The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier

by Charles E. Flandrau

That Hennepin was thoroughly convinced that there was a northern passage to the sea which could be reached by ships, is proven by the following extract from his work:

"For example, we may be transported into the Pacific sea by rivers, which are large and capable of carrying great vessels, and from thence it is very easy to go to China and Japan without crossing the equinoctial line, and in all probability Japan is on the same continent as America."

Our early visitor evidently had very confused ideas on matters of geography.

The first account of his adventures was published by him in 1683, and was quite trustworthy, and it is much to be regretted that he was afterwards induced to publish another edition in Utrecht, in 1689, which was filled with falsehoods and exaggerations, which brought upon him the censure of the king of France. He died in obscurity, unregretted. The county of Hennepin is named for him.

Other Frenchmen visited Minnesota shortly after Hennepin for the purpose of trade with the Indians and the extension of the territory of New France. In 1689 Nicholas Perot was established at Lake Pepin, with quite a large body of men, engaged in trade with the Indians. On the 8th of May, 1689, Perot issued a proclamation from his post on Lake Pepin, in which he formally took possession in the name of the king of all the countries inhabited by the Dakotas, "and of which they are proprietors."

This post was the first French establishment in Minnesota. It was called Fort Bon Secours, afterwards Fort Le Sueur, but on later maps Fort Perot.

In 1695 Le Sueur built the second post in Minnesota, between the head of Lake Pepin and the mouth of the St. Croix. In July of that year he took a party of Ojibways and one Dakota to Montreal, for the purpose of impressing upon them the importance and strength of France. Here large bodies of troops were maneuvered in their presence, and many speeches made by both the French and the Indians. Friendly and commercial relations were established.

Le Sueur, some time after, returned to Minnesota and explored St. Peter's river (now the Minnesota) as far as the mouth of the Blue Earth. Here he built a log fort, and called it L'Hullier, and made some excavations in search of copper ore. He sent several tons of a green substance which he found, and supposed to be copper, to France, but it was undoubtedly a colored clay that is found in that region, and is sometimes used as a rough paint. He is supposed to be the first man who supplied the Indians with guns. Le Sueur kept a journal in which he gave the best description of the Dakotas written in those early times, and was a very reliable man. Minnesota has a county and a city named for him.

Many other Frenchmen visited Minnesota in early days, among whom was Du Luth; but as they were simply traders, explorers and priests, among the Indians, it is hardly necessary in a work of this character to trace their exploits in detail. While they blazed the trail for others, they did not, to any great extent, influence the future of the country, except by supplying a convenient nomenclature with which to designate localities, which has largely been drawn upon. Many of them, however, were good and devoted men, and earnest in their endeavors to spread the gospel among the Indians. How well they succeeded, I will discuss when I speak of these savage men more particularly.

The next arrival of sufficient importance to particularize was Jonathan Carver. He was born in Connecticut in 1732. His father was a justice of the peace, which in those days was a more important position than it is now regarded. They tried to make a doctor of him, and he studied medicine just long enough to discover that the profession was uncongenial, and abandoned it. At the age of eighteen he purchased an ensign's commission in a Connecticut regiment, raised during the French war. He came very near losing his life at the massacre of Fort William Henry, but escaped, and after the declaration of peace between France and England, in 1763, he conceived the project of making an exploration of the Northwest.