Historical Accounts of Bottineau in Minnesota
Compendium of history and biography of Polk County, Minnesota
Cha. 5, p. 45-45, Early American Exploration in the Red River ValleyAnother former member of the Selkirk Colony was Charles Bottineau (father of the notes mixed blood Pierre Bottineau who was prominitely identified with Minnisota history), who became a fur trader and lived for a considerable time near the present site of East Grand Forks. He had been a hunter for Alexander Henry in Pembina in 1803, later a partner with Charles Grant at St. Joseph and joined the colony several years later. In 182_ he had a hundred acres in crop. (N.D. Historical Coll. Vol 1, p. 304; Ross' Red River Valley, 176).
Some time after this he became a trader in the Grand Forks region. It is commonly stated that his noted son Pierre was born in the Red River Settlement, in Manitoba; but surviving members of his family state that the historic old guide, scout, pioneer, town builder, etc., was born in 1810 at the trading post of his father at Bear Point, on Turtle River, twelve miles northwest of Grand Forks and in North Dakota. His last years were spent on the Red Lake River and he died at Red Lake Falls in 1895.
Minnesota Massacre 1862
Conclusion, pg. 270-271In writing this narrative my mind has been refreshed and incidents and the names of persons almost forgotten come to me - they press on my memory. I am able to many, but to specify them would unduly lengthen this book. There was one important character, however, whom I had quite forgotten at the proper time, and in this concluding chapter must make mention of him.
Pierre Bottineau came originally from the Selkirk settlement and in 1837 made a claim near St. Anthony. I was with him upon the plains of Dakota in 1857, and in his way he was a remarkable man. On one occasion the party got lost in a furious storm, and we knew that war parties of Chippewas were roaming over the prairie and it was not any way too healthy to be in the region we supposed we were wandering.
We halted to hold a council and Pierre said, "As soon as the stars come out I can locate." So we waited and waited for the storm to pass over. The night was pitchy dark, but in time the stars came out, when Pierre laid flat down on the ground, face up, and for perhaps half an hour surveyed the heavens, and located our wandering feet. We were soon on the right trail for our camp, which was forty or fifty miles away.
Pierre was one of General Sibley's principal scouts during the several campaigns against Indians in 1862 and 1863. He died some years ago, and speaking of his death reminds me of others prominate in these military operations who have gone beyond the river.
The Seat of Empire, by Charles Carleton Coffin, 1890
Chapter V, pg. 109-111
The Frontier Bottineau is our guide. Take a look at him as he sits by the campfire cleaning his rifle. He is tall and well formed, with features which show both his French and Indian parentage. He has dark whiskers, a broad, flat nose, a wrinkled forehead, and is in the full prime of life. His name is known throughout the Northwest, among Americans, Canadians, and Indians. The Chippewa is his mother-tongue, though he can speak several Indian dialects, and is fluent in French and English. He was born not far from Fort Garry, and has traversed the vast region of the Northwest in every direction.
He was Governor Stevens's guide when he made the first explorations for the Northern Pacific Railroad, and has guided a great many government trains to the forts on the Missouri since then. He was with General Sully in his campaign against the Indians. He has the instinct of locality. Like the honeybee, which flies straight from the flower to its hive, over fields, through forests, across ravines or intervening hills, so Pierre Bottineau knows just where to go when out upon the boundless prairie with no landmark to guide him. He is never lost, even in the darkest night or foggiest day.
There is no man living, probably, who has more enemies than he, for the whole Sioux nation of Indians are his sworn foes. They would take his scalp instantly if they could only get a chance. He has been in many fights with them, has killed six of them, has had narrow escapes, and to hear him tell of his adventures makes your hair stand on end. He is going to conduct a portion of our party through the Sioux country. The Indians are friendly now, and the party will not be troubled; but if a Sioux buffalo hunter comes across this guide there will be quick shooting on both sides, and ten to one the Indian will go down, for Bottineau is keen-sighted, has a steady hand, and is quick to act.
The westward-bound members of our party, guided by Bottineau, will be accompanied by an escort consisting of nineteen soldiers commanded by Lieutenant Kelton. Four Indian scouts, mounted on ponies, are engaged to scour the country in advance, and give timely notice of the presence of Sioux, who are always on the alert to steal horses or plunder a train. Bidding our friends goodby, we watch their train winding over the prairie till we can only see the white canvas of the wagons on the edge of the horizon; then, turning eastward, we cross the river into Minnesota, and strike out upon the pathless plain. We see no landmarks ahead, and like navigators upon the ocean, pursue our way over this sea of verdure by the compass.
After a few hours' ride, we catch, through the glimmering haze, the faint outlines of islands rising above the unruffled waters of a distant lake. We approach its shores, but only to see islands and lake alike vanish into thin air. It was the mirage lifting above the horizon, the far-off groves of Buffalo Creek, a branch of the Red River. Far away to the east are the Leaf Hills, which are only the elevations of the rolling prairie that forms the divide between the waters flowing into the Gulf of Mexico and into Hudson Bay.
Wishing to see the hills, to ascertain what obstacles there are to the construction of a railroad, two of us break away from the main party and strike out over the plains, promising to be in camp at nightfall. How exhilarating to gallop over the pathless expanse, amid a sea of flowers, pluningig now and then through grass so high that horse and rider are almost lost to sight! The meadow-lark greets us with his cheerful song; the plover hovers around us; sand-hill cranes, flying always in pairs, rise from the ground and wing their way beyond the reach of harm. The gophers chatter like children amid the flowers, as we ride over their subterranean towns.
A History of the City of St. Paul and of the County of Ramsey, Minnesota
by J. Fletcher Williams, 1876In 1841, Pierre Bottineau settled in Saint Paul, with his brother, Severe Bottineau, and purchased of Benjamin Gervais, a small tract of land on what was afterwards known as Baptist hill. Pierre Bottineau is one of the most notable characters of the Northwest. He was born in the Red River settlement, his father being a French Canadian, and his mother a Chippewa woman, and came to Fort Snelling, in 1837, where he was in the employ of General Sibiley for a while, as guide and interpreter. He was one of the settlers expelled from the Reserve, and came to Saint Paul, as above stated. He lived here six years, when he sold his claim, and made a new one at Saint Anthony Falls, which he subsequently laid out as an addition to the city. He was also the first settler at Maple Grove, or "Bottineauti's Prairie," in Hennepin county.
Perhaps no man in the Northwest has passed a life of more romantic adventures, exciting occurrences, hair-breadth escapes, and "accidents by flood and field," than Mr. Bottineau. He has traveled over every foot of the Northwest, and knows the country like a map. He speaks almost every Indian language in this region, and his services as guide and interpreter have always been in great demand. He was guide to Col. Nobles' wagon road expedition to Frazer River, in 1859, to Captain Fisk's Idaho expedition of 1862, and Gen. Sibley's expedition to the Missouri River, in 1863. His adventures, could they be faithfully written, would make a volume of surpassing interest. Mr. Bottineau is now about 65 years of age, but is as strong and active as he was thirty years ago.
With whisky as an element of traffic, making brutes of the white men and demons of the red men, making Saint Paul the little hamlet which was its nucleus, even among the savages, there is no knowing what depths of abasement might have awaited it, had not a mighty and powerful moral influence been thrown into the scale against rum, and that was a Christian church. In 1839, Bishop Loras, of Dubuque, had visited Fort Snelling and Mendota, with a view of establishing mission churches in a region, as yet, destitute of them, but which was now beginning to attract notice, and attention, and population, and day or two, or more, without reporting to their quarters. Consequently, a deputy marshal, from Prairie du Chien, was charged to remove the houses. He went to work, assisted by soldiers, and unroofed, one after another, the cottages, extending about five miles along the river. The settlers were forced to look for new homes; they located themselves about two miles below the cave. Already a few parties had opened farms in this vicinity; added to these, the new accessions formed quite a little settlement. Among the occupants of this ground were Rondo, (who had purchased the only cultivated claim in the place, teat of Phelan), Vetal Guerin, Pierre Bottineau, the Gervais brothers. I deemed it my duty to visit occasionally those families, and set to work to choose a suitable spot for a church.
Charles Cavileer came to Minnesota in 1841, in company with the missionary, Rev. B. F. Kavenau, H. and Wm. R. Brown, and settled at Red Rock. He was a saddler by trade, and in 1845, located in Saint Paul, which was then becoming enough of a place to carry on that business. He occupied, for some time, a building on the levee, and in 1847, perhaps, moved up to what was once called Saint Charles street. In 1848, he and Dr. Dewey engaged in the drug business. Mr. Cavileer was Territorial Librarian for a few months, and in to the present post office, to show the contrast of thirty years the first and the last, the alpha and omega of Saint Paul post offices. Saint Paul was not the first post office established in this region, as some have supposed. Lake Saint Croix post office, afterwards called Point Douglas, was established on July 18, 1840, and Saint Croix Falls on July 15, 1840. Stillwater was made a post office January 14, 1846, about four months before Saint Paul.
Saint Anthony Falls, this year, gave promise of being a point of importance. This is why Pierre Bottineau sold his claim on Baptist hill, on June 16, for $300, and removed to the Falls, where he bought, for $150, a considerable tract, which afterwards became Bottineau's Addition, and built the second house in the place. In his deed of the claim on Baptist hill, to Francis Chenevert and David Benoit, he describes it as "bounded east by Kittson, north by Clewett, west by Hartshorn and Jackson, south by Louis Robert, and containing 100 acres." This was merely an estimate, there could not have been that much.
Francis Chenevert was a clerk of Louis Robert. He was born at Prairie du Chien, of Canadian parents. He appears, from the Register of Deeds records, to have purchased in connection with David Benoit, the claim of Pierre Bottineau, on June 16, 1846. Chenevert was unmarried and lived here until 1865, when he died at the residence of a friend on Robert street.
Progressive men of Minnesota
D.S.B. Johnston In the spring of 1856, Mr. Johnston was employed by Hon. Isaac Atwater, then editor and proprietor of the St. Anthony Express, and assisted him in editing and managing the newspaper until the following winter. Mr. Johnston then joined a company organized to select town sites on the Minnesota side of the Red River at the North. The expedition set out from St. Cloud, January 1, 1857, with five yoke of oxen drawing two loaded sleds, and guided by Pierre Bottineau, the famous Hudson Bay scout, and his brother Charles. It required thirty days to make this distance between the Mississippi and the Red River, and the explorers nearly perished in snow storms. Four buffalo were killed out of a herd of about one hundred, north of the Otter Tail river, near the present site of Breckinridge.
The winter was long and severe and the snow was so deep that no relief could reach the party until late in the spring. The flour was soon exhausted, and the cattle, unable to obtain anything but willow twigs to feed upon, were killed to save them from death by starvation, and were mostly eaten without salt. And, not only that, but other supplies having been exhausted before spring, the party was finally compelled to subsist upon boiled, saltless Red River cat-fish and tea until other supplies could reach them across the flooded streams and swamps in that memorable spring of 1857. From this adventure Mr. Johnston accumulated a large amount of experience, but not much else. He returned to St. Anthony in June, and the following July, in connection with Charles H. Slocum, he bought the St. Anthony Express and became its editor.
History of Minneapolis, Vol. 1
by Rev. Marion Daniel Shutter
The Carpenter Claim On November 3, 1838, Sergeant Carpenter sold a half interest in his claim to "Private Thomas Brown, of Company A, Fifth United States Infantry," for a consideration of $25. A log house was soon afterward built by the joint claimants. It stood near the river, opposite Hennepin Island, but the name of the occupant seems to have been forgotten. On May 6, 1840, Brown transferred his "undivided half" to Peter Quinn, "of St. Peter, Iowa Territory." Quinn was a native of Ireland and before coming to Fort Snelling in 1824 had lived at Winnipeg, where he married a half-breed Cree Indian woman named Mary Louise Findley. He served as a trader's clerk, Indian farmer, interpreter, etc., until killed at Redwood Ferry on August 18, 1862, at the beginning of the Sioux uprising against the whites.
Quinn sold his interest on May 1, 1845, to Roswell P. Russell and Samuel J. Findley, who a year later transferred it to Pierre Bottineau for a consideration of $150. The deed describes the property as "a certain tract of United States land in the Territory of Wisconsin, St. Croix County, on the Mississippi River, above the Falls of St. Anthony, containing one hundred and sixty (160) acres, more or less." Pierre Bottineau had purchased Carpenter's interest in 1844 and after acquiring the interest of Russell and Findley became the owner of the entire claim of 320 acres.
Other Squatters A few others settled on the east side before the lands were legally opened to settlement. These persons were called "squatters," because they merely located or "squatted" upon the land, holding their claims by occupation until the lands came into market. What is commonly referred to as the "Petit John" claim was made in 1842. It extended along the river, south of the Plympton claim, and included the site of the State University. Maj. R. I. Holcombe, in the "Compendium of History and Biography of Minneapolis" (published in 1914), says: "In 1842 came Eli Pettijohn, an Ohio man. Strangely enough, his name is given in Warner & Foote's, Hudson's, Atwater's and other histories as 'Petit John,' as if his family name were John and his Christian name Petit. He made a claim south of Steele's, or down the river, where the University buildings now stand."
Mr. Pettijohn was one of the first justices of the peace in Hennepin County, when it was organized in 1852, and afterwards held the office of assessor. He was still living when Major Holcombe wrote in 1914 and was then in the ninety-sixth year of his age. In 1845 he sold his claim to Pierre Bottineau, which made the latter the largest landholder on the east side.
Another squatter who came in 1842 was Joseph Rondeau (sometimes written Rondo), a French Canadian, who made a claim north of the Carpenter claim. He was one of those who were evicted from the Fort Snelling reservation by Major Plympton's order and before making his claim at the Falls of St. Anthony had been living at "St. Paul's Landing", the site of St. Paul. He has been described as "aggressive and troublesome, continually trespassing upon the claims of his neighbors."
Not long after Bottineau bought the Pettijohn claim in 1845, he got into trouble with Rondeau. But Bottineau was equal to the emergency. Rondeau was trying to hold two claims, one at St. Anthony and the other at St. Paul's Landing. One day while he was at the latter place, Bottineau took a few men and an ox team, went to Rondeau's claim, tore down his cabin and hauled the logs a mile or more back in the woods. He then proceeded to "jump" Rondeau's claim and succeeded in holding it. Rondeau then retired to his St. Paul claim, where he passed the remainder of his life. He acquired a comfortable fortune and a street in St. Paul bears his name.
Two Canadian Frenchmen, Paschal and Sauverre St. Martin came in 1845 and made a claim below the Pettijohn claim, extending down the river below the present Washington Avenue to the vicinity of Riverside Park. Baptiste Turpin then occupied the cabin on the Pettijohn claim as a tenant of Pierre Bottineau, and the entire population of the east side did not number more than fifty persons.
St. Anthony Platted In 1848 the Government survey was completed, clear titles to land could be obtained, and the population on the east side of the river was about three hundred. William A. Cheever had his land laid out as a town, to which he gave the name of St. Anthony City. Franklin Steele soon afterward engaged William R. Marshall to survey his land and lay it out into lots, with the necessary streets and alleys, etc. Among the collections of the Minnesota Historical Society is the original plat made by Governor Marshall, with the following certificate attached:
St. Anthony Falls, October 9, 1849: "I hereby certify that the map hereunto attached is a correct plat of a Town Survey made by me for Arnold W. Taylor, Franklin Steele and Ard Godfrey. Said town being located on sections twenty-three (23) and twenty-four (24), in Township No. twenty-nine (29) north, of Range No. twenty-four (24) west of the Fourth Meridian." W. R. Marshall, Surveyor.
The plat was recorded in the office of the register of deeds for Washington County, which had just been created by the Territorial Legislature. St. Anthony was then in Ramsey County and it has never been explained why the plat was not recorded at St. Paul. The original plat bears the following indorsement:
Register of Deeds' Office, Washington County: "I hereby certify that the annexed Town Plat of St. Anthony Falls, certificate of survey, or acknowledgment, was this day received in this office for record, at 6 o'clock p.m., and was thereupon duly recorded in Book A of Town Plats, on pages 36, 37 and 38." Done at Stillwater, November 10, 1849. William Holcombe, Register.
The original survey covered twelve and one-half blocks up and down the river by five blocks back. The lots were 66 feet wide by 165 feet deep and the streets were 80 feet in width. Running parallel with the river the streets were: Main, First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth. Beginning opposite the falls and running back from the river was Cedar Street. Below Cedar Street in order were: Spruce, Spring, Maple, Walnut, Aspen, Birch and Willow; while above Cedar Street were, in the order named, Pine, Mill, Bay, Linden and Oak. The names of most of these streets have since been changed. Major Holcombe tells the following story of how Pierre Bottineau had his lots "fixed":
"Pierre Bottineau, the French half-blood, who had always been on the Northwestern frontier and had never seen a city, and who owned so much of St. Anthony realty outside of the Steele and Cheever surveys, was impressed with what Marshall had done for Frank Steele's property. He could not read, therefore he had never read of a city and did not know how one was constructed; but he heard Steele, Marshall and Cheever comment on Marshall's work and some months afterward he said to the surveyor: 'You jist take my land and fix him same lak M'sieu Steele land.' Asked for particulars, he threw up his hands, carelessly and replied: 'O, fix him lak you please, same lak M'sieu Steele, but do as you please.' Thereupon Marshall 'fixed' it accordingly."
The lots platted by Cheever, Steele and Bottineau constituted the original Town of St. Anthony. Marshall gave the place the name of "St. Anthony's Falls," giving as his reason therefore that the falls were already so well known the name would advertise the town and identify its locality. But Franklin Steele said: "The name St. Anthony's Falls is too big a mouthful for a man to spit out at once," and the name was shortened to St. Anthony.
Early Cemeteries Although it is of record that the earliest settlers of St. Anthony interred some of their dead in a small tract near the corner of Fifth Avenue and Eighth Street Southeast, the first cemetery whose line is unbroken to within a comparatively recent day was Maple Hill. In 1849, Robert W. Cummings obtained some land from the government in St. Anthony township, and reserved a tract for a cemetery along what was afterward Broadway. The dedication of these burial grounds as Maple Hill Cemetery in February, 1857, gave the people, especially the early settlers of the east side, a resting place for their dead which was not disturbed for more than forty years. By that time, it is said that no less than 5,000 bodies had been laid away on the slopes of Maple Hill. In 1890, with the increase of population, the health authorities forbade further interments. The following year the city council condemned land on either side of the cemetery for street purposes, removals of the bodies commenced, and eventually the tract was incorporated into the east system of parks. The pretty little park bounded by Broadway, Fillmore, Polk and Summer streets is what remains of the old burial grounds.
Hillside Cemetery, on Nineteenth Avenue Northeast, was platted soon after the closing of Maple Hill, and its eighty or more acres have served their design and been molded into a tasteful and attractive home for those who have gone over the line. The Minneapolis Cemetery was the first to be established on the west side of the river. Although it was platted under that name, it is still generally known as Layman's Cemetery. It lies east of Cedar Avenue and north of Lake Street, in the southeastern part of the city. The original tract of twenty-seven acres was a portion of the land preempted by Martin Layman in 1853. A few years later, Uncle Wardell died and Mr. Layman gave his people a lot, at what is now the corner of Cedar and Lake, that the remains of the deceased might be decently interred. In 1859, Mr. Layman laid out a half acre in the same locality for a family burial lot and for the accommodation of neighbors, and the following year platted ten acres under the title of the Minneapolis Cemetery. He added to the original plat several times before he died in 1886 and laid the foundation for what has persisted as Layman's Cemetery. Perhaps it should be instanced as a case of historic justice.
In 1857 Pierre Bottineau, a French half-breed, gave the Catholic bishop at St. Paul two blocks of land on the east bank of the river above where the Great Northern Railroad tracks now cross, one for a church site and the other for a cemetery. They were portions of a tract which he had preempted several years previously. On these blocks were founded the Church of St. Anthony of Padua on Main Street and the St. Anthony Cemetery, at Central and Twenty-eighth Avenue Northeast. St. Mary's Cemetery was founded by the Catholics of the west side in the early '90s. Its nucleus was the old General Karnes homestead at Chicago Avenue and Forty-sixth Street.
Fifty years in the Northwest, Cha. 23
Pierre Bottineau Pierre Bottineau was born in the Red River settlement, now Dakota, in 1817. His early life was passed amongst the Ojibways in the employ of various fur companies. He has lived an eventful life and endured many hardships as a hunter, trapper and guide. He was early noted as a pilot to and from the Selkirk settlement. In 1843, he removed his family from Selkirk to St. Paul. In 1845, he removed to St. Anthony Falls, east side, where he laid out an addition to the new village. He was also, in 1851, the first settler at Maple Grove, or "Bottineau's Prairie," in Hennepin county. When he came to Fort Snelling he was employed by Gen. Sibley as a guide. In 1856, he assisted in selecting locations for forts. In 1858, after the establishment of Fort Abercrombie, he located the village of Breckenridge, now in Wilkin county, Minnesota. In 1859, he accompanied Geologist Skinner in his exploring expedition, having for its object the survey and location of salt mines, and was guide to Col. W. H. Noble's wagon road expedition to Frazer river. In 1860, he accompanied a military expedition with Gov. Ramsey to conclude treaties with the Northern Minnesota Chippewas. In 1862, he accompanied Capt. Fisk's Idaho expedition, and, in 1863, Gen. Sibley's expedition to the Missouri. Mr. Bottineau now resides at Red Lake Falls, Polk county, Minnesota.
Biographical Sketches of Old Settlers, 1841
Pierre Bottineau Most if not all the men I have already mentioned, came to St. Paul during the year 1840; but in 1841 appeared Pierre Bottineau, who purchased a tract of land known now only in history as Baptist hill, because a Baptist church had been erected thereon but of which no vestige at present remains. Where the church stood can be seen the imposing building of Wilder & Merriam, on Sibley street, occupied by Nicols & Dean.
Bottineau's father was a French Canadian and his mother was a Chippewa woman, and with the blood of these two flowing in his veins, he was a somewhat remarkable man. He was in the employ of Gen. Sibley as guide and interpreter in 1837, and subsequently became famous in conducting expeditions across the plains, as he spoke all the Indian languages and had traveled over almost every foot of the great Northwest.
On leaving St. Paul he made a claim at St. Anthony, and then established a settlement at what is now known as "Bottineau's Prairie." He is a large man physically as I remember him, with a prominent face and head, straight black hair and piercing eyes, and a swarthy complexion. An odd contrast to this appearance is his exceeding pleasant smile which nearly always radiates his face. He has the characteristics of the bear and the gentleness of the woman, and if alive, as I think he is, he must be a man 74 years old. He is a noble link of the past, as he combines the French, the Indian and the American, in all his elementary peculiarities. One of the best things which can be said of Bottineau is, he was always true to his trusts, and that of itself is a noble monument to any man.
Beginnings of Red Lake Falls and Red Lake County
by Virgil BenoitSome of the early settlers to come to St. Paul whose surnames appear later in Red Lake County are: Bottineau, Gervais, Labissonniere, Cloutier, Pepin, Desmarais, Bazile, Laroche, Benoit, and Fournier. Pierre Bottineau, born in Red River Settlement and trained as a scout, guide and fur trader certainly viewed the junction of the Red Lake and Clearwater Rivers where he founded Red Lake Falls as an advantageous site for a town. He was very influential in bringing settlers to Red Lake County. An early settler of this area recalled: "Pierre Bottineau and his son, John B., brought in a large number of French Canadians from Ramsey and Hennepin Counties, Minnesota, and also quite a number from the East, locating them along Red Lake River from Louisville to Red Lake Falls, and along Clearwater River from Red Lake Falls to Lambert." The year was 1877 and already many factors pointed to a rapid settlement of the area. In 1863, a treaty with the Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians at the Old Crossing of the Red Lake River had opened some three million acres of land to eventual settlement. The railroad had reached Fisher's Landing in 1875. Furthermore, since the 1850s, "Every effort was made to reach the minds of easterners and immigrants with Minnesota propaganda." (Tasse, 2:14-1 5; Holcombe, 72 (first quote); Blegen, 181 (second quote))
Pig's Eye's Notepad, by Paul J. Lareau
An Encyclopedia of St. Paul, MN, 1830-1850Pierre Bottineau was born in the Red River colony. His father was Charles Bottineau and his mother was Margaret Clear-Sky, a Chippewa. He came to Fort Snelling in 1837, in the employ of General Henry H. Sibley as an interpreter and guide. He was one of the settlers who was expelled from the Reserve, and with his brother, Severe Bottineau, purchased from Benjamin Gervais a small tract of land on what was subsequently known as Baptist Hill. Pierre lived there for 6 years, then sold the property, and made a new claim at St. Anthony Falls. Later in his life, he was also the first settler at "Bottineau's Prairie", later known as Maple Plain, MN.
Pierre was one of the most notable characters of the Northwest. He traveled over every foot of the region, and knew the country like a map. He spoke almost every Native American language in the region, and had a life of romantic and hair-raising experiences. He was guide to Col. Nobles' 1859 Wagon Road Expedition to Frazer River; to Capt. Fisk's Idaho Expedition of 1862; and to Gen. Sibley's expedition to the Missouri River in 1863. At the age of 65, he was said to have been as strong and active as he was at 30.
Pierre married first, in Winnipeg, MB, to Genevieve Laurence by whom he had 8 children: Daniel, Jean, Pierre, Genevieve, Rosalie, Marguerite, Leon, and Elsie. He married secondly in Little Canada, 1852, to Martha Gervais, by whom he had Charles, Mathilde, Henry, George, William, Norman, Laura, Jennie, Agnes, and Noah. He died in 1895 at Red Lake Falls, MN. [WM107-8, LR326, MN50]
Pierre Bottineau died in 1895 and was buried in the Cyr Cemetery west of Red Lake Falls. In 1978 his remains, and those of four members of his family, were moved to this site by the Red Lake County Historical Society. Directions: From Stop # 10 proceed along County Road 13 to Highway 32 in Red Lake Falls. Turn left on Highway 32, go one block, then turn right onto County Road 1. Follow County Road one mile to St. Joseph's cemetery. The Bottineau grave site is near the cemetery entrance.
Genevieve Laurence was born in Minnesota in 1818, and was the first wife of Pierre Bottineau. [LR326, MN50]
Martha Gervais was the daughter of Louis Pierre Gervais of Champlain, NY. Martha married in 1852 at Little Canada, MN, to St. Paul and St. Anthony pioneer, Pierre Bottineau. [LR1174]
Severe Bottineau was born in 1814 in Canada, the brother of Pierre Bottineau, with whom he came to Fort Snelling in 1837. He was also among those expelled from the reserve, and with Pierre, purchased from Benjamin Gervais a small tract of land on what was subsequently known as Baptist Hill. They lived there for 6 years, then sold the property, and made a new one at St. Anthony Falls, where, in 1852, he married Julie Chenevert. They had at least two children: Elise and Francis Edward. [LR327, MN50]
Baptist Hill was a hill that was located in early St. Paul, and originally included in the claim of Pierre Bottineau and his brother. The peak of the hill was located at what is now Mears Park in Lowertown, but no trace of it remains. During the early days of St. Paul, as new streets were platted in Lowertown, the land all around the peak was excavated and leveled for streets and construction sites, and the dirt was used to fill the natural ravine that flowed along what is today Sibley Street, and to fill the swamp that once covered the area on which the Union Depot now stands. At its "final gasp", Baptist Hill was a large mountain of dirt (50 feet high) surrounded by homes and businesses, and it was finally leveled completely. That final remaining plot of land became what is now Mears Park in Lowertown St., Paul.
Sherburne County
Page 453David Faribault was the first settler or trader, he having established a post on the Elk river in 1846, where he made a garden and raised potatoes. In September 1848, H. M. Rice and S. P. Folsom bought Faribault's improvements, and Folsom moved his family to the place and built a log cabin on what is now Auditor's addition to Elk River village. He was succeeded in the ownership by Pierre Bottineau.
The Pioneer Days of Red Lake Falls
by Charles E. Boughton, Sr.The first settlers in Red Lake, then a part of Polk County, came here in May 1876, just twenty-six years ago. No railroad train whirled along and deposited them and their household goods at a convenient station, with waiting friends ready to welcome them to their new homes. They left St. Paul with their families and the few things they could carry loaded into wagons and the clumsy old Red River carts drawn by horses or oxen - sometimes a horse and cow, or cow and ox. For days they winded their way just past little outlying settlements, through a wilderness of forests, swamp, camping out nights, the silence unbroken save by their own merry laughter and shouting, or the howl of wolves, or drumming of partridges in the woods. Coming at length to Crookston, the county seat of Polk, they found it an assemblage of eight or ten rude log houses and three stores girt 'round by stumps and woods. Walsh and Ross kept the best store there, and that was not a department store you may be sure. The territory east and northeast of Crookston was as yet unsettled. No townsite boomer had discovered Red Lake Falls, St. Hilaire or Thief River Falls, and land in their present vicinity was at a discount. There were homesteads "to burn," and of the best kind, too.
Leaving Crookston, the home seekers followed up the Red Lake River, until, seventeen days after leaving St. Paul, arriving near the present site of Red Lake Falls, they decided that no better land could be found, and settled down. The first colonists were French from Hennepin and Ramsey counties. These were Pierre Bottineau, then famous as guide, trapper and scout, with his sons, Isaiah Gervais, Joseph Belair, Thomas Belair, John B. Demarais, N. Pouliot, Pierre Audette, Benj. Gervais, Eli Lasha, Edward LaBree, Joe Beaudrow, and a few others. J. B. Battineau had located about seven thousand acres of land here on Indian script, including the present site of Red Lake Falls, but his title proving defective, the land was homesteaded by the incoming settlers who set to work at once, built log cabins and prepared to farm with the limited means at their command. Food was scarce then and tales are still told of living all winter on a barrel of flour and jack rabbits.
Pioneer History of Becker County Minnesota
Cha. 17, North Pacific ExplorationsThe first route proposed for the Northern Pacific Railroad was to run from Duluth to St. Cloud and from thence to Breckenridge, as a feasible route was known to exists along that course, whereas most people had their doubts as to the practicability of building a railroad farther north. The first exploring expedition was fitted out in June, 1869, under the direction and management of George A. Bracket, of Minneapolis. Their first camp was pitched at Small Lake, a little west of St. Cloud on the 9th day of July, 1869.
Accompanying the expedition was J. Gregory Smith, at that time governor of Vermont, and also president of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, Eugene M. Wilson, of Minneapolis, member of Congress from the third Minnesota district, Senator William Windom, the Rev. Dr. Lord of Chicago, Charles Carlton Coffin, correspondent of the Boston Journal, and among several others the financial agent of Jay Cook, a man whose name was Holmes. Pierre Bottineau, a Red River half-breed, and one of the most noted frontiersmen of the Northwest, was the guide of the party, and John O. French, now of Detroit Township, was his assistant.
The party consisted of about seventy men, fifty-five of whom were teamsters; twenty-five light wagons and buggies, and about thirty heavy wagons, loaded with provisions, baggage and general camping outfit. As they left St. Cloud, they made a very imposing procession, stretching out along the road for nearly half a mile in extent. They moved by easy stages, following the old Alexandria and Red River road, and in the course of about a week reached Fort Abercrombie, a frontier post occupied by United States troops. The party here divided, about one-half of them remaining behind to explore the Red River Valley and the country adjacent thereto in a direction north from Ft. Abercrombie.
The other half of the expedition now procured the services of a squad of twenty-five or thirty soldiers from Ft. Abercrombie, under the command of a lieutenant to serve as an escort, and then, under the leadership of Bottineau and French, proceeded to explore the country across the Dakota plains to the Missouri River. They crossed the Maple, Sheyenne and James Rivers, coming to the Missouri some distance north of where Bismarck now stands.
At their camp near the James River they were fired upon, in the night, by a party of Sioux Indians and skirmishing with the pickets was quite lively for a couple of hours, and was only brought to a close by the dawning of day. One soldier was slightly wounded.
After examining the approaches to the Missouri, and ascertaining the feasibility of a crossing, the party started back by a new route a little north of their outward trail, and about the 15th of August reached the Red River a little north of where Fargo now stands. Here they met the party which they had left at Ft. Abercrombie a few weeks before.
After a short rest, the united expedition crossed the Red River and started on their homeward journey in an easterly direction across the Red River flats, and on the 21st of August, 1869, camped for the night on the shores of Floyd Lake, in what is now Detroit Township. The next day being Sunday, the expedition rested from their journeying and the Rev. Dr. Lord held religious services at the camp, and preached the first sermon ever preached in Becker County by a white man of which we have any knowledge.
History of Foster County
Steven's Expedition of 1853The earliest recorded expedition to pass through Foster County was in 1853. Governor Isaac Stevens was directed by the government to organize and lead an exploring party overland across this new territory to Washington State. He was to make a preliminary survey that could be used in laying out a course for the railroad to the west coast. A party of less than 100 men which included engineers, soldiers, necessary guides, teamsters, and helpers, started at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. They traveled northwest, crossing the Red River at Breckenridge and then traveled across the prairies to Lake Jessie in Griggs County. This lake was well known by the Indians and the whites. It was first named by Lt. Freeman in 1839, when he was with J. N. Nicollet on a trip that took them to the Devils Lake Regions.
On July 11, 1853, they arrived in Foster County passing south of McHenry and probably north of Juanita. Their guide was Pierre Bottineau. Mr. Bottineau, a Chippewa Indian, was born in 1812 and died in 1895. He had a very colorful career. In one story he was described in this manner: "It was Bottineau who walked from Winnipeg to St. Paul with James J. Hill. It was scout Bottineau who headed Jay Cooke's first Northern Pacific survey across the continent, it was the Chief Bottineau who gave his name to Bottineau County, it was the gambler Bottineau who had three queens in his hand, staked Nicollet Island, and lost." Mr. Bottineau served as a guide for Stevens until they reached Fort Union. He shot and dried a buffalo just north of Grace City. Governor Stevens was amazed at the speed and dexterity of the men accomplishing this feat.
A Tale of Two Cities
Minnesota - A State GuideWhile the fathers and mothers of St. Paul were still being shifted about, Henry Sibley, later the first Governor, then a prosperous fur trader and a famous host, was living at the trading post, Mendota. He had seen the commercial possibilities of the region and induced his future brother-in-law, Franklin Steele, to act as sutler at the fort whose reservation at that time embraced most of what is now Minneapolis. Steele watched with considerable interest the two mills Colonel Snelling had built (1821-23) on the west side of St. Anthony's Falls, one to cut lumber for his buildings, the other to grind flour from the wheat his men half-heartedly raised. In 1838 Steele erected a cabin on the east side of the falls and paid a man to live there.
Six years later, Bottineau, a half-breed guide who had drifted down to St. Paul from the Red River country, took out an adjoining claim. Bottineau is one of the State's most colorful legendary characters. Handsome and reckless, he has been called the Kit Carson of the Northwest. In 1936 an old-timer recalled vividly being one of an admiring group of youngsters for whose edification he was wont to "skip" silver dollars across the surface of the Mississippi.
In 1847 Steele's workmen started building a sawmill and dam on the east side of the falls. Steele and Bottineau now emerged as sole owners of the land along this east bank. French colonists, mostly part Indian, followed Bottineau to the new settlement, and St. Anthony, later the East Side of Minneapolis, was born, with American workmen busy at the falls and half-breeds scattered about on nearby claims.
That same year the town of St. Paul was platted, a school was opened, and steamboats made the settlement their official terminus with regular scheduled visits. What with the establishment of the American Fur Company's headquarters in the new town, ever-increasing cartloads of pelts from the Red River country coming here to unload, and the Hudson's Bay Company's trade, St. Paul quickly became the most significant trading post in the Northwest.
When the Territory of Minnesota was created in 1849, St. Paul had a population of 840, while 10 miles away St. Anthony had about 250. St. Paul boasted a chapel, school, hotel, post office, warehouses, and stores, a total, including residences, of 142 buildings. St. Anthony had its mill, a store, a post office, and a school, with not nearly so many dwellings. The name Minneapolis had not yet been conceived, but St. Anthony was platted that year on Steele's land. Bottineau at once followed suit and platted the addition that still bears his name.
A History of Minnesota, Chapter 15
Contributed by Byron Fredrick Van DakePierre Bottineau, a big bear of a man with shaggy black hair, fierce eyebrows and a heavy beard, knew most of Minnesota territory from first hand experience. He served many years as a guide. He was little more than a boy when he got his first experience on the trail. At that time he helped carry messages from Fort Garry in Canada to Fort Snelling. He followed the Red River to a point across the Territory from Fort Snelling and then went across country. At this particular time he accompanied an older man named Le Compte.
As usual, they followed the east bank of the Red River to a point near East Grand Forks of today. Here they had to cross Red Lake River. Although ice was forming on the water, they built a big raft and young Bottineau took the mail, baggage and provisions across. He returned to get Le Compte who was on horseback because of lameness. Astride the pony's back on the raft with Pierre holding the bridle, they were almost across when they got caught in the current. Le Compte was thrown from the horse and all of them were pitched into the river. The horse managed to swim to shore and Bottineau saved Le Compte but it was a harrowing experience for them. Going on they got lost on several occasions, their food gave out, and they were almost starving by the time they reached Fort Snelling.
Returning to Fort Garry, Bottineau trapped, hunted buffalo and led a wild life. Then he married a girl from the Red River Settlement. To make some money, he herded twenty head of cattle down to Mr Sibley at Mendota. He received about fifty dollars apiece for the cows. While there, he helped Father Galtier build his little chapel at St. Paul. Learning that an imaginary line had been set up to keep the Sioux and Chippewas apart, he built a cabin on the dividing line. He called it "Sakis." which meant danger spot. The town of Osakis grew there. In 1841 he bought claims in the very heart of future St. Paul, and immediately a French Settlement sprang up around his location.
The next year he went to St. Anthony and began to operate some mackinaw boats, rigged for both rowing and sailing. The boats were manned by eight voyageurs and each carried four tons. The goods were done up in eighty pound parcels and when the voyageurs had to make a portage each man carred two bundles. These boats ran between St. Anthnoy and Sauk Rapids. He added some larger, flat-bottomed boats to transfer goods from St. Anthony to Fort Ripley for the American Fur Company and the United States Government. In 1847 General Isaac Stevens sought a right of way for a Pacific railway and Pierre Bottineau was his guide.
Capt. J. L. Fisk Expedition, 1862 Captain James L. Fisk; U.S.A. escorted a party of Gold Hunters from St. Paul to the Salmon River Gold Fields in 1862. They traveled via Fort Abercrombie and Fort Union over nearly the same route as Gov. Stevens covered in 1853. The trip required 19 weeks’ travel overland. He led a second expedition over the same route in 1863.
On July 19, 1862, the expedition reached Wells county, traveling a few degrees north of west, and camped for the night on the James River just west of the Wells-Eddy county line in the same vicinity as Governor Stevens had camped nine years before.
On July 21, our route today had been over rolling prairies, thickly intersected by small ponds and sloughs. At noon we lunched and grazed our stock at a beautiful lake and soon after we started on for the afternoon journey, we encountered a herd of some 5,000 buffalo. Pierre Bottineau, riding his fleet horse “Major,” attempted to shoot one of the cows, but just as he took aim, his horse stepped into a badger hole with both front feet, throwing him to the ground, and the horse rolling onto, and severely injuring him. Bottineau had to be carried in the flag wagon the rest of the day, but was up and ready to guide the party the next morning.” They camped that night near the picnic grounds east of Wellsburg.
Minnesota and Its People, 1890
Page 11In 1842, there were only two, Pierre and Severre Bottineau, of the early explorers, and both of them had moved to Saint Anthony in 1849.
Stanchfield Expedition OF 1847 Thrilling
Princeton Centennial 1856-1956Stanchfield and his two companions, mixed bloods, Severre Bottineau and Charles Manock, set out in a canoe from St. Anthony Falls on September 1, 1847. In an account of his expedition written in 1899 Stanchfield stated that when his exploring party went up the Mississippi river, “Half of the present state of Wisconsin was the hunting ground of the Ojibway Indians, three-fourths of what is now Minnesota was owned by the same people, and all the area of the Dakotas was owned by the Sioux Indians. Since 1847 four states have been carved out of that territory and admitted to the Union”.
A timber crew of 20 men came along with Stanchfield and his two companions. They were to advance with the three explorers until the first pine was discovered, and then they were immediately to proceed to hew and bank timber until the return of that party.
The first night the party camped at the mouth of Rum river where it empties into the Mississippi, where Anoka is now situated. The party pushed on the second day about 15 miles. Part of the way portages had to be made. On the third day a tract of scrub pine was discovered about three miles northwest of the present village of Cambridge. The timber crew located there. Stanchfield and his two companions then continued their journey up the Rum river with the intention of exploring it all the way to Mille Lacs lake. The bottomland along the river was wide and the growth of timber was thick, but it was wholly of deciduous species with no pine. The mosquitoes, gnats and flies almost put the party to rout.
On the third day after Stanchfield and his two companions had left the timber crew, he saw on the west shore of Rum river a tributary which he wished to explore. They had passed over 60 miles of the meandering river course above the timber camp. Up to this time no tracts of pine forest had been discovered. The tributary to the Rum river, which they discovered, was what is now called the West branch. The West branch was heavily timbered with white pine for more than 25 miles, as also were the main river’s tributaries. The pine, Stanchfield stated, on each side was from three to six miles wide. Its amount could hardly be estimated.
As Stanchfield and his companions pushed up the main river, he made a practice of climbing a tall tree every six miles and looking from its top across the woods. A large tributary to the north, entering from the west, had the finest pine he had ever seen. This was what is known later as Bradbury brook. This brook, Stanchfield stated, in its south and north forks were navigable for log driving, with pine on both shores. Lumbermen state there was no finer white pine in Minnesota than that found on the banks of Bradbury brook.
At Mille Lacs lake Stanchfield found a chief of Ojibways second in authority to Hole-in-the Day. He smoked the pipe of peace with the chief and bestowed presents upon him. The logging crew, which Stanchfield and his two companions had left behind them, was at work, and in four weeks had a large number of log pine logs down to the Mississippi river. It was then the first of November, and the first snow of the season was falling. Unfortunately the boom holding the logs at Anoka broke, and all the timber cut that season went down the river.
Treaty with the Chippewa-Red Lake and Pembina Bands, 1863
Oct 2, 1863, 13 Stats., 667, Ratified Mar 1, 1864, Proclaimed May 5, 1864
Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. Vol. II (Treaties)A treaty made and concluded at the Old Crossing of Red Lake River, in the State of Minnesota, on Oct 2, 1863 between the US, by their commissioners, Alexander Ramsey and Ashley C. Morrill, agent for the Chippewa Indians, and the Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewas; by their chiefs, head-men, and warriors.
Alex. Ramsey,
Ashley C. Morrill,
Commissioners.Mona-o-too, his x mark, Moose Dunn, Chief of Red Lake.
Kaw-wash-ke-ne-kay, his x mark, Crooked Arm, Chief of Red Lake.
Ase-e-ne-wub, his x mark, Little Rock, Chief of Red Lak(e).
Mis-co-muk-quoh. his x mark, Red Bear, Chief of Pembina.
Ase-anse, his x mark, Little Shell, Chief of Pembina.
Mis-co-eo-noy-a, his x mark, Red Rob, Warrior of Red Lake.
Ka-che-un-ish-e-naw-bay, his x mark, The Big Indian, Warrior of Red Lake.
Neo-ki-zhick, his x mark, Four Skies, Warrior of Red Lake.
Nebene-quin-gwa-hawegaw, his x mark, Summer Wolverine, Warrior of Pembina.
Joseph Gornon, his x mark, Warrior of Pembina.
Joseph Montreuil, his x mark, Warrior of Pembina.
Teb-ish-ke-ke-shig, his x mark, Warrior of Pembina.
May-shue-e-yaush, his x mark, Dropping Wind, Head Warrior of Red Lake.
Min-du-wah-wing, his x mark, Berry Hunter, Warrior of Red Lake.
Naw-gaun-e-gwan-abe, his x mark, Leading Feather, Chief of Red Lake.Signed in presence of —
Paul H. Beaulieu, special interpreter.
Peter Roy,
T. A. Warren, United States interpreter.
J. A. Wheelock, secretary.
Reuben Ottman, secretary.
George A. Camp, major Eighth Regiment Minnesota Volunteers.
William T. Rockwood, Captain Company K, Eighth Regiment Minnesota Volunteers.
P. B. Davy, Captain Company L, First Regiment Minnesota Mounted Rangers.
G. M. Dwelle, Second Lieutenant Third Minnesota Battery.
F. Rieger, Surgeon Eighth Regiment Minnesota Volunteers.
L. S. Kidder, First Lieutenant, Company L, First Minnesota Mounted Rangers.
Sam. B. Abbe.
C. A. Kuffer.
Pierre Bottineau.
Treaty with the Chippewa-Red Lake and Pembina Bands, 1864
Apr 12, 1864, 13 Stat., 689, Ratified Apr 21, 1864, Proclaimed Apr 25, 1864
Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. Vol. II (Treaties)Articles supplementary to the treaty made and concluded at the Old Crossing of Red Lake River, in the State of Minnesota, on the second day of October, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-three, between the United States of America, by their commissioners, Clark W. Thompson and Ashley C. Morrill, and the Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians, by their chiefs, head-men, and warriors, concluded at the city of Washington, District of Columbia, on the twelfth day of April, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-four, between the United States, by the said commissioners, of the one part, and the said bands of the Chippewa Indians, by their chiefs, head-men, and warriors, of the other part.
Clark W. Thompson, [SEAL.]
Ashley C. Morrill, [SEAL.]
Commissioners.Principal Red Lake chief, May-dwa-gua-no-nind (He that is spoken to), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake chief, Mons-o-mo (Moose-dung), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake chief, Ase-e-ne-wub (Little Rock), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Principal Pembina chief, Mis-co-muk-quah (Red Bear), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake headman, Naw-gon-e-gwo-nabe (Leading Feather), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake war[r]ior, Que-we-zance (The Boy), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake headman, May-zha-ke-osh (Dropping Wind), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake headman, Bwa-ness (Little Shoe), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake headman, Wa-bon-e-qua-osh (White Hair), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Pembina headman, Te-bish-co-ge-shick (Equal Sky), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake warrior, Te-besh-co-be-ness (Straight Bird), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake warrior, Osh-shay-o-sick (no interpretation), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake warrior, Sa-sa-goh-cum-ick-ish-cum (He that makes the ground tremble), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake warrior, Kay-tush-ke-wub-e-tung (no interpretation), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Pembina warrior, I-inge-e-gaun-abe, (Wants Feathers), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake warrior, Que-we-zance-ish (Bad Boy), his x mark, [SEAL.]Signed in presence of —
P. H. Beaulieu, special interpreter.
J. G. Morrison, special interpreter.
Peter Roy, special interpreter.
T. A. Warren, United States interpreter.
Chas. E. Gardell.
Charles Botteneau.
The Act of 1889 On January 14, 1889, Congress passed The Act for the Relief and Civilization of the Chippewa Indians in State of Minnesota. This legislation set off the last large series of land cessions to the in northern Minnesota. It required the appointment of three commissioners to negotiate with all the different bands or tribes of Chippewa Indians in the State of Minnesota for the complete cession and relinquishment in writing of all their title and interest in and to all reservations of said Indians in the State of Minnesota, except the White Earth and Red Lake Reservations. A number of treaties were made with different bands. Treaties had to be made and assented to in writing by two-thirds of male adults over eighteen years of age of the band or tribe belonging to such reservations. After seven days of bargaining, an agreement was made and signed by 247 chiefs, headmen, and warriors of the Red Lake and Pembina bands, including those below of Pierre Bottineau and his five sons.
193. Pierre Bottineau age 72
194. George P. Bottineau age 23
195. Charles C. Bottineau age 35
196. Sydney Bottineau age 31
197. William Bottineau age 28
198. Norman Bottineau age 21
History of Hennepin County and City of Minneapolis, 1881 Pierre Bottineau was born January 1st, 1817, at a place on Turtle river, Dakota Territory, once called Rats Point, but afterwards named Bottineau's Point from its being the residence of his father, Joseph Bottineau; who was engaged with the Northwestern Fur Company. The mother of Pierre Bottineau, was a native of the Ojibwa tribe, whose father was a captive Dakota, and mother an Ojibwa. By this marriage there were several children.
Pierrie Bottineau's father was commanded by the North-western Company to take part in the struggle but he absented himself on one of his hunting expeditions. On his return he was imprisoned, but owing to his influence with the tribe from which he had taken his wife, he was soon released, as worse troubles were liable to arise.
Amid these bustling scenes, in a wild country, among Indians, and half-breeds more dangerous than the Indians themselves, Pierre Bottineau was born. He was early trained by his father for the hunt. He possessed a strong frame and rugged constitution, and became a skillful horseman, and a sure marksman with a rifle, learning, as well as inheriting these qualities from his father, who was unsurpassed in the chase.
His father died when he was fourteen years of age, and LeCompte, a famous guide, but lame in consequence of an injury, pleased with the early accomplishments and promise of the boy, took him to live with him, promising to instruct him in the mysteries of his art. LeCompto was at this time the only man conversant with the country, and familiar with the duties of a guide. He held out brilliant prospects, of high wages, ending in a fortune, especially because he needed the sure foot, strong arm and quick eye of this young half-breed.
During the years 1832-1833, Pierre made a few short trips in company with LeCompte, carrying messages between trading posts, but his first long trip was in 1834, at the age of seventeen. LeCompte was then employed by the Hudson Bay Company to carry messages and the mail from Fort Garry to Fort Snelling, and Pierre accompanied him. They started the first of November and reached their destination December 27th.
Communication was difficult and expensive, and sometimes not undertaken oftener than once a year. They went down on the east bank of the Red River, and after eight days reached Red Lake River, which it was necessary for them to cross, though now very high and full of drifting ice. A feeble old man named Alard, went with them, and a pony with a Red River cart carried the man, baggage and provisions. A raft was quickly built and the cart and its contents were safely transferred to the other side by Pierre and Alard.
They next returned for Le Compte and the pony, the current carrying them down some distance at each crossing. On attempting to cross again, with all hands and the pony, their clumsy raft foundered on a stump, and was soon piled with ice so that the upper end was submerged, and the lower end stuck up at a sharp angle. The situation was critical and promised at the best, a cold bath to all.
Here Pierre proved himself equal to the emergency, for cutting loose a few pieces of timber he secured them together by a cord made of buffalo hide, and making his two companions straddle the logs, since neither could swim. He took the chance of keeping on the little raft and poling it to shore. It floated, however, much farther, and struck a bend in the river that was frozen over, in consequence of there being less current.
Here he was obliged to jump on the ice, after securing a long cord to the raft, one end of which he held in his hand. The ice would not bold the weight of a man, and Pierre went in, all over, in very deep water, but holding fast to the rope. When he came up, he swam, breaking the ice before him, to the shore, and hauled his companions after him. They were fortunate in having dry suits at the cart, and soon were all right in dry clothing. The pony was rescued, and they started again.
After traveling four days they reached the Wild Rice river, and crossed the ice and encamped near its bank. By some means, here, the pony who had escaped narrowly one danger of drowning, got into this stream in the night and was drowned. In this dilemma it was decided, as Alard could not travel, to leave him in charge of the cart and stuff while Le Compte and Pierre went on to Lac Traverse, a trading post of the American Fur Company in charge of Mr. Moore.
The journey, it was thought, would take four days. Pierre was loaded with bedding and provisions supposed to be sufficient for Le Compte and himself for the four days journey, and they set out. The lameness of Le Compte and the burden of Pierre rendered traveling slow, but it proved that the estimated distance of fifty or sixty miles, increased every day they traveled. Le Compte seemed not to be familiar with the country and arriving at Goose river. He called it the Cheyenne and the Elm he supposed the Wild Rice.
They traveled thus for several days until their provisions were gone, hoping to reach the Bois des Sioux, where Le Compte declared he should recognize the country. On the eighth day they reached this river, having been already four days without food, and found a fresh Indian trail which they followed to the camp. It proved to be the camp of a party of Sioux numbering ten men with five tepees. The strangers were kindly received and their hunger appeased by a repast of otter and skunk meat.
The next day they reached the trading post and obtaining a horse and man returned for Alard and their stuff. The old man's joy cannot be described, as the twentieth day after their departure he saw them returning. He had improvised a sled and loaded it with blankets and provisions, determined to start the next day, dragging his sled, trusting to a good fortune to take him to some habitation. After staying a few days at the post, Le Compte bought a horse of Mr. Moore and they proceeded to the trading post of Mr. Renville at Lac qui Parle and from this point they set out for Traverse des Sioux, another trading post distant four days journey. The post was in charge of Mr. Louis Le Blanc. Alard was left at Lac Traverse on account of the depth of snow and the difficulty of traveling.
Trouble arose again in attempting to find Traverse des Sioux and the two companions were near starving, as their supplies had given out; when, fortunately, a coon was, killed and their hunger appeased. After traveling in a circuitous route for several days in search of the trading post, Pierre insisted upon taking a direct course for Fort Snelling or as near direct as the Minnesota river would conduct them, disregarding Traverse des Sioux altogether. It is a difficult matter to divert a guide from an old route but at last the point was conceded and they set out. On the following day they came on an Indian camp and were received in a friendly manner and directed on their way. It appeared that the guide was mistaken in reference to their location and they soon reached Traverse des Sioux, and without further accident arrived at Fort Snelling, December 28th, 1834.
Among those whom Pierre met at the Fort at this time he mentions Mr. N. W. Kittson. After spending a short time visiting friends and relations who bad formerly lived at Red River, he returned and for two years spent his time trapping in the winter and hunting buffaloes during the summer. Two hunts were usually made each year, one in the early summer and one later, about fall. During the summer of 1835 Pierre made a trip to Hudson Bay in the employ of the Hudson Bay Company, and again the next summer a second trip. December 1st, 1836, Pierre Bottineau married Genevieve Larance, daughter of John Baptiste Larance, a farmer of the Red River settlement.
A few months after, he undertook the memorable journey across the plains, as guide for Martin McLeod, and two companions, Parys and Hayes, from LaFourch, Red River colony, Territory of Hudson Bay, to Fort Snelling. The time estimated for the journey, was twenty-five days; of this, the journey to Lac Traverse was estimated at fifteen days, and the remainder of the journey ten days. The time consumed was, however, fifty days, and two of the party, Messrs. Parys and Hayes, perished by the way. The indomitable hardihood of Pierre Bottineau, alone, brought Mr. McLeod and himself through. They started with a dog trainee, moccasins and snow-shoes. The deep snow and the inexperience of the party retarded their progress.
They so frequently required their snow-shoes or moccasins loosened or tightened that the patience of Bottinean was taxed to its utmost, and short days journeys were accomplished. This was, however, only a small matter compared with the trouble that followed. Blizzards, cold, and want of food finally added to their miseries, until Hayes was lost in a storm and never seen again, and Parys, though found, was in such a frozen condition as to compel him to remain in a hut, carefully built and provided for his comfort, until horses could be sent for him from Lac Traverse. When the relief party arrived they found proof that death had ended his sufferings soon after their departure.
Mr. Parys was a Polish gentleman who had served under Remarino, and left his country after the fall of Warsaw to avoid the fury of the Czar Nicholas I. Mr. Bottineau and the surviving traveler, Hon. Martin McLeod, arrived in safety at Fort Snelling, April 16th, 1837. May 4th, Bottineau started on his return on horse-back, took a traveler at Lac Traverse, and reached the Red River June 5th. Spent the summer and winter following, in the usual way, hunting and trapping. May, 1838, he undertook his next trip across the plains as guide for a large party, consisting of forty families, Swiss, French, and Scotch. This trip was accomplished without any remarkable incident, except that the Indians along their route became somewhat troublesome, and it was necessary to court their good will by distributing tobacco and flour among them in passing their villages.
This was especially true because of the hostility of the Sioux toward the Chippewas, and the half-breeds of the north were associated with the Chippewa's. Four of these Sioux villages were passed at Lac Traverse, numbering eighty or ninety braves; two at Big Stone lake, numbering three hundred; two at Lac qui Parle, two hundred; one at Blue Earth, seventy one; at Redwood, one hundred; one at Traverse des Sioux, one hundred and fifty; one at Belle Plaine, fifty ; one at Little Rapids, one hundred; two at Shakopee, three hundred. These fifteen hundred warriors were often on the war path. At Minnehaha, Lake Calhoun and Pig's Eye there were five or six hundred more. Some of them, whose villages were not in their path, might, notwithstanding, be met on the plains.
Owing to some accidents to their carts and one person, it was determined to send a messenger ahead to obtain from General H. H. Sibley his barge to transport the party from Traverse des Sioux. On arrival at this point the boat was found in readiness, and the party were successfully landed at Fort Snelling, though the time occupied from Traverse des Sioux was fourteen days, owing to low water. Bottineau brought down twenty head of cattle from the Red River settlement as well as some other merchandise. He sold on his arrival, cows at $50 to $75, oxen at $150 to $200 per pair, butter at fifty cents per pound.
October, 1838, he engaged to guide a small party of men to Red River and remained there until 1840. June 1st, 1840, he crossed the plains once more with a large party consisting of twenty families, and brought his own family along to settle in this country. On this journey he fell in with the old guide Le Compte and a party conveying a Mr. Simpson to Fort Snelling. Mr. Simpson was a son of Sir George Simpson of England, who had been making an expedition in aid of science and was now on his return, bound for England. Simpson showed signs of insanity at this meeting but the parties diverged, intending to take different routes.
On the next day Bottineau was overtaken by two men riding at full speed after him, who requested him to come to the aid of the other party as Mr. Simpson, in a fit of insanity had killed two of the party, one of whom was Le Compte himself. The relief party found that he had added his own death to that of his comrades by blowing out his brains. After disposing as well as could be done of the bodies of the slain, Mr. Bottineau joined the remainder of the party with his own and proceeded, arriving at the Fort in July. Here he found great changes, for the officers of the Fort had driven away Perry and Gervais and others; only a few remained and they were on the point of going, having received notification to that effect from the Fort. Here, for the first time Bottineau met Franklin Steele.
Bottineau went on to Saint Paul with his family and made a claim there in 1840, between Gervais and Clewette, camping on the bluff opposite the site of the old National hotel. The claim ran as follows: Commencing at a point, now the foot of Jackson street, running down the river eighty rods, thence at right angles to the river one mile, embracing a strip eighty rods wide running back to Clewette's claim. Not having money to invest in permanent improvements, he pitched a skin tent (lodge) on the bluff and lived there all summer. During the summer he was employed by Mr. Aiken, an old agent of the American Fur Company, with others to transport freight. In the fan he was able to build a house and make some improvements on his claim. In the spring of 1845 he put twenty acres in crops. From this time he was employed at various things but largely for the American Fur Company, until the spring of 1845. During this time he made one more trip to the Red River. In the summer of 1845 he moved to, the falls of St. Anthony and became identified with the interests of the place until 1854, when he removed to Bottineau Prairie in Maple Grove. During the years 1845 and 1846 he made two more journeys to the Red River settlement.
In 1851, Mr. Bottineau acted as guide to Gov. Ramsey, and the commissioners appointed by the government to negotiate a treaty with the Pembina Indians. The journey was made with a military escort. After holding a council with the Indians at Pembina, and concluding the treaty, commissioners and Gov. Ramsey expressed a wish to visit Fort Garry, and it was determined to extend the trip accordingly into the British dominion. In 1853 he piloted Gov. Stevens, of Washington Territory on the Northern Pacific railroad exploration, going west to the Rocky Mountains and returning by the Missouri river to St. Louis.
In the fall of 1853, Mr. Bottineau, made a hunting excursion, acting as guide for a party of English lords and bankers. During the winter of 1854-1855, he went with Captain Carney to Mille Lac with a military escort to arrest two Indian murderers. In 1856 he made an expedition with Colonel Smith, to explore the northern country for a suitable point to locate a military post. In 1858, after the report of Colonel Smith's expedition, further exploration was determined on by the general government with reference to the establishment of the post in question. Mr. Bottineau accompanied Colonel White and a captain in the regular army who were charged with the enterprise. This expedition determined the site and located the present Fort Abercrombie at a point then known as Graham's Point.
In the winter of 1856 and 1857 he, with others, located the townsite of Breckenridge, and during the following summer he located a town site on his own account at the mouth of Cheyenne river. In 1859, he went with Skinner, the geologist, to locate salt springs for the state. In June, 1860, he accompanied a military expedition to Pembina, and on his return, went with Gov. Ramsey and Judge Bailey to negotiate a treaty with the Pembina and Red Lake bands of Chippewas, but were not successful in concluding treaty. In 1862, he made a trip with Captain Fisk to Montana, and after reaching Benton, left them to another guide and returned, passing through great dangers from Indians. Since then he has resided on a farm at Red Lake Falls, Polk county.
The Bottineau Family
My Elusive Ancestors
E-Mail Debra McCann