Part 31 (1/2)
There was great grief at his death aed man, who had lost a small fortune in his devotion to the Confederacy, embraced the corpse, and said: ”If he had not holpen one him” Many others, in word or action, expressed a si 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 soenerations of Ojibway blood, and North and South, they were, in the course of their labors, associated for a longer or shorter tihty different missionaries,--a noble band,--with few exceptions worthy the naraves are scattered here and there froia
REV WILLIAM T BOUTWELL, who figures so prominently in the history of the early h county, New Hampshi+re, Feb 4, 1803 He was educated at Dartraduation at Andover, he came to the Northwest as a Presbyterianthe Chippewa language, under the instruction of Rev W M Ferry, father of Senator Ferry, of Michigan
In 1832 our government sent an eent at Ste Marie, Henry R Schoolcraft, to tranquilize the tribes and effect soeous treaties The embassy was accompanied by an outfit of soldiers under the coe Johnson, interpreter, and Mr Boutwell The ees and trinkets for the Indians, and was conveyed in a large bateau of several tons capacity, and so, and capable of containing nine persons On arriving at Fond du Lac, the head of navigation on the St Louis river, Mr Boutrote 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 whitewas such as I never before witnessed, and enough to fill one, unaccustomed to the like asof Indians, barking of dogs, crying of children, running of the s, was noise in the extrelish, the first serh 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 ht, 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 iined”
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, non 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 knohat naive 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 tords, and then erasing the first syllable of the first word and the last syllable of the latter, joined the re 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 ere passing through the outlet of the lake,” said Mr Boutwell, ”I stopped my canoe on the shore and ju to relate in after years”
The party with their own boats descended the Mississippi, distributing tobacco, reat cities of Minneapolis and St Paul now,” said Mr Boutwell, ”I have to reflect that e 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 govern 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 thethe St Croix to its source, e 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 aan account of his reception by the Indians, he says: ”When I arrived thetheir fall hunts, while their faather their corn and an 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 norant' To a person unaccustomed to Indianto have seen the little ones, as I approached their lodge, running and screa, more terrified, if possible, than if they had , however, before most of thee which I occupied for three or four weeks, was frequented froroup of boys, all desirous to learn to read, sing, etc To have seen the 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 bottoht have provoked a slance oflike so many wild asses colts The rain, cold and snoere 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 th returned, and an opportunity was presented reater part listened attentively Sohed, and aimed to make sport of both me and my mission”
He continued to labor here until 1837, when the Indians becoent of the fur coama 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 far the rehter Kate and her kind husband, ----Jones Though infire his mind is clear and his mee, and that which pertains to an early and middle life spent in unusual toils and hardshi+ps in the noblest work intrusted to the hands of man
MRS HESTER CROOKS BOUTWELL deserves honorable mention as the early cohter of Ramsey Crooks, of New York, an Indian trader Her mother was a half-breed Ojiboman Hester Crooks was born on Druave her a superior education at Mackinaw ure, 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 na-wa” (pine) and ”tana” (city), applied to an Indian village which from time immemorial had been located near thepoint 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 da 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 governe 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 ed several times The tolls levied amount to from ten to fifteen cents per thousand feet The chartered operators control the flowage coates 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 e on the site of the old Indian town of Chengwatana Judd, Walker & Co and Daniel A Robertson surveyed and platted the village of Alhaenerally accepted, and the old Indian nawatana was organized in 1874 The first supervisors were Duane Porter, Resin Denman and Ferdinand Blank
LOUIS AYD was born in Gerwatana 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 Arton 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 sawatama His occupation is that of an explorer and lu
S A HUTCHINSON--Mr Hutchinson was a native of Maine, and while yet a youth cawatana, where he married a Chippeoman, 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 enial disposition, honest in heart and true in his friendshi+ps 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 ht after the e took place in Indian style Suspicion pointing strongly toward mother and son, they were arrested, and an indictainst the son He was tried and acquitted