. I asked him to give me a guide, but he prefers to accompany me, having already been there. DEATH OF TRADER CAMERON. 885 27th. At Cotton's house. X. Y. Stit opposes him, the most filthy house and wife I ever saw having gone out to see him- Settled with two men to pass the summer at Red Lake and build a fort. 29th. Cameron too sick to leave. He cried when I bid him good-hye. . 31st. Returned to River aux Marais. January 1, 1804. — Sunday. — We kept but a gloomy and dull New Year. I gave charge of the place to Cadotte until Mr. Cameron returned. 2nd. Before daybreak I set off with my horse and carriole. Arrived at my fort at 4 o'clock. 6th. Le Grace arrived from Riviere aux Liards with news of Mr. Cameron's death. He expired on the 3d instant at 7 p. m. while sitting on a stool. He suddenly fell on his face upon the floor and died instantly, without uttering a word. 7th. Long before day I was off on the way to the Little River aux Marais, and was obliged to walk and run to prevent being frozen to death. At 2 o'clock I got there. 8th. I despatched three men with a train and six dogs, for the corpse. * * * 10th. We arrived at Park River with the corpse stretched out in a train and wrapped up in a R. S. tent, and two parch- ment skins. They had attempted to bring it in a coffin, but it was too broad for a train. 'This was a melancholy day for us all, and cast a gloom throughout the fort. M. Langlois had just arrived from his place, and was just sitting down to his dinner when the corpse was announced. What a sudden change! Only a few da}\s ago he was merry and cheerful, and as we were riding along, cracking his jokes. Little did we believe he was near his end, and now he lies stretched out, a corpse of solid ice. Poor fel- low! he was a good natured, inoffensive and sober young man. 16th. Having a coffin made we buried him by the side of his deceased wife. * * * "February 22d. 1801. 1 sent off Mr. Hesse and wife for Red Lake, to bring down sugar and bark. * * * 886 . HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. A DRUNKEN FIGHT. "May 6th. Engaged my men; settled their accounts, giving them a treat of high wines. They were soon merry, then quarreled and fought. I saw four battles at the same moment, and soon after nothing was to be seen but bloody noses, black eyes, bruised faces, and torn sacks. He then proceeded on his annual trip to Lake Superior, and meeting W. McKay the arrived on the 25th of June, 1804, at Kamanistiguia. Upon his return he wrote, under date of JOSEPH RAINVILLE. "August 19th. I arrived at the forks, and heard of the death of Venant St. Germain at the Pembina River, where he was shot by Joseph RainviHe in July last. It was entirely an ac- cident, and happened in the following manner: A TRADER ACCIDENTALLY SHOT. I had left the deceased to pass the summer at Portage les Prairie. He was on a visit to Pembina River, and one day, while there, he was fixing his saddle, and for that purpose, climbed up into a sort of half garret that was made over the men's bed-rooms in the Indians 1 nail, and was searching for some necessary material, when, just as he was in the act of coming down, Rainville came in. They had been much given to play and joke with each other, and Rainville said, "If I were to bring your carcass down, like a bear, upon the floor. 11 The other retorted jocularly. Rainville was a miserable marksman, and he took down an old gun that belonged to him, and was then hanging in the room, where it had been since last winter, and taking aim, pulled the trigger, when, to his great astonishment, the gun went off, and the ball entered the left side of St. Germain, below the ribs, and came out on the right side under the arm. He came down very composedly saying, " You have killed me," and expired in about four hours. This young man was an apprentice clerk to the North - West Company, and the son of Joseph St. Germain of Isle of Jesus, near Montreal. 11 A SHARP CONFLICT. 887 BATTLE BETWEEN SIOUX AND CHIPPEWAYS. Early in August, 1805, upon his return from his annual voyage to Lake Superior, he heard of a conflict between the Sioux and Chippeways. He writes in his journal: " I received the unwelcome news of the Scieux having fallen upon a small camp of our Indians at Tongue River, not many miles from the fort, on the 3d of July. Fourteen persons, men, women and children, were killed or taken prisoners. My beau pere was the first man that fell. He had climbed up a tree to look out if the buffalo was near, about 8 o'clock in the morning. He had no sooner reached the top of the tree when the two Scieux who lay near, each discharged their guns, and the balls passed through his body. He had only time to call out to his family who were in the tent, about one hundred paces from him, ' Save yourselves, the Scieux are killing us/ and fell dead to the ground. "The noise brought the Indians out of their tents, and perceiving their danger, ran through the open plains toward an open island of wood, in Tongue Riyer, about a mile dis- tant. They had not gone more than one-fourth of a mile, when they saw the main party on horseback, crossing the Tongue River, and in a few moments they began to fire. The four men, by their expert manoeuvres and incessant fire, kept them in awe until they were two hundred paces from the woods, when the enemy, perceiving their prey ready to escape, surrounded and rushed upon them. k, Three of the Saulteux fled in a different direction; one escaped, but the other two were killed. He that remained to protect the women and children was a brave fellow, Angue- mance. or Little Chief. When the enemy was rushing upon them, he waited very deliberately, when he aimed at one com- ing full speed, and knocked him from his horse. Three young girls and one boy were taken prisoners, and the rest were all murdered and cut up in the most horrible manner. Several women and children had made their escape to the woods. The enemy chased them, but the willows were so thick they were saved. A boy of about twelve years of age savs that a SHpux. bpins: in pursuit of him, he crossed into a HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. low, hidden place, under a bunch of willows, and the horse- man leaped over without perceiving him. a mother's devotion to a child. "One of the little girls tells a pitiful story of her mother who was killed. She says that her mother haying two chil- dren who could not walk fast enough, had taken one upon her back and prevailed upon her sister to carry the other, but when they got near the woods, the enemy rushing upon them and yelling, the young woman was so frightened that she threw down the child, and soon overtook the mother, who, observing the child was missing, and hearing it screaming* kissed the little daughter, who tells the story, and said: "As for me, I will return for j 7 our younger sister and rescue her, or die in the attempt; take courage, run fast, my daughter." "Poor woman! She rescued the chiid and was running off, when she was arrested by a blow with a war-club. She fell to the ground, but drew her knife and plunged it into the neck of her murderer; others coming up, she was soon des- patched. Thus my belle mere ended her days. a visit to the battlefield. "The survivors having reached the fort, my people went out the next day to the field. A horrid spectacle! My beau pere had his head severed from his body, even with the shoulders; his right arm cut off, his left foot, also his right leg from the knee stripped of the skin. The bodies of the women and children all lay within a few yards of each other. Angue- mance lay near his wife. The enemy had raised his scalp, cut the flesh from the bone, and broke away the skull to make a water dish. Only the trunk remained, with the belly and breast ripped up and thrown over the face. [Delicacy pre- vents the printing of a portion of the description.] "His wife also was cut up and butchered in a shocking man- ner, and her young children had been cut up and thrown about in different directions. All the bodies were covered with arrows sticking in them, many old knives, two or three broken guns, and some war-clubs. "On my arrival home all was grief. * * * The next day 1 went out with M. Langlois to view the battlefield. * * A SAD DUTY. 889 I gathered up the bones of my belle mere in a handkerchief. We followed the Scieux road until we came to a place where they had stopped. We found their camp very extensive, and by the number of small pointed sticks we judge the party to have consisted of three hundred men and a great number of horses. I remained at the Pambian River until the 10th of August. NEWS OF LIEUTENANT PIKE, U. S. A. "January 13, 1806. Contoquoince arrived from afar, and in- formed us that the Americans have landed at Leech Lake a party of soldiers, but he did not know the particulars. Pish- anobay pushed on his way to Otter Tail Lake. "March 13. Koille and Descarros arrived from Leech Lake with letters from Hugh McGillis, informing us of a party of American soldiers having arrived at his place in February last* commanded by Lieut. Pike. Their headquarters was at Du Corbeau, and their errand was to oblige us to pay the usual duties at Mackinaw. April 11. L. Hiver hamstrung his young wife to prevent her gossipping about. The rascal cut both tendons of the heel with a knife. May 23. William Henry [a brother] arrived from Leech Lake with a cargo of sugar. 18th. Red Lake band arrived. Le Grande Noir and his son- in-law, who killed one oi our men at Red Lake last spring, is an American named Hughs." VISIT TO THE MANDANS. In July, 1806, Alexander Henry and his brother William with two men and a horse, left Pembina for the Missouri. A Mr. Darwin was found at Lake Platz. Passing old Fort de Tremple, he crossed the Assinnibone River and at length reached the Missouri and visited a Mandan village where earthen pots were made from black clay, and buffalo shoulder blades served as hoes. HOUSES LIKE MOLEHILLS. Eight hundred huts built of mud looked like molehills From the Mandans he went to Gros Ventres. He was fifteen 890 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. days in returning to Pembina. After this he was sent to the Athabasca district and for a time traveled with the geographei David Thompson. ON THE PACIFIC COAST. Franchere in his "Narrative" mentions that on the 15th oi November, 1813, Alexander Stuart and Alexander Henry, both parties of the North- West Company, arrived at Astoria on the Columbia, with two bark canoes manned by sixteen voyageurs, and that he had left the extremity ot Lake Superior in the middle of July. They brought Canadian papers with the news that war had been declared. On the 7th of Febru- ary, 1814, Franchere went to the establishment in charge of Alex. Henry on the Willamette River. It is said Mr. Henry was afterwards drowned in the waters of the Columbia. APPENDIX L. PAGE 321. EARLY DAYS IN AND AROUND FORT SNELLING. On Wednesday, the last day of June, 1819, Col. Leaven- worth and troops arrived from Green Bay, at Prairie du Chien. Scarcely had they reached this point when Charlotte Seymour, the wife of Lieut. Nathan Clark , a native of Hart- ford, Ct., gave birth to a daughter, whose first baptismal name was Charlotte, after her mother, and the second, Ouis- consin, given by the officers in view of the fact that she was born at the junction of that stream with the Mississippi. In time, Charlotte Ouisconsin married a young Lieutenant, a native of Princeton, New Jersey, and a graduate of West Point, and still resides with her husband, General H. P. Van Cleve, in the City of Minneapolis, living to do good as she has opportunity. In June, under instructions from the War Department, Major Thomas Forsyth, connected with the office of Indian Affairs, left St. Louis with two thousand dollars worth of goods to be distributed among the Sioux Indians, in accord- ance with the agreement of 1805, referred to on page 244, with the late General Pike. TROOPS ARRIVE AT MESTDOTA. 891 About nine o'clock of the morning of the fifth of July, he joined Leavenworth and his command, at Prairie du Chien. Some time was occupied awaiting the arrival of ord- nance, provisions and recruits, but on Sunday morning, the eighth of August, about eight o'clock, the expedition set out for the point now known as Mendota. The flotilla was quite imposing; there were the Colonel's barge, fourteen batteaux with ninety-eight soldiers and officers, two large keel or Mackinaw boats, filled with various stores, and Forsyth's keel boat, containing goods and presents for the Indians. On the twenty- third of August, Forsyth reached the mouth of the Minnesota with his boat, and the next morning Col. Leaven_ worth arrived, and selecting a place at Mendota, near the present railroad bridge, he ordered the soldiers to cut down trees and make a clearing. On the next Saturday Col. Leav- enworth, Major Yose, Surgeon Purcell, Lieutenant Clarke, and the wife of Captain Gooding, visited the Falls of Saint Anthony with Forsyth, in the keel boat of the last. Early in September two more boats and a batteaux, with officers and one hundred and twenty recruits, arrived, FIRST SCHOOLMASTER. The first schoolmaster of the post was John Marsh. He is said to have been a college graduate, and accompanied the first troops to the mouth of the Minnesota River. In time he became a trader's clerk, and afterward a sub Indian agenti and justice of the peace for Crawford County, Minnesota. In 1832. during the Black Hawk War, he ascended the Missis- sipi and secured the services of about eighty Sioux, and accompanied them, as interpreter, to the army of General Atkinson, but they soon returned. EVENTS OF 1820. The relations between Colonel Leavenworth and the Indian Agent Taliaferro were not entirely harmonious, growing out of a disagree xent of views relative to the treatment of the Indians, and on the day of the arrival of Governor Cass, in July, 1820, Taliaferro wrote to Leavenworth: " As it is now understood that I am agent for Indian affairs in this country, and you are about to leave the upper Missis- 892 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. sippi, in all probability in the course of a month or two, [ beg leave to suggest, for the sake of a general understanding with the Indian tribes of this country, that any medals, you may possess, by being turned over to me, ceases to be a topic of remark among the different Indian tribes under my direc tion. I will pass to you any voucher that may be required, and I beg leave to observe that my progress in influence is much injured in consequence of this frequent intercourse with the government." In a few days, the disastrous effect of Indians mingling with the soldiers was exhibited. On the 3d of August the agent wrote to Leavenworth: " His Excellency, Governor Cass, during a visit to this post remarked to me that the Indians in this quarter were spoiled, and at the same time said they should not be permitted to en- ter the camp. An unpleasant affair has lately taken place; I mean the stabbing of the old chief Mahgossan by his com- rade. This was caused, doubtless, by an anxiety to obtain the chief's whiskey, I beg, therefore, that no whiskey whatever be given to any Indians, unless it be through their proper agent. While an overplus of whiskey thwarts the beneficent and humane policy of the government, it entoils misery upon the Indians, and endangers their lives." A few days after this note was written Josiah Snelling, re- cently promoted to the Colonelcy of the Fifth Regiment, ar- rived with his family, relieved Leavenworth, and infused new life and energy. A little while before his arrival, the daughter of Captain Gooding was married to Lieutenant Green, the Adjutant of the regiment, the first marriage of white persons in Minnesota. Mrs. Snelling, a few days after her arrival, gave birth to a daughter, the first white child born in Minne- sota, and after a brief existence of thirteen months, she died and was the first interred in the military grave yard, and the stone which marks its resting place is visible. The earliest manuscript in Minnesota, written at the Can- tonment, is dated 4, 1820, and is in the handwriting of Colonel Snelling. It reads: u In justice to Lawrence Taliaferro, Esq., Indian Agent at this post, we, the undersigned officers of the Fifth Regiment here stationed, have presented him this paper BUILDING OF THE FORT. 893 as a token, not only of our individual respect and esteem, but as an entire approval of his conduct and deportment as a pub- lic agent in this quarter. Given at St. Peter this 4th day of October, 1820. J. Spelling, Col. 5th Inf. N. Clark, Lieutenant. S. Burbank, Br. Major. Jos. Hare, Lieutenant. David Perry, Captain. Ed. Purcell, Surgeon. D. Gooding, Br. Captain. P. R. Green", Lt. and Adjt. J. Plympton, Lieutenant. W. G. Camp, Lt. and Q. M. R. A. McCabe, Lieut. H. Wilkins. Lieutenant." During the summer of 1820, a party of the Sisseton Sioux killed on the Missouri, lsadore Poupon, a half-breed, and Joseph Andrews, a Canadian engaged in the fur trade. The Indian Agent, through Colin Campbell, as interpreter, notified the Sissetons that trade would cease with them, until the murderers were delivered. At a council held at Big Stone Lake, one of the murderers, and the aged father of another, agreed to surrender themselves to the commanding officer. On the three hundred and twenty-ninth page is an account of the delivery of the hostages at the fort. Col. Snelling built the fort in the shape of a lozenge, in view of the projection between the two wings. The first row of barracks was ©f hewn logs, obtained from the pine forests of Rum River, but the other buildings were of stone. Mrs. Van Cleve, the daughter of Lieutenant, afterwards Cap- tain Clark, writes: "In 1821 the fort, although not complete, was fit for occu- pancy. My father had assigned to him the quarters next beyond the steps leading to the Commissary's stores, and during the year my little sister Juliet was born there. At a later period my father and Major Garland obtained permission to build more commodious quarters outside the walls, and the result was the two stone houses afterward occupied by the Indian Agent and interpreter, lately destroyed. 1 ' Early in August, a young and intelligent mixed blood, Alexis Bailly, in after years a member of the legislature of Minnesota, left the cantonment with the first drove of cattle for the Selkirk Settlement, and the next winter returned 894 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. with Col. Robert Dickso* and Messrs. Laidlow and Macken- zie. The next month a party of Sissetoans visited the Indian Agent, and told him that they had started with another of the murderers, to which reference has been made, but that on the way he had, through fear of being hung, killed himself. This fall a mill was constructed for the use of the garrison on the west side of St. Anthony Falls, under the supervision of Lieut. McCabe. During the fall, George Gooding, Captain by brevet, resigned, and became Sutler at Prairie du Chien. He was a native of Massachusetts, and entered the army as ensign in 1808. In 1810 he became a Second Lieutenant, and the next year was wounded at Tippecanoe. In the middle of October, there embarked on the keel-boat *' Saucy Jack," for Prairie du Chien, Col. Snelling, Lieut. Baxley, M^jor Taliaferro, and Mre. Gooding. Early in January, 1882, there came to the Fort from the Red River of the North, Col. Robert Dickson, Laidlow, a Scotch farmer, the superintendent of Lord Selkirk's experi- mental farm, and one Mackenzie, on their way to Prairie du Chien, Dickson returned with a drove of cattle, but owing to the hostility of the Sieux his cattle were scattered, and never reached Pembina. During the winter of 1823, Agent Taliaferro was in Wash- ington. While returning in March, he was at a hotel in Pittsburg, when he received a note signed G. C. Beltrami, who was an Italian exile, asking permission to accompany him to the Indian Territory. He was tall and commanding in appearance, and gentlemanly in bearing, and Taliaferro was so forcibly impressed as to accede to the request. After reaching Saint Louis they embarked on the first steamboat for the upper Mississippi, an account of whose arrival is on the 336th page. FIRST FLOUR MILL. The mill which was constructed in 1821, for sawing lum- ber, at the Falls of Saint Anthony, stood upon the site of the Holmes and Sidle Mill, iu Minneapolis, and in 1823 was fitted up for grinding flour. The following extracts from corre- MILL AT ST. ANTHONY FALLS. S95 spondence addressed to Lieut. Clark, Commissary at Fort Snelling, will be read with interest: Under the date of August 5th, 1823, General Gibson writes: "From a letter addressed by Col. Snelling to the Quarter- master General, dated the 2d of April, I learned that a large quantity of wheat would be raised this summer. The Assist- ant Commissary of Subsistence at Saint Louis has been in- structed to forward sickles and a pair of millstones to Saint Peters. If any flour is manufactured from the wheat raised, be pleased to let me know as early as practicable, that I may deduct the quantity manufactured at the post from the quan- tity advertised to be contracted for." In another letter General Gibson writes : " Below you will find the amount charged on the books against the garrison of Fort Saint Anthony, for certain articles, and forwarded for the use of the troops at that post, which you will deduct from the payments to be made for flour raised and turned over to you for issue: One pair buhr millstones $250 11 387 pounds plaster of paris 20 22 Two dozen sickles 18 00 Total $288 33 Upon the 19th of January, 1824, the General writes: ' k The mode suggested by Col. Snelling, of fixing the price to be paid the troops for the flour furnished by them is deemed equitable and just. You will accordingly pay for the flour $3.33 per barrel." Charlotte Ouisconsin Van Cleve, now the oldest person living in Minnesota who was connected with the cantonment in 1819, in a paper read before the Department of American History of the Minnesota Historical Society in January, 1880, wrote: FIRST SUNDAY SCHOOL. "In 1823, Mrs. Snelling and my mother established the first Sunday School in the Northwest. It was held in the basement of the commanding officer's quarters, and was pro- ductive of much good. Many of the soldiers, with their fara- 896 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA, ilies attended. Joe Brown since so well known in this coun- try, then a drummer boy, was one of the pupils. A Bible class, for the officers and their wives, was formed, and all became so interested in the history of the patriarchs, that it furnished topics of conversation for the week. One day after Sunday School lesson on the death of Moses, a member of the class meeting my mother on parade, after exchanging the usual greetings, said, in saddened tones, 4 But don't you feel sorry that Moses is dead?" After the Indian Agency had been established near the fort no person could trade with the Indians without a license from the agent. The licensed traders among the Sioux in 1823 were Philander Prescott, Duncan Campbell, Ezekiel Lock- wood, Alexander Faribault, Daniel M. Wright, and Joseph Snelling, known in literature as William Joseph Snelling. In the year 1823, Lieut. Alexander with fourteen soldiers went by land to Prairie du Chien and blazed the trees on their route. FORT ST. ANTHONY CHANGED TO FORT SNELLING. In the year 1824 the Fort was visited by Gen. Scott on a tour of inspection, and at his suggestion the name was changed from Fort St. Anthony to Fort Snelling. The following is an extract of his report to the War Department: " This work, of which the War Department is in possession of a plan, reflects the highest credit on Col. Snelling. his offi- cers and men. The defenses, and for the most part, the public storehouses, shops and quarters being constructed of stone, the whole is likely to endure as long as the post shall remain a frontier one. The cost of erection to the government has been the amount paid for tools and iron, and the per diem paid to soldiers employed as mechanics. I wish to suggest to the General-in-Chief, and through him to the War Department, the propriety of calling this work Fort Snelling, as a just compliment to the meritorious officer under whom it has been erected. The present name, [Fort St. Anthony], is foreign to all our associations, and is, besides, geographically incorrect, as the work stands at the junction of the Mississippi aand St. Peter's [ Minnesota] Rivers, eight miles below the great falls of the Mississippi, called after St. Anthony." SIOUX GO TO WASHINGTON. b\)'l In 1824. Major Taliaferro proceeded to Washington with a delegation of Chippeways and Dahkotahs headed by Li fie Crow, the grandfather of the chief of the same name, who was engaged in the late horrible massacre of defenseless wo- men and children. The object of the visit was to secure a convocation of all the tribes of the Upper Mississippi, at' Prairie da Chien, to define their boundary lines and establish friendly relations. When they reached Prairie du Chien, Wahnatah, a Yankton Chief, and also Wapashaw, by the whisperings of mean traders, became disaffected, and wished to turn back. Little Crow, perceiving this, stopped all hesi- itancy by the following speech: "My friends, you can do as you please. I am no coward, nor can my ears be pulled about by evil councils. We are here and should go on, and do some good for our nation. I have taken our Father here (Talia- ferro) by the coat tail, and will follow him until I take by the hand our great American Father." While on board of a steamer on the Ohio River, Marcpee, or the Cloud, in consequence of a bad dream, jumped from the stern of the boat, and was supposed to be drowned, but he swam ashore and made his way to Saint Charles, Mo., there to be murdered by some Sacs. The remainder safely arrived in Washington and accomplished the object of the visit. The Dahkotahs returned by way of New York, and while there weie anxious to pay a visit to certain parties with Wm. Dickson, a half-breed son of Col. Robert Dickson, the trader, who in the war of 1812-15 led the Indians of the Northwest against the United States. After this visit Little Crow carried a new double-barreled gun, and said that a medicine man by the name of Peters gave it to him for signing a certain paper, and that he also promised he would send a keel boat full of goods to them. The medicine man referred to was the Rev. Samuel Peters, an Episcopal clergyman, who had made himself obnoxious dur- ing the Revolution by his tory sentiments, and was subse- quently nominated as Bishop of Vermont. Peters asserted that in 1806 he had purchased of the heirs of Jonathan Carver the right to a tract of land on the Upper 57 898 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. Mississippi, embracing Saint Paul, alleged to have been given in 1767 to Carver by the Dahkotahs. The next year there arrived in one of the keel boats from Prairie du Chien, a box marked Col. Robert Dickson. On opening, it was found to contain a few presents from Peters to Dickson's Indian wife, a long letter, and a copy of Carver's alleged grant, written on parchment. The first U. S. officer who died at Fort Snelling was Edward Purcell of Virginia. He entered the service in 1813, as Surgeon's Mate, and in July, 1818, became Surgeon, and on the 11th of January, 1825, passed away. As early as the 8th of April, 1825, the steamboat Rufus Putnam reached the Fort. Four weeks later she arrived again, with goods for the Columbia Fur Company, and pro- ceeded up the Minnesota a short distance, to the trading post known as Land's end. This year was also noted for the convocation of the Indian tribes at Prairie du Chien. After the council was ended, Agent Taliaferro and delegation left in the Mackinaw boats, guided by eighteen voyagers. Great sickness prevailed among the Indians on the voyage. Before Lake Pepin was reached, a Sisseton Chief died. At Little Crow's village, then on the east side of the Mississippi, near Red Rock, the sickness had so increased that it was necessary to leave one of the boats, and on the 30th of August the party reached Fort Snelling. The Agent appointed Mr. Laidlow to conduct the Upper Minnesota Indians to their homes, but twelve died on the way. LIEUT. COL. WILL0TTGHBY MORGAN. In the fall of 1825, Col. Snelling obtained a furlough, and during his absence a Virginian, Lieut. Col. Willoughby Mor- gan, was in command and was much respected. Upon his departure, the following correspondence took place: Fort Snelling, (Upper Mississippi) Dec. 28, 1825. Sir: — We, officers of this post, on your departure from among us, ol testifying our respect for your character, and our entire satisfaction of your conduct while in command. We have witnessed with much satisfaction the renewal of LT. COL. MORGAN COMPLIMENTED. #\)y military discipline, when it had lor a long time been obliged to yield to laborious duty on the public works. We have seen you constantly and zealously laboring for the improvement of your command, uniting the urbanity of a gentleman with the discipline of the soldier. We tender to you on this occasion our sincere wishes for your prosperity and happiness. Major T. Hamilton. Capt. J. Plympton. Capt. D. Wilcox. Capt. N. Clark. Lieut. J. B. Russel. Adjt. P. R. Green. Lieut, A. Johnson. Surgeon B. F. Harney. Ass't. Surgeon R. Wood. Lieut. J. M. Baxley. Lieut. D. Hunter. Lieut. St. C. Denny. Lieut. W. Alexander. Lieut. D. W. Allanson. Lieut. Col. W. Morgan, oth Infantry. Gentlemen: — I have the pleasure to acknowledge the re- ceipt of your note of this date enclosing an address from the officers of this post, in which they have done me the nonor to express it in the most obliging terms, the very favorable view they have taken of the course of my command, during the absence of the Colonel of the Regiment. I esteem myself extremely happy in having been able to secure the approbation of the officers of this post, more es- pecially as I am sensible that I have sought their approbation in no other way than by the faithful discharge of my duty, the only way indeed in which the approbation of the very respectable and very inteligent officers of this post could have been obtained. Permit me to ask you that you will tender to them my sin- cere thanks, not only for the very polite address, but for the 900 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. many civilities I have received from them during the short period of my command at this post. I experience much pleasure in being able to congratulate the officers in the return of the chief of the regiment after whom this beautiful post has been named by the Government To him is due the chief merit of everything which has been accomplished here. For myself, I am very sensible that I have few claims beyond these, which may be thought due to every officer who has faithfully discharged his duties. Reciprocating with utmost sincerity the kind wishes of the officers for my health and prosperity, I have the honor to be gentlemen, with unfeigned esteem and respect, Your obedient servant, W. Morgan, Lieut. Col. To Dr. B. F. Harney, Capt. J. Plympton, Lieut. St. C. Denny EVENTS OF 1826. During the months of February and March, 1826, snow fell to the depth of two or three feet, and there was great suffering among the Indians. On one occasion, thirty lodges of Sisseton and other Sioux were overtaken by a storm which continued for several days, and the provisions were almost exhausted. The stronger men, with a few pairs of snow shoes, started for a trading post, one hundred miles distant, which they reached nearly dead. Four Canadians were sent with supplies, and found the living feeding upon the corpses of their companions. A mother had eaten her dead child, and a portion of her father's arms. The shock to her nervous system was so great that she remained partially insane. Her name was Tashunota, and she was quite good looking. One day in September, 1829, while at Fort Snelling, taking him by the coat, she asked Captain Jouett if he knew which was the best portion of a human being to eat. Astonished, he re- plied : " No/' She then told him: " The arms," and asked for a piece of his servant maid, as she was nice and fat. A few days after this she dashed herself from the bluffs near Fort Snelling, into the river, and was drowned. IHIHAVS ATTACK KEEL BOAIS. 901 In August. 1826, owing to the threats of Indians, Col. Snel- ling sent troops to re-inforce Fort Crawford, at Prairie du Chien, and Capt. Wilcox was placed in command. On the 12th of June, 1S27, the keel boats " General Ashley " and i% 0. H. Perry" left Prairie du Chien, bound for Fort Snelling, with supplies. Allen F. Lindsey was in command of the "Ashley," and Joseph Snelling was a passenger. The "Perry " was in charge of a man named Benjamin F. Thaw. When they approached Prairie la Crosse, a party of Win- nebagoes came to the "Ashley" in canoes, and were civilly treated. When the boats reached Wapashah's Tillage of Sioux, now the site ot the city of Winona, the Indians de- manded that they should land. They were not permitted to come on board the "Ashley," but about fifty, with their faces painted black, and streaks on their blankets, mounted the deck of the k> Perry," and reiused to shake hands. It was reported that an old Indian, named the Pine Shooter, went from lodge to lodge in the village, and urged the youug men to make an attack. As the crews of the boats were unarmed they were quite disturbed by these manifestations. When they were ready to return from the Fort, Col. Snel- ling furnished the boats with thirty guns, and a large keg of ball cartridges. In descending the river on the 27th of the month, the Winnebagoes came on board the "Ashley," and were kindly treated. They were of the party who had killed Gagnier, at Prairie du Chien, an account of which is given on the three hundred and ninety-fifth page. On f he 29th. the two boats again passed Wapashah's vil- lage, and were not molested. Daring the night the "Perry'' gained on the "Ashley." and the next day was several hours in advance. At -1 o'clock in the afternoon of this day, the 30th, when near the mouth of the Bad Axe River, the "Perry" was attacked by the Winnebagoes, and fought till near sunset, and two of the crew were killed and four wounded. At midnight the "Ashley" drifted past the Indian camp and was fired upon, without any serious result. Joseph Snel- ling returned to Prairie du Chien on this boat. In consequence of this attack, Colonel Snelling started in keel boats with four companies to Fort Crawford, and on the 902 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. 17th four more companies left under Major Fowle. After an absence of six weeks, the soldiers, without firing a gun at the enemy, returned. A lew weeks after the attack upon the provision boats Gen* Gaines inspected the Fort, and, subsequently in a communi- cation to the War Department wrote as follows: " The main points of defence against an enemy appear to have been in some respects sacrificed, in the effort to secure comfort and convenience of troops in peace. These are im- portant considerations, but on an exposed frontier the primary object ought to be security against the attack of an enemy. " The buildings are too large, too numerous, and extending over a space entirely too great, enclosing a large parade, five times greater than is at all desirable in that climate. The buildings for the most part seem well constructed, of good stone and other materials, and they contain every desirable convenience, comfort and security as barracks and store houses. " The work may be rendered very strong and adapted to a garrison of two hundred men by removing one-half the build- ings, and with the materials of which thev are constructed, building a tewer sufficiently high to command the hill be- tween the Mississippi and St. Peter's [Minnesota], and by a block house on the extreme point, or brow of the cliff, near the commandant's quarters, to secure most effectually the banks of the river, and the boats at the landing. " Much credit is due to Colonel Snelling, his officers and men, for their immense labors and excellent workmanship ex- hibited in the construction of these barracks and store houses, but this has been effected too much at the expense of the dis- cipline of the regiment.'" From reports made from 1823 to 1826, the health of the troops was good. In the year ending September 30, 1823, there were but two deaths; in 1824 only six. and in 1825 but seven. In 1823 there were three desertions, in 1824 twenty-two, and in 1825 twenty-nine. Most of the deserters were fresh recruits and natives of America. Ten of the deserters were foreigners; and five of these were born in Ireland. In 1826 DEATHS AND DESERTIONS. 903 there were eight companies numbering two hundred and four- teen soldiers quartered in the Fort. DEATH OF COLONEL SNELLING. During the fall of 1827 the Fifth Regiment was relieved by a part of the First, and the next year Colonel Snelling pro- ceeded to Washington on business, and on the 20th of August, 1828, died with inflammation of the brain. Major General Macomb announcing his death in an order, wrote: u Colonel Snelling joined the army in early youth. In the battle of Tippecanoe, he was distinguished for gallantry and good conduct. Subsequently and during the whole late war with Great Britain, from the battle of Brownstown to the termination of the contest, he was actively employed in the field, with crdit to himself, and honor to his country." EVENTS OF 1828. On the 15th of February, 1828, Alexis Bailly, the trader at New Hope, now deceased, applied for the establishment of a new post on the Cannon River. During the month of June, Samuel Gibson, a drover from Missouri, lost his way while bringing cattle to Fort Snelling, and he abandoned them near Lacqui Parle. The trader there, Joseph Renville, took charge of them, and sixty-four head were subsequently sold for $750 and the money forwarded to the unfortunate drover. One day this month, an old Sioux, named Mogoiya, visited the Fort and produced a Spanish commission dated A. D. 1781, and signed by Colonel Francisco Cruzat, military gover- nor of Louisiana, the valley of the Minnesota at that time having been a portion of the Spanish domain, subsequently ceded to France. On the 31st of August Jacob Falstrom brought up a mail from Prairie du Chien. He had a romantic career. Born in Sweden, at the age of nine years he became a cabin boy on a vessel which was wrecked on the English coast. At length friendless and penniless he found himself in London, where he happened to meet Lord Selkirk who treated him with kind- ne>>, and sent him to the Selkirk settlement, by way of Hud* 904 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. son's Bay and York River. In time he married the sister of Bonuga, a descendant of a negro from the West Indies, who c&me to Mackinaw in the last century with a British officer. For several years Falstrom remained on the military reserva- tion, and in the year 1838 he professed to be converted under the teachings of the Methodist missionaries at Red Rock. PROPOSED ORGANIZATION OF HURON TERRITORY. The first movement for an organized government in the valley of the Upper Mississippi was in 1828, when a number of citizens in the lead mines, near Galena, Illinois, memorial- ized Congress to organize Huron Territory with Galena for its capital. The limits indicated were the British possessions for a northern boundary, the Red River of the North, Lac Trav- erse, Big Stone Lake, and a line to the Missouri River, and thence easterly to the Mississippi; the southern boundary a line from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan westerly to the Mississippi; the eastern boundary through the center of Lake Michigan, across Michigan Territory to Lake Superior, comprising what is now Minnesota, Wisconsin, the north half of Iowa, and a portion of Northern Illinois. EVENTS OF 1829. The winter, spring and summer of 1829, were exceedingly dry. For ten months the average monthly fall of rain and snow was one inch. On Thursday, the 14th day of May, the steamboat Jose- phine, from St. Louis, reached the Stone Cave, (Carver's) when her machinery broke, but after a delay of several hours, at 10 o'clock in the night, reached the Fort, and among her passengers were Capt. Gale and family and a Polish Count. On the 1.6th of May the Indians engaged in a ball play for the gratification of the Count from Poland, and others, and then the steamboat returned to Saint Louis. The next day was Sunday, and, after a drought of more than forty days, rain fell. About forty of Red Wing's band, from the head of Lake Pepin, called upon the Agent, and said that since the death of their Chief, old Red Wing, they had not been able to DOG DANCE AT FORT SHELLING. 905 choose another. They were told to confer with each other and come to a decision. Upon Monday they announced that they had chosen Wahcouta, the step-son of the deceased Chief. On the 20th of May there was a peace dance by about one hundred relatives of the four Sioux, who had been delivered up to the Chippeways in 1827, and shot at Fort Snelling. The dance was to throw off their mourning, and they ate whatever was hung up on a stake. One uncooked dog was devoured, each dancer coming up and taking a bite. Seven days after, twenty-two bark canoes, filled with Chippeways, from Grull Lake, Sandy Lake, and Rum River arrived, and B. F. Baker, then trading at Gull Lake. On Sunday, the last day of May, the Sioux and Chippeways danced before the Agent's house. Then the Sioux went over to the Chippe- ways > camp, and danced before their lodges. To return the compliment, the next day, thirty or forty Chippeways went up to Black Dog's, the Sioux village, on the Minnesota, four miles from the Fort, and danced, and the next day they returned to their homes, having made an agreement by which they would hunt in peace upon the prairies above the Sauk River. On the 15th of June, Little Crow, who had been for years the Chief of the Kaposia band of Sioux, dwelling between Pig's 3Eye and Red Rock, and whose name was placed in 1805 on Pike's Treaty, visited the Fort, and thus addressed the Agent: LITTLE CROW'S SPEECH. "My Father! I rise to say but little to you to-day. Words reached me that we were wanted, but we did not know for what purpose, whether for good or bad news, but I have seen things come from your hands which opened my eyes, and I am pleased. "I can say, and these people present know it, that there was a time when they were all under my command, but you see me to-day almost alone, my band being scattered in every direction, it is not my fault that it is so, I have to blame some of the young people for it. "We made peace to please you, but if we are badly off, we 906 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. must blame you for causing us to give up so much of our lands to our enemies. We were better off before the white people came among us, but now they are here, we cannot do without your assistance. " My Father! we have been a long time acquainted with each other, and you know how thft hearts of my children are placed; for my part I am getting old, and the day is at hand when I must follow all the old people in the grave, but after my death my people will speak of me and my counsels, and you will know that they have been good, for since the last war f 1812-1815], I have listened to the Americans, and have no cause to repent having followed their advice. " My Father! we never wish to lose you for no matter what man we get, he can never please us as well as you have done. You know us and our ways. I speak my sentiments, and mine are the same with all my nation. We have been left destitute by our trader taking away all our guns which we got on credit from him last winter. But you have given us pow- der, lead and tobacco with which we are much pleased, as it will enable us to live some time yet. 11 My Father! a few more words and 1 have done. I was the first man to take thirty of my men and visit your people after the war. I returned home, and then made one more trip to visit the British, but have not done the same thing since you came among us, ten years ago." SCHOOL AT LAKE CALHOUN. On August 15th, 1829, agent Taliaferro established an Indian agricultural school at Lake Calhoun, which he named Eatonville, after the then Secretary of War. Early in Sep- tember, Revs. Alvan Coe and J. D. Stevens, two Presbyterian missionaries, visited the fort. In the agent's journal is the following entry: ''The Rev. Mr. Coe and Stevens reported to be on their way to this fort, members of the Presbyterian Church, looking out for suitable places to make missionary establishments for the Sioux and Chippeways, found schools, and instruct in the arts and agriculture," The agent, though not at that time a communicant of the church, welcomed these visitors, and afforded them every PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARIES. 907 facility in visiting the Indians. On Sunday, the 6th of Sep- tember, the Rev. Mr. Coe preached twice at the fort, and the next night held a prayer-meeting at the quarters of the com- manding officer. On the next Sunday he preached again* and on the 14th, with Mr. Stevens and a hired guide, returned to Mackinaw by way of the St. Croix river. During this visit the agent offered for a Presbyterian mission the mill which then stood on the site of Minneapolis, and had been erected by the soldiers, as well as a farm at Lake Calhoun, which had been established for the benefit of the Dakotahs. On the 8th of September he addressed the following letter to the Rev. Joshua T. Russell, Secretary of the Board of Missions of Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pa: u Rev. Sir: It having been represented to me by the Rev. Alvan Coe, that it is very desirable on the part of the Board of Missions of the Presbyterian Church, to form an establish- ment at this post, and also within the heart of the Chippeway country bordering on the upper Mississippi, for the purposes of agriculture, schools, and the development of the light and truths of the Christian religion to the unhappy aborigines of this vast wilderness. 14 As my views fully accord in every material point with those of Messrs. Coe and Stevens, I can in truth assure the Board through you, sir, of my determination heartily to co- operate with them in any and every measure that may be calculated to insure success in the highly interesting and important objects to which the attention of the society has been so happily directed. " Should the Society form a missionary establishment on the waters of the Saint Croix, some of which communicate with Rum River of the Mississippi, and a special Agent or sub- Agent, the influence of whom might be necessary to the more efficient operations of the missionary families there located, 1 have no doubt but that the Government would be willing to appoint one for the special duty, if requested by the Society, accompanied by explanatory views on the sub- ject. "As to an establishment; for the Sioux of thi< Agency, it would be in the power of the Society to commenc". opera- 908 histort of Minnesota, tions, without much expense, at the Falls of Saint Anthony, where there is a good grist and saw-mill, with suitable build ings, at present going into decay for the want of occupants. I would cheerfully turn over my present infant culony oi agriculturists, together with their implements and horses etc., to such an establishment." A BRIDAL TOUR. This month the Surgeon of the Fort, Dr. R. C. Wood, made a visit to Prairie du Chien, and in a few weeks returned in an open boat, with a youthful bride by his side, the eldest daughter of Col. Zachary Taylor, then in command at Fort Crawford. How wonderful the changes of a generation! Col. Taylor became the President of the United States, and died during angry controversies in Congress, relative to the exten- sion of slavery. Dr. R. C. Wood, his son-in-law, lived to see the rebellion of the Slave States, and to act as Assistant Sur- geon General of the United States Army; while another son- in-law, Jefferson Davis, became the President of the Insurgent States, and a grandson, John Wood, commander ot one of its privateers, the Talahassee. events or a. D. 1830. In the year 1830 Col. Taylor was one of the commissioners appointed to hold a treaty at Prairie du Chien, but for some reason the traders threw obstacles in the way, which called forth a letter from " Old Zach," as the soldiers and citizens called him, in which were these words: " Take the American Fur Company in the aggregate, and they are the greatest scoundrels the world ever knew." This year there Were so many drunken and licentious In- dians lounging around the fort that the following order was issued: " Headquarters Fort Spelling, June 17, 1830. " The commanding officer has within a few mornings past, discovered Indian women leaving the garrison immediately after reveille. The practice of admitting Indians into the fort to remain during the night is strictly prohibited. No officer will hereafter pass any Indian or Indians into the gar- INDIANS EXCLUDED FROM FORT. 909 lison without special permission from the commanding officer. It is made the duty of the officer of the day to see that this order is strictly enforced. By order of Capt. GALE. "E. R. Williams, Lt. and Adjt." The following day Captain Gale received the following let- ter from Major Taliaferro: "Agency House, St. Peter, June 18, 1830. "Sir: Since my request to you of yesterday to co-operate with me in endeavoring to counteract the view of the traders near this post, by excluding all Indians from the fort, I have become more fully acquainted with other facts of a nature calculated to ensure their success in preventing the Indians from attending the contemplated treaty at Prairie du Chieni this summer. Penetion's [Pinchon's] band yesterday received by the hand of one of his nephews, a keg of whiskey, and this same band has been kept through the instrumentality of the traders in a state of continual drunkenness for some time past. "No man can be made better acquainted with these facts than myself. I shall place Mr. Faribault's bond in suit, as also Mr. Culbertson's, the moment it becomes fairly developed as to the course which has been pursued by them, respectively. I have sent confidential persons to all the villages, to see how the Indians get the whiskey, and from whom, and what num- ber are found drunk in each. " I have again to request that no Indians be permitted to enter the fort for the purposes of trade, as they have done for some time past; for they become insolent, lazy, and begin to attempt to take a stand independent of me, consequently no- thing short of their entire exclusion from the fort will effect- ually correct the evil complained of. "Mr. Campbell has just returned from his expedition to the several bands of the Sioux. On his passage through their country, upon leaving my message, they were willing to at- tend the treaty, but on his return all that he saw, refused to accompany him to this place, on the ground that an Indian messenger had passed just after him, stating that the Sioux ought not to go down to the Prairie, for if they did they would 910 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. be turned over to the Sacs and Foxes by the white people. "This report naturally caused the whole of the band to dis- perse, their chiefs setting the example. A^ain, others state as they can get plenty of whisky from their traders and a little tobacco, that they had no occasion to go anywhere, and would not go; so that in the brief space of nine months my influence with most of the bands has been greatly impaired in consequence of the quantities of whiskey which have been given them by the traders. Consequently the humane policy of the Government in regard to these deluded people has thus un- happily been interfered with, and this too at a time when it was all important for them to have accepted of its munificence and mediation. The disappointment and embarrassment which will be caused the Commissioners by the refusal of the Sioux to at- tend, may be more easily imagined than described, as the treaty cannot well go on without them, they being mainly concerned. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, Your most obedient servant, LAW. TALIAFERRO, Indian Agent at St. Peter. Capt. J, H. Gale, 1st Inf 'try, Com'dg Fort Snelling. SIOUX ATTACK. During the summer of 1830, while the Indian Agent was at Prairie du Chien, a nephew of Little Crow with fifteen or twenty of the Kaposia Sioux, went to the St. Croix River and killed Cadotte, a half-breed, and three or four Chippevvas. Before daylight on the morning of the 14th of August, a soldier on sentinel duty discovered the Indian council house on fire and gave the alarm, but it was entirely consumed. The afternoon before some drunken Indians came over trom Alexis Bailly's trading house and used abusive language. On the 11th of September, an Indian relative of Mrs. Faribault came to the Agent, and voluntarily informed him that his uncle, a son-in-law of Wapashah, was the incendiary. This year the agricultural colony of Sioux at Lake Calhoun, known as Entonvilie, was under the charge of P inlander Prescott. MARRIAGES AT FORT SNELLING. 911 EVENTS OF A. D. 1831. On the 25th of July, 1S31, twenty persons from Selkirk's Settlement came down to the Fort, having been erroneously informed that the United States would give them land in the vicinity, and also farming implements. About the same time, forty Sauks passed into the Sioux country, between the headwaters of the Cannon and Blue Earth Rivers, and killed several Sioux at a place called Cinta- gali. or Grey Tail, not far from where in 1822 and 1823 the Sauks and Sisseton Sioux had fought. Dab] am, Brisbois, and Joseph R. Brown on the 18th of September, came by land from Prairie du Chien, an unusual journey at that time. EVENTS OF A. D. 1832. The first steamboat that arrived at the Fort in the year 1S32 was on the 12th of May, and the boat was the Versailles; on the 27th of June came the Enterprise. On the 16th of June, William Carr and three drovers reached the north side of the Minnesota with six horses and eighty head of cattle for the use of the garrison. On the last day of July a train of immigrants arrived from Red River with fifty or sixty cows and oxen and twenty or twenty-five horses. Including these, four hundred and eighty- nine persons from Selkirk Settlement had arrived since 1821, at the fort. A few, Abraham Perry and others, became farm- ers in the vicinity, while the majority went to Illinois aud Indiana. PERSONS UNITED IN MARRIAGE BY INDIAN AGENT. On the 29th of July Agent Taliaferro married Sophia Perry to a Mr. Godfrey. Among other marriages at which the Indian agent officiated, was on July 3d, 1835, Hippolite Pro- vost and Margaret Brunell. In February, 1836, Charles Mosseau was married to Fanny, the daughter of Abraham Perry, a Swiss emigrant who came from the Hudson Bay territory in 1827, and settled at first between the fort and Min- nehaha, and afterwards, when the military reservation was defined, built a log house in what is now a suburb Of St. Paul. 91.2 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. The mother of the bride was an accomplished accoucheur, and was a favorite with the officers' wives, and by her skill put many an army surgeon to the blush, although they were not jealous of her attainmerts. On September 12th, 1836, at the house of Oliver Crattei near the fort, James Wells, who subsequently was a member of the Territorial Legislature and was killed in the late Sioux massacre, was married to Jane, daughter of Duncan Graham, and on the 29th of November, at the quarters of Captain Barker, Alpheus R. French, the early saddler of St. Paul, was married to Mary Henry. SLAVES AT FORT SPELLING. Among the few slaves brought within the limits of Minne- sota, several belonged to Mijor Taliaferro. The Indians at that time had no prejudice against those of African descent, and welcomed them to their lodges with the same courtesy as white persons. The wooly head they looked upon as "wakan," and designated, them as u black Frenchmen/' Some would put their hands upon the coarse curly hair of the negro, and then laugh. As early as March, 1826, Taliaferro hired his black boy William to Colonel Snelling, and under date of the 26th of May, of the same year, we find in his journal this entry: " Captain Plympton wishes to purchase my servant girl. I informed him that it was my intention to give her freedom after a limited time, but that Mrs. Plympton could keep her for two years or perhaps three." DRED SCOTT. In 1836 Dred Scott, whose name has become historic, came to Fort Snelling with his master, Surgeon Emerson, and fell in love with Taliaferro's slave girl Harriet, and in due time the marriage agreement was made in the Major's presence, and was duly certified by him as a Justice of the Peace. The decision of the conscientious and pure-minded Chief Justice Taney, relative to the rights of Dred Scott as a citi- zen, led to acrimonial discussions between the friends of free- dom and slavery, and was one of the causes which led to the fratricidal war which wiped out with much precious blood the THE DRED SCOTT CASE. 913 " sable spot" upon the escutcheon of the Republic, to which Moore in one of his poems tauntingly alludes. The statement or the case upon the United States Supreme Court, as agreed upon by the counsel, was that " The plain- tiff was a negro slave belonging to Dr. Emerson, who was a surgeon in the army of the United States. In the year 1834, he took the plaintiff from the State of Missouri, to the mili- tary post at Rock Island, and held him there as a slave until the month of May, 1836. " At the last mentioned time, said Dr. Emerson, removed the plaintiff from said military post at Rock Island, to the military post at Fort Snelling, situated on the west bank of the Mississippi River, in the territory known as Upper Louis- iana, acquired by the United States of France, and situated north of latitude 36 deg, 30 min, north of the State of Mis- souri. "Said Dr. Emerson held the plaintiff in slavery at said Fort Snelling from the said last mentioned date until the year 1838. M In the year 1835, Harriet, who is named in the said com- plaint of the plaintiff's declaration, was the negro slave of Major Taliaferro, who belonged to the Army of the United States. In the year 1835, said Major Taliaferro took said Harriet to the said Fort Snelling, a military post, situated as before stated, kept her there as a slave until the year 1836, then sold and delivered her as a slave at said Fort Snelling, unto said Dr. Emerson herein before named. Said Dr. Em- erson held said Harriet in slavery at Fort Snelling until the year 1838. "In the year 1836, plaintiff and Harriet inter-married at Fort Snelling, with the consent of Dr. Emerson, who then claimed to be their master and owner. Eliza and Lizzie, named in the third count of the plaintiff's declaration, are the fruits of the marriage. Eliza is about fourteen years old, and was born on board the steamboat Gipsy, north of the boundary of the State of Missouri, and upon the River Mis- sissippi. Lizzie is also seven years old, and was born in the State of Missouri, at the military post called Jefferson Bar- racks. 58 914: HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. "In the year 1838, said Dr Emerson removed the plaintiff and Harriet and daughter Eliza from said Fort Snelling to the State of Missouri, where they have ever since resided." Both the Counsel and Judges were in error in declaring that Major Taliaferro " belonged to the Army of the United States," as in 1819 his resignation had been accepted, a gen- eration before the declaration was made. WIDOW OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. On the morning of the 26th of June, A. D. 1838, the steamer Burlington arrived for the third time since the open- ing of navigation, at the mouth of the Minnesota, with about 150 soldiers for Fort Snelling, and a few tourists. Among these was a venerable woman who was the daughter of one of the most distinguished men of New York. During the winter of 1780, she was with her father, who was General Philip Schuyler, at Washington's headquarters, Morristown, N. J., and there she charmed, and, at the age of 22, married, Washingtons favorite aide and military secretary, the then young Alexander Hamilton. After the War of the Revolu- tion, her husband was active in framing the United States Constitution, and appointed by Washington the first Secre- tary of the Treasury. In July, 1804, as every one knows, he fell in a duel with Aaron Burr. His widow received the sympathy of the Nation, and as she advanced in years she appeared to renew her youth. She came West in 1838, to visit her son, W. S. Hamilton, en- gaged in the lead mines of Wisconsin, and afterwards at Galena she embarked for a tour to the Upper Mississippi. A lady who entertained her, wrote: 4 * Pleasant and unaf- fected, she stands among my dearest recollections. She bore her age with graceful dignity, and was remarkably active. Every morning before breakfast, she would, unattended, take a long walk in search of wild flowers." It was sunrise when the Burlington reached Fort Snelling, and at 8 o'clock the officers of the fort came to pay their re- spects to one who had been a belle at Washington's head- quarters. At 9 in the morning a carriage was sent to take her to the Falls of St. Anthony, and about 4 in the afternoon she A REMARKABLE WOMAN. 915 returned, and was received at the gate of the fort by the officers. Leaning upon the commandant's arm, she was escorted to a chair upon a carpet, spread in the center of the campus, and then the troops under arms marched by and saluted. After this she was taken to headquarters and entertained. The same night she left in the steamboat ior Galena. Subsequently she resided with a married daughter in Wash- ington, and for years she charmed those who met her by the grace and simplicity of her manner. She lived in that city near the residence of Alexander Ram- sey when a Representative in Congress from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and was very attentive to his wife when she came to Washington a bride, She was permitted to see the Territory of Minnesota organized from the region she had visited when hundreds of miles beyond the limits of civiliza- tion, and Alexander Ramsey appointed its first governor. She died on Xovember 9, 1S54, at the ripe age of 97 years and three months. whiskt in 1S39. Whisky, during the year 1S39, was freely introduced, in face of the law prohibiting it. The first boat ot the season, the Ariel, came to the fort on the 14th of April, and brought twenty barrels of whisky for Joseph R. Brown, and on the 21st of May, the Glaucus brought six barrels of liquor for David Faribault. On the 30th of June, some soldiers went to Joseph R. Brown's groggery on the opposite side of the Mississippi, and that night forty-seven were in the guard- house for drunkenness. The demoralization then existing, led to a letter by Surgeon Emerson, on duty at the fort, to the Surgeon General of the United States army, in which he writes: " The whiskey is brought here by citizens who are pouring in upon us and settling themselves on the opposite shore of the Mississippi River, in defiance of our worthy commanding officer, Major J. Plympton, whose authority they set at naught. At this moment there is a citizen named Brown, once a soldiei in the Fifth Infantry, who was discharged at this post, whila Colonel Snelling commanded, and who has been since em- ployed by the American Fur Company, actually building on 916 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. the land marked out by the land officers as the reserve, and within gunshot distance of the fort, a very expensive whiskey shop/' On the 8th of September, some Sioux Indians crossed over to the east side of the Mississippi , and destroyed the groggery owned by Joseph R. Brown, Henry C. Menk, a foreigner, and Anderson, a quarter-breed Sioux. The owners wrongfully suspected the Indian Agent of in- citing the Sioux to the act and sought revenge. Menk, by false statements, although an alien, succeeded in obtaining an appointment as special deputy sheriff of Clayton County, Iowa, and went and arrested Major Taliaferro, while sick, at the in- stance of one of his low companions, named Chirt, on the false charge of aiding in destroying the whisky cabin. The barefaced scamp surprised the agent in his morning gown, threw him on the floor, placed his knee on his stomach and a pistol at his ear. As soon as the commandant of the fort heard of the outrage by Menk, who was not only an alien but an intruder on the military reserve, he ordered him to leave the country. FIRST WOOL MANUFACTURED, The first manufacture of wool in Minnesota was at the Presbyterian Mission at Lac qui Parle. The wife of A. Gr. Huggins, an assistant missionary, taught the Sioux girls to twist flax and wool, and in the fall of 1838, to knit socks. The next year Mr Huggins put up a loom, and two Sioux women and two girls, each wove enough linsey to make a gown. THE FIRST CHURCH BELL IN MINNESOTA. In the summer of 1841, Dr. Williamson and Rev. S. R. Riggs, Presbyterian missionaries at Lac qui Parle, built a church of unburnt brick, which stood for thirteen years. It contained the first bell ever used in Minnesota. FIRST FRAME HOUSE ABOVE FORT SNELLING. In the fall of 1846, Rev. Samuel W. Pond was invited by the Indian Agent and the chief Shakpay, to reside at his vil- lage, where Oliver Faribault was then trader. Mr. Pond ac- cepted the request, and went down to Point Douglas a:> APPENDIX. SHARP SHOOTERS, SECOND COMPANY. Wm. F. Russell, Captain ; resigned Feb. 20, 1863. Emil A. Burger, Captain ; resigned Nov. 23, 1863. Mahlon Black, Captain. Emil A. Burger, 1st Lieutenant ; promoted Captain, Feb. 20, 1863. John A. W. Jones, 1st Lieutenant ; resigned May 26, 1863. Mahlon Black, 1st Lieutenant ; promoted Captain, Nov. 23, 1863. Louis Fitzimmons, 1st Lieutenant. John A, W. Jones, 2d Lieutenant ; promoted 1st Lieutenant, February 20, 1862. Mahlon Black, 2d Lieutenant ; promoted 1st Lieutenant. Daniel H. Priest, 2d Lieutenant. The company left St. Paul, Mi»n., April 21, 1862; reported by order of Maj. Gen. McClellan to the 1st Regt. U. S. S. S. at Yorktown, Va., May 6, 1862. May 22, 1862, by special Order No. 153, issued by Maj . Gen. McClellan, the company was assigned for duty with the 1st Minn. Vols., and on duty with that regiment from June 1, 1862, and participating in all the engagements and battles of said regiment until its muster out from the U. S. service. All the enlisted men of the company whose term of service had not then expired, were transferred to companies A and B of the 1st Minn. Regiment Infantry, in pursuance of special Order No. 102, Head Quarters Army of the Potomac,, dated April 22, 1865. CAVALRY — MOUNTED RANGERS, FIRST REGIMENT. Colonel. Samuel McPhail, Caledonia; discharged with regiment. Lieut Col. William Pfamder, New Ulm ; discharged with regiment. Major. John H. Parker, Warsaw ; discharged with regiment. Salmon A. Buell, St. Peter : discharged with regiment. Orrin T. Hayes, Hastings ; Discharged with regiment. Adjutant. William M. Pierce, Oronoco ; discharged with regiment. Q. Master. Duncan R. Kennedy, St. Peter ; discharged with regiment. Com'issary. Edward D. Cobb, St. Paul ; discharged with regiment. Surgeon. Josiah S. Weiser, Shakopee ; killed July 24. 1863, battle Big Mound. D. T.. Asst. Surg. Reginald H. Bingham, Winona; resigned for promotion, May 7, 1863. James C. Rhodes, Stillwater; discharged with regiment. Chaplain. Thomas E. Inman, St. Paul ; discharged with regiment. Organized March, 1863. Upon the frontier until May, 1863. Indian Expe- dition. Engaged with Indians, Jaly 24, 26, 28, 1863. Mustered out by- companies between Oct. 1 and Dec. 30, 1863. CAVALRY — BRACKETT'S BATTALLION, Major. Alfred B. Brackett, St. Paul; discharged May 16, 1866. Originally 1st 2d and 3d companies of this cavalry organized October and November, 1861. Ordered to Benton Barracks, Mo., December, 1861. Assigned to a regiment called Curtis' Horse. Ordered to Fort Henry, Tenn., February, 1862. Name of regiment changed to 5th Iowa cavalry, April, 1862, as com- panies G, D and K. Engaged in siege of Corinth, April, 1862. Ordered to Fort Heiman, Tenn., August, 1862. Veteranized February, 1864. Ordered to Department of Northwest, 1864. Ordered upon Indian Expedition. En- gaged with Indians July 28, and August, 1864. Mustered out by companies- between May, 1866 and June, 1866- appendix. y CAVALRY— SECOND REGIMENT. Colonel. Robert N. McLaren, iwru Wing; discharged with regiment, Nov. 17, 1865. Lieut. Col. William Plunder, New Ulm ; discharged Dec. 7, 1865. Major. Ebenezer A. Rice, Wilton; discharged Dec. 5, 1865. John M. Thompson, Hokah ; resigned May l, 1865. Robert H. Rose. Belle Plaine ; discharged April 2, 1866. John R, Jones, Chatfield ; discharged with regiment. Adjutant. John T. Morrison, Rose Mound ; discharged with regiment. Q. Master. Martin Williams, St. Peter; discharged with regiment. Reg. Com. Andrew J. Whitney, St. Paul ; discharged with regiment. Surgeon. Jared W. Daniels, St. Peter ; discharged with regiment. Asst. Surg, Joseph A. Vervais, St. Paul ; dismissed Nov. 5. 1864. John A. McDonald, Chaska ; discharged Dec. 4, 1865. Charles J. Farley, St. Paul ; discharged April 2, 1866. Chaplain. Samuel S. Paine, Champlin ; discharged with regiment. Organized January, 1864. Indian Expedition. Engaged with Indians, Julv 28, 1864. Stationed at frontier posts and mustered out from Nov., 1865, to June, 1866. CAVALRY — INDEPENDENT BATTALION. Lieut. Col. C. Powell Adams, Hastings ; discharged with battalion. Major. E. A. C. Hatch, St. Paul ; resigned June, 1864. C. Powell Adams, Hastings ; promoted Lieut. Col., September 5, 1864. Henning Von Minden, St. Paul ; discharged with battalion. Asst. Surg. John L. Armington, Hastings ; discharged March, 1864. Clinton C. Sfcees, Philadelphia ; promoted Surgeon 1st Regiment Minn. Heavy Artillery. Hippolite J. Seigneuret, Henderson ; discharged with battalion. Organized July 20, 1863. Ordered to Pembina, D. T., October, 1863. Ordered to Fort Abercrombie, D. T., May, 1864. Stationed at Fort Aber- crombie until mustered out. Mustered out by companies from April, 1866,. to June, 1866. ARTILLERY— FIRST BATTERY. Emil Mmfch, Captain, Chengwatana ; resigned December 25, 1862. William PLender, Sen. 1st Lieut., New Ulm ; resigned for commission in Minnesota Mounted rangers. Ferd. E. Peebles, Jun. 1st Lieut, Winona : resigned Aug. 18, 1862. Richard Fischer. Sen. 2d Lieut., New Ulm; resigned Aug. 18, 1862. G. Fred Cook, Jun. 2d Lieut., Winona; resigned October 18, 1862. Organized October, 1861. Ordered to St. Louis, December, 1861; thence to Pittsburg Landing, February, 1862. Engaged in the following marches, battles, sieges and skirmishes: Shiloh, April 5th and 6th, 1862; siege of Corinth, April, 1862; Corinth, October 3d and 4th, 1862; marched from Corinth to Oxford, Miss.; thence to Memphis, Tenn. Assigned to 17th Army Corps, November, 1862. _ Veteranized January, 1864. Ordered to Cairo, Illinois; thence to Huntsville, Ala. ; thence to Altoona, Ga.; thence to Ack- worth, Ga. ; battle of Kenesaw Mountain ; Atlanta, July 22d and 28th; Sher- man's campaign through Georgia and the Carohnas. Discharged at Fort. Snelling, Minn., June 30, 1865. 10 APPENDIX. ARTILLERY — SECOND BATTERY. W. A. Hotchkiss, Captain, Anoka ; discharged with battery, Aug. 16, 1865. Gustave Eosenk, Sen. 1st Lieut., St. Paul ; discharged Sept", ll, 1862. Albert Woodbury, Jun. 1st Lieut., Anoka ; died from wounds. Jackson Taylor, Sen. 2d Lieut., Buffalo ; resigned April 24, 1862. Richard L. Dawley, Jun. 2d Lieut., St. Charles ; promoted 1st Lieutenant. Organized December, 1861. Ordered to St. Louis, Mo., April, 1862; thence to Corinth, May, 1862. Participated in the following marches, battles, sieges and skirmishes : Siege of Corinth, April, 1862: Bragg's raid. Assigned to Army of the Tennesse. Battle of Perryville, October 8th and 9th, 1862; Lancaster, October 12, 1862; Knob Gap, December 20, 1862; Stone River, December 30, 1862; Tullahoma. Marched to Rome, Ga., via Stephenson. Ala., Caperton's Ferry and Lookout Mountain; Chickamauga, Sept. 19 and 20,1863; Mission Ridge; Ringgold, Georgia. Marched to relief of Knoxville, Tenn.; Buzzard's Roost Gap. Veteranized March, 1864. Nashville, Dec. 15 and 16, 1864. Mustered out July 13, 1865. Discharged at Fort Snelling. ARTILLERY — THIRD BATTERY. John Jones, Captain, St. Paul ; discharged with battery. John C. Whipple. Sen. 1st Lieut., Faribault ; discharged with battery. Horace H. Western, Jun. 1st Lieut., St. Paul ; discharged with battery. Dr. A. Daniels, Sen. 2d Lieut., Rochester; resigned December 29, 1865.*" Gad M. Duelle. Jun. 2d Lieut., Lake City ; discharged with battery. Organized February, 1863. Ordered upon Indian Expedition of 1863; par- ticipated in engagement with Indians, July 24, 26 and 28, 1863; stationed at frontier posts until May, 1864, when entered upon Indian Expedition of 1864. Engaged with Indians July 28, 1864, and August, 1864; upon return of expe- dition, stationed at frontier post until muster out of battery, Feb. 27, 1866. GENERAL INDEX. FOR EVENTS DURING CIVIL WAR 1861 — 1865, SEE MILITARY INDEX. Accau. see Ako. Aitkin, trader at Sandy Lake, 428, 432, 457 Aitkin. Alfred 416, 421 Aitkin. John 416 Aitkin, William 416 Aiton, J. F.; on stone heaps 187 Ako, Michael, viii., ix., 127. 129, 183 Albanel. Charles, Jesuit, Aldrich, Cyrus, M. C 773 Allen, Lt. James, escorts School- craft in 1832, 403; makes a map of Itasca Lake, 407 ; canoe cap- iezed, 408; displeased with Schoolcraft 411 Allen, Capt., military expedition .472 Allouez, Claude, Jesuit, 107, 108, 111 American Fur Co 298 American Troops take Prairie du Chien 283 Ames, Michael E 525, 547 Anderson, trader's clerk 259, 261 Andr£, Jesuit 120 Andrews, C. C 774 Anjelran, see Enjelran. Antaya of Prairie du Chien 236 Apportionment by Legislature . . . 548 Aquipaguetin, Sioux Chief 131 Aricarees 54 Arctic Explorers at St. Paul 615 Armitinger, British trader 281 Askin, John, British trader. 280, 281 Assineboine River, Assineboines, 52,101,103,122,185 " described by LeSueur. .166 4 ' trading posts destroyed 231 Astor. John Jacob 293, 475 Atkinson, Col 337, 398, 412, 413 Austin, Gov. Horace, notice of ad- ministration 759 Averill, J. T., M. C., notice of,. . .774 Ayer, Frederic, Chippeway teacher, 424, 428, 431 B Babasikamsiba. Chippeway Chief. 325 Babcock. L.A.' 512,545 Backus, Capt,, U. S. A 474 Backus, Miss, teacher. . 520 Bailly, British trader 283 Bailly, Alexis, trader. 414,453,493,512 Baker, B. F., trader. . . .382, 415, 453 Balcombe, St. A. D 619 Baldwin School , 587, 763 Ball play, Indian 75, 273 Bancroft. Historian, at St. Paul. .597 Bank Robbery at Northfield 766 Banning, W. L 767 Barnes, Rev. Albert, xlix. Barrett, Indian trader 381 Barton, Ara 760 Bass. J. W 491,495 Batchelder, G. W 774 Bay des Puants, see Green Bay. Beauharnois, Gov. of Canada, 183, 189, 191 Beaux Hommes tribe, xix. Beaujeu killed at Fort Duquesne, 195 Beaulieu, trader 533 Beavers roasted lor food 258 Becker, G. L 775 Belanger, trader 405 Belfour, Capt . Bellin's Description of America. .145 2 GENERAL INDEX. Beltrami at Fort Snelling, 33 t,342, 379; described, 335; his bold project, 349; deserted by guide, 353; his umbrella, 357; at Red Lake, 359; at northern source of Mississippi, 371; at west source of Mississippi, 371; at Leech Lake, 372; Sandy Lake, 377; at Falls of St. Anthony, 378 Berthot Colin murdered, Bianswah, Indian Chief 220 Bible, an old 477, 584 Birch bark canoe, making of, 387, 425 Bilansky, Michael, poisoned 640 " " wife hung- 640 Bird, a Red River voyageur 460 Bishop, Harriet E 482 Black, C. F 774 Black, Capt, Mahlon 512 Black Dog's village 342 Black Hawk War, 280, 285, 414, 415 Black River 103 Black Feet Indians, Blein, French trader 144 Bliss, Major U. S. A 412, 441 Blodgett's Climatology, xxxiii. Boal,J.Mc 511 Bobe, a learned priest. expo- ses La Hontan, on Pacific route, Boisguillot. Wis. trader, vi., 141, 143 Borup, C. W., trader 416 Bottineau, Pierre. . . 452 Boucher de Niverville, xxi. Boucher, see La Perriere. Bourassa, a trader 311 Boutill ier, C. W., see Mil. Index. Boutillier, Francis 320 Boutwell, Rev. W. T., companion of Schoolcraft, 403; describes country, 409 — 10; visits Mcol- let, 418; threatened by Indians, 421; at LaPointe Mission, 428; at Leech Lake, 432; marriage of, 439; at Stillwater, 483; let- ters from, 432—438. Bradley, Corporal U. S. A., 253, 256 Braddock's defeat 195 Bremer, Fredrika, at St. Paul. . .543 Bridge, first across Mississippi. . .613 BrisbimJ. B 615,618 Brisbois, Michael 320 Bnsette, a trader 520 British influence 278, 329 British Posts abandoned 239 Brochets, tribe of, Brown, Joseph R., 331, 415, 452, 462, 507, 519, 594 Bruce, Indian Ag't 480 Branson, B. W 495, 512, 522 Brasky, Charles, trader. . = 227 Buade. Louis, Count Frontenac .138 Buell, D. L 764 Buffalo, hunting of 449—451 " last seen east of Mississ- ippi, 451 ; Marquette describes, 448; Hennepin's picture, 451; Bulger, Capt 187 Bulwer, SirE. L.,translates'Schil- ler's poem on Sioux Chief ... 59 Bungo, a Negrojibway 324, 416 Burial scaffold near St. Paul 412 Burkleo, Samuel 511 Burnett, Indian Agent 412 C Cadillac, see Lamotte. Cadotte, Michael 280, 404 Calhoun, John C 319 Calhoun, Lake, why named 338 Callieres, Gov. of Canada 137 Cameron, Duncan of N. W. Co., 304 305, 307. 308 Cameron, Murdock, 242, 243, 268, 275 276, 278 Campbell, Colin 329 Campbell, Duncan 382 Campbell, John 382 Campbell, Lt„ U. S. A. 285 Camp Cold Water 321, 327 Canadians robbed by Sioux. .164, 169 Cannibalism. '. 281, 532 Cannon ilnyanbosndata) River. .159 Canoes of birch, how made. .389, 415 Capital, proposed removal to St. Peter 318, 619 Cartier, Jacques, explorer 99 Carver's Cave, burial place, 207; Schiller's poem on Sioux Chief buried there, 89; Major Long's visit, 207, ,249; examined bv Nicollet, 208; Pike could not find it, 267. Carver, Jonathan, early life, 202; at Prairie du Chien, 203; - description of Saint Anthony's Falls, xliv., 208; his Sioux vo- cabulary, 95; his short route to Pacific, 213; supposed origin of Sioux, 214; claim of his heirs, 215 — 219; alleged speech over Sioux Chief, 211; Martha, his daughter, 216. GENERAL IXDEX. Cass, Gov. Lewis explorations. 320 — 322: at Red Cedar, now Cass Lake. 323; at Camp Cold Water. 325: at Fountain Cave. 325; at Little Crow's village. 326; in Winnebago war, 3y8. Catlin, George, artist 416 Cavanaugh, J. M., M. C 772 Census of Minnesota, xlix., 505, 508 Chambers, Sioux Commissioner. .518 Champlain, the explorer 99 Charleville's description of St. An- thony Falls, xliv. Charlivoix on the word Sioux, 51 ; describes Isle Pele6, 148; alludes to blue earth, 171. Chatfield, Judge A. G. .589, 773, 776 Chavigny, a voyageur 120 Chegoimegon, see La Pointe Cherrotiere, a voyageur 120 Chevalier Amable 237 Chevennes ... 54 Chickasaws .178, 229 Chippeways (also called Ojibways, Achipoue, Outchipoue"s, Chip- ou6s, Chippeweighs, and Saul- teurs) 102, 107, 108, 112, 113, 139, 148, 149, 177. 180, 181. 197, 199, 212, 223, 245; attacked by Sioux, 108, 224, 338, 339, 340, 392, 402; at Rum River and St. Croix, 457, 463, 526; attack Sioux, 405. 454; at Fort Snelling, 456, 462,463. 469, 471; protected at Fort Snelling. 392, 474 ; woman recovers after being scalped, 386; kill a Sioux girl in Hennepin county, 608. Chippeway Chief, Flat Mouth.. 260 405, 407 " Old Sweet 261 " DeBreche,..261,323 44 Hole-in-the-Dav.454 " " Jr. 52-7,551 Chippewav Missions, 425,432,453,464 467, 470, 550 Chippeway Missionaries, Rev. W. T. Boutwell, 403, 421, 432; Rev. Sherman Hall, 404, 425, 427, 431. Frederic Ayer, teacher, 425.428, 470; E. F. Ely, teach- er, 432, 468. China, route to 135 Chouteau visits Osages 247 Clark, Capt. N 321, 333, 392 44 Col. Geo. R 229 44 Governor 283, 327, 335 44 Agent of Carver Claim. . .216 Climate of Minnesota, xxxii. Clough, W. P. argument before U. S. Supreme Court 761 Clou tier Alex., liquor seller 578 Cobb, Rev. D. 759 Coe, Rev. D. at Fort Snelling. . . .399 Colbert, Minister of France, 145 Columbia Fur Co 330. 342, 391 Constitutional Convnt'n, 626,627,628 Cooper. Judge D. .502, 503, 509, 775 Council of Pike with Sioux 243 44 at Prairie du Chien 383 Coquard, Rev. Claude, 195 4 ' letter on death of St. Pierre, Corn, Indian mode of gathering. 444 Couriers des Bois 116, 117, 171 Courts, first in Minnesota 509 Cox, E.St. J 775 Crawford, British trader 281 44 County, Wis 320 Cree insults a Sioux Ill Cresafi, Chevalier, 148 Cretin, R. C, Bishop 585 Cristenaux, Crow River 253 44 petrifactions, a hoax. .576 Crow Wing battle 222 Cullen, W. J 773 Culver, George 485, 486 Curry, Thomas 231 D Dablon, Jesuit missionary 120 Dakotah, meaning of 59 Dakotahs, see Sioux. Davis, Gov. CushmanK 760, 661 Day, Dr. David 520, 580 Deace, trader. . ; 280, 283 De Caumont, Sieur 144 DeCorbiere . = .199 Default of N. W. Co 2:33 Dekorah, Winnebago Chief. 397, 414 De la Barre, Gov., ... 138, 140 De la Corne succeeds St. Pierre, De la Tour, Jesuit, De la Tourette, brother of DuLuth, 142 De Lignery, 180; attacks Fox In- dians, 185, 189; at Braddock's defeat, 195. DeTIsle, his maps, xlvi. De Lorimer. .... 197 DeLusignan visits Sioux 191 Democratic Party orgamzes 518 Denonville, Gov,, 149 Denis, early trader 160 De Noyelles succeeds Verendrye, GENERAL INDEX. Detroit attacked 157 D'Evaque in charge of fort at Blue Earth, xvi 175 Devenport, Ambrose 416 William.... 416 De Vincennes at Detroit 177 De Peyster, British commander at Mackinaw, 228 ; verses on Wa- pasha, 228; notice of, 229. Dewey, J. J 495,512 D'Iberville, Gov. of Louisiana, ex- poses Hennepin, viii; his report, 171; list of Indian tribes, 171. Dickson, Col. Robert, 236, 237, 250 251, 261. 263, 267, 276, 279, 280, 283, 287. 290, 291. Dickson, William, trader at Lac Traverse 382, 451 Dieskau, Baron 195 Dinwiddie, Gov. of Virginia 195 Dirty Indian villages 97 Dodge, Gen. defeats Black Hawk, 402; treats with Sioux 453 Dog meat valued 80, 376 Donnelly, Ignatius, M. C. . . .645, 773 Doty, Sioux Commissioner 469 Douglas, Capt 322 Dousman, H. L .242, 283, 590 Dreuilletes, Gabriel, Jesuit, 102, 113 120 Drovers maltreated by Sioux 472 Drunkenness among Sioux 510 Dubuque, Julien 236 Dufault, Louis, trader 416 Dugas, William 512, 518 Du Gay, Picard 127. 129, 133 DuLuth(or DuLut, Dulhut, De Luth, 121, 122 137, 138, 140, 141, 142. Dunn, Judge Charles 483 Dunnell, Mark H., M. C 774 Duprat 120 Dupuis 120 E Earth Works 204, 408 Eastman, Capt., U. S. A 485 " Mrs., poem on seal of Minnesota 517 Eatonville on Lake Calhoun 399 Election, first in Minnesota 507 Election returns 520 Elk Lake, now Itasca 371 Elk River 209 Ellett, Mrs. describes Ft. Snelling, 335 Ely, E. P., Indian teacher, 432, 466 English strife for the West 179 Enjalran, Jesuit Missionary, F 141 Fairbanks, J. H., trader 416 Falls of St. Anthony described by Barnes, xlix; Beltrami, 377; Boutwell, 410; Carver, xliv; Charleville, vliv; Hennepin, xlii; Long, Penicaut, garrison mill at, 377, 399, 409; first literary address at, 521; first steamboat at, 527; first steam- boat above, 534. Falls of St. Croix, fight at, 223; early settlers, 415. Falls of St. Mary, council of 1671, 120 Faribault, Alexander 338, 533 J.B 415,455 Oliver 532 Pelagie 453 Featherstonhaugh, geologist, 416. 442 '47a Ferry, Rev. W. M 424 Fillmore, Ex-Pres't, at St. Paul. .597 Finley, trader 381 Findley, John 220 Fire, the first in St. Paul 528 Fireworks at Fort Beauharnois. .183 Fish in lakes numerous 436, 439 Fish dance, 76; at Kaposia 528 Fisher, trader at Prarie du Chien, 242 Flag hoisted at Itasca Lake 407 Flandrau, Chas. E 625 ' ' see Military Index. Fletcher, Winnebago Agent, 483,484 Flour mill explos n at Minneapolis,769 Flood at Red River 380 Flood ofl728 184 Forbes, W. H., 495, 507, 509, 511, 533 Ford, John A 518 Ford, Dr. John D 635 Forney, John W 609 Forsyth, Major 322 Forsyth, T. , in 1819, at Mendota, Fort Beauharnois, Lake Pepin, 783 " Bourbon, " Crawford 397 " Crevecceur 127 " Douglas 311 " Edward 196 " Frontenac 124, 142 ' ' George ( Wm . Henry) 202 " Green Bay 203 " Jonquiere, " LaReine, 30O GENERAL INDEX. Fort Le Sueur, xvi., xlvi 148 " L'Huillier, xvi., xlvi 164 " McKay 283 " Orange 126 " Prairie du Chien 283 " Perrot 138,145 M Shelby 283,284 Fort Snelling. first troops at 319 Camp Cold Water. 321; corner stone laid, 321 ; first birth at, 327 ; grave yard, 327; first steam- boat arrival, 333; Indian fight in 1827, 338; church organized, 443; Indian troubles at, 456; squatters removed, 459; mar- riage at, 523; Indian council in 1850, 528. Indians hung at, 757 Fort St, Charles 300 " St, Nicholas 300 11 St. Pierre. Fourcelles, Chevalier de la, Fourth of July celebration, 1849. .504 Fox, Chief, speech of 151 FoxfOutagamis Renards) Indians, xiii. 109, 111. 138, 139, 150, 155, 176, 180 200, 203, 223. 230. 273, 400; pe- culiar language, 176; attack De- troit, 177: kill traders, 189; de- feated, 190; fight at St. Croix Falls, 223. Franklin, Sir John 615 Franks. Indian trader 281 Franquelin. maps of, Freeborn. Mr 620 Fremont, John C 420 Frobisher Brothers 231 Fronchet, a voyageur 418 Fuller, A. G 507 Fuller, Judge Jerome 563 Furber, Joseph W 511, 618 Fur trade, mode of 118, 119, 294 " " value of .330 Fur traders' life, 115, 116, 178, 232 429, 430 G Gagnier killed by Red Bird 395 Galena lead mines 139, 155 Galissoniere, Gov. of Canada. Gamelle's wife killed 469 Gardiner. Charles 615 Gardiner family killed by Sioux. .622 Garreau, Jesuit Missionary. .102, 104 Gear, Rev. E. G 521, 534, 574 George, James C 777 Gervais, Pierre, early settler 390 Gervais, B 472 Giard, trader at Prairie du Chien. 236 Gilman, J.M 773 Girl disguised as Indian boy 84 Glengary Fencibles 309 Goddard, British trader 199 Goodhue, Jams M., first editor. 495 547,574 Gooding, Capt. U.S.A., , . .327 Goodrich, Judge A. 502, 503, 509, 563 Goodrich, Earle S., editor 394 Gorelle, Lieut, at Green Bay 200 Gorman, Gov. W. A., see Military Index, 588, 589, 593, 612, 614, 616 Graham, Duncan 317, 395, 397 Graham, of Red Wing 772, 775 Grandin, Francis 382 Grand Portage 232 Grant, British trader. . .255, 257, 259 261. 263, 310 Grasshoppers, years 1818, 1819. .316 " 1874, 1875.. 766 Gravier, Jesuit Missionary, Gray Iron, Indian Chief 62 Greelev, Elam 471 Green Bay . . .148, 199 Griffin, Lasalle's, ship 127 Grignon, Pierre 236, 337 Groselhers, early explorer, 103, 141 Groselliers River. 113 Gros Ventres Indians, Guerin, voyageur 106 Guignas, Jesuit Missionary. .183, 186 Guillet, voyageur, vi. Gun, a grandson of Capt, Carver, 299 H Haha. Sioux name for waterfall, xli. Half-breed tract on Lake Pepin. .400 Hall. Rev. Shemian, Chippeway Missionary, 425; arrived at La Pointe, 428; visits Lacdu Flam- beau, 429; extracts from jour- nal, 425—428. Hamilton, W. S 412 Harpole, Paul killed 286 Hams, early trader 233, 236 Harvest of 1877 767 Hatch, E. A. C, see Military In- dex 289 Hayaer, Judge H. Z 578 decision on liquor law. .579 Hayokah. Sioux divinity 56 Haypeedan, Sioux warrior 289 Hebert, a voyageur 144 Heckle, Sergeant, U, S. A 338 Hempstead, Capt 28ft GENERAL INDEX, Hennepin County created 565 Hennepin, Louis, Franciscan, early- life, 124; unreliable, his map, xlvi ; jealous of the Jesuits, xlvi; captured by Sioux, 65, 128; chants the litany, 129; near St. Paul, 131 ; walks to Mille Lacs, 131; his steam bath, 132; bap- tizes an infant, 132; last days of, 137. Henniss, C. J., editor 545 Herbin, French officer ; 197 Herschell's, Sir John, translation of Schiller's poem on Sioux Chief, 89 Hess, Indian trader 331 Historical Society, 1st public meet- ing- and annual address 522 Hobart, Rev. Chauncy 522 Hohays, see Assineboines. Holcomb, William, letter to 491 Hole-in- the-Day, Sr 454 Jr., 527,533,534,552 Holmes, Thomas, old settler, 401,512 518 Hopkins, Rev. Robert, Sioux Miss- sionary... 471,539,537 Horses, Indians 1 mode of buying,561 Hosford, Miss A 520 Houghton, Edward 217 Housekeeping, primitive 439 Hudson Bay Co 301, 307, 318 Huff, H. D .;;•••• 775 Huggins, Alex., mission farmer, 442, 462 Hughes, James, editor 508 Humboldt on accidental analogies,215 Hurons 106, 108,114 I Impeachment of William Seeger, State Treasurer 760 Impeachment of Sherman Page, Judge 10th district 769 Indian ball play 75, 273 " bravery at Pokegama 467 " chants 64, 70 " cruelty 70 " doctors 66, 67 " dog-dance 76 " fish-dance 501 " fops 73 " games 74 " idea of horses 561 " legends 90—94 " ' mourning 445 " priests 61 " suicides 84 Indian traders 381 " warfare 193 " wives 72 Indians, tribes or bands of — Algonquin Ill, 194 Aricarees 54 Arkansas 95, 173 Assineboine,xx. 52,101,111,122,166 Bayogoulas 172 Biloxi 173 Canses (Kansas) 173 Chactas (Choctaws) 173, 229 Cheyennes 54 Chicachas (Chickasaws)173, 178,229 Chippeways (Achipou6s, Out- chipoue's, Saulteurs) 77,102,108, 112,113,139,148,149,177,180,181 197,199,212223,245. Conchas 173 Colapissa 173 Cristinaux Ill Crows, Folle Avomes, 194,197,250,251,253 265 Foxes(Outagamis,Renards) xiii, 109 111, 138, 149, 150, 158,176,180 197 200, 203, 223, 230, 273, 400. Hurons 106, 108, 111, 114, 139 Illinois. 108, 111, 120, 128, 155, 177 loways (Ayo6s,Ayavois,Aiou6s) 54,154,162,164,173,176,186,197,200 Iroquois 114, 140, 146,152 Kaskaskias 194 Kickapoo (Quincapoos) 154,157,173 186 Mantanes (Mandans) xix., xx.,.173 Mascoutens, 138, 143,147 173, 174 Massachusetts 55 Menomenees 150, 203, 400 Miamis, 128, 130, 138, 148, 150 173, 174,197 Missisagues 194 Missouri 173,177 Mohawks, Nadoches 173 Nez Perces 120 Nepissings 194 Omahaws 54, 166, 173 Osages 154, 177 Ottawas (Outaouacs) 112 120, 146 147, 194, 196, 197 Ouma (Houmas) 173 Ottoes (Otoctatas) 54, 162, 164, 165 166, 173 Panis (Pawnees) 1734 Paoutees (Prates?). 153 Pascagoulas 177 GENERAL INDEX. Indians, tribes or bands of— Petite Cense tribe, Pottawatomies 156, 194, 197 Puants (Winnebagoes) 100. 14:3 155, 194, 197, 273. 394, 398, 484 Sauks, 109. 15'?, Ic5, 176, 180, 200 203 Senecas 140 Sioux (Nadouessioux, Nadouessi, Nadouessiouack, Dakotahs,) 102.|107, 111, 112, 120, 122, 143, 144,154,206,210. Issati (Isanyati) . .51, 134, 152 Ihanktonwan (Y akton, Hinhan- netons) vii 52, i70, 225 Mendeoucantons. 51, 164, 165 169. 170, 230, 400 Mantantons 144, 165, 166, 169 Ouadebatons (Houetbatons)122, 170 Ouagetgeodatons 170 Ouapetons (Wakpa-atons) 144, 170 225 Outemanetons 170 Oueretgeodaton 170 Oujalespoitons 164, 166, 170 Psincbatons 170 Psinoutanhkintons, .170 Psinchatons 170 Sioux of the West. .162, 163, 170, 218 Sioux of the East 162, 170, 218 Snake Indians, xix. Tonicas . . .173 Taensas 173 Indiana Territory organized .240 Inkpadootah's attack on settlers in Southwestern Minnesota. 622 — 625 Iowa Territory organized 416 Irvine, John R 495, 520 Isle Pelee*, xv 148 Itasca, Latin jargon 407 Jackson, Henry, early settler, 479, 512 518 Japan, route to 135 JaiTot, Nicholas 273, 278 Jarvis. Surgeon U. S. A 446 Jay's treaty 238 Jeffries of Columbia Fur Co 330 Jemerays, Verendrye's nephew, Jobin, French trader 149 Tohnson, Gov 195, 212 John, trader 281 Judge 320 •; Parsons K 512, 52 Joliet, French explorer 120 Jones, J. R 773 Jonquiere, Gov., Judicial districts organized 502 K Kalm's, Prof, account of Veren- drye, xx 189 Kamanistigoya, v 194, 230 Koposia, Sioux band, 131,281,326,480 Kawimbash Falls, xl. Kay, English trader, 199,233,235,236 Keating. Wm. H. Mineralogist. .341 Keelboats attacked 396 Kettle River Falls, xl. Kevenev, Owen of H'ds'n Bay Co. 312 Kildonan Settlement 304, 308 King, Carver's grandson 284 44 Oscar 525 " William S., M. C 775 Kingsbury, W. W., delegate to Congress 771 Kinie, Francis, trader 453 L La Come, French officer 189 La Croix 281 Lagumioniere robbed 309 La Harpe's Narrative 190 La Hontan 142 Laidlaw takes grain from Prairie du Chien to Pembina 317 Lake Alempigon (Nepigon) .109 " Big Stone..: 317,322 " Buade (Isantamde, Mille Lacs) xl., xlvii., 122, 139, 231 " Calhoun, origin of name. . .338 " Cass (Red Cedar) 323 " Dauphin, " George (St. Sacrament) 197 •■ Harriet 338,456 44 Itasca 407 " Leech 372,377 ' ' Ouisconches (Wisconsin ) . . . 144 " Pepin (Des Pleurs) xlvi., 131 1 59 ; fort built at, 183 ; earth- works, 203; old fort, 206. " Superior (Tracy) 110 44 Rainy 301 " Traverse 317,302 44 Winnipeg 300 44 Woods, - 300,463 Lakes of Minnesota, xxxav. Lambert, David 495, 507, 519 Heniy A 511,518,520 Lamberton. H. W 773 Lamonde. .' 123, 124, 125 8 GENERAL INDEX. Lamont, Indian trader 382 Lamotte Cadtillac 147 Landsing, trader killed 200 Landslide at Stillwater 573 Langlade 196, 230 La Perriere du Boncher attacks Haverhill; builds fort at Lake Pepin, 183 La Place, voyageur killed 160 LaPlante 197 Larpentear, A.. L 491, 518 La Salle ..119,123,127 La Taupine (see Taupine) Lea, Luke, Sioux Commissioner. .556 Leach, Calvin 471 Leavenworth, Gen. U.S.A., 217 320, 325 Le Due, Philip 194 W.G 545 Leech Lake 372, 377, 456 Legardeur, Augustin 144 Legend of Anpetu Sapa 91 " of Eagle Eye 91 " of Scarlet Dove 91 of Maidens Rock 93 " ofMendota 90 St. Anthony Falls 92 St. Croix River 94 Legislature of Territory, 1st sessn511 44 names of officers and mem- bers.. ...511,512 44 organizes new counties 513 " sends Red Pipestone for Washington monument ... 513 " second, 1851 546 " names of members 546 " third, 1852 564 " names and occupations of members 564 " fourth, 1853 580 " members of 580 " railway predictions 581 44 fifth, 1854 592 44 members of 593 " railroad discussion 594 11 sixth, 1855 613 " officers of 613 1 ' railway bill passed over veto 614 " seventh, 1856 615 44 officersof 615 " members of 617 " eighth, 1857 618 " officers 618 41 ' special session 626 44 of State, first, Dec, 1857. .628 44 elect U. S. Senators 628 44 second, January, 1860 632 44 third, 1861 640 Legislature, educational policy. . .640' Legro shot 460 Le Maire murdered, v. Lemire, trader 144 Leslie, Lt 199* Le Sueur mentioned, 73, 86; com- panion of Perrot, 144; at LaPointe, 148; builds fort below Hastings, 148; describes Assineboines, 53; takes chief to Montreal,xv.,148; visits France, 151, 155; ascends Minnesota River, 162; builds fort L'Huil- 164; returns to France, 171, 172; his fort abandoned, 175. Lewis and Clark's expedition, 341 L'Huillier, fort 164 Linctot, Ensign at La Pointe, 181, 183 Lisa, Manuel a trader 286 Little Crow. . .243, 338, 411, 464, 465- Liquor Law 565, 572, 579 Livingston, trader 281 Lochren, William 777 Lockwood, trader 380- Loomis, D. B 547 Col. G. A., U.S. A. 412, 442 Long,Lt. J 229 44 Major Stephen H., U. S. A. exploration of, 1817, ' 229; expedition to Red River, o41, LongeuiJ, Gov. of Canada. .181, 189 Longfellow alludes to Red Pipe- Stone Quarry 515 Lott,B. W 518,520 Louis XIV.,dispatches of, 137,140,153 Louisiana ceded 240 Upper .241 Louvigny, commander at Macki- naw, xii., 146, 147; defeats Fox- es, 178, 179. Lowry, S. B < 486- Loyer, voyageur 397 LuU, C.V.P 495,520 Ludden, John D 620 M Macalester College, see Baldwin School. Mackenzie, Alex., explorer 332' Mackey, Lieut 322 Mackinaw surprised by British, 280; fur company, 293; mission school, 424. Mahkahto or Blue Earth River. .162' Mahzakotah at Fort Snelling 328 Mail routes of 1850 524 44 carrier to Fort Snelling 415, GENERAL INDEX. 9 Majegabowi kills Gov. Sample. . .311 Malamek, Michigan 148 Mantanton Sioux 144 Map of Philip Buache, xlvii. ' of Canada, xlvi. " of Champlain 100 '■ of Coronellis, xliv 131 44 of DeL'Isle, xlvi 145 44 of Franquelin, 44 of Hennepin, xlvi. 44 of Jeffreys, xlvii 145 14 of Louisiana 164 14 ofOtchagas, 44 of Tillemon, xlv. " of west of Lake Superior. . .188 Marble family attacked by Sioux, 623 624 Marest, Jesuit Missionary, 148,154 Mann, Lamarque de, Margry, Pierre, Marquette, Jesuit Missionary, 111,423 Marriage at Fort Snelling 523 Marsh, John, Sioux Interpreter. .412 Marshall, Gov. W. R., 489, 512, 520 614; Military Index, notice of, 758 Martin, Abraham, pilot 103 Martin, Morgan L 488 Massacre Island, 301 Sioux 716—738 Massey, Louis, early settler 390 Matavet, Abbe" 197 Mather, Cotton on Indian religion, 55 Prof., Geologist 416 Maury, on Minnesota climate, xxxii. May, Capt., Lord Selkirk's agent, 318 Mayall, Samuel 759, 760 McDonnell, Alex, of N. W.Co.305,307 Gov. Miles 307,314 McGilles, Hugh, at Leech Lake.. 259 261 McGregory 141 McKay, Capt., attacks Ft. Shelby, 284 McKay, of N.W. Co 284 McKean, Elias 471 McKenney,Thos.L., Indian Com'r,384 McKenzie of Col'mbia Fur Co.306,330 McKusick, John, of Stillwater. . .471 McLean, Nathaniel, editor.. 508, 530 McLeod, Norman, of N. W. Co. .312 McLeod, Martin 452, 473, 546 McLellan, of N. W. Co 313 McMillan, Isaiah, trial of 525 McMillan, S. J. R., U. S.Senator777 McNair, Sheriff, Thos 320, 394 McNair, W. W 775 McNamara, Capt. John 229 McTavish, of Montreal 231 Medary, Gov. Samuel 626 Medicine Men 61, 66 Dance 62 Meek, Corporal, U. S. A 262 Meeker, Bradley B. . . .502, 505, 509 Menard, Ren6\ Jesuit Missionary, at Lake Superior, 105; lost in Wisconsin, 106. Mendeouacanton River, see Rum. 44 Sioux, 51, 129, 164, 165, 169, 176 230 Mendota in 1819, 320,321; Gov. Cass at, 325. Messayer, French Missionary at Pigeon River, Methode, a half-breed, killed 394 Michigan Territory orgamzed,241 ,400 Mill, first in Chippeway Valley. .330 44 44 at Black River Falls... 298 11 - l grist above Pr.du Chien,298 " 44 atFallsofSt.Anthony.331 44 44 at Stillwater 471 44 explosion at Minneapolis . . . Mille Lacs (Lake Buade) see Fran- quelin's inap, xl., xlvii., 122,130,231 Miller,Gov.Stephen, notice of,757; Lt. Col. of 1st Reg't, at Bull Run, 684; Col. of 7th, 757; Brig. Genera], 757. Minneapolis, largest city in State, Appendix D, 44 mill explosion 769 Minnesota, meaning of word, 1; boundaries of, xxxii.; lakes of, iv.; waterfalls, xl.; steps to or- ganize a Territory, 488,489,490; convention at Stillwater, 491; act for organization, 493, 494; proclamation of Gov. Ramsey, 502; the first courts, 503; first election, 507; first execution of death penalty, 611; first white person nung, 640; act to form a State Constitution, 626; consti- tional convention, 627. Missouri Territory organized 406 Missionaries, Chippeway, 403,404, 421, 425, 427, 431, 432, 468, 470; Sioux, 56,84, 96, 441, 442, 447, 471, 480, 540, 562, 720. Missions, Indian 422 44 French unsuccessful. . .423, 441 44 School 424 44 Chippeway 425 44 Sandy Lake 42,432 44 LeechLake 432 44 Lake Harriet 441,447 14 Lac qui Parle 443, 594 44 RedWing 452,493 10 GENERAL INDEX. Missions, Red Lake 470, 550 " Methodist.. 452 " Kaposia .493 4 * Pokeguma 453, 464, 467 41 Traverse des Sioux 471 " Shokpay 540 " Hazlewood 720 " Pajutazee 720 Mississippi ascended by Menard, iv Mitchell, Alex, M. . . 507, 543 Moffet, Lot, early settler 495 Monroe, Capt, U S. A. . . .528, 533 Mooers, Hazen 342, 382, 415 Moran (Marin?) French officer. .190 194, 196 Moreau, Pierre (see Taupine) Morrison, Allan, trader, 375, 416, 572 578 Morrison, William 375, 376 Morse, Rev. Dr 424 Murphy, R. G., Indian Ag't, 309,511 Musou, Charles 441 N Nodouessioux see Sioux. Narrhetoba, Sioux Chief 128 Nash,C. W 776 Negroes called Black Frenchmen, 390 Neill, Rev. E.D., 495; offers prayer at 1st Legislature, 512; lectures at St. Anthony Falls, 521; ad- dress before Historical Society, 522; sermon on railways, 597; Chancellor of University, 639, 642; Supt. of Public Instruc- tion, 565, 642; Chaplain First Regiment, 650, 657, 666—669, 675—681. 691—696. Newspaper, 1st in Minnesota, 494,508 " " Pioneer" 494, 522 " "Register" 508 " " Chronicle" 508 " " Chronicle and Register" .508 " " Minnesota Democrat' ' . . . 544 " "Dakotah Friend" 544 " " St. Anthony Express". . .576 " " Minnesotian" 562 Newspaper hoax . . . 576, 576 Nicolas, Louis, Jesuit Ill Nicolet, Interpreter 101 Nicollet, J. N., Astronomer and Geologist, 417; sketch of, 418; at "Leech Lake, 418; at Fort Snelling, 447; second tour, 420. Noble, Mrs., captured by Sioux, 623; murdered, 624. Nobles, William H 495 Norris, James S 518, 613 North, J. W 547, 627 Northfield Robbers 766 Northup, Anson 633 Northwest Company, 231,237,259, 276, 280; strife "with Hudson Bay Co., 300, 306, 318; post at mouth of Assineboine, 310; ati Sandy Lake, 323. Norton, Daniel S., U. S. Senator,777 Norwood, Dr. Geologist 380 O Oanktayhee, a Sioux divinity. ... 55 Oakes, Charles H., trader 431 Odugameeg, or Fox Indians 176 Ogden, Major, U. S. A 443 Ojibways, see Chiopeways. Olmstead, S B...' 613 Olmsted, David, 495,511,543,591,614 Oliver's Grove (Hastings) 415 Omahaws ... 54 One-eyed Sioux 226 One-legged Jim 457 Ossiniboia 302 Otis, Geo. L 759 Owen, John P., editor 508, 562 Owens, Wilfred.... 320 P Pacific, northern route to, 213, 603 Page, Judge impeached 769 Paffert, Du Luth's guide, Pagonta, trader killed at Mendota,225 Palmerston, on Carver's Claim. .221 Panis (Pawnees) Parant, early settler 475 Parsons, Rev. J. P 522 Prairie du Chien, 203, 206, 236; during war of 1812, 283, 285; treaty of 1825, 383; Indians trou- blesome at, 395—397. Patron, Du Luth's uncle 123 Pembina, meaning of, 348; Major Wood's expedition, 503; teach- er killed at, 573. Pemmican, how made 451 Pemoussa, Fox warrior 177, 178 Penicault describes Perrot's lead mines, at Falls of St. An- thony, at Le Sueur's fort, his journal, 175; notice of, 175. Penneshaw, trader, 199, 200, 230; village, 342. Peosta s wife finds lead 236 GENERAL INDEX. 11 Perlier, James, trader 237, 475 Perkins builds saw mill 380 Lt., U.S. A 289 Perrault, trader 233, 234, 236 Perrot, Nicolas, early life, his wife, escort of Father Menard, describes flight of Hurons to the Mississippi, 114; at Sault St. Marie Council, 121 ; first visit to Lake Pepin, 143; other notices, 146, 148, 151. Perry, early settler 390 Peters, Rev. Samuel 217, 219 Petite Cerise Indians, Pettijohn, Eli 443 Phelps, W. W., delegate to Con- gress 772 Phillips, W. D.. . .491, 495, 511, 520 Picot, French botanist 506 Pig's Eye, 131; Indian fight at. .469 Pigeon River Falls, xl. Pignet, trader 236 Pike, Lieut. Zebulon M., 241: at Kaposia,242 ; council with Sioux, 24-3; obtains site for fort, xxii., 243; at Falls of St. Anthony, 247 ; winters near Sauk Rapids, 255—266. Pike's Island 453 Pillsbury, Gov. J. S., ;notice of, 764 views upon R. R. bonds, 765, 766, aid to settlers 768. Pillagers of Leech Lake 372 Pine River 254 Pinot, voyageur 234 Plympton. Major, U. S. A 391 Poage, Sarah, mission teacher. . .443 Pokeguma, battle of 463 " Missiou 463 Pond, Rev. Gideon H., 441, 447, 454 540, 540, 544, 560 Pond, Rev. S. W., 441, 447, 540, 562 Pontchartrain, Minister of France, 137, 152 Population of Minnesota, xlix.; Appendix D, 505, 508. Poskoiac River, Pothier, trader 281 Prescott, Philander. 67, 382, 523, 530; notice of, 737. Presbytery oi Dakotah 96 Presbyterian Missions, 399, 441,443 447, 478 Prevost, Siear 123 Prichard, John 311 Printing Press, early 510 Purcell, Surgeon. U. S. A., R Roe, Arctic explorer, at St. Paul, 570 Railroad agitation 613, 615, 616 44 Bonds. .630, 631, 632, 633, 767 " grants of 1854. . . .607, 608, 610 44 of 1857 629 Railroad Co., Minnesota & N.W.611 " excursion from Chicago 595 " sermon 597 Ramsey, Gov. Alex., arrival of, 495; biographical notice, 496; proclamation, 502; comes from Mendota in birch bark canoe, 504; provides for captive Chip- peway boy, 526; speech to In- dians at Fort Snelling, 530; Thanksgiving proclamat'n, 545, 563; treaty commissioner, 559; elected Governor, 633; views on railroad bonds, 633; on school lands, 640; offers a regiment to the President, 645; U. S. Sen'r.776 Ramsey, Anna E 497 Randall, Dr. A., newspaper pro- prietor 508 Rattlesnakes .-•••.• 159 Raymbault, Jesuit priest 101 Rayraneecha, or Red Wing, xlviii. Red Cedar Lake trading post 255 Red Bird, Winnebago Chief, 394,395 398 Red Pipestone quarry 513, 515 Red River carts 449 44 " settlers 333,387,389 Red Wing, Sioux Chief 236 44 " village 327 Reaume, Judge, trader. . . -236, 237 Reeder, Captain 391 Reinhard, Charles de, executed. .312 313 Renville, Joseph, Sr. . .242, 263, &30 341, 415, 443; sketch of, 475 Renville, Joseph, Jr. . . .416, 476, 567 Republican party organized 614 Ribourde, Franciscan 128 Rice, Henry M., selects lands for Winnebagoes, 483, 484; signs memorial of 1848, 489; visits Washington, 492; early friend of city of St. Paul, 494; biogra- phical notices, 498, 656; sends freight boat to Crow Wing, 507; elected delegate to Congress, 591; U. S. Senator, 776. Rice, Matilda 500 12 GENERAL INDEX. Biggs, Rev. Stephen R., Sioux Missionary, 447, 479; at Lac qui Parle, 447; tour to Missouri, 462; at Traverse des Sioux, 471; his house burned, 494; letter from, 720. Robert, Louis 490 Robertson, Colin, Hudson Bay Co.308 D. A., editor. . . .544, 591 Rocky Mountain locust 766 Rocky Mountains discovered by Verendrye, xviii. Rogers, Capt. Robt, 198, 199, 202, 213 Rolette, Joseph, 262, 290, 273, 276 280, 285, 330 " Jr., 416, 476, 567, 619 Rollins, John 518 Rosser, J. T 589 Rum River, xlvii., 52, 131 Rum selling 247 Russell, Jeremiah 464, 512 R. P 520 S Saint Antoine. Charles, voyageur of Red River 318 Saint Anthoivy "Express" first newspaper of Minneapolis 556 St. Anthony Falls, described by Barnes, xlix.; by Beltrami, 377; Boutwell,410; Carver, xliii.,208; Charleville, xliii. ; Hennepin, xlil. ; Long, Penicaut, St. Anthony garrison mill 377,399,409 " library Association 522 " first steamboat at 527 above.... 534 " early school. 520 " wire suspension bridge. . .613 St. Croix Falls, xl.; Indian fight. 223 " River, legend of 94 " " early steamboat 456 Saint Croix, French trader 161 Saint Pierre, Capt., 161 180, 192, 194, 195, 208 Saint Pierre (Saint Peter) River, now Minnesota. 144, 161, 208; act of Congress relative to name, 566. Saint Joseph village captured. ..283 Saint Lusson, Sieur. 120 Saint Paul, origin of its name, 481 ; early -days of, 481; early school. 520; Indian fight at, 587; Pres- byterian chapel burned, 529; de- scription of place by Miss Bre- Bremer, 543; execution of Yu- hazee, 611; arrival of relics of Sir John Franklin's party, 615; Mrs. Bilansky, hung, 640. Saint Remi River, tributary of Blue Earth 165 Sandy Lake Chippeways, 223; tra- ding post, 234, 238,403.405; Pike visits, 257, Gov. Cass at, 323; mission at, 428. Saskatchewan River, . . 321 Saucy Jack 391 Sauk Indians at Detroit 176, 177 Sault St Marie Council 120 Saulteurs, why so called 113 Say, Thomas H., Zoologist 341 Scalp dance at Cass Lake, 106, at Stillwater, 526, at Kaposia, 505 Schenectady burned 142 Schiller, poem on Sioux Chief. ... 89 Schoolcraft, H. R., accompanies Gov. Cass, 322; tour of 1831, 461 ; tour of 1832, 403; at Leech, Lake, 405 ; at Elk Lake or Itasca, 407; at Stillwater. 411, School. Baldwin 587, 763 School Fund, attempt to divide. .586 " houses in 1852 569 ' ' Section Debate in Congress, 553 Schools, Indian. . .424, 432, 433, 447 423, 464, 467 Schools at St. Anthony 520 at St. Paul 481,520 at Stillwater 520 Supt of, 641 ; Report of. . 566 Normal 633 Seal of Minnesota, its motto, 516 poem on, 517. Selby, J.W 611 Selkirk, Earl of, 290, 301, 302, 308 314, 315 Selkirk Settlement 303 Semple, Gov., 309; killed 311 Setzer, Henry F 512, 518 Seymour, Samuel 341 Shields, Gen. James,U. S. S.,628,677 Sherburne, Judge 589 Shokpay, or Shakopee, xlvhi., . . .562 " hung at Fort Snelling, 757 758 Sibley, Gov. H.H., 417, 442, 462, 514,590; signs memorial of 1848, 487; delegate at Stillwater, 491 ; delegate to Congress, 492, 511; entertains Gov. Ramsey, 495; biographical notice, 497; Gov- ernor of Minnesota, 632; mili- itary record, see Military Index; Congressional service, 771 GENERAL INDEX. 13 Sibley, Mrs. Sarah 497 Simpson, Alex., brother of Thos.462 Simpson, Capt,, U. S. A 579 44 Wm., early resident at, St. Paul, 480, 495, 502 S impson , Thomas , Arctic explorer, death in Minnesota . .461 Sioux Bands, Isanyati, 51; Yank- ton, vii., 52, 170, 225; Mdewa- kantons, 51, 164, 165, 169, 170, 230. 400; Sissetoans, 327, 472, 510. Sioux Chief, Aile Rouge. 269, 326, 338 411 11 " hung at Fort Snelling, 758, his body dissected at a Phil- adelphia medical college 759 44 FilsdePinchow ....2:6 44 Killeur Rouge 267 44 Petit Corbeau, 267, 282 285, 292, 587. 44 Indians, language of, 49; origin of the name, 57; idea of diseases, 87; idea of future life, 88; suicides,' 88; legends, 90-95; lexicon. 96; attacked by Chip- peways, 107 ; capture Hennepin, 128; visited by Perrot, 143; first chief at Montreal, 148; attack Verendrye, 189; visit English at Mackinaw, 199; attack Chip- peways, 227, 338, 394, 402, 457, 463, 526; attacked by Chippe- ways, 454, 456, 469; massacre of white settlers, 621—666. "Sioux Missions, 441, 442. 447, 471, 480 540, 462, 720 Sioux books printed 721—724 Slade, Ex-Gov 481 Slaves, African, at Fort Snelling, 391 Smith, C. K 502,522 Snelling, Col. Joseph, 327. 328, 329 333, 331, 393, 394, 397 Snelling, Wm. Joseph, poem on Thunder Bird, 57; notices of. 342. 349, 377, 397 Sources of Mississippi. .374, 375, 377 Spencer, Missionarv at Red Lake,470 Spring of 1827, very cold 390 Stage road. first thro' Wisconsin. .524 Stambaugh, S. C 453 Steamboat, first at Fort Snelling. 383 " " St. Croix Falls,450 44 above Ft.Sneliing,391 44 at St. Anthony... 527 44 Gov. Ramsey, above Falls of St. Anthony, 534 ~" on Minnesota River 534 Steamboat, first on Red River. .633 Steams, O. P., notice of 777 Steele, Franklin, 453, 487, 491; develops water power at Minne- apolis. 501 : notice of, 500. Steele, Mrs. Franklin 501 Steuben, Baron 238 Stevens, Rev. J. D., Sioux Mis- sionary, 399, 443, 445. Stevens, John H 500 44 Thaddeus 554 Stewart, James, explorer 615 Dr. Jacob M.C 775 Stillwater, settlement of, 471, 483; scalp-dance at, 526; landslide, 573; land office, 504. Stitt, L. M., trader ^416 Stoddard, Capt. U. S. A 240 Stone heaps at Red Wing 187 Strait, H. B., M. C, notice of. . .775 Sturges, William 511 Sullivan, Capt 285 Sumner, Capt., U. S. A. . . .472, 473 Swartz, Andrew, killed by Sioux, 555 Sweetzer, Madison 590 Swift, Gov. Henry A., notice of. .757 Swiss settlers 389, 390, 459 44 Missions ries 452 Tailhan, editor of Perrot's book. .114 Takushkanshkan,Dakotah divinity 57 Taliaferro, Major Lawrence, 333, 337 380, 391, 399, 441 Talon, Intendant of Canada 120 Tanner, John, found at Rainy Lake 314,349 Tanner, James, his son 349 Tatankamani, Sioux Chief 327 Taupine, alias Moreau.120, 122, 123 Taylor,D.C 495 Joshua, L., 502, 507, Zachary, 286. Tecumseh 279 Tegahkouita, Catharine 142 Temperance among Sioux 509 Teeoskahtay, Sioux chief,149,151,167 Terrv, Elijah, murdered 573 Thanksgiving Day 545, 563 Thatcher, Miss, captured. . .623, 624 Thunder Bird Ticonderoga, western Indians at. 197 Tipsinna, wild turnip 506 Tonty, Sieur, Du Luth's cousin, vi. 141, 142 Todd, Capt,, U. S. A 530, 533 Toopunkah Zeze, Sioux brave. . .393 14 GENERAL INDEX. Trask, Sylvanus 512, 518 Treaty of 1825 385 " ofFonduLac, 1826 386 " of 1837 453 " of 1851 556 " ofWatab 587 Trowbridge, C. C 322 Tully, Abraham, rescued from Indians 333 Tully,Tohn, rescued from Indians, 333 Tuttle, Calvin 501 U University of Minnesota . . 547,634,637 641 Van Vorhes, A 504 Vercheres, commander at Green Bay 194 Verendrye(Veranderie)Sieur de la, his sons, at Lake of Woods, at Rocky Moun- tains, 187, 300, Verendrye, Jr., " Chevalier, Virginia, first steamboat at Fort Snelling 333 Voyageur badly frozen 324 Voyageurs' mode of life, 294, 297, 303 strength of, 404. Vose, Major, U. S. A., W Wahkanteepee, Sioux Chief, xvi., 166, 167, 168 Wahkootay (Wakute) 228 Wahnata, Sioux Chief 327, 343 Wait,L.B 511 Wakefield, John A 522 Wales, W. W 619 Wambojeeg, Chippeway Chief. . .223 Wapasha, xlvhi., 227, 228, 260, 281 282, 292, 338, 415, 485 Warren, John, Esais 61& " trader at La Poiute,403, 40& William . . . .279, 435, 530 Washington, General George 195 Watson, a driver, killed 472 Welch, Judge 611 Wells, James, trader. . .493, 512, 518 Whallon's farm house visited by Indians 618 Whistler, Major, U. S. A. 398 White, Wallace B 530 Whiteside, Capt 286- Whitworth, member of Parham't,214 Wilder, Judge 775 Wilkin, Col. Alexander 563, 691 Wilkinson, M. S., U. S. Senator, 512; notice of, 774, 776. Williamson, Rev. T. S., M. D., Sioux Missionary, early life, 442; at Fcrt Snelling, 442; letters from Lac qui Parle, 443; esti- mate on Renville, 477; at Kapo- sia, 480, 493; procures a teach- er for St. Paul, 481; examines an Indian's wound, 536; his translations, 721 — 724. Wilson, Eugene M., notice of,. . .77$ Windom, William, U. S. Senator, notice of 772, 777 Winnebago Indians, 100, 143, 155,282 394, 398, 483, 485 Winthrop, R. C 790 Wisconsin Territory organized. . .416 Wolf, General 198 Wolf borup, trader, see Borup. Women voters . . 76$ Wood, Major, U. S. A 50& Wood, trader 242, 267, 271 Yeetkadootah, Sioux brave. .456,458 Yeiser, Capt. U. S. A 284, 386, Yellow Stone, Yomville, Madame, neice of Ve- rendrye, Yuhazee executed at St. Paul,571,61i GENERAL INDEX PAGE 770 TO PAGE 928. Ako, Michael 812, 822, 823, 829 Aldnch, Cyrus M. C 789 Andriani censures N. W. Co 871 Andrews, C. C 788 Assineboine (St. Charles) River.. 801 Averill, J . T., M. C 790 B Banning, W. L., R. R. President. 785 Beauharnois, Governor of Canada, 183 189, 191, 860 Beaux Horames tribe 860 Becker, G. L., R. R. President. .783 Bellin's Description of America. .145 Belhn's notice of Ochaga's Map.. 800 Berthot, Colin murdered 817 Black River, a Huron retreat 807 Black Feet Indians 862 Bonga or Bungo, a negro slave. .874 Boucher, LaPerriere noticed 851 44 Montbrun 851 " de Niverville 852 Boucherville and Guignas cap- tured 852 Buffalo in Red River Valley 880 C Cameron, Red River trader 882 death of, 885; burial... 885 Capital, proposed removal. .318, 619 Capitol at St. Paul burned 778 Cavanaugh, J. M., U. S. U. of R. 788 Chatfield, Judge 589, 789 Coquard 862 14 on death of St. Pierre. ... 195 Cox, Judge E. St. J. impeached.. 778 Cristenaux tribe 862 Culbertson, Sutler at Ft. Snelling.918 De Gonor, Jesuit, at Fort Pepin. .857 De Ja Corne, St. Luc 864 De la Jemeraye. . .801 De la Tourette, DuLuth's brother. 142 799 Denonville, Governor 149, 805 De Noyelles succeeds Verandrie. .860 Donnellv, Ignatius 645, 780 Drake, E. F., President R. R. . . .784 Du Luth Sieur 819-822 Dunnell, M. H., M. C 790 F Faffart, Du Luth's interpretei . . .811 Fort Henry, Park River 877 11 La Reine 300, 859 Fort Snelling, early days of. 319, 890 920 Fort St. Charles 300, 801 44 St. Nicolas 300, 799 • 4 St. Pierre 800 44 William 882 Franquelin's maps 798, 799 G Galissoniere, Governor 860 George, James C 780 Gillam, Captain, of Boston 805 Groselliers, notice of. 805, 856 Gros Ventre Indians 862 Guignas captured .851 H Hamilton, Alexander, widow of. 914 Harrisse on early maps 798 Hennepin's writings 822-831 16 ADDITION TO GENERAL TNDEX. Historical Society Address 522 in court 771 Hubbard, Governor L. F 778 Hudson Bay, early history 805 Hurons, flight of 806, 808 I Impeachment of Judge Page. . . .769 " Cox 778 J Jemeraye, Verandrie's nephew.. .851 map of 801, 859 Joliet, explorer. . . .120, 797, 798, 806 Jonquiere, Governor 86 K Kamanistigoya. . . 194, 799, 800, 809 King, W. S., M. C 791 Kingsbury, W. W 789 O Ossiniboia, origin of name 856 P Park River, fort at 856 Pembina, Henry's post at 882 Perrot, sketch of 832-83& Petite Cerise 860 Poehler, Henry, M. C 794 Pillsbury, Governor, last term. . . 776 R Railroad, first from St. Paul 782 Ramsey, Alex., Secretary of War. 794 Randin's map 797 Red Lake visited by Thompson. ..869 Red River cart invented 882 Rice, Edmund, R. R. President. . 782 Rum Selling near Fort Snelling. .917 La Corne, Louis Luc, noticed. . . .864 Lake, Red, visit of Thompson. . .869 LaPerriere Boucher at Haverhill. .183 " " notice of. ... 851 " builds Fort Pepin850 LaSalle disparages DuLuth. .810-812 Legislature, biennial session 776 settles R. R. Bonds. 777 Leonard, Sutler at Fort Snelling. 918 LeSueur, additional notices of, 845,848 Lochren William 793 Lunatic Asylum burned 776 M Maps, early, described 800-802 Map of Champlain 797 " "Franquelin 798 " " Ochagas 800,857 Marest, Jesuit 148, 154, 849 Marin, Lamarqu e de 865 Maryatt at Fort Snelling 927 McGilles, Hugh at Grand Portage 868 McMillan, U. S., Senator 793 McNair, W. W 791 Menard Father, notice of. 805 Minneapolis in 1880 xlix N Negro slaves at Fort Snelling. . .913 North- West Company, notice of, 870 Noue, Robertel la 856, 857 Saint Pierre, Jacques Legardeur, 161 180, 192, 855.; Notices of. 863, 864 Scott, Dred, case of. 913 Shields, U. S., Senator 792 Sibley, H. H., M. C 787 Steele, Franklin, obituary of 919 Strait, H. #., M. C 791 T Thompson, David, explorations of, 866 870 V Verendrye (Verandrie), explorer, 187 800,858 " his sons at Lake of the Woods, 859; at Rocky Mountains 859 deathof 860 son of killed 859 Chevalier 860 W Washburn, W. D. notice of 794 Wilkinson, M. S 790. 792 Williamson, death of Rev. Dr. . .774 Windom, William, U. S- Sec'y of Treasury 793 Y Yellowstone Valley - 862 Youville, Madame, neice of Ver- andrie 859 INDEX TO MILITARY HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. A Acker, Capt. W. H. . . .647, 648, 679 Adams, Lieut. Col. of 1st Regt., wounded 743 Anawanymane, Simon; Friendly Indian 720 Andrews, Gen. C. C. . .715, 751, 754 Arnold, Capt. J K 753 B Baker, Col. E. D., killed 682 Ball's Bluff Disaster 682, 683 Bassett. Hon. W. of Va 694 Battle of Ball's Bluff 682 " " Bull Run 672-681 44 " Birch Coolie 730 44 4< Chieainauga 745 44 44 Corinth 705-707 44 44 Fair Oaks 696 44 44 Iuka 703 44 44 Malvern Hills 701 44 44 Mill Springs 685 44 near Mobile 754 44 " Nashville 753 44 4< Pittsburg Landing, .. . 688 " " Tupelo 752 44 44 Wood Lake 731 Beauregard, Gen 671 Becht. Major 752 Bishop, Lt. Col 746 Blake, drummer- boy 686 Blakely, C. H.. Adj't 684 Boone, Lt. Col. of Mississippi. . . 674 Borgenrode, Cc 1 702 Boutillier. Set " Le Boutillier" Bradley, Major of 7th Regiment 731 Brainerd, Rev. . fohn 716 Brigade, Franklin's 666 Brigham, Surgeon 684 Brother, a dead 686 Brown, Major Joseph R 730 Burgess. Color Bearer of 1st R. 700 Burnside, General 671, 677 Butler, Levi, Surgeon 3d Reg't. 684 c Cameron, Sec. of War 648, 650 Chaffee, Chaplain J. F 702 Clark, Lt, Geo. A 738 Clayton Lt 689, 704 Coates, Capt, H. A 681, 741 Cochran, Col. John, of N. Y. . . 699 Collins, Frank E., Q. M. Sergt. . 789 Colville, Col 700, 740 Cook, Lt,, at Pittsburg Landing 689 Cornwallis, surrender of 692 Cressey, Timothy, Chaplain 684 Cross, Asst. Surgeon of 4th Regt. 702 Crooks, Col. of 6th Regt 733 D Da Costa, Chaplain 5th Mass. 656, 659, 674 Dahlgren, Commodore U. S. N. . 653 Dakotah Bibliography 721 Dana's Brigade at Fail- Oaks. . . 697 Dana, Col. N. J. T. 682, 692 Dart. Capt, J. R 710 Davis, Corporal 690 De Camp, Mrs., rescued 721 De Grey, Lt., wounded 743 Dengle, of 1st Regt 677 Dike, Major 650, 680, 681 Donnellv. Lt. Governor 645, 649 Downie,* Maj. .648, 650, 670,673, 674 INDEX. E Ethridge, Surgec n 702 F Farrell, Capt., killed 742, 743 Fiske, Chaplain, Asa S 702 Flandrau, Col. defends New Ulm 728 Franklin, Col. W. B., reports of; 677 French, Adjt. A. R 702 Fort Snelling recruiting camp . . 647 Fort Sumter 645 G George, Col. James 683, 746 Gere, Lt. Col. W. B 702, 714 Gibbs, Gates, ambulance driver, 627 Gibbons, General 742 Gorman's Brigade 605 Gorman, Gen. W.A.649,650,678, 682 Griggs, Lt. Col. C. W 715 Grow, Quartermaster 684 H Hadlcy, Major J. A 684 Hancock's Corps at Gettysburgh 739 Hancock, General 740 Hand, Surgeon D. W 663 Harley, Lt., wounded 679 Harmon, Lt. Wm 700, 744 Heaney, Adjt. D 684 HenVlnnger, Lt. at Gettysburgh 744 Heintzelman, Col..657,670,673, 677 Hines, drummer- boy 675 Hospital Fund of 1 st Regt. , origin 660 " " contributors to... 662 41 •* expenditures 663 " " erects monument 663 HotchMss, Capt. W. A 714, 751 Hoyt, Capt. of 3d Regt 715 Hubbard, Col. L. F.. ..702,710, 753 Hudson, Lt. Col. of N. Y 696 Hunt, Lt. Thos. B 709 Hunter, Gen., wounded 676 I Indian Policy of 1612 716 " of London Comp'y 719 " Education, 1619 717 " Massacre. 716-737 " Missionaries 720, 727 Ireland, Chaplain 702, 711 Irvine, Capt. Javan B 672 " captures Lt. Col. Boone, 674 Irvine, promoted for services . . . 672 Irvine, Corporal W. N 742, 744 Jennison, Lt. Col. S. P 755 Johnson, Gen. R. W 745 K Kennedy, Surgeon Y. P 702 Kerrot of 1st Regt., wounded . . 680 Kittredge, Sergt. Major 70£ L Lamson kills Little Crow. ...... 737 Lawrence, Loren., friendly Sioux 720 Leach, Adjt. W. B 650, 682 LeBoutillier, Surg., 650,660,677, 681 Leftwich, Rev. Mr 657 Legro, Capt. at Iuka 703 Lewis, of Palmetto Regt 675 Lincoln, Abraham, elected Pres. 644 Little Crow, Sioux Chief, 721, 733, 735, 737 •* " his son captured. ... 737 M Manson, Col. of Indiana 685 Marshall, Lt. Col. W. R.,..731, 753 Martin, Capt. L. B 738 Mason, Lt. at Gettysburgh 744 Mazatumani, Paul, Friendly Sioux 910 McCaslin at Savage Station 700 McClellan. General 672, 701 McCook, Col. Robert 685 McDonald, Joseph, of 1st Regt. 700 McDowell, General 669, 677 McGrorty, Quartermaster 701 McLaren, Major 731 MeKune, Capt. killed 675 Me^sick, Capt. killed 742, 743 Miller, Col. Stephen 650, 734 " at Bull Run 684 Milligan, Asst. Surgeon 584 Minnesota 1st Battery, 684, 688, 751, 754 2d " 701, 755 3d " 755 " Heavy Artillery 755 " Cavalry (Rangers). . . 755 " " (Brackett's). 755 " " 2d Regiment 755 " (Hatch's)... 755 " Inf'y Battalion, 754, 755 INDEX. 3 Minnesota 1st Reg. must'd, 647, 649 " " visits St. Paul, 649 i it ii p resen ted with a flag 649 * " Chaplain's address 650 * *' list of staff officers 650 * " goes to seat of war 650 4 " at Washington. . . 652 * " n'r Alexandria 654, 655 ' " atSangster's St'n 666-9 4 "at Bull Run... 672-681 1 " at Edward's Ferry 682 * " at Ball's Bluff ... 682 ' "near Winchester.. 690 * "atsiegeofYorkt'n 691 * " at West Point. . . . 693 ' "at Fair- Oaks 696 4 " at Peach Orchard. 700 ' " at Savage Station. 700 4 "at Malvern Hills.. 701 ' " at Antietam 701 * " at Fredericksburgh 714 4 " at Gettysburgh 739-746 " at Bristow Station 647 " Banquet at Wash- ington 748 "last parade 751 1 " Gettysburgh Mon- ument 662 Minn . 2dRegt. Officers 682 «i " at Mill Springs.... 685 it " at Chicamauga ... 745 << " Return 748 it " Discharge 755 Minn .3dRegt. Officers 684 t« " unfortunate 715 i. " discharged 755 Minn . 4th Regt. Officers 702 ii " at Iuka 703 i< " at Corinth 704 ii " Report of 706 ii " at Port Gibson .... 738 ii " at Raymond 738 ii " at Jackson 738 ii " at Vicksburg 739 ii " atAltoona 753 << " with Gen. Sherman 754 «( " discharged 755 Minn . 5th Regt. Officers 702 " ' ' goes to seat of war 701 u " near Corinth.. 702, 705 n " " Jackson 739 it " before Vicksburg . . 739 " at Tupelo 752 ii " at Nashville 753 •i " discharged 755 Minn. 6th Regt. near Mobile. . . 754 " discharged 755 Minn. 7th Regt. at Nashville. . . 753 " discharged 755 Minn. 8th Regt. n'r Murfreesboro 753 " discharged 755 Minn. 9th Regt. at Nashville. . . 753 " at Tupelo 752 " " discharged.. ... .. 755 Minn. 10th Regt. at Tupelo 752 " at Nashville 753 " " near Mobile 754 44 4i discharged 755 Minn. Sharpshooters, Co. A.... 755 Co. B.... 755 Morgan, Capt 682 Morrow, W. H 686 Mossom, Rev. David 695 Mowers, Capt 706 Moulton, Capt., killed 742 Munch, Capt 688, 704 Murdock, Lt., killed 745 Murphy, Surgeon, J. H. 702, 703, 710 N Neill, Chaplain, E. D 650 44 Letters of; 653, 657, 660, 661, 696, 669, 691 44 " Hospital Fund Re- ports 661-666 Neill, Col. Thomas H 696, 699 Nelson, Col. Anderson D 647 Northup, Anson 680 Oakes, Lt. David, killed 701 O'Brien, H. D. of 1st Regt. .742, 744 Olin, Adjt. R. C 684 Other-Day, Friendly Sioux. .720, 727 P Parker, Albert, of 2d Regt. on death of his brother 686 Peebles, Lt 689. 690 Peteler, Capt. F 684 Pell, Capt 648 Peller, Adjt. of 1st Regt 743 Perkins, E. P., wounded at Get- tysburg 744 Perriam, Capt., killed 742 Peyton, Capt. Bailie, shot 686 Pfaender, Capt , 688 Pope, Major General 735 Prescott, Lt. G. W 745 INDEX. Prescott, Philander, killed by Sioux 737 Prescott, Philander, notice of. . . 737 Presbyterian Sioux Mission 720 Putnam, Capt 681 R Ramsey, Lt. Douglass, U. S. A. killed 678 Ramsey, Gov. Alex .645, 649 Rickett's Battery 677, 678 Riggs, Rev. S. R 720, 727 Rosecrans, Gen 712 Russell, Capt. of Sharpshooters. 701 S Sanborn, Gen. John B., 647, 702, 703, 706, 738, 739 Saxdale of Battery killed 690 Sedgwick's Division at Yorktown 691 Sherman, Marshall, of 1st Regt. captures flag at Gettysburg, 743, 743 Sherman, Gen. W. T 681 Sibley, Gen. H. H., 721, 729, 730, 731, 732, 736, 737 Sinclair, Lt., wounded 743 Sioux Massacre, cause of 421-724 affray at Acton 726 attack Lower Agency 726 approach Fort Ridgley. . . 728 attack New Ulm 728 defeated at Wood Lake. . . 731 Indians bung 734 Smith, Lt. Col. B. F 687 Smith, Lt. Frank G., U. S. A. . 745 Smith, Surgeon, killed 752 Smith, Sumner, Major 683 Spencer, Geo. A., captured 726 Stanley, General 710 Stansbury, Capt. Top. Eng 649 Stinson, Colby. 690 Strong, Geo. D. of 2d Regt 686- Stone, Gen. C P 683 Stout, Lt., wounded 686- Sudley, Church 677, 678 Sully, Gen. Alfred, 690, 696, 699, 636 Sumter, Fort 645 T Tensas, Rifles of Louisiana 676 Thomas, Lt.Col. M. B., 670,671, 702 Thompson, Adjt. J. M 702, 709 Thorpe, George, of Va 718 Tollman, Surgeon 684 Tyler, General, repulsed 670 u Uline, Lt. at Mill Springs 686 V Van Cleve, General H. P., 683, 685, 745 w Washington, on Civil Discord. . 659 his marriage 694 Welch, Major 575, 702, 731 Welles, Sergeant of 2d Regt. . . 686 Wicket, Adam, of 2d Regt 686 Wilkin, Col. Alex., 669, 675, 683, 752 Williamson, Rev. T. S 720, 727 Wilson, Captof6th 731 Wilson, T. P. of 4th 709 Workman, an ambulance driver 678 Y Yorktown, Siege of 691 V KB 0?<) < BkHH N HI In H|H RH Hi ffi BNH H H n 016 096 759 6 ■fl ^HH In «$« HI m m ' \.V..*».- nAk! m .t^Jktoaw EH ■ ■HI