Fifty Years In The Northwest
Miller, was undeniably a hard citizen. He had a bitter grudge against
Miller, and administered the strokes with a will. He was himself
hanged some years later in California for highway robbery. Chas. F.
Rowley, who assisted in the hanging, lived for some years on a farm
at Wolf creek, enlisted in 1861 in the Union army, and was killed in
battle.
POPULATION OF ST. CROIX FALLS IN 1848.
The following heads of families resided in St. Croix Falls in 1848: H.
H. Perkins, Edward Worth, G. W. Brownell, Otis Hoyt, J. Saunders, R.
Arnold, L. Barlow, A. L. Tuttle, M. M. Samuels, Geo. De Attley, Moses
Perin, and W. H. C. Folsom.
The following single men claimed this as their home: D. Mears, J. L.
and N. C. D. Taylor, P. Kelly, A. Romain, J. and W. R. Marshall, W. F.
Colby, Dr. De Witt, W. J. Vincent, C. Dexter, A. Youle, H. H.
Newberry, J. and O. Weymouth, Geo. Field, W. W. Folsom, J. H. Tuller,
J. Dobney, J. Paine, and some others whose names I can not readily
recall.
NATURAL LANGUAGE.
The Indians, when unable to talk English, nevertheless managed to
express themselves intelligibly by gestures, picture writing, and
vocal utterances, imitating the sounds which they wished to describe.
A kind old Chippewa occasionally visited my camp. He would sit by the
camp fire and mark out in the ashes the outlines of lakes and streams.
In tracing South Clam river, at a certain point he drew a line across
the stream, and blew his breath between his teeth and lips in such a
way as to perfectly imitate the sound of falling water. Sometime
afterward, in exploring Clam river, on rounding a curve I heard the
sound of falling water, and found the fall just as he had located it.
THE DROWNING OF HAMLET H. PERKINS.
Mr. Perkins had been in the village since 1847, acting as agent for
the Falls company until the winter of 1850-51, when he was
accidentally drowned while attending to his duties. He was engaged in
repairing the dam, and was standing on a block of ice. In an unguarded
moment he lost his foothold and was carried by the swift current under
the ice. It was two days before his body was recovered. His family
left the valley, taking the body with them.
A QUAILTOWN MURDER.
St. Croix Falls. The buildings consisted of a dwelling house, whisky
shop, bowling alley, Indian house and stable, the whole
inappropriately styled Quailtown, as the name was a gross slander upon
the innocent birds. The quails in this "Partridge" nest were evil
birds. The resort was noted for its riotous disorder. The worst
classes met there for revelry and midnight orgies. In the summer of
1849 Alfred Romain and Patrick Kelly met at Quailtown, disputed,
fought, were parted, and the neat day met by agreement to continue the
fight with pistols. They were to meet at sunrise in front of Daniel
Mears' store. An attempt was made to pacify them, but in vain. Only
Romain appeared at the appointed place, and not finding Kelly, hunted
through the village for him. About 9 o'clock A. M. he found him at the
house of Kimball, a mulatto man. Romain shot him at sight, fatally. At
the inquest, held by Dr. Hoyt, it was proven that Romain fired four
shots into the body of Kelly, each taking effect, and then crushed his
skull with the pistol, and that Kelly fired one shot at Romain. Romain
was held for murder, but was never brought to trial. After two years'
confinement he escaped from the jail at Prairie du Chien.
Romain afterward removed to St. Louis, reformed his mode of life and
became a steady and respectable man. Kelly was a native of Ireland,
and at the time of his death was engaged to be married to an estimable
lady, one of the corps of teachers sent out by Gov. Slade.
MINERAL PERMITS.
In 1846 a party of speculators, composed of Caleb Cushing, Rufus
Choate, Robert Rantoul, and others, located a mineral permit, one mile
square, covering part of the site of the two towns of St. Croix and
Taylor's Falls, with the water power as the centre. Their permit was
filed in the general land office at Washington. They located another
permit at or near the mouth of Kettle river. As no money was ever
expended in improving them, these permits were never respected.
Subsequently the government resurveyed the lands and sold them. The
present title to these lands is perfectly good.
MARRIAGE UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
In the olden time officers could not always readily be found to
execute the laws. Parties desiring to be married, being unable to
secure the services of a minister or justice of the peace, would seek
for an officer on the other side of the river, get on a raft or boat,
cast off the fastenings and under the concurrent jurisdiction of the
state and territorial authorities, would be pronounced "man and wife."
Parties have had the same rite performed in the winter season while
standing on the ice of the St. Croix midway between the two shores.
AN INDIAN SCARE.
During the excitement following the Indian outbreak, there was a
general feeling of insecurity and alarm. The half-breeds were
especially apprehensive of some kind of violence. One bright moonlight
evening, at St. Croix, a surveyor was taking some observations, and as
his instrument glittered brightly in the moonlight, the half-breeds
saw it and fled, badly frightened, fancying a Sioux behind every bush.
The whites seeing them running, as if for their lives, caught the
panic, and fled over to the Minnesota side. The Taylor's Falls people
were aroused from their peaceful slumbers to find, soon after, that it
was a false alarm. Some of the fugitives hid underneath the bridge and
clung to the trestle work till morning.
THE FIRST FIRE CANOE.
I am indebted to Calvin A. Tuttle for the following reminiscence: In
July, 1838, the steamer Palmyra, Capt. Middleton, of Hannibal,
Missouri, in command, the first steamer on St. Croix waters, brought
me to St. Croix Falls, landing in the Dalles, east side, opposite
Angle Rock. The snorting of the Palmyra brought many curiosity seeking
Indians to the Dalles. They gathered on the pinnacles of the trap
rock, peered curiously over and jumped back, trembling with fright at
the "Scota Cheman" or "fire canoe," the first that had ever floated on
the placid waters of the St. Croix. I had been employed as millwright
to erect mills in the new, and, as yet, almost unknown settlement. On
the Palmyra came the proprietors, Steele, Fitch, Hungerford, Libbey,
Livingston, Hill, and Russell, with mill irons, tools and provisions
for the enterprise.
MILL BUILDING.
After climbing over the cragged rocks we came to an Indian trail which
led to the Falls, where we found two men, Lagoo and Denire holding
the claim for Steele. The fanciful scheme of building a mill up in the
wild land looked now like a reality. The men lived in a log cabin just
below the Falls, in a small clearing in the timber, near a copper rock
range. Boyce and his men had been driven in by Indians from above.
Andrew Mackey and others of Boyce's men went to work with us.
Thirty-six men had come from St. Louis on the steamer Palmyra. We
moved our machinery from the Dalles to the Falls by water and
commenced work immediately. Steele's men had been hindered by the
Indians from procuring timber for the building of the mill. We
obtained a supply from Kanabec river, which arrived September 15th.
Building the mill and blasting the rock occupied our attention during
the winter. The mill was soon completed and running. During this
period the work was often interrupted and the men were greatly
demoralized by the threatening behavior of the Indians. Many of them
were frightened into leaving the settlement, but their places were
supplied by the company whenever practicable. During 1840 we received
some reliable accessions, among them J. L. Taylor, John McKusick,
Joseph Haskell, Elam Greely, J. W. Furber and A. McHattie. Some frame
houses were built near the mill. Washington Libbey was our first
agent, Darnes our second (1839), Capt. W. Frazer our third (1840),
Capt. Wm. Holcombe our fourth (1841). The first death was of a man
drowned in 1840. The first white woman who visited the Falls was Mrs.
David Hone. Rev. Boutwell preached here in 1839. A. Northrup and
family came in 1840.
INDIAN MURDERS.
In 1840 Jeremiah Russell, the Indian farmer at Pokegama, Pine county,
Minnesota, sent two Chippewa Indians to St. Croix Falls for supplies,
who arrived in safety. A band of fifty Sioux Indians were concealed at
this (St. Croix Falls) settlement for some days. Within an hour after
the arrival of the two Chippewas, the settlement was surrounded by
these Sioux. The whites, seeing that trouble was brewing, secreted the
Chippewas for two days, the Sioux closely watching. The white men were
restless, and afraid to go to work. Capt. Frazer, Rev. Ayers and
myself held a council and explained the situation to the Chippewas,
who replied that they would not expose the whites to trouble. They
resolved on leaving and started in open day north over the trap rock
ridge, thence through the bushes, where they discovered two Sioux. The
Chippewas were armed and fired on the Sioux, killing them instantly.
The Chippewas then started to run. The report of the guns brought
squads of Sioux immediately in pursuit, who, firing on the Chippewas,
killed one. The two dead Sioux were sons of Little Crow. They were
placed by the Sioux in a sitting posture, with backs to a tree, facing
the enemy's country, on the second bench near where the mill dam was
subsequently built, a double barreled gun standing on the ground
between them. They decorated the corpses with war paint, ribbons and
mosses. The two Chippewas who killed Little Crow's sons bore the
titles Julius and Wezhaymah. The Sioux in pursuit killed Julius, and
his head was hung up in a kettle before those he had slain. His body
was chopped in pieces and scattered to the four winds.
From an historical letter, written by Mrs. E. T. Ayer, who lives at
Belle Prairie, Minnesota, and whom we have elsewhere mentioned, we
have the following description of the death of the sons of Little
Crow:
"Julius was of medium height, stout build, very neat, and when in full
dress very few Indians would favorably compare with him. Being a good
hunter he had the means of gratifying his taste. His hair was long and
abundant, and was kept clean and shining by the frequent use of comb
and brush, with the help of a little marrow or bear's oil. Three or
four of his numerous long braids, studded with silver brooches, hung
gracefully on both sides of his face and over his arms--the rest of
his dress in a manner corresponding. His hair, like Absalom's, did not
save him from his enemies. The Dakotas may dance around it for
generations and never see its equal.
"Wezhaymah made his appearance at Pokegama. As he drew near the houses
he gave a salute from his double barreled gun. The Ojibways were much
frightened. They believed the Sioux had returned to make another trial
for scalps and plunder. The first impulse of the women was to hide.
The chief's wife and oldest daughter being at the mission house, went
through a trap door into a dark cellar. But when the supposed dead
stood before them, alive and well, there was great rejoicing.
"Wezhaymah said that Julius killed both of Little Crow's sons; that
the Sioux followed him but a short distance, then all turned after
Julius. He took a circuitous route home, traveling in the night and
hiding in the day. Julius' parents, Joseph and Eunice, and other
members of their family, were members of the mission church. He and
his wife made no profession, though they sometimes attended religious
worship."
About twenty days after, about one hundred Sioux came from little
Crow's band at Red Rock for the bodies of their dead comrades and the