Fifty Years In The Northwest / With An Introduction And Appendix Containing Reminiscences, Incidents And Notes

by William H. C. Folsom

The physical features of the country have undergone a change. The towering pines have decayed or been leveled by the woodman's axe. Some of the small lakes have receded, and tall grasses wave and willows grow where once the "kego" sported in the clear blue waters. "The sun drew the waters up into the heavens," but the old shores may still be traced, by the fresh water shells that are crushed by the foot of the explorer, and by the ineffaceable mark of the water breaking upon the beach and undermining the rocky ledges.

A few Indians still linger on the old hunting grounds and about the graves of their fathers, but as a race they are doomed, and the time is not far distant when their only memorials will be the printed or striped rocks that are found along the streams and lakes, and here and there the sunken graves of the vanquished race.

THE FIRST MISSION.

In the autumn of the year 1833 the first mission was established in the St. Croix valley, at the outlet of Yellow lake, in Burnett county. This may be considered the first actual movement in opening the way for white settlements in the St. Croix valley. The good and indefatigable laborers, who came away into these western wilds, spent many years in this valley endeavoring to improve the benighted aborigines. Their labors were successful, until the bane of the human family—alcoholic drinks—was introduced by the corrupt border traders. Rev. Fred Ayer (since a resident of Belle Prairie, Minnesota, and a member of the convention that framed our constitution), Mrs. Ayer, with Miss Crooks (afterward Mrs. Boutwell) as teacher, arrived at Yellow Lake Sept. 16, 1833. Miss Crooks opened her school on the twenty-fourth, with eight scholars. This was evidently the first school in the St. Croix valley. This mission was under the patronage of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Thirty or forty Indians came to the trading house, a mile from the mission, for the purpose of obtaining ammunition and moccasins for making what is called the fall hunt. During their visit at the traders', Mr. Ayer had the opportunity of explaining the object of his mission—schooling their children, and aiding them in agriculture, planting their gardens, and furnishing them with seeds. To the objects of the mission all listened with interest, but, as the chiefs were not present, no reply was made to Mr. Ayer. After obtaining their supplies from the traders, they dispersed for their fall hunt. The school in the meantime progressed, and frequent opportunities occurred for giving religious instructions to adults during the winter. In April some twenty-five families encamped near the mission; many were interested in the objects which the mission proposed. In the spring of 1834 four families made gardens by the mission and schooled their children; three of the families belonged to the influential in the band. One of these, the chief who visited Washington during the administration of Adams, was Gis-kil-a-way, or "Cat Ear."

The Indian mind is suspicious of the white man. Waiingas, "The Wolf," another chief of considerable note, was prejudicing the minds of his friends against the whites. He openly declared that if the Indians would join him, he would burn the mission house and drive the teachers from his country. On one occasion a party of Indians, including this hostile chief, passed the evening at Mr. Ayer's. The chief closed his speech at midnight with these words: "The Indians are troubled in mind about your staying here, and you must go—you shall go; not only I say so, but all here present say so!" The next morning all the Indians assembled. The trader, the late Dr. Borup, and his wife were present. The Wolf and his party were determined to expel all the whites. The friend of the white man, Cat Ear, took the floor and shaking hands with Dr. Borup and Mr. Ayer, began a speech of half an hour's length. Pointing to The Wolf and to two other chiefs sitting side by side, he says: "I speak for them. Look at them. To them belong this land. Since last evening we have considered this subject. We have changed our minds. The Great Spirit made us all—made us red—you white. He gave you your religion, manners and customs—he gave us ours. Before we saw white man we dressed in skins and cooked with stones. You found our land on the map and come—since then you have clothed and provided for us. Why should we send you away? We only should be the sufferers—all of us tell you to stay—again we say, stay. We do not wish you to go; no, no—we say to you all, stay; you may plant and build, but the land is ours. Our Great Father has sent you here—we are glad—we will tell you why we fear the whites—we fear you will get our land away. If this room were full of goods we would not exchange our lands for them. This land is ours and our children's; it is all we have."

The mission at Yellow Lake had been in progress two years. Several families had listened with glowing interest to religious instruction, schooled their children, and cultivated gardens near the mission, when Mr. Ayer visited the band of Indians at Pokegama. Here were some thirty-five or forty families in the year 1835. The chief and two or three families expressed to him a desire to settle down and school their children. They requested him to come and bring all with him who wished to come from Yellow Lake. The reasons that induced him to Pokegama were, first, the means of subsistence were more abundant, both for the Indians and the mission family—wild rice and fish in particular; this being the case the Indians could be more stationary and send their children to school. Second, the soil for agricultural purposes was superior to that of Yellow Lake. As one of the leading objects of the mission was to induce the Indians to settle down and adopt habits of civilization, this object could be better attained at this place than at Yellow Lake, where it was comparatively sterile and sandy. A third object gained would be to locate in the midst of a larger number of Indians, with whom we could come in more frequent contact, and last, but not least, put the mission in a nearer point of communication with St. Peter, from whence all the family necessaries were obtained at that day. These reasons, together with the solicitation of one of the chiefs, and his permission to build on his land, and use his wood, water and fish, led Mr. Ayer, in the fall of 1835, to remove to Pokegama.

For the continued history of this mission the reader is referred to the history of Pine county.

Chippewas of Wood Lake.—A small band of Chippewas, as late as 1870, lingered about Big Wood lake, unwilling to leave their old hunting grounds. Though brought directly in contact with civilization, they adopted its vices, otherwise remaining savages, taking no part in cultivating the soil or educating their children, contented to live and die in the old fashion of their race. They subsist, as far as possible, by hunting and fishing, and are by no means above begging when occasion may offer. They retain their annual dances and festivals, at the occurrence of which other bands join them from a distance. A dance with its accompanying feasts occupies generally about ten days, and is conducted according to rigid formulas. These dances are intended as representations of hunting, fishing or fighting, and are honored accordingly. They are accompanied with music upon rude instruments, and a weird chant in guttural and nasal tones, which may be understood as a poetic recital of their deeds or expression of their feelings. Their dead are buried in conspicuous places. The graves are decorated with splints of timber. A pole with rags and trinkets is planted near the graves. There is nothing that can long mark their resting places or keep them from being desecrated by the share of the plowman.

GRANTSBURG

Was founded by Canute Anderson, in 1865, in section 14, town 38, range 19. He built a flour and saw mill, the first in the county, a good hotel, and opened a store. It became the centre of trade for the county, prospered continuously, and now (in 1886) contains a good court house, built at a cost of $7,000 (burned December, 1887), a school house, four churches, two hotels, five stores and numerous shops and dwellings. There are two resident lawyers and one physician. Grantsburg is the terminus of the St. Paul & Duluth (branch) railroad, completed in 1884. The scheme of building a branch road to connect with the St. Paul & Duluth railroad at Rush City was long cherished by Canute Anderson, and through his efforts the road was finally built. The county voted $20,000 bonds, at seven per cent interest, which bonds the state of Wisconsin cashed. The road was graded from Grantsburg to the St. Croix river in 1878, from Rush City to St. Croix in 1882. The St. Paul & Duluth Railroad Company built the railroad and assumed the bonded indebtedness, payable in fifteen annual installments. Cars ran to the St. Croix river in 1883. The bridge over the St. Croix, completed in 1883, cost $20,000. The road was opened to Grantsburg Jan. 22, 1884. At this opening over a thousand persons were present, five hundred of whom came in on the train. Canute Anderson made an address of welcome, followed by James Smith, president of the road. Congratulatory letters were read from Hons. S. S. Fifield, Henry M. Rice, and W. H. C. Folsom, the tenor of which was highly complimentary to Mr. Anderson, and full of hope for the future of the railroad and its terminus.