Acton. I regret to be compelled to say that a majority of the committee
having charge of the building of the Birch Coulie monument so far failed
in the performance of their duties as to the location of the monument
and formulating its inscriptions that the legislature felt compelled to
pass an act to correct their errors. The correction has not yet been
made, but in the cause of true history it is to be hoped that it will be
in the near future. The state also erected a handsome monument, in the
cemetery of Fort Ridgely, to Captain Marsh and the twenty-three men of
his company that were killed at the ferry, near the Lower Sioux Agency,
on Aug. 18, 1862, and, by special act, passed long after at the request
of old settlers, added the name of Peter Quinn, the interpreter, who was
killed at the same time and place. The state also built a monument in
the same cemetery in remembrance of the wife of Dr. Muller, the post
surgeon at Ridgely during the siege, on account of the valuable services
rendered by her in nursing the wounded soldiers.
A LONG PERIOD OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY.
After the stirring events of the Civil and Indian wars Minnesota resumed
its peaceful ways, and continued to grow and prosper for a long series
of years, excepting the period from 1873 to 1876, when it was afflicted
with the plague of grasshoppers. Possessed of the many advantages that
nature has bestowed upon it, there was nothing else for it to do. The
state, as far as it was then developed, was exclusively agricultural,
and wheat was its staple production, although almost every character of
grain and vegetable can be produced in exceptional abundance. Potatoes
of the first quality were among its earliest exports, but that crop is
not sufficiently valuable or portable to enter extensively into the
catalogue of its productions, beyond the needs of domestic use.
INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW PROCESS OF MILLING WHEAT.
The wheat raised in Minnesota was, and always has been, of the spring
variety, and up to about the year 1874 was regarded in the markets of
the world as an inferior article of grain, when compared with the winter
wheat of states further south, and the flour made from it was also
looked upon as much less valuable than its competitor, made from winter
wheat. The state labored under this disability in realizing upon its
chief product for many years, both in the wheat, and the flour made from
it. Many mills were erected at the Falls of St. Anthony, with a very
great output of flour, which, with the lumber manufactured at that
point, composed the chief export of the state. The process of grinding
wheat was the old style, of an upper and nether millstone, which left
the flour of darker color, less nutritious, and less desirable than that
from the winter wheat made in the same way. About the year 1871 it was
discovered that a new process of manufacturing flour was in operation on
the Danube and at Budapest. Mr. George H. Christian, a partner of Gov.
C. C. Washburn in the milling business at Minneapolis, studied the
invention, which consisted of crushing the wheat by means of rollers
made of steel and porcelain, instead of grinding it, as of old, to which
the French had added a new process of eliminating the bran specs from
the crushed product, by means of a flat oscillating screen or bolt with
an upward blast of air through it, upon which the crushed product was
placed and cleansed of all bran impurities. In 1871 Gen. C. C. Washburn
and Mr. Christian introduced this French invention into their mills in
Minneapolis, and derived from it great advantage in the appearance and
value of their flour. This was called a "middlings purifier." In 1874
they introduced the roller crushing process, and the result was, that
the hard spring wheat returned a flour superior to the product of the
winter wheat, and placed Minnesota upon more than an equality with the
best flour-producing states in the Union. This process has been
universally adopted throughout the United States in all milling
localities, with great advantage to that industry.
It is a rather curious fact that, as all our milling knowledge was
originally inherited from England, which country is very sluggish in the
adoption of new methods, it was not until our improved flour reached
that country that the English millers accepted the new method, and have
since acted upon it. It is a case of the pupil instructing his
preceptor.
I regard the introduction of these improvements in the manufacture of
flour into this state as of prime importance to its growth and increase
of wealth and strength. It is estimated by the best judges that the
value of our spring wheat was increased at least twenty per cent by
their adoption, and when we consider that the state produced, in 1898,
78,418,000 bushels of wheat, its magnitude can be better appreciated. It
formerly required five bushels of wheat to make a barrel of flour; under
the new process it only takes four bushels and seven pounds to make a
barrel of the same weight--196 pounds.
The only record that is kept of flour in Minnesota is for the two points
of Minneapolis and the head of the lakes; the latter including Duluth,
and Superior, in Wisconsin. The output of Minneapolis for the crop year
of 1898-99 was 15,164,881 barrels, and for Duluth-Superior for the same
period 2,637,035 barrels. The estimate for the whole state is 25,000,000
barrels. These figures are taken from the _Northwestern Miller_, a
reliable publication in Minneapolis.
The credit of having introduced the Hungarian and French processes into
Minnesota is due primarily to the late Gov. C. C. Washburn of La Crosse,
Wis., who was greatly aided by his partner at the time, Mr. George H.
Christian of Minneapolis.
While I am convinced that the credit of first having introduced these
valuable inventions into Minnesota belongs to Gov. C. C. Washburn and
his partner Mr. George H. Christian, I am in justice bound to add that
Gov. John S. Pillsbury and the late Mr. Charles A. Pillsbury, who were
large and enterprising millers at Minneapolis, owning the Excelsior
Mills, immediately after its introduction adopted the process, and put
it into their mills, and by employing American skilled artizans and
millers to set up and operate their machinery, succeeded in securing the
first absolutely perfect automatic mill of the new kind in the country.
General Washburn, having imported Hungarian millers to start and operate
his experimental mills, found himself somewhat handicapped by their
inefficiency and sluggishness in adopting American ways and customs.
THE DISCOVERY OF IRON.
From the earliest days of the territory the people had predicted the
growth of cities at several points. At St. Paul, because it was the head
of navigation of the Mississippi river; at St. Anthony, on account of
its great water power; at Superior, as being the head of navigation of
the Great Lakes system; and at Mankato, from its location at the great
bend of the Minnesota river. It must be remembered that when these
prophesies were made Minneapolis and Duluth had no existence, and
Superior was the natural outlet of the St. Louis river into Lake
Superior, and had its land titles not been so complicated when the
railroad from St. Paul to the head of the lakes was projected, there is
no doubt Superior would have been the terminus of the road; but it was
found to be almost impossible to procure title to any land in Superior,
on account of its having been sold by the proprietors in undivided
interests to parties all over the country, and it was situated in
Wisconsin, so the railroad people procured the charter of the company to
make its northern terminus on the Minnesota side of the harbor, where
Duluth now stands, and founded that town as the terminus of the road.
Some years after Minnesota Point was cut by a canal at its base, or
shore end, and the entrance to the harbor changed from its natural
inlet, around the end of the point, to this canal. This improvement has
proved to be of vast importance to the city of Duluth and to the
shipping interests of the state, as the natural entrance was difficult
and dangerous.
Duluth increased in importance from year to year by reason of the
natural advantages of its situation, as the outlet of much of the
exports of the state and the inlet of a large portion of its imports. As
railroads progressed, it became connected with the wheat producing areas
of the state, which resulted in the erection of elevators for the
shipment of wheat and mills to grind it. As nearly all the coal consumed
in the state came in by the gateway of Duluth, immense coal docks were
constructed, with all the modern inventions for unloading it from ships
and loading it on cars for distribution. Duluth soon attained
metropolitan proportions. About the year 1870 Mr. George C. Stone became
a resident of the city, and engaged in business.
In 1873 Jay Cooke, who had been an important factor in the construction
of the Northern Pacific Railroad, failed, which was a serious blow to
Duluth. Mr. Stone had given his attention largely to the investigation
of the mineral resources of the Lake Superior region in Minnesota, and
had become convinced of the presence of large beds of iron ore in its
northeastern portion, now known as the Vermillion Range. When he first
made known his discovery, the location of the ore was so remote from
civilization that he found it difficult to interest any one in his
enterprise. Few shared his faith, but undismayed by lack of support, he
undertook, with steady persistence, the task of securing the capital
necessary to develop what he was convinced was a great natural
wealth-producing field. Comparatively alone, and with little
encouragement at home, he visited the money centers of the country, and
assiduously labored to induce men of capital to embark in the
enterprise, but found it to be uphill work.
The first men whose support he secured were Charlemagne Tower of
Pottsville, Pa., and Samuel A. Munson of Utica, N. Y., both men of
education and great wealth. They became sufficiently interested to
secure a proper test of the matter. Professor Chester of Hamilton
College was sent out on two occasions. Mr. Munson died, and after the
lapse of a few years Charlemagne Tower, then a resident of Philadelphia,
undertook to furnish the necessary funds to make the development, which
involved the expense of $4,000,000 in building a railroad eighty miles
in length, with docks and other operating facilities.
The railroad was opened in July, 1884, and there was shipped that season
62,124 tons of ore, and in 1885 the shipment reached 225,000 tons. In
1886 304,000 tons were shipped; in 1887, 394,000 tons; in 1888, 512,000.
The output of the iron mines at and about the head of the lakes had, by
1898, grown to the enormous quantity of 5,871,801 tons. The grade of the
ore is the highest in the market. This product is one of the most
important in the state, and seems destined to expand indefinitely.
No better idea of the growth and importance of Duluth, and, in the same
connection, the advance of the state, since the war, can be presented
than by a statement of a few aggregates of different industries centered
at the head of the lakes. The most recent record obtainable is for the
year 1898. For example:
Lumber cut 544,318,000 feet.
Coal received 2,500,000 tons.
Number of vessels arrived and cleared 12,150
Wheat received, and flour as wheat 82,118,129 bushels.
Other grain 19,428,622 bushels.
Flour manufactured 2,460,025 barrels.
Capacity of elevators 24,650,000 bushels.
Capacity of flour mills per day 22,000 barrels.
Many other statistics could be given, but the above are sufficient to
show the unexampled growth of the state in that vicinity.
COMMERCE THROUGH THE ST. MARY'S FALLS CANAL.
Another very interesting and instructing element in considering the
growth of Minnesota is the commerce passing through the St. Mary's
Canal, which connects Lake Superior with Lakes Huron and Michigan, the
greater part of which is supplied by Minnesota. No record of the number
of sailing vessels or steamers passing through the canal was kept until
the year 1864. During that year there were 1,045 sailing vessels, and
366 steamers. The last report for the year 1898 shows an increase of
sailing vessels to 4,449 and of steamers to 12,461. The first record of
the net tons of freight passing the canal was opened in 1881, which
showed an aggregate of 1,567,741 net tons of all kinds of freight. In
1898 it had grown to the enormous sum of 21,234,664 tons. These figures,
like distances in astronomical calculations, require a special mental
effort to fully comprehend them. An incident occurred in September,
1899, in connection with this canal traffic, that assists in
understanding its immense proportions. By an accident to a steamer, the
channel of the river was blocked for a short time, until she could be
removed, during which time a procession of waiting steamers was formed
forty miles in length.
I have been unable to obtain any reliable figures with which to present
a contrast between the commerce of this canal and that of the Suez,
connecting the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, but it is generally
estimated that the St. Mary's largely exceeds the Suez, although the
commerce of the world with the Orient and Australia largely passes
through the latter.
AGRICULTURE.
In the early days of Minnesota its agricultural population was largely
centered in the southeastern portion of the state. The soil was
exceptionally fertile, and produced wheat in unusual abundance. The
Western farmer of early days was a careless cultivator, thinking more of
the immediate results than permanent preservation of his land. Even if
he was of the conservative old New England stock, the generous soil of
the West, the freedom from social restraint, and the lessened labors of
the farm, led him into more happy-go-lucky methods than he had been
accustomed to in the East. It was Mark Twain who once said that if you
plant a New England deacon in Texas, you will find him in about a year
with a game chicken under his arm, riding a mule on Sunday to a
cock-fight. When farms were opened in the southeastern counties of
Minnesota it was not an unusual thing to be rewarded with a crop of from
thirty to forty bushels of wheat to the acre. The process of
cultivation was simple, and required scarcely any capital, so it was
natural that the first comers should confine their efforts to the one
product of wheat. They did so, regardless of the fact that the best soil
will become exhausted unless reenforced. They became accustomed to think
that land could always be had for the taking, and in twenty or
twenty-five years, the goose that laid the golden eggs died, and six or
eight bushels was all they could extract from their lands. About 1877 or
1878 they practically abandoned the culture of wheat and tried corn and
hogs. This was an improvement, but not a great success. Many of the
farmers of the pioneering and roving class sold out, and went west for
fresh lands.
DAIRYING.
About this time the dairy business had become quite profitable in Iowa,
and the Minnesota farmers turned their attention to that branch of
industry. Their lands were excellent for pasturing purposes and hay
raising. They began in a small way, with cows and butter-making, but
from lack of experience and knowledge of the business their progress was
slow; but it improved from year to year, and now, in the year 1899, it
has become one of the most important, successful and profitable
industries in the state, and the farmers of southern Minnesota
constitute the most independent and well-to-do class of all our
citizens. It was not very long ago when a mortgage was an essential
feature of a Minnesota farm, but they have nearly all been paid off, and
the farmer of southern Minnesota is found in the ranks of the
stockholders and depositors of the banks, and if he has anything to do
with mortgages, he is found on the winning side of that dangerous
instrument. A brief statement of the facts connected with the dairy
business will demonstrate its magnitude. There are in the state:
Creameries, about 700
Creamery patrons 55,000
Capital invested $3,000,000
Cows supplying milk 410,000
Pounds of milk received in 1898 1,400,000,000
Pounds of butter made, 1898 63,000,000
Pounds of butter exported 50,000,000
Gross receipts, 1898 $10,400,000
Operating expenses, 1898 $1,100,000
Paid to patrons $8,600,000
Since 1884 Minnesota butter has been exhibited, in competition with
similar products from all the states in the Union and the butter-making
countries of the world, at all the principal fairs and expositions that
have been held in the United States, and has taken more prizes than any
other state or country. Its cheese has kept pace with its butter. There
are in the state, in active operation, ninety-four cheese factories.
This industry is constantly on the increase, and Minnesota is certainly
destined to surpass every other state in the Union in this department of
agriculture.
While this new and valuable branch of industry was gradually superseding
that of wheat in southern Minnesota, the latter was not being
extinguished by any means, but simply changing its habitat. About the
time that wheat culture became unprofitable in southern Minnesota, the
valley of the Red River of the North began to attract attention, and it
was at once discovered that it was the garden of the world for wheat
culture. An intelligent and experienced farmer, Mr. Oliver Dalrymple,
may be said to have been the pioneer of that enterprise. Lands in the
valley were cheap, and he succeeded in gaining control of immense
tracts, and unlimited capital for their development. He opened these
lands up to wheat culture, and gave to the world a new feature in
agriculture, which acquired the name of the "Bonanza Farm." Some of
these farms embraced sixty and seventy thousand acres of land, and were
divided by roads on the section lines. They were supplied with all the
buildings necessary for the accommodation of the army of superintendents
and employes that operated them; also, granaries and buildings for
housing machinery, slaughter houses to provision the operatives,
telephone systems to facilitate communication between distant points,
and every other auxiliary to perfect an economic management. These great
farms, of course, produced wheat at much lower rates than could the
lesser ones, but did not materially interfere with wheat production by
the smaller farmers, as the output of 1898 of nearly 79,000,000 bushels
sufficiently proves. There seems to be no need of apprehension about the
lands of the Red River Valley becoming exhausted, as they appear to be
as enduring as those in the valley of the Nile.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA AND ITS SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE.
The University of Minnesota, for the establishment of which the United
States donated to the state nearly 100,000 acres of land, and the
agricultural college, which was similarly endowed, have been
consolidated, and both have long been in successful operation. The
university proper opened its doors for the admission of students about
the year 1869, and has since attained such proportions as to entitle it
to a place among the leading educational institutions of the United
States, its roll of students for the last college year numbering over
three thousand. Its curriculum embraces all studies generally taught in
the colleges of this country, professional and otherwise. The state of
efficiency and high standing of the University of Minnesota is largely
attributable to the work of its president, Hon. Cyrus Northrop, a
graduate of Yale, who had attained eminence in the educational world
before being called to the university.
The school of agriculture is of the highest importance to the welfare of
the state, the influence of which will soon remove its chief industry
from dependence on the crude methods of the uneducated Western farmer,
and place it upon a basis of scientific operation and management. Every
branch of the art of farming is taught in this institution, from a
knowledge of the chemical properties of the soil and its adaptation to
the different vegetable growths, to the scientific breeding and
economical feeding of stock. Much of the success in the dairy branch of
farming is the direct result of knowledge gained at this school. It is
well patronized by the young men of the state who intend to devote
themselves to agriculture as a profession. Quite recently a new
department has been added to the institution, for the instruction of
women in all that pertains to the proper education of the mistress of
the farm. It goes without saying that when Minnesota farming is brought
under the management and control of men and women of scientific and
practical education in that particular line there will be a revolution
for the better.
The methods of instruction in this school are not merely theoretical. It
possesses three experimental farms for the practical illustration and
application of its teachings, the principal one of which is situated at
St. Anthony Park, and the other two respectively at Crookston and Grand
Rapids. Work is also done in an experimental way in Lyon county, but the
state does not own the station.
THE MINNESOTA STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
This society dates its corporate existence from the year 1868, although
for many years previous to that date, even back to the territorial days,
a society had been in existence covering the main features of this
organization. In 1867 the state recognized this society by appropriating
$1,000 for its encouragement. Its object was the promotion of
agriculture, horticulture and the mechanic arts. The society held annual
fairs in different localities in the state, with varying success, until
1885, when the county of Ramsey offered to convey to the State of
Minnesota, forever, two hundred acres of land adjoining the city limits
of St. Paul, for the purpose of holding annual exhibitions thereon,
under the management of the society, of all matters pertaining to
agriculture, human art, industry or skill. The state met this munificent
donation with the same liberal spirit that characterized the offer, and
appropriated $100,000 for permanent improvements.
The board of managers proceeded immediately to erect the necessary
buildings for the first exhibition, but found the appropriation
inadequate by about $32,000, which was readily supplied by public
spirited citizens of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The state being again
appealed to in 1887, made a further appropriation of $50,000.
In 1887 the society was reorganized by act of the legislature, and its
membership designated and made to consist of the following persons:
First--Three delegates from each of the county and district agricultural
societies.
Second--Honorary life members, prominent by reason of eminent services
in agriculture, or in the arts and sciences connected therewith, or of
long and faithful services in the society, or of benefits conferred upon
it.
Third--The presidents ex-officio of the Horticultural Society, the Amber
Cane Society, the State Dairymen's Association, the Southern Minnesota
Fair Association, the State Poultry Association, the State Bee-Keepers'
Association, and the president and secretary of the Farmer's Alliance.
Fourth--The president of any society having for its object the promotion
of any branch of agriculture, stock raising or improving, or mechanics
relating to agriculture.
By this selection of membership it will be seen that the society is
composed of the leading agriculturists of the state. It holds annual
meetings in St. Paul for the transaction of its business. The state
appropriates $4,000 annually to aid in the payment of premiums to
exhibitors.