St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-05-11

man, he made friends of all with whom
he came in contact. His death is not
only bereavement to his family, but
severe loss to the community and the
whole state.
MET HIM IN 1880.
81 first came in contact with Mr.. Kilt
son." Gen. Sibley continued, lat Old
Mackinac away back in 1890. We were
mere boys then, and Mackinac was
great point of commerce. 1t was the
basis of operation for the American
Fur company, in which the late John
Jacob Astor was largely interested. The
company had large depot there and [
was employed by it in the capacity of
an upper clerk. Mr.. KittSon, then about
sixteen years old, was also clerk i'll
the company's service. His grade was
Oh par with those whom it
was the custom of the company
to enlist, after the manner of
the army, for three years service.
Usually these men were enlisted at
Montreal and made the trip up the lakes
to Mackinac in bark canoes. Mackinac
was a general rendezvous for fur
traders. whose operations extended over
the whole North and Northwestern
country to where the waters empty into
the Missouri. Mr.. Kittson was sent to
Wisconsin and Minnesota in charge of
one of the company's brigadeS of men.
If my memory serves me right he went
to Prairie du Chen in 1880 and first
came to Minnesota two years later. He
subsequently returned to Wisconsin
and was given the charge of an i'm
Portage. In 1884, having completed
his term of enlistment, he came
to Minnesota to reside permanently.
He engaged as clerk for man named
Baker, who had an establishment about
three-fOurthS of mile from Fort Smell
ing, on the north side of the river.
Quitting the employ of Baker, he be-
came clerk in the suffers store at the
Fort. | bought the business and then
Mr.. klttSOn went to work for me, |
giving him full charge of the store. He
continued in that business and the fur
trade generally until he took notion to
go into business for himself. He formed
a co-partnership with Mr.. Forbes, father
of Major Forbes, and the firm opened a
dry goods and general store near the
corner of Third and Robert
streets. Then he took a notion
to go to Pembina and start an active OPP
position to the Hudson's Bay company.
l furnished him with large quantity of
goods and he went to the new field and
established himself. 1t was not long
before he had drawn from the Hudson's
Bay company large portion of the
trade it formerly mOnopoliZed. He was
thorn in the cOmpany's side, and after
vain attempt to drive him fl ON the
field, it sought to buy him off. He had
acquired money rapidly in his business,
IN fact laid the foundation Of the great
fortune he leaves behind him. Finally
the company by the payment of large
sum, got him out OF the way. | might
add that the Hudson's Bay company
had such high opinion of Mr.. KittsOn,
placed such implicit confidence in his
integrity and Judgment that subse-
quently when he came back to st. Paul
it made him its purchasing agent here,
and for number Of years he
HAD SOLE CHARGE
of his immense business at this point.
While at Pembina Mr.. KittsOn en-
barked i'll the steamboat business. In
those days steambOating on the Red
river was highly remuneratiue. 1t was
on account OF this connection that lie
acquired the title of commodore, by
which he is generally known. lie ac-
CURED large amount of wealth before
the railroads penetrated the country,
and practically killed steamboating
Then he sold his vessel interests and
went into the biggest deal of his life
George Stephen in engineering, and
made the purchase of the bonds held by
German capitalists, which gave them
control of the st. Paul IL Pacific rail
road, now the Manitoba, and netted Mr..
Kittson and each OF his confrereS a for
tune.
His life since then is so closely i'll
terwoven with the history of the city
that it is well known and does not need
repeating. Our relations were so init
mate that during his absence | trans
acted all his business. He gave me
general power of attorney, under which
| could have sold everything he pos
SeSSed. Some four month ago | spoke
to him concerning this power of attOr-
ney and asked if he remembered that
had such document i'll my possession,
suggesting that it would be well for him
to revoke 1t. He declined to do so
and asked as Il favor that | place it on
record, which | did. He seldom en-
barked III any enterprise without first
consulting me. He did not say word
to me about his contemplated participa-
ton in the purchase of the railroad
bonds referred to, and | only learned of
it after the deal had been conSummated.
He said, one day, that the reason why
he did not tell me of the plan
was because he knew | would endeavor
to dissuade him from it, You may not
know, Sibley,' he said, that
EVERYTHING 1 HAD
in the world was riSked on that, an
enormous risk at my time of life, and [
did not dare to tell you of it, l was
always opposed to his purchase of
horses, and, consequently, he bought
first and told me about it when it was
too late to argue with him about it.
1--WE were not thrown together much
except at the outset of our respective
careers and in these later years, but our
lives were very much alike. Each OF us
had his full share of hardships. The
best that any one can say of Mr.. KittsOn
is that he was man in the fullest sense
of the term, and, as his warmest and
most trusted friend and bosom compan-
ion, that Is my tribute to his memory"
EX-GOV. RAMSEY.