The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-03-09

tary purposes. In the legislation which
followed, Ignatius Donnelly figured
Finally, 1881 acres were set aside for
military reservation, and the balance
was turned over to Steele. Gen. John
B. Sanborn was Steele's attorney.
Gen. johnson estimated that Steele
secured 5000 acres for little over $685.
e0o. 1t was Steele's original Intention
to turn over the tract containing the
Falls Of Minnehaha to the cities of st.
Paul and St. Anthony for a park.
The lands on the east side of the Mis-
S1sS1ppt river were opened in 1910, and
Steele received a private letter telling
just when the lands would be opened.
He had reason to believe that his in
formation was exclusive, and no one
else knew of it. Yet to be sure, he
took N. w. Kittson with him and the
two went to the Falls of St. Anthony
one night, knocked together a shack to
protect them from the wind, planted a
few potatoes in the snow, and claimed
the land. But 1t seemed that Col.
Joseph Plompton and Capt. Martin
Scott, Of Fort Smelling, were also In
possession Of the same information.
However, they put off going to the
falls until morning, and when they
arrived they found that Steele had pre-
emptied the claim.
Gen. johnson said he first met Gov.
y
Mr. Ramsey was then governor of the
territory and was fine, straight,
fearless young man, with brown hair
and eyes. Gov. Ramsey went out to
Fort Smelling to present himself to Col.
Wood, but so modest was he that he
declined the military honors which were
his due. All he wanted was some
hard cider made out of corn"
The first Presbyterian church in the
Northwest was organized in 1886, with
in the walls of Fort Smelling. Many
notable men have come from within
the walls of the fort. Zachary Taylor,
who gained fame in the Mexican war,
and VINO was president of the nation,
was one Of the soldiers. Seth Eastman
was another. He became famous as an
artist. Three Of the soldiers and off,
GERS from the fort joined the rebel
army. Among them was Lieut. Nc
Gruder, who was killed so days after.
During the war the fort was a busy
place, where thousands of troops were
drilled and Quartered.
In the early days the authority of
the commanding officer was supreme in
the entire community. The comman-
der had much to do outside Of his mill
tary duties, such as organizing coun
ties, selecting men to act as o1hc1alS,
organizing courts, etc, etc. Cen john
son in his paper described the Indian
peace dance at the fort In 1929, and
many bloody encounters which occur
red on the reservation. Since the war,
the Tenth, the Twentieth, Seventeenth,
Twentieth and Third infantry regi-
ments have been quartered at the fort
in the order named. The beautiful
post with it's handsome quarters, wide
avenues and parades, are in existence
largely through the efforts of Alexan-
der Ramsey, who became secretary Of
war Mrs. Charlotte Van Cleve, whose
early days are closely connected with
the history of the state, also figured in
the history of Smelling, and the aged
lady was very feelingly referred to by
the speaker. 1t was at Smelling that
Gen. johnson first felt the responsible
lities of young manhood and his recol-
lections Of the post are very dear