The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1858-08-12

large party Of buffalo hunters in the north
ern plains Of Minnesota, and drove the buf
falo out Of their reach. Relying solely on
the flesh Of this animal for subsistence, cut
of by the wide waste Of deep SHOWS from
the nearest settlement at Pembina, nearly
700 miles distant, they had no resource in
this emergency. Starvation stared them 10
the face. Fuel was a. inaccessible as food
Imprisoned in the deep SHOWS, overwhelmed
with cold and hunger, numbers persisted in
the camp, or in vain attempt to reach
Pembina, before rumors Of their situation
reached the colony.
The calamities Of the settlers reached
their climax in the ensuing spring, when the
melting SHOWS poured their torrents into the
streams, The year 1926 is memorable in
their calendar, as the year Of the food. On
the second Of May the Red River rose nine
feet in twenty-four hours, and by the fifth
the level plains were submerged. The wa.
tiers continued to rise till the 2lst, when
houses and barns were swept off in the del.
uge. The settlers fed to the distant hills,
whence the waters swept over the wide plains
as far as the eye could sec. The food abat-
ed in June, land SUCH" says Mr.. Neil, ais
the surprising quickness with which vegeta-
ton natures five degrees of latitude north OF
st Paul, that wheat planted on the 22d Of
June came to maturity"
The Disconnected Swiss. driven from their
homes by the food. did not return to the
settlement, but departed for the United
States and settled at different points on the
banks of the Mississippi. 1t is curious
historical fact that the first emgrants to
Minnesota, were the Swiss refugees from
Red River in 1896, who opened farms on
the present site Of st. Paul, and near Fort
Smelling; and, according to our historian,
should be recognized as the first actual set
tiers Of the State.
Since this destructive inundation, no event
has occurred in the history Of the settlement
to interrupt the calm course of its prosper
ity, until the year 1852 brought another re.
currence OF the deluge which had swept over
the plains twentysix years before. The
waters in that year rose foot higher than
in 1926. In consequence Of the exposure
OF the settlement at Pembina to these ruin
Gus casualties, new site was selected for
the Catholic Mission at that place near
Mount Pembna, forty miles distant at a
place called st. Joseph.
And during the last two or three years
the Red River valley has been revisited by
the mysterious army of grasshoppers, whose
advance guard paused last year, in their
blasting flight in the northwestern counties
Of Minnesota.
A visit of Col. SUMNER OF the U. $. A.
to Pembina in 1874 to stop the encroach-
ments Of the British Half Breeds on the
Buffalo ranges of Minnesota, and of Gov
RAMSEY in 1881, to make treaty with the
Upper Chippewas an occasional battle with
the iankton Sioux the arrival of new
missionary, or the visit Of an explorer the
success or failure of seasons hunt, and the
yearly expeditions from the settlement to
the new cities which have arisen during the
last ten years on the head waters of the
Mississippi; the excitement of their return
ireightcd with curious wares 10 crafty the
fancy of the delighted women and children
are all the incidents which have occurred in
the interval to vary the quiet uniformity of
their lives, until the prospect of emancipa.
ton from the control Of the Hudson Bay
Company, gave new impetus and an intel
ligent direction TO the discontents, which
have been long brewing in the colony.
Imprisoned in the depths Of the vast
soitudes which surround them, cut of for
half century from human sympathy by the
universal ignorance of their situation. they
suddenly find themselves the objects Of the
concern Of the civilized world and all eyes
fixed upon the isolated spot they occupy. as
the theatre of the most stupendous enter
prize Of the age, and destined in its realiza-
tion 10 change the face of the continent.
Population of the Rcd River Valley