Chapter IX: Part 9

On the twentieth day of April, 1891, the legislature of the state passed an act entitled "An act to provide for the collection, arrangement and display of the products of the State of Minnesota at the World's Columbian Exposition of one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three, and to make an appropriation therefor." This act created a commission of six citizens of the state, to be appointed by the governor, and called "The Board of World's Fair Managers of Minnesota." The women of the state determined that there should be an opportunity for them to participate in the exposition on the part of Minnesota, and a convention of delegates from each county of the state was called, and held at the People's Church, in St. Paul, on Feb. 14, 1892. This convention elected one woman delegate and one alternate, from each of the seven congressional districts of the state. There were also two national lady managers from Minnesota, nominated by the two national representatives from Minnesota and appointed by the president of the United States, who were added to the seven delegates so chosen, and the whole was called "The Woman's Auxiliary to the State Commission." The women so chosen took charge of all the matters properly pertaining to the women's department of the fair.

At one of the meetings of the ladies, held in St. Paul, the question of the selection of an official flower for the state was presented, and the sentiment generally prevailed that it should at once be decided by the assemblage; but Mrs. L. P. Hunt, the delegate from Mankato, in the second congressional district, wisely suggested that the selection should be made by all the ladies of the state, and they should be given an opportunity to vote upon the proposition. This suggestion was approved, and the following plan was adopted: Mrs. Hunt was authorized to appoint a committee, of which she was to be chairman, to select a list of flowers to be voted on. Accordingly she appointed a subcommittee, who were to consult the state botanist, Mr. Conway MacMillan, who was to name a number of Minnesota flowers from which the ladies were to choose. He presented the following:

Lady Slipper (Moccasin Flower--_Cypripedium Spectabile_).
Silky Aster.
Indian Pink.
Cone Flower (Brown-eyed Susan).
Wild Rose.

The plan was to send out printed tickets, to all the women's organizations in the state, with these names on them, to be voted upon, which was done, with the result that the moccasin flower received an overwhelming majority, and has ever since been accepted as the official flower of the state. That the contest was a very spirited one can be judged from the fact that Mrs. Hunt sent out in her district at least ten thousand tickets, with indications of her choice of the moccasin flower. She also maintained lengthy newspaper controversies with parties in Manitoba, who claimed the prior right of that province to the moccasin flower, all of whom she vanquished.

The choice was a very wise and appropriate one. The flower itself is very beautiful, and peculiarly adapted to the purposes of artistic decoration. It has already been utilized in three instances of an official character, with success and approval. The Minnesota state building at the Columbian Exposition was beautifully decorated with it. It is prominently incorporated into the state flag, and adorns the medal conferred by the state upon the defenders of Fort Ridgely.

The botanical name of the flower is _Cypripedium_, taken from Greek words meaning the shoe of Venus. It is popularly called "Lady's Slipper," "Moccasin Flower" and "Indian Shoe."

About twenty-five species of _cypripedium_ are known, belonging to the north temperate zone and reaching south into Mexico and northern India. Six species occur in the northern United States and Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains, all of these being found in Minnesota, and about a dozen species occur on this continent. They are perennial herbs, with irregular flowers, which grow singly or in small clusters, the colors of some of which are strikingly beautiful. The species adopted by the women of the State of Minnesota is the _Cypripedium Spectabile_, or the showy lady slipper.

The ladies naturally desired that their choice should be ratified by the state legislature, and one of their number prepared a report of their doings, in a petition to that body, asking its approval. Whoever drew the petition named the flower chosen by the ladies as "_Cypripedium Calceolous_," a species which does not grow in Minnesota, but is purely of European production. The petition was presented to the senate on the fourth day of February, 1893. The journal of the senate shows the following record, which is found on page 167:

"Mr. Dean asked the unanimous consent to present a petition from
the Women's Auxiliary to the World's Fair, relative to the
adoption of a state flower and emblem, which was read.

"Mr. Dean offered the following concurrent resolution, and moved
its adoption:

"'Be it resolved by the senate, the house of representatives
concurring, that the wild Lady Slipper, or Moccasin Flower
('_Cypripedium Calceolous_'), be, and the same is hereby,
designated and adopted as the state flower or emblem of the
State of Minnesota,' which was adopted."

In the Legislative Manual of 1893 appears, on page 606, the following:

"THE STATE FLOWER.

"On April 4, 1893 [should be February], a petition from the
Women's Auxiliary to the World's Fair was presented to the
senate, relative to the adoption of a state flower. By
resolution of the senate, concurred in by the house (?), the
Wild Lady Slipper, or Moccasin Flower (_Cypripedium_) was
designated as the state flower or floral emblem of the State of
Minnesota."

The word "_Calceolous_" means a little shoe or slipper; but, as I said before, the species so designated in botany is not indigenous to Minnesota, and is purely a foreigner. As we have in the course of our growth assimilated so many foreigners successfully, we will have no trouble in swallowing this small shoe, especially as the house did not concur in the resolution, and while the mistake will in no way militate against the progress or prosperity of Minnesota, it should be a warning to all committees and Western legislators to go slow when dealing with the dead languages.

We now have the whole body of cypripediums to choose from, and may reject the calceolous.

If the house of representatives ever concurred in the senate resolution, it left no trace of its action, either in its journal or published laws, that I have been able to find.

Among the many valuable achievements of the Women's Auxiliary one deserves special mention. Mrs. H. F. Brown, one of the delegates at large, suggested a statue for the Woman's Building, to be the production of Minnesota's artistic conception and execution. The architect of the state building had disallowed this feature, and there was no public fund to meet the expense, which would be considerable. The ladies, however, decided to procure the statue, and rely on private subscription to defray the cost. Mrs. L. P. Hunt thought that sufficient funds might be raised from the school children of the state, through a penny subscription. Enough was raised, however, to secure a plaster cast of great beauty, representing Hiawatha carrying Minnehaha across a stream in his arms, illustrating the lines in Longfellow's poem:

"Over wide and rushing rivers
In his arms he bore the maiden."

This statue adorned the porch of the Minnesota building during the fair. It was designed and made by a very talented young Norwegian sculptor, then residing in Minneapolis--the late Jakob Fjelde. It is proposed to cast the statue in bronze and place it in Minnehaha park, Minneapolis, at some future day.

ORIGIN OF THE NAME "GOPHER STATE."

Most of the states in the Union have a popular name. New York is called the "Empire State," Pennsylvania the "Keystone State," etc. As you come west they seem to have taken the names of animals. Michigan is called the "Wolverine State," Wisconsin the "Badger State," and it is not at all singular that Minnesota should have been christened the "Gopher State." These names never originate by any recognized authority. They arise from some event that suggests them, or from some important utterance that makes an impression on the public mind. In the very early days of the territory--say, as early as 1854 or 1855,--the question was discussed among the settlers as to what name should be adopted by Minnesota, and for a time it was called by some the "Beaver State." That name seemed to have the greatest number of advocates, but it was always met with the objection that the beaver, although quite numerous in some of our streams, was not sufficiently so to entitle him to characterize the territory by giving it his name. While this debate was in progress the advocates of the beaver spoke of the territory as the beaver territory, but it never reached a point of universal adoption. It was well known that the gopher abounded, and his name was introduced as a competitor with the beaver; but being a rather insignificant animal, and his nature being destructive, and in no way useful, he was objected to by many, as too useless and undignified to become an emblem of the coming great state,--for we all had, at that early day, full confidence that Minnesota was destined to be a great and prominent state. Nothing was ever settled on this subject until after the year 1857. As I have before stated, in that year an attempt was made to amend the constitution by allowing the state to issue bonds in the sum of $5,000,000 to aid in the construction of the railroads which the United States had subsidized with land grants, and the campaign which involved this amendment was most bitterly fought. The opponents of the measure published a cartoon to bring the subject into ridicule, which was very generally circulated throughout the state, but failed to check the enthusiasm in favor of the proposition. This cartoon represented ten men in a line, with heads bowed down with the weight of a bag of gold hung about their necks, marked "$10,000." They were supposed to represent the members of the legislature who had been bribed to pass the act, and were called "Primary Directors." On their backs was a railroad track, upon which was a train of cars drawn by nine gophers, the three gophers in the lead proclaiming, "We have no cash, but will give you our drafts." Attached to the rear of the train was a wheelbarrow, with a barrel on it, marked "Gin," followed by the devil, in great glee, with his thumb at his nose. In the train were the advocates of the bill, flying a flag bearing these words: "Gopher train; excursion train; members of extra session of legislature, free. We develop the resources of the country." Over this was a smaller flag, with the words: "The $5,000,000 Loan Bill."

In another part of the picture is a rostrum, from which a gopher is addressing the people with the legend: "I am right; Gorman is wrong." In the right hand corner of the cartoon is a round ball, with a gopher in it, coming rapidly down, with the legend: "A _Ball come_ from Winona." This was a pun on the name of Mr. St. A. D. Balcombe from Winona, who was a strong advocate of the measure. Under the whole group was a dark pit, with the words, "A mine of corruption."

The bill was passed, and the state was saddled with a debt of $5,000,000, under which it staggered for over twenty years, and we never even got a gopher train out of it.

This cartoon, coming just at the time the name of the state was under consideration, fastened upon it the nickname of "Gopher," which it has ever since retained. The name is not at all inappropriate, as the animal has always abounded in the state. In a work on the mammals of Minnesota, by C. L. Herrick, 1892, he gives the scientific name of our most common species of gopher, "_Spermophilus Tridecemlineatus_," or thirteen-striped gopher, and says: "The species ranges from the Saskatchawan to Texas, and from Ohio to Utah. Minnesota is the peculiar home of the typical form, and thus deserves the name of the 'Gopher State.'"

Although the name originated in ridicule and contempt, it has not in any way handicapped the commonwealth, partly because very few people know its origin, but for the greater reason, that it would take much more than a name to check its predestined progress.

STATE PARKS.

ITASCA STATE PARK.

In a previous part of this work, under the head of "Lumber," I have referred to the fact that a great national park and forest reserve is in contemplation by the United States at the headwaters of the Mississippi, and made reference to the state park already established at that point. I will now relate what has been done by the state in this regard. In 1875 an official survey of the land in and about Lake Itasca was made by the surveyor general of the United States for Minnesota, which brought these lands under the operation of the United States laws, and part of them were entered. A portion of them went to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company under its land grant. The swamp and school lands went to the state, and much to private individuals under the various methods of making title to government lands.

On the 20th of April, 1891, the legislature passed an act entitled, "An act to establish and create a public park, to be known and designated as the Itasca State Park, and authorizing the condemnation of lands for park purposes." This act sets apart for park purposes 19,702 acres of land, and dedicates them to the perpetual use of the people. It places the same under the care and supervision of the state auditor, as land commissioner. It prohibits the destruction of trees, or hunting within its limits. It provides for a commission to obtain title to such of the lands as belong to private individuals, either by purchase or condemnation.

On the third day of August, 1892, the United States granted to the state all the unappropriated lands within the limits of the park, upon this condition:

"Provided, the land hereby granted shall revert to the United States, together with all the improvements thereon, if at any time it shall cease to be exclusively used for a public state park, or if the state shall not pass a law or laws to protect the timber thereon."

The state, at the session of the legislature in 1893, accepted the grant, but as yet has made no provision for the extinguishment of the title of private owners, of which there are 8,823 acres. This divided ownership of the lands within the limits of the park endangers the whole region by lumbering operations, and consequent forest fires after the timber is cut. Fires are not to be feared in natural forests until they are cut over. The acquisition of title to all these lands by the state should not be delayed any longer than is necessary to perfect it, no matter at what cost. The state has already erected a house on the bank of Itasca lake, and has a resident commissioner in charge of the park.

The effect of the law prohibiting hunting in the park has already greatly increased the numbers of animals and fowls that find in it a safe refuge.

The extent of the park is seven miles long by five miles wide, and is covered with a dense forest of pine, oak, maple, basswood, aspen, balsam fir, cedar and spruce, which is nearly in a state of nature. It is much to be hoped that in the near future this park will be enlarged to many times its present size by additional grants.

INTERSTATE PARK--THE DALLES OF THE ST. CROIX.

One of the most, if not the most, beautiful and picturesque points in the Northwest is the Dalles of the St. Croix river. Here the state has acquired the title to about 150 acres of land on the Minnesota side of the river, and dedicated it for park purposes. This was done under the authority of chapter 169 of the Laws of 1895. The point on the Minnesota side is called Taylor's Falls, and on the Wisconsin side St. Croix Falls. Between these two towns the St. Croix river rushes rapidly, forming a cataract of great beauty. The bluffs are precipitate and rocky, forming a narrow gorge through which the river plunges. The name of the river is French, "Sainte Croix," meaning "The holy cross," and the name of this particular point, the "Dalles," was given on account of the curious formation of the rocky banks, which assume wonderful shapes. One, looking down stream, presents a perfect likeness of a man, and is called "The Old Man of the Dalles." Another curious rock formation is called the "Devil's Chair." There are many others equally interesting. It is generally supposed that the word "Dalles" has the same meaning as the English word "Dell" or "Dale" signifying a narrow secluded vale or valley, but such is not the case as applied to this peculiar locality. The word "Dalles" is French, and means a slab, a flag or a flagstone, and is appropriate to the peculiar character of the general rock formation of the river banks at this point and vicinity.

The State of Minnesota has already done a good deal of work towards making it attractive, and it has become quite a resort for pleasure seekers in the summer time. Wisconsin has acquired title to a larger tract on the east side of the river than is embraced in the Minnesota park on the west side, but as yet has not done much in the way of improvement. The two tracts are united by a graceful bridge which spans the river between them. The Minnesota park is under the charge of a state custodian, who cares for and protects it from despoilment.

POLITICS.

In writing the history of a state, no matter how short or limited such history may be, its politics seem to be an essential element of presentation, and, on this assumption alone, I will say a very few words concerning that subject. I do not believe that the question of which political party has been dominant in the state has exerted any considerable influence on its material prosperity. The great "First Cause" of its creation was so generous in its award of substantial blessings that it placed the state beyond the ability of man or his politics to seriously injure or impede its advance towards material success in any of the channels that promote greatness. Soil, climate, minerals, facilities for commerce and transportation, consisting of great rivers, lakes and harbors,--all these combine to defy the destructive tendencies so often exerted by the ignorance and passions of man. It has resisted every folly of its people, and they have been many; every onslaught of its savage inhabitants, and they have been more formidable than those experienced by any other state; and even the cataclysms with which it has occasionally been visited arising from natural causes. The fact is, Minnesota is so rock-rooted in all the elements of material greatness that it must advance, regardless of all known obstructions.

When the territory was organized in 1849, Gen. Zachary Taylor, a Whig, was the president of the United States, and he appointed Alexander Ramsey, also a Whig, as governor, to set its political machinery in motion. He remained in office until the national administration changed in 1853, and Franklin Pierce, a Democrat, was chosen president. He appointed Gen. Willis A. Gorman, a Democrat, as governor to succeed Governor Ramsey. On the 4th of March, 1857, James Buchanan, a Democrat, succeeded President Pierce, and appointed Samuel Medary, a Democrat, as governor of Minnesota. He held this position until the state was admitted into the Union, in May, 1858, when Henry H. Sibley, a Democrat, was elected governor for the term of two years, and served it out.

On the admission of the state into the Union, two Democratic United States senators were elected, Henry M. Rice and Gen. James Shields. General Shields served from May 12, 1858, to March 3, 1859, and Mr. Rice from May 12, 1858, to March 3, 1863, he having drawn the long term. The state also elected three members to the United States house of representatives, all Democrats, James M. Cavanaugh, W. W. Phelps and George L. Becker, but it was determined that we were only entitled to two, and Mr. Phelps and Mr. Cavanaugh were admitted to seats. With this state and federal representation we entered upon our political career. At the next election for governor, in the fall of 1859, Alexander Ramsey, Republican, was chosen, and there has never been a governor of the state of any but Republican politics since, until John Lind was elected in the fall of 1898. Mr. Lind was chosen as a Democrat, with the aid of other political organizations, which united with the Democracy. Mr. Lind now fills the office of governor. It will be seen that for thirty-nine years the state has been wholly in the hands of the Republicans. During the interval between the administration of Governor Sibley and Governor Lind the state has had twelve governors, all Republican.

In its federal representation, however, the Democrats have fared a trifle better. The growth of population has increased our membership in the federal house of representatives to seven, and occasionally a Democrat, or member of some other party, has succeeded in breaking into congress. From the first district W. H. Harries, a Democrat, was elected in 1890. From the Third district Eugene M. Wilson, Democrat, was elected in 1868; Henry Poeler, Democrat, in 1878; John L. McDonald, Democrat, in 1886; and O. M. Hall, Democrat, in 1890, and again in 1892. From the Fourth district Edmund Rice, Democrat, was elected in 1886, and James N. Castle, Democrat, in 1890. From the Sixth district M. R. Baldwin, Democrat, was elected in 1892. From the Fifth district Kittle Halverson, Alliance, was elected in 1890. From the Seventh district Haldor E. Boen, People's Party, was elected in 1892.

Since Henry M. Rice and James Shields, all the United States Senators have been Republican. They were Morton S. Wilkinson, Alexander Ramsey, Daniel S. Norton, William Windom, O. P. Stearns, S. J. R. McMillin, A. J. Edgerton, D. M. Sabin, C. K. Davis, W. D. Washburn and Knute Nelson. Some of these have served two terms, and some very short terms, to fill vacancies.

Of course, the state had its compliment of other officers, but as their duties are more of a clerical and business character than political, it is unnecessary to particularize them.

It is a subject of congratulation to all citizens of Minnesota that, out of all the state officers that have come and gone in the forty years of its life, there has been but one impeachment, which was of a state treasurer, Mr. William Seeger, who was elected in 1871. Although he was convicted, I have always believed, and do now, that he was personally innocent, and suffered for the sins of others.

The State of Minnesota has always, since the adjustment of its old railroad bond debt, held a conservative position in the Union,--financially, socially, patriotically and commercially. Its credit is the best, its prospects the brightest, and it makes very little difference which political party dominates its future so long as it is free from the taint of anarchy and is guided by the principles of honor and justice. The only thing to be feared is that some political party may gain control of the government of the nation, and either degrade its currency, involve it in disastrous complications and wars with other nations, or commit some similar folly which may reflectively or secondarily act injuriously on Minnesota as a member of the national family of states. Otherwise Minnesota can defy the vagaries of politics and politicians. She has very little to fear from this remote apprehension, because the American people, as they ever have been, will no doubt continue to be, on second thought, true to the teachings and traditions of the founders of the republic.

Minnesota, for so young a state, has been quite liberally remembered in the way of diplomatic appointments. Gen. C. C. Andrews represented the United States as minister to Sweden and Norway, and the Hon. Samuel R. Thayer and Hon. Stanford Newell at The Hague, the latter of whom now fills the position. Mr. Newell was also a member of the World's Peace Commission recently held at The Hague. Lewis Baker represented the United States as minister to Nicaragua, Costa Rica and San Salvador.

The state has also been honored by the appointment of the following named gentlemen from among its citizens as consuls general to various countries: Gen. C. C. Andrews to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Hon. Hans Mattson to Calcutta, India; Dr. J. A. Leonard to Calcutta, and also to Shanghai, China; and Hon. John Goodenow to Shanghai, China.

We have had a full complement of consuls to all parts of the world, the particulars of which are unnecessary in this connection.

The state has also had three cabinet officers. On Dec. 10, 1879, Alexander Ramsey was appointed secretary of war by President Hayes, and again on Dec. 20, 1880, he was made secretary of the navy. The latter office he held only about ten days, until it was filled by a permanent appointee.

William Windom was appointed secretary of the treasury by President Garfield, and again to the same position by President Harrison. He died in the office.

Gen. William G. Le Duc was appointed commissioner of agriculture by President Hayes, which was a _quasi_ cabinet position, and was afterwards made a full and regular one. The general was afterwards made a member of the National Agricultural Society of France, of which Washington, Jefferson and Marshall were members.

Senator Cushman K. Davis, who was chairman of the committee on foreign relations of the senate, was appointed by President McKinley one of the commissioners on the part of the United States to negotiate the treaty of peace with Spain after the recent Spanish war.

Gov. William R. Merriam was appointed by President McKinley as director of the census of 1900, and is now busily engaged in the performance of the arduous duties of that office. They are not diplomatic, but exceedingly important.

President Cleveland appointed John W. Riddle as secretary of legation to the embassy at Constantinople, where he has remained to the present time.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Necessity has compelled me, in the preparation of this history, to be brief, not only in the subjects treated of, but also in the manner of such treatment. Details have usually been avoided, and comprehensive generalities indulged in. Those who read it may find many things wanting, and in order that they may have an opportunity to supply my deficiencies without too much research and labor, I have prepared a list of all the works which have ever been written on Minnesota, or any particular subject pertaining thereto, and append them hereto for convenience of reference. Any and all of them can be found in the library of the Minnesota Historical Society in the state capitol.

So much of what I have said consists of personal experiences and observations that it more resembles a narrative than a history, but I think I can safely vouch for the accuracy and truthfulness of all I have thus related.

BOOKS WHICH HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED RELATING TO MINNESOTA.

The following will be found in "Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, volume I, St. Paul, 1872:"

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

FINIS.

TALES OF THE FRONTIER.

* * * * *

HUNTING WOLVES IN BED.

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 a _terra incognito_ when 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 miles above 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.

THE POISONED WHISKY.

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.