In nineteen-nineteen, Ellet’s book “Summer Rambles in the West” turned up in the library at Fort Hill, the Charleston, South Carolina home of John C. Calhoun, the namesake for the lake, parkway, neighborhood and shopping center on the outskirts of Minneapolis. Calhoun was not a Minneapolitan or Minnesotan.
In fact, he never stepped foot in Minnesota.
In 1817, when Minnesota became a territory, President James Monroe appointed Calhoun Secretary of War. Calhoun helped reorganize the army and extend the American territory westward. He sent surveyors to map the area now known as Minnesota. They renamed what the Dakota called Mde Ma-ka-ska ("Lake of the White Earth") Lake Calhoun, in honor of the Southern statesman. Calhoun, a supporter of slavery, twice a vice-president and once a Presidential candidate, is part of Minnesota history in namesake only.
Minneapolis resident, H.A. Niles, who toured the Calhoun mansion in nineteen nineteen and found the book in the library, sent it to the Minneapolis Journal, the city’s first evening paper. The editors published excerpts of Ellet’s rambles on September 21, 1919, including pictures of Calhoun and other historical images of the area.
And what of Niles? Aside from his name and where he lived in nineteen nineteen, we know little of him. He inadvertently opened up a book and became an unknown newsbreaker in the telling of Minnesota’s early history. Now a new house, built in 2007, resembling the bungalow style of the early 1900’s is situated at Nile’s old address near Lake of the Isles.
Ellet’s visit to the new territory took place sixty-seven years before Niles read her book and the Minneapolis Journal republished her rambles posthumously, forty-two years after her decease in 1877. From the time the book was written in 1852 till the article was published in 1919, sixty-seven years had changed the place and the people of Minneapolis. Evidently Ellet’s account, recorded so vividly and specifically, afforded an impression not provided by other historical versions of people and specific locations in the area in the mid-1800’s.
Ellet’s series, “The Women of the American Revolution” first published in 1848 made her a well known literary figure before the Journal article was published. Her fictional stories, poems, books and translations had been in print in national magazines, journals, dime novels, newspapers, and books from an early age. She was known to a large readership all over the U.S... Yet, there is no mention of her prominence or her decease in the Journal article. The article is simply titled, “Story of a summer in Minnesota found by a Minneapolitan in the residence of John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina.”
Ellet’s rambles included mention of Simon Stevens, Colonel J.H. Stevens, C. A. Tuttle and Franklin Steele, local pioneers who were historically relevant in 1919. According to the Journal, Ellet depicted them as mere “villagers going about the business of their daily routines.” Though all these men were early contributors to the area’s commerce, the only two who have had a lasting connection are Steele and Colonel J. H. Stevens. Steele County Minnesota was named after the prominent Minneapolis pioneer and businessman and Colonel John H. Stevens house survives him.
With an experienced eye for details, places and people, Ellet gave as much importance to the landscape and its ability to alter the lives of the new settlers. She identified its attributes as integral to its new inhabitants, offering abundant land and natural resources with which they could transform the landscape into a bustling metropolis. Historical icons, Father Hennepin and Henry Schoolcraft, mentioned in her rambles, were already the cloth of history.
Ellet's visit to Minnesota came at an important historic juncture, at a time when Simon Stevens, Colonel J.H. Stevens, C. A. Tuttle and Franklin Steele were early contributors to what is now the Twin Cities
Minneapolis resident, H.A. Niles, who toured the Calhoun mansion in nineteen nineteen and found the book in the library, sent it to the Minneapolis Journal, the city’s first evening paper. The editors published excerpts of Ellet’s rambles on September 21, 1919, including pictures of Calhoun and other historical images of the area.
And what of Niles? Aside from his name and where he lived in nineteen nineteen, we know little of him. He inadvertently opened up a book and became an unknown newsbreaker in the telling of Minnesota’s early history. Now a new house, built in 2007, resembling the bungalow style of the early 1900’s is situated at Nile’s old address near Lake of the Isles.
Ellet’s visit to the new territory took place sixty-seven years before Niles read her book and the Minneapolis Journal republished her rambles posthumously, forty-two years after her decease in 1877. From the time the book was written in 1852 till the article was published in 1919, sixty-seven years had changed the place and the people of Minneapolis. Evidently Ellet’s account, recorded so vividly and specifically, afforded an impression not provided by other historical versions of people and specific locations in the area in the mid-1800’s.
Ellet’s series, “The Women of the American Revolution” first published in 1848 made her a well known literary figure before the Journal article was published. Her fictional stories, poems, books and translations had been in print in national magazines, journals, dime novels, newspapers, and books from an early age. She was known to a large readership all over the U.S... Yet, there is no mention of her prominence or her decease in the Journal article. The article is simply titled, “Story of a summer in Minnesota found by a Minneapolitan in the residence of John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina.”
Ellet’s rambles included mention of Simon Stevens, Colonel J.H. Stevens, C. A. Tuttle and Franklin Steele, local pioneers who were historically relevant in 1919. According to the Journal, Ellet depicted them as mere “villagers going about the business of their daily routines.” Though all these men were early contributors to the area’s commerce, the only two who have had a lasting connection are Steele and Colonel J. H. Stevens. Steele County Minnesota was named after the prominent Minneapolis pioneer and businessman and Colonel John H. Stevens house survives him.
With an experienced eye for details, places and people, Ellet gave as much importance to the landscape and its ability to alter the lives of the new settlers. She identified its attributes as integral to its new inhabitants, offering abundant land and natural resources with which they could transform the landscape into a bustling metropolis. Historical icons, Father Hennepin and Henry Schoolcraft, mentioned in her rambles, were already the cloth of history.
Ellet's visit to Minnesota came at an important historic juncture, at a time when Simon Stevens, Colonel J.H. Stevens, C. A. Tuttle and Franklin Steele were early contributors to what is now the Twin Cities
In 1852 Minnesota was going through vast changes. The area was receiving an influx of new settlers, entrepreneurs looking to establish themselves, every imaginable type of tradesmen and opportunist ready to grab a piece of land to create their own dreams.
Simon Stevens and Calvin Tuttle were St. Anthony businessmen who traveled up Minnehaha Creek. They saw business potential in the rapids and decided to build a saw mill. The timbers from their mill were used in construction of the first suspension bridge across the Mississippi River at St. Anthony.
Simon Stevens and Mr. C. A. Tuttle, determined to find the mysterious lake Native Americans and traders knew about, set out in 1852 with little more than a compass and quite amazingly the begrudging accompaniment of a woman, Elizabeth Ellet who was here to witness Minnesota for herself. Stevens and Tuttle met up with Stevens’ brother, Col. J. H. Stevens, and Mr. Franklin Steele and with Ellet in tow, they ventured to find the big lake, called Mide-tonka or “Big Water” by Native Americans.
John H.Stevens' house, built in 1850, was the first permanent settler's home on the west bank of the Mississippi in what was to become Minneapolis. The house was moved to Minnehaha Park, where it remains today.
Steele was one of the first settlers arriving in 1838. He became as a storekeeper at Fort Snelling, than staked his claim on the first available land, starting a lumber business. By 1858, only six years after Ellet’s visit, he bought Fort Snelling from the federal government for $90,000.00. In 1851 Steele donated a four acre parcel of land which was to become the University of Minnesota.
Simon Stevens and Mr. C. A. Tuttle, determined to find the mysterious lake Native Americans and traders knew about, set out in 1852 with little more than a compass and quite amazingly the begrudging accompaniment of a woman, Elizabeth Ellet who was here to witness Minnesota for herself. Stevens and Tuttle met up with Stevens’ brother, Col. J. H. Stevens, and Mr. Franklin Steele and with Ellet in tow, they ventured to find the big lake, called Mide-tonka or “Big Water” by Native Americans.
John H.Stevens' house, built in 1850, was the first permanent settler's home on the west bank of the Mississippi in what was to become Minneapolis. The house was moved to Minnehaha Park, where it remains today.
Steele was one of the first settlers arriving in 1838. He became as a storekeeper at Fort Snelling, than staked his claim on the first available land, starting a lumber business. By 1858, only six years after Ellet’s visit, he bought Fort Snelling from the federal government for $90,000.00. In 1851 Steele donated a four acre parcel of land which was to become the University of Minnesota.
