State County ND Archives History - Books .....Biographical Sketches And Incidents 1909
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Book Title: History Of The Red River Valley

CHAPTER VI.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF OLD SETTLERS DECEASED.
By Old Settlers. 
And Incidents in the Early Settlement of North Dakota.

   Major William Camp was a native of Philadelphia, Pa., but a man of the world,
an all-around cosmopolitan, genial and pleasant. He had visited all parts of the
United States and was a close observer, and having a very retentive memory he
possessed a wonderful fund of information. He was not avaricious, but he gained
a competence and never wanted for any of the comforts of life. He went to
California in 1849, remaining several years, having good success in mining, and
might have taken his ease during the remainder of his life on the accumulated
dust, but he divided his means among friends, retaining only enough to return to
the gold fields, where he again gained a competence which he in part divided
with the same generous spirit as before. Being a brother-in-law of Colonel John
Hancock, he came to Pembina in 1870 and took a pre-emption claim near old Fort
Pembina, and settled down to the life of an amateur settler, cultivating a large
garden in the early morning and other odd times, but really spending most of his
time angling for Red river salmon, as the catfish and gold eyes were called. He
was an expert in this line—a worthy son of Walton—indeed it was believed he
could have given old Sir Izaak points. As he fished for pastime and required but
few for his own use, his neighbors came in for the lion's share of the fruits of
his sport. He seemed to have a magnetic influence on the fish and would haul
them in when those on the same stream above and below got no bites, but Major
Camp was happy even though it sometimes happened that even his bait would not
tempt the fish, in the contemplation of his former successes or of the good time
to come. He was not a Nimrod. Indeed, I doubt whether he ever fired a gun or a
pistol. He absolutely knew nothing of shooting, and never carried a gun or knife
during all of the rough scenes he had passed through. He was at all times genial
and pleasant. In his home he had a favorite cat which followed him into the
fields where he was at work. When the cat died the usual sign of mourning was
placed on the shanty door. The children, especially the little girls, were
always his friends, and the dimes he spent on the little ones would have more
than paid his taxes. Sometimes he would promise them the first nickel he should
find or a nickel when "the pigs got fat enough to kill." One day when he had
given the same old bluff for about the eleventh time, one of the little girls
told him he could lie faster than a horse could run, which was all the same to
the Major. He had no enemies and was liked by all. He was a good
conversationalist and could tell any number of good stories. He had many quaint
sayings. "Up is up and down is down; right is right and right wrongs no one,"
was a common one. Again he would remark: "The young may die; the old must."
Frank Hart quoted this on him a few days before his death and finally succeeded
in getting him to make a will. It is in favor of Colonel John Hancock. The
estate consists of $2,000 or more in money and considerable in mortgages. His
death was painless and without a struggle and he was buried by the Free Masons
in the beautiful cemetery at Pembina, where it is hoped his friends will erect a
suitable monument at an early day. A good citizen, a kind friend, a noble man
has gone to his rest.

   In his sober and conversational moments the Major but seldom flickered out;
but when in a mellow mood, as he sometimes would get, he would burst out in a
melodious strain in a high, low or flat tone, as the humor took him, with "Mary
of Argyle," and keep it up for hours, and in part of it the Swiss Nightingale
would be in a total eclipse. This, to the knowledge of your correspondent, was
all the song he tried his vocal powers on.

   Now and then he would illustrate a subject he was speaking on by a quotation
from Shakespeare or some noted poet, thus demonstrating that he was not the
subject that was only "fit for bar-room stratagem and sports."


Old Time Wedding Festivities.   By Charles Cavalier.

   When we had returned to the house, which was filled with over sixty happy
couples, all nicely and tastefully and some richly attired, I must say I never
saw a more genteel lot of people, and there was beauty galore, and a finer party
of ladies, combined with much beauty, I never saw. The supper was a grand
affair, the table was loaded with all the substantials and luxuries of civilized
life with much of hunter's skill, which all ate with the appetite of us
northerners, while toasts and speeches were made by some of our home talent.
Supper over, the tables cleared and teeth picked, all by nine o'clock, then the
room was cleared for the dance, fiddlers tuned up, and the young beaus hunted
their partners. This pastime was one I shall never forget, for it was kept up
all night, some of them singing, "We won't go home till morning,'' nor did they,
the most of them, and did not see bed until the next night. Thus ended our
old-time wedding of the Red river of North Dakota. Times are changed and the
programme is now of another scale.

   On the 16th of March, 1857, we left the good old home of my wife on our
return to St. Joseph, N. D. My father-in-law, Mr. Murray, accompanied us part of
the way and my wife's brother, James, returned with us to St. Joseph. Arriving
at Narcisse Marion's, I was to take my own dog team, managed by Commodore Paul
Bouvier, same as on the voyage down. We bade our old friend Marion and wife
good-bye that day after dinner, Paul leading with the dogs. Sandy Dahl, next
with my wife on board his train, followed by Mr. Murray and James. Having a good
road and a fine day for travel we went along kiting and arrived in good time at
our intended camping place at Old Dauphinais. Mr. D. in his young days was
a-Canadian voyageur, but after his marriage with a half-breed girl he settled
down to pastoral and agricultural life, but leaving his home twice a year, he
took the plains as a hunter of buffalo and other game, returning in June with
his carts laden with pemmican and buffalo cow pelts with which to make robes. My
father-in-law and the old man having been hunters together in their young days,
they swapped the usual yarns of hunting exploits until they talked me to sleep.
Next morning we took an early and substantial breakfast and bade adieu to Mr.
Murray and our host, Old Dauphinais, of whom I may say in passing, that he was
in a prosperous way, having some sixty head of horses, over forty horned cattle;
sheep and chickens, and eighteen or twenty children; but to resume our journey,
we had fine weather that day, though it commenced thawing the day we arrived at
Pembina. That night we camped at Two Little Points, and had a pleasant and
comfortable time. The next day we reached Pembina. Mr. Murray and I were treated
to the best they had in the larder and the old custom in those days of sipping
port wine until late bedtime. The next day early, having bid our friends
good-bye, we endeavored to make a good spell before it commenced thawing, and by
so doing we arrived at St. Joseph before dark and were welcomed by our friends
with a fusillade of twenty or more N. W. Trading Company's flint-lock guns, all
of which did me good to take in.

An Old-Timer's Story.—Senator R. M. Probstfield.
   One of the most interesting characters among the early settlers of the Red
River valley is Randolph M. Probstfield, farmer, living on the Red river just
below Moorhead. Mr. Probstfield came in advance of civilization, before the
stage lines and steamboats, before the United States surveys, before the
railroads, and before Moorhead and Fargo were born in thought even.

   Born near Muenster-Mayfield, Germany, November 9, 1832, Mr. Probstfield came
to the United States when a lad of nineteen. He resided a while in Wisconsin and
northern Michigan, where he was engaged in lumbering, and in Milwaukee a month
or so, and came to St. Paul in 1853. The Big Timber country was then unsurveyed,
and he went into the wilds near what is now Mankato and took up a claim which
fell on school lands, and he gave it up. In September, 1853, he went down the
Mississippi from St. Paul on a lumber raft to what is now Wabasha, and thence to
Galena, Ill., by steamer, where he located in the wood business. He returned to
St. Paul in the spring of 1854. He was an active politician in those days, and,
though a Democrat, was instinctively opposed to human slavery, and went south in
order to observe the working of that system. He run on the Ohio and Mississippi
between Pittsburg, Cincinnati and New Orleans, and finally shipped on the
Prometheus as a cabin boy and went to Nicaragua at the time of Walker's
filibustering expedition. Crossing over the isthmus, he went to San Francisco.
Returning to the Mississippi and Ohio, he was again employed, this time as a
roustabout, and came up the river in the spring of 1856, as soon as the ice
would permit. The river was frozen from Cairo to St. Louis and below that for
many miles filled with floating ice.

   Speaking of the winter of 1856, the editor of "The Record" was then in Ohio
and made thirteen weekly trips carrying the mail from Hicksville, Ohio, to Fort
Wayne, Ind., on runners, after the first of January. There was good sleighing on
the first of April, and the old people who used to live on the Susquehanna, in
New York, told stories of deep snows and blizzards which out-blizzard the
severest Red River valley weather.

   Returning to Minnesota, Mr. Probstfield became interested in a hotel at
Chisago City, where he prospered, but, meeting with unexpected difficulties
through a partner, left there in 1857 and was thereafter employed for a time
clerking in a grocery store in West St. Paul, where he became active in
politics, was supervisor, assessor, collector, etc.

   Minnesota had voted $5,000,000 in bonds to promote the construction of
railroads, and these bonds were made the basis for the issue of currency by
state banks. The bonds fell in value, the banks broke, and the people who had
either bonds or alleged money, lost, Probstfield being one of the losers.

   Preceding the panic, there had been an era of speculation in town sites, and
several were located on the Red river, among them Lafayette and Sheyenne City,
located near the mouth of the Sheyenne. The eastern states were flooded with
circulars of paper cities. They would be located on some prominent stream, and
laid out into blocks and lots, the plats showing beautiful parks, steamboats,
prospective railroads, and thriving commercial marts. People in the East were
offered lots for $2, just the cost of making out the transfer and recording the
deeds, the alleged object being to secure settlement, which would make the
reserved lots of great value; but in this case no lots were sold.

   Stories had come back of the rich agricultural lands in the Red River valley,
and, wanting to get beyond the confines of civilization, perhaps where he could
contemplate his losses unmolested—for the true German wants to be let alone in
his miseries, but is always ready to share his joys—he started for the Red River
valley, February 26, 1859.

   Accompanying him were George Emerling and Gerhardt Lullsdorf. George Emerling
afterwards kept a hotel in Fort Garry, now Winnipeg, and later settled at
Walhalla, where he built the first flouring mill in North Dakota. He died at
Walhalla of smallpox. With the true instincts of the pioneer settler, Emerling
took in one sick of this dread disease, because others pronounced him unclean,
and gave his life for the care of him. Lullsdorf engaged in the hardware
business in Mankota afterward, where he was associated with John F. Meagher.

   The journey to the Red river was a hard one in many respects. The winter was
much such a winter as this until March. There was snow until they reached Sauk
Rapids. At what is now Little Falls, or near there, at Luther's, they left their
wagon and took sleds.

   Crow Wing, fifteen miles below what is now Brainerd, was the outside
settlement, except that there was a land office at Otter Tail City. The settlers
there were Duncan and James McDougall and one Van Ness, who married part blood
daughters of John McDonald, who was an Indian trader at that point, and the two
land officers. Duncan McDougall still lives in the country near Richwood, on the
reservation in Becker county, Minnesota.

   On the way from Otter Tail they caught up with Anson Northrup's expedition en
route to the Red river for the purpose of building a steamboat. Desirous of
opening trade with the Hudson Bay interests, the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce
had offered a bonus of $10,000 for the construction of a steamboat on the Red
River of the North, and Anson Northrup had undertaken to earn that money. His
expedition consisted of forty-four men and a large number of ox teams. Baldwin
Olmstead, Lewis Stone and George Stone were interested with Northrup and were
leading characters in the expedition. The machinery was from the old North Star,
which run on the Mississippi above Minneapolis.

   The snow had become very deep, and it was snowing every day. About March 12
the expedition was out of hay, and Probstfield went to the south end of Otter
Tail lake, and it took three days for the trip. The snow was three feet deep and
more coming. Beaching Oak lake, they could go no farther, and were compelled to
cut down trees to enable their ponies to live. So far they had followed the
Hudson Bay and half-breed cart trails. Prom there they must try an unknown
country, buried in snow, and it took several days' exploration before they dared
to strike out. After ten days' waiting, the Northrop party caught up with them,
and, the explorations having been completed, they struck out for the mouth of
the Sheyenne, about ten miles north of Fargo and Moorhead. They struck the
Buffalo, six miles east of the Bed river, March 31, 1859, and Probstfield rode
into Lafayette, as this point was then generally called, late in the evening,
for provisions, the whole party being out of supplies. Edward Murphy, from
Montreal, and Charles Nash and Henry Myers, from New York, were then living
there. Across the river two men were holding down a town site, known as Dakota
City, for Pierre Bottineau and others, of Minneapolis. The men were Frank Durant
and David Auger. That was before Dakota was created, and the territory was
unorganized and unattached.

   Richard Banning, a brother of William L. Banning, well known in Minnesota
history, lived one and a half miles north of Lafayette, holding down the town
site of Sheyenne City. One-half mile farther north, George W. Northrop and his
partner, Cloren, lived in a nameless city. Northrop was a great hunter and
trapper, and was often employed by English noblemen to accompany them on buffalo
hunts. He was killed under General Sully during the Indian war, July 28, 1864.
Ten miles south of Sheyenne, where Mr. Probstfield now lives, then known as
Ten-Mile Point, Robert Davis then resided. Eighty rods north of him was the home
of John Hanna.  Ed. Griffin, now living at Fargo, and James Anderson, alias
Robinson Crusoe, were also in the vicinity, Griffin at the mouth of the Wild
Rice. There were two companies of soldiers at Abercrombie.

   This was before Georgetown was established, and these were practically all of
the white settlers south of Pembina in the Red River valley.

   Probstfield succeeded in obtaining supplies at Lafayette, consisting of pork
and flour, and the night was spent baking bissuit. He started on the return
early, and the hungry men soon had relief. That night the expedition reached
Lafayette—the mouth of the Sheyenne—and in a few days the machinery, which had
been left at various points en route, owing to the bad roads, was brought in.

   A pit was dug and men set to work with a whip-saw to cut lumber for the boat.
By this process two men could cut about 250 feet per day if the timber was
frozen. "When not frozen, not more than 175 feet could be cut. It was a tedious
process, but the material was supplied by and by, and the hull of the boat
completed. After the completion of the hull it was run up to Abercrombie, where
the cabin was put on. There was plenty of business on the river, but Northrup
had trouble enough of his own, and proceeded to St. Paul, where he collected his
bonus for the construction of the boat and then tied her up. He had agreed to
put a boat on the Red river, but not to run her, and by refusing forced her sale
to Blakely & Carpenter.

   April 22, 1859, Mr. Probstfield left on his return trip for St. Paul. He was
accompanied by Robert McNeil, who had four horses and a Red River cart; James
Ryan and David Augie also accompanied the party.

   Northrup had exhausted his resources in his boat-building, and his old-time
credit was gone, and as Probstfield had depended upon his orders for supplies,
he found slim picking on his way back. He found Northrup's family at St. Anthony
and brought them the first intelligence they had from him since he left them
early in February for his Red River expedition. The deep snows gave swollen
streams and bad roads, but they reached their destination seventeen days out
from the Red river, and started back in July. Adam Stein returned with Mr.
Probstfleld, and they got back to the Red river about the 12th of July.

   In the meantime the stage line had been extended to Abercrombie from St.
Cloud, and about August 1 it was extended to Georgetown, which had been
established as a station of the Hudson Bay Company. From thence freight was
shipped to Fort Garry by team or steamer, and from there to other Hudson Bay
Company points. James McKay located Georgetown. He was in charge of the Hudson
Bay Company train. A warehouse was built the following winter, and the next year
a hotel and a store to supply the men with their needs, but not for general trade.

   Prior to 1860 one range of towns had been surveyed along the Red river up to
Town 144, as far north as Wild Rice. Wilkin county was known as Toombs county
and Clay as Breckinridge.

   Robert McKenzie was the first in charge of Georgetown. He was a part-blood
Cree, a most excellent gentleman. In December, 1859, he accompanied a party of
Hudson Bay people as a guide. A few miles south of Pembina the party run out of
supplies and McKenzie went to Pembina for relief; failing to return, they pushed
on to Pembina, and, finding that he had not been there, a searching party found
him frozen to death about seventeen miles south of Pembina. The thermometer had
ranged from 30 to 40 degrees below zero for several days, with a strong
northwest wind.

   James Pruden was the next in charge at Georgetown. He was the reverse of
MeKenzie in almost everything. The men mutinied under his ill treatment, and he
found it prudent to leave. He was succeeded by Alex. Murray, a most capable and
efficient gentleman. He was in charge until September, 1862, when the post was
evacuated for a time because of the Indian war. There were about thirty men
employed at Georgetown at the time, erecting buildings, making hay and
attempting to farm, about twenty acres being under cultivation at the time. The
first crop was put in in 1861, but the season was late, owing to the floods of
that year, and the next year it was abandoned because of the Indian outbreak,
and never harvested.

   Georgetown was re-established in 1864, and in 1865 Mr. Probstfleld took
charge and remained in charge from that time till 1868. He was postmaster at
Georgetown from 1864 to 1869. Oscar Bentley was in charge of the post in 1864
and until Mr. Probstfield succeeded him.

   D. P. Harris, killed by burglars in Minneapolis; Henry Gager, now residing at
Bismarck, and the two Bentleys, came to the post in 1864.

   The International was built at Georgetown in the spring of 1862. On her first
trip down the river from Georgetown she carried a party of Frazier River
adventurers, among the number Andrew Holes, of Moorhead. The machinery was from
the old Freighter, which was attempted to be sent up the Minnesota through Lake
Traverse and Big Stone lake to the Red river; and had the boat started earlier
the feat could have been accomplished, the water being so high during the spring
of 1861. But she was left aground in the outlet of Big Stone lake, and in the
winter of 1861-2 her machinery was hauled by team to Georgetown, under much the
same conditions as Northrup had hauled his boat from the Mississippi, except
that she was moved over a timberless and uninhabited country from the mouth of
Mustinka creek, where she had wintered.

   In September, 1860, Mr. Probstfield went to Europe. Three brothers and two
cousins returned with him. They were delayed several weeks the next spring, but
when they came to the valley in 1861 they brought five yoke of cattle, ten cows
and thirty head of young cattle. They left St. Paul, May 25, and reached the Eed
river, June 22. They carried a long rope with which to pull their wagons through
the sloughs, carrying their loads over the best way they could, locating on
section 32, township 142, range 48, one-half mile south of where Georgetown was
situated.

   In 1862 Mr. Probstfield purchased twenty-four head of sheep. They came from
Fort Garry, and cost $100 in gold. They came on the first return trip of the
International. The freight was $40. Eighteen hours after their arrival all but
one were killed by Hudson Bay dogs, and the other one was killed during their
absence from Georgetown at the time of the evacuation.

   Two of his brothers entered the army—Justus P., in Company G of the Fourth
Minnesota, and died at the New House of Refuge in St. Louis, October 30, 1863.
Anthony enlisted in Company D, Fifth Minnesota, and died at Jefferson Barracks,
twenty days before his brother. Anthony had served in the Prussian army as an
artilleryman, and did effective work at the siege of Abercrombie. One shot fired
by him struck a house occupied by Indians besieging the fort and killed four.
The other brother was employed as a carpenter at Abercrombie. He died in
Missouri in 1894. The cousins left the country on account of the Indian
troubles. One is in or near Portland, Ore., the other in Los Angeles, Cal.

   In September, 1861, Mr. Probstfield went to South Bend, Ind., where he was
married to Catherine Goodman, a sister of Peter, Joseph and Adam Goodman, now at
Sheldon, who were also early settlers in the Eed River valley. After the wedding
they drove from St. Paul in an ox team and covered wagon to Georgetown, taking
eighteen days for the trip. Mary Probstfield, their firstborn, was a babe when
the exciting events of the Indian war which followed occurred.

   The years 1859 and 1860 had been years of hardships. There had been the flood
of 1861, the late season, and the excitement of the war. The Sioux, then
occupying the lake and big timber regions, were angry and threatening, and the
Chippewas were clamoring for treaty rights. There was bad blood between the
Chippewas and the Crees, and when the war spirit is on the Indian, or his heart
is bad, there is no telling where or when he will strike.

   Finally the expected happened. The settlers at Breckinridge were massacred
and Fort Abercrombie, which contained two companies of troops and such settlers
as could be alarmed and brought in for safety, was besieged.

   The first news reached Georgetown on the night of August 22, 1862. Two
companies had previously been stationed at Georgetown, but they had been
withdrawn and the post was defenseless. About midnight, Mr. Probstfield was
.aroused by loud knocking at his door by George Lullsdorf and E. R. Hutchinson,
with orders to dress quickly and hurry to the post for safety. There they found
consternation, panic, confusion, frightened men and weeping women. The night was
passed in terror. A Hudson Bay Company train had arrived that night loaded with
goods for the north, and with the men of this train and those at the post, and
the settlers who had come into that point, they mustered forty-four men able to
bear arms. They had thirty-three guns—good, bad and indifferent—including some
old flintlocks, but there was an abundance of ammunition in the stores for
shipment north. Norman W. Kittson was there in charge of the Hudson Bay
Transportation interests, and the International lay at the landing.

   The organization was perfect, and for two weeks or more they kept up their
constant vigil, the outposts being relieved every two hours. The windows and
doors of the buildings were barricaded with plank, provided with portholes. A
bastion was thrown out at the corner, with room for six men, and thus prepared
and armed for defense, they waited, debating as to which way to retire. They
knew Abercrombie was surrounded and that several men escorting couriers out of
the fort had been killed, and so they decided to go north and reach safety at
Fort Garry, if possible.

   "The crossing of the river that night at Georgetown," says Mr. Probstfield,
"is one I shall never forget. The sufferings, the anxiety, the terrors, and the
disappointment, to me were of all events most deeply impressed upon my mind. "We
had all worked all night, most of us like heroes—I thinking only of the safety
of the whole, regardless of self or of my family even, except as our interests
were bound up in the whole; and at last I found myself alone with wife and babe,
team and goods, without a soul to help, excepting the almost sick and physically
helpless Alexander Murray, the agent of the company, who with us was the last to
leave. Team after team was ferried across the stream, and as the work of
evacuation progressed, the panic increased, and when we came to cross it
required considerable persuasion to have the ferry returned for us."

   They camped out of rifle range from the timber, about one-half mile from
Georgetown on the Dakota side, and so great was the exhaustion that every soul
fell asleep and the camp was left without the slightest protection. At noon they
reached Elm river, and as they were preparing or eating their dinner, Pierre
Bottineau came in from Abercrombie and informed them of the conditions there,
and that he had seen Indians prowling around near Georgetown. This created
another panic, and those who had not had their dinner, desired none, and they
hurriedly broke camp and hurried on. Various propositions were made, among them
one for the women and children to go on with the horse teams, while the men
would bring on the train; but as human life was regarded of the greatest value,
the party moved on with the greatest caution, reconnoitering the Goose and other
streams where there was timber before attempting to cross, always throwing the
train into corral when stopping. They crossed the Goose late next day and were
encouraged by meeting fifteen well armed and thoroughly equipped horsemen from
Pembina, who had been sent out for their relief. Among the party were Joe
Rolette, Hugh Donaldson, William Moorhead and others well known then to
Probstfield. Pierre Bottineau returned with them, having gone on for relief.

   The International had left for Fort Garry the evening of the evacuation of
Georgetown, having on board the family of Alexander Murray and other women and
children from the post, Commodore Kittson and others. The river being low, the
boat was grounded about six miles by land below Georgetown, at what is now
Caledonia; therefore it became necessary to dispatch some teams to remove the
women and children from the boat, together with the crew and some of the more
important goods. Two men were left in charge of the boat as watchmen. They were
Joseph Adams and Robert Scrambler. Mrs. Scrambler remained with her husband. A
barge attached to the boat was loosened and floated down the river in charge of
E. R. Hutchinson.

   At the camp the wagons were in corral and every man was on the alert. About
eleven at night, when the party was momentarily expected to return, an Indian
yell was heard that was simply hair-lifting. Every man was on his feet, and
every rifle cocked, when the voice of Hugh Donaldson assured them there was no
danger. The yell came from Pierre Bottineau, who was in a playful mood from what
he had found at the boat, the sale of which is now prohibited in North Dakota.

   The next night the expedition camped at Frog Point, now Belmont, and as had
been the case before, everybody went to sleep, without outposts or other guards,
and the next night three miles south of Grand Forks. A meeting was then called
to consider necessary measures of safety, and as nothing seemed likely to be
accomplished, Probstfield left the meeting, declaring that he would go no
farther with them, but saying they could call him when his turn came to stand
guard, if they determined to put out guards. He was called at five nest morning
to go on duty, and stood his trick, but refused to go further with the
expedition. In the meantime they had learned that there were several hundred
Chippewa Indians at Grand Forks, hungry and desperate, who were waiting to meet
Governor Ramsey and others, who ?were to treat with them, but who had been
delayed by the Indian outbreak. These Indians captured the expedition, took what
they wanted to eat, but harmed none of the party, which went on to Pembina.

   Stephen Wheeler, who worked for C. P. Lull, who was keeping a hotel at
Georgetown up to the time of the outbreak; William Tarbell; Ed. Larkens, known
as "Lige," his wife, an Indian named Marceau and his wife; Mrs. Commisanze and
Mrs. E. R. Hutchinson, remained with Probstfield. Lull, his wife and child, were
with other settlers at Abercrombie. Mrs. Hutchinson was escorted to the barge
and went on down the river with her husband.

   The first camp on the way back was eight miles south of Grand Forks, and they
made their way slowly, remaining several days at some places where the ducks and
geese were abundant. "When within eight miles of Georgetown, Tarbell went on
alone to re-connoiter, telling the party not to come if he failed to return. The
hours of waiting were long and anxious ones. The relief to mind was great when,
just at nightfall, Tarbell returned, having been delayed by reason of the boat
being on the Georgetown side and filled with water. It was after dark when they
reached Georgetown, but the only harm done in their absence was by the train
dogs to the sheep, all of which had been slaughtered.

   From that time on they led a humdrum life, not free from anxiety and alarm.
On one occasion, especially, the dogs set up such a howling and barking, and
kept it up so long, that there was little room to doubt but that Indians were
about. In the morning the tracks of a dozen or more horses and mules ridden by
the party were seen. They had passed directly through the village.

   The expedition which went to Fort Garry returned about the middle of October.
A detachment of troops was sent down with them. Captain T. H. Barrett was in
charge, and importuned Probstfield's party to return with him to Fort
Abercrombie, but they refused.

   That fall and winter Probstfield was in correspondence with General A. H.
Sibley as to reinforcements for the frontier for the coming spring. Sibley urged
him to remain with his family as an encouragement to others to return to the
valley. He urged that the condition of the war in the South was such that troops
must be sent south instead of being held for service on the frontier.
Notwithstanding this correspondence, March 17 a detachment of troops came to
Georgetown with orders from General Sibley to remove all of the settlers to Fort
Abercrombie, with special orders to arrest Probstfield if necessary. The
detachment was in charge of Lieutenant Tyler. But all were then glad enough to
seek safety. Probstfield remained at Abercrombie until June 22, when, having
some differences with Major G. A. Camp over a claim for a cow wantonly killed by
a soldier, the loss of which Camp insisted he should bear as one of the
misfortunes of war, he was given twenty-four hours to leave the fort. He left in
six and went with his family to St. Cloud, arriving there July 4, 1863. He
returned in the fall with Hatch's battalion, to take charge of his hay, which
the army appropriated, and, as in the case of the cow, Major Camp refused to
approve the vouchers, and the claim is still unsettled.

   Mr. Probstfield became helpless from rheumatism and returned to his family in
St. Cloud, returning to the valley in May, 1864, and took charge of the hotel at
Georgetown, and the next year took charge of the post, where he remained until
1869, when he took up his residence in Oakport, where he now resides.

   Oakport became the principal point of interest on the Red river in 1871,
until the crossing of that river by the railroad was located.

   Proving up on his land in 1871, Mr. Probstfield moved to the mouth of Red
Lake river, East Grand Forks, renting his hotel to Major William Woods, who
joined the Jackman expedition to Bismarck in the race for that town site, and
left without warning, in May, 1872, and Mr. Probstfield was compelled to return
and take charge of it, his family returning in November.

   The first county commissioners of Clay county, then known as Breckinridge,
were R. M. Probstfield, E. R. Hutchinson and Richard Banning. This was in 1860,
but owing to the Indian war the organization lapsed. The name of the county was
changed to Clay, and it was not again organized until the Northern Pacific
railroad reached the Red river.

   Mr. Probstfield has served the public as assessor, treasurer, clerk, school
director, county commissioner, member of the senate, and in other capacities,
and notwithstanding his well-known integrity and patriotic services, was twice
defeated for the legislature, but is consoled by the reflection that there is no
disgrace in defeat.

The Oldest Settler.  By Edward Griffin.

   Forty years ago the country was given to town site speculation. Title being
secured to government land, from the railroads in some instances, a town site
would be laid out and lots put on the market for sale, a thousand miles away.
Very often the formality of securing title was dispensed with. Government land
was platted or imaginary tracts laid out, and advertisements sent broadcast over
the country, offering lots free for the expense of making the deed and
recording. Many of the towns were in good faith, and gift lots were placed
because it was believed that good would be accomplished by that means.

   North Dakota had then been occupied by Indian traders for many years. There
were no settlers for agricultural purposes. The Red River valley was already
famous for its richness of soil and for its vast herds of buffalo.

   In June, 1858, Walter Hanna, Robert David and myself left Hastings, Minn.,
and on the 4th day of July arrived at a point on the Red river seven miles south
of Moorhead, at a point afterwards known as East Burlington, and there we laid
out a town site. Fort Abercrombie was laid out in August of that year. That year
our party sought refuge for the winter, in connection with a town site party
from St. Paul, at a point called Lafayette. Charles Nash, Henry Brock and Harry
Myers were employed to hold that town site. Bottineau had three men holding a
town site on the Dakota side at the mouth of the Sheyenne river. Harry Banning,
Eichard Banning and George Myers were holding a town site at Banning's point,
one mile south of the Sheyenne. George W. Northrop, the famous scout, with a
trapping party, was holding a claim one mile north of the Sheyenne, making
fifteen men within three miles of each other on what was then the extreme
frontier. Christmas day was duly celebrated by the town site neighbors.

   In the spring of 1859 the steamboat Anse Northup was built at Georgetown. E.
B. Hutchinson, who still lives at Georgetown, came that year and helped to build
her. E. M. Probstfield raised cabbages and made sauerkraut and got comparatively
rich on the high prices he was able to secure for his products. The Anse
Northrup made the first trip to Abercrombie in June that year. The Hudson Bay
Company established their post at Georgetown in August, 1859. Eobert McKenzie,
who was frozen to death in 1860, was in charge. Edward Connolly, Adam Stein and
Lewis Lewiston were in the employ of the Hudson Bay Company. I helped Adkinson
make improvements where Moorhead now stands, in 1859. Charles Slayton and wife
came to the valley July 15, 1859. Slayton built a house one mile north of
Moorhead, but left in 1861. Lewis Lewiston built a house in 1860, where Moorhead
is now, which was known as Burbank station, and raised 100 acres of oats in
1861. This was the first crop of oats raised in the valley. He was in
Abererombie with his wife and children during the memorable siege in 1863, when
Edward Wright was killed. William Rounsvel came in 1860, and built half a mile
from Probstfield's. Zere B. Slayton settled one mile north of Moorhead, and the
first white child born in the valley was in his family, April 20, 1861. That
year the valley was flooded. There was only about 100 acres where Moorhead is
that was not covered with water. The water was two feet deep in the Slayton
house, and seemed to cover the whole country on the Fargo side.

   Edward Buckmaster came in 1864 and stopped at McCauley-ville. Three men were
killed by the Indians that year seven miles south of Moorhead. Jud. Stebbins and
one other escaped. In 1862 I went to Hastings and joined the Minnesota Mounted
Bangers and served fourteen months in Company G and was on the Sibley expedition
and in three battles. In September, 1862, the Indians killed a family of five at
the old crossing on Otter Tail river. One old lady left for dead literally
crawled fifteen miles to Breckinridge, living on frogs several days, suffering
almost untold horrors on the trip. George Whitford left Georgetown afoot and
alone for Abercrombie in 1862, and has never been heard of since. He was
supposed to have been killed.

   George Northrop was on a hunting party with Sir Francis Sykes in 1861, and
received a present of a gun from Sir Francis valued at $200. The next year he
was out with another hunting party. The Indians surrounded them, took their guns
and clothing from them, and sent them back from the Devils Lake country in
Indian costume. Northrop plead for his gun, but they took it in.

   July 5, 1863, Sibley's command arrived at the big bend of the Sheyenne. It
was unmercifully hot and dry. The ground was without a particle of moisture, and
the grasses parched. One of the men went out as a water witch and with a
crotched stick located a spring on the dry, hard prairie, which was opened by
digging only two feet. It was here that Fort Ransom was located, and the spring
is said to supply pure, fresh water to this day.

   During much of that campaign the men were compelled to cut grass in the
sloughs with jackknives for their animals. When the expedition came back in the
fall they found rich, green grass about six inches high all along the Maple and
other points in Cass county, from heavy rains during their absence. I crossed
the Bed river at Abercrombie that fall on foot without wetting my feet, the
river was so nearly dried up, and the deepest place in the upper Mississippi was
not to exceed three feet. The winter of 1863 was so open that 200 condemned
horses from the Sibley expedition wintered on the prairies, without a mouthful
of food being provided for them, and came out fat the next spring. The summer of
1867 was also a very dry one; most of the lakes were very dry. But in July the
heavens were opened and a rainfall came that raised the smaller lakes about five
feet.

   In 1869 they had another blizzard. They did not come very often, and never
lasted over three days, but they attended to business while pretending to be on
duty. David McCauley and Mr. Hicks, for whom Hickson was named, were with me
during the storm. Hicks employed a dog train to take him back home to
Alexandria. It took McCauley a week to get back to the fort at Abercrombie. In
the fall of 1870, twenty Norwegian families settled on Stony Brook and lived in
dugouts that winter. They were all snowed under, but tunneled out and lived
comfortably. Stony Brook is east of the river on the old Abercrombie stage road.

   I remained in the country—trapping, hunting and trading, keeping stage
station, etc.—until I settled on a farm at Elm river in 1872, occupying one of
the abandoned houses built by Lowell's townsite party in 1870, where I remained
until I settled at Fargo.

   Forty years ago the two-wheeled wooden carts were in use for hauling Hudson
Bay goods from St. Paul to Winnipeg, and rawhide harnesses more durable than
ornamental were in general use. Dried buffalo meat and pemmican were sold by the
pound in Hudson Bay stores.

   Walter Hanna broke the first acre of Red River sod, July 10, 1858. The first
acre of potatoes was raised by Richard Banning in 1860. The first job of
threshing done in the valley was at McCauleyville in 1866, by David McCauley.
The machine came from Osakis, Minn., to thresh thirty acres of oats. From 1864
to 1870 David McCauley was the leading business man in the valley. The spring of
1864 McCauley purchased from the government 200 barrels of pork at less than $1
per barrel and sold it for $20 to $40. In 1866 he furnished the government 1,000
tons of hay at $35 per ton. In 1867 he was the owner of the first steam sawmill
in the valley, and was proprietor of the first store that dealt in general
merchandise, and at the present time is a Red River valley farmer.

   In 1860 George W. Northrop escorted two ladies that came from England to
Winnipeg. The conveyance was a flatboat. On the trip down, one morning a small
party of Chippewa Indians fired several shots at him and his fair companions.
George asked why and what reason they had for shooting at him. Their answer was:
"You must not talk our enemy's language if you don't want to be shot at." The
ladies were going to Winnipeg to make good their matrimonial contracts.

   In the summer of 1859, on the first trip the Burbank Stage Company made to
the valley, between Dayton and Abercrombie, on the old half-breed trail, there
was a great curiosity noted by the travelers. It was about two acres of buffalo
bones, where there had been a buffalo hunter's camp a year or two before, for
the purpose of making dried buffalo meat and pemmican. There were many theories
advanced as to how the bones came there. One would say that they were killed by
wolves; another, that they were frozen to death in a blizzard. Captain Blakeley,
of the stage line, said: "Hell, they were drowned in one of the Red River valley
floods."

   Forty years ago the Red River valley was as wild as nature made it. Today it
is famed throughout the world and is the best known wheat-growing country. Forty
years ago the buffalo, elk, bear, fish and game were relied upon by nature's
children for food, and there was none to monopolize.

   Forty years ago the first frame building of the valley was erected. It was a
two-story building at Breckinridge. To-day the country is studded with cities
and farm houses and raises annually 50,000,000 bushels of wheat.

   Will the Red River valley improve as much in the next forty years as it has
in the past, is the question that has been often asked. Science, education and
advancement go hand in hand and mother nature is our teacher and our guide.
Science in the next forty years will cut a greater figure in farming than we
think. Forty years hence farm machinery will be run by electricity; capital and
labor will march with a steady step, side by side, and the valley will be one
grand theater of enterprise and beauty. Fargo will be a city that can boast of
75,000 population and the generation unborn can look upon the present metropolis
with pride.

   Note—George W. Northrop was a sergeant in Company C, Brackett's battalion,
and was killed in action on the headwaters of the Little Missouri, July 28,
1864. He received eight or ten wounds, one of which pierced his heart. About
2,000 troops were engaged, the total loss was five killed and ten wounded, of
which Brackett lost two killed and eight wounded. Sully reports from 100 to 150
Indians killed, and Brackett that he counted 27 in front of his command, besides
seeing the Indians carry away many of them. Northrop was one of the most popular
of the noted frontiersmen, and before enlisting was employed as a guide by
military expeditions, hunting parties, etc.

Fort Abercrombie—The Place of Refuge for the Early Settlers—The Siege.

   Fort Abercrombie was established in 1858, on the west bank of the Red river,
now in Richland county, and about 15 miles from where Wahpeton is located. The
post was abandoned after an occupancy of little over a year, and the property
sold at a great sacrifice. It was rebuilt in July, 1860, under command of Major
Day. In July, 1861, the major with his two companies were ordered to Washington.
Major Markham with his two companies took command. In 1862 all full regiments
were ordered south to join the United States forces, and Capt. Inman, a Baptist
clergyman, was the next in command, with companies from the Fourth regiment,
stationed at Fort Snelling. He soon left for the front, crossing the Red river
on the ice, and Captain Vanderhock, with two companies of the Fifth Minnesota
Volunteers, took command. On the 19th day of August, 1862, the Indian massacre
began at the old town of Breckenridge, where the hotel was burned and a number
lost their lives, among them one by the name of Russell. In one week the attack
was made on the fort. The stage driver, Charlie Snell, was killed in the hotel
at Breckenridge, and, a chain being fastened around his body, the Indians
dragged it around the well with demoniac hate until a deep path was made by the
repeated operation. The Saskatchewan and Fort Garry mail bags were gutted and
the mail scattered in every direction over the prairie; mail from the McKenzie
river was also intercepted. The soldiers, with Judge McCauley, gathered up as
much of the mail as possible, and it was forwarded to its destination. A family
at "Old Crossing," on the Otter Tail, sixteen miles from Breckenridge, was
attacked and a man by the name of Scott killed; his mother was badly wounded,
but was brought to the fort and cared for until she Jully recovered. A boy about
twelve years of age was captured by the Sioux and carried into captivity, but
finally ransomed through the agency of a Catholic priest, and sent to St. Louis
to his grandparents. It is reported that Mr. Stone and Judge McCauley were
lodging together in the fort when there was an alarm that the Indians were about
making an attack, and all were up and ready in a short time. None were more
deliberate and thoughtful at this time than Judge McCauley, who got out of bed
and carefully attended to his toilet, putting on his paper collar with excellent
precision and correct adjustment of necktie, when the announcement was made that
the alarm was false. "No doubt," he said, "I was impressed that it was
unnecessary to hurry much. The judge has heard of his respect for toilet many
times since; it is a good joke, but he takes it all in good part. At this time
some seventy persons had come to seek protection in the fort, and all were
ordered to do military duty. A train of seventy teams with Indian goods and
supplies that was going to Red lake came to the fort for protection, and all the
men were organized into a company. It was estimated that there were 1,500
Indians surrounding the fort waiting for a good chance to make a furious
assault. For weeks there had been no mail from St. Paul or the outside world,
and everybody was anxious to know the facts about the rebellion. A brave citizen
by the name of Walter S. Hill offered to take the chances of carrying the mail
to St. Paul, providing he could be furnished with a fleet horse and an escort of
soldiers to protect him until he was out on the broad prairie beyond the strip
of woods on the creek east of McCauleyville. A call was made for volunteers to
act as an escort, and thirty-two responded to the call. At this time there were
Indians in ambush just across the river from the fort, and some had been using
their sharp-shooters from the tops of trees. An attack on the outward bound
escort was expected, but all was still and not the turn of a leaf was heard.
Hill was soon flying toward St. Paul with his fleet charger, loaded with news
from afar for many anxious ones who had become weary of looking in vain for many
long weeks. Hill was successful in his undertaking. As the escort was returning,
an attack was made on the brave thirty-two, and two of the number were shot,
Edward Wright and a soldier by the name of Shulty, and the remainder scattered
and came straggling into the fort as best they could. Mr. Shulty, when found,
had his head cut off, also his arms and legs, and he had been disemboweled by
the incarnate demons, his head being coffined in the abdominal cavity. Mr.
Wright was also badly mutilated, and his father was exceedingly furious at the
post commander because he had not prevented the awful tragedy from taking place.
At one time a party was organized to go and drive in stock that was some twelve
miles below the ferry crossing. A half-breed Chippewa gave a war whoop which was
well understood by the Sioux, and he was riddled with bullets. A Mr. Lull was in
advance, and was shot through the leg. All turned back without venturing
further. The firm of Harris, Whitford & Bentley, who were engaged in the
transportation of goods from St. Paul to this point and thence by flat boat to
Fort Garry, had a farm south of Abercrombie on the Minnesota side. This was in
1862. They put in the government herd fourteen yoke of oxen and eight head of
horses for protection; but the wily Sioux surrounded and took possession of
them, driving them to the Indian headquarters. The total number of the herd was
three hundred. The first attack having been made, Mr. Whitford, in company with
Mr. Harris, was killed on his way from Fort Garry to Fort Abercrombie. He had
$5,000 of the Hudson Bay Company's drafts. This firm was ruined by loss of
$14,000; afterward, however, the government paid the company $9,000. The fort
was besieged full seven weeks, when about two thousand men, under Captain
Burger, came to relieve the imprisoned and strengthen the fort. On the return of
a part of this force to St. Paul about seventy-five women and children were
transported. It appears that Edward A. Stokes, the man who assassinated Jim
Fisk, had been out on the plains hunting, and he came to the fort with others
for protection, and was with the escort which was under military protection en
route for St. Paul. Truly wonders will never cease! There were four companies
left at the fort to protect it after the escort had left, which took place in
October, 1862. Captain Burger was relieved, and Major Camp took command; he was
shortly relieved by Captain Chamberlin of Hatch's battalion, who was finally
superseded by General C. P. Adams, now of Hastings, Minn., who was in command
until 1866. Then Major Hall, of the Tenth United States Infantry, took command
and General Adams was ordered back to be mustered out of the service. The United
States mail was carried under military escort until the year 1866. The fort was
kept up until 1877, when it was abandoned, and in 1878 the government buildings
were sold and scattered over the prairie, where, with repairs, they made homes
for some of the early settlers.

   The following named persons were the post commanders at Fort Abercrombie from
the time of its establishment until it was abandoned: General Abercrombie, Major
Day, Captain Markham, Captain Inman, Captain Vanderhock, Captain Burger, Captain
Pettier, Major Camp, Captain Chamberlain, General C. P. Adams, Captain Whitcomb,
Major Hall, and General Slidell. Changes were frequent at first because all were
needed South as fast as they could be spared.

   Nick Huffman was in the fort during the siege. Before his death he prepared
the following facts for the Red River Valley Old Settlers' Association:

   "On my first trip to the Red River valley, early in the spring of 1860, four
of us left St. Cloud, Minn., with the first stage coach that came through to
Georgetown. The first day we reached a hotel kept by Baptiste Rounsvel at Cold
Springs. The roads were bad and there were no bridges across the streams. "We
carried oats enough for the round trip. This obliged us to unload quite often. A
fence rail was carried along to lift the stage out of the mud. Next night we
found good comfortable quarters at a place kept by Mr. Stewart at what was
called Stewart's crossing. We forded Sauk river two or three times, driving to
what was then called West Union. There was no settlement then at what is now
Sauk Center. At Chicos lake, Madson Gordon kept a station in a small shack. Fish
was the principal article of food. The next day we reached Alexandria. The roads
were if possible worse than they had been before we struck the timber. A Mr.
Gregory, his wife and two sons, kept the station at Alexandria in a little log
shanty. Van Dyke kept the postoffice and there was a man living there named
Hugh. The next day we went to Evansville, where John Carter was building a
station. We slept that night on the soft side of a board, but the supper was all
that we could wish and we did it justice. We stopped next night about eight
miles south of Fergus Falls, where Mr. Wright and four sons lived. Mr. Wright
had a dam for a saw mill, built that winter before, which made excellent
fishing, and we had plenty of sturgeon.

   "From there we went to Breckenridge, a mile or so from the present site. Here
was Mr. Bentley, Mark Carpenter and Sam Carpenter at work on a big hotel. It was
three stories and basement. I should think it was big enough for Chicago in
those days. There was also a saw mill to cut the lumber for the hotel and they
had men in the woods to get out the logs. Breckenridge was a decidely busy
place. We left next day for Abercrombie, but the fort was changed, so we stopped
with J. R. Harris in a small shanty where a man by the name of William
Gilpatrick and an old Irishman was stopping and selling whiskey to the Indians,
who, it was claimed, was afterwards drowned by the Indians.

   "We started for Georgetown the next day, but as it was too long a drive to
make in one day we got supplies from Gilpatrick. About midway we found a
townsite. There was a shanty, but no roof on it. It was called Burlington. (It
was about the mouth of the Sheyenne and Ed Griffin, now at Fargo, was interested
in it.—Ed.) That was the first night I ever slept out of doors without a
blanket. We were a little short on supper and breakfast, but reached Georgetown
next day all right. Here there were ten or fifteen men, Dutch, Swedes, English,
French, Scotch and Indians, employed by the Hudson Bay Company. They had plenty
of supplies and little to do but to eat. We had roast pork and other good
things. After about a week they all went away but me and three others. We
remained another week, when a new boss came up from Fort Garry. By that time I
was good and tired of Hudson Bay Company employment and left on foot for St.
Cloud, but only got to where Moorhead now is. Lewiston kept the stage station
there. It was then called Burbank.

   "I worked about a month here and then went south to what was called Campbell
station. Stations had been built along the road and teams by the hundred were
hauling freight for Fort Garry and Georgetown. The old steamer Ans Northrup was
then making regular trips from Georgetown to Fort Garry. There was life and good
pay everywhere. John Campbell and Bill Kerr was batching at Campbell station. I
got work and good pay haying. Captain Munn sent for me to work on the steamboat,
which they then called the Pioneer. There was no pleasure in this, as the water
was low and the men had to haul on the lines all day and chop wood all night by
lantern, and we had a hard time to get the boat to Georgetown.

   "There was an old steamboat lying in the Minnesota river six miles below Big
Stone lake, which was intended to come over into the Eed river in 1857. There
was a big flood in the Minnesota river and Captain Davis thought he could run
the old Freighter, for that was the name of the boat, into the Red river, but
the waters went down and the boat was left stranded. The boat was sold at
sheriff's sale and was bought by Burbank of the stage company. There was a
Welshman left in charge of the boat and here he stayed nearly four years away
from wife and children with nothing to eat, only what he could hunt or fish.

   "In the fall of 1860 we took a lot of teams, wagons and tools, under orders
from Burbank, and took the boat to pieces and brought it to Georgetown. We found
the boat and the little Welshman all right. His hair had over three years'
growth and his whiskers were long. You may be sure his clothes were not of the
latest fashion or in first-class condition. Coffee sacks, window curtains, etc.,
had been used to keep him covered. We divided up our clothes with him, but they
were not good fits, as he was so small.

   "A second trip was necessary for the machinery. There were two big boilers,
but we brought them safely to Georgetown, where the boat was rebuilt. We did not
reach Georgetown till after Christmas with the last load and the weather was
very cold. The water was bad and the men suffered a great deal. There were then
several hundred head of oxen at Georgetown used in freighting and we took a new
outfit and went to Alexandria and hauled freight to Georgetown, to be sent on
down the river the next summer to Garry. The roads were bad, there was a heavy
crust on the snow and many of the men were snow blind. Many of the cattle died
on the road. We got back, however, just before the spring break up in 1861.

   "That spring was very high water, the whole valley was flooded, and there was
hardly any land in sight. There were no crops that year, but plenty of hay. We
all went on the boat in the spring, with Captain Brand, Pilot John K. Swan, and
the usual crowd of 'rousters.' We run by day and chopped wood by night, as the
Indians did not allow any wood choppers to stay on the river, and so the boat
had to get its own wood. The Indians owned the whole country then. It was
steamboating under difficulties, as the Indians were inclined to be hostile and
took everything from the settlers. The whole crew soon gave out and had to quit.
We built a saw mill, and in 1861 boat building became a leading industry at
Georgetown. That fall I went back to my old friends Campbell and Kerr and helped
them in haying, and then went to St. Cloud. I staged all the next summer from
Campbell's station, until the Indian outbreak of September, 1862.

   "We were twelve miles north of Abercrombie at the stage station when we heard
that the Indians were getting on the war path, but old frontiersmen are not apt
to believe Indian rumors, especially if they come from immigrants. However,
Campbell and myself were in the habit of sleeping on the prairie some distance
from the house, but Kerr used to sleep upstairs in the house we had built that
summer. He would go up stairs and pull the stairs up after him and we thought
all safe. In daytime we would go about our work. One night a courier came from
the fort and warned us that the Indians were killing everybody in the country,
so we picked up our household goods and our cattle and got everything ready to
go to the fort that night, but we only got about half way when night came on and
we had to stop. We got but little sleep and went on early to the fort, where
there were men working for J. R. Harris. I went to see my old friend Russell,
who was at the crossing the year before, but he had rented a big hotel at
Breckenridge. Scott was running the old crossing place. Scott was killed by the
Indians. The next day I started for Breckenridge. No one had seen any Indians
yet. "When we got to Breckenridge two blood-thirsty fellows were in the house.
They were the first I had seen for a long time. I told the people that the
Indians were killing all of the whites and they had better go with us to the
fort, but they laughed at me and said I was foolish. The Indians made them
believe they were to have a big dance and were coming for that purpose. Russell
had three men working for him. One of them had a wife and two children. The
woman was cooking and the men haying, much hay being required, as hundreds of
teams were engaged in freighting for the government and the Hudson Bay Company.

   "I proposed to kill the two Indians in the house and to take the woman and
children to the fort. By this time we could see the Indians across the river,
coming toward the house. We got the woman and children to come with us, but
neither Russell nor the men would go. The woman and her husband, the children
and their father parted as they would if only to be separated for a few hours. I
have been sorry a hundred times that I did not kill the two Indians as I
proposed to do. I think it might have saved the life of Russell and his three men.

   "We got to the fort and reported what we had seen and a party was organized
to go to Breckenridge. Ten of us started out on horseback under the guidance of
a half-breed because we hoped we might yet save our friends. It was late when we
got half a mile from Breckenridge. In crossing a eooley our horses began to
snort and the breed got off to see what was the matter. He said they had killed
an ox and from appearances we were about to fall into a trap and advised us to
go back.

   "We returned for another start in the morning, as it was then very late. They
then took a government mule team and some spades and shovels to fortify in case
of need. I was on guard and so could not go with them. They found Russell and
his companions had been butchered by the Indians. Rounseval, the half-breed,
told me they had dragged their bodies around, up and down the stairs, and about
the premises by means of a chain from the well, which they hitched to their
feet, until there was little left of them. The hotel, partially completed, was
never finished. I have never been in Breckenridge since.

   "While the boys were engaged in burying the remains they thought they could
see an Indian in the saw mill, so Rounseval went to see if that was the case.
The mill was half a mile away. He found an old lady by the name of Scott, who
had been living with her son. Her son was killed and her grandson taken
prisoner. She had a bullet wound in her breast and had crawled on her hands and
knees sixteen miles to the mill. She also told the boys where they would find
the body of Joe Snell, a stage driver, three miles out from Breckenridge. They
buried the body of Snell and took the old lady to the fort. On the way in the
Indians attacked them and killed the teamster, named Bennett, and came very near
taking Captain Mull's wagon containing the old lady. But Rounseval made a charge
and brought back the team, the old lady and the body of Bennett. They buried
Scott the next day.

   "We had seen no Indians around the fort, but were fortifying and preparing
for the attack which we all felt must come. About fifty citizens were organized
as a company under Captain D. T. Smith, quartermaster, I Company of the Fifth
Infantry, and Captain John Vanderhorck's company, "D," I think, constituted the
garrison. The fort was hard to fortify. There was a stockade along the river.
The headquarters was on the prairie. Also the quarters for one company. We
fortified the company quarters, using the barrels of pork and corn beef and
flour in part for the purpose, with cordwood and earth. The women and children
and the sick and the picket guards also had special provision made for them. The
wagons were strung in line and the little four-pounders were made ready for
action. Headquarters were abandoned at night and most of the officers roomed
where the sick woman was.

   "We had not seen any Indians yet about the fort. We had a longing for our old
haunts. Campbell, Kerr and I took a mule team one Sunday to go to their ranch.
Hiram Stone furnished the team. The boys left a lot of hay and I had left
something under the hay that I wanted, especially as I had been working all day
and standing guard all night. Some good brandy, therefore, seemed desirable,
even if there was some risk in getting it. We got the brandy and started for the
fort. When we got within about three miles of the fort we found the Indians had
driven away all the loose stock belonging to the fort, including mules, horses,
beef cattle and the stock of the settlers. This included a big drove of beef
cattle on the way to Grand Forks, where the governor and Major Collins were to
exchange them with the Red Lake Indians for the Red River valley, including the
country as far west as Devils Lake, east to Thief River, north to Pembina and
south to about where Halstead now is.

   "Seeing the Indians from an opening in the timber and thinking they had
captured the fort we felt pretty blue, but meeting some of the boys at Whiskey
creek we learned that they had simply raided the stock. They came near the fort.
Those in the fort remained to protect the women and children rather than save
the stock, thinking that a trap might be set for them. They let the Indians have
the beef and we got along very well with salt pork.

   "The captain doubled the guard. This put nearly every man on duty and
increased the difficulties of our situation. We made a high stockade of cordwood
and barrels of pork and beef, which was to be the last resort in case of our
failure to repel the attack, but as good luck would have it we held the fort
during the siege, which lasted about six weeks.

   "The first attack was in a day or two after they drove the stock away. I will
never forget the occasion. They came upon us before the break of day. When they
gave the first volley on our pickets it was yet dark. None were hurt. They made
an attack on the barns located south of the fort. The hay was near the barns,
two of which were built of poles and hay. The others were dug-outs. There were a
good many horses in the dug-outs. All of the best ones were here, as the Indians
drove off all that got on the prairie. The Indians made for the barns and fired
the hay and the straw stables. It was our first battle. We were poorly armed and
no discipline. The orders were to fall in line on the parade ground when
attacked, and await orders. So there was where we went, but what orders could be
given in the excitement of that moment? The bullets were flying everywhere, the
Indians were whooping and yelling and the men did the most natural thing in the
world. Every man made a break for himself, some running to the barns and others
to the old sawmill, which stood north of the fort close to the river; and so we
scattered in all directions, but anyway our boys were not slow in getting back
to the stables. It was the horses the Indians were after, but they did not get
many. They got into the stables and we were after them. "When I got there Edward
Wright was having a tussle with one of them. Wright run his bayonet through Mr.
Lo 's leg and had him pinned to the floor. I finished him by putting a bullet
through his heart. That is the only Indian I could say for sure that I killed,
but I have shot at a good many."

   Here the story as written by Huffman's own hand ends. The siege lasted six
weeks. There were many exciting attacks and many soirees during those weeks of
anxiety.

Winship Hotel—Budge's Tavern.

   When Pembina was little, before Grand Forks, Fargo and Moorhead were born,
George B. Winship strayed in from the south via Abercrombie, and Billy Budge
from Scotland via Hudson's bay, and meeting at Pembina in 1871, where George was
engaged as clerk in the sutler's store, they concluded to form a partnership and
enter into business. They selected a point on the stage line between Grand Forks
and Pembina known as Turtle river, where they erected a log cabin and put in a
list stock of those things essential to life for man and beast and opened up a
hotel. The old-timers all credit them with having kept an excellent stopping
place, one of the best on the line, and both were popular and have since
prospered in this world's goods. Winship conducts the leading daily and owns the
best business block in the state. He has served his city in various capacities
and represented his county in the state senate. Budge, too, has been in public
life. He was a member of the constitutional convention and owns an elegant home.
Budge is interested in banking and milling and everything else that tends to
build up the state. Both have interesting families who, with all others, will
doubtless enjoy the following amusing account of their early exploits condensed
from a sketch by Clarence Webster, in the Chicago Inter-Ocean in 1886.

   After erecting their cabin, which was the only human habitation in 1871
between Grand Forks and Pembina, unable to agree on the name for their place, as
the story runs, they agreed to label it "Winship's Hotel," so as to meet the
view of those coming from the south, and that "Budge's Tavern" should be the
sign displayed for the observation of those coming from the north. They
disagreed in many things, but united in one, "We are not here for our helth" was
to be conspicuously printed on a card to be hung on the wall over the fireplace.
"God Bless Our Home," and others of that nature were not fashionable then. The
early settlers were practical sort of fellows, who believed in informing people
just where they were at and what was expected of them.

   Budge was an expert in turning the flapjacks, while Winship was equally good
as a valet de chambre at both house and barn, Budge assisting, however, between
meals. Both were excellent collectors and usually insisted that there must be an
understanding as to the pay before any of the supplies had been consumed. It is
said that they each warned the travelers not to pay the other, resulting in
occasional loss on the grounds that it was unsafe to pay either. They had a
monopoly and like all monopolists were independent and when there were any
objections to paying $2 for flapjacks a la Budge and stable accommodations a la
Winship the fortunate objector was invited to read the card over the fireplace
and move on. Sometimes Budge suggested that the man who objected to paying a
dollar for a white man's meal could fill up on marsh hay at half price.

   It sometimes happened that objections were made to the economical spelling of
the word health in the sign upon the wall. If the kick was made to Budge he
added a half to the bill for extras. If it was commented on before "Winship,
with great presence of mind he always remarked that the proofreader must have
been drunk as usual when they went to press with it.

   Neither proposed to allow the other to get ahead of him. They made a nightly
division of the cash and had a definite understanding as to the division of
labor. Each in turn was to build the Ares, and in order that there might be no
mistakes they arranged a calendar and placed at the foot of the bed. Commencing
with B. W. B., alternating with W. B. W., there were thirty sets of initials,
representing each day in the month. When Winship had built the fire he rubbed
out the last initial and Budge did the same when it came his turn. The crossed
letter always settled the question as to who was to get up next time and
indicated the day of the month.

   One morning Budge got up and built the fire, cancelling the B. It was a
roasting fire, made especially for a temperature of 30 below. The frail chimney,
built of sticks and mud, surmounted by a barrel, caught fire. Soon the fire
spread until Winship's end of the building was burning at a lively rate. Winship
poked his elbow in Budge's side, he having fallen asleep, who, thinking that a
mule had kicked him, yelled, "Whoa." Another nudge partially awakened him, when
Winship said, "Billy, she is afire again." Budge protested that he had spoiled
the slickest dream that he had ever had and that he would have had it all fixed
in a minute more if he had been left alone, besides he didn't see why he should
be disturbed. He wanted to sleep. "The fire is spreading," said Winship. "Better
get up and put it out while you can do it easy. It is your turn to get up."

   "It ain't my turn to get up," said Budge. "The B. is crossed out."

   "It is your fire," said Winship, "you built it, you had better put it out.
It's getting too hot."

   Budge insisted that the fire was Winship's by right of discovery and he must
take care of it.

   Higher leaped the flames, closer and closer it came to the Scotchman, who was
insisting upon his rights to sleep undisturbed after building the fire. His own
part of the shanty was ablaze. Coals were dropping down on the robes under which
they had been sleeping. "Winship drew the robe over his head.

   Finally Budge proposed that they both get up. "That is reasonable," replied
Winship, "why didn't you think of that before?"

   They both got out. Some of the bacon and other things were saved.

   By this time Grand Forks had begun to grow. Both went to the Forks and
entering on separate lines succeeded in business.

   Winship sometimes undertakes to tell the story and Budge tries to correct the
proof, but giving up in despair, simply writes on the margin, "There are other
liars in the valley besides yourself."

[Poem: "The Guests of God" not transcribed]

   James Anderson DeLaney, who died at his home in Grafton April 2, 1902, at the
age of 75 years, was born March 17, 1827, in the north of Ireland, that refuge
of Huguenots when so cruelly driven from France. His father was a descendant of
these exiles. His mother, Mary Anderson, was of Scottish descent. He was brought
to America while a young child, growing up on the banks of the St. Lawrence. He
early went to Philadelphia, where he was apprenticed to learn coach building.
Returning, he embarked in a successful mechanical business in Peterboro,
Ontario, where, at the age of 23, he married Miss Anne Wilson. His prosperity
was interrupted by an unfortunate fire. Undismayed, he began again in Smith's
Falls, where, by help of older sons, he soon acquired a fortune. Another
disastrous conflagration swept away his gains and he then determined to seek a
new venture in the West. Thus in '78 he became a member of the pioneer band in
the "land of the Dakotas." He aided materially in founding Grafton, selling the
townsite as surveyed.

   At the mature age of fifty-four he applied himself to reading law and was
admitted to the bar in the United States court at Washington, D. C.

   Having lost his companion some years since, he married a lady near his own
age of New England birth, who happily cared for and cheered the last declining
years of his life, in which he has suffered much but very patiently. She, with
his four adult sons, survives him. Mr. DeLaney expressed himself as fortified
and supported by the Christian's hope.

   Funeral services were held at his home in Grafton April 4th. His remains were
sent to Grand Forks for burial in the family plat, where a monument already
stands. Revs. Twichell, McDonald and Newcomb officiated. The pall bearers were
Messrs. James McDonald, J. L. Cashel, Peter Cooper, H. H. Mott, Provost and J.
A. Douglas.

   Charles Turner Cavalier (by Hon. George B. Winship). Yesterday morning there
was profound sorrow in Grand Forks when the news was received of the death of
Charles T. Cavalier, of Pembina, a man known to every old settler in the Red
River valley. Charles Turney Cavalier died at his home in Pembina at midnight on
Sunday, July 27, aged eighty-four years, four months and twenty-two days, and
thus passed to the great beyond the earliest white resident of North Dakota, and
also one of the earliest and oldest of the settlers of Minnesota.

   Though naturally suffering to some extent from the infirmities of advancing
age, yet his mind was bright and he was physically active to the very last. His
last illness was only twelve hours, and a few minutes before his death he was
upon his feet. He ate his usual breakfast on Sunday morning, and on Saturday was
walking about town, though not feeling very well.

   He had no desire to live longer. He felt and often expressed himself that he
had lived his life and could be of no further use in the world, though he was
willing to wait until he was called. He died as he would have wished, without
that long confinement on a bed of suffering, which would have been so irksome to
one of his active outdoor habits.

   A complete history of Mr. Cavalier's life would be a history not only of
North Dakota, but would include that of the whole of this now great Northwest;
for when he started westward, Illinois was the frontier state and Chicago had a
population of only 5,000.

   The following short sketch is intended mostly as a matter of dates, and the
reader will be able to realize from these how large a part this modest, kindly
old pioneer has taken in laying the foundations of these great states of
Minnesota and the Dakotas:

   Mr. Cavalier was born in Springfield, Ohio, March 6, 1818, and was the son of
Charles and Rachel (Trease) Cavalier, natives of Maine and Pennsylvania. He
attended public schools until he was seventeen, and then removed to Mount
Carmel, 111., and learned the saddler's trade. He came west, down the Ohio, via
St. Louis, then a city of 18,000, by steamboat, and thence up the Mississippi to
St. Paul, landing there in May, 1841. The succeeding year he went through the
Minnesota wilderness to Fond du Lac, near the present city of Duluth. St. Paul
at that time was a village with a church and a few French people. At Minneapolis
a government sawmill was operated by soldiers from Fort Snelling. Mr. Cavalier
opened the first harness shop in St. Paul. A few years later he sold out the
harness shop and, in company with Dr. Dewey, established the first drug store.

   November 6, 1849, Governor Ramsey appointed Mr. Cavalier territorial
librarian, which position he held until October, 1850, when he was appointed by
President Millard Fillmore as collector of customs for the district of Minnesota
and inspector of revenue for the post of Pembina. In pursuance of this
appointment he came to Pembina, and crossed the Red river on August 16, 1851, so
that at the time of his death he had been here nearly fifty-one years, and over
sixty-one years since he landed at St. Paul.

   While the duties of collecting revenue at that early period were not in
themselves very exacting, yet Mr. Cavalier's position was really far more than a
simple collector of revenues. He was, in fact, a sort of general government
agent among a large population of semi-nomadic half-breeds and wandering Indian
tribes. The feuds of the rival fur companies and private traders, the Sioux
massacre, the subsequent events, the first Riel rebellion, the political
organization and the opening up of this valley to settlement and commerce, were
all incidents of Mr. Cavalier's leading position as a government official and
early settler.

   Mr. Cavalier occupied the position of collector four years, and then turned
his attention to trade. He had a store for a time at Walhalla, and also at Fort
Garry, returning to Pembina in 1864, where he has since resided. In that year
the first post-office was started and Mr. Cavalier was appointed postmaster,
which office he held until 1885, when he was succeeded by his son, E. K.
Cavalier, who is the present postmaster.

   In addition to his official duties, Mr. Cavalier was also associated with
Commodore Kittson and W. H. Forbes at one time, and with Messrs. Kittson, Culver
Farmington and Sargent in the fur trade for many years. These years were
doubtless the most exciting ones in a life replete with adventurous incident. It
was during this time that he made regular trips to St. Paul with trains of from
80 to 100 pelts. These trips were long and wearisome and often dangerous from
bands of roving Indians and standing stampeding herds of buffalo.

   Mr. Cavalier in 1863 returned to Pembina, he having, in the discharge of his
business cares, resided both at St. Joseph, about thirty miles to the westward,
at the foot of the Pembina mountains, and at Winnipeg. The original plat of the
city of Pembina was laid out by Mr. Cavalier, and this was added to in the shape
of an extensive addition in 1878, when railroad connections with the centers of
trade showed the need of enlarging the limits of the city.

   In his earlier days Mr. Cavalier was a regular correspondent of the
Smithsonian Institute of Washington, D. C. His sketches of pioneer days and
graphic descriptions of scenes and characters are the delight of his friends and
neighbors and the old settlers generally. These sketches, which have been mostly
for local papers, are in the plain, blunt, straightforward and to-the-point
style of the western plainsman, but have a deep undercurrent of humor wholly his
own.

   Mr. Cavalier married Miss Isabella Murray, of Kildonan, Man., March 13, 1857.
Five children were born to them, of whom there survive Edmund K., Albert D. and
Lulah Cavalier, who with their mother reside at Pembina.

   The funeral was held on Thursday, services being held at Grace church,
Pembina, at two p. m. Many old friends of Mr. Cavileer from Grand Forks and
other points in the state attended.

   Alexander Griggs, "the Father of Grand Forks," was widely known in the
Northwest. He was born in Marietta, Ohio, in October, 1838, and was the son of
William and Esther Griggs. He removed with his parents when a boy to St. Paul,
Minn., and later his family removed to Grand Forks, where his parents died.

   In December, 1865, Mr. Griggs was married to Miss Ettie I. Strong, a native
of Brooklyn.

   Mr. Griggs was reared and educated in St. Paul, but at an early age began
running on the boats of the Mississippi river, and at the age of twenty had been
promoted to the command of a boat. He continued there until 1870, and then in
company with others went to the Eed river with a view of establishing a line of
steamers to ply between Winnipeg and Fargo. In 1871 the company was organized
and was known as the Hill, Griggs & Co. Transportation & Navigation Company.
This year he went to where Grand Forks is now located and entered a claim to the
land on which is now located the old town of Grand Forks, he giving it that name
on account of the junction at this place of the Red Lake river with the Red
River of the North. He continued to run a line of steamers on the latter river
between Grand Forks and Winnipeg until 1890.

   He was always active in the upbuilding of his adopted home city and state;
was one of the founders of the Second National Bank, and was the active
president for many years. He was also president of the First National Bank of
East Grand Forks for a number of years, establishing the gas works of the city
in company with "William Budge, and was a large owner of shares in the Grand
Forks roller mills. He served the state as railroad commissioner for some years,
was the third postmaster of Grand Forks, and was mayor of the city. His active,
energetic life and public spirit endeared him to the people of the city and
state, and his counsel was always eagerly sought. In December, 1892, on account
of failing health, he left here and located on the upper Columbia river, where
he established a line of boats for passenger and freight transportation service.
The change of location, however, failed in its object, the regaining of health,
and he succumbed on the 25th of January, 1903.

   John R. Jardine was born at Haysvale, Ontario, January 22, 1846, his parents
having emigrated to this place from Dumfresshire, Scotland, during the previous
year. In 1850 the family removed to Bruce county, Ontario, where Mr. Jardine
remained until he came to Fargo, N. D., March 12, 1880. At Fargo, that same
year, his only child, John A. Jardine, was born. When first coming to Fargo, Mr.
Jardine took a homestead, but devoted his time to bridge construction, being one
of the best known bridge-builders in the state. He died at Fargo, July 11, 1906,
after a brief illness, suffering from an abscess, which was not thought to be
serious until the morning of his demise. He was a member of the Presbyterian
church and a prominent Mason. He was one of the sturdy Scotch pioneers, whose
word was always as good as his bond.

   Dennis W. Driscoll was born at Guelph, Ontario, on September 22, 1849, and
was the son of John J. and Julia Driscoll, natives of Canada. His father died
during Mr. Driscoll's infancy, and in 1856 he removed with his mother to
Detroit, Mich., where he received his early education. In 1870 he removed to
Boone county, Iowa, where he worked at the potter's trade until 1875, when he
removed to La Crosse, Wis., and engaged in the farm implement business. He came
to North Dakota in 1879 and located at Pembina, where he became a member of the
firm of Johnson, Holmes & Co., agricultural implement dealers.

   When Walsh county was formed in 1881, he went to Acton in the interests of
the company, and later in the same year he took up his residence in Grafton,
where he lived up to the time of his death, with the exception of about six and
one half years, which he spent on his stock farm in Acton—from 1890 to 1897.

   In 1882 Mr. Driscoll was married to Miss Clara K. Hogg, a native of Nova Scotia.

   Mr. Driscoll's sterling qualities were recognized by his party in 1898, and
he was nominated and elected to the office of state treasurer, which office he
held for one term, filling it with honesty and fearlessness to a degree that has
seldom been equaled, and never excelled in this state. At the time of his death
he was treasurer of the Old Settlers' Association, which association he helped
to organize. He was a member of the Presbyterian church and belonged to the
Masonic fraternity, being a charter member of Grafton Chapter, R. A. M. During
late years he had followed the real estate and insurance business, and was
always foremost in the projects tending to the betterment of our city and the
surrounding country.

   Mr. Driscoll passed away from this earth to that land from whose bourne no
traveler returns, on Saturday evening, February 4, 1904, at his home in Grafton,
and none of all those who had known him during life has a word save of respect
for him living —and regret for him dead. His life as a public servant, as a
private citizen, and as the head of a household, was above reproach—each act of
his life being the page of an open book, the story of a life well lived.

   Mr. Driscoll had been in failing health for six months previous to his
decease, the immediate cause of his death being heart failure.

   William Campbell was a native of the isle of Islay, Scotland, being born
there in 1826, and resided with his parents there until he was about fourteen
years of age, when, with a brother, he came to Canada, working in and near
Collingwood, and when of sufficient age he took up land near that place, which
he farmed a number of years.

   In 1879 he removed with his family to Pembina county, he and his sons taking
up land north of Bathgate. He was a hardworking man, careful in business
transactions, and successful beyond the average, gaining a competency and
retiring from active farming operations in 1897. He was taken with heart failure
in February, 1906, and on the 30th day of March, 1906, died at the home of his
daughter, Mrs. Charles H. Lee, at Walhalla, N. D. Mr. Campbell was greatly
respected by all who knew him, and he was sought by many for his advice. In
sickness he was always first at his neighbor's and last to leave. Hundreds of
friends in Pembina county regretted his death and have reason to remember the
kindly, sympathetic old friend.

   William J. Anderson was born in Elgin county, Canada, May 20, 1854. He was
reared and educated in Le Sueur county, Minn., going there with his mother, and
in 1862, on account of the Indian troubles in Minnesota, they moved to St. Paul,
where Mr. Anderson attended the public schools. He followed various callings
until 1875, when he came to Grand Forks as the agent for the Red River
Transportation Company, and the following year was elected justice of the peace.
He continued with the transportation company until 1879, and the following year
was appointed receiver of the Grand Forks land office. He opened the office
April 20, 1880, and worked in that capacity eight years. He then began the study
of law and was admitted to the bar in 1887.

   He was elected county auditor in 1888 and served four years. He was an
efficient and popular public official. He was elected mayor of Grand Forks in
1890 and served two years, and he always proved himself worthy of the confidence
placed in him by the people. He was one of the judges at the World's Fair
Columbian Exposition in 1893, in the agricultural department. He was married in
1879 to Josephine Russell, a native of Wisconsin. Two children were born,
Raymond G. and Virginia E.

   About a year before his death Mr. Anderson was appointed deputy auditor in
the postoffice department and took up his residence at Washington, D. C, where
he died suddenly on February 9, 1906. He left a widow and one daughter, Mrs.
Fred I. Lyons, of Bowbells, N. D., and a son in "Washington.

   Mr. Anderson was a member of the Masonic fraternity, being a Knight Templar,
and he also held membership in the Knights of Pythias, of which order he was
deputy grand chancellor at one time.

   Politically he was a Republican, and had been identified with the movements
of that party during his entire career. He had been president of the Old
Settlers' Association of the Red River Valley, and was one of the best known
citizens of the state.

   William Ackerman, auditor of Grand Forks county, died shortly after seven
o'clock last night, at the family home on Chestnut street.

   "While this announcement had been anticipated for several days, it was no
less a shock to the citizens last night when it was announced that the dean of
the court house official family had been summoned to his long home.

   Familiarly known as "Bismarck," from the fact that he was a native of
Germany, Mr. Ackerman probably enjoyed as wide an acquaintance as any man in the
county, and the announcement of his death will carry sorrow into every home in
which he was known either personally or because of his long service to the
county, covering a period of eighteen years or more.

   "Bismarck" Ackerman was one of God's own noblemen, a splendid type of man who
came to a new country at an early age, fought for his adopted country through
the Civil War and at its close re-enlisted for a service that covered almost a
score of years, carrying him through the period of Indian outbreaks that
characterized the early settlement of North Dakota, he being located with his
regiment at Fort Abercrombie for several years.

   Had Mr. Ackerman lived until August 20 of this year he would have been sixty
years of age. He was born in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, Germany, and came to this
country when quite young.

   He enlisted in the volunteer service in New York state, in Company C, One
Hundred and Thirty-first N. Y. Volunteers, on November 20, 1863, and was
honorably discharged July 26, 1865. Immediately at the close of the war of the
rebellion he re-enlisted in the regular army, being stationed at Fort
Abercrombie for several years, and later going to Texas, where he served as a
clerk at department headquarters. His final discharge from the army was on March
3, 1885, and shortly after that time he came to North Dakota and located at
Larimore, where he lived several years. From there he went to Lakota, where he
assisted in opening the books of Nelson county. He came to Grand Forks in 1887,
and his first employment was in the office of the register of deeds. From there
he went to the office of the clerk of the district court, and from there to the
office of the county auditor, being appointed deputy auditor by "W. J. Anderson.
In that capacity he served until 1900, when he was elected county auditor, being
re-elected at the general election last year.

   Mr. Ackerman was married while stationed at Fort Abercrombie to Miss Martha
Anderson, who survives him, together with seven children—Mrs. George Nelson,
William C., E. C., Andrew, Ella, Nellie and Earl, the youngest thirteen years of
age.

   Every member of the family was at home when the final summons came, making
the first break in the household circle.

   Mr. Ackerman was a prominent member of "Willis A. Gorman Post, Grand Army of
the Republic, in which he served in various official capacities. He was
department commander for North Dakota and was adjutant for several terms. He was
also a member of the Masonic lodge, as well as the Elks and Eagles, being the
first president of the latter lodge.

   His discharge from the Civil War service shows that he was engaged in the
battles of Fish Bend, Sabin Crossroads, Pleasant Hill, in Louisiana; Harper's
Ferry, Md.; Berryville, Misher's Hill and Cedar Creek, in Virginia.

   Mr. Ackerman was a man of the strictest integrity, a capable official, and a
man who had aided during his residence in the city in every act that helped to
build up the municipality, serving for nearly a dozen years as a member of the
city council.

   In his death the city loses a good citizen, the county a capable and
painstaking official, and his family a kind and indulgent husband and father—a
man who was wrapped up in a family that now has the entire sympathy of the
citizens of county and city in their bereavement.—"Grand Porks Herald" of May
17, 1905.

   John D. Wallace settled at Drayton, N. D., in 1881, and until two years ago
had been one of the most prominent and best known citizens of Pembina county. He
was a man strong in body and strong in mind. In public affairs of his own town,
county and state, he took a leading part. In addition to numerous municipal and
school district offices, he served two terms in the legislature and two terms as
county judge of Pembina county. He was a strong supporter of the prohibition law
and all laws that tended to uplift the public socially and morally. He was a
member of the Methodist church, and here, as elsewhere, he was an earnest worker
and leader. In every respect he was a manly man. As a friend, he was one who was
always steadfast and to be depended on. He was open and above board in all his
dealings, and every one might always know where he stood, politically or upon
any other question. In his home town no man was more alive to local interests or
tried harder to build up the city. He was always a good citizen, and entered
heartily into all good enterprises.

   In the latter part of his life here he was stricken with a kidney trouble.
The news from California reports that he suffered a minor operation from which
he had about recovered when kidney trouble set in and he died in a short time.

   In California he has two brothers, Albert and Frank, and a sister, Mrs. R. H.
Young, wife of a former editor of "The Pembina Pioneer Express." His immediate
family consisted of four boys by his first wife, a daughter, Mrs. Dr. Healy, of
Grand Forks, and a boy and girl by his second wife, who survives him. Two of Mr.
Wallace's sons were soldiers in the First Minnesota in the Philippines, and a
brother was killed in the war with Spain. As a husband and father Mr. Wallace
was particularly kind and loving, and spared no pains to give his children the
best possible education. Mr. Wallace was an honored member of the Masonic order
and was also a Workman. He was made a Mason in the Pembina lodge, and afterward
assisted in forming the Drayton lodge as a charter member.

   A good man has gone.

   James H. Bosard was born at Osceola, Pa., April 21, 1845, and died November
1, 1907. He was a son of Colonel Andrew K. and Hittie Bosard, the former a
native of Pennsylvania and the latter of New Hampshire. His father was a farmer
and cabinetmaker and was assistant provost marshal in Pennsylvania during the
rebellion. He was a colonel of the Pennsylvania state militia for some time. His
father was a native of Pennsylvania and served in the war of 1812 as a
non-commissioned officer. James H. Bosard was educated in the public schools of
his native state and graduated from the Pennsylvania state normal school. After
graduation he taught school for two years in New York, and in 1868 began reading
law in the office of M. P. Elliott at Wells-borough, Pa. He was admitted to the
bar in 1870 and engaged in the practice of law for seven years as a partner of
Elliott.

   Mr. Bosard came to Grand Forks in May, 1879, and had been a resident of the
city and engaged in the practice of his profession here ever since. He had long
been recognized as one of the foremost members of the state bar, and had been
identified with much important litigation. He was also in constant demand as
counsel in outside litigation. He was state's attorney of Grand Forks county in
1891-2 and city attorney of Grand Forks in 1894-5.

   Mr. Bosard was for several years the honored president of the North Dakota
Bar Association, and was for some time also vice-president for North Dakota of
the National Bar Association.

   Mr. Bosard was a lifelong Bepublican and took an active part in the councils
of his party. He was a forceful and entertaining platform speaker and his
services were always in demand during a political campaign. He was the
Republican nominee for district judge in 1904, but was defeated by Judge Fisk.

   Mr. Bosard engaged in farming, besides looking after his extensive law
practice, and made a specialty of dairying. He was widely known as one of the
leading breeders of Jerseys in the Northwest. He was one of the directors in the
State Fair Association and of the Grand Forks County Agricultural Association.
He devoted largely of his time and ability towards promoting the success of
these enterprises.

   Mr. Bosard was a member of the Masonic fraternity, having passed the Knight
Templar degree, and was also a prominent member of the Foresters.

   Mr. Bosard was married in 1872 to Miss Rebecca Faulkner, of Erie, Pa. He
leaves a widow and six children—Florence H., now Mrs. J. Sidle Lawrence, of Los
Angeles, Cal.; Robert H., now practicing law at Minot; Helen D., now Mrs.
Charles Farnsworth, wife of Major Farnsworth, U. S. A., stationed at Fort Wayne;
Gerald F.; Sarah K., now Mrs. Ray Jackson, of Grand Forks, and Daphne.

   Rev. John Scott. Few names are better known to the pioneer residents of the
Red River valley than that of the Rev. John Scott, who was for years engaged in
ministering to the spiritual wants of the early residents of the northern part
of the present state of North Dakota. Mr. Scott was born in Northumberland,
England, December 22, 1824. He came with his parents to Canada, the family
locating in the county of Durham. After attending school there he engaged in
teaching and provided himself with means to enter college. He graduated from
Hamilton College, and then offered himself to the Presbyterian Board of Missions
for missionary service. He was appointed to take charge of the field at Bath,
Canada. He was married just before commencing his work, and through more than a
half century of missionary effort his wife labored with him in missionary work.
He remained at Bath for six years and was then sent to Napance, where he was
stationed eighteen years. Emerson, Manitoba, was his next appointment, and he
was in charge there for ten years, preaching also part of the time at Pembina.
He became a resi-. dent of North Dakota in 1884, preaching at Walhalla, and also
occasionally at the military post at Pembina. From 1892 to 1894 he was pastor at
Pembina, when he was compelled by failing health to relinquish his pastorate. He
devoted much time and zeal to the establishment of a sanitarium and hospital,
but did not live to see his project realized. A hospital was established soon
after his death at Hannah.

   In 1876 and for several years thereafter Mr. Scott was chaplain of the
military post at Pembina. He also frequently preached in the village, before
there was any church there except the Catholic mission. William Moorhead was at
that time the proprietor of a saloon known as the "Bobber's Boost." Mr. Moorhead
threw open his saloon for his services, and Mr. Scott has remarked that he never
had more attentive or courteous audiences to hear his preaching than gathered at
Robbers' Boost. Mr. Scott frequently made preaching trips as far west as the
Turtle mountains, making the journey of two or three weeks, usually with pony
and buckboard. His stopping places en route usually included John Otten's, at
Smugglers' Point, about twenty miles west of Pembina; William Hyde's, at Hyde
Park; O. Neilson 's, at Bay Center; and at St. Joe he was entertained by J. P.
Mager, H. A. Mayo, Mrs. Emmerling and others. Later, while stationed at
Walhalla, Mr. Scott was instrumental in securing ground for a cemetery and
monuments to mark the resting-places of the martyred missionaries of 1852.

   Hon. John E. Haggart, deceased, formerly United States marshal for North
Dakota, was one of the leading men of the state. He was born in St. Lawrence
county, New York, April 19, 1846, a son of John and Mabel (Northrop) Haggart,
also natives of the Empire state. The grandfather, Gilbert Haggart, was born in
Glasgow, Scotland, and on his emigration to the United States located in New
York, where he followed farming throughout life. The father was also an
agriculturist, was major in the state militia, and was quite a prominent man in
New York. He was twice married and had three sons.

   Reared on the home farm in much the usual manner of farmer boys of his day,
John E. Haggart was educated in the country schools. In 1863 he entered the
employ of the government in the coast construction corps, and spent about a year
and a half with the Army of the Potomac, after which he returned to New York. In
1867 he came west and crossed the plains, starting from Leavenworth, Kan. The
following winter was spent in southern Colorado and New Mexico, and he then came
to what is now Wyoming, where he conducted a lumber yard for the Union Pacific
railroad until 1870. In 1871 he landed four miles below the present city of
Fargo, N. D., and in August of that year took up a claim on the Sheyenne river.
He was one of the most extensive land owners in the state, having 1,960 acres in
all in the home farm. He raised from 35,000 to 40,000 bushels of wheat annually,
and in 1898 harvested 37,750 bushels. He was one of the thirteen to organize and
put in operation the Fargo Southern railroad, of which he was a director.

   In 1875 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Haggart and Miss Betsy J.
Hertsgaard, and to them were born nine children, as follows: Gilbert W., Mabel
E., Maggie I., John C., Estella M., Alexander M., George E., William H. E., and
Daniel.

   Mr. Haggart was the first man to be made a Mason in this state, being
initiated into the order in 1873, from which time he was a Royal Arch Mason, a
Knight Templar, a thirty-second-degree Scottish Rite Mason, and a member of the
Ancient Accepted Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He was a stanch
supporter of the Republican party and served on the county and state central
committees. In 1874 he was elected sheriff of Cass county, and filled that
office for twelve consecutive years in a most capable manner. He was elected the
first city marshal of Fargo, and in 1889 was elected to the state senate, of
which he was a prominent and influential member until 1898, when he resigned to
accept the office of United States marshal for North Dakota. He was well
qualified to fill that office, as he had previously served as deputy for eight
years. He filled a number of other public positions of honor and trust, being a
member of the state prison board and other important boards. He also assisted in
locating the agricultural college at Fargo, and did much to help that
institution, introducing in the senate all the bills in its behalf, including
the one on which the college has been erected. Himself a farmer, he early saw
the benefits of such an institution, and there was not one who felt more closely
associated with the institution than he did. As senator from the third judicial
district he wielded an influence that secured its location at Fargo, and he bent
every energy to the upbuilding of that institution.

   September 22, 1905, John E. Haggart passed from this life to that of rest,
leaving behind a multitude of friends. His death was sudden and he is mourned by
a host of sorrowing ones left to bless his memory.

  Major Alanson William Edwards was born in Lorain county, Ohio, August 27,
1840, and his father removed his family to Macoupin county, Illinois, in 1848.

   Major Edwards attended the county schools and was a student at McKendree
College, Lebanon, Ill., in 1856-7. After leaving school he was railroad and
express agent and telegraph operator, and when the war broke out was the
operator at Gillespie, Ill., and one night, while he sat in his office, he heard
the telegraphic instrument click off that famous message of General Dix, "If any
man attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot." The event
fired his patriotism, so that on the first call for troops, April 15, 1861, he
volunteered, but was rejected, as he weighed some 300 pounds. He continued with
the railroad company until 1862, when he enlisted and went into Camp Palmer at
Carlinville, Ill.

   General Charles Ewing, who was a brother-in-law of General Sherman, then a
captain in the regular army, was the one to muster in the One Hundred and
Twenty-second Illinois Infantry, and young Edwards made out the muster rolls, as
he was an expert penman. Captain Ewing inquired who had made up the rolls, and,
on being informed, asked Edwards to read off the names as he watched the men
move off. "When the name of an absentee was called, there being no response,
Captain Ewing would step up to Edwards' shoulder, put a cheek opposite the name
on the roll, and when he filled out the muster rolls, would draw a red line
through the names of all the men where a check mark appeared. Young Edwards took
lunch with Captain Ewing, who told him he could not muster him into the army
because of his weight, and so when it came to calling the roll of Company I,
Edwards skipped his own name, and as there was no check mark opposite, he was
duly mustered into the service by Captain Ewing.

   Two years afterwards he was adjutant-general on General Vandeveer's staff,
who commanded the district of Marietta. He had often met General Sherman and
knew him well, and General Sherman and staff, which included General Ewing, came
to the headquarters of General Vandeveer, and Sherman said, "Edwards, you know
my brother-in-law, Charlie," and then, turning to Ewing, said: "General Ewing,
this is Captain Edwards." General Ewing looked at Edwards and said: "No, I have
never met the captain before." An hour or so afterwards, General Sherman and
staff came to dine at the headquarters table, and General Sherman said:
"Edwards, how is that about Charlie mustering you into service?" and the major
told the story, which was greatly enjoyed by all, with the possible exception of
General Ewing.

  Major Edwards served in the western army as a private, beginning at Columbus,
Ky. He was a clerk in the office of the adjutant-general of the district of
Jackson, and for General G. M. Dodge at Corinth, Miss.

   In April, 1863, by order of the war department, General Dodge organized the
First Alabama Cavalry from loyal refugees driven from their homes in the
mountains of northern Alabama by Confederate conscripting officers, and Edwards
was appointed lieutenant-adjutant and promoted to captain of L troop. He served
with General Vandeveer as A. A. A. G., district of Rome and of Marietta, Ga.,
and was on Kenesaw mountain with General Sherman when he signaled General Corse
to "hold the fort," while Captain Flint, of Company E, First Alabama Cavalry,
was aide to General Corse and wrote, at Corse's dictation, the answer about
"losing his cheek, but able to whip all h—ll yet."

 . On the march through Georgia to the sea, Major Edwards commanded Company M of
his regiment and for thirty-seven days did not draw a ration, but gained some
fifty pounds in weight.

   At Savannah he was detached from his company by order of General Sherman and
assigned to duty A. A. G. Ninth division, Fifteenth corps, and served with
General Corse until after the grand review at Washington, being finally mustered
out by order of the war department, July 11, 1865. He was breveted major by
order of congress, March 18, 1865, "for gallant and meritorious service in the
field."

   Major Edwards was present at the preliminary meeting of the officers of the
Army of Tennessee to organize this society at Raleigh, N. C, April 25, 1865, and
he became a member of the G. A. R. in Post No. 6 at Bunker Hill, there being
only five earlier posts organized.

   He returned to his old Illinois home after the war and resuscitated "The
Union Gazette" at Bunker Hill, a paper he published before going to the war,
which suspended while he was away. In 1868 Major Edwards secured an interest in
"The Carlinville Free Democrat," a Republican paper started by Senator John M.
Palmer, and was made warden of the Illinois state penitentiary by the governor
for the term of 1871-2.

   After the big fire in Chicago he went into business in that city and was a
member of the Board of Trade from 1875 to 1878.

   He went to the Black Hills in 1876, going out via Fargo, and returned to this
city in 1878 and started "The Fargo Republican," being associated with Dr. J. B.
Hall. He later sold "The Republican" and started "The Daily Argus" in 1879.

   Territorial Governor Pierce appointed Major Edwards superintendent of the
semi-decennial census of Dakota territory in 1885, and in 1886 he was elected
mayor of the city of Fargo.

   He was largely instrumental in organizing the original board of trade in the
city of Fargo in 1879, and was its secretary for some time.

   He helped to organize the Fargo Southern Railway Company, which organization
constructed 122 miles of road from Fargo to Ortonville, and was elected
secretary and assistant manager. The road was built in 1883-4 and is now a part
of the Milwaukee system.

   Major Edwards was a member of the first board of the North Dakota
penitentiary and was made its president and directed the construction of the
nucleus of the present building.

   He was elected a member of the state legislature in 1895 and received credit
for maintaining the prohibition law, though strong efforts were made to secure
its repeal.

   Major Edwards left "The Argus" in 1891 and started "The Daily Forum,"
November 17 of that year, in connection with Mr. Plumley, and in 1894 "The
Forum" purchased "The Republican," the first paper started by the major, and the
two were consolidated.

   In March, 1902, the major was made American consul-general at Montreal, which
position he resigned July 1, 1906, in consequence of poor health, and returned
to Fargo, where he has since resided.

   The major married at Carlinville, Ill., in 1870, to Elizabeth Robertson, and
they have six sons and one daughter, all living. The sons are Harry Goodell,
stenographer for the district court at Fargo; William Robertson, advertising
manager of "The Forum"; Alanson Charles, living in New York city; John Palmer,
assistant manager of "The Forum"; George Washington, musical instructor in
Danville (Ky.) Female Seminary; Richford Roberts, collector in this city; and
the daughter is Marie Rosenfeld Belknap, who also resides in Fargo.

   Major Edwards had always taken much interest in politics and was known as a
hard fighter. He once said: "I know no reason to be ashamed of my record in the
war, or as a citizen. No man can be—for something—without antagonism. I am
inclined to a doctrine of being for my friends—and—the other fellow."

   During his residence of thirty years in Fargo, no one has done more to build
up the territory, the state and the city than Major Edwards, and his death,
which occurred February 14, 1908, was sincerely mourned by an extremely wide
circle of warm admirers. His work, however, lives after him.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

HISTORY OF THE RED RIVER VALLEY
PAST AND PRESENT
Including an Account of the Counties, Cities, Towns and Villages of the Valley
from the Time of Their First Settlement and Formation

BY VARIOUS WRITERS
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOLUME I


ILLUSTRATED
HERALD PRINTING COMPANY GRAND FORKS
C. F. COOPER & COMPANY
CHICAGO
1909


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