1858

Indian Agent Brown Gathers Upper and Lower Sioux Treaty Delegates. "In the bitter cold of February, 1858, Sioux Indian Agent Joseph Renshaw Brown set out in a sleigh from his home town of Henderson in Sibley County on a long trip westward. He was following the instructions he had evidently received on February 17 from William J. Cullen, superintendent of Indian affairs of the northern superintendency in St. Paul. Cullen in turn had been given orders by Charles E. Mix, acting commissioner of Indian affairs in Washington. Brown was to select a deputation of chiefs and headmen of the Upper Sioux or Dakota (Wahpeton and Sisseton) and of the Lower Sioux (Mdewakanton and Wahpekute) and take them to Washington, D.C. The object was to sign treaties that would untangle the question of Indian title to their land and, though the Sioux did not know it yet, would see them give up half of the reservation left them by the 1851 treaties of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota -- the rich, ten-mile wide strip on the north side of the Minnesota River. The Lower Sioux, tempted by the prospect of increased annuity payments had long wanted to visit Washington and find out what happened to funds promised them in earlier treaties.

"Brown crossed the snowy prairie to the Lower Sioux (Redwood) Agency on the south side of the Minnesota near present-day Redwood Falls and Morton. There he arranged for some eighteen chiefs and headmen to be selected and authorized to act for their people. They were to be ready in ten days when they would be joined by the Upper Sioux delegation.

"Andrew Robertson, the agency's assistant interpreter, was to be in charge of conducting the Upper Sioux delegation of ten chiefs and headmen. He accompanied Brown up the Minnesota River Valley to Lac qui Parle where Wahpeton chiefs were selected from Yellow Medicine bands and instructed regarding the upcoming trip. Robertson stayed at Lac qui Parle while Brown continued on to Big Stone Lake to round up chiefs there. By the time he returned to the Lower Agency on Saturday, February 27, to meet Robertson, the assembled Indians, and others, Brown had driven an exhausting 430 miles since leaving Henderson. Now the party was ready to leave for Washington. Robertson and most of the others would not return to the agency until July 15 -- five months and 3,500 miles later. Brown would stay longer and travel farther carrying out the instructions for Mix." A Portion of the American People, The Sioux Sign a Treaty in Washington in 1858, Minnesota History, Sioux Uprising Issue, Fall 1976, p. 83

The Sioux Delegates Arrives at McGregor, Iowa. "The full delegation, which arrived on March 9, 1858, at McGregor, Iowa, had some interesting members. Antoine J. (Joe) Campbell, head interpreter, was the son of a Sioux interpreter and grandson of an early trader who had married into the tribe. Joseph Brown's brother, nathaniel, earned his way as assistant conductor of the Lower Sioux. Andrew Robertson was officially assistant conductor of the Upper Sioux. They lived with the Indians at the hotels, kept track of petty day-to-day expenses, and eventually conducted the Indians home. Among the ten Upper Sioux were three already involved with farming and closely identified with missionary stations. They were Little Paul. John Other Day, and Pa-pa. The sixteen to nineteen Lower Sioux (the number given varies) were nominally led by Wabasha, but Little Crow was the real leader and spokesman. His restless mind was open to new ideas. He was willing to try farming -- or have his wives try it -- and he preferred to live in a frame house during the winter months. His avid interest in the strange world of the whites convinced him that his people would have to adapt, but he could also sense the avaricious motives of the whites he knew best -- the traders. At Washington he was to prove an able speaker and a formidable adversary even in a situation where he was illiterate in the working language.

The Sioux Delegates Entrain At Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. "At McGregor, Brown found that his team was too sick to undertake the return journey to Henderson. He thus paid off the teamster and entrusted the horses to a local farmer. After ferrying across the Mississippi, the entire group entrained at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, for Chicago. This new rail connection saved them twenty hours' travel time and also saved the government subsistence money for the entire delegation, which amounted to $2.50 per day per person. Already Andrew Robertson had had to purchase buffalo robes at $7.00 each for the Upper Sioux and other necessities such as mockinsans for $2.00 a pair, innumerable pairs of socks and mitts, one comb each, blankets, and shawls. A pair of spectacles cost one dollar. After arriving in Washington he purchased each Indian a coat, two shirts, a handkerchief, and cloth for leggings.

"The Lower Sioux had begun to agitate for permission to visit Washington in 1853 and put money aside for the trip. Little Crow had been in Washington in 1854 to try to iron out unclear aspects of the treaties of 1851 and realized that the 1858 delegation would need fine hunting shirts, decent leggings, money for the hotel, candles, fires, and food. The Lower Sioux had the foresight to prepare for an expensive trip and so were able to lend $1,240 to the Upper Sioux. Payment of this loan was demanded by Little Crow before he consented to sign the treaty in June.

"The train took the delegation through an ever more heavily settled land where thorny problems affected everyday life. Economic depression gripped the East and Midwest and sent unemployed people marching in Buffalo, New York, and other cities. Congressional debate daily grew more bitter on the question of whether Kansas would become a free or slaveholding state. Statehood for Minnesota was tied to the Kansas issue. Mormons in Utah tied down elements of the United States cavalry sent to force them to obey federal laws. British cruisers stopped and searched American vessels suspected of engaging in the African slave trade. In 1858 the affairs of the nation were complicated enough for a brilliant statesman, which President James Buchanan was not.

"In addition to the official delegation, there were at least seven others who felt it to their interest to make the trip from Minnesota to Washington. This meant paying for twelve days' travel and approximately 100 days in the capital. Their motives varied. One came with a benign, if ulterior, design. He was the Reverend Thomas S. Williamson, who was intent on saving souls and securing the future of his tiny mission (Pajutazee) and school near the Yellow Medicine (Upper Sioux) Agency. There also was Charles R. Crawford, Brown's brother-in-law and a son of Akepa, a Wahpeton chief who was a delegation member. On hand, too, were traders like Andrew J. Myrick, William H. Forbes, Friedrich Schmidt, and Madison Sweetser with fortunes to gain or lose from the negotiations. Superintendent Cullen and his wife also traveled to Washington.

"Many of the Indians on the train had already proved willing to try farming if they could depend on protection from unsympathetic blanket Indians, if they were furnished equipment and help, if the money due them was not siphoned off to traders and others, and if white settlers were kept off their land. Past experience in these matters did little to encourage them. It was not easy to ignore the taunts of other Indians who jeered at them for wearing breeches instead of blankets and cutting their hair, who stole and killed their stock, who trampled their crops, and who threatened the children they sent to the missionary schools. Then, too, their warlike cousins to the West, the Yankton, developed the annoying habit of showing up at annuity time and downgrading the Santee (Upper and Lower Sioux) for signing treaties with the white man.

Brown and Little Crow Were Poles Apart In Many Ways. "In many ways Joseph Brown and Little Crow were poles apart in spite of being in the same group on the same train bound for the same destination. But they shared some personal characteristics. Both were proud, lively, inquiring, and ambitious. Brown needed to succeed for the greater glory of Minnesota and himself. Little Crow needed to succeed for survival, both his own and that of his people. The Santee Sioux must not again give up much for little or nothing.

The Delegates Change Trains at Baltimore and Arrive at Washington. "At Baltimore the entourage had to change to a Baltimore and Ohio train for Washington. Already there had been some illness, for which medicines were purchased in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. After arriving in Washington on Saturday, March 13, 1858, the 26 [sic] fine and stalwart Santee felt more like twenty-six worn and wasted men, objects of curiosity and some ridicule. Hard enough to bear under the best of circumstances, the situation called for the greatest exercise of dignity and restraint when their spirits were low. Only a small fraction of their trip was over. Little did they know they had to endure 125 more days away from home.

"The Indians, interpreter Campbell, and assistants Robertson and Nathaniel Brown were sorted into W. P. Chandler's coaches and conveyed to Mrs. Maher's Union Hotel. The cost of transportation, including baggage, was fifty cents each. Brown lodged at the National Hotel, several blocks away from the others.

The Sioux Delegates Meet Commissioner Mix. "On Monday, March 15, at 2:00 P.M., the full delegation with a large and mixed supporting cast met with Acting Commissioner Charles E. Mix in his office. Each delegate was introduced by a dramatized personal story. Mix in turn warned his red children against fire water, promised visits with Secretary of the Interior Jacob Thompson and President Buchanan, and reminded them that they should not conduct tribal warfare with the Pawnee who were also in town for treaty making.

"Little Crow said he had come a long way and intended while in your village, to walk your streets as a proud man. He pointed out that the Sioux were obedient to the Great Father even to the point of hunting down renegade Indians -- a dangerous and frustrating errand for which they had never been paid. He was referring to the unwelcome job of trying to capture Inkpaduta (Scarlet Point), an outlawed Wahpekute chief who led the so-called Spirit Lake Massacre in 1857 in which more than thirty settlers were killed. When the Indian office in Washington notified the Sioux that they would be held responsible for apprehending Inkpaduta, and that annuities would be withheld until they did, Little Crow, John Other Day, and others volunteered to go after the renegade. He eluded them as he had military pursuers earlier, but some women captives were eventually freed. The pressure put upon the Indians to capture Inkpaduta caused bad feelings not only toward the whites but between various factions of the Sioux themselves. The March 15 interview ended, and the delegation left for the hotel. A reporter noticed that one of the Indians shook hands with a handsome young lady that he selected...for her beauty. She blushed properly, and the others laughed.

A Second Interview With Commissioner Mix. "The second interview with Commissioner Mix took place on March 27 and was again attended by both Upper and Lower Sioux members of the delegation. They were splendidly dressed; some wore feathers and paint. Little Crow had added a circle of blue paint around one eye. Mix asked an interpreter if Little Crow spoke for all. The answer was, Yes, for all, and that situation continued throughout the negotiations. Little Crow came right to the point. He reminded the commissioner that, because of the treaties of 1851 in which the Sioux gave up vast lands for monetary and other considerations, our people ought never be poor. He added that our Great Father has plenty of funds belonging to us in his hands, and it takes plenty to enable a person to act like a man and not like a beggar. This was his way of bringing up the question of what happened to the money. Mix said a decision would soon be made in this regard and provisions sent for their comfort and support.

"Mix insisted on knowing how the Indians planned to spend the money given them while in Washington. Little Crow pointed out: My Father, a great many of the white people have money in their pockets, and you never ask them what they are going to do with it, and they spend it as they please. Mix understandably was still nervous about the problem of whisky. Little Crow rose and shook hands with the commissioner -- his way of making a particular point -- and said: My Father, I speak for all the men present. They are all men of sense, and not fools, and when they say anything they intend to do it. You have mentioned that [whisky] to us two or three times, and I hope you will never mention it again. We don't want to hear it.

"Superintendent Cullen broke in. He tried to smooth over the awkward situation by asking interpreter Campbell to explain about perverse Indians who would go begging for money on the streets. Of course, such was not and never would be the case with the dependable Santee. They are too proud for that, said Campbell.

The Sioux Delegates Visit the U. S. Arsenal. "On March 29 the Sioux were taken on an outing that had an ulterior motive. They rode in the ubiquitous Mr. Chandler's carriages to see the new extension for the United States Arsenal being built at Greenleaf's Point. Undoubtedly the commissioner hoped to impress his red children with the military might of the United States. The new works, situated at present-day Fort McNair, were very much in the news in Washington in 1858. Visiting the arsenal at the same time as the Indians were some officials of the Turkish navy. After all had watched the firing of various types of guns, the Sioux entertained the other guests with songs and a war dance, brandishing their pipes and tomahawks, and giving the war-whoop. Little Crow then gave a speech, translated by Major Brown, about the Inkpaduta chase of 1857 and the rescue of some of the prisoners. The visitors from Turkey expressed themselves highly pleased with what they had witnessed.

The Sioux Delegates Take Part In a Pawnee Funeral Procession. "The next day the Sioux were part of a long and striking funeral procession for a Pawnee brave that went to the Congressional Cemetery. The Pawnee was Tuck a-lix-tah, who had been staying at the same rooming house as the Sioux and had died after a long illness. He was buried with his buffalo robe, tomahawk, war club, moccasins, and trinkets. Reverend Williamson translated into Dakota the simple speech made by the Loup Pawnee, Sword Chief, who said that the Indians were tired now and wanted to go home. We hope our Great Father will settle our business and let us go to our villages, Sword Chief said.

The Lower Sioux Meet With Commissioner Mix Again. "Little Crow echoed these thoughts on April 9 when the Lower Sioux met Mix for another interview: I hope you will not keep us long, because if you do we will be too late to attend our planting, and our people will suffer again from the same cause. (He was referring to the fact that having to chase Inkapaduta in 1857 had forced the Sioux to neglect their corn crop.) He then listed some sixteen separate and precise complaints of promises not kept, naming names and citing sums of money due. It was a source of great dissatisfaction to the Sioux that one year the government withheld money if they fought their traditional enemies, the Chippewa, and the following year threatened to withhold annuities if they did not fight Inkpaduta, one of their own tribe.

"Mix replied with the usual soothing words -- their Great Father will redress every wrong, the money is to be used for their benefit or is stored in the treasury, the matter will be looked into, and so forth -- but Little Crow would not be put off. He again shook hands with Mix. Then he pointed to the reporter, John Dowling, and said: Four years ago you had also writing taken down...You then told me that $20,000 would be sent up to us the next payment. That money probably went down the current before it was received, for it never reached us.... If I were to give you an account of all the money that was spilled -- of all that you sent but which never reached us -- it would take all night to tell it.

"He complained of a government farmer who ignored Little Crow but did whatever the Indian women asked; he asked for stoves to put into their houses and for cattle and horses every four years; and he inquired why Dutchmen (Germans) settled on land promised the Indians. Little Crow pointed out that he could not speak, read, or write English and had to accept on faith that the commissioner was telling him the truth. The only possible interpretation for unkept promises was that the Great Father's words got weak before they reached his agents in the field.

The Indian Office Wants the Santee Sioux to Imitate the White Man. "The Indian Office wanted the Santee Sioux to model themselves after the Choctaw and Chickasaw who had set up their own police force. Indians everywhere were urged endlessly to imitate the white man, too. Many of them, familiar with whites and their whisky, resisted these recommendations. The Sioux truly believed that, by giving President Buchanan a list of their needs and grievances, all problems would be solved as if by magic. They could not understand why other Indian delegations were invited to the White House, but not they.

"Just three days prior to the April 9 meeting of the Lower Sioux with Mix, the Mount Vernon Ladies Association of the Union gained title to George Washington's home. About this time the Pawnee Indians left town, followed later by a delegation of the Yankton Sioux who signed a treaty. Some shopkeepers and numerous ordinary citizens heaved a sigh of relief. Although there was repeated and serious trouble with street gangs and ruffians, some people liked to exaggerate an occasional confrontation with the Indians. Commissioner Mix, however, emphasized that the Indians behaved with remarkable propriety. Their curiosity and unsophisticated ideas tend at times to make them somewhat indiscreet, but this...should not be...a ground of complaint. Their kindness towards each other of different tribes, and towards all with whom they have been brought into contact, [is] praiseworthy. It affords truly a most humiliating contrast with the outrageous proceedings of the civilized savages in our midst...

The Sioux Delegates Have Their Interview With the President. "The Sioux finally had their interview with the president on April 26 and, wrote Brown, were much gratified with their kind reception. The president heard their 'little speeches' and replied in a tone of friendship and kindness highly pleasing and at the same time encouraging to the Indians.

The Sioux Delegation's Stay at Maher's Boardinghouse. "The Sioux delegation always met the commissioner at Seventeenth and Pennsylvania Avenue where the old Executive Office Building now stands. The Sioux stayed at Maher's boardinghouse, the Union Hotel, known in its palmier days as the Globe Hotel. It stood just behind the present United States Treasury Building. Jimmy Maher, the original owner, had quite a reputation as a hotelkeeper who could talk to the Indians in their native language with his Irish brogue flavoring the whole conversation. He made them feel at least partially at home by encouraging them to sit on the porch, play drums, and sing songs. These harmless pastimes always attracted a crowd, which was good for business. Bed (such as it was) and board for each Indian cost $2.00 a day. Fires, candles, and laundry were extra. Little Crow resented that they were treated like uncivilized aborigines. Having saved money to pay for the trip, he said, we thought we would come here and live like white men, and sleep in beds, but we had to sleep on the floor.

Little Progress Made Toward Treaty Signing. "The spring days turned warmer, but little progress was made toward signing of a Sioux treaty because the debate over the admission of Kansas monopolized the time of Congress and the president. It also held back statehood for Minnesota. Like a virus the Kansas question invaded the national political body, and as temperatures rose, energy dissipated. As a newspaperman and one of Minnesota's leading Democrats who took part in the convention to form a state constitution, Brown could not resist writing political dispatches from Washington for the Henderson Democrat. When Brown, frustrated over the delay in the Minnesota bill, blamed Senator Stephen A. Douglas for putting Kansas ahead of Minnesota, the St. Paul Pioneer and Democrat took vigorous issue with Brown on this point. The St. Paul paper also turned on him for advocating the Lecompton (proslavery) constitution for Kansas.

"Joseph R. Brown was a complex man. Williamson had initially distrusted him: I have known the agent ever since I first came to the [Minnesota] country in 1834, when he was engaged as he had been for several years previous, in selling whiskey to the Indians. He is a man of little education, handsome talents, much kind feeling, and very little principle; probably more thoroughly acquainted with the Dakotas than any other man living...he feels a strong sympathy for the people, though owing to his lack of principle they greatly dislike him.

Williamson Departs. "Impatient with the glacial progress made on the Sioux treaty, Williamson decided he might as well go home to Yellow Medicine and get some crops in the ground. He left on April 6, convinced it would be useless to oppose the cession of land by which too many men stood to profit. In two months his opinion of Brown had changed some: They [Brown and Cullen] seem to take considerable interest in the welfare of the Indians and have pretty correct views of what is necessary thereto, but they are destitute of religious principle and so not fully reliable especially as they are here constantly in contact with men at least as wise or shrewd as themselves who think their pecuniary interests may be much advanced by measures detrimental to the Indians.

"Of course, Williamson and other Santee reserve missionaries were not entirely disinterested spectators. Current negotiation involved the education funds, which, if diverted to pay traders' debts or used for some other would be a blow to the missionaries. They had built schoolhouses, churches, and homes for themselves and the Christian Indians. It was important to them to have clear land title.

Superintendant and Mrs. Cullen Depart. "Not only did Williamson depart, but so did Superintendent and Mrs. Cullen, both of whom took sick and left in late April to return to the pure air of Minnesota. The Cullens' illness, however, forced them to stay in Philadelphia for some time to recuperate. This is a matter of regret, wrote Brown, as his services would have been of great value in the negotiations between the department and the Indians. There are but few government appointees who stand fairer with the department with which they are connected than does Col. Cullen. This statement stands in marked contrast with Brown's estimate of Cullen the previous July when the superintendent, then a rank novice from Indiana, was attempting to deal with the Inkapaduta crisis. Brown doubted then that Cullen could give a succinct, logical and intelligent description of the difference between the habits, manners, customs and peculiarities of a Sioux Indian and a snapping turtle.

Congress Passes Minnesota Admission Bill. "On May 11, 1858, Congress finally passed the Minnesota admission bill, and Buchanan signed it. Minnesota thus became the nation's thirty-second state. Its new constitution, actually adopted by an overwhelming vote of the people the previous October 13, required Indians and mixed-bloods to pass a court test in addition to adopting the language and customs of civilization in order to enjoy the rights of citizenship within the State.

The Sights, Sounds, and Smells of Washington in May. "The sights, sounds, and smells of Washington in May would inspire many people to leave -- if they could. In fact, the Indians are inclined to think that visits to Washington are not so desirable as they were formerly, Brown wrote in a dispatch to the Henderson Democrat. Streets were unpaved. There was no municipal water supply with which to wet them down. By day's end the air was heavily polluted with dust. Washington is probably the dustiest city in the Union, a correspondent wrote for the New York Times. If heaven donated a natural supply of water, another kind of pollution developed: The sewage of the entire city, high and low, was fearfully and conspicuously defective.

"However, the Potomac was relatively clean, and the movement of air over the water lifted the Indians' sinking spirits on April 30. That day they rode on a steamer to Alexandria on an outing that was well worth the twenty-six cents each ticket cost. It was a pleasure for them to leave Washington's ant heap of lobbyists and office seekers behind. The Sioux liked floating down the river to the bustling, exciting port and even announced that they would put on a drum-and-dance performance at Arlington Spring a month later. As demonstrated at the arsenal earlier, they enjoyed playing for their own pleasure and loved to see others dance and sway to the drumbeat, too.

"In spite of all the shopping, attending theatrical performances, and visiting churches, office buildings, and other places, the Sioux were bored by long stretches of inactivity. Some of the more curious among them even tried out elixirs and compounds advertised in the newspapers -- anything to take their minds off their long wait and the bad news that began arriving from home.

Yankton and Yanktonai Threats. "At annuity time the year before, the Santees' relatives, the Yankton and Yanktonai, had traveled from Dakota Territory to protest the 1851 treaties by burning buildings and driving out some settlers. Now they reportedly were converging on Yellow Medicine, and it looked to be the same all over again. Brown sent Mix a letter along with a Henderson Democrat news clipping in which the Reverend Stephen R. Riggs reported the Yankton and Yanktonai threat. Joe Campbell also wrote a letter for the Lower Sioux, telling Mix: We do not like so many strangers to be near our homes and feel anxious for the safety of our wives and children. Secretary of the Interior Jacob Thompson and Senator Henry M. Rice of Minnesota also received letters they forwarded to Mix.

The Upper Sioux Confer With Mix. "On May 24, 1858, the Upper Sioux conferred with Mix, who at once asked them to live on lands to be allotted in severalty to the heads of families on the south and west side of the Minnesota River and to give up their lands on the north and east side. This was about half of the reservation left them by the 1851 treaty. The amount the Indians would receive for the land would be determined by the Great Council (the United States Senate). The proposal shocked the Wahpeton and Sisseton leaders. Now they could see why they had been kept waiting for forty-six days. When they visited President Buchanan on April 26, he seemed to be sympathetic to their problems. Now, however, their Great Father ignored their demands for an accounting of their money and, instead, asked for their land. Their fields, woods, and river valleys suddenly appeared to be more than they needed. Counting on the Indians' fatigue and frustration, Mix and the other ubiquitous negotiators were hoping to grind down Sioux resistance.

"For the Upper Sioux, like the Lower, it was to be a losing battle, but they did not give up easily in spite of their concern, too, about the possible threat to their families and homes posed by other Sioux tribes to the west and also by the Chippewa. Red Eagle Feather and Iron Walker said they would have to confer with their people about the matters the commissioner brought up. Shoots-Iron-as-He-Walks told Mix that the new proposals would deprive his people of prime timber north of the river, put whisky-selling whites closer to the Indians than before, and still not repay them for what they had yielded in 1851. Iron Walker spoke eloquently for the others, saying: Since we made the treaty of 1851 with our Great Father we call ourselves American citizens and feel that we are a portion of the American people and therefore determined to do right towards them in our dealing...Since we made the treaty... we have lost a good deal of money which we ought to have got; and when we came here to inquire about it, we did not think we would have had to stay so long. We wanted to get through quick and go back and plant. The session ended without a decision.

The Lower Sioux Meet With Mix. "Forewarned by the Upper Sioux, the Lower Sioux met with Mix the next day, May 25, at 2~2 P.M. in a stormy session. The general treaty terms that Mix laid out were much the same as for the Upper Sioux. The Mdewankanton and Wahpekute should relinquish their lands north of the Minnesota and farm on lands allotted to heads of families on the south side. Continuing to be spokesman, Little Crow tried to head off the inevitable with passionate and eloquent arguments. He again reminded Mix and others of broken promises in earlier treaties and then said:

That is the way you all do. You use very good and pleasant language, but we never receive half what is promised or which we ought to get. I came here about the Reserve in 1854; I recollect you [meaning the recorder] very distinctly; and you were then writing at the table as you are now, surrounded by papers. You then promised us that we should have this same land forever; and yet, notwithstanding this, you now want to take half of it away. We ought, when we meet to do business, talk like men and not like children...When we came here, I thought we would do business...at once...but it appears you are getting papers all around me, so that, after a while, I will have nothing left. I am going to see that paper which you gave the Agent, and if, after examining it, I shall find anything good in it, I will come and see you again; and when I do, you will hear me talk like a man, and not like a child.

At this juncture, Little Crow shook hands with Mix, and the Indians left for their hotel.

The Upper Sioux Present Their Requests. "Both groups of Sioux now tried to rescue something from the negotiations by preparing documents with suggested treaty provisions of their own. On June 1 the Upper Sioux presented theirs, drafted with Brown's help. It asked for a definite written sum of money for their lands -- not a blank to be filled in by the Great Council (Senate). The money was to be paid to the chiefs, not the traders. The Indians also indicated they would no longer hunt down their own criminals, and they wanted their timberland to be protected from the whites.

The Lower Sioux Present Their Requests. "On June 4 the Lower Sioux, aided by Robertson, also gave Mix a paper in which one proposal was to donate to Minnesota some reserve land in return for tax exemption as a hedge against the ending of money payments. During this interview Little Crow was careful to let Wabasha take more of a part than earlier since he was the principal chief. But when it came to polemics, Little Crow continued to hold the stage. He had read, as he said he would, the proposed treaty Mix had handed the Indians at the previous meeting. The chief complained that the paper made me ashamed because it in effect said the Sioux Indians own nothing. He added that we were promised a great many things...but it now appears that the wind blows it all off and that we got good words and nothing else. The Great Spirit has made his red children on the land which they own and their Great Father, when he wants it, buys it of them. Later on, Little Crow said he thought the Sioux ought to have more land than the treaty offered -- in 1854, I was promised a large tract. Here was the crux of the difficulty. The promises of 1854, or any year, were not the realities of a few years later. When it became inconvenient or expensive (politically or financially) to fulfill an obligation, the United States saw no hindrance to taking the cheap way out.

The Issue of Indian Debts to Traders. "The matter of what the Indians owed traders also came up at the June 4 meeting. Little Crow said he wanted to do what was right. Living in a country where game is scarce, and we can't hunt, he said, We are compelled to go in debt for provisions; and I am willing to give those who let us have them something by way of remuneration. When Mix pushed for an accounting, Little Crow indicated that the Lower Sioux owed a total of some $40,000 to such traders as Myrick, Campbell, Brown (before he became agent), Forbes, and Louis Robert.

Government Officials Fleeing Washington. "Events now moved mercifully to a climax, and none too soon, for the weather was getting so warm that government officials and others were fleeing Washington. The last parties and galas were taking place. Harriet Lane, the president's niece and hostess, had left the capital for the fresher air of Wheatland, the Buchanan home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. On oppressive nights Buchanan drove four miles up to the Soldiers Home where it was cool enough for a good night's sleep.

The Upper Sioux Sign a Treaty. "As June dragged on, no real attempt was made to dignify the treaty farce being played by actually negotiating with the Indians. Mix, now a full commissioner, left no doubt that he expected a treaty to be signed when he summoned the upper bands to his office at 2:00 P.M. on June 19. First, though, the lengthy discussions resembled those of other meetings between Mix and both groups of Sioux. When Red Iron, head chief of the upper bands, tried to ask questions about the money, houses, and other promises in the 1851 treaty, Mix put him off, as he did Little Crow, by calling him a child. The commissioner tired of arguments and threatened to let the Upper Sioux return home without a treaty. Then they could see what conditions they could get out of the new state of Minnesota.

"The question of Indian title to their holdings came up, and Brown indicated he thought the Sioux were secure on their lands south of the river. He was relying on the terms of the July, 1854, agreement, in which the president was authorized to confirm to the Sioux of Minnesota, forever, the reserve on the Minnesota River now occupied by them, upon such conditions as he may deem just.. The president never took formal action, thereby leaving it (in the words of one historian) an open question whether they had anything better than a tenancy at will.

"Mix, obviously trying to frighten the delegation into signing, expressed no doubt on the point of title: They have no right whatever to the land they now occupy, and, which is held by sufferance. The United States wanted the land north of the river, and the alternative to taking it by force was to perform a treaty charade. The traders, of course, would be protected in their entrenched positron by having just debts deducted from payments. The army would receive permission to establish posts and build roads. As for the lands still being held by the Sioux on the south side of the Minnesota, eighty acres would be allotted in severalty to heads of families (and to minors when they became heads of families) and the remainder of the reserve would be held in common. The Indians would pay survey costs, forego annuities when drunk, hand over all lawbreakers, and trust to the Senate to arrive at a fair price for the land ceded on the north side. Even without foreknowledge of the Civil War, Brown was misguided in his trust of the Senate and his belief that he could influence later events and persons. In fairness to Brown, however, it should be underscored that he doubtless was the one who pushed for civilization clauses like the eighty-acre allotments and other provisions leading to Indians' cultivation of the soil. Late in the afternoon of June 19 the Upper Sioux at last signed the treaty.

The Lower Sioux Sign a Treaty. "With one treaty out of the way, Mix probably was sorry he put off meeting with the Lower Sioux until 7:00 P. M. the same day. At any rate, the exhausting and bitter session dragged on until midnight, following the same script as the earlier one. Patience grew thin on both sides as fatigue set in. Little Crow again asked about past promises of payments never made. Mix threatened the lower bands as he had the upper and again referred to Little Crow as a child. This cut the chief, who answered: You say I am a child! This time I am determined not to act as a child in signing a paper I do not understand.

"In frustration over Indian resistance, Mix warned against the sinister councils of white men. Twice he appeared to question, openly, the validity of the translation being done by Joe Campbell. Mix's stock reply when asked about past promises was that everything was done for the good of the Great Father's red children. At last, depressed and unresponsive to the commissioner's tense questions, the Lower Sioux leaders also signed their X's to the paper. By then the reasons to sign appeared as great as those not to sign. Virtually nothing they wanted had been granted except a promise to keep whites out of the reserve and a chance, with the eighty-acre allotments, to farm individually. Any longer time away from home would be wasted, so the Lower Sioux signed.

Differences Between the Treaties. "The treaties differed mainly in two respects. First, Little Crow insisted on deleting the article permitting tribal members to live off the reservation. He knew that Our young men, if permitted to...run about among the whites...will pull down fences, and do mischief, and create bad feeling. Second, Campbell was reimbursed for land and payments promised his father, Scott Campbell, in 1837 but negated by Senate action.

Farewell Interviews With Upper and Lower Sioux Delegates. "A farewell interview on June 21 between Mix and the Upper Sioux went quietly. Each Indian leader was presented a medal of their Great Father and promised a good northwest gun, a good conduct paper, and further presents of cloth and goods to be bought in New York City.

"At a later interview with Mix the same day, the Lower Sioux were deeply suspicious and only partly mollified by Brown's assurances that they would receive $1.25 an acre for their lands north of the Minnesota. Little Crow refused to be put off so easily. He mentioned that he had wanted to go to Washington a good many years ago. He added:...there seemed to be a big fence around us, but Inkpaduta pulled it down[.] [I]f it had not been for that scrape, we would not be here. Little Crow realized that his previous efforts to keep settlers out of the reserve, account for the annuity payments, and regulate relations with the marauding Chippewa had been hopeless. Only when the Spirit Lake murders scared the settlers had he been in a position to pressure the Indian Office to allow the visit to Washington.

Antagonism Between Little Crow and Brown. "Now the submerged antagonism between Little Crow and Brown surfaced, apparently over the sum of money the Lower Sioux lent the upper bands at the beginning of the trip. I have a great many things to say against my agent, Little Crow said rather cryptically, but do not wish to say them now. Brown replied: I am not afraid to have him say what he knows of my conduct. He has been a great drawback to a faithful discharge of my duties as Agent. That is all I have to say to him.

"Mix told Little Crow that he did Brown an injustice, adding: If he has any thing to say against his Agent, he must say it here to his face, or else hereafter hold his tongue. Then Mix asked who their chief was and if he is a man why does he not speak out. He repeated the question. After a long pause, the delegation finally took leave of Mix and retired in apparent bad humor without replying to the question. Words were worthless.

The Indians Depart. "Chandler's carriages waited to take the Indians directly to the train for Baltimore -- the first stop on the way home to families and farms they had left too long ago. John Other Day had acquired a bride -- or, more accurately, a white woman, a waitress at the Indians' hotel, who would become his wife. The Sioux all had new clothes, medals, and memories. They no longer had almost one million acres of prime Minnesota land and, fortunately, did not yet know how little they would be paid for it.

Brown Joins Indians at Baltimore Hotel. "Brown joined the Indians at their Baltimore hotel, the Howard House, on June 23, having stayed behind to receive Mix's letter of instruction. While the Indians rode omnibuses on a sight-seeing tour of Baltimore, Brown went to Poltney's, hardware merchants, where he ordered $5,000 worth of farm equipment for the Sioux, as Mix had directed. In spite of pestering crowds of war-whooping rowdies, the Indians ascended the Washington Monument for a look at Baltimore below. They also visited a ship, and, dressed in war costume, took in the last show of the season, the comedy Wild Oats, at the Holliday Street Theatre. They always liked the lights and bright costumes of the theater and were fully aware of the impact they had on women.

The Group Stops Overnight in Lancaster. "Heading for New York on June 24, the group stopped overnight in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to receive their guns and powder horns at H. E. Leman's. The Amish and Mennonite farmers reportedly were less of a novelty to the Indians than vice versa, and it was a relief to be out of the crushing humidity of the coastal cities even for a few hours.

The Group Arrives in New York City. "Record heat of nearly 100 degrees greeted the delegation when it reached New York. The Sioux were to have enjoyed a great shopping spree and rounds of sight-seeing and entertainment not possible in the limited resources of Washington. Mix instructed Brown to invest $5,000 in dry goods at Cronin, Hurxthal and Sears and advised the secretaries of the army and navy to arrange a welcome for the Indians at their New York installations. But there was no strength or enthusiasm for the least movement outside Hungerford's Hotel other than for a gasp of less torrid air in the late evening.

The Sioux Depart for St. Paul. "By June 28 Brown realized that health and tempers were deteriorating rapidly as each day set a new record for both thermometer and coroner. On June 30 nineteen persons died of sun stroke in New York. The Indians found a visit to see Wood's Minstrels slightly bearable because each was given a fan. The visitors were not slow to realize the power of the press and began giving reporters strictly personal and highly biased accounts of the Inkpaduta episode. Mix had asked Brown to stay over in order to obtain more medals but gave permission for the Sioux groups and their conductors to go on ahead. On July 2 the Sioux left for Niagara Falls and St. Paul. It was none too soon. In Minnesota on that same day the Lower Sioux broke into and plundered the government warehouses at both agencies. Among those arrested, while his father and other chiefs were returning home from Washington and New York, was the son of Shakopee.

Superintendent Cullen's Report to Commissioner Mix. "It did not take long for the effect of the well-meant phrases of the treaties to be all blown off, as Little Crow put it. By August 24, 1858, Superintendent Cullen reported to Mix that the Indians gathered at Yellow Medicine were sullen, rebellious, and insulting, especially to Brown. Cullen suspected conspiracy which is of an ominous character and will require extreme watchfulness. The missionaries were concerned that they might have to abandon their buildings, farms, schools, and churches without compensation if the treaty terms were strictly interpreted. By November one of the most faithful of the breeches Indians, Little Paul, was asking the Reverend Stephen Return Riggs to assist in preventing ratification of the treaties. " A Portion of the American People, The Sioux Sign a Treaty in Washington in 1858, Minnesota History, Sioux Uprising Issue, Fall 1976, pp. 83-96

The News of Minnesota Statehood Arrives. "Early on the morning of May 13, 1858, a telegram forwarded from Prairie du Chien brought the news of the admission of the state. The leading St. Paul newspaper mentions a thrill of joy, but there was no tumultuous rejoicing. Some days passed before the official notice of congressional action was received. Meanwhile the state officers elect, executive and judicial, were assembling at the Capitol. On May 24 they took their oaths of office in the governor's room and the state government in all its departments was in operation." A History of Minnesota, Vol II, pp. 22-23

Supreme Court Justice Charles E. Flandrau. "The Minnesota Constitution, which Flandrau as a delegate had helped to write, provided that all justices of the supreme court were to be elected by the people. Thus when Minnesota became a state on May 11, 1858, Flandrau and his collegues were forced to run for election. It is interesting to note that one of Flandau's Republican opponents for the post was his former law partner, Horace Bigelow. However, the entire Democratic slate, headed by Henry H. Sibley as governor, was elected, and Flandrau, Emmett, and Atwater became the state's first supreme court justices.

"While he was serving on the supreme court, Flandrau retained his home at Traverse des Sioux...His valley friends usually called him Major, which was in those days the title custom accorded Indian agents, or Judge, and a contemporary reports that he was often referred to, but always with respect or affection, as Charlie Flandrau." Charles E. Flandrau and the Defense of New Ulm, pp. 18-19

The Harkin Family, West Newton Township, Nicollet County. "Although Alex stressed the geographical remoteness of his homestead, his loneliness was probably as much the result of cultural as of physical distances...What benefit could you derive from visiting your neighbors, Alex wrote bitterly in 1858, if you could not understand one single word of their language -- neither could they understand you. Such a visit would only be disagreeable Both to them & yourself -- for our neighbours are Cheifly German.

"Religious differences further heightened the Harkin's sense of isolation. One of the few Protestant families in an otherwise Catholic settlement, Alex and Janet, for the first time in their lives, found themselves without a church. The German Catholics are about building a new Chapel here, Alex wistfully wrote to his sister-in-law on New Year's Day, 1858, but I don't know when we will have a Protestant Church for there is only two Protestant Families here as yet. We will have to wait & see what recruits this year's Emigration Brings us." Alexander Harkin, Dealer in Dry Goods and Groceries, pp. 12-13

Dedication of the Coon Prairie Norwegian Lutheran Church. "The church as already mentioned was finished in the spring of 1857. But the Synod's pastors were widely spread, some several hundred miles from each other and it was impossible for pastor Stub to arrange a time for the dedication before he could talk to them at the annual meeting which was held in the Little Iowa Church in October 1857. This was the first annual meeting of the Synod, where Coon Prairie was represented in that Even Gullord was sent as a delegate from the congregation to invite the Synod's pastors to the dedication. It was decided that the dedication should take place the 27th June 1858. It was decided that school teachers should meet at the same time.

"The pastors and teachers were told to come to De Soto, a small landing place on the Mississippi River about 30 miles from Coon Prairie on Friday the 25th June. Here they were met by a large group of farmers from Coon Prairie who that day hauled them to West Prairie. This was an annexed church of Coon Prairie and the congregation had also built a church which with appropriate festivities was dedicated the next day. During the afternoon the whole group drove to Coon Prairie. All but two of the Synod's pastors were present. In addition to the congregation's pastor, H. A. Stub, were the following: A. C. Preus, the Synod's president, from Koshkonong; H. A. Preus from Spring Prairie; J. A. Ottesen from Manitowoc County; N. Brandt from Rock River near Milwaukee; G. F. Dietrichson from Rock Prairie and Lauritz Larsen from far north in Pierce County. There were also Peter Marius Brodhal, newly arrived from Norway to serve 21 congregations in an area west of Madison, Wis.; U. V. Koren from Iowa, and Fredrik C. Clausen from Spring Grove, or as it was called then, Norwegian Ridge, the only Norwegian pastor in Minnesota. Only Pastor Duus from Scandinavia and Pastor Munch from Wiota were not present. These two returned the next year to Norway. All of the pastors present were housed at the parsonage.

"The next morning a large assemblage gathered at the church. In addition to Coon Prairie's many hundred people there were folk from Kickapoo and Coon Valley, from Bad Axe and Bloomingdale, from Fish Creek and Brush Creek and Cannon Valley. There were nearly two thousand present and only half could squeeze themselves into the church. But there was a festival spirit in everyone anyway and when the hymn singing burst forth through the open windows those outside sang in their hearts even if they did not know the words.

"The opening prayer was given by Pastor Clausen from Minnesota. The dedicatory talk and sermon were given by the Synod's president, Pastor A. C. Preus, and the short talk by Pastor Brandt, who remembered that he 5 or 6 years earlier had preached to a few Norwegian families spread out here and there on the prairie, but otherwise the shooting by the red men was the only sign of habitation. Pastor Ottesen who wrote a report of the meeting for Rirlrelig Haanedstidende ...said that this church was the largest and nicest church which we have had a part in dedicating here. Altar and pulpit, chancel and pew area are done with taste and expense.

"The following day the pastors met at the parsonage and the teachers in the church. Monday afternoon services were conducted by Pastor Ottesen and Tuesday afternoon with communion by Koren. Friday morning farewells were said with a feeling among all that they had had an exceptionally good and blessed meeting. Those leaving were hauled to La Crosse where they separated."

Nicollet County Commisioners Create Lake Prairie Township. "The town of Lake Prairie is in the northeaster part of the county, and embraces twonships 111, range 27, and that part of the township 111, range 26 west of the Minnesota river. April 27, 1958, it was set apart by the county commissioners, and an election was held soon after at Patrick Cronan's house; the judges of the election were Peter Brady and patrick Cronana. George Briggs was the first chairman of the township board." History of the Minnesota Valley, Nicollet County, p. 669

Formation of the Norseland Lutheran Church. "...by the spring of 1858, there were 31 families residing in Nicollet and Sibley counties in the locality still known as the Norseland community." 100th Anniversary Norseland Lutheran Church, p. 3

"Apparently the calling of an ordained minister had been discussed [by Johanness Johnsen Odegaard with several of his neighbors, and accordingly at his instigation a letter was dispatched to Rev. H. A. Stub at Coon Prairie asking that someone be sent to Nicollet county to organize church work. It was upon Rev. Stub's request that Rev. Laurentius Larsen came to Nicollet county..." 100th Anniversary Norseland Lutheran Church, p. 3

"It was upon Rev. Stub's request that Rev. Laurentius Larsen came to Nicollet county in June, 1858. It was at the Odegard home, located where the present Willard Johnson home now stands, that a meeting was called of the early settlers to receive Rev. Larsen, to hear God's word spoken for the first time by an ordained Norwegian Lutheran minister of the gospel on the soil of Nicollet county and to organize a congregation.

"What a scene that must have been to witness the arrival of these 31 families at the Odegaard home that memorable day of June 6, 1858, just a few weeks after Minnesota became a state. They came from Norwegian Grove, beyond Rush River, in Sibley county, from Swan Lake and some from the vicinity of St. Peter. They sang the old hymns they had learned in Norway and made a festive day of it. Rev. Larsen preached long and prayed fervently..." 100th Anniversary Norseland Lutheran Church, p. 4

"Records of this first church meeting have been lost or destroyed so a complete list of the charter members is no longer available." 100th Anniversary Norseland Lutheran Church, p. 4

"Gresham lists the following among the charter members: Johannes Johnsen Odegard, Magnus Reis, Neri Gundersen, Jorgen Nerisen, O. C. Anversen, Svenke Torgersen, O. C. Ostensen, Anders Rus, O. C. Aversen, Jens Knudsen, Johan Tollefsen, Nils Olsen, Hebbjorn Pedersen, Tosten Ostensen, Johan Pedersen, Andrews Monsen, Lars Olsen, Peder Pedersen, Jens Jensen, Borre Svensen, Mathias Davidsen, Lars Svensen, and others. There were 31 voting members in all present at this meeting.. On October 21st, 1858, five new members joined. From that time onward, the congregation has shown a steady growth, and in the first years the Norwegians of St. Peter also joined in the services at Norseland." 100th Anniversary Norseland Lutheran Church, pp. 4-5

"October 24, 1858, the Norseland Church congregation met to extend a formal call to Rev. Larsen to act as their pastor on the condition that he should visit the congregation 'at feat two times a year, and otherwise take care of their spiritual needs so far as time, distance and opportunity would permit'. He accepted the call but did not stay long. He made only three calls in all, the first one in, 1858, the second in October that year and the last in July, 1859, when he resigned to accept the professorship of Norwegian and theology in the German Lutheran Concordia seminary at St. Louis, Mo. During the period of his pastorale, he confirmed 10, baptized 31 and administered communion to 100. It was a far-flung pastorate that Rev. Larsen served, extending through entire southwestern Minnesota, hence his visits were few and far between." 100th Anniversary Norseland Lutheran Church, p. 5

"[Peter Laurentius Larsen]...was born in Oslo, Norway, in 1833. He received his elementary education in the Oslo grammar school, graduating therefrom in 1850. He completed his university training in the capital of Norway in 1855 and was prepared for the ministry there. In 1857, he received a call from the congregation in Rush River, Pierce county, Wisconsin, then newly organized, which he accepted, coming to America that same year. He remained in this field until 1858, when he was called to the Norseland church." 100th Anniversary Norseland Lutheran Church, p. 13

The Lars Hansen Schol Family in Lake Prairie Township. "...Lauritz Hanson Schull...was born on October 26, 1858, a son of Lars Hanson and Catherine (Olson) Schull, both natives of Norway. They were married when they emigrated to this country and settled first in Wisconsin, then came on to Minnesota and located in Lake Prairie township, this county, where they lived the balance of their lives and where Lauritz Hanson Schull was born not long after they came." History of Nicollett and Le Sueur Counties, Minnesota, Their People, Industries and Institutions, Vol. II, p.383

The Tenth Census of the United States, 1880, confirms the above account. It reports that Lauris, the 22-year-old son of Lars Hanson and Carina Schol, was born in Minnesota (in 1858). The same census reports that his 22-year-old sister, Netta, was born in Wisconsin (in 1857).

The Lars Hansen Schol family obviously came to Lake Prairie Township, Nicollet County, Minnesota, sometime after the birth of Netta in 1857 and before the birth of Lauris on October 26, 1858. Perhaps the family was one of the five new members who Gresham says joined the Norseland Lutheran Church congregation on October 21st, 1858.

The editor is convinced the Lars Hansen Schol family came from Coon Prairie, Wisconsin.

"...the first burial by the [Norseland Lutheran Church] congregation was in a plot on the Johannes Johnsen Odegaard farm, just west the present Scholl buildings, on a little knoll now a field." 100th Anniversary Norseland Lutheran Church, p. 23

Apparently the Odegaard and Schol families became neighbors in 1858.

Nicollet Village in Nicollet Township in Nicollet County. "The first post-office was Eureka, established about 1855, with Hiram Caywood in charge; in 1858 the name was changed to Nicollet and the office placed in charge of Amos F. Post." History of the Minnesota Valley, Nicollet County, p. 676

Granby Township Organized in Nicollet County. "[Granby]...was set apart for organization, April ??, 1858, and included all of congressional townships 110, ranges 28 , and 111, ranges 28 and 29, and the north half of 110, range 29." History of the Minnesota Valley, Nicollet County, p. 693

The First Settlers in Granby Township. "The first settlers in [Granby]...were James Doot, Sr. and family, coming in May, 1855. His two oldest boys, Simon and Almond C., located near Swan Lake. Joseph Searles and the Anderson brothers arrived soon after. In 1856 and '57 settlers came in rapidly, the location of the town, between two lakes, making land very desirable." History of the Minnesota Valley, Nicollet County, p. 693

"From 1858 to 1864, this town [New Sweden was a part of Granby..." History of the Minnesota Valley, Nicollet County, p. 690

"As early as 1855 a party of Norwegians, Ole Aestenson, Gunder Nereson and Swenke Torgeson settled near a grove in the northern part of the [New Sweden ] town, naming the locality Norwegian Grove. In July 1857, Charles Johnson, Andrew Webster and John Abrahamson settled in sections 13, 14 and 24. Nels Nelson and Swan Swanson soon followed." History of the Minnesota Valley, Nicollet County, p. 690

St. Peter Company Succeeds in Transferring the Land Office to St. Peter. "Among the other projects of...[the St. Peter Company] was the trying to get the location, at St. Peter, of the Indian superintendcy, for which purpose the necessary ground and buildings were offered. Not meeting with any more success in this direction than had attended the efforts to remove the capital, they went to work and tried to get the transfer of the land office from Fairbault, in which they finally succeeded, its removal being effected in December, 1858, at which time Samuel Plummer was register and B. F. Tillottson receiver.

Influence of the St. Peter Company in Building Up the City. "The influence of the company in the building up of the city was of large extent. Public improvements were made, a hotel built, a newspaper started, manufacturing encouraged, the town well advertised, and everything done to promote the material welfare and prosperity of the place. The company also subscribed the sum of $100,000 to the Southern Minnesota railroad, when it was projected.

"The property of the company steadily increased in value, so much so that in 1858 the capital stock was $200,000; the surplus $29,151."

The Railroad Reaches La Crosse. "Railroads in the 1850's were binding the Mississippi Valley to the market towns of the East, touching Rock Island in 1854, Prairie du Chien three years later, and La Crosse in 1858" The American Transition, p. 457

Five Million Loan Bill to Promote Minnesota Railroad Construction. "The railroad interests... had no money, of course. There was almost none in the territory. The military and Indian disbursements furnished the little in sight. Could each company but survey and locate a twenty-mile section of road it would receive 76.800 acres of land, which might be sold or hypothecated. Could it build and set in operation twenty miles, as many more acres would be acquired and the business begun would yield an income. Population would flow in, cultivation would extend, towns would develop, land values -- especially those of the railroad land -- would mount. In the course or a few years Minnesota would have a great railroad system, worth millions, which had cost her not a cent. All these companies lacked was a start, just a little sum to locate and build, say, fifty miles apiece. The whole state was interested; why should not the state. following the example of the national government, assist these worthy enterprises, of so much account to her? Other states had rendered such assistance for internal improvements. The proposition was not novel. But there was the state constitution forbidding the legislature to contract a debt in excess of $250,000 and providing that in case any debt should be incurred the legislature should in the act authorizing the debt provide for a tax sufficient to cancel it within ten years. A loan of money by the state was out of the question." A History of Minnesota, Vol. II, pp. 44-45

"The Five Million Loan Bill did not appear in the legislature, at least in its final form until the twenty-fourth of February, 1858. The railroad interests seem to have had some influence in convincing that body that it was competent to do all manner of legislative business, which had been so much doubted until about that time. So favorable a sentiment had been disseminated that the bill met with no serious opposition in the Senate. After moving through the usual stages, it was passed by that body on March 2 by a vote of 24 to 7. Three days later the House of Representatives concurred by a vote of 47 to 24." A History of Minnesota, Vol. II, p. 45

"This elaborate amendment to section 10 of article 9 of the constitution was to be submitted to the voters of the territory at an election to be held on April 15, 1858." A History of Minnesota, Vol. II, p. 47

"The election was held as appointed. Few expected any such majority of votes for the loan as was shown by the official canvass published on the sixth of May: yeas, 25,023; nays 6,733." A History of Minnesota, Vol. II, p. 48

"The four corporations promptly accepted the conditions of the amendment and immediately there was a great show of activity. By midsummer contracts were let and construction was begun." A History of Minnesota, Vol. II, p. 49