The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1898-02-18
THEOLD SETTLERS.
Those ofsTerritorial Days Have
"a jolly Time.
A Good Attendance at Last Nights Meet
ing at Union hall.--Speeches,

evening, was a very pleasant aiiair
About 800 people were present a.
Union Hall, among which were mum
bo5Vltt,lsicsl;o been whitenee
by the SHOWS of many winters, and al
seemed to have a jolly good time
Stories OF the "good old times" were
told in the many groups Of old timers
that gathered in various parts OF the
hall previous to the opening OF tne
exercises. The afternoon and early
part of the evening was not very Ia
vorable, especially for those living IL
the country, to attend. and not sc
many as had been looked for from out
side were present.
1t was was about 500 o'clock when
President Shoemaker called the
gathering to order. Prof. Jache had
previously rendered several pieces on
the piano, accompanied by a clarinet
and violin.oG ~" @,.s $780,
In the absence of Judge Flandreau
who had been expected, for an ad-
dress, but had been detained from be-
ing present, Gen. j. 81, Baker was IN
troduced for a few remarks on the
early times of Mankato. On taking
the floor, Gen. Baker extended the
thanks Of the old settlers to Mrs.
Henry Zimmerman, ST., for the work
she had done to make the evening a
pleasant one for those present.
He was sure all old settlers were
glad to be present on this occasion,
Such reunion did them all good, and
he was glad to see so many who were
here in an early day gather to talk
over old times. He reviewed the
event of the first white man, LIE
Sueur, into this region. He came
here from France for gold. He came
up the Minnesota to the Blue Earth
and went some little distace up that
stream. On the banks of the Blue
Earth he supposed he had found what
he was looking for-gold. Several
tons of peculiar looking earth, sup
posed to contain gold was dug out and
taken back to France, but the speaker
did not know just what finally be-
came of it, The next visitor here was
Capt. Pike, after him others came,
most prominent of whom was one
Nicola, who gave most complete
and accurate description of the whole
country. T. II
Coming down to within the memory
of some of the older settlers, the first
party to come to stay was in 1852,
when P. K. johnson, w. W. Paddock
and several others arrived here and
located. Others soon followed.
The next matter of great import
ance was theInegotiating of the great
Sioux treaty which was made by Alex
Ramsey. But many settlers could
not wait until the treaty was made,
but came and secured some most de-
sirable locations. Afte: the treaty
was negotiated settlers came in large
numbers. In those early days there
were twenty tOwnsites plated and
located on the river between Shakopee
and Mankato, but most of them were
abandoned. There were five town
sites located between the north end
of our city and South Bend, and Man
kato has absorbed three or four of
them. irsC
In those days the entire territory
west of the Mississippi was embraced
in W hat was known as Dakota county.
The speaker here read the original
commission made by Alex Ramsey
then governor of the territory, ap-
pointing Evan; Goodrich, of Mankato,
justiceof the peace of said county.
The commission was dated July 20,
1852. 30 There was not much for such
an official. to do In those days, but it is
recorded, that Justice Goodrich per
formed the first marriage ceremony
in ft!this' section, The young mans
name was Jacob Guenther, the name
of the lady was not recalled.
1The first lawyer to come here, the
speaker said. was j. Mcmahon Hol-
land. The first preacher, he said, was
JAS. Thompson. He established a
church organization here in 1854.
There seemed to be difference of
opinion among the old settlers as to
this, some being of the belief that
there was preacher here previous to
Thompson. Judge Severance re-
marked that he had understood there
was a revival here before '54.
The general told number of anus
ing stories of the old days along
through his remarks, and also related
about the first Fourth of July cele-
bration, which he asserted took place
in 1852 when he said P. x. johnson
read the declaration Of Independence
to the Indians and Evan Goodrich
sacted as interpreter,
The first steamboat that attempted
to reach Mankato was the ''Menomo-
ME-" but the first one to reach here
was smaller one called the
SYankee." This went I'D the river,