St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-12-25

anu Ill 1000 WAS lucOEpOidtcu. LII In6
meantime, civiliziag influences were at
work and the finger of destiny was pointed
at the cluster of houses about the falls. A
log dam had been erected, the land for the
university laid off, and as early as 1859
SIS, 900 had been raised by subscription for
the building. The Weekly Express had
been started, and Judge Isaac Atwater in
stalled as editor. He was the original
"boomer" of the vicinity, the very first
issue OF his paper, copy of which is still
eXtant, giving free predictions of the future
railroad center then springing up. He also
compllmented the town that had neither
'gambllng-room nor dram-shop" within it's
limits.
THE FUTURE GREAT.
AT this time Col. Stevens erected the first
house on the West side, and when. in 1855,
congress removed all apprehension on the
score of titles, a dozen houses were thrown
up and the hamlet of All Saints was given
birth. st. Anthony encouraged the little
suburb until rivalry sprung up and popu-
lation and building statistics began to be
compared. which entailed no rancor but
stimulated the enterprise of both. The
original BaSsett saw mill was erected in
1S55-the old Bassett & Carney mill, with
capacity of 100000 feet annually,
which was the inception of the lumber in
dustry. The great Touring industry dates
from the same time. Frederick Gebhart,
the grandfather of that distinguished satel-
lite of the Jersey Lily, was the pioneer of
the East Side Water Power company, with
Franklin Steele. where the milling of grain
really began. Rollins. Eastman & Upton
in 1854 erected mill with five stone on the
island, the wheat for which had to come by
oil yxrox- oxrifr
had been attempted at intervals 1or five
years, and when the Anthony Wayne estab-
lished st. Anthony as the head of naviga-
ton, the delighted citizens presented her
captain with purse of 5000. Cheever's
landing was established where the present
Washington avenue bridge abuts on
the East side. and for about
seven years cargoes were taken on
and discharged by the regular
pockets. When the panic of 81 struck the
country boating at the settlements became
one of the lost arts and was not reSurrected.
even so far as in agitation, until the meet
ing of the waterway convention at st. Paul
in September last. But in the years when
Capt. Reno and his packets breasted the
rapids and avoided the rocks at Meeker
Island, the little town of All Saints had
slowly risen and taken on the name of Min
neapOliS. the invention of George D. Bow
man. One saw mill followed another, and
the flour mills. with their old style of runs
of stone. rose one after another around the
falls. At the end of 1857 the lumber ca
pacitY was nearly 100, 900, 600 feet per an
mum, and in the following year the first
Eastern shipment of flour was made, in
payment of debt. From that shipment
dates the immense output of Minneapolis
flour.
A CITY's BIRTH.
The year 1857 really was the birth time
of Minneapolis, though at that time the
town had 2. 1000 people, an increase of 1.S00
in two years, and several fine buildings
were in progress. and forty-two business
houses had been safely launched. The
question of union with St. Anthony was
agitated by both towns, but before that
event was consummated. in 1872, Mime
apolis had become much the larger city and
naturally absorbed its smaller ally. In the
years that interviewed before the union was
accomplished, Minneapolis had felt the
terrible rebuff of the panic Of 1857, had raj
lied and resumed her onward march, had
survived the shock Of the civil war, and
had acquired that headlong momentum
which has since overcome all obstacles
THE MOST SERIOUS EVENT
in her ante Union history was the threatened
destruction of the ledge of the falls, which
occurred in 1868. The most powerful fac
tor in the growth and prosperity of the city
has been the Falls of St. Anthony, and it
would be difficult to convey to outsiders a
sense of the alarm which pervaded all Sec
tions of the community when the cry went
up: THE falls are going QUIT" The lime
stone ledge, already suffering by the erosion
of the water and the natural disintegration,
had permitted a leak into tunnel being
pushed from Hennepin to Nicolet island.
The workmen were driven out, and the
riyulet which at first occasiOned their feaK,
soon carrying away sand and increasing it's
volume, swept out as roaring torrent, en-
dangering the entire valuable water-power
Recovering from the paralysis of fear the
people adopted heroic measures and held
the water at bay until permanent steps were
taken for the safety of the ledge. Liberal
appropriations by the government, with
generous donations from citizens of Mime
apolis. resulted. in years, in the building of
solid wall of concrete beneath the falls,
forever securing the valuable power. Thus
is buried from sight, beneath the protecting
aprons of wood, an improvement that cost
upwards of million of dollars, but which
could not and would not now be dispensed
with. even at hundred times its cost.
With the restoration and absolute future
security of the $50, 900 horsepower of the
falls. the city renewed its little boom and
soon afterward was welded to the town of
st. Anthony. In the year, that followed, its
history is told in the records of the flour
mills which followed each other in rapid sue
cession. bringing with them thrifty, indus
triouS population, to meet the wants which
manufacturers were started. business sprung
up, and stable. enduring foundation of
future greatness was laid. The lumber and
milling industries grew apace and manu-
featuring followed briSkly at their heels
and. attracted by the vast tonnage. one
railroad after another found admission to
the city. In spite of the loss and fatality
which came in its train, the great mill ex-
plosion of May, 1878, was really a blessing
in disguise. 1t entailed a loss of 81, 900, 900
and eighteen priceless lives, but it brought
about the immediate use of improved ma
chinery, substituted the gradual reduction
process of flour making and advanced the
city ten years at bound, in the knowledge
of the world.
THE NEW ERA.
As a city. and beyond great center of
flour mills. Minneapolis had not, until 1880.
more than state and local reputation. 1t
consisted of an energetic and enterprising
community of men, but the city was of only
medium size, without claim to other than
ordinary village attractions. That year.
however, marked most important era in
her history. 1t was then that her glories
and attractive future were first trumpeted
to the world; it was then that Eastern cap
ital began to seek eagerly for investment
here; that pioneers of milling. numbering
and real estate began to realize their wealth
and turn from the struggle to enjoy life's
luxuries; that refinement. brought by
wealth bepan To assert itself. that the mn