The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-07-13
eiss Addres SIS By
HON. E. r. CHAMPLIN
Delivered Before Old Settlers Association
June 2lst.

the name Green to the river because its
waters were colored green by the earth
falling into it from the copper mine
which is three fourths of a league dis
lance from the fort.
Penicault states that the copper mine
is situated at the beginning of very
lone mountain on the bank of the river
and that boats can go right to the
mouth of the mine, and that there are
no trees on the mountain, which is more
than ten leagues long and that in the
finest weather there is continual fog
upon it. In the spring of l70l Le-
| Sueur left Fl lie Huelier and took with
him four thousand pounds of copper ore
and sent it to France.
| have purpose in being so explicit in
detailing Penicault's story of the copper
| mine as | wish to give all the informa-
| ton at hand to any who may have a
great desire to get rich quick, and wish
to explore for the mine. All you have
| to do is to locate Fort lie Huellier. which
must be very near where we now are
and then proceed to the mine just seven
| hundred and twenty rods from the fort
! bearing in mind that there is always a
cloud upon the mountain and | might
add there may be upon the mine.
Those daring Frenchmen subsisted
largely upon the game of the country
of which there was a great abundance
consisting of elk, deer, caribou and ante
lope, and mention is made that while at
the fort four hundred buffalo were
killed. How we envy those Frenchmen
when we think of the Chicago packing
houses.
| IeSueur's first visit to the upper
Mississippi river was in 1888, one hun
bred years before the treaty of peace
with Great Britain at the close of the
revolutionary war. At that early date
the population OF the colonies stretched
its thin line along the coast of the At
lantic and were loyal subjects to the
British crown and faithful adherents tt
King William and Queen Mary. More
than 80 years before the dawn of civ
ilizaton in this region, LeSueur and hi
daring followers stood upon the grounC
that we now occupy and gazed upon thu
scene about them in all its primitive
grandeur After the departure of lie
Sueur sixtysiX years elapsed before an
other European visited this immediate
vicinity. Jonathan Carver, an English
man. Il captain OF company of provin
cial troops, passed up, the Minnesota riv
er in the year 1865, where he spent sew
en- months in the vicinity of New Um
Carver started with the intention o
following the river to its headwater
and then on reaching the "Shinin:
Mountains" presumably the Rockies, t.
descend to the Pacific ocean by way o
some of the rivers flowing westward
He like others of the first explorers lab
ored under the impression that the con
ltinent was much narrower than it is
i However, his enterprise failed for wan
OF supplies.
Some of you may be interested in hi
glowing description of this locality
This is what he says:
"The river st. Pierre which run
through the territories of the Vaude
wessies, flows through most delight
full country abouhding with all the nee
essaries of life. that grow spontaneous
ly. and with little. cultivation it Nigh
be made to produce even the uxuries o
life. Wild rice grows here in grea
abundance and every part is filled wit
trees bending with their loads of fruit
such as plums, grapes and apples. Tn
meadows are covered with hops an
many sorts of vegetables. whilst tn
ground is stored with useful roots, wit
angelica, and spikenard and ground nut
las large as hens eggs. A little distanc
from the sides of the river are eminence
from which you have views that canno
be exceeded even by the most beautiful
of those / have already described
Amidst all these are delightful groves
and such amazing quantities of maple
that they would produce sugar sufficien
for any number of Inhabitants
! The eession of the territory of Louis
lana to the United States put an en-,
to further French explorations and tn
war of the Revolution, in which the In
dams were melted to hOstilities agains
the colonists, practically prevented an,
further development or knowledges o
this part of our domain until in 1905
when Lieutenant Zebulan NJ Pike o
the army was dispatched to explore TIN
upper Mississippi country. A peculia
nature of Pixies expedition, showing tn,
isolation of the country at that time
was the finding of several ur-tradin,
parties in the territory owned by thu