AITKIN COUNTY.
This county consists of an oblong section, six towns in width, lying between Mille Lacs and Kanabec counties on the south, and Itasca on the north. It is a heavily timbered region, upon which the lumberman has drawn for hundreds of millions of feet of lumber, with but little apparent diminution in the quantity of the supply. The whole surface is dotted with lakes and variegated with natural meadows. The southern portion of the county affords good farming lands. Mille Lacs, in the southern part of the county, is the largest lake, and settlements have already been made along its shores. Sandy lake is second in size. It lies on the great portage route from Winnipeg, by way of St. Louis river to Lake Superior, and has been a noted point on that route for two hundred years. The missions of the Jesuits, and later, of the Presbyterians and Methodists, had been located here and abandoned. The fur trader and the Indian trader have made their headquarters here. Sandy lake has become historic. The county contains about one hundred and three townships, which are drained chiefly by the Mississippi and its tributaries. The Mississippi is navigable from Aitkin to Pokegama falls, a distance of over one hundred miles.
Aitkin county was created May 23, 1857, but was not organized until July 30, 1872. The first officers chosen were: County commissioners, Nathaniel Tibbetts, chairman; Wm. Hallstrom, Wm. Wade; treasurer, Geo. Clapp; register of deeds, Wm. Hallstrom; auditor, W. E. Crowell; sheriff, James W. Tibbetts. That part of the county including the village of Aitkin was organized into a town in 1873; N. Tibbetts, chairman. The Northern Pacific railroad passes through six townships of this county, namely: townships 27 and 28, range 22 to 27, inclusive. While the road was in process of building in 1870, Nathaniel Tibbetts made a claim where the village of Aitkin now stands, and built the first house, a hotel known as the Ojibway House, and the next spring built the Aitkin House. He moved his family here in 1471. He was appointed the first postmaster at the organization of the county. The county and village of Aitkin were named after Wm. A. Aitkin, who was a prominent trader on the Upper Mississippi for a number of years.
AITKIN VILLAGE.
Aitkin was made the county seat at the organization of the county. It is pleasantly situated on the west branch of Ripple creek, near the east branch of the Mississippi. It is now a prosperous and thriving village with heavy mercantile establishments, two first class hotels, a good school house, and pleasant homes. One newspaper, the Aitkin Age, is published here. Warren Potter, Richard Mills, William Wade and George Jenkins are early citizens. In 1873 Capt. Houghton built a steamer, called the Pokegama, to run from Aitkin to Pokegama Falls. This steamer was burned in 1878. Capt. Houghton replaced it with a new boat called the City of Aitkin, which still plies the Mississippi river between the points named.
Pokegama Falls is a headquarters for lumbermen and a place for general trade.
Wm. A. Aitken.—The date and place of Mr. Aitkin's nativity are not positively known. He came to the Chippewa country when a boy of fifteen, as servant to a trader named John Drew, and in time became a successful and well known trader. He died at Sandy Lake in 1851. His life, in common with that of the early traders, was adventurous. He witnessed many stirring scenes, among them the battle of Stillwater Ravine, in 1839. Although raised among the Indians, and continually on the frontier, he was noted for his urbanity and geniality, and is well spoken of by the early explorers.
Alfred Aitkin, son of the foregoing, was killed by a Chippewa Indian at Cass lake in 1836. He had stolen the wife of the Indian, and refusing to return her to the enraged husband, was shot by him. The murderer was arrested, taken to Prairie du Chien for trial, tried before Judge Drum's court and acquitted.
Nathaniel Tibbetts was born in New Sharon, Maine, March 21, 1824. While a mere boy he moved to Piscataquis county, and in 1845 came to Plover, Wisconsin, and two years later to Stillwater, Minnesota. He engaged in lumbering until 1850, when he moved to St. Anthony, and soon afterward made a claim at the mouth of Elk river, then in Benton county, where he remained until the Civil War, when he enlisted in Company A, Eighth Minnesota, of which company he was commissioned first lieutenant, and was afterward appointed regimental quartermaster. He was mustered out with his regiment at the close of the war, when he returned to his home at Elk River, and resumed his old business of lumbering. In 1870 he was engaged in the preliminary survey of the Northern Pacific railroad, and located the same year at Aitkin, of which village he was the pioneer, building the first house and barn, keeping the first hotel and serving as the first postmaster. He served four years as county commissioner. He has also served as register of deeds and sheriff. Ten years after his location at Aitkin he removed to Morrison county, where he now resides. His health is somewhat impaired from the exposure and fatigue of army life.