Fifty Years In The Northwest
trinkets of various kinds. We found at one grave a broken saucer, an
oyster can filled with blueberries, a large red apple, and a pair of
old shoes. Friends of the deceased visit the graves for one or two
years, renewing their tributes of affection, and bringing offerings of
fruit according to the season, and various foods, from acorns to dried
venison, but in time these visits are discontinued and the graves are
neglected and forgotten.
STOICISM OF THE INDIAN.
On the banks of the Kettle river a five-year-old boy burned his hand
badly. The mother, after examining the wound, decided that it was
incurable, ordered the boy to place his hand upon a block, and by a
single blow from a common hatchet severed it from the wrist. The boy
endured the suffering without flinching.
OLD BATICE, _alias_ "Kettle," lived on Kettle river in 1880. Counting
by moons he claims to have lived there ninety-nine years. He is
certainly very old. He says that he has always been a friend to the
whites, and that in the Sioux outbreak of 1862 he counseled his people
to remain quiet; that he was the enemy of the Sioux, three of whom he
had killed and scalped. To commemorate his warlike deeds in
slaughtering his enemies, he wore three large eagle feathers in his
gray hair. He claims to be half French.
AN INDIAN DANCE.
In June, 1880, the Indians were practicing a new dance near the Kettle
River railroad station, part of which it was my privilege to witness.
The dance house was a rudely constructed pole frame covered with birch
bark, fastened down with willow twigs. About thirty dancers, male and
female, and of all ages, were crowded in the dance house, sweating,
grunting, hopping and bounding at the tap of a deer skin drumhead, and
the "chi-yi-chi-yi-chi-hoo" of a quartette of boys and girls, squatted
in a corner of the bark house. The din was incessant, the chant of the
singers, or howlers, monotonous and wearisome, yet the dancers stepped
and bounded to their rude music as readily as do civilized dancers to
the more exquisite music of stringed instruments. This dance was the
same that so frightened the Burnett county people, and required at
least ten days for its complete performance. A few minutes'
observation amply satisfied us, and we gladly withdrew.
FOOTNOTES:
[E] Several years prior to this William Morrison had a trading station
upon the shores of this lake, and is probably the first white man who
visited it, but it does not appear that he identified it as the source
of the Mississippi.
CHAPTER XI.
KANABEC COUNTY.
Kanabec county, prior to 1849, was included in St. Croix county,
Wisconsin; thence until 1852 it was a part of Ramsey county,
Minnesota; until 1854 a part of Chisago county; and thence until its
organization in 1859, a part of Pine county. It was attached for
judicial purposes at various times to Chisago, Isanti and Pine
counties. In 1882 it was organized for judicial purposes, Judge Crosby
holding the first term of court at Brunswick. The second term was held
at Mora in 1884, in the new court house.
The writer, when a member of the Minnesota senate in 1858, selected
the name and introduced the bill for the formation of the county. Its
boundaries are Aitkin county on the north, Pine on the east, Isanti on
the south, and Mille Lacs on the west. It is well watered and drained
by the Kanabec and its tributaries. This river is navigable to
Brunswick, and one of its tributaries, Rice river, is navigable six
miles from its mouth to Rice lake. The soil is a rich, sandy loam,
deep, strong and productive. One-fifth of the entire surface was
originally covered with pines. About 25,000 acres are natural meadows,
while much of the remainder is covered with hardwood, and a small
portion is brush prairie, which can be easily rendered fit for
cultivation. The best crops are wheat, oats and potatoes, but Indian
corn can be grown profitably as compared with other localities in
Minnesota. Small fruits, wild and cultivated, grow luxuriantly.
Cranberries have been shipped in considerable quantities. Redtop,
clover, and timothy grow rank, and are profitably cultivated. Upward
of 5,000 tons of hay are cured annually. The lumbering interests are
still important, about 75,000,000 feet of logs being annually driven
to the Stillwater boom. This county is spotted with lakes and abounds
in streams capable of being utilized as water powers. Good building
granite is found on the Kanabec river above Mora, which will
eventually be quarried and exported.
The first permanent settlers were George L. Staples and James
Pennington, who came in 1855. They were followed by Stephen W. Tolman,
Alvin De Wolf, John L. Spence and others. Gov. Sibley appointed the
following as the first board of officers, June 10, 1859: County
commissioners, Geo. L. Staples, chairman; Daniel Gordon, Benj. L.
Gifford; clerk and register of deeds, James C. Morrison; treasurer,
Alvah Lougee; sheriff, Benj. L. Gifford. The first election was held
in October, 1859. The following were elected county officers: County
commissioners, Geo. L. Staples, chairman; James Pennington, Geo.
Morrison; auditor, Benj. Bill.
In the bill organizing the county, Brunswick was designated as the
county seat, and so remained until 1882, when by popular vote Mora was
selected. In 1883 the county built a court house at a cost of $5,000,
and a jail costing $2,000. In 1874 the county built a bridge across
the Kanabec at Brunswick, the bridge and its approaches being 1,300
feet in length, at a cost of $5,000. In 1879 the county built a bridge
across the Kanabec at Grass Lake at a cost of $4,000. As this bridge
obstructed navigation in 1884, the county, at a cost of $4,000,
rebuilt it in such a way that steamers could pass underneath. In 1883
another bridge was built across the Kanabec in the town of Arthur at a
cost of $4,000.
The first post office was established at Brunswick in 1859, Geo. L.
Staples, postmaster. The first mail was from Anoka via Cambridge to
Brunswick. In 1847 Rev. W. S. Boutwell preached the first sermon
within the present limits of the county. The first deed recorded was a
warranty deed from Ralph Potter to John A. Snyder, both of Illinois,
in June, 1857, conveying lands in sections 3 and 10, township 38,
range 25. The second deed recorded was from David Bagley to Hersey,
Hall, Whitney and Fenno, of Boston, and Isaac Staples of Stillwater,
conveying the northeast quarter of section 1, township 38, range 24,
and other lands.
ARTHUR.
The town of Arthur includes township 39, ranges 23, 24 and 25. It was
organized in 1883. The first supervisors were: Ira A. Conger, Andrew
E. Westling and Charles A. Staples; clerk, Stanton D. Seavey. The
village of Mora was the first settlement. Anna C. Larson was the first
child born in the town. The first marriage was that of Frederick G.
Turner and Edith Perkins. The first death was that of Henry Rust, in
1847, killed by Indians. There is one house of worship, at what is
known as the Swedish mission.
MORA,
A village, platted in 1882, is located in section 11, township 39,
range 24, on the Hinckley branch of the Manitoba railroad. Myron R.
Kent, owner of the town plat, made the first improvements, building a
hotel and post office, of which he became postmaster. Alvah J. Conger
opened the first store in 1882. The village now contains a court
house, school house, two hotels, five stores, three saloons, and many
fine residences. Lake Mora, a lovely sheet of deep, blue water, about
one hundred and fifty acres in extent, is located within the village
limits. The village is beautifully situated on a plateau on the east
side of Kanabec river.
STEPHEN L. DANFORTH lived in the county of Kanabec during the '70s.
His occupation was that of a farmer or lumberman. He died in
Stillwater in 1884.
N. H. DANFORTH, brother of S. L., also settled here in the '70s, and
still resides here, an active business man.
ALVAH J. AND IRA CONGER are cousins. They came from Maine to Minnesota
in 1850. Alvah J. kept the Tombler House in Wyoming. Subsequently he
removed to Cambridge, where he kept a hotel and store, and thence
removed to Pine City, where he kept a store until 1882, when he moved
to Mora. He was married to Charlotte Pennington. They have no
children. Ira Conger has been actively engaged in business at
Cambridge and other places, and moved to Mora in 1883, where he is
proprietor of a hotel and store. His oldest son, John, has charge of
his business interests.
BRONSON.
This village is yet unplatted. It is located in section 21, range 24,
on the line of the Manitoba railroad. A post office was established
here in 1884, of which Frank P. Burleigh is postmaster. Adjoining and
including this village is the large farm of Isaac Staples, including
2,000 acres, of which six hundred and fifty acres are under
cultivation. The improvements on the farm are two large barns, one
store, one blacksmith shop, one wood working shop, and commodious
dwellings for employes. This farm is headquarters for the lumbering
interests of Mr. Staples in Kanabec county.
BRUNSWICK
Includes township 38, ranges 24 and 25. The town was organized in
1883. The first supervisors were Eric Hokansen, John Rines and Haquin
Ekman. The first school was taught by Charlotte Pennington, in 1856.
The first death was that of ---- Cowan, killed accidentally, in 1857.
There are two church organizations, Swedish Baptist and Swedish
Lutheran. Stephen E. Tallman built a saw mill in 1870, and a flour
mill in 1879. The village of Brunswick is located in the southwest
quarter of section 1, township 38; range 24. It was platted in 1856,
by Isaac and George Staples. It was originally designated as the
county seat.
GROUND HOUSE CITY
Was platted by Isaac Staples for Hersey, Staples & Co., Jan 17, 1857,
in section 7, township 38, range 24.
JAMES PENNINGTON was born in Queensborough, New Brunswick, in 1799. He
lived in Houlton, Maine, fifteen years, and came to Kanabec county in
1854 with his family, who were the first permanent settlers in the
county. Mr. Pennington farmed and lumbered. He died in December, 1887.
Mrs. Pennington died in 1878. Six sons and three daughters are living.
The sons are residents of Minnesota. The daughters are married as
follows: Elisabeth to ---- Grant, of Detroit, Minnesota; Charlotte to
A. J. Conger, of Mora, Minnesota; Augusta to B. C. Newport, of
Pipestone, Minnesota.
GEORGE L. STAPLES settled in section 1, township 38, range 24, in
1855. He lived there eight years and filled various responsible
offices. He was an upright, conscientious man, much respected by all
who knew him. In 1863 he removed to Monticello, Minnesota, and died in
1877, leaving a widow, five sons and a daughter. Mr. Staples raised
the first crop in the county, opened the first store, and gave the
name of Brunswick to the town. Isaac Edwin Staples, son of George, was
the first white child born in the county. He was clerk of court in
Morrison county in 1887.
DANIEL GORDON was born in Readfield, Maine, in 1809. In 1856 he
settled in the southeast quarter of section 1, township 38, range 24.
He was married to widow Tallman in Brunswick. This was the first
marriage in the town. Mrs. Gordon died in June, 1885.
GRASS LAKE
Includes township 38, range 23. It was organized in 1883. It is
thickly settled, mostly by Swedes. They have good farms, roads and
schools. The first settler was Solomon Anderson; the second, Benjamin
Norton; both were farmers. There are in this town three houses of
worship, two belonging to the Swedish mission, and one to the
Baptists. There are five school houses.
The remainder of the county, consisting mostly of pine lands, and
including nine townships, is without organization or township