Editorial note — FOOTNOTES

Elliott Coues, Esq., Washington, D. C.

My Dear Sir: Yours of the 21st inst. is received making inquiry about my discovering the location of a fort built by Zebulon M. Pike in the fall of 1805. The location is on the West bank of the Mississippi River on Government Subdivision described as Lot No. 1, Sec. No. 7, in Township No. 128 North, of Range No. 29 West, of the 5th Principal Meridian, near the S. E. corner of said Lot No. 1, and near 80 rods south from the mouth of Swan river and four miles south of this city. I settled at this place in 1855. I wrote a history of this county in 1876. Then in 1880 I revised it. Before writing the revision in 1880 I looked over the books in our State Historical Society, where I found an account of Pike's Expedition up into this region of country that year. His description of the location was so plain and explicit that I had no trouble in finding it. At that time there were no logs or timber left. The place was plainly marked by a pile of stone, about the size of an ordinary haycock, of which the chimney or fire-place was built. The fort was built of logs. The bottom layer was imbedded about one-half their size into the ground when built. The groove in the earth showed very plain when I first visited the place. As near as I could judge the building was 40 feet square. Built just on the brink of a slight elevation, as described by Mr. Pike in his narrative. Afterward in speaking about the location of Pike's Fort to an old settler, Samuel Lee, now residing at Long Prairie in this State, he told me that he had been at the place many years before, and when he was first at the place the bottom tier of logs were still there. I visited the spot two years ago for the purpose of getting one of the stones that were used to build the fire-place, and took one that will weigh about 75 pounds, which I am keeping as a relic. The pile of stone is getting scattered about; the ground has never been cleared and broken up, but is used as a pasture. Unless something durable is put up soon to mark the location all trace of it will be obliterated. This country commenced to settle with farmers in 1850, and has become quite well settled up. I will say before closing that the rapids at the foot of which he built the fort bear the name of Pike rapids, so named in honor of him. I will send you a copy of our extra paper [Daily Transcript, of Little Falls], issued the 1st of January. If I have omitted anything that you may wish to know write me again.