Fifty Years In The Northwest: With An Introduction And Appendix Containing Reminiscences, Incidents And NotesFolsom, William H. C. (William Henry Carman)
History
Fifty Years In The Northwest: With An Introduction And Appendix Containing Reminiscences, Incidents And Notes
Folsom, William H. C. (William Henry Carman)
Minnesota -- History; Wisconsin -- History
JOHN MORGAN.--We have no account of the early days of Mr. Morgan,
except that he was a native of Pennsylvania. He was living in
Stillwater in 1845, in the employ of Churchill & Nelson. In 1848 he
was elected sheriff of St. Croix county, Wisconsin. In the same year
he was married to Hannah Harnish. He settled on a farm and kept a
"half way house" on the road from Stillwater to St. Paul, when the
pioneer stages of Willoughby & Power were placed on this route. In
1848 he obtained a charter from the Wisconsin legislature for a ferry
across Lake St. Croix at Stillwater. This ferry changed ownership
repeatedly and was discontinued when the bridge was built.
ANSON NORTHRUP.--This gentleman, whose name was borne by the first
steamboat ever launched on the Red River of the North, and who brought
the first drove of cattle through from Illinois to St. Croix Falls,
deserves a conspicuous place in the annals of the Northwest. He was
born in Conewango, Cataraugus county, New York, Jan. 4, 1817. His
education was limited, but he was a man of more than ordinary native
ability and energy. He lived in Ohio some years, and came West in
1838. In 1839 he drove the first herd of cattle through a wilderness
country from the Wisconsin river to the St. Croix. In 1841 he removed
his family from Ohio to St. Croix Falls. He came by way of St. Louis,
from that point embarking on the steamer Indian Queen for the Falls.
The steamer was three weeks making the trip. Above Prairie du Chien
crew and passengers were obliged to cut wood to run the boat. Mr.
Northrup had married Betsey Edwards, daughter of widow Edwards, one of
the pioneers of Stillwater. Charles H., their eldest son, was the
first white child born at St. Croix Falls. In the spring of 1844 he
moved to Stillwater, where he built and kept the first hotel in that
place. From 1847 to 1848 he was part owner of the Osceola saw mill
along with Mahony and Kent. In 1849 he removed to St. Paul, and built
the American Hotel on Third street, east from Seven Corners. In 1851
he removed to St. Anthony Falls and built there the St. Charles Hotel.
In 1853 he removed to Minneapolis, and built the Bushnell House, the
first brick building in the city. Subsequently he became a resident at
Long Prairie, Swan River and Duluth. Although Mr. Northrup's genius
tended chiefly in the direction of hotel building, his abilites in
other directions were beyond question. With equal facility he turned
his hand to lumbering, steamboating and statesmanship. His great
steamboat enterprise was the attempted transfer of the steamer North
Star by water from the Mississippi to the Red River of the North. The
boat was one hundred feet long by twenty wide, and of light draught.
Starting from St. Cloud in the spring of 1859 he performed the
wonderful feat of ascending the Mississippi as far as Pokegama Falls,
hoping to ascend further, and during a high stage of water to float
the boat over the height of land into some of the tributaries of the
Red river.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account