The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-11-12
IS Y ! Az:
Mu,llla20
-. No. 1TnR2l

~ NE does not ordinarily THINK OF
a cemetery as q scene Of dra-
matte events. But in Lakewood,
since it was dedicated thirty-three years
ago, there have been stranger happen
iGgs than any to be met with amid
scenes of activity. .E i ~ =
In early days tho beautiful trast Of
rolling land which now comprises the
cemetery was favorite spot with the
Indians, who camped In great mum
bers thruout the whole district sur
rounding Lakes Calhoun and Harriet.
Long before tho land was used by
whites as place Of interment, 1t was
the burying place of the Indians, who
did not inter their dead, but placed
them upon high platforms supported by
long poles and left them there to await
their transition to the happy hunting
grounds. On rude map, made In 1884,
by Gideon H. Pond and his brother,
the pioneer missionaries to the Indians,
the present site Of Lakewood cemetery
is marked "burying ground,' and the
neighborhood all about is dotted with
the tepees of the Sioux. Indian village
and Indian trails to the little village
of st. Anthony and other points crossed
the site Of the cemetery.
On high knoll overlooking Lake
Calhoun, just outside the cemetery en-
closure and almost on the spot where
the beautiful Forman residence now
stands, was the little log cabin of the
Pond brothers, where they conducted
their "Lake Harriet mission.'' All
trace Of it has long since vanished.
Gideon II. Pond was told by the. In
dians of early days of great battle
which was fought long ago by the
Sioux and their deadly enemies, the
Ojibways, on the present site of the
cemetery. In the early days of st.
Anthony the old Indian trail from the
south led thru the land now occupied
by the cemetery and along the east
shores of Lake Calhoun and Lake of
the Isles, thence across the river to
the little town. A well-trodden path
to Fort Smelling also led from the In
dian village, on the east shore Of Lake
Calhoun. R. P. Russell, the Minneapolis
pioneer, now deceased, used to point
out the exact spot in the cemetery upon
which he had many times traded with
the peaceable Sioux. 1t is near the
large Rand monument, just beside a
winding depression which marks the
former site Of little stream, long
since dried up. Joseph R. Kingman,
Lake Calhoun, found many ancient
arrow heads, trinkets, tomahawks,
scalps and knives buried on the high
knoll now surmounted by the cemetery
water tower, but few other relics have
been found in any other part of the
cemetery.
.r.".. !. + i. = g..
Coming down to- more modern times,
after the red man had made his final
exit from the beautiful scenes, many
strange things have happened within
the peaceful borders of the cemetery.
In the vault Of the cemetery asso-
citation there are locked up two bank
notes which are the only clues to a
mystery which will probably never be
explained. One of them, issued by the
Savings Bank of st. Paul, shows that
on Aug. 4, 1877, Charles E. Allen de.
posted 5000 with the bank The other
IS a record Of the deposit two days
later Of $3.50 in the Hennepin County
Savings bank Of Minneapolis by one
Thomas Westry. The books were found
twenty five years ago by workmen who
were removing the remains Of child
buried some years before. Wrapped uI
in a newspaper and enclosed in glass
fruit jar, they were buried beneath the
roots of a large oak tree near the heat
of the .child's grave. But little in
formation could be gained at either Of
the banks regarding the mysterious de
posits. At one Of the banks the maj
left with the officials password, with
out which the money was not to b.
paid over to anyone. He left no pass