Library of Congress Progressive men of Minnesota. Biographical sketches and portraits of the leaders in business, politics and the professions; together with an historical and descriptive sketch of the state 871 - E 77 Progressive Men of Minnesota. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES AND PORTRAITS OF THE LEADERS IN BUSINESS, POLITICS AND THE PROFESSIONS; TOGETHER WITH AN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH OF THE STATE. Edited by MARION D. SHUTTER, D. D., and J. S. McLAIN, M. A. MINNEAPOLIS: THE MINNESOTA JOURNAL, 1897. AUG 16 1897 35777-Cz-1 F605 .S56 Copyrighted by The Minneapolis Journal. 1897 F605 .S56 PREFACE. Progressive men of Minnesota. Biographical sketches and portraits of the leaders in business, politics and the professions; together with an historical and descriptive sketch of the state http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbum.19129 Library of Congress It is a generally accepted proposition that the growth and development of any community along right lines depend more upon the character of its population that upon any other causes; and to a correct understanding of the forces which have contributed to the upbuilding of this commonwealth some knowledge of the men who have been instrumental in making Minnesota what it is, is necessary. The population of the state is increasing at a rapid rate and many thousands from other states and countries become residents every year, who are unfamiliar with its history and unacquainted with the men who have made that history. The purpose of this volume is to furnish a convenient and trustworthy source from which accurate knowledge of the history of the state may be obtained. Special efforts have been made to collect information with regard to the men active and foremost in business, professional and official life to-day, and also with regard to those who have in the past played leading parts in the making of a great state. In addition to the biographical sketches, the reader will find here a carefully prepared description of Minnesota, viewed from the standpoint of its natural resources and from that of its public history. 9 MINNESOTA; Its History and Resources. MARION D. SHUTTER. “Should you ask me, Whence these stories, Whence these legends and traditions? I should answer, I should tell you, From the forests and the prairies, From the great lakes of the Northland, From the land of the Ojibways, From the Land of the Dakotas.” —Longfellow. The writer has undertaken to present, in the following pages, a brief historical sketch of the state of Minnesota and some account of its present resources. Just thirty-eight have elapsed since the star representing the “land of the sky-tinted water” was placed upon the national banner. There are those living to-day whose memories go back beyond the formation of the state, and even back to the times that antedated the Progressive men of Minnesota. Biographical sketches and portraits of the leaders in business, politics and the professions; together with an historical and descriptive sketch of the state http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbum.19129 Library of Congress organization of the territory. The first governor elected after the state had been admitted to the union is still with us in a hale and vigorous old age. He has just presided at the annual meeting of the State Historical Society. Many of those survive who helped to shape the early affairs of the state and to lay the foundations of its after greatness. Some of these are mentioned in this sketch, and also in the body of the present work. It is, however, more the object of this volume to set forth what is being done by those who are making history to-day, who are now directing the course of events. The lives and deeds of the Fathers are elsewhere recorded. They have labored, and the present generation has entered into their labors. They have laid the corner-stone, and it is for those who are taking their places to build a structure that shall be worthy of their toils and sacrifices. Let us face the future in the same hope and courage with which our fathers conquered the past. That future is bright with promise. The geographical position and natural resources of this state are prophetic of destiny. Some such intimation seems to have danced through the brain of the Aborigine: for the Dakotahs used to claim superiority over their other savage brethren, because their “sacred men asserted that the mouth of the Minnesota river was immediately over the center of the earth and immediately under the center of the heavens.” Dismissing this tribal fancy, it is worthy of note that Baron D'Avagour, while 10 governor of Canada, sent to the French government (August 14, 1663) a message in which, after referring to Lake Huron, he wrote: “Beyond is met another called Lake Superior, the waters of which, it is believed, flow into New Spain, and this, according to the general opinion, ought to be the center of the country.” To come to more modern times, the words of William H. Seward, at St. Paul in 1860, though often quoted, may be referred to once more. “I now believe,” he said, after a survey of the country, its place, and its resources, “that the ultimate seat of government on this great continent will be found somewhere within a radius of not very far from the spot on which I now stand, at the head of navigation on the Mississippi river.” These are some of the predictions of Minnesota's destiny, from the wild dreams of the original savage to the sober words of the recent distinguished statesman. Progressive men of Minnesota. Biographical sketches and portraits of the leaders in business, politics and the professions; together with an historical and descriptive sketch of the state http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbum.19129 Library of Congress But for the present, we must turn from speculations concerning the future, to review the history of the past. I. THE ABORIGINES. On the 13th of January, 1851, when Alexander Ramsey was taking the chair as president of the Historical Society, he said: “Minnesota has a history and that not altogether an unwritten one, which can unravel many a page of deep, engrossing interest, which is rich in tales of daring enterprise, of faithful endurances, of high hopes; which is marked by the early traveler's foot-prints, and by the ancient explorer's pencil; which is glowing with the myths and traditions of our aboriginal races, sprinkled over with their battle-fields, with the sites of their ancient villages, and with the wah-kaun stones of their teeming mythology. With these “original races” our sketch must begin. Even earlier than the year 1634, the Indians around the great lakes had learned to carry their furs to Quebec, where they received in exchange such articles of European manufacture as suited their needs or pleased their fancy; but in this year (1634), two priests named Breboeuf and Daniel, fired with zeal for the Church, accompanied a party of Hurons from Quebec back to their distant home. Neil tells us that they were the first European who erected a house in the neighborhood of Lake Huron; and that “seven years later, a bark canoe containing priests of the same order, passed through the river Ottawa and coasted along the shores of Lake Huron to visit, by invitation, the Ojibways, at the outlet of Lake Superior.” It required seventeen days from the time of starting for that bark canoe to reach the Falls of St. Mary; and here the priests found two thousand of the tribe assembled, waiting to receive them and listen to their message. It was upon this missionary journey that the white men heard, for the first time, of the tribe of the Dakotahs, on the site of whose lodges and wigwams the cities and towns of Minnesota have arisen. Progressive men of Minnesota. Biographical sketches and portraits of the leaders in business, politics and the professions; together with an historical and descriptive sketch of the state http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbum.19129 Library of Congress The Ojibways informed the priests that the Dakotahs lived eighteen days' journey farther towards the west. This was in 1634. It was twenty years later before the white man penetrated the Dakotah territory. In this year two young men, “connected with the fur trade, followed a party of Indians in their hunting excursions,” and were finally thus conducted to the borders of the Dakotahs. This was in 1654. When they returned to Quebec, they gave such glowing accounts of the lands, lakes, rivers, people, resources, that both trader and priest became enthusiastic for its conquest. The trader at first fared better than the priest; for good Father Mesnard was lost in attempting to reach the newly discovered savages; and tradition asserts that only his cassock and prayer-book completed, in some mysterious way, the journey, and were kept for many years by the Dakotahs as amulets. The word Dakotah, by which the original occupants of the soil of Minnesota designated themselves, signifies allied, or joined together, or federated. Nearly two centuries ago, it was written of them. “For sixty leagues from the extremity of the upper lake towards sunset, and as it were, in the center of the western nations, they have all united their force by a general league.” The name Sioux which is most familiar to us, originated with the early French discoverers. The Ojibways of Lake Superior had, from time immemorial, waged war against the Dakotahs, and naturally always referred to them as enemies. The term they used was Nadowaysioux.