CITIZENS AND SOLDIERS

“The frontier army post,” writes Professor F. J. Turner, “serving to protect the settlers from the Indians, has also acted as a wedge to open the Indian country, and has been a nucleus for settlement." When the Fifth Infantry built its cantonment on the Minnesota River there were no other habitations in the neighborhood. Traders yearly frequented the region and wintered on the banks of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, but their headquarters were located at Prairie du Chien. Immediately after the beginning of the military establishment, however, the movement mentioned by Professor Turner was initiated.

In the spring of 1820 J. B. Faribault came up with cattle for the garrison and decided to locate in the vicinity as a fur trader. On August 9th the Indians granted Pike’s Island to his wife, Pelagi Faribault, who was the daughter of a Frenchman and a Sioux woman. Faribault immediately built houses upon the island, but high water washed them away. Thereupon he removed to the east side of the Mississippi. It is probably to this establishment that Beltrami referred in 1823 when he wrote that “there are no buildings round the fort, except three or four log-houses on the banks of the river, in which some subaltern agents of the Southwest Company live among the frogs." This position was also upon low land, and on April 21, 1826, when the ice began to move, Faribault’s houses were carried away, while he and his family escaped in canoes. After this second disaster Faribault’s establishment was erected at Mendota, where Alexis Bailly had already located. The growth of this village was very slow. But gradually old fur traders settled about it with their families; voyageurs, when not employed on the rivers, lounged about the trading house; and the agents and clerks of the American Fur Company had their permanent homes in the rude log cabins which were clustered about.

In the meantime a new element had been added to the surroundings of the fort. It was already three-quarters of a century since the traders had erected the first trading post upon the Red River of the North. The early French voyageurs had left a race of half-breeds, popularly called bois-brules, who were the vassals of the two great companies. When their strength had been spent in the labors of hunting and trapping, they retired to the vicinity of some post the largest of these settlements being Fort Garry, the germ of the modern city of Winnipeg, which as early as 1823 boasted of a population of about six hundred.

But not all of these half-breeds were traders. Thomas Douglas, the fifth Lord Selkirk had secured from the Hudson’s Bay Company the grant of an immense tract of land on the Red River, and in 1811 he began the colonization of the region with poor immigrants from Scotland and Ireland. But the knowledge of the internal troubles of the company put an end to the immigration from these two countries, and Lord Selkirk turned to Switzerland for new recruits. In 1821 a ship full of Swiss sailed for Fort York on Hudson’s Bay, and late in the fall the party reached the Red River after a toilsome journey up the Nelson River and across Lake Winnipeg. Being artisans and city-dwellers they were unable to endure the rough agricultural labors in the bleak north. Cold, floods, grasshoppers, and uncongenial neighbors rendered the location unpleasant.

Travellers from the south brought news of a better locality, and towards this place there soon began a movement which, while not great in any one year, was long continued. In 1821 five families made the journey to Fort Snelling, and their success inspired others. In 1823 thirteen families made the perilous journey of four hundred miles. From year to year, as families became discouraged they left the colony. Four hundred and eighty-nine persons had arrived at Fort Snelling up to 1835.

The many hardships endured by these travellers, and their pitiful condition, appealed to the sympathy of the Americans, and they were welcomed and aided by the officers at Fort Snelling. During their stay one party was granted the use of the old barracks at Camp Cold Water. Employment was given the men upon the reservation, and those who preferred to remain were allowed to settle upon the military grounds. Comparatively few, however, made their homes here, the greater number proceeding to Galena, Illinois, and Vevay, Indiana. On one occasion provisions for the down-river journey in government keel-boats were issued by Colonel Snelling.

A third class of settlers around the fort was composed of discharged soldiers. Men stationed at Fort Snelling saw the agricultural value of the surrounding lands, or the possibility of riches in the fur trade. Joseph R. Brown, who came as a drummer boy with Colonel Leavenworth in 1819, entered the employ of the post sutler when he ceased his connection with the army, and later he became an Indian trader. Edward Phelan, John Hays, and William Evans, whose terms of service at Fort Snelling expired about this time were among the first settlers on the land ceded in the treaty of 1837.

In the fall of 1837 it was revealed by a survey that there were one hundred and fifty-seven white persons, not connected with the fort, living on the reservation. Of these, eighty-two had their homes in the vicinity of Camp Cold Water and seventy-five at the fur trading establishments. Approximately two hundred horses and cattle were owned by these persons.

For many years pleasant relations existed between the officers at the post and the civilians. The physician of the garrison willingly responded to calls for his aid made by the people living outside the fort.

“I am compelled”, wrote Joseph Renville to H. H. Sibley, “to ask you for some assistance in regard to a disease which is very bad here the whooping cough. I pray you to ask the doctor for some medicine, particularly for some camphor." Many a time Lawrence Taliaferro presided at a frontier wedding, when in one of the rude huts on the reservation the picturesque figure of the fur trader mingled with the glittering uniform of the officer, and dusky faces peered in at the windows awaiting the end of the ceremony when they also could partake of such a feast as only the prairies, lakes, and sutler’s store could provide.

In the troubles which naturally arose between the settlers and the Indians, the agent was the mediator. Thirty of Peter Musick’s cattle were killed by Indians who, wanting only powder horns, left the carcasses to the wolves. On July 13, 1834, Jacob Falstrom came to the agency bringing the feet and hams of an ox which he claimed had been shot by a Sioux Indian at Mud Lake. He claimed thirty-five dollars from the Indian Department for the loss which he had sustained. As he was a poor man and had a large family to support Major Taliaferro was moved to make an effort to aid him. “I proposed”, he wrote in his diary the same evening, “to contribute $5 for the benefit of J. Faustram to Several of the Gentlemen of the Post but not meeting with a corresponding Sentiment the poor fellow must be informed of my bad success in his behalf".

Only a week later Joseph R. Brown asked to be paid for a hog which the Indians had killed. During the summer of 1837 Louis Massy claimed $150; Abraham Perry $50; and Benjamin F. Baker $750 for similar damages. Many years later the agent wrote of these unpleasant duties: “The traders would make a detective of the agent if practicable. All thefts on each other were reported to the agent for justice. Deserting boatmen (fed on corn and tallow) must be forced to proceed up the St. Peter’s with their outfits for the trade, right or wrong. Every ox, cow, calf or hog lost by persons on the Indian lands, the agents were expected to find the culprits or pay for these often fictitious losses."

A new era in the history of these settlers began when the treaties of 1837 opened the lands east of the Mississippi to settlement. Some time before they had heard rumors of the coming negotiations at Washington, and those living west of the Mississippi sent a memorial to the President stating that they had settled upon the land thinking it was part of the public domain and believing that they would have the right of preemption upon their claims. But now, if a new treaty was made and the land west of the Mississippi purchased for a military reservation, they asked that they be allowed reasonable compensation for the improvements they had made. However, in the treaty no mention was made of a military reservation, the title to the land around the fort being allowed to rest upon Pike’s treaty of 1805.

But to Major J. Plympton, who became the commanding officer at Fort Snelling during the summer of 1837, the presence of these people was undesirable, and so in a letter written to the Adjutant-General he called attention to the settlement and complained of the difficulty of obtaining fuel for the garrison when the squatters were also engaged in the same task. In his reply on November 17, 1837, the Adjutant-General directed that a reservation be marked off the extent of Pike’s purchase being indefinite.

On March 26, 1838, Major Plympton sent a map of the territory which he chose to have considered as a military reservation. This reservation, contrary to the expectations of many, included land on the east side of the Mississippi. Thus there were many who thought that they had been using their legal rights of preemption when in reality they were only squatters. Order N issued at the post on July 26, 1838, forbade the erection of any buildings or fences upon the reservation, and prohibited the cutting of timber except for public use. During this same time there seems to have been, on the part of those living on the west bank of the Mississippi, a movement to the east side. Mrs. Abraham Perry came to Agent Taliaferro on October 18, 1838, and complained that the Indians had killed three of her cattle “just below the stone cave” that is, Fountain Cave which was on the east bank of the river. Yet her husband was among those who had signed the petition of August 16, 1837, as residents on the west side.

Within these lands were also a number of shacks along the river bank a few miles below Fort Snelling. Here whiskey was clandestinely transferred from the boats before they proceeded upstream. During the winter of 1839 the presence of these resorts had a deteriorating effect upon the garrison. Surgeon Emerson wrote to the Surgeon General of the United States on April 23, 1839: “Since the middle of winter we have been completely inundated with ardent spirits, and consequently the most beastly scenes of intoxication among the soldiers of this garrison and the Indians in its vicinity, which no doubt will add many cases to our sick-list.... I feel grieved to witness such scenes of drunkenness and dissipation where I have spent many days of happiness, when we had no ardent spirits among us, and consequently sobriety and good conduct among the command."

Brigadier General John E. Wool inspected Fort Snelling on June 2nd, and in a letter on June 28th he urged that the settlers be driven off the reservation. “Such is the character of the white inhabitants of that country”, he wrote, “that if they cannot be permitted to carry on their nefarious traffic with the Indians, it will sooner or later involve them in a war with the United States."

Influenced by these letters and reports Secretary of War J. R. Poinsett determined to compel all the settlers to leave. It is, however, wrong to suppose that all were guilty of whiskey-peddling. In a letter in which he commented on the number of persons present at the Sunday services in the fort the chaplain wrote that “Some of the inhabitants also in the vicinity who were regular in their attendance have removed."

The instructions for the removal were made out on October 21, 1839, and sent to Edward James, Marshal of the Territory of Wisconsin. They stated that if force should prove necessary to compel the people to leave, the Marshal should call upon the commanding officer at Fort Snelling for such aid. In that case he was instructed to act “with as much forbearance, consideration, and delicacy as may be consistent with the prompt and faithful performance of the duties hereby assigned to you".

The orders were not received by Marshal James until February 18, 1840, and he immediately forwarded them to his deputy, Ira B. Brunson of Prairie du Chien. As soon as navigation opened in the spring he left for Fort Snelling. Notice was at once given to the settlers to move, and when they refused a detachment of soldiers was called out on May 6th and under the direction of a lieutenant and Marshal Brunson the household goods of the settlers were carried out and their cabins destroyed.

These ejected settlers found new homes a few miles down the river. In the midst of their rude homes a log chapel was dedicated in November, 1841, to the Apostle St. Paul by the Reverend Lucian Galtier. As the ceded lands were more and more occupied, the little village enjoyed a corresponding growth. Gradually the name of the chapel was adopted as the name of the settlement. In 1849 the Territory of Minnesota was organized with the seat of the legislature at St. Paul. The new community prospered, and the town swarmed with settlers, Indians, travellers, and adventurers who lived in tents or slept in barns in lieu of better accommodations. There were also capitalists, tradesmen, and officials who here made their homes.

It was inevitable that between this new community and Fort Snelling close relations should exist. The Territorial government was weak; to enforce order it was necessary for the Governor to make requisition on the fort for troops. The jail at Fort Snelling was also utilized for the punishment of many undesirable characters always drawn to a new region. James Higby who sold a promissory note which had already been paid, and Jacob Shipler who was arrested on a charge of assault and battery were both given terms in the jail at the fort. John R. McGregor, who became angry and threw his wife against a cooking stove, was separated from his help-meet for a period of three months while he languished in the fort.

The soldiers, in return, visited the frontier town, conducting themselves in the eyes of one observer “with much dignity and sobriety". Not always, however, could their actions be thus described. Two soldiers who had just returned from an expedition to the Indian country, started for St. Paul on the evening of their return, carrying with them their blankets which they meant to sell for “refreshment”. But their birch canoe upset and before aid could reach them they were drowned.

But relations of a more innocent and more desirable sort also existed. In the officials of the Territory the officers at the fort found congenial spirits. One of the popular pastimes of the little city was to ride out upon the frozen Mississippi in sleighs to Fort Snelling. “This command”, narrates an official report, “had the honor of receiving His Excellency W. A. Gorman Gov. of Minnesota and the Hon. James Shields late of the U. S. Senate, on the 9th inst. by whom the Command was reviewed &c. in presence of a large concourse of Citizens." The band of the Sixth Regiment which had paraded through the streets of Mexico City playing “Yankee Doodle” now found occupation in playing for the balls and parties of the frontier town. Even the inhabitants of Stillwater, twenty-five miles distant, called on the fort to furnish the music for the Valentine Ball on February 14, 1850. During the same month a concert was given, the proceeds going to the Washington Monument Association. A year later the ladies who had arranged to give a tea party to raise money for the benefit of the poor children of the community changed their plans and accepted the offer of the band who volunteered to give a concert for the purpose. The value of this association of citizens with the soldiers led to the remark of an editor that “We consider this band as well as the whole garrison, with its high intelligence but especially the band, of infinite value to St. Paul in fact, it is the most powerful element of influence amongst us, for our good, next to the pulpit and the press."

The tourists who for many years had been frequenting the upper Mississippi now increased in numbers. In the “Drive of All Visitors” were included the Falls of St. Anthony, Lake Harriet, Minnehaha Falls, and Fort Snelling. From the lookout tower of the fort on the edge of the cliff, could be viewed the same scenery which had charmed Carver a hundred years before. Undoubtedly many thought as did the newspaper man who wrote: “In the contemplation of this scene from Ft. Snelling, one is ravished with a desire to get upon it; and to appropriate a little domain for his home. It has the look of home. How can the Sioux ever consent to part with these lands?"

But two years later they did part with them. The two treaties in which the cession was acknowledged were brought about without military aid. This was in itself prophetic of the new status of the fort. With the growth of the Territorial organization, one by one the duties connected with Indian affairs, liquor troubles, and the protection of life and property were taken over by the civil officers, with the military men as the executors of their laws only when the regular forces of administration were unable to handle the difficulties.

And now the fort which had so long looked down upon the canoes of the Indians and traders saw on its two rivers a new procession. Flatboats, steamboats, and canoes bore upstream the hardy pioneers and their families, and returned loaded with the products of the farm and the forest. The post which could have successfully resisted the attack of Indian warriors, or even the siege of a civilized enemy was to fall before the invasion of the pioneers. The frontier had suddenly leaped far to the westward. In 1858, when the troops were withdrawn, there was no need of an establishment such as had existed during the first forty years. It was the passing of Old Fort Snelling which for so many years had been the remotest outpost of American law.

The development of the Northwest was not brought about by the spectacular and romantic incidents which the chroniclers loved to record. So gradual was its progress that the factors contributing to it can be seen only in the perspective of fifty years. It was the result of the monotonous details of the life of the fur trader who was the unwitting explorer of the Northwest, and the forerunner of the permanent resident. The routine duties of garrison life and expeditions to the Indian country, often barren of any visible result, added to its progress, as also did the weary marches of the explorer and the minute notations of the scientist who accompanied him. The patient sacrifices of the missionary who toiled at unaccustomed labors in the half-cleared cornfield and taught his primitive pupils in the log mission-house, introduced a new civilization. The daily contact of the Indian and the white man at the fort and agency were prophetic of a new relationship between the two races.

But because these events were so commonplace the contemporary chroniclers have bequeathed only a brief though eloquent epitome of this old Mississippi River post. It was the exception and not the rule to note that a company of soldiers was up the river watching the movements of the Indians, that a missionary had been presented with a ham, or that an explorer took with him so many vegetables from the gardens of the fort that the gunwale of his boat was brought within four inches of the water. But such are the stray references which indicate the almost complete dependence upon the fort of all the factors in the development of the Northwest.

In the preceding pages an attempt has been made to gather together from all sources the references which bear upon each particular phase of the process. In most cases they are few, not because the military men were not concerned with them, but because at every post in the Mississippi Valley conditions were practically the same and the public, being acquainted with these routine duties, was more interested in the picturesque Indian legends or in the duels between the officers. Of these latter incidents the pages of the history of Fort Snelling are full and in this respect it was typical of the American army post. But it is also an example of that which is of more importance the contribution of the army to the transformation of the Mississippi Valley.

In many ways Fort Snelling is unique in the list of American forts. The British flag was borne in triumph to wave from the flagstaff of Fort Ticonderoga after it had been evacuated by the colonial patriots during the dark days of 1777; but never was a foreign flag borne into Fort Snelling except to be burned in the sight of awestruck Indians. The guns of Fort Sumter announced the opening of the Civil War; never were the cannon at Fort Snelling fired at a foe. Mackinac was successively garrisoned by French, English, and American soldiers; whenever occupied by troops Fort Snelling flew the stars and stripes. The stockades at Boonesborough and Harrodstown were besieged by hundreds of savages who fought to gain entrance and obtain the scalps of the pioneer men and women there gathered for safety; no hostile demonstration was ever staged near Fort Snelling. Its history was not made by the rifles and sabers of the soldiers; the axe and the plow of the pioneer who worked in safety beneath its potential protection have left their history upon the landscape of the great Northwest.