Fifty Years In The Northwest Part 31

There was great grief at his death amongst all cla.s.ses. An aged man, who had lost a small fortune in his devotion to the Confederacy, embraced the corpse, and said: "If he had not holpen me, I should have before gone him." Many others, in word or action, expressed a similar feeling. All cla.s.ses of people were represented at his funeral. His remains were buried in the Atlanta cemetery, Oct. 1, 1867. Thus pa.s.sed away one who had spent a life for the benefit of others.

Mr. and Mrs. Ayer in some instances taught three generations of Ojibway blood, and North and South, they were, in the course of their labors, a.s.sociated for a longer or shorter time, with more than eighty different missionaries,--a n.o.ble band,--with few exceptions worthy the name they bore. Most of them have pa.s.sed away, and their graves are scattered here and there from British America to Georgia.

REV. WILLIAM T. BOUTWELL, who figures so prominently in the history of the early missions in the St. Croix valley, was born in Hillsborough county, New Hamps.h.i.+re, Feb. 4, 1803. He was educated at Dartmouth and Andover colleges, and in 1831, the year of his graduation at Andover, he came to the Northwest as a Presbyterian missionary. He spent one year at Mackinaw, learning the Chippewa language, under the instruction of Rev. W. M. Ferry, father of Senator Ferry, of Michigan.

In 1832 our government sent an emba.s.sy of thirty men, under the control of the Indian agent at Ste. Marie, Henry R. Schoolcraft, to tranquilize the tribes and effect some advantageous treaties. The emba.s.sy was accompanied by an outfit of soldiers under the command of Lieut. Allen, Dr. Houghton, physician, George Johnson, interpreter, and Mr. Boutwell. The emba.s.sy had a liberal outfit of provisions, equipages and trinkets for the Indians, and was conveyed in a large bateau of several tons capacity, and some birch canoes, the largest of which was thirty feet long, and capable of containing nine persons. On arriving at Fond du Lac, the head of navigation on the St. Louis river, Mr. Boutwell wrote as follows to the missionary board:

[Ill.u.s.tration: WILLIAM T. BOUTWELL.]

"On arriving here I was not a little surprised to find four hundred souls, half-breeds and white men. The scene at our landing was such as I never before witnessed, and enough to fill one, unaccustomed to the like as myself, with wonder, if not with fear. The yelling of Indians, barking of dogs, crying of children, running of the mult.i.tude, discharge of musketry, and flourish of flags, was noise in the extreme. At ten o'clock I preached to about forty in English, the first sermon ever preached here, and at 4 P. M. I addressed, through Mr. Johnson, more than twice that number of French, half-breeds and Indians; many of the latter of whom for the first time listened to the word of Life. All listened with attention and interest. My interpreter sat on my right, while a chief occupied a seat at my left. Around and below me, on the floor, sat his men, women and children, in a state of almost entire nudity, many of whom had no more than a cloth about the loins, and a blanket, but some of the children not even a blanket,--all with their pipes and tobacco pouches, painted with all the variety of figures that can be imagined."

From Fond du Lac he proceeded with the expedition up the St. Louis river, crossing the falls by a portage, and ascending to the point nearest Sandy lake, which was reached by a portage. The expedition proceeded up the Mississippi to Leech lake. Learning from the Indians at this point that Ca.s.s lake, the reputed source of the Mississippi, was not the real source, the expedition proceeded, under the guidance of a chief and a number of his tribe, to ascend the river further.

When they reached the lake, now known as Itasca, five of the party, Lieut. Allen, Schoolcraft, Houghton, Johnson, and Boutwell, were sent in canoes with Indian guides to explore the sh.o.r.es of the lake. No inlet being found the party came to the conclusion that this was, as the Indians claimed, the true source of the Mississippi river. Mr.

Schoolcraft being satisfied as to the correctness of the observations, landed his party on an island near the middle of the lake.

He was puzzled to know what name to give the lake, and asked Mr.

Boutwell if he knew of any word that would express the term "true head of the river." Mr. Boutwell said he could think of no single word that would express it, but there were two Latin words that would answer the purpose, and those were _veritas_--true, and _caput_--head. Mr.

Schoolcraft immediately wrote on a piece of paper the two words, and then erasing the first syllable of the first word and the last syllable of the latter, joined the remaining syllables. He then planted the stars and stripes on a little eminence, and formally christened the lake "Itasca." They then proceeded to descend the Mississippi. "As we were pa.s.sing through the outlet of the lake," said Mr. Boutwell, "I stopped my canoe on the sh.o.r.e and jumped across the Mississippi. I considered that a great thing to relate in after years."

The party with their own boats descended the Mississippi, distributing tobacco, medals and flags to Indians on their way.[E] "When I see the great cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul now," said Mr. Boutwell, "I have to reflect that when we made our memorable trip down the river in 1832 we stopped at St. Anthony falls, and I stood on the east bank and looked across the river in profound admiration of the most beautiful landscape I had ever seen, with only a few head of government cattle belonging at Fort Snelling grazing upon it. The whole country on both sides of the river was as G.o.d had made it. When we pa.s.sed the locality of St. Paul there was not even an Indian tepee to be seen."

The party halted at a Sioux Indian village at Kaposia, a few miles below St. Paul, and after a short consultation proceeded to the mouth of the St. Croix, and ascending the St. Croix to its source, made a portage of two miles to the source of the Burnt Wood river, which they descended to Lake Superior, and thence returned to their starting place. In the following year Mr. Boutwell established a mission at Leech lake. In giving an account of his reception by the Indians, he says: "When I arrived the men, with a few exceptions, were making their fall hunts, while their families remained at the lake and its vicinity to gather their corn and make rice. A few lodges were encamped quite near. These I began to visit, for the purpose of reading, singing, etc., in order to interest the children and awaken in them the desire for instruction. I told them about the children at Mackinaw, the Sault, and at La Pointe, who could read, write and sing.

To this they would listen attentively, while the mother would often reply: 'My children are poor and ignorant.' To a person unaccustomed to Indian manners and Indian wildness it would have been amusing to have seen the little ones, as I approached their lodge, running and screaming, more terrified, if possible, than if they had met a bear robbed of her whelps. It was not long, however, before most of them overcame their fears; and in a few days my dwelling, a lodge which I occupied for three or four weeks, was frequented from morning till evening by an interesting group of boys, all desirous to learn to read, sing, etc. To have seen them hanging, some on one knee, others on my shoulder, reading and singing, while others, whether from shame or fear I know not, who dared not venture within, were peeping in through the sides of the cottage, or lying flat upon the ground and looking under the bottom, might have provoked a smile; especially to have seen them as they caught a glance of my eye, springing upon their feet and running like so many wild a.s.ses colts. The rain, cold and snow were alike to them, in which they would come, day after day, many of them clad merely with a blanket and a narrow strip of cloth about the loins. The men at length returned, and an opportunity was presented me for reading to them. The greater part listened attentively. Some would come back and ask me to read more. Others laughed, and aimed to make sport of both me and my mission."

He continued to labor here until 1837, when the Indians becoming troublesome, and having murdered Aitkin, an agent of the fur company, he deemed it advisable to remove the mission to Pokegama lake. He labored here faithfully, much respected by the Indians for his firmness and christian devotion. In 1847 he removed to Stillwater and settled on a farm near the city, where he is spending the remainder of his days, cared for by his affectionate daughter Kate and her kind husband, ----Jones. Though infirm in body on account of advanced age his mind is clear and his memory retentive. He enjoys the respect accorded to venerable age, and that which pertains to an early and middle life spent in unusual toils and hards.h.i.+ps in the n.o.blest work intrusted to the hands of man.

MRS. HESTER CROOKS BOUTWELL deserves honorable mention as the early companion of the devoted missionary. She was the daughter of Ramsey Crooks, of New York, an Indian trader. Her mother was a half-breed Ojibway woman. Hester Crooks was born on Drummond island, Lake Huron, May 30, 1817. Her father gave her a superior education at Mackinaw mission. She was a woman of tall and commanding figure, her black hair and eyes indicating her Indian origin. She was a fluent conversationalist, and careful and tidy in her personal appearance.

She died in Stillwater in 1853, leaving a family of seven children.

CHENGWATANA.

This town derived its name from the Chippewa words, "cheng-wa" (pine) and "tana" (city), applied to an Indian village which from time immemorial had been located near the mouth of Cross lake. This locality had long been a rallying point for Indians and traders. When the writer visited it, in 1846, it had the appearance of an ancient place of resort. Half-breeds and whites with Indian wives settled here, and in 1852 there were several log houses, and a hotel kept by one Ebenezer Ayer. There was also a dam built for sluicing logs. Among the early settlers were Duane Porter, George Goodwin, Herman Trott, John G. Randall, Emil, Gustave and Adolph Munch. Mr. Trott built a fine residence on the sh.o.r.e of Cross lake, afterward the home of S. A.

Hutchinson. The Munch brothers built a store and made other improvements. John G. Randall, in 1856-7-8, manufactured lumber, ran it down the Kanabec and St. Croix rivers to Rush Seba, Sunrise and Taylor's Falls. In 1852, and soon after the building of the government road to Superior City, a post office and a stage route from St. Paul to Superior City were established. The dam, to which reference has been made, was built in 1848, by Elam Greely. It is at the outlet of Cross lake and has ten feet head. The flowage covers many thousands of acres. The owners.h.i.+p has changed several times. The tolls levied amount to from ten to fifteen cents per thousand feet. The chartered operators control the flowage completely, opening and shutting gates at their pleasure. Many of the first settlers removed to other localities. Mr. Trott and the Munch brothers to St. Paul, J. G.

Randall to Colorado, and Louis Ayd to Taylor's Falls.

In 1856 an effort was made to found a village on the site of the old Indian town of Chengwatana. Judd, Walker & Co. and Daniel A. Robertson surveyed and platted the village of Alhambra, but the name was not generally accepted, and the old Indian name of Chengwatana superseded it. The town of Chengwatana was organized in 1874. The first supervisors were Duane Porter, Resin Denman and Ferdinand Blank.

LOUIS AYD was born in Germany in 1840; came to America in 1852 and settled in Chengwatana. He served three and a half years as a soldier during the Rebellion, and was seriously injured in the service. On his return he settled in Taylor's Falls. He is a well-to-do farmer and dealer in live stock for the meat market. He has been a member of the Roman Catholic church from childhood. He was married to Rosabella Hoffman, of Hudson, Wisconsin, in 1871.

DUANE PORTER, the son of a surgeon in the United States Army in the war of 1812, was born in Was.h.i.+ngton county, New York, in 1825; came West as far as Illinois in 1852, and to St. Croix Falls in 1844. He was married in 1848 to Mary Lapraire, and in the same year located at Chengwatama. His occupation is that of an explorer and lumberman. He has ten children living.

S. A. HUTCHINSON.--Mr. Hutchinson was a native of Maine, and while yet a youth came to the valley of the St. Croix, and located at Chengwatana, where he married a Chippewa woman, and raised a family of half-breed children. "Gus" Hutchinson, as he was familiarly called, had many n.o.ble traits of character and was very popular with his a.s.sociates. He had a well trained mind; was skilled as a lumberman and explorer, and was of a genial disposition, honest in heart and true in his friends.h.i.+ps. He was elected sheriff of Pine county, and served four years. On the night of Aug. 16, 1880, he was found in a sitting posture on his bed, lifeless, a rifle ball having pierced his heart.

It appeared, on investigation, that his oldest son wanted to marry an Indian girl, to which his father objected. On the night after the murder the marriage took place in Indian style. Suspicion pointing strongly toward mother and son, they were arrested, and an indictment found by the grand jury against the son. He was tried and acquitted.

HINCKLEY.

The towns.h.i.+p of Hinckley was organized in 1872. It includes a large area of land; heavily timbered with pine and hardwood. The soil is varied, consisting of black and yellow sand loam with clay subsoil. It abounds in meadows, marshes, tamarack swamps, pine and hardwood ridges, and is capable of cultivation.

THE VILLAGE OF HINCKLEY

Lies midway between St. Paul and Duluth, on the St. Paul & Daluth railroad. It was founded soon after the completion of the road. The Manitoba railroad pa.s.ses through the village, running from St. Cloud to Superior. It was incorporated in 1885. The following were the first officers: President, James J. Brennan; recorder, S. W. Anderson; trustees, James Morrison, Nels Parson, John Perry; treasurer, John Burke; justices of the peace, John Brennan, A. B. Clinch; constable, Andrew Stone. Prior to this incorporation, Hinckley had suffered considerably from the lawlessness of its occasional or transient residents and visitors, and the large majority of the vote in favor of incorporation is justly considered as a triumph of law and order. The village has a saw mill doing a large business, a good depot, round house, four hotels, several stores, shops, and fine residences, a commodious school house, and two churches--a Lutheran and Catholic.

The Minneapolis & Manitoba railroad connects here with the St. Paul & Duluth railroad, and is being extended to Superior.

JAMES MORRISON was born on Cape Breton island in 1840. Mr. Morrison was one of the first settlers of Hinckley, having come to the settlement in 1869, in the employ of the St. Paul & Duluth railroad.

He has followed farming and hotel keeping. He is an active and industrious man, the proprietor of a large hotel, and a member of the Presbyterian church.

SANDSTONE VILLAGE

Is located in the northwest quarter of section 15, towns.h.i.+p 42, range 20. It contains about forty dwellings, three large boarding houses, two stores, one hotel and a stone saw mill with diamond-toothed saw, built by Ring & Tobin, at a cost of $30,000. The stone quarries of the Kettle River & Sandstone Company are located on sections 3, 10 and 15, in towns.h.i.+p 42, range 20, and extend two and three-quarters miles on each side of Kettle river. The first work in opening the quarries was done Aug. 22, 1885. The village plat was surveyed in June, 1887, and a post office established there the February preceding, W. H. Grant, Jr., being the first postmaster. The saw mill and the quarries give employment to about four hundred men. Sandstone is located on the old site of Fortuna. The Kettle River railroad was built to the quarries in 1886, from the St. Paul & Duluth railroad, a distance of five miles. The Manitoba railroad, running to Superior, pa.s.ses through the village.

WILLIAM H. GRANT, SR., one of the founders of Hinckley, and the proprietor and founder of the Sandstone enterprise, was born Dec. 23, 1829, at Lyndborough, New Hamps.h.i.+re. He received his education at Hanc.o.c.k Academy, New Hamps.h.i.+re, and Yates Academy, Orleans county, New York. He studied law and was admitted to practice in 1854 at Hillsborough, New Hamps.h.i.+re. He came to St. Paul in 1859, where he still resides, his property interests at Sandstone being immediately under the super vision of his son, W. H. Grant, Jr. He sold his interest in May, 1888, for $100,000. He was married to Martha McKean in New Hamps.h.i.+re, January, 1855.

KETTLE RIVER.

The town of Kettle River, including towns.h.i.+ps 43 and 44, lying on the west line of the county, was organized in 1874. S. S. Griggs was chairman of the first board of supervisors. The town contains but one school district. The first settler was S. S. Griggs, who, in company with John S. Prince, of St. Paul, built a saw mill at the St. Paul & Duluth railroad crossing on Kettle river, in 1871-72. This was not a successful venture. A post office was established at the mill, and S.

S. Griggs was appointed postmaster. The Manitoba and St. Paul & Duluth railroads pa.s.s through the town from south to north. The towns.h.i.+p now has no settlement except about twenty-four families at the station and village. It is heavily timbered with pine and hardwood. There are meadows, marshes and tamarack swamps, fine streams and beautiful lakes, and much excellent farming land besides. The Pine lakes in towns.h.i.+p 43, range 21, are beautiful sheets of water. There are no good roads or public improvements.

JOHN C. HANLEY was born in Covington, Kentucky, and was educated at Oxford College, Ohio. He came to St. Paul in 1849, as a machinist and millwright. He was married in 1853, at St. Anthony, to Sophia Ramsdale. In 1862 he enlisted in Company M, Minnesota Mounted Cavalry, a company recruited princ.i.p.ally at Sunrise, Chisago county, by Capt.

James Starkey. He was commissioned second lieutenant and was with Gen.

Sibleys expedition against the Sioux. Subsequently he received a captain's commission, and recruited Company M, Second Minnesota Cavalry, stationed on the frontier. He was mustered out in 1865. He resides at Kettle River.

MISSION CREEK

Was organized as a town in 1880. The first supervisors were M. Thomas, T. Johnson, Wm. McKean; Messrs. H. A. Taylor and Philip Riley & Co., of St. Paul, were the first operators here. They built a saw mill with a capacity of 3,000,000 feet per annum. This property has changed owners, and is now held by the John Martin Lumber Company, of St.

Paul. It was burned down in 1885, but was immediately rebuilt.

PINE CITY.

The town of Pine City was organized in 1874. The first supervisors were Hiram Brackett, H. B. Hoffman and James Griffith. The village of Pine City was platted in 1869. The original proprietors were James and Stephen H. Petrie, Catherine Sloan and Luther Mendenhall. The survey was made by B. W. Brunson. Wm. Branch acted as attorney and the acknowledgment was made by J. J. Egan, notary public, of St. Louis county. The village was organized in 1881, but the officers did not qualify until the following year.

The oldest settler was probably a Mr. Kirkland, of Quincy, Illinois, who worked for some time on the banks of Cross lake, on the present site of Pine City, hoping to be able to plant a colony there, but, according to the testimony of Mrs. E. T. Ayer, the missionary became disheartened by the Indian troubles, and left in 1841, abandoning his scheme. The completion of the railroad which crosses the Kanabec river at this point gave a great impetus to the prosperity of the village and neighborhood. It now contains a fine court house, built at a cost of $8,000, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian and Lutheran churches, good buildings for graded and common schools, and three hotels. Pine City has besides a pleasant park, the gift of Capt. Richard G. Robinson, which has been adorned and embellished and named after the donor, "Robinson Park."

RICHARD G. ROBINSON was born in Jackson county, Iowa, in 1829; he moved thence with his parents to Illinois, and to St. Croix Falls in 1848, where he followed lumbering, scaling, surveying and exploring.

He lived at St. Croix and Taylor's Falls until 1872, when he received the appointment of land examiner for the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad Company. He was in the employ of the company twelve years, making his home at Pine City, where he still lives, engaged in lumbering and real estate. He was married to Catharine A. Fullenwider, of Iowa. Mrs. Robinson died at Pine City in 1885.

HIRAM BRACKETT was born in 1817, in China, Maine, and came to Pine City in 1868 from Aroostook county, Maine. He was among the first to make improvements. He built a hotel and was the first postmaster in the town. He died in 1883, leaving an estimable widow, three sons, John, Albert and Frank, and two daughters, Emily, married to Henry A.

Linn, of Milwaukee, and Louise, married to Henry D. Crohurst, of Pine City.

RANDALL K. BURROWS, a native of Connecticut, came to Pine City in 1869, and, with Adolph Munch, built a large stave mill on the sh.o.r.es of Cross lake. This proved an unfortunate investment, resulting in litigation, during the progress of which the mill was destroyed by fire, in 1878. Mr. Burrows was an active, enthusiastic man, and worked hard for the interests of Pine City, filling many positions of trust.

He was elected to the state senate from the Twenty-eighth district, in 1874. His seat was contested by John Hallburg, of Centre City. The Senate referred the question to the people, but in the election that followed (1875) he was defeated. In 1879 he removed to Dakota, where he died three years later.