CHAPTER X.

PINE COUNTY. Prior to the organization of Minnesota Territory, in 1849, Pine county was included within the limits of St. Croix county, Wisconsin. Until the organization of Chisago county, in 1852, it was within the limits of Ramsey, and from thence until 1854, within the limits of Chisago, when it was organized under its present name. Until 1858 it included the territory of the present counties of Kanabec and Carlton. It is bounded on the north by Carlton county, on the east by the St. Croix river and the state line, and on the west by Aitkin and Kanabec counties. It is well watered by the St. Croix, Kettle and Kanabec rivers with their numerous tributaries. There are many fine lakes within its borders. The finest of these are Cross, Pokegama, Pine and Sturgeon lakes. This county was originally heavily timbered with pine, from which fact it derived its name. Though immense quantities have been removed, the supply is still great enough to make this region a lumberman's paradise for years to come. The facilities for floating logs to the St. Croix are scarce equaled elsewhere. Since 1837 the Kanabec river has been a principal feeder to the lumber trade of the St. Croix valley. In some of the forests a new growth has succeeded the old, and should the land be not otherwise used, the lumberman may yet reap successive harvests in periods ranging from eight to fifteen years. Much of the land in this county is well adapted for agriculture. The soil is chiefly a sandy loam with clay subsoil. Much of the county will eventually become a good grazing and cereal growing region. The southern townships are heavily timbered with hardwood and are rapidly being converted into good wheat farms. A large quantity of cordwood, piles and ties is annually marketed by means of the railroad. Kanabec river is navigable from Chengwatana and Pine City to Brunswick, in Kanabec county. The same steamboat that since 1881 has navigated the Kanabec, also makes trips, six miles up the Rice and Pokegama rivers. The first crops raised in the county, except those raised by traders and missionaries, were raised on the Greeley farm, Kanabec river, near the western limits of the county, by Royal C. Gray. At the organization of the county, Herman Trott, George W. Staples and Royal C. Gray were appointed commissioners. The county was attached for judicial purposes to Chisago until 1872, at which date the county seat, located at Chengwatana by legislative enactment, was changed by a popular vote to Pine City. The first district court was held in October, 1872, Judge Crosby, presiding; John D. Wilcox, clerk; Edward Jackson, sheriff. The first marriage license, issued in 1872, was to John Kelsey and Mary Hoffman. The first board of county officers, after the removal of the county seat, were: Commissioners, Hiram Brackett, George Goodwin and Edward Jackson; auditor, Adolph Munch; register of deeds, Don Willard; county attorney, treasurer and superintendent of schools, John D. Wilcox. The first article recorded by the register of Pine county was a military land warrant, No. 12702, in the name of Prudence Rockwell, located by William Orrin Baker upon the southeast quarter of section 32, township 38, range 20, subject to forty days' pre-emption, dated Stillwater, June 19, 1855; T. M. Fullerton, register. Assigned, June 14, 1856, to Enos Jones. The second record is of a warranty deed from John F. Bradford to W. A. Van Slyke, of Ramsey county, of the west half of the northwest quarter of section 30, township 39, range 19, and the west half of the northwest quarter of the same section. The finances of the county were in good condition until 1872, from which time, owing to heavy expenditures for new roads, with possibly injudicious management, and two defalcations of county auditors, considerable embarrassment ensued. In 1876 the state legislature bonded the county indebtedness of $10,000, in ten year bonds, at ten per cent interest. These bonds were readily received by the creditors, and the county is now free from debt. During the last year a bridge 800 feet long was built across the Kanabec river near Pine City, at a cost of $3,350, for which the State appropriated $1,500 and the county $1,850. The Lake Superior & Mississippi railroad was completed to Kanabec river in 1868, and in 1869 extended northwest to the county line. The building of this road was speedily followed by the erection of numerous mills along its line, a list of which is appended, with the very remarkable statistics of the losses by fire, from which but four of these mills were exempt: North Branch, Swenson & Co., flour mill; burned; loss, $8,000. Rush City, Taylor & Co., capacity 1,000,000 feet yearly; burned; loss, $3,000. Rock Creek, Edgerton & Co., capacity 2,000,000 feet yearly; burned; loss, $8,000; rebuilt. Rock Creek, Strong & Co., capacity 1,000,000 feet yearly; burned; loss, $1,500; rebuilt. Rock Creek, Long & Co., capacity 1,000,000 feet yearly; removed. Pine City, Ferson & Co., capacity 10,000,000 feet yearly; burned; loss, $50,000; rebuilt. Pine City, Ferson & Co., capacity 10,000,000 feet yearly; burned; loss, $25,000; rebuilt. Pine City, Munch & Burrows, stave mill; burned; loss, $10,000. Pine City, Brackett & Co., capacity 3,000,000 feet yearly. Mission Creek, Taylor & Co., capacity 3,000,000 feet yearly; burned; loss, $12,500; rebuilt. Mission Creek, Taylor & Co., capacity 3,000,000 feet yearly; burned; loss, $12,500. Hinckley, Grant & Co., capacity 1,000,000 feet yearly; burned; loss, $3,000. Hinckley, McKean & Butler, capacity 3,000,000 feet yearly; burned; loss, $7,000; rebuilt. Miller Station, Robie & Co., shingle mill; burned; loss, $3,000. Kettle River, S. S. Griggs & Co., capacity 3,000,000 feet yearly; never operated; loss, $5,000. Moose Lake, McArthur & Co., capacity 2,000,000 feet yearly; burned; loss, $30,000. Barnum, Cooley & Co., capacity 1,000,000 feet yearly; burned; loss, $5,000. Barnum, Bliss & Co., capacity 10,000,000 feet yearly. Northern Pacific Junction, Payne & Co., two mills burned; loss, $50,000; rebuilt the third time. POKEGAMA LAKE. This beautiful lake lies in township 39, range 22. It is about five miles in length by one in breadth and finds an outlet in Kanabec river. It is celebrated for its historical associations. Thomas Conner, an old trader, informed the writer of these sketches, in 1847, that he had had a trading post on the banks of this lake thirty years before, or about the year 1816. This was before Fort Snelling was built. Mr. Conner said that there was a French trading post at Pokegama long before he went there. It was in the spring of 1847, after a wearisome day's tramp, that I made his acquaintance and shared his unstinted hospitality. His post, at that time, was located at the mouth of Goose creek, Chisago county, on the banks of the St. Croix. His rude, portable house was built of bark, subdivided with mats and skins into different apartments. Although at an advanced period in life, his mind was clear and he conversed with a degree of intelligence which caused me to ask him why he lived thus secluded, away from all the privileges of a civilized life. His reasons, some of them, were forcible; he liked the quiet of the wilderness, away from the turmoils of the envious white race. I learned from him many interesting facts connected with travelers, traders and explorers of our St. Croix valley. This was the last season he spent on the river. In 1847, when I visited Pokegama, Jeremiah Russell, an Indian farmer, had a very pretty farm on a point of land on the southwest side of the lake, and between the lake and the river. A Frenchman, Jarvis, lived a short distance from Russell. Across the lake from Russell's were the neat and tasteful log buildings and gardens of the Presbyterian mission. The mission was established in the spring of 1836, by Rev. Frederic Ayer and his associates, under the auspicies of the American Board of Foreign Missions. Mr. Ayer had been laboring at Yellow Lake mission, but, owing to the growing unfriendliness of the Indians, had been removed to Pokegama. Much pertaining to the mission work, both at Pokegama and elsewhere, will be found in the biographies of the principal missionaries. We mention here only such incidents as may be of more general interest. For many of these incidents we are indebted to Mrs. Elisabeth J. Ayer, of Belle Prairie, the widow of Rev. Frederic Ayer, for a long time missionary to the Ojibways. This estimable lady has passed her eighty-fifth year, but her mind is still clear and her hand steady, her manuscript having the appearance of the work of a precise young schoolmistress. She mentions an old Canadian, who had been in the country sixty years, and for seven or eight years had been entirely blind. He was known as Mushk-de-winini (The-old-blind-prairie-man), also the old trader, Thomas Conner, the remains of whose mud chimney and foundation of the old trading house may still be seen on the southern shore of the lake. Franklin Steele was the first white man to visit the mission. In the spring of 1837 the mission aided three or four families in building. February, 1837, Rev. Mr. Hall, of the La Pointe mission, visited Pokegama, and organized a church of seven members,--three of whom were natives,--administered the ordinance of baptism to eight persons, and solemnized two marriages, probably the first in the valley of the St. Croix. Revs. Boutwell and Ely came to the mission in 1837. A school had been opened, some Indian houses built, and gardens enlarged, and the future of the mission seemed assured. Mrs. Ayer relates the following account of the BATTLE OF POKEGAMA. In 1811 the Sioux selected this settlement as the place to avenge the wrongs of the Ojibways--some of recent date; the principal of which was the killing of two sons of Little Crow (done in self defense) between Pokegama and the falls of the St. Croix. The Sioux arrived at Pokegama in the night, and stopped on the opposite side of the lake, two miles from the mission. The main body went to the main settlement, and, after examining the ground where they intended to operate, hid among the trees and brush back of the Indian gardens, with orders that all keep quiet on both sides of the lake till a given signal, when the Indians were busy in their gardens, and then make quick work. But their plans failed. Most of the Ojibways of the settlement had, from fear of the Sioux, slept on an island half a mile out in the lake (I mean the women and children), and were late to their gardens. In the meantime a loaded canoe was nearing the opposite shore and the few Sioux who had remained there to dispatch any who, in time of battle, might attempt to escape by crossing over, fired prematurely. This gave the alarm, and saved the Ojibways. The chief ran to Mr. Ayer's door and said, expressively: "The Sioux are upon us," and was off. The Indians seemed at once to understand that the main body of the enemy was at hand. The missionaries stepped out of the door and had just time to see a great splashing of water across the lake when bullets came whizzing about their ears, and they went in. The Sioux had left their hiding place and the battle commenced in earnest. Most of the women and children of the settlement were yet on the island. The house of the chief was well barricaded and most of the men gathered in there. The remainder took refuge in a house more exposed, at the other end of the village. The enemy drew up very near and fired in at the window. One gun was made useless, being indented by a ball. The owner retired to a corner and spent the time in prayer. The mother of the house, with her small children, was on her way to the island under a shower of bullets, calling aloud on God for help. The missionaries seeing from their windows quantities of bloody flesh upon stumps in the battle field, thought surely that several of their friends had fallen. It proved to be a cow and calf of an Ojibway. The mission children were much frightened and asked many questions, and for apparent safety went up stairs and were put behind some well filled barrels. In the heat of battle two Ojibways came from the island and landed in front of Mr. Ayer's house. They drew their canoe ashore and secreted themselves as well as the surroundings would permit. Not long after three Sioux ran down the hill and toward the canoe. They were fired upon and one fell dead. The other two ran for help but before they could return the Ojibways were on the way back to the island. Not having time to take the scalp of their enemy, they hastily cut the powder horn strap from his breast, dripping with blood, as a trophy of victory. The Sioux drew the dead body up the hill and back to the place of fighting. The noise ceased. The battle was over. The missionaries soon heard the joyful words, quietly spoken: "We still live." Not a warrior had fallen. The two school girls who were in the canoe at the first firing in the morning were the only ones killed, though half the men and boys in the fight were wounded. The Sioux women and boys who had come with their warriors to carry away the spoils had the chagrin of returning as empty as they came. The Ojibways were careful that no canoe should be left within reach of the Sioux. From necessity they took a canoe, made by Mr. Ely, and removed their dead two miles up the river, dressed them (seemingly) in the best the party could furnish, with each a double barreled gun, a tomahawk and scalping knife, set them up against some large trees and went on their way. Some of these articles, including their head-dresses, were sent to the museum of the American board, in Boston. In the closing scene the missionaries had the opportunity of seeing the difference between those Indians who had listened to instruction and those who had not. The second day after the battle the pagan party brought back to the island the dead bodies of their enemies, cut in pieces, and distributed parts to such Ojibways as had at any time lost friends by the hands of the Sioux. One woman, whose daughter was killed and mutilated on that memorable morning, when she saw the canoes coming, with a head raised high in the air on a long pole, waded out into the water, grabbed it like a hungry dog and dashed it repeatedly on the stones with savage fierceness. Others of the pagans conducted themselves in a similar manner. They even cooked some of the flesh that night in their kettles of rice. Eunice (as she was named at her baptism) was offered an arm. At first she hesitated; but for reasons, sufficient in her own mind, thought best to take it. Her daughter-in-law, widow of her son who had recently been killed and chopped into pieces by the Sioux, took another, and they went into their lodge. Eunice said: "My daughter, we must not do as some of our friends are doing. We have been taught better," and taking some white cloths from her sack they wrapped the arms in them, offered a prayer, and gave them a decent burial. About this time a Mr. Kirkland was sent from Quincy, Illinois, by a party who wished to plant a colony not far from the mission station. He arrived at Pokegama very soon after the battle. Notwithstanding what had happened he selected a location on Cross lake, just where a railroad has now been in operation for some years. He worked vigorously for two or three weeks, and then went to consult the Indian agent and the military at Fort Snelling. They gave him no encouragement that the two tribes would ever live in peace; and he went home. The Ojibways lived in constant fear, and the place was soon deserted. This was a great trial to the missionaries; but they did not urge them to stay. They separated into small parties and went where they could get a living for the present and be out of danger. The teachers remained at their post, occasionally visiting the Indians in their retreat, hoping they might soon think it safe to return to their homes. In this they were disappointed. These visits were not always very safe. On one of these trips Mr. Ayer was lost, and from cold and hunger came near perishing. Not finding the party he sought, he wandered about for a day or two. In the meantime the weather became much colder. Not expecting to camp out he took only one blanket and food enough for one meal. In crossing Kettle river on a self-made conveyance, and there being ice on the opposite shore, he got wet. The Indians, anticipating his visit, had sent a young man to the mission station to guide him to, their new locality. He returned in haste, fell on Mr. Ayer's track, and a light sprinkle of snow enabled him to follow it until he was found. Mrs. Ayer relates several incidents illustrative of Indian character. As her husband had been stationed at Yellow Lake, and afterward at Red Lake, these incidents are not necessarily located at Pokegama: A NOBLE CHIEF. The Red Lake Indians were a noble band--they had a noble chief. In civilization he led the way, in religion he did not oppose. He shouldered a heavy axe, and could be seen chopping on one side of a large tree, in perspiration, while his wife was on the other side, helping all she could with her hatchet. This chief was also an advocate of temperance. Not that he didn't love whisky, but he hated the effect of it on his band. He dictated a letter to the president, begging him not to let the white faces bring any more firewater to his people, giving as one reason that they had teachers among them who must be protected, and if they had whisky he did not know what might happen. FRANK CONFESSIONS. In the church there was much childish simplicity. Once when Mr. Ayer was lecturing on the eighth commandment, he paused, and without expecting an answer, said: "Now who is there among you who has not stolen?" One woman began to confess--another followed, then another. One thought she had stolen about seven times. Another entered more into particulars, mentioning the things she had stolen, till the scene was quite amusing. Another rose to confess, but was cut short by her husband, who said: "Who knows how many times he has stolen? We are a nation of thieves." And with a few remarks the meeting closed. A COWARDLY DEED. After a medicine dance, according to Indian custom, they proposed a feast, but there was nothing on which to feast. There was a large company and all were hungry. Mr. Ayer's cow was in the barnyard near. Three daring fellows sitting by themselves began to taunt each other in regard to their comparative prowess. After an excitement was created, one of them, to show his bravery, shot the cow. Mr. Ayer was in his garden and witnessed the performance. Two or three of the leading men in this pagan party came immediately to Mr. Ayer to learn whether he would take the cow for his own use. While they were talking (perhaps twenty minutes) the cow was cut in pieces, and in the Indians' kettles preparatory to a good time. After the Indians had sold their land they paid for the cow. AN UNJUST ACCUSATION. Indians are said to be revengeful. They are. So are white men. They fight for their rights. So do white men. They are thieves and liars. So are white men. Quarrelsome, envious, jealous. So are white men. Experience teaches that according to their knowledge they compare favorably with Anglo-Saxons. Sin is none the better, nor less mischievous, for being civilized. A missionary, a good man, too, he was, accused an innocent woman of stealing his shirts that were laid out on the snow to whiten. His wife, not remembering that she had brought them in early in the morning, asked him to go out and get them. But they were not to be found! "Who has been here this morning?" was asked. "Ekwazans; I don't remember any other." "Well, she shan't have those shirts. I'll overtake her before she gets home." He followed her four miles, determined to have his shirts. The woman declared her innocence, and told him to search the wigwam. He did so, but said himself that it was done rather roughly. In the meantime the wife espied the shirts just where she had put them. This affair was ever after a source of regret to them. Some of the Indians laughed heartily; others made remarks rather sarcastic. The woman herself felt disgraced by the accusation, but never manifested signs of wanting to "pay back," or in any way to avenge the wrong. INDIAN MAGNANIMITY. An employe of the American Fur Company, a "green hand," was crossing a portage. The load on his back was topped off with a bag of flour. The hill was steep and long. Steps were cut in it like a flight of stairs. As he reached the top a mischievous Indian touched the bag, and it went tumbling to the foot of the hill. The Frenchman immediately sent the Indian tumbling after it. Some of the company advised the Frenchman to run away, for the Indian might kill him. He told them boldly that he would not run away. The Indian gathered himself up, came to the top of the hill, told the Frenchman he had done just right, offered his hand and they were firm friends. Magnanimous had it been a white man. REV. FREDERIC AYER was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1803. When he was two years old the family moved to Central New York. His father was a Presbyterian minister, and they intended that their son should follow the same profession; but before he was prepared his health failed and he turned his attention to other business. He commenced his labors for the Indians in 1829, by teaching the mission school at Mackinaw, under the superintendency of Rev. M. Ferry. The pupils of this school were not all Ojibways but were from many different tribes, and spoke different languages. Mackinaw was then a general depot of the North American fur traders. They brought not only their own children to the school but such others as parents among whom they were trading wished to send. They were gathered from Lake Winnipeg, British America north, to Prairie du Chien and the head of Lake Michigan south. They were taught in English only. In the summer of 1830 Mr. Ayer went to La Pointe, Lake Superior, with Mr. Warren, opened a school and commenced the study of the Ojibway language. In 1831 he met at Mackinaw, Revs. Hall and Boutwell, who were sent out by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to the Indians, and he returned with Mr. and Mrs. Hall and their interpreter to spend another winter at La Pointe. The next year, 1832, Mr. Ayer wintered with another trader at Sandy Lake. He opened a school there and completed a little Ojibway spelling book which was commenced at La Pointe. In the spring of 1833 he left Sandy Lake for Utica, New York, to get the book printed. Mr. Aitkin, with whom he had wintered, gave him eighty dollars, and with a pack on his back and an experienced guide, he started on his journey. Before they reached Sault Ste. Marie the ice on Lake Superior was so weak that Mr. Ayer broke through and was saved only by carrying horizontally in his hands a long pole to prevent his sinking. Mr. Ayer hastened on to complete the object of his journey, that he might return to Mackinaw in time to go up Lake Superior with the traders. Mr. Ayer, hitherto an independent worker, now put himself under the direction of the "American Board," and was sent to Yellow Lake, within the present bounds of Burnett county, Wisconsin. Miss Delia Cooke, whose name should never be forgotten among the early missionaries of the American board to the Indians, and Miss Hester Crooks, a girl educated at Mackinaw, and who had some experience in teaching, were among the number who coasted up Lake Superior in a Mackinaw boat; the former to La Pointe mission, the latter to Yellow Lake with Mr. and Mrs. Ayer. They wintered in Dr. Borup's family. Mrs. Borup also had, for some years, been a pupil at Mackinaw. The next year Miss Crooks married Rev. Mr. Boutwell and went to Leech lake, and J. L. Seymour and Miss Sabrian Stevens, also Henry Blatchford, an interpreter from Mackinaw, were added to Yellow Lake mission. When Mr. Ayer told the Indians his object in coming among them, they gave him a welcome. But six months later, seeing two or three log houses in process of building, they were much troubled, and met in a body to request him to go away. A Menomonie from the region of Green Bay had stirred them up, not against the missionaries, but against the general government. The speaker said: "It makes the Indians sad to see the white man's house go up on their land. We don't want you to stay; you must go." Further on he said: "You shall go!" Mr. Ayer answered him. The party left at midnight, and the missionaries went to bed with heavy hearts, thinking they might be thurst out almost immediately. But before sunrise the next morning about two-thirds of the same party returned, and said they had come to take back what they said the night before. The war chief was speaker, but his words were mild. "Why," said he, "should we turn these teachers away before they have done us any harm?" They would like to have us stay, he said, but added that they did not want any more to come, for the result might be the loss of their lands. We might use whatever their country afforded, but they would not give us any land, or sell us any. "For," said the speaker, "if we should sell our land where would our children play?" Mr. Ayer finished his school house, and went on with his work as though nothing had happened. But evidently things were not as they should be. The chief seemed to "sit on the fence," ready to jump either way. The war chief was always friendly, but he had not so much control over what concerned us. He did what he could without giving offense, and was anxious that his daughter of fourteen years should be taken into the mission family. Mr. Ayer remained two years longer at Yellow Lake. In the meantime the chief of the Snake River band sent messages inviting the teachers to come and live among them. Accordingly in the spring of 1836 the mission was removed to Pokegama lake, eighteen miles up the river. The chief did all he had promised, and showed himself a man. Nothing was said here to remind the missionaries that they were using the Indians' wood, water and fish. On the contrary, when they sold their land, it was urged that the teachers' children should be enrolled for annual payment, the same as their own. The chief said that as they were born on the land it was no more than right, and he wished it might be done. In 1842 Mr. Ayer went with his family to the States; and in Oberlin was ordained preacher to the Ojibways. He soon returned to the Indian country, and David Brainard Spencer, an Oberlin student, with him. They spent the winter of 1842-3 in traveling from one trading post to another, selecting locations for missionary labor. For their own field they chose Red Lake. When Mrs. Ayer, with her two little boys, six and eight years old, went to join her husband at the new station, Alonzo Barnard and wife and S. G. Wright, all of Oberlin College, went with her. Other missionaries soon followed, and that station was for many years supplied with efficient laborers. More recently the work there was assigned to Bishop Whipple, and is still carried on. Mr. and Mrs. Ayer, in 1865, offered their services to the freed-men of the South and were employed at Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Ayer organized a Congregational church and a baptistry connected with the house of worship, that he might baptise by immersion or otherwise, according to the wishes of the candidate. He also formed a temperance society, which some months before his death numbered more than six hundred members. There was great grief at his death amongst all classes. An aged man, who had lost a small fortune in his devotion to the Confederacy, embraced the corpse, and said: "If he had not holpen me, I should have before gone him." Many others, in word or action, expressed a similar feeling. All classes of people were represented at his funeral. His remains were buried in the Atlanta cemetery, Oct. 1, 1867. Thus passed away one who had spent a life for the benefit of others. Mr. and Mrs. Ayer in some instances taught three generations of Ojibway blood, and North and South, they were, in the course of their labors, associated for a longer or shorter time, with more than eighty different missionaries,--a noble band,--with few exceptions worthy the name they bore. Most of them have passed away, and their graves are scattered here and there from British America to Georgia. REV. WILLIAM T. BOUTWELL, who figures so prominently in the history of the early missions in the St. Croix valley, was born in Hillsborough county, New Hampshire, Feb. 4, 1803. He was educated at Dartmouth and Andover colleges, and in 1831, the year of his graduation at Andover, he came to the Northwest as a Presbyterian missionary. He spent one year at Mackinaw, learning the Chippewa language, under the instruction of Rev. W. M. Ferry, father of Senator Ferry, of Michigan. In 1832 our government sent an embassy of thirty men, under the control of the Indian agent at Ste. Marie, Henry R. Schoolcraft, to tranquilize the tribes and effect some advantageous treaties. The embassy was accompanied by an outfit of soldiers under the command of Lieut. Allen, Dr. Houghton, physician, George Johnson, interpreter, and Mr. Boutwell. The embassy had a liberal outfit of provisions, equipages and trinkets for the Indians, and was conveyed in a large bateau of several tons capacity, and some birch canoes, the largest of which was thirty feet long, and capable of containing nine persons. On arriving at Fond du Lac, the head of navigation on the St. Louis river, Mr. Boutwell wrote as follows to the missionary board: [Illustration: WILLIAM T. BOUTWELL.] "On arriving here I was not a little surprised to find four hundred souls, half-breeds and white men. The scene at our landing was such as I never before witnessed, and enough to fill one, unaccustomed to the like as myself, with wonder, if not with fear. The yelling of Indians, barking of dogs, crying of children, running of the multitude, discharge of musketry, and flourish of flags, was noise in the extreme. At ten o'clock I preached to about forty in English, the first sermon ever preached here, and at 4 P. M. I addressed, through Mr. Johnson, more than twice that number of French, half-breeds and Indians; many of the latter of whom for the first time listened to the word of Life. All listened with attention and interest. My interpreter sat on my right, while a chief occupied a seat at my left. Around and below me, on the floor, sat his men, women and children, in a state of almost entire nudity, many of whom had no more than a cloth about the loins, and a blanket, but some of the children not even a blanket,--all with their pipes and tobacco pouches, painted with all the variety of figures that can be imagined." From Fond du Lac he proceeded with the expedition up the St. Louis river, crossing the falls by a portage, and ascending to the point nearest Sandy lake, which was reached by a portage. The expedition proceeded up the Mississippi to Leech lake. Learning from the Indians at this point that Cass lake, the reputed source of the Mississippi, was not the real source, the expedition proceeded, under the guidance of a chief and a number of his tribe, to ascend the river further. When they reached the lake, now known as Itasca, five of the party, Lieut. Allen, Schoolcraft, Houghton, Johnson, and Boutwell, were sent in canoes with Indian guides to explore the shores of the lake. No inlet being found the party came to the conclusion that this was, as the Indians claimed, the true source of the Mississippi river. Mr. Schoolcraft being satisfied as to the correctness of the observations, landed his party on an island near the middle of the lake. He was puzzled to know what name to give the lake, and asked Mr. Boutwell if he knew of any word that would express the term "true head of the river." Mr. Boutwell said he could think of no single word that would express it, but there were two Latin words that would answer the purpose, and those were _veritas_--true, and _caput_--head. Mr. Schoolcraft immediately wrote on a piece of paper the two words, and then erasing the first syllable of the first word and the last syllable of the latter, joined the remaining syllables. He then planted the stars and stripes on a little eminence, and formally christened the lake "Itasca." They then proceeded to descend the Mississippi. "As we were passing through the outlet of the lake," said Mr. Boutwell, "I stopped my canoe on the shore and jumped across the Mississippi. I considered that a great thing to relate in after years." The party with their own boats descended the Mississippi, distributing tobacco, medals and flags to Indians on their way.[E] "When I see the great cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul now," said Mr. Boutwell, "I have to reflect that when we made our memorable trip down the river in 1832 we stopped at St. Anthony falls, and I stood on the east bank and looked across the river in profound admiration of the most beautiful landscape I had ever seen, with only a few head of government cattle belonging at Fort Snelling grazing upon it. The whole country on both sides of the river was as God had made it. When we passed the locality of St. Paul there was not even an Indian tepee to be seen." The party halted at a Sioux Indian village at Kaposia, a few miles below St. Paul, and after a short consultation proceeded to the mouth of the St. Croix, and ascending the St. Croix to its source, made a portage of two miles to the source of the Burnt Wood river, which they descended to Lake Superior, and thence returned to their starting place. In the following year Mr. Boutwell established a mission at Leech lake. In giving an account of his reception by the Indians, he says: "When I arrived the men, with a few exceptions, were making their fall hunts, while their families remained at the lake and its vicinity to gather their corn and make rice. A few lodges were encamped quite near. These I began to visit, for the purpose of reading, singing, etc., in order to interest the children and awaken in them the desire for instruction. I told them about the children at Mackinaw, the Sault, and at La Pointe, who could read, write and sing. To this they would listen attentively, while the mother would often reply: 'My children are poor and ignorant.' To a person unaccustomed to Indian manners and Indian wildness it would have been amusing to have seen the little ones, as I approached their lodge, running and screaming, more terrified, if possible, than if they had met a bear robbed of her whelps. It was not long, however, before most of them overcame their fears; and in a few days my dwelling, a lodge which I occupied for three or four weeks, was frequented from morning till evening by an interesting group of boys, all desirous to learn to read, sing, etc. To have seen them hanging, some on one knee, others on my shoulder, reading and singing, while others, whether from shame or fear I know not, who dared not venture within, were peeping in through the sides of the cottage, or lying flat upon the ground and looking under the bottom, might have provoked a smile; especially to have seen them as they caught a glance of my eye, springing upon their feet and running like so many wild asses colts. The rain, cold and snow were alike to them, in which they would come, day after day, many of them clad merely with a blanket and a narrow strip of cloth about the loins. The men at length returned, and an opportunity was presented me for reading to them. The greater part listened attentively. Some would come back and ask me to read more. Others laughed, and aimed to make sport of both me and my mission." He continued to labor here until 1837, when the Indians becoming troublesome, and having murdered Aitkin, an agent of the fur company, he deemed it advisable to remove the mission to Pokegama lake. He labored here faithfully, much respected by the Indians for his firmness and christian devotion. In 1847 he removed to Stillwater and settled on a farm near the city, where he is spending the remainder of his days, cared for by his affectionate daughter Kate and her kind husband, ----Jones. Though infirm in body on account of advanced age his mind is clear and his memory retentive. He enjoys the respect accorded to venerable age, and that which pertains to an early and middle life spent in unusual toils and hardships in the noblest work intrusted to the hands of man. MRS. HESTER CROOKS BOUTWELL deserves honorable mention as the early companion of the devoted missionary. She was the daughter of Ramsey Crooks, of New York, an Indian trader. Her mother was a half-breed Ojibway woman. Hester Crooks was born on Drummond island, Lake Huron, May 30, 1817. Her father gave her a superior education at Mackinaw mission. She was a woman of tall and commanding figure, her black hair and eyes indicating her Indian origin. She was a fluent conversationalist, and careful and tidy in her personal appearance. She died in Stillwater in 1853, leaving a family of seven children. CHENGWATANA. This town derived its name from the Chippewa words, "cheng-wa" (pine) and "tana" (city), applied to an Indian village which from time immemorial had been located near the mouth of Cross lake. This locality had long been a rallying point for Indians and traders. When the writer visited it, in 1846, it had the appearance of an ancient place of resort. Half-breeds and whites with Indian wives settled here, and in 1852 there were several log houses, and a hotel kept by one Ebenezer Ayer. There was also a dam built for sluicing logs. Among the early settlers were Duane Porter, George Goodwin, Herman Trott, John G. Randall, Emil, Gustave and Adolph Munch. Mr. Trott built a fine residence on the shore of Cross lake, afterward the home of S. A. Hutchinson. The Munch brothers built a store and made other improvements. John G. Randall, in 1856-7-8, manufactured lumber, ran it down the Kanabec and St. Croix rivers to Rush Seba, Sunrise and Taylor's Falls. In 1852, and soon after the building of the government road to Superior City, a post office and a stage route from St. Paul to Superior City were established. The dam, to which reference has been made, was built in 1848, by Elam Greely. It is at the outlet of Cross lake and has ten feet head. The flowage covers many thousands of acres. The ownership has changed several times. The tolls levied amount to from ten to fifteen cents per thousand feet. The chartered operators control the flowage completely, opening and shutting gates at their pleasure. Many of the first settlers removed to other localities. Mr. Trott and the Munch brothers to St. Paul, J. G. Randall to Colorado, and Louis Ayd to Taylor's Falls. In 1856 an effort was made to found a village on the site of the old Indian town of Chengwatana. Judd, Walker & Co. and Daniel A. Robertson surveyed and platted the village of Alhambra, but the name was not generally accepted, and the old Indian name of Chengwatana superseded it. The town of Chengwatana was organized in 1874. The first supervisors were Duane Porter, Resin Denman and Ferdinand Blank. LOUIS AYD was born in Germany in 1840; came to America in 1852 and settled in Chengwatana. He served three and a half years as a soldier during the Rebellion, and was seriously injured in the service. On his return he settled in Taylor's Falls. He is a well-to-do farmer and dealer in live stock for the meat market. He has been a member of the Roman Catholic church from childhood. He was married to Rosabella Hoffman, of Hudson, Wisconsin, in 1871. DUANE PORTER, the son of a surgeon in the United States Army in the war of 1812, was born in Washington county, New York, in 1825; came West as far as Illinois in 1852, and to St. Croix Falls in 1844. He was married in 1848 to Mary Lapraire, and in the same year located at Chengwatama. His occupation is that of an explorer and lumberman. He has ten children living. S. A. HUTCHINSON.--Mr. Hutchinson was a native of Maine, and while yet a youth came to the valley of the St. Croix, and located at Chengwatana, where he married a Chippewa woman, and raised a family of half-breed children. "Gus" Hutchinson, as he was familiarly called, had many noble traits of character and was very popular with his associates. He had a well trained mind; was skilled as a lumberman and explorer, and was of a genial disposition, honest in heart and true in his friendships. He was elected sheriff of Pine county, and served four years. On the night of Aug. 16, 1880, he was found in a sitting posture on his bed, lifeless, a rifle ball having pierced his heart. It appeared, on investigation, that his oldest son wanted to marry an Indian girl, to which his father objected. On the night after the murder the marriage took place in Indian style. Suspicion pointing strongly toward mother and son, they were arrested, and an indictment found by the grand jury against the son. He was tried and acquitted. HINCKLEY. The township of Hinckley was organized in 1872. It includes a large area of land; heavily timbered with pine and hardwood. The soil is varied, consisting of black and yellow sand loam with clay subsoil. It abounds in meadows, marshes, tamarack swamps, pine and hardwood ridges, and is capable of cultivation. THE VILLAGE OF HINCKLEY Lies midway between St. Paul and Duluth, on the St. Paul & Daluth railroad. It was founded soon after the completion of the road. The Manitoba railroad passes through the village, running from St. Cloud to Superior. It was incorporated in 1885. The following were the first officers: President, James J. Brennan; recorder, S. W. Anderson; trustees, James Morrison, Nels Parson, John Perry; treasurer, John Burke; justices of the peace, John Brennan, A. B. Clinch; constable, Andrew Stone. Prior to this incorporation, Hinckley had suffered considerably from the lawlessness of its occasional or transient residents and visitors, and the large majority of the vote in favor of incorporation is justly considered as a triumph of law and order. The village has a saw mill doing a large business, a good depot, round house, four hotels, several stores, shops, and fine residences, a commodious school house, and two churches--a Lutheran and Catholic. The Minneapolis & Manitoba railroad connects here with the St. Paul & Duluth railroad, and is being extended to Superior. JAMES MORRISON was born on Cape Breton island in 1840. Mr. Morrison was one of the first settlers of Hinckley, having come to the settlement in 1869, in the employ of the St. Paul & Duluth railroad. He has followed farming and hotel keeping. He is an active and industrious man, the proprietor of a large hotel, and a member of the Presbyterian church. SANDSTONE VILLAGE Is located in the northwest quarter of section 15, township 42, range