1878. May 2d, three flouring mills at Minneapolis explode; eighteen lives lost.
1880. November 15th, hospital for the insane at St. Peter partly destroyed by fire; twenty-five lives lost.
1881. March 1, capitol at St. Paul destroyed by fire.
1886. Cyclone destroys Sauk Rapids. Wisconsin legislature adopts biennial sessions.
THE BOUNDARY QUESTION.
The question of the western boundary of Wisconsin had been agitated since the Martin bill for the organization of the State had been introduced in 1846. This bill established the present boundary. The majority of the people residing in the valley of the St. Croix were opposed to it on the ground that the interests of the valley on both sides were identical, and that it was not proper that the two sides should be separated by a state line. The question became a political one, and at the election of delegates for the constitutional convention of Oct. 5, 1846, Wm. Holcombe was elected over Joseph Bowron, as representing the sentiments of the people of the valley as opposed to the proposed boundary line.
In convention Mr. Holcombe advocated a boundary line commencing at Mount Trempeleau on the Mississippi, running due north to Lake Superior. Failing in this, he advocated a boundary line to be established at a point fifteen miles due east of the most easterly point on Lake St. Croix, said line extending from that point due south to the Mississippi and due north to the tributary waters of Lake Superior. In this he was successful, and the constitution in which this boundary line was thus fixed went to the people and was rejected, greatly to the disappointment of the people of the St. Croix valley, who felt that they had been unjustly dealt with. There seems, indeed, to be but little excuse for the attitude of the majority of the citizens of Wisconsin with regard to this boundary. Certainly but little attention was shown to the interests of the people in the western section of the Territory.
Prior to the meeting of the second constitutional convention, Dec. 15, 1847, public meetings were held at St. Croix Falls and in Stillwater, at which latter place enthusiastic resolutions were passed remonstrating against this unnatural boundary, which resolutions were signed by nearly all the citizens of the St. Croix valley, and a few in and around St. Paul, asking the convention to establish the western boundary on a line running due north from the foot of Lake Pepin to Lake Superior. George W. Brownell was elected from the St. Croix district to the second convention, with instructions to work for this boundary. Joseph Bowron, Brownell's opponent, was defeated by a large majority. The following is the abstract of votes:
| Bowron. | Brownell. | |
| Willow River (now Hudson) | 7 | 4 |
| Lake St. Croix | 7 | 14 |
| Stillwater | 9 | 39 |
| St. Paul | 41 | 40 |
| Marine Mills | ... | 22 |
| St. Croix Falls | 26 | 18 |
| Clam River | 6 | 17 |
| Apple River | 1 | 6 |
| Wood Lake | 2 | 6 |
| Rush Lake | 2 | 8 |
| Osceola (no election) | — | — |
| Totals | 101 | 174 |
Mr. Brownell made strong and persistent efforts to have the boundary line adjusted in accordance with the sentiments of the people of the valley, but in vain. Morgan L. Martin, delegate to Congress from Wisconsin Territory, had framed the bill establishing the present boundary, and it was urged that any effort to change the line would tend to prevent the immediate admission of the State, and it was thought a political necessity that the State should be admitted at once, that it might take part in the ensuing presidential election. Under such pressure the convention made haste to adopt, and the people to accept, a constitution with boundary lines that should never have been made. The State was admitted in time to cast its electoral vote for Gen. Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore.