Note 61 — Front matter

It has often been a matter for conjecture why Le Sueur should have given himself so much concern over a mine of “green earth” as the discovery does not seem to be one meriting a great amount of distinction. Not long since, however, certain mineral specimens of metallic substance, apparently a sort of iron or copper ore, were found in the banks of the Le Sueur river (so-called by J. N. Nicollet, and on a map published in 1773, the river St. Remi), near the confluence with the Blue Earth river. Penicaut in his relation speaks of the deposit extending many miles on the banks of the river (Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. III, page 8), and it is therefore not improbable that the intrepid explorer had in mind something more real than colored marls of blue, green or yellow, which owed their color to the silicate of iron, and which were, when free from sand, highly prized and used for paint by the Indians. As an article of trade they were of value, but even this point does not fully explain the expedition. (See MS. in Ministere des Colonies, Paris, Vol. XV, c. 11, fol. 39). In a letter from the Intendant Champigny to the French Minister, also in this collection in Paris, the former says, “I think that the only mines that he (Le Sueur) seeks in those regions are mines of beaver skins.” For a lengthy sketch of the material first referred to, see Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. I, 1902, reprint, also in Neill, History of Minnesota, 3d edition, 1878, page 165, note.