PRESENT HOME OF THE AUTHOR ERECTED BY HIM A.D. 1855.PRESENT HOME OF THE AUTHOR ERECTED BY HIM A.D. 1855.
The Spaniards have made persistent claims to territory lying along the Atlantic coast, the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, and up the valley of the Mississippi, basing their claims on discovery and conquest.
In 1512 Juan Ponce de Leon, a companion of Columbus, discovered Florida, and planted on its shores the standard of Spain.
In 1539 Hernando de Soto visited Florida and having strengthened the Spanish claim adventured west to the Mississippi, on which river he died and in which he was stealthily buried by his surviving followers, who returned to Florida broken and dispirited with the loss of half their number. By virtue of De Soto's discovery of the Mississippi, the Spaniards now laid claim to the land along that river and its tributaries. They also claimed land lying along the Atlantic coast, without limit, northward. This large and somewhat indefinite empire was by them styled Florida, after the name of the peninsula on which they gained their first foothold. Unable to defend or enforce their claims, they gradually relinquished them, giving up tract after tract, until the peninsula of Florida alone remained to them. This was ceded to the United States in 1819.
The government of the Territory was vested in the discoverers. Ponce de Leon was governor from 1512 until 1521. De Soto was governor of Florida and Cuba until 1541. Melendez, by compact with King Philip, succeeded him, his commission giving him a life tenure. The history of the Spanish possessions is by no means interesting, and illustrates chiefly the Spanish greed for gold.
The French early disputed the claims of the Spaniards and Portuguese to the possession of the New World, and accordingly in 1524 sent a Florentine, Jean Verrazzani, who explored the coast from Carolina to Nova Scotia, took possession of it, and called it New France. Ten years later Cartea continued the work, sailing around New Foundland and ascending the St. Lawrence as far as the site of Montreal. In 1564 a French colony located in Florida, but were almost immediately exterminated by the Spaniards. During the following century the French pushed their explorations to the regions of the Mississippi and the great lakes. In the year 1603 Champlain was engaged in the exploration of the St. Lawrence, and in 1609, he, with two other Frenchmen, explored Lake Champlain and the country of the Iroquois and took possession of it in the name of Henry IV of France. In 1611 and 1612 he explored Lake Huron, entered Saginaw bay, passed down Detroit river, exploring Lake Erie, and laid the foundation of French sovereignty in the valley of the St. Lawrence. Champlain for many years prosecuted the fur trade where Boston now stands, prior to the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock.
We have not space for a complete account of the conflicting claims of the French and English, but will give the boundaries of New France as defined by French and English authorities at different times: 1609—L' Escartot, in his "Histoire de la Nouvelle France," defines the French boundaries as extending "on the west to the Pacific ocean, on the south to the Spanish West Indies, on the east to the North Atlantic, and on the north to the Frozen Sea." 1683—Baron La Honton says, "All the world knows that Canada reaches from the 39th to the 65th degrees of north latitude and from the 284th to the 336th degrees of longitude." [More accurately from about 45 to 90 degrees west, or from Cape Race to the Mississippi.] The French government persistently denied the right of the English to any territory west of the Alleghanies. The great Northwest, therefore, was for a long time under French rule and influence. We must accord to France the credit of making the first progress in civil government in the Northwest. They made many permanent settlements and by a wise and pacific policy so conciliating the Indian tribes that they were able to holdtheir positions on the frontier at will. They were early and persistent explorers, and, under the guidance of pious and devoted Jesuit missionaries, planted settlements in the most desirable places. They made a cordon of posts reaching from Louisiana to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, and along the chain of the great lakes, completely surrounded the English colonies and disputed with them the possession of the country. The French-English War of 1689 to 1697 failed to decide satisfactorily the question of the interior domain.
In 1712 New France was divided into two provinces, that of Canada and that of Louisiana, the dividing line being the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers, the Mississippi boundary line extending from the mouth of the Ohio to the mouth of the Missouri river. Mobile was made the capital of the southern province. The patent or commission of the new province was issued to Crozat, Marquis du Chatel. The Illinois country was afterward added, and it seems probable that the country east of the Wabash was also included in it. All north of the boundary named formed part of the province of Canada. Other boundaries than these have been given by geographers, but these boundaries are sufficiently established by official documents.
In 1763 all of the territory claimed by France lying east of the Mississippi river was ceded to the English, the territory lying west to Spain. Virginia, by three royal charters, given in 1606, 1607 and 1611, by the English government, held a part of the Northwest Territory, and in 1776 established three counties north of the Ohio river, named Ohio, Youghiogheny and Monongahela, but in 1787 ceded this territory to the United States. Its settlement was somewhat impeded by the perils of the wilderness, not the least of which was the doubtful and often unfriendly attitude of the Indians, resulting in many cases from the changes in the tenure of the lands, and the influence of French or English emissaries, generally hostile to American claims. The history of these early settlements is replete with thrilling adventures.
The first settlement made in the newly ceded territory was at Marietta, Ohio, in 1788, under the supervision of Gen. Rufus Putnam, nephew of Gen. Israel Putnam, and first surveyor general of the Northwest Territory. The settlement was named Marietta, in honor of Queen Marie Antoinette, who had been afirm friend to the colonies during the Revolutionary struggle. Gen. Arthur St. Clair was appointed governor July 15, 1788, of the newly organized Ohio Territory.
The country claimed by Virginia under the royal charters included the land lying between the sea shore on the east, and the Mississippi on the west, the Ohio river on the south, and the British possessions on the north. It will be seen, therefore, that that part of the Northwest Territory lying immediately along the eastern banks of the Mississippi now comprised in the state of Wisconsin and part of Minnesota, has been successively claimed by Spain, France, England, Virginia, and the United States, and under the territorial governments of the Northwest—Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin territories. That part of Minnesota lying west of the Mississippi belonged to the French by right of discovery, but passed into the hands of Spain, thence back again into the hands of France, by whom, with the territory known as Louisiana, it was sold to the United States in 1803. The original grant to Virginia included far more than the area of the State and that of the Northwest Territory, but was subsequently reduced by grants made by states lying north of Virginia, and vexatious disputes arose as to titles, a circumstance calculated to retard rapid settlement.
We append the following data concerning the early history of the territory included in the present states of Wisconsin and Minnesota, tabulated for more convenient reference:
1634. Jean Nicollet ventured into Wisconsin, and explored the country from Lake Michigan for a considerable distance down the Wisconsin river.
1658. Two fur traders penetrated to Lake Superior and wintered there, probably on Wisconsin soil.
1660. Rev. M. Menard with eight companions came to La Pointe, Lake Superior.
1665. Claude Allouez, an eminent pioneer missionary, succeeded Menard, and re-established the mission at La Pointe.
1669. Father Allouez established a mission on the shores of Green bay, locating it at Depere in 1671.
1670. Father Allouez made a voyage of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers to within a short distance of the Mississippi—a near approach to the discovery of the Father of Waters.
1671. In this year the French took formal possession of the whole Northwest, confirmed in 1689.
1673. Louis Joliet, accompanied by Father James Marquette, discovered the Mississippi river.
1674. Father Marquette coasted Lake Michigan, from Green Bay, by Milwaukee, to the site of the present city of Chicago.
1679. The Griffin, a schooner built by La Salle, and the first to make a voyage of the lakes above Niagara, arrived at the mouth of Green bay.
Capt. Duluth held a council, and concluded a peace with the natives of Lake Superior.
1680. About the first of May Father Louis Hennepin arrived at Mille Lacs, as prisoner of a Dakotah war party, who captured him at Lake Pepin, while on his way up the Mississippi. He remained at Mille Lacs several months. On his return homeward, after being released, he discovered the falls, which he named for his patron saint, Anthony of Padua. His book, published after his return to Europe, is the first printed account of Minnesota.
1683. Le Sueur made a voyage of the Fog and Wisconsin rivers to the Mississippi.
1688. Nicholas Perrot first planted the cross and arms of France on the soil of Minnesota, and first laid formal claim to the country for France. He built a fort on Lake Pepin, near Lake City.
1695. Le Sueur built a fort on Isle Pelee, in the Mississippi, below Prescott.
1700. Le Sueur established Fort L'Huillier, on the Blue Earth river (near the mouth of the Le Sueur), and first supplied the Sioux with firearms.
1716. Le Louvigny's battle with the Fox Indians at Butte des Morts.
1719. Francis Renalt explored the Upper Mississippi with two hundred miners.
1721. Previous to this date a French fort had been established at Green Bay, on the present site of Fort Howard.
1727. The French established a fort on Lake Pepin, with Sieur de Lapperriere as commandant.
A trading post, called Fort Beauharnois, was established on the north side of Lake Pepin.
1728. There was a great flood in the Mississippi, and Fort Beauharnois was submerged.
A French expedition, under De Lignery, from Mackinaw, punished the Foxes.
1734. A battle took place between the French, and the Sacs and Foxes.
1751. Sieur Marin, in command at Green Bay, made a peace with the Indians.
1761. Capt. Balfour and Lieut. Gorrell, with English troops, took possession of Green Bay.
1763. The English, under Lieut. Gorrell, abandoned Green Bay in consequence of the Indian War under Pontiac.
Treaty of Paris, by which all the territory of New France, including Wisconsin, was surrendered to the English.
About this date the Canadian-French trading establishment at Green Bay ripened into a permanent settlement, the first upon any portion of the territory now forming the state of Wisconsin.
By the treaty of Versailles, France ceded Minnesota east of the Mississippi to England, and west of it to Spain.
1766. Capt. Jonathan Carver visited St. Anthony falls and Minnesota river. He pretended to have made a treaty with the Indians the following spring, in a cave near St. Paul, known for several years as Carver's Cave. He also reports a town of three hundred inhabitants at Prairie du Chien.
1774. A civil government was established over Canada and the Northwest, by the celebrated "Quebec Act."
1777. Indians from Wisconsin join the British against the Americans.
1786. Julian Dubuque explored the lead region of the Upper Mississippi.
1788. There was an Indian council at Green Bay. Permission to work the lead mines was given to Dubuque.
1793. Lawrence Barth built a cabin at the portage of the Fog and Wisconsin rivers, and engaged in the carrying trade.
1795. French settlement commenced at Milwaukee.
1796. The western posts were surrendered by the English to the United States, and the ordinance of 1787 extended over the Northwest.
1798-99. The Northwestern Fur Company established itself in Minnesota.
1800. Indiana Territory organized, including Wisconsin.
1803. Antoine Barth settled at the portage of the Fog and Wisconsin rivers.
1804. Indian treaty at St. Louis; Southern Wisconsin purchased.
1805. Michigan Territory organized.
1809. Thomas Nuttall, the botanist, explored Wisconsin.
Illinois Territory was organized, including nearly all the present state of Wisconsin.
1812. Indians assembled at Green Bay to join the English.
1814. Gov. Clark took possession of Prairie du Chien. Prairie du Chien surrendered to the British.
1815. United States trading post established at Green Bay.
1816. Indian treaty confirming that of 1804.
United States troops took possession of Prairie du Chien, and commenced the erection of Fort Crawford.
Col. Miller commenced the erection of Fort Howard, at Green Bay.
1818. State of Illinois was organized; Wisconsin attached to Michigan.
Brown, Crawford and Michillimackinac counties were organized by the territory of Michigan which embraced in their boundaries, besides other territory, the whole of the present state of Wisconsin.
1820. United States commissioners adjusted land claims at Green Bay.
1822. The New York Indians purchase lands east of Lake Winnebago.
James Johnson obtained from the Indians the right to dig for lead by negro slaves from Kentucky.
1823. January. Counties of Brown, Crawford and Michillimackinac made a separate judicial district by Congress.
First steamboat on the Upper Mississippi, with Maj. Taliafero and Count Beltrami.
Lieut. Bayfield, of the British Navy, makes a survey of Lake Superior.
1824. First term of United States court held at Green Bay, Judge Duane Doty presiding.
1825. Great flood on the Red River of the North; a part of the colony driven to Minnesota, and settle near Fort Snelling.
1826. First steamboat on Lake Michigan.
1827. Rush of speculators to lead mines.
Treaty with Menomonies at Butte des Morts.
1828. Fort Winnebago built. Indian treaty at Green Bay. Lead ore discovered at Mineral Point and at Dodgeville.
1832. Black Hawk War.
Schoolcraft explored sources of Mississippi river. First mission established at Leech Lake, by Rev. W. T. Boutwell, now of Stillwater.
1834. The portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi attached to Michigan. Gen. H. H. Sibley settles at Mendota.
1835. Catlin and Featherstonhaugh visit Minnesota.
1836. The territory of Wisconsin organized. Nicollet visits Minnesota.
1837. Gov. Dodge, of Wisconsin, made a treaty at Fort Snelling, with the Ojibways, by which the latter ceded lands on the St. Croix and its tributaries; a treaty was also effected at Washington with a deputation of Dakotahs for their lands east of the Mississippi. These treaties led the way to the first actual settlements in the Territory.
1838. The treaty ratified by Congress. Frank Steele makes a claim at St. Anthony Falls. Pierre Parrant makes a claim and builds a shanty on the present site of St. Paul.
1839. Sioux and Chippewa battle fought near Stillwater.
1840. St. Croix county established.
The chapel of "St. Paul" built and consecrated, giving the name to the capital of the state of Minnesota.
1843. Stillwater settled.
1846. August 6th, the Wisconsin enabling act passed.
1847. The Wisconsin constitutional convention meets. The town of St. Paul surveyed, platted and recorded in the St. Croix county register of deeds' office. First improvement of the water power at falls of St. Anthony. Treaty with the Chippewas at Fond du Lac, August 2d. Treaty with the Pillagers at Leech Lake, August 21st.
1848. May 29th, Wisconsin admitted. August 26th, the "Stillwater Convention" held, to take measures for a separate territorial organization. October 30th, H. H. Sibley elected delegate to Congress.
1850. Great flood on the Mississippi. Minnesota river navigated by steamboats. Census of Minnesota shows population of 4,780.
1851. Permanent location of the capital of Minnesota at St Paul. Treaty of the Traverse des Sioux, opening territory west of the Mississippi to settlement July 23d. Treaty at Mendota with the Sioux August 5th.
1852. President Pierce appoints Willis A. Gorman governor of Minnesota.
1854. Real estate mania commenced. Treaty with the Chippewas at La Pointe, September 30th.
1855. Treaty at Washington, District of Columbia, with the Chippewas, and cession of lands in Minnesota, February 22d.
1857. Enabling act to admit Minnesota passed Congress. President Buchanan appoints Gen. Sam Medary governor of Minnesota. Ink-pa-dootah massacre in April. Minnesota constitutional convention met in June. Constitution adopted in October.
1858. Minnesota admitted as a state. State loan of $250,000 guaranteed. The $5,000,000 loan bill adopted.
1859. Hard times. Work on the land grant road ceases. Collapse of the $5,000,000 scheme. First export of grain this fall.
1860. Federal census, 172,123.
1861. April 13th. President's proclamation for troops received. The First regiment recruits at once. June 22d it embarks at Fort Snelling for the seat of war.
1862. Call for 600,000 men. August 17th, massacre at Acton; 18th, outbreak at Lower Sioux agency; 19th, New Ulm attacked; 20th, Fort Ridgely attacked; 25th, second attack on New Ulm; 30th, Fort Abercrombie besieged; September 1st, the bloody affair at Birch Coolie; 19th, first railroad in Minnesota in operation between St. Paul and Minneapolis; 22d, battle of Wood Lake; 26th, captives surrendered at Camp Release; military commission tries 321 Indians for murder, rape, etc.; 303 condemned to die; December 26th, 38 hanged at Mankato.
1863. Gen. Sibley's expedition to the Missouri river. July 3d, Little Crow killed; 24th, battle of Big Mound; 26th, battle of Dead Buffalo Lake; 28th, battle of Stony Lake. Treaty at crossing of Red Lake river with Chippewas, and cession of Dakotah lands, October 2d.
1864. Large levies for troops. Expedition to Missouri river under Sully. Inflation of money market. Occasional Indian raids.
1865. Peace returns. Minnesota regiments return and are disbanded; in all 25,052 troops furnished by the State. Census shows 250,000 inhabitants.
1866-72. Rapid railroad building everywhere, immigration heavy, "good times" prevail, and real estate inflated.
1873. January 7th, 8th and 9th, polar wave sweeps over the State; seventy persons perish. September, the Jay Cooke failure creates another panic. Grasshopper raid begins and continues five seasons.
1876. September 7th, armed outlaws from Missouri attack a Northfield bank. Three killed, three prisoners.
1877. Minnesota legislature adopts biennial sessions.
1878. May 2d, three flouring mills at Minneapolis explode; eighteen lives lost.
1880. November 15th, hospital for the insane at St. Peter partly destroyed by fire; twenty-five lives lost.
1881. March 1, capitol at St. Paul destroyed by fire.
1886. Cyclone destroys Sauk Rapids. Wisconsin legislature adopts biennial sessions.
The question of the western boundary of Wisconsin had been agitated since the Martin bill for the organization of the State had been introduced in 1846. This bill established the present boundary. The majority of the people residing in the valley of the St. Croix were opposed to it on the ground that the interests of the valley on both sides were identical, and that it was not proper that the two sides should be separated by a state line. The question became a political one, and at the election of delegates for the constitutional convention of Oct. 5, 1846, Wm. Holcombe was elected over Joseph Bowron, as representing the sentiments of the people of the valley as opposed to the proposed boundary line.
In convention Mr. Holcombe advocated a boundary line commencing at Mount Trempeleau on the Mississippi, running due north to Lake Superior. Failing in this, he advocated a boundary line to be established at a point fifteen miles due east of the most easterly point on Lake St. Croix, said line extending from that point due south to the Mississippi and due north to the tributary waters of Lake Superior. In this he was successful, and the constitution in which this boundary line was thus fixed went to the people and was rejected, greatly to the disappointment of the people of the St. Croix valley, who felt that they had been unjustly dealt with. There seems, indeed, to be but little excuse for the attitude of the majority of the citizens of Wisconsinwith regard to this boundary. Certainly but little attention was shown to the interests of the people in the western section of the Territory.
Prior to the meeting of the second constitutional convention, Dec. 15, 1847, public meetings were held at St. Croix Falls and in Stillwater, at which latter place enthusiastic resolutions were passed remonstrating against this unnatural boundary, which resolutions were signed by nearly all the citizens of the St. Croix valley, and a few in and around St. Paul, asking the convention to establish the western boundary on a line running due north from the foot of Lake Pepin to Lake Superior. George W. Brownell was elected from the St. Croix district to the second convention, with instructions to work for this boundary. Joseph Bowron, Brownell's opponent, was defeated by a large majority. The following is the abstract of votes:
Bowron.Brownell.Willow River (now Hudson)74Lake St. Croix714Stillwater939St. Paul4140Marine Mills...22St. Croix Falls2618Clam River617Apple River16Wood Lake26Rush Lake28Osceola (no election)——Totals101174
Mr. Brownell made strong and persistent efforts to have the boundary line adjusted in accordance with the sentiments of the people of the valley, but in vain. Morgan L. Martin, delegate to Congress from Wisconsin Territory, had framed the bill establishing the present boundary, and it was urged that any effort to change the line would tend to prevent the immediate admission of the State, and it was thought a political necessity that the State should be admitted at once, that it might take part in the ensuing presidential election. Under such pressure the convention made haste to adopt, and the people to accept, a constitution with boundary lines that should never have been made. The State was admitted in time to cast its electoral vote for Gen. Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore.
At a meeting held by the people of the St. Croix valley, subsequentto this convention and prior to its adoption by the people, the following resolutions were passed, and we append them as expressing very generally the sentiments of the people of the valley:
Whereas, By the establishment of the St. Croix river as a part of the boundary line between the State and territory of Wisconsin, the inhabitants of our remote settlements are greatly aggrieved, our local rights and privileges neglected and abridged, our geographical, material and natural political alliance with our neighbors of the new territory will be cut off; and
Whereas, Our oft repeated remonstrances and appeals to the authorities of the new state have been unavailing; therefore
Resolved, That the establishment of the St. Croix river as a part of the boundary of the state of Wisconsin, against the will of the inhabitants of the valley of said river, is unjust, unreasonable and contrary to the principles upon which our government is founded.
Resolved, That in establishing the present boundary, our known and acknowledged wishes and interests are invaded by the might of a majority; that as the boundary is now established, so great is the distance and obstacles intervening, severing us, together with the people of Lake Superior, from the seat of government, that we can not enjoy a prompt and equitable share in representation, and we would respectfully admonish our brethren that equal representation involves a principle which is deeply and peculiarly American.
Resolved, That the interests of the inhabitants of St. Croix, being identical from the nature of the staple business of the country, the river being the natural centre to which all the business of the valley tends, a boundary severing the natural ties in connection is uncalled for, inconvenient and vexatious.
Resolved, That the inhabitants of the territory of the whole Northwest are deeply interested in procuring a just and wise alteration of the present line of divisions, because from the geography of the country, the line as now established, we are robbed of a future star in the galaxy of the American sisterhood of states.
Resolved, That we pledge ourselves to stand united and unceasingly use all honorable means in our power to procure the establishment of a boundary east of St. Croix valley.
Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to prepare and forward a memorial to the present legislature on this subject.
The resolutions as a whole were unanimously adopted.
In accordance with the last resolution the chair appointed Wm. R. Marshall, G. W. Brownell and W. H. C. Folsom, Esqs., a committee.
On motion the secretary was instructed to forward copies of the proceedings of the meeting to the Prairie du ChienPatriot, GalenaGazetteand WisconsinArgus, requesting their publication.
H. H. Perkins,Chairman.R. V. D. Smith,Secretary.
No attention was paid to the action of the public meeting. It is possible that none was expected. It was some satisfaction to the people of the valley to give such an expression of their opinion of the wrong done them. The admission of Wisconsin with the St. Croix as a boundary line left the country immediately west of that river virtually without law. Nevertheless, Wisconsin territorial laws were acknowledged west of the St. Croix and were generally considered binding until a new territorial government should be organized. The territorial governor, Gen. Henry Dodge, had been elected United States senator and therefore could not claim jurisdiction over this part of the territory lying beyond state limits. John Catlin, territorial secretary, held that the territorial government still existed in the part of the original territory excluded.
At a public meeting held in Stillwater, Aug. 26, 1848 (a preliminary meeting having been held August 24th, at which an understanding was effected with Mr. Catlin and he invited to exercise authority as a territorial officer), steps were taken for the organization of a new territory, and Mr. Catlin, having removed to Stillwater, issued a proclamation in his official capacity, ordering an election to be held for the selection of a delegate to Congress. To facilitate this movement John H. Tweedy, territorial delegate from Wisconsin, resigned. The election was held Oct. 30, 1848, and H. H. Sibley was elected as a successor to John H. Tweedy, his papers being certified by John Catlin, secretary of Wisconsin Territory. Mr. Sibley proceeded to Washington, presented his credentials and patiently awaited recognition, which was not very speedily accorded, there beingconsiderable discussion as to the right of excluded territory to continued political existence. His admission, on the fifteenth of January, as a delegate, settled the question and established a precedent that the creation of a state government does not deprive portions of the territory not included within state limits of the right to existence and representation. Mr. Sibley ably presented the claims of his constituents and with great difficulty succeeded in procuring the passage of a bill organizing the new territory of Minnesota.
With all respect to the action of Congress in receiving Mr. Sibley as a legally elected delegate (and, under the circumstances, the action seems wise), the question still rises: "Had we a legal territorial government?" If we had, what was the necessity for a new organization? Why could not the excluded territory continue under the oldregime, or inherit, so to speak, the old government machinery? If we had no legal existence, by what authority could Mr. Sibley represent us? The Wisconsin territorial government had ceased to exist. Ours had not begun to live.
The territory of Minnesota was created by act of Congress, March 3, 1849, a little over thirty days after the introduction of the bill creating it. There had been some discussion as to the name. In the bill presented by Morgan L. Martin it was named Minnesota. Senator Stephen A. Douglas, chairman of the committee on territories, recommended the passage of the bill, and that the new territory be named Itasca. When the bill was before the house the names Chippewa, Jackson and Washington were proposed, but the name in the original bill was adopted. It is a compound word, taken from the Sioux language, and has for its meaning "Land of sky-tinted water." The news of the passage of the bill reached Stillwater April 9th, and was received with great rejoicing.
The United States land office which had been established at St. Croix Falls in 1848 was removed to Stillwater July 1, 1849. Abraham Van Voorhes was appointed register and William Holcombe receiver.
Sept. 23, 1805, at the mouth of St. Peter's river (now Mendota) with the Sioux. (For account of this treaty see "Gen. Pike and the Indians.")
July 29, 1837, at St. Peter (now Mendota), Wisconsin Territory, the Chippewa Indians ceded to the United States the following tract of country: Beginning at the junction of the Crow Wing and Mississippi rivers, between twenty and thirty miles, above where the Mississippi is crossed by the forty-sixth parallel of north latitude, and running thence to the north point of Lake St. Croix, one of the sources of the St. Croix river; thence to and along the dividing ridge between the waters of Lake Superior and those of the Mississippi, to the sources of the Ochasua-sepe, a tributary of the Chippewa river; thence to a point on the Chippewa river twenty miles below the outlet of Lake De Flambeau; thence to the junction of the Wisconsin and Pelican rivers; thence on an east course twenty-five miles; thence southerly on a course parallel with that of the Wisconsin river to the line dividing the territories of the Chippewas and the Menomonies; thence to the Plover portage; thence along the southern boundary of the Chippewa country to the commencement of the boundary line dividing it from that of the Sioux, half a day's march below the falls on the Chippewa river; thence with said boundary line to the month of the Waw-tab[F]river, at its junction with the Mississippi; and thence up the Mississippi to the place of beginning.
Henry Dodge,Commissioner.
Sept. 29, 1837, at Washington, District of Columbia, the Sioux nation of Indians ceded to the United States all their lands east of the Mississippi river, and all of their islands in the said river, Joel R. Poinsett, secretary of war, commanding, which cession embraced all their land east of the Mississippi and west of the following lines commencing at the Chippewa river, half a day's march below the falls, from thence to Red Cedar river, immediately below the falls; thence to the St. Croix river at a point called the Standing Cedar, about a day's paddle in a canoe, above the lake at the mouth of that river; thence passing between two lakes called by the Chippewas, "Green, Lakes," and by the Sioux, "The Lakes they Bury the Eagles in," thence to the Standing Cedar, that "the Sioux split;" thence to Rum river, crossing at the mouth of a small creek called Chokingcreek, a long day's march from the Mississippi; thence to a point of woods that project into the prairie, half a day's march from the Mississippi; thence in a straight line to the mouth of the first river which enters the Mississippi at the east side above the mouth of Sac river (Watab river). The above boundary line was established between the Sioux and Chippewa Indiana at Prairie du Chien, Aug. 19, 1825.
William Clark,Lewis Cass,Commissioners.
St. Paul, East Minneapolis and Stillwater are embraced within the above limits.
Nov. 1, 1837, at Washington, District of Columbia, with the Winnebagoes.
The Winnebagoes at this treaty ceded all their lands lying east of the Mississippi river, and received in return $200,000. Of this amount $150,000 was reserved to satisfy the claims of Indian traders, and the remaining $50,000 was paid to certain individuals of the tribe. There was set apart the further sum of $100,000, to be paid, by order of the president of the United States, to mixed blood relatives of these Indiana. Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, and James Murray, of Maryland, were commissioned to adjust claims, pay debts and partition the amount alloted to the mixed bloods. The Winnebagoes, including mixed blood relatives, numbered over 4,000 souls. The payments and adjustments were made at Prairie du Chien, October, 1838. Soon after complaints were made of the arbitrary and unjust distribution of these funds. The secretary of war, Joel R. Poinsett, countermanded the action of the commissioners and appointed Judge Fleming, of New York, to act as commissioner. The parties were reassembled at Prairie du Chien in September, 1839, and the unpleasant business was in some way adjusted and closed up.
Aug. 2, 1847, at Fond du Lac of Lake Superior, the Chippewa Indians of the Mississippi and Lake Superior ceded to the United States the country beginning at the junction of the Crow Wing and Mississippi rivers, thence up the Crow Wing river to the junction of that river with the Long Prairie river; thence up the Long Prairie river to the boundary line between the Sioux and Chippewa Indians; thence southerly along said boundaryline to a lake at the head of Long Prairie river; thence in a direct line to the sources of the (Waw-tab) river; thence down that river to its junction with the Mississippi river; thence up the Mississippi river to the place of beginning.
Issac A. Verplanck,Henry M. Rice,Commissioners.
Aug. 21, 1847, at Leech Lake, the Pillager band of Chippewa Indians ceded to the United States the country beginning at the south end of Otter Tail lake; thence southerly on the boundary line between the Sioux and Chippewa Indians to Long Prairie river; thence up said river to Crow Wing river; thence up Crow Wing river to Leaf river; thence up Leaf river to its head; thence in a direct line to the place of beginning.
Issac A. Verplanck,Henry M. Rice,Commissioners.
July 23, 1851, at Traverse des Sioux (now St. Peter), the See-see-toan and Wah-pay-toan bands of Dakotah or Sioux Indians ceded to the United States all their lands in the state of Iowa; and the territory of Minnesota, lying east of a line beginning at the junction of the Buffalo river and the Red River of the North; thence along the western bank of said river to the mouth of the Sioux Wood river; thence along the western bank of said Sioux Wood river to Lake Traverse; thence along the western shore of said lake to the northern extremity thereof; thence in a direct line to the junction of Kampeska lake with the Tchan-kas-an-data or Sioux river; thence along the western bank of said river to its point of intersection with the northern line of the state of Iowa, including all the islands in said rivers and lake.
Luke Lea, Commissioner of Indian Affairs,Alexander Ramsey, Governor andEx-officioSuperintendent of Indian Affairs,Commissioners.
A small reservation was set apart for said Indians, which they forfeited by their attack upon the whites in 1862.
Aug. 5, 1851, at Mendota, the Med-ay-wa-kan-toan and Wah-pay-koo-tay bands of Dakotah and Sioux Indians ceded to theUnited States all of their lands in the territory of Minnesota and state of Iowa.
Luke Lea,Alexander Ramsey,Commissioners.
The two treaties made by Commissioners Lea and Ramsey included the following area:
Beginning at the junction of Buffalo river with the Red River of the North, in Clay county; thence along the western bank of the Red River of the north to the mouth of Sioux Wood river; thence along the western bank of Sioux Wood river to Lake Traverse; thence along its western shore to its southern extremity; thence to the head of Sioux river; thence along said Sioux river to the northern line of the state of Iowa; thence along the southern boundary of the state of Minnesota to the Mississippi river; thence up said river to the mouth of Waw-tab river (just north of St. Cloud in Stearns county); thence up that river to its head; thence to the place of beginning. A part of the state of Iowa not included in the above was also ceded to the United States. A large strip of Dakota Territory is included. This last tract includes nearly one-half of the state of Minnesota, containing its now richest and most populous counties.
Sept. 30, 1854, at La Pointe, Lake Superior, Wisconsin, the Chippewas of Lake Superior ceded to the United States all of their lands lying east of a line beginning at a point where the east branch of Snake river crosses the southern boundary line of the Chippewa country, running thence up the said branch to its source; thence nearly north in a straight line to the mouth of East Savannah river; thence up the St. Louis river to the mouth of East Swan river; thence up the East Swan river to its source; thence in a straight line to the most westerly bend of Vermillion river, and thence down the Vermillion river to its mouth.
Henry C. Gilbert,David B. Herriman,Commissioners.
The foregoing treaty embraced all of the country bordering upon Lake Superior in the state of Minnesota, including the valuable iron and other mines.
The city of Duluth is within the limits of the cession.
Owing to the efforts of Henry M. Rice, then in Congress, the commissioners were appointed, and to his personal influence with the Chippewas the treaty was made.
Feb. 22, 1885, at Washington, District of Columbia, the Mississippi, Pillager, and Lake Winnibigoshish bands of Chippewa Indians ceded to the United States all the lands owned or claimed by them in the territory of Minnesota, and included within the following boundaries, viz.: "Beginning at a point where the east branch of Snake river crosses the southern boundary line of the Chippewa country, east of the Mississippi river, as established by the treaty of July 29, 1837, running thence up the said branch to its source; thence nearly north in a straight line to the mouth of East Savannah river; thence up the St. Louis river to the mouth of East Swan river; thence up said river to its source; thence in a straight line to the most westerly bend of Vermillion river; thence northwestwardly in a straight line to the first and most considerable bend in the Big Fork river; thence down said river to its mouth; thence down Rainy Lake river to the mouth of Black river; thence up that river to its source; thence in a straight line to the northern extremity of Turtle Lake; thence in a straight line to the mouth of Wild Rice river; thence up the Red River of the North to the mouth of Buffalo river; thence in a straight line to the southwestern extremity of Otter Tail lake; thence through said lake to the source of Leaf river; thence down said river to its junction with Crow Wing river; thence down Crow Wing river to its junction with the Mississippi river; thence to the place of beginning."
George W. Manypenny,Commissioner.
All lands in Minnesota Territory east of the foregoing boundary line were ceded to the United States at La Pointe, Lake Superior, Sept. 30, 1854. Several reservations were set aside in each purchase for the future residence of various bands of said Chippewa and Pillager Indians.
It was by the efforts of Henry M. Rice, then in Congress, that the Indians were invited to Washington, and through his personal influence that the treaty was made. Several treaties were afterward made with the Chippewa and Pillager Indians, merely changing or reducing their reservation.
Oct. 2, 1863, at the old crossing of the Red Lake river, inthe state of Minnesota, the Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians ceded to the United States all their right, title and interest in and to all the lands now owned and claimed by them in the state of Minnesota and in the territory of Dakota within the following boundaries, to wit: "Beginning at the point where the international boundary between the United States and the British possessions intersects the shore of the Lake of the Woods; thence in a direct line southwestwardly to the head of Thief river; thence down the main channel of said Thief river to its mouth on the Red Lake river; thence in a southeasterly direction, in a direct line toward the head of Wild Rice river, to a point where such line would intersect the northwestern boundary of a tract ceded to the United States by a treaty concluded at Washington on the twenty-second day of February, 1855, with the Mississippi, Pillager and Lake Winnibigoshish bands of Chippewa Indians; thence along said boundary line of said cession to the mouth of Wild Rice river; thence up the main channel of the Red river to the mouth of the Sheyenne; thence up the main channel of the Sheyenne river to Poplar Grove; thence in a direct line to the head of the main branch of Salt river; thence in a direct line due north to the international boundary line; thence eastwardly to the place of beginning."
Alexander Ramsey,Ashley C. Morrill,Commissioners.
All the lands included in the foregoing treaty east of the Red River of the North are within the state of Minnesota.
The heretofore mentioned treaties include all the lands within the state of Minnesota originally owned by Indian tribes, except the Red Lake reservation, and for its cession a treaty was negotiated in 1886, which to this date, April, 1888, has not been ratified.
Gen. Zebulon M. Pike, United States Army, was sent by the government in 1805-6 on a tour of inspection, to select sites for forts, and to treat and hold councils with the various Indian tribes of the Upper Mississippi. He met the Sioux in council at the junction of the St. Peter's and Mississippi rivers, Sept. 23,1805, and informed them that he came to purchase lands for government forts, and to tell them what the Great Father at Washington desired them to know about his people and their government. A part of his speech we subjoin:
"Brothers: You old men probably know that about thirty years ago we were subject to the king of England, and governed by his laws. But he not treating us as children we refused to acknowledge him as father. After ten years of war, in which he lost 100,000 men, he acknowledged us as a free and independent nation. They knew that not many years since we received Detroit, Michilmackinac, and all the ports on the lakes from the English, and now but the other day, Louisiana from the Spanish; so that we put one foot on the sea at the east, and the other on the sea at the west, and if once children are now men; yet I think that the traders who come from Canada are bad birds amongst the Chippewas, and instigate them to make war on their red brothers, the Sioux, in order to prevent our traders from going high up the Mississippi. This I shall inquire into, and so warn those persons of their ill conduct.
"Brothers, I expect that you will give orders to all your young warriors to respect my flag and protection, which I may send to the Chippewa chief who may come down with me in the spring; for was a dog to run to my lodge for safety, his enemy must walk over me to hurt him.
"Brothers, I am told that the traders have made a practice of selling rum to you. All of you in your right senses must know that this is injurious and occasions quarrels, murders, etc., amongst yourselves. For this reason your father has thought proper to prohibit the traders from selling you rum.
"Brothers, I now present you with some of your father's tobacco, and some other trifling things, as a memorandum of my good will, and before my departureI will give you some liquor to clear your throats."
At this conference the Sioux granted to the United States government a tract nine miles square at the mouth of the St. Croix, and a similar tract at the mouth of the St. Peter's, lying on both sides of the Mississippi and including the falls of St. Anthony. Pike says: "They gave the land required, about 100,000 acres of land (equal to $200,000), and promised me a safe passage for myself and any chief I might bring down. I gavethem presents to the amount of about two hundred dollars, and as soon as the council was over allowed the traders to present them with liquor which, with what I gave, was equal to sixty gallons." Pike in his journeying through the territory ordered Dickson and others to haul down the British flag. It is on record that the flags were hauled down, but also that they were hoisted again after Pike's departure.
From Pike's own account of one of his inland tours he was hospitably entertained by his red brothers, as the following paragraph from his journal will show:
"After making this tour we returned to the chief's lodge and found a berth provided for each of us, of good soft bear skins nicely spread, and on mine there was a large feather pillow. I must not here omit to mention an anecdote which serves to characterize more particularly their manners. This, in the eyes of the contracted moralist, would deform my hospitable host into a monster of libertinism; but by a liberal mind would be considered as arising from the hearty generosity of the wild savage. In the course of the day, observing a ring on one of my fingers, he inquired if it was gold; he was told it was the gift of one with whom I should be happy to be at that time; he seemed to think seriously, and at night told my interpreter, 'that perhaps his father (as they all called me) felt much grieved for the want of a woman; if so, he could furnish him with one.' He was answered that with us each man had but one wife, and that I considered it strictly my duty to remain faithful to her. This he thought strange (he himself having three) and replied that 'he knew some Americans at his nation who had half a dozen wives during the winter.' The interpreter observed that they were men without character; but that all our great men had each but one wife. The chief acquiesced; but said he liked better to have as many as he pleased."
On the twenty-sixth day of January, 1796, when the American Congress was in session at Philadelphia, a bill was reported for establishing land offices in the Northwestern Territory. The bill was ably discussed and there was much variance of opinion asto the disposition of the lands to be surveyed and brought into the market. Some favored a proposition to give the lands to actual settlers, and others favored selling the lands at a stipulated price, applying the proceeds to the payment of the national debt. The bill, when agreed upon, bore the following title: "An act providing for the sale of the lands of the United States in the territories northwest of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of the Kentucky river." The bill was approved by President Washington May 18, 1796.
This law established the office of surveyor general with powers specifically limited. It directed him to run lines north and south according to the true meridian, to be known as range lines, and others, crossing them at right angles, to be known as township lines, the townships thus formed to consist of areas six miles square, the whole to be subdivided into 36 sections, each a mile square, each to contain 640 acres of land, as near as may be, and to be subdivided into quarters, containing 160 acres, and these quarters to be further subdivided into forties. Marks were to be established at the corners of every township and section. These surveys were not to conflict with Indian treaty and military land warrants, or the course of navigable waters.
This admirable device for surveying the public lands grew out of a correspondence between Gen. Rufus Putnam and President Washington, in 1875, in which the former proposed the division of the public lands into townships six miles square, to be marked by township and range lines. Perhaps no more convenient and acceptable plan of survey could have been devised. Gen. Benjamin Tupper was one of a company of surveyors in 1796 that established the first lines under this new system. This survey was made in Southeast Ohio.
The first surveyor general's office was opened at Marietta, Ohio, soon after the approval of the bill, and Rufus Putnam was appointed surveyor general. In 1803 he was removed by President Jefferson and the office was located at Vincennes. A year later it was removed to Cincinnati, in 1814 to Chillicothe, in 1829 to Cincinnati, in 1845 to Detroit, and in 1857 to St. Paul, where it has since remained. The act for the survey of the public lands has since been modified and improved. In 1804 an act was approved providing for the marking of quarter sections on the section lines.
By the same law under which the lands were subdivided and opened to the public, one section, No. 16, in every township was reserved from sale for the support of common schools. Two townships were also set apart for the support of a university. This was the beginning of the donations of land for school and other purposes.
The first government land office in Wisconsin north of Mineral Point was located at St. Croix Falls in 1848. Township plats were received, lands advertised and offered for sale in September, covering the ground where the cities of Stillwater and St. Paul are now located, and adjacent country. The office was removed to Stillwater in 1849, and the land district divided by the St. Croix river. The land office for the east side was located at Willow River in 1849, and there remained till 1860, when it was removed to St. Croix Falls. The following are the receivers and registers: