The Duluth rip-saw. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1917-19??, 1917-07-07

shore of Lake Superior, along St.
Louis bay or up the river to Fond
du Lac-nothing but Indian trails.
AS you came west, at the foot
CT Rice's Point, on the rock west
of Garfield avenue where the fire
hall now stands, was the Ellis
house. On the foot Of that point,
just north Of the Northern Pacif-
ci bridge, was a two-story log
house built by Orrin Rice, after
whom the point was named. He
was a brother of U. S. senator
Rice, Of Minnesota. When you
left Rice's Point to the west there
was a house at Coffey's creek,
owned by L. B. Coffey, a brother
Of the Confederate General Cof-
fey. On the west side Of the
creek, R. P. Miller had a claim.
North Of Coffey's claim, John G..
Rakowsky had a claim and a man
named Burke had one just west of
Miller's creek. There the rocks
came out to the bay and made a
lee on either side Of this point of
rocks, so that when the wind blew
from northeast or southwest, a
boat or canoe could lie in perfect
safety. I am sure that this was
the landmark chosen by Chief
Buffalo at the Indian treat of La
Pointe in the fall of 1854, as the
starting point Of his reserve, the
line to run one mile north, one
mile east, one mile south and one
mile west to the point Of starting.
This would have taken in the old
Indian burial ground at the foot
of Rice's Point. There was a
large burial ground there and the
Indians were very particular
about retaining such things.
Chief Buffalo's reserve caused
long litigation later on. Un-
questionably, the treaty was tam
pered with by interested parties.
When his land was looked up, &C.
cording to the treaty papers, it
was found to be located six miles
out in Lake Superior. This was
rectified somewhat and, when
Chief Buffalo died, his son-in-law,
Ben Armstrong, fell heir to the
old Indians interest and sold that
to w. w. Spalding, then Of On
tanagon, Mich, later of Duluth,
and the Spalding hotel stands on
some Of that land.
Patrick Conner had a cabin just
east Of the Mesaba ore docks at a
place called Corners slough. Pa
trick Conner left Ireland when
10 years of age and entered the
service of the Hudson's Bay COM
pany. He told us in 1856 that he
had wintered on Rice's Point "a
years previously. He was we'll
posted and he and his Chippewa
wife had two sons and a daugh-
ter, named Patrick, Peter and
Elizabeth, respectively.
The next house belonged to
Fred LeMargie and was located
west of the present site of the ore
docks. The father of Michael S.
Bright held that land as trad
ing post.
Then came the old townsite of
Oneota, taken as a townsite un-
der the old government townsite
law. It was located in 1854, right
after the treaty of LaPointe.
Ryan H. Bacon had a squatter's
right and one McCracken had an
other adjoining Bacon on the
west. Edmund F. Ely, associated
with St. Paul and Eastern men,
bought those rights and started
the town. The late Henry W.
Wheeler was one of the company.
In 1860, there were only "a
houses there, including buildings
of all kinds. The houses were
mostly on Oneota street between
Thirty-ninth and Forty-seventh
avenues west. The old sawmill
stood on the bay front between
Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth ave-
nues west.
The first public school on the
North Shore was held in the win
ter of 1856. Parents paid in pro-
portion to the number of pupils
sent. I was a pupil and four Of
us Merritt boys attended. Mr..
Ely provided five children, Mr..
Wheeler two and Christian Hof-
fenbecker, later Of Eagle Harbor,
Mich, was a pupil. In 1915, only
five of those pupils we're alive.
My brother, Jerome Merritt, was
the teacher, and an able one.
During the year 1857 a frame
school house was erected at For
ILL., ~xxo -