19th Century, Culture, Faith, History, Intercession, Jesus, Minnesota, Native Americans

Ezekiel Gear Arrives at Fort Snelling Apr 28, 1839

Episcopal priest arrives at Fort Snelling. He is chaplain at Fort Snelling from 1839-1858. He remains in Minnesota until his death in 1875.*

Thank you for Gear, and his commitment to Minnesota. Thank you for the blessing his presence had on early Minnesota and especially Fort Snelling. Thank you for his example to future generations here: we are free to reach across cultural boundaries when motivated by Your love!

It is my belief that we have a limited view of our history. We know in part, and we often project our vantage point onto the characters of the past. Perhaps we need a new lens to view the history of Native Minnesotans and its European settlers? May we equally remembers those that built relational bridges in this meeting of peoples as those who tore them down.

The following excerpt demonstrates where the heart of Priest Gear:

“Ezekiel Gilbert Gear was horn in Middletown, Connecticut, September 13th, 1793. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Griswold in the same church in which he was baptized, and his diaconate was passed in that diocese. He was ordained priest by Bishop Hobart, and was appointed missionary in the western part of New York state. There he labored at Onondaga Hill, Avon, Manlius, Ithaca, Syracuse, Binghamton and Brownsville. He also worked among the Oneida and Onondaga Indians, baptizing, marrying, and admitting many to the communion of the Church. He was present at the confirmation by Bishop Hobart of ninety-seven Indians, presented by Eleazar Williams. We can well imagine that this previous connection with Indian work led him to take an especial interest in advocating, as he did, the beginning of work among the Sioux and Ojibways of Minnesota.”

http://anglicanhistory.org/usa/mn/edsall_gear.html

*Note – PrayThroughHistory uses the timeline located for several years at the Minnesota Historical Society Web site, at this URL: mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm . The current URL is www.dipity.com/Minnesota/History/Minnesota-History/ and only works if typed, not pasted, in browser. It is worth the effort!

19th Century, Business, Economics, History, Industry, Intercession, Jesus, Minnesota

Timber industry begins in Minnesota 1839

More than two-thirds of Minnesota is covered with trees when Minnesota’s first commercial sawmill is constructed at Marine on St. Croix–the beginning of Minnesota’s first industry.

On the east side of the Mississippi, a vast forest of pine and other evergreens stretches to the Canadian border. Many white pine along the St. Croix River are 200 feet tall and five feet in diameter.*

Jesus, thanks for our timber resources in Minnesota. Thank you for all who have, who are at present, or who will work in our forests in the future! Will You send your blessing into every place where Your Minnesota forests have gone: furniture, homes, barns, fences, etc.? Will You bless every recipient of Minnesota wood as You chop the roots of blame, and judgment, grudge and jealousy, envy and anger?

As you said in Romans 11:16b “…if the root is holy; so are the branches.” At present, will You forgive any worship of nature itself, and the lack of acknowledgement of to the Creator of the Woods? I’m guilty Lord too: we love stuff and use people instead of loving people and using stuff! Have mercy!

19th Century, education, Exploration, Geology, History, Intercession, Jesus, Minnesota, Native Americans, Natural Science

Nicollet and Fremont visit Pipestone quarries 1838

Nicollet

Fremont

While on expedition, Nicollet and John Fremont camp at the Pipestone quarries (in what is now Pipestone National Monument in Pipestone County) and engrave their initials near the Winnewissa Falls, leaving a lasting record of their presence there.*

God, since when did graffiti become history? It seems we are unaware of our actions today on future generations. Yet historians and achaeologists surely appreciate these moments of civil disobedience. What is literally scrawled on the walls of the present gives us a much more colorful picture of what happened in the past. Thanks for graffiti artists!

More specifically, thank You for moving Nicollet and Fremont to explore and physically record their attendance to Your pipestone quarry. All on earth belongs to You, but You move some of us to wonder, to travel, to seek out the wonders You have made. It is only my opinion, but I sense a smile on Your eternal face when our curiosity moves us outward, beyond, and into the the unknown!

Thanks for the blessings of pipestone and its amazing uses. Its physical properties made it a natural treasure for past and present minnesotans. Will You bless the quarries at Pipestone! May we continually discover incredible uses for this resource, and use it wisely. Will You free the quarries from the bitter judgments between all relevant parties over its use/misuse?

19th Century, Culture, government, History, Intercession, Jesus, Minnesota, Native Americans, Treaties

1837 Treaties

The United States negotiates treaties with the Ojibwe and the Dakota for the wedge of land between the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers—land that will later become part of Minnesota. Ratification of the treaties opens the land for settlement by non-Indians. The Ojibwe will receive payments in money, goods, and provisions for 20 years; they also reserve the right to hunt, fish, and gather wild rice within the ceded area. The Dakota do not reserve their hunting or fishing rights, but their annuities are to be perpetual. Indian Agent Lawrence Taliaferro boasts that he made the better bargain for the Dakota.*

Lord, this wedge of land is quite valuable real estate in the present. It contains parts of St. Paul, Oakdale, Stillwater, Lake Elmo, Woodbury, Cottage Grove, and Hastings which are all fast growing parts of the metro area. This is surely a challenge for our present-day lawmakers; how do you give hunting rights in a suburban develop ment?

We need Your wisdom for all such cases. First, we need to accurately understand the meanings of past treaties which is no simple matter. Next, how does one interpret the spirit of this meaning into a present-day context that preserves the spirit and the heart of the treaty? Will You enable our government to honor these treaties in the present and future, as well as make restitution as specific and meaningful as possible?

By Your mercy, will You free all parties in the past of dissension and bitter assessments: the U.S. government and its agents , the Dakota, and the Ojibwa? Will You make us free from the fruit of this event in the present, and create the proper honor and respect between all parties?

19th Century, Culture, education, Faith, History, Intercession, Jesus, Minnesota, Native Americans

Lake Harriet Mission School July 19, 1836

Six students attend the opening of the Lake Harriet Mission School for the Dakota, founded by the Reverend Jedediah D. Stevens. An early example of education within the boundaries of present-day Minnesota, the school was sponsored by the Presbyterian Missions Board and taught by the founder’s niece, Lucy C. Stevens, in a cabin built by Gideon H. and Samuel W. Pond.*

Good Teacher, thank you for the benefits of the Lake Harriet Mission School for the Dakota. Thank you for the heart of providing education to all! It’s so good to share what we know and have it received.

It is not easy to be the first. It takes boldness to reach out across cultural lines. On one side of this picture we have Dakota students who are reaching out to Stevens. Conversely, he is stepping out of his comfort zone to meet and teach members of an unfamiliar culture. Will You bless both sides of this exchange? Will You remember their boldness and trust to know each other? Each group is an exploratory party of sorts. May we never forget what its like to be an alien!

Lord, I also want to acknowledge our separations that may begin as academic pride. We assume our knowledge will change our ‘underprivileged’. We often fail to pass on wisdom (good judgment), and even foster an academic culture that hesitates to recognize the merits of wisdom. As moderns, we cringe at even the word ‘judgement’, although one could argue that good judgment is the root of justice?!

I feel prompted to acknowledge the potential judgments of Stevens and Williamson against the Pond brothers, and perhaps a spirit of competitiveness. Lord, will you forgive any heritage of academic or religious pride stemming from them forward to us if this is the case? Will you forgive the stinging pain of criticism towards or counter-judgments from the Ponds, the Dakotas, these first six students, or any other pertinent unaddressed party? Will You free the land of Minnesota from these judgments, and bring the blessing of humility that we all have betrayed You, Your peoples, and our selves? Will You make us humble teachers and students of the “knowledge” You have revealed to us? Amen.

*The current URL is www.dipity.com/Minnesota/History/Minnesota-History/ and only works if typed, not pasted, in browser. It is worth the effort!

19th Century, Culture, education, History, Intercession, Jesus, Ministry, Minnesota, Native Americans

Pond Brothers arrive in Minnesota 1834

Samuel and Gideon Pond, missionaries at Lake Calhoun, begin a lifelong study of the Dakota language. They compile dictionaries and grammars and put Dakota speech into written form.*

Lord, thanks that you speak to us in ways that we understand. You impress your ideas on us in a plethora of ways, including, but not limited to, our language. Thanks that your light shines through to us where ever and whenever we are in this world! You know the subtleties of our “mother tongue!”

These men, Samuel and Gideon, seem to have captured Your heart in this. They were not out to just meet the Dakota; they meant to live their lifetime with them! Will You bless this commitment to the Dakota peoples and their spoken language?

Furthermore, they rightly represent you as the living “Word” of God. How fitting that they were content to learn the words of the Dakota, and write them down. This was not enough, they wanted these words to flow the way they were thought and spoken, and so undertook to worship You by understanding Dakota grammar! Will You bless them, and their generations who want all Minnesotan languages to be cherished and recorded? May we as a State know you better by knowing the language of our fellow man!

*Note – PrayThroughHistory uses the timeline located for several years at the Minnesota Historical Society Web site, at this URL: mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm . The current URL is http://www.dipity.com/Minnesota/History/Minnesota-History/ and only works if typed, not pasted, in browser. It is worth the effort!

19th Century, Business, Culture, Economics, History, Intercession, Jesus, Leadership, Minnesota, State Government

American Fur Company 1833

Young Henry Sibley takes over the American Fur Company post at Mendota in 1834 and stays on to be a leader in building Minnesota. He will become Minnesota’s first territorial delegate to Congress and its first state governor–an indivisible part of the state’s history for more than 50 years.*

Thank you for the life of Henry Sibley, and his leadership role in this state. You have seen Sibley’s work and heart, will You guide this prayer? Will You give insight into the ramifications of this new role for Sibley as head of this important company so long ago?

I do not know how conscientious or just he was, or if he favored the American Fur Company in his civil leadership roles. Lord, I just want to acknowledge that when I have power, it is tempting to favor those with whom I have the strongest trust and relationship. Will You forgive me this sin?

Forgive any favoritism, or judgments against those favored by Henry Sibley, the American Fur Company, and the government of Minnesota? Will You forgive us as Minnesotans’ from our savior-complex? Sometimes we shield those we favor from learning by the cause and effect of their actions. God, these are some contemporary examples of our civic favoritism: >“This company (or bank) is too big to fail.” >”We need a new Vikings stadium.” >”Our state can pay for equality of outcomes.” You are the Savior of Minnesota! Cleanse us from 1833 to now of our favoritism.

Why is this offensive to You, Just One? Is it because misuse of authority exhibits the limitations of our trust for our fellow man, or their Maker? Do we deny those around us that they also have Your inalienable right of choice?

Of course, there are times when you authorize and condone our exercise of judgment on behalf of others. For example, a mother must choose, moment by moment, what is best for the care of her newborn child. Yet if this same woman were to be constantly advising her adult child, it would be a sick relationship, and probably feel quite smothering.

In the same way, will You bless the future of all leaders of this state with Your proper balance of authority? May they be blessed with strength balanced by tenderness! May they neither fear the loneliness of leadership, nor the humility that nurtures future leaders. Amen!

19th Century, Art, Culture, History, Intercession, Jesus, Minnesota, Native Americans

Seth Eastman arrives at Fort Snelling 1830

Seth Eastman comes to Fort Snelling as a captain. In his spare time, he learns the Dakota language and observes details of their lives. His subtle sketches, watercolors, and paintings become an invaluable record of the scenery and Indian life around the fort.*

Thanks for Seth Eastman! Thank you for the blessings of his art and observations. Use our talents, even hobbies, to be a blessing to future generations of Minnesotans!

Lord, thanks that painting takes time, and therefore Mr. Eastman actually spent time with the people, tribes, and daily life he recorded. Thanks that he saw scenes that struck his heart as valuable to remember. this day will You do the same for us? Help us to truly interact with life around us, and remember it somehow!

Perhaps, our hobbies will someday become history too?!

19th Century, History, Intercession, Jesus, Minnesota

1st Post Office Established Aug 25, 1827

Minnesota’s first post office is established at Fort Snelling.*

Lord, thank you for establishing a post office here! Communication is a gift and blessing on us and our state! May You provide more inspiration to improve and enhance our technology of communication in the future. May You give us hearts of reconciliation that strengthen the communication of our state by Jesus’ authority!

19th Century, Culture, education, History, Intercession, Jesus, Minnesota

Sunday School At Ft. Snelling 1823

Abigail Snelling starts a Sunday School at Ft. Snelling for the children.*

Lord, thanks that You love children. Thanks for the curiosity of the children of Minnesota. May we not fail to teach them the Bible, or introduce Jesus as ‘the Living Word’ of God. Thank you for the legacy of freedom we have in Minnesota because of Jesus!!!

Is this an over statement? Do we have an inheritance of liberty if the culture of our state has chosen to follow the example of Christ? I think it would be a great study for the scholars.

What happens to a culture that cherishes the primary teachings of Christ? Would they not highly value the virtue of love? Imagine a place committed to overlooking offenses, and forgiving its enemies! What if children believed that they were made in the image of a good God that treasured them? What new vistas would we reach if we remained humble and teachable as Christ did?

I may be considered a lightweight for the following statement, but Whitney Houston had it right! We are limited in so many ways because we don’t know and accept ourselves. We are insecure and have to prove the validity of our position, not caring about who we damage. Sorry Jesus, and Whitney, we haven’t learned the “Greatest Love of All.”