Territorial Dispatch

172 years ago

THE MINNESOTA PIONEER

May 16, 1850

Early History.

The early history of Min-ne-so-tah is involved in much obscurity; though Fatrher Hennepin in 1680, and Baron La Contain in 1689, both Frenchman, visited it, but subsequently gave narratives to the world, so strangely intermixed with the truth, and seeming fable, that little reliance was placed on their statements.

It would seem on investigations, that for the last several hundred years, the possession of the land has been fiercely contested by different Indian nations; mainly between the great tribes of the Dakota or Sioux,* and the Algonquins, or Chippewas. The latter, from their eastern location on Lake Superior, about the Falls of Saint Mary, and early (contact) with the French fur traders, became first possessed of firearms, which gave them a superiority that enabled them to drive the Dakotas from the rich midland hunting grounds, rice and fish lakes, in the country about the headwaters of the Mississippi.

The dispossessed bands of the Dakotas moved westward, weeping in their progress, the Shians, the Iowas, and other tribes from their lands; until in the course of time, the fugitive Dakotas of the Upper Mississippi, have become the fiercest lords of the vest buffalo plans of the Upper Missouri.

By a treaty negotiated under the protection of the United States at Fort Crawford, near Prairie du Chien, in 1825, between the different tribes of the Northwest, their respective boundaries were defined; and thenceforward comparative peace ensured among them. The history of the wars of these tribes of the Northwest, their legends, their shifting geographical relations and derivation, is a rich mine for the future historian.

Progress of Organization.

On the 27th of May, 1849, Governor Ramsey arrived in this Territory, and on 1st of June following he issued his proclamation, declaring the Territory organized from that date.

Face of the Country.

The surface of Minnesota presents a highly varied aspect. There are no mountains, strictly speaking. The Hills of the Prairies, commonly known as the Coteau des Prairies, in the western part of the Territory, dividing the waters which flow into the Mississippi from those that flow into the Missouri; the Heights of Land about the headwaters of the Mississippi, and those of the ST. Croix; with occasional knobs or mounds near the rivers; the bluffs of the Mississippi; and the rolling hillocks near some of the lakes, make up all its mountain features.

Minnesota is emphatically a country of following plains, woods and fertile lake meadows.

In the extreme north, beyond the reach of ordinary settlements, Tamarac swamps, and pine marshes, cover the face of the land; valuable as they are for many purposes and containing the elements of much future wealth, it is not expected that white migration will for many years, if ever, tend in that direction.

Rivers and Lakes.

The Mississippi and Missouri, the principal rivers of the Territory, are well known. The Missouri rising in a mountain region, flows with a rapid current, about four miles an hour, is very turbid and muddy, and subject to great floods, It constitutes the western boundary line of Minnesota.

*Chippewa term through French.