growth and wealth that the question of becoming a state within the Union
began to attract attention. It was urged by the government at Washington
that we were amply capable of taking care of ourselves, and sufficiently
wealthy to pay our expenses, and statehood was pressed upon us from that
quarter. There was another potent influence at work at home. We had
several prominent gentlemen who were convinced that their services were
needed in the senate of the United States, and that their presence there
would strengthen and adorn that body, and as no positive opposition was
developed, the congress of the United States, on the 26th of February,
1857, passed an act, authorizing the territory to form a state
government. It prescribed the same boundaries for the state as we now
have, although there had been a large number of people who had advocated
an east and west division of the territory, on a line a little north of
the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude. It provided for a convention
to frame the constitution of the new state, which was to be composed of
two delegates for each member of the territorial legislature, to be
elected in the representative districts on the first Monday in June,
1857. The convention was to be held at the capital of the territory, on
the second Monday of July following. It submitted to the convention five
propositions to be answered, which, if accepted, were to become
obligatory on the United States and the State of Minnesota. They were in
substance as follows:
1. Whether sections 16 and 36 in each township should be granted to the
state for the use of schools.
2. Whether seventy-two sections of land should be set aside for the use
and support of a state university.
3. Whether ten sections should be granted to the state in aid of public
buildings.
4. Whether all salt springs in the state, not exceeding twelve, with six
sections of land to each, should be granted to the state.
5. Whether five per centum of the net proceeds of the sales of all the
public lands lying within the state, which should be sold after its
admission, should be paid to the state for the purpose of roads, and
internal improvements.
All the five propositions, if accepted, were to be on the condition, to
be expressed in the constitution or an irrevocable ordinance, that the
state should never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil
within the state by the United States, or with any regulations congress
should make for securing title to said lands in bona fide purchases
thereof, and that no tax should be imposed on lands belonging to the
United States, and that non-resident proprietors should never be taxed
higher than residents.
These propositions were all accepted, ratified and confirmed by section
3 of Article II. of the constitution.
The election for delegates took place as provided for, and on the day
set for the convention to meet, nearly all of them had assembled at the
capital. Great anxiety was manifested by both the Democrats and the
Republicans to capture the organization of the convention. Neither party
had a majority of all the members present, but there were a number of
contested seats on both sides, of which both contestant and contestee
were present, and these duplicates being counted, were sufficient to
give each party an apparent majority. It was obvious that a determined
fight for the organization was imminent. The convention was to meet in
the house of representatives, and to gain an advantage, the Republicans
took possession of the hall the night before the opening day, so as to
be the first on hand in the morning. The Democrats, on learning of this
move, held a caucus to decide upon a plan of action. Precedents and
authorities were looked up, and two fundamental points decided upon. It
was discovered that the secretary of the territory was the proper party
to call the convention to order, and as Mr. Charles L. Chase was the
secretary, and also a Democratic delegate, he was chosen to make the
call. It was further found that when no hour was designated for the
meeting of a parliamentary body, that noon of the day appointed was the
time. Being armed with these points, the Democrats decided to wait until
noon, and then march into the hall in a body with Delegate Chase at
their head, and as soon as he reached the chair he was to spring into it
and call the convention to order. General Gorman was immediately to move
an adjournment until the next day at 12 o'clock M., which motion was to
be put by the chair, the Democrats feeling sure that the Republicans
being taken by surprise would vote no, while the Democrats would all
vote aye, and thus commit more than a majority of the whole to the
organization under Mr. Chase. On reaching the chair, Mr. Chase
immediately sprang into it, and called the convention to order. General
Gorman moved the adjournment, which was put by the chair. All the
Democrats loudly voted in the affirmative and the Republicans in the
negative. The motion was declared carried, and the Democrats solemnly
marched out of the hall.
The above is the Democratic version of the event. The Republicans,
however, claim that John W. North reached the chair first, and called
the convention to order, and that as the Republicans had a majority of
the members present, the organization made under his call was the only
regular one. Nothing can be determined as to which is the true story
from the records kept of the two bodies, because they are each made up
to show strict regularity, and as it is utterly immaterial in any
substantial point of view, I will not venture any opinion, although I
was one of the actors in the drama,--or farce,--as the reader may see
fit to regard it.
The Republicans remained in the hall, and formed a constitution to suit
themselves, sitting until August 29th, just forty-seven days. The
Democrats on the next day after their adjournment, at 12 o'clock M.,
went in a body to the door of the house of representatives, where they
were met by Secretary and Delegate Chase, who said to them: "Gentlemen,
the hall to which the delegates adjourned yesterday is now occupied by a
meeting of citizens of the territory, who refuse to give possession to
the constitutional convention."
General Gorman then said: "I move the convention adjourn to the council
chamber." The motion was carried, and the delegates accordingly repaired
to the council chamber, in the west wing of the capitol, where Mr.
Chase called the convention to order. Each branch of the convention
elected its officers. The Republicans chose St. A. D. Balcombe for their
president, and the Democrats selected Hon. Henry H. Sibley. Both bodies
worked diligently on a constitution, and each succeeded in making one so
much like the other that, after sober reflection, it was decided that
the state could be admitted under either, and if both were sent to
congress that body would reject them for irregularity. So towards the
end of the long session a compromise was arrived at, by the formation of
a joint committee from each convention, who were to evolve a
constitution out of the two for submission to the people; the result of
which, after many sessions, and some fisticuffs, was the instrument
under which the state was finally admitted.
A very curious complication resulted from two provisions in the
constitution. In section 5 of the schedule it was provided that "All
territorial officers, civil and military, now holding their offices
under the authority of the United States or of the Territory of
Minnesota shall continue to hold and exercise their respective offices
until they shall be superseded by the authority of the state," and
section 6 provided that "The first session of the legislature of the
State of Minnesota shall commence on the first Wednesday of December
next," etc.
These provisions were made under the supposition that the state would be
admitted as soon as the constitution would be laid before congress,
which it was presumed would be long before the date fixed for the
holding of the first state legislature; but such did not turn out to be
the case. The election was held as provided for on the thirteenth day of
October, 1857, for the adoption or rejection of the constitution, and
for the election of all the state officers, members of congress and of
the legislature. The constitution was adopted by a vote of 36,240 for,
and 700 against, and the whole Democratic state ticket was also chosen;
and to be sure not to lose full representation in congress, three
members of the house of representatives were also chosen, who were all
Democrats.
The constitution was duly presented to congress, and admission for the
state demanded. Much to the disappointment of our people, all kinds and
characters of objections were raised to our admission; one of which I
remember was, that as the term of office of the state senators was fixed
at two years, and as there was nothing said about the term of the
members of the house they were elected for life, and consequently the
government created was not republican. Alexander Stevens of Georgia
seriously combatted this position, in a learned constitutional argument,
in which he proved that a state had absolute control of the subject, and
could fix the term of all its officers for life if it so preferred, and
that congress had no right to interfere. Many other equally frivolous
points were made against our admission, which were debated until the
eleventh day of May, 1858, when the federal doors were opened and
Minnesota became a state. The act admitting the state cut down the
congressional representation to two. The three gentlemen who had been
elected to these positions were compelled to determine who would remain
and who should surrender. History has not recorded how the decision was
made, whether by cutting cards, tossing a coin, or in some other way,
but the result was that George L. Becker was counted out, and W. W.
Phelps and James M. Cavanaugh took the prizes.
It was always thought at home that the long delay in our admission was
not from any disinclination to let us in, but because the house was
quite evenly divided politically between the Democrats and the
Republicans, and there being a contested seat from Ohio, between Mr.
Valandingham and Mr. Lew Campbell, it was feared by the Republicans
that, if Minnesota came in with three Democratic members, it might turn
the scale in favor of Valandingham.
This delay created a very perplexing condition of things. The state
legislature elected under the constitution met on the first Wednesday of
December, before the constitution was recognized by congress, and while
the territorial government was in full force. It passed a book full of
laws, all of which were state laws, approved by a territorial governor.
Perhaps in some countries it would have been difficult to harmonize such
irregularities, but our courts were quite up to the emergency, and
straightened them all out the first time the question was raised, and
the laws so passed have served their purpose up to the present time.
The first governor of the state was Henry H. Sibley, a Democrat. He
served his term of two years, and the state has never elected a Democrat
to that office since, unless the choice of Hon. John Lind, in 1898, may
be so classified.
ATTEMPT TO REMOVE THE CAPITAL.
At the eighth session of the legislative assembly of the territory,
which convened on Jan. 7, 1857, a bill was introduced, the purpose of
which was the removal of the seat of government from St. Paul to St.
Peter, a small village which had recently come into existence on the
Minnesota river about one hundred miles above its mouth. There could be
no reason for such action except interested speculation, as the capitol
was already built in St. Paul, and it was much more accessible, and in
every way more convenient than it would be at St. Peter; but the
movement had sufficient personal and political force behind it to insure
its success, and an act was passed making such removal. But it was
destined to meet with unexpected obstacles before it became a law. When
it passed the house it was sent to the council, where it only received
one majority, eight voting for and seven against it. It was, on the 27th
of February, sent to the enrolling committee for final enrollment. It
happened that Councillor Joseph Rolette, from Pembina, was chairman of
this committee, and a great friend of St. Paul. Mr. Rolette decided he
would veto the bill in a way not known to parliamentary law, so he put
it in his pocket and disappeared. On the 28th, not being in his seat,
and the bill being missing, a councillor offered a resolution that a
copy of it be obtained from Mr. Wales, the second in order on the
committee. A call of the council was then ordered and Mr. Rolette not
being in his seat, the sergeant-at-arms was sent out to bring him in,
but not being able to find him, he so reported. A motion was then made
to dispense with the call, but by the rules it required a two-third vote
of fifteen members, and in the absence of Mr. Rolette only fourteen were
present. It takes as many to make two-thirds of fourteen as it does to
make two-thirds of fifteen, and the bill had only nine friends. During
the pendency of a call no business could be transacted, and a serious
dilemma confronted the capital removers; but, nothing daunted, Mr.
Balcombe made a long argument to prove that nine was two-thirds of
fourteen. Mr. Brisbin, who was president of the council and a graduate
of Yale, pronounced the motion lost, saying to the mover, who was also a
graduate of Yale, "Mr. Balcombe, we never figured that way at Yale."
This situation produced a deadlock, and no business could be transacted.
The session terminated on the fifth day of March by its own limitation.
The sergeant-at-arms made daily reports concerning the whereabouts of
the absentee, sometimes locating him on a dog-train, rapidly moving
towards Pembina, sometimes giving a rumor of his assassination, but
never producing him. Matters remained in this condition until the end of
the term, and the bill was lost.
It was disclosed afterwards that Rolette had carefully deposited the
bill in the vault of Truman M. Smith's bank, and had passed the time in
the upper story of the Fuller House, where his friends made him very
comfortable. Some ineffectual efforts have been made since to remove the
capital to Minneapolis and elsewhere, but the treaty, made by the
pioneers in 1849, locating it at St. Paul, is still in force.
CENSUS.
One of the provisions of the enabling act was that in the event of the
constitutional convention deciding in favor of the immediate admission
of the proposed state into the Union, a census should be taken with a
view of ascertaining the number of representatives in congress to which
the state would be entitled. This was accordingly done in September,
1857, and the population was found to be 150,037.
GRASSHOPPERS.
The first visitation of grasshoppers came in 1857, and did considerable
damage to the crops in Stearns and other counties. Relief was asked from
St. Paul for the suffering poor, and notwithstanding the people of the
capital city were in the depths of poverty, from the financial panic
produced by over-speculation, they responded liberally. The grasshoppers
of this year did not deposit their eggs, but disappeared after eating up
everything that came within their reach. The state was not troubled with
them again until the year 1873, when they came in large flights, and
settled down in the western part of the state. They did much damage to
the crops, and deposited their eggs in the soil, where they hatched out
in the spring, and greatly increased their number. They made sad havoc
with the crops of 1874, and occupied a larger part of the state than in
the previous year. They again deposited their eggs, and appeared in the
spring of 1875 in increased numbers. This was continued in 1876, when
the situation became so alarming that Gov. John S. Pillsbury issued a
proclamation, addressed to the states and territories which had suffered
most from the insects, to meet him by delegates at Omaha, to concert
measures for united protection. A convention was held, and Governor
Pillsbury was made its president. The subject was thoroughly discussed,
and a memorial to congress was prepared and adopted, asking for
scientific investigation of the subject, and a suggestion of preventive
measures.
Many appeals for relief came from the afflicted regions, and much aid
was extended. Governor Pillsbury was a big-hearted, sympathetic man, and
fearing the sufferers might not be well cared for, he travelled among
them personally, incognito, and dispensed large sums from his private
funds.
In 1877 the governor, in his message to the legislature, treated the
subject exhaustively, and appropriations were made to relieve the
settlers in the devastated regions. In the early spring of 1877, the
religious bodies and people of the state asked the governor to issue a
proclamation appointing a day of fasting and prayer, asking Divine
protection, and exhorting the people to greater humility and a new
consecration in the service of a merciful Father. The governor, being of
Puritan origin, and a faithful believer in Divine agencies in this
world's affairs, issued an eloquent appeal to the people to observe a
day named as one of fasting and prayer for deliverance from the
grasshoppers. The suggestion was quite generally approved, but the
proclamation naturally excited much criticism and some ridicule, but,
curious as it may seem, the grasshoppers, even before the day appointed
for prayer arrived, began to disappear, and in a short time not one
remained to show they had ever been in the state. They left in a body;
no one seemed to know exactly when they went, and no one knew anything
about where they went, as they were never heard of again on any part of
the continent. The only news we ever had from them came from ships
crossing the Atlantic westward bound, which reported having passed
through large areas of floating insects. They must have met a western
gale when well up in air, and have been blown out into the sea and
destroyed. The people of Minnesota did not expend much trouble or time
to find out what had become of them.
The crop of 1877 was abundant, and particularly so in the region which
had been most seriously blighted by the pests.
Before the final proclamation of Governor Pillsbury every source of
ingenuity had been exhausted in devising plans for the destruction of
the grasshoppers. Ditches were dug around the fields of grain, and ropes
drawn over the grain to drive the hoppers into them, with the purpose of
covering them with earth. Instruments called "hopperdozers" were
invented, which had receptacles filled with hot tar, and were driven
over the ground to catch them as flies are caught with tanglefoot paper,
and many millions of them were destroyed in this way, but it was about
as effectual as fighting a Northwestern blizzard with a lady's fan, and
they were all abandoned as useless and powerless to cope with the
scourge. Nothing proved effectual but the governor's proclamation, and
all the old settlers called it "Pillsbury's Best," which was the name of
the celebrated brand of flour made at the governor's mills.
Prof. N. H. Winchell, the state geologist, in his geological and natural
history report, presents a map which, by red lines, shows the
encroachments of the grasshoppers for the years 1873-76. To gain an idea
of the extent of the country covered by them up to 1877, draw a line on
a state map from the Red River of the North about six miles north of
Moorhead, in Clay county, in a southeasterly direction, through Becker,
Wadena, Todd and Morrison counties, crossing the Mississippi river near
the northern line of Benton county, continuing down the east side of the
Mississippi, through Benton, Sherburne and Anoka counties, there
recrossing the Mississippi, and proceeding south, on the west side of
the river, to the south line of the state in Mower county. All the
country lying south and west of this line was for several years
devastated by the grasshoppers to the extent that no crops could be
raised. It became for a time a question whether the people or the
insects would conquer the state.
MILITIA.
During the territorial times there were a few volunteer militia
companies in St. Paul, conspicuously the "Pioneer Guard," an infantry
company, which, from its excellent organization and discipline, became
a source of supply of officers when regiments were being raised for the
Civil War. To have been a member of that company was worth at least a
captain's commission in the volunteer army, and many officers of much
higher rank were chosen from its members.
There was also a company of cavalry at St. Paul, commanded by Capt.
James Starkey, called the "St. Paul Light Cavalry"; also, the "Shields
Guards," commanded by Capt. John O'Gorman. There may have been others,
but I do not remember them. The services of the pioneer guards and the
cavalry company were called into requisition on two occasions, once in
1857 and again in 1859. During the summer of 1857 the settlers near
Cambridge and Sunrise complained that the Chippewas were very
troublesome. Governor Medary ordered Captain Starkey to take part of his
company and arrest the Indians who were committing depredations, and
send the remainder of them to their reservation. The captain took twenty
men, and, on Aug. 24, 1857, started for the scene of the trouble. On the
28th he overtook some six or seven Indians, and in their attempt to
escape a collision occurred, in which a young man, a member of Starkey's
company, named Frank Donnelly, was instantly killed. The troops
succeeded in killing one of the Indians, wounding another, and capturing
four more, when they returned to St. Paul, bringing with them the dead,
wounded, and prisoners. The dead were buried, the wounded healed, and
the prisoners discharged by Judge Nelson on a writ of habeas corpus.
The general sentiment of the community was that the expedition was
unnecessary, and should never have been made. This affair was
facetiously called the "Cornstalk War."
THE WRIGHT COUNTRY WAR.
In the fall of 1858 a man named Wallace was killed in Wright county.
Oscar F. Jackson was tried for the murder in the spring of 1859, and
acquitted by a jury. Public sentiment was against him, and he was warned
to leave the county. He did not heed the admonition, and on April 25th a
mob assembled, and hung Jackson to the gable end of Wallace's cabin.
Governor Sibley offered a reward for the conviction of any of the
lynchers. Shortly afterwards one, Emery Moore, was arrested as being
implicated in the affair. He was taken to Wright county for trial, and
at once rescued by a mob. The governor sent three companies of the
militia to Monticello to arrest the offenders and preserve order, the
Pioneer Guards being among them. This force, aided by a few special
officers of the law, arrested eleven of the lynchers and rescuers, and
turned them over to the civil authorities, and on the 11th of August,
1859, having completed their mission, returned to St. Paul. As there was
no war or bloodshed of any kind connected with this expedition, it was
called the "Wright County War."
Gov. Sibley, having somewhat of a military tendency, appointed as his
adjutant general, Alexander C. Jones, who was a graduate of the Virginia
Military Academy, and captain of the Pioneer Guards. Under this
administration a very complete militia bill was passed, on the twelfth
day of August, 1858. Minnesota from that time on had a very efficient
militia system, until the establishment of the national guard, which
made some changes in its general character, supposed to be for the
better.
THE CIVIL WAR.