Includes township 31, range 22. It is the oldest settlement in the

county, Alphonse Jarvis having located here in 1840. Frank Lamott

settled here in 1849. The first considerable settlement was made on

Rice lake, in 1850, by F. W. Traverse and other German families. A

French colony settled in the eastern part of the town in 1852.

Prominent among these colonists were Francis X. Levalle and brother,

Oliver and Frank Dupre, Francis Lamott and Oliver Peltier. The town

was organized in 1857, with the following commissioners: Oliver

Peltier, chairman; Francis Lamott, treasurer, and Stephen Ward. The

town was originally a timbered and meadow district. It has a good

black loam soil, and is well watered by Rice lake and numerous small

streams. It contains a number of ancient mounds. Its nearest railroad

station is Centreville, on the St. Paul & Duluth road, an Washington

county.

CENTREVILLE VILLAGE

Was platted in 1853, by Peltier, Lavalle & Lamott. It contains a

substantial brick church known as the Church of St. Genevieve of

Paris, built in 1859. The congregation numbers about four hundred.

COLUMBUS,

Township 32, range 22, was settled in 1855 by James Starkey, Isaac

Conway, John Kleiner and Henry Batzle. Mr. Conway became a dealer in

real estate, and removed to California where he died.

JAMES STARKEY figured prominently in the early history of the

Territory and State, but may be mentioned here as the founder of the

village of Columbus, in 1855 and 1856. He expended $60,000 in building

a hotel and other improvements, not a vestige of which now remains.

FRIDLEY.

This town, including fractional township 30, range 24, was organized

as Manomin county in 1857, and held that organization, with A. M.

Fridley as chairman of county commissioners, until 1870, when it was

disorganized and attached to Anoka county, retaining Manomin as its

town name until 1879, when it was changed to Fridley by legislative

enactment. John Sullivan, G. W. Thurber and Thomas Casey were the

first supervisors. The town contains about thirteen sections of land

in the eastern part of township 30, range 24, pleasantly located on

the east bank of the Mississippi. It is traversed by Rice creek.

JOHN BANFIL settled here in 1848 and was the first postmaster of the

village of Manomin, of which he was proprietor. He represented the

Twenty-fourth district as senator in the first state legislature. He

removed to Bayfield, Wisconsin, and died there in 1886. It has been

improved by the introduction of large manufacturing establishments. A

flouring mill was built in 1871. In 1887 $100,000 was expended in

manufactories, and real estate to the amount of $400,000 changed

hands. It has one church building (Episcopal), erected in 1858.

GROW

Includes township 32, range 24. It is watered by Rum river and Coon

creek. George Branch settled here in 1853, and about the same period,

J. C. Frost, Joseph McKinney, Andrew J. Smith and Walter D. Gary. The

town was organized in 1857 as Round Lake, but changed to Grow in 1860,

in honor of Senator Grow of Pennsylvania. The first supervisors were

Silas O. Lum, W. W. Hank and Wm. Staples. The town records were burned

in 1856. In 1873 the Catholics erected a church building.

HAM LAKE,

Formerly a part of Grow, was set off and organized in 1871. It

includes township 32, range 23. It was settled chiefly by Swedes and

Norwegians, of whom Matts Gilbertson, of Norway, was first to locate

here. There were many transient persons among the first comers, but

the first permanent settler of any nationality was Josiah Hart, from

Vermont, who came in 1857. He died in 1876. John Scully came in 1858.

The first supervisors were John Rowe, A. B. Lingard and C. Olsen. The

Swedes and Norwegians have each a house of worship.

LINWOOD.

This town, consisting of township 33, and twelve sections of township

34, range 22, lies in the northeastern part of the county. It is well

watered and traversed by a chain of lakes. The first settlement was by

Joseph Sanson, a German, who located here in 1855. W. Dickens, an

Englishman, came in 1857. Linwood was set off from Bethel and

Columbus, and organized September, 1871. The first town officers were

J. G. Green, F. McGregor and Michael Hurley. There is a post office in

the village of Linwood. A Methodist church was built in 1873, and a

saw and feed mill, by Shanton & Haskell, in 1875.

L. S. ARNOLD, a native of Montreal, Canada, born in 1820, came to

Minnesota in 1847. He seems to have made his home at Linwood, which he

left, but after living some years in Michigan and Missouri, he again

returned in 1866.

SAMUEL RIDGE came to Linwood in 1860.

J. G. GREEN, born in 1819, located here in 1863, and since 1867 has

served as postmaster in Linwood village. He has served several years

as county commissioner. The Green brothers are descendants of the

Plymouth Pilgrims.

G. W. HASKELL was an early settler. He originally came from Skowhegan,

Maine. He died in 1885.

MICHAEL M. RYAN was born in Ireland in 1845. He came to America in

1858 and settled in Linwood with his father's family. Two brothers

enlisted as volunteers during the Civil War, and died in the service.

THE HURLEY FAMILY come to Linwood some time in the '50s. The sons are

prominent business men at North Branch, Pine City and Hinckley. The

father moved to North Branch in 1887.

OAK GROVE

Includes township 33, range 24. It abounds in small lakes and the Rum

river drains the western portion. The first settlers were David

Rogers, Moses Seeley and James Nutter, in 1855. Dennis Mahoney, of

Ireland, born in 1813, came to Oak Grove in 1856, held the office of

supervisor fourteen years, and that of justice of the peace

continuously to the present. The town was organized in 1857, with the

following supervisors: A. W. Norris, Dennis E. Mahoney and Peter

Brennan. Rose, daughter of William Smith, was the first child born.

RAMSEY,

Named in honor of the first territorial governor, occupies fractional

township 32, range 25, in the western part of the county, on the

Mississippi river. It was organized in 1857 as Watertown, which name

was changed to Dover, and then to Ramsey, in 1885. In 1849 an Indian

trading house was opened in section 19, by T. A. Holmes and Thomas

Beatty. The first permanent settlement was made by a New England

colony in 1850, amongst whom were P. Shumway and sons (John and

Peter), Nathan and Benjamin Shumway, and Cornelius Pitman. In 1852 the

town plat of Itasca was surveyed in sections 19 and 30. William

Vincent, Thomas Miller and J. C. Bowers came to Ramsey in 1852. Mr.

Bowers was postmaster for twenty-five years at Itasca, and died Oct.

4, 1879. The first supervisors were Jared Benson, Isaac Varney and

Cornelius Pitman.

ST. FRANCIS

Includes the two southern tiers of sections of township 34, ranges 24

and 25. The first settlers were George Armsby and E. Fowler, in 1855.

The town was organized in 1857, but the records have been lost. Dwight

Woodbury, who has been prominent in the history of the county, located

a water power flour and saw mill and built a hotel on Rum river where

the village of St. Francis has since been built, and surveyed the

village plat. The mills were destroyed by fire in 1869, but were

immediately rebuilt. In 1880 a bridge across Rum river was built at an

expense of $7,000. Mr. Woodbury's investments have been over $25,000.

Mr. Streetly opened the first store and was first postmaster at St.

Francis.

AN INDIAN RIOT.

In the fall of 1847 a German baron, a single man, and Wm. Noot and

wife settled on Big island, in the Mississippi, about two miles above

the mouth of Rum river. They were traders. In March, 1848, in

consequence of the revolution in Germany, the baron returned to his

native land. Noot remained until June, when the Winnebago Indians were

removed by Gen. Fletcher. Pending their removal the Winnebagoes made a

raid on the trading post, confiscated the whisky and provisions and

fastened Noot in a stable and his wife and child in a small cabin,

where they were found by S. P. Folsom the same day, surrounded by

drunken Indians and in imminent peril. Noot appealed to Folsom for

aid. The Indians, however, were furious and threatened Folsom's life.

The chief, "Whistling Thunder," used his influence in a novel way to

quiet the turbulent, by placing before them all that remained of the

barrel of whisky, which they eagerly drank. Folsom then released Noot.

The wife, who had been previously released, ran with her child,

frightened out of her wits, no one knew whither. After a long search

the captain found her, and at great risk took her across a slough to

the mainland in a canoe, which nearly sank before the shore was

reached. Noot afterward went to St. Paul and purchased eighty acres of

land, now in the heart of the city. He was a member of the house,

Fourth and Fifth Minnesota legislatures. At present he resides at Big

Lake, Sherburne county.

JARED BENSON.--Mr. Benson was the son of Jared and Sallie Taft Benson,

and was born in Blackstone. Massachusetts, Nov. 8, 1821. The farm on

which he was born was purchased of the Indians by his great, great

grandfather. His paternal grandfather, Benoni Benson, and his maternal

grandfather, Ebenezer Taft, served in the Revolutionary War, the

former as a lieutenant. Jared Benson, his father, served in the war of

1812.

Mr. Benson had a fair common school education and occupied himself in

farming until 1844, when he joined the corps of engineers who were

locating the Providence & Worcester railroad. He was afterward agent

for the company and superintendent of transportation. In 1856 he came

to Minnesota, locating at Anoka and engaging chiefly in farming and

stock raising. He has served his townsmen as justice of the peace and

county commissioner. For some years he has been a director of the St.

Paul & Pacific railroad. He served as clerk of the house of

representatives in 1859-60, and was afterward member and speaker of

the house for three years, including the extra session of 1862. He was

revenue collector for his district in 1870-72, and was again elected

to the legislature in 1878. He was married to Martha Taft, of Mendon,

Massachusetts, Feb. 5, 1857. They have five children.

JAMES C. FROST was born in Rumford, Oxford county, Maine, in 1816. He

was raised on a farm. On reaching his majority he came to Jefferson

county, Wisconsin, where he lived fourteen years. In 1852 he came to

St. Anthony and in 1853 to Anoka. He held the office of postmaster

several years and was again reappointed in 1888; served fifteen years

as sheriff and as a member of the legislature in 1857-58. He was in

the employ of the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company for nine years.

He was married in 1840 and has a family of eight daughters.

A. J. MCKENNEY, born in Lowell, Maine, Feb. 20, 1829, came to St.

Anthony in 1850 and followed lumbering until 1854, when he came to

Ramsey, Anoka county, and located in section 2 as a farmer. He has

been a prominent citizen.

JOHN HENRY BATZLE was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, in 1830; came to

America in 1837; lived in New York until 1855, when he came to

Minnesota and located in what is now the town of Columbus, Anoka

county, where he engaged in farming. He has been a member of the

Methodist church for twenty-five years. He is in every way much

esteemed as a citizen. He was married in 1854, but has no children.

JOHN R. BEAN was born at Salmon Falls, New Hampshire, April 25, 1831;

came to St. Anthony in 1849 and to Ramsey, Anoka county, in 1850,

where he made a farm in section 33. He says this was the first farming

done in Anoka county. From 1850 to 1859 he lived alternately at his

home in St. Anthony and his farm in Ramsey. In 1870 he removed to

Anoka city, where he is engaged in lumbering.

WILLIAM STAPLES was born in 1815, in York county, Maine, where he was

married in 1840. He came to St. Anthony in 1850. He has lived in the

town of Grow, of which he was one of the founders, for many years. He

is a farmer and brickmason.

ABRAHAM MCCORMACK FRIDLEY was born May 21, 1818, at Corning, Steuben

county, New York. His parents were Pennsylvanians, of German descent.

He received a common school education. At the age of twenty-one years

he was appointed deputy sheriff of Steuben county, and was afterward

collector of canal tolls at Corning. In April, 1851, he was appointed

by President Fillmore agent for the Winnebago Indians then at Long

Prairie, Todd county. In that year he was also admitted to practice

law. In 1853 he removed to St. Paul and was elected sheriff of Ramsey

county. The next year he removed to St. Anthony Falls and was elected

to the house of the territorial legislature. A little later he removed

to Manomin, now Fridley. He was elected a representative in the

legislatures of 1869-70-71 and 79. For many years he cultivated a

large farm at Becker. For ten years he has been in the employ of the

Manitoba railroad as land agent. He is a Democrat, and in 1860 was

delegate to the conventions at Charleston and Baltimore. Mr. Fridley

died March 26, 1888, leaving a widow and three sons, Henry C., Frank

and David H.

CAPT. JAMES STARKEY was born in England in 1818. He came to America in

1849 and located in St. Paul in 1850. He removed to the town of

Columbus, Anoka county, in 1855, and was active in promoting its

interests. His first enterprise, the building up of the village of

Columbus, was not successful. In 1857, by order of Gov. Medary, he

commanded a military expedition against the Chippewas at Sunrise

Prairie, the object being to compel them to return to their

reservation, an expedition attended with some tragical results, as

elsewhere narrated. Capt. Starkey took part in the Civil War as

captain of a cavalry company. He was the first to survey a road

through the country lying between St. Paul and Lake Superior. He was a

representative of the first state legislature. Since 1865 Capt.

Starkey has resided at St. Paul, and is at present prominent as a

citizen and as an official in West St. Paul.

SHERBURNE COUNTY.

Prior to its organization, Sherburne was part of Benton county. It was

named in honor of Judge Moses Sherburne, an appointee to the bench of

the supreme court of Minnesota Territory. The county is bounded on the

north by Benton, on the east by Anoka and Isanti counties, and on the

south by the Mississippi river. It is somewhat irregularly timbered

with pine and hardwood, interspersed with oak openings, rolling

prairie lands and natural meadows. The surface is generally

undulating. A prominent ridge of high land, from three to five miles

wide, extends from Elk river in a northeasterly direction into Anoka

county. The county is well watered by tributaries of the Mississippi,

Elk and St. Louis rivers, and has besides many clear and sparkling

lakes. The soil is mostly sandy loam with clay subsoil, and valuable

granite quarries are found in the northern tier of towns.

David Faribault was the first settler or trader, he having established

a post on the Elk river in 1846, where he made a garden and raised

potatoes. In September, 1848, H. M. Rice and S. P. Folsom bought

Faribault's improvements, and Folsom moved his family to the place and

built a log cabin on what is now Auditor's addition to Elk River

village. He was succeeded in the ownership by Pierre Bottineau.

The county was organized in 1856, under territorial law. The governor,

Willis A. Gorman, appointed J. H. Stevenson, Ephriam Nickerson and

Eli J. Cutter commissioners (Stevenson being chairman); Eli Houghton,

treasurer; H. J. Putnam, register of deeds; Andrew Boyington, judge of

probate; John G. Jamieson, county attorney; Orlando Bailey, sheriff.

The first commissioners' meeting was held at the house of Joseph

Brown, at the village of Humboldt, which was made the county seat and

so remained until 1867, when it was removed to Elk River village. The

county was attached to Benton for judicial purposes until 1862. Prior

to this Mr. Brown's house was used for county commissioners' meetings

and for courtrooms until burned down some years later, when the

commissioners met at the house of John E. Putnam.

A court house was built at Elk River on lots donated by J. Q. A.

Nickerson, the village donating $1,000 and the county the remainder

necessary for the building.

Prior to the formation of the state government, the county was divided

into election precincts. The first term of district court was held at

Humboldt in December, 1862; Judge C. E. Vanderburgh, presiding; J. E.

Putnam acting as clerk. The first commissioners who held their meeting

at Elk River were H. Houlton, chairman; A. Boyington and O. Bailey.

The first meetings were held at the house of J. Q. A. Nickerson.

In 1867 the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railroad was completed

through the county on a line parallel with the general course of the

Mississippi river. The North Pacific railroad, since built, runs

parallel on the same grade. The depots were built upon the same plan

and placed on opposite sides of the two tracks. The stations are Elk

River, Big Lake, Becker, Clear Lake, and East St. Cloud. The Manitoba

has a branch line from Elk River to Princeton and Milacca, built in

1884.

The first deed recorded was transcribed from the Benton county

records, transfers of property from James Beatty to Richard Chute and

David Olmstead, and bears date of July 28, 1851.

TOWNS.

The towns in Sherburne are: Baldwin, deriving its name from F. Eugene

Baldwin, an old citizen; Big Lake, from the lake on which located;

Becker, from Hon. G. L. Becker, of St. Paul; Blue Hill, from a high

hill in the town; Clear Lake, from a lake of that name; Elk River,

from the river on the shore of which it is located; Haven, from Hon.

John Ormsby Haven, who represented his district in the state senate in

1872-73; Livonia, from the christian name of the wife of an old

citizen; Orrock, from Reuben Orrock, a pioneer, originally from

Scotland; and Palmer, from Dr. Palmer, of Sauk Centre.

Elk River was the first town organized, and included the whole county.

The first election was held Sept. 30, 1858, at which the following

board of officers was elected: Moderator, Alden B. Heath; supervisors,

J. G. Jamieson, Alden B. Heath, J. Q. A. Nickerson; clerk, George H.

Davis.

VILLAGES OF SHERBURNE COUNTY.

Orono, a post office, was established at Orono in 1850. The office was

merged into the Elk River post office in 1853. This post office, with

the mills erected in 1851, became the nucleus of the Elk River

settlement, which some years later became Elk River village, within

the corporate limits of which Orono is now situated. Orono was

surveyed and platted May, 1855; Ard Godfrey, proprietor.

ELK RIVER,

Located originally about a mile below Orono, was not platted as a

village until 1865. J. Q. A. and Julia Nickerson were the proprietors.

It is on the east bank of the Mississippi, at its junction with Elk

river, above which it now extends a distance of two miles. It has a

pleasant location. It was incorporated in 1881, with C. S. Wheaton,

president; W. T. Struble, recorder; N. K. Whittemore, H. P. Burrell

and L. Pollard, commissioners. Elk river affords a fine water power

with ten feet head. Mills were erected here in 1851. A great fire in

May, 1887, destroyed mill property valued at $50,000. Since the fire a

flour mill with a capacity of 250 barrels a day has been completed at

a cost of $25,000. A saw mill is also in process of construction. The

village has an elevator with a capacity of 10,000 bushels, 2 town

halls, 3 churches, Episcopal, Free Will Baptist and Congregational; a

first class school building, with rooms for four departments; a school

building at Orono, with two departments; and two railroad depots,

built at a cost of $9,000.

In June, 1885, a private bank was incorporated as the Bank of Elk

River.

EAST ST. CLOUD,

In the town of Haven, is a thriving village. It has one of the best

granite quarries in the State. The State, in 1887, located here its

reformatory school, receiving a donation of two hundred acres of land,

covered with gray and variegated granite. The village was surveyed and

platted in August, 1853; Geo. F. Brott & Co., proprietors.

CLEAR LAKE

Was surveyed and platted March 24, 1882; Alanson Potter and wife,

proprietors.

BECKER

Was surveyed and platted Dec. 5, 1870; J. Freeman and H. C. Fridley,

proprietors. Mr. Vadnais was the first settler, in 1855.

BIG LAKE,

Originally Humboldt village, is located on Elk river, ten miles above

its junction with the Mississippi. Its first settler was Joseph Brown,

a veteran pioneer, but not to be confounded with the invincible Joe R.

Brown, elsewhere referred to. Mr. Brown came here in 1848, and made

substantial improvements. He died in 1886. His family still reside

here. James Ely and Newell Houghton also settled here in 1884. Mr.

Houghton was killed at the New Ulm massacre in 1862.

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS NICKERSON was born in New Salem, Franklin county,

Maine, March 30, 1825. He received an academic education; taught

school and followed farming in Maine. In 1849 he came to St. Anthony

Falls, and in 1853 settled at Elk River, which then contained but one

house, a hewed log structure, which he, in company with B. F.

Hildreth, purchased for a hotel. The house has been enlarged from time

to time, and has been continuously under the charge of Mr. Nickerson.

He has besides employed much of his time in farming and lumbering, and

has dealt in village lots. He was appointed postmaster at an early

day. He has filled various responsible offices, among them that of

county treasurer and town and county supervisor. He was married to

Julia A. Farnham, of St. Anthony Falls, Oct. 2, 1852. They have five

children.

HENRY BITTNER was born in Bavaria in 1799; came to America in his

boyhood; enlisted in the United States Army in 1835; served in the

Mexican War; was present at the battle of Buena Vista, and when the

American forces were surrounded performed a daring feat, carrying a

dispatch from Gen. Taylor through the Mexican lines to an American

fort. He was a target for the bullets of the Mexican Army, but arrived

at his destination severely wounded. He was discharged on account of

his wounds. In 1855 he came to Clear Lake and made him a home. He

offered himself as a volunteer during the late Civil War, but was not

received on account of age and disability. He died at his home at

Clear Lake in 1885.

FRANCIS DE LILLE, of French descent, was born in Canada in 1782. He

came with his family to St. Anthony in 1848, and in 1852 to Elk River,

where he occupied the first house built in the lower town. He settled

on a farm, where he lived the remainder of his life. He died April 18,

1874, under peculiar circumstances. He was a devout Catholic, and died

suddenly in the church while kneeling during a part of the service.

His widow and youngest son reside at the old homestead.

MRS. DE LILLE, formerly Catharine Queenan, of Ireland, is one of the

oldest settlers of Sherburne county. She has eight children living,

Mary F., married and living in Dakota; Frank, Agnes; Elisabeth,

married to Peter Trump of Taylor's Falls; Harriet, wife of Joseph

Holt, of Taylor's Falls; Joseph F., Rosanna and Sarah, all married.

HOWARD M. ATKINS was born in New Sharon, Franklin county, Maine, May

11, 1838. His father was stricken down by lightning, leaving him at

the age of thirteen to assist in taking care of the family. Howard was

near his father and was struck senseless by the same flash that

deprived him of a father. Recovering, he set himself earnestly and

seriously to the duties of life, performed his allotted tasks about

the household, and succeeded in obtaining a good high school

education. He came to Princeton, Mille Lacs county, in 1856, studied

law and was admitted to practice in Mille Lacs county in 1863.

Subsequently he practiced law five years in St. Cloud. He came to Elk

River in 1876. He has held official positions in Mille Lacs, Stearns

and Sherburne counties. Mr. Atkins has acquired an honorable position

through his own exertions and richly deserves the respect of his

fellow citizens. He was married in 1862 to Virginia Sinclair, of

Illinois. They have two sons and four daughters.

B. F. HILDRETH was born in Milford, Maine, March, 1822. He learned the

trade of a blacksmith and came to St. Anthony in 1849, and the year

following did part of the crew work of the first steamer launched on

the Mississippi above the falls. Since then he has engaged chiefly in

lumbering and farming. In 1850 he was married to M. E. Farnham, of St.

Anthony. He removed to Elk River in 1873.

SAMUEL HAYDEN was born Oct. 12, 1806, at Madison, Maine. He came to

Livonia, Sherburne county, in 1856. He has a family of four sons and

three daughters, residents of Minnesota. His brother, the Hon.

Wentworth Hayden, was a member of the constitutional convention of

1857.

The writer of these sketches had known Mr. Samuel Hayden in early

life, and distinctly remembered seeing him the winter of 1827, driving

an ox team in the pineries on Dead river, Maine. He was then a young

man of twenty-one, and the writer was a boy of ten. Sixty years later

they met in Sherburne county, and the writer recognized in the aged

man of eighty-one years the young man of twenty-one, though for the

moment unable to call his name. It is seldom that memory bridges so

wide a chasm.

JOSEPH JEROME settled in the town of Haven in 1846, and is therefore

among the first of the pioneers. In 1848 he sold his property to

Samuel Sturgis and removed to Michigan.

JOSHUA O. CATER came from Stafford county, New Hampshire, and was one

of the earliest settlers of the town of Haven, where he still lives.

J. F. BEAN also came from New Hampshire to Sherburne county, and is

now a resident of Livonia, and postmaster at Lake Fremont.

J. H. FELCH, of Maine, an early settler of Livonia, is now living at

Elk River.

JAMES BRADY came to Palmer in 1855. He died about 1868.

JOSHUA BRIGGS settled in Palmer in 1855, and died there in 1881.

ROBERT ORROCK, for whom the town of Orrock was named, died at his

home, at a good old age, January, 1885.

JOHN G. JAMIESON died at Elk River in 1869.

A. B. HEATH removed to Oregon in 1873, where he still lives.

DR. B. R. PALMER, for whom the town of Palmer was named, was a

resident of Sauk Centre and died there in 1885.

JUDGE MOSES SHERBURNE, for whom the county was named, died at Elk

River in 1869.

CHAS. F. GEORGE, who settled in Santiago in 1856, is at present

chairman of the board of county commissioners.

ROYAL GEORGE, a pioneer of the same date, returned to Vermont, where

he died in 1887.

W. L. BABCOCK, a merchant of Santiago, still resides here.

CHAPTER XVII.

BENTON COUNTY.

At the organization of Minnesota Territory three counties were

created, of which Benton was one. Its eastern boundary followed the

course of Rum river from its mouth to its junction with the west

branch and thence a line due north to the Mississippi river. The

boundary line upon the west followed the windings of the Mississippi

down to its junction with Rum river, making a county large and

irregular in outline, extending from north to south about one hundred

miles, and about forty at its widest point from east to west. The

formation of new counties since that time has left it with less than

eleven townships lying east of the Mississippi river and bounded on

the north by Morrison, on the east by Mille Lacs, and on the south by

Sherburne counties. The soil is diversified. There is black sandy loam

in the plains and a black vegetable mould in the timber, with clay

subsoils. It is a fair agricultural district, having groves of pine

and hardwood in the east and natural meadows, prairies and oak

openings in the central and western portions. It is well watered by

the Mississippi and its tributaries, Elk, Little Rock and Platte

rivers. It has some fine lakes, of which Mayhew, Briggs and Little

Rock are the largest. A granite formation underlies most of this

county and crops out in many places, furnishing valuable quarries. The

granite is plain and variegated and is being worked and shipped

extensively. Near the village of Watab there is a rich upheaval. The

St. Paul custom house is made of the Watab granite.

The Northern Pacific railway passes through this county parallel with

the channel of the Mississippi river. The Manitoba, St. Cloud &

Hinckley branch passes through the southern tier of towns. The

organized towns are Alberta, Gilmanton, Glendorado, Granite Lodge,

Maywood, Minden, Sauk Rapids, St. George, and Watab. The villages are

East St. Cloud, Foley, Oak Grove, Rice's, and Watab.

The first settlers were Philip Beaupre, in 1844; David Gilman, in

1848; Jeremiah Russell, Wm. H. Wood, James Beatty, Ellis Kling, Wm.

Smith, and J. C. Mayhew, in 1849. Sauk Rapids was made the county

seat, then Watab, then Sauk Rapids.

The first board of officers, qualified Jan. 7, 1850, were:

Commissioners, Wm. A. Aitkin, chairman; Joseph Brown and James Beatty;

assessors, Truman A. Warren and Reuben M. Richardson; attorney, W. D.

Phillips. The voting precincts were at Sauk Rapids, Swan River and

Crow Wing. The judges of election were: For Sauk Rapids, J. Russell,

Wm. Sturgis and Curtis Bellows; for Swan River, Philip Beaupre, James

Green and Duncan Stewart; for Crow Wing, Allen Morrison, Wm. Morrison

and Sylvester Stateler. The first election was held at Pierre

Bottineau's house, now in Sherburne county. George Egbert and Thomas

Holmes were judges of election.

The first court in the county was held Nov. 11, 1850; Bradley B.

Meeker, presiding. David Gilman was the first sheriff, John C. Hawley

the second. The first deed recorded was from James Hitchins to Wm. F.

Coblett. It bore date of Oct. 21, 1850. Taylor Dudley was register of

deeds. The land conveyed was a tract lying at the foot of Sauk Rapids,

being a land claim of one hundred and sixty acres, purchased from

Calvin Potter.

SAUK RAPIDS.

The site of the village of Sauk Rapids was judiciously chosen. It

slopes gently to the river's east bank, giving a pleasant frontage to

the rapids. Philip Beaupre came here first in 1844. His son, William

P., was the first white child here, born May 24, 1852. Geo. O. Sweet

was the second, born Aug. 22, 1852. Several Indian traders located

here and at Watab. Following Mr. Beaupre came T. A. Holmes, James

Beatty, J. Russell, Calvin Potter, James Hitchins, Curtis Bellows, and

Charles Webb. The first plat of Sauk Rapids was made and recorded in

1854. The proprietors were J. Russell, G. M. Sweet and S. Van Nest.

The surveyor was C. B. Chapman.

The village was incorporated in 1881. The commissioners appointed

under the general act to effect the organization were Alphonso J.

Demenles, Erasmus Cross, B. K. Knowlton. A wagon bridge built across

the Mississippi at this point cost $25,000. It was greatly damaged by

a storm, and partially destroyed by the cyclone of 1886.

The dam across the Mississippi at Sauk Rapids was built in 1870 at a

cost of $140,000. The east wing is owned by the Commodore Davidson

estate; the west, by the Sauk Rapids Manufacturing Company.

The rapids are formed by the eruption of granite ledges across the

channel of the river. A flour mill built here with a capacity of three

hundred barrels per day was totally destroyed by the cyclone of April

16, 1886, which was one of the most destructive on record. The

estimated loss in Sauk Rapids was $300,000, of which $108,000 was made

up by voluntary contributions from St. Paul, Minneapolis and other

portions of the State.

The public buildings, including the court house, school buildings and

several churches, were destroyed, together with many fine stores and

dwellings.

Since the cyclone the village has been handsomely rebuilt. A new court

house has replaced the old one at a cost of $6,000, a new school house

has been built at a cost of $12,000--a model building with rooms for

five departments. There are five new church buildings, an Episcopal,

Congregational, Methodist and two Lutheran.

WATAB.

Watab appears to have been a noted Indian trading post from 1844 to

1855. Asa White, D. Gilman, C. W. Borup, N. Myrick, Gen. Lowry, and

others were located, or had stations here. Watab was for a short time

the county seat of Benton county. A bridge was once built across the

Mississippi here, but it has disappeared. The village site was

surveyed and platted, and a post office established in 1853. P. Lamb

was postmaster. A steam saw mill was erected here, but was afterward

removed. The first improved farm in Benton county was located in the

vicinity. David Gilman, Benjamin Bright and George Goodhue were early

settlers.

PHILIP BEAUPRE was born in Lower Canada, in 1823. As his name

indicates, he is of French descent. He received a French education. He

came West in 1841; entered the employ of the fur company in 1843, and

located at Sauk Rapids in 1844. When he arrived there were no white

inhabitants, save Indian traders, on the Mississippi north of St.

Anthony. Mr. Beaupre built a log house in 1851, and was continuously

engaged in trade until succeeded by his sons. He assisted in forming

the county, town and village organizations, filling many offices of

trust and honor. In 1880 he served as judge of the probate court, and

since as collector of customs at Pembina. In 1851 he was married to

Teresa de Noyes, of St. Louis, and has a family of seven sons and six

daughters, all residing in Benton county.

DAVID GILMAN.--Hon. David Gilman, of Watab, was born April 29, 1812,

at Saratoga, New York. He was left fatherless at the age of six

months, and his mother subsequently placed him in the family of a

neighbor to be brought up and cared for until the age of twenty-one.

As he grew older he was not pleased with this arrangement, and at the

age of fourteen left his home to adventure for himself. His

opportunities for securing an education were limited. In 1836 he came

to Michigan. In 1844 he married Nancy W. Lamb, of Woodstock, Vermont.

In 1848 he came to Watab, Minnesota, and made him a permanent home,

making himself a useful, influential and public spirited citizen,

filling many positions of trust in his town, county and state

governments. Amongst the offices filled by him were those of deputy

United States marshal, member of the second territorial legislature,

and of the constitutional convention. He was postmaster at Watab from

the establishment of the office in 1849 until 1885, when he died,

greatly lamented by his friends and honored by all who knew him. Mrs.

Gilman and four children survive him.

JAMES BEATTY was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, April 27, 1816. When

fourteen years of age he went to Cass county, Michigan. He farmed for

the Winnebago Indians near Fort Atkinson, Iowa, for several years, and

coming to Minnesota in 1848 located at Sauk Rapids, which he made his

permanent home. He has been engaged as Indian trader, hotel keeper,

merchant and farmer. He was a member of the Minnesota territorial

legislatures of 1851, 1853 and 1854. He was married to Eliza Foscet,

of New York, in 1854. They have three children living.

ELLIS KLING was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, Oct. 15, 1824.

He was brought up as a farmer, and has made farming his occupation

through life. He came to Sauk Rapids in 1851. In 1854 he was married

to Lucy Lewis, of Belle Prairie. They have five sons and one daughter.

GEORGE W. BENEDICT.--Mr. Benedict was born at Rochester, New York, in

1827. He served an apprenticeship to a printer in Canada for five

years. In 1851 he was married to Anna Cronk, a native of Prince Edward

county, Canada. For four years he published the Tecumseh (Mich.)

_Herald_ and in 1854, having removed to Sauk Rapids, established the

_Frontiersman_ for Jeremiah Russell. This paper he conducted for three

years. He then conducted the _New Era_ for one year. In 1868 he

established the Sauk Rapids _Sentinel_, which he conducted four years,

when he started the Alexandria _Post_ and also became a member of a

company that published the St. Cloud _Press_, with which he was

connected one year. In 1872 he re-established the Sauk Rapids

_Sentinel_, which he sold to W. L. Nieman, but repurchased after the

cyclone of 1886. Mr. Benedict was in the United States revenue service

ten years, and served as a member of the state senate one term.

J. Q. A. WOOD was born in Chichester, New Hampshire, in 1815. He

graduated at Union College, New York, in 1843; studied law with

President Franklin Pierce; was admitted to practice in 1846, and made

his home at Sauk Rapids in 1854, which has been his home ever since,

with the exception of some years spent in Kentucky as editor of the

_Southern Kentucky Shield_. This paper was suppressed in 1862.

Returning to Sauk Rapids in 1864, he engaged in the practice of law,

in which he has since continued. During this period he served eleven

years as county attorney, and also a term as probate judge. Mr. Wood

was seriously injured in the great cyclone, having been buried in the

debris of the court house, from which, with great difficulty, he

extricated himself. Mr. Wood is a poetical writer of some reputation,

many of his productions having been received with great favor. Among

them we may mention "Father is Growing Old, John," "Ode to New

Hampshire," and "The Wine of Cyprus." He has one son, a resident of

Dakota, and one daughter, the wife of D. C. Roberts of West Superior.

WILLIAM H. WOOD was born in London, New Hampshire, Feb. 2, 1817. When

he was fourteen years of age his father removed to Tecumseh, Michigan.

He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1839 and afterward took a course

in Union College, New York, graduating in 1843. He then returned to

Tecumseh, Michigan, where he studied law with Judge Stacy. In 1845 he

was admitted to the bar in Lenawee county, Michigan. During the

presidential campaign of the year following he edited a paper in

Kentucky, the _Rough and Ready_, advocating the claims of Gen. Taylor

for the presidency. In 1848 he located in Greensburg, Kentucky, and in

1849 was married to a lady of refinement, known to the literary world

under the _nom de plume_ of "Minnie Mary Lee." In 1849 he removed to

Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. He was there editor of the pioneer paper, the

_Frontiersman_. He afterward owned, and with his gifted wife edited,

the _New Era_, in which he was an ardent supporter of Mr. Lincoln for

the presidency in 1860. Meanwhile he practiced his profession and held

the office of county attorney for many years. When the land office was

established at Sauk Rapids he was appointed receiver and served a

number of years. He was a member of the first state legislature. In

1869 he was elected president of the New Athens College, Greensburg,

Kentucky, and served a short time, when he contracted the disease that

afterward terminated his earthly career. Mr. Wood was a man of more

than ordinary ability, an eloquent speaker, a fluent and gifted

writer, whose influence will long be felt. He left a widow and three

children.

MRS. W. H. WOOD has been a liberal contributor to magazines and the

author of several volumes, of which a list is here appended: "The

Heart of Myrrha Lake;" "Into the Light of Catholicity;" "Hubert's

Wife;" "The Brown House at Duffield;" "Strayed from the Fold;" "Three

Times Three; or, Basil, Beatrice, Ethel;" "Story of Annette;" "Hazel

Green's Rival."

A. DE LACY WOOD, son of Mrs. W. H. Wood, edits the Two Harbor _Iron

Post_, in Lake county.

P. H. WOOD, second son of Mrs. W. H. Wood, edits the Sauk Rapids _Free

Press_.

REV. SHERMAN HALL was born in Weathersfield, Vermont; was educated at

Exeter Academy, Dartmouth College and Andover Theological Seminary. He

was married to Betsey Parker in 1831, and ordained the same year as a

missionary to the Chippewa Indians at La Pointe. With them he remained

until 1854, when he transferred his residence to Sauk Rapids and

organized a Congregational church, of which he continued pastor until

his death, Sept. 1, 1859. Mr. Hall made a translation of parts of the

Bible into the Ojibway tongue. He was greatly beloved amongst his

people for his firm, christian demeanor and publicly recognized as a

man of integrity and sound judgment. He served the people of Benton

county as judge of probate court and county superintendent of schools.

JEREMIAH RUSSELL was born in Eaton, Madison county, New York, Feb. 2,

1809. He received a common school and academic education, and learned

to set type in the office of the Chautauqua _Gazette_. He subsequently

taught school and worked for awhile in printing offices. Removing to

Palmyra, he clerked in a store several years. In 1835 he came to

Michigan, and thence to the Lake Superior country, where he

superintended a copper mine for a couple of years, at Left Hand river,

near the head of the lake. In 1837 he came to Fort Snelling, and in

1839 accompanied Frank Steele and others to St. Croix Falls, and

engaged in building a saw mill. In 1840 he went to Pokegama mission as

government farmer and blacksmith. About 1842, at the closing up of the

Pokegama mission in consequence of Indian disturbances, he purchased

the old Connor trading post and farm. In 1843, with Elam Greely, he

went down the St. Croix and up the Mississippi and Rum rivers in a

birch canoe, exploring for pine timber. They found Rum river blockaded

at one place a distance of three-quarters of a mile, with drifts or

rafts of trees, consolidated and held together by the roots of grasses

and water willows, the accumulations apparently of ages. Around this

raft they made a portage, and ascended a tributary of Rum river to its

source, thence down the Kanabec or Snake river to Pokegama. In 1848

Mr. Russell came to Crow Wing, Minnesota, as agent for Borup & Oakes,

Indian traders and fur dealers. In the autumn of 1849 he established

himself at a point two miles above Sauk Rapids, and opened up a farm

of one hundred and thirty acres. At the end of four years he moved

down the river and made a land claim on the west side, including the

water power of Sauk Rapids. He owned an interest also in the water

power on the east side. In 1854 he was one of the company that

surveyed and platted the village of Sauk Rapids. He established the

pioneer newspaper, the Sauk Rapids _Frontiersman_.

Mr. Russell for several years held the office of county auditor and

treasurer, and in 1849 was elected to the territorial legislature. His

name appears in the list of members, but he was present only at the

opening sessions, and voted for but a single measure. He had told his

constituents before his election that he would not serve. At this time

he was Democratic in politics but in later life voted the Republican

ticket. Mr. Russell possessed a warm, generous nature, combined with

integrity of character, which gained for him the love and esteem of

his many friends. Ever ready to extend a willing hand to those in

need, and, as far as lay in his power, to assist those in distress, he

will ever be remembered with kindly feelings by all who knew him.

Though exposed to all the temptations and vicissitudes of an early

settler's life, coming in contact with all kinds of social conditions,

he never departed from the path of christian rectitude, and those with

whom he came in contact will ever remember him for his kind

heartedness and gentlemanly bearing.

Sept. 20, 1843, he was united in marriage to Miss Sophia Oakes

(daughter of the late Chas. H. Oakes), who survives him. Seven

children were born unto them, but only three are now alive. These are

Mrs. W. L. Nieman, Miss Julia A. and Mr. J. A. Russell. Mr. Russell

died at his home in Sauk Rapids in 1885.

EDWARD OSCAR HAMLIN was born at Bethany, Wayne county, Pennsylvania,

June 12, 1828. He received his preparatory education at his native

place; entered Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, in 1848, and

graduated in 1858, third in his class, and in three years received the

degree of A.M. He read law first at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, with

Hon. Geo. W. Woodward (afterward one of the judges of the supreme

court of Pennsylvania); at Honesdale, Pennsylvania, later with Earl

Wheeler, Esq., and was admitted to the bar Sept. 7, 1852. After

practicing for two years at Honesdale, he decided to go West, and in

1855 settled in Sauk Rapids. He was admitted to practice in the

territorial courts, and in 1856 was admitted to practice by the

supreme court. Judge Hamlin was elected the first mayor of the city of

St. Cloud. He was nominated by the Democratic party for governor, and

subsequently for judge of the supreme court. He was also, in 1860,

appointed by Gov. Ramsey "a regent of the University of the State of

Minnesota," and was subsequently an efficient and zealous member of

the state board of normal instruction.

Soon after the outbreak of the Rebellion, in 1861, Gov. Ramsey

tendered him the commission of major of the Seventh Regiment,

Minnesota Volunteers, but his eyesight being defective, he was obliged

to decline it. In 1864 Judge Hamlin was chosen by the Democratic party

as one of the delegates to the Democratic national convention. He was

appointed as one of the committee on platform, and openly denounced,

with three others, the platform before it was adopted, because it

declared the war for the Union a failure. Judge Hamlin was a war

Democrat, and hung out the stars and stripes over his residence in

Sauk Rapids, the first one in that town to do so. In 1873, being an

only child and yielding to the solicitations of his parents, Judge

Hamlin returned to his native county and opened an office in

Honesdale. After a short residence there he removed to Bethany, which

has since been his home. He continued the practice of his profession

in Honesdale until June, 1885, when failing health compelled him to

retire.

Judge Hamlin has been twice married. His first wife was Mary A.,

daughter of Judge Eldred, who for a quarter of a century graced the

bench of Pennsylvania. She died at St. Cloud, Sept. 27, 1868. In

October, 1870, Judge Hamlin married Ella F., daughter of E. B. Strong,

Esq., for years clerk of the district court of Stearns county.

MORRISON COUNTY.

Morrison county is somewhat irregular in outline. It is bounded on the

north by Crow Wing and Cass, on the east by Mille Lacs, on the south

by Benton and Stearns, on the west by Stearns and Todd counties. The

portion east of the Mississippi originally belonged to Benton county,

and the portion on the west side to Todd county. It contains 1,139

square miles. The eastern part is well covered with pine and hardwood

forests. The west and central portions consist of oak openings and

brush prairies. The groves are interspersed with poplar. The surface

is generally level, but is well drained by the Mississippi and its

tributaries, mostly small streams. It has some fine lakes in the

northern and central parts. The soil is well adapted to farming. A

granite range, an extension of the range of Sauk Rapids and St. Cloud,

passes through the county.

William Nicholson was probably the first settler in this county. He

first came to Swan River in 1847, in company with ten other men. They

forded the Mississippi near the mouth of Swan river, made a raft and

floated down the river a few miles, where they abandoned it on account

of low water, and returned south, whence they came. The next summer

Nicholson returned with twenty-two men, crossed the river at the same

place, and cut a road through to the Winnebago agency at Long Prairie.

Returning the same year to the crossing, he found Wm. Aiken had made a

claim and was building a hotel and store on the east bank of the

river. Mr. Nicholson remained some years in the vicinity, but is now a

resident of Little Falls. Wm. Aiken permanently located at Swan River

in 1848, one year after Nicholson's arrival at that point. He died in

1851, aged about sixty-five years. He had two Indian wives. They

quarreled and fought savagely at the funeral as to which was entitled

to the position of chief mourner, wife number one coming off

victorious. James Green made a squatter's claim in 1848, and built a

saw mill on the east side of the Mississippi by the island at the

falls. Wm. Knowles located at the mouth of Rabbit river in 1849. John

Stillwell came to Swan River in 1849. He was a carpenter and worked at

his trade until 1866, when he went into the hotel business. He now

resides at Little Falls. He and Nicholson are the only old settlers of

Swan River remaining in the county.

At the organization of the county in 1856, Little Falls, located on

the Mississippi a short distance above Swan River, became the county

seat. The year before and the two years following were years of wild

speculation. The chief ambition of the speculators was to found a

city. During these years twenty-four village or town plats were

recorded in the office of the register of deeds in Morrison. Not all,

however, were located within the bounds of the county, some being

platted on unsurveyed government lands. Of these towns, the only one

remaining, or of note, is Fergus Falls, Otter Tail county, platted by

a company from Little Falls. Of the towns located in Morrison county,

every one vanished except Little Falls, though Swan River, Belle

Prairie and Granite City kept up an appearance of prosperity for a

time.

The early history of Morrison county is enlivened by many thrilling

incidents of Indian warfare, chiefly of contests between the Sioux and

Chippewas. The Sioux had claimed the territory from time immemorial,

but over a hundred years ago the Chippewas had driven them westward

across the Mississippi and were in possession of the soil. The tribal

hostility of the two races continued to manifest itself in predatory

and retaliatory raids, and from these the early settlers were often

sufferers.

Nathan Richardson, the historian of Morrison county, an authority to

whom we are greatly indebted, says that the country was acknowledged

to be Chippewa ground before and during the settlement by the whites,

but that the Sioux made frequent raids through the counties in parties

of from five to twenty-five, their principal object being to possess

themselves of Chippewa scalps. The Chippewas retaliated by pursuing

the Sioux into their own prescribed limits. Mr. Richardson avers that

the Chippewas were seldom known to treat the white settlers uncivilly,

while the Sioux would kill stock to supply their wants, for which the

settlers were left without compensation from Indians or government.

The Winnebagoes were for some years located within the bounds of Todd

and Morrison counties. In 1848 Gen. Fletcher removed them from Fort

Atkinson, Iowa, to Long Prairie, west side of the Mississippi; but

although the agency was located at Long Prairie, the Indians occupied

the Swan River valley within the present limits of Morrison and Todd

counties for a period of seven years, where they engaged partly in

hunting and partly in farming, having about two hundred acres under

cultivation, when they became dissatisfied and were removed to the

Blue Earth country.

When the Winnebago Indians were brought to Long Prairie and the Swan

River valley, in 1848, the government built Fort Ripley on the west

bank of the Mississippi, about twenty miles above the mouth of Swan

river. The government still owns the fort and reservation around it,

and keeps a garrison there. Fort Ripley, however, has other

associations than those connected with the Winnebagoes. It was

necessary to place a force here during the Indian outbreak in 1862,

the object being to overawe and hold in check the Chippewas, who were

more than suspected of an intention to make common cause with the

Sioux in their warfare against the whites. There the Seventh Regiment,

Minnesota Volunteers, had its headquarters for a time.

Morrison county was named in honor of Hon. Allen W. Morrison, who came

to Minnesota some time in the '20s, and was prominent in the early

history of the Territory. It was organized April 18, 1856, by the

election of the following county officers: Commissioners, Wm. Trask,

Elliott J. Kidder and W. W. Stebbins; register of deeds and clerk of

board of commissioners, Nathan Richardson; judge of probate, James

Fergus; sheriff, Jonathan Pugh; district attorney, W. B. Fairbanks;

assessors, W. B. Tuttle and John Fry.

The first term of court was held May 15, 1856; Judge Moses Sherburne,

presiding. The first deed recorded was dated June 19, 1854, conveying

from William Shelafoo to Louis Robair the northeast quarter of the

southwest quarter, and lots 3, 4 and 5 of section 30, township 40,

range 32.

Morrison county is subdivided into the following towns: Agram, Belle

Prairie, Buckman, Bellevue, Culdrum, Elmdale, Green Prairie, Little

Falls, Morrill, Motley, Parker, Pierz, Pike Creek, Ripley, Swan River,

and Two Rivers.

LITTLE FALLS VILLAGE,

The county seat of Morrison county, is located on the east bank of the

Mississippi river, in sections 7, 8, 18 and 19 of township 40, range

32. It derives its name from a rapid in the Mississippi river, formed

by the extension across the river of the slate stone ledges of the St.

Louis. The site is a prairie, sloping gently to the water's edge. The

first survey was made in 1855, by S. M. Putnam. The village grew

rapidly from the first, and in 1857 the best lots were selling for

$1,000 each. Previous to 1855 the only houses in the place were two

cabins, a frame building in which E. J. Kidder lived, and a school

house. Two hotels were built that year, one by Joseph Batters, the

other by W. B. Fairbanks and Nathan Richardson.

The first settlers were the Kidders, Fairbanks, Batters, Richardson,

James Green, William Sturgis, William Butler, and O. A. Churchill.

James Green came as early as 1848, and took a squatter's claim on the

east bank, including the water power, and built a saw mill, but soon

after died, and the property passed into the hands of H. M. Rice and

Capt. Todd, who in 1850 sold their right to Wm. Sturgis. In 1852 John

M. Kidder pre-empted the mill power, transferring it to the Little

Falls Company, consisting of Wm. Sturgis and Calvin Tuttle, organized

in 1854 for the improvement of the falls. This company purchased

about 1,000 acres of adjoining land from the government, and in 1855

merged into a stock company with a capital of $100,000, of which the

original company retained one-half, the remaining half being converted

into cash. The stock rose in value at one time two hundred and fifty

per cent.

The company built a new dam and mills, but the revenue did not keep

the property in good condition after the expenditures. These valuable

improvements, including the dam and mills, were all swept away by high

water in 1860; the firm became bankrupt, and the valuable power became

nearly worthless and entirely useless, until 1887, when a new company,

known as the Little Falls Water Power Company, was formed with a paid

up capital of $600,000, which is distributed among eastern and western

capitalists. The company is now constructing very extensive works, the

power of which will have a head, or fall, of twenty feet, thus making

it the largest water power, next to Minneapolis, to be found in the

whole Northwest. The dam, now about completed, has cost about

$200,000.

So thoroughly convinced are the people of Morrison county of the great

future before it, that, by a majority of over 2 to 1, they voted a

subscription of $100,000 in 5 per cent bonds as a bonus to be

delivered to the company upon the completion of the work. The village

of Little Falls also entered into a contract with the company,

agreeing to pay annually a sum of money equal to the taxes imposed

upon that corporation, and also to exempt from taxation any

manufactory using the water power for a period of five years. The

improvements under process of construction consist, first, of a dam

across the entire river, resting, however, against the head of Mill

island; second, a canal on the west side, starting from a point

opposite the head of Mill island, and extending 1,000 feet down

stream. This canal is 80 feet wide and 13 feet deep, is lined with a

retaining wall, and provided with head gates at the upper end and with

a waste way at the lower end; third, a wheel house, races, and, if

found desirable, a wire rope tower for transmitting power to Mill

island and to the east shore. Basing the rental of this power on that

of the water power at Lowell, Massachusetts, it would be worth

$150,000 per annum. The officers of the company are W. H. Breyfogle,

of Louisville, Kentucky, president; M. M. Williams, of Little Falls,

secretary and treasurer.

Little Falls was incorporated as a village in 1880, Louis Houde

president of the board. The improvement of the water power has given a

strong impulse to the prosperity of the village. It numbers now

amongst its public buildings a court house, school house having rooms

for six grades, two Catholic churches, one Congregational, one

Episcopal and one Methodist church. In Belle Prairie, four miles

distant, there is also a Catholic church, school and a nunnery.

A bridge, built at a cost of $24,000, crosses the Mississippi at this

point. The bridge is 400 feet in length. The Little Falls & Dakota

railroad, a branch of the Northern Pacific, is finished from Little

Falls to Morris in Stevens county, a distance of 85 miles. In addition

to the mills connected with the water power there is also a steam saw

mill.

ROYALTON VILLAGE

Is located in an oak grove on the Northern Pacific railroad, twenty

miles above Sauk Rapids, and ten below Little Falls near the south

line of Morrison county. It includes some lands in Benton county.

Platte river flows through the village and furnishes a water power of

8 feet head, improved by a dam, supplying a flour mill which has a

capacity of 250 barrels per day, and a saw mill with a capacity of

40,000 feet. There is 65 feet fall on the Platte within five miles of

Royalton below, and 45 feet above the village, yet unimproved. James

Hill, of Baldwin, St. Croix county, Wisconsin, with Putney and Nobles

erected the flour mill, John D. Logan, the proprietor, having donated

the water power and grounds for manufacturing purposes. Mr. Logan has

a steam saw mill with a capacity of 30,000 feet per day. The Platte is

spanned by an iron bridge. The village has, in addition to its mills,

a weekly newspaper, a large elevator, a good graded school with six

departments, and three churches, Episcopal, Presbyterian and

Methodist. It was surveyed and platted in 1879 by John D. Logan, and

incorporated in 1887. The first officers were: President, J. D. Logan;

recorder, John Holmes; trustees. J. C. Wakefield, J. C. Higgins, R.

Lambert; treasurer, G. E. Putney; justices, Robert Brown, Wm. Jones;

constables, Wm. Roller, C. O. Brannen.

PETER ROY, a mixed blood of French and Chippewa parentage, was born in

Rainy Lake, in 1829. He was educated at La Pointe, Wisconsin. At the

age of twenty-one he came to the agency at Long lake, where he served

as interpreter until 1853, when he was elected to the territorial

legislature. He opened a farm at Belle Prairie in 1855; became a

member of the state legislatures of 1860 and 1862. In 1866 he removed

to Little Falls, where he resided until his death, in 1883. He was a

man of large frame and of generous impulses, liberal and open-handed,

even to his own pecuniary disadvantage.

WM. STURGIS came to this county from Big Meadow, Sherburne county,

Minnesota, in 1850, and located at Little Falls, where he put a ferry

across the Mississippi. He also laid out a town and built a saw and

grist mill at the mouth of Little Elk river. He was a member of the

territorial council from Crow Wing and Sauk Rapids precincts in 1849

and 1851; of the territorial house in 1856, and of the constitutional

convention, Democratic wing, in 1857. Some years later he removed,

first to Montana, and then to Sturgis, Michigan.

JAMES FERGUS was born in the parish of Glassford, Lanarkshire,

Scotland, Oct. 8, 1813. His parents were well-to-do farmers, and gave

him a good education along with excellent moral and religious

training. In his youth he was noted for his thoroughness in whatever

work he undertook, and his fondness for good books. At the age of

nineteen years he came to America to improve his fortunes, locating

first in Canada, where he spent three years, and learned the trade of

a millwright. Becoming involved in some political troubles just before

the outbreak of the Papineau Rebellion, he left Canada for the United

States, and spent a couple of years in Green Bay and Milwaukee,

Wisconsin, and at Chicago and Buffalo Grove, Illinois, going thence to

Iowa, and thence to Moline, Illinois, where he found employment in the

machine shops and foundries of Buford, Sears & Wheelock. In 1854 he

removed to Little Falls, and in company with C. A. Tuttle built a dam

across the Mississippi and platted the village. He subsequently owned

the site of Fergus Falls, now a thriving city, that has done well in

assuming his name. In 1862 he drove his own team from Little Falls to

Bannock, then in Idaho, now in Montana Territory. He became prominent

in territorial affairs; was influential in the organization of the new

county of Madison, and held many positions of trust and

responsibility. He was the commissioner appointed for Madison county,

served two terms in the Montana legislature, and was a member of the

constitutional convention of 1887. At one time he lived in Lewis and

Clark counties; he now resides in Meagher county, near Fort Maginnis,

where he is engaged in stock raising.

His main characteristics are an aptitude for mechanical enterprises, a

sturdy independence of thought, a strict integrity of purpose, and an

ardent love of study and good books. He is a typical pioneer, and in

the mellow light of his declining days has the respect and love of his

contemporaries to a remarkable degree. He is the first president of

the Montana Pioneer Association, a position which he worthily fills.

Mr. Fergus was married March 16, 1845, to Parnelia Dillin, of

Jefferson county, New York. Mrs. Fergus died Oct. 6, 1887. He has one

son and three daughters, the latter married and living in Montana.

NATHAN RICHARDSON was born in Wayne county, New York, in 1829. He was

raised on a farm, educated at Romeo, Michigan, and came to Little

Falls in 1855. He served as register of deeds for Morrison county

eight years, and was postmaster eleven years. He also served as county

surveyor and county attorney, having been admitted to the bar in 1877.

He was notary public twenty-five years. He was a representative in the

Minnesota legislatures of 1867, 1872 and 1878. During his first term

in the house he represented nineteen counties, nearly one-half the

territory of the State. He served as judge of probate two terms. Mr.

Richardson has prepared, by order of the board of county

commissioners, and published in the local papers, a complete and

valuable history of Morrison county, to which we are greatly indebted.

He was married to Mary A. Roof in 1857, and has a family of three sons

and two daughters.

MOSES LA FOND, a Canadian Frenchman, came to Morrison county in 1855,

and located at Little Falls, where he commenced as a teamster for the

Little Falls Manufacturing Company. He found more lucrative

employment, became a butcher, then a merchant, then a legislator,

having been elected a representative in the legislature of 1874.

O. A. CHURCHILL.--Orlando A. Churchill was born in Windsor county,

Vermont, in 1825. He came to Illinois in 1843, and to Little Falls in

1855, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was elected to the

legislature of 1858, but did not serve, as no session of the

legislature was held that year. He served several years as auditor of

Morrison county. He removed to St. Paul a few years ago, and later to

California, but is now again a resident of Little Falls.

JOHN M. KIDDER made a claim of government land on the east side of the

Mississippi, on the site of Little Falls. He died in 1855, before the

land was entered, and the claim was purchased by Wm. Sturgis, a

son-in-law of Mr. Kidder, and by him sold to the Little Falls Company.

Elliott J., a son of John M. Kidder, is still a resident of Little

Falls.

WARREN KOBE located at Royalton in 1880 and built an elevator, store

and first class hotel. Mr. Kobe is a public spirited citizen and has

expended much in improving the town.

OLA K. BLACK, of Norwegian birth, was one of the first settlers.

IRA W. BOUCH came from Buchanan county, Iowa, in 1880, and opened the

first store in Royalton.

ROBERT RUSSELL, living on a farm near the village, came from Scotland

to America in 1850 and settled here in 1853. Mr. Russell died in July,

1862; Mrs. Russell died in 1876. Three sons and five daughters survive

them.

PETER A. GREEN, a farmer, pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres in

1854, a part of which is surveyed into town lots. He built the second

building on the town site. Mr. Green was born in 1817, in Green

county, New York, where he married. He died January, 1884. His widow

and two sons survive him.

RODOLPHUS D. KINNEY was the first settler on the town site of

Royalton, in 1854, erected the first house and was the first

postmaster, in 1856. Mr. Kinney gave the name of Royalton to the post

office, the name being that of his birthplace, in the state of

Vermont. He was born in 1828; had good educational advantages in youth

and attended Fairmount Theological Seminary in Cincinnati; was an

associate of the early Presbyterian missions and was the first school

teacher in Morrison county, in 1851 and 1852, at Belle Prairie. He was

married in St. Paul in 1852. His eldest son, Jonathan, was born in

1853. One daughter lives in Alabama and his youngest son is a

physician at Royalton.

JOHN D. LOGAN came to Minnesota from Philadelphia in 1855 and located

in Hastings; served during the war in Company G. First Minnesota

Regular Volunteers. In 1879 he came to Royalton and devoted himself to

the development of the water power and the building up of the village.

He has a wife and three children.

CROW WING COUNTY.

The county of Crow Wing was organized in 1857. Prior to this period it

was included in Benton and other counties. It now includes eleven

whole and eight fractional townships in townships 43 to 47, ranges 28

to 31, inclusive. The Mississippi river bounds it on the west and

northwest, Aitkin county on the east and Morrison on the south. Its

soil ranges from a light sandy to a dark loam, with clay subsoil, and

the timber includes the pines and the hardwoods common to the

latitude. There are also fine meadows and burr oak openings. It is

watered by the tributaries of the Mississippi and its surface is

dotted with lakes. It is well adapted to stock raising and

agriculture.

C. H. Beaulieu appears to have been the first white man to locate

within its boundaries. He established a trading post as early as 1837,

near the mouth of Crow Wing river. His successors in trade were Allen

Morrison and Donald McDonald. Philip Beaupre was here in 1844. When

Fort Ripley was built S. B. Olmstead, with his family, built a house

and improved a farm opposite the fort on the east bank of the

Mississippi. Mr. Olmstead came from Prairie du Chien in 1849. While

residing here he served as a member of the second, fifth and sixth

territorial legislatures, and in 1854 was elected president of the

council. After living here several years, he removed to Texas, and

died there some years ago. Mr. Olmstead kept a hotel and managed to

secure most of the hay, beef and wood contracts for the fort. Henry M.

Rice had a trading post at one time at Crow Wing village, about eight

miles above the fort. John H. Fairbanks ran a ferry at the village.

Other settlers were Wallace Bean, Henry Whipple, F. M. Campbell, W. B.

Wakefield, Ed. Lyndes, Albert Fuller, Thomas Cathcart, Daniel S.

Mooers, S. C. Abbe, and members of the Beaulieu family. James A.

Parish was the first justice of the peace. John McGillis, who lived at

Crow Wing in 1853, was the second and served about fifteen years. In

1856 the first farm was opened on government land, not far from Crow

Wing village, by Wallace Bean. The second farm was taken by David

McArthur, a Canadian, originally from Scotland. George Van Valkenburg

opened a blacksmith shop at Crow Wing in 1856, lived there two years

and was then employed as government blacksmith by the Indian

department, and served as such for twelve years. Crow Wing county was

organized in 1857, with the following board of officers: County

auditor, C. H. Beaulieu; register of deeds, F. M. Campbell; county

treasurer, Robert Fairbanks; county commissioners, J. H. Fairbanks,

Allen Morrison, S. B. Olmstead; judge of probate court, Dennis Shaff.

The county organization took effect Jan. 1, 1858. The county was

attached for judicial purposes, first to Ramsey, and then to Morrison

county. F. W. Peake came to Crow Wing in 1858, and opened a trading

post, and was afterward one of the mercantile firm of Peake &

Wakefield. Rev. E. S. Peake, an Episcopal clergyman, came to Crow Wing

about the same time, built a church and remained as rector till the

breaking out of the war, when he accepted the chaplaincy of a

Wisconsin regiment. After the war he removed to California, and

carried on a mission a few years, but later returned to Minnesota and

is now stationed at Detroit. Rev. Francis Pierz, a Catholic priest,

officiated at Crow Wing and Belle Prairie until 1870, when he returned

to his home in Austria.

The first district court was held at Crow Wing in 1871, J. M. McKelvey

officiating as judge, Chas. Beaulieu as clerk of court, and Wm. Wood

as sheriff.

Soon after the county organization was abandoned, to be reresumed in

1870 by legislative enactment. The county officers at the organization

were: Commissioners, Wallace Bean, Henry Whipple and F. W. Peake;

treasurer, E. B. Snyder; auditor, J. W. Campbell; clerk of court,

Chas. H. Beaulieu; sheriff, Wm. Wood.

MURDERERS LYNCHED.

In 1871, Ellen, daughter of David McArthur, living near Crow Wing

village, was murdered by Indians. The murderers were arrested and

placed in jail at Brainerd, from which they were taken by a mob and

hanged.

BRAINERD

Is situated on the east bank of the Mississippi, and is a prosperous

city. The settlement commenced with the opening of the Northern

Pacific railroad. This road has a branch from Brainerd to St. Paul.

The railroad company have made Brainerd headquarters for repairing

shops; have expended large amounts in improvements, and employ in

their business here nearly 1,000 men. The first through train arrived

at Brainerd March 11, 1871.

In 1870 several claims were made for purposes of speculation, and

afterward sold to Mrs. Hester Gilman, of St. Cloud, and other parties,

but the greater part of the city site was purchased of the government

in 1870, by Hester Gilman and Thomas H. Campbell. The Lake Superior &

Puget Sound Company, organized under the laws of Maine, and duly

authorized by the laws of Minnesota, purchased Gilman's and Campbell's

claims and made the original survey and plat of the town on Sept 25,

1871. The name, Brainerd, was given to the new town in honor of Mrs.

Brainerd Swift, wife of the first president of the Northern Pacific

road. In 1883 a new survey was made by Heinze Brothers. The site was a

handsome plain, originally covered with prince pine trees, many of

which were left standing as ornamental trees.

Among the first settlers we find the names of Charles Darby, E. H.

Bly, L. P. White, W. P. Spalding, W. W. Hartley, Stuart Seely, F. W.

Peake, S. W. Taylor, E. B. Lynde, John Bishop, T. C. Barnes, and John

Martin. The first permanent dwelling, a log house, was built by

Charles Darby, the next was built by Stuart Seely, and the third by L.

P. White. E. H. Bly built the first store. The Headquarters Hotel,

subsequently destroyed by fire, was built in 1871. Many of the

buildings of ancient Crow Wing were moved to Brainerd. The Leland

House was built in 1871-2; the Merchants in 1879. The post office was

established in 1871, with S. W. Thayer as postmaster. The county seat

was removed to this place in 1871, and a court house and jail built by

L. P. White, at an expense of $971.60. The first marriage, that of

Joseph Gronden and Miss Darby, occurred in 1870. A city charter was

obtained Jan. 11, 1873. The following were the first officers: Mayor,

Eber H. Bly; aldermen, L. P. White, M. Tuttle, W. S. Heathcote, Wm.

Murphy, T. X. Goulett; president of the council, L. P. White.

Brainerd has a court house, built at a cost of $45,000, and school

buildings worth $45,000. The Northern Pacific depot and shops were

built at a cost of $500,000, and the Northern Pacific sanitarium at a

cost of $35,000. The sanitarium is a hospital for the sick or disabled

employes of the entire line of road, and is supported by monthly

installments from the employes. Dr. Beger is superintendent. Brainerd

has one steam saw mill with a capacity of 12,000,000 feet per annum,

another with a capacity of 3,000,000 feet, and many fine business

blocks and tasteful residences. It has also electric lights, water

works, and street cars, and is making rapid progress as a city.

In 1886 a charter was obtained by Charles F. Kindred & Co. to build a

dam across the Mississippi. The dam has been completed at a cost of

$125,000. It has a head of 20 feet, with sufficient flow to secure

25,000 horse power, and a boomage overflowing 3,000 acres, forming a

reservoir 12 miles in length, with side lakes, the whole capable of

holding 1,000,000,000 feet of logs. The whole city machinery,

including electric lights, water works, street cars, and Northern

Pacific railroad shops, will be attached to this water power. Crow

Wing county contributed $50,000 in bonds to the building of this dam.

Brainerd has an opera house, and is well supplied with churches, the

Catholics, Presbyterians, Baptists, Congregationalists, Episcopalians,

Lutherans, and Methodists having organizations and buildings.

L. P. WHITE was born in Vermont in 1811. He was self educated. He was

married in Vermont, came to Chicago in 1858, and engaged in

railroading until arriving at Brainerd, in 1870, where he built the

first frame house. His wife was the first white woman resident of the

city. Since locating at Brainerd, Mr. White has been the acting agent

of the Lake Superior & Puget Sound Company, which has laid out all the

town sites from Northern Pacific Junction to Moorhead with the

exception of Detroit.

ALLEN MORRISON was one of a family of twelve, seven boys and five

girls. His father was born in Scotland, but emigrated to Canada, where

he died in 1812. Two of the boys were in the English Navy, and killed

at the battle of Trafalgar, in Egypt. William Morrison, a brother of

Allen, and several years his senior, was among the early explorers of

Northern Minnesota, having visited the Territory as early as 1800, and

was one of the party who discovered Lake Itasca, the source of the

Mississippi river. Allen's first visit to this region was in 1820,

when he came to Fond du Lac, as a trader in what was then known as the

"Northern Outfit." For several years he was associated with his

brother William in the Fond du Lac department, during which time he

was stationed at Sandy Lake, Leech Lake, Red Lake, Mille Lacs, and

Crow Wing, and when the Indians were removed to White Earth, went

there also, and remained until his death. In 1826 he was married to

Miss Charlotte Chaboullier, who died at Crow Wing in the fall of 1872.

She was a daughter of a member of the old Northwestern Fur Company,

who was a trader on the Saskatchewan, and died in Canada in 1812. Mr.

Morrison was the father of eleven children. Caroline, now in Brainerd,

was married to Chris. Grandelmyer in April, 1864. Rachel resides with

her sister, Mrs. Grandelmyer. John J. and Allen, at White Earth; Mary,

the eldest, now Mrs. J. R. Sloan, at St. Cloud; and Louisa, now Mrs.

John Bromley, at Northern Pacific Junction. Mr. Morrison died on the

twenty-eighth of November, 1878, and was buried at White Earth, in the

historic valley where he had passed so many eventful years. His name,

however, will not perish, nor his virtues be forgotten. In the first

territorial legislature he represented the district embracing the

voting precincts of Sauk Rapids and Crow Wing, and when the present

county of Morrison was set off, the legislature named it in honor of

this esteemed veteran pioneer.

CHARLES F. KINDRED, an active, enterprising citizen of Brainerd, is

doing for his adopted city all that one man can do. Mr. Kindred, for

many years after his arrival in Minnesota, was a trusted agent of the

Northern Pacific Railroad Company, and while in their employ acquired

a thorough knowledge of the resources of North Minnesota, which he

uses to the best interest of the section in which he has made his

home. He is at present superintending the building of the Kindred

dam.

CHAPTER XVIII.

AITKIN COUNTY.

This county consists of an oblong section, six towns in width, lying

between Mille Lacs and Kanabec counties on the south, and Itasca on

the north. It is a heavily timbered region, upon which the lumberman

has drawn for hundreds of millions of feet of lumber, with but little

apparent diminution in the quantity of the supply. The whole surface

is dotted with lakes and variegated with natural meadows. The southern

portion of the county affords good farming lands. Mille Lacs, in the

southern part of the county, is the largest lake, and settlements have

already been made along its shores. Sandy lake is second in size. It

lies on the great portage route from Winnipeg, by way of St. Louis

river to Lake Superior, and has been a noted point on that route for

two hundred years. The missions of the Jesuits, and later, of the

Presbyterians and Methodists, had been located here and abandoned. The

fur trader and the Indian trader have made their headquarters here.

Sandy lake has become historic. The county contains about one hundred

and three townships, which are drained chiefly by the Mississippi and

its tributaries. The Mississippi is navigable from Aitkin to Pokegama

falls, a distance of over one hundred miles.

Aitkin county was created May 23, 1857, but was not organized until

July 30, 1872. The first officers chosen were: County commissioners,

Nathaniel Tibbetts, chairman; Wm. Hallstrom, Wm. Wade; treasurer, Geo.

Clapp; register of deeds, Wm. Hallstrom; auditor, W. E. Crowell;

sheriff, James W. Tibbetts. That part of the county including the

village of Aitkin was organized into a town in 1873; N. Tibbetts,

chairman. The Northern Pacific railroad passes through six townships

of this county, namely: townships 27 and 28, range 22 to 27,

inclusive. While the road was in process of building in 1870,

Nathaniel Tibbetts made a claim where the village of Aitkin now

stands, and built the first house, a hotel known as the Ojibway House,

and the next spring built the Aitkin House. He moved his family here

in 1471. He was appointed the first postmaster at the organization of

the county. The county and village of Aitkin were named after Wm. A.

Aitkin, who was a prominent trader on the Upper Mississippi for a

number of years.

AITKIN VILLAGE.

Aitkin was made the county seat at the organization of the county. It

is pleasantly situated on the west branch of Ripple creek, near the

east branch of the Mississippi. It is now a prosperous and thriving

village with heavy mercantile establishments, two first class hotels,

a good school house, and pleasant homes. One newspaper, the Aitkin

_Age_, is published here. Warren Potter, Richard Mills, William Wade

and George Jenkins are early citizens. In 1873 Capt. Houghton built a

steamer, called the Pokegama, to run from Aitkin to Pokegama Falls.

This steamer was burned in 1878. Capt. Houghton replaced it with a new

boat called the City of Aitkin, which still plies the Mississippi

river between the points named.

Pokegama Falls is a headquarters for lumbermen and a place for general

trade.

WM. A. AITKEN.--The date and place of Mr. Aitkin's nativity are not

positively known. He came to the Chippewa country when a boy of

fifteen, as servant to a trader named John Drew, and in time became a

successful and well known trader. He died at Sandy Lake in 1851. His

life, in common with that of the early traders, was adventurous. He

witnessed many stirring scenes, among them the battle of Stillwater

Ravine, in 1839. Although raised among the Indians, and continually on

the frontier, he was noted for his urbanity and geniality, and is well

spoken of by the early explorers.

ALFRED AITKIN, son of the foregoing, was killed by a Chippewa Indian

at Cass lake in 1836. He had stolen the wife of the Indian, and

refusing to return her to the enraged husband, was shot by him. The

murderer was arrested, taken to Prairie du Chien for trial, tried

before Judge Drum's court and acquitted.

NATHANIEL TIBBETTS was born in New Sharon, Maine, March 21, 1824.

While a mere boy he moved to Piscataquis county, and in 1845 came to

Plover, Wisconsin, and two years later to Stillwater, Minnesota. He

engaged in lumbering until 1850, when he moved to St. Anthony, and

soon afterward made a claim at the mouth of Elk river, then in Benton

county, where he remained until the Civil War, when he enlisted in

Company A, Eighth Minnesota, of which company he was commissioned

first lieutenant, and was afterward appointed regimental

quartermaster. He was mustered out with his regiment at the close of

the war, when he returned to his home at Elk River, and resumed his

old business of lumbering. In 1870 he was engaged in the preliminary

survey of the Northern Pacific railroad, and located the same year at

Aitkin, of which village he was the pioneer, building the first house

and barn, keeping the first hotel and serving as the first postmaster.

He served four years as county commissioner. He has also served as

register of deeds and sheriff. Ten years after his location at Aitkin

he removed to Morrison county, where he now resides. His health is

somewhat impaired from the exposure and fatigue of army life.

CARLTON COUNTY.

Carlton county lies between St. Louis county on the north, Pine on the

south, Douglas county, Wisconsin, on the east and Aitkin on the west,

and contains twenty-four townships. It is abundantly watered by the

St. Louis river and its many tributaries on the northeast, by the

tributaries of the Nemadji and Kettle rivers on the south. It is well

timbered with pine and hardwoods. The St. Louis river affords one of

the finest water powers in the Northwest. The rapids of this stream

extend from the falls at Cloquet to Fond du Lac, a distance of twelve

miles. The channel is rocky, the rocks being of a trappean or slaty

formation, not easily worn by the water, and capable of furnishing

good foundations for dams and mills. The first settlers were A. K.

Lovejoy, Cephas Bradley, Joseph Meyers, Sexton Lyons, and some others.

Mr. Lovejoy died at Thomson, Feb. 11, 1888, aged sixty-three years,

leaving a wife. They had been the parents of twenty-four children,

twelve pairs of twins. The county was named in honor of R. B. Carlton,

who was a representative in the first state legislature. Mr. Carlton

died at Fond du Lac, Sept. 10, 1863.

The county was organized in 1858, and the county seat located at Twin

Lakes, but changed by act of legislature to Thomson. It is subdivided

into five towns, Knife Falls, Mahtowa, Moose Lake, Thomson, and Twin

Lakes. It has a well defined slate stone range running from northeast

to southwest. The same range crops out at Little Falls, Morrison

county.

THOMSON.

The village of Thomson, the county seat of Carlton county, is located

on the St. Louis river. The Northern Pacific railroad crosses at this

point. A. M. Miller erected a steam saw mill here in 1873. The mill

has a capacity of 100,000 feet per day, and has been a profitable

enterprise. A. K. Lovejoy operates a saw mill six miles northwest,

which has a capacity of 35,000 feet. The village of Thomson has a good

graded school with two departments.

CLOQUET,

Located on the St. Louis river, was surveyed and platted in 1871. In

1878 Charles D. Harwood erected a steam saw mill at this point with a

capacity of 50,000 feet. This was the beginning of a thriving

manufacturing village. In 1883 the Knife Falls Lumber Company rebuilt

the Harwood mill, increasing its capacity to 180,000 feet per day. In

1884 the property was transferred to Renwick, Crossett & Co. James

Paine, McNair and others built a water power saw mill in 1880, with a

capacity of 100,000 feet per day. The C. N. Nelson Company, in 1880,

built two steam saw mills with a capacity of 350,000 feet per day. A

post office was established in 1879; C. D. Harwood, postmaster. The

village was platted and incorporated in 1882; William P. Allen was the

first president of the council. It has two newspapers, the _Pine Knot

Journal_, established by Ed. Gottry and J. H. Page in 1884, and the

_Industrial Vidette_, established in 1887. It contains three church

organizations with good buildings, the Catholic, Methodist and

Presbyterian.

MOOSE LAKE STATION,

On the St. Paul & Duluth railroad, is surrounded by a good farming

country, and is a pretty, prosperous village. It has a post office,

about sixty dwellings and a saw mill.

BARNUM STATION,

On the line of the same road, contains a post office, a saw mill with

a capacity of about 50,000 feet daily, a few fine residences, with

fine farms adjoining.

MAHTOWA STATION,

On the same road, has a saw mill and about twenty dwellings. An

extensive stock farm is located here.

NORTH PACIFIC JUNCTION

Is situated on the St. Louis river, at the junction of the St. Paul &

Duluth and Northern Pacific railroads. There are about one hundred

buildings here including a large saw mill built by Paine & Co., having

a capacity of 10,000,000 feet per annum; one school house, one church,

and hotels, stores, shops and dwellings. The village was organized in

1881; Cephas Bradley, president.

FRANCIS ASBURY WATKINS is a native of the state of New Hampshire. He

was born in 1853; came to Baraboo, Wisconsin, in 1866, to North

Pacific Junction in 1881; was married to Anna Wicks, of Pine City,

Minnesota, in 1882, and was admitted to practice law in 1883. He is a

graduate of Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin. He has served as

auditor of Carlton county four years.

ST. LOUIS COUNTY.

St. Louis county takes its name from St. Louis river, the river itself

having been named by some of the early French travelers or Jesuit

missionaries, possibly by Duluth or Buade.

The county is bounded on the north by Rainy lake and the British

boundary, on the east by Lake county, on the south by Lake Superior,

St. Louis river and Carlton, and on the west by Aitkin county. The

surface is variegated, much of it being broken with deep ravines. It

is well watered by streams tributary to Rainy lake and Superior, and

by innumerable small lakes. Portions of it are heavily timbered with

pines and hardwoods, and the northern portion is traversed by a rich

mineral belt extending through the Vermillion Lake region. The

settlements are chiefly along the shores of Lake Superior and St.

Louis river, and on the shores of Vermillion lake. The falls and

rapids of St. Louis river are noted for their wildness and grandeur.

The scenery on its northern boundary, including the Dalles of the

Rainy Lake waters, is not surpassed or even equaled at any point east

of the Rocky mountains. The geological formation consists largely of

primitive or igneous rocks, trappean, basaltic and granite, and the

scenery has a peculiarly grand and sombre appearance. Notwithstanding

the igneous character of the formation there is much excellent farming

land on plains and intervales, while the more abrupt and rocky

portions are rich in iron and the precious metals. The region about

Vermillion lake has become a centre of mining operations. The region

is rich in iron ores. Gold has also been discovered. A mineral region

abounding in gold, silver and iron extends from Vermillion lake to

Thunder Bay. St. Louis county was organized in 1856. The territorial

governor appointed the following officers: Clerk of district court, J.

B. Culver; sheriff, J. B. Ellis; register of deeds, R. H. Barrett;

auditor, J. E. Brown.

The first board of county commissioners elected were C. E. Martin,

Vose Palmer and Z. J. Brown. The first meeting was held at Portland,

Jan. 4, 1858. At an adjourned meeting held Jan. 20, 1858, the

commissioners drew a grand and petit jury. The meetings were held

sometimes at Portland and sometimes at Duluth. At a meeting held April

5, 1858, the county was divided into four towns--Duluth, Martin, Carp

River and Carlton. At an adjourned meeting three assessor's districts,

six school districts and four road districts were formed. The records

do not show any previous division into districts or precincts, nor

does the name of any clerk appear until the meeting of September 14th,

when A. B. Robbins attests as clerk. At a meeting held Sept. 23, 1858,

the village of Oneota was established. November 1st E. H. Brown was

appointed clerk in place of A. B. Robbins. November 14th a bill

allowing R. H. Barrett compensation for services as clerk prior to

September 1st was passed. His name does not appear prior to this

entry.

The records show that a court was held in 1859, S. J. R. McMillan

officiating as judge. Also that a road was made from Oneota to

Buchanan and the mouth of Knife river, through Fremont, Portland and

Endion, following a trail to Lester's river and across French river to

Montezuma, and another from Oneota to Fond du Lac. The town of Milford

is mentioned as accepting the report. The assessment for St. Louis

county for 1859 amounted to $96,836.76. At a special meeting of the

county commissioners held Jan. 10, 1866, a resolution was adopted

asking the legislature to grant authority to St. Louis county to issue

$150,000 to aid in building the Lake Superior & Mississippi railroad.

The legislature granted the request and twenty year bonds were issued.

We append a list of county commissioners to the year 1863: E. C.

Martin, Vose Palmer, Zach T. Brown, 1858; E. C. Martin, Vose Palmer,

W. E. Wright, 1859; W. E. Wright, S. A. Forbes, Sidney Luce, 1860; E.

F. Ely, Joseph B. Culver (first meeting), 1861; E. F. Ely, Harvey

Fargo, Levi B. Coffrey (second meeting), 1861; E. F. Ely, R. B.

Carlton, H. Fargo, 1862; H. Fargo, R. B. Carlton, E. G. Swanstrom,

1863.

Names of villages that appear in the old records of the board have

entirely disappeared. Those villages nearest to Duluth have been

absorbed by that vigorous young city. We find a record, bearing date

1859, authorizing an election to decide upon the question of the

removal of the county seat from Duluth to Port Byron. There is no

record of the result of the election, nor is Port Byron found in a

recent map.

DULUTH.

The site of Duluth was visited as long ago as 1659, by two adventurous

Frenchmen, Grosselier and Redission. This was twenty-one years prior

to the coming of Greyson Duluth, in whose honor the city of Duluth was

named two hundred years later. Capt. Duluth visited the western end of

the lake in 1680. Three or four years later Jean Duluth, a brother of

the captain, established two trading posts, one at the mouth of Pigeon

river, the other on Minnesota Point. Le Sueur followed in 1683,

accompanied by a French surveyor, Franquelin, who made a fairly

correct map of the region. The attraction to the early voyageurs was

the rich furs to be obtained in the wild regions adjacent. The great

American Fur Company early established posts along the northern shore

of Lake Superior, and later the Astor Fur Company made its

northwestern headquarters at Fond du Lac, a few miles above the

present site of Duluth. Nothing was done toward permanent settlement

until about the year 1854, when the tide of immigration set in toward

the head of the lake, and it became evident that here was to rise

cities of no mean importance, one upon the western shore of the lake,

rising from the base of Minnesota Point, and the other Superior City,

across the gleaming waters of St. Louis bay.

For several years the growth of Duluth was slow, and sometimes its

fortunes seemed on the wane, but the construction of a railroad to St.

Paul, completed in 1870, and a sudden influx of capital consequent

upon this new outlet of trade, and more than all this, the proposed

construction of the great Northern Pacific railroad, gave a new

impetus to the growth of the city. The three years succeeding were

years of great activity and progress. The population increased from

3,000 to 5,000, and many of the finer older buildings of the city were

constructed. The canal was cut through Minnesota Point, thus giving to

Duluth the most magnificent harbor on the lake, if not in the world.

In 1873 the failure of Jay Cooke, who had largely contributed the

means for the construction of the Northern Pacific railroad, caused a

financial depression similar in its effects to that of 1857. Banks

failed, merchants became bankrupt, and the population of the city was

reduced to 1,300 souls. The "hard times" lasted until some time in

1878, when the opening up of the great wheat fields in the Red River

valley, and the completion of the Northern Pacific railroad, again

brought prosperity to the more than half deserted city. The population

increased in 1878 from 1,300 to 2,200 souls. Two years later the

census showed 3,470; and a year later, 7,800. In 1882 the population

had increased to 12,000; in 1883 to 14,000; in 1884 to 16,690; in 1885

to 18,036, and in 1886 to 26,000 souls.

Duluth has now a well organized board of trade, produce exchange and

chamber of commerce. It has four banks, the American Exchange, Duluth

National, Merchants National, and Bell & Eyster's. These banks had, in

1886, an aggregate capital of $300,000, with deposits of $2,034,281,

amounts greatly increased during the year 1887. The taxable valuation

of property in Duluth for the year 1886 was $11,773,720. The taxes

paid in 1887 amount to $261,376.

Duluth has one immense flour mill, with a capacity of 250 barrels per

day. It is five stories in height, and favorably situated; having the

lake upon one side and the railroads upon the other, so that loading

and unloading can be carried on at once from vessels and cars.

Duluth has also two large flour warehouses with a capacity of 200,000

barrels each. Large warehouses are also being built by the Northern

Pacific and Omaha Railroad companies. The annual shipment of flour

from Duluth has ranged from 164,000 barrels in 1871 to 1,500,000 in

1886, making an aggregate of 8,285,000 barrels in that time.

The lumber industry of Duluth is no small factor in the prosperity of

the city. The cut of the Duluth district for the past season amounts

to 160,000,000 feet of lumber, 43,000,000 shingles, and 22,600,000

lath, of which the city mills have manufactured one-third. Much of

this lumber has been shipped to Chicago and the East, and a new

district, the Tower mining region, has lately been opened for

shipment.

We have alluded to the harbor of Duluth as one of the best on the

lake. It consists of what is known as the Bay of Superior, a body of

water about seven miles long by one mile in width, almost entirely

shut off from the lake by a narrow strip of land known as Minnesota

Point. The original entrance to this bay was through a channel on the

southeast of the Point, separating it from Wisconsin Point, a similar

tongue of land in the same line of direction. As this entrance was

inconvenient and difficult, a canal was cut across the point near the

mainland, sufficiently large to admit all vessels that pass through

Ste. Marie's canal. Since the construction of the canal through

Minnesota Point, the old landing in front of the city has been

abandoned, and elevators have been built on the shores of the bay.

These elevators are the best of their class, and have a total capacity

of 20,000,000 bushels. They were ten in number, exclusive of several

warehouses; two, however, have been destroyed by fire. The walls of

the canal have been extended in the form of piers 1,000 feet into the

lake. One of these piers is supplied with a lighthouse and a fog horn.

The canal is 700 feet long and 250 feet in width. The arrivals and

clearances for the port of Duluth in 1886 were 2,180.

The fish trade is no inconsiderable part of the industries of Duluth.

Two large firms have their headquarters here and the amount of capital

invested in the business amounts to $165,000. During 1886 1,200,000

pounds of fish were shipped to Duluth for reshipment to other places,

from the various fisheries of these companies. The United States fish

commissioners, realizing the value of Lake Superior as a reservoir

for food fish, have projected the largest fish hatchery on the lakes,

to be located at Lester's Park. It is to be under government and state

control and will supply the lakes of Superior and Michigan with about

500,000,000 eggs yearly.

Duluth was organized and laid out as a village under the town site law

of 1844; Richard Ralf, surveyor; Geo. E. Nettleton, J. B. Culver, O.

W. Rice, Wm. Nettleton, and Robt. E. Jefferson, proprietors. The date

of this organization is not known. We have a statement from Hon. W. G.

Le Duc, of Hastings, to the effect, that in the winter of 1852-53, A.

Ramsey, H. M. Rice, Maj. Watrous and himself, with two others whose

names he can not recall, organized as a company and projected a town

site at the west end of the lake, on the present site of Duluth. Maj.

Watrous, the Indian agent, was instructed to take necessary measures

to secure the land. Watrous failed to secure the property and the

scheme failed. Mr. Le Duc projected and introduced a charter in the

territorial legislature, which was passed, for a railroad to Duluth.

In 1870 the city of Duluth was first incorporated, and five years

later a portion of the same territory was incorporated as the village

of Duluth, and the two municipal corporations were still in existence

Feb. 25, 1887, when the act imposing certain political obligations

upon the then existing city of Duluth became a law. The second day of

March another law went into effect incorporating both the city and

village of Duluth as the present city.

FOND DU LAC,

Located at the head of navigation on St. Louis river, and at the foot

of the rapids, is a point of considerable historical interest, it

having long been in use as a trading post. It has been a place of

outfit and departure for trading expeditions for two hundred years.

The old stone trading house of the Astor Fur Company still remains. It

is surrounded by about twenty buildings of more recent date. It is now

better known as a station on the Northern Pacific railroad. It was

surveyed in 1856 by Richard Ralf and platted into village lots. The

plats were signed by James A. Markland, attorney for the proprietors.

Fond du Lac is now a village of some magnitude.

ONEOTA

Was settled some time in the '40s, by Edmund F. Ely and others, and

became a village of some note, containing a post office, church and

other evidences of prosperity. It was platted as a village in 1856; H.

W. Wheeler, surveyor; Marcus W. McCracken, Bion W. Bacon, Edmund F.

Ely, proprietors. The first recorded deed in St. Louis county is a

quitclaim deed from B. H. Baer to E. F. Ely, of the town site of Ely;

consideration, $1,500. The deed bears date of April 20, 1856. Oneota

is now included in the plat of Duluth.

CLIFTON.

This village was platted in 1858, by John S. Watrous, on the shores of

the lake north of Duluth. It is now within the Duluth city limits.

PORTLAND,

A village on the lake shore above Duluth, was platted in 1856. The

proprietors were Aaron B. Robbins, James D. Ray, C. Marshall and J. J.

Post. It is now within the Duluth city limits.

ENDION,

Located on the north shore, was surveyed Dec. 15, 1856, by Chas.

Martin; M. 7P. Niel and others, proprietors. It is now within the

Duluth city limits.

MIDDLETON,

Located on Minnesota Point, was surveyed Aug. 1, 1856; proprietors,

Robert Reed, T. A. Markland.

MONTEZUMA,

Located on the north shore, was surveyed in May, 1856, by Vose Palmer;

proprietor, Frederic Ottoman.

BUCHANAN,

Located on the north shore, was surveyed in October, 1856; proprietor,

W. G. Cowell.

ST. LOUIS FALLS

Was surveyed in 1857, by C. E. Clark; Thos. H. Hogan, attorney for

proprietors.

FREMONT ISLAND.

A peculiar feature of St. Louis bay has been the formation of floating

islands, possibly the result of the collection of driftwood and other

debris at the mouth of St. Louis river. The rafts thus formed in time

became consolidated by the deposition of earthy materials, leaves,

twigs and vegetable matter, and are covered with a rank growth of

vegetation, at first shrubby, but at last arboreous. The roots of the

shrubs and trees interlace, and hold the material of the raft more

tightly together. These island rafts are sometimes loosened and float

into the bay, and are driven about by the winds from one side of the

bay to the other.

One of these islands, supposed to be stationary, known as Fremont

island, was surveyed and platted in 1856, by C. P. Heustis and Chas.

A. Post. On the completion of the canal it broke loose from its

moorings, floated away and disappeared, in all probability going to

pieces in the rough waters of the lake.

TOWER,

Located on the southern shore of Vermillion lake, was surveyed Aug. 4,

1884. The proprietors are the Minnesota Iron Company, of which

Charlemagne Tower is president. The iron mines located in this

vicinity are amongst the richest on the continent. Attention was first

called to the Vermillion by the reported discovery of gold. Machinery

for crushing and smelting was transported thither, but the thousands

who rushed to the reputed gold field expecting to become suddenly

rich, returned disappointed and disheartened. Attention had long

before been called to the fact that there were rich iron mines in the

district, but the circumstances were unfavorable for their

development. They were in a remote position and accessible only by a

journey of several days through woods and swamps. These mines could be

reached and developed only by state aid, which was given in the shape

of a grant of swamp lands, to be applied to building a railway from

the lake to the mines. This grant having been obtained, Mr. Tower and

other capitalists at once invested their millions in the mines,

purchasing some 8,000 acres of land, covering the larger portion of

the iron deposits in the district, embracing the present site of the

village of Tower. A railroad sixty-eight miles in length was

constructed from Tower to Two Harbors, a point twenty-seven miles

north of Duluth. This road was completed in the spring of 1884, and

the first shipment was made July 3d of that year, the total shipments

for the year being 62,124 tons. The shipments for 1885 were 225,484

tons, and for 1886, 304,000 tons. Over $3,000,000 was paid to laborers

in the Tower mines in 1887.

COL. GEORGE E. STONE, of Duluth, is deserving of praise for his

foresight and energy in opening the Tower mines. Mr. Stone labored

with untiring zeal after the land grant to aid in building the road

was given until the road was built and the mines opened.

GEORGE R. STUNTZ is well known as the government surveyor of the Lake

Superior region, whose work covers thousands of miles of North

Wisconsin lands, lying along the southern shore of the lake, and who

has accurately mapped the meanderings of the influent streams, the

bays and shaggy projecting shores of the great "Unsalted Sea." There

is no better topographical authority than Mr. Stuntz, and no one

better posted as to the location and value of the Northern Wisconsin

areas and the Vermillion mines.

Having early made Superior City and Duluth his home, and for nearly

forty years having been identified with the interests of the West

Superior country, he is an oft-quoted authority. Many of his published

articles contain most valuable information concerning the feasibility

of connecting St. Croix and Superior waters. His assertions concerning

the mineral wealth of the lake country, made before the development of

the mines, have since been verified. Mr. Stuntz is a typical, sensible

frontiersman, of American birth, aged about seventy years.

CHARLES HINMAN GRAVES, a native of Springfield, Massachusetts, born in

1839, received a liberal education, and in 1861 enlisted as a private

in the Fortieth Massachusetts Volunteers, but was promoted step by

step to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was severely wounded at the

battle of Gettysburg. In 1865 he was commissioned as a colonel in the

regular army, but resigned in 1870, and located at Duluth. From 1873

to 1876 he was a member of the state senate. He has held several

public positions in Duluth, and stands deservedly high as a citizen.

He has labored zealously and efficiently for the prosperity of Duluth.

OZRO P. STEARNS was born Jan. 13, 1831, at De Kalb, Lawrence county,

New York. In his youth he was dependent upon his own resources. He

graduated at Michigan University in 1858, after which he visited

California, tried mining for a short time, and returning graduated in

the law department of Michigan University. In 1860 he came to

Rochester, Minnesota, and opened a law office. In 1862 he enlisted in

Company F, Ninth Minnesota Volunteers, of which he was commissioned

first lieutenant, but in 1864 was promoted to the colonelcy of the

Thirty-ninth United States Infantry (colored). He served through many

battles and campaigns, and was mustered out at the close of the war.

In January, 1866, he returned to Rochester; in 1867 was appointed

register in bankruptcy for Southern Minnesota; in January, 1871, he

was elected to the United States senate for a short term to fill the

vacancy caused by the death of D. S. Norton. In 1872 he removed to

Duluth, and in 1874 was appointed judge of the Eleventh Judicial

district, to which office he was elected in the fall of the same year,

which position, by re-election, he still holds. Judge Stearns was

married in February, 1863, to Sarah Burger, of Detroit, Michigan.

LAKE COUNTY.

This county lies on the north shore of Lake Superior, between the

counties of Cook and St. Louis, extending northward to the British

line. The whole region is abrupt, broken into hills and valleys, and

rich in silver, iron and other metals.

The great Vermillion iron mines of St. Louis county find an outlet

through this county by the Duluth & Iron Range railroad, which finds a

lake station at Two Harbors. The road was built from Two Harbors to

Vermillion lake in 1885, from Two Harbors to Duluth in 1887. The

entire road and extensive mines were sold in June, 1887, for

$8,000,000, to Porter and others, who are now extending the road from

Vermillion lake eastward to Thunder Bay and Port Arthur. It is already

completed to Ely, a distance of twenty miles.

Emigration during the years 1886-7 to this county has been very

extensive. The two counties, Lake and Cook, have many features in

common. They are similar in geological formation, produce the same

metals in the same generous abundance, and being in the same latitude,

and bordering upon the same lake, differ in no wise in climate and but

little in productions. Large quantities of pine timber may be found in

these counties, and saw mills are located along the lake shore where

an accessible harbor can be found. There are several harbors between

Duluth and Thunder Bay that might be improved by the government,

greatly to the advantage of the country.

The silver mines of Isle Royal and along the national boundary are

extensive, and yield rich returns to the companies working them.

TWO HARBORS,

A flourishing village located on the shore of Lake Superior, takes its

name from two small harbors bearing that name. The Vermillion Iron

Company have built extensive piers into the lake to facilitate the

shipping of ores. They have large shops for railroad purposes, with an

electric light plant. The company employ about two hundred men. Two

Harbors is the county seat of Lake county.

COOK COUNTY.

Grand Marais is the county seat of Cook county. It is a round,

land-locked harbor. It has a lighthouse, and the government has built

a breakwater four hundred feet long, thus making it a harbor of

refuge, so that boats can lie with safety in any storm. Grand Marais

is one hundred and ten miles from Duluth, on the north shore of Lake

Superior. It is the best harbor that Minnesota has except Duluth. It

is thirty miles south of the international boundary line, and

forty-five miles northeast of the line by Lake Superior. It is the

natural outlet for the mineral deposits north. There are large

quantities of iron ore within thirty-five miles of the harbor. A

railroad line has been run, and men are now at work on the iron

deposits with a view of shipping the ore from Grand Marais to points

where it is wanted for smelting purposes.

Grand Marais was in early days one of the Northwest Fur Company's

trading posts, but of late years has been used as a fishing station.

Streets in the town are now being laid out, and from present

indications Cook county, with its pine lands, iron ore and other

mineral resources, will be one of the most thriving counties in the

State, with Grand Marais as not only a harbor of refuge, but one of

the competing ports for the shipment of iron ore.

H. Mayhew, to whom we are indebted for items of interest concerning

Cook county, is the oldest resident of Grand Marais, and one of the

town proprietors.

CHAPTER XIX.

HENNEPIN COUNTY.

Hennepin county was organized March 6, 1852. Prior to the organization

of Minnesota Territory it was in Clayton county, Iowa. At the

organization of the Territory, in 1849, it was included in Dakota

county, and so remained until set off in 1852. Hon. Bradley B. Meeker

held the first court within the present limits of the county, at the

old government mill, in 1849. Taylor Dudley was clerk of court,

Franklin Steele, foreman of grand jury. The first board of

commissioners were Alex. Moore, chairman, John Jackins and Joseph

Dean. The first election was held Oct. 21, 1852, at the house of Col.

John H. Stevens, on the west side. The county is a rich agricultural

region, abounding with beautiful lakes, of which Minnetonka is the

largest and finest. The county is bounded on the north by the

Mississippi river and Wright county, on the east by the Mississippi

river and Ramsey county, on the south by the Minnesota river and

Carver county, on the west by Wright and Carver counties. It is

subdivided into the following towns: Bloomington, Brooklyn, Champlin,

Crystal Lake, Corcoran, Dayton, Eden Prairie, Excelsior, Greenwood,

Hasson, Independence, Maple Grove, Medina, Minneapolis, Minnetonka,

Minnetrista, Osseo, Plymouth, Richfield, and St. Anthony.

[Illustration: FORT SNELLING, ON LINE OF C., M. & ST. P. RY.]

FORT SNELLING.

Fort Snelling owes its origin to the encroachments of British traders

on our northern frontier. As early as 1805 Lieut. Zebulen Montgomery

Pike, United States Army, was sent with a detachment of troops to

explore the Upper Mississippi river to expel British traders who might

be found encroaching upon our territory, and to secure by treaty a

military reservation. Sept. 21, 1805, he encamped on Pike island, at

the junction of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, and, being

pleased with the situation, forthwith made a treaty with chiefs of the

Sioux nation to include all that tract of land lying from below the

confluence of the two rivers, up the Mississippi, including the falls

of St. Anthony, nine miles in width on each side of the river. The

price paid was $2,000. The reserve thus purchased was not used for

military purposes until 1819, when a detachment of the Fifth United

States Infantry, commanded by Lieut. Col. Henry Leavenworth, was sent

to occupy the reservation and build a fort. The building of the fort,

with its various stone and wooden buildings, was the work of years.

The site of the fort was selected in 1820, by Col. Josiah Snelling,

who named it Fort St. Anthony, but at the suggestion of Gen. Winfield

Scott, in 1824 the name was changed to Fort Snelling as a worthy

compliment to its founder and builder. Notwithstanding the treaty made

by Col. Pike in 1805, the Indian claim to the reservation was not

extinguished until the treaty of 1837, ratified by the senate in 1838.

In 1836, before the extinction of the Indian title, many settlers

located on the reservation on the left bank of the Mississippi. These

were forcibly removed by the United States government in 1840, under

the act of March 3, 1807, an act to prevent settlements being made on

ceded lands until duly authorized by law. The reservation was reduced

from time to time, portions being sold. In 1857 Franklin Steele

purchased the entire reservation, with the exception of two small

tracts, including the fort itself, for the sum of $90,000, to be paid

in three yearly installments. The first payments were actually made,

the troops were withdrawn, and Mr. Steele assumed possession. Default

having been made in the two remaining payments, the government resumed

possession of a small portion of the reservation and fort in 1861. The

year following, by act of Congress, the reservation was reduced. In

1870 it was permanently reduced to 1,531.20 acres. A suit at law

between Mr. Steele and the United States government was compromised by

releasing him from further payments and granting him a large tract of

land lying along the right bank of the Mississippi, north of the fort,

with a portion of Pike's island.

Maj. Plympton and other officers of the fort, in company with Franklin

Steele, made the first land claim, by permit of the government, at

East St. Anthony, in 1838. They built a shanty and hired a Frenchman

to occupy it. Steele bought out the interests of the officers

associated with him and in 1848 secured a title from the United

States. The first saw mill built on this claim was commenced by Mr.

Steele, in conjunction with Boston parties in 1847, but was not

completed until the following year.

The next land claim on the river was made further up, by R. P. Russell

and S. J. Findley. This was sold to Bottineau and afterward passed to

other parties. The land claim adjoining Steele's, below, was

purchased of a Frenchman by C. A. Tuttle in 1848. This claim is now

partially occupied by the State University. W. Henry Cheever made a

claim south of Tuttle's, on which, in 1849, he built a hotel and a

huge wooden tower or observatory, nearly one hundred feet in height,

over the entrance to which was a rhyming couplet:

"Pay your dime

And climb."

Franklin Steele, before completing his mill and dam, became sole owner

of the water power on the east side of the river. During the periods

following the property has often changed owners, and sometimes the

change has resulted in unprofitable litigation. James J. Hill, in

later years, has become the owner of most of the water power of

Nicollet and Hennepin islands and of the east shore, and is making

valuable improvements.

ST. ANTHONY FALLS.

St. Anthony Falls was platted as a village in 1849, and was included

in Ramsey county until 1856. In 1861 the legislature established

satisfactory boundaries, annexing part of town 29, range 24, to

Hennepin county.

Among the first settlers of the Falls was Ard Godfrey. The first white

child born here was a son of C. A. Tuttle, millwright. The Luther

Patch family, consisting of four sons and two daughters, was the first

resident American family at the Falls. Mr. Patch's sons were Edward,

Wallace, Gibson, and Lewis; the daughters, Marion, who became the wife

of R. P. Russell, the first marriage at the Falls, Oct. 3, 1848, and

Cora, who became the wife of Joseph Marshall. An earlier marriage was

celebrated at Fort Snelling May 27, 1835, that of Lieut. Edmund A.

Ogden and Eliza Edna Loomis; Rev. Thos. S. Williamson officiating.

This was the first marriage north of Prairie du Chien. The first store

was opened by R. P. Russell in 1847, the second, in 1849, by Joseph

Marshall. We find Jacob Fisher, of Stillwater, here in 1847, building

the dam from Nicollet island to the east shore. Among the operators of

the mill who have been prominent citizens of St. Anthony Falls are

Sumner W. Farnham, John Rollins, Caleb W. Dorr, John McDonald, and

Robert W. Cummings. Some of these men brought their families here. The

building of the mill was somewhat delayed by the sinking in the Erie

canal of the boats containing the machinery, hardware, etc. Standing

pine to be used in the mill was purchased of Hole-in-the-Day, a

Chippewa chief, cut and floated down from Sauk Rapids to the Falls.

Some timber was also brought from Rum river, the first cut on that

stream, except for government use. At the land sale in 1848, Mr.

Steele secured all the land above Tuttle's to the north limits of the

city. Amongst the settlers in 1848 were the Getchells, Smiths, Rogers'

and Huse. In 1849, at the organization of the territory of Minnesota,

a number of others arrived, among them Judge B. B. Meeker, Dr. John H.

Murphy, John W. North, J. P. Wilson, and John G. Lennon. During this

year the west half of sec. 14, range 29, was surveyed and platted into

town lots by W. R. Marshall, B. W. Bronson and S. P. Folsom. Anson

Northrup commenced the erection of the first hotel, the St. Charles.

John Rollins was elected to the territorial council, W. R. Marshall

and Wm. Dugas to the house of representatives. The district was

comprised of St. Anthony Falls and Little Canada.

The first school was taught by Miss Electa Bachus, in the summer of

1849. A post office was established and Ard Godfrey was appointed

postmaster. There were occasional mails brought in John Rollins'

passenger wagon. In 1850 Willoughby & Powers ran a daily stage line

from St. Paul and the mail thenceforth was carried regularly. John W.

North built a dwelling on Nicollet island, which became a social

centre, and was made attractive by a piano. In 1850 a public library

was established, the first in Minnesota. Rev. E. D. Neill, the

historian of Minnesota, delivered the first public lecture and

preached the first sermon in 1849. The following year, the Baptists,

Methodists, Congregationalists and Presbyterians organized societies,

and in 1851 the Episcopalians and Universalists. Amongst the

accessions to the population were Judge Isaac Atwater, W. W. Wales, J.

B. Bassett, C. W. Christmas, and Joseph Dean. Col. Alvaren Allen

opened a livery stable. The St. Anthony _Express_, the first

newspaper, was established May 31, 1851; E. Tyler, proprietor, Judge

I. Atwater, editor. Measures were taken to locate the university in

St. Anthony Falls. Citizens contributed $3,000 aid to in the erection

of the building.

Facilities of communication with the surrounding country were none of

the best, yet communication was early established with the Red River

country, a dog train having arrived from Pembina, distant four hundred

miles, in sixteen days. On this train Kittson, Rolette and Gingras

came down to attend the territorial legislature at St. Paul as

representatives of Pembina county.

Franklin Steele, in 1847, established a ferry above the Falls. In 1854

the Minnesota Bridge Company was organized, consisting of Franklin

Steele, H. T. Wells, R. P. Russell, and others. A handsome suspension

bridge was finished in 1855. This bridge remained in the control of

the company fifteen years, when by an act of the legislature the value

was assessed and Hennepin county purchased the bridge, and it became a

free thoroughfare.

April 13, 1855, St. Anthony Falls was incorporated as a city with the

following officers: Mayor, H. T. Welles; clerk, W. F. Brawley;

aldermen, B. F. Spencer, John Orth, Daniel Stanchfield, Edward

Lippincott, Caleb W. Dorr, and Robert Cummings.

In 1872 St. Anthony Falls was annexed to Minneapolis, and placed under

the same government, a movement which has resulted in great benefit to

both cities.

ST. ANTHONY FALLS.

The earliest written descriptions of St. Anthony falls were by the

Roman Catholic missionaries, Hennepin and LaSalle. The former with

Accault and Du Gay ascended the river in a canoe until captured by a

band of Sioux Indians. These Indians left the river at a point now the

present site of St. Paul and took their prisoners to Mille Lacs. In

September, when the Indians set out on their annual hunt, the captives

were left to go where they pleased. Accault preferred remaining with

the Indians. Hennepin and Du Gay obtained a small canoe and commenced

the descent of the Rum and Mississippi rivers to the falls, then

called by the Indians Ka-ka-bi-ka Irara or "Severed Rock." They

reached the falls about the first of October, and named them after St.

Anthony of Padua. The description given by La Salle, a second hand

one, was probably derived from Hennepin, Accault or Du Gay, as La

Salle did not visit the falls, and these voyageurs were his

subordinates, and had been sent by him to explore the Upper

Mississippi.