“Resolved, That a committee of three persons be appointed by the President of this Convention, residing upon the waters of the St. Croix, and three residing upon the waters of the Mississippi, who shall collect information relative to the amount of business transacted and the amount of capital employed within the limits of Minnesota Territory, and forward such information as soon as may be, to our delegate.

"Resolved, That there shall be a committee of seven appointed by the President of this Convention to act as a central committee, whose duty it shall be to correspond with our delegate at Washington, and to adopt all other proper means to forward the objects of this Convention."

Mr. H. H. Sibley was elected delegate to represent the interests of the Minnesota Territory at Washington. An address was also prepared and sent to President Polk, describing their condition and the dangers and discomforts which came to the inhabitants of Minnesota as a result of the delay in giving the district a Territorial government. Mr. Sibley went to Washington, but was not allowed to sit as Territorial delegate until January 15, 1849. The bill for the organization of the Territory passed and became a law March 3, 1849.

The Territory included all the land of the United States lying within the following limits:

"Beginning in the Mississippi River at the point where the line of forty-three degrees and thirty minutes of north latitude crosses the same; thence running due west on the said line, which is the northern boundary of the State of Iowa, to the northwest corner of the said State of Iowa; thence southerly along the western boundary of said State, to the point where said boundary strikes the Missouri River; thence up the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River to the mouth of the White Earth River; thence up the middle of the main channel of the White Earth River to the boundary line between the possessions of the United States and Great Britain; thence east and south of east

along the boundary line between the possessions of the United States and Great Britain to Lake Superior; thence in a straight line to the northernmost point of the State of Wisconsin in Lake Superior; thence along the boundary line of said State of Wisconsin to the Mississippi River; thence down the main channel of said river to the place of beginning."

President Taylor appointed Edward G. McGaughey, of Indiana, Territorial governor, but his nomination was not confirmed by the Senate. Then Mr. Pennington, of New Jersey, was nominated, but he declined to serve, after which on June 1, 1849, Alexander Ramsey was appointed governor and accepted. St. Paul, at this time a village of two hundred inhabitants, was made the capital of the Territory. A census was soon taken and the Territory divided into districts. An election was held and the first legislative body, consisting of nine councillors and eighteen members of the Assembly, was chosen.

At this time there were very few white people in the Territory, and a large part of the land was in the undisputed possession of the Indian. The Indian titles to all the land to the west of the Mississippi still remained undisturbed. St. Paul and Stillwater were little villages, the other settlements only hamlets. There were probably not more than four thousand whites in the Territory in 1849, but immigration soon became very large. In 1851, the lands on the western side of the Mississippi were opened for settlement through a treaty with the Indians, and the aborigines were removed to upper Minnesota. After 1849 the Territory grew very rapidly through immigration from Ohio, Indiana, and the New England States. This stream of immigration was soon increased by that element which has had so much to do in developing the resources of Minnesota, the emigration from northern Europe. The population grew from five thousand three hundred and thirty in 1850 to one hundred and seventy-two thousand and twenty-two in 1860.

On December 24, 1856, the Territorial delegate, Henry M. Rice, introduced a bill for the admission of Minnesota as a State. On January 31, 1857, a substitute bill was submitted which differed from the earlier one in its definition of the boundaries of the State. The substitute bill defined the boundaries as they now exist, cutting off some six hundred square. miles from the area proposed by Mr. Rice. The bill contained the provisions which had now become common in Enabling Acts, such as the appropriation of lands for school purposes and public buildings. The proposed boundaries caused a technical violation of the Ordinance of 1787, because five States had already been formed from the Northwest Territory, and now a small portion of the original Territory would become a part of a sixth State. It was, however, regarded as an unimportant matter, and was not seriously discussed. The bill passed the House by a vote of ninety-seven to seventy-five. In the Senate there was a much longer discussion. This turned on two points. One was whether aliens should be allowed to vote or not. According to the bill, those who were qualified to vote at Territorial elections could vote for delegates to the constitutional convention. Some of the "Know-Nothing Party" objected to this. The other great objection was to the admission of the Territory on any terms, and this came from the southern members who did not care to see the power of the north increased. The most prominent of these opponents was Thompson, of Kentucky, who openly gave this as his reason for opposing the bill.

The Enabling Act passed and was signed by the President February 25, 1857. In accordance with the provisions of the Enabling Act, delegates to a constitutional convention were elected on the first Monday in June, 1857. The delegates chosen were, according to the Enabling Act, to assemble at St. Paul on the second Monday of July, but the hour of meeting was not mentioned and this fact led to some confusion and misunderstanding both in Minnesota and at Washington. The Republicans met

on Sunday night at twelve o'clock in the Territorial capitol, so that when the Democrats came, they found the Republicans, who constituted a majority of the convention, in possession. The Republicans remained there until noon of the 13th, the day designated in the Enabling Act, when the Democrats assembled, holding that twelve o'clock noon was the legal time when no hour was mentioned. Mr. Chase, Democrat, and Mr. North, Republican, simultaneously called the convention to order. Mr. North nominated Thomas J. Galbraith as president pro tempore, while a Democratic delegate made a motion to adjourn till Tuesday at twelve o'clock noon. Mr. Chase put this motion, and the Democratic portion of the body left the hall. Then each body claiming to be the constitutional convention met in separate rooms and began the preparation of a constitution. After a time they appointed a conference committee, and both bodies agreed upon the same instrument, which was submitted to the people. The constitution was ratified by a large majority of the voters, and State officers and Congressional representatives were elected on the same day, October 13, 1857.

This constitution forbade slavery, and allowed only white men to vote. There were efforts made in both Democratic and Republican conventions to allow the free negroes to vote, but the attempts were not successful. Indians were allowed to vote if they had given up the tribal organization and adopted the methods of life of the whites. The constitution was very favorable toward aliens. Residence in the United States for one year, and in the State for four months, gave an alien the right to vote, provided that he declared his intention to become a citizen, conformably to the laws of the United States upon the subject of naturalization. Minnesota did not care for negro settlers, and so did not give the franchise to free black men, but it was anxious to get its share of the desirable emigrants from northern Europe, who were coming in large numbers to the United States, and so made the admission to citizenship very easy for that class.