CHAPTER IV
FIRST TRADERS AND MISSIONARIES
A line of trading posts
was established far up the Mississippi, above the
Falls of St. Anthony, by Wm. Morrison, in 1802, and
he remained a resident of the country until 1826.
During this period he was agent for the American Fur
Company of New York City, and was the real discoverer
of the reputed source of the Mississippi, having seen
Lake Itasca in 1804. This honor has been accorded
to Gen. Pike, who, under an order of government, visited
this region in 1806, and supposed himself to be the
discoverer, the two explorers not having met, whereby
the mistake might have been corrected. Schoolcraft
also unjustly claims this honor, but it is certain
that several had visited this point before he had
even originated the design of doing so.
We believe, on good authority,
that the reputed source of the Mississippi is not
the correct one. Capt. Eastman, of the U. S. A., and
others having equal facilities for making a correct
opinion, with whom I have conversed, assert its origin
to be a hundred or more lakes, of which Itasca is
one, all centering in one point, to form the might
stream. This is far more philosophical, and I have
no doubt of its correctness.
It was the visit of Gen.
Pike, just referred to, which effected the purchase
of the beautiful lands east of the Mississippi, included
within the limits of our territory. He was eminently
fitted for the delicate but arduous task; and but
for his influence with the natives, they would
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probably have made much stronger demonstrations
in favor of the British, in the war of 1812, in which
this noble and gallant man lost his life.
Some brief notices of
early traders come in place at this point, and may
not be uninteresting to the reader.
Mr. Joseph Renville
was the son of a French trader and an Indian mother,
and his history forms a link between the past and
present history of Minnesota. He was born upon the
soil about the year 1779, at which time it is computed
there were not more than six white families residing
within the whole of the vast territory comprised in
northern Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota.
He was taken to Canada
by his father when ten years of age, and his education
entrusted to a Romish priest. Still, in youth, he
returned to his native land, and was afterwards the
guide to Gen. Pike to the Falls of St. Anthony, through
whose influence he obtained the appointment of interpreter.
During a long period he was one of the most important
citizens of the territory, employed by Government
in various ways, and extending to all travelers great
hospitality. He was a warm friend, both to the missionaries
and his mother's people. Under his direction, the
first corn was planted in Minnesota, and he was the
first to engage in raising stock. His post obtained
a reputation among explorers, where a warm welcome
always awaited them. He warmly welcomed Dr.
Williamson, to whom he rendered valuable
assistance in the establishment of his missions, and
who spoke of him ever afterward with the greatest
kindness and respect. He acted as a translator of
Scripture, being such a natural linguist as to render
him eminently fit for an interpreter.
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Years before there was
any Christian minister in Minnesota, he was married
according to the Christian service, performing a journey
to Prairie du Chien for that purpose. He also possessed
a large copy of the Bible, which was probably the
first in Minnesota. This Bible was recently presented
to the Historical Society by one of his sons, and
while at the Mission-house in Lac qui Parle, whence
it was to be forwarded to St. Paul, the house and
all its contents were destroyed.
His wife was the first
Dakota who joined the Christian church at the Lac
qui Parle, and the first to die in the Christian faith.
She had become a Christian through the teachings of
her husband, before she had ever seen a missionary,
and her death was most happy and triumphant.
Mr. Renville
held an important office in the church, of which he
was a valuable member. His death scene was one of
unusual interest, as described by the missionary,
and a bright legacy to the Christian church. It occurred
in 1856. His children are respected and honored wherever
known, the mantle of their father having fallen upon
them.
Louis Provencalle,
who died at Mendota in 1850, had been for more than
fifty years a resident of this country. He was a man
of strong mind, but of little education. His books
of Indian credit were kept by hieroglyphics, and understood
only by himself, and the correctness of his accounts
was not to be questioned.
In character he was bold
and daring. On one occasion a company of pillagers
threatened the seizure of his goods, when seizing
a firebrand he held it to a keg of gunpowder, declaring
his intentions to blow himself and them into the air
if they took a single article. This
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had the desired effect, and he was never
afterwards molested. His history would make a large
and interesting volume.
Mr. Farribault
is the last survivor of the original traders, having
reached an advanced age, greatly respected for integrity
and uprightness of character.
Among the original inhabitants
who built their cabins on the high bluff of the Mississippi,
where now smiles the young city of St. Paul, was an
old man of Swiss descent, who had strayed from the
remote north. His frugal wants were supplied by the
gun, and a few culinary vegetables, cultivated with
tools of his own make.
Once in a winter ramble,
I found myself at the door of his cabin, and my rap
was responded to by the French "Entrez."
Comfortless, indeed, was the aspect within. Several
children were playing in the midst of disorder and
dirt. Age and infirmity were the portion of his cup,
but his countenance was radiant with joy as I took
his withered hand. He had been perusing some worn
and soiled leaves of a French Bible, and evinced by
word and look the comfort they afforded him; and raised
his dim eyes to heaven in token that his trust was
there.
He had become an object
of interest, and not unfrequently were my feet treading
the narrow path to his miserable abode, and never
with out a profitable lesson to the soul. One bright
morning in the following spring, just as earth had
drunk up the snow, I was told that he was sick unto
death, and I soon stood at his bedside for the last
time. A halo of light was about that bed of straw,
and rested upon his pallid features, more radiant
than the beams of natural light which entered at his
small window. With fervor he grasped my hand, and
thanked me for coming to see a poor, old, dying man,
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while the tears streamed down his wan
and withered face.
It was a blessed privilege
to stand by such a death bed. In life he
had remembered his Creator, and in death he was not
forsaken by him. His home of poverty on earth was
about to be exchanged for the "Mansion prepared
for such as love the Saviour." "O, 'tis
a glorious boon to die."
Chapter IV
