Devils Lake weekly world. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1911-1914, 1911-10-20
VERY LONELY
IS CRAVE Of
JOE RO[ETTE
EDITOR wARDwELLs COMPLAINT
IS RECEIVING A HEARING
AT ST. PAUL.
SHOULD HAVE A TABLET
PLACE IN THE MINNESOTA CAP
IToL IN MEMORY OF HIS
DARING DEED.
The Capitol at st. Paul was His Git.
1t shoul be His Monument But tho
Pembina Pioneer Press Says That
Not Even so Much as Wooden
Cross Marks the Grave Of the Great
Founder.
SHOULD HAVE A TABLET

st. Paul, MIMI, Oct. 19.-In his cur
rent issue the editor of the Pembina
N. D., Pioneer-E Express complains bit
terly because a tablet in memory of
Joe 'Rolette was not placed in Mime.
sofa Is new Capitol.
Neither is his grave on the North
Dakota prairie, near the junction Of
the Pembina river with the Red mark
ed by even so much as wooden cross,
says the editor, who suggests that st.
Paul provide a. suitable monument for
his grave.
Roette has not been forgotten in St.
Paul In the most conspicuous place
in the Minnesota club, where it must
be seen by all members and their
guests and where it is also frequently
remarked upon by those who pass the
club building, is a life-size oil painting
Of the famous scout, buffalo hunter
and politician. A duplicate Of this
picture is also in the possession Of the
State Historical society, which also
has in its files the complete history Of
Rolette's exploits.
The biography of Mr.. Rolette shows
that he died in Pembina in 1871, but
Warren Upham, the secretary, said he
knew nothing Of his grave. But here
is what the editor of the Pembina Flo
neer- Express says about the matter:
F A Lonely Grave.
There is lonely grave unmarked by
! even.a wooden cross out in q lonesome
prairie cemetery not far from where
the Pembina river joins the Red. It
is the grave Of noted frontiersman,
buffalo hunter and fur trader. A pio-
neer who stood for his people as lead
er among them and who represented
thmem as such in legislative halls Sim
pie hearted, jovial Joe Rolette sleeps
| in a grave almost unknown. Once his
string of shrieking Red River carts
was the event Of the year in the little
city Of St. Paul. Once no name was
better known or more often spoken
than Joe Rolette, but no marble slab
has the name engraved on it.
In the city Of st. Paul on an emf
nence which overlooks it, is magnof-
icent, pile of polished marble. It is a
building that cost $5,000,000 aud in
scope and detail equals almost any
building in America. It is the pride of
every citizen Of the state and the par
ticular pride of the st. Paul people,
and the show place Of the city. Ever.v
stranger is conducted through its mag
nifcent halls and up the beautiful
stairway from one splendidly appointed
room to another Portraits adorn the
walls, beautiful pictures are painted
above the alcoves, flags of the Civil
war veterans are there. But nowhere
is the picture Of the man who made the
capitol building possible-in st. Paul.
/ Rolette's Daring Deed.
The story is well known to histor-
ians. The capitol Of Minnesota was
by act of legislature removed from
st. Paul to st. Peter but the bill was
never signed by the governor for dur.
ing the last ten days of the session the
bill which was in the custody Of a
committee Of which Joe Rolette was a
member, and Joe himself disappeared
In the building Of this grand struc.
ture surely one small slab Of marble
could have we'll been spared from the
thousands Of beautiful blocks to place
as headstone to mark the ashes Of
one who did so much for st. Paul and
in his own simple way did SO much fol
the great northwest.
Capitol His Monument.
But be that as it may, no man ha!
:, a more magnificent monument thar
y Joe Rolette. The Capitol at st. Pau
. was his gift and in sense his mans
t oleum st. Paul and the rest of The
E world may forget the man, but wher
. they admire the gift, they must per
force be grateful to the giver.
e If st. Paul pioneers who yet re
r member the genial Joe can find the
!, sentiment and money for proper
). marking of the resting place Of this
old pioneer of the pioneers, Pembins
J, citizens will be pleased to put it il
!. place.