physician at Royalton.
JOHN D. LOGAN came to Minnesota from Philadelphia in 1855 and located
in Hastings; served during the war in Company G. First Minnesota
Regular Volunteers. In 1879 he came to Royalton and devoted himself to
the development of the water power and the building up of the village.
He has a wife and three children.
CROW WING COUNTY.
The county of Crow Wing was organized in 1857. Prior to this period it
was included in Benton and other counties. It now includes eleven
whole and eight fractional townships in townships 43 to 47, ranges 28
to 31, inclusive. The Mississippi river bounds it on the west and
northwest, Aitkin county on the east and Morrison on the south. Its
soil ranges from a light sandy to a dark loam, with clay subsoil, and
the timber includes the pines and the hardwoods common to the
latitude. There are also fine meadows and burr oak openings. It is
watered by the tributaries of the Mississippi and its surface is
dotted with lakes. It is well adapted to stock raising and
agriculture.
C. H. Beaulieu appears to have been the first white man to locate
within its boundaries. He established a trading post as early as 1837,
near the mouth of Crow Wing river. His successors in trade were Allen
Morrison and Donald McDonald. Philip Beaupre was here in 1844. When
Fort Ripley was built S. B. Olmstead, with his family, built a house
and improved a farm opposite the fort on the east bank of the
Mississippi. Mr. Olmstead came from Prairie du Chien in 1849. While
residing here he served as a member of the second, fifth and sixth
territorial legislatures, and in 1854 was elected president of the
council. After living here several years, he removed to Texas, and
died there some years ago. Mr. Olmstead kept a hotel and managed to
secure most of the hay, beef and wood contracts for the fort. Henry M.
Rice had a trading post at one time at Crow Wing village, about eight
miles above the fort. John H. Fairbanks ran a ferry at the village.
Other settlers were Wallace Bean, Henry Whipple, F. M. Campbell, W. B.
Wakefield, Ed. Lyndes, Albert Fuller, Thomas Cathcart, Daniel S.
Mooers, S. C. Abbe, and members of the Beaulieu family. James A.
Parish was the first justice of the peace. John McGillis, who lived at
Crow Wing in 1853, was the second and served about fifteen years. In
1856 the first farm was opened on government land, not far from Crow
Wing village, by Wallace Bean. The second farm was taken by David
McArthur, a Canadian, originally from Scotland. George Van Valkenburg
opened a blacksmith shop at Crow Wing in 1856, lived there two years
and was then employed as government blacksmith by the Indian
department, and served as such for twelve years. Crow Wing county was
organized in 1857, with the following board of officers: County
auditor, C. H. Beaulieu; register of deeds, F. M. Campbell; county
treasurer, Robert Fairbanks; county commissioners, J. H. Fairbanks,
Allen Morrison, S. B. Olmstead; judge of probate court, Dennis Shaff.
The county organization took effect Jan. 1, 1858. The county was
attached for judicial purposes, first to Ramsey, and then to Morrison
county. F. W. Peake came to Crow Wing in 1858, and opened a trading
post, and was afterward one of the mercantile firm of Peake &
Wakefield. Rev. E. S. Peake, an Episcopal clergyman, came to Crow Wing
about the same time, built a church and remained as rector till the
breaking out of the war, when he accepted the chaplaincy of a
Wisconsin regiment. After the war he removed to California, and
carried on a mission a few years, but later returned to Minnesota and
is now stationed at Detroit. Rev. Francis Pierz, a Catholic priest,
officiated at Crow Wing and Belle Prairie until 1870, when he returned
to his home in Austria.
The first district court was held at Crow Wing in 1871, J. M. McKelvey
officiating as judge, Chas. Beaulieu as clerk of court, and Wm. Wood
as sheriff.
Soon after the county organization was abandoned, to be reresumed in
1870 by legislative enactment. The county officers at the organization
were: Commissioners, Wallace Bean, Henry Whipple and F. W. Peake;
treasurer, E. B. Snyder; auditor, J. W. Campbell; clerk of court,
Chas. H. Beaulieu; sheriff, Wm. Wood.
MURDERERS LYNCHED.
In 1871, Ellen, daughter of David McArthur, living near Crow Wing
village, was murdered by Indians. The murderers were arrested and
placed in jail at Brainerd, from which they were taken by a mob and
hanged.
BRAINERD
Is situated on the east bank of the Mississippi, and is a prosperous
city. The settlement commenced with the opening of the Northern
Pacific railroad. This road has a branch from Brainerd to St. Paul.
The railroad company have made Brainerd headquarters for repairing
shops; have expended large amounts in improvements, and employ in
their business here nearly 1,000 men. The first through train arrived
at Brainerd March 11, 1871.
In 1870 several claims were made for purposes of speculation, and
afterward sold to Mrs. Hester Gilman, of St. Cloud, and other parties,
but the greater part of the city site was purchased of the government
in 1870, by Hester Gilman and Thomas H. Campbell. The Lake Superior &
Puget Sound Company, organized under the laws of Maine, and duly
authorized by the laws of Minnesota, purchased Gilman's and Campbell's
claims and made the original survey and plat of the town on Sept 25,