The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1923-05-10

It took seven months and a million
words to bring the fiedgellng state OF
Minnesota into the Union.
But this week, at the ripe old age
of 65, Minnesota can look back at a
vivid record and say, at was worth
it,
For the state will have birthday
Friday. ~.
It will be much quietir than Min
nesota's first birthday, of course.
Then, on May IL, 1858, when the
funny little steamer Minnesota came
putting up the Mississippi, playing
Paul Revere to carry the message,
minnesota has been admitted to the
Unionv' excitement about the birth
dav spread throughout the United
States. And now it will cause only a
slight ripple in the placid sea OF daily
events.
Further, Minnesota then had few
thousand residents, few small
towns, a doubtful future-and the
scandal past. And now Minnesota has
more than 100000 residents, many
cities, an unquestioned future-and
the scandalous past is forgotten.
Yet the birthday will be noted. Pho
neers who came to the state when
emigranting to the northwest was like
taking off for an air voyage to Mars,
will put up flags and talk the old days
over again. School children will be
asked to hear the stoy of the state s
admission, and to recall what has
come out of that admission. Histor-
ians will note the date.
Minnesota has become a placid
state, in maturity. But Minnesota
was the extreme reverse of placid, in
the dim early days. And the charter
elections and Tutankhamen dresses
and baseball games and foursomes at
golf which today excite Minnesotans
were as nothing to the pyrotechnls
and promises and prohibitions at
tendant on the states childhood.
Looking back over the 65 years,
and even further, to the days when
pioneers rather doubted if the terri
tiy ever would dare ask to be admit
ted to the United States, you find
some interesting tales, worth remem-
bering when the state enters Oh its
Goth year of statehood.
They had a power war in those
days highly suggestive of the high
dam controversy.
They had real estate booms and
the real estate operators developed
neighborhoods by getting there first
even if they had to travel by night
to accomplish it.
The pioneers formed a co-opera-
tive association to hold onto claims
, in what is now Minneapolis.
t. nm
: Indians-SiouX and Chippewa-in
Minnesota. There were probably
twice as many whites, scattered in
small settlements along the river +.
There were a couple OF newspapers.
st. Paul was the metropolis, with ST.
Anthony just behind and Minneapolis
just chipping the shell.
st. Paul had been named, more or
less by accident, by Father Lucian
Galtier, who extended his work from
the district about Mendoza to build a
rude log chapel in October, 1841, on
land given by two of the few farmers
in the district. Father Galtier called
Mendoza "St. Peters, and blessing
the new chapel dedicated to st.
Paul, the apostle of nations" he de-
cided it would be approprite to name
the chapel st. Paul's. He did so, and
it grew to be known as st. Paul's
Landing, or st. Paul's and eventually
as st. Paul.
Some time before that-in 1887,
to be exact-news came to the terri
tory by steamboat that treaty pur-
chasing land on the east side of the
Mississippi river from the Sioux f-'d
been closed. Immediately afterward,
the first real estate promotion began.
Franklin Steele crossed the river at
night, employing what DIR. William
Watts Folwell, first president of the
University of Minnesota and author
of the most complete history of the
state yet known, calls "the immemor-
ial right of presumption"
I Major J. H. Plympton of Fort
Smelling crossed the river two hours