Part 58 (1/2)

FRANCIS ASBURY WATKINS is a native of the state of New Hampshi+re He was born in 1853; came to Baraboo, Wisconsin, in 1866, to North Pacific Junction in 1881; was married to Anna Wicks, of Pine City, Minnesota, in 1882, and was adraduate of Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin He has served as auditor of Carlton county four years

ST LOUIS COUNTY

St Louis county takes its na been named by some of the early French travelers or Jesuit missionaries, possibly by Duluth or Buade

The county is bounded on the north by Rainy lake and the British boundary, on the east by Lake county, on the south by Lake Superior, St Louis river and Carlton, and on the west by Aitkin county The surface is variegated,broken with deep ravines It is atered by streams tributary to Rainy lake and Superior, and by innumerable small lakes Portions of it are heavily timbered with pines and hardwoods, and the northern portion is traversed by a rich ion The settle the shores of Lake Superior and St

Louis river, and on the shores of Vermillion lake The falls and rapids of St Louis river are noted for their wildness and grandeur

The scenery on its northern boundary, including the Dalles of the Rainy Lake waters, is not surpassed or even equaled at any point east of the Rocky ely of priranite, and the scenery has a peculiarly grand and soneous character of the for land on plains and intervales, while the more abrupt and rocky portions are rich in iron and the precious ion about Verion is rich in iron ores Gold has also been discovered A old, silver and iron extends froanized in 1856 The territorial governor appointed the following officers: Clerk of district court, J

B Culver; sheriff, J B Ellis; register of deeds, R H Barrett; auditor, J E Brown

The first board of county commissioners elected were C E Martin, Vose Pal was held at Portland, Jan 4, 1858 At an adjourned rand and petit jury The s were held so held April 5, 1858, the county was divided into four towns--Duluth, Martin, Carp River and Carlton At an adjournedthree assessor's districts, six school districts and four road districts were formed The records do not show any previous division into districts or precincts, nor does the na of Septe held Sept 23, 1858, the village of Oneota was established November 1st E H Broas appointed clerk in place of A B Robbins Nove R H Barrett compensation for services as clerk prior to September 1st was passed His name does not appear prior to this entry

The records show that a court was held in 1859, S J R McMillan officiating as judge Also that a road was made froh Fre a trail to Lester's river and across French river to Montezuma, and another from Oneota to Fond du Lac The town of Milford isthe report The assessment for St Louis county for 1859 a of the county com the legislature to grant authority to St Louis county to issue 150,000 to aid in building the Lake Superior & Mississippi railroad

The legislature granted the request and twenty year bonds were issued

We append a list of county commissioners to the year 1863: E C

Martin, Vose Palmer, Zach T Brown, 1858; E C Martin, Vose Palht, S A Forbes, Sidney Luce, 1860; E

F Ely, Joseph B Culver (first o, Levi B Coffrey (second o, 1862; H Fargo, R B Carlton, E G Swanstroes that appear in the old records of the board have entirely disappeared Those villages nearest to Duluth have been absorbed by that vigorous young city We find a record, bearing date 1859, authorizing an election to decide upon the question of the removal of the county seat from Duluth to Port Byron There is no record of the result of the election, nor is Port Byron found in a recent map

DULUTH

The site of Duluth was visited as long ago as 1659, by two adventurous Frenchmen, Grosselier and Redission This enty-one years prior to the co of Greyson Duluth, in whose honor the city of Duluth was named two hundred years later Capt Duluth visited the western end of the lake in 1680 Three or four years later Jean Duluth, a brother of the captain, established two trading posts, one at the eon river, the other on Minnesota Point Le Sueur followed in 1683, accompanied by a French surveyor, Franquelin, who ion The attraction to the early voyageurs was the rich furs to be obtained in the wild regions adjacent The great A the northern shore of Lake Superior, and later the Astor Fur Company made its northwestern headquarters at Fond du Lac, a fewwas done toward permanent settleration set in toward the head of the lake, and it became evident that here was to rise cities of no mean i from the base of Minnesota Point, and the other Superior City, across the glearowth of Duluth was slow, and sometimes its fortunes seemed on the wane, but the construction of a railroad to St

Paul, completed in 1870, and a sudden influx of capital consequent upon this new outlet of trade, and reat Northern Pacific railroad, gave a new i were years of great activity and progress The population increased fros of the city were constructed The canal was cut through Minnesota Point, thus giving to Duluth the nificent harbor on the lake, if not in the world

In 1873 the failure of Jay Cooke, who had largely contributed the means for the construction of the Northern Pacific railroad, caused a financial depression similar in its effects to that of 1857 Banks failed, merchants became bankrupt, and the population of the city was reduced to 1,300 souls The ”hard ti up of the great wheat fields in the Red River valley, and the coht prosperity to the more than half deserted city The population increased in 1878 from 1,300 to 2,200 souls Two years later the census showed 3,470; and a year later, 7,800 In 1882 the population had increased to 12,000; in 1883 to 14,000; in 1884 to 16,690; in 1885 to 18,036, and in 1886 to 26,000 souls

Duluth has noell organized board of trade, produce exchange and chae, Duluth National, Merchants National, and Bell & Eyster's These banks had, in 1886, an aggregate capital of 300,000, with deposits of 2,034,281, a the year 1887 The taxable valuation of property in Duluth for the year 1886 was 11,773,720 The taxes paid in 1887 amount to 261,376

Duluth has one immense flour mill, with a capacity of 250 barrels per day It is five stories in height, and favorably situated; having the lake upon one side and the railroads upon the other, so that loading and unloading can be carried on at once froe flour warehouses with a capacity of 200,000 barrels each Large warehouses are also being built by the Northern Pacific and Omaha Railroad coed froregate of 8,285,000 barrels in that time

The lumber industry of Duluth is no small factor in the prosperity of the city The cut of the Duluth district for the past season ales, and 22,600,000 lath, of which the city mills have manufactured one-third Much of this luo and the East, and a new district, the Tower ion, has lately been opened for shi+pment

We have alluded to the harbor of Duluth as one of the best on the lake It consists of what is known as the Bay of Superior, a body of water about sevenby one mile in width, almost entirely shut off from the lake by a narrow strip of land known as Minnesota Point The original entrance to this bay was through a channel on the southeast of the Point, separating it froue of land in the same line of direction As this entrance was inconvenient and difficult, a canal was cut across the point near the e to adh Ste Marie's canal Since the construction of the canal through Minnesota Point, the old landing in front of the city has been abandoned, and elevators have been built on the shores of the bay

These elevators are the best of their class, and have a total capacity of 20,000,000 bushels They were ten in number, exclusive of several warehouses; two, however, have been destroyed by fire The walls of the canal have been extended in the form of piers 1,000 feet into the lake One of these piers is supplied with a lighthouse and a fog horn

The canal is 700 feet long and 250 feet in width The arrivals and clearances for the port of Duluth in 1886 were 2,180

The fish trade is no inconsiderable part of the industries of Duluth