Fathers of waters! by thy side Cities and towns are rising fast; Beneath the bluffs, thy beauteous pride, Gay dwellings now their shadows cast-- But there's a scene surpassing all, On which the setting sun doth rest-- On thee its latest glories fall, Winona--pride of all the west. Far, far inland the farmers thrive, And reap a rich reward for toll-- The laborer ne'er can vainly strive Upon thy rich, luxuriant soil. May fortune's sun resplendent shine Upon thy town and rearward plains, And be such future glory thine, As merit everywhere attains. The Sioux, their first-born maidens, call "Wenonah" and no sweeter name On parent's ears could ever fall, Or fill the sounding trump of fame! From far Itasca to the sea, No spot is half so sweetly blessed-- And here's a bumper health to thee! Winona--glory of the West.
Captain Sam Whiting (1)
A Businessman's View. A Farmer's View. Winona In 1857. Winona Takes Off.
The growth of the city of Winona was rapid. It developed quickly from a sandbar with shanties to bustling frontier town. Even though in its early days living conditions in the new town were crude, as entrepreneurs and settlers flowed in, it began to take on the form and style of a town that was going places. A newspaper reporter who saw Winona in 1854 praised its natural beauty, ideal location and the vigor and enterprise of its busy citizens,
A Newspaper Man's View of Early Winona. "Our observations in Minnesota. The renowned grandeur and beauty of the scenery of the Hudson, the St. Lawrence, and of Italy has been extolled time and time again by the press and the tourist, while but few have as yet satisfied their love for the beautiful in natural scenery by a trip on the upper Mississippi. Our own imagination had scarcely reached the starting point of what the reality opened to the 17th of May last, the day after we had taken passage, on board the Nominee, for Wenona (sic), a brand new but lovely little town, about 250 miles above Galena, and which was to have been our abiding place in this land of promise. A continual variation of scene now opened to the view, marred only by an occasional ungraceful slew or marsh which placed the opposite high lands at a more remote distance from the steamer as she gracefully moved up the winding channel. We have not time nor space to notice the numerous worthy places between Galena and Wenona, none of which, however, left so great an impression on our mind as the latter. As we neared it the evening of the third day after our embarkation , the beautiful prairie on which the town had been located, put on the most lovely appearance, the buildings which dotted it surface filling their appropriate places in the scene, as if to enliven which, numerous tenements were in progress of erection, the workmen pausing now and then to watch the progress of the boat as she neared the landing. Here was life and activity, politeness and civility, where the rude state of border life had been expected..." (2)
The optimistic view of this observer, which was, based more on hope rather than evidence of growth was shared by a later report on growth of the city in 1855 in the History of Winona. Population was growing slowly and the rapid increase did not occur until after the territory to the west of the town had been surveyed and the land office was opened in November 1855. The city had been legally established in 1853 but the population remained small until settlers were assured that the town was going to endure. A photograph of Winona taken in 1856 portrays a very dynamic place. While there are few building in view there is a great deal of activity in the town. There are wagons in the roadway and the photograph presents a sense of activity, which is described in detail in the Winona County History.
The population had increased from about 800 in December, 1855, to 3,000 in December, 1856." "There had been erected during the year 290 buildings of all kinds, among them three good churches, a large four story warehouse, a commodious hotel (the Huff House), a steam flouring mill with five run of stones, a large three story banking building, besides scores of others of less note, yet decidedly creditable to the young city." An idea of the value of real property may be had from these specimen quotations of sales of real estate, taken from the columns of the Winona Republican of that date: "A lot on Second street, between Center and Lafayette, 40x100 feet, $1,600 cash; two corner lots on Walnut street, $1,800; a lot, 80x140 feet, corner Second and Center streets, $6,000." The manufacturing establishments were two steam saw mills, one steam planing mill, one steam flouring mill, one cabinet manufactory with steam power. The river was open to navigation from April 8th to November 17th; and during that time there were 1,300 arrivals and departures of boats. A tri-weekly line of steamers was maintained for the greater part of the season between Winona and Dubuque, and the forwarding and commission business for that one season aggregated $182,731.96. There were fourteen attorneys-at-law and nine physicians waging war against crime and death, (when not retained on the other side,) and about 150 business housed, stores, shops, etc., distributed as follows: dry goods, 14; groceries and provisions, 16; clothing, 7; hardware and tin, 6; drugs, 5; boots and shoes, 4; furniture, 4; books, 2; wholesale liquor, 2; hotels and taverns, 13; eating houses and saloons, 10; lumber yards, 5; blacksmith shops, 3; warehouses, 4; brick yards, 2; livery stables, 2; sign painters, 3; watchmakers, 3; butchers, 2; wagon and carriage shops,2; fanning-mill maker, 1; gunsmith shops, 2; bakeries, 2; dentists, 3; daguerrean artist, 1; banking offices, 6; real estate and insurance, 10; printing offices, 2; harness shops, 2; barber shops, 3. To these may be added five churches and two schools, and you have a fair summary of Winona's business at the close of 1856. (3)
Original Town Plot. "The original plat of Winona, surveyed, June 19th 1852, by John Ball, for Erwin H. Johnson and Orrin Smith, was so set apart and recorded under the revised territorial statutes of 1851, in accordance with the town site act passed by Congress May 23, 1844. This original plat was bounded on the north by the Mississippi river, on the east by Market street, on the south by Wabasha street and on the west by Washington street. It comprised a square, each side of which was six full blocks. This plat was enlarged from time to time by "additions," until at the close of 1856, the platted area on Wabasha prairie covered a tract of ground fully two miles in extent from east to west, and nearly half that distance from north to south. The principal of these additions was never recorded as such, and is generally known as Huff's survey of the city of Winona. This survey and dedication was made in 1854, and extended from the original town plat on the east to Chute's addition on the west, a total length of seven blocks and a fraction, and covering an area considerable larger than the original plat itself." (3)
A Businessman's View. Another view of the city in 1856 is presented by an observant newcomer who intended to establish a store in the city and then return to Massachusetts to bring his wife and family to their new home. He was an experienced and realistic businessman who, with a partner, had started and was still operating a store in Galena, Illinois. His impression of the city is valuable because it is the observation of a seasoned businessman and it has a tone of confidence, which is expressed by a person who is ready to invest his capital in the city's future.
Philip Morrison arrived in Winona on April 20th or 21st 1856. In a series of weekly letters written to his wife, Rebecca who was in Michigan anxiously waiting for him to find a permanent settlement for their family. He described the growth of the city, his business, the purchase of land and the building of their home on Front Street. Morrison had started a business earlier in Galena, Illinois but decided leave it to his partner and to try his luck elsewhere. He purchased groceries and other supplies which he planned to use to stock his business in the frontier river town of Winona. In his first letter to his wife, whom he often fondly referred to as mais cheri amie, he described the primitive but promising settlement.
"It is my opinion that this will be a good point for business & it is truly a beautiful place & now numbers about three hundred inhabitants situated on the prairie on the bank of the Mississippi. We have from one to three steamboats every day--it makes things look very lively....The store I have is just such as one as I had on the lake the same size & a very good room upstairs. I have been trying for the last three days to buy something of a mattress but such a thing cannot be obtained so that I could sleep at the store. I have made frequent inquiries for someone to make a straw tick & yet have not been able to find anybody to make one. I have concluded rather than sleep any longer at the dirty hotel to make one tomorrow myself. There is the greatest immigration to this county this spring than ever was known or expected. Every boat is crowded to its utmost capacity." (4)A week later he sent Rebecca more information about the new town. He seems to overestimate the distance between Winona and Galena but such calculations were difficult because the river did not follow a straight route it had many bends and even changed course from time to time.
"....This place is about 300 miles north of Galena situated in a beautiful Prairie on the bank of the Mississippi. It is the most growing town in the west & an excellent business place. I think it rather a pretty place....We have had stop here today ten fine steamboats and they all put off more or less goods and people. The people that throng the decks of all the boats is astonishing. It appears as though the whole world is moving west......I do get along very well here with the exception of the living--they do live harder here than any place I know of. You know I am not hard to please in that particular & can get along with most anything but I can't help complaining some at our fare, they promise to do better soon. I am boarding at the "Washington House" but it little deserves such a name...." (5)By May 15th Morrison had acquired two lots at what seems to be a bargain price unless land along the river was not valued as highly as that reported in the description of the city in H. H. Hill's History of Winona County. He also mentioned a Dutch boy who was probably German and who was assisting him in the store.
Yesterday I bought two beautiful lots in this town for 600$ (sic) for the two & now I am busily engaged with mechanics in getting up plans for a cheap & convenient dwelling house.....One is a corner lot 150 feet on the cross street & the two 120 feet fronting the river. I think they are handsomely situated & in a good neighborhood of people everybody thinks I bought them very low --we will have a full view of the Mississippi up and down for milesA week later after Morrison closed the store at 9 o'clock, he persuaded the carpenter who was building his house to draw a sketch of it he could send to his wife. He reiterated the high cost of building materials and wages and continued his description of the rapidly growing town.....I have a very good Dutch boy with me who assists me in the store. He was with me at Galena & as far as he is competent I would wish no better helper.
....This is the most growing town on the Mississippi & appears the most healthy--as I have not heard of a single case of sickness of any kind since I arrived. It is an excellent business point--I think it will make quite a town....(6)
"....It is now just 9 o'clock and as everybody has left the store...There is the greatest rush of people to this country this Spring ever known & this is considered the 2nd best point on the river between Galena and St. Paul It is an excellent business point with our little stock we could not wish to do better. Houses spring up every day like mushrooms. Although there are very few good ones yet built. I can compare it to nothing else than some of the towns in California several years ago....I have a good Dutch boy with me, but he is not sufficiently acquainted with business as to take charge--therefore I am tied here at present pretty firmly." (7)
All kinds of material for building is very high and also wages....
Early in June Morrison decided to settle permanently in Winona. In this letter he reassures Rebecca that the town will grow.
"We are doing a very healthy business with a very good prospect of doing as much as we could wish....You ask if this has any prospect of being anything more than a country village. My answer is that judging from the business done here--the price of property & its rapid growth--it is destined to make a great town....I feel better now my dear Rebecca that I have a prospect of settling permanently & if we all can be permitted to enjoy good health I feel with you & our dear children in our little house. I have laid up in store for us everything that is pleasant." (8)
In his next letter Morrison described in detail the progress that was being made on the house. He reported that carpenter was reluctant to make alterations Morrison's wife has requested because she has not seen the house. Morrison also defends Minnesota's climate and writes his wife Rebecca that he should be able to leave his business early in July so that he can return to Massachusetts to bring his wife and their two children Mary and Rebecca to their new home. Morrison was able to leave the city on July 11.
"I was truly happy to notice that you were pleased with the idea of having a home of our own out here & so far from your friends....I think our children will grow stouter here than any climate I know of. The air is very plain and the climate cannot be more healthy in any country. The only objection I can have is the cold winters--although when I consider that they are usually only of three months duration. I think we can stand it--particularly with our new house which will be made warm & comfortable." (9)
Morrison brought his family to their new home and by 1860 the number of children in the Morrison family doubled with the addition of Philip and Elenore who were born in Winona.
A Farmer's View. Just a year later the euphoric accounts of the material stability of the city reported by Morrison were questioned by Milton Buswell who farmed in Warren township and had suffered a crop loss in 1855.
"After having the misfortune to lose what corn we planted to the gophers; I had the luck to buy 100 lb. for $25.00 but now they all ask 40c a bushel, Wheat is 60c oats 40c potatoes sell at Winona for 50c. We have 2 pigs. We feed them on wheat, & the oxen on straw & corn. Money is very scarce. Quickly taken at 3 pr.ct. pr. mo. and some pay 5 pr. mo. Some of the monied (sic) men in Winona have failed. Some of them told me Friday that there was not money enough in the banks there to change a $500.00 check. If I had what Jonas owes me at this time, I think I could use it to good advantage; but it would probably take 1 or 2 months to get it and by that time there may be changes to alter business." (10)
Buswell's concern about the economy was well founded because a devastating depression settled on the country in 1857. Local sources do not disclose how much an impact this economic downturn had on Winona. By the late fifties it was evident that the early optimistic predictions for the future of the city were coming true, Winona was now the third largest city in Minnesota and its outlook was bright.
Winona In 1857. Another observer who visited Winona in 1857 supported this optimism. A reporter who identified himself as H.C.K. traveled throughout southern Minnesota in 1857 and wrote a series of articles for the Weekly Express which was published in St. Anthony's Falls. These articles promoted the development of Minnesota Territory and the building of villages, towns and cities and to this extent they were blatantly boosterish in tone and characterized by inflated population counts. They also reflected the attitude of the leading businessmen of the area who obviously influenced the author's story. In Winona, Henry D. Huff appeared to be H.C.K's major source for his story and it can be assumed that the point of view expressed reflected that of Huff and other leading businessmen. Huff was a major founder of the city. He was a man of substantial means and vision who had come to Winona in 1853 to take the opportunity offered by a town site that appeared to have significant growth potential.
A thorough reading of these articles reveals that while the author had a point of view he did not neglect to point out some of the area's shortcomings as well as its beauty and promise. These articles provide an independent view by an informed outsider on the status of the area at an early period in its history.
In the Spring of 1857, according to this article, there were no buildings built on Wabasha's prairie yet. This observation probably ignored the claim shanties where the squatters lived. The first buildings to be erected were the Winona House, Huff's hotel and cottages built for Huff and Elder Edward Ely. Two years later there were still only about twelve buildings constructed but people were beginning to come to the settlement. There were 815 people living on the sandbar in 1855 according to a census survey taken locally. The author claims that by June of 1856 there were 2,000 people in Winona and 670 buildings had been erected. There certainly was much growth during this period but there is no way to verify the accuracy of H.C.K.'s reporting because this is the only eyewitness source available. It is possible that the population figures cited here reflect a population in motion and not a resident population of the city. Winona was the primary gateway to southern Minnesota. The land office had opened in 1855. Hundreds of steamboats stopped each month of the navigation season and thousands of people were on the move to the new territory. The population figures H.C.K. reported for Winona County: 2,426 in 1855; 6,500 in 1856; and 9,500 in 1857 support this rapid expansion in population. Winona was recognized as the best shipping point for the two tiers of counties which made up southern Minnesota. An amalgamation the author dubbed the "Garden Counties." H.C.K. reported that in the Fall of 1857 there were 3,000 people in the town, a figure which grew to 4,000 in August 1857. At this time growth seemed to level off as the author noted that "growth was steady in 1857 but not like 1856. He asserted this population trend represented a pattern of dynamic, rapid growth followed by a more stable but steady increase. The first wave of settlers included many speculators and people who rushed out to make a quick profit or to seize a fleeting opportunity. This initial wave was followed by a smaller stream of immigrants who intended to settle permanently in southern Minnesota. Another factor which retarded population growth principally for the county and the broad hinterland of the city was the appalling condition of the roads leaving Winona for the prairie above the steep hills which surrounded the city. H.C.K described the contrast between the beauty of Winona's location to the reality of the route leaving the town.
"Grand and romantic scenery here presents itself on every hand to the traveller; high and abrupt bluffs arising to the multitude of three to four hundred feet, their summits crowned and lined with castellated precipices of limestone rocks, that have weathered time, wind, and storm for many long ages, and on whose weatherbeaten, frowning visages all the artillery of the world could make no important impression; deep and narrow ravines, with here and there a narrow valley, the clear and cold stream of the Rolling Stone, in which are thousands of the finest trout; a pure balmy health mountainous atmosphere, in short, all the varied scenery that a lover of the rugged and picturesque could desire.Transportation to the hinterland was already provided by daily stagecoach to Chatfield, Mankato, and St. Peter, as well as to smaller villages in Winona and the surrounding counties. By 1857 Wabasha's prairie was quickly beginning to fulfill its promise. It was growing in population, expanding its economic base and was taking on the characteristic of a cultivated community. H.C.K praised the town for its orderliness and remarked that a "high toned feeling seemed to prevail, and any thing like rowdyism or immorality is frowned upon by the community.But there is one great drawback to pleasure in traversing this part of the Road. One of the most villainous, stony, sideling, muddy, treacherous, breakneck Roads that ever disgraced a civilized country, has to be travelled over, and yet this is the main outlet of the city of Winona!--to her back country, the country upon which she depends for her trade.
In taking passage from Winona to Chatfield, and after paying a big price for stage fare, I was going through this section of the road, myself and all the rest of the passengers, except a lady, were compelled to walk in a hot sun nine miles out of the sixteen, till we reached the prairie country. It is no wonder that Winona complains of dull times, with such roads. Can they expect passengers to run the risk of breaking their necks and working after paying their passages to travel through their city to the back country where they can get safe and agreeable conveyances at other points. Can they expect country merchants to pay one third more freight to teamsters than they have to do from upper points? Can they expect teamsters to kill their horses over their present roads? Certainly not. Winona merchants and businessmen have suffered severely from this cause alone the present summer, and finally have got a feeling stirred which it is hoped will effect a remedy.
Among the buildings built by 1857 were Fogg's mill, the Laird Norton lumber yard, a planing mill, a shingle manufacturer, a foundry, and a plow manufacturer. In addition to new and substantial buildings, a charter for a Transit Railroad to connect the hinterland to the Mississippi was approved and a corporation was formed. When completed this railroad would make Winona the "commercial metropolis of southern Minnesota." (11)
Winona
Takes Off. 1860 marked the taking of
the eighth decennial census which provides us with a great amount of information
on the people who were the early settlers of this southeastern Minnesota
county. These data enable us to infer settlement patterns and to analyze
more precisely the population of the county. According to this census taken
during the summer of 1860 there were 9,196 people living in Winona County,
2,456 in the city of Winona and 6,740 in the rural areas. There were two
villages listed, St. Charles with 467 people and Stockton which had a population
of 79. Winona County ranked third in the state of Minnesota in population
behind Ramsey and Hennepin counties. St. Paul was the largest city in the
state with a population of 10,401. Minneapolis was only slightly larger
that Winona with a population of 2,564.
The picture above shows Winona
in 1864.
top Population in Winona County was distributed between the city which was the population center of the county with 27 percent of the county's people and the rural area which contained 73 percent. Forty percent of the rural population was located in the four southwestern townships of Fremont, St. Charles, Saratoga, and Utica. The population of these four townships exceeded that of the city of Winona. Homer, Wilson, and Warren townships located just south of the city each contained over 6 percent of the rural population, These seven townships contained 60 percent of the county's population.
The youthful character of the people of Winona county reflected the frontier nature of the area. Older people, for the most part, were not as able to endure the primitive living conditions of frontier society. Nor were many of them inclined to leave the more settled society east of the Mississippi. There was even a definite difference between the average age of the city and the rural are of the county. The average rural age was 19 and that of the city was 21. The picture below is from the 1876 Centennial Parade.
1. Lafayette Bunnell, Winona and Its Environs, 423-424.
2. North-Western Democrat (St. Anthony) 19 August 1854.
3. History of Winona County (1883), 426-427.
4. Philip Morrison, Winona, Minnesota Territory to Rebecca Morrison, Bridgewater, Michigan 24 April 1856, Archives, Winona County Historical Society. see also Jodi Gerry (tr), "My Dear Wife: Anonymous Letters from 1856," Chronicles Vol 4, Summer, 1985, 5-9.
5. Philip Morrison, Winona, Minnesota Territory to Rebecca Morrison, Bridgewater, Michigan 4 May 1856, Archives, Winona County Historical Society.
6. Philip Morrison, Winona, Minnesota Territory to Rebecca Morrison, Bridgewater, Michigan 15 May 1856, Archives, Winona County Historical Society.
7. Philip Morrison, Winona, Minnesota Territory to Rebecca Morrison, Bridgewater, Michigan 21 May 1856, Archives, Winona County Historical Society.
8. Philip Morrison, Winona, Minnesota Territory to Rebecca Morrison, Bridgewater, Michigan 5 June 1856, Archives, Winona County Historical Society.
9. Philip Morrison, Winona, Minnesota Territory to Rebecca Morrison, Bridgewater, Michigan 15 June 1856; 4 July 1856, Archives, Winona County Historical Society.
10. Milton Buswell, Warren (Township), Winona County, to Oliver Buswell, Grantham, New Hampshire 6 December 1857, Archives/Manuscripts, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.
11. H.C.K Weekly Express, 12 August 1857; 2 September 1857; 16 September 1857;