The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-19
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
ENTERTAINED AT SOME LENGTH
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE
GREAT NORTHERN.
HIS REcoILEeTIoNs OF THE PAST
Recalled in an Entertaining Man
ner Before an Interested Audi
ence at the State House.

| meeting Of the State Historical society
last evening, and his address, when
| printed and placed in the archives of
the state, will be a valuable addition
to the history Of Minnesota agricult
ure Another distinguished st. Paul
man who spoke was Alexander Ram
! sey, war governor of Minnesota. War
rem Upham, secretary of the Historical
| society, closed the session with a short
| talk upon the history of mining In
the state The session was held in the
hall of representatives at the state
house. Ex-Goy. Ramsey presided, and
| spoke as follows:
| 1t is exceedingly gratifying to our society
to note the increase in interest and large at
| tendance Of the public during the last year
| The daily attendance of readers is nearly
| double that Of 1895, and ten times greater
| than In 1893. While the reading room is no
| larger, there are three times as many tables
| as IN 1893, and even with the additional Sit
tlngs, many days there are not enough. the
| public, not only in the Twin Cities, but
| throughout the state, is learning OF the i'm
| portance and advantage offered by the so
| ciety's large library, now numbering 27,704
bound, and 81. 507 unbound volumes, total
| OF 59, I'll. The additions for 1896 are 1853
| bound and 1875 unbound volumes.
Of bound newspapers there are $685. vol
umes; these are Included in the total bound
DOCKS. The newspapers are counted among
| the society's most valuable collections and
are guarded with much care; all being kept
4 In the vault. Among these newspaper files
| are a great many that are the only ones in
| existence, and cannot be replaced at any price.
| Inc value OF these newspapers consist in the
| current history and legal notices of the towns
| and counties in which they are published,
| and are in constant requisition, people COM
ing from every part of the state to consult
| them. The increase in the past four years
! has been 80 per cent Those looking up their
ancestral history comprise about two-thirds
| OF the whole; the number of those seeking in
| formation on other subjects is rapidly in
! creas1ng on account Of the advantages offer
| ed by the large number of books bearing upon
all subjects, many Of them not to be found
| in other libraries. The opinion has prevailed,
! to certain extent. that the rooms of the
| historical society are not open to the general
| public There is not an institution of like
| character that is $50 free to those searching
| for knowledge, there restrictions ex-
| cept the ordinary rules Of libraries, and good
| behavior. The librarian and assistants are
| always glad to place before readers all that
| they man need and to offer any reasonable
assistance consistent with their duties.
| The society has been remembered by its
friends by generous donations Of books
some rare-old newspapers, pictures and ar
dcies for the museum, in the past. The society
has many portraits and photographs Of the
old pioneers, views of localities in the olden
| time; these are particularly valuable, as in
many instances there are no others in exist
ence. The society Is particularly DESTROYS
OF obtaining pictures and portraits illustrat-
| ing the early history of our state and the
Northwest manuscripts, archaeological and
chronological specimens for the museum. At
| present the society has not the room or
| facilities for displaying only in part it's col
| lection of the above objects, but it is col
| Letting and making provision against the
| time when it will be housed in the new
capitol. 50 * 39 tft t
In the historical collection Of the society,
seven volumes and Parts l. and II of Volume
| WILL have been published, an amount Of
| valuable matter pertaining to the early his
| tory of this state and the Northwest, which
| but for the society would have been wholly
| lost Of Volume VIII. two parts have been
| published. 1t is hoped that Part Ill will be
| printed in June of this year; this will be a.
| particularly valuable volume The collections
| are not fer general distribution but ex-
| changed for the publications of other So
| cieties and institutions. They can be OBJ
tanned by purchase by those who wish them
| some of the earlier editions are nearly ex-
! hausted. 9s. e. 1850
Mr.. Hill reviewed the history Of ag-
| riculture in Minnesota, and incidentally
| gave a number of amusing anecdotes
| Of his early life. In closing, Mr.. Hill
| eloQuently set forth the great natural
| advantages of Minnesota, and proved
| by actual facts and figures that the
| possibilities Of the North Star state
| were ahead Of those of any ether
| Western commonwealth. Mr.. Hill said
| in part: -
| 1T is particularly pleasing to see SO
! many old friends and faces here on
| this occasion that no other time or
| place could bring. I have often thought
| that Minnesota was particularly fortu-
nate in choosing men who came to the
| state in early days, and in whose hands
| the forming Of the commonwealth was
| trusted. And we could name no one
| to whom our gratitude is due to a
| greater extent than Gov Ramsey, who
was especially active in the trying
| periods of our history. All feel, as 1 do,
st I
| strong in mind and, body.
| 'The history of agriculture in Min
nesota would be practically the his
| tory of the state We can go back
when, in the East, or even in our own
midst, it was not supposed that Min
| nesota could be, or would be, such a
| great agricultural state. I see sitting
| in the audience Gen. La Due. I can
| remember that, back in 1853, the gen
| eral, partly at his own expense and
! partly at the expense of the state de-
| termined to demonstrate that Mime
| sofa was fitted for something better
| than raising cranberries and muskrat
skins. It was about the same time
| that Horace Greeley was trying to
prove to the people of New York in
| his great daily paper that Minnesota
was not calculated for agriculture, and
that it was too far north, too near the
scene of Sir John Franklins fatal ex,
| plorations in the arctic circle It
looked then as If he was right When I
/ first came to Minnesota, and as late
as 1856 the staple crop of the state
was cranberries, and we were produc-
| ing in and around st. Paul about $50
| barrels year.
There were also some lumber and
logs The first wheat that I can re-
member being grown in Minnesota was
| at LIE Sueur in 1857. 1 have not been
| able to find any other record of wheat
| grown prior to that time. The growth
| of wheat did not progress rapidly, and
| in 1859 there were a few thousand
bushels being grown in the district
! between lie Sueur and st. Peter The
| first shipment was made to ST. Louis
| by boat. 1t was not large cargo.
| and it was shipped by Judge Ewing
| The barge ON which the shipment was
made was too large for the cargo. so
it was towed up to Chaska, where g.
| load Of hickory hoop poles We're piled
| on top of the wheat From 1859 to 1860
| all wheat raised in the state was held
| in seamless sacks and transported in
/ that manner. We used to ship out 40
| sacks, or eight tons to the carload.
Later, they did without the sacks by
| building bulk Fbarges, covered over
| with roofing for the protection of the
| wheat. Milwaukee was practically the
| market for all our grain at that time.
| In 1862 the first -four was made at
| Minneapolis by Eastman & Gibson.
| The prejudice which had existed
| against Minnesota grain was carried
| against it's flour and the latter, on be-
| ing shipped South. was not considered
| genuine. We used to label it Muskin
| gum Valley Flour, Ohio and 1t was
| sold under this name. I well remember,