Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1856-09-13

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| so,lt s,ssattsts bsn Corsspcndepce o. che times
History Of the milling Business n -. Asshsny.l
-on.dI baa saseo ST. ANTHONY, Sept 5, 1856.
DEAR Tmrs AT the time that Mr.. Steele 6rs
made claim in St. Anthony, the enormous Waite,
Power of the Falls acted as powerful incentive
TO settling here, and although It was not irnme.
aistely that anything could be done toward erect
ing min, still the idea was not for q momen
abandoned. Il 80 = =
On the 10th Of July, lS47. Mr.. Cheever, who
had lately settled here, concluded contract will
Mr. Steele by which the latter agreed to sell nine
{enths Of his interest in the Falls to Messrs. w
4. Chcever, Robert Rantoul, Caleb Gushing ana
others. The price to be paid for this claim wa
$4,000. The erection Of Mills was to be imne.
(iasely begun. As Mr.. Cheever was the, onl,
1srtner then residing IN St. Anthony, he was
obliged to surerintend the building Of the Mills
For this purpose Mr.. Ard Godfrey, q native O
Maine, was sent for to superintend the work. HI
arrived, with several others, in September. a
short time previous, MIR. Cheever had been obliget
to leave for the East on business for the Mil
Company. s'a' s'a' % .''''''-''' ''.g','
Nothing Of Importance was done to the Mil
till Fall, when Daniel Stanch6eld was commits
stoned to go up Rum river, with a company of ex
perienced woodcutters, to cut the timber for thei
dam They supposed that they would be able Z
get back with the timber before the closing Of TIL
rtvef.t 3. -tai24s,i o.' D-'1 ~ S'.'
In this, however, they were sadly disappointed
Winter set in a. they arrived at the mouth Of
Rum river, and there the timber remained, frozei
up. In spring the whole of the timber went ovel
the Falls at high water. This proved a total loss
amounting to about 81, ,00O.9 ai 10 Ssai.s'l
At about the same time another Company, in
cluding several Of our citizens, Messrs Dorr, An
gell, M'Donsld, Taper, Paige and others, wen
up the Swan river to procure the timber for th'
frame of the mill. They succeeded in purchasing
Of the celebrated Chippewa Chief, Hole-in-the
day, fifty sticks for the sum of 5000. This the.
cut themselves. The timber, however, lodged Of
Pike Rapids, about ten miles above Sauk Rapids
This timber was frozen up during the winter, but
fortunately, it was secured in spring. This wa
Uuable to procure timber from Rum river, ant
no suitable timber growing near, resort was had
the beautiful groves of Hennepin, Nicollet ant
Boom islands. Nicollet island suffered mos
severely. The noble elm and maple which dec.
Grated these islands and diversified the scenery
was mercilessly hacked down. This timber wa
used in the erection Of the dam. sei.sbisaos
During, this fall the block house known as tn,
cold Mess House," was erected fer the sccommo
dation of the workmen. 1t was situated near th'
bridge landing to Nicollet Island, but it is nov
removed. 1t is interesting Fact, that the plank
and boards used in this building were brough
from the Allegheny Mountains. % :. t- i,
Though the winter succeeding was cold one
the ssMessmates' at the old Block house mos
certainly were jolly set. We fancy that th,
ssehief cook" Of that renowned establishm en-,
must have been an ssA. M.'' master, at least Of
the science of cooking, for the country, though
new, contained sundry articles not found in grea
abundance in our thickly settled cities. Wha
with the Venison, Wild Ducks and Geese, Par
tridges and Prairie hens, Pickerel, Bass and Mus
calunge, with which the country abounded, the,
most certainly had table fit for an epicure. Al
that time also. Father Miller had not lectured a
the Falls against the use Of the ardent. had .lc
When spring came, the mill Company fount
themselves in bad FIX, and were unable to full
fI their engagements with Mr.. Steele. Rantoul
who had business of his own in Massachusetts
was unable to honor, the drafts upon him, ant
consequently they were sent back protested +
Gushing, scorning to dsbble in town sites ont
water privilege, had donned the regimentals, an,
was reapipg laqrals in the country of the Incss
and planning for the future in their regal Halls
Had he continued with the mill business, he nigh
now be the fortunate owner Of property vortl
thousands, and quietly .superintending saw ant
grist mills in this beautiful town, instead Of task
ing his brain to aid 50 poor an administration al
that Of Franklin Pierce. = 4.a.ol :,
4 In consequence of the inability Of the mil
company. to fulfil their contract, the whole pro
perty reverted to Mr.. Steele, who immediatel,
employed his utmost energies for the fulflmen
of his desires. Still, he was long retarded by q
series of misfortunes which befel him. 'g5m siii
!, A large quantity Of goods had been purchased
for the use of the, workmen, and shipEed on th.
Erie canal. Unfortunately this boat sank. lThey
were unable to procure the necessary tools fol
the work. They had no axes, augers, saws, and
none could be bought. The winter was exceeding.
ly cold, and they were obliged to employ mar
as cook and slaundress." ,..,-,
!. At that time the old government mill on The
- l.. ce A. ~S :v. <,v,..ot:~.. I,x = 4.
largest amount Of lumber itcould turn out wsa
about 800 to 400 feet per day. steels was OBJ
iged to purchase twenty thousand feet of the St
Croix mill, ana haul it to the Falls BY land. :
The whole of the iron used in the building wa.
brought from Maine, and hauled from the st.
Cro;x by land. 5ejs 2liaJzea 'r1asl 9oL BIZ e1ed
I, Thanks to the energy and perseverance, Of Mr..
Steele, however, two saws we're put in operation
in Sept, lS4S, and performed their duty WE'LL
In December, 184s, Capt. Rollins and Mr.. God
frey, who had been East, arrived from Prairie du
Uhien, on horseback, and accompanied BY {
ou;de gsn ISs p0t 'DaDV's 9ss', :ee'
In is4s two more saw. s.x.. were put in operation.
In the spring Of 1850, q freshet occurred the
Mississippi, which we'll nigh lsvsllsd isll the
hopes of the energetic owner Of the mill The
logs, to the amount Of some 900, 900 feet, went
over the dam and falls. causing u loss.of osez
$4,000. The following winter the dam va
raised sevsrslfess, e6seeuilly preventing tie fs-
currence of such an accident. -, - ., -.
/" The mills were now in fourishing condition,
business increased. The town was fast inereas-
ing in size, % We sisted IN our first sketch Of the
town. In our next, We will endeavor to give
description Of the town and falls, from 1850 to
the present time, and conclude with . shoFt busi-
ness directory. yssTa.e e. asai asaSs sssi Esfs (