1. The French Voyageurs to Minnesota during the Seventeenth Century, by Rev. E. D. Neill.2. Description of Minnesota (1850), by Hon. Henry H. Sibley.3. Our Field of Historical Research, by Hon. Alexander Ramsey.4. Early Courts of Minnesota, by Hon. Aaron Goodrich.5. Early Schools of Minnesota, by D. A. J. Baker.6. Religious Movements in Minnesota, by Rev. C. Hobart.7. The Dakota Language, by Rev. S. R. Riggs.8. History and Physical Geography of Minnesota, by H. R. Schoolcraft.9. Letter of Mesnard, by Rev. E. D. Neill.10. The Saint Louis River, by T. M. Fullerton.11. Ancient Mounds and Memorials, by Messrs. Pond, Aiton and Riggs.12. Schoolcraft's Exploring Tour of 1832, by Rev. W. T. Boutwell.13. Battle of Lake Pokegama, by Rev. E. D. Neill.14. Memoir of Jean Nicollet, by Hon. Henry H. Sibley.15. Sketch of Joseph Renville, by Rev. E. D. Neill.16. Department of Hudson's Bay, by Rev. G. A. Belcourt.17. Obituary of James M. Goodhue, by Rev. E. D. Neill.18. Dakota Land and Dakota Life, by Rev. E. D. Neill.19. Who were the First Men, by Rev. T. S. Williamson.20. Louis Hennepin, the Franciscan, and Du Luth, the Explorer.21. Le Sueur, the Explorer of the Minnesota River.22. D'Iberville; An Abstract of his Memorial.23. The Fox and Ojibway War.24. Captain Jonathan Carver and his Explorations.25. Pike's Explorations in Minnesota.26. Who Discovered Itasca Lake, by William Morrison.27. Early Days at Fort Snelling.28. Running the Gauntlet, by William T. Snelling.29. Reminiscences, Historical and Personal.
1. The French Voyageurs to Minnesota during the Seventeenth Century, by Rev. E. D. Neill.
2. Description of Minnesota (1850), by Hon. Henry H. Sibley.
3. Our Field of Historical Research, by Hon. Alexander Ramsey.
4. Early Courts of Minnesota, by Hon. Aaron Goodrich.
5. Early Schools of Minnesota, by D. A. J. Baker.
6. Religious Movements in Minnesota, by Rev. C. Hobart.
7. The Dakota Language, by Rev. S. R. Riggs.
8. History and Physical Geography of Minnesota, by H. R. Schoolcraft.
9. Letter of Mesnard, by Rev. E. D. Neill.
10. The Saint Louis River, by T. M. Fullerton.
11. Ancient Mounds and Memorials, by Messrs. Pond, Aiton and Riggs.
12. Schoolcraft's Exploring Tour of 1832, by Rev. W. T. Boutwell.
13. Battle of Lake Pokegama, by Rev. E. D. Neill.
14. Memoir of Jean Nicollet, by Hon. Henry H. Sibley.
15. Sketch of Joseph Renville, by Rev. E. D. Neill.
16. Department of Hudson's Bay, by Rev. G. A. Belcourt.
17. Obituary of James M. Goodhue, by Rev. E. D. Neill.
18. Dakota Land and Dakota Life, by Rev. E. D. Neill.
19. Who were the First Men, by Rev. T. S. Williamson.
20. Louis Hennepin, the Franciscan, and Du Luth, the Explorer.
21. Le Sueur, the Explorer of the Minnesota River.
22. D'Iberville; An Abstract of his Memorial.
23. The Fox and Ojibway War.
24. Captain Jonathan Carver and his Explorations.
25. Pike's Explorations in Minnesota.
26. Who Discovered Itasca Lake, by William Morrison.
27. Early Days at Fort Snelling.
28. Running the Gauntlet, by William T. Snelling.
29. Reminiscences, Historical and Personal.
Volume 2:
30. Voyage in a Six-oared Skiff to the Falls of St. Anthony in 1817, by Major Stephen H. Long.31. Early French Forts and Footprints of the Valley of the Upper Mississippi, by Rev. E. D. Neill.32. Occurrences in and around Fort Snelling from 1819 to 1840, by Rev. E. D. Neill.33. Religion of the Dakotas (Chapter VI. of James W. Lynd's Manuscripts).34. Mineral Regions of Lake Superior, from Their First Discovery in 1865, by Hon. Henry M. Rice.35. Constantine Beltrami, by Alfred J. Hill.36. Historical Notes on the U. S. Land Office, by Hon. Henry M. Rice.37. The Geography of Perrot, so far as it relates to Minnesota, by Alfred J. Hill.38. Dakota Superstitions, by Rev. Gideon H. Pond.39. The Carver Centenary; an account of the Celebration, May 1, 1867, of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Council and Treaty of Capt. Jonathan Carver with the Nadowessioux, at Carver's Cave in St. Paul, with an address by the Rev. John Mattocks.40. Relation of M. Penticant, translated by Alfred J. Hill, with an introductory note by the Rev. E. D. Neill.41. Bibliography of Minnesota, by J. Fletcher Williams.42. A Reminiscence of Fort Snelling, by Mrs. Charlotte O. Van Cleve.43. Narrative of Paul Ma-za-koo-to-ma-ne. Translated by Rev. S. R. Riggs.44. Memoir of Ex-Governor Henry A. Swift, by J. Fletcher Williams.45. Sketch of John Otherday, by Hon. Henry H. Sibley.46. A Coincidence, by Mrs. Charlotte O. Van Cleve47. Memoir of Hon. James W. Lynd, by Rev. S. R. Riggs.48. The Dakota Mission, by Rev. S. R. Riggs.49. Indian Warfare in Minnesota, by Rev. S. W. Pond.50. Colonel Leavenworth's Expedition to Establish Fort Snelling in 1819, by Major Thomas Forsyth.51. Memoir of Jean Baptiste Faribault, by Gen. H. H. Sibley.52. Memoir of Captain Martin Scott, by J. Fletcher Williams.53. Na-peh-shnee-doo-ta, a Dakota Christian, by Rev. T. S. Williamson.54. Memoir of Hercules L. Dousman, by Gen. Henry H. Sibley.55. Memoir of Joseph R. Brown, by J. F. Williams, E. S. Goodrich, and J. A. Wheelock.56. Memoir of Hon. Cyrus Aldrich, by J. F. Williams.57. Memoir of Rev. Lucian Galtier, by Bishop John Ireland.58. Memoir of Hon. David Olmsted, by J. F. Williams.59. Reminiscences of the Early Days of Minnesota, by Hon. H. H. Sibley.60. The Sioux or Dakotas of the Missouri River, by Rev. T. S. Williamson.61. Memoir of Rev. S. Y. McMasters, by Earle S. Goodrich.62. Tributes to the Memory of Rev. John Mattocks, by J. F. Williams, Hon. Henry H. Sibley, John B. Sanborn and Bishop Ireland.63. Memoir of Ex-Governor Willis A. Gorman, compiled from press notices, and eulogy by Hon. C. K. Davis.64. Lake Superior, Historical and Descriptive, by Hon. James H. Baker.65. Memorial Notices of Rev. Gideon H. Pond, by Rev. S. R. Riggs, Hon. H. H. Sibley and Rev. T. S. Williamson.66. In Memory of Rev. Thomas S. Williamson, by Rev. S. R. Riggs and A. W. Williamson.67. The Ink-pa-du-ta Massacre of 1857, by Hon. Charles E. Flandrau.
30. Voyage in a Six-oared Skiff to the Falls of St. Anthony in 1817, by Major Stephen H. Long.
31. Early French Forts and Footprints of the Valley of the Upper Mississippi, by Rev. E. D. Neill.
32. Occurrences in and around Fort Snelling from 1819 to 1840, by Rev. E. D. Neill.
33. Religion of the Dakotas (Chapter VI. of James W. Lynd's Manuscripts).
34. Mineral Regions of Lake Superior, from Their First Discovery in 1865, by Hon. Henry M. Rice.
35. Constantine Beltrami, by Alfred J. Hill.
36. Historical Notes on the U. S. Land Office, by Hon. Henry M. Rice.
37. The Geography of Perrot, so far as it relates to Minnesota, by Alfred J. Hill.
38. Dakota Superstitions, by Rev. Gideon H. Pond.
39. The Carver Centenary; an account of the Celebration, May 1, 1867, of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Council and Treaty of Capt. Jonathan Carver with the Nadowessioux, at Carver's Cave in St. Paul, with an address by the Rev. John Mattocks.
40. Relation of M. Penticant, translated by Alfred J. Hill, with an introductory note by the Rev. E. D. Neill.
41. Bibliography of Minnesota, by J. Fletcher Williams.
42. A Reminiscence of Fort Snelling, by Mrs. Charlotte O. Van Cleve.
43. Narrative of Paul Ma-za-koo-to-ma-ne. Translated by Rev. S. R. Riggs.
44. Memoir of Ex-Governor Henry A. Swift, by J. Fletcher Williams.
45. Sketch of John Otherday, by Hon. Henry H. Sibley.
46. A Coincidence, by Mrs. Charlotte O. Van Cleve
47. Memoir of Hon. James W. Lynd, by Rev. S. R. Riggs.
48. The Dakota Mission, by Rev. S. R. Riggs.
49. Indian Warfare in Minnesota, by Rev. S. W. Pond.
50. Colonel Leavenworth's Expedition to Establish Fort Snelling in 1819, by Major Thomas Forsyth.
51. Memoir of Jean Baptiste Faribault, by Gen. H. H. Sibley.
52. Memoir of Captain Martin Scott, by J. Fletcher Williams.
53. Na-peh-shnee-doo-ta, a Dakota Christian, by Rev. T. S. Williamson.
54. Memoir of Hercules L. Dousman, by Gen. Henry H. Sibley.
55. Memoir of Joseph R. Brown, by J. F. Williams, E. S. Goodrich, and J. A. Wheelock.
56. Memoir of Hon. Cyrus Aldrich, by J. F. Williams.
57. Memoir of Rev. Lucian Galtier, by Bishop John Ireland.
58. Memoir of Hon. David Olmsted, by J. F. Williams.
59. Reminiscences of the Early Days of Minnesota, by Hon. H. H. Sibley.
60. The Sioux or Dakotas of the Missouri River, by Rev. T. S. Williamson.
61. Memoir of Rev. S. Y. McMasters, by Earle S. Goodrich.
62. Tributes to the Memory of Rev. John Mattocks, by J. F. Williams, Hon. Henry H. Sibley, John B. Sanborn and Bishop Ireland.
63. Memoir of Ex-Governor Willis A. Gorman, compiled from press notices, and eulogy by Hon. C. K. Davis.
64. Lake Superior, Historical and Descriptive, by Hon. James H. Baker.
65. Memorial Notices of Rev. Gideon H. Pond, by Rev. S. R. Riggs, Hon. H. H. Sibley and Rev. T. S. Williamson.
66. In Memory of Rev. Thomas S. Williamson, by Rev. S. R. Riggs and A. W. Williamson.
67. The Ink-pa-du-ta Massacre of 1857, by Hon. Charles E. Flandrau.
Volume 4:
68. History of the City of St. Paul and County of Ramsey, Minnesota, by J. Fletcher Williams, containing a very full sketch of the first settlement and early days of St. Paul, in 1838, 1839 and 1840, and of the territory from 1849 to 1858; lists of the early settlers and claim owners;amusing events of pioneer days; biographical sketches of over two hundred prominent men of early times; three steel portraits and forty-seven woodcuts (portraits and views); lists of federal, county and city officers since 1849.
68. History of the City of St. Paul and County of Ramsey, Minnesota, by J. Fletcher Williams, containing a very full sketch of the first settlement and early days of St. Paul, in 1838, 1839 and 1840, and of the territory from 1849 to 1858; lists of the early settlers and claim owners;amusing events of pioneer days; biographical sketches of over two hundred prominent men of early times; three steel portraits and forty-seven woodcuts (portraits and views); lists of federal, county and city officers since 1849.
Volume 5:
69. History of the Ojibway Nation, by William W. Warren (deceased); a valuable work, containing the legends and traditions of the Ojibways, their origin, history, costumes, religion, daily life and habits, ideas, biographies of leading chieftains and, orators, vivid descriptions of battles, etc. The work was carefully edited by Rev. Edward D. Neill, who added an appendix of 116 pages, giving an account of the Ojibways from official and other records. It also contains a portrait of Warren, a memoir of him by J. Fletcher Williams, and a copious index.
69. History of the Ojibway Nation, by William W. Warren (deceased); a valuable work, containing the legends and traditions of the Ojibways, their origin, history, costumes, religion, daily life and habits, ideas, biographies of leading chieftains and, orators, vivid descriptions of battles, etc. The work was carefully edited by Rev. Edward D. Neill, who added an appendix of 116 pages, giving an account of the Ojibways from official and other records. It also contains a portrait of Warren, a memoir of him by J. Fletcher Williams, and a copious index.
Volume 6:
70. The Sources of the Mississippi; their Discovery, Real and Pretended, by Hon. James H. Baker.71. The Hennepin Bicentenary; Celebration by the Minnesota Historical Society of the 200th anniversary of the Discovery of the Falls of St. Anthony in 1680, by Louis Hennepin.72. Early Days at Red River Settlement and Fort Snelling; reminiscences of Mrs. Ann Adams.73. Protestant Missions in the Northwest, by Rev. Stephen R. Riggs, with a memoir of the author, by J. F. Williams.74. Autobiography of Major Lawrence Taliaferro, Indian Agent at Fort Snelling, 1820 to 1840.75. Memoir of General Henry Hastings Sibley, by J. F. Williams.76. Mounds in Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin, by Alfred J. Hill.77. Columbian Address, delivered by Hon. H. W. Childs before the Minnesota Historical Society, Oct. 21, 1892.78. Reminiscences of Fort Snelling, by Col. John Bliss.79. Sioux Outbreak of 1862; Mrs. J. E. DeCamp's Narrative of her Captivity.80. A Sioux Story of the War; Chief Big Eagle's Story of the Sioux Outbreak of 1862.81. Incidents of the Threatened Outbreak of Hole-in-the-day and other Ojibways at the time of the Sioux Massacre in 1862, by George W. Sweet.82. Dakota Scalp Dances, by Rev. T. S. Williamson.83. Earliest Schools in Minnesota Valley, by Rev. T. S. Williamson.84. Traditions of Sioux Indians, by Major William H. Forbes.85. Death of a Remarkable Man; Gabriel Franchere, by Hon. Benjamin P. Avery.86. First Settlement on the Red River of the North in 1812, and its Condition in 1847, by Mrs. Elizabeth T. Ayres.87. Frederick Ayer, Teacher and Missionary to the Ojibway Indians, 1829 to 1850.88. Captivity among the Sioux; Story of Nancy McClure.89. Captivity among the Sioux; Story of Mary Schwandt.90. Autobiography and Reminiscences of Philander Prescott.91. Recollections of James M. Goodhue, by Colonel John H. Stevens.92. History of the Ink-pa-du-ta Massacre, by Abbie Gardner Sharp.
70. The Sources of the Mississippi; their Discovery, Real and Pretended, by Hon. James H. Baker.
71. The Hennepin Bicentenary; Celebration by the Minnesota Historical Society of the 200th anniversary of the Discovery of the Falls of St. Anthony in 1680, by Louis Hennepin.
72. Early Days at Red River Settlement and Fort Snelling; reminiscences of Mrs. Ann Adams.
73. Protestant Missions in the Northwest, by Rev. Stephen R. Riggs, with a memoir of the author, by J. F. Williams.
74. Autobiography of Major Lawrence Taliaferro, Indian Agent at Fort Snelling, 1820 to 1840.
75. Memoir of General Henry Hastings Sibley, by J. F. Williams.
76. Mounds in Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin, by Alfred J. Hill.
77. Columbian Address, delivered by Hon. H. W. Childs before the Minnesota Historical Society, Oct. 21, 1892.
78. Reminiscences of Fort Snelling, by Col. John Bliss.
79. Sioux Outbreak of 1862; Mrs. J. E. DeCamp's Narrative of her Captivity.
80. A Sioux Story of the War; Chief Big Eagle's Story of the Sioux Outbreak of 1862.
81. Incidents of the Threatened Outbreak of Hole-in-the-day and other Ojibways at the time of the Sioux Massacre in 1862, by George W. Sweet.
82. Dakota Scalp Dances, by Rev. T. S. Williamson.
83. Earliest Schools in Minnesota Valley, by Rev. T. S. Williamson.
84. Traditions of Sioux Indians, by Major William H. Forbes.
85. Death of a Remarkable Man; Gabriel Franchere, by Hon. Benjamin P. Avery.
86. First Settlement on the Red River of the North in 1812, and its Condition in 1847, by Mrs. Elizabeth T. Ayres.
87. Frederick Ayer, Teacher and Missionary to the Ojibway Indians, 1829 to 1850.
88. Captivity among the Sioux; Story of Nancy McClure.
89. Captivity among the Sioux; Story of Mary Schwandt.
90. Autobiography and Reminiscences of Philander Prescott.
91. Recollections of James M. Goodhue, by Colonel John H. Stevens.
92. History of the Ink-pa-du-ta Massacre, by Abbie Gardner Sharp.
Volume 7:
93. The Mississippi River and Its Source; a narrative and critical history of the river and its headwaters, accompanied by the results of detailed hydrographic and topographic surveys; illustrated with many maps, portraits and views of the scenery; by Hon. J. V. Brower, Commissioner of the Itasca State Park, representing also the State Historical Society. With an appendix: How the Mississippi River and the Lake of the Woods became instrumental in the establishment of the northwestern boundary of the United States, by Alfred J. Hill.
93. The Mississippi River and Its Source; a narrative and critical history of the river and its headwaters, accompanied by the results of detailed hydrographic and topographic surveys; illustrated with many maps, portraits and views of the scenery; by Hon. J. V. Brower, Commissioner of the Itasca State Park, representing also the State Historical Society. With an appendix: How the Mississippi River and the Lake of the Woods became instrumental in the establishment of the northwestern boundary of the United States, by Alfred J. Hill.
Volume 8:
94. The International Boundary between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods, by Ulysses Sherman Grant.95. The Settlement and Development of the Red River Valley, by Warren Upham.96. The Discovery and Development of the Iron Ores of Minnesota, by N. H. Winchell, State Geologist.97. The Origin and Growth of the Minnesota Historical Society, by the President, Hon. Alexander Ramsey.98. Opening of the Red River of the North to Commerce and Civilization, with plates, by Capt. Russell Blakeley.99. Last days of Wisconsin Territory, and Early Days of Minnesota Territory, by Hon. Henry L. Moss.100. Lawyers and Courts of Minnesota, Prior to and During its Territorial Period, by Judge Charles E. Flandrau.101. Homes and Habitations of the Minnesota Historical Society, by Charles E. Mayo.102. The Historical Value of Newspapers, by J. B. Chaney.103. The United States Government Publications, by D. L. Kingsbury.104. The First Organized Government of Dakota, by Gov. Samuel J. Albright, with a preface by Judge Charles E. Flandrau.105. How Minnesota became a State, by Prof. Thomas F. Moran.106. Minnesota's Northern Boundary, by Alexander N. Winchell.107. The Question of the Sources of the Mississippi River, by Prof. E. Lavasseur. (Translated by Col. W. P. Clough.)108. The Source of the Mississippi, by Prof. N. H. Winchell.109. Prehistoric Man at the Headwaters of the Mississippi River (with plates), and an addendum relating to the early visits of Mr. Julius Chambers and the Rev. J. A. Gilfillan to Itasca Lake, by Hon. J. V. Brower.110. History of Minnesota, by Edward D. Neill. First Edition, 1858; has gone through four editions.111. Concise History of the State of Minnesota, by Edward D. Neill, 1887.112. Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars, 1861-1865, prepared under the supervision of a committee appointed by the legislature, 1890-1893, in two volumes.113. History of the Sioux War and Massacres of 1862-1863, by Isaac V. D. Heard, 1865.114. A History of the Great Massacre by the Sioux Indians in Minnesota, by Charles S. Bryant and Abel B. Murch, 1872.115. Minnesota Historical Society Collections, in eight volumes, 1850 to 1898, containing many of the above named works and papers.116. History of St. Paul, Minnesota, by Gen. Christopher C. Andrews, 1890.117. History of the City of Minneapolis, by Isaac Atwater, in two volumes.118. Pen Pictures of St. Paul, Minnesota, and Biographical Sketches of Old Settlers, by T. M. Newson.119. Fifty Years in the Northwest, by W. H. C. Folsom, 1888.120. The United States Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Eminent and Self-Made Men, Minnesota Volume by Jeremiah Clemmens, assisted by J. Fletcher Williams, 1879.121. Progressive Men of Minnesota, Biographical Sketches and Portraits, together with an historical and descriptive sketch of the state, by Marion D. Shutter and J. S. McLain, 1897.122. Biographical History of the Northwest, by Alonzo Phelps, 1890.123. A History of the Republican Party, to which is added a political history of Minnesota from a Republican point of view, and biographical sketches of leading Minnesota Republicans, by Eugene V. Smalley.124. There are also many quarto histories of counties in Minnesota and of larger districts of the state, mostly published during the years 1880 to 1890, including twenty counties, namely, Dakota, Dodge, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Hennepin, Houston, McLeod, Meeker, Olmsted, Pope, Ramsey, Rice, Steele, Stevens, Wabasha, Waseca, Washington, and Winona, and five districts, namely, The St. Croix Valley, the Upper Mississippi Valley, the Minnesota Valley, the Red River Valley and Park Region, and Southern Minnesota.125. Winona and its Environs, by L. H. Bunnell, 1897, with maps and portraits.
94. The International Boundary between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods, by Ulysses Sherman Grant.
95. The Settlement and Development of the Red River Valley, by Warren Upham.
96. The Discovery and Development of the Iron Ores of Minnesota, by N. H. Winchell, State Geologist.
97. The Origin and Growth of the Minnesota Historical Society, by the President, Hon. Alexander Ramsey.
98. Opening of the Red River of the North to Commerce and Civilization, with plates, by Capt. Russell Blakeley.
99. Last days of Wisconsin Territory, and Early Days of Minnesota Territory, by Hon. Henry L. Moss.
100. Lawyers and Courts of Minnesota, Prior to and During its Territorial Period, by Judge Charles E. Flandrau.
101. Homes and Habitations of the Minnesota Historical Society, by Charles E. Mayo.
102. The Historical Value of Newspapers, by J. B. Chaney.
103. The United States Government Publications, by D. L. Kingsbury.
104. The First Organized Government of Dakota, by Gov. Samuel J. Albright, with a preface by Judge Charles E. Flandrau.
105. How Minnesota became a State, by Prof. Thomas F. Moran.
106. Minnesota's Northern Boundary, by Alexander N. Winchell.
107. The Question of the Sources of the Mississippi River, by Prof. E. Lavasseur. (Translated by Col. W. P. Clough.)
108. The Source of the Mississippi, by Prof. N. H. Winchell.
109. Prehistoric Man at the Headwaters of the Mississippi River (with plates), and an addendum relating to the early visits of Mr. Julius Chambers and the Rev. J. A. Gilfillan to Itasca Lake, by Hon. J. V. Brower.
110. History of Minnesota, by Edward D. Neill. First Edition, 1858; has gone through four editions.
111. Concise History of the State of Minnesota, by Edward D. Neill, 1887.
112. Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars, 1861-1865, prepared under the supervision of a committee appointed by the legislature, 1890-1893, in two volumes.
113. History of the Sioux War and Massacres of 1862-1863, by Isaac V. D. Heard, 1865.
114. A History of the Great Massacre by the Sioux Indians in Minnesota, by Charles S. Bryant and Abel B. Murch, 1872.
115. Minnesota Historical Society Collections, in eight volumes, 1850 to 1898, containing many of the above named works and papers.
116. History of St. Paul, Minnesota, by Gen. Christopher C. Andrews, 1890.
117. History of the City of Minneapolis, by Isaac Atwater, in two volumes.
118. Pen Pictures of St. Paul, Minnesota, and Biographical Sketches of Old Settlers, by T. M. Newson.
119. Fifty Years in the Northwest, by W. H. C. Folsom, 1888.
120. The United States Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Eminent and Self-Made Men, Minnesota Volume by Jeremiah Clemmens, assisted by J. Fletcher Williams, 1879.
121. Progressive Men of Minnesota, Biographical Sketches and Portraits, together with an historical and descriptive sketch of the state, by Marion D. Shutter and J. S. McLain, 1897.
122. Biographical History of the Northwest, by Alonzo Phelps, 1890.
123. A History of the Republican Party, to which is added a political history of Minnesota from a Republican point of view, and biographical sketches of leading Minnesota Republicans, by Eugene V. Smalley.
124. There are also many quarto histories of counties in Minnesota and of larger districts of the state, mostly published during the years 1880 to 1890, including twenty counties, namely, Dakota, Dodge, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Hennepin, Houston, McLeod, Meeker, Olmsted, Pope, Ramsey, Rice, Steele, Stevens, Wabasha, Waseca, Washington, and Winona, and five districts, namely, The St. Croix Valley, the Upper Mississippi Valley, the Minnesota Valley, the Red River Valley and Park Region, and Southern Minnesota.
125. Winona and its Environs, by L. H. Bunnell, 1897, with maps and portraits.
Among the Earliest Publications are:
126. Minnesota and its Resources, by J. Wesley Bond, 1853.127. Minnesota Year Books, 1851, 1852, 1853, by William G. Le Duc.128. Floral Home, or First Years of Minnesota, 1857, by Harriet E. Bishop.129. Narratives and Reports of Travels and Explorations, by Hennepin, Carver, Long and Keating, Beltrami, Featherstonhaugh, Schoolcraft, Nicollet, Owen, Oliphant, Andrews, Seymour and others.130. For Geographic and Geologic descriptions of Minnesota, the reports of the geological and natural history survey are the most complete sources of information, by Prof. N. H. Winchell, State Geologist, assisted by Warren Upham, Ulysses Sherman Grant, and others. The annual reports comprise twenty-three volumes, 1872 to 1894, with another to be published. Several other volumes have been issued as bulletins of the survey, on iron, mining, birds, mammals, and fishes.131. Four thousand two hundred and fifty bound volumes of Minnesota newspapers, embracing complete files of nearly all the newspapers ever published in Minnesota from first to last.132. One thousand seven hundred and two books and about fifteen hundred pamphlets relating in some way to Minnesota history. All these books can be found in the library of the Minnesota Historical Society, which is always open to the public, free.133. Much historical and other information is contained in the messages of the governors and reports of the various state officers, and especially in the Legislative Manuals prepared for the use of the members of the legislature by the secretary of state, under chapter 122 of the General Laws of 1893, and former laws. These Manuals, and especially that of 1899, are replete with valuable statistics concerning the state, its history and resources.134. Illustrated History of Minnesota, by T. H. Kirk, M. L., 1887.135. Ancestry, Life and Times of Henry Hastings Sibley, by Nathaniel West, D. D., 1889.136. Minnesota and Dacotah in Letters descriptive of a Tour through the Northwest in the Autumn of 1856, with information relative to public lands and a table of statistics, by General C. C. Andrews.137. Lights and Shadows of a Long Episcopate by the Rt. Rev. Henry Benjamin Whipple, D. D., L. L. D., Bishop of Minnesota.138. Reminiscences, Memoirs and Lectures of Monsignor A. Ravoux, V. G. 1890.139. Encyclopedia of Biography of Minnesota, with a History of Minnesota, by Judge Charles E. Flandrau.
126. Minnesota and its Resources, by J. Wesley Bond, 1853.
127. Minnesota Year Books, 1851, 1852, 1853, by William G. Le Duc.
128. Floral Home, or First Years of Minnesota, 1857, by Harriet E. Bishop.
129. Narratives and Reports of Travels and Explorations, by Hennepin, Carver, Long and Keating, Beltrami, Featherstonhaugh, Schoolcraft, Nicollet, Owen, Oliphant, Andrews, Seymour and others.
130. For Geographic and Geologic descriptions of Minnesota, the reports of the geological and natural history survey are the most complete sources of information, by Prof. N. H. Winchell, State Geologist, assisted by Warren Upham, Ulysses Sherman Grant, and others. The annual reports comprise twenty-three volumes, 1872 to 1894, with another to be published. Several other volumes have been issued as bulletins of the survey, on iron, mining, birds, mammals, and fishes.
131. Four thousand two hundred and fifty bound volumes of Minnesota newspapers, embracing complete files of nearly all the newspapers ever published in Minnesota from first to last.
132. One thousand seven hundred and two books and about fifteen hundred pamphlets relating in some way to Minnesota history. All these books can be found in the library of the Minnesota Historical Society, which is always open to the public, free.
133. Much historical and other information is contained in the messages of the governors and reports of the various state officers, and especially in the Legislative Manuals prepared for the use of the members of the legislature by the secretary of state, under chapter 122 of the General Laws of 1893, and former laws. These Manuals, and especially that of 1899, are replete with valuable statistics concerning the state, its history and resources.
134. Illustrated History of Minnesota, by T. H. Kirk, M. L., 1887.
135. Ancestry, Life and Times of Henry Hastings Sibley, by Nathaniel West, D. D., 1889.
136. Minnesota and Dacotah in Letters descriptive of a Tour through the Northwest in the Autumn of 1856, with information relative to public lands and a table of statistics, by General C. C. Andrews.
137. Lights and Shadows of a Long Episcopate by the Rt. Rev. Henry Benjamin Whipple, D. D., L. L. D., Bishop of Minnesota.
138. Reminiscences, Memoirs and Lectures of Monsignor A. Ravoux, V. G. 1890.
139. Encyclopedia of Biography of Minnesota, with a History of Minnesota, by Judge Charles E. Flandrau.
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Forty-six years ago, almost immediately after my arrival in St. Paul, I accepted an offer to explore the valley of the Minnesota river and its tributaries, with reference to finding out the character of its soil, timber, steamboat landings and other natural features, bearing upon the founding of a city. My attention was particularly directed to the point where St. Peter now stands, which had then acquired the name of Rock Bend, from a turn in the river in front of the prairie, with a rocky wall which presented a fine landing for steamboats. Of course, the valley was not aterra incognitowhen I entered it, but settlement was very sparse, and very little was known about it. Town-site speculation was rife, and any place that looked as if it would ever be settled was being pounced upon for a future city. There was not a railroad west of Chicago, and every town location was, of course, governed by the rivers. As strange as it may seem to the residents of the present day, the Minnesota was then a navigable stream, capable of carrying large side wheel steamers several hundred milesabove its mouth, and afterwards bore an immense commerce. As soon as the ice broke up in the spring, the river would rise and overflow its banks clear to the bluffs on each side, making a stream of from five to six miles wide, and deep enough to float boats anywhere within its limits.
A man by the name of William B. Dodd, better known as Captain Dodd in those days, had selected a claim at Rock Bend, covering the landing, and had laid out a road from the Mississippi to this point. He wanted to interest capitalists to start a town on his claim, and had succeeded in gaining the attention of Willis A. Gorman, then governor of the territory, and several other gentlemen, but none of them had ever been up the valley, and reliable information was difficult to obtain. It was true that Tom Holmes had laid out Shakopee, and Henry Jackson and P. K. Johnson, with a syndicate behind them, had selected Mankato, and I think there was a settler or two at Le Sueur, but the whole valley may be said to have been at that time in the possession of Indians, Indian traders and missionaries.
The St. Paul gentlemen who had been approached by Captain Dodd engaged me to go up the valley of the Minnesota river, and follow out all its tributaries, with the idea of reporting upon its general characteristics and prospects, with reference to the founding of a city at Rock Bend. I was delighted to do anything, or go anywhere, that promised work or adventure. It was to me what the Klondike has been to thousands recently. They furnished me with a good team, and away I went. It was in the winter, but I succeeded in reaching Traverse des Sioux, where I found a collection of Indian trading houses, where flourished Louis Roberts, Major Forbes, Nathan Myrick, Madison Sweetzer and others, who drove a trade with the Sioux.There was also at this point a missionary station, with a schoolhouse, a church, and a substantial dwelling house, occupied by the Rev. Moses N. Adams, who had been a missionary among the Sioux, having been transferred from the station at Lac qui Parle, where he had lived for many years, to this point. But the best find that I made was a young Scotchman by the name of Stuart B. Garvie, who had a shanty on the prairie about midway between Traverse des Sioux and my objective point, Rock Bend. I think that Garvie went up there from St. Anthony, under some kind of a promise from Judge Chatfield, that if ever the courts were organized in that region he would be made clerk. Garvie was delighted to discover me, and I being in search of information, we soon fraternized, and he agreed to go with me on my tour of exploration. We went up the Blue Earth, the Le Sueur, the Watonwan, and, in fact, visited all the country that was necessary to convince me that it was, by and large, a splendid agricultural region, and I decided so to report to my principals.
When I was about to leave for down the river, Garvie insisted that I should return and take up my abode at Traverse des Sioux. The proposition seemed too absurd to me to be seriously entertained, and I said: "I am destitute of funds, and how can a lawyer subsist where there are no people? How can I get a living?" This dilemma, which seemed to me to be insuperable, was easily answered by my new found friend. "Why," he said, "That is the easiest part of it. We can hunt a living, and I have a shack and a bed." The proposition was catching, having a spice of adventure in it, and I promised to consider it.
After making my report, in which I recommended Rock Bend as a promising place for a great city, I told the parties who proposed to purchase Captain Dodd's claim that I would confirm my faith in the success of the enterprise by returning and living at the point. I did so, and found myself farther west than any lawyer in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, unless he was in the panhandle of Texas. And now comes the singular way in which I made my first fee, if I may call it by that name. It was my first financial raise, no matter what you call it.
Garvie and I had gotten quietly settled in our shanty on the prairie, when one excessively cold night an Indian boy, about thirteen years of age, saw our light, and came to the door, giving us to understand that his people were encamped about four or five miles up the river, and that he was afraid to go any further lest he should freeze to death. He was mounted on a pony, had a pack of furs with him, and asked us to take him in for the night. We of course did so, and made him as comfortable as we could by giving him a buffalo robe on the floor. But we had no shelter for his pony, and all we could do was to hitch him on the lee side of the shanty, and strap a blanket on him. When morning came he was frozen to death. We got the poor little boy safely off on the way to his people's camp, and decided to utilize the carcass of the pony for a wolf bait.
In order to present an intelligent idea of the situation, I will say that the river made an immense detour in front of the future town, having a large extent of bottom land, covered with a dense chaparral, which was the home of thousands of wolves, and as soon as night came they would start out in droves in search of prey.
We hauled the dead pony out to the back of the shanty, and left it about two rods distant from the window. The moment night set in the wolves in packs would attack the carcass. At first we would step outside and fire into them with buck shot from double-barrelled shotguns, but we found they were so wary that the mere movement of opening the door to get out would frighten them, and we had very limited success for the first few nights. Another difficulty we encountered was shooting in the dark. If you have never tried it, and ever do, you will find it exceedingly difficult to get any kind of an aim, and you have to fire promiscuously at the sound rather than the object.
We remedied this trouble, however, by taking out a light of glass from the back window, and building a rest that bore directly on the carcass, so that we could poke our guns through the opening, settle them on the rest, and blaze away into the gloom. We brought our bed up to the window, so that we could shoot without getting out of it, while snugly wrapped up in our blankets. After this our luck improved, and after each discharge we would rush out, armed with a tomahawk, dispatch the wounded wolves, and collect the dead ones, until we had slaughtered forty-two of them. We skinned them, and sold the pelts to the traders for seventy-five cents a piece, which money was the first of our earnings.
It was not long before we ceased to depend on wolf hunting for a living, as immigration soon poured in, and money became plenty. I remember soon after of having seventeen hundred dollars in gold buried in an oyster can under the shanty.
I lived on this prairie for eleven years, and never was happier at any period of my life, and feel assured that I can safely say that no other man ever enjoyed the luxury of hunting wolves in bed.
The pleasure of narrating such adventures for the present generation is, in this instance, marred by the reflection that both Captain Dodd and my old friend Garvie were killed by the Indians in 1862, the former while gallantly fighting at the battle of New Ulm, and the latter at the Yellow Medicine Agency, on the first day of the outbreak.
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I was told by a gentleman at my club the other day that he had read in some magazine that the British army had blown open the tomb of the Mahdi in upper Africa, and had mutilated the body, cutting off the head and sending it to England in a kerosene can. I could hardly believe the story, but he vouched for having read it in a reputable publication, and being a strong hater of the English, affirmed his unqualified faith in the statement. Notwithstanding his position, it seemed to me incredible that such an act of barbarism could be perpetrated by the disciplined soldiery of a civilized nation in the nineteenth century. The conversation so impressed me that I could not drive it out of my mind, and I kept revolving it and making comparisons with events in my own experience, until I concluded that it is more than probable that it took place as related, and have since learned that it actually occurred.
I have seen a good deal of ferocity and savagism, and it was not at all confined to people acknowledged to be barbarians. I remember an instance where I came very near being a party to a scheme, the brutality of which would have made the mutilation of the dead Mahdi commendable in comparison; but fortunately my better nature and second thought overcame my passions, and I was spared the perpetration of the awful crime, the remembrance of which, had it been committed, would undoubtedly have haunted me through life.
Many of the older settlers of Minnesota will remember the horrors of the Indian massacre and war of 1862,when the Sioux attacked our exposed frontiers, and in a day and a half massacred quite a thousand people. They spared neither age nor sex. It was like all such savage outbreaks,—a war against the race and the blood. These atrocities extended over a large and sparsely inhabited area of country, and were usually perpetrated at the houses of the settlers by the slaughter of the entire family, sometimes varied by the seizure of the women, and carrying them off into captivity, which in most instances was worse than death. Every character of mutilation and outrage that could be suggested by the inflamed passions of a savage were resorted to, and so horrible were they that it would shock and disgust the reader should I attempt to describe them. This condition of things was no surprise to me, because it was to be expected from savages; but the more we saw and heard of it, the more exasperated and angered we became, and the more we vowed vengeance should the opportunity come.
I resided on the frontier at the time the outbreak occurred, and murders were committed within eight miles of my home before I heard of it, which was on the morning of the second day. I, of course, immediately, after disposing of my impedimenta in the shape of women and children, took the field against the enemy, and by nine o'clock in the evening of the same day that I heard of the trouble I found myself at the town of New Ulm, a German settlement on the frontier, the extreme outpost of civilization, in command of over one hundred men, armed and ready for battle. We had raised and equipped the company and travelled thirty-two miles since the morning.
When we entered the town it was being attacked by a squad of Indians, about one hundred strong, who hadalready burned a number of houses and were firing upon the inhabitants, having already killed several. We soon dislodged the enemy, put out the fires, and settled down to await events. This was on Tuesday, the 19th of August. We strengthened the barricades about the town, and did all we could to prepare for a second attack, which we knew would certainly come, and from the combined forces of the enemy, and which did come on the following Saturday. While waiting, numerous squads of whites from the surrounding country reenforced us, and it soon became apparent that someone must be put in command of the whole force, to prevent disorders on the part of the men, as whisky was abundant and free. The honor of the command fell upon me by election of the officers of the various companies, and in the choice of a rank for myself my modesty restrained me to that of colonel. I have often thought since that I lost the opportunity of my life, as I might just as easily have assumed the title of major general.
Every day we sent out scouting expeditions, and brought in refugees, men, women and children, who were in hiding or wounded, and in the most pitiable condition. From these we learned of many additional atrocities, which kept our passions and desire for revenge at fever heat. On Saturday, the 23d, the Indians who had been all the week besieging Fort Ridgely, abandoned that quest, and came down upon us in full force. The attack commenced about half-past nine o'clock on Saturday morning, and the fight raged hotly and viciously for about thirty hours without cessation. I lost in the first hour and a half ten killed and fifty wounded, out of a command of not more than 250 guns. On the afternoon of the next day the Indians gradually disappeared toward the north, and gave us a breathingspell, and then a relief company arrived and the fighting ceased.
On Monday ammunition and provisions were getting short, and fearing a renewal of the attack, I decided to evacuate the town, and go down the Minnesota river to Mankato, a distance of about thirty miles over an open prairie. We had nearly fifteen hundred women and children to take care of, and about eighty wounded men. The caravan consisted of 153 wagons, drawn by horses and oxen; the troops being on foot, and so disposed as to make a good defense if attacked.
Everything being ready for a start, some one suggested to me to set a trap for the Indians, when they should enter the town after our departure, as we all supposed they would, there being an immense amount of loot left behind,—stores full of goods of all kinds, and many other things of value to the savage.
I had, the day before, put a stop to some of the younger men scalping the eight or ten dead Indians who had been dragged into the town from where they had been killed, regarding it as barbarous. The boys would take off a small piece of scalp, and with its long black hair, tie it into their button-holes, as a souvenir to take home with them.
What do you think was the nature of the trap that was proposed to catch the Indians? It makes my blood run cold to think of it, and so disgraceful and diabolical was it that, in all I have said and written about this war in the last thirty-six years, I have never had courage to mention it. Yet as awful as it was, so incensed was I at all the devilish cruelty that had been perpetrated on our people that I at first consented to it, and we went so far as actually to set the trap.
It was proposed to expose a barrel of whisky in aconspicuous place, and put enough strychnine in it to destroy the whole Sioux nation, and then label it "poison" in all the languages spoken in our polyglot country, so that should the first comers be whites they would avoid it, but if Indians, we might have the satisfaction of exterminating them. We actually went so far as to place the barrel where it would attract anyone who should be looking about the main street, which was all that was left of the town, and labelled it in French, English, German, Italian, Swedish and Norwegian, and then put into it eight or ten bottles of strychnine, prepared for destroying wolves, and were about leaving when the thought flashed through my mind: "Suppose a relief squad should be sent to us, and should think the whole matter a joke to cheat them out of a drink, and should sample it and die, as they certainly would, we never could forgive ourselves, and would be really their murderers." My knowledge of the fact that a soldier who had made a long march on a hot day would take big chances for a drink, heightened my apprehension on this view of the subject, and the more I thought the matter over, the more devilish it appeared to me, even if we caught only Indians. I actually felt as though I would be ashamed to meet the spirit of even a savage enemy whom I had disposed of in such a cowardly manner, should we finally be consigned to the same happy hunting grounds, so I took an axe and knocked the head of the barrel in, and let the contents into the street. While I deeply regretted the loss of so much good whisky, I have never thought of the occurrence since without inwardly rejoicing that my better nature and judgment prevented me from committing such an offense against all the laws of honor, humanity and civilization. It turned out that the first arrival was a squad sent by General Sibley to our relief, and from what I know of some of the men composing it, I am quite certain that the warning would have been disregarded. The circumstance, however, proves how deeply the savage instinct is imbedded in human nature, whatever the color of the skin. "Give us strength to resist temptation," has been my prayer ever since.
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The winter of 1856, in Minnesota, was characterized by the usual amount of cold weather, snow and storms, and people operating on the frontier were compelled to exercise great care and caution to prevent disasters. All old timers who have had occasion to live beyond the settlements and travel long distances in an open prairie country well know that the danger of being overtaken by storms is one of the most terrible that one can be exposed to. Most of the casualties, however, that result from being caught in these storms may be attributed to want of experience, and consequent lack of preparation to meet and contend with them. I have employed many men of all nationalities in teaming long distances on the prairie frontier in the winter season, and while the American is always reliable and dexterous in emergencies, I have found the French Canadian always the best equipped for winter prairie work, in his knowledge in this line that can only be gained by experience. His ancestors served the early fur companies from Montreal to McKenzie's river, from Hudson's bay to the Pacific, and knew how to take care of themselves with the unerring instinct of the cariboo and the moose, and the generation of them that I came in contact with had inherited all these characteristics.
I have known a brigade of teams, manned by Germans, Englishmen and Irishmen (the Scandinavians had then just begun to make their appearance in the Northwest) to be caught in a winter storm, and result in the amputation of fingers, toes, feet and hands from freezing, but I cannot remember ever losing a Canadian Frenchman. I recall one instance, where a train was overtaken by a severe storm just about evening, where no timber was in sight. The men built barricades with their sleds and loads, and took refuge to the leeward of them, where they passed quite a comfortable night for themselves and their teams. With the coming of the morning light they discovered a timber island not very far off, and started for it with their horses, to make fires, feed the teams, and get breakfast. The storm had abated, and the sun shone brilliantly. One young American lad shouldered a sack of oats, and not realizing that it was very cold, did not put on his mittens, but seized the neck of the sack with his bare hand. When he arrived at the timber all his fingers were frozen, and had to be amputated. It was merely one of the cases of serious injury I have known arising from ignorance.
No one who has not encountered a blizzard on the open prairie can form an adequate idea of the almost hopelessness of the situation. The air becomes filled with driving, whirling snow to such an extent that it is with difficulty you can see your horses, and the effect is the same as absolute darkness in destroying all conception of direction. You may think you are going straight forward when in fact you are moving in a small circle; the only safety is to stop and battle it out.
I remember a case which happened in this region before it became Minnesota which fully proves the dangers of a blizzard to a traveler on the open prairie. Martin McLeod and Pierre Bottineau, together with an Englishman and a Pole, started from Fort Garry for the headwaters of the Minnesota river. They were well equipped in all respects, having a good dog train, and, in Bottineau, one of the most experienced guides in theNorthwest. While the party was in sight of timber it was suddenly enveloped in a blizzard, and, of course, wanted to reach the timber for safety. Here a controversy arose as to the direction to be taken to find it, the Englishman and the Pole insisting on one line, and McLeod and Bottineau on another. They separated. McLeod took the dogs, and he and they soon fell over a precipice and were covered up in a deep snow drift, where they remained quite comfortably through the night. Bottineau through his instincts reached the timber, and was safe, where he was joined the next morning by McLeod. The Englishman was afterwards discovered so badly frozen that he died, while the Pole was lost. The only trace of him that was ever discovered was his pistols, which were found on the prairie the next spring, the wolves having undoubtedly disposed of his remains.
The remedy for these dangers is to avoid them by a close scrutiny of the weather, and by never venturing on a big prairie if you can by any means avoid it, and always being abundantly supplied with food for yourself and animals, whether horses or dogs, besides fuel, matches, blankets, robes, and all the paraphernalia of a snow camp, should you have to make one. No people are more careful in these particulars than the Indians themselves, from whom the French voyageurs undoubtedly learned their lessons.
To give an idea of how treacherous the weather may be, and of what dangers frontier people are subjected to, I will relate an adventure in which I participated when living in the Indian country, which, however, turned out pleasantly. I had been at my Redwood agency for several days, and it became important that I should visit my upper agency, situated on the Yellow Medicine river,about thirty miles distant, up the Minnesota river. After crossing the Redwood river, the road led over a thirty-mile prairie, without a shrub on it as big as a walking stick. The day was bright and beautiful, and the ride promised to be a pleasant one, so I invited my surgeon, Dr. Daniels, and his wife to accompany me. They gladly accepted, and Mrs. Daniels took her baby along. (By the way, this baby is now the elder sister of the wife of one of our most distinguished attorneys, Mr. John V. I. Dodd.) Mr. Andrew Myrick, a trader at the agency, learning that we were going, decided to accompany us, and got up his team for the purpose, taking some young friends with him, and off we went.
I had early taken the precaution to construct a sleigh especially adapted to winter travel in this exposed region. It had recesses where were stowed away provisions, fuel, tools, and many things to meet possible emergencies. The cushions were made of twelve pairs of four-point Mackinaw blankets, and the side rails were capable of carrying two carcasses of venison or mutton, so I felt quite capable of conquering a blizzard.
I may say here that I had a surgeon at each agency, who were brothers, Dr. Asa W. Daniels at the lower agency and Dr. Jared Daniels at the upper, and this excursion presented a pleasant opportunity for the families to meet. The upper agency was in charge of my chief farmer, a Scotch gentleman by the name of Robertson. He was a mystery which I never unravelled,—a handsome, aristocratic, highly educated man about seventy years of age, with the manners of a Chesterfield. He had been in the Indian country for many years, had married a squaw, and raised a numerous family of children, and had been in the employment of the government ever since the making of the treaties. I always thought he once was a man of fortune, who had dissipated it in some way, after travelling the world over, and had sought oblivion in the wilds of America.
There was a large comfortable log house at the Yellow Medicine agency, occupied by Robertson, which answered for all his purposes, both business and domestic, and furnished a home and office for me when I happened to be there; and on one occasion, during the Ink-pa-du-ta excitement, I found it made a very efficient fort for defense against the Indians.
Our trip was uneventful, and we arrived in the evening. That night a blizzard sprang up that exceeded in severity anything of the kind in my experience, and I have had nearly half a century of Minnesota winters. It raged and rampaged. It piled the snow on the prairie in drifts of ten and twenty feet in height. It filled the river bottoms to the height of about three feet on the level. It lasted about ten days, during which time, we of course, did not dream of getting out, but amused ourselves as best we could. It was what the French called apoudre de riz, where there is more snow in the air than on the ground. Although I have been entertained in many parts of the world, and by many various kinds of people, I can say that I never enjoyed a few weeks more satisfactorily than those we spent under compulsion at the Yellow Medicine river on that occasion.
Personal association with Mr. Robertson was not only a delight, but an education. He had been everywhere, and knew everything. He was charming in conversation and magnificent in hospitality, and the unique nature of his entertainment under his savage environments lent an additional charm to the situation. He soon became aware that we needed something excitingto sustain us in our enforced imprisonment, and he produced fiddlers and half-breed women for dancing. He gave us every day a dinner party composed of viands unknown outside of the frontier of North America. One day we would have the tail of the beaver, always regarded as a great delicacy on the border; the next, the paws of the bear soused, which, when served on a white dish, very much resembled the foot of a negro, but were good; then, again, roasted muskrat, which in the winter is as delicate as a young chicken; then fricasseed skunk, which, in season, is free from all offensive odor, and extremely delicate,—all served withle riz sauvage. In fact, he exhausted the resources of the country to make us happy.
But Robertson's menu was the least part of it. Every evening he would assemble us, and read Shakespeare and the poetry of Burns to us. I never understood or enjoyed Burns until I heard it read and expounded by Robertson.
The time passed in this pleasant fashion until we commenced to think we were "snowed in" for the winter, and I began to devise ways and means for getting out. I had to get out; but how, was the question. To cross the prairie was not to be thought of; we could not get an Indian to venture over it on snowshoes, let alone driving over it. Nothing had been heard of us below, and, as we learned afterwards, the St. Paul papers had published an account of our all being frozen to death, with full details of Andrew Myrick being found dead in his sleigh, with the lines in his hands and his horses standing stiff before him.
I decided that an expedition might work its way through on the river bottoms, and we could follow in its trail. So I sent out a party with several heavy sleds,loaded with hay, and each drawn by four or five yoke of oxen to beat a track. They returned after several days' absence, and reported that the thing was impossible, and they could not get through. I then called for volunteers, and the French Canadians came to the front. I allowed them to organize their own expedition. They took their fiddles with them, and the agreement was, that if we didn't hear from them in five days, we were to consider that they were through, and we could follow. The days passed one after the other, and at the expiration of the time, we all started, and laboriously followed the trail they had beaten. We noticed their camps from day to day, and saw that they had not been distressed, and found them, at the end of the journey, as jolly as such people always are, whether in sunshine or storm.
It is much more agreeable to write about blizzards than to encounter them.
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In the beginning of the settlement of the Minnesota valley, in the early fifties, a man named Tom Cowan located at Traverse des Sioux. His name will be at once recognized by all the old settlers. He was a Scotchman, and had been in business in Baltimore. Financial difficulties had driven him to the West, to begin life anew and grow up with the country. He was a very well read and companionable man, and exceedingly bright by nature, and at once became very popular with the people. His first venture was in the fur trade, but not knowing anything about it, his success was not brilliant. I remember that he once paid an immense price for a very large black bearskin, thinking he had struck a bonanza. He kept it on exhibition, until one day John S. Prince, who was an experienced fur buyer, dropped in, and after listening to Cowan's eulogy on his bear skin, quietly remarked: "He bear; not worth a d—n," which decision induced Tom to abandon the fur trade.
There being no lawyer but one at Traverse des Sioux, and I having been elected to the supreme bench, Mr. Cowan decided to study law, and open an office for the practice of that profession. He accordingly proposed that he should study with me, which idea I strongly encouraged, and after about six weeks of diligent reading, principally devoted to the statutes, I admitted him to the bar, and he fearlessly announced himself as an attorney and counselor at law. In this venture he was phenomenally successful. He was a finespeaker, made an excellent argument on facts, and soon stood high in the profession. He took a leading part in politics, was made register of deeds of his county, went to the legislature, and was nominated for lieutenant governor of the state after its admission into the Union; but, of course, in all his practice he was never quite certain about the law of his cases. This deficiency was made up by dash and brilliancy, and he got along swimmingly.
One day he came to my office and said: "Judgey, I am going to try a suit at Le Sueur to-morrow that involves $2,500. It is the biggest suit we have ever had in the valley, and I think it ought to have some Latin in it, and I want you to furnish me with that ingredient." I said: "Tom, what is it all about? I must know what kind of a suit it is before I can supply the Latin appropriately, and especially as I am not very much up in Latin myself."
He said the suit was on an insurance policy; that he was defending on the ground of misrepresentations made by the insured on the making of the policy, and he must have some Latin to illustrate and strengthen his point.
I mulled over the proposition, looked up some books on maxims, and finally gave him this, "Non haec in federe veni," which I translated to mean, "I did not enter into this contract." He was delighted, and said there ought to be no doubt of success with the aid of this formidable weapon, and made me promise to ride down with him to hear him get it off. So the next day we started, and in crossing the Le Sueur prairie, Cowan was hailed by a man who said he was under arrest for having kicked a man out of his house for insulting hisfamily, and he wanted Tom to defend him. The justice's court was about a mile from the road, in a carpenter shop, the proprietor of which was the justice. Tom told him to demand a jury, and he would stop on his way back and help him out.
When we arrived at Le Sueur we found that the case could not be heard that day, and, starting homeward, about four o'clock we reached the carpenter shop. There we found the jury awaiting us. We hitched the team, and I spread myself comfortably on a pile of shavings to witness the legal encounter. The complaining party proved his case. Cowan put his client on the witness stand, and showed the provocation. Then he addressed the jury. His defense was, want of criminal intent. He dwelt eloquently on the point that the gist of the offense was the intent with which the act was committed, and when it appeared that the act was justified, there could be no crime. Then, casting a quizzical glance at me, he struck a tragic attitude, and thundered out: "Gentlemen of the jury, it is indelibly recorded in all the works of Roman jurisprudence, 'Non haec in federe veni,' which means there can be no crime without criminal intent." The effect was electrical; the jury acquitted the prisoner, and we drove home fully convinced that the law was not an exact science. With what effect Tom utilized his Latin in the insurance suit I have forgotten, or was never advised.
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In the summer of 1856 I had the celebrated battery commanded by Major T. W. Sherman of the United States Army (better known as the Buena Vista Battery, from the good work it did in the Mexican war) on duty in the Indian country, on account of a great excitement which prevailed among the Indians. The officers of the battery were Major Sherman, First Lieutenant Ayer, and Second Lieutenant Du Barry. Its force of men was about sixty, including noncommissioned officers. I think it had four guns, but of this I am not certain.
One day, after skirmishing about over considerable country, we made a camp on the Yellow Medicine river, near a fine spring, and everything seemed comfortable. The formation of the camp was a square, with the guns and tents inside, and a sort of a picket line on all sides about a hundred yards from the center, on which the sentinels marched day and night. I tented with the major, and seeing that the Indians were allowed to come inside of the picket lines with their guns in their hands, I took the liberty of saying to him that I did not consider such a policy safe, because the Indians could, at a concerted signal, each pick out his man and shoot him down, and then where would the battery be? But the major's answer was, "Oh, we must not show any timidity." So I said no more, but it was just such misplaced confidence that afterwards cost General Canby his life among the Modocs, when he was shot down by Captain Jack. Things went on quietly, until oneday a young soldier went down to the spring with his bucket and dipper for water, and an Indian who desired to make a name for himself among his fellows followed him stealthily, and when he was in a stooping posture, filling his bucket, came up behind him, and plunged a long knife into his neck, intending, of course, to kill him; but as luck would have it, the knife struck his collarbone and doubled up, so the Indian could not withdraw it. The shock nearly prostrated the soldier, but he succeeded in reaching camp. The major immediately demanded the surrender of the guilty party, and he was given up by the Indians. I noticed one thing, however; no more Indians were allowed inside the lines with their guns in their hands.
When the prisoner was brought into camp a guard tent was established, and he was confined in it, with ten men to stand guard over him. These men were each armed with the minie rifle which was first introduced into the army, and which was quite an effective weapon.
While all this was going on, we were holding pow-pows every day with the Indians, endeavoring to straighten out and clear up all the vexed questions between us. The manner of holding a council was to select a place on the prairie, plant an American flag in the center, and all hands squat down in a circle around it. Then the speechifying would commence, and last for hours without any satisfactory results. Anyone who has had much experience in Indian councils is aware of the hopelessness of arriving at a termination of the discussion. It very much resembles Turkish diplomacy. But the weather was pleasant, and everybody was patient.
The Indians, however, were concocting plans all this time to effect the escape of the prisoner in the guardhouse. So one day they suggested a certain place for the holding of the council, giving some plausible reason for the change of location, and when the time arrived, everybody assembled, and the ring was formed. Those present consisted of all the traders, Superintendent Cullen, Major Sherman, Lieutenant Ayer,—in fact, all the white men at the agency,—and about one hundred Indians, everyone of whom had a gun in his hands. I had warned the major frequently not to allow an Indian to come into council with a gun, but he deemed it better not to show any timidity, and they were not prohibited. The council on this occasion was held about four hundred yards from the battery camp, and on lower ground, but with no obstruction between them. The scheme of the savages was to spring to their feet on a concerted signal and begin firing their guns all around the council circle, so as to create a great excitement and bring everyone to his feet, and just at this moment the prisoner in the guardhouse was to make a run in the direction of the council, keeping exactly between the guard and the whites in the council ring, believing that the soldiers would not fire for fear of killing their own people. When the time arrived every Indian in the ring jumped to his feet and fired in the air, creating a tremendous fusilade, and as had been expected, the most frightful panic followed, and everyone thinking that a general massacre of the whites had begun, they scattered in all directions. Instantly the prisoner ran for the crowd, and an Indian can sprint like a deer. Contrary to expectations, every one of the ten guards opened fire on him, and seven of them hit him, but curiously not one of the wounds stopped his progress, and he got away; but the bullets went over and among the whites, one ricocheting through the coat of Major Cullen. Theprisoner never was caught, but I heard a great deal about him afterwards. His exploit of stabbing the soldier and his almost miraculous escape made him one of the most celebrated medicine men of his band, and he continued to work wonders thenceforth.
After the return of the battery I was informed by my close friends among the Indians that they had sat on the hills overlooking the camp and concocted all kinds of schemes to take it, the principal one of which was to fill bladders with water, and pour them over the touch-holes of the guns, and, as they supposed, render them useless, and then open fire on the men. Fortunately nothing of the kind was tried, but I was convinced that no one can be too cautious when in the country of a savage enemy. A good lesson can be learned from this narrative by the people now occupying the country of the Filipinos.
One pleasing circumstance resulted from the presence of this battery in the Indian country. About thirty years after the occurrences I have been narrating I had occasion to transact some business with the adjutant general of our state at his office in the capitol, and after completing it I was about to retire, when the general said to me: "Judge, you don't seem to remember me." I replied: "General, did I ever have the pleasure of your acquaintance?" "Not exactly," he said, "but don't you remember the time when you had the old Sherman Battery in the field, with its tall first sergeant?" I said: "I recall the event quite clearly, but not the sergeant." He said: "One day, after a long, hot march, I was laying out the camp, and you were sitting on your horse observing the operation, when you noticed me and called me to you, and pulling a flask from your pocket or holster, you asked me to take adrink. That is a long time ago, but I remember it as the best drink I ever had, and I always associate you pleasantly with it." The tall sergeant had matured into a most dignified and charming gentleman, with whom I have ever since enjoyed the most agreeable relations.
The moral of this story is, that when you are in the country of hostile savages, never accept any confidences or take any chances, and when you have more drinks than you can conveniently absorb, divide with your neighbor.