never since been dislodged, during a period of nearly forty years. There have been but two cases in the United States where the Republican party has shown such a hold upon state government.

Perhaps no portion of the West contained a body of men equal in ability to those found here upon the organization of the Territory. Most of them, although passing the greater portion of their lives in the wilderness, were well educated, and intellectually were of surprising brightness. It was a singular fact that all the Indian traders were Democrats; not a Whig, as far as I knew, was among them. This can be accounted for by the fact that during their residence here they were under a national Democratic administration, with the exception of the four years comprising the terms of Presidents Taylor and Fillmore. It was clearly their interest to be on good terms with the administration from whom they received the license to trade, and who could facilitate or hinder their trade with the Indians. I think that it was their realization of these facts that caused the traders, under the Whig administration, to keep aloof from building up and maintaining a strict partisan organization of their own liking, and which led them to coöperate cordially with those who claimed to work for the interests of the Territory.

There was something peculiar to the Indian trade which benumbed the fine notions of honor necessary to success in commerce between white men. To those having a slight insight into the trade, it would seem to be more or less necessary that the commercial conscience should be other than that existing between civilized people. It was a singular fact that nearly all these traders carried their Indian conscience into politics. These men became after a time much disliked by the masses of their own party, and were styled by them "Moccasin Democrats." However, they were the brains of the party and pulled it through some very tight places, through which they would not have passed without their aid. The influence of the Moccasin Democracy ended with the election of Mr. Lincoln. It had supported Breckenridge as against Douglas, and made a very sorry exhibit of strength. From that time it disappeared as a political factor.

The press exercised a great influence in politics, as well as in the development of the material interests of the Territory.

I cannot close this paper without some mention of a most remarkable character, Col. James M. Goodhue, who, during his short life in Minnesota, of about three years, exercised a greater influence upon the political life and material development of Minnesota than all the other newspaper men during that period. Born a Yankee, liberally educated, he came west as a young man, and advanced farther west to Minnesota within a few days after its Territorial existence began. Without capital, but with a hand-press and a font of type, he commenced to publish his paper in a wooden shanty, which he with his own hands put up. He acted at the same time as editor, typesetter, devil, and newsboy. Soon a large portion of the people of Minnesota read his paper, and its circulation extended throughout the Western, Middle, and Eastern states. I first read it in Missouri, in 1850, and through it was led to come to Minnesota. Goodhue had the sarcasm of a Junius, and the wit of a Prentiss. As a specimen of the former, at the conclusion of a scathing article upon some of the Territorial officials, he said, "The gall we have shown is very honey compared to what we have in reserve for them." As a specimen of his wit, with the sting in it, in speaking of a federal officer whose influence in obtaining his appointment was a mystery, and whose business conduct was not always creditable, and who in the free and easy western way had borrowed a small boat and gone down the river in the night, he says: "He stole into the Territory, he stole in the Territory, and he stole out of the Territory." As a specimen of his playful humor, he says: "Our citizens were treated to an address by our distinguished townsman, the Hon. John A. Smith, Esq., author of "The Black Hawk War,' and an unpublished Novel of Intense Interest!" Again, upon twins appearing in his family, he says, "Our patrons ought now to take two papers." In the winter season, when Minnesota was shut off from the world and without mail for weeks, he published a most interesting paper; its issue was looked for with the expectation of something racy, and the readers were not disappointed. His paper always advocated the adoption of measures necessarily attendant upon a high civilization. He wrote three editorials urging the necessity of securing grounds for a public cemetery, but he died before this wish was realized, and to-day no man knoweth where his bones lie.

The most remarkable man, in many respects, who ever appeared in the Northwest, was Joseph R. Brown. Coming as he did, at the age of fourteen, a drummer-boy in the United States Army, he remained in this section for nearly sixty years. He was engaged principally in the Indian trade. I think he was a clerk in the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature for one term. Certain it was that as Secretary of the Minnesota Council during its first and second sessions, as clerk of the Minnesota House at its fourth session, in 1853, during the next two years as a member of the Council, and in 1857 as a member of the House, he was one of the most influential men in the Legislature. He drew up most of the bills, and often told the presiding officer how to rule. This he did in no dictatorial manner, but because nearly all of the members knew nothing about legislation. He usually attended party conventions, and, although often weak in the number of his followers, he would gather in a good portion of the fruits of the convention. He had a most infectious laugh, and a keen sense of humor, and was always the center of a crowd. Those people who had been prejudiced against him, having no knowledge of him except that derived from newspaper accounts, and from his political enemies, after being a few moments in his presence, were satisfied that "Jo, the Juggler," was not so bad a man after all. For many years after I came to Minnesota, knowing but little of him through personal contact, and a good deal of him from newspaper accounts, I thought him the very incarnation of deviltry. During the years of 1863 and 1864, I had a good deal of business with him, and was much in his society, and I soon learned to admire him. He, no doubt, had been the best abused man in the country. He would often laugh in late years over the bad things that had been said of him. He possessed one very noble attribute: he entertained no hard feeling towards those who had reviled him. He had a good heart, and would put himself to a great deal of trouble to do a kindness, even to those who had traduced him. He was a well-read man, and wrote and spoke the French language with ease. At one time he was the editor of the Pioneer, the organ of the Democratic party, and filled the position with credit. He would dash off rapidly pages of editorial matter, ready for the type, without an

erasure.

How he, as well as some other of the earlier traders acquired their learning, is a mystery to me.

The most prominent and influential men in the earlier politics, who overshadowed all others, were Ramsey, Sibley, and Rice, and I think they stood in the order in which I have named them. There were several other leading men who afterwards gained political distinction, but the limit of this paper prevents my describing them.

Mr. Rice had to make his way against the business power of his enemies, and he succeeded in getting to the top. He was a man of fascinating address and great energy; and his labor, while in Congress, was unflagging. He worked for the people at large, as well as for individuals, for political foes, as well as friends, and no official from Minnesota has been his equal in getting work done for his constituents. Many Whigs went over to the Democratic party and remained there, owing to their attachment for Mr. Rice.

Nearly all the actors in the events I have described are now dead. Before their departure, all bitterness accruing from political strife had ceased and they took their leave in peace, with feelings of good will towards all. Full-grown men upon the stage of life, like boys in their school days, say bad things at times about each other, call each other liars and other opprobrious names, and have their fights occasionally. Yet, when these days are past, such matters are only touched upon as subjects of merriment and joke.

There was one thing about the early pioneers that their descendants should be proud of, namely, that no disloyal voice was ever raised against the Federal Union. Among all the factions in the parties at the time of the outbreak of the Civil War, the number of disloyal persons could be counted on the fingers of one hand. The contrast in this respect with some of the neighboring states east and south of us should be remembered by us and those who come after us with great pride. It would perhaps be a good thing for us to become worshipers of the patriotic manes of our ancestors and of the founders of this state.

BEGINNINGS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN MINNESOTA, AND THE EARLY MISSIONS OF PARK PLACE, ST. PAUL.*

BY BISHOP M. N. GILBERT.

Three blocks away from where we are now sitting, on the first rise of the bluff, is situated Park Place, a square or more in extent, with a pleasant little park in the center. Summit avenue bounds it on the north, St. Peter street on the east, College avenue on the south, and Rice street on the west.

Entering this park from St. Peter street, you will discover on the south side, in the midst of a row of neat cottages, a medium-sized frame building, rather antique in its style of architecture, with its gable end toward the street, like the old Albany houses in Knickerbocker days. This modest structure, now neglected and uninviting, has a history, and that history is connected with early days of St. Paul. This little house was builded by the founders of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota, and was occupied by the first missionaries of that church for some years. This was in 1850, when St. Paul was a small village of one thousand inhabitants, confined to the plateaus below the site of Park Place, and grouped about the upper landing, at the foot of what is now Chestnut street. Park Place then was in a very real way the edge of the wilderness, which, almost unbroken, extended northward into the frozen land of the unknown.

It may be of interest to many, and will serve the intent of this paper, if I briefly sketch the history connected with the

*Read before the Society, March 28, 1898.