History of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota

History of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota

The aim of this history was to present in a permanent form the key incidents in the history of Minneapolis, from its earliest settlement to its publication in 1895. The primary facts and events recounted were mostly obtained from living witnesses and participants. It was rare for a city with more than two hundred thousand inhabitants to have so many of its first settlers still alive. The city’s growth had been so extraordinary and unprecedented that many of its earliest settlers remained. Some information was also gleaned from the notes left by now-deceased writers who witnessed the events described. Great care was taken to verify the accuracy of all facts and incidents mentioned. While it might have been too much to hope that the work was entirely free from errors, it was confidently believed that any such errors were few and insignificant.

Death of Cyrus Kingsbury

Rev. Cyrus Kingsbury

Early in the year 1820, an English traveler from Liverpool, named Adam Hodgson, who had heard of the Elliot mission when at home, visited the mission, though he had to turn from his main route of travel the distance of sixty miles. He, at one time on his sixty miles route, employed a Choctaw to conduct him ten or twelve miles on his new way, which he did, then received his pay and left him to finish his journey alone. Of this Choctaw guide Mr. Hodgson, as an example of noble benevolence and faithful trust, states: “After going about a … Read more