EARLY STEAMBOATING--CELEBRATION OF THE SUCCESSFUL LAYING OF THE FIRST
ATLANTIC CABLE--A FIGHT BETWEEN THE CHIPPEWAS AND SIOUXS.
"Right this way for the Fuller house!" "Right this way for the Winslow
house!" "Right this way for the American house!" "Merchants hotel
on the levee!" "Stage for St. Anthony Falls!" These were the
announcements that would greet the arrival of travelers as they would
alight from one of the splendid steamers of the Galena, Dunleith,
Dubuque and Minnesota Packet company during the days when traveling
by steamboat was the only way of reaching points on the upper
Mississippi. Besides the above hotels, there was the Central house,
the Temperance house, the City hotel, Minnesota house, the Western
house, the Hotel to the Wild Hunter, whose curious sign for many years
attracted the attention of the visitor, and many others. The Merchants
is the only one left, and that only in name. Messengers from newspaper
offices, representatives of storage and commission houses, merchants
looking for consignments of goods, residents looking for friends, and
the ever alert dealers in town lots on the scent of fresh victims,
were among the crowds that daily congregated at the levee whenever the
arrival of one of the packet company's regular steamers was expected.
At one time there was a daily line of steamers to La Crosse, a daily
line to Prairie du Chien, a daily line to Dubuque and a line to St.
Louis, and three daily lines for points on the Minnesota river.
Does any one remember the deep bass whistle of the Gray Eagle, the
combination whistle on the Key City, the ear-piercing shriek of the
little Antelope, and the discordant notes of the calliope on the
Denmark? The officers of these packets were the king's of the day, and
when any one of them strayed up town he attracted as much attention as
a major general of the regulars. It was no uncommon sight to see six
or eight steamers at the levee at one time, and their appearance
presented a decided contrast to the levee of the present time. The
first boat through the lake in the spring was granted free wharfage,
and as that meant about a thousand dollars, there was always an
effort made to force a passage through the lake as soon as possible.
Traveling by steamboat during the summer months was very pleasant,
but it was like taking a trip to the Klondike to go East during the
winter. Merchants were compelled to supply themselves with enough
goods to last from November till April, as it was too expensive
to ship goods by express during the winter. Occasionally some
enterprising merchant would startle the community by announcing
through the newspapers that he had just received by Burbank's express
a new pattern in dress goods, or a few cans of fresh oysters. The
stages on most of the routes left St. Paul at 4 o'clock in the
morning, and subscribers to daily newspapers within a radius of forty
miles of the city could read the news as early as they can during
these wonderful days of steam and electricity.
* * * * *
Probably no election ever occurred in Minnesota that excited so much
interest as the one known as the "Five Million Loan Election." It was
not a party measure, as the leading men of both parties favored it;
although the Republicans endeavored to make a little capital out of it
at a later period. The only paper of any prominence that opposed the
passage of the amendment was the Minnesotian, edited by Dr. Thomas
Foster. That paper was very violent in its abuse of every one who
favored the passage of the law, and its opposition probably had an
opposite effect from what was intended by the redoubtable doctor. The
great panic of 1857 had had a very depressing effect on business
of every description and it was contended that the passage of this
measure would give employment to thousands of people; that the
rumbling of the locomotive would soon be heard in every corner of the
state, and that the dealer in town lots and broad acres would again be
able to complacently inform the newcomer the exact locality where a
few dollars would soon bring to the investor returns unheard of by
any ordinary methods of speculation. The campaign was short and the
amendment carried by an immense majority. So nearly unanimous was
the sentiment of the community in favor of the measure that it was
extremely hazardous for any one to express sentiments In opposition to
it. The city of St. Paul, with a population of about 10,000, gave a
majority of over 4,000 for the law. There was no Australian law
at that time, and one could vote early and often without fear of
molestation. One of the amusing features of the campaign, and in
opposition to the measure, was a cartoon drawn by R.O. Sweeney, now
a resident of Duluth. It was lithographed and widely circulated. The
newspapers had no facilities for printing cartoons at that time. They
had to be printed on a hand press and folded into the papers. It was
proposed, by the terms of this amendment to the constitution, to
donate to four different railroad companies $10,000 per mile for every
mile of road graded and ready to iron. Work Was commenced soon after
the passage of the law, and in a short time a demand was made by the
railroad companies upon Gov. Sibley for the issuance of the bonds, in
accordance with their idea of the terms of the contract made by the
state. Gov. Sibley declined to issue the bonds until the rights of
the state had been fully protected. The railroad companies would not
accept the restrictions placed upon them by the governor, and they
obtained a peremptory writ from the supreme court directing that they
be issued. The governor held that the supreme court had no authority
to coerce the executive branch of the state government, but on the
advice of the attorney general, and rather than have any friction
between the two branches of the government, he, in accordance with the
mandate of the court, reluctantly signed the bonds. Judge Flandrau
dissented from the opinion of his colleagues, and had his ideas
prevailed the state's financial reputation would have been vastly
improved. Dr. Foster did not believe Gov. Sibley was sincere in his
efforts to protect the interests of the state, and denounced him with
the same persistence he had during the campaign of the previous fall.
The doctor would never acknowledge that Gov. Sibley was the legal
governor of Minnesota, and Tie contended that he had no right to sign
the bonds: that their issuance was illegal, and that neither the
principal nor the interest would ever be paid. The Minnesotian carried
at the head of its columns the words "Official Paper of the City," and
it was feared that its malignant attacks upon the state officials,
denouncing the issuance of the bonds as fraudulent and illegal, would
be construed abroad as reflecting the sentiment of the majority of the
people in the the community in which it was printed, and would have a
bad effect in the East when the time came to negotiate the bonds. An
effort was made to induce the city council to deprive that paper of
its official patronage, but that body could not see its way clear to
abrogate its contract. Threats were made to throw the office into the
river, but they did not materialize. When Gov. Sibley endeavored
to place these bonds on the New York market he was confronted
with conditions not anticipated, and suffered disappointment and
humiliation in consequence of the failure of the attempt. The bonds
could not be negotiated. The whole railway construction scheme
suddenly collapsed, the railroad companies defaulted, the credit of
the state was compromised, "and enterprise of great pith and
moment had turned their currents awry." The evil forbodings of the
Minnesotian became literally true, and for more than twenty years
the repudiated bonds of Minnesota were a blot on the pages of her
otherwise spotless record. Nearly 250 miles of road were graded, on
which the state foreclosed and a few years later donated the same to
new organizations. During the administration of Gov. Pillsbury the
state compromised with the holders of these securities and paid 50 per
cent of their nominal value. Will she ever pay the rest?
* * * * *
In the latter part of May, 1858, a battle was fought near Shakopee
between the Sioux and the Chippewas. A party of Chippewa warriors,
under the command of the famous Chief Hole-in-the-day, surprised a
body of Sioux on the river bottoms near Shakopee and mercilessly
opened fire on them, killing and wounding fifteen or twenty. Eight or
ten Chippewas were killed during the engagement. The daily papers
sent reporters to the scene of the conflict and they remained in that
vicinity several days on the lookout for further engagements. Among
the reporters was John W. Sickels, a fresh young man from one of the
Eastern cities. He was attached to the Times' editorial staff and
furnished that paper with a very graphic description of the events of
the preceding days, and closed his report by saying that he was unable
to find out the "origin of the difficulty." As the Sioux and
Chippewas were hereditary enemies, his closing announcement afforded
considerable amusement to the old inhabitants.
* * * * *
The celebration in St. Paul in honor of the successful laying of the
Atlantic cable, which took place on the first day of September, 1858,
was one of the first as well as one of the most elaborate celebrations
that ever occurred in the city. The announcement of the completion of
the enterprise, which occurred on the 5th of the previous month, did
not reach St. Paul until two or three days later, as there was no
telegraphic communication to the city at that time. As soon as
messages had been exchanged between Queen Victoria and President
Buchanan it was considered safe to make preparations for a grand
celebration. Most of the cities throughout the United States were
making preparations to celebrate on that day, and St. Paul did not
propose to be outdone. The city council appropriated several hundred
dollars to assist in the grand jubilation and illumination. An
elaborate program was prepared and a procession that would do credit
to the city at the present time marched through the principal streets,
to the edification of thousands of spectators from the city and
surrounding country. To show that a procession in the olden time was
very similar to one of the up-to-date affairs, the following order of
procession is appended: