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THE HISTORY OF MINNESOTA
AND
TALES OF THE FRONTIER
[Illustration: State Seal of Minnesota, ca. 1900]
[Illustration: Chas E Flandrau]
The History of Minnesota
AND
Tales of the Frontier.
BY
JUDGE CHARLES E. FLANDRAU
PUBLISHED BY
E. W. PORTER,
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.
1900.
'A MA PUISSANCE'
THE PIONEER
PRESS
SAINT PAUL
MDCCCXLIX
Dedication.
To the Old Settlers of Minnesota, who so wisely laid the foundation of
our state upon the broad and enduring basis of freedom and toleration,
and who have so gallantly defended and maintained it, this history is
most gratefully and affectionately dedicated by the author.
Charles E. Flandrau.
AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION.
The original design of this history was, that it should accompany and
form part of a book called the "Encyclopedia of Biography of Minnesota."
It was so published, and as that work was very large and expensive, it
was confined almost exclusively to its subscribers, and did not reach
the general public. Many requests were made to the author to present it
to the public in a more popular and readable form, and he decided to
publish it in a book of the usual library size, and dispose of it at a
price which would place it within the reach of everyone desirous of
reading it. As the history is written in the most compendious form
consistent with a full presentation and discussion of all the facts
concerning the creation and growth of the state, it was estimated that
it would not occupy sufficient space in print to make a volume of the
usual and proper size. The author therefore decided to accompany it with
a series of "Frontier Stories," written by himself at different times
during his long residence in the Northwest, which embrace historical
events, personal adventures, and amusing incidents. He believes these
stories will lend interest and pleasure to the volume.
THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS.
HISTORY.
Page.
Opening Statement 2
Legendary and Aboriginal Era 3
Fort Snelling 14
The Selkirk Settlement 20
George Catlin 25
Featherstonehaugh 25
Schoolcraft and the Source of Mississippi 26
Elevations in Minnesota 28
Nicollet 28
Missions 30
The Indians 36
Territorial Period 43
Education 49
The First Territorial Government 52
Courts 54
First Territorial Legislature 58
Immigration 62
The Panic of 1857 68
Land Titles 69
The First Newspaper 70
Banks 73
The Fur Trade 75
Pemmican 80
Transportation and Express 81
Lumber 83
Religion 85
Railroads 91
The First Railroad Actually Built 101
The Spirit Lake Massacre 102
The Constitutional Convention 109
Attempt to Remove the Capital 115
Census 117
Grasshoppers 117
Militia 120
The Wright County War 122
The Civil War 123
The Third Regiment 128
The Indian War of 1862 and following years 135
The Attack on Fort Ridgely 148
Battle of New Ulm 150
Battle of Birch Coulie 159
Occurrences in Meeker County and Vicinity 161
Protection of the Southern Frontier 162
Colonel Sibley Moves upon the Enemy 166
The Battle of Wood Lake 169
Fort Abercrombie 171
Camp Release 174
Trial of the Indians 175
Execution of the Thirty-Eight Condemned Indians 180
The Campaign of 1863 182
Battle of Big Mound 184
Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake 185
Battle of Stony Lake 186
Campaign of 1864 187
A Long Period of Peace and Prosperity 193
Introduction of New Process of Milling Wheat 193
The Discovery of Iron 196
Commerce Through St. Mary's Falls Canal 199
Agriculture 200
Dairying 201
The University of Minnesota and School of Agriculture 203
The Minnesota State Agricultural Society 205
The Minnesota Soldiers' Home 207
Other State Institutions 208
Minnesota Institute for Defectives 209
State School for Dependent and Neglected Children 210
The Minnesota State Training School 211
The Minnesota State Reformatory 212
The Minnesota State Prison 213
The Minnesota Historical Society 213
State Institutions Miscellaneous in Character 215
State Finances 217
The Monetary and Business Flurry of 1873 and Panic of 1893 218
Minor Happenings 221
The War with Spain 225
The Indian Battle of Leech Lake 229
Population 234
The State Flag 236
The Official Flower of the State, and the Method of its Selection 237
Origin of the Name "Gopher State" 242
State Parks 245
Politics 248
Bibliography 253
FRONTIER TALES.
Hunting Wolves in Bed 269
The Poisoned Whisky 275
Fun in a Blizzard 281
Law and Latin 288
Indian Strategy 291
The First Election Returns from Pembina 296
A Frontier Story, which contains a Robbery, Two Desertions,
a Capture and a Suicide 303
The Pony Express 310
Kissing Day 316
A Political Ruse 320
The Hardships of Early Law Practice 324
Temperance at Traverse 329
Win-ne-muc-ca's Gold Mine 333
A Unique Political Career 340
La Crosse 345
Making a Post Office 350
The Courage of Conviction 354
How the Capital was Saved 358
An Editor Incog 365
The Ink-pa-du-ta War 370
Muscular Legislation 378
The Virgin Feast 383
The Aboriginal War Correspondent 387
Bred in the Bone 391
An Accomplished Rascal 396
An Advocate's Opinion of His Own Eloquence is Not Always Reliable 400
A Momentous Meeting 402
Primitive Justice 406
HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
BY JUDGE CHARLES E. FLANDRAU.
It has been a little over fifty years since the organization of the
Territory of Minnesota, which at its birth was a very small and
unimportant creation, but which in its half century of growth has
expanded into one of the most brilliant and promising stars upon the
union of our flag; so that its history must cover every subject, moral,
physical and social, that enters into the composition of a first-class
progressive Western state, which presents a pretty extensive field; but
there is also to be considered a period anterior to civilization, which
may be called the aboriginal and legendary era, which abounds with
interesting matter, and to the general reader is much more attractive
than the prosy subjects of agriculture, finance and commerce.
Having lived in the state through nearly the whole period of Minnesota's
political existence, and having taken part in most of the leading events
in her history, both savage and civilized, I propose to treat the
various subjects that compose her history in a narrative and colloquial
manner that may not rise to the dignity of history, but which, I think,
while giving facts, will not detract from the interest or pleasure of
the reader. If I should in the course of my narrative so far forget
myself as to indulge in a joke, or relate an illustrative anecdote, the
reader must put up with it.
Nature has been lavishly generous with Minnesota,--more so, perhaps,
than with any state in the Union. Its surface is beautifully diversified
between rolling prairies and immense forests of valuable timber. Rivers
and lakes abound, and the soil is marvelous in its productive fertility.
Its climate, taken the year round, surpasses in all attractive features
that of any part of the North American continent. There are more
enjoyable days in the three hundred and sixty-five that compose the year
than in any other country I have ever visited or resided in, and that
embraces a good part of the world's surface. The salubrity of Minnesota
is phenomenal. There are absolutely no diseases indigenous to the state.
The universally accepted truth of this fact is found in a saying, which
used to be general among the old settlers, "that there is no excuse for
anyone dying in Minnesota, and that only two men ever did die there, one
of whom was hanged for killing the other."
The resources of Minnesota principally consist of the products of the
farm, the mine, the dairy, the quarry and the forest, and its industries
of a vast variety of manufactures of all kinds and characters, both
great and small, the leading ones being flour and lumber; to which, of
course, must be added the enormous carrying trade which grows out of,
and is necessary to the successful conduct of such resources and
industries,--all of which subjects will be treated of in their
appropriate places.
With these prefatory suggestions I will proceed to the history,
beginning with the
LEGENDARY AND ABORIGINAL ERA.
Until a very few years ago it has been generally accepted as a fact that
Louis Hennepin, a Franciscan priest of the Recollect Order, was the
first white man who entered the present boundaries of Minnesota; but a
recent discovery has developed the fact that there has reposed in the
archives of the Bodleian Library and British Museum for more than two
hundred years manuscript accounts of voyages made as far back as 1652 by
two Frenchmen, named respectively Radison and Groselliers, proving that
they traveled among the North American Indians from the last named date
to the year 1684, during which time they visited what is now Minnesota.
It is also a well authenticated fact that Du Luth anticipated Hennepin
at least one year, and visited Mille Lacs in 1679, and there, on the
southwest side of the lake, found a large Sioux town, called Kathio,
from which point he wrote to Frontenac, on the second day of July, 1679,
that he had caused his majesty's arms to be planted in Kathio, where no
Frenchman had ever been. Hennepin did not arrive until 1680. But as the
exploits of these earlier travelers left no trace that can in any
important way influence the history of our state beyond challenging the
claim of priority so long enjoyed by Hennepin, I will simply mention the
fact of their advent without comment, referring the curious reader for
the proof of these matters to the library of the Minnesota Historical
Society, where the details can be found.
Hennepin was with La Salle at Fort Creve-Coeur, near Lake Peoria, in
what is now Illinois, in 1680. La Salle was the superior of the
exploring party of which young Hennepin was a member, and in February,
1680, he selected Hennepin and two traders for the arduous and
dangerous undertaking of exploring the unknown regions of the Upper
Mississippi. Hennepin was very ambitious to become a great explorer, and
was filled with the idea that by following the water courses he would
find a passage to the sea and Japan.
On the 29th of February, 1680, he, with two voyageurs, in a canoe, set
out on his voyage of discovery. When he reached the junction of the
Illinois river with the Mississippi in March, he was detained by
floating ice until near the middle of that month. He then commenced to
ascend the Mississippi, which was the first time it was ever attempted
by a civilized man. On the 11th of April they were met by a large war
party of Dakotas, which filled thirty-three canoes, who opened fire on
them with arrows; but hostilities were soon stopped, and Hennepin and
his party were taken prisoners, and made to return with their captors to
their villages.
Hennepin, in his narrative, tells a long story of the difficulties he
encountered in saying his prayers, as the Indians thought he was working
some magic on them, and they followed him into the woods, and never let
him out of their sight. Judging from many things that appear in his
narrative, which have created great doubt about his veracity, it
probably would not have been very much of a hardship if he had failed
altogether in the performance of this pious duty. Many of the Indians,
who had lost friends and relatives in their fights with the Miamis, were
in favor of killing the white men, but better counsels prevailed, and
they were spared. The hope of opening up a trade intercourse with the
French largely entered into the decision.
While traveling up the river one of the white men shot a wild turkey
with his gun, which produced a great sensation among the Indians, and
was the first time a Dakota ever heard the discharge of firearms. They
called the gun Maza wakan, or spirit iron.
The party camped at Lake Pepin, and on the nineteenth day of their
captivity they arrived in the vicinity of where St. Paul now stands.
From this point they proceeded by land to Mille Lacs, where they
were taken by the Indians to their several villages, and were
kindly treated. These Indians were part of the band of Dakotas, called
M'day-wa-kon-ton-wans, or the Lake Villagers. I spell the Indian names
as they are now known, and not as they are given in Hennepin's
narrative, although it is quite remarkable how well he preserved them
with sound as his only guide.
While at this village the Indians gave Hennepin some steam baths, which
he says were very effective in removing all traces of soreness and
fatigue, and in a short time made him feel as well and strong as he ever
was. I have often witnessed this medical process among the Dakotas. They
make a small lodge of poles covered with a buffalo skin, or something
similar, and place in it several large boulders heated to a high degree.
The patient then enters naked, and pours water over the stones,
producing a dense steam, which envelopes him and nearly boils him. He
stands it as long as he can, and then undergoes a thorough rubbing. The
effect is to remove stiffness and soreness produced by long journeys on
foot, or other serious labor.
Hennepin tells in a very agreeable way many things that occurred during
his captivity: how astonished the Indians were at all the articles he
had. A mariner's compass created much wonder, and an iron pot with feet
like lions' paws they would not touch with the naked hand; but their
astonishment knew no bounds when he told them that the whites only
allowed a man one wife, and that his religious office did not permit
him to have any.
I might say here that the Dakotas are polygamous, as savage people
generally are, and that my experience proves to me that missionaries who
go among these people make a great mistake in attacking this institution
until after they have ingratiated themselves with them, and then, by
attempting any reform beyond teaching monogamy in the future. Nothing
will assure the enmity of a savage more than to ask him to discard any
of his wives, and especially the mother of his children. While I would
be the last man on earth to advocate polygamy, I can truthfully say that
one of the happiest and most harmonious families I ever knew was that of
the celebrated Little Crow (who, during all my official residence among
the Dakotas, was my principal advisor and ambassador, and who led the
massacre in 1862), who had four wives; but there was a point in his
favor, as they were all sisters.
Hennepin passed the time he spent in Minnesota in baptizing Indian
babies and picking up all the information he could find. His principal
exploit was the naming of the Falls of St. Anthony, which he called
after his patron saint, Saint Anthony of Padua.
That Hennepin was thoroughly convinced that there was a northern passage
to the sea which could be reached by ships, is proven by the following
extract from his work:
"For example, we may be transported into the Pacific sea by
rivers, which are large and capable of carrying great vessels,
and from thence it is very easy to go to China and Japan without
crossing the equinoctial line, and in all probability Japan is
on the same continent as America."
Our early visitor evidently had very confused ideas on matters of
geography.
The first account of his adventures was published by him in 1683, and
was quite trustworthy, and it is much to be regretted that he was
afterwards induced to publish another edition in Utrecht, in 1689, which
was filled with falsehoods and exaggerations, which brought upon him the
censure of the king of France. He died in obscurity, unregretted. The
county of Hennepin is named for him.
Other Frenchmen visited Minnesota shortly after Hennepin for the purpose
of trade with the Indians and the extension of the territory of New
France. In 1689 Nicholas Perot was established at Lake Pepin, with quite
a large body of men, engaged in trade with the Indians. On the 8th of
May, 1689, Perot issued a proclamation from his post on Lake Pepin, in
which he formally took possession in the name of the king of all the
countries inhabited by the Dakotas, "and of which they are proprietors."
This post was the first French establishment in Minnesota. It was called
Fort Bon Secours, afterwards Fort Le Sueur, but on later maps Fort
Perot.
In 1695 Le Sueur built the second post in Minnesota, between the head of
Lake Pepin and the mouth of the St. Croix. In July of that year he took
a party of Ojibways and one Dakota to Montreal, for the purpose of
impressing upon them the importance and strength of France. Here large
bodies of troops were maneuvered in their presence, and many speeches
made by both the French and the Indians. Friendly and commercial
relations were established.
Le Sueur, some time after, returned to Minnesota and explored St.
Peter's river (now the Minnesota) as far as the mouth of the Blue
Earth. Here he built a log fort, and called it L'Hullier, and made some
excavations in search of copper ore. He sent several tons of a green
substance which he found, and supposed to be copper, to France, but it
was undoubtedly a colored clay that is found in that region, and is
sometimes used as a rough paint. He is supposed to be the first man who
supplied the Indians with guns. Le Sueur kept a journal in which he gave
the best description of the Dakotas written in those early times, and
was a very reliable man. Minnesota has a county and a city named for
him.
Many other Frenchmen visited Minnesota in early days, among whom was Du
Luth; but as they were simply traders, explorers and priests, among the
Indians, it is hardly necessary in a work of this character to trace
their exploits in detail. While they blazed the trail for others, they
did not, to any great extent, influence the future of the country,
except by supplying a convenient nomenclature with which to designate
localities, which has largely been drawn upon. Many of them, however,
were good and devoted men, and earnest in their endeavors to spread the
gospel among the Indians. How well they succeeded, I will discuss when I
speak of these savage men more particularly.
The next arrival of sufficient importance to particularize was Jonathan
Carver. He was born in Connecticut in 1732. His father was a justice of
the peace, which in those days was a more important position than it is
now regarded. They tried to make a doctor of him, and he studied
medicine just long enough to discover that the profession was
uncongenial, and abandoned it. At the age of eighteen he purchased an
ensign's commission in a Connecticut regiment, raised during the French
war. He came very near losing his life at the massacre of Fort William
Henry, but escaped, and after the declaration of peace between France
and England, in 1763, he conceived the project of making an exploration
of the Northwest.
It should be remembered that the French sovereignty over the Northwest
ceased in 1763, when, by a treaty made in Versailles, between the French
and the English, all the lands embraced in what is now Minnesota were
ceded by the French to England, so Carver came as an Englishman into
English territory.
Carver left Boston in the month of June, 1766, and proceeded to
Mackinaw, then the most distant British post, where he arrived in the
month of August. He then took the usual route to Green Bay. He proceeded
by the way of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers to the Mississippi. He found
a considerable town on the Mississippi, near the mouth of the Wisconsin,
called by the French "La Prairie les Chiens," which is now Prairie du
Chien, or the Dog Prairie, named after an Indian chief who went by the
dignified name of "The Dog." He speaks of this town as one where a great
central fur trade was carried on by the Indians. From this point he
commenced his voyage up the Mississippi in a canoe, and when he reached
Lake Pepin he claims to have discovered a system of earthworks, which he
describes as of the most scientific military construction, and inferred
that they had been at some time the intrenchments of a people well
versed in the arts of war. It takes very little to excite an
enthusiastic imagination into the belief that it has found what it has
been looking for.
He found a cave in what is now known as Dayton's Bluff in St. Paul, and
describes it as immense in extent, and covered with Indian
hieroglyphics, and speaks of a burying place at a little distance from
the cavern,--Indian Mound park evidently,--and made a short voyage up
the Minnesota river, which he says the Indians called "Wadapaw
Mennesotor." This probably is as near as he could catch the name by
sound; it should be, Wak-pa Minnesota.
After his voyage to the falls and up the Minnesota, he returned to his
cave, where he says there were assembled a great council of Indians, to
which he was admitted, and witnessed the burial ceremonies, which he
describes as follows:
"After the breath is departed, the body is dressed in the same
attire it usually wore, his face is painted, and he is seated in
an erect posture on a mat or skin, placed in the middle of the
hut, with his weapons by his side. His relatives, seated around,
each harangues the deceased; and if he has been a great warrior,
recounts his heroic actions nearly to the following purport,
which in the Indian language is extremely poetical and pleasing:
"'You still sit among us, brother; your person retains its usual
resemblance, and continues similar to ours, without any visible
deficiency except it has lost the power of action. But whither
is that breath flown which a few hours ago sent up smoke to the
Great Spirit? Why are those lips silent that lately delivered to
us expressions and pleasing language? Why are those feet
motionless that a short time ago were fleeter than the deer on
yonder mountains? Why useless hang those arms that could climb
the tallest tree or draw the toughest bow? Alas! Every part of
that frame which we lately beheld with admiration and wonder is
now become as inanimate as it was three hundred years ago! We
will not, however, bemoan thee as if thou wast forever lost to
us, or that thy name would be buried in oblivion. Thy soul yet
lives in the great country of spirits with those of thy nation
that have gone before thee, and though we are left behind to
perpetuate thy fame, we shall one day join thee.
"'Actuated by the respect we bore thee whilst living, we now
come to tender thee the last act of kindness in our power; that
thy body might not lie neglected on the plain and become a prey
to the beasts of the field and the birds of the air, we will
take care to lay it with those of thy ancestors who have gone
before thee, hoping at the same time that thy spirit will feed
with their spirits, and be ready to receive ours when we shall
also arrive at the great country of souls.'"
I have heard many speeches made by the descendants of these same
Indians, and have many times addressed them on all manner of subjects,
but I never heard anything quite so elegant as the oration put into
their mouths by Carver. I have always discovered that a good interpreter
makes a good speech. On one occasion, when a delegation of Pillager
Chippewas was in Washington to settle some matters with the government,
they wanted a certain concession which the Indian commissioner would not
allow, and they appealed to the president, who was then Franklin Pierce.
Old Flat-mouth, the chief, presented the case. Paul Beaulieu interpreted
it so feelingly that the president surrendered without a contest. After
informing him as to the disputed point, he added:
"Father, you are great and powerful. You live in a beautiful
home where the bleak winds never penetrate. Your hunger is
always appeased with the choicest foods. Your heart is kept warm
by all these blessings, and would bleed at the sight of distress
among your red children. Father, we are poor and weak. We live
far away in the cheerless north, in bark lodges. We are often
cold and hungry. Father, what we ask is to you as nothing, while
to us it is comfort and happiness. Give it to us, and when you
stand upon your grand portico some bright winter night, and see
the northern lights dancing in the heavens, it will be the
thanks of your red children ascending to the Great Spirit for
your goodness to them."
Carver seems to have been a sagacious observer and a man of great
foresight. In speaking of the advantages of the country, he says that
the future population will be "able to convey their produce to the
seaports with great facility, the current of the river from its source
to its entrance into the Gulf of Mexico being extremely favorable for
doing this in small craft. This might also in time be facilitated by
canals, or short cuts, and a communication opened with New York by way
of the Lakes."
He was also impressed with the idea that a route could be discovered by
way of the Minnesota river, which "would open a passage for conveying
intelligence to China and the English settlements in the East Indies."
The nearest to a realization of this theory that I have known was the
sending of the stern-wheeled steamer "Freighter" on a voyage up the
Minnesota to Winnipeg some time in the early fifties. She took freight
and passengers for that destination, but never reached the Red River of
the North.
After the death of Carver his heirs claimed that, while at the great
cave on the 1st of May, 1767, the Indians made him a large grant of
land, which would cover St. Paul and a large part of Wisconsin, and
several attempts were made to have it ratified by both the British and
American governments, but without success. Carver does not mention this
grant in his book, nor has the original deed ever been found. A copy,
however, was produced, and as it was the first real estate transaction
ever had in Minnesota, I will set it out in full.
"To Jonathan Carver, a Chief under the Most Mighty and Potent
George the Third, King of the English and other nations, the
fame of whose warriors has reached our ears, and has been fully
told us by our _good brother Jonathan_ aforesaid, whom we all
rejoice to have come among us and bring us good news from his
country:
"WE, Chiefs of the Nandowessies, who have hereunto set our
seals, do, by these presents, for ourselves and heirs forever,
in return for the aid and good services done by the said
Jonathan to ourselves and allies, give, grant and convey to him,
the said Jonathan, and to his heirs and assigns forever, the
whole of a certain Territory or tract of land, bounded as
follows, viz.: From the Falls of St. Anthony, running on east
bank of the Mississippi, nearly southeast as far as Lake Pepin,
where the Chippewa joins the Mississippi, and from thence
eastward five days' travel accounting twenty English miles per
day, and from thence again to the Falls of St. Anthony on a
direct straight line. We do for ourselves, heirs and assigns,
forever give unto said Jonathan, his heirs and assigns, with all
the trees, rocks and rivers therein, reserving the sole liberty
of hunting and fishing on land not planted or improved by the
said Jonathan, his heirs and assigns, to which we have affixed
our respective seals.
"At the Great Cave, May 1st, 1767.
(Signed) "HAWNOPAWJATIN,
"OTOHTONGOONLISHEAW."
This alleged instrument bears upon its face many marks of suspicion, and
was very properly rejected by General Leavenworth, who, in 1821, made a
report of his investigations in regard to it to the commissioner of the
general land office.
The war between the Chippewas and the Dakotas continued to rage with
varied success, as it has since time immemorial. It was a bitter, cruel
war, waged against the race and blood, and each successive slaughter
only increased the hatred and heaped fuel upon the fire. As an Indian
never forgives the killing of a relative, and as the particular
murderer, as a general thing, was not known on either side, each death
was charged up to the tribe. These wars, although constant, had very
little influence on the standing or progress of the country, except so
far as they may have proved detrimental or beneficial to the fur trade
prosecuted by the whites. The first event after the appearance of
Jonathan Carver that can be considered as materially affecting the
history of Minnesota was the location and erection of Fort Snelling, of
which event I will give a brief account.
FORT SNELLING.
In 1805 the government decided to procure a site on which to build a
fort somewhere on the waters of the upper Mississippi, and sent Lieut.
Zebulon Montgomery Pike of the army to explore the country, expel
British traders who might be violating the laws of the United States,
and to make treaties with the Indians.
On the 21st of September, 1805, he encamped on what is now known as Pike
Island, at the junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota, then St.
Peter's river. Two days later he obtained, by treaty with the Dakota
nation, a tract of land for a military reservation, with the following
boundaries, extending from "below the confluence of the Mississippi and
St. Peter's, up the Mississippi, to include the Falls of St. Anthony,
extending nine miles on each side of the river." The United States paid
two thousand dollars for this land.
The reserve thus purchased was not used for military purposes until Feb.
10, 1819, at which time the government gave the following reasons for
erecting a fort at this point: "To cause the power of the United States
government to be fully acknowledged by the Indians and settlers of the
Northwest, to prevent Lord Selkirk, the Hudson Bay Company and others
from establishing trading posts on United States territory, to better
the conditions of the Indians, and to develop the resources of the
country." Part of the Fifth United States Infantry, commanded by Colonel
Henry Leavenworth, was dispatched to select a site and erect a post.
They arrived at the St. Peter's river in September, 1819, and camped on
or near the spot where now stands Mendota. During the winter of 1819-20
the troops were terribly afflicted with scurvy. General Sibley, in an
address before the Minnesota Historical Society, in speaking of it,
says: "So sudden was the attack that soldiers apparently in good health
when they retired at night were found dead in the morning. One man who
was relieved from his tour of sentinel duty, and had stretched himself
upon a bench; when he was called four hours later to resume his duties,
he was found lifeless."
In May, 1820, the command left their cantonment, crossed the St. Peter's
and went into summer camp at a spring near the old Baker trading house,
and about two miles above the present site of Fort Snelling. This was
called "Camp Coldwater."
During the summer the men were busy in procuring logs and other material
necessary for the work. The first site selected was where the present
military cemetery stands, and the post was called "Fort St. Anthony;"
but in August, 1820, Colonel Joshua Snelling of the Fifth United States
Infantry arrived, and, on taking command, changed the site to where Fort
Snelling now stands. Work steadily progressed until Sept. 10, 1820, when
the corner stone of Fort St. Anthony was laid with all due ceremony. The
first measured distance that was given between this new post and the
next one down the river, Fort Crawford, where Prairie du Chien now
stands, was 204 miles. The work was steadily pushed forward. The
buildings were made of logs, and were first occupied in October, 1822.
The first steamboat to arrive at the post was the "Virginia," in 1823.
The first saw-mill in Minnesota was constructed by the troops in 1822,
and the first lumber sawed on Rum river was for use in building the
post. The mill site is now included within the corporate limits of
Minneapolis.
The post continued to be called Fort St. Anthony until 1824, when, upon
the recommendation of General Scott, who inspected the fort, it was
named Fort Snelling, in honor of its founder.
In 1830 stone buildings were erected for a four-company post; also, a
stone hospital and a stone wall, nine feet high, surrounding the whole
post; but these improvements were not actually completed until after the
Mexican War.
The Indian title to the military reservation does not seem to have been
effectually acquired, notwithstanding the treaty of Lieutenant Pike,
made with the Indians in 1805, until the treaty with the Dakotas, in
1837, by which the Indian claim to all the lands east of the
Mississippi, including the reservation, ceased.
In 1836, before the Indian title was finally acquired, quite a number
of settlers located on the reservation on the left bank of the
Mississippi.
On Oct. 21, 1839, the president issued an order for their removal, and
on the sixth day of May, 1840, some of the settlers were forcibly
removed.
In 1837 Mr. Alexander Faribault presented a claim for Pike Island, which
was based upon a treaty made by him with the Dakotas in 1820. Whether
his claim was allowed the records do not disclose, and it is
unimportant.
On May 25, 1853, a military reservation for the fort was set off, by the
president, of seven thousand acres, which in the following November was
reduced to six thousand.
In 1857 the secretary of war, pursuant to the authority vested in him by
act of congress, of March 3, 1857, sold the Fort Snelling reservation,
excepting two small tracts, to Mr. Franklin Steele, who had long been
sutler of the post, for the sum of ninety thousand dollars, which was to
be paid in three installments. The first one of thirty thousand dollars
was paid by Steele on July 25, 1857, and he took possession, the troops
being withdrawn.
The fort was sold at private sale, and the price paid was, in my
opinion, vastly more than it was worth; but Mr. Steele had great hopes
for the future of that locality as a site for a town, and was willing to
risk the payment. The sale was made by private contract by Secretary
Floyd, who adopted this manner because other reservations had been sold
at public auction, after full publication of notice to the world, and
had brought only a few cents per acre. The whole transaction was in
perfect good faith, but it was attacked in congress, and an
investigation ordered, which resulted in suspending its consummation,
and Mr. Steele did not pay the balance due. In 1860 the Civil War broke
out, and the fort was taken possession of by the government for use in
fitting out Minnesota troops, and was held until the war ended. In 1868
Mr. Steele presented a claim against the government for rent of the fort
and other matters relating to it, which amounted to more than the price
he agreed to pay for it.
An act of congress was passed on May 7, 1870, authorizing the secretary
of war to settle the whole matter on principles of equity, keeping such
reservation as was necessary for the fort. In pursuance of this act, a
military board was appointed, and the whole controversy was arranged to
the satisfaction of Mr. Steele and the government. The reservation was
reduced to a little more than fifteen hundred acres. A grant of ten
acres was made to the little Catholic church at Mendota, for a cemetery,
and other small tracts were reserved about the Falls of Minnehaha and
elsewhere, and all the balance was conveyed to Mr. Steele, he releasing
the government from all claims and demands. The action of the secretary
of war in carrying out this settlement was approved by the president in
1871.
The fort was one of the best structures of the kind ever erected in the
West. It was capable of accommodating five or six companies of infantry,
was surrounded by a high stone wall, and protected at the only exposed
approaches by stone bastions guarded by cannon and musketry. Its supply
of water was obtained from a well in the parade ground, near the
sutler's store, which was sunk below the surface of the river. It was
perfectly impregnable to any savage enemy, and in consequence was never
called upon to stand a siege.
Perched upon a prominent bluff at the confluence of the Mississippi and
Minnesota rivers, it has witnessed the changes that have gone on around
it for three-quarters of a century, and seen the most extraordinary
transformations that have occurred in any similar period in the history
of our country. When its corner stone was laid it formed the extreme
frontier of the Northwest, with nothing but wild animals and wilder men
within hundreds of miles in any direction. The frontier has receded to
the westward until it has lost itself in the corresponding one being
pushed from the Pacific to the east. The Indians have lost their
splendid freedom as lords of a continent, and are prisoners, cribbed
upon narrow reservations. The magnificent herds of buffalo that ranged
from the British possessions to Texas have disappeared from the face of
the earth, and nothing remains but the white man bearing his burden,
which is constantly being made more irksome. To those who have played
both parts in the moving drama, there is much food for thought.
I devote so much space to Fort Snelling because it has always sustained
the position of a pivotal center to Minnesota. In the infancy of
society, it radiated the refinement and elegance that leavened the
country around. In hospitality its officers were never surpassed, and
when danger threatened, its protecting arm assured safety. For many long
years it was the first to welcome the incomer to the country, and will
ever be remembered by the old settlers as a friend.
After the headquarters of the Department of Dakota was established at
St. Paul, and when General Sherman was in command of the army, he
thought that the offices should be at the fort, and removed them there.
This caused the erection of the new administration building and the
beautiful line of officers' quarters about a mile above the old walled
structure, and led to its practical abandonment; but the change was soon
found to be inconvenient in a business way, and the department
headquarters were restored to the city, where they still remain.
Since the fort was built nearly every officer in the old army, and many
of those who have followed them, has been stationed at Snelling, and it
was beloved by them all.
The situation of the fort, now that the railroads have become the
reliance of all transportation, both for speed and safety, is a most
advantageous one from a military point of view. It is at the center of a
railroad system that reaches all parts of the continent, and troops and
munitions of war can be deposited at any point with the utmost dispatch.
It is believed that it will not only be retained but enlarged.
THE SELKIRK SETTLEMENT.
Lord Selkirk, the checking of whose operations was among the reasons
given for the erection of Fort Snelling, was a Scotch earl who was very
wealthy and enthusiastic on the subject of founding colonies in the
Northwestern British possessions. He was a kind hearted but visionary
man, and had no practical knowledge whatever on the subject of
colonization in uncivilized countries. About the beginning of the
nineteenth century he wrote several pamphlets, urging the importance of
colonizing British emigrants on British soil to prevent them settling in
the United States. In 1811 he obtained a grant of land from the Hudson
Bay Company in the region of Lake Winnipeg, the Red River of the North
and the Assinaboine, in what is now Manitoba.
Previous to this time the inhabitants of this region, besides the
Indians, were Canadians, who had intermingled with the savages, learning
all their vices and none of their good traits. They were called "Gens
Libre," free people, and were very proud of the title. Mr. Neill, in his
history of Minnesota, in describing them, says they were fond of
"Vast and sudden deeds of violence,
Adventures wild and wonders of the moment."
The offspring of their intercourse with the Indian women were numerous,
and called "Bois Brules." They were a fine race of hunters, horsemen and
boatmen, and possessed all the accomplishments of the voyageur. They
spoke the language of both father and mother.
In 1812 a small advance party of colonists arrived at the Red River of
the North, in about latitude fifty degrees north. They were, however,
frightened away by a party of men of the Northwest Fur Company, dressed
as Indians, and induced to take refuge at Pembina, in what is now
Minnesota, where they spent the winter, suffering the greatest
hardships. Many died, but the survivors returned in the spring to the
colony, and made an effort to raise a crop; but it was a failure, and
they again passed the winter at Pembina. This was the winter of 1813-14.
They again returned to the colony, in a very distressed and dilapidated
condition, in the spring.
By September, 1815, the colony, which then numbered about two hundred,
was getting along quite prosperously, and its future seemed auspicious.
It was called "Kildonan," after a parish in Scotland in which the
colonists were born.
The employes of the Northwest Fur Company were, however, very restive
under anything that looked like improvement, and regarded it as a ruse
of their rival, the Hudson Bay Company, to break up the lucrative
business they were enjoying in the Indian trade. They resorted to all
kinds of measures to get rid of the colonists, even to attempting to
incite the Indians against them, and on one occasion, by a trick,
disarmed them of their brass field pieces and other small artillery.
Many of the disaffected Selkirkers deserted to the quarters of the
Northwest Company. These annoyances were carried to the extent of an
attack on the house of the governor, where four of the inmates were
wounded, one of whom died. They finally agreed to leave, and were
escorted to Lake Winnipeg, where they embarked in boats. Their
improvements were all destroyed by the Northwest people.
They were again induced to return to their colony lands by the Hudson
Bay people, and did so in 1816, when they were reinforced by new
colonists. Part of them wintered at Pembina in 1816, but returned to the
Kildonan settlement in the spring.
Lord Selkirk, hearing of the distressed condition of his colonists,
sailed for New York, where he arrived in the fall of 1815, and learned
they had been compelled to leave the settlement. He proceeded to
Montreal, where he found some of the settlers in the greatest poverty;
but learning that some of them still remained in the colony, he sent an
express to announce his arrival, and say that he would be with them in
the spring. The news was sent by a colonist named Laquimonier, but he
was waylaid, near Fond du Lac, and brutally beaten and robbed of his
dispatches. Subsequent investigation proved that this was the work of
the Northwest Company.
Selkirk tried to obtain military aid from the British authorities, but
failed. He then engaged four officers and over one hundred privates who
had served in the late War with the United States to accompany him to
the Red river. He was to pay them, give them lands, and send them home
if they wished to return.
When he reached Sault Ste. Marie he heard that his colony had again been
destroyed.
War was raging between the Hudson Bay people and the Northwest Company,
in which Governor Semple, chief governor of the factories and
territories of the Hudson Bay Company was killed. Selkirk proceeded to
Fort William, on Lake Superior, and finally reached his settlement on
the Red river.
The colonists were compelled to pass the winter of 1817 in hunting in
Minnesota, and had a hard time of it, but in the spring they once more
found their way home, and planted crops, but they were destroyed by
grasshoppers, which remained during the next year and ate up every
growing thing, rendering it necessary that the colonists should again
resort to the buffalo for subsistence.
During the winter of 1819-20 a deputation of these Scotchmen came all
the way to Prairie du Chien on snowshoes for seed wheat, a distance of a
thousand miles, and on the fifteenth day of April, 1820, left for the
colony in three Mackinaw boats, carrying three hundred bushels of wheat,
one hundred bushels of oats, and thirty bushels of peas. Being stopped
by ice in Lake Pepin, they planted a May pole and celebrated May day on
the ice. They reached home by way of the Minnesota river, with a short
portage to Lake Traverse, the boats being moved on rollers, and thence
down the Red River to Pembina, where they arrived in safety on the third
day of June. This trip cost Lord Selkirk about six thousand dollars.
Nothing daunted by the terrible sufferings of his colonists, and the
immense expense attendant upon his enterprise, in 1820 he engaged Capt.
R. May, who was a citizen of Berne, in Switzerland, but in the British
service, to visit Switzerland and get recruits for his colony. The
captain made the most exaggerated representations of the advantages to
be gained by emigrating to the colony, and induced many Swiss to leave
their happy and peaceful homes to try their fortunes in the distant,
dangerous and inhospitable regions of Lake Winnipeg. They knew nothing
of the hardships in store for them, and were the least adapted to
encounter them of any people in the world, as they were mechanics, whose
business had been the delicate work of making watches and clocks. They
arrived in 1821, and from year to year, after undergoing hardships that
might have appalled the hardiest pioneer, their spirits drooped, they
pined for home, and left for the south. At one time a party of two
hundred and forty-three of them departed for the United States, and
found homes at different points on the banks of the Mississippi.
Before the eastern wave of immigration had ascended above Prairie du
Chien, many Swiss had opened farms at and near St. Paul, and became the
first actual settlers of the country. Mr. Stevens, in an address on the
early history of Hennepin county, says that they were driven from their
homes in 1836 and 1837 by the military at Fort Snelling, and is very
severe on the autocratic conduct of the officers of the fort, saying
that the commanding officers were lords of the North, and the
subordinates were princes. I have no doubt they did not underrate their
authority, but I think Mr. Stevens must refer to the removals that were
made of settlers on the military reservation of which I have before
spoken.
The subject of the Selkirk colony cannot fail to interest the reader,
as it was the first attempt to introduce into the great Northwest
settlers for the purposes of peaceful agriculture, everybody else who
had preceded them having been connected with the half-savage business of
the Indian trade; and the reason I have dwelt so long upon the subject
is, because these people, on their second emigration, furnished
Minnesota with her first settlers, and curiously enough, they came from
the north.
Abraham Perry was one of these Swiss refugees from the Selkirk
settlement. With his wife and two children, he first settled at Fort
Snelling, then at St. Paul, and finally at Lake Johanna. His son
Charles, who came with him, has, while I am writing, on the twenty-ninth
day of July, 1899, just celebrated his golden wedding at the old
homestead, at Lake Johanna, where they have ever since lived. They were
married by the Right Reverend A. Ravoux, who is still living in St.
Paul. Charles Perry is the only survivor of that ill-fated band of
Selkirkers.
GEORGE CATLIN.
In 1835 George Catlin, an artist of merit, visited Minnesota, and made
many sketches and portraits of Indians. His published statements after
his departure about his adventures elicited much adverse criticism from
the old settlers.
FEATHERSTONEHAUGH.
Featherstonehaugh, an Englishman, about the same time, under the
direction of the United States government, made a slight geological
survey of the Minnesota valley, and on his return to England he wrote a
book which reflected unjustly upon the gentlemen he met in Minnesota;
but not much was thought of it, because until recently such has been the
English custom.
SCHOOLCRAFT AND THE SOURCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI.