I know I've mentioned this before, but it's so interesting (and distressing!) to see these early examples of the same thing that's going on now in America. The reference to Babbitt seems indeed apt - "frequent use of exaggeration and political connections in business affairs," etc.. In a way, although you don't connect it to current events in these posts, l feel like you are doing something similar to Heather Cox Richardson - looking at history and showing how we got to where we are today.
Helen Cox Richardson is an inspiration! She certainly puts current events into a historical context and I admire that. I'm flattered by the comparison. There are many dots to connect this hyperlocal story to the nation's history and its current affairs, and I am glad to hear you say you can see the relevance to the present. Thanks for the encouragement.
The saga continues! Thanks, Jill. I agree that there are definite shades of Heather Cox Richardson here! It's made even more compelling by the hyperlocal setting. "It can't happen here"...but it DID and the extractive economy is still driving injustices today!
Thanks for your kind comment. If we dare to look at our local and family histories, we can learn things of relevance to our present circumstances. The transfer of Indian land into private property held by whites did happen all across the country and townsite companies legitimated the transfers. Today we see a Supreme Court decision to make homelessness a crime. The American saga continues....
Settlers and businessmen moved fast. Clearing 100 acres of woodland in 2 years (if I read that correctly)? Wow! The truth of what happened to the land at Lake of the Woods and in my area of the NY Finger Lakes is hard to digest. There are still huge tree trunks in my forest that haven't completely rotted into the soil. The Land Trust forester said they're remains of the ancient oak and chestnut forest cut for the first cabins and barns.
It is so hard to imagine clearing that amount of land of old growth forest. There is one place in Minnesota known as the lost 40 (40 acres not surveyed or sold and inside the Chippewa National Forest near Northome and the Red Lake Reservation) where the trees are 300-400 years old. https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/chippewa/recarea/?recid=26672
I don't like what happened to the forest, but thanks for the article and thanks for writing about the history of Lake of the Woods and the people who lived there.
and thanks for reading and deep gratitude for being a paid subscriber and friend who sustains my efforts weekly. The Finger Lakes National Forest is oxygen for my soul and thank you for letting me stay close to the woods in upstate NY.
So if we had less government like some want maybe this private property business would not have taken off. 😝 Jk 1812 saw the feds assume a lot of authority it seems. You’ve got quite a timeline Jill! Thanks for the detailed history,
This private property business took off in Europe long before colonialists arrived on the shores of the North American continent. And when it did, it was the Hudson Bay Company with a charter from the British Crown, who claimed Rupert's Land (much of what is now Manitoba) as corporate property. As the fur trade diminished, the HBC transferred ownership back to the Crown which gave the land to the new confederation of colonies in Canada. In many respects, the government and business were much the same thing during this time.
In 1812 the United States Government set up the General Land Office to assume the responsibility for managing lands under the federal government's control, including areas opened for homestead claims on ceded Indian territorities. The issuance of land patents is the process by which land was converted in private property which began in the early colonial period. The Crookston Land Patent Office was a regional office at the time and later subsumed by the Duluth Land Patent Office. I did find the name of the Register for the Crookston office: Sylvester Peterson (term of office: March 17, 1897-May 31, 1905).
A point of clarification. Native Americans were not allowed to file homestead claims unless they renounced their tribal affiliation. This coming week will provide a case in point. It is an interesting question you pose about whether a Native American woman would inherit her white husband's property. I don't have the answer. Digging....
Were there restrictions on who could claim as personal property and / or homestead with the land patent office to own property? If I were Native, Chinese, African American or Czech could anyone obtain this “free” land?
Homestead claims could be filed by anyone who had not fought in the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy. Immigrants who declared their intention to become US citizens could certainly file and many did seeking farm land. There were some women who filed their own claims. I have not found in the Warroad area any Chinese who purchased land or filed homestead claims. The Ojibway in Minnesota were not allowed to file land patents. Though, next week, I have some surprising discoveries to reveal about another early settler who worked with Moody to make the village of Kah-bay-kah-nong into the city of Warroad.
Curious who did Moody file to at the land office? Was this how he acquired all the land for the Township company? Did the 7k go to Red Lake Nation? So much wealth extraction not so long ago. I’m curious if they weren’t English or Northern European would they have had the same capacity to dub and deem themselves access and heirs? Thanks as always Jill for this detailed history,
Moody filed his own preemptive claim as personal property himself with the Crookston Land Patent Office. Yes, it appears much of his eventual homestead claim of 160 acres would be land developed and sold by the townsite company. The $7400 went to Red Lake, correct. I do not yet have the name of the land agent in Crookston as this will require a trip to Duluth where the Land Patent Office records are held from this time period. On my agenda for late October and November. I may also be able to find out more about the land sold to Canadian Northern.
William King Hale, the real life character in KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, was far more nefarious in his dealings than Charles A. Moody. Hale wanted wealth for himself; whereas I think Moody truly believed he would create better living for everyone who lived there. What I find interesting is that even without criminal intentions, perhaps even the best intentions, Moody and others yielded the same result of transferring Indian land into the private property of white settlers.
I know I've mentioned this before, but it's so interesting (and distressing!) to see these early examples of the same thing that's going on now in America. The reference to Babbitt seems indeed apt - "frequent use of exaggeration and political connections in business affairs," etc.. In a way, although you don't connect it to current events in these posts, l feel like you are doing something similar to Heather Cox Richardson - looking at history and showing how we got to where we are today.
Helen Cox Richardson is an inspiration! She certainly puts current events into a historical context and I admire that. I'm flattered by the comparison. There are many dots to connect this hyperlocal story to the nation's history and its current affairs, and I am glad to hear you say you can see the relevance to the present. Thanks for the encouragement.
The saga continues! Thanks, Jill. I agree that there are definite shades of Heather Cox Richardson here! It's made even more compelling by the hyperlocal setting. "It can't happen here"...but it DID and the extractive economy is still driving injustices today!
Thanks for your kind comment. If we dare to look at our local and family histories, we can learn things of relevance to our present circumstances. The transfer of Indian land into private property held by whites did happen all across the country and townsite companies legitimated the transfers. Today we see a Supreme Court decision to make homelessness a crime. The American saga continues....
Settlers and businessmen moved fast. Clearing 100 acres of woodland in 2 years (if I read that correctly)? Wow! The truth of what happened to the land at Lake of the Woods and in my area of the NY Finger Lakes is hard to digest. There are still huge tree trunks in my forest that haven't completely rotted into the soil. The Land Trust forester said they're remains of the ancient oak and chestnut forest cut for the first cabins and barns.
It is so hard to imagine clearing that amount of land of old growth forest. There is one place in Minnesota known as the lost 40 (40 acres not surveyed or sold and inside the Chippewa National Forest near Northome and the Red Lake Reservation) where the trees are 300-400 years old. https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/chippewa/recarea/?recid=26672
I don't like what happened to the forest, but thanks for the article and thanks for writing about the history of Lake of the Woods and the people who lived there.
and thanks for reading and deep gratitude for being a paid subscriber and friend who sustains my efforts weekly. The Finger Lakes National Forest is oxygen for my soul and thank you for letting me stay close to the woods in upstate NY.
So if we had less government like some want maybe this private property business would not have taken off. 😝 Jk 1812 saw the feds assume a lot of authority it seems. You’ve got quite a timeline Jill! Thanks for the detailed history,
This private property business took off in Europe long before colonialists arrived on the shores of the North American continent. And when it did, it was the Hudson Bay Company with a charter from the British Crown, who claimed Rupert's Land (much of what is now Manitoba) as corporate property. As the fur trade diminished, the HBC transferred ownership back to the Crown which gave the land to the new confederation of colonies in Canada. In many respects, the government and business were much the same thing during this time.
So much here I’m unfamiliar with like who ran the Crookston Land Patent office? What a crazy detailed unraveling your undertaking - thank you!
In 1812 the United States Government set up the General Land Office to assume the responsibility for managing lands under the federal government's control, including areas opened for homestead claims on ceded Indian territorities. The issuance of land patents is the process by which land was converted in private property which began in the early colonial period. The Crookston Land Patent Office was a regional office at the time and later subsumed by the Duluth Land Patent Office. I did find the name of the Register for the Crookston office: Sylvester Peterson (term of office: March 17, 1897-May 31, 1905).
Wow renounce your identity then.
I’d like to see the documents that said Natives couldn’t file. I wonder if a Native woman married a white man and he died could she inherit it?
A point of clarification. Native Americans were not allowed to file homestead claims unless they renounced their tribal affiliation. This coming week will provide a case in point. It is an interesting question you pose about whether a Native American woman would inherit her white husband's property. I don't have the answer. Digging....
Were there restrictions on who could claim as personal property and / or homestead with the land patent office to own property? If I were Native, Chinese, African American or Czech could anyone obtain this “free” land?
Homestead claims could be filed by anyone who had not fought in the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy. Immigrants who declared their intention to become US citizens could certainly file and many did seeking farm land. There were some women who filed their own claims. I have not found in the Warroad area any Chinese who purchased land or filed homestead claims. The Ojibway in Minnesota were not allowed to file land patents. Though, next week, I have some surprising discoveries to reveal about another early settler who worked with Moody to make the village of Kah-bay-kah-nong into the city of Warroad.
Curious who did Moody file to at the land office? Was this how he acquired all the land for the Township company? Did the 7k go to Red Lake Nation? So much wealth extraction not so long ago. I’m curious if they weren’t English or Northern European would they have had the same capacity to dub and deem themselves access and heirs? Thanks as always Jill for this detailed history,
Moody filed his own preemptive claim as personal property himself with the Crookston Land Patent Office. Yes, it appears much of his eventual homestead claim of 160 acres would be land developed and sold by the townsite company. The $7400 went to Red Lake, correct. I do not yet have the name of the land agent in Crookston as this will require a trip to Duluth where the Land Patent Office records are held from this time period. On my agenda for late October and November. I may also be able to find out more about the land sold to Canadian Northern.
William King Hale prototype.
William King Hale, the real life character in KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, was far more nefarious in his dealings than Charles A. Moody. Hale wanted wealth for himself; whereas I think Moody truly believed he would create better living for everyone who lived there. What I find interesting is that even without criminal intentions, perhaps even the best intentions, Moody and others yielded the same result of transferring Indian land into the private property of white settlers.
You know what is said about good intentions......ok. Demure prototype then.