St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-14
THREE HONORED CITIZENS MAKE
HISTORICAL ADDRESSES AT
THE CAPITOL.
THAT OLD "sACRED CoMpACT,,
Is Referred to Very PoiutedJx n,
Mr.. MOss-JudSe FIandrau,s
Paper Is Postponed.

annual meeting yesterday afternoon
out sun there were many who
could and did stay to enjoy one of the
best programmes in the society's his
tory. Papers were read by ex-Gov. Alex
ander Ramsey, Henry l.. Moss, and
capt. Russell Blakely, and all were so
good and the last two so long that the
paper which Judge c. E. Flandrau had
prepared could not be read and was
postponed indefinitely, which probably
means for a month, when the society
Will meet again.
interesting "reminiscences they were
with which the gentlemen named re-
called their associates of frontier days.
as Wen as the younger generation,
klndred or curious, that was present
10 snow a marked interest in the pro-
ceedings of the society.
GOV. Ramsey's paper was short but
1T was meaty. He spoke of the early
days of the society, now almost half
century ago, and how then, and for
many years, the room ten feet square
which 1t occupied was not too small
to accommodate it. Now conditions
are changed, the society is flourishing,
It's library and collection of curios, geo.
logical specimens and the like unex-
celled by those Of any other society of
its kind, while the spacious quarters
into which it moved with the compile
ton Of the present capitol are now
crowded. The governor hopefully
spoke, however, of the prospect of
larger, lighter, and perhaps safer
quarters, when the new capitol shall
have been completed. Absolutely fire
proof, the precious possessions of the
society shall then be safe forever
Statistically speaking, the governor
said that there had been 153 life mem
bers elected. and 81 honorary members,
while In the existence of the society SO
Of the latter class had died. On this
roll Of honor were many proud names,
among them those of Louis Agassiz,
the naturalist; George Bancroft. the
historian; Lewis Cass, the explorer;
President Willard Fillmore; Gen. w. S.
Hancock; DR.. Kane the Arctic explorer;
Schoolcraft; W. H. Seward, the states
man, and Bishop Whipple. Among the
distinguished guests it had entertained
in its younger days were Mr.. Seward,
who was subsequently to take a fore
most position in the councils Of the
nation, and Rt. Rev. Anderson, the
bishop of Rupert's land. its first anti
podean visitor. Among the accomplish
ments in which the society had taken
part and for which he thought 1t de-
served especial credit, he enumerated
the printing and preservation of the
dialect Of the Dakota Indians; the pro-
of the Mississippi against the claims of
impostors, in which service Gen. J. II.
Baker did well; and also the establish
ment OF a state park at the headWaterS
Of the Mississippi, in which J. V. Brow
err of the society, took an active part.
Gov. Ramsey, who is president of the
society, then introduced Capt. Blakely,
to whom was assigned the topic, "Open-
ing of the Red River of the North to
Commerce and Civilization" The cap
tain's paper showed that the assign
ment could not have been better made,
for he was a factor in the early history
Of the worlds great wheat field, second,
perhaps, to no one man. He began with
the appointment Of a committee in the
British house Of commons, bearing such
names as Labouchere, Sir John Frank
lin and Gladstone, to investigate the
state of affairs in the region under the
administration Of the Hudson's Bay
company. AS to his personal connec-
ton with similar Investigations, Capt.
Blakely went back in 1S47, when he met
in Washington Ramsey Crooks, the
New York agent of the Hudson's Bay
company. That gentleman wanted to
locate an agent in st. Paul, and the
captain suggested the Burbanks, of this
city. The company was then shipping
goods In bond through the United
States, and it's trains of carts made a
decided improvement in the business
conditions, which had been suffering
from the panic. Then came the reports
of the
DISCOVERY OF GOLD
in the Fraser river district, and the
people of this vicinity began to grow
enthusiastic over the prospects of ac-
cess to that prosperous region from this
end. 1t was in this condition of affairs
that Capt. Blakely was urged to make
q trip of investigation as to whether
the Red river was navigable, so as to
bring the new territory into reach of
this city. He made the trip accompan-
led by j. II. Irvine, they going by way
OF the Minnesota river and Lake Ira
verse, and returning across country via
st. Cloud. They went as far as Fort
Garry, and on their return the ST. Paul
chamber of commerce offered a bonus
Of 81 600 for the building of steamboat
on the Red river. Arson Northrup said
he would build one for $4,000 and the
offer was accepted. The boat was built
at Fort Abercrombie, the lumber being
cut on the banks of the Crow Wing
river and hauled $50 miles overland in
midwinter 1t made one trip to Fort
Garry and return and was then tied I'D.
Northrup and his party returning to
st. Paul.
Meantime Blakely and Burbank had
been induced to increase the stage
service between st. Cloud and Fort
Abercrombie to three trips a week In
anticipation of big increase in traffic
A new stage road was laid out from
st. Cloud across to the fort via Alex
andria, Osakis. Sank Center, Cold
Springs and Melrose, and on the first
trip out, with party of passengers,
Capt. Blakely met Northrup and his
,o,-fxy
had laid UP the steamer, Northrup re-
piled that If the chamber of commerce
wanted that boat to run they would
have to buy it. The consequence was
| that when the party reached Fort
AbercrOmbie they could not go to Win
nipeg until they could build a flatboat
This vessel took twenty-five DAYS to
get to Winnipeg from the time it was
set adrift at the fort. In this party
were two Scotch ladies, Misses Eleanor
and Christina Sterling; James Taylor
who had taken an active interest in
the Fraser river agitation here, and
others. For their heroism in venturing
into such untried wilds Capt Blakely
and Mr.. Taylor, when they were in
camp at Pelican lake, decided to hon
or their fair guests by naming that
lake and the one adjoining after the
ladies. They so appeared on the maps
of 1850, but while Christmas name re-
mains. later maps restore the name of
Pelican to the other lake. Returning
from Fort Garry, Capt. Blakely was
informed that the Northrup boat had
been purchased by his partner, Bur
bank, and 1t made regular trips there
after for many years. The town site
of Georgetown, at the mouth Of the
Buffalo river, was plated and the de-
velopE,eut Of the valley was beginning